In Suzanne Leonard's new book, Wife Inc, she looks at the pop culture industry based around the idea of what a wife is. From reality television, to films and so on, we learn how to make ourselves into marriage material. The wife industry is enormous, but meanwhile, fewer and fewer women are marrying, and those who do are already the most privileged of the population. They have money, they are white, they are educated. Wifedom is aspirational and its hold on popular culture has a hold on women's imagination for how they can imagine themselves and their futures. Jessa calls Suzanne Leonard to discuss this further. SUBSCRIBE to the #PublicIntellectual #Patreon page to access bonus content, merch, and more: https://www.patreon.com/publicintellectual PLEASE SUBSCRIBE AND RATE US on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts. PUBLIC INTELLECTUAL IS A FOREVER DOG PODCAST http://foreverdogproductions.com/fdpn/podcasts/public-intellectual/

The Love Witch is the feminine version of Fight Club. Not only in the sense of it being an exploration of the extreme expressions of gender and all the societal pressures to perform that gender -- but also because the people who created both The Love Witch (Anna Biller) and Fight Club (Chuck Palahniuk) seem to have no idea what their own creations are actually about. The Love Witch understands toxic femininity in a way that the director/writer Anna Biller does not understand -- and that's fascinating. This is the beginning of a series or an expansion of our already existing film series about films directed by women. Jessa invites her dear/extremely jetlagged friend Margaret Howie to discuss this film. SUBSCRIBE to the #PublicIntellectual #Patreon page to access bonus content, merch, and more: https://www.patreon.com/publicintellectual PLEASE SUBSCRIBE AND RATE US on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts. PUBLIC INTELLECTUAL IS A FOREVER DOG PODCAST http://foreverdogproductions.com/fdpn/podcasts/public-intellectual/

Jessa sits down with special (return) guest, writer Bruce Benderson, to discuss the Dutch films of Paul Verhoeven, their recurring themes of sex, power, and violence, and the MeToo movement. SUBSCRIBE to the #PublicIntellectual #Patreon page to access bonus content, merch, and more: https://www.patreon.com/publicintellectual PLEASE SUBSCRIBE AND RATE US on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts. PUBLIC INTELLECTUAL IS A FOREVER DOG PODCAST http://foreverdogproductions.com/fdpn/podcasts/public-intellectual/

There is always a myth about a city that may or may not line up with the reality of what its like to live in that city. For Berlin, the myth is that its incredibly cheap, with endless resources, and everyone there is creative. This myth does not line up with reality. Berlin has the fastest growing property rates in the world and locals are being pushed out by rising rents and housing shortages. The myth is helping to destroy what is and was unique about the city. But one myth about Berlin that it does live up to is that it offers a temporary home to the rootless and the restless. Jessa sits down with C.C. O'Hanlon, an Australian living in Berlin, about the myth of the city, what it promises, and what it actually offers. SUBSCRIBE to the #PublicIntellectual #Patreon page to access bonus content, merch, and more: https://www.patreon.com/publicintellectual PLEASE SUBSCRIBE AND RATE US on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts. PUBLIC INTELLECTUAL IS A FOREVER DOG PODCAST http://foreverdogproductions.com/fdpn/podcasts/public-intellectual/

There are consequences to travel. From the environmental impact of international flights, to massive displacement in trendy neighborhoods for air bnb vacation rentals, to unfair distribution of tourist dollars, and so on. But travel writing has never been great at dealing with the ethical or moral questions of travel. Its very narcissistic and internal. The point of travel, as viewed through the travel writer, is the impact the journey is having on the traveler, not the impact the traveler is having on the place. In this episode, Jessa calls writer Haley Swanson to discuss these ideas. SUBSCRIBE to the #PublicIntellectual #Patreon page to access bonus content, merch, and more: https://www.patreon.com/publicintellectual PLEASE SUBSCRIBE AND RATE US on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts. PUBLIC INTELLECTUAL IS A FOREVER DOG PODCAST http://foreverdogproductions.com/fdpn/podcasts/public-intellectual/

Today we understand science and religion as being two wholly separate pursuits. They are not only separate, they are often hostile to one other. Yet, each has a tremendous influence on the other, with mysticism getting wrapped up in quantum physics or with goddess worshipping religions cropping out of anthropological research into matriarchal, pre-patriarchal cultures. In this episode, Jessa sits down with writer & professor Kocku von Stuckrad. In his book, The Scientification of Religion, Stuckrad talks about the process of identity formation through strategies of distancing Religion understands itself as being not science, not just as being religion, and vice versa. Together, they discuss this idea, the intermingling of religion and science, and the revival of astrology. SUBSCRIBE to the #PublicIntellectual #Patreon page to access bonus content, merch, and more: https://www.patreon.com/publicintellectual PLEASE SUBSCRIBE AND RATE US on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts. PUBLIC INTELLECTUAL IS A FOREVER DOG PODCAST http://foreverdogproductions.com/fdpn/podcasts/public-intellectual/

In America and in Europe, the left has a problem. Unable to control the rise of populism and the extreme right, the left has become powerless and ineffective, refusing to come up with any new ideas about how the world should be ordered other than protecting the status quo. Meanwhile, the left has also been caught up in a series of scandals. Prominent men in politics, journalism, and activism have been accused of rape, harassment, and abuse. Women who have made these accusations have been told to shut up, that it is hurting the greater cause. Jessa sits down with journalist and poet Dominika Dyminska, who has left Poland for now to live in Berlin, for reasons you will soon here. They spoke about the men who rule the left, why the left has such a limited vision of the future, and why the future will almost necessarily have to come out of feminism. SUBSCRIBE to the #PublicIntellectual #Patreon page to access bonus content, merch, and more: https://www.patreon.com/publicintellectual PLEASE SUBSCRIBE AND RATE US on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts. PUBLIC INTELLECTUAL IS A FOREVER DOG PODCAST http://foreverdogproductions.com/fdpn/podcasts/public-intellectual/

The first episode in a new series about life in Berlin -- not just Berlin, but the new urban age. We'll be speaking with academics, journalists, writers, and other figures about housing issues and income inequality, how to create networks when we're all increasingly mobile, issues of gentrification and community, and the myth a city builds for itself. To kick this series off, Jessa sits down with Talja Blokland, a professor at Humboldt University in Berlin and the author of "Community as Urban Practice." SUBSCRIBE to the #PublicIntellectual #Patreon page to access bonus content, merch, and more: https://www.patreon.com/publicintellectual PLEASE SUBSCRIBE AND RATE US on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts. PUBLIC INTELLECTUAL IS A FOREVER DOG PODCAST http://foreverdogproductions.com/fdpn/podcasts/public-intellectual/

The ninth part in a series about the films of Paul Verhoeven and David Fincher. Elle is a film about power dynamics, the way men treat women, sexual desire, violation -- and it presents different ways of thinking about trauma. After seeing this film, Jessa really wanted to know what other people thought of it -- and by "other people," she really means straight men. So for this episode, she invites two straight men, Joe Cilio & Alex Ramsey, onto the show to discuss what they thought Elle was about. SUBSCRIBE to the #PublicIntellectual #Patreon page to access bonus content, merch, and more: https://www.patreon.com/publicintellectual PLEASE SUBSCRIBE AND RATE US on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts. PUBLIC INTELLECTUAL IS A FOREVER DOG PODCAST http://foreverdogproductions.com/fdpn/podcasts/public-intellectual/

Theres something alluring about conspiracy thinking. A way of understanding and giving order to a world that is mostly chaotic and unknowable. Why is there pain and suffering? Well, either God is doing it or the Government is doing it. But it might not be tolerable to think that everything is random and that theres nothing we can do to protect ourselves from pain. Susan Lepselter is the author of The Resonance of Unseen Things. She joins Jessa to discuss how some stories seem to become contagious, how the stories we tell actually shape how we experience trauma, and why conspiracy theories wont stay dead. SUBSCRIBE to the #PublicIntellectual #Patreon page to access bonus content, merch, and more: https://www.patreon.com/publicintellectual PLEASE SUBSCRIBE AND RATE US on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts. PUBLIC INTELLECTUAL IS A FOREVER DOG PODCAST http://foreverdogproductions.com/fdpn/podcasts/public-intellectual/

Pankaj Mishras book The Age Of Anger: A History of the Present is the antidote to the defenders of the enlightenment, like Jordan Peterson and Steven Pinker, who are suddenly so big now. It examines the gap between what modernity and development promised and what it actually delivered and explores how that is tied to our extreme age. Jessa invites Pankaj onto the show to discuss his work, the larger issue of masculinity in crisis, and of course, Peterson challenging Pankaj to a duel via Twitter. SUBSCRIBE to the #PublicIntellectual #Patreon page to access bonus content, merch, and more: https://www.patreon.com/publicintellectual PLEASE SUBSCRIBE AND RATE US on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts. PUBLIC INTELLECTUAL IS A FOREVER DOG PODCAST http://foreverdogproductions.com/fdpn/podcasts/public-intellectual/

Remember when people were desperately trying to find a silver lining to the Trump presidency and what they came up with, aside from at least we'll get to have a revolution," is that the art will be good? There was a naive belief that art was going to save us. This situation has brought forward all the old debates on whether art and writing should be political. Jessa invites writer Natalie Hopkinson onto the show to discuss. SUBSCRIBE to the #PublicIntellectual #Patreon page to access bonus content, merch, and more: https://www.patreon.com/publicintellectual PLEASE SUBSCRIBE AND RATE US on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts. PUBLIC INTELLECTUAL IS A FOREVER DOG PODCAST http://foreverdogproductions.com/fdpn/podcasts/public-intellectual/

The eighth part in a series about the films of Paul Verhoeven and David Fincher. Jessa invites film critic Sheila O'Malley onto the show to discuss Verhoeven's 1990 film, Total Redcall, and the masculine need to save and protect and triumph as the hero. SUBSCRIBE to the #PublicIntellectual #Patreon page to access bonus content, merch, and more: https://www.patreon.com/publicintellectual PLEASE SUBSCRIBE AND RATE US on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts. PUBLIC INTELLECTUAL IS A FOREVER DOG PODCAST http://foreverdogproductions.com/fdpn/podcasts/public-intellectual/

The seventh part in a series about the films of Paul Verhoeven and David Fincher. Jessa invites writer Melissa Gira Grant onto the show to discuss Verhoeven's 1992 film, Basic Instinct and the very important work being done by Sharon Stone's sweaters in this very important film. SUBSCRIBE to the #PublicIntellectual #Patreon page to access bonus content, merch, and more: https://www.patreon.com/publicintellectual PLEASE SUBSCRIBE AND RATE US on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts. PUBLIC INTELLECTUAL IS A FOREVER DOG PODCAST http://foreverdogproductions.com/fdpn/podcasts/public-intellectual/

Over the last few years, there have been a lot of white dudes whove taken up the task of defending the enlightenment. But for decades, women and writers of color have been offering nuanced and interesting critiques of it, pointing out that the so called ideals of the enlightenment were and continue to be used to justify everything from colonialism to genocide to eugenics to the subjugation of women. Are these new defenders considering these criticisms? Of course not. Jessa sits down with writer John Ganz to discuss. SUBSCRIBE to the #PublicIntellectual #Patreon page to access bonus content, merch, and more: https://www.patreon.com/publicintellectual PLEASE SUBSCRIBE AND RATE US on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts. PUBLIC INTELLECTUAL IS A FOREVER DOG PODCAST http://foreverdogproductions.com/fdpn/podcasts/public-intellectual/

if you wanted to gauge the state of straight white men in America in the 80s and 90s, you could just watch Michael Douglas movies. The sixth part in a series about the films of David Fincher and Paul Verhoeven. Jessa calls Carmen Petaccio, PHD candidate at the University of Miami (and first official twitter guest!) onto the show to discuss Fincher's 1997 film, The Game. SUBSCRIBE to the #PublicIntellectual #Patreon page to access bonus content, merch, and more: https://www.patreon.com/publicintellectual PLEASE SUBSCRIBE AND RATE US on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts. PUBLIC INTELLECTUAL IS A FOREVER DOG PODCAST http://foreverdogproductions.com/fdpn/podcasts/public-intellectual/

Jessa sits down with journalist, poet and filmmaker Alissa Quart to discuss the rising maternal death rates and the place limited abortion access has in those figures, and how we are in this position where abortion is technically legal, but getting one is so difficult. SUBSCRIBE to the #PublicIntellectual #Patreon page to access bonus content, merch, and more: https://www.patreon.com/publicintellectual PLEASE SUBSCRIBE AND RATE US on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts. PUBLIC INTELLECTUAL IS A FOREVER DOG PODCAST http://foreverdogproductions.com/fdpn/podcasts/public-intellectual/

The fifth part in a series about the films of David Fincher and Paul Verhoeven. Jessa invites Manan Ahmed, Professor of Medieval Studies at Columbia University, to discuss Finchers 1999 adaptation of Fight Club and the strange ways the film prophesizes the rise of the Alt Right. SUBSCRIBE to the #PublicIntellectual #Patreon page to access bonus content, merch, and more: https://www.patreon.com/publicintellectual PLEASE SUBSCRIBE AND RATE US on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts. PUBLIC INTELLECTUAL IS A FOREVER DOG PODCAST http://foreverdogproductions.com/fdpn/podcasts/public-intellectual/

The fourth part in a series about the films of David Fincher and Paul Verhoeven. Jessa invites writer, Tech StartUp employee, and Harvard Alum Austin Grossman onto the show to discuss Finchers film about the bad men of tech, The Social Network, all the new forms of misogyny, and why Mark Zuckerberg is an asshole. You are probably going to be a very successful computer person. But you're going to go through life thinking that girls don't like you because you're a nerd. And I want you to know, from the bottom of my heart, that that won't be true. It'll be because you're an asshole. SUBSCRIBE to the #PublicIntellectual #Patreon page to access bonus content, merch, and more: https://www.patreon.com/publicintellectual PLEASE SUBSCRIBE AND RATE US on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts. PUBLIC INTELLECTUAL IS A FOREVER DOG PODCAST http://foreverdogproductions.com/fdpn/podcasts/public-intellectual/

Why are women attracted to violence and brutality? Laura Elizabeth Woollett wrote a collection of short stories about this phenomenon called The Love Of A Bad Man. Jessa calls her to discuss these women and the misogynistic culture that helps create them. SUBSCRIBE to the #PublicIntellectual #Patreon page to access bonus content, merch, and more: https://www.patreon.com/publicintellectual PLEASE SUBSCRIBE AND RATE US on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts. PUBLIC INTELLECTUAL IS A FOREVER DOG PODCAST http://foreverdogproductions.com/fdpn/podcasts/public-intellectual/

The third part in a series about the films of Paul Verhoeven and David Fincher. Jessa invites writer, translator, and producer of erotic gay manga, Anne Ishii, onto the show to discuss Verhoeven's 1995 film Showgirls, its reception, and legacy. SUBSCRIBE to the #PublicIntellectual #Patreon page to access bonus content, merch, and more: https://www.patreon.com/publicintellectual PLEASE SUBSCRIBE AND RATE US on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts. PUBLIC INTELLECTUAL IS A FOREVER DOG PODCAST http://foreverdogproductions.com/fdpn/podcasts/public-intellectual/

This week, Jessa invites Ciara Cremin, author of Man-Made Woman: The Dialectics of Cross-Dressing, onto the show for a conversation about consumerism, how traditional masculinity props up capitalism, and the disdain the contemporary man has for femininity. SUBSCRIBE to the #PublicIntellectual #Patreon page to access bonus content, merch, and more: https://www.patreon.com/publicintellectual PLEASE SUBSCRIBE AND RATE US on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts. PUBLIC INTELLECTUAL IS A FOREVER DOG PODCAST http://foreverdogproductions.com/fdpn/podcasts/public-intellectual/

The second part in a series about the films of David Fischer and Paul Verhoeven. Jessa invites author/cartoonist David Rees onto the show to discuss David Finchers Zodiac and the portrayal of serial killers in movies & tv. SUBSCRIBE to the #PublicIntellectual #Patreon page to access bonus content, merch, and more: https://www.patreon.com/publicintellectual PLEASE SUBSCRIBE AND RATE US on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts. PUBLIC INTELLECTUAL IS A FOREVER DOG PODCAST http://foreverdogproductions.com/fdpn/podcasts/public-intellectual/

Jessa invites writer Leah Finnegan (The Outline) onto the show to discuss the shitty media men list, the power imbalances in media (and elsewhere), and the current structures that protect sexual predators. Together, they talk about the shitty individuals who are doing the damage, but most importantly, the environment that is helping foster this culture of abuse and award bullying behavior. SUBSCRIBE to the #PublicIntellectual #Patreon page to access bonus content, merch, and more: https://www.patreon.com/publicintellectual PLEASE SUBSCRIBE AND RATE US on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts. PUBLIC INTELLECTUAL IS A FOREVER DOG PODCAST http://foreverdogproductions.com/fdpn/podcasts/public-intellectual/

Jessa invites writer Indiana Seresin back onto the show as the first repeat guest to discuss the TV adaptation of Margaret Atwoods dystopian novel, The Handmaids Tale, hyperbole in Trumps America, and why this particular story is having such an effect on our culture. SUBSCRIBE to the #PublicIntellectual #Patreon page to access bonus content, merch, and more: https://www.patreon.com/publicintellectual PLEASE SUBSCRIBE AND RATE US on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts. PUBLIC INTELLECTUAL IS A FOREVER DOG PODCAST http://foreverdogproductions.com/fdpn/podcasts/public-intellectual/