Category Archives: Cities

Robert Stark, Rabbit, & Alex von Goldstein discuss Retro Futurism

August 24, 201680's music, aesthetics, Alex von Goldstein, Architecture, Art, Art Deco, Cities, Culture, Cyberpunk, Film, Futurism, John C. Portman Jr, Las Vegas, Malls, Neon, New Retro Wave, Rabbit, Retro Futurism, Vaporwaverobertstark

Topics include:

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 Neon Lighting 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)

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Robert Stark, Rabbit, & Alex von Goldstein talk about Future Trends & Scenarios

August 8, 2016"1984", aesthetics, Alex von Goldstein, American Culture, Basic Income, California, Cities, Class, Conservatives, Conspiracy Theories, Crime, Culture, Donald Trump, Dystopia, Economics, Environment, Eugenics, Film, Futurism, Hipsters, Immigration, income inequality, James Howard Kunstler, Negative Income Tax, New Urbanism, Oligarchy, overdevelopment, Overpopulation, Peak Oil, Police State, Politics, Prison, Rabbit, Radical Center, Science Fiction, Soft Totalitarianism, Suburbia, Traditionalism, Transhumanism, Urbanism, US Prison System, Utopia, Wealth, welfare staterobertstark

Topics include:

The conservative concept of self sufficiency( ex.working for a corporation, driving a car, and owning a home, in the suburbs) vs. the traditionalist one(ex.growing your own food), and the futurist one
The traditionalist Larpy goal of a society where everyone grows their own food, and how local agriculture should be encouraged, but it is unrealistic for everyone to be involved in it
The growth of the suburbs, from the original Railroad suburbs of the 19th Century, to the post war car oriented suburban sprawl
How small towns that have access to both urbanism and wilderness are the ideal place to live for those who can afford them(ex. Marin County, Palo Alto, and East Bay Hills in the SF Bay Area, and parts of North Jersey)
New Urbanism, which seeks to re-create walkable communities out of car oriented suburbs
James Howard Kunstler‘s theory that Peak oil will lead to the death of suburbia and re-creation of localized communities
Future predictions that Peak Oil will lead to a Mad Max style collapse
Conspiracy Theories, the theory that the elites want chaos vs the frog in the boiling pan theory, and Alex’s comment that the elite’s have a short time frame
A Futurist Utopian model that’s ecologically sustainable, where robots do all the work, and that has a Basic income
How a basic income could create a utopia if implemented the right way, but could also be abused by the elites
How the key problem with society is that the elites control to much of the wealth, and the underclass control a large share of the population, and how to remedy that
Mike Judge’s Idiocracy
Transhumanism
The Nineteen Eighty-Four Police State Scenario
The US Prison System, and how inhumane condition only make people more dangerous
How we have open border combined with a surveillance state
How terrorism, “hate speech”, and the underage sex hysteria have been used to justify complete surveillance of the internet
How every political ideology is tied to a cultural aesthetic
Our upcoming show on Retrofuturism, and how Retrofuturism is the perfect aesthetic for Radical Centrism, because they are both based on fusionism

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Robert Stark interviews Adam Hengels about Market Urbanism

August 1, 2016Adam Hengels, aesthetics, Architecture, Chicago, Cities, Economics, education, Environment, Historic Preservation, income inequality, Los Angeles, Market Urbanism, Mass Transit, New Urbanism, New York, Phoenix, Rabbit, San Francisco, Santa Barbara, Skyscrapers, Suburbia, Urbanism, Zoningrobertstark

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 and Rabbit talk about their trip to Las Vegas

June 21, 2016aesthetics, American Culture, Architecture, capitalism, Cities, Class, Consumerism, Corporations, Culture, Economics, Futurism, Gambling, hedonism, Hipsters, Historic Preservation, Las Vegas, Neon, Photography, Police State, Rabbit, Travel, Vicerobertstark

Rabbit blogs at AltLeft.com

Topics include:

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

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More Photos from Trip:

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Robert Stark interviews Thomas Rinaldi about New York Neon

May 9, 2016aesthetics, American Culture, Architecture, Art, Art Deco, Blade Runner, Cinema, Cities, Corporations, Culture, Environment, Film, Film Noire, Futurism, Historic Preservation, History, Las Vegas, Mid-Century Modern, Neon, New York, Rabbit, San Francisco, Science, Thomas Rinaldi, Vicerobertstark

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

Topics include:

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

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Robert Stark interviews Giovanni Dannato

April 28, 2016aesthetics, Alex von Goldstein, Alternative Right, American Culture, Anti-Natalism, Architecture, Bernie Sanders, capitalism, censorship, Cities, Class, conformity, Consumerism, Culture, Donald Trump, Economics, Environment, Eugenics, Europe, Gender, Giovanni Dannato, Immigration, Introversion, Overpopulation, Personality Types, Political Correctness, Politics, Psychology, Radical Center, Sexuality, social status, Socialism, The Redpill, Travel, Wealthrobertstark

Robert Stark and co-host Alex von Goldstein talk to Giovanni Dannato. He blogs at Colony of Commodus and is the author of A Kingdom For the Introvert.

Topics include:

Why he describes himself as a Neo-Progressive
How he shares many views with those who call themselves Neo-Reactionaries, but does not consider himself one of them
Caste systems in modern societies
A Fair and Just Caste System
Sorting Out the Castes: Easy Disqualifiers
Sexenomics
The problem Marxism and Capitalism have in common.
The importance of controlling who controls wealth
Market Demand Must Be Regulated
What Money Rewards, We Get More Of
The Middle Class: Caught In Between
Introversion
The Deep divides in American culture
How Trump and Sanders Are Part of the Same Political Movement
How dissident and populist movements are no longer prole movements, and are attracting many dissafected SWPL’s
The Need For Grandeur
The effects of aesthetic uniformity on the human spirit in architecture and urban planning
Overpopulation Altruism Is Misguided

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Robert Stark interviews Ray Sawhill

February 19, 20161980's, aesthetics, Anarchism, Architecture, Art, Art Deco, Bill Kaufman, Bioregionalism, censorship, Cities, comedy, Conservatives, Cuisine, Culture, decentralization, Environment, Erotica, Exposed, Film, hedonism, Hipsters, Historic Preservation, Homosexuality, humor, Immigration, James Howard Kunstler, Jock Sturges, journalism, Literature, localism, New Urbanism, New York, Overpopulation, Photography, Political Correctness, Politics, Polly Frost, Pornography, Ray Sawhill, Roger Scruton, Santa Barbara, Sex and the City, Sexuality, Skyscrapers, Suburbia, Taxi Driver, Theatre, Travelrobertstark

Ray Sawhill worked as an arts and culture reporter for Newsweek. He has also written for Salon.com and blogs at Uncouth Reflections as Paleo Retiree. He splits his time between New York and Santa Barbara.

Topics include:

How Robert and Ray both have personal connections to Santa Barbara and how the city is almost too idyllic
Crime Fiction Novelist Ross Macdonald who’s work captures Santa Barbara
Santa Barbara as a place with strict zoning laws that was modeled after Andalusia in Spain
The contrast between life in Santa Barbara and New York City
How New York City has changed in Ray’s time there in the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s
How Cuisine is the one area that has seen increased innovation in New York
Ray’s cameo in the film Exposed set in New York in 1983 staring Nastassja Kinski
How films such as Exposed and Taxi Driver are documentaries for New York in that era
The new peculiarly shaped skyscrapers going up in New York today
“See through buildings” where wealthy Foreigners are buying up real estate in New York and leaving them empty
How Ray is drawn to architecture because it is art you can experience and changes the world in a way that regular art doesn’t
How most of the general public has little input and interest in architecture
How places without zoning laws tend to lack any aesthetic value
How the main rule in urbanism is not to do anything that harms the city
Art Deco and how it succeeds in bringing tradition and modernity into one
Architectual Revivalism which seeks to recreate older forms of architecture
Robert Stark’s Artwork
Ray’s work at Newsweek as a reporters covering art, culture, literature, film, and theatre
How Ray’s most significant interviews were with Writers Philip, Roth, and John Updike, filmmakers Francis Coppola, and Robert Altman and Architect Christopher Alexander
How conservatives tend to avoid culture and leave that domain to the left
English Philosopher Roger Scruton as a model for a cultured conservative
Front Porch Anarchist Bill Kauffman
New Urbanism
The The Retro Cocktail and Locavore movements
James Howard Kunstler
Ray’s involvement with Environmentalism and Bioregional Anarchism
How the environmental movement abandoned the overpopulation issue due to political correctness and mass immigration
The Alternative Right
How the real political divide is between globalism and decentralization
Cultural trends and how Ray views himself as a cultural radar
The trend towards a focus on muscles for young men and men are more self-conscious about their bodies
The value of pleasure and leisure
Erotica and the debate about what’s art and what’s pornography
Controversial nude photographer Jock Sturges, who Ray interviewed
How society is a taking contradictory paths towards lewdness and prudishness
Students Still Sweat, They Just Don’t Shower
How having taste and style has become equated with homosexuality
Young women moving to New York City because of Sex and the City
“Sex Scenes” which is a raunchy, satirical audio entertainment that Ray created with his wife playwright Polly Frost. Check it out.

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Robert Stark interviews Rabbit about Art, Architecture, & Culture

February 12, 2016aesthetics, Alternative Left, Alternative Right, American Culture, Architecture, Art, capitalism, Cities, Culture, Futurism, Historic Preservation, Las Vegas, Mid-Century Modern, Neon, Rabbit, Robert Lindsay, Suburbiarobertstark

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

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

January 5, 20161980's, 80's music, aesthetics, American Culture, Beverly Hills, Beverly Hills High, Blade Runner, California, capitalism, Charles Lincoln, Cinema, Cities, Consumerism, Culture, Diversity, Dystopia, Economics, Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Film, Futurism, Gambling, hedonism, Immigration, Los Angeles, Malls, materialism, Mexico, Music, Neon, overdevelopment, Overpopulation, Pornography, Robert Lindsay, Ronald Reagan, Science Fiction, Sexuality, Suburbia, The Hunger Games, The Porn Industryrobertstark

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