Untimely Reflections #46: Stuart Kendall - On Georges Bataille

Today, I'm speaking with independent scholar, translator, and lecturer, Stuart Kendall. Stuart is responsible for helping to bring new translations of Georges Bataille's work into English, and he joined me for a conversation about Georges Bataille and his influence from Friedrich Nietzsche. We discussed the notion of expenditure, the metaphor of the potlach, the will to chance, war as an object of meditation, and the enigmatic work, On Nietzsche. Future episode's on Bataille's On Nietzsche will soon arrive as regular episodes of the podcast (in fact, as the two-part conclusion to season six), but here I was interested in introducing Bataille and the background of this text, which will hopefully be of help to any prospective reader who opens its pages and wonders just what the hell is going on. This conversation was intended to be accessible to all those who have never read Bataille or encountered his ideas, and thus to provide an entrypoint for the listeners before we tackle the book in earnest. Enjoy, and may your hearts overflow with generosity.