Afleveringen
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In this episode, best mates Ollie and Lukas sit down to discuss all things Carl Jung and psychoanalysis.
We begin by talking about the Jungian shadow, the repository of our subconscious where we dump all those things we don’t like about ourselves, or don’t identify with: our anger, our shame, whatever it might be. The shadow is hard to recognise, precisely because we repress it into our subconscious. Not being aware of this, though, can lead to shadow projection: to imagining that the traits we fear in ourselves are only located in others. Through a psychoanalytic process of identification, we can bring it to the forefront. The key, then, is to integrate the shadow: to make the unconscious and conscious come together. This is what allows us to ‘individuate’, to ‘become who we are’.
We move on to discuss dreams, and dream interpretation. Jung’s theory of dreams takes a lot from Sigmund Freud: the basic belief is that dreams are constructions of the unconscious which we can interpret to understand our own subconscious better. Jung is much more open than Freud though, and doesn’t think that psychoanalysis boils down to sex and aggression. Instead, dreams are repositories of symbols which can be read much like one reads metaphors in a book. They also have a homeostatic function: they act like a pressure valve, bringing repressed thoughts back up to the conscious level. If we can learn to read our dreams, perhaps we can learn to understand ourselves better.
Finally, we discuss Carl Jung’s theory of archetypes. For Jung, an archetype is an image, concept, or symbol which resides in the collective unconscious. That is, basic structures of thought which we all share in our unconscious: the self, the hero, the mother, the child, and so on. These archetypes shape the way we interpret everything around us. Individual mothers live up, or don’t, to the archetype we share of them. Recognising this can help us understand the structures of our own thought, and how biases might be built into our way of seeing. For example, by analysing how our archetypes might be shaped by patriarchal ways of seeing and thinking.
Lukas and Ollie, most of all, talk about how all of this can help us think in our own lives. Stick around for more of that. We’re here to learn how to think, not what to think.
00:00 - Jung's Concept of the Shadow
06:26 - Dreams and the Unconscious
10:45 - Dream Analysis and their Significance
20:00 - Archetypes and the Collective Unconscious
26:14 - The Personal and Cultural Role of Archetypes
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Best mates Ollie and Lukas sit down with renowned Israeli Historian of the 'New School', Ilan Pappé. In this episode, we pull out the nuances in discussions about the two-state solution, the use of language, the genocide, colonisation, and the future.
We begin with an in-depth discussion about how discourse shapes the way we view an issue: should the situation be described as a conflict, a genocide, a war, or something else? The discussion turns around how we can balance the priorities of international policy-makers and NGOs which are actively seeking practical solutions, with the principled approach to language which says we should describe things as we believe them to be.
Ilan Pappé, a resident of Israel living in Haifa, explains what it's like on the ground: the problematic attitudes of many everyday Israelis, and how he deals with conflict arising from his pro-Palestinian principles. He even goes so far as to draw parallels with the Nazi regime's discourse surrounding the Jews: the totalising and dehumanising rhetoric that allows one to carry out acts of brutality. This is also top-down, indeed Pappé opens up about how Israeli schools utilitse Middle Eastern history as a way to give their nation a certain view of the world and their place in it. Fear is manipulated in order to keep conflict with Iran, Lebanon, Palestine, and so on, evergoing.Without context, we cannot know where or who we are. Ilan Pappé recognises the tragedy of October 7th, and meanwhile argues that we cannot understand it without the context which brought it into being. He talks about the 'colonisation of Palestine' as being a process of settler colonialism which displaced Palestinians and used violence to erase them from 'the land with no people'.
Ollie and Lukas get into it with Ilan about the future. Ollie expresses his internal debate about the two- and one-state solution. One is perhaps more 'pragmatic', and the other more 'ideal'. Ilan tells us that it is not us who should decide, but the Palestinians.
Critical Edge is a multi-media community started by two friends seeking to learn how to think, not what to think.
Subscribe or check out our other platforms to join the team :)
The book Ollie got Lukas for his birthday: https://amzn.to/3T5BlhOOn Palestine: https://amzn.to/4wjqjUP10
Myths about Israel: https://amzn.to/4wjqjUP
00:00 - The significance of language for Israel-Palestine
08:32 - Language and attitudes within Israel
12:31 - Nazism, Fear, and Conversation in Israel
19:17 - The Cycle of Violence: Its Roots and Future
25:42 - October 7th and Historical Context
34:23 - The Two-State Solution, Aparthed, and the Future
45:23 - Normalcy after the Genocide for Palestinians
54:42 - Imagining a Shared Future in Palestine
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Zijn er afleveringen die ontbreken?
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Ollie and Lukas sit down with social care worker Catherine. They discuss the importance of childcare, how the NHS and national systems are failing children, and where parents go wrong. Catherine shares her personal story of IVF and finding her way to social care.This episode is the first in our new series, In Plain Sight. In this series, Ollie and Lukas get the perspectives of people who do really important work, but whose contributions and points of view aren't heard enough. These essential workers tell us their story, their perspective on what Westminster needs to do differently, and how their sector is changing.Critical Edge is a multi-media community started by two friends seeking to learn how to think, not what to think. Subscribe or check out our other platforms to join the team :)
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Ollie and Lukas sat down again with Cenk Uygur to discuss being banned from the UK for anti-semitism, Israel’s influence in the UK, and Palestine.Critical Edge is a multi-media community started by two friends seeking to learn how to think, not what to think. Subscribe or check out our other platforms to join the team :)
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Critical Edge hosts and best mates Ollie and Lukas sit down with Philip Pullman, renowned author of His Dark Materials.We drew on everything from Milton's Paradise Lost to Superman to William Blake. This episode was about the power of literature to change the way we see ourselves and the way we live our lives, as well as the way storytelling can light up our imaginations. Lukas told Philip about how the concept of the daemon changed the way he saw his own personality, and the souls of those people around him. Philip also shared how Philip Goff's book Galileo's Error, which argued for pansychism, was the non-fiction book that most profoundly shaped his view of the world. Consciousness now seeps everywhere through his literary work. Philip said he doesn't like fantasy, at least not if it doesn't deal with fundamental questions of human psychology. This is why he loved Paradise Lost: the three of us bonded over Gustave Doré's famous illustrations for Paradise Lost, and William Blake's Illuminations.We finished with a discussion about how basic structures of thought can seep into the way we think, even at a young age. Ollie argued that Sleeping Beauty can make us see the man as the active desirer and the woman as the passive desired, although of course Philip thought better stories could plug this gap.Is it impossible to live without narrative structures? Ollie argued that the heads of people who don't read are simply filled with worse narratives, like the American Dream, which prizes money above all. Philip finished by recommending one of his favourite works of political thought for our next guest. Critical Edge is a multi-media community started by two friends seeking to learn how to think, not what to think. Subscribe or check out our other platforms to join the team :)
0:00 - Introduction0:33 - Fiction as a Guide to Life1:44 - The Art of Storytelling3:21 - Growing Up in Australia9:42 - What Daemon Would You Have?16:02 - Books That Shaped Pullman24:01 - Panpsychism and Consciousness30:28 - Fantasy, Paradise Lost, and His Dark Materials42:49 - How Does Fiction Shape our Psychology?51:33 - Stories, Gender Roles, and Fairytales1:01:03 - Outro and Recommendation
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Critical Edge hosts and best mates Ollie and Lukas sit down with rockstar panpyschist Philip Goff.Ollie, Lukas and Philip talked about it all. We started with a discussion about the fundamental nature of consciousness, and why it can't be understood using the language of science: David Chalmer's 'hard problem of consciousness'. This led us to panpsychism and its connection to mystical beliefs. Philip opened up about his experience doing toad venom (5-MEO-DMT) and the perspective that opened up for him regarding our connection to something bigger.
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Critical Edge hosts and best mates Ollie and Lukas sit down with veteran of the philosophy game Jeff McMahan, an ethicist who lives and breathes his work. We really got into it this episode. We discussed whether war can ever be justified, the ethics of autonomous weapons, and the difficult questions concerning Gaza and Iran. Jeff isn’t one to weasel his words: you’ll want to hear what he has to say.Critical Edge is a multi-media community started by two friends seeking to learn how to think, not what to think. Subscribe to our Spotify to hear more!
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Critical Edge hosts and best mates sit down with Robin Carhart-Harris, leading psychedelic researcher and all round good bloke.
We discussed the ethical and philosophical questions attached to psychedelics: such as how a drug can change how we see ourselves and the people around us, or what psychedelics might reveal about consciousness and the universe. Robin takes a pragmatic approach, and advocates for the potential upside in mental health treatment.
To find out more about Robin's new book: https://www.carhartharrislab.com/upcoming-book
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Critical Edge hosts and best mates Ollie and Lukas sit down with rockstar philosopher Nigel Warburton, co-host of Philosophy Bites.Ollie, Lukas and Nigel had a great chat about whether art is subjective, how cultural beauty standards shape us, Nigel's favourite books and paintings, and what it is about art that is so essentially human. Critical Edge is a multi-media community started by two friends seeking to learn how to think, not what to think. Subscribe or check out our other platforms to join the team :)
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Critical Edge hosts and best mates Ollie and Lukas sit down with Canadian-American astronomer Wendy Freedman, one of Times 2025 Top 100 most influential people in the world.Hardly experts on the topic, Ollie and Lukas had an open discussion with Wendy about the universe and its expansion, whether it really began with the big bang, and if we can ever know anything about dark matter. Lukas and Ollie open the chat talking to Wendy about why the universe reminds everyone about.Critical Edge is a multi-media community started by two friends seeking to learn how to think, not what to think. Subscribe or check out our other platforms to join the team :)
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Critical Edge hosts Ollie and Lukas sit down with philosopher Kwame Anthony Appiah to explore what classic thought experiments reveal about identity, morality, power, and the future of human connection.
Across these puzzles—and the real-world examples they illuminate, from political power to dating apps and artificial intimacy—the conversation asks what truly anchors a good life: honor, authenticity, continuity, truth, connection. Philosophy here isn’t abstract; it’s a lens on how we live now.
Hosted by two passionate Oxford students, Critical Edge aims to bring you engaging discussions with influential personalities, delving into topics that matter to our society and the world at large. Subscribe for more!
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Critical Edge hosts Ollie and Lukas sit down with philosopher David Edmonds to explore how discrimination, identity, and group psychology shape the way we see ourselves - and each other.
Hosted by two passionate Oxford graduates, Critical Edge brings rigorous, accessible conversations with influential thinkers on the ideas shaping our world. Subscribe for
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Critical Edge hosts Ollie and Lukas sit down with Professor John Curtice, the UK's leading authority on public opinion and electoral behaviour, to examine how Britain's political landscape has been transformed over the past decade.
We explore how class has evolved as a marker of political identity, why age and education now structure voting behaviour more than any other factors, and how these shifts have redrawn the electoral map. Professor Curtice unpacks the evidence: how Labour and Conservative coalitions have changed, what the data actually shows about "realignment," and why voters are behaving less predictably than ever.
Finally, we look ahead: electoral reform, the prospects for party competition, and how the next decade of British politics may unfold.Hosted by two passionate Oxford graduates, Critical Edge aims to bring you engaging discussions with influential personalities, delving into topics that matter to our society and the world at large. Subscribe for more!
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Critical Edge hosts Ollie and Lukas sit down with Professor Mark Blyth, an expert in political economy, to unpack how economic ideas shape the world we live in.
We explore why being wrong is essential to learning, drawing on Nassim Taleb’s ideas of uncertainty, fragility, and “skin in the game.” From there, the conversation ranges across bubbles (AI, housing, finance), the commodification of time and everyday life, and why economics can’t be treated as a value-free hard science.
We dig into inequality, trickle-down economics, wealth and taxation, austerity, and the concentration of power in today’s tech-dominated capitalism—before turning to one of the most contentious issues in politics: immigration. Blyth offers a characteristically blunt and nuanced account of why immigration debates provoke such intensity, how economics, culture, and media manipulation interact, and why avoiding these discussions only deepens the problem.
Hosted by two Oxford graduates, Critical Edge aims to help you learn how to think, not what to think, through serious but accessible conversations with leading thinkers. Subscribe for more.
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Critical Edge hosts Ollie and Lukas sit down with Frank Turek, an American Christian apologist. We had some interesting and nuanced discussion about the interrelation of faith and doubt, the problem of evil, and the reliability of scripture. We got into some more tough territory when discussing contradictions in scripture, the New and Old Testament, and homosexuality. There's a lot to stick your teeth into here.
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Ollie and Lukas sit down with Anthony Scaramucci for a fast, candid conversation about power, populism, and political renewal. Anthony is former White House Communications Director, and co-host of The Rest Is Politics US.
Today, he discusses why he has changed his mind on Bitcoin, what finally pushed him to break with Trump, why MAGA is beginning to fracture, and how the Epstein files are reshaping American politics.
Hosted by two passionate Oxford graduates, Critical Edge aims to bring you engaging discussions with influential personalities, delving into topics that matter to our society and the world at large. Subscribe for more!
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Ollie and Lukas sit down with historian, author, and co-host of The Rest is History, Dominic Sandbrook — one of Britain’s most influential public historians. Can pride in one’s country ever be “healthy"? How should we teach the British Empire in schools? Listen in.
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Critical Edge hosts Ollie and Lukas sit down with the youngest ever country council leader, George Finch. 19 year old George, from Warwickshire, defect from the Tories to Reform UK last year.
George and our hosts found some things to agree on: the need for educational reform, the importance of tolerance, and the ever more threatening cost of living crisis. However, they fiercely debated about "British values", the role of immigration in the UK, the British Empire, and what sort of jokes a kid can make at school (free speech).
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In this episode, we sat down with economist Julian Jessop to discuss the future of taxation, free markets, and the role of the state. From whether VAT should be extended to food and children’s clothing, to how corporate taxes impact real people, Jessop makes the case for a simpler, more neutral tax system.
Additionally, we explore his continued support for Brexit despite short-term costs, his belief in the potential of deregulation, and his take on the EU as a protectionist bloc. The conversation also turns to AI regulation—should governments overregulate for safety, or let innovation flourish? And on personal freedom, Jessop weighs in on tobacco, drug legalization, and whether the state should intervene in our private choices.
Hosted by two passionate Oxford graduates, The Critical Edge Podcast aims to bring you engaging discussions with influential personalities, delving into topics that matter to our society and the world at large. Subscribe for more!
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Oxford academic Danny Dorling discusses the state of inequality in the UK - from the rise of right-wing populism and the hollowing out of the middle class to the state of race relations across the island. How large are the barriers to equality of opportunity in the UK?
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