The Absurd World Podcast

I am tired. You are tired. We are all, collectively, tired. Some of us might call it burnout. Maybe all of us have felt it at some point. But what does that really mean, and how do we keep it from spreading any further?In this weeks episode, we explore burnout as something far more complex than simple exhaustion, depression, or weakness. With the help of South Korean philosopher Byung-Chul Han, and the thinkers he draws from like Hannah Arendt and Friedrich Nietzsche , we ask how deeply burnout is woven into the fabric of our society and whether it has been ingrained in us to the point that we pursue it without even realizing it...

We talk about a lot of complex topics on this podcast. Confusing, shifting, and often elusive ideas, and the language we use to try to make sense of them. But if there were one concept we could all count on understanding, it would have to be evil...... Right?In this weeks episode, I dive into why that is most definitely not the case as we explore what evil is, and more importantly, what it is not. With the help of German philosopher Hannah Arendt, we begin to question whether evil is something deeply complex and difficult to grasp, or if its power lies in just how simple it might actually be.

Freedom matters, maybe more than anything else. To some more than life itself. It’s one of the central ideas this podcast has explored from an existential perspective. But have we ever stopped to ask whether freedom is really all it’s cracked up to be? Is it truly the ultimate goal of human life?In this week’s episode, I question whether our idea of freedom is overly idealistic and maybe even a kind of fantasy. What if freedom is not only difficult, but deeply unsettling? What if, in some ways, we fear it more than oppression?With the help of German-American psychotherapist Erich Fromm, we explore the human need for belonging, and how that need may quietly undermine our pursuit of true freedom.

I’ve shared a lot with you over the past year; ideas about money, ethics, morality, society, ideology, and how we treat each other and the world we live in. For some, these ideas spark a desire to take action. For others, they can feel overwhelming… like there’s nothing you can really do.Which makes me wonder… you mad bro?In the second part of this philosophical check-in series, we explore what happens when these ideas stir up frustration, helplessness, or even rage. With the help of thinkers like Fyodor Dostoevsky, we consider what action might look like when you can’t fix everything, and whether that means you shouldn’t act at all.

It’s the beginning of the twentieth century. The founders of existentialism are gone, and Europe stands in a near-constant state of upheaval. The world is primed for a surge of thought, questions of purpose, meaning, and above all… freedom.In this episode, the second part of our one-year anniversary special, we turn to the thinkers who would carry existentialism into the modern era. Their ideas would shape not only philosophy, but the lives of countless people searching for answers in an often unjust world.Following the years before, during, and after World War II, we explore the rising philosophical careers—and occasional downfalls—of Edmund Husserl, Martin Heidegger, Karl Jaspers, Hannah Arendt, Jean-Paul Sartre, Simone de Beauvoir, Maurice Merleau-Ponty, Simone Weil, Keiji Nishitani, and Albert Camus as they help form the foundation of existential thought in the modern world.

What does it truly mean to be an existentialist? To fully embrace the label, not just as an idea, but as a way of living. After everything we’ve explored on this podcast, what would it actually look like to let existential thought guide your life? And does such a thing even really exist?In this week’s episode, I take on a question that’s been a long time coming as we try to uncover what it truly means to live existentially. Drawing on biographer Sarah Bakewell and her outline of existentialist tenets, we explore a label that is complex, contested, and often misunderstood, asking not only what we’d be signing up for, but whether we even want to.Spoiler: it may be much harder to live by than we imagine.

Am I truly connected to my world? Do I feel a sense of belonging with the people and places around me? Do I engage with life in a way that brings unity, or am I simply moving through it on autopilot, barely noticing as it slips by?In this episode, we return to Transcendentalism to wrestle with one of its central questions: what does it mean to be genuinely connected to the world? With the guidance of American philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson, we explore what it might look like to return to our natural roots and rediscover a more meaningful way of engaging with life.Along the way, we confront a difficult possibility: can we ever truly know ourselves if we remain disconnected from the world we inhabit?

We all fail. It’s part of being human; trying, falling short of our own standards or those imposed on us by others. Most of us know this experience well, and for many it’s one of the most painful we face. Failure can bring shame, self-hatred, alienation, and the urge to disappear. But what if failure isn’t something to fear or avoid? What if it’s something we should actively seek?In this week’s episode, I ask a simple but unsettling question: What is failure, and is it really that bad? Building on our previous exploration of nihilism, the relentlessly nihilistic Romanian philosopher Emil Cioran takes this idea to its extreme, inviting us to consider whether failing might be the only way we ever truly come to know ourselves.

We are self-aware to the point that some see it as a curse, the true source of human suffering. And yet we persist, searching for meaning and purpose in an existence that appears to offer neither inherently. But what happens when we grow tired of performing, of wearing masks, of playing the roles we think we must? What does it mean to live authentically in that raw, honest space? And what might it look like for nihilism to overcome itself?In this episode, I explore self-awareness not as something to flee from, but as something to lean into. With the guidance of Japanese philosopher Keiji Nishitani and the insights of existential psychotherapist Viktor Frankl, we begin to find the courage to face the void, and perhaps even allow it fully into our hearts, minds, and lives.

Over the past few episodes, we’ve explored the flaws, struggles, and misguided judgments that have shaped our society into something many people find difficult to live within, let alone find happiness, dignity, or peace. So what now?In this episode, we explore another possibility: anarchism. From David Graeber to Peter Kropotkin, Emma Goldman to Henry David Thoreau, we encounter voices that have called for change for centuries, and a tradition far more nuanced than its reputation suggests.Along the way, we ask a difficult question:Is our fear of changing the system… the system speaking through us?

We work, constantly. For many of us, it consumes most of our waking hours, and we do it simply to survive, often just barely. We’re told we should feel grateful to have a job at all, lucky to be paid to do something many don’t enjoy. Gratitude and loyalty are expected… but when did work become something we owe?In this episode, we trace the history of work and examine how capitalism has shaped modern labor. With the help of anthropologist David Graeber and capitalism’s forefather Adam Smith, we ask a simple but radical question:What do I actually owe my job?

When we think of the unconscious mind, we imagine mystery, depth, and vast uncharted territory. It can feel unsettling to consider what might surface when we stop keeping everything neatly tucked away. But what if the unconscious isn’t just chaos? What if it can be mapped?In this final episode of our series on the unconscious, we turn to Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung to explore what it might mean to truly encounter the parts of ourselves we don’t consciously claim. As we descend into the psyche, we may discover that what shapes us isn’t entirely personal at all, but something far older, symbolic, and mythological, quietly living beneath the surface.

What’s going on in your mind? What’s going on in mine?Sure, we know the surface-level stuff—the things we say, think, and do every day… but what’s deeper than that? What’s hiding in the dim, weird corridors of my psyche?This week kicks off a three-part series exploring and mapping the interior of the unconscious mind. We start with the general structure Sigmund Freud laid out and build from there.I just hope I don’t uncover anything sinister lurking in the recesses of my mind. Like a desire to kill or—worse—a deeply ingrained impulse to start awkwardly singing in public even though absolutely no one asked for it…