Robert Gressis (Cal State Northridge) and Kevin Currie-Knight (East Carolina University) talk about Kafkatraps. Kafkatrapping is a rhetorical technique where an objection to a particular charge will be used as evidence of that charge. (Are you a communist? If you say no, that just shows how sneaky a communist you are.) Rob and Kevin talk about how and why Kafkatraps work, their uses in cults, cospiracy theories, and other insular movements, and a few articles Kevin has written (for the Electric Agora) about Kafkatraps.
7:32 - When denials confirm the charge: what are Kafkatraps and how do they work?
16:31 - Kafkatrapping has a lengthy history
23:15 - Why do people (even unintentionally) employ Kafkatraps?
40:38 - Plausible and implausible reasons to doubt/dismiss the testimony of others
45:12 - Why cults often use Kafkatrapping techniques (and how Kevin almost became a scientologist)
54:34 - Why cults have to be small to see themselves as special
1:00:20 - How conspiracy theorists use Kafkatraps to dismiss naysayers
Sheena Mason (SUNY Oneonta) and Kevin Currie-Knight dialogue about the perils and promises of discussion on social media. (Sheena is more optimistic about the...
Where have all the feminists gone? ... The feminist tradition in philosophy ... How does second-wave feminism distinguish sex from gender? ... Jane: Patriarchy...
E. John Winner and Dan Kaufman (Electric Agora) talk about the Marx Brothers and their relationship to American Comedy. 1:30 Vaudeville, Burlesque, and Musical...