The HBS hosts discuss the where, when, and how of utopic imagination.
On the one hand, utopia as an ideal place, space, political arrangement, or future has been criticized because it delays action to some, perhaps impossible, future. On the other hand, something like utopia just might be necessary for political struggles. We begin with Cruising Utopia by José Esteban Muñoz and move on to discuss the importance, problems, and possibilities of utopia.
In this episode, we discuss the following texts, authors, works, ideas, and creations:
- José Esteban Muñoz, Cruising Utopia
- Thomas More, Utopia
- The “myth” of Atlantis as told in Plato’s Critias
- Plato, The Republic
- Tommaso Campanella, City of the Sun
- Marx’s critique of utopia and utopian socialism in *The Communist Manifesto
- Star Trek, the Original Series
- Star Trek: The Next Generation
- Giorgio Agamben’s discussion of “potentiality” in Aristole from Homo Sacer. See alo his *Potentialities
- Aristotle on potency from Metaphysics, Book VII
- Aristotle on “resistance” from Book VIII of Metaphysics.
- Ernst Bloch, The Spirit of Utopia
- Giles Deleuze and Felix Guattari, What is Philosophy?
- Neil Gaiman and P. Craig Russell, *Sandman: The Dream Hunters
- Theodor Adorno, Minima Moralia: “Art is magic freed from the lie of being true.” Note: In the podcast, Rick translated this differently, “Art is magic, freed from the lie, to be true.” This obviously has a radically different sense.
- A coffee mug with this quote!
- The concept of “authentic art” in Adorno’s *Aesthetic Theory
- Godwin’s Law
- “The Sun’ll Come out Tomorrow” from Annie by Charles Strouse, Martin Charnin, and Thomas Meehan
- Paul’s Letter to the Hebrews, Chapter 11, verse 1
- Martin Luther King, Jr., A Testament of Hope
- Rev. Jesse Jackson’s speech to the Democratic Party National Convention in 1988
- Cornel West, “Do not be surprised by evil or paralyzed by despair” on Twitter
- The unionization successes at Starbucks
- *The Shawshank Redemption
- The leaked draft opinion of Samuel Alito striking down Roe v Wade
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