Diet Soap - a podcast
Douglas Lain
The Diet Soap podcast began in 2009 in response to the economic crisis of 2008. Since then it has gone through many transformations, including becoming the podcast for a critical theory imprint out of the UK. Today the Diet Soap podcast is running under its original name for Sublation Media.Sublation Media includes a book publishing effort for critical theory and left politics, a magazine that covers current events and theoretical issues, youtube videos on theory and politics, and finally the Diet Soap podcast. The podcast is where we continue to interrogate the left and each other while having a good time.
Episodes
Mentioned books
Jul 17, 2025 • 1h 18min
Episode 651: Are We Still Living After the End of History?
Stanley Sharpey joins Douglas Lain to discuss Francis Fukuyama's 1992 book "The End of History and the Last Man," as well as Fukuyama's attempt to defend and return to this work over the last 33 years. Support Sublation Media on Patreonhttps://patreon.com/dietsoap
Jul 11, 2025 • 1h 13min
Episode 650: What is History?
Spencer Leonard discusses Walter Benjamin's "On the Concept of History" with Douglas Lain. He raises the question, "Can a Marxist be an historian?"Support Sublation Media on Patreonhttps://patreon.com/dietsoap
Jul 7, 2025 • 1h 3min
Episode 649: Big Beautiful Politics (Same as it Ever Was?)
Benjamin Studebaker and Douglas Lain discuss Elon Musk's new political party, Trump's Big Beautiful Bill, and Walter Benjamin's On the Concept of History.Support Sublation Media:https://patreon.com/dietsoap
Jun 19, 2025 • 1h 51min
Episode 648: The Last Marxist Explains the conflict with IRAN
Chris Cutrone describes how the left's history of supporting right-wing reaction in the Middle East has led to this moment of conflict, whether Trump was planning the attack on Iran all along, and the reason we should assume good faith on all sides when considering world politics. Support Sublation Mediahttps://patreon.com/dietsoap
Jun 13, 2025 • 49min
Episode 647: How Socialists Should Understand American Conservatism
What is American conservatism, and how should socialists understand it? In this interview, Wyatt Verlen offers a historical overview of conservatism in the United States, from the Bourbon Democrats and Robert Taft to William F. Buckley and the rise of the New Right. We explore how conservatism evolved in response to the Progressive Era, the New Deal, and the Cold War, and examine the role of political machines, laissez-faire ideology, and anti-communism in shaping the American right. This is a conversation about history, ideology, and strategy through a socialist lens.Support Sublation Mediahttps://patreon.com/dietsoap
Jun 6, 2025 • 1h 10min
Episode 646: Bonapartism is not Bonaparte
Chris Cutrone explains why the left needs to abandon the liberal conception of "Bonapartism" and take up a Marxist understanding instead. Bonapartism is not Bonaparte at the Platypus Reviewhttps://platypus1917.org/2025/06/01/bonapartism-is-not-bonaparte/Support Sublation Mediahttps://patreon.com/dietsoap
Jun 5, 2025 • 1h 9min
Episode 645: The Discreet Charm of the PMC
Stanley Sharpey is a writer and a socialist living in London. His essay for Sublation Magazine, "The Discreet Charm of the PMC" explains the history of the term and ends up sympathizing with the Ehrenreichs given the political dilemma they faced in the 1970s.The Discreet Charm of the PMC at Sublation Magazinehttps://www.sublationmag.com/post/the-discreet-charm-of-the-pmcSupport Sublation Mediahttps://patreon.com/dietsoap
May 30, 2025 • 1h 4min
Episode 644: History, Matter, Marx
Spencer Leonard discusses the meaning of the term "Historical Materialism," and how it emerged through the historical struggle for socialism. Support Sublation Mediahttps://patreon.com/dietsoap
May 27, 2025 • 60min
Episode 643: When Critical Theory is Confirmed
Benjamin Studebaker and Douglas Lain discuss Adorno's essay "Commitment" and the failure of leftist politics over the last decade. What level of regression can we expect?Support Sublation Mediahttps://patreon.com/dietsoap
May 23, 2025 • 1h 17min
Episode 642: Chris Cutrone is Always Right, and Always Depressed
In this episode of the CutroneZone, we dive deep into Chris Cutrone’s essay "On Philosophy and Marxism: Response to Suther and Velissaris"—a characteristically sharp and mournful defense of the dialectic against the return to philosophy. As always, Cutrone’s critique is uncompromising, clear, provocative, and melancholic.Support Sublation Media on Patreonhttps://patreon.com/dietsoap
