Listen to the Episode
You can listen to this episode using the links below.
YouTube
https://youtu.be/CjPshtxckt8
Spotify
https://open.spotify.com/episode/3RS263ZCa4FbCidH6Vbvhw
In Episode 2 of The William Gomes Podcast, William Gomes turns to one of the most enduring ideas in twentieth century psychoanalytic thought: the claim by Jacques Lacan that the unconscious is structured like a language. Rather than treating this as an abstract or technical proposition, the episode approaches it as a lived reality, something that quietly shapes how people speak, desire, hesitate, and repeat themselves.
The discussion unfolds with restraint and clarity. Slips of the tongue, recurring phrases, and unexpected patterns in speech are not presented as errors to be corrected, but as moments where something deeper becomes briefly audible. Language, in this telling, is not simply a tool for expression. It is the medium through which experience has already been organised, often long before conscious intention arrives.
What gives the episode its particular strength is its refusal to rush towards explanation. William allows the idea to breathe, showing how desire, memory, and personal history leave traces in everyday speech. The unconscious does not announce itself dramatically. It appears quietly, in the phrasing we return to, the stories we repeat, and the words that surface when we least expect them.
This episode invites careful listening, both to the conversation itself and to one’s own language. It suggests that meaning is not always found in what is meant, but in what is said along the way. By treating Lacan’s idea with gentleness rather than authority, the episode opens a space for reflection rather than instruction, making complex theory feel ethically and emotionally grounded.
