Literally Everything
por Max Staley and Ethan Pack
Politics and Culture — History and Literature — With Max and Ethan
Episodios del podcast
Episode 10: Eschatological Fixation
Max and Ethan discuss the history of apocalyptic thought, from its roots in post-exilic Hebrew literature, to its central place in early Christian thought, and finally its secularized modern form. To what extent is our understanding of contemporary crises shaped by religious ideas from thousands of years ago. We use climate change as an example, because we recorded this in February! Not a single mention of COVID 19 in the entire episode. Oops! Send any feedback to literallyeverythingpod@gmail.com
Episode 14: Idol Talk pt. 2
We complete our discussion of iconoclasm, monuments, and statues. How do symbolic and material inequalities interact in the public sphere? What is the relationship between statues of racist Americans and structural racism in America today? Ethan schools Max on structuralism in order to make it all make sense. This wraps up a yearlong journey for this particular topic — we are excited for you to hear this conversation, which has overcome many technical obstacles to reach your ears!Send us your thoughts at literallyeverythingpod@gmail.com
Episode 13: May Contain Putsch-Like Substance
Ethan and Max literally make a podcast about people literally storming the US Capitol Building instead of going to therapy.The triumphant return of Literally Everything is overshadowed by troubling events in Washington D.C. Continuing a debate we have had in private over the past four interminable years, we discuss how the "events" of January 6th put the alarming dynamics of the Trump movement in sharp relief. But what should we call these events, and how alarmed should we be? What is at stake, indeed, in debating terminology? "Coup," "Putsch," "White Supremacist Terror," and yes, even the F-word (you know which one we mean) make appearances. Listen up, and send us your thoughts at literallyeverythingpod@gmail.com.IG: @literally_everything_podcastTwitter: @lit_every_pod
Episode 12: Idol Talk pt. 1
Literally Everything is back with a two-part discussion of iconoclasm: the destruction of statues. The topic is in the news today, with monuments around the country and indeed the globe coming down, either toppled by protestors or removed quietly by local governments. But this phenomenon has deep roots in our history, which is what we discuss in part 1. We look at Jewish and Christian attitudes towards icons, the relationship between images and texts, and try to excavate the mysterious significance that public monuments hold, both for iconoclastic revolutionaries and the defenders of "preserving history."Music by George Floyd
Episode 11: Epistemological Contagion
Ethan and Max discuss the CoVid-19 crisis "as an epistemological event." Epistemology is the branch of philosophy that deals with knowledge — what do we know to be true? What criteria do we use to decide what is a fact? How do we organize our knowledge? We all have intuitive answers to these questions, but they have been put under tremendous pressure by the amount of often conflicting yet critically important information we are receiving about the pandemic. Our conversation touches on everything from telephoto lenses, to data visualization, Westworld, and the question of free will. And, of course, the Scientific Revolution. Send any comments to literallyeverythingpod@gmail.com.