Ivan Illich

Ivan Illich, a radical public intellectual, critiques modern institutions with deep insights into education, healthcare, and capitalism. Joined by biographer David Cayley, they explore Illich's concept of 'conviviality' and the commodification of care that diminishes personal relationships. They discuss the legacy of Illich's 'learning webs' and how his ideas shape contemporary movements around community and solidarity. Their conversation delves into the transformative power of friendship, humor, and the need for genuine connection in an increasingly divided society.

Derek de Kerkhove, co-director at the McLuhan program and commentator on print culture, and Ivan Illich, social critic and historian of medieval reading, explore how book culture transformed perception. They discuss monastic vocal reading, the 12th-century book revolution, word separation, alphabetic ordering, and how literacy reshaped interiority, science, and textual interpretation.

Ivan Illich, philosopher and social critic known for sharp critiques of modern institutions, reflects on closing CEDOC, shifting to medieval studies, and teaching history to unsettle modern certainties. He explores medieval views of the body, relics, technology, and the invention of sacramental marriage. He also defends silence as a moral witness to atrocity.

Ivan Illich, a Catholic priest and social critic known for De-Schooling Society, reflects on institutional power and cultural life. He discusses how institutions shape self-image and consumption. He describes intercultural work in Puerto Rico, founding the CDOC, and calls for deinstitutionalizing values and personal conversion. The conversation highlights humility, silence, and resisting institutional control.

Ivan Illich, a Catholic theologian and cultural critic, reflects on how tools and literacy reshape how we imagine the world and ourselves. He tells vivid stories about denatured water, cybernetic metaphors, silent reading, and the birth of the interior self. Conversations wander through memory, technology, and a politics of humility, with lively anecdotes and sharp cultural critique.