Sectarian Review
  • Episodes and Show Notes
  • The Sectarian Review Blog
  • About

Episode 107: Faust and Modernity

1/30/2019

3 Comments

 
Picture
Discover how Goethe's Faust provides the template for the modern world. How does his version of the scholar who sells his soul to the Devil inspire and describe our world? Patrick Higgins joins the show this week to discuss the Faustian tale, theology, capitalism, Marxism, Evangelical Trumpism and ritual magic.
Links:
From Pen and Screen:
Manifestophilis: Ritual, Medium, Turnings
Blueprint Revisions
Manifestopheles: An Investigation into the Faustian Nature of Adaptation
Theater Productions
Sinful Dialectic

Review of Patrick Higgins’ stage version of Faust

Marshall Berman’s All That is Solid Melts into Air

Owls at Dawn Podcast

3 Comments

Episode 91: Metropolis

10/10/2018

0 Comments

 
Picture
Inspired by our recent episode on Elon Musk, this show explores the nightmarish futuristic vision of the class Fritz Lang film, Metropolis. Learn all about the background of this film’s socialist politics and groundbreaking cinematography. Still stunning to look at 90 years later, this 1927 masterpiece has influenced countless science fiction films since its release. What does the film have to say about technology and the mechanization of mankind? Is it a transhumanist fantasy or nightmare? How does this film make use of religious imagery in order to make the case for its socialist politics? Is the heart the mediator between head and hands? Plus, sexy robots! All this and much much more. Todd Pedlar of the the Book of Nature Podcast and Micah Redding of the Christian Transhumanist Society join for this great discussion about an essential film.

​
0 Comments

Episode 85: Cultural Marxism (Keywords Part 3)

8/29/2018

1 Comment

 
Picture
In the third installment of our "Keywords" series with C. Derick Varn, we focus on a single term with a long and diabolical history: Cultural Marxism. The theory that truth-denying, postmodern Marxists are seeking to undermine society has been around for a while and most recently has been popularized by such intellectual luminaries as Jordan Peterson. What many people don't know, however, is the deeply anti-Semitic roots of this conspiracy theory. What are the historical roots of the term? How was a marginal conspiracy theory mainstreamed by people like Pat Buchanan? Why are conspiracy theories more prevalent on the right than the left? All this and more!
**UPDATE: Varn wishes to make the following correction: "I made one error in this, I got Horkheimer and Axel Honneth confused on ethnic background. Horkheimer was Jewish and Honneth isn't as far as I know."
Link:
Diet Soap Podcast. Doug Lain interviews Mark Fisher
1 Comment

Episode 80: Liberals, the Left, and Russiagate

7/25/2018

2 Comments

 
Click to Subscribe on iTunes
Picture
Ed Simon joins the show again to discuss Trump, Putin, and Russiagate. Liberals, eager to find a way to impeach Trump have been focusing on the investigation in all its minutiae, valorizing the American intelligence community, and finding conspiracy around every corner. Leftists, on the other hand, have been largely dismissive of the story, accusing Liberals of losing sight of more tangible, more structural issues. This episode, while agreeing that Liberals have gone a bit over the top, questions whether the Left is too dismissive of possible collusion between Trump and Putin’s forces.
Topics:
  1. Ways in which the Left has a point about Liberal fixation on Russia.
  2. The Intercept, Glen Greenwald, and Lefty critiques.
  3. Why McCarthyism is a terrible word to use in this case.
  4. Is anybody really “running on Russia”?
  5. Why Left skepticism of the facts defies logic.
  6. But isn’t there a weird problem with this new “liberal patriotism” that valorizes the CIA and FBI?
Links:
Ed Simon’s home page
Michael Kazin’s “Five Reasons Why the Left Should Care About Russiagate”
“It Matters Yes But How Much,” by Nathan A. Robinson - Current Affairs
“Russiagate Can’t End Well for the Left,” by Seth Ackerman - Jacobin
“Trumpism It’s Coming from the Suburbs,” by Jesse A. Myerson - The Nation

2 Comments

Episode 73: C. Derick Varn's "Apocalyptics"

6/7/2018

0 Comments

 
Picture
iTunes
If you've ever wondered about the creative process, this show is for you. Fan favorite C. Derick Varn joins the show to discuss his new book of poetry, Apocalyptics, just released by Unlikely Books. Learn about how Varn’s Marxist politics and unique religious background come together in this collection of poems that “reveal.” Varn’s book is a fascinating adaptation of traditional religious themes and in this episode, he tells us about his process and the formal exploration of intersections between politics, history, Christianity, Judaism, and Buddhism.
Links:
Unlikely Books page for Apocalyptics
Apocalyptics Facebook Page
Symptomatic Commentary
Zero Books

0 Comments

Episode 70: They Live - Ideology, Wrestling, Aliens

5/17/2018

0 Comments

 
Picture

In 1988 John Carpenter, auteur of genre classics like Halloween, The Fog, Escape from New York, The Thing, and Big Trouble in Little China, wrote and directed a powerhouse cult classic movie called They Live. Starring professional wrestler Rowdy Roddy Piper, the film crossed the sci-fi, horror, action, and lowbrow comedy genres while making a potent political statement about Ronald Reagan’s America and capitalism in the late Twentieth Century. The film follows an unemployed construction worker who discovers sunglasses that reveal the subliminal messages in our advertising and the alien invaders who are manipulating mankind’s fate. Now, thirty years after its release, what does the film have to say about our world?

Links:

Zizek on Ideology and They Live - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TVwKjGbz60k
William Cavanaugh on Religious Violence - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NS2VVLpDyWE
William Cavanaugh on Consumerism - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vh22rJpL7zM&t

Special thanks to the band They Live Exclamation Point: Find them and their stuff at the following links:
Live show link:
http://freemusicarchive.org/music/They_Live_The_Movie_The_Band/

Facebook: 
https://www.facebook.com/They-Live-Exclamation-Point-418270938256359/
Bandcamp:
https://tempdomain17.bandcamp.com/


0 Comments

Episode 68: "Exiting the Vampire Castle"

5/3/2018

9 Comments

 
Picture
In 2013, the late Mark Fisher wrote an essay that immediately became a lightning rod in Left politics. “Exiting the Vampire Castle,” took aim at a leftism which Fisher saw as replacing class interests with a moralizing, liberal identity politics. In many ways, the essay predicted the aftermath of Trump’s election and the Clinton/Sanders debates. More importantly, however, it offers us a chance to think about how political discourse is changed by social media. Joining the Sectarian Review Podcast for this episode is C. Derick Varn. In addition to his long history of being involved in leftist political debates, Varn has special insight into this particular essay, as he was one of the editors who originally commissioned it in the first place. Sit back and take a deep dive into a fascinating conversation about political discourse.
Links:
“Exiting the Vampire Castle,” by Mark Fisher
“Out of a Castle, Into a Pit,” by C. Derick Varn
Russell Brand Versus Jeremy Paxman on the BBC

9 Comments

Episode 67: Oscar Romero, The Scandal of Redemption

4/25/2018

0 Comments

 
Picture
For this special May 1 edition of the show, Danny Anderson and Nathan Gilmour discuss a new book by Plough Publishing. In celebration of his upcoming canonization, Plough has published a series of homilies by Archbishop Oscar Romero called The Scandal of Redemption. Romero, who was assassinated in 1980 for his outspoken defense of El Salvador’s economically and politically oppressed citizens, was a divisive figure in Catholicism in his life. His political work, inspired in large part by the murder of his friend, Father Rutilio Grande, identified him with Liberation Theology for many Christians, who feared this movement’s association with Communism. The truth about Romero’s beliefs is much more nuanced and complex, however. Through his homilies (delivered as radio addresses to the nation’s poor), the truth about Romero’s political beliefs, and their intricate relationship to Catholic Theology, is revealed. The show wishes to thank Plough Publishing for providing exam copies of this wonderful book.

Also, don’t forget to submit a proposal to the upcoming Mount Aloysius College Conference on Teaching. If you want to learn more about effective teaching methods, this conference is a wonderful opportunity, and Danny Anderson would love to meet you in person! Proposals due by May 18 (see link below).
Links
The Scandal of Redemption, by Oscar Romero
Torture and Eucharist, by William T. Cavanaugh
The Ministry of Special Cases, by Nathan Englander
Mount Aloysius Conference on College Teaching

0 Comments

    Archives

    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016

    Categories

    All
    1980s
    Abuse
    Academia
    Akira Kurosawa
    Alan Moore
    Alex Jones
    Alfred Hitchcock
    Alternative Music
    Alt Right
    Amazing World Of Gumball
    America
    America And Other Fictions
    American Psycho
    Anabaptist
    Ancient Aliens
    Andrei Rublev
    Andrew Cuomo
    Antichrist
    Anti-Semitism
    Aphorisms
    Apocalypse
    Art
    Artificial Intelligence
    A Serious Man
    Authenticity
    Banned Books
    Batman
    BBC
    Bernie Sanders
    Bible
    Bigfoot
    Black Church
    Black Friday
    Black Lives Matter
    Black Panther
    Blade Runner
    Blockbuster
    Bluing
    Books
    Bookstores
    Bottled Water
    Bret Easton Ellis
    Bruderhof
    Buddhism
    Capitalism
    Capitalist Realism
    Capital Punishment
    Cartoons
    Catholicism
    Celebrity
    Censorship
    Chaim Potok
    Chick Tracts
    Children
    Christian Colleges
    Christianity
    Christian Nationalism
    Christmas
    Christopher Lee
    Church
    Cobra Kai
    Coen Brothers
    Collecting
    College
    Comedy
    Comic Books
    Comics
    Communism
    Community
    Conferences
    Conservatism
    Conspiracy Theory
    Consumerism
    Coronavirus
    Cossacks
    Country Music
    Creation-care
    Creationism
    Cryptozoology
    Cults
    Culture
    C.W. Buckley
    Dante
    Daredevil
    David Barton
    DC Comics
    Democratic Party
    Dickens
    Disability Studies
    Disney
    Dispensationalism
    Donald Trump
    Drinking
    Dungeons And Dragons
    Dystopian Fiction
    Earth Day
    Eastern Orthodoxy
    Economics
    Education
    Elon-musk
    Endgame
    Environmentalism
    Ethics
    Evangelicalism
    Existentialism
    Fan Culture
    Fantasy
    Fascism
    Faust
    Feminism
    Film
    Folger Library
    Free College
    Free Speech
    Freud
    Fritz Lang
    Fundamentalism
    Games
    Gerrymandering
    Get Out
    Ghosts
    God
    Grievance Studies
    Hallmark
    Halloween
    HGTV
    Higher Education
    Hillary Clinton
    Hip Hop
    Hipsters
    History
    Horror
    H.P. Lovecraft
    Identity Politics
    Ideology
    Infinity War
    Inside/Out
    Islam
    It
    Jack Chick
    Jeepers Creepers
    Jerry Jeff Walker
    Jessica Jones
    Jewishness
    Jim Bakker
    J. Kwest
    John Carpenter
    John Fea
    John Warner
    Jordan Peele
    Jordan Peterson
    Joshua Wise
    Justice League
    Keywords
    King Arthur
    Labor
    Laudato Si
    Law
    Lazarus At The Gate
    Leftist Politics
    Let God Die
    Liberal Arts
    Liberalism
    Liberation Theology
    Libraries
    Listener Feedback
    Literature
    Loneliness
    Love Actually
    Mark Fisher
    Mark Millar
    Marvel
    Marvel Comics
    Marx
    Marxism
    Mary Harron
    Materialism
    Matthew B. Crawford
    MeToo
    Metropolis
    Middlebrow
    Military
    Minimalism
    Ministry
    Miracleman
    Monsters
    Monuments
    Mothman
    Movies
    M.R. James
    Multiverse
    Museums
    Music
    Nazis
    Neoliberalism
    Netflix
    Nostalgia
    Office Space
    Oscar Romero
    Paganism
    Paranormal
    Passion
    Patriotism
    Pennsylvania
    Peter-daou
    Peter Laws
    Pet-sematary
    Philanthropy
    Philip Roth
    Philosophy
    Podcasting
    Poetry
    Political Correctness
    Politics
    Pop Culture
    Pope Francis
    Post Truth
    Post-Truth
    Prison
    Progressive Christianity
    Progressive Politics
    Prophecy
    Pure Flix
    Quatermass And The Pit
    Race
    Racism
    Rapture
    Rashomon
    Ready Player One
    R.E. Howard
    Religion
    REM
    Republican Party
    Rhetoric
    Rock Music
    Romantic Comedy
    Romanticism
    Russia
    Russiagate
    Satanic Panic
    Saudi Arabia
    Scholarship
    Science
    Science Fiction
    Scrooge
    Seven Mountain Dominionism
    Shakespeare
    Shop Class As Soulcraft
    Silicon Valley
    Skull And Bones
    Socialism
    Social Media
    Solaris
    Solitude
    Soviet Union
    Space
    Spider-Man
    Spirits
    Split
    Stalker
    Stan Lee
    Star Wars
    Stephen King
    Steven Spielberg
    Storytelling
    Stranger Things
    Superheroes
    Superman
    Tammy Faye Bakker
    Tarkovsky
    Taylor Swift
    Technology
    Television
    Thanksgiving
    The Chosen
    The Good Place
    The-helpers
    Theology
    Theololgy
    The-plot-against-america
    The-wicker-man
    The-wolf-man
    They-live
    Titans
    Tom-prigg
    Transhumanism
    Tremors
    Twilight-zone
    U2
    Universal Monsters
    Us
    Utilitarianism
    Verrit
    V For Vendetta
    Video Games
    Violence
    War
    Weezer
    Weird Christianity
    Weird Fiction
    Wild Goose Festival
    Wild Wild Country
    Work
    Wrestling
    Writing

    RSS Feed

About

Subscribe to the show (and leave a nice review) at iTunes or Stitcher
The Sectarian Review Podcast is a proud member of the Christian Humanist Radio Network. www.christianhumanist.org 
​
  • Episodes and Show Notes
  • The Sectarian Review Blog
  • About