In this episode of VarnVlog, C. Derick Varn is joined by political scientist and author Dr. Matt McManus (Spelman College) to discuss his books What Is Liberal Socialism? (Repeater Books) and Analytical Marxism and Democratic Socialism in the 21st Century (co-authored with Ben Burgis).

McManus unpacks the historical and philosophical tensions between liberalism and socialism, tracing how Cold War binaries obscured nineteenth-century liberal-socialist traditions (John Stuart Mill, Eduard Bernstein). Varn and McManus explore the feasibility of synthesizing Karl Marx’s critique of power and political economy with John Rawls’s normative framework of "justice as fairness" and property-owning democracy. The conversation also delves into G.A. Cohen’s critique of the "obstetric thesis" (historical inevitabilism), Charles W. Mills’s critique of racial liberalism, and Charles Taylor’s defense of modern universalist ethics against reactionary pre-modern nostalgia.

Featured Topics & Takeaways:

The Roots of Liberal Socialism: How Cold War liberalism artificially separated liberal commitments to individual freedom from socialist economic democratization.

Rawls Meets Marx: Bridging Rawls's normative basic structure with Marx's analysis of class power, ideology, and institutional exploitation.
G.A. Cohen & The Death of Inevitability: Why abandoning the "obstetric thesis" forced analytical Marxists to construct rigorous moral justifications for democratic socialism.

Racial Liberalism & Charles W. Mills: Confronting the racial exclusions of classical liberal theory while retrieving universalist emancipatory promises.

Modern Universalism vs. Pre-Modern Hierarchy: Drawing on Charles Taylor to challenge post-liberal, reactionary defenses of "hierarchical complementarity".

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Musis by Bitterlake, Used with Permission, all rights to Bitterlake

Listen on: Apple Podcasts Spotify

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Crew:
Host: C. Derick Varn
Intro and Outro Music by Bitter Lake.
Intro Video Design: Jason Myles
Art Design: Corn and C. Derick Varn

Links and Social Media:
twitter: @varnvlog
blue sky: @varnvlog.bsky.social
You can find the additional streams on Youtube

Current Patreon at the Sponsor Tier: Jordan Sheldon, Mark J. Matthews, Lindsay Kimbrough, RedWolf, DRV, Kenneth McKee, JY Chan, Matthew Monahan, Parzival, Adriel Mixon, Buddy Roark, Daniel Petrovic,Julian, Drea, Free Beer, SNT-BRCH, Joshua Parsons

In this episode of VarnVlog, C. Derick Varn sits down with scholar Max Wade to dive deep into ancient philosophy, exploring the evolution, metaphysics, and lasting legacy of Neoplatonism.

Together, they unpack the shift from Plato’s classical dialogues—such as the Republic and the Parmenides—to the systematized, highly technical metaphysical frameworks developed by late antique Neoplatonists like Plotinus and Proclus. They discuss the historical periodizations of Platonism, the role of commentary traditions, the friction between Neoplatonists and Gnostics, and how Neoplatonic thought secretly shaped early modern philosophy, German Idealism, and French Spiritualism.

Featured Topics & Takeaways:
The Trajectory of Platonism: How Platonism evolved from the early aporetic dialogues through Middle Platonism (Plutarch, the Timaeus) to the Neoplatonism of Plotinus and Proclus.
Plotinus vs. Proclus: The differences in their approach to the "One," the immortality of the soul, and the role of theurgy (god-magic) and ritual.
The Anti-Commentary Bias: How 18th-century Protestant historiography led to a modern neglect of Neoplatonist commentary traditions.
Polemics with the Gnostics: Why Plotinus actively critiqued Gnostics and Christians who viewed the physical world as inherently evil.
Enduring Legacy: How Neoplatonism influenced Augustine, Pseudo-Dionysius, the Renaissance humanists (Ficino), the Cambridge Platonists, and French Spiritualism (Bergson).

Links & Support
Patreon: Support VarnVlog on Patreon to access exclusive classes, reading lists, and behind-the-scenes content: https://www.patreon.com/varnvlog

Order: Order my new mini-book with Daniel Tutt, "The People Are Not One," available now via Revol Press: https://www.revolpress.com/people-not-one

Guest Links: Find Max Wade's academic articles and popular writing at https://maxwade.online.

Send us Fan Mail

Musis by Bitterlake, Used with Permission, all rights to Bitterlake

Listen on: Apple Podcasts Spotify

Support the show

Crew:
Host: C. Derick Varn
Intro and Outro Music by Bitter Lake.
Intro Video Design: Jason Myles
Art Design: Corn and C. Derick Varn

Links and Social Media:
twitter: @varnvlog
blue sky: @varnvlog.bsky.social
You can find the additional streams on Youtube

Current Patreon at the Sponsor Tier: Jordan Sheldon, Mark J. Matthews, Lindsay Kimbrough, RedWolf, DRV, Kenneth McKee, JY Chan, Matthew Monahan, Parzival, Adriel Mixon, Buddy Roark, Daniel Petrovic,Julian, Drea, Free Beer, SNT-BRCH, Joshua Parsons

In this episode of VarnVlog, host C. Derick Varn sits down with historian, writer, and independent scholar Dr. Keri Leigh Merritt (author of Masterless Men: Poor Whites and Slavery in the Antebellum South) to discuss her new book, "An Inconvenient Woman: The Extraordinary Life of Lillian Smith, The Southerner Who Defied Jim Crow America" (St. Martin's Press).

Together, they explore the life and legacy of Lillian Smith—a radical Southern white woman, educator, and writer who publicly called for complete integration long before it was widely accepted. From running the avant-garde Laurel Falls Camp in Appalachia alongside her lifelong partner Paula Snelling, to publishing Black writers in South Today, and writing the explosive, best-selling novel Strange Fruit and the psychological critique Killers of the Dream, Merritt and Varn unpack the rich, often erased history of Southern anti-racism, class solidarity, and radical dissent.

Featured Topics & Takeaways:
Rediscovering Lillian Smith: Why one of the earliest white Southern voices for integration was marginalized and erased from mainstream history.

Laurel Falls Camp: How Smith and Paula Snelling turned a girls' summer camp into a progressive space for free speech, critical inquiry, and racial tolerance.

The Intersections of Class & Race: Smith's groundbreaking analysis in essays like "Two Men and a Bargain" on how wealthy elites used racial division to stifle labor solidarity.

Censorship & Strange Fruit: The national backlash, banning, and massive success of Smith's 1944 novel addressing interracial love and lynching.

Psychology of White Supremacy: Smith’s use of trauma psychology and Freudian theory in Killers of the Dream to explain the psychological toll of racism on white Southerners.

Links & Support
Patreon: Support VarnVlog on Patreon to access exclusive classes, reading lists, and behind-the-scenes content: https://www.patreon.com/varnvlog


Order: Order my new mini-book with Daniel Tutt, "The People Are Not One," available now via Revol Press: https://www.revolpress.com/people-not-one


Guest Links: Check out Dr. Keri Leigh Merritt’s books and work at https://kerileighmerritt.com/

Send us Fan Mail

Musis by Bitterlake, Used with Permission, all rights to Bitterlake

Listen on: Apple Podcasts Spotify

Support the show

Crew:
Host: C. Derick Varn
Intro and Outro Music by Bitter Lake.
Intro Video Design: Jason Myles
Art Design: Corn and C. Derick Varn

Links and Social Media:
twitter: @varnvlog
blue sky: @varnvlog.bsky.social
You can find the additional streams on Youtube

Current Patreon at the Sponsor Tier: Jordan Sheldon, Mark J. Matthews, Lindsay Kimbrough, RedWolf, DRV, Kenneth McKee, JY Chan, Matthew Monahan, Parzival, Adriel Mixon, Buddy Roark, Daniel Petrovic,Julian, Drea, Free Beer, SNT-BRCH, Joshua Parsons