Topics:
–Colin Wilson’s study of consciousness
-Robert’s art, Substack writings, and novels
-Mark Fisher’s Capitalist Realism
–Robert’s case for Theosophy
-Robert’s mystical experience at June Lake
-contrasting Neoplatonism and Gnosticism, in their approach to theurgy, aesthetics and the natural world
-can ugly things be beautiful or divine?
-channeling the fire of youth
-revisiting Robert’s first podcast with Matt from 2018
-rediscovering the song, 9pm (Till I Come)
-occultist, genetic, political, and social dynamics to oral acts
-A critique of the moral authoritarianism and lack of pluralism of Abrahamic faiths
-how we should approach occultism
-prediction that America will have another religious revival
–California’s pan-enclavism
-thoughts on neo-reactionary critiques of democracy, the case for proportional inequality, and how to select elites
-the Art Fascist vs the Warrior Fascist
Robert Stark and Matt Pegas speak with Constantin von Hoffmeister about his book Esoteric Trumpism. This is a simulcast with Matt’s New Write podcast. Originally from Germany, Constantin von Hoffmeister studied English Literature and Political Science in New Orleans. Constantin has worked as an author, journalist, translator, editor, and business trainer in the United States, India, Uzbekistan, and Russia, and is the editor in chief of Arktos publishing. Follow Constantin on Twitter and subscribe to his Substack.
Topics:
Literary references, including William S. Burroughs, HP Lovecraft, and Edgar Alan Poe
Misconceptions about the Beatniks as leftwing (eg Jack Kerouac’s admiration of Oswald Spengler)
How the Beats’ disillusionment shows problems with fetishizing 1950s America
Philistinism on the Right and the rise of a new creative culture-focused Right
How America has an underappreciated rich cultural heritage
America as an extension of European civilization
Rightwing Postmodernism
Trump as the great revealer of hidden Lovecraftian horrors
Why Trump’s political significance is primarily symbolic
Addressing criticisms and disappointments with Trump
Meme magic
Why Constantin rejects accelerationism Why Rightwing multiculturalism or ethnopluralism is the future
Constantin’s recent meet up with Robert and Matt in LA, and observation that LA is a model for ethnopluralism
Why Constantin is more optimistic about America’s future than Europe’s
Upcoming Arktos projects, including a new translation of Dominque Venner on Ernst Junger, a rightwing critique of Nietzsche, and an art history book
The crisis of modernity as anomie, uprootedness from place, identity, tradition, and social bonds, and its impact on the human psyche
Parallels between the modern existential crisis and that of Steiner’s era
Traditional religion being replaced by new secular religions (eg. social justice, scientism, secular heresies)
Steiner’s belief that spirituality and science are interconnected
Parapsychology, including studies of near death experiences
Comparisons to Carl Jung and Christian mystics, Emanuel Swedenborg and William James
Anti-vaxxers’ fascination with Steiner’s warnings of genetically re-engineering people’s spirituality
Steiner’s views on spiritual races and the Steiner schools becoming a target of cancel culture, though Steiner was staunchly anti-fascist
The limitations of materialism and rationalism, and Steiner’s influence from Romanticism
Steiner’s philosophical relation to other thinkers, including Julius Evola, Nietzsche, Aleister Crowley, and Martin Buber
How the essence of Steiner’s political philosophy was reconciling the differences between individualism and rootedness, liberal egalitarianism and tradition, and occultism and ethics
How Steiner favored an economic system like distributism, over capitalism or Marxism, and decentralized local autonomy and identities, over nationalism
Robert Stark and Matt Pegas speak with filmmaker, Montgomery Markland, about his film Malibu Road, which he both directed and starred in. Malibu Road is available to watch for free on Tubi, and for purchase on Apple TV and Amazon. While the pandemic delayed Malibu Road’s theatrical release, Montgomery has further plans for multipicture deals.
“Fast living Los Angelenos are targeted by the Central Intelligence Agency during Operation Midnight Climax, part of MKUltra. The experience takes a turn for the deadly during New Year’s Eve 1960 and now a professor, a starlet and the workers at a hotel with a questionable reputation must rediscover reality or be trapped in an endless cycle of sex, drugs and murder in ‘paradise.'”
Montgomery Markland has an idiosyncratic resume. Originally from Dallas, Montgomery was a state and local reporter in Austin, worked in the Texas state legislature on policy, was then a producer, president, and CCO at a number of video game companies, before working in Hollywood. Follow Montgomery on Twitter.
Topics:
Applying videogame design principles to Cinema
The Meisner acting technique
MKUltra connections to university professors and Hollywood (eg. Irvin Keshner)
Timothy Leary’s prediction that video games had the potential to recreate psychedelic trips
The History of the Albatross Hotel in Malibu and connections to Old Hollywood
Cinemaphotographic techniques used to capture the psychedelic aesthetic
Distorting reality in stories as representations of dreams (eg. traumnovelle), and influences from David Lynch
Influence from soap operas, telenovelas, and 90s Cinemax
The set design, recreating the aesthetics of the 60s and 70s
Influences from Jungian archetypes, as well as Ancient Greek, Hindu, and Buddhist mythology (eg. Timothy Leary on the Tibetan Book of the Dead)
Hunter S. Thompson
Alfred Hitchcock’s Vertigo
Malibu Road’s filming locations, including Malibu State Park and Will Rogers State Historic Park
The politicization of entertainment, and why overtly political conservative media fails
Reasons to be optimistic about opportunities in entertainment via niche markets
The Banking crisis, Economic Death Spiral, and narratives of collapse
Topics:
Intro to the protagonist Spencer Grunhauer and the plot
Spencer’s philosophy and his manifest
The psychological process of how one becomes more alienated, unstable, and unhinged
Psycho-sexual motives behind politics and moral panics
Social status, elite overproduction, and out of whack life expectations
Making your own way “pill”
Narratives about online grifters
Bullishness on the future of dissident arts
Terror House’s book reading in Brooklyn, NYC
Creating effecting satire
The literary genre of alienated loners
A homage or modern day reboot of Confederacy of Dunces
Comparisons to Robert’s novel Vaporfornia and Matt’s Dragon Day
Revisiting Andy’s earlier work and the genre of the alienated loner
References to incel culture in Muze
Other themes in Muze, including pharmaceuticals, transhumanism, blackmail, and mind control
Writing about depravity from a socially conservative/Catholic perspective
The revival in 00’s conspiracy theories
David Lynch and open ended narratives
Robert’s novel Vaporfornia and its similar themes to Muze
Allegories for degradation
Revisiting Robert’s mocumentary Supply
Matt Pegas’ Dragon Day
The growing dissident literary scene
Andy’s trip to South Africa in 2011
The politics of crisis: acceleration vs. gradual decay
Robert Stark and Matt Pegas talk to Default Friend about online subcultures, incels, and generational trends. Default Friend, Katherine Deee, is a writer, cultural commentator, cultural anthropologist, internet historian, and digital native. Check out Default Friend’s Substack, Default Wisdom, her writings for the Claremont Institute’s American Mind, and follow her on Twitter.
Topics:
Thoughts on various political-spheres including the intellectual dark web
The politicization of sex and relationships
On being a proto-Femcel
The impacts of dating apps and income inequality on the “sexual market place”
New York Times article, A Manifesto Against Sex Positivity, reviewing Default Friend’s writings on the backlash against hookup culture
The rise in conservative feminism and woke puritanism
Generational differences between Millennials and Zoomers, and cultural shifts from the 00s-to the 2010s, and 2020s
The trend in the end of mass youth subcultures and the rise in fusionism of “hybrid collages” and nostalgia based upon past generations’ nostalgia
The internet as the astral plane
Prediction of a tech backlash in the 2020s Justin Murphy’s and Alex Kaschuta’s neo-traditionalism
Robert Stark is joined with Matt Pegas and Dan Baltic to discuss his new novel, Vaporfornia. Vaporfornia is a surreal dark comedy, a coming of age story set in California, and is the sequel to Robert’s first novel, Journey to Vapor Island. This show is a simulcast with Matt and Dan’s dissident, counter-culture, literary podcast, New Write. Vaporfornia is available for purchase on Lulu publishing. Also check out Matt’s review of Vaporfornia.
Topics:
Contrasting Vaporfornia with Journey to Vapor Island, and how both novels capture the zeitgeists of their respective eras
The niche genre of the satirical moving adventure story
Literary comparisons to a Confederacy of Dunces, William S. Burroughs’ Naked Lunch, Lucky Jim, Voltaire’s Candide, and Gulliver’s Travels
The situational humor and dramatic irony
Vaporfornia as a satire of the themes in Robert’s Substack that delve into California’s social, political, class, and demographic dynamics
Vaporfornia as a travelogue for California
Allegories and symbolism in the book Saudade, a longing for what could have been or nostalgia for lost futures Gio Pennacchietti’s video about how Robert’s literary fiction and visual art complement each other
The protagonist’s personal and political journey
The politics of the “Chad Centrist” presidential candidate Roger Blackstone
Whether Robert Stark will run for California Governor or have a Vaporfornia tour some day
Robert Stark and co-host Jonathan Edwards talk to Nathanael Gould about South Africa, Anglo identity, and the need for a non-woke gay identity. Nathanael Gould is from Cape Town, South Africa, born to Canadian immigrant parents, and is currently under quarantine in Vancouver, Canada. Nathanael is sympathetic to Robert Stark’s Alt-Centrism, and describes his politics as socially left on gay rights (for personal reasons), right leaning on issues of HBD and race relations, and centrist on economics. Follow Nate on Twitter.
Topics:
Nate’s interest in HBD and the Twitter Account Birth Gauge that tracks global fertility
The dissident right’s narrative on South Africa (their accurate and inaccurate perceptions)
How South Africa’s politics is polarized along ethnic-sectarian lines
How woke culture is spreading to South Africa, especially in universities, in part due to American influence
Rightwing multiculturalism, and the need to grant groups some degree of autonomy
The critique of Anglos from the right as being uniquely individualistic, liberal, and putting morality over group interests
The decline of the Anglosphere in contrast with the rise of Nationalism in France
LGBTQ identity politics, and why cis gay White males are being excluded from the intersectional hierarchy
A need for a rightest gay identity that emphasizes the contributions of gays as an artistic and intellectual caste
Contrasting global homogenization with true diversity and the politics of aesthetic tribes and hierarchies