Identity Politics Speaks to a Fundamental Human Problem @RahulSam

Uploaded March 2025 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago

The question of identity is at the forefront of contemporary politics. Consider this case against identity in my discussion with philosopher Prof Richard Boothby, who wrote one of the best psychoanalytic books on religion, Embracing the Void.

Watch the full podcast here: youtu.be/Sget_P2DqXY

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Please consider financially supporting my work (ONLY if you have the means).

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{Podcast}
Substack: rsampod.substack.com/podcast
Spotify: open.spotify.com/show/4ryEqjut4r6SMtfxLdM1Le
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{Website}
rahulsam.me

{Social Media}
substack.com/@trsam
instagram.com/name_is_rahul
https://x.com/trsam97
linkedin.com/in/rahul-samaranayake-981a9315b

{Music Used}
"Supapao - Can't Fall In Love" is under a Free To Use YouTube license
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Music powered by BreakingCopyright: youtu.be/VZkFJAb_gx4?si=J6AwKLAmikAzoqHj

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If the ideas I discuss in this channel evoke your interest, consider visiting theunhappyman.substack.com
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Copyright Disclaimer under section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for “fair use” for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, education and research.

Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statutes that might otherwise be infringing.

If you are or represent the copyright owner of materials used in this video and have a problem with the use of the related material, please email me at trahulsam@gmail.com, and we can sort it out. Thank you.

$Identity Politics Speaks to a Fundamental Human Problem The question of identity is at the forefront of contemporary politics. Consider this case against identity in my discussion with philosopher Prof Richard Boothby, who wrote one of the best psychoanalytic books on religion, Embracing the Void. Watch the full podcast here: https://youtu.be/Sget_P2DqXY Please consider financially supporting my work (ONLY if you have the means). Patreon: https://patreon.com/trsam?utm_medium=unknown&utm_source=join_link&utm_campaign=creatorshare_creator&utm_content=copyLink Substack: https://rsampod.substack.com PayPal: https://paypal.me/rsampod?country.x=AU&locale.x=en_AU {Podcast} Substack: https://rsampod.substack.com/podcast Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4ryEqjut4r6SMtfxLdM1Le SFP: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/rahul-samaranayake {Website} https://rahulsam.me/ {Social Media} https://substack.com/@trsam/ https://www.instagram.com/name_is_rahul/ https://x.com/trsam97 https://www.linkedin.com/in/rahul-samaranayake-981a9315b/ {Music Used} Supapao - Cant Fall In Love is under a Free To Use YouTube license https://soundcloud.com/supapao Music powered by BreakingCopyright: https://youtu.be/VZkFJAb_gx4?si=J6AwKLAmikAzoqHj If the ideas I discuss in this channel evoke your interest, consider visiting https://theunhappyman.substack.com/ Copyright Disclaimer under section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for “fair use” for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, education and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statutes that might otherwise be infringing. If you are or represent the copyright owner of materials used in this video and have a problem with the use of the related material, please email me at trahulsam@gmail.com, and we can sort it out. Thank you.$ $British Idealism | Nathan Hawkins Dr Nathan Hawkins is a philosopher who teaches at Cambridge University with a PhD thesis on Gottlob Freges notion of truth. Dr Hawkins holds a BA with a double major in Philosophy and Mathematics, as well as an MA in Philosophy. He specialises in metaphysics, logic, the history of analytic philosophy and British Idealism. You can find more of Dr Hawkins work at @drnathanhawkins Please consider financially supporting my work (ONLY if you have the means). Patreon: https://patreon.com/trsam?utm_medium=unknown&utm_source=join_link&utm_campaign=creatorshare_creator&utm_content=copyLink Substack: https://rsampod.substack.com PayPal: https://paypal.me/rsampod?country.x=AU&locale.x=en_AU {Podcast} Substack: https://rsampod.substack.com/podcast Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4ryEqjut4r6SMtfxLdM1Le SFP: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/rahul-samaranayake {Website} https://rahulsam.me/ {Social Media} https://substack.com/@trsam/ https://www.instagram.com/name_is_rahul/ https://x.com/trsam97 https://www.linkedin.com/in/rahul-samaranayake-981a9315b/ If the ideas I discuss in this channel evoke your interest, consider visiting https://theunhappyman.substack.com/ Copyright Disclaimer under section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for “fair use” for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, education and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statutes that might otherwise be infringing. If you are or represent the copyright owner of materials used in this video and have a problem with the use of the related material, please email me at trahulsam@gmail.com, and we can sort it out. Thank you.$ $Why Even Speak of God? Peter Rollins and Matthew David Segall are not confessional Christians. Yet, theyve spent most of their lives as thinkers of theology, religion and God. I asked them what the value of such meditations was. Both their answers reminded me of what Peter wrote in one of his earlier books, How (Not) to Speak of God: That which we cannot speak of is the one thing about whom and to whom we must never stop speaking. Watch the full podcast here: https://youtu.be/01GPP197OKU Please consider financially supporting my work (ONLY if you have the means). Patreon: https://patreon.com/trsam?utm_medium=unknown&utm_source=join_link&utm_campaign=creatorshare_creator&utm_content=copyLink Substack: https://rsampod.substack.com PayPal: https://paypal.me/rsampod?country.x=AU&locale.x=en_AU {Podcast} Substack: https://rsampod.substack.com/podcast Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4ryEqjut4r6SMtfxLdM1Le SFP: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/rahul-samaranayake {Website} https://rahulsam.me/ {Social Media} https://substack.com/@trsam/ https://www.instagram.com/name_is_rahul/ https://x.com/trsam97 https://www.linkedin.com/in/rahul-samaranayake-981a9315b/ {Music Used} Supapao - Cant Fall In Love is under a Free To Use YouTube license https://soundcloud.com/supapao Music powered by BreakingCopyright: https://youtu.be/VZkFJAb_gx4?si=J6AwKLAmikAzoqHj If the ideas I discuss in this channel evoke your interest, consider visiting https://theunhappyman.substack.com/ Copyright Disclaimer under section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for “fair use” for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, education and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statutes that might otherwise be infringing. If you are or represent the copyright owner of materials used in this video and have a problem with the use of the related material, please email me at trahulsam@gmail.com, and we can sort it out. Thank you.$ $Hegel and Quantum Physics? If Kant is the philosopher of Newtonian physics, is Hegel the philosopher of Quantum physics? Dr Katherine Everitt and I explored this question while discussing her thesis, Hegel in Vertigo: An Ontology of Space. Watch the full podcast here: https://youtu.be/aiBnR2gSik8 Please consider financially supporting my work (ONLY if you have the means). Patreon: https://patreon.com/trsam?utm_medium=unknown&utm_source=join_link&utm_campaign=creatorshare_creator&utm_content=copyLink Substack: https://rsampod.substack.com PayPal: https://paypal.me/rsampod?country.x=AU&locale.x=en_AU {Podcast} Substack: https://rsampod.substack.com/podcast Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4ryEqjut4r6SMtfxLdM1Le SFP: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/rahul-samaranayake {Website} https://rahulsam.me/ {Social Media} https://substack.com/@trsam/ https://www.instagram.com/name_is_rahul/ https://x.com/trsam97 https://www.linkedin.com/in/rahul-samaranayake-981a9315b/ {Music Used} Supapao - Cant Fall In Love is under a Free To Use YouTube license https://soundcloud.com/supapao Music powered by BreakingCopyright: https://youtu.be/VZkFJAb_gx4?si=J6AwKLAmikAzoqHj If the ideas I discuss in this channel evoke your interest, consider visiting https://theunhappyman.substack.com/ Copyright Disclaimer under section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for “fair use” for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, education and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statutes that might otherwise be infringing. If you are or represent the copyright owner of materials used in this video and have a problem with the use of the related material, please email me at trahulsam@gmail.com, and we can sort it out. Thank you.$ $German Idealism and Neuroscience (w/ Rafael Holmberg) Dr Rafael Holmberg (@RafaelHolmberg) is a political writer, social theorist, and researcher on philosophy and psychoanalysis based at University College London. His work broadly draws on post-war Continental philosophy, German Idealism, Marxism, and psychoanalytic theory, drawing from psychology and neuroscience. In this episode, we discuss the relationship between neuroscience, psychoanalysis and German Idealist philosophy. You can find more of Dr Holmbergs work at https://substack.com/@rafaelholmberg RSam Podcast #79 Please consider financially supporting my work (ONLY if you have the means). Patreon: https://patreon.com/trsam?utm_medium=unknown&utm_source=join_link&utm_campaign=creatorshare_creator&utm_content=copyLink Substack: https://rsampod.substack.com PayPal: https://paypal.me/rsampod?country.x=AU&locale.x=en_AU {Podcast} Substack: https://rsampod.substack.com/podcast Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4ryEqjut4r6SMtfxLdM1Le SFP: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/rahul-samaranayake {Website} https://rahulsam.me/ {Social Media} https://substack.com/@trsam/ https://www.instagram.com/name_is_rahul/ https://x.com/trsam97 https://www.linkedin.com/in/rahul-samaranayake-981a9315b/ {Reference Links} https://rafaelholmberg.substack.com/p/reason-against-emotion-a-critique https://rafaelholmberg.substack.com/p/the-enjoyment-of-failure-a-critique https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-031-68831-7 https://youtu.be/meUtWtY00H8?si=U18SlAoSKon8f76f https://www.versobooks.com/en-gb/products/3018-a-social-history-of-analytic-philosophy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Descartes%27_Error https://rafaelholmberg.substack.com/p/reason-against-emotion-a-critique {Images & Videos used} https://youtu.be/lyu7v7nWzfo?si=zlLERqOcDLFJRwfW https://youtu.be/MQf_6b5jFMA?si=e-kytjtDNNGidKGg https://youtu.be/NrAG2Hx4F5Y?si=sveZxdFSGXyKv_m4 https://youtu.be/FuZGTwU6GzM?si=x2cpyKhRt40XzLEM by Making FGC Content {Music Used} Supapao - Cant Fall In Love is under a Free To Use YouTube license https://soundcloud.com/supapao Music powered by BreakingCopyright: https://youtu.be/VZkFJAb_gx4?si=J6AwKLAmikAzoqHj Chill Lofi Hiphop - Breath by l33 is under a Free To Use YouTube license SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/nocopyrightlofi/no-copyright-chill-lofi-hiphop-breath-by-l33 If the ideas I discuss in this channel evoke your interest, consider visiting https://theunhappyman.substack.com/ Copyright Disclaimer under section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for “fair use” for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, education and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statutes that might otherwise be infringing. If you are or represent the copyright owner of materials used in this video and have a problem with the use of the related material, please email me at trahulsam@gmail.com, and we can sort it out. Thank you.$ $What Data Tells Us About the World An excerpt of the conversation with philosophers of science and data Prof Sabina Leonelli and Dr Vlasta Sikimić, which I had the privilege to moderate. Watch the full podcast here: https://youtu.be/VfEutWbyNZ0 Please consider financially supporting my work (ONLY if you have the means). Patreon: https://patreon.com/trsam?utm_medium=unknown&utm_source=join_link&utm_campaign=creatorshare_creator&utm_content=copyLink Substack: https://rsampod.substack.com PayPal: https://paypal.me/rsampod?country.x=AU&locale.x=en_AU {Podcast} Substack: https://rsampod.substack.com/podcast Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4ryEqjut4r6SMtfxLdM1Le SFP: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/rahul-samaranayake {Website} https://rahulsam.me/ {Social Media} https://substack.com/@trsam/ https://www.instagram.com/name_is_rahul/ https://x.com/trsam97 https://www.linkedin.com/in/rahul-samaranayake-981a9315b/ If the ideas I discuss in this channel evoke your interest, consider visiting https://theunhappyman.substack.com/ Copyright Disclaimer under section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for “fair use” for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, education and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statutes that might otherwise be infringing. If you are or represent the copyright owner of materials used in this video and have a problem with the use of the related material, please email me at trahulsam@gmail.com, and we can sort it out. Thank you.$ $When Philosophers Make Mistakes An excerpt of my conversation with philosopher and Professor of Logic at Cambridge Prof Michael Potter. Watch the full podcast here: https://youtu.be/0H7iPfcDQ8E Please consider financially supporting my work (ONLY if you have the means). Patreon: https://patreon.com/trsam?utm_medium=unknown&utm_source=join_link&utm_campaign=creatorshare_creator&utm_content=copyLink Substack: https://rsampod.substack.com PayPal: https://paypal.me/rsampod?country.x=AU&locale.x=en_AU {Podcast} Substack: https://rsampod.substack.com/podcast Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4ryEqjut4r6SMtfxLdM1Le SFP: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/rahul-samaranayake {Website} https://rahulsam.me/ {Social Media} https://substack.com/@trsam/ https://www.instagram.com/name_is_rahul/ https://x.com/trsam97 https://www.linkedin.com/in/rahul-samaranayake-981a9315b/ {Music Used} Supapao - Cant Fall In Love is under a Free To Use YouTube license https://soundcloud.com/supapao Music powered by BreakingCopyright: https://youtu.be/VZkFJAb_gx4?si=J6AwKLAmikAzoqHj If the ideas I discuss in this channel evoke your interest, consider visiting https://theunhappyman.substack.com/ Copyright Disclaimer under section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for “fair use” for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, education and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statutes that might otherwise be infringing. If you are or represent the copyright owner of materials used in this video and have a problem with the use of the related material, please email me at trahulsam@gmail.com, and we can sort it out. Thank you.$ $Has AI Destroyed Education? (w/ Vlasta Sikimić) “ChatGPT has unravelled the entire academic project”, writes James Walsh, in a viral article on NY magazine titled ‘Everyone Is Cheating Their Way Through College.’ In this episode, social epistemologist of science and philosopher of education Dr Vlasta Sikimic, in her 4th appearance on the podcast, discusses whether AI and large language models have, in fact, unravelled the entire academic project? And if so, how should we reconceive education? And what remains for the university? Dr Vlasta Sikimić is an Assistant Professor of Philosophy of Science at Eindhoven University of Technology. Her research focus is on the Social Epistemology of Science, Metascience, Philosophy of AI & ML in Science and Philosophy of AI in Education. You can find more of Dr Sikimićs work at https://vlastasikimic.com/ RSam Podcast #85 Please consider financially supporting my work (ONLY if you have the means). Patreon: https://patreon.com/trsam?utm_medium=unknown&utm_source=join_link&utm_campaign=creatorshare_creator&utm_content=copyLink Substack: https://rsampod.substack.com PayPal: https://paypal.me/rsampod?country.x=AU&locale.x=en_AU {Podcast} Substack: https://rsampod.substack.com/podcast Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4ryEqjut4r6SMtfxLdM1Le SFP: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/rahul-samaranayake {Website} https://rahulsam.me/ {Social Media} https://substack.com/@trsam/ https://www.instagram.com/name_is_rahul/ https://x.com/trsam97 https://www.linkedin.com/in/rahul-samaranayake-981a9315b/ {Reference Links} https://cliff-salad-4e8.notion.site/Has-AI-Killed-Education-w-Vlasta-Sikimi-24396d43c59b8068b905d52e75fc57ab?source=copy_link {Images & Videos used} https://youtu.be/JBuiyU-siuQ?si=uBPet12yrnM2vntE https://x.com/FearedBuck/status/1935334136073404438 https://youtu.be/8fcSviC7cRM?si=8sLTfZFck7nrW8OG https://youtu.be/9hYjzF3OJyM?si=NmPGu_HrW_z7-wRe https://youtu.be/yTu0ak4GoyM?si=3AKRAJWZoTAtMTGj https://youtu.be/oU0AHF2hH6c?si=WAZ41jtCRWA3aQ_T {Music Used} Supapao - Cant Fall In Love is under a Free To Use YouTube license https://soundcloud.com/supapao Music powered by BreakingCopyright: https://youtu.be/VZkFJAb_gx4?si=J6AwKLAmikAzoqHj Chill Lofi Hiphop - Breath by l33 is under a Free To Use YouTube license SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/nocopyrightlofi/no-copyright-chill-lofi-hiphop-breath-by-l33 If the ideas I discuss in this channel evoke your interest, consider visiting https://theunhappyman.substack.com/ Copyright Disclaimer under section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for “fair use” for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, education and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statutes that might otherwise be infringing. If you are or represent the copyright owner of materials used in this video and have a problem with the use of the related material, please email me at trahulsam@gmail.com, and we can sort it out. Thank you.$ $Was Hegel (and Marx) a Dialetheist? Few people, if any, would now accept the Hegelian contention that there are dialetheias (true contradictions). It is the main claim of Graham Priest that Hegel was right: our concepts, or some of them anyway, are inconsistent, and produce dialetheias. Watch the full podcast here: https://youtu.be/YXqlWwIRMLE Please consider financially supporting my work (ONLY if you have the means). Patreon: https://patreon.com/trsam?utm_medium=unknown&utm_source=join_link&utm_campaign=creatorshare_creator&utm_content=copyLink Substack: https://rsampod.substack.com PayPal: https://paypal.me/rsampod?country.x=AU&locale.x=en_AU {Podcast} Substack: https://rsampod.substack.com/podcast Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4ryEqjut4r6SMtfxLdM1Le SFP: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/rahul-samaranayake {Website} https://rahulsam.me/ {Social Media} https://substack.com/@trsam/ https://www.instagram.com/name_is_rahul/ https://x.com/trsam97 https://www.linkedin.com/in/rahul-samaranayake-981a9315b/ If the ideas I discuss in this channel evoke your interest, consider visiting https://theunhappyman.substack.com/ Copyright Disclaimer under section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for “fair use” for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, education and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statutes that might otherwise be infringing. If you are or represent the copyright owner of materials used in this video and have a problem with the use of the related material, please email me at trahulsam@gmail.com, and we can sort it out. Thank you.$ $Are LLMs the Lacanian Big Other? An excerpt of my conversation with Andrew Flores on Lacanian theory and analytic philosophy. Watch the full podcast here: https://youtu.be/u8alYioW0O8 Please consider financially supporting my work (ONLY if you have the means). Patreon: https://patreon.com/trsam?utm_medium=unknown&utm_source=join_link&utm_campaign=creatorshare_creator&utm_content=copyLink Substack: https://rsampod.substack.com PayPal: https://paypal.me/rsampod?country.x=AU&locale.x=en_AU {Podcast} Substack: https://rsampod.substack.com/podcast Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4ryEqjut4r6SMtfxLdM1Le SFP: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/rahul-samaranayake {Website} https://rahulsam.me/ {Social Media} https://substack.com/@trsam/ https://www.instagram.com/name_is_rahul/ https://x.com/trsam97 https://www.linkedin.com/in/rahul-samaranayake-981a9315b/ If the ideas I discuss in this channel evoke your interest, consider visiting https://theunhappyman.substack.com/ Copyright Disclaimer under section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for “fair use” for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, education and research. 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