Episode Notes

Should we really call them "films" these days? What with Netflix being the specific platform for this one, and most of the theater releases having concurrent streaming options, feels like the words "film" or "cinema" are pretty obsolete. I mean, I love movies. I like sitting in the seats and taking in a 100 minute story. Oh well. The world is ending; cinematic experiences going away isn't the worst part of that I suppose.

We discuss the movie "Don't Look Up" - a very obvious allegory for climate catastrophe. Please enjoy as we experience the world-ending phenomena of capitalist realism!

If you have any thoughts, suggestions, angry emotes, or whatever that you'd like to send us, please reach out at [email protected] or on twitter as @unsociablist. I recognize posting this will bring us spam and I dare you to do it.

Phil and Kyle would also like to give a shout out to those of us still in the streets fighting for the rights of Palestinians and those fighting for justice and abolition of the American police state. The best way to show solidarity with those struggling against the American empire is to struggle against the empire at home.

https://free-palestine.carrd.co/#donations

https://www.phillybailfund.org/

https://bailproject.org/

Find out more at https://the-unsociablists.pinecast.co

Managua About Town

It isn't well-known among most Americans that the U.S. has invaded Nicaragua 12 times in our history. From the filibustering adventurers of the 19th century to funding death-squads in the 1980s, American meddling in Central America has a long history. Today, Phil and Kyle discuss two particular episodes surrounding the man who tried to reinstate slavery in Nicaragua - the "freebooter" William Walker - and the later coup orchestrated against the liberal reformer and nationalist José Santos Zelaya in 1909. We lay the context for our follow up episode, which will focus on the U.S. Occupation of 1912-1933 and the beginning of the Sandanista movement.

If you have any thoughts, suggestions, angry emotes, or whatever that you'd like to send us, please reach out at [email protected] or on twitter as @unsociablist. I recognize posting this will bring us spam and I dare you to do it.

Phil and Kyle would also like to give a shout out to those of us still in the streets fighting for the rights of Palestinians and those fighting for justice and abolition of the American police state. The best way to show solidarity with those struggling against the American empire is to struggle against the empire at home.

https://free-palestine.carrd.co/#donations

https://www.phillybailfund.org/

https://bailproject.org/

Find out more at https://the-unsociablists.pinecast.co

Episode Notes

Nihilism, a word that we've often heard but rarely discuss. What does it mean to be nihilist? Is it an abdication of responsibility to the world around you, or is it an acceptance to only change what can be changed?

As much as anyone can really be an adherent of some philosophy, Kyle and Phil have dabbled in nihilistic beliefs to greater and lesser extents. One thing we've certainly come to realise is that we must focus on the world around us and continue materially help as many people as you can, even if the world will end in a fiery ball of nuclear destruction over some pipeline in the steppe country of eastern Europe.

If you have any thoughts, suggestions, angry emotes, or whatever that you'd like to send us, please reach out at [email protected] or on twitter as @unsociablist. I recognize posting this will bring us spam and I dare you to do it.

https://free-palestine.carrd.co/#donations

https://bailproject.org/

Episode Notes

From the studio that brought you Capital F comes a new and exciting story about two aliens - pacifist by nature and by training - who must confront the evils of the galaxy in ways they never imagined they could.

Zorzon and Oglob take center stage to fight Mokrath, the Depletor, and must make strange alliances to succeed. Can our heroes maintain their commitment to peace and justice as the galaxy is threatened by such a foe? Can their uneasy alliances sustain their efforts? Can Oglob really tell the future with a paper fortune teller?

Find out in this full length episode of Zorzon and Oglob's Wacky Galactic Bonanza - Part One: Mokrath Ascending...

If you have any thoughts, suggestions, angry emotes, or whatever that you'd like to send us, please reach out at [email protected] or on twitter as @unsociablist. I recognize posting this will bring us spam and I dare you to do it.

https://free-palestine.carrd.co/#donations

https://bailproject.org/

Episode Notes

Reading series No. 1: Phil brings us a piece about how we should not complain about being stiffed for our work and Kyle reads a NYT opinion piece about how the conservative right can't use the left's _obvious bad behavior (screaming) to justify their slip into anti-democratic beliefs. Oh, the guys who wrote it? One's a Brookings Institute fellow and the other worked for Reagan and both Bush administrations - so they are definitely the best voices for moderation..._

If you have any thoughts, suggestions, angry emotes, or whatever that you'd like to send us, please reach out at [email protected] or on twitter as @unsociablist. I recognize posting this will bring us spam and I dare you to do it.

https://free-palestine.carrd.co/#donations

https://bailproject.org/

Episode Notes

One of the best sitcoms of the 2000s and maybe of American Television ever, 30 Rock - for those of you who haven't seen it - is a satirical analogue for working behind the scenes at SNL. As such, the cast draws from former SNL stars and is written and led by alum Tina Fey.

It's funny, it's smart, it's got, like, lukewarm lib messages, but whatever enjoy a show for once, jeez.

Watchalong begins at 9:59 for those who want to join in. News and discussion begins at 30:26 for those who don't.

If you have any thoughts, suggestions, angry emotes, or whatever that you'd like to send us, please reach out at [email protected] or on twitter as @unsociablist. I recognize posting this will bring us spam and I dare you to do it.

https://free-palestine.carrd.co/#donations

https://bailproject.org/

Episode Notes

Trigger Warning for those ahead: discussions will include the violence experienced by victims of the anticommunist crusade that American empire waged against the Global South and "Third World" which may be graphic and disturbing.

Indonesia, a country that today has in the realm of 270 million inhabitants, is a large island chain to the south of mainland Asia. A long and diverse history precedes the story we retell today, one of kingdoms and conflict and community formation. For us, however, we will focus on the mid twentieth century and the violent military coup (supported by the U.S. State Department and the CIA) which overthrew the elected government. Given lists of people to be eliminated for the rewards of bribes and aid from the capitalist powerhouse across the pacific, the Suharto military regime instituted a bloody terror that killed over 1 million people: targeting communists specifically but also sweeping up ethnic Chinese, feminists (declared as castrating witches), and workers in unions. The tactics developed in Indonesia - disappearances, torture and propoganda - would be copied in many other countries allied with the United States in the Cold War.

Information discussed in this episode is largely drawn from Vincent Bevins' book Jakarta Method as well as the documentary The Act of Killing.

If you have any thoughts, suggestions, angry emotes, or whatever that you'd like to send us, please reach out at [email protected] or on twitter as @unsociablist. I recognize posting this will bring us spam and I dare you to do it.

Phil and Kyle would also like to give a shout out to those of us still in the streets fighting for the rights of Palestinians and those fighting for justice and abolition of the American police state. The best way to show solidarity with those struggling against the American empire is to struggle against the empire at home.

https://free-palestine.carrd.co/#donations

https://www.phillybailfund.org/

https://bailproject.org/

Episode Notes

Why is it that almost every network procedural seems to be centered around cops? Detectives, Navy Investigators, Homicide units - all these cop shows and all these stakes. Through endless coverage and entertainment programming people absorb the belief that cops are always, without question the "good guys."

But we know that to be untrue. Policing in America is nothing like NCIS or Bones. Police in America are the edge of the coercive power of the dictatorship of the bourgeoisie. Dominating neighborhoods, arresting and murdering people without cause or consequence, extracting what little people can collect through fines and civil asset forfeiture - what do cops provide that justifies the glowing coverage in entertainment and in news media? Phil and Kyle discuss this topic and wrap up with a round up on the latest news.

If you have any thoughts, suggestions, angry emotes, or whatever that you'd like to send us, please reach out at [email protected] or on twitter as @unsociablist. I recognize posting this will bring us spam and I dare you to do it.

Phil and Kyle would also like to give a shout out to those of us still in the streets fighting for the rights of Palestinians and those fighting for justice and abolition of the American police state. The best way to show solidarity with those struggling against the American empire is to struggle against the empire at home.

https://free-palestine.carrd.co/#donations

https://www.phillybailfund.org/

https://bailproject.org/

Episode Notes

Mutual Aid for people effected by the tornadoes in Kentucky: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1YTzQFT4ANDcChivFDfUW9oC0gJWDyT9FHoDrAD2VA7A/htmlview

Published in 1922, the novella Siddhartha follows a young man, son of a Brahmin, on his journey through life to find a “true” Self.  The boy’s name is one commonly associated with the physical manifestation of the Buddha - Siddhartha Gautama - who makes an appearance in the book as “Gotama, the Illustrious One.”  

A brief - and maybe a bit orientalist - story about a young man seeking purpose and meaning and the Self. We discuss some of our impressions, main themes of unity in all things, and get on to the news of the day.

If you have any thoughts, suggestions, angry emotes, or whatever that you'd like to send us, please reach out at [email protected] or on twitter as @unsociablist. I recognize posting this will bring us spam and I dare you to do it.

Phil and Kyle would also like to give a shout out to those of us still in the streets fighting for the rights of Palestinians and those fighting for justice and abolition of the American police state. The best way to show solidarity with those struggling against the American empire is to struggle against the empire at home.

https://free-palestine.carrd.co/#donations

https://www.phillybailfund.org/

https://bailproject.org/

Episode Notes

Religion, belief, faith - social and personal structures that have followed and intertwined with human development for millennia. It's a broad topic, but we - woefully unqualified as we are - decided to take a stab at it. Do we live in a world where belief is entirely dissolved by capitalism in our supposedly secular society? Or are there other, sinister forces that have taken the place of faith and emerged as a new, "real" god?

Let's try to talk it through and see if staring into the eyes of the unholy turns us madder than we already are.

If you want to listen hear/read more on Ian Wright's essay "Marx on Capital as a Real God" please follow this link: Essay - https://ianwrightsite.wordpress.com/2020/09/03/marx-on-capital-as-a-real-god-2/ Video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gvp8khkvoQQ

If you have any thoughts, suggestions, angry emotes, or whatever that you'd like to send us, please reach out at [email protected] or on twitter as @unsociablist. I recognize posting this will bring us spam and I dare you to do it.

Phil and Kyle would also like to give a shout out to those of us still in the streets fighting for the rights of Palestinians and those fighting for justice and abolition of the American police state. The best way to show solidarity with those struggling against the American empire is to struggle against the empire at home.

https://free-palestine.carrd.co/#donations

https://www.phillybailfund.org/

https://bailproject.org/