On Narcissism

Why Theory

In this episode (recorded prior to such events as the Trump - Musk breakup and the National Guard being sent to L.A.), Ryan and Todd discuss Sigmund Freud's essay "On Narcissism: An Introduction." Freud's notion of narcissism clashes with the increasingly commonplace idea of narcissism that is largely informed by a pop-psychology importation of Narcissistic Personality Disorder. Freud's notion of narcissism can appear, at times, to be a difficult to make relevant relic of an earlier age. Nonetheless, the hosts attempt to draw out the consequences of Freud's theorization in order to unlock a novel way of currently understanding the present day conversation on narcissism.

Val Rohy's book mentioned in the episode.