History of Philosophy Audio Archive

Nuclear Cascade with Jack Kennedy - Nukes in South Korea, the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, New Cold War with China, Russia/Ukraine, Deterrence, Iran's/Iraq's WMDs, NeoCons, and Missile Defense

Hemlock #39 Nuclear war, and nuclear risk, are still just as real and just as close as they have been during the tensest eras of the Cold War. I had questions about where suspected nuclear flashpoints were forming - in South Korea, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Japan, and Iran - and wanted to review Trump's record of militarizing outer space, resuming nuclear testing, pre-emptively attacking Iran's nuclear reactor sites, and spending billions in a never-ending American quest for "Star Wars" or missile defense (in this latest iteration: not Reagan's SDI, but rather The Golden Dome). Which is why I invited Jack on the show. Jack Kennedy [https://thebulletin.org/biography/jack-kennedy/] is the nuclear risk editorial fellow for the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. He is a doctoral candidate and research associate at the Centre for International Security at the Hertie School of Governance in Berlin. His research focuses include strategic stability under conditions of multipolarity, extended deterrence, and coercive diplomacy. He previously worked at the European Peacebuilding Liaison Office, and as a journalist. He holds a master’s degree from Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies.  You can read Jack's very insightful article Washington's neglect of South Korea's security concerns is a proliferation problem here [https://thebulletin.org/2025/10/washingtons-neglect-of-south-koreas-security-concerns-is-a-proliferation-problem/]. We had a wide-ranging and largely in-tune conversation about horizontal proliferation, nuclear latency, real policy wonk shit like specific treaties, and dug into the nuclear histories of the US, Iraq, Pakistan, South Africa, and North Korea. All this to say: this is how you don't blow up the world. References: 1981 Iraqi Osirak Reactor Bombing (Operation Opera) [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Opera] Seymour Hersh Article about Iran's Nuclear Reactor Strike: I sort-of misremembered this article - estimates vary on how much the US strike set back the program. I said 'sixty days' which I heard somewhere but can't recall. Sy Hersh suggests 'years' but others imagine less, given that the centrifuges were likely not destroyed but merely buried. The size of the setback is ultimately immaterial to the point being made, a question of tactics. The principle of the strike itself was what made the situation dangerous and destabilizing and ultimately unworkable. https://seymourhersh.substack.com/p/was-it-obliteration?utm_source=publication-search [https://seymourhersh.substack.com/p/was-it-obliteration?utm_source=publication-search]

Strange Attractor: The Hallucinatory Life of Terence McKenna - Graham St John on McKenna's Life and Work, Psilocybin and DMT, Psychedelic History, Alchemy, the Experiment at La Chorrera, +the Eschaton

Buy Graham's book on Terence on Amazon! [https://a.co/d/8emQSlN] Graham's website: https://www.edgecentral.net/ [https://www.edgecentral.net/] Reputable information about psilocybin and harm reduction: https://www.erowid.org/plants/mushrooms/mushrooms.shtml [https://www.erowid.org/plants/mushrooms/mushrooms.shtml] James Fadiman's book/manual: https://www.psychedelicexplorersguide.com/ [https://www.psychedelicexplorersguide.com/] "We are the inheritors of one million years of striving for the unspeakable" -Terence McKenna More on Patreon: https://patreon.com/c/hemlockpatreon [https://patreon.com/c/hemlockpatreon]

To The Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf (Part 1)

A Creative Commons Zero [https://creativecommons.org/public-domain/cc0/] "No Rights Reserved" free, open-source audiobook, narrated by William Engels. This is from Part 1, titled "The Window," Chapters 1-5. One of the most beautifully written and mind-expanding works of modernist literature, Virginia Woolf's To The Lighthouse (1927) has recently entered the public domain. I wanted to celebrate by performing my way though the many "head-hops", metaphysical digressions, synesthetic collages, and iridescently shimmering prose passages that make up this short but potent work. Enjoy. Support this work on Patreon [https://www.patreon.com/posts/143990260?pr=true]

Goethe's Faust - Michael Sugrue on the Worldly Gospel, German Romanticism, Intellect and Theology, Mephistopheles and the Spirit of Negation, Gretchen's Eternal Feminine, and Last Minute Salvation

History of Philosophy Audio Archive, Episode #177 I have always loved Michael Sugrue [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Sugrue], and I will never stop posting his talks. RIP to a legend (1957-2024). Always been curious about Goethe’s Faust (Parts I and II) and thought this was serve a good introduction. If looking for a physical copy, I have heard that the scholarly, complete, Princeton edition [https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/21943887-faust-i-ii-volume-2] is really good. Hear all the updates on where the channel is going on my (free!) Patreon (Link to Hemlock Patreon). [https://patreon.com/c/hemlockpatreon]

The Lessons of History feat. Dr. Roy Casagranda - Henry Kissinger, the Iraq War, Esoteric Platonism and the Neocons, Cycles in Political Power, Education Reform, Hiroshima, Anarchism, and State Power

Follow Dr. Roy on Social Media: Spotify [https://open.spotify.com/show/6aebF9BEErbbiTLEHEyV6z?si=2acb1f006b1c4cdf] | Apple Podcasts [https://podcasts.apple.com/is/podcast/dr-roy-casagranda-podcast/id1837193563] | YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/@DrRoyCasagranda/videos] References * Stephen Skowronek [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Skowronek] // "The Politics Presidents Make" (1993) * Rational Choice Theory (1955) "A Behavioral Model of Rational Choice" [https://www.jstor.org/stable/1884852] by Herbert A. Simon * The Nixon movie I couldn't remember was "Secret Honor" (Robert Altman, 1984) [https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0088074/] * Abramowitz et. al study of Southern Republicans https://journals.shareok.org/arp/article/view/366 [https://journals.shareok.org/arp/article/view/366] * Goldsboro Nuclear Disaster (1961) [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1961_Goldsboro_B-52_crash] * Palomares Nuclear Incident (1966) [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1966_Palomares_incident] * Notable Esoteric Platonists: Leo Strauss and Allan Bloom * Aspasia [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aspasia] and Pericles the Younger * Group 40/Project 40 and Richard Nixon [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_40] * Otto Ambros [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otto_Ambros] (Third Reich Scientist/Operation Paperclip) Dialogues by Plato: * Meno (Knowledge, geometry, 'rememberance') * Republic (Justice, the Noble Lie) * Laches (Instruction in courage) * Symposium (Love, homosexuality, Diotima) * Crito (Fidelity to the state, homeliness) * Seventh Letter / Seventh Epistle (Esoteric Platonism) GAZA LINKS: Oxfam - https://www.oxfamamerica.org/explore/emergencies/gaza-and-israel-emergency-appeal/ [https://www.oxfamamerica.org/explore/emergencies/gaza-and-israel-emergency-appeal/] MSF (Doctors Without Borders) - https://www.msf.org/gaza-israel-war [https://www.msf.org/gaza-israel-war] Palestinian Youth Movement - https://www.palestinianyouthmovement.com/ [https://www.palestinianyouthmovement.com/]