Philosophy vs Work
The podcast that examines the Ethics of the “Work Ethic” and other philosophical and socio-political questions regarding Work, Life, and Death.
New episodes (most) Tuesdays!
Host Michael Murray holds a Master's in Ethics and Applied Philosophy from UNC Charlotte, where his research focus was on Marxism, Existentialism, and Critical Theory. He finished his BA Summa Cum Laude with Departmental Honors in Art History, also from UNCC. He was a faculty Teaching Assistant as both Graduate and Undergraduate, for Philosophy and Art History.
He is also a rising talent in Commercial and Video Narration Voiceover.
Episodes
18 episodes
No More Work? Part One: The Philosophy Part
Aaaand… we’re back! Welcome to the first episode of 2025, a year that I’m sure will prove, um, noteworthy? Today we’re moving on to another, and even smaller book (literally, it’s like 5 by 7 inches and only a hundred and seven pages, including...
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Season 1
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Episode 18
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50:25
Market Stalinism and the Marxist Supernanny
Well, we've made it to the end of 2024 and the end of our run on Mark Fisher's Capitalist Realism. In this episode, we unpack these last two ideas, talk about Stalinist Bureaucracy and why it's relevant to talking about work today...
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Season 1
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Episode 17
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42:46
Capitalist Realism: Discipline and Control
In this episode, we're still on challenges to Utopia and getting back to Mark Fisher's Capitalist Realism: Is There No Alternaitve? We're also taking our first little foray in Michel Foucault and Gilles Deleuze as far as Sovereign...
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Season 1
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Episode 16
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50:35
Philosophy versus Trump: Anger and Outrage
Well, we lost, and it sucks, but maybe this isn't the worst possible outcome. In the aftermath of the recent US general election, I take a bit to examine some of the details, fact and fiction, in the election results, and in regards to the part...
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Season 1
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Episode 15
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30:30
Beware! The Blob and Capitalist Realism (The Halloween Special)
Welcome to the first Halloween Special! In this episode, we're discussing horror movies and capitalism; specifically, The Blob ('58, '72, and '88), Invasion of the Body Snatchers ('56), and Mark Fisher's "Capitalist Realism: Is There No Alterna...
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Season 1
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Episode 14
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47:31
Childless, Futureless?
Well, hope you're in for a long one. This episode: Lee Edleman's No Future: Queer Theory and the Death Drive, as well as connections to Barthes and Benjamin, the myth of the Child and reproductive futurism, some psychoanalytic theory, ...
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Season 1
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Episode 13
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1:07:36
The Past, the Future, and The Violence of Hope
In this episode we start addressing some of the serious problems with utopian thinking and, especially, progressive narratives. We unpack a bit of Walter Benjamin's "Theses on the Philosophy of History," return to Barthes regarding myth, and br...
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Season 1
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Episode 12
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39:46
A Dionysian Interlude
Today’s episode is a going to be little different from the usual style, a bit more blog and a bit less position paper, but don’t worry, we’re still going to get to some philosophy, specifically Nietzsche, in the latter half. We play catchup on ...
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Season 1
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Episode 11
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18:56
Work and Utopia's End
In this episode: Kathi Week’s The Problem with Work: Feminism, Marxism, Antiwork Politics, and Postwork Imaginaries. Now, to be fair, we’re not going to examine the whole book, not yet anyway. Today we’re going to be looking at utopian...
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Season 1
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Episode 10
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43:16
The Mythological Order of Sarcasm
We're back to our regular format this week and continuing our unpacking of Roland Barthes' Mythologies; specifically, signification, the mythologist, and the reader of myths, as well as laying the methodology for how we’r...
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Season 1
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Episode 9
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44:59
Happy Hour with Amanda Cranford of Dish Restaurant
Hey everyone, this week’s episode is going to be a bit different. Rather than the usual philosophical info-tainment, today we’re going to focus more on the work side of the equation. I recently had the opportunity to chat with an old friend, Am...
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Season 1
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Episode 8
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52:28
Wrestling with Meaning
Welcome to the next arc (next chapter?) of Philosophy vs Work! From here, we start unpacking Semiotics, Myth, and Utopia - starting with an unpacking of what is semiotics? - and the role utopias and utopian thought play in thinking about work, ...
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Season 1
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Episode 7
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35:40
Toward Meaningful Work
At long last, the finale to my (5 part) 4 part series on Labor-Time, Turning Toward Death, and Meaningful Work. This week I return to Bataille and the Accursed Share, try to get to what Meaningful Work might be, and why it should be an ethical ...
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Season 1
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Episode 6
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39:35
Estranged at the Altar
Widgets are strange, when you're an estranger, people are stranger when you're alone. In this episode we start thinking about death and work a little differently, consider what what work is and why it's a problem under Capitalism, why widgets m...
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Season 1
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Episode 5
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35:15
Death by Dasein
Interlude. This week, we take a detour off the road Toward Meaningful Work to examine what exactly Heidegger means by Dasein and Being-toward-death, and why these concepts are relevant to the "turning toward death" I believe is necessary to ove...
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Season 1
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Episode 4
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21:21
To fear, or not to fear, the Reaper? Pt.2
What is labor-time, and what the hell does turning towards death mean? These are the questions. Part 2.In this episode we start unpacking the strategy of making "work," strange. We start with the psychological weight carried by deeply h...
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Season 1
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Episode 3
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28:26
To fear, or not to fear, the Reaper? Pt.1
What is labor-time, and what the hell does turning towards death mean? These are the questions. Part 1.In this episode we begin the project of "meaningful work" as an ethical demand. I begin to lay out my approach to the "problem of wor...
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Season 1
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Episode 2
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26:10
The Introduction; or, Who the Hell am I and What are We Doing Here?
Behold! The introductory episode. Take a minute, or 20, and get to know a little about me and the point of this podcast. I discuss some of my philosophical, educational, and working background as well as a bit about myself. I also discuss the q...
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Season 1
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Episode 1
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24:25