The HBS hosts lower themselves into the muck in this NSFW episode.

Dr. Charles F. Peterson is in the hot seat for this episode’s discussion of vulgarity. What is the difference between obscenity, profanity, and vulgarity? Who determines what is “appropriate”? Is the very concept of vulgarity elitist?

Check out the links below to thinkers and ideas referenced in Episode 20:

• Fredrich Nietzsche, On the Genealogy of Morals (1887)
• Richard A. Lee, The Thought of Matter: Materialism, Conceptuality, and the Transcendence of Immanence (2015)
• Cher Hale, “What You Need to Know About Commedia Dell-Arte“ (ThoughtCo, 2019)
• Matt Soniak, “Obscenity vs. Profanity vs. Vulgarity: What’s the difference?” (Mental Floss, 2009)
• The “shine box” scene from Goodfellas