{"podcast":{"title":"New Books Network","slug":"new-books-network-529292","podcast_index_feed_id":529292,"rss_url":"https://feeds.simplecast.com/OuTJEAhS","website_url":"https://newbooksnetwork.com","image_url":"https://image.simplecastcdn.com/images/f4d2a1d0-a64d-477c-afe6-78ea68c8d119/c4c9e2fd-6133-4a85-8c77-58d8e7902835/3000x3000/main-channelpage.png?aid=rss_feed","author":"New Books Network","episode_count":600,"summary":"Interviews with Authors about their New Books Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network","last_synced_at":"2026-10-02T08:23:46.189970+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/new-books-network-529292"},"episode":{"title":"Leonhard Emmerling, \"The Idiots: The History of the Homo Nullus\" (Seagull Books, 2026)","slug":"leonhard-emmerling-the-idiots-the-history-of-the-homo-nullus-seagull-books-2026","published_at":"2026-09-09T08:00:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/new-books-network-529292/leonhard-emmerling-the-idiots-the-history-of-the-homo-nullus-seagull-books-2026","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/new-books-network-529292","url":"https://newbooksnetwork.com","audio_url":"https://injector.simplecastaudio.com/f4d2a1d0-a64d-477c-afe6-78ea68c8d119/episodes/2c36dc05-e221-4b75-beaa-5d2a3d65c6cb/audio/128/default.mp3?aid=rss_feed&awCollectionId=f4d2a1d0-a64d-477c-afe6-78ea68c8d119&awEpisodeId=2c36dc05-e221-4b75-beaa-5d2a3d65c6cb&feed=OuTJEAhS","summary":"In a world obsessed with expertise and control, the figure of the idiot illuminates deeper truths about society. In this interview, Morteza Hajizadeh interviews Leonhard Emmerling about his book The Idiots: The History of the Homo Nullus (Seagull Books, 2026) Dostoevsky and Nietzsche wrote about him; Dadaists and punks idolized him; artists like Warhol and Beuys made him their icon. From holy fool to punk rebel, the idiot—a figure that traces its roots back to the Greek idiotes, a person who was alienated from public life—has always challenged society’s norms from the margins. Far from a simple madman, the idiot is a powerful subversive, a person who disregards norms and finds profound insight in a state of unmediated inspiration. Using a cross-disciplinary approach bridging literature, religion, art, and philosophy, this volume traces a rich journey up to the present, where the idiot reemerges in a dramatic twist: a public figure who inverts social norms, confounds the boundary between private and public, and declares a new, paradoxical view of the world. Leonhard Emmerling has worked as an art historian in different capacities: as curator and director of art institutions in Germany and New Zealand; as teacher at art academies in Auckland, Düsseldorf, and Munich; and as advisor and director for the Goethe-Institut. His most recent publication is Aesthetics: What For?. Morteza Hajizadeh is a Ph.D. graduate in English from the University of Auckland in New Zealand. His research interests are Cultural Studies; Critical Theory; Environmental History; Medieval (Intellectual) History; Gothic Studies; 18th and 19th Century British Literature. YouTube Channel: here Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network","meta_description":"In a world obsessed with expertise and control, the figure of the idiot illuminates deeper truths about society. In this interview, Morteza Hajizadeh i…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":3711,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/new-books-network-529292/episodes/leonhard-emmerling-the-idiots-the-history-of-the-homo-nullus-seagull-books-2026/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/new-books-network-529292/leonhard-emmerling-the-idiots-the-history-of-the-homo-nullus-seagull-books-2026.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}