Acid Horizon

In this episode, Craig, Matt, Will, and Adam are joined by critic, artist, cultural theorist, and assistant curator at Rhizome Aria Dean to discuss her 2017 essay "Notes on Blacceleration." In this episode, the Acid Horizon crew discusses with Aria the paradox of the ontological constitution of the black subject that sits at the very beginning of capitalism. “The black” or “the figure of...

In this episode, Craig, Matt, Will, and Adam return to Deleuze’s essay on the society of control. There are some crucial questions to ask: What is the nature of control? How does the control society differ from the society of discipline that Foucault identified in his work prior? Are we living in a control society, or some kind of hybrid? This work is short, but dense. The gang reflects on just ho...

In this episode, Taylor, Cooper, Will, and Craig break into Deleuze's famous text "Proust and Signs".  For most of us, this was the first time we encounter the text. Together we strive to unpack the meaning of Deleuze's phrase "the search for truth is the search for lost time".  We also cover Deleuze's concept of essence and apprenticeship. Support the show Suppo...

Taylor Adkins joins us for another episode to introduce his recent translation of Individuation in Light of Notions of Form and Information Vol. I & II . We carefully comb through introduction, unpacking Simondon's concept of individuation. Also, we discuss Simondon's work in view of Ancient thinkers and the subsequent work of Deleuze and Guattari. Some thinkers in the discussion als...

We engage with the existentialism of Benjamin Fondane, an existentialist philosopher who is not widely celebrated in the English speaking world but whose name enjoys renown among Francophones. Craig, Will, Adam, and Taylor look at “Existential Monday and the Sunday of History”, an essay which seeks to define the role of the existential philosopher against those philosophies which he claims erase o...

Is metal (heavy, black, death, etc.) radical? is there something about metal that sets it apart from other genres as being potentially revolutionary? More broadly, can there exist an aesthetics capable of instigating a struggle against capital which resists recuperation? David Burke is a PhD candidate and music writer who has contributed to The Quietus and Astral Noize. We also discuss existential...

“The Oldest Systematic Program of German Idealism” is an esoteric text at the heart of 19th century German philosophy and of no certain authorship. The primary contention is that it was most likely written by either Hölderlin, Hegel, or Schelling during their time together as essentially collage dorm-mates whilst at Tübinger Stift in Germany, although some analyses leave open the possibility of a...

What is ‘left accelerationism’? (Are there more than one?) How has capitalism changed and what implications does it hold for emancipatory politics? In this episode, we examine some of the  essential literature of L/acc, giving particular focus to Karl Marx’s “Fragment on Machines” from Grundrisse and Williams and Srnicek’s “Manifesto for an Accelerationist Politics”. Figures also included in the d...

Step through the oddly placed door and enter the world of the weird and the eerie. In this episode, we dive into Mark Fisher’s The Weird and the Eerie with author and photographer Matt Colquhoun (xenogothic.com). Matt is the Author of Egress: On Mourning, Melancholy and Mark Fisher . He has also edited the compilation final lecture series entitled Postcapitalist Desire. All of the titles mentioned...

In this episode, we discuss Deleuze's early work Proust and Signs.  Joining us is Taylor Adkins and Cooper of the Machine at Unconscious Happy Hour. Follow us on Patreon to get the complete episode today! Support the show Support the podcast: AHRC Current classes at Acid Horizon Research Commons (AHRC): acidhorizonresearchcommons.com AHRC Course Archive: https://www.acidhorizonpodcast.com/ahr...

In this Concepts in Focus episode, Craig breaks down the concept of the 'image of thought' in Deleuze's work. This discussion draws mostly upon the early works of Deleuze, particularly Difference and Repetition and Proust and Signs . A forthcoming discussion of Proust and Signs will be available as subsequent Patreon exclusive episode. Support the show Support the podcast: AHRC Curr...

We talk with our buddy Gouff, whom we met at the beginning of the pandemic. Gouff writes for an online journal called Fǎn (反) on Medium. In this episode, we talk about the concept of fictitious science, a notion which challenges the allegation that a boundary exists between the literary and the literal. We also confront the (faulty) assertion that philosophy no longer plays a role in the domain o...

The early Marx provides us with an account of deprivations experienced by workers under capitalism, namely in the form of what Marx calls 'estranged labor' and 'alienation'. Craig, Adam, Will, and Matt offer both a summary and analysis of the relevant sections of Marx's Paris Manuscripts. There is also an ensuing discussion of Marx's alleged humanism--and anti-humanis...

Theory maven and translator Taylor Adkins joins Will and Craig to recall interesting interpretations of Plato's 'Phaedrus' as we venture our own insights. Important figures encountered in the discussion are Nietzsche, Foucault, Deleuze, Derrida, and Simondon.  We also discuss Taylor's soon to be released translation of Simondon. Support us on Patreon or at crit-drip.com. Suppor...

Anti-utilitarianism. An account of the sacred. Expenditure and destruction under capitalism. In this episode, Will, Adam, and Craig discuss the 1933 text "The Notion of Expenditure" by Georges Bataille. We compare the concept in focus to Deleuze and Guattari's notion of antiproduction and the body without organs. We also talk about Marxism, Mauss, and cultural anthropology.  Support...

Author, blogger, and photographer Matt Colquhoun joins us (as promised) for a first look at a compilation of last lectures given by Mark Fisher at Goldsmiths in 2016.  The lecture series on postcapitalist desire intends to explore the seemingly unsurpassable milieu of global capitalism and its pervasive affectivity.  Through figures like Marcus, Lukacs, Lyotard, Marx, and Deleuze and Guattari, Fis...

“Answers Without Organs” is the name of Acid Horizon’s special Q&A episode series. In this episode, we field various questions from our listeners on a variety of topics. This episode features discussions regarding advice to prospective graduate students as well as our takes on various theory-related issues.  Thinkers featured in the discussion are Deleuze and Guattari, Marx, Baudrillard, Hegel...

A reading of Deleuze's notable essay on the difference between instincts, institutions, and laws. Support the show Support the podcast: AHRC Current classes at Acid Horizon Research Commons (AHRC): acidhorizonresearchcommons.com AHRC Course Archive: https://www.acidhorizonpodcast.com/ahrc-course-archives Submit your course proposal: acidhorizonresearchcommons@gmail.com More Links Website: htt...

Deleuze's Nietzsche & Philosophy is an exciting and controversial interpretation of Nietzsche which stands at the forefront of 20th Century Nietzsche scholarship.  In this episode, we visit the text and the concept of ressentiment and the theory of forces, both of which Deleuze famously elaborates.  Together we investigate possible uses of Nietzsche as a political mediator. Figures includ...

Adam breaks down the often misconstrued, misused, and misrepresented Hegelian dialectic. He also brings into the discussion conspiracy theories,  Fallout: New Vegas , David Chalmers, and, well, a magnet to illustrate his summary. Other figures mentioned include Marx and Fichte. Support the show Support the podcast: AHRC Current classes at Acid Horizon Research Commons (AHRC): acidhorizonresearchco...

Andrew Culp is the author of Dark Deleuze , the controversial piece of Deleuze scholarship which challenges appropriations of Deleuze by academics and professionals uncommitted to a program of radical politics. Craig, Will, Matt, and Adam together interrogate Andrew on the finer points of the book.  Also, we discuss the similar dilution of Foucault's legacy. Some concepts on the table are neg...

How do we centered disabled voices in academia and at large? How is the the notion of impairment socially constructed? Shelley Tremain joins Craig, WIll, and Adam to discuss her essay "This Is What a Historicist and Relativist Feminist Philosophy of Disability Looks Like". We use the essay to unpack Shelley's feminist philosophy of disability.  Moreover, we delve into the work of Fo...

Anthony Gavin of the podcast Out of Left Field helps us explicate a few chapters from Louis Althusser's On the Reproduction of Capitalism: Ideology And Ideological State Apparatuses . Figures featured in the discussion: Deleuze and Guattari, Foucault, Hegel, Stirner, Malabou, Derrida, and a few others. Support the show Support the podcast: AHRC Current classes at Acid Horizon Research Commons...

How does one 'become-plant'? Karen Houle joins us and guides us through her work on critical vegetal studies. We address how the notion of becoming-plant (a term originally coined by Deleuze and Guattari) challenges the traditional image of thought. What's more, we consider the ethical implications of becoming-plant while surveying its potential uses in addressing issues such as cli...

We tap Benjamin Noys to engage in a broad discussion of aesthetics and politics related to his writings on techno, black metal, and communization.  Some figures who appear within the discussion: Nietzsche, Bataille, Stirner, Hegel, Deleuze, Badiou, Fisher, and Brassier. Also, Adam joins the Acid team. Support the show Support the podcast: AHRC Current classes at Acid Horizon Research Commons (AHRC...