Slavoj ŽižekEvery podcast appearance, updated as new ones drop

Sophie Fiennes and Slavoj Žižek on The Pervert's Guide to Utopias, in the Open section at Venice Film Festival 2026."

Hey Everyone, I'm delighted to present our third and final live show from The Mystery of Existence series at the Royal Institution Theatre, London. People travelled from far and wide to join us, and for our final event we brought together four intellectual heavyweights: Slavoj Žižek, Sabine Hossenfelder, William Lane Craig, and Rowan Williams. In a two vs two debate, they explored the existence of God through science, scepticism, and the resurrection. The full video is now available on the Unbelievable? YouTube channel, so be sure to check it out. Thank you again for supporting the show. We're incredibly excited to be celebrating our tenth anniversary, and we have an important announcement coming in two weeks' time, so stay tuned. Until then, I hope you enjoy the show! Links Watch the debate: Premier Christian Radio, Unbelievable

Is Donald Trump really a fascist - or has the word lost all meaning in modern political discourse? In the age of Trump, “fascism” has become one of the most explosive and contested terms in politics. Critics argue it’s an accurate description of the former president’s rhetoric and leadership style, while supporters see it as reckless hyperbole designed to demonize him. Renowned philosopher and psychoanalyst Slavoj Žižek joins Piers Morgan to discuss his new book, Liberal Fascism, and whether the label truly applies to Donald Trump - or whether something more complicated is happening beneath the surface of modern liberal politics. Later, Piers is joined by internet commentator Warren Smith, who offers a very different perspective on the debate. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

SPONSORS: - Accelerate your efficiency. Sign up for your one-dollar-per-month trial today at http://shopify.com/theories - Go to https://shortform.com/toe for a free trial and an exclusive $50 OFF on your annual subscription Slavoj Žižek doesn't answer your question — he dismantles it, rebuilds it, and hands you something stranger and more useful than what you started with. Philosopher, provocateur, and self-described pessimist, he's spent decades insisting on something most thinkers shy away from: that freedom isn't the absence of necessity — it's the moment you choose what you fundamentally are. The fall comes first. Paradise was never real to begin with. Reality is the gap, not the thing on either side of it. FOLLOW: - Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4gL14b92xAErofYQA7bU4e - Substack: https://curtjaimungal.substack.com/subscribe - Twitter: https://twitter.com/TOEwithCurt - Discord: https://discord.com/invite/kBcnfNVwqs - Crypto: https://nowpayments.io/donation/TOE - PayPal: https://tinyurl.com/paypalTOE TIMESTAMPS: 00:00:00 - Socrates and Radical Freedom 00:05:02 - Quantum Indeterminacy vs. Freedom 00:10:06 - Ontological Collapse Paradoxes 00:15:07 - Adorno and Social Antinomies 00:20:36 - Democritus: Less Than Nothing 00:25:40 - Sartre and Existential Choice 00:30:45 - Freudian Death Drive 00:36:01 - Heidegger and Hysterical Awareness 00:42:10 - Imp of Perversity 00:48:07 - Einstein vs. Bohr 00:53:15 - God’s Ontological Laziness 00:58:17 - Hegel’s Retroactive Necessity 01:03:41 - Digital Spirituality and AI 01:09:18 - Stalin and Failed Projects 01:14:41 - Hegel in a Wired Brain 01:20:10 - Religious Convictions and Physics 01:25:12 - Zen Buddhism and War LINKS MENTIONED: - Slavoj's Books: https://amazon.com/stores/author/B000APK7P8 - Philosophical Investigations into Human Freedom: https://amazon.com/dp/0791468747?tag=toe08-20 - Freedom: A Disease Without Cure: https://amazon.com/dp/1350559164?tag=toe08-20 - Groundwork of the Metaphysic of Morals: https://www.earlymoderntexts.com/assets/pdfs/kant1785.pdf - Binding, Minds & the Platonic Realm: https://youtu.be/0BVM0UC28nY - Quantum Healing: https://amazon.com/dp/0553348698?tag=toe08-20 - Republic of Silence: https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1944/12/paris-alive-the-republic-of-silence/656012/ - Discourse on the Origin of Inequality: https://amazon.com/dp/0486434141?tag=toe08-20 - Beyond the Pleasure Principle: https://www.sas.upenn.edu/~cavitch/pdf-library/Freud_Beyond_P_P.pdf - Philosophy of Spirit: https://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/hegel/jlindex.htm - Hegelian Reading of the New Science of Consciousness: https://www.crisiscritique.org/storage/app/media/2025-08-25/slavoj-zizek.pdf - The Mirror Stage: https://english.hku.hk/staff/kjohnson/PDF/LacanMirrorStageECRITS.pdf - Being and Time: https://amazon.com/dp/0061575593?tag=toe08-20 - Less Than Nothing: https://amazon.com/dp/1781681279?tag=toe08-20 - The Imp of the Perverse: https://web.english.upenn.edu/~cavitch/pdf-library/Poe_Imp.pdf - Einstein-Bohr Debate: https://www.marxists.org/reference/subject/philosophy/works/dk/bohr.htm - Ages of the World: https://amazon.com/dp/1438474059?tag=toe08-20 - Quantum History: https://amazon.com/dp/135056642X?tag=toe08-20 - Phenomenology of Spirit: https://amazon.com/dp/0198245971?tag=toe08-20 More links at https://curtjaimungal.substack.com Guests do not pay to appear. #science Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Does the past even exist anymore? Quantum mechanics has long unsettled our understanding of matter and measurement. But what if its implications reach further — into history, politics, and the very structure of reality itself? If the present can retroactively reshape the past it emerged from, what does that mean for how we act, how we remember, and how we govern? These are not merely theoretical puzzles. In a world where liberal democracy appears to be fracturing, where AI and climate change defy traditional political categories, and where new authoritarian currents are emerging from thinkers like Curtis Yarvin in the West and Wang Huning in the East, the question of whether reality offers any coherent ground for political action has never felt more urgent. Few thinkers are willing to hold all of this together at once — to move from Niels Bohr to Stalinism, from Lacanian psychoanalysis to the collapse of the political centre, without flinching. Slavoj Žižek does precisely that. In his new book Quantum History: A New Materialist Philosophy (Bloomsbury, 2025), Žižek argues that incompleteness is not a failure of knowledge but a feature of existence itself — and that this demands an entirely new way of thinking about history and politics. Slavoj Žižek is a Hegelian philosopher, Lacanian psychoanalyst, and one of the most provocative intellectuals of our time. Hosted by Omari Edwards. Read the full transcript of this conversation at IAI News: https://iai.tv/articles/slavoj-zizek-on-quantum-history-and-the-end-of-the-past-auid-3437 Don't hesitate to email us at podcast@iai.tv with your thoughts or questions on the episode! To witness such debates live buy tickets for our upcoming festival: https://howthelightgetsin.org/festivals/ And visit our website for many more articles, videos, and podcasts like this one: https://iai.tv/ You can find everything we referenced here: https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The self and the world We tend to think of ourselves as observers of the world and experience as something different from the material stuff that makes up reality. Yet at the same time as human beings, we are at once part of the universe and part of that reality. And this profoundly puzzling relationship, that we are both part of something and yet separate from it, has been at the centre of Western thought. Materialists claim there is only physical material. But if so, thought, experience, and consciousness become illusory. Idealists argue there is only consciousness, but then it is reality that becomes an illusion. While dualists hold that both the self and the world exist, but that the connection between the two is mysterious.   Is the self part of the world or necessarily outside of it? Was Kant right that the distinction between subject and object is necessary for experience to be possible? Or are these deep metaphysical questions beyond us, and our theories and language incapable of uncovering the ultimate state of things? Slavoj Žižek is one of the most famous philosophers in the world and is the author of more than 50 books, including most recently at the time of the debate Zero Point. Alenka Zupančič is a leading Lacanian philosopher and social theorist. She is a professor at The European Graduate School and at the University of Nova Gorica. Joining from America, Carlo Rovelli is a leading theoretical physicist, the author of several best-selling books, and a founding figure in the field of quantum gravity. His recent book, Reality Is Not What It Seems, has ethical implications for the nature of the self and personal identity. Jack Symes hosts. Email us at podcast@iai.tv with your thoughts on the episode!   To witness such topics discussed live buy tickets for our upcoming festival: https://howthelightgetsin.org/festivals/ And visit our website for many more articles, videos, and podcasts like this one: https://iai.tv/ You can find everything we referenced here: https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

SLAVOJ ŽIŽEK is back on the show to talk about his new book Quantum History: A New Materialist Philosophy. We’re talking Quantum Variations, Superposition, Wave Collapse, Catastrophe, & So On. Thank you to everyone for supporting our project and keeping us going. The series on Quantum History will continue with some more interviews and episodes with some great guests who have been working on all of these things and we’re looking forward to it! SUPPORT US ON PATREON! See you in Paris, Ž&…

Slavoj Žižek is a Slovenian philosopher and cultural theorist known for his provocative blend of Marxism, Hegelian philosophy, and Lacanian psychoanalysis, he remains one of the most influential and polarising intellectuals in contemporary thought. Slajov gets into the catastrophe of love, and ultimately whether the pursuit of happiness should be the goal in life. Keep up to date with Peter on Substack Keep up to date with Kasia! If you would like to support the podcast please consider our Patreon Executive Producer: Rachel Barrett Thanks to our volunteer researchers Hendrik Dahlmeier and Mihika Chechi, and Chris van Ryn! And special thanks to Suzi Jamil! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Donald Trump has been ripping up the rule book on global trade, implementing huge tariffs and sending markets into a frenzy. But is there any method in his apparent madness? Legendary Marxist philosopher Slavoj Žižek regales Aaron with his thoughts on US trade policy – not to mention Franz Kafka, fully automated luxury communism and whether he’s a “GILF”. Žižek’s new book, Zero Point, is out now on Bloomsbury. Help us build people-powered media: http://novara.media/support

Dubbed “the most dangerous philosopher in the West”, Slovenian psychoanalyst Slavoj Žižek has singlehandedly led a revolution in punk political theory. Now, in the shadow of Donald Trump 2.0, he asks why democracy fails, sex sells and how rock bottom could be the best place to start. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week we're joined by Slavoj Zizek! We discuss his new book, Christian Atheism, Judith Butler, the mafia, and where to find a good diner in New York. To support the podcast and gain access to many more episodes, join our Patreon Enjoy!

Friend of the show Slavoj Žižek stops by to discuss new political implications of the pandemic, advocate for conservative communism, praise Matt’s call for a new carnation revolution, and review Squid Game. Žižek’s new book, Heaven in Disorder, is out now: https://www.orbooks.com/catalog/heaven-in-disorder/ Few tickets remain to our show this Wednesday in Buffalo, NY: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/chapo-trap-house-tickets-201713088277 Ticket presales for our Southern Tour will be up on patreon.com/chapotraphouse 12/7 @ 10 am, then available to the general public Friday, 12/10 @ 10 am.

In typical full-throttle style, eieek takes the opportunity to hit back at criticisms of Violence published in the LRB and elsewhere, and to expand on both his work and that of other philosophers. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices