Political Theory 101

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Ranking history

About the show

Latest episodes

• Kojève & the End of History

  April 6, 2026 · 1 hr 33 min

  We talk about Alexandre Kojève, whose reading of Hegel gave rise to a theory of recognition and of an "end of history". We also discuss Kojève's influence on Francis Fukuyama and on contemporary liberalism.

• Murray Edelman & Symbolic Politics

  February 4, 2026 · 1 hr 33 min

  We discuss the work of American political scientist Murray Edelman, whose work on symbolic politics predates later French theory on the "spectacle".

• Clarence Streit and International Federalism

  November 27, 2025 · 1 hr 41 min

  We discuss Streit's 1939 proposal for a international federation of democracies to avoid a new world war. We explore the limits of argumentation and the difference between making an argument and doing politics.

• Friedrich List and the National System

  September 8, 2025 · 1 hr 27 min

  We discuss Friedrich List's many careers, his struggle for a German customs union, his belief that nationalism would lead to the "uniting of all nations under a common law of right", what happened instead, and why.

• Vico and the Concept of the Natural

  July 6, 2025 · 1 hr 22 min

  We discuss Vico's theory of nature, his unorthodox mix of stereotypically ancient and modern approaches, and how his "new science" seems to be going so far.

• Hobbes' Behemoth

  June 6, 2025 · 1 hr 41 min

  A whole episode of Political Theory 101 devoted to Thomas Hobbes' Behemoth. We discuss Hobbes' historical narrative and his theory of education, both of which receive little attention in Leviathan.

• Nick Land & the Politics of Acceleration (w/Michael Downs)

  April 21, 2025 · 1 hr 48 min

  Michael Downs joins Benjamin to discuss the political thought of Nick Land, its relationship to the work of Deleuze and Guattari, and the degree to which it has influenced the contemporary left and right.

• The Politics of Plato's Parmenides

  March 27, 2025 · 1 hr 37 min

  We discuss how Plato used dialectical thinking to deal with objections to the theory of the forms. Then we discuss how this kind of thinking enriches our ability to make use of all sorts of political concepts and abstractions.