Theory Underground
Theory Underground aims to make challenging philosophical and theoretical work accessible, not by summarizing, but by aiding those who seek to engage in this work as a way of life. Keep up with everything at theoryunderground.com
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Episodes
Tuesday Feb 18, 2025
Tuesday Feb 18, 2025
If you're serious about doing theory, making art, changing the world, or living well, we invite you to join us. https://theoryunderground.com/subscribe
Theory Underground exists to cultivate the conditions necessary for a working class intellectual renaissance that goes beyond old political categories or other identitarian niches. At TU, autodidact workers with earbuds and professionals who see no future in existing institutions or movements are able to challenge their doxa and develop an understanding of the situation we are in. The aim of this work is to change the coordinates of thought, action, and organizing in American culture, so as to make possible large scale structural change for the sake of timenergy for all.
If you subscribe at https://theoryunderground.com/subscribe you'll get access to a package of courses, including:
12 Core Concepts with social theorist David McKerracher
The Fault-Line Theory with philosopher Michael Downs
12 Essential Political Theorists with political theorist Benjamin Studebaker
The Philosophy of Nature with philosopher Nina Power
The way these all get woven together at a deeper and more meta level is through the ongoing research seminars led by David McKerracher, Benjamin Studebaker, and Michael Downs, where they engage with one another’s work by sharing developments from their own perspectives, theory, and research.
If you subscribe at higher levels and support our work, we'll support your development with bespoke teaching. Alone and unaided, we struggle to grasp our situation in its fullness and formulate a meaningful response. By working together and pooling our energies, we can do better. Join us at theoryunderground.com/subscribe
—
ABOUT / GET INVOLVED
Looking to accelerate your way into a fresh understanding of our current situation? That’s what Theory Underground is all about. We are a seminar, lecture, and book publishing organism for workers with earbuds and professionals who see no hope in existing institutions. We're here to lay the conditions for doing theory and making art and having a life worth living in the 21st Century. If you don't know what it is already, then good luck! We're sure you'll figure it out if you're worth having around. In the meantime, enjoy this free content, all thanks to our patrons. You can always fund the free content at Patreon, but if you want to get involved at TU, then check out the membership tiers. And don't ask questions or make requests or give us advice, please. Take it or leave it. We guarantee our product meets a quality assurance check that none of your other content is capable of achieving, but you won't be able to tell the difference for a while. What we are rolling out in 2025 is a series of courses and ongoing seminars. Base subscribers at TU get access to the most essential of all that. The three tiers of membership grant certain very special privileges, most of which are not on the menu but you'll find out about. What IS on the menu though, for 2025, is a course on The Philosophy of Nature by Nina Power, 12 Essential Political Theorists with Benjamin Studebaker, The Fault-Line Theory with Michael Downs, and what I, the author of this copy, founder of this org, and main labor force for everything (production, socials, business, research, teaching, I'm a busy guy, guys) am coming out with a special series of Public seminars and Private seminars, as well as special introductory and deep dive courses. Never mind wading through the last two years of content. I'm here to be your tour guide through the most essential problems, concepts, and questions at Theory Underground. We're going to be talking about the method we've been developing between dialectics, phenomenology, and socioanalysis, in dialogue with Marxism, psychoanalysis, and French fried German theory (the fun pomo shit). Anyway, if you want to access all of that you better just subscribe right now: https://theoryunderground.com/subscribe
MUSIC CREDITS Logo sequence music by https://olliebeanz.com/music https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/legalcode Mike Chino, Demigods https://youtu.be/M6wruxDngOk
TU owns the rights to use the “What's Left” theme, thanks to its creator, Adam Leher. Thanks!
Monday Feb 17, 2025
Monday Feb 17, 2025
If you're serious about doing theory, making art, changing the world, or living well, we invite you to join us. https://theoryunderground.com/subscribe
Theory Underground exists to cultivate the conditions necessary for a working class intellectual renaissance that goes beyond old political categories or other identitarian niches. At TU, autodidact workers with earbuds and professionals who see no future in existing institutions or movements are able to challenge their doxa and develop an understanding of the situation we are in. The aim of this work is to change the coordinates of thought, action, and organizing in American culture, so as to make possible large scale structural change for the sake of timenergy for all.
If you subscribe at https://theoryunderground.com/subscribe you'll get access to a package of courses, including:
12 Core Concepts with social theorist David McKerracher
The Fault-Line Theory with philosopher Michael Downs
12 Essential Political Theorists with political theorist Benjamin Studebaker
The Philosophy of Nature with philosopher Nina Power
The way these all get woven together at a deeper and more meta level is through the ongoing research seminars led by David McKerracher, Benjamin Studebaker, and Michael Downs, where they engage with one another’s work by sharing developments from their own perspectives, theory, and research.
If you subscribe at higher levels and support our work, we'll support your development with bespoke teaching. Alone and unaided, we struggle to grasp our situation in its fullness and formulate a meaningful response. By working together and pooling our energies, we can do better. Join us at theoryunderground.com/subscribe
—
ABOUT / GET INVOLVED
Looking to accelerate your way into a fresh understanding of our current situation? That’s what Theory Underground is all about. We are a seminar, lecture, and book publishing organism for workers with earbuds and professionals who see no hope in existing institutions. We're here to lay the conditions for doing theory and making art and having a life worth living in the 21st Century. If you don't know what it is already, then good luck! We're sure you'll figure it out if you're worth having around. In the meantime, enjoy this free content, all thanks to our patrons. You can always fund the free content at Patreon, but if you want to get involved at TU, then check out the membership tiers. And don't ask questions or make requests or give us advice, please. Take it or leave it. We guarantee our product meets a quality assurance check that none of your other content is capable of achieving, but you won't be able to tell the difference for a while. What we are rolling out in 2025 is a series of courses and ongoing seminars. Base subscribers at TU get access to the most essential of all that. The three tiers of membership grant certain very special privileges, most of which are not on the menu but you'll find out about. What IS on the menu though, for 2025, is a course on The Philosophy of Nature by Nina Power, 12 Essential Political Theorists with Benjamin Studebaker, The Fault-Line Theory with Michael Downs, and what I, the author of this copy, founder of this org, and main labor force for everything (production, socials, business, research, teaching, I'm a busy guy, guys) am coming out with a special series of Public seminars and Private seminars, as well as special introductory and deep dive courses. Never mind wading through the last two years of content. I'm here to be your tour guide through the most essential problems, concepts, and questions at Theory Underground. We're going to be talking about the method we've been developing between dialectics, phenomenology, and socioanalysis, in dialogue with Marxism, psychoanalysis, and French fried German theory (the fun pomo shit). Anyway, if you want to access all of that you better just subscribe right now: https://theoryunderground.com/subscribe
MUSIC CREDITS Logo sequence music by https://olliebeanz.com/music https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/legalcode Mike Chino, Demigods https://youtu.be/M6wruxDngOk
TU owns the rights to use the “What's Left” theme, thanks to its creator, Adam Leher. Thanks!
Wednesday Feb 12, 2025
Wednesday Feb 12, 2025
If you're serious about doing theory, making art, changing the world, or living well, we invite you to join us. https://theoryunderground.com/subscribe
Theory Underground exists to cultivate the conditions necessary for a working class intellectual renaissance that goes beyond old political categories or other identitarian niches. At TU, autodidact workers with earbuds and professionals who see no future in existing institutions or movements are able to challenge their doxa and develop an understanding of the situation we are in. The aim of this work is to change the coordinates of thought, action, and organizing in American culture, so as to make possible large scale structural change for the sake of timenergy for all.
If you subscribe at https://theoryunderground.com/subscribe you'll get access to a package of courses, including:
12 Core Concepts with social theorist David McKerracher
The Fault-Line Theory with philosopher Michael Downs
12 Essential Political Theorists with political theorist Benjamin Studebaker
The Philosophy of Nature with philosopher Nina Power
The way these all get woven together at a deeper and more meta level is through the ongoing research seminars led by David McKerracher, Benjamin Studebaker, and Michael Downs, where they engage with one another’s work by sharing developments from their own perspectives, theory, and research.
If you subscribe at higher levels and support our work, we'll support your development with bespoke teaching. Alone and unaided, we struggle to grasp our situation in its fullness and formulate a meaningful response. By working together and pooling our energies, we can do better. Join us at theoryunderground.com/subscribe
—
ABOUT / GET INVOLVED
Looking to accelerate your way into a fresh understanding of our current situation? That’s what Theory Underground is all about. We are a seminar, lecture, and book publishing organism for workers with earbuds and professionals who see no hope in existing institutions. We're here to lay the conditions for doing theory and making art and having a life worth living in the 21st Century. If you don't know what it is already, then good luck! We're sure you'll figure it out if you're worth having around. In the meantime, enjoy this free content, all thanks to our patrons. You can always fund the free content at Patreon, but if you want to get involved at TU, then check out the membership tiers. And don't ask questions or make requests or give us advice, please. Take it or leave it. We guarantee our product meets a quality assurance check that none of your other content is capable of achieving, but you won't be able to tell the difference for a while. What we are rolling out in 2025 is a series of courses and ongoing seminars. Base subscribers at TU get access to the most essential of all that. The three tiers of membership grant certain very special privileges, most of which are not on the menu but you'll find out about. What IS on the menu though, for 2025, is a course on The Philosophy of Nature by Nina Power, 12 Essential Political Theorists with Benjamin Studebaker, The Fault-Line Theory with Michael Downs, and what I, the author of this copy, founder of this org, and main labor force for everything (production, socials, business, research, teaching, I'm a busy guy, guys) am coming out with a special series of Public seminars and Private seminars, as well as special introductory and deep dive courses. Never mind wading through the last two years of content. I'm here to be your tour guide through the most essential problems, concepts, and questions at Theory Underground. We're going to be talking about the method we've been developing between dialectics, phenomenology, and socioanalysis, in dialogue with Marxism, psychoanalysis, and French fried German theory (the fun pomo shit). Anyway, if you want to access all of that you better just subscribe right now: https://theoryunderground.com/subscribe
MUSIC CREDITS Logo sequence music by https://olliebeanz.com/music https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/legalcode Mike Chino, Demigods https://youtu.be/M6wruxDngOk
TU owns the rights to use the “What's Left” theme, thanks to its creator, Adam Leher. Thanks!
Tuesday Feb 11, 2025
Thursday Jan 16, 2025
Thursday Jan 16, 2025
Nina's Philosophy of Nature course at TU starts in two weeks. It will take place on the fourth Sunday of each month, at 1 PM Eastern time. Recordings are available for subscribers after the fact. Subscribers also get access to the other courses and seminars (read more below).
Theory Underground exists to create the conditions necessary for rigorous thinking about the problems we face as humans. If you're serious about doing theory, making art, and living well, we invite you to join us. https://theoryunderground.com/subscribe
If you subscribe at theoryunderground.com, you'll get access to a package of courses, including:
12 Essential Concepts with social theorist David McKerracher
The Fault-Line Theory with philosopher Michael Downs
12 Essential Political Theorists with political theorist Benjamin Studebaker
The Philosophy of Nature with philosopher Nina Power
You'll also get access to the seminars of McKerracher, Downs, and Studebaker, where we'll interface with each other's theories and work toward sharpening one another's understandings.
If you subscribe at higher levels and support our work, we'll support your development with bespoke teaching. At plus, you'll be invited to participate in discussions. At premium, we'll invite you to submit essays for detailed, comprehensive feedback.
Alone and unaided, we struggle to grasp our situation in its fullness and formulate a meaningful response. By working together and pooling our energies, we can do better. Join us, and together we'll try to do the best we can. https://theoryunderground.com/subscribe
—
ABOUT / GET INVOLVED
Looking to accelerate your way into a fresh understanding of our current situation? That’s what Theory Underground is all about. We are a seminar, lecture, and book publishing organism for workers with earbuds and professionals who see no hope in existing institutions. We're here to lay the conditions for doing theory and making art and having a life worth living in the 21st Century. If you don't know what it is already, then good luck! We're sure you'll figure it out if you're worth having around. In the meantime, enjoy this free content, all thanks to our patrons. You can always fund the free content at Patreon, but if you want to get involved at TU, then check out the membership tiers. And don't ask questions or make requests or give us advice, please. Take it or leave it. We guarantee our product meets a quality assurance check that none of your other content is capable of achieving, but you won't be able to tell the difference for a while. What we are rolling out in 2025 is a series of courses and ongoing seminars. Base subscribers at TU get access to the most essential of all that. The three tiers of membership grant certain very special privileges, most of which are not on the menu but you'll find out about. What IS on the menu though, for 2025, is a course on The Philosophy of Nature by Nina Power, 12 Essential Political Theorists with Benjamin Studebaker, The Fault-Line Theory with Michael Downs, and what I, the author of this copy, founder of this org, and main labor force for everything (production, socials, business, research, teaching, I'm a busy guy, guys) am coming out with a special series of Public seminars and Private seminars, as well as special introductory and deep dive courses. Never mind wading through the last two years of content. I'm here to be your tour guide through the most essential problems, concepts, and questions at Theory Underground. We're going to be talking about the method we've been developing between dialectics, phenomenology, and socioanalysis, in dialogue with Marxism, psychoanalysis, and French fried German theory (the fun pomo shit). Anyway, if you want to access all of that you better just subscribe right now: https://theoryunderground.com/subscribe
MUSIC CREDITS Logo sequence music by https://olliebeanz.com/music https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/legalcode Mike Chino, Demigods https://youtu.be/M6wruxDngOk
TU owns the rights to us the What's Left theme, thanks to its creator, Adam Leher. Thanks!
Monday Jan 13, 2025
Monday Jan 13, 2025
Theory Underground exists to create the conditions necessary for rigorous thinking about the problems we face as humans. If you're serious about doing theory, making art, and living well, we invite you to join us. https://theoryunderground.com/subscribe
If you subscribe at theoryunderground.com, you'll get access to a package of courses, including:
12 Essential Concepts with social theorist David McKerracher
The Fault-Line Theory with philosopher Michael Downs
12 Essential Political Theorists with political theorist Benjamin Studebaker
The Philosophy of Nature with philosopher Nina Power
You'll also get access to the seminars of McKerracher, Downs, and Studebaker, where we'll interface with each other's theories and work toward sharpening one another's understandings.
If you subscribe at higher levels and support our work, we'll support your development with bespoke teaching. At plus, you'll be invited to participate in discussions. At premium, we'll invite you to submit essays for detailed, comprehensive feedback.
Alone and unaided, we struggle to grasp our situation in its fullness and formulate a meaningful response. By working together and pooling our energies, we can do better. Join us, and together we'll try to do the best we can. https://theoryunderground.com/subscribe
—
ABOUT / GET INVOLVED
Looking to accelerate your way into a fresh understanding of our current situation? That’s what Theory Underground is all about. We are a seminar, lecture, and book publishing organism for workers with earbuds and professionals who see no hope in existing institutions. We're here to lay the conditions for doing theory and making art and having a life worth living in the 21st Century. If you don't know what it is already, then good luck! We're sure you'll figure it out if you're worth having around. In the meantime, enjoy this free content, all thanks to our patrons. You can always fund the free content at Patreon, but if you want to get involved at TU, then check out the membership tiers. And don't ask questions or make requests or give us advice, please. Take it or leave it. We guarantee our product meets a quality assurance check that none of your other content is capable of achieving, but you won't be able to tell the difference for a while. What we are rolling out in 2025 is a series of courses and ongoing seminars. Base subscribers at TU get access to the most essential of all that. The three tiers of membership grant certain very special privileges, most of which are not on the menu but you'll find out about. What IS on the menu though, for 2025, is a course on The Philosophy of Nature by Nina Power, 12 Essential Political Theorists with Benjamin Studebaker, The Fault-Line Theory with Michael Downs, and what I, the author of this copy, founder of this org, and main labor force for everything (production, socials, business, research, teaching, I'm a busy guy, guys) am coming out with a special series of Public seminars and Private seminars, as well as special introductory and deep dive courses. Never mind wading through the last two years of content. I'm here to be your tour guide through the most essential problems, concepts, and questions at Theory Underground. We're going to be talking about the method we've been developing between dialectics, phenomenology, and socioanalysis, in dialogue with Marxism, psychoanalysis, and French fried German theory (the fun pomo shit). Anyway, if you want to access all of that you better just subscribe right now: https://theoryunderground.com/subscribe
MUSIC CREDITS Logo sequence music by https://olliebeanz.com/music https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/legalcode Mike Chino, Demigods https://youtu.be/M6wruxDngOk
TU owns the rights to us the What's Left theme, thanks to its creator, Adam Leher. Thanks!
Sunday Jan 05, 2025
Sunday Jan 05, 2025
ABOUT / GET INVOLVED Looking to accelerate your way into a fresh understanding of our current situation? That’s what Theory Underground is all about. We are a seminar, lecture, and book publishing organism for workers with earbuds and professionals who see no hope in existing institutions. We're here to lay the conditions for doing theory and making art and having a life worth living in the 21st Century. If you don't know what it is already, then good luck! We're sure you'll figure it out if you're worth having around. In the meantime, enjoy this free content, all thanks to our patrons. You can always fund the free content at Patreon, but if you want to get involved at TU, then check out the membership tiers. And don't ask questions or make requests or give us advice, please. Take it or leave it. We guarantee our product meets a quality assurance check that none of your other content is capable of achieving, but you won't be able to tell the difference for a while. What we are rolling out in 2025 is a series of courses and ongoing seminars. Base subscribers at TU get access to the most essential of all that. The three tiers of membership grant certain very special privileges, most of which are not on the menu but you'll find out about. What IS on the menu though, for 2025, is a course on The Philosophy of Nature by Nina Power, 12 Essential Political Theorists with Benjamin Studebaker, The Fault-Line Theory with Michael Downs, and what I, the author of this copy, founder of this org, and main labor force for everything (production, socials, business, research, teaching, I'm a busy guy, guys) am coming out with a special series of Public seminars and Private seminars, as well as special introductory and deep dive courses. Never mind wading through the last two years of content. I'm here to be your tour guide through the most essential problems, concepts, and questions at Theory Underground. We're going to be talking about the method we've been developing between dialectics, phenomenology, and socioanalysis, in dialogue with Marxism, psychoanalysis, and French fried German theory (the fun pomo shit). Anyway, if you want to access all of that you better just subscribe right now: https://theoryunderground.com/subscribe MUSIC CREDITS Logo sequence music by https://olliebeanz.com/music https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/legalcode Mike Chino, Demigods https://youtu.be/M6wruxDngOk Shout out to Adam - thanks for the What's Left song it's the coolest thing ever and having the rights to use this is both a privilege and now our property because I guess music works that way for now.
Friday Jan 03, 2025
Friday Jan 03, 2025
Benjamin's piece: https://substack.com/home/post/p-153650327
ABOUT / GET INVOLVED Looking to accelerate your way into a fresh understanding of our current situation? That’s what Theory Underground is all about. We are a seminar, lecture, and book publishing organism for workers with earbuds and professionals who see no hope in existing institutions. We're here to lay the conditions for doing theory and making art and having a life worth living in the 21st Century. If you don't know what it is already, then good luck! We're sure you'll figure it out if you're worth having around. In the meantime, enjoy this free content, all thanks to our patrons. You can always fund the free content at Patreon, but if you want to get involved at TU, then check out the membership tiers. And don't ask questions or make requests or give us advice, please. Take it or leave it. We guarantee our product meets a quality assurance check that none of your other content is capable of achieving, but you won't be able to tell the difference for a while. What we are rolling out in 2025 is a series of courses and ongoing seminars. Base subscribers at TU get access to the most essential of all that. The three tiers of membership grant certain very special privileges, most of which are not on the menu but you'll find out about. What IS on the menu though, for 2025, is a course on The Philosophy of Nature by Nina Power, 12 Essential Political Theorists with Benjamin Studebaker, The Fault-Line Theory with Michael Downs, and what I, the author of this copy, founder of this org, and main labor force for everything (production, socials, business, research, teaching, I'm a busy guy, guys) am coming out with a special series of Public seminars and Private seminars, as well as special introductory and deep dive courses. Never mind wading through the last two years of content. I'm here to be your tour guide through the most essential problems, concepts, and questions at Theory Underground. We're going to be talking about the method we've been developing between dialectics, phenomenology, and socioanalysis, in dialogue with Marxism, psychoanalysis, and French fried German theory (the fun pomo shit). Anyway, if you want to access all of that you better just subscribe right now: https://theoryunderground.com/subscribe
MUSIC CREDITS Logo sequence music by https://olliebeanz.com/music https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/legalcode Mike Chino, Demigods https://youtu.be/M6wruxDngOk Shout out to Adam - thanks for the What's Left song it's the coolest thing ever and having the rights to use this is both a privilege and now our property because I guess music works that way for now.
Monday Dec 23, 2024
Saturday Dec 14, 2024
Saturday Dec 14, 2024
ABOUT
Theory Underground is a research, publishing, and lecture institute. TU exists to develop the concept of timenergy in the context of critical social theory (CST). To get basically situated in this field you will have to know a handful of important figures from a bunch of areas of the humanities and social sciences. That would be a lot of work for you if not for the fact that Dave, Ann, and Mikey are consolidating hundreds of thousands of hours of effort into a pirate TV-radio-press that goes on tours and throws conferences and stuff. Enjoy a ton of its content here for free or get involved to access courses and the ongoing research seminars.
GET INVOLVED or SUPPORT
Join live sessions and unlock past courses and forums on the TU Discord by becoming a member via the monthly subscription! It’s the hands-down best way to get the most out of the content if you are excited to learn the field and become a thinker in the milieu: https://theoryunderground.com/products/tu-subscription-tiers
Pledge support to the production of the free content on YouTube and Podcast https://www.patreon.com/TheoryUnderground
Fund the publishing work via the TU Substack, where original works by the TU writers is featured alongside original works by Slavoj Zizek, Todd McGowan, Chris Cutrone, Nina Power, Alenka Zupancic, et al. https://theoryunderground.substack.com/
Get TU books at a discount: https://theoryunderground.com/publications
CREDITS / LINKS
Missed a course at Theory Underground? Wrong! Courses at Theory Underground are available after the fact on demand via the membership. https://theoryunderground.com/courses
If you want to help TU in a totally gratuitous way, or support, here is a way to buy something concrete and immediately useful https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/2MAWFYUJQIM58?
Buy Dave and Ann a coffee date: https://www.venmo.com/u/theoryunderground https://paypal.me/theorypleeb
If Theory Underground has helped you see that text-to-speech technologies are a useful way of supplementing one’s reading while living a busy life, if you want to be able to listen to PDFs for yourself, then Speechify is recommended. Use the link below and Theory Underground gets credit! https://share.speechify.com/mzwBHEB
Follow Theory Underground on Duolingo: https://invite.duolingo.com/BDHTZTB5CWWKTP747NSNMAOYEI
See Theory Underground memes and get occasional updates or thoughts via the Instagram :
https://www.instagram.com/theory_underground
MUSIC CREDITS Logo sequence music by https://olliebeanz.com/music https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/legalcode Mike Chino, Demigods https://youtu.be/M6wruxDngOk