Neil Vallelly (@NeilVallelly) joins Matt (@mattpolprof) for a cheery discussion of neoliberalism and futility, the central themes of Neil's new book, which can be found at https://amzn.to/32LjkLO or https://mitpress.mit.edu/books/futilitarianism.   Matt's full review is here: https://www.jacobinmag.com/2021/12/neoliberalism-powerless-review-neil-vallelly-futilitarianism Some perhaps unfamiliar namedropping occurs in this episode, and a non-exhaustive list includes the utilitarians Jeremy Bentham, John Stuart Mill, and Henry Sidgwick, along with critics such as Herbert Marcuse, Wendy Brown, Mark Fisher, Byung Chul Han, Jessica Whyte, and Jodi Dean. Join us at https://www.patreon.com/plasticpills if you want content+.