The Absurd World Podcast

Do you feel like your mind never slows down? Dread, anxiety, aimlessness… a fear of being vulnerable enough to truly connect, paired with a deep longing for belonging and intimacy that only true vulnerability can bring? Sounds like you should talk to someone. In the final episode of this philosophical check-in series, we explore the role of psychotherapy; what it is, what it can offer, and why it...

I’ve shared a lot with you over the past year; ideas about money, ethics, morality, society, ideology, and how we treat each other and the world we live in. For some, these ideas spark a desire to take action. For others, they can feel overwhelming… like there’s nothing you can really do. Which makes me wonder… you mad bro? In the second part of this philosophical check-in series, we explore what...

It’s been a year of episodes, and it feels like the right time to ask a simple but important question… are you okay? We’ve covered a lot together, exploring existential crises, personal struggles, and the many ways the world can feel overwhelming. We’ve looked into some heavy, unsettling ideas. Maybe it’s time for a philosophical check-in. In this first episode of a short series focused on reflect...

It’s the beginning of the twentieth century. The founders of existentialism are gone, and Europe stands in a near-constant state of upheaval. The world is primed for a surge of thought, questions of purpose, meaning, and above all… freedom. In this episode, the second part of our one-year anniversary special, we turn to the thinkers who would carry existentialism into the modern era. Their ideas w...

Friedrich Nietzsche once wrote, “I would believe only in a God that knows how to dance.” For him, the actions we choose—those not born out of obligation but out of freedom—reveal who we truly are. In today’s episode, we explore that idea more closely. After a year of episodes, we finally pause to ask: who were the existentialists this podcast is built upon? How did they come to believe and teach w...

What does it truly mean to be an existentialist? To fully embrace the label, not just as an idea, but as a way of living. After everything we’ve explored on this podcast, what would it actually look like to let existential thought guide your life? And does such a thing even really exist? In this week’s episode, I take on a question that’s been a long time coming as we try to uncover what it truly...

What does it mean to be wrong about something? And maybe more importantly, what does it say about us to be the kind of person who can be wrong? In everyday life, people seem intensely convinced that they’re right, often in completely opposing ways. So should we begin questioning what it even means to be wrong in the first place? In this week’s episode, I dive into the ideas of right and wrong, tru...

Am I truly connected to my world? Do I feel a sense of belonging with the people and places around me? Do I engage with life in a way that brings unity, or am I simply moving through it on autopilot, barely noticing as it slips by? In this episode, we return to Transcendentalism to wrestle with one of its central questions: what does it mean to be genuinely connected to the world? With the guidanc...

What do I believe? What do I think? What are my opinions? In any given moment, how do I actually feel about myself and the world around me, apart from the constant influence of the society I live in? These can feel like impossibly difficult questions to answer, yet they may be among the most important. And perhaps the hardest question of all: if I truly knew the answers, would I embrace them… or r...

We all fail. It’s part of being human; trying, falling short of our own standards or those imposed on us by others. Most of us know this experience well, and for many it’s one of the most painful we face. Failure can bring shame, self-hatred, alienation, and the urge to disappear. But what if failure isn’t something to fear or avoid? What if it’s something we should actively seek? In this week’s e...

Minneapolis has me thinking, as I assume it has a lot of us. I reflect on the state of the world, my country, philosophy, and I ask myself and you all, what are we supposed to do?

We are self-aware to the point that some see it as a curse, the true source of human suffering. And yet we persist, searching for meaning and purpose in an existence that appears to offer neither inherently. But what happens when we grow tired of performing, of wearing masks, of playing the roles we think we must? What does it mean to live authentically in that raw, honest space? And what might it...

As humans, we possess a rare capacity: the ability to reflect on ourselves, to question our existence, to create meaning, and to build entire belief systems around a single question: why? But what if this gift is also a burden? After several heavy episodes, I step back to ask whether we might be too self-aware for our own good. Drawing on the bleak and provocative reflections of Portuguese writer...

Over the past few episodes, we’ve explored the flaws, struggles, and misguided judgments that have shaped our society into something many people find difficult to live within, let alone find happiness, dignity, or peace. So what now? In this episode, we explore another possibility: anarchism. From David Graeber to Peter Kropotkin, Emma Goldman to Henry David Thoreau, we encounter voices that have...

The current way of doing things isn’t working for a lot of people anymore. People are angry. People are demanding lives that feel worth living—less alienated from the things that matter most. It may be why democratic socialism is gaining traction in the U.S. But what does it actually mean? And what are the trade-offs? In this week’s episode, we explore why so many people want change, where that ch...

We work, constantly. For many of us, it consumes most of our waking hours, and we do it simply to survive, often just barely. We’re told we should feel grateful to have a job at all, lucky to be paid to do something many don’t enjoy. Gratitude and loyalty are expected… but when did work become something we owe? In this episode, we trace the history of work and examine how capitalism has shaped mod...

Philosophy has shaped how we understand ourselves, our relationships, and our world. It has challenged our stories about reality and pushed us to question what we take for granted. But sometimes thinking isn’t enough. Sometimes philosophy must move us toward direct action, especially when the world we live in becomes unlivable. In this week’s episode, we explore what it means to use philosophy as...

When we think of the unconscious mind, we imagine mystery, depth, and vast uncharted territory. It can feel unsettling to consider what might surface when we stop keeping everything neatly tucked away. But what if the unconscious isn’t just chaos? What if it can be mapped? In this final episode of our series on the unconscious, we turn to Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung to explore what it might mean...

Since the beginning of this podcast, I’ve been asking the question: “Who am I?” As if finding ourselves would unlock endless possibilities. But what if the answer to that question is far more unsettling than we ever imagined? What if the “you” you think you know… isn’t the real you at all? In this week’s episode, we continue our series on the unconscious mind by diving into the work of French psyc...

What’s going on in your mind? What’s going on in mine? Sure, we know the surface-level stuff—the things we say, think, and do every day… but what’s deeper than that? What’s hiding in the dim, weird corridors of my psyche? This week kicks off a three-part series exploring and mapping the interior of the unconscious mind. We start with the general structure Sigmund Freud laid out and build from ther...

I’ve got a podcast where I talk about ethics, morals, human rights, solidarity, and why we should be fighting for each other instead of against each other. A lot of you care about the same causes. Many of you take action every day because you believe it’s the right thing to do. But… what if some of the “good” we do isn’t actually good? What if, even without realizing it, we’re doing something much...

Gender norms. What a topic. People argue about it. Fight, scream, and yell. Your uncle won’t stop bringing it up at every family gathering, whether he’s talking about bathrooms, sports, or… well… everything else. Why does it feel like such a hot-button issue today, yet remain wildly misunderstood by those shouting the loudest? In this week’s episode, we unpack what gender and its norms really are....

Sex. It’s woven through society, adulthood, and relationships. We’re told it should be one of the most important parts of a healthy, loving partnership, but what do we actually think about it? Do we place way too much weight on something we all seem to understand differently? Or barely understand at all? In this episode we get down and dirty with one of the biggest topics in modern life. With the...

Emotions, what are they, really? Why do we have them? Why do we struggle to express them? And for some of us… why is it so hard to feel them at all? In this week’s episode, I take a deep look at emotions, why they exist, the roles they play in our daily lives, and why so many of us find ourselves disconnected from them. With help from Bell Hooks, Brené Brown, and Rollo May, we’ll also explore how...

It’s almost Halloween! And to celebrate, we’re digging into one of the most chilling topics of all — Existential Horror. Through film and literature, we’ll descend into the strange, the unsettling, and the deeply human fears of ambiguity, helplessness, and loss of control. Spoiler alert for the following works: Enemy Foe I Who Have Never Known Men A Collapse of Horses The Empty Man Roadside Picnic...