C-Realm Radio 041
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:58:26 — )
KMO and Douglas Lain discuss populism, anti-natalism, misanthropy and other crazy notions that people get into their heads. KMO makes repeated reference to a recent Baffler article by Angela Nagle, so you should probably check that out. The second hour consists of KMO's 2014 conversation with David Bollier, author of Think Like a Commoner: A Short Introduction to the Life of the Commons.
474: Malignantly Useless
Available on PatreonKMO and guest Kevin Dole consider why horror writer Thomas Ligotti considers consciousness to be the parent of all horrors. Consciousness is supposed to be the most marvelous phenomenon in existence right? Not according to Ligotti. In his first non-fiction book, The Conspiracy Against the Human Race, Ligotti describes consciousness as the means to achieving new varieties of suffering by enabling us to dread things that haven’t happened yet, like out own death, and to suffer insult in addition to mere injury. Better never to have been born, because, Ligotti asserts, non-existence never hurt anybody.
Vault Preview 001
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 7:51 — 7.3MB)
Here is an excerpt from C-Realm Vault Podcast episode001 in which KMO talks with Alexandre Tannous about the power of symbols.
323: Absent a Common Culture
KMO talks with James Howard Kunstler, author of The Long Emergency and Too Much Magic, about race, racism, black separatism, the drug war, and the need for a common culture with universally accepted standards of behavior for all members of that culture. This conversation makes explicit reference to C-Realm podcast episodes 279: Overvaluing Genius and 313: Peak Oil and the White “We.” KMO concludes the episode by reading a post from the Friends the C-Realm Group on Facebook about how obsessing over 9/11 conspiracy theories directs attention away from much greater crimes.
Music by Hobotech.
322: Poised Between Denial and Anger
KMO welcomes James Howard Kunstler back to the program to talk about the themes in his new book, Too Much Magic: Wishful Thinking, Technology, and the Fate of the Nation. Jim describes himself as being allergic to conspiracy theories, and KMO explores the space of ideas looking for the place where Jim draws the line between credible speculation about malfeasance in the corridors of power and the paranoid fantasies of ultra-right-wing lunatics as exemplified by the John Birch Society. Could anybody ever be elected to high office by promising to manage economic contraction intelligently, or will promises of American exceptionalism and continued expansion mark the winner in every electoral contest? Jim says that the chronic trafficking in dishonesty in the realms of politics and finance is destroying necessary public institutions and eroding the legitimacy of government. In the second segment, KMO and Olga talk about student debt with Beth and Karl Klein and concludes with a few words about the soon-to-be-launched C-Realm Vault Podcast.