Episode #121 - Michel Foucault Pt. 1
Episode #121 - Michel Foucault Pt. 1
This episode introduces Michel Foucault through his book Discipline and Punish, exploring how societies shifted from public executions to controlling people through discipline and routine. Foucault argues that modern punishment isn't about justice—it's about maintaining power. He explains how systems like prisons, schools, and workplaces use surveillance, rules, and constant evaluation to shape behavior. Inspired by the panopticon—a design where prisoners never know when they’re being watched—Foucault shows how this logic now runs through all of modern life. We internalize these systems, watching and judging ourselves to fit into what society tells us is “normal.” Power, he says, doesn’t just come from governments or wealth, but from the knowledge that defines who we are and how we live.
The Society of the Spectacle – Guy Debord (1967)
The History of Sexuality, Volume 1: An Introduction – Michel Foucault (1976)
Punishment and Social Structure – Georg Rusche & Otto Kirchheimer (1939)
See the full transcript here.
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