Cadell Last is an anthropologist, philosopher and therapist focused on biocultural evolution, mind-matter relation and future speculations. He earned his PhD in interdisciplinary and complexity studies at the Evolution, Cognition and Complexity group at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel. He is also the author of over a dozen academic publications and two books: Global Brain Singularity and Sex, Masculinity, God.

Dr. Gregg Henriques is Professor of Graduate Psychology at James Madison University in the Combined-Integrated Doctoral Program in Clinical and School Psychology. Dr. Henriques received his Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the University of Vermont and did his post-doctoral training at the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Henriques’ primary area of scholarly interest is in developing a “unified framework” for both the science and practice of psychology. He has authored the book, A New Unified Theory of Psychology and developed a popular blog on Psychology Today, Theory of Knowledge, where he has authored over 350 essays on psychology, philosophy, politics, and mental health. He is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association, has won numerous awards for teaching, scholarship, and service, and launched and leads the Theory of Knowledge academic society. He has expertise in theoretical psychology, unified approaches to psychotherapy, psychological well-being, personality functioning, depression, and suicidal behavior.

The Philosopher Queens began as a manifesto written by Rachel Haywire. The manifesto expresses discontent at the impoverishment of feminine archetypes in the popular discourse, and prophesies the rise of the femme fatales who will take their place as Philosopher Queens. The manifesto prompted a collaboration between Raven Connolly and Rachel to spread the current and draw more women into the public discourse of these ideas. The Philosopher Queens panel, hosted at the digital campfire The Stoa, began as an exploration of dark feminine archetypes and grew to include discussions with guests, ranging from Golden Shadow podcast host Alyssa Polizzi to post academic Nina Power. Now Rachel and Raven are back to reflect on their journey and discuss where Philosopher Queens originates and what the future holds.

Performatism is an epochal concept of post-postmodernism. I proposed it in 2000, first in a German-language article in the Wiener Slawistischer Almanach, then in an English translation in Anthropoetics. A book version, Performatism, or the End of Postmodernism, appeared in 2008. You can also find a brief practical introduction to interpreting performatist narrative in Blog Post No. 3, "The Performatist Challenge" as well as exemplary analyses in the Interpretations section.

Metamodern philosophy enters the scene only once the Internet and the social media have become truly dominant factors in people’s lives and when many of us no longer partake directly in the production and distribution of industrial goods. It is a worldview which combines the modern faith in progress with the postmodern critique. What you get then, is a view of reality in which people are on a long, complex developmental journey towards greater complexity and existential depth. The metamodern philosophy is a whole world of ideas and suppositions that are counter-intuitive to modern and postmodern people alike. But since both the modern and postmodern philosophies are increasingly outdated, these metamodern ideas are set to develop, take hold, and spread. One day, they may become as dominant as the modern philosophy is today.

The Nordic Secret explores how Denmark, Norway and Sweden went from poor feudal agricultural societies to rich industrialized democracies thanks to the German educational concept of Bildung. The book also investigates the close relationship between Bildung and contemporary developmental psychology, i.e. the concepts of "ego-development" and "transformative learning". The Nordic Secret concludes with a discussion about what we can learn from this positive transformation and how to apply it in the current global crises.?

How does the ancient shaman archetype relate to our present digital age?  What is a shamanoid personality type and how to be a shaman in the digital age? In this talk, based on a conference I gave at the European Men’s Group gathering in Denmark in 2019, I will discuss these and questions with reference to the famous pill scene in the first Matrix movie.  I will argue that Neo—whose name means ‘the new man’ and who is the hero of the Matrix movies, is like a Shaman in training.  I will discuss his archetypal journey, which begins with depression and the feeling that ‘something is wrong with the world’ and ends with empowerment and liberation. What does it mean to take the red pill and go down ‘the rabbit hole’?  What does it mean to take the blue pill and remain in the world of comfortable illusion?  Please join me for a Zoom-Webinar ‘in the rabbit hole’ for this second in a series of Parallax lectures followed by a Q&A.

A provocative talk about the fallacies of wokeness and phallic virtues: sex, the power and the violence in the network society

Global growth sets new records, poverty and illiteracy rates fall, technological innovation creates amazing opportunities. Still we are deeply discontent, there is something fundamentally wrong with contemporary society. Democracies are paralysed and produce authoritarian bullies as leaders, a growing underclass sedates itself with fast carbs and moronic entertainment. Society is infantilised and political discourse implodes.