In this episode we go on a savage journey to the heart of the American Dream through an immersion into Hunter S. Thompson and Terry Gilliam’s nightmarish Las Vegas. We discuss Hunter S. Thompson’s 1971 masterwork of “Gonzo” journalism, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, and along side it, Terry Gilliam’s wonderful 1998 film adaptation. In our usual way we get fully derailed for a while and just as we seem to be driving our huge Chevy convertible away from Las Vegas, we finally answer that call from our attorney to head straight back in to the belly of the beast to consider the demise of the American Counterculture of the 1960s and finish off this savage, sweat inducing, blood and rum soaked trip of an episode.
References
Hunter S. Thompson (1971) Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fear_and_Loathing_in_Las_Vegas)
Terry Gilliam (1998) Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fear_and_Loathing_in_Las_Vegas_(film))
Jack Kerouac (1957) On the Road (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/On_the_Road)
Diane di Prima (https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/diane-di-prima)
James Truslow Adams (1931) The Epic of America (https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.262385)
Black Sabbath — Master of Reality (1971) — Sweet Leaf (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W-zmtmgswHw)
Rage Against the Machine (1992) Know Your Enemy. (recent live version here (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XAPfNPIvWkM)).
BBC — Planet Earth II — Iguana vs Snakes (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=el4CQj-TCbA)
Altered Mates — Episode 6 — F-ing the ineffable: William James, Mysticism, and the Psychedelic Experience (https://www.alteredmates.com/6)
Links
Altered Mates Website (https://www.alteredmates.com)
Altered Mates Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/altered.mates/)
Music for the show by Si Mulumby (https://www.instagram.com/wildmarmalade/?hl=en)
A Glimpse of Eternity by Alejandro Tuama
Purchase the novel here (https://books2read.com/u/m2eWjG) (hard copy, ebook and audiobook).
Listen to the free serialised audiobook here (https://www.patreon.com/collection/560595?view=expanded).
