Academic Edgelords

Education EN ↓ 32 episodes

This is a scholarly podcast about scholarly provocateurs. Gadflys, charlatans, and shitposters sometimes get tenure, believe it or not. This is a leftist podcast that takes a second look at their peer-reviewed work, and tries to see if there’s anything we might learn from arguing with them. We are hosted by: Victor Bruzzone, Gordon Katic, Matt McManus, and Ethan Xavier (AKA “Mouthy Infidel”).

Author

Academic Edgelords

Episodes

EP7: Should We Support Affirmative Action? (On Pojman’s Case Against Affirmative Action) 09.09.2023 1:16:54

On this episode, we read Louis Pojman's 1998 article, "The Case Against Affirmative Action". We debate whether any of his arguments against the practice of affirmative action have any merit from the perspective of left politics. We also consider whether class-based affirmative action is preferable.

EP6: Is A.I. Going To Kill Us All? (On Richard Ngo’s A.I. Safety First Principles) 23.08.2023 1:11:21

Might a future AI actually take over and dominate, or potentially even destroy humanity like some Skynet-like scenario? Some technologists worry it might, and so does Ethan. We debate how seriously we should take the AI safety discourse.

EP5: Is Whiteness Parasitic? (On Donald Moss’ “On Having Whiteness”) 09.08.2023 1:03:42

When psychoanalyst Donald Moss published his essay “On Having Whiteness” in 2021, it caused the right-wing media outrage machine to move into high gear. On our reading, they seemed to only react to what was in the abstract. We read the article.

EP4: Is it Morally Wrong to Prefer Attractive Partners? (On ‘Lookism’ and William D’Alessandro) 25.07.2023 1:13:42

If your partner is attractive, then you might be part of the problem. At least, that’s what one edgelord philosopher is suggesting. We discuss William D'Alessandro's forthcoming paper, "Is It Bad to Prefer Attractive Partners?" (in the Journal of the American Philosophical Association). Is this "lookism" a kind of unjustified and harmful discrimination? If it is, is it realistic to expect us to mo...

EP3: 5 Years or 5 Lashes? (On Moskos’ & Brennan’s Defense of Flogging) 12.07.2023 1:14:11

If you were offered the choice of a brutal whipping or an extended stay in prison, which would you take? Probably the former. Is that an argument for flogging? Today, we debate the ideas of two lash-wielding edgelords

EP2: Did the Unabomber Have a Point? (on Anarcho-Primitivism & Ted Kaczynski) 29.06.2023 1:12:30

The ultimate Academic Edgelord has died: Ted Kaczynski, the domestic terrorist. He indeed was a scholar, with a few peer-reviewed works in mathematics. On this episode, we read his manifesto: Industrial Society and its Future. Why do so many people think the Unibomber was right?

EP1: Are We the Academic Edgelords? 27.06.2023 1:15:14

This is a scholarly podcast about scholarly provocateurs. Gadflys, charlatans, and shitposters sometimes get tenure, believe it or not. This is a leftist podcast that takes a second look at their peer-reviewed work, and tries to see if there’s anything we might learn from arguing with them. But on this episode, we ask: should we even be doing this? Does engaging with odious ideas actually make us...