Now that Israel’s invasion of Gaza is center stage, Russia’s war in Ukraine is getting less attention. This has frustrated Zelensky in the midst of bad news. The Ukrainian counteroffensive has failed, and both Ukrainian and Western officials are wondering if negotiations should be the next step. This will require preparing the Ukrainian public for the possibility of a worse peace deal (and less land) than in 2015 and 2022. In ArtiFact 51, Alex Sheremet is joined by University of Ottawa professor and Ukrainian-Canadian scholar Ivan Katchanovski to discuss the Russia-Ukraine War, the costs to Ukraine, the impact of the war in Gaza, and recent developments in the Maidan massacre. You can also watch this conversation on our YouTube channel: https://youtu.be/9GXxQGZ5-YU To get the B Side to this conversation, support us on Patreon and get patron-only content: https://www.patreon.com/automachination B Side topics: how Russian state media presents Palestine & Palestinians; Russia’s policy in the Middle East; the role of Dmitry Medvedev in Russian politics, propaganda; Medvedev’s Telegram posts; Russia’s might seek more territory; Belarus as a client state; the case of Ivan Bubenchik in Maidan; a Ukrainian law which allows murder?; more Maidan details come to light after the trial; the most common objections to Ivan Katchanovski’s claims; what if Maidan protesters were not in control of every building; how the Svoboda Party provided muscle; Ivan has been to Hotel Ukraina many times; the testimony of hotel staff; the future of Ukraine; de-population, poverty, & the refugee problem; Ukrainian dependence on Western aid; Ukraine should join the European Union; the EU acts like a political/military rather than economic union; can Russia and the United States cultivate an alliance; observing right-wing Russian nationalists Subscribe to the ArtiFact podcast on Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3xw2M4D Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3wLpqEV Google Podcasts: https://bit.ly/3dSQXxJ Amazon Music: https://amzn.to/2SVJIxB Podbean: https://bit.ly/3yzLuUo iHeartRadio: https://ihr.fm/3AK942L Read more from the automachination universe: https://automachination.com Read Alex Sheremet's (archived) essays: https://alexsheremet.com Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/automachination Learn about and contribute to our first film, "From There To There: Bruce Ario, the Minneapolis Poet": https://www.gofundme.com/f/new-film-the-minneapolis-poet-bruce-ario Timestamps: 1:28 – introducing Ivan Katchanovski, professor at University of Ottawa 4:08 – the conflict in Gaza will have consequences for the Ukraine War; comparing the Palestine and Ukraine conflicts; why Barack Obama didn’t want to arm Ukraine; AIPAC vs. Ukraine; Russia pivots to Palestine 8:14 – Russia & Obama; the Israel-Ukraine relationship; Zelensky trying to turn Ukraine “into the new Israel”; Zelensky’s anti-democratic reforms;  19:51 – was Ukraine pressured into its 2023 counter-offensive; how Zelensky gets conflated with “Ukraine” & Ukrainian opinion; Ukraine as an abused proxy; why Russia was presented as weak; fissures in the war narrative cropped up as early as summer 2022 30:40 – sanctions don’t have the intended effect; Ukraine’s PR battles in Bakhmut and Mariupol; tensions between Zelensky, Zaluzhny, and other generals; Ukraine might engage in political prosecutions; was Zaluzhny’s aide involved in an assassination attempt? 46:12 – grenades & pomegranates; the status of the Ukraine war; Putin’s possible behavior in 2024; how bad statistics were used to sell a proxy war; are the witnesses to the March/April 2022 negotiations credible; the Boris Johnson angle 1:02:02 – re-visiting the Maidan Massacre; Ivan Katchanovski’s claims vs. police involvement in protester killings; why the Maidan trial dragged out for a decade; destroyed evidence; the exclusion of most ballistic analyses; the New York Times model from 2018 1:27:00 – previewing the Patron show; Ivan Katchanovski’s upcoming book on Maidan and the roots of Russia/Ukraine War Tags: #russiaukrainewar #politics #ukrainewar

Although there’s often a desire for big, Hollywood films, having too many resources, and too much polish, contradicts the mission of art. Independent films can be shot with minimal equipment and lend themselves to bigger, bolder ideas in a smaller package. In ArtiFact 50, Alex Sheremet and Joel Parrish reflect on shooting their first film, “From There to There: Bruce Ario, The Minneapolis Poet”. Topics covered: film and audio equipment, cinematography, production and post-production, finding interviews, and the practical as well as theoretical foundations of filmmaking. You can also watch this conversation on our YouTube channel: https://youtu.be/u4hX_OSyWs4 To get the full conversation, support us on Patreon and get patron-only content: https://www.patreon.com/automachination Read more and contribute to the film here: https://www.gofundme.com/f/new-film-the-minneapolis-poet-bruce-ario Subscribe to the ArtiFact podcast on Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3xw2M4D Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3wLpqEV Google Podcasts: https://bit.ly/3dSQXxJ Amazon Music: https://amzn.to/2SVJIxB Podbean: https://bit.ly/3yzLuUo iHeartRadio: https://ihr.fm/3AK942L Joel Parrish’s poetry and photography: https://poeticimport.com Read more from the automachination universe: https://automachination.com Read Alex Sheremet’s (archived) essays: https://alexsheremet.com Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/automachination Timestamps: 0:00 – the excitement of guerrilla filmmaking 1:36 – the final night of our Minneapolis trip; splitting camera responsibilities; over-scheduling yet still getting everything done; how capturing footage helps define the screenplay; Robbinsdale in Minneapolis; managing sixteen hour days 13:52 – the final night in Minneapolis; nighttime guerrilla filmmaking; accidental imagery & footage; Alex finds some bud; shooting without a plan; every alley has something that can be captured; Joel hops on a city bus and captures video & conversation; checking off a checklist vs. improv filmmaking 22:06 – how shooting a film altered Alex’s perception of watching movies; paying attention to cinematography; Alex’s thoughts on the 1995 hip-hop vampire film, The Addiction; how text styles on the screen can become quite dated; avoiding dated, faddish aesthetics; long vs. short takes; making a well-produced film on a budget using today’s software & equipment 31:20 – the post-production process; how we went from an informational, “good” documentary, to something far more ambitious; going through our equipment: a Canon M50 with an additional lens; DaVinci Resolve for film & color grading; capturing deep nighttime grain; SSD storage for keeping all files in 1 place; Zoom Podtrak P4 for an XLR connection to Audio-Technica’s lavalier microphone & AT2005 mics; Hollywood vs. anti-Hollywood aesthetics; Joel’s professional setup, cameras, GoPro, and audio equipment; getting the most out of any camera at a discount; GAS: Gear Acquisition Syndrome 53:50 – the pre-planning stages for an independent film; why a documentary is a great first movie; the importance of split responsibilities FOR PATRONS: Joel’s planning stages for the film; acquiring interviews; the perils of overplanning; reducing the amount of equipment; Joel praises Alex as an interviewer; returning to Minneapolis: catching segregated neighborhoods, visiting other parks, 5-minute interviews with locals; capturing Minneapolis footage vs. footage from other cities; frozen falls; some wonderful descriptions of nature in Bruce Ario’s “Cityboy” Tags: #film #art #artist

The IDF is accused of bombing the al-Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza. As a result, both Israelis and Palestinians have staked their reputations on the responsible party. Yet this would already be the 35th hospital strike in Gaza since 2008, while fully half of Gaza’s medical infrastructure had been leveled in Cast Lead and again in Protective Edge. In this video, political commentators Alex Sheremet and Keith Jackewicz deal with the fallout of the Hamas attack in Gaza, the Israeli counteroffensive, the meaning of the al-Ahli Baptist Hospital strike, Palestine’s history, and Joe Biden’s increasing lack of credibility in America and abroad. They also discuss Alex’s essay on the topic and Keith’s own essay on “asbestos capitalism”. You can also watch this conversation on our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R5lCjNGDb7k To get the B Side to this conversation, support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/automachination B Side Topics: when Alex forced Keith to carry water gallons home; water-wars & over-stimulation; politics of de-growth; if you want Alex in the Marxist revolution, keep your grubby hands off of his bananas; wastefulness in the healthcare system; Putin’s military vs. social & educational spending; why sanctions have not crippled Russia; Ukraine youth paramilitary camps; Crimea & Russia’s first-use nuclear doctrine; the Supreme Court forced Israel to allow a Gazan to leave for medical treatment; white guilt is counter-productive but points to a positive historical development; Alex’s process of writing his Gaza essay; how skeptics of the War on Terror became Israel apologists; the subtle shift in calling Hamas’s terrorism “war crimes” alongside Israel’s own; most “human shields” allegations are false; why Leftists have a messaging problem; realpolitik in Israel-Palestine; how Joe Biden’s wars might come back to haunt him in 2024; polling problems & unfavourability; Keith’s impressions of the new Ceylan film, “About Dry Grasses” Alex Sheremet’s essay on the al-Ahli Baptist Hospital bombing: https://www.automachination.com/israel-identity-gaza-hospital-attack/ We are working on a film on the late, great Minneapolis poet, Bruce Ario. Read more and contribute to the film here: https://www.gofundme.com/f/new-film-the-minneapolis-poet-bruce-ario Subscribe to the ArtiFact podcast on Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3xw2M4D Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3wLpqEV Google Podcasts: https://bit.ly/3dSQXxJ Amazon Music: https://amzn.to/2SVJIxB Podbean: https://bit.ly/3yzLuUo iHeartRadio: https://ihr.fm/3AK942L Read more from the automachination universe: https://automachination.com Read Alex Sheremet’s (archived) essays: https://alexsheremet.com Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/automachination Timestamps: 1:54 – framing the Al-Ahli Arab Hospital explosion; analyzing the Hamas attack of October 7; the gradual breakdown of the IDF; does Hamas want a Stalingrad 9:13 – Alex’s essay on the implications of Al-Ahli Hospital; why Israelis (and Palestinians) have hinged so much on the outcome; Keith’s essay on Asbestos Capitalism; Israel prefers to engage via airstrikes than IDF ground incursions; how “impersonal wars” & Israeli airstrikes create plausible deniability for high body counts; Israeli vs. Russian war crimes; Joe Biden is tying his hands with unpopular wars 20:21 – how Gaza & the Ukraine War shows limits of American unity; Israeli propaganda tries to connect Jews & Judaism with unpopular state actions; Jewish anti-Zionism; Keith’s experiences at a pro-Palestine rally; Keith: a dialectical attraction to Judaism; how Judaism has been subsumed by a colonial project 31:06 – Edward Said’s essay on the Oslo Accords: The Morning After; how the media changed from anti-PLO to pro-PLO; signing away Palestinian rights for positive media coverage; Oslo & settlement acceleration; assessing Yasser Arafat; Israel & the Arab world thinks of Palestinians as a millstone around the neck; how Palestinian lives are counted as less worthy 45:41 – Palestine’s ethnic cleansing is no different from 1000s of other groups in history; AIPAC is the NRA for liberals; Netanyahu should have become irrelevant after 2003; Netanyahu’s direct cash transfers to Hamas; how the response to Hamas’s 2006 election destroyed all possibility of democracy in Palestine; Gaza as a testing ground for fascism 59:22 – the Al-Ahli Arab Hospital attack in Gaza; how the attack has become so symbolic for both Palestinians & Israelis; the murder of Shireen Abu Akleh; Israel’s massacre of the 2018 Gaza protesters; no, the pro-Palestinian side does not rest on the culpability for the Al-Ahli outcome; how Netanyahu mouthpiece Hananya Haftali accidentally revealed Israeli’s propaganda machine 01:22:29 – Israel keeps delaying its ground offensive; Israel has nothing else politically except Netanyahu; Ariel Sharon’s cynical reasons for Gaza withdrawal; Ehud Olmert’s pathetic two-state solution peace plan; how Joe Biden continued Trump’s foreign policy Tags: #gaza #israel #freepalestine #politics

Taking great influence from Martin Scorsese's "The King of Comedy", Frank Whaley's underrated character portrait, "The Jimmy Show", was attacked by critics and filmgoers upon release, and is mostly forgotten now. In ArtiFact 48, critics Jessica Schneider, Ethan Pinch, Alex Sheremet, and Ezekiel Yu break down the film’s strengths and weaknesses while putting it in the wider context of American comedy and stand-up routines. You can also watch this discussion on our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D28Ib8L1BQk& If you’d like the B Side to this conversation on Martin Scorsese’s The King of Comedy, become a YouTube member or join us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/automachination B Side topics: Alex hides & tricks everybody; soy tag vs. Brooklyn-style manhunt in the 1990s; Jessica and Alex indulge; one never stops cringing at Martin Scorsese’s King of Comedy; Rupert Pupkin is the perfect name; Travis Bickle; Zeke watches King of Comedy for the first time; Rupert Pupkin vs. Jimmy; Robert DeNiro is intentionally made less sexy; Martin Scorsese’s diversity as a filmmaker; unique imagery and symbolism in The King of Comedy; Rupert Pupkin is not less talented than those around him; “my name is Rupert: it may not mean a lot to you, but it means a lot to me”; leveraging fame; reality vs. fantasy/day-dream in the film’s ending; comparing to Sidney Lumet’s “Network”; the role of sexual grotesque in Scorsese, Woody Allen, & Robert Altman; why Rupert is animated in his renditions, but placid in his fantasies; is King of Comedy an artistic dead-end; comparing to Scorsese’s “After Hours” & male sexual psychology; King of Comedy in the Scorsese pantheon; Scorsese’s Shutter Island as a low point in his career; no point for Gangs of New York to exist; Bresson’s style was forged from personal needs; Andrei Tarkovsky & Ingmar Bergman; Martin Scorsese’s scriptwriters; & news, politics, Gaza, Israel, Hamas, Tony Blinken gets in trouble on Babi Yar, & much more… Jessica Schneider’s review of Frank Whaley’s The Jimmy Show: https://www.automachination.com/underrated-gem-frank-whaley-jimmy-show-2001/ We are working on a film on the late, great Minneapolis poet, Bruce Ario. Read more and contribute to the film here: https://www.gofundme.com/f/new-film-the-minneapolis-poet-bruce-ario Subscribe to the ArtiFact podcast on Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3xw2M4D Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3wLpqEV Google Podcasts: https://bit.ly/3dSQXxJ Amazon Music: https://amzn.to/2SVJIxB Podbean: https://bit.ly/3yzLuUo iHeartRadio: https://ihr.fm/3AK942L Read more from the automachination universe: https://automachination.com Read Alex Sheremet’s (archived) essays: https://alexsheremet.com Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/automachination Timestamps: 0:00 – introducing Frank Whaley’s The Jimmy Show; links with Martin Scorsese’s King of Comedy 2:40 – why Jessica wanted to review the film; fan expectations vs. artistic reality; portrait of a failure; even the descriptions of the film are wrong; Ray vs. Jimmy: who is the better person; Zeke on how Jimmy’s character creates a ceiling for the film; Ethan Hawke 9:27 – Ethan expresses distrust for Realist Cinema; is The Jimmy Show a comedy or a portrait of a comic character; the dynamic between Jimmy and his grandmother; tender vs. unlikeable moments; why the film is neither satire nor tragedy; the importance of the film’s title to its meaning; the Mike Leigh connection 19:10 – Alex on why Jimmy fails to read the room; how his classist humor gets him into trouble; failures of internalization; the Al Bundy / Married With Children connection; what makes the divorce scene so well-written; Jimmy’s character arc sees her become decisive & firm, while Jimmy doesn’t grow much 28:25 – Ethan: this is a very American film; fame for the sake of fame; Frank Whaley’s use of time can be quite arresting; is Jimmy a worthwhile character; Ethan pushes back against our praise for the film 38:20 – Ethan: isn’t EVERYTHING the Jimmy Show, the Alex Show, the Ethan Show?; the nature of motivated reasoning; people wish to be recognized, but for what?; the Milli Vanilli connection; Taylor Swift’s blandness IS the point; why Eugene O’ Neill didn’t sell out; revisiting Mike Leigh films 49:34 – does the ending “serve Jimmy right”; the nature of comedy; Ethan on American-style standup comedy & machismo Tags: #films #review #comedy

Two years after the creation of the Black Panther Party, Eldridge Cleaver’s prison writings were published as SOUL ON ICE. He became the party’s Minister of Information, but would soon have a falling out with Huey P. Newton over tactics and ideology. In ArtiFact #47, authors Alex Sheremet and Keith Jackewicz break down the text, highlighting its strengths and weaknesses, as Alex explains why it was so critical for his own intellectual development in high school. You can also watch this conversation on our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1DCNP2uYMo If you found this video useful, support us on Patreon and get the B Side to this conversation: https://www.patreon.com/automachination B Side Topics: re-visiting James Baldwin; why don’t political writers care about good prose; varieties of bad conservative & liberal writing; African American leftist writing tends to be self-Orientalizing; art has become an arm of ideology, parasocial relationships; terrible art-objects (“The Sound of Freedom”) and ciphers (“Try That In A Small Town”); the implosion of Ibram X. Kendi; his valorization of ignorance and refusing to read; Ibram X. Kendi doesn’t get Shakespeare’s “Othello” and “The Tempest”; Christopher Rufo runs victory laps; Boston University’s racial problems; COVID in 2023: no tracking, vaccination is disorganized, no funds for long COVID & the nature of endemic disease; most Americans are not compliant with vaccine uptake; blood clots & COVID; Chapo Trap House & their fanbase; the practical ramifications of day-to-day climate change; waking up to storms; Pittsburgh & the Amtrak experience; Ukraine/Russia developments; why did Biden box himself in by selling the war as a Russia-US proxy; Nikki Haley vs. Joe Biden; the salience of Roe v. Wade; Republicans will likely adopt Trump’s abortion strategy; Zelensky & Minsk II We are working on a film on the late, great Minneapolis poet, Bruce Ario. Read more and contribute to the film here: https://www.gofundme.com/f/new-film-the-minneapolis-poet-bruce-ario Subscribe to the ArtiFact podcast on Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3xw2M4D Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3wLpqEV Google Podcasts: https://bit.ly/3dSQXxJ Amazon Music: https://amzn.to/2SVJIxB Podbean: https://bit.ly/3yzLuUo iHeartRadio: https://ihr.fm/3AK942L Read more from the automachination universe: https://automachination.com Read Alex Sheremet’s (archived) essays: https://alexsheremet.com Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/automachination Timestamps: 0:00 – a white kid sits at the black table 1:30 – introducing Eldridge Cleaver’s classic Black Panther text, “Soul on Ice”; how the book totally changed Alex’s life in high school; Keith: Cleaver has more lyrical dexterity than most leftist writing; the homophobia 9:00 – Malcolm X’s autobiography vs. Eldridge Cleaver; thresholds of transformation; Ras Kass’s 1996 rap album, “Soul on Ice”; contrasts with Huey P. Newton’s “Revolutionary Suicide”; homophobia & social conservatism in the radical left; the RCP’s Bob Avakian; Aleksandr Dugin’s style of fascism 19:25 – why the Black Panthers presented as a black nationalist group despite being Marxist-Leninists; how Donald Trump’s election shattered Keith’s understanding of the world; why the United States government feared the Black Panthers; hecklers in the Nation of Islam; the New Black Panther Party; armed patrols in California; overreaction within geopolitical rivalry; liberalism & the erosion of rights; 2007’s Stop the Madrassa; America’s change of opinions on Islam, immigrants; Alex: why Richard Spencer, et al was a dying gasp in 2016-2017 38:50 – Eldridge Cleaver’s obsession with poseur whites; Norman Mailer & “The White Negro”; a terrible passage from Jack Kerouac’s “On The Road”; masculine novelists & insecure violence; cultural appropriation discourse is now passe; how diversity & integration teaches everyone; Alex’s experiences in a majority-black high school; how Alex was transformed by Countee Cullen & Harlem Renaissance poetry; black America faces steeper consequences for *everything* 52:08 – respect vs. fetishization; collectivization & sociability in black America; Eldridge Cleaver’s attacks on James Baldwin; Eldridge Cleaver might have been a closeted bisexual; Cleaver fails to understand high art; assessing Giovanni’s Room; defending James Baldwin’s comments on Richard Wright; Cleaver’s upbringing & psychology damaged his chances of becoming a great author; the worst chapter in Soul on Ice 01:19:42 – Eldridge Cleaver’s love letters are surprisingly well-handled; Alex’s favorite chapter in Soul on Ice; Cleaver knew how to sketch and characterize; Cleaver’s writerly tricks in his Old Lazarus chapter; how sexual imbalances fuel resentment; black objectification; comparisons to Bela Tarr’s The Turin Horse 01:42:05 – Patreon show preview; Eldridge Cleaver’s latter biography; his falling out with Beverly Axelrod; Soul on Fire was a terrible follow-up; Keith: how There Will Be Blood & Ratatouille changed my life Tags: #politics #books #blackpanther

Ibram X Kendi (born Henry Rogers) is an "antiracist scholar" who is now under investigation by Boston University due to alleged mismanagement of the Center for Antiracist Research. In ArtiFact #46, Holocaust scholar Norman Finkelstein breaks down the allegations, as well as his responses to Ibram X. Kendi's scholarly writing in "Stamped from the Beginning" and "How to be an Antiracist". He concludes that, besides his alleged administrative fraud, Kendi is an intellectual hoaxer who has more in common with the Right than with the Left. You can also watch this discussion on our YouTube channel: https://youtu.be/ieU2HCGpCSY Buy Norman Finkelstein’s book: https://www.amazon.com/Heretical-Thoughts-Identity-Politics-Academic/dp/B0BSJXB7WN/ Norman Finkelstein’s website: https://www.normanfinkelstein.com If you found this video useful, support us on Patreon and get patron-only content: https://www.patreon.com/automachination We are working on a film on the late, great Minneapolis poet, Bruce Ario. Read more and contribute to the film here: https://www.gofundme.com/f/new-film-the-minneapolis-poet-bruce-ario Subscribe to the ArtiFact podcast on Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3xw2M4D Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3wLpqEV Google Podcasts: https://bit.ly/3dSQXxJ Amazon Music: https://amzn.to/2SVJIxB Podbean: https://bit.ly/3yzLuUo iHeartRadio: https://ihr.fm/3AK942L Read more from the automachination universe: https://automachination.com Read Alex Sheremet’s (archived) essays: https://alexsheremet.com Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/automachination Timestamps: 01:47 – introduction; the implosion of Ibram X. Kendi's antiracist center at Boston University; Norman Finkelstein distinguishes Kendi the scholar vs. Kendi the administrator; Ibram X. Kendi's celebrity encouraged a total lack of oversight; the Center for Antiracist Research was a vehicle of Kendi's books; Kendi's output vs. Noam Chomsky’s; How To Be An Antiracist Baby; the mystery of Ibram X. Kendi's celebrity 18:09 – Norman Finkelstein dissects Ibram X. Kendi’s “Stamped from the Beginning”; does Ibram X. Kendi’s exercise of “racist, not racist” for 100s of pages add up to anything; why Norman Finkelstein does not use the word “fascist” as an insult; the question of Abraham Lincoln’s racism; goodness vs. greatness in human beings; Teddy Roosevelt’s racism towards Native Americans 30:00 – Paul Sweezy’s apologia for Stalin & Stalinism; Alex: why my great-grandmother LOVED Stalin; Alex on the perceived political legitimacy of Stalin, Putin, and Xi Jinping; Norman Finkelstein reads his favorite quote from Abraham Lincoln 41:40 – Norman Finkelstein on Martin Luther King, Jr.; Alex on arguing with Nazis and white nationalists as an adolescent; the one useful thing Ibram X. Kendi should have done; Norman Finkelstein on upper-crust, racist friends from the 1970s; sports and intelligence; the racism of William Shockley and James Watson; prejudice & property values; why fighting race science intellectually does not work; Norman Finkelstein’s advice on how to break anti-black racial stereotypes 57:17 – Norman Finkelstein denies accusations of elitism; the implosion of Democracy Now! & Amy Goodman; tackling Ibram X. Kendi’s “How To Be An Antiracist”; the appearance of “Smurf”, Kendi’s high school friend “so black that he’s blue”; Ibram X. Kendi insists on structural racism, yet shies away from obvious, everyday examples of such; some howlers from “How To Be An Antiracist”; previewing our coming conversation on the Supreme Court affirmative action decision Tags: #politics #identity #normanfinkelstein

Universally heralded as an American classic, Martin Scorsese’s TAXI DRIVER (Robert DeNiro, Jodie Foster) deserves its reputation for nuance and the subtle ways in which its thematic, cinematic, and psychological elements cohere. Paul Schrader’s script allows for everything from understated racial critique, to a realistic depiction of how entanglements are made and broken, to the role of loneliness and purposelessness in the modern world. This is partly done by way of a dreamscape, which has enough plausible deniability to still feel "real". In ArtiFact #45, Alex Sheremet is joined by Irish poet Laura Woods and poet, novelist, and film critic Jessica Schneider to offer fresh insight into Martin Scorsese’s seminal film and the psychology of its protagonist, Travis Bickle. You can also watch this conversation on our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T8u7n9uTexs To get the B Side to this conversation, support us on Patreon and get Patron-only content: https://www.patreon.com/automachination B Side topics: Jessica on Mel Gibson’s “Passion of the Christ”; Jessica physically acts out “demon children”; Laura on Gerard Manley Hopkins; guilt and art; Alex “wanders off”; reading John Donne; social services & abortion politics in Ireland; Tanizaki’s “Some Prefer Nettles”; Laura on COVID politics in Ireland; on modern Russian music & the Soviet bard tradition; American meddling in Russia’s elections; translating Russian poetry; & much more Subscribe to the ArtiFact podcast on Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3xw2M4D Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3wLpqEV Google Podcasts: https://bit.ly/3dSQXxJ Amazon Music: https://amzn.to/2SVJIxB Podbean: https://bit.ly/3yzLuUo iHeartRadio: https://ihr.fm/3AK942L Jessica Schneider’s essay on Taxi Driver: https://www.automachination.com/mindful-loneliness-martin-scorseses-taxi-driver-1976/ Dan Schneider's essay on Taxi Driver and Travis Bickle: http://www.cosmoetica.com/B928-DES721.htm Read Alex Sheremet’s (archived) essays: https://alexsheremet.com Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/automachination Timestamps: 0:00 – thematic coherence in Martin Scorsese's Taxi Driver; Travis Bickle’s arbitrary attachments of value; Betty’s rejection quickens Travis Bickle’s psychotic break; the function of The Wizard character; choice vs. determinism 5:58 – racial hang-ups in Taxi Driver; the Alka-Seltzer scene & its "dream thug"; the beating of a dead robber might be Travis Bickle's own fantasy; Paul Schrader's original script called for black actors to play the film’s pimps and johns; Charles Palantine vs. Robert Altman's Hal Philip Walker (Nashville) 11:48 – Travis Bickle's "misguided earnestness"; his romantic impulses are impulsive, yet his critiques tend to be "correct" purely by coincidence; analyzing a scene where some children harass Travis Bickle 19:20 – empathy & character relatability; Dan Schneider's assessment of Travis Bickle’s psychology; the world’s current default state of loneliness 26:00 – Travis Bickle's conservative values; the humor + empathy of Travis feeling repulsed by immorality; the Mike Leigh connection; a Woody Allen + Annie Hall connection; how Travis enters & leaves lucidity; incels & White Knight psychology; even a scumbag pimp like Matthew (Sport) “sees” Travis Bickle’s lack of social adjustment 36:24 – how cognizant is Travis Bickle of his situation?; Travis's family vs. Jodie Foster's family; was there abuse at home?; neglected Martin Scorsese films; Paul Schrader produced a weak script for 'Light Sleeper'; how Taxi Driver predicted Jordan B. Peterson types; Roger Ebert on Martin Scorsese 51:46 – Travis Bickle: “I believe someone should become a person like other people”; underlying profundity vs. crass profundity; confession time: Alex Sheremet just can’t get through Mishima’s “Spring Snow”; Mishima’s "Temple of the Golden Pavilion"; why Murakami (mostly) sucks; Lars von Trier is Ingmar Bergman without the depth Tags: #cinema #psychology #taxidriver

In the last few decades, political correctness has divided Americans and reduced their ability to embark on a real political project. According to Holocaust and Israel/Palestine scholar Norman Finkelstein, Robin DiAngelo and Ibram X. Kendi are representatives of race-based fraud, downplaying the role of class, culture, and more in order to sell books and corporate workshops. In ArtiFact #44, Norman Finkelstein and Alex Sheremet discuss the class-based critique formulated in Finkelstein’s latest book, “I’ll Burn That Bridge When I Get To It”, as well as questions of criminal justice and criminal justice reform. The text covers political correctness, academic freedom, class politics, cancel culture, Roe v. Wade and other Supreme Court decisions, W.E.B. DuBois, Frederick Douglass, and more. You can also watch this discussion on the automachination YouTube channel: https://youtu.be/csWQhC40DDM Buy Norman Finkelstein’s book: https://www.amazon.com/Heretical-Thoughts-Identity-Politics-Academic/dp/B0BSJXB7WN/ Norman Finkelstein’s website: https://www.normanfinkelstein.com If you found this video useful, support us on Patreon and get patron-only content: https://www.patreon.com/automachination Subscribe to the ArtiFact podcast on Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3xw2M4D Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3wLpqEV Google Podcasts: https://bit.ly/3dSQXxJ Amazon Music: https://amzn.to/2SVJIxB Podbean: https://bit.ly/3yzLuUo iHeartRadio: https://ihr.fm/3AK942L Read more from the automachination universe: https://automachination.com Read Alex Sheremet’s (archived) essays: https://alexsheremet.com Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/automachination Timestamps: 0:00 – race, class, and the criminal justice system 1:26 – introducing Norman Finkelstein’s “I’ll Burn That Bridge When I Get To It”; is there a biological basis for race and racism; Finkelstein explains why he rejects the salience of race and IQ; Robert Trivers and Mihalis Yannakakis; Finkelstein’s experience with his African American students 12:56 – Alex Sheremet’s experience with desegregation; ethnicity from Belarus to Brooklyn; how proximity creates understanding; Robin DiAngelo’s bait-and-switch in “White Fragility” 16:34 – “White Fragility is the worst book written on any subject ever”; Norman Finkelstein on structural racism; racial representation vs. culture; Asian representation & the Tiger Mom; Finkelstein on Ketanji Brown Jackson & the Affirmative Action decision; W.E.B. DuBois; cultural disparities are a constant; why the American legal process is grounds for revolution; class forces one into plea bargains 30:16 – racism and the criminal justice system; how class defines the criminal justice experience; Norman Finkelstein’s arrests and legal experiences 37:54 – gender disparities in male/female sentencing for identical crimes; the need for a material/cultural analysis; basketball courts are material and cultural; Norman Finkelstein wasted too much time watching television; early childhood years are fundamental for development; Frederick Douglass 44:54 – Robin DiAngelo’s authoritarian version of antiracism; liberalism & authoritarianism; the silliness of “interrupting racism”; developing a thicker skin; anti-Semitic comments directed at Norman Finkelstein; African American passivity in “White Fragility”; have classical studies been hijacked? 56:42 – Alex Sheremet and Norman Finkelstein make a series of “wild surmises” about Robin DiAngelo’s psychology; the Glenn Loury problem – personal background should make you “know better”; Robin DiAngelo as a “sick Karen”; teasing our future conversation on Ibram X. Kendi Tags: #politics #justice #iq #normanfinkelstein #woke #race

According to Holocaust and Israel/Palestine scholar Norman Finkelstein, Barack Obama’s “neat trick” allowed voters to imbue whatever political values they wished on to a blank slate who seemingly came out of nowhere. This allowed Democrats to turn the 2008 and 2012 elections into a referendum not on the candidate, but the “goodness” and “morality” of the electorate. Finkelstein’s new book, “I’ll Burn That Bridge When I Get To It: Heretical Thoughts On Identity Politics, Cancel Culture, And Academic Freedom”, tackles, among other topics, Barack Obama’s 2020 memoir, “A Promised Land”, concluding Obama was little more than a cipher enamored by celebrity. In ArtiFact #43, Alex Sheremet and Norman Finkelstein discuss Barack Obama’s presidency, cultural import, and more, kicking off a series of conversations that will span much of Finkelstein’s text. You can also watch this discussion on our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aEZCalY_gcg Buy Norman Finkelstein’s book: https://www.amazon.com/Heretical-Thoughts-Identity-Politics-Academic/dp/B0BSJXB7WN/ Norman Finkelstein’s website: https://www.normanfinkelstein.com Watch Norman Finkelstein discuss Israel with Palestinian refugees: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S4OP7B9jKao If you found this video useful, support us on Patreon and get patron-only content: https://www.patreon.com/automachination Subscribe to the ArtiFact podcast on Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3xw2M4D Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3wLpqEV Google Podcasts: https://bit.ly/3dSQXxJ Amazon Music: https://amzn.to/2SVJIxB Podbean: https://bit.ly/3yzLuUo iHeartRadio: https://ihr.fm/3AK942L Read more from the automachination universe: https://automachination.com Read Alex Sheremet’s (archived) essays: https://alexsheremet.com Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/automachination Timestamps: 0:00 – was Barack Obama’s presidency a net positive? 1:25 – introducing Norman Finkelstein’s “I’ll Burn That Bridge When I Get To It” 3:05 – Norman Finkelstein’s textual analysis; Barack Obama has no real written record; biographer David Garrow calls Obama’s “Dreams From My Father” a work of historical fiction; why Obama’s “A Promised Land” is unmemorable 10:38 – Obama finally had the opportunity to say anything he wanted, but said nothing; the Joe Biden / Obama tension; the Oprahfication of Michelle Obama; Michelle Obama’s humiliation of pre-fame Obama 15:12 – David Garrow is Obama’s definitive biographer; Obama & the Choom Boys; the GQ Marxist; how Obama cultivated white people; Chuck Schumer, Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton vs. Obama 34:23 – Obama conspiracy theories & birtherism vs. the reality of an ex nihilo, blank slate Obama; the post-Bush presidency; the Great Recession; how Barack Obama turned the 2008 election into a referendum on the electorate 44:49 – why Norman Finkelstein had few illusions about an Obama presidency; Pod Save America sucks; the biggest critique of “I’ll Burn That Bridge When I Get To It”; Alex and Norman debate Cornel West 01:03:26 – Obama as politician; why Dick Cheney could not shut up; how Barack Obama’s love of celebrity threw David Axelrod under the bus 01:12:11 – Barack Obama repeatedly shields Hillary Clinton from Libya, the “Kenyan dress” scandal, & her RFK assassination comments; Obama in Martha’s Vineyard; the Central Park Five; why Hillary Clinton & Stormy Daniels LOVED Donald Trump; David Garrow’s final judgment on Barack Obama’s person Tags: #obama #normanfinkelstein #politics #democrats #palestine

According to the Left, Right, and Center, democracy is under attack. Donald Trump claimed election fraud in 2020, while both Joe Biden and Hillary Clinton hinted at fascism with a Republican administration. In his 2023 book, “The Chronic Crisis of American Democracy: The Way is Shut”, Benjamin Studebaker argues that neither is the case, as the very popularity of democracy is being used to energize fringe voters in lieu of passing real legislation. In ArtiFact #42, Alex Sheremet and Benjamin Studebaker tackle “the unsolvable problem”, wage stagnation, the causes of austerity, and how political parties continue to get away with minimal promises against the backdrop of maximal drama. You can also watch this discussion on our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OobuZB1BLX4 Support us on Patreon and get the patron-only B Side to this conversation: https://www.patreon.com/automachination B Side topics: Aristotle’s “Vulgar Craftsman”; how the lack of writing hurts podcasters & other speakers; the peak message board era; the current Ph.D. landscape; how Raul Hilberg’s Holocaust research stymied his career; how the 2008 crisis shaped Benjamin Studebaker’s political awakening; the (illegal) Libya intervention & death of Gaddafi; comparing the 2008 and post-2020 austerity regimes; Trump vs. Hillary voter naivete; more on conspiracy theories; why Benjamin Studebaker is skeptical of affirmative action; Alex’s high school experiences in the hood; is meritocracy possible; how Benjamin Studebaker turned Alex on to Kwame Brown; black girl magic vs. black boy magic; Clarence Thomas is insulted so hard that Alex fears losing his YouTube channel; political theory in the academy; the dream-eating democracy; if the Left secures its goals, wouldn’t citizens drop out of politics altogether; assessing the 2024 presidential race; is Cornel West a serious candidate Subscribe to the ArtiFact podcast on Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3xw2M4D Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3wLpqEV Google Podcasts: https://bit.ly/3dSQXxJ Amazon Music: https://amzn.to/2SVJIxB Podbean: https://bit.ly/3yzLuUo iHeartRadio: https://ihr.fm/3AK942L Buy Benjamin Studebaker’s “The Chronic Crisis of American Democracy: The Way Is Shut”: https://www.amazon.com/Chronic-Crisis-American-Democracy-Shut-ebook/dp/B0BVZ7V4T6/ Benjamin Studebaker’s essays: https://benjaminstudebaker.com/ Read more from the automachination universe: https://automachination.com Read Alex Sheremet’s (archived) essays: https://alexsheremet.com Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/automachination   Timestamps: 0:00 – introduction to Benjamin Studebaker & his book, “The Chronic Crisis of American Democracy” 04:03 – Studebaker: all time for thinking is created by other people not having time for thinking 05:17 – the unsolvable problem; how capital mobility erodes politics & freedom; FDR as the first neoliberal; the role of World War I, trade, & the Great Depression; the Bretton Woods conference; capitalism in “communist” nations 20:35 – the world is growing more competitive; 1972’s “The Limits to Growth” & the 2020s as a turning point; the role of education; rump vs. fallen professionals 33:35 – the plight of academics & disposable faculty; higher education as extraction; a widening gulf between working and “professional” classes; the role of the autodidact in conspiracy theories 46:00 – how the French riots turned into a race riot; conspiracy theories among the educated, “anti-conspiracy” class; why COVID is ignored; Donald Trump’s strategy in 2020; political messaging 58:30 – are wages really stagnating; common talking points & right-wing subreddits; the proper framing for discussing wages; the effects of COVID on wages; inflation 01:11:40 – Benjamin Studebaker’s reading of freedom; Isaiah Berlin & positive / negative freedom; how students get tricked into a limited debate; freedom vs. state / market interventions 01:25:41 – why Benjamin Studebaker does not buy typical critiques of democracy; long-term anemic equilibrium in democracy; new realities for the political Left, Right, & Center; how traditions are divided 01:48:12 – progressives are both critical of, yet amenable to, markets; Left/Right and the critique of desire; how media ecosystems undermine class traitors; Benjamin Studebaker on exogenous shocks which might change the system Tags: #politics #trump #podcast

Art YouTube ranges from academic to street, high-brow to low-brow, natural, performative, good and bad. In ArtiFact #41, writers Alex Sheremet, Ezekiel Yu, and Dan Schneider tackle some of the more popular art YouTube channels, dissecting their arguments, assumptions, and presentation. Our questions include: how does YouTube incentivize poor artistic judgment and packaging? Does overly performative criticism damage the field? What is the difference between criticism and sociological critique? Is “honesty” really the most important quality in a critic? Is worrying about the commodification of the arts self-defeating? Plus: comments on Banksy, Kurt Cobain, Andy Warhol, Marxist theory, & more. This conversation can also be watched on YouTube: https://youtu.be/RHNRHLHa8yg Support us on Patreon and get the patron-only B Side to this conversation: https://www.patreon.com/automachination B Side topics: Ezekiel Yu’s development as a writer; yes, every writer writes from experience; the before/after when figuring out how to write; Alex’s video essay on Robin DiAngelo; in praise of Laura Woods; artistic competition; why Milk74 is an interesting YouTuber; PhilosophyTube sucks; Vladimir Vysotsky’s worst songs focused on street culture; Zeke’s religious transitions; truth vs. privacy in personal memoir; how having less time allows you to do more; art as therapy is good if there is a worthwhile art-object that comes out of it; Alex and Zeke discuss their guilty pleasures; Kwame Brown & natural conservatism; Andrew Tate, JustPearlyThings, & others with failed relationships give relationship/marriage advice; why Red Pill men are effeminate; tackling a bad video essay on Martin Scorsese’s “Taxi Driver” Subscribe to the ArtiFact podcast on Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3xw2M4D Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3wLpqEV Google Podcasts: https://bit.ly/3dSQXxJ Amazon Music: https://amzn.to/2SVJIxB Podbean: https://bit.ly/3yzLuUo iHeartRadio: https://ihr.fm/3AK942L Read more from the automachination universe: https://automachination.com Read Alex Sheremet’s (archived) essays: https://alexsheremet.com Dan Schneider’s YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@cosmoetica Dan Schneider’s Cosmoetica: https://www.automachination.com/ Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/automachination Timestamps: 0:00 – the pitfalls of “art” YouTube; voices & affectations; how good art channels become bad; content vs. personality; Zeke mispronounces ‘automachination’ 13:07 – Steve Shives is wrong about “honesty” in a critic; subjective preferences in the arts vs. objective evaluation; sociology vs. criticism; taking oneself out of one’s criticism; a critic’s honesty is the minimum standard for criticism; how Steve Shives switches between critical and emotional language; why Dan Schneider, on rare occasions, goes for bimbos; is this an exhortation to “not try”? 52:58 – The Canvas YouTube channel; performative discussions of art; Alex describes the culture shock of getting into college; how authority, museums, etc. dissuade artistic critique; the arts do not require mystique; dissecting The Canvas’s Aesthetics vs. Cognition distinction; art vs. artistic context; the passing off of negative qualities as positive traits; Noble Savage myths of art; separating art & self; how time levels, resets artistic baselines;  01:36:38 – The Canvas on Banksy, Andy Warhol, Marxist theory, & Kurt Cobain; too many sources can compromise opinion; the commodification of art; the art audience; Alex: commodification is a side-show next to the actual production of, & work ethic in, art; so-called “artistic problems” and “artistic concerns” are self-made, rather than genuine issues; why artists & non-artists often justifying not creating art Tags: #art, #podcast, #artist, #kurtcobain, #banksy

In 1972, four scientists – Donella H. Meadows, Dennis L. Meadows, Jørgen Randers, William W. Behrens III – published a book called The Limits To Growth, about planetary limits based on a new computer model called World3. It was attacked by journalists, scientists, and economists who claimed it was making faulty predictions based on untested hypotheses, and was often rejected in highly emotional terms by a society that wanted to believe in infinite growth. These attacks accelerated in the 1990s, since models of food and resource scarcity failed, while the 1990s, themselves, were a highly idealistic decade. By 2023, however, it is obvious that the book’s core premises – that planetary limits exist, that they will be hit and create fresh limits, and this will likely cause a contraction in the standard of living – are beginning to be vindicated. Yes, the suggested limits to copper, fossil fuels, and food turned out to be far too pessimistic, but modern research suggests that the world is more or less going according to the basic scenarios of the World3 model. In ArtiFact #40, Alex Sheremet is joined by radical climate activist Arnold Schroder of the Fight Like An Animal podcast to discuss “The Limits to Growth” as well as follow-up texts and papers. You can also watch this conversation on our YouTube channel: https://youtu.be/dh46XiXwwLE Arnold Schroder’s website: https://www.againsttheinternet.com/ Arnold Schroder’s Twitter page: https://twitter.com/arnold_schroder To get the B Side to this conversation, support us on our Patreon page for patron-only content: https://www.patreon.com/automachination B Side topics: Arnold Schroder’s experiences in New Orleans as a teenager; why Alex thinks New Orleans is a symbol of America’s future; Portland in the time of Elliott Smith vs. today; issues of gentrification; why seemingly minor variables play major roles in an artist’s art; Alex’s neighborhood & why some people are targets of crime but not others; political equality vs. cultural elitism; political, psychological, and emotional stakes have heightened in the last few decades; the roles of Arnold / Alex might play in building ideological bridges; what IQ fetishists get wrong; & more Subscribe to the ArtiFact podcast on Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3xw2M4D Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3wLpqEV Google Podcasts: https://bit.ly/3dSQXxJ Amazon Music: https://amzn.to/2SVJIxB Podbean: https://bit.ly/3yzLuUo iHeartRadio: https://ihr.fm/3AK942L Read more from the automachination universe: https://automachination.com Read Alex’s (archived) essays: https://alexsheremet.com Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/automachination Timestamps: 1:56 – introduction; the response to “The Limits to Growth” over time; from research to the empirical environment; how psychology mediates activism & complacency 9:12 – why “2020” kept coming up as a pivot point in 1972, 2004; how hitting planetary limits diverts capital to externalities as opposed to human welfare; why Arnold Schroder thinks public mobilization won’t happen even with poor public outcomes; how charts (as opposed to fundamentals) model potential futures; Gaya Herrington’s January 2020 model of how well “The Limits to Growth” tracked 25:23 – which model might best suit empirical reality; the factors behind civilizational collapse; COVID denialism on the Left & Right; total collapse will likely not happen 32:30 – the “stable world” model & conscious choice; why civilizational collapse tends to happen all at once; stagnation, inertia; are Democrats more blameworthy than Republicans for climate inaction; Arnold Schroder on abusive relationships within politics; how polarization worsens problems of collectivization, social cohesion 45:14 – models vs predictions; why readers should appreciate the simple, material rationales in “Limits to Growth”; it’s important to identify moments of stagnation; although specific limits change, the concept of planetary limits does not; systems theory & the environment: Jeffrey West’s “Scale”; the importance of logarithmic charts 58:04 – consumerism & the nervous system; how forced de-growth in one’s everyday life creates space & time; Nietzsche on religious war; the parameters of human nature; radical responsibility 1:11:08 – the world is getting more & more competitive, but over what?; China & population fetishism, population control; Elon Musk vs. Genghis Khan; how environmental issues became coded Left 1:19:44 – assessing the final numbers: 2, 3, or 4 degrees of warming?; the effects of individual milestones; feedback loops & uncertainties; why the survival of the human species is not the actual concern; how “survival” is used as a cudgel to minimize climate concerns 1:28:24 – Degrowth vs. Radical Abundance; understanding the arrow of progress vs. periods of stagnation Tags: #climatechange, #politics, #podcast

Friedrich Nietzsche wrote a large number of books defying systematization, creating a reputation for difficulty that is not altogether fair. For instance, “The Gay Science” (1882) captures the bulk of Nietzsche’s philosophy through great writing highlighting its own anti-obscurantism, which makes it the perfect book for introducing readers to his work. In ArtiFact #39, Alex Sheremet and Irish poet Laura Woods tackle Friedrich Nietzsche’s literary and intellectual accomplishments by carefully assessing the book’s introductory poems and 383 aphorisms, by way of Walter Kaufmann's classic translation. They dissect Nietzsche’s views of women, art, politics, war, questions of personal experience, and more, finishing their conversation in a patron-only discussion on the book’s remainder. Other subjects include: Brett Weinstein and Aella (OnlyFans), Steven Pinker’s misunderstandings of Nietzsche, how Friedrich Nietzsche can be used for left-wing politics, a men’s rebellion on Reddit, and more. You can also watch this conversation on our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aV8xtLySAx4 For access to the B Side conversation, support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/automachination Watch our analysis of Steven Pinker’s rejection of Nietzsche in “Enlightenment Now”:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L4uAyN00BdM Subscribe to the ArtiFact podcast on Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3xw2M4D Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3wLpqEV Google Podcasts: https://bit.ly/3dSQXxJ Amazon Music: https://amzn.to/2SVJIxB Podbean: https://bit.ly/3yzLuUo iHeartRadio: https://ihr.fm/3AK942L Thumbnail photo: Joel Parrish: https://poeticimport.com Read more from the automachination universe: https://automachination.com Read Alex Sheremet’s (archived) essays: https://alexsheremet.com Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/automachination Timestamps: 1:11 – introducing Friedrich Nietzsche’s “The Gay Science”; why this is a book one returns to; how Nietzsche combines logical and rhetorical argument; common criticisms of the text; why non-systematization works for Nietzsche; the desire for objective values; how Steven Pinker uses Nietzsche without crediting him; calling Nietzsche a “great stylist” is often a pejorative; why “great style” so often encourages great, re-purposed ideas; Nietzsche’s self-conception as an artist 20:51 – Nietzsche’s poetic writing in the “Preface to the Second Edition” of The Gay Science; the claim that certain books, ideas require experience to understand; rebuffing the pop cultural understanding of Nietzsche; “convalescent art”, Alex’s & Laura’s experience with such; Nietzsche glosses over differing responses to sickness; Jordan Peterson vs. Friedrich Nietzsche; linking subjectivity and objectivity; an art for artists 48:00 – truth, illusion, art, reality; dissecting Friedrich Nietzsche’s poems in “The Gay Science”; the Walt Whitman connection; the meaning of Gay Science as a title; how Nietzsche makes fun of artistic clichés in his poems; how notions of “art and truth” developed over millennia; Dan Schneider’s view of art is almost more Nietzschean than Nietzsche’s 01:04:54 – tackling the aphorisms of Book 1 of The Gay Science; Aphorism 1- explaining what Friedrich Nietzsche means by “good”, “bad”, and “evil”; the see-saw structure of the aphorisms; Nietzsche failed to distinguish war from wars of stagnation; why hasn’t China unleashed more carnage on to the world; Donald Trump vs. Middle America; how stagnation leads to a conflict of attrition; Nietzsche’s endearing response to the Paris Commune; psychology of sickness; levity/laughter as a corrective for life and art 01:28:32 – aphorism 20; science vs. scientism; foundational thinking in the modern world; on the issue of sex nerds; Bret Weinstein gets accused of trying to recruit unicorns into his marriage; Weinstein’s comments on Aella 01:42:50 – aphorism 16: Over the Footbridge: lyrical, structural; its emotional import for The Gay Science; aphorism 54- on the process of writing; aphorism 56 & “ending aphorisms” in Nietzsche 01:58:03 – Nietzsche on women; hidden progressivism in Nietzsche; rejecting the cult of rationality; experiences have pre-rational effects; why it’s impossible to get out of the body; the “concept” of women; aphorism 66: feminine, masculine, exaggerated weakness; what women, men can “afford” to do; how liberals argue from conservative assumptions; mixed messages to men about opening up, showing emotions; Reddit’s AskMen subreddit in open rebellion; “smile more, girl!” vs. “cry more, men!”; the desire of both men and women to “change” their partners based on a mental image;  02:17:49 – aphorism 67; Friedrich Nietzsche’s abusive language vs. progressive content of views; arbitrary metrics in dating apps; aphorism 68; aphorism 71- “on female chastity”;  Tags: #books #philosophy #podcast #nietzsche #booktube

Although Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 caught many analysts off-guard, Ukrainian-born scholar Ivan Katchanovski (University of Ottawa) predicted the growth of tensions well before the Maidan. In some respects, the Ukraine War as well as Vladimir Putin and Putinism had their roots in the early 1990s. On the one hand, the West made contradictory promises to Ukraine about its security while demanding they give up nuclear arms, and on the other, Zbigniew Brzezinski’s fears (The Grand Chessboard, 1997) of America’s “mismanagement” of its Russia policies were slowly realized. At the same time, Russia’s poverty and instability in the 1990s gave rise to ultra-nationalism and other forms of right-wing discourse which would eventually go mainstream. In ArtiFact #38, Alex Sheremet is joined by Ivan Katchanovski to discuss some lesser-known details of Russian and Ukrainian history in light of the Ukraine War. Follow Ivan Katchanovski on Twitter: https://twitter.com/I_Katchanovski If you found this video useful, support us on our Patreon page and get patron-only content: https://www.patreon.com/automachination Subscribe to the ArtiFact podcast on Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3xw2M4D Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3wLpqEV Google Podcasts: https://bit.ly/3dSQXxJ Amazon Music: https://amzn.to/2SVJIxB Podbean: https://bit.ly/3yzLuUo iHeartRadio: https://ihr.fm/3AK942L Read more from the automachination universe: https://automachination.com Read Alex Sheremet’s (archived) essays: https://alexsheremet.com Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/automachination Timestamps: 0:00 – Ivan Katchanovski’s theory of the Maidan Massacre as a right-wing false flag attack 1:32 – Ivan Katchanovski as a Ukrainian dissident in the Soviet Union & a Ukrainian dissident today; Alex Sheremet’s Chernobyl mutations 5:20 – Ivan Katchanovski on the pitfalls of Russia-Ukraine discourse; his upbringing in Ukraine under the USSR; why studying international relations was impossible in the Soviet Union; studying alongside the future presidents of Georgia and Ukraine; family expulsions from Poland; attending anti-Soviet demonstrations; why writing a thesis in Ukrainian was acceptable but its content rejected; censorship today 24:16 – Alex: censorship in the West is (mostly) outsourced to liberal institutions rather than government censorship; on the nature of the left/right divide & student demonstrations in the USSR; how Soviet politics bleed into Ukrainian & American politics; why Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is more like the Crimean War of 1853-56 as opposed to Hitler’s invasion of Poland; neither Russia nor America want a truly strong, independent Ukraine, but a client state; fractures in pro/anti-Soviet referendums in early 90s Ukraine; why some post-Soviet states remained free of conflict & others not 51:32 – Eduard Limonov’s 1992 prognostication of civil war coming to Ukraine; to what extent are his comments on Ukraine the thinking of Russian intellectuals in the 1990s; right-wing and left-wing repression in the 1990s; Boris Yeltsin’s & Vladimir Putin’s relationship with right-wing post-Soviet thought 01:07:50 – the historical & linguistic fault-lines between Russia, Ukraine; Bolshevism & anti-Bolshevism the roots of ultranationalism and Nazism within Ukraine; the lack of hostility between Russians & Ukrainians after 1950s; Ukraine’s present-day illiberalism on language policy; Lenin’s policy of Ukrainianization; class-based policies vs. cultural policy 01:26:42 – the Donbass: its history & present; how the Donbass thought of itself through history; why Donbass was unhappy after voting for a unified Ukraine; Donbass as “Europe’s final frontier”; Donbass independence streak means Russia might have to deal with Donbass secessionist movements; how oligarchs took over East Ukraine; how Maidan changed oligarch structure 01:40:49 – assessing the 1990s for Russia & Ukraine’ Zbigniew Brzezinski’s “The Grand Chessboard” & Heartland Theory; how America’s behavior towards 1990s Russia helped create Putin & Putinism; how Putin combined multiple ideologies; the West has blocked peace deals in the Ukraine War; why did the US offer a Marshall Plan for Europe but not for Russia; the Customs Union vs. European Union Association Agreement 02:13:36 – was the Maidan Massacre a false flag; right-wing groups were not politically popular, but provided the muscle for Maidan; what changes if the Maidan Massacre was a false flag?; Ivan Katchanovski on the role of right-wing militias; Ukraine as containment strategy; assessing whether Maidan was a “Western-backed coup”, totally independent, or something in the middle? 02:50:52 – why Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is illegal; hypothetical circumstances under which Russia’s invasion would be legal or ethical; John Mearsheimer & getting beyond the Monroe Doctrine; how the Russia-Ukraine war will determine the fate of America & Russia Tags: #russiaukrainewar, #russia, #ukraine

Junichiro Tanizaki (1886 – 1965) was a Japanese novelist born to a Tokyo merchant family. His work combined some of the best elements of modernism while tapping both Japanese and Western aesthetics. In ArtiFact #37, Alex Sheremet and Ruslan Gallopyn discuss Tanizaki’s “Some Prefer Nettles” (1929), a novel depicting a dysfunctional open marriage and impending divorce which nonetheless might be averted. The book’s dry humor, poetic descriptions, modern (especially by today’s standards) psychology, and deft use of understatement allows Junichiro Tanizaki to develop some of his richest characters. You can also watch this discussion on our YouTube channel: https://youtu.be/3KJ6vvM4Llg If you found this video useful, support us on our Patreon page and get the patron-only B Side to this conversation: https://www.patreon.com/automachination B Side topics: Alex turns on his foot massager; Alex, undercover cop?; planning future conversations; analyzing Ingmar Bergman’s “From The Life of Marionettes”; why the roof-jumping scene is among the film’s best; contrasting with Bergman’s “Scenes from a Marriage”; is Bergman critiquing faux psychology with the “latent homosexuality” diagnosis; two Russian speakers discuss Alex’s Russian bard music playlist; Vladimir Vysotsky’s theatrical performances; Ada Yakusheva; Russian music vs. Russian lyrics; Soviet upbringings: Cheburashka, Russian animation, Russia’s version of Winnie Poo; implicit competitiveness within Russian music; a Russian goes to banya, gets too drunk, ends up on a plane to his address in the wrong city; how Russian got its monopoly on kitsch; preparing for Alex’s Russia-Ukraine conversation next week; Xi Jinping, Crimea, Vladimir Putin & political legitimacy in the developed vs. developing worlds; why the Donbass is such an interesting place, well before Russia’s invasion  Subscribe to the ArtiFact podcast on Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3xw2M4D Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3wLpqEV Google Podcasts: https://bit.ly/3dSQXxJ Amazon Music: https://amzn.to/2SVJIxB Podbean: https://bit.ly/3yzLuUo iHeartRadio: https://ihr.fm/3AK942L Read more from the automachination universe: https://automachination.com Read Alex’s (archived) essays: https://alexsheremet.com Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/automachination Timestamps: 0:00 – introduction to Junichiro Tanizaki’s novel & aesthetics; In Praise of Shadows; Patreon show 5:31 – “Some Prefer Nettles” & modern politics; Tanizaki’s cleverness in the opening chapter; Kaname’s indecision, the book’s understated use of humor; invoking “the old man” as a concept vs. a slowly-unfolding, ‘real’ character; Tanizaki’s tapping of ‘pure’ aesthetics in the service of deeper characterization; East/West, conservative/progressive 22:07 – Tanizaki’s use of self-indulgence; Kanane is incurious; the (false) characterization  of Misako; Kaname’s use of psychological leverage against Misako; Tanizaki apportions guilt differently from how the characters apportion guilt; Kaname’s passive-aggressive qualities work well with Japanese stylization, use of understatement; the different functions of passivity 35:40 – the Osaka, Tokyo, Kyoto axes; how Tanizaki always presents counter-arguments to his own arguments; “Some Prefer Nettles” & the tension between subjectivity, objectivity within the narration; how “the old man” goes from being indirectly characterized, to speaking for himself; Tanizaki’s use of music; the Herman Hesse / Steppenwolf connection; Kaname’s confusion of women with art, art with women; Hiroshi as a character; re-assessing Misako 57:30 – introducing Takanatsu; the use of seemingly throwaway details (like the purchase of a dog) for rich effect; Misako’s domesticity 01:11:00 – the phenomenal middle section in “Some Prefer Nettles”; Kaname’s “set of principles” for divorce; objectivity in humor; 01:25:15 – Kaname’s visits to Louise, a Eurasian prostitute; what this says of his psychology; the interplay of East/West disturbs Kaname; ennui, boredom, & the creation of synthetic enigmas;  01:36:50 – the book’s mysterious ending; “the old man’s” principles about marriage, love; how Kaname’s lack of “troubles” hurt him; how seemingly regressive comments on men/women have a progressive edge; O-hisa reveals her own complexities near the end, encouraging Kaname (possibly) to change his incoherent views of women; Tanizaki’s great choice of turning Kaname’s father-in-law into a man of wisdom, yet also a man no one should aspire to be; Kaname realizes he would miss Misako’s domesticity; the John Ashbery connection Tags: #japaneseculture, #books, #japanese, #podcast, #artifact, #automachination, #asian

Although ekphrastic poetry (‘poetry about art’) has been around for a long time, the majority of ekphrastic writing does little more than recapitulate and describe a painting. In ArtiFact #36, Alex Sheremet is joined by Jessica Schneider to discuss her recent book of ekphrastic poetry, “Ekphrasm”, and how her approach is different. From the use of recurring characters, to combining observations on photography with those on painting, to characterizing her various poetic narrators, to the use of psychological tricks, there is more to ekphrasis than meets the eye. Painters covered include Edouard Manet, Claude Monet, Paul Cezanne, Hilma af Klint, and others. Buy Jessica Schneider’s “Ekphrasm”: https://www.amazon.com/Ekphrasm-French-Painters-Paintings-Natures-ebook/dp/B0B53ZB2TV Jessica Schneider’s first poetry collection, “Wordshapes”: https://www.amazon.com/WordShapes-Selected-1999-2009-Jessica-Schneider-ebook/dp/B07HRDL58B/ To get the patron-only B Side to this conversation, support us on our Patreon page and get patron-only content: https://www.patreon.com/automachination B Side topics: Enneagram Type 5 & over-preparation; the role of enjambment, punctuation in poetry; does YouTube have an unfilled niche for great short poetry; Alex makes plans for capturing footage of the old brothel he grew up next door to; how footage of the 1945 Victory Day parade in Russia suddenly veers into greatness for 30 seconds; Bruce Ario as the most commercial and viral of poets; Jessica’s earrings interfere with the show; “you’re only as good as your last poem” as a psychological motivator; Alex’s first draft of his Lunar New Year (2023) poem; exclusivity in the arts; Alex and Joel Parrish traveling to Minneapolis for footage related to Bruce Ario; on Malik Bendjelloul’s “Searching for Sugar Man”, a biopic on Sixto Rodriguez; Sixto Rodriguez’s excellence as a singer-songwriter; the emotional dilemmas of great artists; why animals can serve as a great example for human beings; Americans take the wrong lesson from Office Space; why every Twitter personality, no matter their politics or beliefs, sounds exactly the same; Russia Russia Russia; what gets lost in translation; Jim Morrison, The Doors, The Beatles and commercialism; Nuri Bilge Ceylan; Nassim Taleb snipes at Lex Fridman; do we need 6 months to read & digest The Brothers Karamazov; pitfalls of highly commercial marijuana legalization Subscribe to the ArtiFact podcast on Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3xw2M4D Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3wLpqEV Google Podcasts: https://bit.ly/3dSQXxJ Amazon Music: https://amzn.to/2SVJIxB Podbean: https://bit.ly/3yzLuUo iHeartRadio: https://ihr.fm/3AK942L Jessica Schneider’s interview on ekphrasis with Ethan Pinch of  @AnthropomorphicHorse  – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xbjuQX_r_ho Vivian Maier footage used in video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vDewAU-rgIM Read more from the automachination universe: https://automachination.com Read Alex Sheremet’s (archived) essays: https://alexsheremet.com Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/automachination Timestamps: 0:18 – an icebreaker: Jessica Schneider’s disrespectful emails in preparation for our show 3:18 – how Jessica’s approach to ekphrasis is different; Jessica’s initial frustration with her poem on Mariupol & how it was improved 9:22 – Jessica Schneider’s poem “Manet’s Mirror”, after Edouard Manet’s famous “A Bar at the Folies-Bergère”; how the introduction of Landon at the end of the poem takes it out of the painting’s own diegetic universe; the Wallace Stevens / Sunday Morning connection; why memorizing poetry is excellent for poets 21:40 – Jessica Schneider’s poem “What Monet Said”, after Claude Monet’s “Woman with a Parasol – Madame Monet and Her Son”; Leonard Shlain’s “Art And Physics” 29:35 – the drawing of Paul Cezanne’s son; Jessica Schneider’s “A Young Paul Asleep”; how details totally outside of Cezanne’s drawing make their way into the poem 36:37 – Jessica Schneider’s poem on Mariupol; how Cezanne’s paintings of a forest serve as a ‘spiritual’ backdrop to a seemingly unrelated poem 42:28 – poem on Paul Cezanne’s father reading a newspaper; there has always been a lack of family support for artists; “reading” Cezanne’s painting vs. writing the poem 50:54 – Camille Pissaro’s Voisins; extracting (unexpected) value from a title 56:27 – Jessica’s poem after Vivian Maier’s photography; on the nature of “selfie” / self-portrait poetry; Alex gets in touch with his feminine side 01:05:34 – a poem after Hilma af Klint’s “swan” series; how a series can change individual artistic objects; speculation on Hilma af Klint’s desire to publicly release her work only after a substantial amount of time passed after her death 01:14:08 – discussing the patron-only show & a final, autobiographical poem from Jessica Schneider; a non-ekphrastic poem that nonetheless taps into some concepts of ekphrasis Tags: #poetry, #painting, #photography, #artpodcast, #cezanne, #monet

Bruce Ario (1955 – 2022) was a great Minneapolis poet with a fascinating backstory. Although he did not have much interest in writing in the start of his adult life, a car accident and traumatic brain injury (possibly) led to mental illness, homelessness, drug addiction, a religious conversion, and, most importantly, a lifetime of poetry and prose. Author of the novel “Cityboy”, he is also creator of the ario poetic form, a 10-line, 4-stanza poem which taps plain speech and startling juxtapositions of thought and image for its poetic effect. In ArtiFact #35, Alex Sheremet is joined by one of Bruce Ario’s surviving brothers, Joel Ario, and Bruce’s literary executor, Dan Schneider @cosmoetica to discuss Bruce’s upbringing, mental health struggles, fascination with Minneapolis, personal views, and art. Watch this conversation on our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycAD9s57Re8 To get the patron-only B Side to this conversation, support us on our Patreon page and get patron-only content: https://www.patreon.com/automachination B Side topics: the 2022 Sound & Sight film poll; why Chantal Akerman's “Jeanne Dielman, 23, quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles” is not a traditionally bad film, but still fails; contrasting the film’s aimlessness with Roman Polanski’s “Repulsion”; some artistic decisions Chantal Akerman could have made to improve her film; why Roman Polanski’s Carol has a more logical character arc than Chantal Akerman’s Jeanne Dielman; how Akerman’s writing (and critical appraisals of it) mirrors some of the worst elements of John Williams’s “Stoner”; if Jeanne Dielman seems to have a rational, mature view of life, murder can’t really be part of the character arc; contrasting this film to Orson Welles’s “Other Side Of The Wind”; the Jeanne Dielman / John Cassavetes connection; James Emanuel, “a poet who wrote about racism”; why Ben Shapiro, Matt Yglesias, liberals & reactionaries need to shoehorn art into some political box; using emotion in the arts as a springboard for depth; narcissism & in-fighting between Native American elites; why YouTube blocked a Russian playlist featuring Alexander Galich, Bulat Okukdzhava, and Novella Mateeva; on Alexander Galich’s career: from social-climbing artiste to genuine dissident & poet; Alexander Galich’s “Song About A Bike”; going to Minneapolis to get footage related to Bruce Ario & the 1990s arts scene; racial segregation in Minneapolis art; Elon Musk’s Twitter meltdown; why Elon Musk’s COVID demands in 2020 & wrong-headed economic prognostications in 2022 are self-serving; Elon Musk’s free speech hypocrisy; if Twitter goes away, something nearly identical would replace it Subscribe to the ArtiFact podcast on Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3xw2M4D Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3wLpqEV Google Podcasts: https://bit.ly/3dSQXxJ Amazon Music: https://amzn.to/2SVJIxB Podbean: https://bit.ly/3yzLuUo iHeartRadio: https://ihr.fm/3AK942L Dan Schneider’s website: http://www.cosmoetica.com/ Read more from the automachination universe: https://automachination.com Read Alex Sheremet’s (archived) essays: https://alexsheremet.com Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/automachination Timestamps: 0:00 – Dan Schneider on Bruce Ario’s importance, especially in light of his mental health ills 3:28 – Joel Ario on Bruce’s siblings, parents, & upbringing; Bruce’s “sensitivity” & what this entailed for his person, his art; Dan Schneider speaks to art vs biography; Bruce’s childhood 10:04 -  Bruce Ario’s budding rebelliousness, even before his car accident; Bruce Ario’s philosophical father; family addiction issues; Bruce’s accident and subsequent mental health woes; sexual guilt 21:24 – Bruce Ario’s feelings of romantic, sexual loneliness; reading his poem “Lofting It Into Friendship”, & how loneliness did not lead to bitterness or entitlement; Bruce’s visits to prostitutes, poetry on the subject; reading “Waltz In Waltz Out”; how Bruce’s post-injury complaints about the world ultimately cohered into a rational critique 34:35 – Bruce Ario’s inner and outer lives; his charitable donations, self-sacrifice; the “devils” Bruce saw in his own life; his use of these situations artistically 40:43 – Bruce Ario’s 6 months of homelessness; Bruce’s mature response to mental health issues, and his refusal to romanticize his own problems; how mental health issues are incidental to, rather determinative of, artistic creativity; how this might have differed in Bruce; why Bruce Ario, despite mental health issues, does not have to judged on a curve 50:10 – reading Bruce Ario’s poem “Tugging”; on the intersection of random variables and art; poetry vs biography 01:00:38 – Dan Schneider reads a passive-aggressive email from an academic belittling Bruce Ario’s accomplishments under the guise of helpfulness; how fake liberal types damage not only those who are struggling, but the arts and artists in general; concluding remarks Tags: #Minneapolis, #mentalhealth, #poetrylovers, #drugaddiction, #poetry, #poetrycommunity

After embarking on a two-decade terrorist campaign of mail bombs, Ted Kaczynski forced the Washington Post to publish “Industrial Society And Its Future”, or, the Unabomber Manifesto, in 1995. This was an infamous tract on climate change as well as on the philosophical and pragmatic ramifications of accelerating technology. In ArtiFact #34, Alex Sheremet is joined by radical climate activist Arnold Schroder of the Fight Like An Animal podcast to discuss “The Industrial Society And Its Future”. They tackle Ted Kaczynski’s claims about Leftism and political psychology, his time frame for ecological collapse, his use and misuse of terms such as “freedom”, and more. In assessing the Unabomber manifesto, they conclude that while Ted Kaczynski is often labeled insane or a genius, he is in fact neither. Rather, he is very much within his milieu, as well as a statistically likely end-product of his times. You can also watch this conversation on our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L0HNSRH1sKA To get the B Side to this conversation, support us on our Patreon page for patron-only content: https://www.patreon.com/automachination B Side topics: Alex's "unbelievable" banana; political turning points for Alex and Arnold Schroder; Arnold's activism and upbringing; the nature of the 1990s; political illusions; 90s vs. 2000s Internet, message boards, sever hosting; the over-willingness for everyone, of all ideological stripes, to be subsumed by fads, lingo, non-expression; how right-wing elements use liberal PMC empathy; the failure of social movements, narrowing of political possibilities; Bill Clinton's once-in-a-generation political talent; technological stimulation & human contentment Subscribe to the ArtiFact podcast on Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3xw2M4D Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3wLpqEV Google Podcasts: https://bit.ly/3dSQXxJ Amazon Music: https://amzn.to/2SVJIxB Podbean: https://bit.ly/3yzLuUo iHeartRadio: https://ihr.fm/3AK942L Arnold Schroder’s website: https://www.againsttheinternet.com/ Arnold Schroder’s Twitter page: https://twitter.com/arnold_schroder Read more from the automachination universe: https://automachination.com Read Alex’s (archived) essays: https://alexsheremet.com Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/automachination   Timestamps: 0:00 – Ted Kaczynski was neither a madman nor a genius 01:18 – introducing Arnold Schroder, Ted Kaczynski, the Fight Like An Animal Podcast; human nature, human psychology; the first battles fighting climate change have been lost; the Unabomber manifesto 8:54 – why Alex wasn’t impressed with the craft of Industrial Society And Its Future; how Ted Kaczynski is representative of 20th century pathologies; unethical experiments; Arnold’s background growing up in a cult prepared him to better understand Ted Kaczynski 18:00 – tackling the opening paragraph of the Unbabomber manifesto; the Nietzsche / Steven Pinker / Ted Kaczynski connection; ideas of human progress, cooperation; Ted Kaczynski does not properly define freedom; violence vs. authoritarianism 35:16 – ambiguity in Industrial Society And Its Future; some failures of Third Way and Fourth Way politics; the syncretic nature of politics and art; Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring as historical syncretism 50:52 – how Ted Kaczynski’s claims about “optional technology” proved true 58:10 – deeper issues in the Left/Right divide; why modern language of liberalism and conservatism is misleading; environmentalism is only recently a “liberal” issue 01:07:10 – Ted Kaczynski’s claims for Left/Right; hierarchy, openness, sexuality; moralizing about sexuality leads to ideological attachments; a masturbatory issue with zoos; pleasure and dopamine 01:15:45 – the Unabomber’s definition of Left Wing and liberal: political correctness, interest in feminism, gay rights, animal rights, antiracism; Ibrahim X. Kendi & what the Stop Asian Hate campaign got wrong; discussions of class & academia; liberal pathologies, hyper-sensitivities; the Left vs. objectivity; leftists exerting strength 01:31:00 – Ted Kaczynski’s argument about leftist values interfering with climate projects; de-growth and abundance; (slightly) greater scarcity as a psychological positive; discussing transitional states; food crises, inflation, collapse; the 2010s as a turning point 01:57:10 – previewing the patron-only bonus show: Arnold Schroder’s activism, the 1990s, Internet cultures in transition, historical promises, & more Tags: #Unabomber, #TedKaczynski, #climatechange

Although Israelis view the events of 1948 as liberation, to Palestinians, this was “Nakba”, or “disaster”. According to Israeli historian Benny Morris, the events of those first few years were tantamount to “ethnic cleansing” of Palestinians, a fact that neither Israel nor the international community have been able to properly deal with. How to resettle hundreds of thousands of Palestinian refugees and their descendants? Was the original partition of Palestine equitable and just, and if not, what would a logical compensation package look like? Was Israel interested in a genuine peace process, or do the Oslo Accords, Camp David, Taba, and events surrounding the First and Second Intifada suggest that Israel, according to Norman Finkelstein, is frightened of a Palestinian “peace offensive”? In this video, Norman Finkelstein, scholar of Palestine and the Holocaust, author of “Beyond Chutzpah”, “The Holocaust Industry”, “Gaza”, and “I’ll Burn That Bridge When I Get To It”, convenes a panel with Alex Sheremet and several Palestinian refugees. These are scholar Mouin Rabbani, activist Sana Kassem, B’Tselem researcher Musa Abu Hashhash, and activist Arwa Hashhash. They discuss their families’ experience fleeing Israel’s war of independence, the destruction of Palestinian homes, the apartheid system of law, arrest, detention, harassment, and subsequent wars. Norman Finkelstein, who is himself the son of Holocaust survivors, often tells the story of his parents’ shock at Israel’s mistreatment of Palestinian refugees. He credits them with his moral understanding of the world and his interest in the Israel-Palestine conflict. Norman Finkelstein’s website: https://www.normanfinkelstein.com/ Mouin Rabbani’s work at Jadaliyya: https://www.jadaliyya.com/Author/4114 Sana Kassem’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/SanaKassem If you found this video useful, support us on our Patreon page and get patron-only content: https://www.patreon.com/automachination Subscribe to the ArtiFact podcast on Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3xw2M4D Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3wLpqEV Google Podcasts: https://bit.ly/3dSQXxJ Amazon Music: https://amzn.to/2SVJIxB Podbean: https://bit.ly/3yzLuUo iHeartRadio: https://ihr.fm/3AK942L Read more from the automachination universe: https://automachination.com Read Alex’s (archived) essays: https://alexsheremet.com Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/automachination Timestamps: 1:25 – introducing the panel and their recollections 10:41 – 1947-1948; the Israeli War of Independence; Palestine’s Nakba Day; how the Israeli Declaration of Independence tapped international law to create Israel; Musa shares his refugee experience after fleeing the last Palestinian village in 1949; Sana relates her family’s experience of fleeing war; Mouin describes his family’s escape from the last Palestinian village in Haifa; Arwa’s claim that the logic of oppression and occupation cannot last 36:04 – the 1967 War; Mouin describes Israel’s use of napalm; Sana describes painting her light bulbs blue to avoid Israeli airstrikes; Musa describes his family’s loss of property 47:40 – Israel’s 1982 invasion of Lebanon, Sabra and Shatila massacres; Israel’s reputation begins to decline; Sana’s experiences in Beirut during the war; legal racism against Palestinians in Lebanon; Palestinian inability to inherit property; Mouin describes post-1947 Israeli laws dispossessing Palestinian property; the role of Jordan in the Palestinian refugee crisis, Jordanian claims over the West Bank 01:03:51 – the First and Second Intifadas; Arwa recalls her father’s arrests, inability to go to school, Second Intifada; Musa recounts Israeli harassment of him and his family, detention conditions; Musa shares his disappointment with the First Intifada; Mouin describes the closure of schools and universities as collective punishment against Palestinians; the use of identity cards to restrict movement; labor rights in Israel and Palestine; Musa on continued targeting and harassment of his family; Norman Finkelstein describes house demolitions for stone-throwing; debating hope in Palestine; Norman Finkelstein on Gaza’s March of Return as the Third Intifada; lack of support from West Bank, Fatah 02:06:14 – the Oslo Accords; why the Letters of Mutual Recognition were a red flag for negotiations; Norman Finkelstein recalls his reactions to Oslo; Noam Chomsky’s warning about the Oslo Accords; the Abraham Accords between Israel and the UAE; Morocco’s normalization agreement, Trump’s recognition of Morocco’s claims over Western Sahara and the Sahrawi people; the role of Arab states in Palestine; Mouin clarifies Arab-Palestinian relations; Sana on the role of money in the PLO Tags: #NormanFinkelstein, #freepalestine, #gaza, #israelpalestine, #apartheid, #westbank

James Cameron's "Terminator" film series combines the best of Hollywood while remaining unburdened by its convention and cliche. In “Terminator” (1984), Cameron casts an apparently reluctant Arnold Schwarzenegger into the role of T800. From the opening shots of a nude, physically unfamiliar, almost biblical figure surveying Los Angeles, to the slow, complex, yet satisfying buildup of drama/plot machinations, the first Terminator is an example of novelty and craftsmanship in genre film, while “Terminator 2: Judgment Day” takes it all a step further through deeper explorations of character. In ArtiFact #32, Alex Sheremet, Ethan Pinch, and Jessica Schneider compare the two films as they try to imagine seeing them for the first time. Questions discussed include: how does Arnold Schwarzenegger, as actor, add to the films without much acting? How does his character (even if programmed) change? Are human beings becoming more efficient thinkers and killers to compete against Skynet? Are narrative arcs “enough” to make a good film? You may also watch this discussion on our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IIRS9DIl3bk If you found this video useful, support us on our Patreon page and get the 2+ hour, patron-only “B side” to this conversation: https://www.patreon.com/automachination B side topics: Jessica learns the final piece of her Zoom puzzle; why Ethan Pinch’s pet rabbit made Alex think differently of him; explaining why Bruce Ario’s (as well as Walt Whitman’s) poems creep up upon the reader; Jessica assesses Bruce Ario’s Enneagram types via his novel Cityboy; how death de-fangs “threatening” artists; Ethan Pinch goes off on the British Monarchy, explains Queen Elizabeth’s hidden, understated power; the monarchy’s control of British media; Prince Andrew’s arms sales to dictators; Aleksandr Dugin’s “The Fourth Political Theory” doesn’t differentiate between strains of liberalism; Jessica on Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story on Netflix; thinking about psychopathy, human violence; debating the best artist biopics: Vivian Maier, Amadeus, Into The Deep (on Herman Melville), Emily Dickinson; making fun of Amanda Gorman; art & futurity Subscribe to the ArtiFact podcast on Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3xw2M4D Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3wLpqEV Google Podcasts: https://bit.ly/3dSQXxJ Amazon Music: https://amzn.to/2SVJIxB Podbean: https://bit.ly/3yzLuUo iHeartRadio: https://ihr.fm/3AK942L Read Jessica Schneider's article on Terminator 1: https://www.automachination.com/great-action-great-storytelling-james-cameron-terminator-1984/ Read Jessica Schneider's latest book of poetry, Ekphrasm: https://www.amazon.com/Ekphrasm-French-Painters-Paintings-Natures-ebook/dp/B0B53ZB2TV Subscribe to Ethan Pinch’s YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/AnthropomorphicHorse Read the latest essays from the automachination universe: https://www.automachination.com/ Read Alex's (archived) essays: https://alexsheremet.com Timestamps: 0:18 – introduction; how James Cameron’s early films were formative for Jessica and Alex; arguments for why Terminator 2: Judgment Day is the superior film; Ethan on the shifting stakes between films 9:38 – craft in the Terminator films; symbolism, psychology, how Arnold Schwarzenegger realized over time this was a worthwhile film; seeing the film for the first time; Ethan on the Cold War and Freudian themes; Alex on the use of death, humanoids in Terminator 2 as a nightmarish factor; the comparison to Chris Market’s “Le Jetee”; the Hitchcock connection 25:32 – Jessica on the characterization of Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton); smaller scenes as interstitial character-building; how Terminator and well-crafted genre films separate consistent thinking from mere aesthetic preference; 40:43 – Alex on capturing the logic of AI, computer programming; object-oriented behavior in human beings vs. machines; the Freudian / Cold War themes as under the auspices of competition, survival; the attempted Dyson killing as Terminator-like; sociopathy, narcissism vs. robotic behavior; Ethan on the films’ haunted future; The Prisoner and the “white ball” as the sum of incipient human fears; the cliches in the first film’s ending vs. the fact that “the real action” hasn’t been shown from the future; the introduction of behavioral constraints 01:03:15 – cynical apocalypticism into Terminator 2: Judgment Day; the Philip K. Dick connection; how the film makes fun of answers and non-answers, such as John Connor’s interruption of his mother’s spoken/writerly cliches about motherhood; the use of music; do cultural references date James Cameron’s films? 01:15:00 – the use of Los Angeles as both topical, as well as prophetic; turning LA’s Hollywood back upon it across films; Jessica on 90s culture Tags: #Terminator, #JamesCameron, #scifi