Our most recent episode, "Language as Power: Transcending Orwell's account of language through Nietzsche and Foucault," is Part II in a Four Part series. In our last episode, we discussed Orwell's claim that powerful, authoritarian governments have stolen our freedom of thought, speech, and action. In addition, we examined Orwell's metaphysical accounts of human freedom, rationality, and language that presuppose Orwell's claim that something has gone terribly wrong in the late-modern intellectual and socio-political space. In this episode, we raise the question: What happens if we abandon Orwell's metaphysical account of freedom and language. What happens if we approach language and power from a Nietzschean and Foucaultian perspective? What happens if we view Language as an Exercise of Power? Enjoy.

In a recent article in Salon magazine, the author claimed that the GOP has become the party of Orwell's nightmare. Is this correct? What is Orwell's nightmare? In this episode we examine the "Orwellian Mythos," and try to decipher whether current American politics, on both the left and the right, have become the stuff of Orwell's nightmare. We conclude by arguing that Orwell was right, but in the wrong ways! Enjoy.

With one year to go in office, President Obama has once again actively "transformed" the legal, political, and institutional relations of power in the United States.  Enacting several "Executive Orders" relating to gun control and ownership, President Obama has by-passed Congressional authorization and acted unilaterally. This has ignited a storm of controversy not only over the Second Amendment, but equally as important over the fierce debate about the increasing power of the Executive. But, what is an "Executive Order"?  Where does it come from? AND, MOST IMPORTANTLY, WHAT IS THE HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT AND PHILOSOPHICAL ACCOUNT OF "MODERN EXECUTIVE POWER" THAT ENABLES THE USE OF "EXECUTIVE ORDERS"?  In light of these historic events, we are re-posting our third episode, "Executive Power." This is critical information. Enjoy.