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Integral [+] Facticity

Last entry 2 November 2026

Podcast1 h 16 min

Revisiting the Life & Work of Michael Brooks w/ Matt McManus

Integral [+] Facticity, episode 21 of 21, with Matt McManus

First published on Acast, 5 October 2023, with show notes on Medium. All 21 episodes

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Episode details
Date
Length
1 h 16 min
Type
PodcastIntegral [+] Facticity, episode 21 of 21
People
Contents
  1. Overview
  2. Description
  3. Original episode
  4. References & Further Reading
Listen to episode 21, 1 h 16 min. The recording is served by Acast.

Overview

A retrospective assessment of Michael Brooks’s political and intellectual legacy through Matt McManus’s work on cosmopolitan socialism. The exchange considers the capabilities approach, liberal socialism, Roberto Unger, American pragmatism and Marxism, as well as the millennial left’s response to Third Way politics. Related debates concern nationalism, interfaith dialogue, identity, class and liberal political theory.

Description

The final published episode returns to a figure who helped inspire the podcast in the first place: Michael Brooks. Matt McManus joins me to revisit Brooks's intellectual generosity and the political possibilities of cosmopolitan socialism through Matt's book, commissioned by Doug Lain for Zero Books and introduced by Ben Burgis. I recall Brooks's friendship with Josh Summers, their collaboration on Buddhist practice, and their connection to the Insight Meditation Society. Matt then explains how the capabilities approach of Amartya Sen and Martha Nussbaum informs his engagement with Roberto Unger's legal theory, American pragmatism and Marxism.

Our conversation moves into the millennial left's rejection of Third Way politics, the tensions within cosmopolitanism and socialism, and why Matt prefers “liberal socialist” to “Marxist humanist.” We conclude with postmodern nationalism, the return of communism, Huntington's clash of civilizations, interfaith dialogue, Danielle Allen on Habermas, identity politics and class, and Matt's then-forthcoming work on Ronald Dworkin.

Original episode

Title as published
Revisiting the Life & Work of Michael Brooks w/ Matt McManus
Published
Length
1 h 16 min
Guest
Matt McManus
Series
Integral [+] Facticity, episode 21 of 21

References & Further Reading