Public Intellectual

If the year in film went the way film critics said it was, Joker would have caused an incel uprising and Little Women would have solved misogyny. This was a year that hyperbole and Think Pieces took over film criticism, with every film being touted as the Most Important Ever or the Best Ever or You Will Definitely Die If You See This in the Theater. Jacobin film critic and co-host of the podcast F...

Poet and well known curmudgeon Jim Behrle talks to Jessa about this season of cheer, hope, and friendliness and how terrible all of that is. You don't have to be grateful, you don't have to list your accomplishments like a trained puppy, you can feel bad about the world. http://jessacrispin.com Support this podcast: http://patreon.com/publicintellectual

The legendary cult expert and psychologist Robert Jay Lifton joins Public Intellectual to explain what the totalitarian experience shares with the religious cult, how Trump functions as a cult leader, and why deprogramming via intervention and logical debate never works. His most recent work is Losing Reality, and is an overview into cultist thought. http://jessacrispin.com Support this podcast: h...

Twitter is full of Nazis, Facebook is facilitating genocide, YouTube is, well, also full of Nazis but also child pornography. How did social media get here, or was it always this bad? And why are we all still on it? And what the hell is wrong with Mark Zuckerberg? Jacob Silverman is the author of Terms of Service, and he joins us to discuss. http://jessacrispin.com Support this podcast: http://pat...

Jessa talks to Brandon Scott, currently the City Council President and hopefully the next mayor of Baltimore, to talk about how the language of politics can become the language of exclusion. We discuss how to treat gun violence as a public health issue, why we should lower the voting age to 16, and how to think about the prison abolition movement in a city like Baltimore.  http://jessacrispin.com...

With the revelations about the abuses of Harvey Weinstein and others like him came a scramble to uncover the misdeeds of other powerful men. Some people did this for noble reasons. Others wanted to make a name for themselves. In this episode, Jessa talks with Laura La Rosa, a Darug and Calabrian writer in Australia, about a controversy that overtook the MeToo movement there, and how it relates to...

What makes a feminist artist feminist? Is it just by being a woman and political? Is it something to do with the art itself, must it carry a specific feminist message? Jessa speaks with artist Jen May about how her politics align -- and don't -- with her collages, and how her political development coincided with her artistic development. Support this podcast: http://patreon.com/publicintellectual

Before DNA testing, the father was, ultimately, a question mark. Because paternity was always in question, there were legal, familial, societal, and national interest in finding ways either to definitely prove paternity or to disprove it. Nara Milanich joins Jessa to discuss how while patriarchy is dependent on the father to reproduce itself it is mostly myth and supposition, how America both sent...

Jessa speaks with Nathalie Olah about her new book, Steal As Much As You Can and the bland cultural landscape, created by upper classes and dominated by middle class taste. They talk about the rising power of the university, the growing hostility of the alt-right toward art, and the how the new culture wars aren't between left and right but between the classes.  Support this podcast. Go to http://...

Jessa speaks with cultural critic, academic, and leftist thinker Yasmin Nair about the exploitative, dumbed down, and click-baity hot take culture in which we all consume. They discuss trying to write and think in a sea of opinion, the way leftist magazines take advantage of young writers, and how readers can take responsibility for the world created.  Support this podcast: http://patreon.com/publ...

Jessa speaks with Justin Ward about the disappearance of the working class journalist. With local, small, and alternative newspapers folding, there are fewer avenues for people who want to be journalists to learn the trade except for in expensive, exclusive, and elitist university systems. How has that changed media coverage of politics and the economy? Why does the New York Times only know four T...

On the inaugural episode of "Public Intellectual," Jessa Crispin invites writer & cultural critic Laura Kipnis to discuss her book, "Unwanted Advances: Sexual Paranoia Comes to Campus," the visceral political responses the book created, and the misinterpretations of Kipnis' newest ideas.

Jessa invites Breanne Fahs, Professor of Women and Gender Studies at Arizona State University and author of Out for Blood: Essays on Menstruation and Resistance, onto Public Intellectual to discuss Radical Feminism and it's place in the canon of Feminist thought. Together, they talk about the Feminist Bogeyman, "too–muchness," and the legacy of polarizing feminist figures like Valerie Solanas.

Jessa invites Michelle Tea, author of "Modern Tarot: Connecting with Your Higher Self through the Wisdom of the Cards" and "Black Wave," onto the show to discuss Tarot's relevance and application in the modern era. They get into the Patriarchal origins of Tarot, its representations of masculinity and femininity, and how Tarot's been redesigned to better reflect our world today.

Jessa made a joke on twitter saying that she wanted to write a book called "Heterosexuality is a Fucking Nightmare." She received an e-mail from another user intrigued by the idea, Indiana Seresin, encouraging her to write the book. They began corresponding on the topic, discussing things like desire, love, sociology, consent, personal stories of heartbreak and sexual regret. Their paths crossed i...

Jessa invites Zak Mucha, author of Emotional Abuse: A Manual For Self-Defense, onto Public Intellectual to discuss straight white men and the crisis of masculinity. They talk about masculine expectations, the nature and nurturing of masculinity in our society, the role of women in men's lives, the relationship between class and masculinity, and more.

Jessa invites author Bruce Benderson onto the show to discuss the disappearance of the spinster/grandma in film and how women's roles have changed with the rise of feminism. In film and in real life, why are all women now supposed to have it all? Why do they have to be sexually, financially, & romantically fulfilled? Why is the romantic love the end-all-be-all of a women's story line? How does tha...

Jessa invites author Mattilda Bernstein Sycamore (The End Of San Francisco) onto Public Intellectual to discuss the transgender military ban & the role of marginalized people in challenging dominant institutions of oppression, specifically the American Military & marriage. Does being accepted into these institutions count as social progress? Is it furthering the cause of equality? Or is it strengt...

Jessa invites Irish author Mia Gallagher (Beautiful Pictures of the Lost Homeland) onto Public Intellectual for a thoughtful discussion on what it means to be a fiction writer in these strange times. Together, they talk about Mia's work, identity and consequences in writing, gender, historical responsibility, and the brilliance of post-war German writers. Jessa even talks about drinking from a con...

Jessa invites Pamela Bannos, author of the upcoming book "Vivian Maier: A Photographer's Life and Afterlife" to discuss Vivian Maier's life, the exploitation of her work, and the manufacturing of her image after her death in 2009. Their conversation addresses the suppression of women's art, the prevailing discomfort with the "women genius" archetype, and the relationship and struggle between autho...

Jessa invites writer Neal Pollack onto the show to discuss the opportunism and profiteering of #Resistance writers in the age of Trump. They talk about the state of literature and journalism since the 2016 election, the abrupt shift of "literary power" from the Obama administration to the Trump administration, the role of the novel in our culture, the modern publishing industry, and whether or not...

As we approach the 20th anniversary of Tori Amos's "Boys for Pele," Jessa invites her friend, Common Gore, onto the show to discuss Tori Amos, the importance of her work, and her omission from the pop culture cannon, despite being one of the weirdest, wildest artists of the 90s. Together, they talk about her lasting legacy as an artist (especially as a live performer), the differences between our...

Recently, Jessa attended a fascinating exhibition of mysticism and art at the IMMA in Dublin called "As Above, So Below: Portals, Visions, Spirits & Mystics." Pádraic E Moore, writer/curator/art historian from Ireland based in Brussels, was a curatorial advisor for the exhibition. He joins Jessa via Skype to discuss the secret history of the occult and modernism and the role it played in art, writ...

There is a strong market for witchcraft these days. As practices such as astrology, tarot, crystals, and herbal medicine enter the mainstream, the use of witchcraft to sell stuff has increased dramatically. Jessa sits down with writer, artist, and witch, Katelan Foisy, to discuss what happens when a serious religious practice becomes commodified. Katelan Foisy is a multimedia artist, writer, and w...

Jessa invites Jessica Stites, executive editor of In These Times, onto the show for a conversation about the institution of marriage and why it should be abolished. Together, they talk about marriage as an alienating force against stigmatized groups, its modern association with love & romance, the legal constraints placed on individuals and partners seeking an alternative to marriage, and ways to...