About Us

This is a scholarly podcast about scholarly provocateurs. Gadflies, charlatans, and shitposters sometimes get tenure, believe it or not. This is a leftist podcast that takes a second look at their peer-reviewed work, and tries to see if there’s anything we might learn from arguing with them. If you want to learn more about why we are doing this, consider starting with our first episode.

Team

Matt McManus

Co-Host

McManus is a Lecturer in Political Science at the University of Michigan. He is the author of the The Rise of Post-Modern Conservatism and A How to Guide to Cosmopolitan Socialism among other books. Matt also is a frequent contributor to Jacobin magazine, Current Affairs and other outlets. 

Mouthy Infidel

Co-Host

Ethan Xavier (AKA “Mouthy Infidel”) is the host of a YouTube channel called “the Dissent Channel”, and the author of a Substack by the same name. He has has appeared on popular podcasts such as Give Them an Argument with Ben Burgis, as well as PlasticPills . He holds no degrees, and mostly just enjoys arguing about politics and philosophy on the internet.

Victor Bruzzone

Co-Host

Bruzzone holds a PhD in Political Theory from the University of Toronto. He researches democratic theory as a SSHRC Post Doctoral Fellow at Penn State. His work has appeared in places like Jacobin, Areo, and Marion West. He is also the co-host of the PlasticPills podcast, and a frequent contributor to Give Them an Argument with Ben Burgis