Category Archives: Art

Robert Stark talks to James O’Meara about Mysticism After Modernism

1960's, aesthetics, Alan Watts, Aldous Huxley, Aleister Crowley, Alfred Hitchcock, American Culture, Aristocratic Individualism, Art, Basic Income, Bronze Age Pervert, Buddhism, California, capitalism, Carl Jung, Christianity, Cinema, Class, Colin Wilson, conformity, Conspiracy Theories, Consumerism, Corporations, counterculture, Culture, David Lynch, Donald Trump, dreams, Economics, England, Fascism, Franz Kafka, Gnosticism, Greg Johnson, H. P. Lovecraft, History, Hollywood, Homosexuality, Human Bio Diversity, Islam, James O'Meara, Jason Reza Jorjani, Jeffery Mishlove, Journey to Vapor Island, Judaism, Julius Evola, Liberalism, Literature, Managerialism, Marin County, Marquis de Sade, materialism, Media, meditation, Mitch Horowitz, Morality, Mythology, Neville Goddard, New Thought, Nietzsche, Occultism, Oscar Wilde, parapsychology, Philosophy, Political Correctness, Politics, Psychology, Religion, Rudolf Steiner, Science, Sexuality, Socialism, spirituality, Stanley Kubrick, Sufism, Surrealism, Third Way Economics, Traditionalism, Transcendentalism, Transhumanism, Utopia, Vaporfornia, William S. Burroughs

Robert Stark speaks with James O’Meara about his book, Mysticism After Modernism: Crowley, Evola, Neville, Watts, Colin Wilson, & Other Populist Gurus. Mysticism After Modernism is published by Manticore Press, where it is available for purchase. You can also find it at Counter-Currents and on Amazon.

“Our spirituality has gotten too tame today. James J. O’Meara has a solution [in Mysticism After Modernism]
–Mitch Horowitz, PEN Award-winning author of Occult America and The Miracle Club

-The intersection of mysticism with politics and culture, and how mysticism is available to any political persuasion
-Countering the Hippie-dippy liberal  stereotype about New Age gurus
-Critiquing the reactionary who passively accepts cycles of decay, and the need to embrace infinite possibilities
-A practical take on magic/mysticism, in regards to enacting real world change
-Aleister Crowley’s definition of magic as transforming the World in accordance with one’s will
-Examples of opinions and attributes of Alan Watts and William Burroughs that come across as anti-liberal
-Greg Johnson’s article, “The Spiritual Materialism of Alan Watts: A Review of Does It Matter?”
-Watts’ ties to quasi-fascist Serbian mystic, Dimitrije Mitrinović
–New Thought, and an explanation for how Neville Goddard’s Law of Assumption works
-New Thought as a vehicle for political change, by removing all mental constraints
-Why Theosophy is the theology best adapted to hereditarianism (eg. illiberal pluralism)
-William Burroughs’ obsession with rejecting control in a metaphysical sense
–The Greek Qabalah, hidden esoteric traditions in Abrahamic faiths
-Colin Wilson’s practical mysticism, focused on expanding consciousness
-Parapsychology and Spiritual Science
-The need for spiritual elitism and Aristocratic Radicalism
-Robert’s novel, Vaporfornia, which has themes relating to New Thought
-James’ book, Passing the Buck: Coleman Francis and Other Cinematic Metaphysicians

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Checkout Robert Stark’s Facebook page, Twitter, Instagram, Stark Truth TV, novel Vaporfornia, and subscribe to his Substack.

Robert Stark talks to Keith Preston about Rudolf Steiner

Academia, Aleister Crowley, American Culture, Anarchism, Aristocratic Individualism, Art, Austria, capitalism, Carl Jung, Christianity, Consumerism, Culture, decentralization, Despair, Distributism, dreams, Drugs, Economics, Emile Durkheim, Enlightenment, Eugenics, Fascism, Germany, Gnosticism, Hinduism, History, Human Bio Diversity, Jeffery Mishlove, Julius Evola, Keith Preston, localism, Managerialism, Marxism, materialism, Matthew Pegas, Morality, Nationalism, neo-tribalism, Neoliberalism, Nietzsche, Occultism, parapsychology, Philosophy, Political Correctness, Politics, Psychology, Rationalism, Religion, Robert Putnam, Rudolf Steiner, Science, social capital, Social Isolation, Social Media, social trust, Socialism, spirituality, Surrealism, technology, Thinkers Against Modernity, Third Position, Third Way Economics, Timothy Leary, Traditionalism, Transhumanism

Robert Stark and Matt Pegas talk to Keith Preston about the life and philosophy of Austrian occultist and Renaissance Man, Rudolf Steiner, and what we can learn about Steiner’s ideas to address contemporary problems. Check out Keith Preston’s article, Scientific Spirituality and Ethical Individualism: The Legacy of Rudolf Steiner, and Troy Southgate’s new book, THE SPIRIT UNBOUND: RUDOLF STEINER’S PHILOSOPHY OF FREEDOM. Keith Preston is a historian, social scientist, political analyst, author, lecturer, trends researcher, and the editor of Attack the System. Follow Keith on Twitter.

Topics:

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

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Checkout Robert Stark’s Facebook page, Twitter, Instagram, Stark Truth TV, novel Vaporfornia, and subscribe to his Substack.

Robert Stark interviews Montgomery Markland about his movie Malibu Road

1960's, 1970's, 1990's, acting, aesthetics, Aldous Huxley, Alfred Hitchcock, Alice in Wonderland, American Culture, Ancient Greece, Architecture, Art, Banking, Beatniks, Beverly Hills, Buddhism, California, capitalism, Carl Jung, censorship, Cinema, conformity, Conservatives, Conspiracy Theories, Consumerism, coronavirus, Corporations, counterculture, Culture, David Lynch, Despair, dreams, Drugs, Economics, Enter The Void, Film, Film Noire, Gaspar Noe, Hinduism, History, Hollywood, horror films, Hunter S. Thompson , Literature, Los Angeles, Malibu, Malibu Road, Matthew Pegas, Media, Mid-Century Modern, Montgomery Markland, Mulholland Drive, Mythology, Philip K. Dick, Philosophy, Photography, Political Correctness, Politics, Prostitution, Psychology, relationships, Religion, Sexuality, spirituality, Surrealism, Texas, Tiki, Timothy Leary, Travel, Twin Peaks, Vice, Video Games, William S. Burroughs, Zoomers

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.'”

–Malibu Road (2021) IMDb 

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

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Checkout Robert Stark’s Facebook page, Twitter, Instagram, Stark Truth TV, novel Vaporfornia, and subscribe to his Substack.

Robert Stark talks to Dan Baltic about his debut novel Nutcrankr

alienation, Alternative Right, American Culture, Andy Nowicki, Art, Bronze Age Pervert, Class, comedy, Culture, Dan Baltic, Dan Baltic, Depravity, Despair, Dragon Day, Ellliot Rodger, Erik Erikson, Eugenics, Feminism, Gender, Gio Pennacchietti, Homosexuality, humor, Incels, Journey to Vapor Island, Literature, Loserdom, Matt Forney, Matthew Pegas, Mental illness, Morality, New York, Nick Fuentes, Personality Types, Peter Turchin, Political Correctness, Politics, Psychology, psychosocialism, relationships, Sexuality, social capital, Social Isolation, Social Justice Warriors, Social Media, Social Rejection, social status, Taxi Driver, The Black Pill, the New Right, The Redpill, Vaporfornia

Robert Stark and Matt Pegas talk to Dan Baltic about his debut novel Nutcrankr. Dan Baltic is the co-hosts of the literary podcast, New Write, with Matt Pegas. Nutcrankr is available in print and ebook at Terror House publishing.

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

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Checkout Robert Stark’s Facebook page, Twitter, Instagram, Stark Truth TV, novel Vaporfornia, and subscribe to his Substack.

Robert Stark talks to Andy Nowicki about his Novella Muze

(((Supply))), aesthetics, Aleister Crowley, Alex Jones, alienation, Alternative Right, Andy Nowicki, Ann Sterzinger, Art, Beauty & the Least, California, Christianity, Cinema, Class, comedy, Conservatives, Conspiracy Theories, Culture, David Lynch, Depravity, Despair, Donald Trump, Dragon Day, dreams, Drugs, Dystopia, Eugenics, Film, Fox News, Harvey Weinstein, Hollywood, Homosexuality, humor, Incels, Jeffrey Epstein, Joker, Journey to Vapor Island, Literature, Loserdom, Luke Ford, Manosphere, Marquis de Sade, Matt Forney, Matthew Pegas, Morality, Mulholland Drive, Narcissism, Occultism, Paul Schrader, Philosophy, Politics, Psychology, relationships, Religion, Richard Spencer, Science Fiction, Sexuality, Social Isolation, social status, South Africa, Spree Shootings, Taxi Driver, The Black Pill, Transhumanism, Tucker Carlson, Vaporfornia, Virtual Reality, War

Robert Stark talks to Andy Nowicki about his new novella, Muze, and Robert’s new surreal dark comedy novel, Vaporfornia. Andy Nowicki is a former English professor and the author of numerous books including The Columbine Pilgrim,  Lost Violent Souls,  Heart Killer, Beauty and the Least, Under the Nihil, and The Insurrectionist. Check out Muze on Terror House Publishing and Andy’s YouTube channel and writings at his Substack.

Topics:

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

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Checkout Robert Stark’s Facebook page, Twitter, Instagram, Stark Truth TV, novel Vaporfornia, and subscribe to his Substack.

Robert Stark interviews Anatoly Voronin about Ukraine

aesthetics, Alexei Navalny, Alt Center, Alternative Right, American Culture, Anatoly Karlin, Anatoly Voronin, Art, Black Lives Matter, Bronze Age Pervert, Class, Communism, Culture, Curtis Yarvin, democracy, demographics, Donald Trump, Economics, Europe, Fashion, Feminism, Gender, Germany, Globalization, History, Hollywood, Hugh Hefner, Immigration, Incels, Leftism, Liberalism, Manosphere, Marxism, materialism, modeling, Morality, Nationalism, NATO, Political Correctness, Politics, Prison, Radical Center, Redpill, relationships, Religion, Russia, Sexuality, social status, Socialism, Soviet Union, The Black Pill, Ukraine, US Prison System, Vladimir Putin, War

Robert Stark talks to Anatoly Voronin about the war in Ukraine, meta-modernism, and cultural trends. Anatoly Voronin is from Kharkiv, Ukraine, has worked as a fashion photographer and makeup artist, and politically identifies as a meta-modernist and post-liberal Centrist. Check out Anatoly’s Substack blog: Golden Heart Motel, and follow him on Instagram and Twitter.

Topics:

War Diary: Live witness account of 2022 Ukrainian-Russian hostilities
The dissident-sphere’s take on the war and pro-Russia biases
Why Anatoly rejects the narrative of Ukraine being used as a pawn of the West
The end of the post-World War II narrative
Why Radical Centrism and Meta-Modernism are the next levels of consciousness
The Americanization of Europe
Why America is fundamentally a rightwing country
The Black-Red-Gold pill
The politics of beauty and why beauty pageants are radically centrist
The Russian film Bespredel (1989 ) about social hierarchies in the Soviet Prison System

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Checkout Robert Stark’s Facebook page, Twitter, Instagram, Stark Truth TV, novel Vaporfornia, and subscribe to his Substack.

Robert Stark talks to Brandon Adamson about his Mid-Century Modern inspired NFTs

1950's, 1960's, 1970's, 1980's, aesthetics, Art, Brandon Adamson, Cinema, Corporations, cryptocurrency, Culture, decentralization, Economics, Journey to Vapor Island, Libertarianism, Malls, Mid-Century Modern, NFTs, Politics, Silicon Valley, Social Media, technology, Vaporfornia, Virtual Reality, Wealth

Robert Stark talks to Brandon Adamson about his Mid-Century Modern inspired NFTs (Mid-Century Modern Inspired NFT Collection “Mod Commodities” Launches Exclusively on Proton ($XPR)). Brandon Adamson is a Phoenix-based artist and poet, and the former co-host of the Stark Truth (2015-2017). Check out Brandon’s NFT collection, “Mod Commodities,” at ArtworkDealer, his culture blog Rabbit’s Foot, and follow him on Twitter.

Topics:

Brandon’s initial interest in penny stocks and bitcoin, and the crypto boom and bust cycles
Brandon’s artistic background, interest in mid-century modern to 70s aesthetics, modern art, and malls
Why Brandon shifted from painting to creating NFTs
The process of creating and minting NFTs
Why Brandon uses the blockchain, Proton
Virtual real estate in the metaverse and Decentraland
Brandon’s response to skeptics and his advice to focus on the project and not fret about the booms and busts
Brandon’s bullishness on long-term economic opportunities for artists to be at the forefront with VR
The importance of having a theme and why Brandon thinks Robert should create NFTs for his art and book, Vaporfornia
Political burnout and the rise in alternative cultural scenes

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Checkout Robert Stark’s Facebook page, Twitter, Instagram, Stark Truth TV, novel Vaporfornia, and subscribe to his Substack.

Robert Stark chats with Default Friend

American Culture, Andrea Dworkin, Art, Baby Boomers, Class, Consumerism, coronavirus, Culture, Default Friend, Despair, Drugs, Ellliot Rodger, Feminism, Gender, Generation X, Gio Pennacchietti, Hipsters, History, Incels, income inequality, Internet, Los Angeles, Manosphere, Matthew Pegas, Millennials, Morality, Naama Kates, Neoliberalism, New York, Occupy Wall Street, Philosophy, Political Correctness, Politics, Psychology, relationships, San Francisco, Sexuality, Silicon Valley, Social Isolation, Social Media, social status, technology, The Black Pill, The Perfume Nationalist, Vaporfornia, Zoomers

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

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Checkout Robert Stark’s Facebook page, Twitter, Instagram, Stark Truth TV, novel Vaporfornia, and subscribe to his Substack.

Robert Stark discusses his novel Vaporfornia

 Mark Velard, 1980's, aesthetics, Alicia Silverstone, alienation, Alt Center, Andrew Yang, Architecture, Art, Beverly Hills, Black Mirror, Calexit, California, capitalism, Class, Conservatives, Culture, Dan Baltic, David Lynch, demographics, Despair, Donald Trump, dreams, Economics, Environment, Eugenics, Futurism, Gio Pennacchietti, Greg Johnson, Hollywood, humor, Immigration, Incels, income inequality, Internet, IQ, James O'Meara, journalism, Journey to Vapor Island, Liberalism, Literature, Los Angeles, Malls, Matthew Pegas, Media, Michel Houellebecq, Middle Class, Millennials, Morality, Mount Diablo, Mulholland Drive, Multiculturalism, neo-tribalism, Neoliberalism, Neon, Personality Types, Philosophy, Political Correctness, Politics, Psychology, Race Relations, Radical Center, Reno, Retro Futurism, Reviews, Sam Hyde, San Francisco, Science Fiction, Sexuality, social capital, Social Darwinism, Social Isolation, Social Media, social status, Spree Shootings, Surrealism, SWPL, The Black Pill, Travel, Utopia, Vaporfornia, Vaporwave, Virtual Reality, Walnut Creek CA, William S. Burroughs, Yosemite

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

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Checkout Robert Stark’s Facebook page, Twitter, Instagram, Stark Truth TV, novel Vaporfornia, and in production documentary The Gospel of Gibson, and subscribe to his Substack.

Robert Stark talks to Kevin Kautzman about his Play Moderation

2020 Riots, acting, Art, censorship, Cinema, comedy, Conspiracy Theories, coronavirus, Corporations, Crime, Culture, Despair, Economics, Feminism, Film, Gender, Hollywood, humor, Incels, Joker, Kevin Kautzman, Literature, Memes, Political Correctness, Politics, Psychology, Silicon Valley, Social Media, Stanley Kubrick, technology, Theatre, Vaporfornia

Robert Stark talks to St. Paul based playwright Kevin Kautzman about his new play MODERATION. Moderation is a dark comedy about social media content moderators loosing their minds at work. RSVP at MODERATION to view the play online for free until Dec. 19th.  Moderation will premier live in March of 2022 at St. Paul’s Waldman’s Brewery, as the first in a series produced by Kevin’s Mad Mouth Theater company.  Check out Kevin’s podcast Art of Darkness, web series Money Shot Show, and follow him on Twitter.

Topics:

How Moderation’s premise was inspired by a “normie rag” article about content mods being radicalized by conspiracy theories that they were forced to monitor
The psychological components  to the play
References to meme culture
The political vs. profit motives of censorship, and Keith Woods on The Vulture Capitalist Behind The New Twitter
The Dark Comedy genre in cinema, literature, and theater
Corporate gatekeepers suppressing creativity in cinema
Kevin’s Art of Darkness episode on Stanley Kubrick
The casting and production process for Moderation
How Moderation is in the same Zeitgeist as the film Joker
Kevin’s observations on the decay of the Minneapolis/St. Paul metro

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Checkout Robert Stark’s Facebook page, Twitter, Instagram, Stark Truth TV, novel Vaporfornia, and in production documentary The Gospel of Gibson, and subscribe to his Substack.