Jeff’s background in parapsychology, having the only doctorate in the field
Raymond Moody’s“Life After Life,” life after death, near death experiences
The discipline of parapsychology
New Thinking Allowed exclusively on YouTube compared to Thinking Allowed on PBS
The beginning of Thinking Allowed
The synth intro of Thinking Allowed, the possible vaporwave influence of it
Alan Watts, New Age philosophy Terence McKenna, LSD and drug use
Ted Talks and conspiracy theroies The PK Man
The theory of open-consciousness, psychic experiences
Geographic locations with spiritual connections
The audience behind New Thinking Allowed, strange book stores
Transhumanism, Mishlove’s art, prescription drug use
The setting in Thinking Allowed, how Jeff get’s guest on the show
YouTube comments
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
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’sThe 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
The concept of Retro Futurism as how the past envisioned the future
How in the 20th Century society was undergoing rapid change and technological progress
How people today are either pessimistic about the future, or view the present as the future(The Current Year)
Whether Retro Futurism is pure fantasy, an alternative universe, or a blueprint for the future
The Future portrayed in film from utopia to dystopia
The 1927 film Metropolis, which was the first major future film, and inspired by Italian Futurism
How Art Deco was the first major futurist movement in Architecture, and perfectly combines Futurism and Tradition
How NeonLighting has symbolized the future from the Art Deco era to the 80’s Cyberbunk aesthetic
The Synthwave/New Retro Wave Genre in music that emerged in the mid 2000’s, inspired by 80’s New Wave(ex. FM Attack, Robots with Rayguns, Electric Youth, College, Kavinsky)
How 80’s music was much more future oriented than today’s music Greg Johnson reviews New Order’s Music
The Euro-centric and deconstructionist elements to Electronic Music
Rabbit’s involvement in the early 90’s rave scene, and how it started out as futuristic but fizzled out into trashy pop culture
The revival of the 60’s Brit pop sound in the 90’s
How culture has become stagnant and people are looking to the past for inspiration Vaporwave, which is an aesthetic that emerged online, inspired by 80’s and early 90’s illustrations, video games, and elevator music
The Vaporwave Documentary
Donald Trump as an 80’s Retro-Futurist Vaporwave Icon Cyberpunk, how it was inspired by 80’s Films such as Blade Runner, as well as Science Fiction writer Issac Asimov, it’s popularity with the Dark Enlightenment and Silicon Valley Techno-libertarians. Steampunk, which a Futurist movement inspired by Victorian Aesthetics, Old Train Stations, and Science Fiction writers such as HG Wells and Jules Verne
Islamic Retro Futurism
The Mid Century Space age aesthetic
Soviet Retro Futurism
Las Vegas, the Retro-Futurist theme to the city, and hypothetical casino designs(Steampunk, Art Deco, Midcentury Space Age, Cyberpunk, Vaporwave)
Architect John C. Portman Jr. who built futuristic hotels with massive atrium in the 70’s and 80’s
The 80’s mall aesthetic, and how 80’s malls were a lot more futuristic and innovative than the ones being built today
Alex’s point that there is a transcendent element to the mall experience
How Retro-Futurism provides inspiration for architecture and urbanism
How Retro-Futurism offer a Third Alternative to the past and present course
How right wing publications tend to be mostly political, while left wing ones will focus on culture and insert politics
Whether Retro-Futurism is an aesthetic for a New Political Movement(ex.Radical Centrism)
Robert and Rabbit’s recent trip to Las Vegas
How Las Vegas epitomizes capitalism and commercialism at it’s fullest
How Las Vegas demonstrates how capitalism is both a force for creation and destruction
How Las Vegas lacks any historic preservation
How despite it’s flaws Las Vegas offers an otherworldly fantasy experience
The Resort Fees
The ethics of Gambling
The political and demographic landscape of Las Vegas and Nevada
How Las Vegas lacks any significant SWPL presence
How Las Vegas attracts the trashiest of pop culture
Douche Bag culture, it’s different subsets, and how it’s absorbing hipster culture
The Aesthetics of Las Vegas Casinos, Robert and Rabbit’s favorites, and conceptual casino designs
The different era’s of Las Vegas, including Vintage Las Vegas, the themed resorts of the 90’s, and the newer casinos
The Las Vegas monorail
Whether Las Vegas resorts are a model for urban living
How Thomas got interested in Neon growing up, and how he noticed it’s decline
His project charting and photographing existing Neon Signs before they disappear
The History of Neon, how it was invented in Victorian England in 1898, and latter made into signs by French Scientist Georges Claude
How the peak of Neon was in the late 1920’s and 30’s(Art Deco Era), but already started to see a decline in the 40’s
How Neon was originally used by Corporate chains but latter delegated to small businesses Churches & Neon
How Neon was originally seen as glamorous but latter became associated with seediness
Neon in Cinema, contrasting Dick Powell’s glamorous Gold Diggers Of 1933 – The Shadow Waltz and his 1944 detective film Murder, My Sweet, which depicts Neon as seedy
The 1946 film It’s a Wonderful Life which also uses Neon to depict seediness Hotel Neon Signs and and Hotel Neon in the Film Noire Genre
Neon in future films including the utopian 1927 film Metropolis and the dystopian 1982 film BLADE RUNNER
Incandescent Bulb Signs
The history, decline and revitalization of Time Square, and how there are very few Neon Signs left
How Neon has become replaced by LED Signs
The myth that Neon signs are not eco friendly
Historic preservation issues regarding Neon Signs New Neon Signs designed in the Vintage style Neon in San Francisco and the book San Francisco Neon
Las Vegas, how newer casino’s have rejected Neon, and how older signs are preserved at the Neon Museum
The popularity of Neon in Asian cities
How there is a renewed interest in Neon
Artist who depict Neon in their work including Robert Stark
Neon in 1960s Pop Art
The importance of patronizing businesses that have Neon Signs
Rabbit is an artist, experimental musician, and blogs at AltLeft.com. Robert Lindsay joins latter in on the conversation
Topics include:
How politics is driven by the culture
How conservatives tend to focus on politics and are ineffective in creating culture
How the Alternative Right tends to attracts more creative types than the mainstream right
Why Rabbit feels that much of the Alternative Right holds backwards views towards art and culture
Rabbit’s artistic inspiration in Minimalism, Cubism, Mid-Century Space Age, and Dutch Constructivism Danish Modern Interior Design Robert Stark’s Artwork
The difference between between modernism and postmodernism Italian Futurism
How cultural innovation has stagnated
How the past is the future( ex: in the mid 20th Century the culture looked to the future instead of the past) Vintage Las Vegas
Skyscrapers
Whether capitalism is responsible for aesthetic decline
How in the early to mid 20th Century there was still an innocence to capitalism and higher aesthetic standards Mid-Century Advertisements
Strip malls Suburban cookie cutter houses as an example of when architecture is driven purely by profit without any aesthetic value
Matt’s experience at the recent National Policy Institute’s Conference in Washington DC
How the theme of the conference Become Who We Are was about creating a new identity How Left-Wing Activists Tried to Shut Down This Year’s NPI Conference”
Matt take on Washington DC, and how it would be a great city if it weren’t for it’s people
How transplants tend to fulfill the obnoxious stereotypes of cities(ex. DC, NY, LA, Portland)
Obnoxious broke hipsters in Portland vs. obnoxious trust fund hipster in NYC
How NY hipster transplants benefited from the same Police enforcement and gentrification which they agitate against
How New York’s gentrification has made the city sterile and killed it’s creative energy Kill Your Idols documentary about the punk scene in NY in the early 80’s
Matt’s life in Chicago, and how despite it’s crime it has a cohesive culture and affordable living
How Chicago shutting down it’s public housing projects such as Cabrini–Green dispersed crime over a larger area
Matt experience living in Portland, Oregon, and how Portlandia is so accurate it’s not even funny
Why Matt favors urban living over suburban or rural living
Why Matt views the suburbs as an unfortunate social development but they developed because the left destroyed cities and forced out the middle class
How major cities such as NY once had vibrant urban middle classes
E. Michael Jones’s The Slaughter of Cities: Urban Renewal As Ethnic Cleansing
How the further away we get from nature the greater increase in social dysfunction we see Matt’s trip to Las Vegas and how his friend Davis Aurini describes the city as an “honest whore”
Anti-Natalism and how it’s an interesting philosophical question but attempts to apply reason to interfere with nature
How Anti-Natalism appeals to the most thoughtful and intelligent individuals thus removing them from the gene pool
Michel Houellebecq The Father Of The Term “Sexual Marketplace” Houellebecq’s Whatever which is about people who lost out on the sexual revolution
Houellebecq’s Submission which is about an Islamist takeover of France and whether that scenario is likely Louis-Ferdinand Céline The recent terrorist attack in Paris and future scenarios in Europe
Contrasting the histories of Las Vegas and New Orleans
The Ecological impacts of building cities in the Desert
How both cities serve a function as a destination for escape, hedonism, and vice
How Bread and circuses distract the masses
How without the Law there would be no Vice
How when Vice becomes suppressed it becomes more cruel
How New Orleans has gentrified since Hurricane Katrina
How the culture of New Orleans is one that enjoys life because it accepts death
How in New Orleans there’s no pressure to be either moral or immoral
The European cultural influence in New Orleans
The Cult of Youth
