Todd McGowan

Todd McGowan

Todd McGowan teaches theory and film at the University of Vermont. He is the author of Emancipation After Hegel: Achieving a Contradictory Revolution (Columbia University Press, 2019), Only a Joke Can Save Us: A Theory of Comedy (Northwestern University Press, 2017), and Capitalism and Desire: The Psychic Costs of Free Markets (Columbia University Press, 2016), and other works.

Sigmund Freud

Sigmund Freud’s The Ego and the Id

Freud died 80 years ago this week. In this "Virtual Roundtable," three scholars debate the legacy of his 1923 text.

Editors' Picks

Girls Gone Greek

The most influential character on Showtime’s Yellowjackets is the one who goes unnamed: Dionysus.

Politics & History

Quintessential Resilience: The Breadfruit in the Caribbean

The breadfruit tree has coexisted with humans for more than three thousand years. Its future may depend on how strong of an ally humans can become to it.

Business & Economics

The Art of the Deal or the Dirt?

Will so-called Trump Tariffs ensure that the United States has the minerals it needs to transition to sustainable energy?

Politics & History

Greenland: Polar Politics

Though it may seem like a new topic of concern, the glaciated landscape of Greenland has floated in and out of American politics for decades.

Business & Economics

How Progressives Legalized Usury

In the early twentieth century, reformers united with capitalists to promote high-interest lending, overthrowing opposition to usury rooted in Christian tradition.