"You're in despair. You just don't know you're in despair." — Peter Rollins
On this episode of Podsongs, John Kunkel of The New Division takes the guest-host chair to interview Northern Irish writer, philosopher and theologian Peter Rollins as inspiration for a brand new song. John opens up on his influences — Depeche Mode, New Order, Echo & the Bunnymen, Duran Duran — before the conversation turns to Rollins' work: questioning certainty, exposing the contradictions we live by, and finding freedom from the relentless "tyranny of happiness," with Los Angeles cast as a spiritual "Mecca" selling wholeness to anyone who can afford it. Along the way Rollins unpacks desire, sacrifice, work and alienation, ideology, AI and the unconscious, the films that shaped him, and the parables behind his "pyrotheology" — and the talk becomes the seed of "Idols," a song about the things we all end up worshipping, good and bad.
New single "Idols" by The New Division — out 26 June. Stream/pre-save: https://ffm.to/tnd_idols
TOPICS
- Peter Rollins on desire, contradiction, and ideology
- The tyranny of happiness and the demand to enjoy
- Los Angeles as a spiritual marketplace
- Lacanian psychoanalysis and the unconscious
- Why desire needs obstacles
- Sacrifice, meaning, and fulfillment
- AI, consciousness, and the technological singularity
- Films, storytelling, and creative inspiration
- John Kunkel’s influences: Depeche Mode, New Order, Echo & the Bunnymen, Duran Duran
- Writing a song live on the podcast
TIMESTAMPS
00:00 Intro: welcome to Podsongs
01:29 Why UK music hits different (New Order, Depeche Mode, Echo & the Bunnymen)
04:45 Keeping new wave alive
06:18 Moving abroad: music logistics
09:47 Writing 150 song demos
14:41 Who is Peter Rollins?
28:17 Peter joins the call
31:50 LA and the demand to enjoy
37:01 The tyranny of happiness
38:35 The superego's demand to enjoy
40:19 Why fulfilling your dreams can backfire
41:53 The enjoyment hidden in sacrifice
44:33 Why desire needs obstacles
47:39 The unconscious and Lacan's "object a"
52:56 Filmmaking and prohibition
57:43 Negative universality and politics
01:01:16 The church of contradiction
01:05:29 AI, singularity and the unconscious
01:12:42 Music tastes and influences
01:14:08 Film picks: They Live and ideology
01:19:49 Who inspires Peter now
01:20:34 Writing the song live
01:21:20 The Vegas parable and unknowing
01:26:02 Where to find Peter Rollins
01:28:43 The profane temple and lack
01:34:51 Post-interview debrief
01:39:07 "Idols" — song outro
GUEST & MUSICIAN
Peter Rollins: https://peterrollins.com
The New Division: https://www.newdivisionmusic.com
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