Polemic
“Reading Lolita in Tehran” Redux, NY, 2012: a Supplemental Podcast for Social Research

This is a supplemental episode of our podcast series. While preparing for our most recent podcast, I (Ajay) came across a piece that Gideon Lewis-Kraus had written critiquing an article by Columbia Professor Hamid Dabashi which was, in turn, a critique of Azar Nafisi’s bestseller Reading Lolita in Tehran. I was quite taken aback by Gideon’s piece →

Episode 4 of the Podcast for Social Research

This is the fourth episode of our podcast series, “The Podcast for Social Research.”In this episode I (Ajay) fail to get the show edited and annotated in a timely fashion, we fail to come to an agreement on how to proceed in philosophical discourse, and we quarrel with unexpected passion about Downton Abbey. We never →

Episode 3 of the Podcast for Social Research: Introduction and Notations

This is the third episode of our podcast series, “The Podcast for Social Research.” This week we talk a bit about our first class, a bit more about Kamila Shamsie’s essay “The Storytellers of Empire,” and quite a lot about Evgeny Morozov’s essay “The Death of the Cyberflaneur,” Walter Benjamin, the Internet, subjectivity and a heck →

Episode 2 of the Podcast for Social Research: Introduction and Notations

This is the second episode of our podcast series, “The Podcast for Social Research.” This week we talk about the video game Shadow of the Colossus, Plato’s beef with poetry in The Republic, and quite a bit in between. For more information on the podcast series, please see the Introduction and Notations to Episode 1. As with →

Atheism, Naturalism and Morality – Some Brief Comments

The New York Times runs an online series called “The Stone” in which contemporary philosophers discuss current issues in the field. The following are some reflections on Louise Antony’s recent piece: “Good Minus God”.

Episode 1 of the Podcast for Social Research: An Introduction and Notations

This is the first episode of our podcast series, “The Podcast for Social Research.” It is divided into two parts. The first part is an introduction followed by discussion of various goings-on of the faculty of the Brooklyn Institute, ranging from books we’ve been reading and concerts we’ve attended to reflections on current affairs and →