Putin's Brain
Does a shadowy and dangerous Russian philosopher hold the key to the war in Ukraine? On this week’s This is Critical, Ethnographer Benjamin Teitelbaum explains the life and work of Alexander Dugin—the occultist, far-right folk hero, and geopolitical strategist who says Russia is just getting started.
On various episodes we’ve talked about the excesses of the so-called market revolution — the “neoliberal” idea that the market can solve everything. So many of us grew up with the idea that you could buy a perfect marriage, social justice, a job that’s pure pleasure and more like a family, wellness and enlightenment, perfect beauty in the form of slimness and hairlessness…
Clearly this cultural creed put off people on the left, especially as so much of this — stuff like diet culture, and the anti-vaxery of the wellness world — has tilted into fraud, abuse, and billionaire worship, which has stopped people from unionizing, helping the vulnerable, and living in reality with our good normal bodies and our imperfect marriages.
