Prof. Todd McGowan & Prof. Ryan Engley: The Why Theory | EPS 019

What if the way we think, desire, and enjoy is not freely chosen — but structured by forces we can barely see? In this episode of Deep Thinking with Dr. Steven Stolz, Dr. Steve is joined by two of the most compelling and original thinkers working at the intersection of psychoanalysis, philosophy, and popular culture, Prof. Todd McGowan of the University of Vermont and Prof. Ryan Engley of Pomona College, the acclaimed hosts of the "Why Theory" podcast, which has spent over 200 episodes bringing Lacanian psychoanalysis and Hegelian philosophy to bear on everything from blockbuster films to contemporary politics to the deepest questions of human desire and ideology. This is a rare double-guest episode, and a conversation unlike anything else in this season. In this conversation, Dr. Steve, Prof. McGowan, and Prof. Engley explore: ✓ Why the way we think, desire, and enjoy is not freely chosen but structured by ideological forces we can barely see, and what psychoanalysis offers as a way of understanding this ✓ The "Why Theory" project, why Lacanian psychoanalysis and Hegelian philosophy are not abstract academic exercises but essential tools for understanding contemporary life, politics, and culture ✓ Why the pursuit of happiness may be less honest, and less human, than the pursuit of enjoyment, and what psychoanalysis reveals about our relationship to dissatisfaction ✓ How capitalism doesn't just exploit our existing desires but fundamentally reshapes what we desire, and what the "society of enjoyment" demands of us psychically ✓ Film as public dreaming, what blockbuster films, Christmas movies, and television reveal about collective ideology, desire, and fantasy that explicit political discourse cannot ✓ Lacan's concept of the Real, the objet petit a, and the gaze, and why these ideas matter far beyond the seminar room ✓ How Hegelian contradiction actually works, and why the standard "thesis-antithesis-synthesis" formula completely misrepresents what Hegel was doing ✓ What psychoanalysis offers political movements and education that other theoretical frameworks simply cannot provide ✓ Why embracing our symptoms rather than trying to cure them might be the most honest and politically productive thing we can do ✓ What all of this means for how we understand education, ideology, and the formation of human subjects This is episode five of the 2026 season "Reconsidering Education", a season asking the biggest questions about what education is for, who it serves, and what forces shape the way we think. 🎧 Listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts & Amazon Music 📺 Watch on YouTube:    / @stevenstolz   📱 Follow: @DeepThinkingPod 🌐 stevenstolz.com 🔗 Why Theory Podcast: podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/why-theory/id1299863834 🔗 Todd McGowan: uvm.edu/cas/english/profile/todd-mcgowan 🔗 Ryan Engley: pomona.edu/directory/people/ryan-engley #WhyTheory #ToddMcGowan #RyanEngley #Psychoanalysis #LacanianPsychoanalysis #Lacan #Hegel #HegelianDialectic #Ideology #CriticalTheory #ContinentalPhilosophy #PopularCulture #FilmTheory #DeepThinking #DrStevenStolz #EducationPodcast #PhilosophyPodcast #Podcast #Enjoyment #Desire #Capitalism #PsychoanalysisAndEducation