In this episode, we discuss the aesthetic philosophy of the so-called “Dean of the Harlem Renaissance”, Alain Locke. Locke thought art had a central role to play in the social emancipation of Black Americans. It is through art that the social consciousness of society can mature into becoming genuinely pluralist. However, not just any art will do. We focus on why he insists there must be a strict separation between art and propaganda, how he thought poetry and drama could develop the cultural group life of black people, and why he centered the folk, or everyday people, as genuine sources of beauty and truth. Along the way we ask whether Locke’s search for a black modern aesthetic is still possible in a world where the aesthetic values around race reduce everything to moralism or didacticism. But it’s not all doom and gloom: Drake gets a positive shout out! So anything is possible.

leftofphilosophy.com

References:

Alain Locke, The New Negro Aesthetic: Selected Writings, edited by Jeffrey C. Stewart (New York: Penguin, 2022).

Hanif Abdurraqib, The Crown Ain’t Worth Much (Button Poetry, 2016).

Tracy K. Smith, Wade in the Water (Graywolf Press, 2018).

Justin Phillip Reed, The Malevolent Volume (Coffee House Press, 2020).

Donika Kelly, The Renunciations (Graywolf Press, 2021).

Music:

“Vintage Memories” by Schematist | schematist.bandcamp.com

“My Space” by Overu | https://get.slip.stream/KqmvAN

Just a quick pair of announcements for you!

We'll be doing a live episode recording at the Radical Philosophy Association's conference at Pomona College at 8pm next Thursday, October 15.

https://www.radicalphilosophyassociation.org/rpa-biennial-conference.html

And Gil will be teaching a class on Hobbes's Leviathan in Chicago next month through the Brooklyn Institute for Social Research.

https://thebrooklyninstitute.com/items/courses/hobbess-leviathan/

We hope that you will be able to join us for one or both! Thanks very much.

Music: "Mothership" by Blue Steel

In this episode we discuss the concept of hyperpolitics, as originally conceptualized by Anton Jäger. We contemplate the acute lack of substantive political transformation that has resulted from recent upheavals and movements, and wonder about what it would take to revive the kind of mass politics of the early to mid-twentieth century. Throughout, we wrestle with the prevailing sense of powerlessness and doom, the practical necessity of hope, and the potential paths toward meaningful social and political transformation.

leftofphilosophy.com | @leftofphil

References:

Anton Jäger, Hyperpolitics: Extreme Politicization without Political Consequences (New York: Verso, 2026)

Lillian Cicerchia, “The Futility of Hyperpolitics”, https://catalyst-journal.com/2025/04/the-futility-of-hyperpolitics

Virgilio Urbina Lazardi, “Thomas Piketti’s Utopian Socialism”, https://jacobin.com/2026/09/thomas-pikettys-utopian-socialism

Music:

“Vintage Memories” by Schematist | schematist.bandcamp.com

“My Space” by Overu | https://get.slip.stream/KqmvAN