Show Notes
00:00-3:55
Bayo reflects on growing up across continents and cultures, describing how early experiences of displacement fostered playful engagement with the world rather than integration into fixed identities.
3:55-9:22
Bayo recalls how the death of his father opened a conscious interior space of attention to the world. Bayo recounts his experiences as an undergraduate and his path to a PhD.
9:22-17:29
Bayo reflects on the way that existence emerges from relational processes rather than fixed categories. He introduces Yoruba birth cosmology, his identity as an Idowu (the one who comes after twins), and the trickster’s role in holding binaries open.
17:29-21:09
Discussion of the trickster in society. The discussion turns to relationality, fluid identity, and how cracks disrupt the illusion of a finalized world.
21:09-28:30
Bayo defines post-activism as an attempt to theorize stuckness, asking whether our responses to crisis are reinforcing the conditions we seek to escape, even under the guise of novelty. Definition of cracks as openings in the structure of possibility.
28:30-36:10
Discussion of post-humanism, which seeks to go beyond binaries of good/bad and to hold moral agency in a relational, emergent way.
36:10-41:57
Bayo introduces ontology as the study of being and its limits, refining this concept with “onto-fugitivity” as a way of slipping through rigid systems of knowledge. The fugitive resists captivity by creating cracks—disruptions in perception and embodiment that resist full control or categorization. These cracks are “minor gestures” that challenge the dominant order without trying to overturn it outright.
41:57-45:25
Jonathan compares cracks and fugitivity to Buddhist concepts of emptiness and self-dissolution, allowing for radical reimagination and transformation beyond rigid identities. Bayo stresses that cracks and minor gestures open spaces for relational emergence beyond fixed ontologies, offering pathways toward collective liberation without fixed endpoints.
45:25-49:05
Bayo acknowledges Gandhi’s moral achievements but questions the institutionalization and oppression arising from his widespread veneration. He and Jonathan discuss how revolutions can become rigid institutions, potentially morphing into oppressive systems, highlighting the need for ongoing vigilance and critical reflection in activism.
49:05-51:45
The conversation turns to the idea of the common good, with Bayo arguing that traditional notions of goodness are exhausted and insufficient for addressing systemic crises. Instead, he calls for “erotic otherwise”—new, creative, and relational modes of goodness that break free from moralistic constraints and open space for new kinds of collective care.
51:45-54:43
Bayo shares how recent events have deepened his awareness of mortality and fragility, leading him to embrace the awkward, sideways movement through life rather than a linear forward trajectory. He invites a poetic, attentive engagement with the present and its cracks, emphasizing care, openness, and holding fragmented selves in a world in flux.
