Therapeutic Culture

On this episode of the First Things Podcast:

Editor Rusty Reno discusses Philip Rieff’s The Triumph of the Therapeutic: The Uses of Faith after Freud. Published in 1966 and still fresh today, Rieff’s book (we particularly recommend the introduction) is the original and best critique of our therapeutic culture.

1:30 Rieff the man

7:40 Rieff’s theory of culture

11:51 Rieff’s employment by the National Council of Churches (!)

15:19 The violence of analytic thinking

18:14 How and when will our therapeutic culture end?

Senior editor Mark Bauerlein and associate editor Julia Yost discuss the 2016 season in college football.

23:00 History and tradition in college football

25:32 The morality of sports rivalries

33:58 ESPN, the evil empire

40:34 Nike, the other evil empire

44:45 Big Data vs. results on the field

The episode is embedded below. For your long-term convenience, follow us on SoundCloud or subscribe via iTunes, Google Play, or Stitcher.