• Episode 25: James C. Scott, The Art of Not Being Governed (3/3)
    Feb 15 2026

    The finale of my review of James C. Scott's "The Art of Not Being Governed". This part of the book focuses on kinship and the role of leadership in millenarian movements as part of the strategy of state evasion. Next up: James Scott's modern classic, "Against the Grain"

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    29 mins
  • Episode 24: James C. Scott, The Art of Not Being Governed (2/3)
    Feb 15 2026

    Part two of my review of James C. Scott's history of upland Southeast Asia (Zomia), from the perspective of those who intentionally evaded states. In this part of the book we move from the strategies of states to the strategies of evasion. What do you think the most useful strategies for evading states in today's world.

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    32 mins
  • Episode 23: James C. Scott, The Art of Not Being Governed (1/3)
    Feb 6 2026

    The first part of my review of Scott's masterpiece on upland Southeast Asia, The Art of Not Being Governed. So many of his ideas come together into this indispensable book. In this first part we will learn about Zomia and the creation of geographical spaces outside of the machinations of states.

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    39 mins
  • Episode 22: James C. Scott, Seeing Like A State (3/3)
    Feb 2 2026

    The finale of my review of James C. Scott's Seeing Like a State. The last few chapters of this excellent book explore the experiments in agrarian high modernism and then explores metis, or embedded knowledge and the capacity of resilience against the designs of high modernist states.

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    28 mins
  • Episode 21: James C. Scott, Seeing Like a State (2/3)
    Jan 28 2026

    In part two of my review of Seeing Like a State by James C. Scott, I explore the dangers of high modernism and some of the case studies of failed experiments he examines. What is your favorite example of high modernism going wrong, besides the opening night of The Rites of Spring?

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    34 mins
  • Episode 20: James C. Scott, Seeing Like a State (1/3)
    Jan 23 2026

    As we continue our exploration of the works of James C. Scott, we move from the arts of resistance to the designs of a state with faulty vision. How do states see, how do they envision transformation, and how do these two things together fail us?

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    43 mins
  • Episode 19: James C. Scott, "Domination and Arts of Resistance" (2/2)
    Jan 2 2026

    In this episode I complete my reading of James C. Scott's DOMINATION AND THE ARTS OF RESISTANCE: HIDDEN TRANSCRIPTS. In this section we focus on the workings of infrapolitics and the question of how they become visible and possible unstoppable.

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    30 mins
  • James C. Scott, Domination and the Arts of Resistance (1/2)
    Dec 22 2025

    In this episode I review Domination and the Arts of Resistance by James C. Scott, exploring the concepts of public and hidden transcripts. What can we gain by looking at the world through the lens of hidden transcripts?

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    37 mins