Robert Stark talks to Matt Forney about the Caucasus region and trends for the 2020s. Matt Forney is an author, journalist and founder of Terror House Press, whose mission is to publish outsider literary fiction, literary nonfiction, and cultural criticism/analysis. You can also follow Terror House publishing on Twitter and Instagram.
Topics:
Matt’s travels to the Caucasus region, living in Georgia for two years, and visiting Armenia
Georgia as an underrated gem, with an affordable but high standard of living, and hub for digital nomads
Geographic locations and mountainous natural beauty
Architecture and urban layout of Tbilisi, Georgia and Yerevan, Armenia
The anti-corruption Rose Revolution in Georgia
The region’s culture, Xenia hospitality culture, crossroad of Europe and the Middle East, and creeping westernization
The region’s cuisine, which is somewhat bland, but Georgian was the most exotic in Soviet Russia
Matt’s travels to Albania and misconceptions about that nation
The historic background leading up to the ongoing Nagorno-Karabakh conflict
The conflict’s geo-political alliances and implications
Observations of social trends of the past two decades and speculation about the near future
How technology and social developments are leading to greater social atomization
The pandemic’s destruction of small businesses, gig economy, and overall end of normal employment
Why Matt has reservations about the UBI (Martin Goldberg: What Happens If You Get DELETED?)
The corporate gentrification of the internet
The Mancession of the 2008 crash vs. the current Shecession, and implications on gender relations JPMorgan Chase extending billions in loans to minority homebuyers, Yelp’s anti-racist social credit nightmare, and overall unsustainability of woke neoliberalism
Matt’s prediction that Trump will win re-election and populism will align more with the GOP Terror House Press’ upcoming books, including Matt Pegan’s Dragon Day
Robert Stark talks to Jason Reza Jorjani about his new book Prometheism. Jason Reza Jorjani, PhD is an Iranian-American philosopher, lifelong native New Yorker, and author of numerous books including Prometheus and Atlas. Also check out his Twitter and Patreon.
Topics:
The Prometheist Manifesto: a new political, spiritual, and techno-scientific movement Prometheus as the enlightener of mankind in Greek mythology
Promethean archetype in the Zoroastrian deity Ahura Mazda
Prometheism’s Retro-futurist rather than traditionalist trajectory
The technological singularity, dystopian scenarios, and limited time frame to ensure these technologies benefit mankind
Jason’s book Lovers of Sophia which deals with scenario of existing elites preventing the singularity through a controlled demolition CRISPR gene editing, potential benefits, and dangers that it could be used to weed out non-conformity Parapsychology: Princeton Engineering Anomalies Research Laboratory program on psychokinesis
Need for a new Promethean elite of creative geniuses and technological innovators
Archeo-futurism as the aesthetic of Prometheism (ex. Art Deco Rockefeller Center and drafts of Hugh Ferriss, Frank Lloyd Wright, Syd Mead, and 70s Iran)
Advocacy of a geo-political constellation of the West, Russia, Iran, India, and Japan under the umbrella of a Promethean ethos
The dangers of toppling the Iranian regime, Trump’s disastrous policies, and how change must come from within
Robert Stark and co-host Matthew Pegas talk to Joshua Zeidner about Israeli Politics and Social Nationalism.
Topics:
Israel’s Social Nationalist origins
The book Perfidy by Ben Hecht about the Kastner trial
The rise of the far right in Israel
The corruption of Bibi Netanyahu and the Likud Party
Likud’s suppression of civil liberties and political dissidents
Israel’s shift to neoliberal economics
The influence of American elites on Israel’s political and economic affairs
The book Start-up Nation and Joshua’s experience working in Israel’s tech industry
How the state is responsible for more innovation in tech than the free market(ex. DARPA)
Joshua’s observations on Germany’s labor environment
Real Estate: investors buying up unoccupied apartments, NIMBYism, and renters rights
The need for an economic outlook based on socialism and the national good
The need for a fusion of the dissident left and right under the banner of social nationalism
The divide between capitalist boomers and socialist millennials in both Israel and the West
Bauhaus architecture, White City (Tel Aviv), Italian Futurism, Brutalism, and Le Corbusier’s Architecture and Politics Why are Israel’s top models blonde and European looking? Shlomo Sand
Robert Stark and co-host Sam Kevorkian talk to Joshua Zeidner about the Tech Industry. Joshua has worked in Tech as a software developer and private consultant for Publishing and Finance Companies.
Topics:
The Tech Industry since the Dot Com boom
Joshua’s work in the Tech Industry in Germany and Israel, and his observation that Germany’s has the best work environment and the United States the worst Prof. Norm Matloff’s H-1B Statistics and the current cap at about 65k per year which are eligible for permanent residency
How H-1B’s provide pliant(“handcuffed”) workers
H-1B Frauds such as fake job adds and diplomas and Indian firms Like Infosys and Tata Abusing the program
The need for Unionization/Trade Organizations for Tech workers
Nationalizing Search Engines and Social Media
The International Safe Harbor Privacy Act which was developed for social networks to be built Surveillance Valley by Yasha Levine
How Venture Capital money goes into “tech ventures” that embezzle crypto coins, operated like a ponzi scheme and become a liquid un-taxable and untraceable asset Making Sense of the Google Memo Why I Was Fired by Google – WSJ
Is Silicon Valley pulling it’s weight for California?
Tim Draper’s Six Californias Proposal
Robert Stark and co-host Sam Kevorkian talk to Joshua Zeidner. Joshua is originally from the New York region and has a degree in Computer Science and minor in Art from CUNY .
Topics:
How Joshua became involved in Right Wing politics and the Tea Party Party in response to illegal immigration in Arizona
The demographic transformation and destruction of the middle class in California
Suburban sprawl in Phoenix, environmentalism, and urban planning issues
Living in Israel and witnessing a terrorist attack in Jerusalem
Israel as a National Socialist Nation
Intelligent millennials lacking economic opportunities joining dissident movements
Parallels to Weimar Germany where former members of the middle class were reduced to poverty
Creating a new political dichotomy to address these issues
Social Nationalism as an alternative to Conservatism
The flaws of Libertarian ideology and free market economics Boomer Conservatism and the Old Economy Steve Meme
Karl Marx on society as a relationship between capital and labor
Italian Futurism and National Futurism Heavy Metal (magazine)
Joshua’s Facebook group The Whims of Savagery
Illustrators Tanino Liberatore, Philippe Druillet, and Moebius
