Category Archives: Cities

Robert Stark talks to Scott Laudati about Cuba & Occupy Wall Street

Alternative Left, Alternative Right, Beatniks, Blade Runner, Cartrell Payne, Cities, comedy, Communism, Consumerism, counterculture, Crime, Cuba, Culture, Donald Trump, Economics, Film, gentrification, Hipsters, humor, income inequality, Literature, Los Angeles, Louis CK, New York, Occupy Wall Street, Oligarchy, Pablo D'Stair, Pilleater, Poetry, Police, Police Brutality, Police Corruption, Police State, Prison, Scott Laudati, Socialism, The Adventure Kid, Thom Young, Twin Peaks, Urbanism, Wall Street

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Robert Stark, co-host Pilleater, and Cartrell Payne(The Adventure Kid) talk to  Scott Laudati. Laudati is a writer and musician. He is the author of Play the Devil and has written a book of poetry Hawaiian Shirts in the Electric Chair.

Topics:

Intro: Scott Laudati – “A Girl From Greenwich Village pt. II
The translation of his book Play the Devil into Italian
The publishing process and the pros and cons of self publishing
Scott’s Upcoming book of poetry “Yeti Funeral,” a poem about his dog, poems about New York, and influences including the Beats and Jim Carroll
Observations about living in New York City; Williamsburg, Brooklyn
Experience living in LA, Downtown LA, Broadway and the Bradbury Building
Scott’s recent trip to Cuba, the embargo, the travel ban, the current laws, and misconceptions about Cuba
Scott’s involvement with Occupy Wall Street, Police Brutality, and his arrest
The rise in political violence
Movies, Comedy, and TV shows

Click Here to download!
Check Out Robert Stark’s Paintings!




 

Robert Stark interviews Santa Barbara Mayoral Candidate Maiza Hixson

aesthetics, Architecture, Art, Cartrell Payne, Cities, Culture, Economics, Elections, energy, Environment, Historic Preservation, income inequality, Maiza Hixson, Mass Transit, Pilleater, Police, Santa Barbara, The Adventure Kid, Urbanism, Water, Zoning

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Robert Stark, co-host Pilleater, and Cartrell Payne(The Adventure Kid) talk to art advocate and candidate for Santa Barbara Mayor Maiza Hixson. Maiza is the Former Chair of the Santa Barbara County Arts Commission and Co-Director, Curator, and Artist in Residence at SBCAST – Santa Barbara Center for Art, Science & Technology. Her campaign website is MaizaHixson.com.

Topics:

What inspired Maiza to run for mayor and her key issues
Making the city an arts destination and giving artist opportunities to network with local businesses
Economic niches in the art world and the need to support a variety of art
Giving artist a role in urban planning and city government
Solutions to the lack of affordable housing including rent control
The debate about housing density and height limits
The problem of empty storefronts on State Street, holding land owners accountable(ex. Transient Occupancy Tax), and Maiza’s proposal to use them for art
Ending the reliance on car transportation and creating a pedestrian friendly environment
The water shortage, water pollution, re-using reclaimed water, and the The Blue Economy
Transit, improving the bus network, and rail and monorail proposals
The City Budget

Click Here to download!
Check Out Robert Stark’s Paintings!




Robert Stark interviews Jeffery J. Smith

Aldous Huxley, Architecture, automation, Basic Income, capitalism, Cities, comedy, Corporate Welfare, Corporations, Dystopia, Eco-Cities, Economics, Ecotopia, energy, Environment, Futurism, Georgism, Hong Kong, humor, income inequality, Jeffery J. Smith, Literature, Mass Transit, Oligarchy, Perfect Timing, Politics, Portland, Post-scarcity economy, Robert Putnam, Science, Science Fiction, Singapore, Skyscrapers, social capital, Social Isolation, Socialism, Suburbia, Time Travel, Urbanism, Utopia, Water, Wealth, Zoning

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

JEFFERY J. SMITH published The Geonomist, which won a California GreenLight Award, has appeared in both the popular press (e.g.,TruthOut) and academic journals (e.g., USC’s “Planning and Markets”), been interviewed on radio and TV, lobbied officials, testified before the Russian Duma, conducted research (e.g., for Portland’s mass transit agency), and recruited activists and academics to Progress.org. A member of the International Society for Ecological Economics and of Mensa, he lives amidst the beauty of Northern California. Jeffery is currently Chief Editor at Progress.org.

Topics:

Jeffery Smith’s new science fiction novel Perfect Timing about time travel to a future society
How the book conveys the tone of Hitchhiker’s Guide, offers insights like Stranger in a Strange Land, and presents an upbeat alternative to Brave New World
The theme and implementation of a Basic Income in the future society
Why a basic income is necessary and ways to implement it
The artificial notion of the work week and the book The Overworked American
The Post-scarcity economy and how the surplus of wealth is concentrated in the top 1%
The theme of Utopia; Aldous Huxley’s utopian novel Island
The future society of Geotopia, the theme of Ecotopia, and the book by Ernest Callenbach
Ecological based economics; Herman Daly’s Steady State Economics
Geonomics, Georgism, and the land value tax
How a land value tax is different from a property tax and leads to more efficient land use
City Density—Friend of Trip Efficiency
The book Better NOT Bigger: How to Take Control of Urban Growth and Improve your Community
Jeffery Smith’s upcoming book on measuring the indicators of land value

Click Here to download!
This show is brought to you by Robert Stark’s Paintings!




Robert Stark and Richard Wolstencroft discuss The Film Dark City

1990's, aesthetics, Akira, Alex Proyas, alienation, Architecture, Art, Art Deco, Australia, Cinema, Cities, Count Isidor Fosco, Culture, Dark City, David Lynch, Dystopia, Edward Hopper, Film, Film Noire, Ghost in a Shell, Hollywood, horror, horror films, Jennifer Connelly, Metropolis, Mid-Century Modern, Mythology, Nihilism, Philosophy, Pilleater, Plato, Psychology, Retro Futurism, Richard Wolstencroft, Science Fiction, Steampunk, Surrealism, The Matrix, Utopia

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Robert Stark, co-host Pilleater, and Count Isidor Fosco, talk to filmmaker Richard Wolstencroft about the film Dark City(1998) directed by Alex Proyas.

Topics:

Australian director Alex Proyas, his background in Punk, and his style
Proyas’s films The Crow, Gods of Egypt, and Knowing
Proyas rebelling against the conformity of Hollywood Cinema
Comparisons to the Matrix which came out a year later and the theme of a meta reality
The setting of the City in a Space Ship disconnected from earth, the theme of parallel universes, and comparisons to the Truman Show
The role of “the Others” in the film; the metaphor for powerful people who manipulate reality from behind the scenes
How the others switch peoples memories and give them false memories; comparisons to Ghost in a Shell
The Gothic and Neo Noire Genres
The aesthetics of the film; Decopunk, Metropolis, Edward Hopper, and other influences
The irony of dystopian films is that they often succeed in creating utopian aesthetics
The films success in building upon the sense of mystery
The theme of man becoming a “God Like” figure restructuring society as a utopia
Plato’s allegory of the Cave and the Ship of Theseus
The symbolism of Shell Beach
The directors cut vs. the theatrical cut

Click Here to download!
This show is brought to you by Robert Stark’s Paintings!




Robert Stark interviews Gustavo Semeria about Argentina

aesthetics, Amren, Architecture, Argentina, Art, Art Deco, Buenos Aires, capitalism, Cities, Class, colonialism, Communism, Crime, Culture, democracy, Economics, education, Gustavo Semeria, Healthcare, History, Human Bio Diversity, Immigration, income inequality, Juan Peron, Latin America, Mass Transit, Middle Class, Multiculturalism, Music, Nationalism, Neon, Oligarchy, Socialism, Urbanism

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Robert Stark talks to Argentine author, businessman, former military officer, lawyer, and Professor of Social Science Gustavo Semeria

Topics:

Gustavo’s Spanish Language book Adiós a la Democracia about the role of Demographics in Democracy
Gustavo’s article for American Renaissance Argentina: A Mirror of Your Future
The early history of Argentina, the Nation’s Golden Age from the late 19th to early 20th Century, and the massive wave of European immigration
Buenos Aires as the Paris of South America and the extravagant architecture of the early 20th Century
The Art Deco Kavanagh building, Galerías Pacífico, and the Neon lit Lavalle Street
The Anglo-Argentine Tramways Company which built the Nation’s vast railway system and Buenos Aires’s Subway
Argentina’s demographic transformation, starting with internal migration from the North and later mass immigration from neighboring countries
The effects of mass immigration on infrastructure, healthcare, education, and crime
The decline of the Argentine Middle Class and growth in gated communities in the suburbs
Cultural changes; the decline in the Tango and Argentine Rock and popularity of foreign culture such as Cumbia
The parallels between Argentina’s situation and that of the United States
The Kirchners’ open immigration policy and concept of Patria Grande
The new president of Argentina Mauricio Macri
Latin America’s fluctuation between socialism and oligarchy
Juan Perón’s Third Way between Capitalism and Communism


Click Here to download!
This show is brought to you by Robert Stark’s Paintings!




Robert Stark talks to Count Isidor Fosco about creating New Retro Futurist Sub Cultures

1980's, 80's music, aesthetics, Alicia Silverstone, Alphaville, animation, Anime, Architecture, arcology, Art, Art Deco, Asian Aryanism, Asian Culture, Batman, Blade Runner, Cinema, Cities, Comic Books, Count Isidor Fosco, counterculture, Culture, Cyberpunk, Depeche Mode, Duran Duran, Europe, Film, Film Noire, Futurism, Helen Slater, Homosexuality, Identitarianism, Israel, Italo Disco, Japanese Culture, Kaze to Ki no Uta, Memes, Mid-Century Modern, Milo, Mishima A Life in Four Chapters, Music, New Retro Wave, Peter Sotos, Pilleater, Postmodernism, Retro Futurism, Sarah Michelle Geller, Sexuality, Steampunk, SWPL, The Crush, The Legend of Zelda, Toronto, Trolling, Urbanism, Vaporwave, Video Games, Will McBride, Winona Ryder, Yukio Mishima

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Robert Stark and co-host Pilleater talk to returning guest Count Isidor Fosco.

Topics:

Retro-Futurism and it’s sub-genres
Whether Retro-Futurism and fusing past genres can evolve organically or end up being a “cut and paste”
Merging an Aristocratic or Traditional Genre into a Futuristic one
How fusing genres is most effective when there is a distance in eras(ex. Art Deco and Cyberpunk, Baroque and 80’s Retro-Futurism)
How futurism overlaps with the archaic in architecture(ex.Arcology)
Steampunk; Victorian era Train Stations in London, the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele in Milan, and shopping centers inspired by European shopping arcades
The Toronto Eaton Centre in contrast with the Underground City in Montreal, which is more Retro-Futuristic
Why “Decopunk” Deserves to Be Bigger than Steampunk
The Art Deco revival during the New Wave Age
Batman: The Animated Series, Batman & Architecture, and Anton Furst’s visions for the Aesthetic Of Gotham City(1989)
Alicia Silverstone in Batman & Robin and playing piano in the film The Crush
The aesthetics of Mishima: a Life in Four Chapters and the manga Kaze to Ki no Uta
New Retro Wave, Italo Disco, Falco, and Alphaville’s Forever Young and Big In Japan
The “Vaporwave” Babylon Club from Scarface which was featured in Miami Nights 1984’s Early Summer
How we are in post-post modernism and must rebuild cultures from scratch
Subcultures based on ethnic and cultural identity; cultural and ethnic fusionism(ex.Asian Aryanism)
How the future will either be mass global homogenization or forming new cultures from scratch but there is no returning to the past
Asian and Israeli Aryanism as memes
Count Fosco’s hierarchy of fetishes

Click Here to download!
This show is brought to you by Robert Stark’s Paintings!




Robert Stark interviews Jack Ravenwood

1980's, 1990's, aesthetics, Anime, Architecture, Art, Asia, Asian Aryanism, Beatniks, capitalism, China, Cinema, Cities, Class, College, conformity, Conservatives, Consumerism, Culture, Cyberpunk, Deconstruction, Donald Trump, Economics, education, Film, Free Trade, Ghost in a Shell, Globalization, History, Hong Kong, Immigration, Jack Kerouac, Jack Ravenwood, Japan, Japanese Culture, Jean Baudrillard, Las Vegas, Literature, Martin Heidegger, Mid-Century Modern, Neoliberalism, Neon, New York, Paradise Theater, Philosophy, Pilleater, Robert Brenner, Ross Perot, Shenzhen, Skyscrapers, SWPL, Thomas Rinaldi, Time Square, Trans-Pacific Partnership, Urbanism, Wisconsin

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Robert Stark and co-host Pilleater talk to Jack Ravenwood. He is the author of Paradise Theater, a collection of short stories centered around the theme of the post-industrial American small city. He is also the main writer at Mean Street Cinema, a website dedicated to films from New York City in the 70’s and 80’s, as well as the co-founder of little ape press. He blogs at Foreigner Thoughts

Topics:

The setting of the book Paradise Theater in Jack’s home town West Allis, Wisconsin in the 1980’s and early 90’s
The Paradise Theatre movie house which the book was named for and featured on the cover
The Fairview Motors Sign which is featured on the back of the book; Mid-Century Road Signage
The cultural, political, and economic themes in the book
Allis-Chalmers closing in West Allis and the de-industrialization of the Midwest
Ross Perot’s campaign in 1992 against NAFTA, and Trump campaigning on trade issues
Jack’s Unz Review article Trump, JFK, and the Deep State
National Review Writer: Working-Class Communities ‘Deserve To Die
How the best case scenario for the US would be to carve out a niche in high end manufacturing that caters to China’s growing middle class
Jack’s new home Shenzhen, China which is a manufacturing power house, and new mega city built from scratch
Jack’s Mean Street Cinema site, his interest in Vintage New York City, and Robert Stark’s interviews with Thomas Rinaldi about New York Neon and Robert Brenner about his Time Square Tours
Jack’s observations about Hong Kong Neon and how Hong Kong Is Slowly Dimming Its Neon Glow
Jack’s future plan to document Neon in Hong Kong in either a book or blog
The culture of Hong Kong as a bridge between the east and west and it’s “relative autonomy”
Vertical living and how it is the norm for urban China for all classes
High density living isn’t inherently bad but it is necessary to have a high quality of culture to sustain it
Jack Kerouac’s The Town and the City
Conformity in Asian culture; authentic Asian culture vs. SWPL larping
Chinese Philosophy; the Tao Te Ching
The evolution of Western Philosophy; Deconstruction and selective deconstruction
Jean Baudrillard and the simulation


Click Here to download!
This show is brought to you by Robert Stark’s Paintings!




Thomas Rinaldi returns to talk about Neon

1960's, 1980's, aesthetics, Architecture, Argentina, Art, Art Deco, Asia, Blade Runner, Buenos Aires, Cities, Consumerism, Corporations, Culture, Economics, Futurism, gentrification, Historic Preservation, History, Hong Kong, Las Vegas, London, Los Angeles, Mid-Century Modern, Neon, New York, Philadelphia, Pilleater, Retro Futurism, Robert Brenner, San Francisco, Thomas Rinaldi, Time Square, Travel, Urbanism, Wildwood New Jersey

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Robert Stark and co-host Pilleater talk to returning guest Thomas Rinaldi. He is the author of New York Neon and blogs at nyneon.blogspot.com

Topics:

Thomas’s Tours of West Village’s Vintage Neon Signs, his Greenwich Village Neon Walking Tour, and how those areas have the highest concentration of surviving Neon in New York City
Thomas’s observation that Neon has declined in both corporate chain dominated, as well as lower income communities
How ironically in the 60’s Neon was synonymous with commercialization(ex. Simon & Garfunkel’s The Sound of Silence)
The association of Neon with 80’s Retro-Futurism(ex. Retrowave, Club NEON) and the irony that Neon hit rock bottom in the 80’s
The decline of Neon in Time Square, Robert Brenner’s Gritty Old Time Square Tours, and the few remnents including the West 43rd Garage and the McDonalds from the 80’s
Lights Out 2016: Signs We Lost That Year
The Colgate Clock in Jersey City, which has been LED’ed
Clock Towers Signs in New York including the Paramount Theatre, the Consolidated Edison Building, the Met Life Tower, and the Williamsburgh Savings Bank Tower
Soviet Neon Stars at the Kremlin and Neon in Communist Cuba
Williamsburg’s Domino Sugar Refinery redevelopment; the outlawing of waterfront signs in New York City
The C & H factory Sign in Crockett, California
Ghirardelli Square in San Francisco as one of the best examples of a renovated former industrial site
Georges Claude, the father of the commercialization of Neon
The popularity of Signs Inside
Fake Neon
Animated Neon Signs, the peak in the 50’s, and San Francisco’s “Coca~Cola” Sign
Bulb Signs which were proliferate in the 1920’s, and Robert’s observation that they were also popular with 90’s era Las Vegas Casinos
Wildwood, New Jersey Neon
Mid Century Road Signage; Route 66
Downtown LA; The LA Museum Of Neon Art
Neon in Buenos Aires, Argentina; The Art Deco Kavanagh building and Estadio Luna Park
Thomas’s observations from Stockholm and Amsterdam
How Neon is declining in both Mega Cities such as New York and London as well as the poorest cities in the developing world
Hong Kong Is Slowly Dimming Its Neon Glow


Click Here to download!
This show is brought to you by Robert Stark’s Paintings!




Robert Stark interviews Josh Alan Friedman

1960's, 1970's, 1980's, Adam Parfrey, Al Goldstein, Black Cracker, Black Culture, Blues, censorship, Cities, Class, counterculture, Crime, Culture, Dallas, Erotica, Feral House Books, Film, gentrification, History, Josh Alan Friedman, journalism, Literature, Long Island, Los Angeles, Luke Ford, Media, Music, New York, Pilleater, Political Correctness, Pornography, Race Relations, Robert Brenner, Sexuality, Texas, The American South, Time Square

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Robert Stark and co-host Pilleater talk to writer and musician Josh Alan Friedman. He blogs at Black Cracker Online

Topics:

Intro Song: “Thanksgiving at McDonald’s in Times Square” by Josh Alan Friedman
Josh’s book Black Cracker about his experience going to the last segregated Black school in New York
Recovering lost memories from 1962 when Josh was in 1st Grade
The account of Josh being lynched in the book
The location of Glen Cove, Long Island, Black Shanty Towns, and the Gold Coast Era
Reactions to the book
Race relations in New York City in the 70’s, school busing, and the Bernie Goetz incident
Josh’s move to Dallas, Texas where his music career took off
Josh’s interest in Blues music, White adaptation of the Blues in the 60’s, the 80’s Blues Revival in Texas, and decline in interest among Blacks
Josh’s solo guitar act
Openings for bands including Huey Lewis and the News, War, Johnny Winter, and Bad Company
Josh’s book Tales of Times Square about Time Square in the 70’s; Robert Stark’s interview with Robert Brenner about his Gritty Old Time Square Tours
Josh’s observation that Broadway in Downtown LA reminds him of old Time Square
Josh’s interview with Luke Ford
Josh’s experience working for Al Goldstein’s Screw Magazine
Josh’s book I, Goldstein, which is a co-written autobiography about Al Goldstein
Josh’s book When Sex Was Dirty
Rules for Journalist; “never pay for an interview”
Book Publishing; the era of “the gate keeper,” independent publishing houses such as Feral House, and self-publishing today
The effects of the internet on musicians


Click Here to download!
This show is brought to you by Robert Stark’s Paintings!




Robert Stark, Pilleater, & Richard Wolstencroft discuss Ghost in a Shell

1980's, aesthetics, Akira, Alternative Right, animation, Anime, Architecture, Asia, Asian Aryanism, Asian Culture, Blade Runner, China, Cinema, Cities, Culture, Cyberpunk, Dystopia, Film, Futurism, Ghost in a Shell, Globalization, Hong Kong, Liberalism, Martin Heidegger, Mishima A Life in Four Chapters, Music, Nationalism, Paul Schrader, Philosophy, Pilleater, Political Correctness, Psychology, Retro Futurism, Richard Wolstencroft, Scarlet Johansson, Science, Science Fiction, Sexuality, Synthwave, technology, Transhumanism, Travel, Vaporwave, William Gibson, Yukio Mishima

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Robert Stark, co-host Pilleater, and director Richard Wolstencroft discuss the new film Ghost in a Shell based on the 1995 anime.

Topics:

How it compares to the original film
The plot and characters
The film’s aesthetics, 1980’s retro-futurism, holograms, and cyberpunk
The synth soundtrack
The Robot Geisha scene
The fictional  futuristic Asian city filmed in Hong Kong
Richard Wolstencroft’s experience in Hong Kong and observations on Asian culture
Comparisons to the films Akira and Blade Runner, and William Gibson’s Neuromancer
The Anime Right
The “white washing” controversy about a White actress playing an Asian role
Scarlet Johansson
Takeshi Kitano
Themes of Trans-humanism and Cybernetics
Ray Kurzweil’s Wildest Prediction: Nanobots Will Plug Our Brains Into the Web
The Philosophy of Mind, ‎Gilbert Ryle’s Ghost in the machine, and Arthur Koestler’s Ghost in the machine
Hubert Dreyfus’s views on artificial intelligence influenced by Martin Heidegger
Political messages in the film
“Ghost in a Shell” as a metaphor for the rootless atomized society where people lack any real identity
Richard’s upcoming film The Second Coming Volume II


Click Here to download!
This show is brought to you by Robert Stark’s Paintings!