New Discourses

The New Discourses Podcast with James Lindsay, Ep. 192

What makes something valuable? How do we determine value? One hypothesis on value is famously forwarded and relied upon by the Marxists. It is called the "Labor Theory of Value," and it insists that labor is what transforms raw materials into something "humanized" and therefore of value. Therefore, in this theory, labor is what makes something valuable. Of course, this theory has not proved to be adequate for economic purposes, which is just another part of why Marxism is an abject failure even as an economic doctrine (aside from everything else). The question, however, remains. In this fun episode of the New Discourses Podcast, host James Lindsay takes a casual stab at a different answer: a problem-solving theory of value. This would be the idea that value is determined in relation to a good, commodity, or service's capacity to solve problems for people, particularly their consumers. Join him on this exploration to think about some things in a new, different way.

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New Discourses Bullets, Ep. 142

What in the world do the Woke mean by "lived experience"? (https://newdiscourses.com/tftw-lived-experience/) As has been discussed here before (https://newdiscourses.com/2022/10/lived-experience-explained/), lived experience is a kind of magical combination of what someone actually lives and experiences and a Woke (or "Critical" or Marxist) interpretation of what causes that experience and what it means. That is, it is experience plus Woke interpretation. The thing is, while only the Woke Left calls this mixture of experience and activating misinterpretation by the term "lived experience," the phenomenon is spreading outside of Leftist circles. It's important we see how. In this episode of New Discourses Bullets, host James Lindsay revisits the topic of "lived experience" and explains how it manifests outside of Leftist enclaves and without the cutesy name. You don't want to miss this one. It's an important one.

Latest from New Discourses Press! The Queering of the American Child: https://queeringbook.com/

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The New Discourses Podcast with James Lindsay, Ep. 191

Central to the idea of Marxist thought, although Marx himself rarely used the term, is the idea of "false consciousness." People, it is alleged, are going through their lives unaware of the realities of the world around them, existing in an ideologically constructed false consciousness that maintains the existing power structures of the world. (Being "Woke" in fact, is adopting an awakened "true" consciousness of the nature of self-replicating and self-sustaining systemic power and the need to overthrow it.) In the Islamism of the Muslim Brotherhood, as articulated by its intellectual centerpiece, Sayyid Qutb in his 1964 book Milestones (https://amzn.to/4sSnI33 ), there's a similar dichotomy called "Jahiliyyah" (Ignorance) and Islam (submission to God under Shari'a). Of course, this is no surprise because Qutb was a Leninist before he was an Islamist. In this episode of the New Discourses Podcast, host James Lindsay goes back into the text of Milestones to discuss this important concept and its profound parallels to Marxist Communism. Join him to understand.

Milestones, Vol. 1: Islamist Bolshevism: https://youtu.be/uOR5qG07fmA

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New Discourses Bullets, Ep. 141

"Woke" often proceeds by what amounts to social magic spells, and some of the most potent kinds of these spells are certain framings of inevitability or universality. The general gist of the construction would be "everything is already like this, so we should do it consciously (and according to Woke framing)." An alternative is "everything will eventually work this way, no matter how it started, so we should lean into it consciously (and according to Woke framing)." Surely, you've encountered this. In this episode of New Discourses Bullets, host James Lindsay dives into this construction and how it sets up other Woke "magic spells" (like affordance traps: https://newdiscourses.com/2024/03/staying-out-of-affordance-traps/ ) to get you to do their bidding. You won't want to miss this important expose of Woke manipulation.

Latest from New Discourses Press! The Queering of the American Child: https://queeringbook.com/

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© 2026 New Discourses. All rights reserved. #NewDiscourses #JamesLindsay #woke

The New Discourses Podcast with James Lindsay, Ep. 190

What gets called Woke, especially on the Left, is a complete worldview (or ersatz theology) that therefore provides all the usual philosophical elements. It isn't just a way of knowing or of acting in the world; it is also a comprehensive theory of being in the world. Because Woke (especially on the Left) is critically constructivist in its underlying architecture, the self it believes in is a constructed self, or even a self-constructed self. To highlight and explain this, in this episode of the New Discourses Podcast, host James Lindsay takes us back into Joe Kincheloe's Critical Constructivism: A Primer (https://amzn.to/4qUzlVx ), which he calls "The Book of Woke" to discuss the idea of self-production in a Woke ontology. Join him to get yet another deep look at Woke as it was actually formulated by the people who believe it.

Latest from New Discourses Press! The Queering of the American Child: https://queeringbook.com/

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© 2026 New Discourses. All rights reserved. #NewDiscourses #JamesLindsay #woke