Episodios

  • Psychopolitics: How Control Got Cute
    Oct 20 2025

    In this episode of Park Bench Ontology, Gavin dives into the strange world of psychopolitics — where control doesn’t come from force anymore, it comes from vibes. From influencer culture to “mental health awareness” campaigns, the systems of power learned how to smile while keeping you compliant.

    Why are we all marketing ourselves while pretending it’s freedom? How did surveillance turn into self-expression? And why does every form of rebellion now come with a brand kit?


    This episode explores how capitalism evolved past discipline into dopamine — how control got cute, and why that’s the scariest form of power yet.

    🎧 Listen if you’ve ever felt like even your thoughts are trying to sell you something.


    #Psychopolitics #ParkBenchOntology #CapitalistRealism #ByungChulHan #SurveillanceCulture #DigitalControl #AfroAbsurdism #ComedyPodcast #ExistentialComedy #CriticalTheory #MediaTheory #LoFiOntology #PhilosophyPodcast #CulturalCritique

    Visit our website: gavinstephens.ca

    Check out the Substack: Dispatch From The Simulation

    Follow us on instagram: @countgavin

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    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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    15 m
  • Hauntology - The Future Isn't Coming
    Oct 13 2025

    The future isn’t coming — it’s being rewritten. In Episode 4 of Park Bench Ontology: Hauntology, I explore how capitalism erases anything that doesn’t produce value, from WWE’s most absurd gimmicks to the mistakes that make life human. We also unpack how older generations insist theirs was the “best era,” when really culture just keeps repeating itself — sanitized, packaged, and sold back to us.


    Listen & Subscribe: https://pod.link/uncolonized

    Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ParkBenchOntology








    Visit our website: gavinstephens.ca

    Check out the Substack: Dispatch From The Simulation

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    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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    16 m
  • Capitalist Realism & My Old Navy Malcolm X Shirt
    Oct 6 2025

    In this week’s episode of Park Bench Ontology, we dive headfirst into capitalist realism—the idea that capitalism is the only system that feels “real” and inevitable—and what it means when our identities, style, and culture are co-opted by the market. I share my own bizarre experience buying an Old Navy Malcolm X shirt, and why it made me rethink how we consume revolutionary imagery while participating in the very system it critiqued.


    We talk symbolic violence, brand culture, and the absurdity of resistance in a consumerist world—and I unpack how capitalism doesn’t just sell products, it sells identity.


    🔑 Topics covered:

    • Capitalist realism and cultural inevitability
    • Consumerism vs. authenticity
    • The commercialization of revolutionary symbols
    • Existential dread in everyday capitalism

    If you’ve ever wondered why your rebellion looks suspiciously like a mall display, this episode is for you.


    Listen & Subscribe: https://pod.link/uncolonized

    Watch the full episode on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLOStPFwaNyn895S43bUk9HoaZdFEIXlQc

    Visit our website: gavinstephens.ca

    Check out the Substack: Dispatch From The Simulation

    Follow us on instagram: @countgavin

    Follow us on BlueSky: GavinBStephens

    Subscribe and leave a review!


    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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    20 m
  • Racecraft: The Making of Whiteness
    Sep 29 2025

    Some guy once told me he was proud to be white. But “whiteness” was never a culture — it was manufactured as a team sport by the people in power. In this episode of Park Bench Ontology, I break down how the invention of whiteness became a tool of control, division, and identity politics that still shapes our world.


    This is existential comedy for the collapse: part history, part philosophy, part absurd truth-telling.

    🎧 Listen, share, and subscribe to Park Bench Ontology for more deep dives into identity, culture, and capitalism.

    Visit our website: gavinstephens.ca

    Check out the Substack: Dispatch From The Simulation

    Follow us on instagram: @countgavin

    Follow us on BlueSky: GavinBStephens

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    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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    19 m
  • The Sopranos & The Denial of Death
    Sep 22 2025

    Tony Soprano’s panic attacks aren’t just mob stress — they’re existential dread. In this episode of Park Bench Ontology, we dive into Ernest Becker’s The Denial of Death and how it explains Tony’s breakdowns, projection, and the absurd ways people cope with mortality.


    🔗 Follow & Support:

    🌐 Website: http://gavinstephens.ca

    🎙️ Podcast: https://podbio.me/parkbenchontology

    📷 Instagram: countgavin

    🐦 Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/gavinbstephens.substack.com

    📼 YouTube: https://youtube.com/parkbenchontology



    #sopranos, #sopranos #existentialism #analysis, #denialofdeath, #ernestbecker, #philosophy, #podcast, #park, #bench, #ontology, #mortality, #psychology, #popculture, #philosophy, #lo-fi philosophy, #comedy #podcast, #death #anxiety, #comedypodcast

    Visit our website: gavinstephens.ca

    Check out the Substack: Dispatch From The Simulation

    Follow us on instagram: @countgavin

    Follow us on BlueSky: GavinBStephens

    Subscribe and leave a review!


    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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    17 m
  • Welcome to the Collapse
    Aug 18 2025

    Uncolonized is Evolving…

    New Season. New Ontology.

    From Uncolonized → Park Bench Ontology


    For years, Uncolonized has been our space to challenge culture, identity, and power. That work isn’t ending — it’s mutating.


    We’re evolving into Park Bench Ontology: a lo-fi philosophy podcast about collapse, comedy, and the strange theatre of being human. Think zine-brained philosophy meets Adult Swim absurdity — sitting on the park bench, staring at capitalism’s weird machinery, and laughing so we don’t scream.


    The first episode drops 22/09/25. It’s called "For the Love of Don Rickles." I discuss insults, comedy, and death.


    Same feed. New lens.



    Visit our website: gavinstephens.ca

    Check out the Substack: Dispatch From The Simulation

    Follow us on instagram: @countgavin

    Follow us on BlueSky: GavinBStephens

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    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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    1 m
  • Episode 25: Narratives, Existential Dread & The Spook Who Sat by the Door
    May 26 2025

    Uncolonized host Gavin unpacks the weaponization of narratives, existential dread in capitalist culture, and the revolutionary symbolism of The Spook Who Sat by the Door. Listen now + bonus episode on Patreon.

    Visit our website: gavinstephens.ca

    Check out the Substack: Dispatch From The Simulation

    Follow us on instagram: @countgavin

    Follow us on BlueSky: GavinBStephens

    Subscribe and leave a review!


    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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    32 m
  • S16E25: Sinners & Andor – A Deep Dive into Discourse
    May 19 2025

    This week on the Uncolonized Podcast, Gavin and Daniel tackle the cinematic and cultural complexities of the film Sinners and the hit series Andor. Join us as we explore the narratives, themes, and the surrounding discourse that movies like these always seem to attract.


    In our bonus Patreon episode, we dive into the bizarre incident involving a woman who used a racial slur against a five-year-old and the concept of "vice signalling."

    http://pateron.com/theuncolonized

    Visit our website: gavinstephens.ca

    Check out the Substack: Dispatch From The Simulation

    Follow us on instagram: @countgavin

    Follow us on BlueSky: GavinBStephens

    Subscribe and leave a review!


    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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    38 m