Category Archives: counterculture

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 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 interviews artist Gio Pennacchietti

1960's, 1970's, 1980's, 1990's, aesthetics, Alternative Right, American Culture, Architecture, Art, Art Deco, Art Nouveau, Baby Boomers, Bimbo Ubermensch, BLAUERGEIST!, Canada, capitalism, Catholicism, Christianity, Cities, Class, Classical Liberalism, Coach Black Pill, Communism, Consumerism, counterculture, Crime, Culture, Diversity, Donald Trump, Economics, England, France, Francis Nally, Futurism, Gio Pennacchietti, Globalization, Gnosticism, History, Immigration, Incels, income inequality, Italian Futurism, Jason Reza Jorjani, Journey to Vapor Island, Las Vegas, Leftism, Liberalism, Literature, Malls, materialism, Matthew Pegas, Media, Mid-Century Modern, Middle Class, Millennials, Morality, Multiculturalism, Nationalism, NEETs, neo-tribalism, Neoliberalism, Neon, New York, Nietzsche, Philosophy, Pilleater, Police, Police Brutality, Police State, Political Correctness, Politics, Postmodernism, Prison, Prison Industrial Complex, Prison Rape, Psychology, Religion, Retro Futurism, Silicon Valley, Socialism, South Africa, Soviet Union, Surrealism, Synthwave, technology, Toronto, Traditionalism, Vaporwave

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Robert Stark and Matt Pegas talk to Gio Pennacchietti about aesthetic, cultural, and social trends. Gio Pennacchietti is a social impressionist painter and writer from the “first post-national country” (Canada), Gonzo Philosopher, and failed academic. Check out his YouTube channel GiantArt Productions, Instagram, writings at Substack and WordPress, and Twitter.

Topics:

Gio’s review of Robert Stark’s Art: The Fauvist Vaporwave Interiors
20th Century aesthetic genres, retrofuturism, post-modernism, late 20th century pop art, trends in nostalgia, and the psychology of hauntology
Political symbolism in aesthetics: 2010s minimalism, Neoliberal Kitsch, Sanford Biggers’ statue in Rockefeller Plaza, the de-evolution of Trump’s aesthetics, and the lack of a cohesive aesthetic trend for the future
Robert’s article on Pan-Enclavism and how it relates to Canada as a post-national nation
A critique of the Intellectual Dark Web
The need for a new bohemian/creative movement comparable to the Vienna Secession
Gio’s interest in the after prison Youtubers
Gio’s artistic background, influences, and art as a spiritual endeavor

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

Robert Stark interviews Kevin Kautzman

Academia, acting, aesthetics, Aleister Crowley, American Culture, Aristocratic Individualism, Art, Beatniks, BLAUERGEIST!, Blue Velvet, Camille Paglia, capitalism, Catholicism, censorship, Charles Bukowski, Christianity, Cinema, Class, College, comedy, conformity, Conspiracy Theories, Control, coronavirus, counterculture, Crime, Culture, David Lynch, Drugs, Economics, England, Film, History, Homosexuality, humor, Internet, Ireland, Kevin Kautzman, Liberalism, Libertarianism, Marquis de Sade, Mexico, Morality, New York, Nietzsche, Occultism, Oscar Wilde, Philosophy, Poetry, Political Correctness, Politics, Psychology, relationships, Religion, Sexuality, Social Media, social status, Socialism, Stanley Kubrick, Suburbia, Surrealism, Theatre, Travel, Twin Peaks, Wealth, William S. Burroughs

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Robert Stark talks to playwright Kevin Kautzman about his play MODERATION, playwright Oscar Wilde, and author William S. Burroughs. Check out Kevin’s podcast Art of Darkness, web series Money Shot Show, and follow him on Twitter.

Topics:

The online premier of the latest iteration of MODERATION, a dark comedy about social media moderators
Kevin’s play Dream of Perfect Sleep
Oscar Wilde: The Love That Dare Not Speak Its Name
Oscar Wilde’s political views and philosophy of aestheticism, his prison letter De Profundis, and notable quotes
William S. Burroughs: Liberalism with a Gun
The Beat Generation
The economic and political mechanisms of the arts
The artist’s legacy within the framework of cancel culture
Upcoming podcasts on Stanley Kubrick, Charles Bukowski, and Ernest Hemmingway

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Checkout Robert Stark’s Facebook page, Twitter, Instagram, Stark Truth TV, novel Journey to Vapor Island, and in production documentary The Gospel of Gibson.

Robert Stark catches up with Logo Daedalus in the simulation

2020 Riots, American Culture, Andrew Yang, automation, Basic Income, Beatniks, capitalism, comedy, Communism, Consumerism, coronavirus, Corporations, counterculture, Culture, Donald Trump, Economics, History, humor, Indian Bronson, Jack Kerouac, Jean Baudrillard, Literature, Logo Daedalus, Matt Pegan, Matthew Pegas, Media, Michel Houellebecq, Morality, Neoliberalism, Philosophy, Police, Politics

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Robert Stark and Matt Pegan talk to Logo Daedalus about the current political climate and whether there’s any historical significance and deeper philosophical meaning to all this. Logo is the author of Selfie, Suicide: or Cairey Turnbull’s Blue Skiddoo and you can follow him on Twitter.

Topics:

The different online tribes and how the weakest are based on ideology
Ideology as a pavlovian learned response
Thoughts on the protests, civil unrest, and Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone
The Woke Capital phenomenon, and why Logo thinks it’s more of an advertisement investment rather than political agenda
Why pointing out moral hypocrisy is an ineffective political strategy
The significance of Iconoclasm
How America is an economic zone, all politics are consumer choices, and Americans are tourists
Baudrillard’s concept of current events as part of the simulation
Kojève and the End of history
The need for a post establishment world view
How building communities, creative endeavors, and independent institutions are more important than politics
The need for neo-mercantilism as an alternative to neo-liberalism
The animalization of American life (future of humans as pets)
Why the Boiling frog theory is more likely than the collapse (World will be same but worse after ‘banal’ virus, says Houellebecq)
How the police will be co-opted into the woke agenda rather than defunded
Nathan for You and what makes effective satire
The Kerouac Pill
Logo’s upcoming book inspired by the Canterbury Tales

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Checkout Robert Stark’s Facebook page, Twitter, and Instagram




Robert Stark interviews Jack from The Perfume Nationalist

 Angelo Badalamenti, 1980's, 1990's, 80's music, aesthetics, alienation, Alternative Left, American Culture, Architecture, Art, Bernie Sanders, Camille Paglia, capitalism, censorship, Cinema, Cities, Class, Consumerism, counterculture, Culture, David Lynch, Donald Trump, Fashion, Film, Freedom of Speech, History, Hollywood, Homosexuality, income inequality, Las Vegas, Madonna, Malls, Marquis de Sade, materialism, Matt Pegan, Matthew Pegas, Music, Nationalism, Neoliberalism, Neon, Philosophy, Political Correctness, Politics, Postmodernism, Sexuality, social status, Surrealism, Texas, TFW NO GF, The Perfume Nationalist, True Stories, Twin Peaks, Wealth

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Robert Stark and Matt Pegan talk to Jack from The Perfume Nationalist podcast. Check out Jack on Twitter.

Topics:

Nationalism as an aesthetic brand, selling perfume and soap opera visions to the right
Re-appropriating “queer culture”
Camille Paglia
Trump as a performance art aesthetic brand despite his standard neoliberal policies
Beauty equality vs. an upward value of aesthetic excellence
The aspirational quality of 80s aesthetics
How 2010s neoliberal minimalism conceals wealth and power while erasing history
The elite charade of fake bohemianism
How to time travel with perfume
Las Vegas as the last frontier of scented opulent public spaces
Jack’s affinity for 80s pop icon Madonna
Jack’s defense of the artistic integrity of Lena Dunham
David Lynch’s success at synthesizing surrealist art, perfume adds, and nighttime soap
Jack’s Perfume recommendations
TFW NO GF

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Checkout Robert Stark’s Facebook page, Twitter, Instagram, Stark Truth TV, and novel Journey to Vapor Island




Catching up with Matt Pegan in Quarantine

alienation, Alt Center, Alternative Left, Alternative Right, Architecture, automation, Basic Income, Bernie Sanders, Cities, Conservatives, coronavirus, Corporations, counterculture, Culture, David Cole, Donald Trump, Dragon Day, Economics, education, Elections, Healthcare, Hollywood, Immigration, Incels, income inequality, Joe Biden, Journey to Vapor Island, Los Angeles, Malls, Matt Pegan, Matthew Pegas, Media, Mental illness, Music, Nationalism, NEETs, Politics, Psychology, Sexuality, social capital, Social Isolation, social status, social trust, Socialism, TFW NO GF, The Perfume Nationalist, Urbanism, Vice

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Matt Pegan returns to talk with Robert Stark about the social impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and some of their upcoming projects. Follow Matt’s new account on Twitter.

Topics:

Why Matt decided to go under his real name
The new Weird Right cultural scene, with more freedom to be creative without guilt by association, and cross pollination with the Dirtbag Left
The TFW NO GF documentary
The impact of the pandemic on mental health
How the quarantine proves the value of leisure and whether it will spark a cultural renaissance
Transitioning into a new era after a long era of stagnation since the last election
How Covid-19 narratives are creating new political paradigms
How the quarantine vindicates nationalist policies with a safety net
The political impact of States re-opening
The pandemic’s long term impact on social bonds
The economic impact of the pandemic and how inequality will likely get much worse
Robert’s upcoming sequel to his novel Journey to Vapor Island and Matt’s novel Dragon Day(excerpt from Terror House)
Robert and Matt’s LA nostalgia series with David Cole(Part One: Westside Pavilion)
Will public spaces survive the pandemic?


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Checkout Robert Stark’s Facebook page, Twitter, Instagram, Stark Truth TV, and novel Journey to Vapor Island




The Alt-Center, Starkianism and the Demystification of Social Capital

(((Supply))), Aesthetic Socialism, aesthetics, Alicia Silverstone, Alt Center, Alternative Left, Alternative Right, Architecture, Aristocratic Individualism, Art, Asian Aryanism, Basic Income, capitalism, Cities, Class, counterculture, Culture, demographics, Economics, gentrification, Giovanni Dannato, Hipsters, Homosexuality, James O'Meara, Journey to Vapor Island, Liberalism, Literature, Luke Ford, Matthew Pegas, NEETs, neo-tribalism, Neon, Philosophy, Pilleater, Politics, Psychology, Radical Center, Retro Futurism, Sexuality, Shane Eide, social capital, Social Darwinism, social status, SWPL, Third Position, Urbanism, Utopia

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Originally Published by Shane Eide on Emerging Hermit

There’s something to be said for those in whom the sign of the times less offers an omen and more flashes across their periphery like a neon sign at an amusement park.

In 2019, the assumed excesses of prefixing an ‘Alt’ to any political fringe is virtually guaranteed to incite misunderstanding, scrutiny and suspicion. In that sense, the Alt-Center is a shameless affair. However, it isn’t shameless merely because of its ideas – which are eclectic – but rather, because of its ultimately strategic knowledge of where it sits within the dissident sphere.

The impending antiquation of older ways of thinking about politics is not for them an indication that some inevitable new path will soon announce itself, for which they will conveniently be the vanguard. Rather, this antiquation is for them an occasion to consider the possibility of creating something wholly new whose expression may unfold in ways as varied as one could imagine.

Journalist, artist, novelist and host of Stark Truth Radio, Robert Stark, has built something of a salon for Alt-Center ideas on his show, where, as of late, one may hear talk of Starkianism – existing in its own corner of Alt-Centrism. Roughly put, Alt-Centrism is where ideas of the dissident right and dissident left meet, and is itself comprised of concepts such as Aesthetic Socialism, Aristocratic Radicalism and Alt-Urbanism.

Continue reading The Alt-Center, Starkianism and the Demystification of Social Capital →

Robert Stark talks about Esoteric Aesthetic Power Structures

1980's, 80's music, aesthetics, Aldous Huxley, Aleister Crowley, alienation, Alternative Right, American Culture, Archeofuturism, Architecture, Aristocratic Individualism, Art Deco, Aspergers Syndrome, California, Cinema, Cities, Class, Conspiracy Theories, counterculture, Culture, David Lynch, demographics, Donald Trump, Economics, Enlightenment, Esoteric Hollywood, Film, Futurism, History, Hollywood, Internet, Jay Dyer, John C. Portman Jr, Journey to Vapor Island, Los Angeles, Matthew Pegas, Music, Occultism, Oligarchy, Philosophy, Psychology, Retro Futurism, Science Fiction, Social Isolation, Surrealism, Urbanism, Utopia, Vaporwave

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Robert Stark and  Matthew Pegas talk about the intersection of politics, culture, and aesthetics and power dynamics. Check out Jay’s Analysis and Jay Dyer’s Full Lecture at Mercado Sagrado Fair on Stark Truth TV.

Topics:

The Mercado Sagrado Fair at Paramount Ranch in Malibu
The Horseshoe theory and contrast between the Bobo culture and dissident right scene
Jay Dyer’s book Esoteric Hollywood and past shows on Esoteric Hollywood and David Lynch
Conspiracy theories as an attempt to understand the mechanisms of power
Deciphering the realities of power
The root of paranoia in feeling powerless and not being in control of one’s destiny
Edward Bernays’ use of psychology, advertisement, and media to subject the masses to the will of the elite
Aldous Huxley and the Fabian Socialist
The oligarchy, traits selected by global capitalism, and whether a meritocracy can address those problems
Aleister Crowley’s Aristocratic Radicalism, and how he is an icon to elites, counter-cultures, and dissidents who want to reinvent society
Robert Stark’s novel Journey to Vapor Island, esoteric occultist themes, and Roger Blackstone as a counter “illuminati”
Dyer’s view that social isolation is engineered vs. factors such as demographic change, suburban sprawl, and technology
Social isolation leading to a rise in radical non conformity, political dissidents, cultural innovation, and online communities and sub-cultures
Secretive central planning vs a lack of utopian vision
Smart cities and Agenda 21 hysteria about smart growth
Ancient occultist aesthetics in 80’s Films, New Wave, Retro Futurism, and the Alt-sphere
Occultist Art Deco Archeo-Futuristic and 80’s Post Modernist Architecture in LA
Sci Fi Architecture: John C. Portman’s Hyatt Regency in San Francisco inspired by the 1935 science fiction film Things to Come.
The necessity of social cohesion for creating grande aesthetic visions

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This show is brought to you by Robert Stark’s Paintings, Stark Truth TV, and his novel Journey to Vapor Island




Robert Stark talks to Joshua Zeidner about Bobos in Paradise

1960's, 1980's, 1990's, aesthetics, Alt Center, Alternative Right, American Culture, Art, Baby Boomers, capitalism, Cities, Class, Consumerism, Corporations, counterculture, Culture, David Brooks, Economics, Environment, Fashion, gentrification, Hipsters, History, Immigration, income inequality, Joshua Zeidner, Labor Movement, Leftism, Liberalism, materialism, Matthew Pegas, Middle Class, Millennials, Morality, Neoliberalism, New York, Religion, Silicon Valley, Urbanism, Wealth

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Robert Stark and Matthew Pegas talk to Joshua Zeider about the cultural phenomenon and book by David Brooks Bobos in Paradise: The New Upper Class and How They Got There.

Topics:

Bobos as Bourgeois Bohemians or Capitalist Hippies
Concepts that emerged after the French Revolution
How all three of us overlap with this group(interconnected yet outside)
Those who know the inner workings of the privileged class yet not quite in it
David Brooks, his political ideology, and Mid Atlantic old wealth culture
The Boomers’ transition in values
How the elites reinvented their cultural image
The blurring of cultural class as a mask for growing economic inequality
How Bobo culture coincided with the Neoliberal restructuring of our economy
Silicon Valley’s “socially conscious” cutthroat capitalism
Fake social climbing, virtual signaling, and self appointed moral leadership
Historic parallels to using Christianity to justify slavery and imperialism
Paying high prices for cheap looking merchandise
Hipsters as the Millennial offshoot of the Bobos
Political dissidents and cultural outsiders’ fascination with the culture of past elites
Alt-Subcultures and Alt-Urbanism as positive alternatives to Bobo culture

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This show is brought to you by Robert Stark’s Paintings, Stark Truth TV, and his novel Journey to Vapor Island