In Material Terms

In Material Terms is a podcast about power, knowledge, and responsibility. It’s about how ideas become institutions, how narratives harden into policy, and how denial of reality—of material conditions—functions as a political weapon.

The show examines authoritarian movements; liberal failures; media rituals; and the legal, scientific, technological, and cultural infrastructures that make certain forms of domination possible. Where others treat politics as a clash of opinions, In Material Terms insists on grounding analysis in material conditions: incentives, institutions, labor, bodies, evidence, and consequences.

The podcast is organized into regular episodes and limited series. The pilot episode centers on anti-vaccine politics and the authoritarian personality, tracing how science denial operates not as ignorance, but as identity, discipline, and allegiance. This pilot explains why affirming objective reality is not primarily a tactic of persuasion, but a form of collective self-defense.

Off the Fence examines the roles played by journalists, academics, commentators, and institutional liberals who present themselves as neutral observers while helping to stabilize reactionary power. These episodes focus on function: how proceduralism, tone-policing, and refusal of judgment become political acts of collaboration.

Tool Kit episodes offer short explorations of concepts, themes, and texts that appear in other episodes. These episodes allow the others to remain focused on the topic at hand, while remaining accessible to all listeners. Did I use a term you’re unfamiliar with? Check out the three-minute introduction in the Tool Kit. Developed as stand-alone resources, Tool Kit episodes will be useful for secondary and college educators.

The title reflects the show’s core orientation. Truth is not a branding strategy or a rhetorical trick. It is infrastructure for memory, judgment, coordination, and refusal.

Launching early 2026.