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by theory underground
Theory Underground is a lecture course and publishing platform for working class autodidacts and intellectual malcontents of various and diverse stripes. Most of what happens at TU is in relatively small and focused lecture-driven courses, however, there are a lot of public-facing dialogues with colleagues, fellow travelers, co-instructors, and ultimately whatever I want to do. Hi, I’m David McKerracher, and the reason this podcast exists is because I want the stuff I’m putting out there to be more widely accessible for people who don’t wanna pay for YT premium. I assume an audience of workers with earbuds, even though most of them are, at this point, post grads from Europe who have given up on existing movements, parties, ideologies, and who, ultimately, want to understand the situation we are in. THE CONTENT YOU WILL FIND HERE IS GOING TO BE WEIRD in a few important ways: 1st. Though I do want to be reachable by the kinds of workers, like me, who want this content, it is extremely ni
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- Yesterday47 min
How Chapo Trap House MADE Chud the Builder
Read it for yourself here: https://theoryunderground.substack.com/p/chapo-trap-house-hyperstitioned-chud Video cred for "Hodegtwins Show Megyn Kelly Chud The Builder Clips For The First Time!" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ce5iYa2yF8M 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗼𝗿𝘆 𝗨𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝗴𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱: 𝘛𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘴 𝘈𝘵 𝘞𝘰𝘳𝘬 From David McKerracher, a worker with earbuds, theorizing the future of meaningful work and real learning. I research the future of education and work, bridging manual labor and the life of the mind at the foundations of life. Theory Underground runs on two things: my effort plus your attention and participation. Show up, listen, engage, share, and keep me on task so that the work can grow out of a community. Membership is how my work is made possible. Become a member: https://theoryunderground.com/subscribe David McKerracher is the author of Timenergy: Why You Have No Time or Energy (Foreword by Slavoj Žižek) and he's the founder of Theory Underground. Office hours: First Monday of every month, 10 a.m. Pacific. https://theoryunderground.com/subscribe My lectures, seminars, and guest lectures from friends, happen when they do and only members get most of what happens there. If you'd prefer to wait for the free version, it all trickles down into my writing eventually. Just make sure to subscribe or follow so you don't miss all the epic free content.
- 6 days ago37 min
SAARUTU Announcement
Apply for the next SAARUTU co-hort here: https://forms.gle/q3YroxHE9QLZm9hU7 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗼𝗿𝘆 𝗨𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝗴𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱: 𝘛𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘴 𝘈𝘵 𝘞𝘰𝘳𝘬 From David McKerracher, a worker with earbuds, theorizing the future of meaningful work and real learning. I research the future of education and work, bridging manual labor and the life of the mind at the foundations of life. Theory Underground runs on two things: my effort plus your attention and participation. Show up, listen, engage, share, and keep me on task so that the work can grow out of a community. Membership is how my work is made possible. Become a member: https://theoryunderground.com/subscribe David McKerracher is the author of Timenergy: Why You Have No Time or Energy (Foreword by Slavoj Žižek) and he's the founder of Theory Underground. Office hours: First Monday of every month, 10 a.m. Pacific. https://theoryunderground.com/subscribe My lectures, seminars, and guest lectures from friends, happen when they do and only members get most of what happens there. If you'd prefer to wait for the free version, it all trickles down into my writing eventually. Just make sure to subscribe or follow so you don't miss all the epic free content.
- 2 weeks ago47 min
Letter to the Decent Progressive: It's 2026 and You're Still "Left Without the L"
I added "allegedly" to that claim about the ugly version of the pride flag and a huge footnote on it in the written version, which you can read here: https://open.substack.com/pub/theoryunderground/p/its-2026-and-youre-still-left-without? 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗼𝗿𝘆 𝗨𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝗴𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱: 𝘛𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘴 𝘈𝘵 𝘞𝘰𝘳𝘬 From David McKerracher, a worker with earbuds, theorizing the future of meaningful work and real learning. I research the future of education and work, bridging manual labor and the life of the mind at the foundations of life. Theory Underground runs on two things: my effort plus your attention and participation. Show up, listen, engage, share, and keep me on task so that the work can grow out of a community. Membership is how my work is made possible. Become a member: https://theoryunderground.com/subscribe David McKerracher is the author of Timenergy: Why You Have No Time or Energy (Foreword by Slavoj Žižek) and he's the founder of Theory Underground. Office hours: First Monday of every month, 10 a.m. Pacific. https://theoryunderground.com/subscribe My lectures, seminars, and guest lectures from friends, happen when they do and only members get most of what happens there. If you'd prefer to wait for the free version, it all trickles down into my writing eventually. Just make sure to subscribe or follow so you don't miss all the epic free content.
- 3 weeks ago1h 9m
Paul McNiel on The Wagon Box and the Fourth World
𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗼𝗿𝘆 𝗨𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝗴𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱: 𝘛𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘴 𝘈𝘵 𝘞𝘰𝘳𝘬 From David McKerracher, a worker with earbuds, theorizing the future of meaningful work and real learning. I research the future of education and work, bridging manual labor and the life of the mind at the foundations of life. Theory Underground runs on two things: my effort plus your attention and participation. Show up, listen, engage, share, and keep me on task so that the work can grow out of a community. Membership is how my work is made possible. Become a member: https://theoryunderground.com/subscribe David McKerracher is the author of Timenergy: Why You Have No Time or Energy (Foreword by Slavoj Žižek) and he's the founder of Theory Underground. Office hours: First Monday of every month, 10 a.m. Pacific. https://theoryunderground.com/subscribe My lectures, seminars, and guest lectures from friends, happen when they do and only members get most of what happens there. If you'd prefer to wait for the free version, it all trickles down into my writing eventually. Just make sure to subscribe or follow so you don't miss all the epic free content.
- May 2, 20262h 7m
The Breakup Liturgy
Thanks for listening! Thanks even more for liking, sharing, and commenting—whether it be something thoughtful or just for the algorithm. It definitely makes a difference. Theory Underground: Thoughts At Work From David McKerracher, a worker with earbuds, theorizing the future of learning. I research the future of education and work, bridging manual labor and the life of the mind at the foundations of life. Theory Underground runs on two things: my effort and your attention. Show up, listen, engage, share, and keep me on task so that the work can grow out of a community. Membership is how my work is made possible. Become a member: https://theoryunderground.com/subscribe David McKerracher is the author of Timenergy: Why You Have No Time or Energy (Foreword by Slavoj Žižek) and he's the founder of Theory Underground. Office hours: First Monday of every month, 10 a.m. Pacific. https://theoryunderground.com/subscribe My lectures, seminars, and guest lectures from friends, happen when they do and only members get most of what happens there. If you'd prefer to wait for the free version, it all trickles down into my writing eventually. Just make sure to subscribe or follow so you don't miss all the epic free content.
- May 2, 202638 min
Brain Mogging Clavicular
Looksmaxxing vs. Balancemaxxing with Søren Kierkegaard, Alain Badiou, and Jean Paul Sartre Read it here: https://theoryunderground.substack.com/p/brain-mogging-clavicular Thanks for listening! Thanks even more for liking, sharing, and commenting—whether it be something thoughtful or just for the algorithm. It definitely makes a difference. Become a member of Theory Underground here: https://theoryunderground.com/subscribe Tier 1 and higher get access to the courses and seminars going monthly throughout 2026: Intro to Theory, The Philosophy of Stewardship, and The Philosophy of Religion with David McKerracher. Tier 2 and higher get access to a monthly writers or speaking workshop. Tier 3 includes the book or thesis writer's cohort. All members get access to the monthly Post Duopoly (de)Radicalization Starter Pack reading group, which is a collaboration between TU and 1Dime. https://theoryunderground.com/subscribe David McKerracher is an organizer, theorist, husband and father (not in that order), and the founder of Theory Underground. McKerracher is the author of Timenergy: Why You Have No Time or Energy (Foreword by Slavoj Žižek), as well as the chief editor of Underground Theory (Volumes one and two are available now, with volume three in the works). Office hours: The first Monday of every month at 10 a.m. Pacific Time, or if you wait around after lectures/seminars. Theory Underground (TU) is dedicated to making challenging philosophical and theoretical work accessible for a non-college audience. TU emphasizes audio-based learning for real-world application of big ideas, operating both online and through an international tour that has hosted events in over 20 U.S. cities, 9 countries throughout Europe, as well as cities in Canada and Mexico. Mission: To provide accessible, rigorous, and wide-ranging educational material for three types of people: - dropout workers with earbuds getting into big ideas during daily routines - burnt-out postgrads seeking to supplement their journey - parents who take a deliberate role in their children's education through keeping alive their sense of wonder. Vision: A world that is timenergy-rich, meaning that parents and teachers have large, energy-infused, and reliably repeatable blocks of time throughout their day, week, and month. Such a world would construct and cultivate a culture of active leisure for the sake of discovering and stewarding one’s own talent and the talents of future generations. Lectures: Ongoing and archived sessions on key thinkers and topics, including: 📚Intro courses: Intro to Theory (monthly throughout 2026), Intro to Marx, Intro to Heidegger, Political Theory, Intro to The Idea of the University, Intro to Žižek, Intro to Lacan, Intro to Land, Intro to Illich, The Philosophy of Nature, Intro to the PMC, Intro to Critical Social Theory, and The Philosophy of Religion (2026). 📚Advanced courses: Martin Heidegger's Being and Time, Emmanuel Levinas' Totality and Infinity, and Slavoj Žižek's For They Know Not What They Do, The Autistic Subject and the Clinical Structures of Psychoanalysis. 📚Seminars: Critical Media Theory (2 years), Critical Doxology & Timenergy (1 year), The Philosophy of Stewardship and Home Economics (monthly throughout 2026). Publishing: Underground Theory Volumes 1 and 2, Timenergy: Why You Have No Time or Energy, as well as serial releases of chapters, original thoughts, and upcoming books. Community: Conferences, retreats, and international tour. TU’s hybrid and experimental grassroots (self-funded) tour events have occurred in prestigious private universities as well as people's garages and backyards, on campus quads or downtown in busy urban areas, as well as deep in the wilderness. TU is virtually everywhere and always on tour, but physically it is based on a small regenerative farm in North Idaho. Renowned professors at Theory Underground have included Slavoj Žižek, Benjamin Studebaker, Nina Power, John D. Caputo, Peter Rollins, Chris Cutrone, Iain Thomson, Alenka Zupančič, Leon Brenner; Todd McGowan, as well as lesser-known but nonetheless amazing lecturers such as Tony Chamas, Bryan Weeks, Michael Downs, and Elton L.K. of the Working Class Intelligentsia and the Democratic Socialists of America education podcast called CLASS. Music Logo Sequence Music is always either by https://olliebeanz.com/music https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/legalcode or “What's Left” Adam Leher. Thanks! If you are an artist who has something that might be good for TU's unique vibe, you can always send it to us a hell.theoryunderground@gmail.com
- Apr 30, 20261h 9m
Don't Read Settlers
Thanks for listening! Thanks even more for liking, sharing, and commenting—whether it be something thoughtful or just for the algorithm. It definitely makes a difference. Theory Underground: Thoughts At Work From David McKerracher, a worker with earbuds, theorizing the future of learning. I research the future of education and work, bridging manual labor and the life of the mind at the foundations of life. Theory Underground runs on two things: my effort and your attention. Show up, listen, engage, share, and keep me on task so that the work can grow out of a community. Membership is how my work is made possible. Become a member: https://theoryunderground.com/subscribe David McKerracher is the author of Timenergy: Why You Have No Time or Energy (Foreword by Slavoj Žižek) and he's the founder of Theory Underground. Office hours: First Monday of every month, 10 a.m. Pacific. https://theoryunderground.com/subscribe My lectures, seminars, and guest lectures from friends, happen when they do and only members get most of what happens there. If you'd prefer to wait for the free version, it all trickles down into my writing eventually. Just make sure to subscribe or follow so you don't miss all the epic free content.
- Apr 16, 202645 min
Castration Culture | Robot Baby Brainwashing and the War on Motherhood, Midwifery, and Natality
Castration Culture | Robot Baby Brainwashing and the War on Motherhood, Midwifery, and Natality READ IT HERE: https://theoryunderground.substack.com/p/castration-culture Thanks for listening! Thanks even more for liking, sharing, and commenting—whether it be something thoughtful or just for the algorithm. It definitely makes a difference. Become a member of Theory Underground here: https://theoryunderground.com/subscribe Tier 1 and higher get access to the courses and seminars going monthly throughout 2026: Intro to Theory, The Philosophy of Stewardship, and The Philosophy of Religion with David McKerracher. Tier 2 and higher get access to a monthly writers or speaking workshop. Tier 3 includes the book or thesis writer's cohort. All members get access to the monthly Post Duopoly (de)Radicalization Starter Pack reading group, which is a collaboration between TU and 1Dime. https://theoryunderground.com/subscribe David McKerracher is an organizer, theorist, husband and father (not in that order), and the founder of Theory Underground. McKerracher is the author of Timenergy: Why You Have No Time or Energy (Foreword by Slavoj Žižek), as well as the chief editor of Underground Theory (Volumes one and two are available now, with volume three in the works). Office hours: The first Monday of every month at 10 a.m. Pacific Time, or if you wait around after lectures/seminars. Theory Underground (TU) is dedicated to making challenging philosophical and theoretical work accessible for a non-college audience. TU emphasizes audio-based learning for real-world application of big ideas, operating both online and through an international tour that has hosted events in over 20 U.S. cities, 9 countries throughout Europe, as well as cities in Canada and Mexico. Mission: To provide accessible, rigorous, and wide-ranging educational material for three types of people: - dropout workers with earbuds getting into big ideas during daily routines - burnt-out postgrads seeking to supplement their journey - parents who take a deliberate role in their children's education through keeping alive their sense of wonder. Vision: A world that is timenergy-rich, meaning that parents and teachers have large, energy-infused, and reliably repeatable blocks of time throughout their day, week, and month. Such a world would construct and cultivate a culture of active leisure for the sake of discovering and stewarding one’s own talent and the talents of future generations. Lectures: Ongoing and archived sessions on key thinkers and topics, including: 📚Intro courses: Intro to Theory (monthly throughout 2026), Intro to Marx, Intro to Heidegger, Political Theory, Intro to The Idea of the University, Intro to Žižek, Intro to Lacan, Intro to Land, Intro to Illich, The Philosophy of Nature, Intro to the PMC, Intro to Critical Social Theory, and The Philosophy of Religion (2026). 📚Advanced courses: Martin Heidegger's Being and Time, Emmanuel Levinas' Totality and Infinity, and Slavoj Žižek's For They Know Not What They Do, The Autistic Subject and the Clinical Structures of Psychoanalysis. 📚Seminars: Critical Media Theory (2 years), Critical Doxology & Timenergy (1 year), The Philosophy of Stewardship and Home Economics (monthly throughout 2026). Publishing: Underground Theory Volumes 1 and 2, Timenergy: Why You Have No Time or Energy, as well as serial releases of chapters, original thoughts, and upcoming books. Community: Conferences, retreats, and international tour. TU’s hybrid and experimental grassroots (self-funded) tour events have occurred in prestigious private universities as well as people's garages and backyards, on campus quads or downtown in busy urban areas, as well as deep in the wilderness. TU is virtually everywhere and always on tour, but physically it is based on a small regenerative farm in North Idaho. Renowned professors at Theory Underground have included Slavoj Žižek, Benjamin Studebaker, Nina Power, John D. Caputo, Peter Rollins, Chris Cutrone, Iain Thomson, Alenka Zupančič, Leon Brenner; Todd McGowan, as well as lesser-known but nonetheless amazing lecturers such as Tony Chamas, Bryan Weeks, Michael Downs, and Elton L.K. of the Working Class Intelligentsia and the Democratic Socialists of America education podcast called CLASS. Music Logo Sequence Music is always either by https://olliebeanz.com/music https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/legalcode or “What's Left” Adam Leher. Thanks! If you are an artist who has something that might be good for TU's unique vibe, you can always send it to us a hell.theoryunderground@gmail.com
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About Theory Underground
Theory Underground is a lecture course and publishing platform for working class autodidacts and intellectual malcontents of various and diverse stripes. Most of what happens at TU is in relatively small and focused lecture-driven courses, however, there are a lot of public-facing dialogues with colleagues, fellow travelers, co-instructors, and ultimately whatever I want to do. Hi, I’m David McKerracher, and the reason this podcast exists is because I want the stuff I’m putting out there to be more widely accessible for people who don’t wanna pay for YT premium. I assume an audience of workers with earbuds, even though most of them are, at this point, post grads from Europe who have given up on existing movements, parties, ideologies, and who, ultimately, want to understand the situation we are in. THE CONTENT YOU WILL FIND HERE IS GOING TO BE WEIRD in a few important ways: 1st. Though I do want to be reachable by the kinds of workers, like me, who want this content, it is extremely ni
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