Žižek And So On

This week, we take on Žižek’s concept of the Event and ask: what happens when something happens? Join our Patreon for more exclusive content!

In this Patreon exclusive episode, Jake, Peter, and Will pull back the veil of Samsara and chat about the limitations of mindfulness, whether meditation is better than a walk, and contemplate translation issues while Peter eats a piece of bread. For access to the full episode and much more exclusive content, join our Patreon:  https://www.patreon.com/zizekandsoon

This week, we discuss Zizek's approach to Buddhism. From the first Noble Truth, Buddhism describes human existence as an endless cycle of suffering, and posits the path towards enlightenment as the severing of attachment, and the cessation of desire. From a psychoanalytic standpoint, Zizek emphasizes that, in contrast, we enjoy our suffering (as when we fall in love, for example), and that desire cannot be simply done away with. After discussing the finer points of a Lacano-Helgelian critique of Buddhism, the fellas get into Zizek's other major critiques of Western Buddhism; its associations with science and capitalism. Towards this, Zizek writes that Buddhism is perhaps the ideal religion for capitalism and for the CEOs of Silicon Valley, since it's prescription to withdraw from the world, and to see it and one's self as illusory, does little to change the system of oppression itself, and assures the passive acceptance of hegemonic realism. To hear the second part of this discussion and access many more exclusive episodes, join our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/zizekandsoon

On this week's episode, we get into Žižek's semiotic triangle of German, French, and English/American toilets. We discuss the metaphysical stance of the German toilet, the revolutionary posture of the French, and the utilitarian and pragmatic sensibility of the English toilet. We also talk about the waterless urinal, the austerity politics of low-flow taps, and many other excremental subjects. Take a seat and have a listen!

In this patreon-exclusive episode, we take a second pass at Žižek’s new book “Hegel in a Wired Brain”, and further discuss the concept of the wired brain and it’s limitations. Other topics include poetry, Winston-Churchill-Heidegger, the status of Spirit and subject, the signification/meaning distinction, and how singularity can’t take a joke. to hear the full episode and other extra content join our patreon at: https://www.patreon.com/zizekandsoon

This week, we take on Žižek's recent book, "Hegel In A Wired Brain" in what will be become an ongoing series. By way of introduction, we discuss: our animosity towards Elon Musk, Neuralink, the Singularity and the future of cyborg/human relations, and as always, the Matrix and the Simpsons. https://www.patreon.com/zizekandsoon Twitter: @zizekand https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/hegel-in-a-wired-brain-9781350124417/

This week, the fellas discuss two recent articles concerning the ongoing pandemic, “The Will Not to Know,” by Slavoj Zizek, and “Social Distancing and its Discontents,” by Matthew Flisfeder. Using the articles as a starting point, we talk: the idea of “protest,” neoliberal ideology, the disruption of the symbolic order, and how the virus compels us to enjoy in different ways. "The Will Not to Know,” by Slavoj Zizek  https://thephilosophicalsalon.com/the...  “Social Distancing and its Discontents,” by Matthew Flisfeder  https://thephilosophicalsalon.com/soc... https://matthewflisfeder.com/ become a patron @ https://www.patreon.com/zizekandsoon

Episode 20, a Patreon exclusive, is all about toilets. We discuss Žižek’s three examples of toilets (the German, French, and Anglo thrones) that form an ideological tripartite, each demonstrating different ways of dealing with the excrement of the Real. We also talk the austerity politics of waterless urinals and low-flow taps, “green” toilet paper, and how ideology permeates what we consider the most elemental and excremental. Take a seat, and have a listen join our patreon at: https://www.patreon.com/zizekandsoon twitter: @zizekand

This week, we return to topics we discussed previously with Dr. Russell Sbriglia, Assistant Professor and Director of Undergraduate Literature Studies at Seton Hall University. We get Russell's take on Graham Harman's recent essay written in response to his book “Subject Lessons”, and get into the weeds on the debate between Object Oriented Ontology, and the Ljubljana school.   "Subject Lessons: Hegel, Lacan, and the Future of Materialism" Edited by Russell Sbriglia and Slavoj Zizek: https://nupress.northwestern.edu/cont...  "The Battle of Objects and Subjects: Concerning Sbriglia and Žižek’s Subject Lessons Anthology" by Graham Harman: https://www.degruyter.com/view/journa...  Join our patreon for extra episodes: https://www.patreon.com/zizekandsoon  twitter: @zizekand

This episode, we take another stab at our failed attempt to talk about Žižek and film. Earlier in the week we spoke to Dr. Matthew Flisfeder, the author of the 2012 book The Symbolic, the Sublime, and Slavoj Žižek's Theory of Film— but we did not record the conversation. So, in our second attempt to tackle this crucial topic in Žižek's work, we talk about Matthew's book, as well as "The Pervert's Guide to Cinema", the choice between reality and illusion, the third pill, Hitchcock's MacGuffin, the parallax object, and wonder why film? Music at the close ("Stromboli") is by Matteo Ciambella https://matteociambella.bandcamp.com/ Dr. Matthew Flisfeder: @MattFlisfeder on twitter, https://matthewflisfeder.com/ https://www.patreon.com/zizekandsoon  :  @zizekand : https://www.facebook.com/Zizek-and-So-On-126096985581365