Jun 29, 2021
Our old pal Geoff Shullenberger, writer and critic extraordinaire, is back on System of Systems to discuss his new piece for American Greatness – 'How We Forgot Foucault.' In it, Geoff describes the irony in Foucault's recent dip in citations and his abandonment as a "hero of the modern left," given that during the pandemic so much of Foucault's theories on biopolitics and biopower have proven to be utterly true. We discuss the aspects of Foucault's ideas that have emerged as inconvenient to a left and liberal establishment all too eager to abandon freedom and civil rights in the name of public safety and health. Fuck them!
Aside from a long-winded Foucault chat, there's lots of discussion here on Agamben, the rise of toothless, mainstreamed "anti-woke" posturing becoming the new controlled opposition, and we talk about works of art that we're into (as always).
Recommendations: Geoff: Roberto Calasso 'The Ruin of Kasch' (https://www.amazon.com/Ruin-Kasch-Roberto-Calasso/dp/0674780299), Phillip Roth 'Sabbath's Theater' (https://www.amazon.com/Sabbaths-Theater-Philip-Roth/dp/0679772596)
Ben: St. John Maximovitch 'The Orthodox Veneration of the Mother of God' (https://music.apple.com/us/album/nightmare/678046222?i=678046559), Bruce Wagner 'Dead Stars' (https://www.amazon.com/Dead-Stars-Novel-Bruce-Wagner-ebook/dp/B0085DP2UW)
Adam: Audrey Szasz 'Tears of a Komsomol Girl' (https://www.infinitylandpress.com/tearsofakomsomolgirl), Jacques Rivette 'Out 1' (https://mubi.com/specials/jacques-rivette-out-1), Bruno Dumont 'TwentyNine Palms' (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0315110/), Anna Kavan, Kentaro Miura
SOUNDTRACK: Aseptic Void – "Psychosis"
(https://cryochamber.bandcamp.com/album/psychosis)
Anthony Braxton – "New York, Fall 1974"
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KY6AqtNShl4)
System Planning Korporation "Ground Zero: Infinity Dose"
(https://spkau.bandcamp.com/album/information-overload-unit)
Sarcófago "Nightmare"
(https://music.apple.com/us/album/nightmare/678046222?i=678046559)
Links: Geoff on Foucault: https://americanaffairsjournal.org/2021/05/how-we-forgot-foucault/ Adam on Saul Fletcher and murder: https://safetypropaganda.substack.com/p/the-crime-of-saul-fletcher-by-adam