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The ArtiFact Podcast is a long-form show on books, culture, painting, and music hosted by Alex Sheremet, Joel Parrish, and a revolving door of co-hosts and guests. Each subject is covered in depth and at length, with past shows featuring the Epic of Gilgamesh, Charles Johnson's "Oxherding Tale", Leonard Shlain’s "Art & Physics", John Williams's "Stoner", and more. Opinionated, controversial, and prone to making enemies and friends of friends and enemies, ArtiFact delivers new perspectives on the arts by artists of talent.
Episodes
Wednesday Nov 08, 2023
Making GREAT Independent Films On A Budget | ArtiFact 50: Joel Parrish, Alex Sheremet
Wednesday Nov 08, 2023
Wednesday Nov 08, 2023
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
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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
Friday Oct 20, 2023
Friday Oct 20, 2023
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
Wednesday Oct 11, 2023
Frank Whaley’s ”The Jimmy Show” Is So Underrated | ArtiFact 48
Wednesday Oct 11, 2023
Wednesday Oct 11, 2023
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
Wednesday Oct 04, 2023
How The Black Panthers Changed My Life | ArtiFact 47: Eldridge Cleaver’s ”Soul on Ice”
Wednesday Oct 04, 2023
Wednesday Oct 04, 2023
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
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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
Thursday Sep 28, 2023
Norman Finkelstein on the IMPLOSION of Ibram X Kendi | ArtiFact 46
Thursday Sep 28, 2023
Thursday Sep 28, 2023
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
Tuesday Sep 05, 2023
Tuesday Sep 05, 2023
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
Sunday Aug 20, 2023
Norman Finkelstein On Race, Class, & Robin DiAngelo’s Fraud | ArtiFact #44
Sunday Aug 20, 2023
Sunday Aug 20, 2023
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
Wednesday Aug 02, 2023
Norman Finkelstein Exposes The Cult Of Barack Obama | ArtiFact #43
Wednesday Aug 02, 2023
Wednesday Aug 02, 2023
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
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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
Wednesday Jul 05, 2023
Wednesday Jul 05, 2023
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
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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
Wednesday Jun 28, 2023
ArtiFact #41: Is YouTube Destroying Art? | Alex Sheremet, Ezekiel Yu, Dan Schneider
Wednesday Jun 28, 2023
Wednesday Jun 28, 2023
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”
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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