Category Archives: Silicon Valley

Robert Stark interviews DECAY about Politics & Urbanism

1980's, 80's music, aesthetics, Alt Center, Alternative Left, Alternative Right, American Culture, Architecture, arcology, Basic Income, Berkeley, Brandon Adamson, California, capitalism, Cities, City-State System, Culture, DECAY, demographics, Donald Trump, Economics, Environment, Futurism, gentrification, Healthcare, Immigration, Italian Futurism, Lafayette CA, Leftism, Liberalism, Libertarianism, Malls, Mass Transit, Meta Politics, misanthropy, Monterey CA, Music, Nationalism, New Retro Wave, New Urbanism, New York, Oakland, Orinda CA, Overpopulation, Political Correctness, Politics, Retro Futurism, San Francisco, Santa Cruz, Seattle, Silicon Valley, Socialism, South Africa, Space Travel, Suburbia, Synthwave, technology, The Black Pill, Third Way Economics, Traditionalism, Urbanism, Walnut Creek CA, Wilderness

Check out Decay’s blog, his writings for Brandon Adamson’s AltLeft.com, and Twitter profile.

Topics:

The Orientation of D E C A Y’s Political Views
DECAY’s outlook on human dynamics can be described as “right-wing”, but without stereotypical “right-wing” stances, such as laissez-faire free-market economics or moral traditionalism
DECAY’s left Wing stances on environmental and public health regulations, worker and consumer protections, and a social safety net
Alt-Apoliticism
Meta Politics
The Bearer of “Trad” News
A post American perspective
Futurism and technological progress
Predicting Future Trends
Independent City States
Where Should One Live?
Urban neighborhoods, Sreetcar Suburbs, Retrofitted Suburbs, Small Towns, College Towns, and the reemergence of the village model, where people live in close proximity to where they work, shop and recreate
Growing up in the San Francisco Bay Area and thoughts on the region’s cities, suburbs, and wilderness
The need for a balance between urbanism and wilderness
Retro Futurism and an affinity for 80’s Synthwave

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




Transcript of interview:

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Robert Stark interviews Linh Dinh

American Culture, Asia, Asian Culture, California, Cambodia, China, Cities, Consumerism, Corporations, Culture, demographics, Donald Trump, Drugs, Economics, Europe, Free Trade, Germany, Globalization, Healthcare, Immigration, Imperialism, income inequality, Islam, James Howard Kunstler, Linh Dinh, Mass Transit, Photography, Poetry, Silicon Valley, Social Isolation, Suburbia, Travel, Urbanism, Vietnam, War

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Linh Dinh is a writer and poet. Check out his articles at The Unz Review.

Topics:

Linh’s photo journal book Postcards from the End of America
Americas economic decline and de-industrialization
Phony statistics about economic recovery
America Cannot be Great Again
On Nationalism
A Common Culture Makes the Nation
Germany’s migrant crisis
The rise of China as an economic superpower
The Chinese diaspora in Southeast Asia
Rolling Into Cambodia
Cambodia’s Illegal Immigrants from Vietnam
Alley Culture, Zoning Laws and Anomic Americans
Doped Up Nation
Linh’s Poetry
Linh’s upcoming project the Obscured American which is a series of interviews

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




Robert Stark interviews Architect Adam Mayer

1960's, 1970's, 1980's, 1990's, Adam Mayer, aesthetics, Architecture, arcology, Art Deco, Asia, Brutalism, California, Chicago, China, Cities, Culture, Environment, Historic Preservation, income inequality, James Howard Kunstler, John C. Portman Jr, Lafayette CA, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Los Gatos CA, Malls, Mass Transit, Mid-Century Modern, Mount Diablo, New Urbanism, Orinda CA, Postmodernism, Retro Futurism, San Francisco, Santa Cruz, Silicon Valley, Skyscrapers, Sonja Trauss, Suburbia, Urbanism, Walnut Creek CA, Wealth, Wilderness, Zoning

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Adam Mayer is an architect based out of San Francisco. Check out his Twitter, Instagram, and Architectural Portfolio.

Topics:

Growing up in Los Gatos which is a small town on the edge of the Silicon Valley
Studying architecture at USC and observations on LA
Art Deco and Mid Century Modern Architecture in LA
New Urbanism and Retrofitting suburbia
The Bay Area Housing Crisis and the importance of developing smartly while protecting greenbelts
How ugly architecture leads to NIMBY sentiment and why the YIMBY movement needs to address aesthetics
California Senate bill would force more dense housing near transit hubs
Working on a redevelopment project at the Walnut Creek BART Station
San Francisco’s SOMA district’s new skyline
San Francisco’s new Transbay Terminal
Architect John C. Portman; The Embarcadero Center and Hyatt in San Francisco and the extension of the urban realm to the inside
Architect Jon Jerde; his projects including Westside Pavilion and the Universal City Walk in LA, Horton Plaza in San Diego, and the Wynn and Bellagio in Las Vegas
Architect William Pereira who designed the Trans-America Pyramid in San Francisco
Brutalism
1980’s architecture and whether it will make a comeback
Frank Gehry
Modernism vs. Postmodernism and where to draw the boundary
How current architecture lacks one cohesive aesthetic
Adam’s work as an architect in China, master planned projects, and observations on architecture in China
Winner Take All? Richard Florida’s ‘New Urban Crisis’
How to accommodate families in cities

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




Robert Stark talks to Kevin Lynn about his Ad Campaign against H-1B Visas on SF’s BART

Bernie Sanders, California, Corporations, Donald Trump, Economics, Environment, Global Warming, Immigration, Kevin Lynn, Overpopulation, Political Correctness, Politics, Progressives for Immigration Reform, San Francisco, Silicon Valley, technology

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kevin Lynn is Director of Progressives for Immigration Reform which is sponsoring adds against the H-1B Visa Program on the Bay Area’s BART System.

Topics:

Bay Area Campaign Targets H-1B Visas, Asks Congress to Fix on Americans’ Behalf
The campaign’s message, “Your companies think you are expensive, undeserving & expendable. Congress, fix H-1B law so companies must seek & hire U.S. workers!”
Bay Area media responses including the San Jose Mercury News which first reported on the campaign
The overall reaction from tech workers was positive but with hesitations due to fear of backlash
The goal of the campaign is to to foster a movement to unite tech workers politically against exploitation
How for every two students who graduate with STEM degrees, only one is hired into a STEM job
How Foreign workers account for about 70 percent of the tech workforce in the Bay Area
H-1B Visas as Indentured Servitude
The myth of innovation from H-1B workers
Fearing H-1B Tightening, Tech Giants Ramp Up Lobbying
How Trump has accomplished very little on immigration
The impact of immigration on the environment and carbon footprints

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




Robert Stark interviews Dain Fitzgerald

1980's, 1990's, Alternative Right, Asian Culture, Baby Boomers, California, censorship, Cities, Class, Conservatives, Corporations, Culture, Dain Fitzgerald, demographics, Economics, Family Guy, Futurism, Gender, Generation X, gentrification, Harvey Weinstein, Historic Preservation, Hollywood, income inequality, Joshua Zeidner, Libertarianism, Millennials, Music, New York, Oakland, Political Correctness, Politics, Sacramento , San Francisco, Science, Silicon Valley, Skyscrapers, Social Justice Warriors, Synthwave, technology, Transhumanism, Urbanism, Wealth

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Robert Stark and co-host Joshua Zeidner talk to Dain Fitzgerald. Dain works in the Silicon Valley, is based in Oakland, blogs at Dry Hyphen Olympics, and writes for The American Spectator and Secular Right. He is also on Twitter.

Topics:

How Robert met Dain at a Bay Area futurist meetup
Growing up in Sacramento, CA
Life in the Bay Area
The Bay Area’s economic situation and housing crisis
Dain’s political views, how he is fairly centrist economically, and opposed to SJW culture
The Grey Tribe
The Culture War; the humanities vs. the sciences
The political climate of the Silicon Valley
The firing of James Damore from Google
Neurodiversity 
Dain’s article Asian-American Leaders Are Scarce in Silicon Valley. And?
Dain’s article Meet the New Boss about how well behaved Millennials are
Futurism and science based politics
The Harvey Weinstein Scandal(note: the show was recorded before the recent SNL)

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




Robert Stark talks to Joshua Zeidner about The Tech Industry, H-1B’s, Surveillance & The Google Memo

1990's, California, censorship, Corporations, Donald Trump, Economics, Feminism, Gender, Germany, Globalization, Immigration, income inequality, India, Internet, Israel, Joshua Zeidner, Julian Assange, Media, Oligarchy, Police State, Political Correctness, Sam Kevorkian, Silicon Valley, Social Media, technology, Wealth

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Robert Stark and co-host Sam Kevorkian talk to Joshua Zeidner about the Tech Industry. Joshua  has worked in Tech as a software developer and private consultant for Publishing and Finance Companies.

Topics:

The Tech Industry since the Dot Com boom
Joshua’s work in the Tech Industry in Germany and Israel, and his observation that Germany’s has the best work environment and the United States the worst
Prof. Norm Matloff’s H-1B Statistics and the current cap at about 65k per year which are eligible for permanent residency
How H-1B’s provide pliant(“handcuffed”) workers
H-1B Frauds such as fake job adds and diplomas and Indian firms Like Infosys and Tata Abusing the program
The need for Unionization/Trade Organizations for Tech workers
Nationalizing Search Engines and Social Media
The International Safe Harbor Privacy Act which was developed for social networks to be built
Surveillance Valley by Yasha Levine
How Venture Capital money goes into “tech ventures” that embezzle crypto coins, operated like a ponzi scheme and become a liquid un-taxable and untraceable asset
Making Sense of the Google Memo
Why I Was Fired by Google – WSJ
Is Silicon Valley pulling it’s weight for California?
Tim Draper’s Six Californias Proposal

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




Robert Stark interviews Korezaan about Transit & Urbanism

aesthetics, Alt Center, Alternative Right, Anime, Architecture, arcology, Art, Asia, Asian Culture, Blade Runner, China, Cities, Culture, Cyberpunk, demographics, Film, Futurism, Ghost in a Shell, Giovanni Dannato, Hong Kong, Immigration, James Howard Kunstler, John C. Portman Jr, Korezaan, Lafayette CA, Laura Foote Clark, Los Angeles, Mass Transit, New Urbanism, Orinda CA, Police, Sam Kevorkian, San Francisco, Silicon Valley, Skyscrapers, social capital, Social Isolation, Strong Towns, Suburbia, Urbanism, Walnut Creek CA, Zoning

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Robert Stark and co-host Sam Kevorkian talk to Bay Area based blogger and illustrator Korezaan. He blogs at Rezzealaux and has a Facebook Page.

Topics:

Korezaan’s political views, the Euclidean vector towards Giovanni Dannato, and the Alt-Center 
Korezaan’s article BART, Americans, and Attitudes, vs The East which has maps of land use around the BART Stations
Robert Stark’s recent meeting with Korezaan in the Bay Area and some personal observations from the trip
Transit Oriented Development and the lack of housing density around BART Stations
The importance of having retail in or near transit
The importance of pedestrian friendly development
NIMBYism, density, parking, and height limits
How suburbia makes it difficult to form communities and contributes to social isolation
Ethnoburbs
New Urbanism
Housing Crisis: Razib Khan on how $100,000 in Palo Alto is equivalent to $16,000 in St. Louis 
The misconception that suburbs are necessary for family formation
The Upscale East Bay towns of Lafayette and Orinda and Korezaan’s point that these are places where ex-urbanites bring non-suburban culture to the suburbs
Bay Area Greenbelts and Conservation in Hong Kong
Self-contained urban structures, urban oasis’s, the Embarcadero Center, and Elements, Hong Kong above the Kowloon MTR station
The Kowloon Walled City in Hong Kong, Blade Runner, Ghost in a Shell, and Western vs. Eastern Cyberpunk
Korezaan’s artwork featured on his blog Rezzealaux

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




Robert Stark talks to Anatoly Karlin about Automation & the Basic Income

Anatoly Karlin, automation, Basic Income, Corporations, demographics, Economics, Elections, Emmanuel Macron, energy, Environment, Eugenics, Extroversion, France, Futurism, Gender, Globalization, Human Bio Diversity, Immigration, income inequality, Introversion, IQ, Millennials, Oligarchy, Peak Oil, Pilleater, Rabbit, relationships, Russia, Science, Science Fiction, Scott Jackisch, Sexuality, Silicon Valley, Social Isolation, Suburbia, Taxation, technology, Transhumanism, Urbanism, Wealth, welfare state

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Robert Stark, Rabbit, and co-host Pilleater talk to Anatoly Karlin about Automation, the Basic Income, and Future Trends. Anatoly blogs for The Unz Review and is on the Russian language podcast rogpr.

Topics:

Anatoly’s analysis of the French election results and our show prior to the election
Political trends among Millennials and Gen Z
How automation will be the main political and economic issue in the future
The Automation of low skilled jobs in the near future and super intelligence in the distant future
Where Automation Will Replace Jobs in American Cities and what demographic groups will be impacted the most
The effects of automation on immigration, birthrates, and Human Bio Diversity
How automation will exacerbate income inequality
Whether automation will create a new political realignment
Why automation will make a basic income necessary
Proposals for generating revenue for the basic income, taxing robots, and why Anatoly finds it more feasible to tax the ultra rich
Rabbit’s proposal to break up the United States and why Anatoly thinks it would only exacerbate inequality in regards to automation
The Creation of a leisure class, liberating creative types, and addressing the right’s concerns that a basic income would lead to degeneracy
Peak Oil, Alternative Energy Sources, self driving cars, and how those will effect urban trends
Affordable Family Formation
Technological effects on socializing and dating
Anatoly’s participation in a Transhumanist Debate on immigration and the basic income in the SF East Bay
Hive Mind: How Your Nation’s IQ Matters So Much More Than Your Own
Artificial Wombs and CRISPR gene editing
Scott Jackisch’s The Robot Lord Scenario


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




Robert Stark interviews Bay Area Guy about our Rigged Economic System

Alicia Silverstone, Banking, Bay Area Guy, Bernie Sanders, California, capitalism, Cities, Class, Conservatives, Corporations, Dean Baker, Donald Trump, Economics, FIRE Economy, Globalization, Ha-Joon Chang, Healthcare, Immigration, income inequality, Jerry O'Neil, Killing the Host, Mass Transit, Middle Class, Millennials, Neoliberalism, Oligarchy, San Francisco, Silicon Valley, Social Justice Warriors, Urbanism, Usury, Wealth, Winston Churchill

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Robert Stark and co-host Pilleater talk to Bay Area-based blogger  Bay Area Guy of Occident Invicta

Topics:

Bay Area Guy’s review of Dean Baker’s Rigged: How Globalization and the Rules of the Modern Economy Were Structured to Make the Rich Richer
How Baker along with Michael Hundson, were some of the few economists to get the housing bubble right
Why Baker does not praise of Bill Clinton’s budget surpluses, and his critique of conservative fiscal hawks
Rules and regulations are what make the market, and how America’s current inequality was caused by deliberate policies designed to redistribute income upward
Using Free Market talking points against apologist for the plutocracy
Professional Protectionism(ex. Nurses and Paralegals being barred from performing tasks of doctors and lawyers)
CEO to worker pay disparities, and Baker’s proposal that Shareholders should vote on CEO compensation; German and Japanese Stakeholder Capitalism
Copyright and Insurance Monopolies
How to rig the market in our favor
Zoe Lofgren and the H-1B Question
Winston Churchill on Land Monopoly
Michael Hudson’s article Trump Infrastructure Plan Is Developer Welfare
Robert’s point that cohesive urban mass transit is necessary, but must be funded by either taxes on the FIRE sector or a Public Infrastructure Bank
The importance of sustaining an urban middle class
Scattered Thoughts on Political Violence


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Check out Robert Stark’s Paintings!




 

Robert Stark interviews Charles Marohn from Strong Towns

Architecture, Charles Marohn, Cities, Economics, Environment, Historic Preservation, income inequality, Los Angeles, Mass Transit, Nassim Taleb, New Urbanism, New York, Pilleater, San Francisco, Silicon Valley, Strong Towns, Suburbia, Urbanism, Wealth, Zoning

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Robert Stark and co-host Pilleater talk to Charles Marohn. Charles is a Professional Engineer (PE) licensed in the State of Minnesota and a member of the American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP). Chuck is the Founder and President of Strong Towns. He has a Bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Minnesota’s Institute of Technology and a Masters in Urban and Regional Planning from the University of Minnesota’s Humphrey Institute.

Topics:

How Charles’s background in urban planning exposed him to the problems of sprawl development
Charles’s books Thoughts on Building Strong Towns, Volume 1 & Volume II
The fiscal unsustainability of sprawl development
Charles’ point that the key factor in urbanism is Incremental Development
Charles’s point that cities must be viewed as ecosystems
The “build it they will come” fallacy, and how traditionally massive infrastructure projects were designed to serve existing population centers(ex.Roman Aqueducts)
How pre-automobile cities tend to be the most viable
Nassim Taleb’s Antifragile theory, and how it relates to urbanism
The Density Question, Charles point that density should neither be fetishized nor seen as inherently bad, but must take into account incremental development
How cities such as New York and San Francisco have value independent of their economies, while places like the Silicon Valley would become unviable if their industries collapsed
Zoning laws and land use regulations
The movement to Retrofit Suburbia, how it’s a step in the right direction, but has it’s limitations
How cities will contract in the future, with people living in both cities and towns, but that it’s the space in between that’s unviable
Micro Apartments
Political divides, and how when it comes to planning issues on a local level, people tend to be more pragmatic than dogmatic
The Public vs. Private sector role in infrastructure, and how Charles’s point that things that are high risk should be in the private sector, and low risk in the public sector(ex. Wall Street baillouts)
The role of the government in historic preservation and protecting the environment
Housing and affordable family formation


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Check out Robert Stark’s Paintings!