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How French Philosophy Wired Modern Thinking
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How did a group of notoriously difficult French philosophers become intellectual rock stars on American college campuses — and how much do their ideas matter today? In The Frenchmen, writer and editor Emily Eakin traces the unlikely rise of French theory and the thinkers who transformed how a generation understood language, truth, power, and identity. In this conversation with guest host Michael Kovnat, Emily explains why figures like Jacques Derrida and Michel Foucault became irresistible to students in the ’70s and ’80s, and how theory offered both intellectual sophistication and a new way to challenge the establishment. They explore how these ideas helped shape identity politics and our…