Spacecraft / The Stuff of Life by Timothy Morton
Timothy Morton is Rita Shea Guffey Chair in English at Rice University, USA. They are the author of 16 books, including Being Ecological (2018) and Humankind: Solidarity with Nonhuman People (2017), and 200 essays on philosophy, ecology, literature, music, art, architecture, design and food. We begin this philosophical conversation with an overview of Object-Oriented Ontology, the school of thought in which both Spacecraft and The Stuff of Life are rooted. Tim discusses how they came to describe life through ‘stuff’, touching on bananas, concealer, electric peanuts, and the Battersea Power Station. Stay tuned for lively tête à tête on Star Wars versus Star Trek. Spoiler: both franchises are good and beloved by both parties, but their philosophical outlooks differ in important ways. We learn of Tim’s connection to Sir Patrick Stewart as well as their favorite spacecraft, then veer into the relationship between spacecraft and human treatment of ecology, the environment, and the individual. Take a listen. If you would like to buy your own copy of Spacecraft or The Stuff of Life, go to the Bloomsbury website and use code POD35 followed your respective country code, US, UK, CA, AU, depending on where you are located. Americas customers (excluding Canada): POD35US UK and rest of world customers: POD35UK Canada customers: POD35CA Australia and New Zealand customers: POD35AU