The Re/al/ign Directory
A new and constantly updated list of episodes and topics
Per request, I’ve created this directory of previous episodes of The Re/al/ign, with links on how to watch and listen as well as a short list of primary topics from the conversations. I will update this directory each time there is a new episode.
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Episode 01: With Gordon White
Topics: Animism, Magic, Paganism, Author Interview
I talk with Gordon White (runesoup.com) about his latest book, Ani.Mystic: Encounters With a Living Cosmos (from Scarlet Imprint). We discuss animism and the difficulties of translating its expansive world into the Western materialist-reductionist framework, and we end with advice on custodianship and creating sanctuary.
Episode 02: With Angie Speaks
Topics: Politics, Jungian Psychology, Alienation
Angie is one of my favorite people, and this discussion was really fun. We talk about alienation and the path past political ideologies into the human experiences which we all share.
Episode 03: With Dougald Hine
Topics: Environmentalism, Collapse, Author Interview
Dougald Hine was a former environmental journalist and activist, probably best known as the co-founder of Dark Mountain along with Paul Kingsnorth. He know also writes “Writing Home” on substack, and founded A School Called Home with Anna Björkman. We especially talk about his latest book At Work In The Ruins: Finding Our Place in the Time of Science, Climate Change, Pandemics, and All the Other Emergencies.
Episode 04: With Anthony Rella
Topics: Spirituality, Magic, Mental Health
I talk with writer, mental health counselor, and spiritual teacher Anthony Rella. We discuss the intersections of mental health and spiritual practice, as well as the problems of alienation and loneliness we confront in our search to satisfy our deep need for belonging.
Episode 05: With Alley Valkyrie
Topics: Land, History, Environmentalism
In addition to being a brilliant artist, writer, animist, and cultural observer, Alley Valkyrie has devoted staggering amounts of time and thought into the subject of land relations. Her knowledge of the history of the commons and the increasing enclosures — from the land seizures in Spain which funded colonialism to the current acceleration of this process now — is particularly astounding.
Episode 06: With John Michael Greer
Topics: Polytheism, Paganism
In this episode, I spoke with John Michael Greer, probably the most prolific writer on magic, the occult, nature spirituality, and industrial society. He’s also the author of A World Full Of Gods: An Inquiry into Polytheism, re-released by Aeon Books.
Episode 07: With Sarah Lyons
Topics: Witchcraft, Magic, Author Interview
In this seventh episode, I spoke with Sarah Lyons, an occult author and practicing witch. Sarah and her writing have appeared in Newsweek, Vice, Teen Vogue, Buzzfeed, Bust, and numerous other publications. She is a reoccurring guest on the CW show Mysteries Decoded, and has consulted numerous documentarians and filmmakers over the years. Her first book, Revolutionary Witchcraft was published by Running Press in 2019, and her second book How to Study Magic was published in 2022, also through Running Press.
Special: Introduction to Here Be Monsters
Episode 08: With Clementine Morrigan and Jay Le Soleil
Topics: Identity Politics, Capitalism
I talk with the two cohosts of “Fucking Cancelled,” Clementine Morrigan and Jay LeSoleil. The two are most definitely enough to give any leftist hope that it’s still possible to organize in the face of the meat grinder of “cancel culture,” and it was an amazing conversation.
Episode 09: With Catherine Liu
Topics: Class, Capitalism, Elitism, Author Interview
Catherine Liu’s book, Virtue Hoarders: The Case Against the Professional Managerial Class, is a fantastic read, and I wish I’d encountered her work on the Professional-Managerial Class while I was working on my own book, Here Be Monsters. The reason for this, as you’ll see from our discussion, is that the PMC is primarily responsible for leftism’s shift away from class analysis towards identity politics, and the values of the PMC are ultimately in line with capitalist hegemony.
Episode 10: With Dan Evans
Topics: Class, Capitalism, Leftist Organizing, Author Interview
In this episode, I got to talk with Dan Evans, the author of A Nation of Shopkeepers: The Unstoppable Rise of the Petty Bourgeoisie. Dan’s book explains quite well the situation that many are in: university-educated but downwardly-mobile, in precarious situations (no wealth and no property), yet nevertheless somehow certain they have risen above the working class. It also explains why so much of “the left” is run by people who’ve never done a day of manual work in their lives, and why most of the working class thinks “the left” is utterly out of touch with reality.
Episode 11: With Anthony Galuzzo
Topics: Technological Overreach, De-growth, Zardoz (film), Author Interview
For the eleventh episode of The Re/al/ign, I spoke with Anthony Galluzzo. He’s the author of Against the Vortex: Zardoz and Degrowth Utopias of the 70s and Today. This was a really, really fun episode, and it’s also a great book. I had the honor of getting an early copy to write an endorsement for it, and I’ve been quite thrilled to see the early response to Anthony’s book.
Episode 12: With Daniel Tutt
Topics: Nietzsche, Leftism, Philosophy, Author Interview
In this episode, I got to speak with Daniel Tutt. He’s the author of a rather profound book on Nietzsche that I think is worth the attention of anyone interested in the subject. It’s called How To Read Like a Parasite: Why the Left Got High On Nietzsche.
The core premise of How to Read Like a Parasite is that Nietzsche cannot be understood truly without the context of his reactionary politics, especially the threads of anti-egalitarian thought which runs throughout everything he writes. That being said, Daniel Tutt in no way suggests that Nietzsche should be “cancelled.” In fact, he insists the best way to read him is as a parasite of his works, thus the title of the book.
Episode 13: With James A. Smith
Topics: Class, Capitalism, Leftism, Covid Policies
I spoke with James Smith of The Popular Show. One of the particularly fascinating aspects of James’ thought is how utterly practical — and as mentioned in this episode, “unhysterical” — his analysis is. He’s got a rare skill to look soberly at larger psychological forces at play in leftist (re)actions. For a good example, see his explanation of how the failed mobilizations for Sanders and Corbyn manifested in leftist support for authoritarian pandemic lockdown policies.
Episode 14: With Edward Butler
Topics: Polytheism, Philosophy, Pluralism
For the 14th episode of The Re/al/ign, I spoke with a person I’ve long admired, Edward Butler. Edward is a professor of philosophy who focuses primarily on Greek philosophy. At the same time, he’s also the closest that the West has to a resident scholar in polytheism.
You might remember Edward Butler from an essay I wrote, “Polytheistic Pluralism and Sacred Cows.” Despite being one of the most soft-spoken and deeply kind people you’ll ever meet, he was “cancelled” for the profound work he’s done to bridge Western reconstructions of polytheism and Hinduism’s long history of polytheistic pluralism.
Episode 15: With Samuel Biagetti
Listen // Watch (releases to public 21 March)
Topics: Gay identity/history, Liberalism and Class, Conspiracies and Conspiracy Theories
For the 15th episode of The Re/al/ign, I spoke with Samuel Biagetti. You might know him already as the author of the essay, “Homosexuality as Metaphor” published at Compact last year, or possibly because of his incredibly erudite podcast, “Historiansplaining.”
Our conversation focused on two of his essays, the aforementioned one from Compact and another one from the now defunct journal, Jacobite, called “The Ikea Humans: The Social Base of Contemporary Liberalism.” We then discussed his epic historical analysis of the concept of conspiracies and conspiracy theories at his Historiansplaining podcast.