Parallax Views w/ J.G. Michael
Society & Culture
This is a repost Parallax Views Ep. 5 featuring Michael Brooks (1983-2020). The loss of Michael Brooks has hit a number of us very hard. As such I feel the need to repost this classic episode. This was recorded before I was technically proficient (which is to say that my audio comes in on one end and Michael's audio comes in on the other end; this caused problems for some listeners; but I am unable to remaster the episode).
On this edition of Parallax Views I speak with Michael Brooks of The Majority Report w/ Sam Seder and The Michael Brooks Show about leftist politics, the power of humor, and the Intellectual Dork Web... er... "Intellectual Dark Web", and his Illicit History podcast series.
We start the discussion by delving into how Michael Brooks got into leftist politics. Then we transition into how Michael's show follows in the long tradition of left-wing comedy. We talk a bit about the importance of humor in getting out a political message and building a viable social movement.
This leads into Michael's hilarious "Nation of Islam Obama" impersonations and a wider discussion of the Obama Presidency, Obama's likable personality, and having a measured left-wing critique of the Democratic Party.
From there we delve into the rise of the so-called Intellectual Dark Web, or, as I like to call it, the Intellectual Dork Web. We discuss all the usual players like Sam Harris, Charles Murray, and the lobster man himself, Jordan Peterson and following the money trail behind these characters while still debating their ideas. This opens us up for a discussion of the late great sociologist Zygmunt Bauman in contrast to Jordan Peterson.
We also take some time to discuss Michael's excellent Illicit History podcast series. This series deals with little dealt with history from perspectives that often go unconsidered. Interview subject for the series have included Dr. Christopher Ryan, author of Sex at Dawn, and Silicon Valley critic The Baffler's Corey Pein, author of Live Work Work Die: A Journey Into the Savage Heart of Silicon Valley.
We wrap up by talking about Michael's love of rap and hip hop and why in the world he isn't a fan of political rap king Immortal Technique.
All this and more on this fun, thoughtful edition of Parallax Views.
No Justice, No Police?: The Politics of Protest and Social Change w/ Matt Clement
Tyranny Inc.: How Private Power Crushed American Liberty and What to Do About It (+ Opposing the Eugenicist, Nietzschean Right) w/ Sohrab Ahmari
The Maui Fires and the Grotesque Mismanagement of a Disaster w/ Journalist Albert Lanier from Hawaii
The Year That Broke Politics: Collusion and Chaos in the Presidential Election of 1968 w/ Luke A. Nichter
The Hidden History of American Democracy w/ Thom Hartmann/The Risks of Nuclear War, Oppenheimer, & Reflections on Alamogordo and Los Alamos w/ Ret. LTC. William J. Astore
The Black Poor, Class, and Affirmative Action w/ Bertrand Cooper
The Texas Mall Shooting and the Phenomena of Nazis of Color w/ Spencer Sunshine and Isaac
Seeing through the Smoke: A Cannabis Specialist Untangles the Truth about Marijuana w/ Peter Grinspoon, M.D.
The Fourth Turning Is Here: What The Seasons Of History Tell Us About How And When This Crisis Will End w/ Neil Howe
Are Business Interests Driving an AI Panic? (+ WGA Strike, ChatGPT Bias, Henry Kissinger, and More) w/ Grant M. Gallagher
Exposing SOUND OF FREEDOM, Tim Ballard, and Operation Underground Railroad w/ Damion Moore
Israel/Palestine, Violence in Jenin, Israeli Police Murder of an Autistic Man, and the Iraqi Shia Kidnapping of an Israeli-Russian National w/ Richard Silverstein
Biden Nominee Elliott Abrams, the Iran-Contra Affair, and the U.S. Foreign Policy Blob
Control: The Dark History and Troubling Present of Eugenics w/ Geneticist Adam Rutherford
The Enduring Legacy of V, the Hit Sci-Fi TV Series That Used the Alien Invasion Trope to Explore the Dangers of Fascism w/ Kenny Johnson
The Wild World of Pro Wrestling (and Some Politics Talk Too... Plus Freemasonry!?) w/ Kenny ”Starmaker” Bolin
Cultural Memory, Climate Change, and the Potential Catastrophe of a Digital Dark Age w/ Charles Henry
Media Representation, How AI Can Amplify Bias, and the Problem With The Little Mermaid w/ Marcus Ryder
Ukraine/Russia War Update + Wagner Group’s Chief Attacks Russian Military Elites w/ Anatol Lieven
The U.S. & Middle East in a Changing 21st Century Order & the Nation-States Vs. Civilizational States Conflict w/ James M. Dorsey
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