Category Archives: 1990’s

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




Robert Stark talks to David Cole about LA Malls

1960's, 1970's, 1980's, 1990's, aesthetics, Archeofuturism, Architecture, Beverly Hills, California, Cinema, Cities, Class, Culture, David Cole, Film, Historic Preservation, History, humor, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Malls, Matthew Pegas, Mid-Century Modern, Neon, Postmodernism, Retro Futurism, Skyscrapers, Urbanism

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Robert Stark and Matthew Pegas talk with David Cole about the history, culture, and aesthetics of LA ‘s Malls. David Cole writes for Takimag and is the author of Republican Party Animal.

Topics:

David and Robert’s background growing up on the Westside of LA
The Open Air Century City Shopping Center, the original 60’s retro futuristic aesthetics, and the film Conquest of the Planet of the Apes
The recent $1-billion makeover of the Mall and plans to make Century City more urban and pedestrian friendly
The “Westfield Aesthetic”
The old underground 70’s retro futuristic ABC Entertainment Center
The first major indoor mall Fox Hills in Culver City
The Westside Pavilion, Jon Jerde’s 80’s Post Modernist aesthetics(original featured in Tom Petty’s Free Fallin’), and plans to turn it into office space
The 80’s Rodeo Collection, an archeo-futuristic urban oasis model for self contained cities, and the film Body Double
The Beverly Center, the amusement park “Kiddyland” before the mall , the original 80’s aesthetics with futuristic external escalators, and latter renovations
The lack of interest in preserving 80’s architecture
Young people’s interest in 80’s aesthetics and the magical dream like memories from early childhood(Hypnagogia)
The 70’s retro high-rise Mr. C Hotel(formerly the Renaissance) near Beverly Hills
The Third Street Promenade, the first major outdoor mall
The rise of outdoor malls such as Rick Caruso’s The Grove and Americana at Brand and how those are now becoming dated
Future trends, the under construction high-rise shopping complex, the Oceanwide Plaza in Downtown LA
The Jon Jerde designed neon lit Universal CityWalk
David’s joke about the City Walk’s old Rain Forest Cafe and the Museum of Tolerance’s Tunnel of Hate
Westwood Village as the center of Westside nightlife and it’s decline in the late 80’s

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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




The Starkian Lynch

 Angelo Badalamenti, 1950's, 1960's, 1970's, 1980's, 1990's, 80's music, aesthetics, Alt Center, American Culture, Archeofuturism, Architecture, arcology, Aristocratic Individualism, Art, Art Deco, Blue Velvet, Californication, capitalism, Cinema, Cities, Class, Country Music, Culture, David Lynch, Depravity, Disneyland, Donald Trump, Dune, Economics, Erotized Rage, Fashion, Film, Film Noire, Hollywood, Homosexuality, humor, Jasun Horsley, Journey to Vapor Island, Kyle MacLachlan, Las Vegas, Leisure Suit Larry, Los Angeles, Madeline Zima, Marquis de Sade, Matthew Pegas, meditation, Mental illness, Mid-Century Modern, Morality, Mulholland Drive, Music, Mythology, Neon, Occultism, Philosophy, Politics, Psychology, Religion, Retro Futurism, Science Fiction, Sexuality, Steampunk, Suburbia, Surrealism, Synthwave, Twin Peaks, Urbanism, Utopia, Vaporwave

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Robert Stark and Matthew Pegas discuss the work of David Lynch and the parallels between the “Lynchian” and “Starkian.” Matthew Pegas blogs at Alt of Center | Life. Liberty. And the Pursuit of Beauty.

Topics:

Intro: The Northern Lights – Falling (feat. Lucy Black)
Lynch’s Politics: Admired Ronald Reagan and supported The Natural Law Party
Lynch Endorsed Bernie Sanders and later proclaimed that ‘Trump Could Go Down as One of the Greatest Presidents’
Lynch as an Alt Centrist
Lynch’s interest in Transcendental Meditation which taps into one’s sub-conscience
Lynch as a lone Aristocratic Radical in Hollywood
How capitalism creates faux cultural elites
Lynch’s entry to Hollywood via connections through Mel Brooks which solidified his role in Elephant Man
Lynch’s cinematographic basis as a visual artist and the theme of Neonationalism
The Lynchian aesthetic vs. the Starkian aesthetic and defining what is “Lynchian” and “Starkian”
Lynch and Stark’s self indulgences in their work
Lynch’s interest in Retro aesthetics: Film Noir, animated neon, Mid-Century Modern, and 80’s Vaporwave
Lynch’s affinity for small town Americana and the theme of a dark underbelly to small town life
How the first Twin Peaks portrays a romanticized image of the town, while the new one portrays a more realistic image
The Great Northern as a model for creating aesthetically pleasing suburbs that implement the romanticized image of the small town
Lynch should design a theme park or Las Vegas casino
The soundtrack of Twin Peaks includes a wide variety of genres ranging from 80’s Synth, Old Western, Film Noir Jazz, and 50’s Rock
How the fusion of genres makes it somewhat vague as to when it takes place
Ben Horne as an Old School capitalist who does things that are ethically wrong  yet is rooted in his community
The Black Lodge: it’s symbolism and aesthetics
The philosophy that fear is the opposite of love rather than hate
Mulholland Drive: the themes of Hollywood power and paranoia due to insecurities
Dune: the aesthetics of Dune are more important than the plot
Retro Futurism in Dune: Middle Eastern Archeofuturism, Steampunk, and 80’s aesthetics
Blue Velvet: Sadistic male figures, eroticized rage, and establishing hierarchy through sexual dominance
“Lynchian” themes and references to Twin Peaks in Robert Stark’s novel Journey to Vapor Island

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




Alt-Urbanism: Building a Based Urban Middle Class SWPL Utopia

1950's, 1970's, 1980's, 1990's, aesthetics, Alt Center, American Culture, Architecture, Asia, Asian Culture, Baby Boomers, California, Cities, Class, Conservatives, Culture, demographics, Economics, Environment, Falling Down, gentrification, Giovanni Dannato, Immigration, income inequality, Korea, Le Corbusier, Los Angeles, Middle Class, New Urbanism, Silicon Valley, Singapore, Skyscrapers, Suburbia, SWPL, Urbanism, Utopia, Wealth, Zoning

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

By Robert Stark: Originally Published on Alt of Center

Prior to the 1950’s, the urban core of LA, centered around Downtown, was relatively small. It was also much more compact and vibrant, however, than it became in the second half of the 20th Century. In recent years, there has been renewed interest in urbanism and walkable communities, and LA’s downtown, historic core is now revitalized and booming with new highrise construction.

While LA is just in the early stages of creating an integrated metro system, the region once had a vibrant street car system connecting the urban core with extensions to street car suburbs such as Santa Monica and Pasadena.

According to Curbed LA : “in 1945, a sinister corporation called National City Lines took over the thriving Los Angeles Railway, which served most of the sprawling region. Then, over the course of the next two decades, LA’s extensive streetcar network was eliminated and the iconic Red Cars that Judge Doom mentions were replaced with shiny new buses.

Continue reading Alt-Urbanism: Building a Based Urban Middle Class SWPL Utopia →

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 Count Fosco about Cruel Intentions, Sex, Class & Alt Politics

1990's, aesthetics, Alicia Silverstone, Alternative Left, Alternative Right, American Culture, Architecture, Californication, Canada, Cinema, Class, comedy, Count Isidor Fosco, Cruel Intentions, Culture, demographics, Depravity, Donald Trump, Erotica, Feminism, Film, Gender, Hollywood, humor, Immigration, Journey to Vapor Island, Kevin MacDonald, Luke Ford, relationships, Sarah Michelle Geller, Sexuality, South Africa, The Crush, Wealth

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Topics:

The film Cruel Intentions
The Main theme in the movie is the corruption of innocence and purity
The movie has many versions, sequels, and is based on the French original, “Les Liaisons Dangereuses”
Entrapment scenes, gay entrapment, and broken families
Kathryn’s view of sex and her use of sex to manipulate
Sebastian is a little bit more flamboyant than the usual pick up artist; he is confident but in an in-artificial way
The character of Court Reynolds is almost a Spencerian evil “White” character described as a “Nazi”
The mixed-race relationship angle is played up as one of Karthyns violations
Kathryn’s Feminist speech in opposition to “Miss Mary Sunshine.”
Sex as an initiation into a Secret Society as a joke, mentioned by Kathryn
Upper class degeneration isn’t really seen as disgusting or stupid in movies as low class degeneracy
Anti-Semitic tropes in the film
The end of the film was incoherent as it left Sebastian with a redemptive change of heart with very little explanation for it
Old Westbury Gardens manor house where Sebastian’s aunt lives
The misconception that Hollywood is completely controlled and often exposes elite corruption
The recent Alt-Right drama and how the Alt Right is completely separated along class lines
Count’s ideology; Social Nationalism, Economic Populism, and Cultural Elitism
The 12 Steps Of Alt Right Anonymous and how Luke Ford is the most important comedian of the Alt-Right
The Nathan Cofnas critique of Kevin MacDonald and how Count basically agrees with most of it
Lauren Southern’s South Africa Documentary 

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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 interviews Synthwave Artist Damokles

1970's, 1980's, 1990's, 80's music, 90's music, aesthetics, Cinema, Culture, Damokles, Film, Futurism, horror, horror films, Industrial Music, Internet, J.G. Michael, Kraftwerk, Music, New Retro Wave, Rammstein, Retro Futurism, Sam Kevorkian, Science Fiction, Space Travel, Sweden, Synthwave, technology, Time Travel, Transhumanism

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Robert Stark, Sam Kevorkian, and J.G Michael talk to Swedish Synthwave Artist Damokles. Check out his work on SoundCloud, Facebook, and Future 80’s Records which produces his music.

Topics:

Intro: Into the Future from the new Time Machine album
Damokles’ new 14 track album Time Machine
The Time Travel Theme; Back to the Future
Creating synth music since the 70’s
Influences including Kraftwerk
Favorite songs including Yazoo’s Don’t Go and Don’t You Want Me? by the Human League
Experimentation with synthesizers in the 80’s
Being a DJ in the 80’s and how DJ culture has evolved
Working as a piano bar entertainer
The New Retrowave genre and how it is different from original 80’s synth music
Industrial music
The future of electronic music, the mainstreaming of synthwave, and the need for an alternative to mainstream pop
The pros and cons of producing music online without large corporations
Cinematic influences; sci-fi and horror
The illustrations for the albums
80’s Retrofuturism
Visions of the future and how humans are becoming cyborgs

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




Round Table Discussion on Charlottesville & Political Polarization

1960's, 1970's, 1990's, alienation, Alternative Left, Alternative Right, American Culture, Anarchism, Anarcho Tyranny, censorship, Class, Conservatives, Conspiracy Theories, Corporations, counterculture, Crime, Culture, Donald Trump, Economics, Freedom of Speech, History, Immigration, income inequality, J.G. Michael, Joshua Zeidner, Keith Preston, Leftism, Media, Police, Police State, Political Correctness, Politics, Race Relations, Richard Spencer, Sam Kevorkian, Social Justice Warriors, terrorism, The American South, Trolling, White Nationalism

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Robert Stark joined with Keith Preston of Attack the System, Sam Kevorkian, J.G. Michael, and Joshua Zeidner discuss the “Unite The Right” event in Charlottesville Virginia, the aftermath, and it’s implications for political discourse.

Topics:

Keith Preston’s essay Some Initial Thoughts on Charlottesville
How the message of the rally was unclear and incoherent; the “Occupy Wall Street” of the Right
The media’s reaction and the Public relations disaster for the Alt-Right
How the Police handled the event and past cases where the Police were ordered to stand down
Trump’s diplomatic response
How both the Alt-Right and SJW Left are reacting to growing wealth disparities; including many former members of the Upper Middle Class
Political polarization as a reflection of alienation among youth
Conspiracy theories about both left and right wing protesters being controlled opposition
The rise of the far right and left and the ineptitude of the Center
The political fragmentation of the Elites and the Media
The rise in political violence
The massive online crackdown on the Alt-Right in the aftermath of Charlottesville
Corporate censorship(ex.VDARE targeted by corporate left)
Extending the First Amendment to corporations
ACLU: White Supremacists no longer entitled to all First Amendment rights
Noam Chomsky: Antifa is a ‘major gift to the Right’

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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!