by The Breakup Theory
Conversations about collective liberation and ending things Follow and support us at https://www.patreon.com/thebreakuptheory/
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Publishing Since
1/10/2024
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March 24, 2025
<p class="MsoNormal">In today’s episode, Caroline and I respond to a listener’s letter about breaking up with their psychoanalyst after five years. Right now, there is such an emphasis on therapy as a means to address trauma, as well as to adjust to the terror of the current conditions in the world. There is also a whole industry of self-help that coincides with shaming of people by individualizing their faults and failures. We may all need therapy to a certain extent—but when do we end it? Breaking up with a therapist is a kind of practice breakup: it’s a controlled environment where you can exercise your own determination and decision and face the consequences practically and emotionally. As the listener details in their letter, ending things comes with a large dose of ambivalence, and we tend to reason our way through it with pros and cons, or assigning blame and guilt. However, as the breakup theory tries to suggest, we can breakup for no other reason than it is what we feel is right in the moment. Caroline and I have a far reaching discussion about all of these ideas and many others, ultimately as a way to support the listener in their decision and their already well thought out process of marking this ending. But this conversation should be helpful to any listener, in or out of therapy, as another approach to encountering our feelings about the end and our own attempts at power and control.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">If you haven’t already, please go over to cawshinythings.com and sign up to read the works that Vicky, me, and the amazing carla joy bergman and dani burlison are sharing there. Things have been incredibly difficult for me (and everyone), but I am coming back to regular recording and writing, so stay tuned. My column there is called “she’s not there.” But all of us are posting our articles, essays, writing prompts, and recordings—there is plenty for you to sink your teeth into. And I will be also offering other projects along with my collaborators. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The online journal is currently open to subscribers but will pivot soon to a paid subscription service. Check it out and help spread the word.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">As always, if you want to submit a question, scenario, or problem for us to discuss from an anarchist/autonomous and queer perspective of ending things, you can write us at <a href="https://form.jotform.com/thebreakuptheory/stories">https://form.jotform.com/thebreakuptheory/stories</a> or call us at (917) 526-6548. We love to hear from you!</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style= "mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal">And if you like this podcast, please share with your friends, rate us, and follow us where it is you receive pods.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">The Breakup Theory is a member of the Channel Zero Network of anarchist podcasts. CZN will help you discover a library of amazing audio projects, so check them out at <a href= "https://channelzeronetwork.com">https://channelzeronetwork.com</a></p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
March 9, 2025
<p>On today’s episode, I have a conversation with Vicky Osterweil, a fellow member of our new writing collective, CAW, and the author of the indispensable history and provocation, In Defense of Looting, and a forthcoming book on intellectual property and Disney, called The Extended Universe. We decided to have this conversation in the opening month of the Trump administration to game out some possible scenarios as we observe the administration demolishing the constitutional and administrative state, against all the establishment assurances the the institutions can withstand any attack. Though our conversation does engage the fear and threat of the situation, we also discuss openings for us to take bold action that uses this moment of (bad) revolution to expand our collective power.</p> <p>Vicky is one of my favorite people to talk with. She has a brilliant analytical mind, an incredible story of political history and knowledge, and an inspiring way to read the devastating moments against a belief in the necessity to act. In fact, Vicky emphasizes the potential timeline of power consolidation by these fascist forces and the urgency for us to prepare ourselves for managing our lives and mounting attack.</p> <p>This was recorded at the end of February, so of course there have been new terrible political developments, but the analysis itself still stands as a way for us to assess the possibilities.</p> <p>If you haven’t already, please go over to <a href= "https://cawshinythings.com" rel= "noopener noreferrer nofollow">cawshinythings.com</a> and sign up to read the works that Vicky, me, and the amazing carla joy bergman and dani burlison are sharing there. Things have been incredibly difficult for me (and everyone), but I am coming back to regular recording and writing, so stay tuned. My column there is called “she’s not there.” But all of us are posting our articles, essays, writing prompts, and recordings—there is plenty for you to sink your teeth into. And I will be also offering other projects along with my collaborators. The online journal is currently open to subscribers but will pivot soon to a subscription service with a pay what you want option. Check it out and help spread the word.</p> <p>As always, if you want to submit a question, scenario, or problem for us to discuss from an anarchist/autonomous and queer perspective of ending things, you can write us at <a href= "https://form.jotform.com/thebreakuptheory/stories" rel= "noopener noreferrer nofollow">https://form.jotform.com/thebreakuptheory/stories</a> or call us at (917) 526-6548. We have a couple agony letter episodes coming up, and we love to hear from you.</p> <p>If you like this podcast, please share with your friends, rate us, and follow us where it is you receive pods.</p> <p>The Breakup Theory is a member of the Channel Zero Network of anarchist podcasts. CZN will help you discover a library of amazing audio projects, so check them out at <a href= "https://channelzeronetwork.com" rel= "noopener noreferrer nofollow">channelzeronetwork.com</a></p>
November 15, 2024
<p><span style= "font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: Times; mso-fareast-font-family: Aptos; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman \(Body CS\)'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA;"> Hello everyone! I have been away longer than usual between episodes due to circumstances, and I appreciate you all coming back to listen. As a kind of compensation, this is a long one today—I got to talk to one of my favorite people to get into it with, Conner Habib. We had recorded a <a href= "https://www.patreon.com/posts/against-everyone-114616810">conversation</a> along with Dean Spade in the approach to the election in order to reorient people’s thoughts and attention towards politics beyond the state—and so we decided to reconvene, the two of us, post-election, to discuss the relationship of feeling to thinking and doing. There was of course an intensity of feeling after the election, with many claims about how people should respond and act. Instead of going that route, Conner and I try to explore ways of not giving up our feelings and power to the spectacle of politics and everything it demands from us. In doing this, we aim to expand the possibilities of action, and to reconceive our relationship to the political in a way that develops a new language or a new grammar that no long constrains us. Along the way, we talk about nottaking materialism as the only basis for politics, which gets us into both religious forms of power and the consideration of a spiritual relationship to the self and the world. As I say at the end, Conner’s podcast, Against Everyone /w Conner Habib, is an incredible resource that dives into many of these ideas through discussion and thinking. Conner references a recent series of episodes he published as a guide to engaging in a spiritual life. That might be a great place to start if you have not already listened to his podcast. He also wrote the intense novel, Hawk Mountain, which I also highly recommend. Subscribe to Conner’s <a href="https://www.patreon.com/ConnerHabib">Patreon</a> (<a href= "https://www.patreon.com/ConnerHabib">https://www.patreon.com/ConnerHabib</a>), and find Hawk Mountain <a href= "https://bookshop.org/p/books/hawk-mountain-conner-habib/17383101?ean=9780393542172"> here</a>.<br /></span></p> <p><span style= "font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: Times; mso-fareast-font-family: Aptos; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman \(Body CS\)'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA;"> Remember, as always, we have an online submission form at <a href= "https://form.jotform.com/thebreakuptheory/stories">https://form.jotform.com/thebreakuptheory/stories</a> and a phone line at <span style= "font-family: 'MS Mincho';"></span>(917) 426-6548. Please write and call us, to share your break up stories, your questions about ending things, and your hopes for liberation! Our letters episodes are a recurring feature on the show, and we find that our writers appreciate the ways we help think of these situations, so keep writing us!</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">If you like this show, please share with your friends and rate and follow us wherever you get podcasts. You can also support the project and my writing by subscribing to my <a href= "https://www.patreon.com/thebreakuptheory">patreon</a> <a href= "https://www.patreon.com/thebreakuptheory">https://www.patreon.com/thebreakuptheory</a>. If you have any extra cash, you can sign up for $5/month, though nothing there is paywalled. On my patreon, I regularly post both short and long written pieces, along with episodes, and other conversations I’m having. I am so grateful for all of you supporting me and this project!</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">The Breakup Theory is a member of the Channel Zero Network of anarchist podcasts. CZN brings together a slew of amazing audio projects, so check them out at </span><a href= "https://channelzeronetwork.com/"><span style= "mso-fareast-font-family: 'MS Mincho'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'MS Mincho';"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">https://channelzeronetwork.com/</span></span></a></p>
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