Rendering Unconscious episode 355.
Rendering Unconscious welcomes Todd McGowan back to the podcast! He’s here to talk about his new book Pure Excess: Capitalism and the Commodity (2025).
This episode begins with a discussion of Todd’s new book, Pure Excess: Capitalism and the Commodity, in which he explores the concept of surplus enjoyment in capitalism, drawing from both Lacan and Freud. The book concludes with reflections on art, as the author emphasizes art's inherent resistance to commodification. Todd critiques the capitalist promise of pure excess and its impact on society, including but not limited to the rise of right-wing populism. He also touches on the importance of individuals shifting their values and the potential for collective change through art and education. Vanessa shares her developing plans for the Rendering Unconscious Center for Psychoanalysis, an independent psychoanalytic center, aiming to provide a non-institutional, inclusive platform for psychoanalytic learning and discussion.
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Todd McGowan teaches theory and film at the University of Vermont. His books include The Impossible David Lynch (2007), Emancipation after Hegel: Achieving a Contradictory Revolution (2019), Embracing Alienation: Why We Shouldn’t Try to Find Ourselves (2024), and Pure Excess: Capitalism and the Commodity (2025).
McGowan contributed a chapter “The sex in their violence: eroticizing biopower” to the anthology On Psychoanalysis and Violence: Contemporary Lacanian Perspectives (Routledge, 2019) edited by Vanessa Sinclair and Manya Steinkoler.
Check out previous episodes:
RU178: PROFESSOR TODD MCGOWAN ON BREAKING BAD, HITCHCOCK, PSYCHOANALYSIS, FILM, POLITICS, PHILOSOPHY
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