Category Archives: Los Angeles

Robert Stark interviews John Kenneth Press

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Robert Stark and Co-host Pilleater talk to Culturist John K. Press. John is a professor at Namseoul University in South Korea, and the author of the book Culturism: A Word, A Value, Our Future. John also runs the website Culturism and writes for Alternative Right.

Topics:

John’s background growing up in Santa Monica in the 70’s and 80’s, and how  Southern California has changed since then
John’s background in Punk music and his band the patriots
John’s Grab ’em by the Pu**y Song
John’s running of the Brooklyn Tea Party, protest against the Ground Zero Mosque, friction with the Manhattan Tea Party, and the conflict between economic interest and culturism
The debate between the Alt-Right Ethno-Nationalist and color blind Civil Nationalist, and how culturism can address those issues
The multi-culturalist concept that all cultures are equal
Mechanism and institution of culturism
The importance of having high levels of social cohesion for a society to function
Whether to much culturism can be oppressive, and the need for a balance between individualism and cohesion
John’s experience living in Korea as a College professor, and his observations on Korea which is a culturist society
Why John views himself as an academic refugee
The book The Cleanest Race: How North Koreans See Themselves
John’s book Capsule: A Search for Identity in Modern Japan
Culturism, architecture, urbanism, and aesthetics, and why modism and futurism needs culturism
Regional identities
The socio sexual status of the dominant culture
The Brittish Poet Matthew Arnold who was the founder of culturalism
John’s book Culturism: A Word, A Value, Our Future, a fictional biography about Matthew Arnold
The importance of being involved in culture rather than such politics


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Robert Stark interviews Scott Laudati

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Robert Stark and co-host Pilleater interview Scott Laudati. Laudati is a writer and musician. His latest novel is Play the Devil and has written a book of poetry, Hawaiian Shirts in the Electric Chair.

Topics:

Scott’s book, Play The Devil
His poetry book, Hawaiian Shirts In The Electric Chair
New Jersey, College Education, and Politics
Jack Kerouac, Hunter S. Thompson, Sam Pink
Doldrum suburbs,mundane existence, and nihilistic working
Millennial economic despair
Scott’s poem about being 30, “My 30th Birthday,” and the Quarter-life crisis
New York vs. LA, Youth Culture, expensive living
Trump, Hillary, Alt-left positions
Scott’s music, American INC.
Scott’s music videos, “Stony Hill,” “A Garden East Of Eden.”
Animals and pets, Dogs
Waiting In Line for the NOFX Book Signing.”
Super Mario Brothers, Reptilian Rape and the Hollow Earth Theory.”
Tim and Eric – Film School (Lobsters on film)
Punk bands
Staring into the Sun, Sungazing, cover art
Postcard art
The publishing industry and self publishing on Lulu

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Robert Stark interviews Charles Marohn from Strong Towns

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Robert Stark and co-host Pilleater talk to Charles Marohn. Charles is a Professional Engineer (PE) licensed in the State of Minnesota and a member of the American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP). Chuck is the Founder and President of Strong Towns. He has a Bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Minnesota’s Institute of Technology and a Masters in Urban and Regional Planning from the University of Minnesota’s Humphrey Institute.

Topics:

How Charles’s background in urban planning exposed him to the problems of sprawl development
Charles’s books Thoughts on Building Strong Towns, Volume 1 & Volume II
The fiscal unsustainability of sprawl development
Charles’ point that the key factor in urbanism is Incremental Development
Charles’s point that cities must be viewed as ecosystems
The “build it they will come” fallacy, and how traditionally massive infrastructure projects were designed to serve existing population centers(ex.Roman Aqueducts)
How pre-automobile cities tend to be the most viable
Nassim Taleb’s Antifragile theory, and how it relates to urbanism
The Density Question, Charles point that density should neither be fetishized nor seen as inherently bad, but must take into account incremental development
How cities such as New York and San Francisco have value independent of their economies, while places like the Silicon Valley would become unviable if their industries collapsed
Zoning laws and land use regulations
The movement to Retrofit Suburbia, how it’s a step in the right direction, but has it’s limitations
How cities will contract in the future, with people living in both cities and towns, but that it’s the space in between that’s unviable
Micro Apartments
Political divides, and how when it comes to planning issues on a local level, people tend to be more pragmatic than dogmatic
The Public vs. Private sector role in infrastructure, and how Charles’s point that things that are high risk should be in the private sector, and low risk in the public sector(ex. Wall Street baillouts)
The role of the government in historic preservation and protecting the environment
Housing and affordable family formation


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Robert Stark talks about his trip to LA

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Robert Stark joined with co-host PilleaterRabbit, and Charles Edward Lincoln, talk about his recent trip to his hometown LA

Topics include:

The Hollywood imagery and outsider stereotypes of LA
The history of LA
How LA’s urban core is spread out over a large geographic area from Santa Monica on the Coast to Downtown LA
Robert’s disclaimer that the photos capture the best of LA, but that most of the spaces in between are unappealing due to the cities sprawl
LA’s transit system
South Central LA
West Hollywood, and Rabbit’s experience living there
Downtown LA, the gentrification of the historic core, the grittiness and vintage signage of Broadway, and the Serial Killers Who Haunted The Cecil Hotel
Downtown LA’s architecture including John Portman’s Bonaventure Hotel, and the the 80’s Art Deco revival Home Savings Building where Charles Lincoln worked
Beverly Hills, the 80’s futurist Rodeo Collection, the “Vaporwave” Roman Fountain , and the the 70 futurist/late modernist Roxbury Plaza
Century City, which originally had a 60’s futurist aesthetic, was the the film location of Conquest of the Planet of the Apes, and the Century City Mall
1980’s Malls including the Beverly Center(Original image), Westside Pavilion, which reminds Pilleater of the game Myst, and the renovation of those malls which ruined their aesthetic
Historic preservation trends starting with demolition of the Art Deco Richfield Tower in Downtown LA, to the lack of preservation for 80’s architecture today
New architecture inspired by past styles including the new Streamline Moderne Under construction Beverly Hilton tower70’s futurist inspired renderings for skyscrapers, and Rabbit’s observation that many apartments are being retrofited in mid-century modern styles
Santa Monica, the waterfront, architecture including the Art Deco Clock Tower, and Santa Monica NIMBY Restriction on heights
The Interactive Cafe, which is one of the last surviving independent businesses in downtown Santa Monica, and Pilleater’s point that it has a Cyberpunk aesthetic
The high cost of housing in LA, even in unappealing areas
The San Fernando Valley, which was traditionally home to LA’s middle class
Demographic trends, the destruction of the white middle class, gentrification of the urban core, and new suburban ghettos in the desert
Rabbit’s point about SWPLs he met in LA who look down on the suburban middle class
The Alt Left dilemma between identifying with SWPL Culture, and urbanist aesthetics, and supporting white middle class identitarianism, which often lacks strong aesthetic visions

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Robert Stark interviews Anatoly Karlin about his American Decade, Futurism, & Political Trends

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Robert Stark and co-host Pilleater talk to Anatoly Karlin. He blogs at The Unz Review

Topics include:

Anatoly’s article at the Unz Review about his American Decade
Why Anatoly is leaving the United States and going back to Russia
How the United States is becoming more like Europe
T.R. Reid’s book The United States of Europe, where he argued that the EU was emerging as a superpower rivaling the US, but has latter been disproved
How during the Bush era Americans perceived Europeans as “Cheese Eating Surrender Moneys,” but latter Sarkozy became the architect of the war in Libya, and arming Syrian rebels
Another element of America’s Europeanization is the decline in social conservatism, the surge in support for gay marriage, and drug legalization
Anatoly’s political views, which are fairly socially liberal(except for rejecting political correctness, and radical feminism),  economically centrist, and closest to Rabbit’s AltLeft
U.S. Millennials More Likely to Support Censoring Offensive Speech, especially among university students who are the future elites
The decline in American fertility rates toward European levels
How American politics now resembles Europe in the sense that there are five distinct blocs: Clinton democrats, Sanders socialists, Rubio/Bush etablishment conservatives, Cruz Bible-bashers, and Trump nationalists.
Anatoly’s pre election prediction article US Elections 2016: Let’s MAGA, Not War, and Trump’s support in the rust belt
Trump’s economic policies as a hybrid of supply side economics, and economic nationalism, and the similarities to Putin’s economic policies in Russia
The GINI index of income inequality
The pros and cons of economic automation, and the basic income
Transhumanism, Zoltan Istvan, and his book The Transhumanist Wager
The Bay Area where Anatoly spent most of his time in the US, and how it’s pretty much ideal, but also the most expensive macro-region of the US
California is also home to Ron Unz, Steve Sailer, as well as the “Alt Left” movement(the tiny group of thinkers combining leftist economics with HBD, sane views on gender relations, and a penchant for futurism )
The futurist scene in the Bay Area including Scott Jackisch’s Bay Area Futurists meetup, Health Extensions Salons, Mike Johnson’s Qualia Research Institute, Effective Altruism, and the “techno” faction of NRx
Mass Transit, Bay Area Rapid Transit, how older cities tend to have more integrated transit systems, and why conservatives oppose mass transit
Global Warming, Swedish scientist Svante Arrhenius who discovered climate change, debunking climate change deniers, and whether it will benefit arctic regions such as Russia
Observations on other American cities including Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Chicago, New York, Washington DC, and Pittsburgh
Anatoly’s experience ridding across the nation on Amtrak
Architecture: Skyscrapers, Brutalism, architect John Portman’s 70’s Neofuturism, and Rabbit’s ideal city based on the film Logan’s run
America’s great wilderness and National Park System


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Robert Stark interviews Jamie Stewart from the band Xiu Xiu

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Robert Stark and Pilleater talk to musician Jamie Stewart from the band Xiu Xiu

Topics include:

Intro song: Xiu Xiu – “Into The Night”
Jamie’s background growing up in the San Fernando Valley, and how he was exposed to music early on from his dad in the music industry
Jamie’s early musical influences including Bauhaus
Jamie’s interest in Asian Culture
How Xiu Xiu combines traditional Asian influences with electronica, and Pilleater’s point that he views Xiu Xiu as Asian Neofolk
The visual aesthetics to Xiu Xiu’s work, and Jamie’s artistic influences including, Kara WalkerAgnes Martin, and Antoine D’Agata
Xiu Xiu – Dear God, I Hate Myself, which depicts real vomiting, and deals with themes of being in distress with ones body
Xiu Xiu Plays the Music of Twin Peaks
The director David Lynch, his Twin Peaks series, and the film Dune
Yukio Mishima
Peter Sotos
After Jamie leaves Robert and Pilleater continue the conversation discussing the musician Mitski, the manga Patalliro!, the Alt Left, the aesthetics of the film Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters, the Pavilion for Japanese Art, architect John C. Portman Jr.Le Cassette’s music video Tokyo Blues, the Japanese artist Takehiko Inoue, and the Kinokuniya Bookstore in New York


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Robert Stark interviews Director Matthew David Wilder

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Robert Stark and Alex von Goldstein talk to Director and Screenwriter Matthew David Wilder

Topics include:

Matthew’s background, growing up in a trailer park in Des Plaines, Illinois,  studying theatre at Yale, and his mentor Peter Sellars
Matthew’s first major project was writing for Clive Barker’s The History of the Devil
Matthew’s work with Oliver Stone on a film about the war on terror right after 9/11 which was never released
The film Dog Eat Dog, staring Nicolas Cage and Willem Dafoe, written by Matthew, directed by Paul Schrader, which will be released to theatres next month
Matthew directed, and wrote Your Name Here, staring Bill Pullman, which is a surreal dramatic fantasy biopic loosely based on the life of Philip K. Dick
Director Paul Schrader, how he inspired Matthew as a screenwriter, and his concept of the monocular film, which is one protagonist alone against the world
The notion of God’s lonely man, and how Matthew wrote a one act play in college by that name
Film noir, the aesthetic, the story of fate hanging over the characters, and the Neo-noir genre
Matthew’s interest in combining genres, rather than sticking with one particular one
Brett Easton Ellis praises Matthew in his interview with Paul Schrader
Matthew’s upcoming film Morning Has Broken, about a young runaway girl who moves in with a seemingly harmless, elderly, Academy Award-winning songwriter, staring Lydia Hearst and Peter Bogdanovich
Matthew’s point as a filmmaker, that what influences you is not the most obvious
The importance of breaking taboos, and taking the audience out of their comfort zone
The upcoming film, the Looking Glass, written by Matthew, staring Nicolas Cage, about a couple who buy a desert motel where they find out that strange, mysterious events occur
The film is inspired by a story of a motel owner who watched guest have sex through peep holes, and David Lynch’s film Lost Highway
Mid-century Roadside Architecture and Vintage Vegas
Matthew’s political views, how he identifies with the left on the hard issues, but is critical of the micro-issues and political correctness
Alex’s point that troll culture is a form of critiquing society, and how that’s lacking in Hollywood today
True Detective
LA culture, vapid conversations in coffee shops, obnoxious roidheads, and capturing LA in film
Matthew’s experiences directed a play at CalArts, and his observations of young actors wanting the celebrity status more than valuing the content of the work
The shortened attention span and how it effects our culture
Alex’s point that there is no longer a mainstream culture, and people have the freedom to find their own creative niches


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Robert Stark talks about his trip to the San Francisco Bay Area

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Robert Stark, joined with Rabbit, and Alex von Goldstein talk about his recent trip to the SF Bay Area

Topics include:

Robert’s departing point Santa Barbara, which is a nice laid back coastal town, but under the cultural influence of LA
Robert Stark’s podcast with Bay Area Guy about his last trip to SF
Robert met up with Bay Area Guy and Anatoly Karlin in Berkeley
How like Robert, Alex, and Rabbit, Bay Area Guy and Anatoly Karlin exist on the periphery of the Alt-Right(ex.The Radical CenterAlt Left)
The Cultural Leftist legacy of Berkeley, and how Anatoly Karlin spoke at Richard Spencer’s event at UC Berkeley
How places that are politically correct often produce interesting dissident thinkers
How Berkeley is on a scale similar to European cities(ex. small, compact, dense and walkable)
How transplants often adopt the stereotypes of cities
Demographic trends in the Bay Area, how the traditional white middle class is being pushed out, but also working class Blacks and Hispanics are being priced out through gentrification
Asian culture and immigration in the Bay Area, and Asian Majority Cities, including Daly City, where Robert stayed
The seedy Tenderloin District, urban grittiness, and how it reminded Robert of the film Taxi Driver
The film Dirty Harry
The BART(Bay Area Rapid Transit) System, which has a 70’s futurist aesthetic, and has had issue with crime
The film Fruitvale Station about a Police incident on BART in Oakland
The 70’s futurist Embarcadero Center, designed by architect John Portman, and the importance of having urban oasis’s
How the Silicon Valley is a bland suburban region, which demonstrates that technology has limitation without culture and aesthetics
The Shortage Of Women In Silicon Valley
How the area where the tech elite lives has wilderness preserves, in contrast with their support for mass immigration
How the Bay Area has done a better job at Wilderness Conservation than Southern California
Robert’s observation’s about where to build in the Bay Area in response to his interview with Laura Foote Clark of Grow SF
How San Francisco has it’s own unique Aesthetic, and is the most scenic American City
How San Francisco is on a high level aesthetically, but the dominant culture is consumerism mixed in with some cultural leftist views
Robert stayed in Walnut Creek, which is a mid-century car oriented suburb in the process of being retrofited into a walkablle New Urbanist community
Walnut Creek aslo has BART access, and owns more open space per capita than any other community in California
80’s Vaporwave Architecture in Walnut Creek, how historic preservation has neglected 80’s Kitsch, and the occultist origins of Kek in California 80’s culture
Nearby Lafayette, which is an idyllic semi rural town, with quick BART access to the city(the best of both worlds for those who can afford it)
The San Francisco Bay Area Renters’ Federation lawsuit against Lafayette, and the debate regarding development and diversity
Whether the Bay Area should be it’s own separate country, state, or broken up into a bunch of small independent city states

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Robert Stark interviews Adam Hengels about Market Urbanism

Adam Hengels

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Robert Stark and co-host Rabbit talk to Adam Hengels.

Adam is SVP and Director of Development of PAD, a real estate development start-up that builds communities for young professionals.  PAD’s developments will feature micro-apartments and other product innovations.

From Mega-Projects to Micro-Apartments, Adam has brought his development expertise to several high profile projects such as the $5B Barclays Center Arena and Atlantic Yards project in Brooklyn, New York .  Adam earned his Masters in Real Estate Development at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and has a BS and MS in Structural Engineering.

Adam is passionate about urbanism, and is known as a pioneer in the Market Urbanism movement.  His mission is to improve the urban experience, and overcoming obstacles that prevent aspiring city dwellers from living where they want.  He considers the conventional apartment layout to be stale.  Product innovations such as micro-apartments are a key part of the next wave in urbanism.

Topics include:

Why Adam advocates for the liberalization of zoning laws
The debate between absolute private property rights vs. the argument that regulations are necessary to prevent landowners from harming their communities
Zoning laws that contribute to suburban sprawl(ex. parking requirements, limits on density in suburbs, and government subsidies of roads and highways)
Retrofitting Suburbia
How demographic and economic changes are leading to the decline of suburbia
How to attract middle class families back to cities by improving education and increasing housing supply
New Urbanism
How zoning laws can prevent bad developments, but can also lead to increases in costs of living
Whether zoning laws are necessary to preserve the aesthetic and historic character of cities
How original mixed use communities declined due to zoning regulation and the rise of the automobile
Robert Stark’s point that even though he supports historic preservation and wilderness conservation, he acknowledges that many zoning laws have negative affects on cities and encourage sprawl
How the Lack of New Housing On The Westside of LA Is Causing Gentrification Of East And South LA
Height limit restrictions in cities
Minimum lot size requirements, and how they stifle creativity in urbanism
Whether highrises can provide housing for the middle class, and Adam’s point that new highrises are expensive but over time they decline in cost and eases the overall demand for housing
Whether mass transit can function in a free market, and how New York City’s Subway System started out as private, and Tokyo’s Subway System is semi private
Transit-oriented development
Adam’s development of micro apartments and how they can address the housing crisis for young people
How zoning laws make it difficult to create micro apartments
The role that Zoning and Urban planning plays in income inequality

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Transcript of interview:

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Robert Stark talks to Charles Lincoln & Robert Lindsay about LA, the 1980’s, & Blade Runner

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This is a continuation of the discussion on True Stories

Topics include:

The demographic transformation of Southern California
Robert Lindsay’s experience as a substitute teacher
Beverly Hills
The Film Fast Times at Ridgemont High set in the San Fernando Valley in the early 80’s
The depiction of adolescent sexuality in the film
How in the 70’s and early 80’s hedonism existed with less materialism and higher social trust than today
How the rise in hyper materialism coincided with the popularity of Reagan
How Robert Lindsay was involved with the Punk scene in the 80’s
The Film Earth Girls Must be Easy
The Porn Industry in the San Fernando Valley
Southern California Mall Culture
How the decline of traditional Mall Culture symbolizes how all of society is becoming one giant mall
How strip malls in LA are being replaced by higher density development
The debate about density and Urbanism
Mexican Culture vs. Mexican American Culture in California
The Film Blade Runner which is set in LA in 2019
Whether Blade Runner is an accurate depiction of the future
The genre of Dystopian Future Films(ex.Hunger Games, V for Vendetta, Mad Max)
NEON SIGNS OF BLADE RUNNER
The Film “Her” which depicts the future of LA as an eco friendly SWPL utopia
The decline in the quality of products

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