Shows
Moment of ClarityCollapse Collapse Collapse Collapse!Lee Camp talks about the current state of Climate Collapse with Rory Varrato of Extinction Rebellion.
2022-08-1858 minMoment of ClarityCollapse Collapse Collapse Collapse!Lee Camp talks about the current state of Climate Collapse with Rory Varrato of Extinction Rebellion.
2022-08-1858 min
The Bullshit ArtistsEncounter #16 — Young v. Spotify, Psychopathologies of COVID-Era Politics, and Questioning the Existence of Elite UniversitiesIn this episode, Jack and Rory begin the conversation by dissecting the current state of public discourse regarding the COVID-19 pandemic, especially in light of the recent dispute about misinformation between Neil Young and Spotify, the platform that hosts Joe Rogan’s popular podcast. Among other things, the two consider whether or not this spat concerns issues of free speech and censorship, as well as how it connects with the duo’s ongoing fascination with the two prevailing and increasingly politically polarized views of reality in the United States, i.e., what may loosely be considered the conservative and the...
2022-02-072h 19The Bullshit ArtistsEncounter #15 — Social Media, the Art of Living Beautifully, and a Generational Call to ArmsIn this episode—their final encounter of 2021—Jack and Rory begin the conversation with a brief discussion of the current state of the COVID pandemic. Then, Jack poses a question to Rory about his social media use, particularly regarding the kinds of posts Rory makes on Instagram and the purpose or intentionality behind them (if any). In response, Rory explains some of his personal and general views on social media, which has been a topic of some interest to him dating back at least to his 2013 TEDx talk titled “Friendship in the Age of Facebook.”
The conversation continue...
2021-12-312h 29The Bullshit ArtistsEncounter #14 — Rory‘s New Project, Existentialism and Absurdism, and Nondual PhenomenologyIn this episode, the discussion begins with Rory wriggling out of Jack's earlier demand that he come prepared with at least one joke to tell; to compensate for this failure, Rory explains to Jack a new social media project he has been developing, tentatively titled 'Philosophy in a New York Minute.' After some brainstorming about this project, the conversation turns to an examination of existentialism and absurdism, especially through the lens of works by Sartre and Camus. Jack and Rory have some small (or perhaps not so small) disagreements about the merit and usefulness of both of these...
2021-12-022h 21The Bullshit ArtistsEncounter #13 — Student Assessment, the Death of the Author, and Riffing on ComedyIn this episode, the conversation begins with a brief exchange about jazz music before turning to a consideration of the recent television series Only Murders in the Building. From there, the interlocutors return to a topic that has been of considerable interest in recent encounters—best practices in the classroom—this time with a special focus on assessment, and, particularly, on some criticisms Jack has of the way that Rory has structured his students' midterm exam. After a bit of back and forth, the pair veer into a discussion of film, which quickly morphs into an exploration of whether or no...
2021-11-112h 00The Bullshit ArtistsEncounter #12 — Time Perception, the Proper Way to Lecture, and Plato‘s ”City for Pigs”In this episode—their first after a three-month long hiatus—Jack and Rory begin the conversation by discussing the nature of time perception. In particular, Rory reflects on the phenomenological differences between Sedona and New York—the former a quiet, sleepy village; the latter, a dense, bustling metropolis—and Jack suggests that similar differences in the relativity of time perception may occur across the lifespan, with old age being marked by an accelerated experience of the passing of time. From there, the discussion turns once again to the topics of teaching and learning; both interlocutors reminisce about past experiences in the c...
2021-10-212h 20The Bullshit ArtistsEncounter #11 — Near-Death Experiences and Consenting to MetanoiaIn this episode, the conversation begins with an exploration of Jack’s thoughts on near-death experiences (NDEs) and similar phenomena, about which he has written extensively, including in his book, 'Stalking White Crows.’ Rory then raises the case of Pam Reynolds, a woman who claims to have had a vivid out-of-body experience while undergoing surgery for a brain aneurysm, and Jack explains why her case is considered by many to be particularly convincing.
From there, the pair turn to speculation about why the rigorous study of NDEs and related phenomena remains taboo in the mainstream scientific establishment desp...
2021-07-232h 12The Bullshit ArtistsEncounter #10 — The Imposition of Autonomy and the Prospect of a Transformative Rite of Political PassageIn this episode, Rory initiates the conversation by informing Jack that, during the time between their last encounter and this one, he has had an intriguing thought that he’d like to explore together now. To that end, he begins by digging into an issue from Jack’s published work that, he says, has always bothered him: Jack’s claim, as Rory understands it, that it is immoral for a public schoolteacher, as an agent of the state, to impose through his or her pedagogical practice the development of autonomy (in the robust psychological sense) on a student.
Jack...
2021-07-142h 00The Bullshit ArtistsEncounter #9 — Capitalist Hyperrealism, Transformative Education, and Sinema & 'The Squad'In this episode, the conversation begins with a few brief forays into topics relating to the ongoing wildfires near Sedona, AZ (where Rory is located); the soulless hyperreality of Las Vegas; and the corporatization of Arizona State University specifically and higher education generally. From there, Jack and Rory turn their attention to pedagogy, including their mutual disdain for the practice of lecturing and a consideration of transformative education theory.
Next, Jack raises the issue of Kyrsten Sinema, one of Arizona’s U.S. Senators and currently the nation’s foremost defender of the filibuster. Jack is perplexed by t...
2021-06-262h 13The Bullshit ArtistsEncounter #8 — Speaker Trump, Israel & Palestine, and The Great ‘Russiagate’ Debate BeginsIn this episode, Rory begins the conversation by mentioning to Jack what he says is the most terrifying political news he’s heard in some time: the possibility that Donald Trump may run for Congress in Florida in 2022 with the intent of becoming Speaker of the House of Representatives. Rory sees this as a plausible path to catastrophic constitutional crisis and an overt neofascist takeover, with a Speaker Trump leading his minions to battle against the Biden presidency, but Jack is unconvinced that Trump will even bother to run for any office lower than that of President.
Ne...
2021-06-112h 05The Bullshit ArtistsEncounter #7 — Third Parties, Reconstituting the United States, and Political VisionIn this episode, Rory starts by sharing with Jack that he has submitted a self-nomination to the Movement for a People’s Party, an emergent third party that is currently soliciting its first crop of candidates for the 2022 midterm elections. This initiates a conversation about the viability of third parties in the American political system, including a historical digression about how the party system last changed in the United States—a development in which Jack’s great-great-uncle, John Jordan Crittenden, the prominent politician from Kentucky, may have played some small role. From there, the conversation turns to the topic of rec...
2021-05-282h 20The Bullshit ArtistsEncounter #6 — The Necessity of Revolution, Models for Social Reorganization, and the Importance of StorytellingIn this episode, Rory begins by asking Jack for his thoughts on what Rory had previously suggested as the ‘necessity’ argument for political revolution in the face of impending climate catastrophe. Out of that discussion emerges a two-pronged conversation about, first, how the Mondragon worker cooperative in the Basque region of Spain could serve as a model for broader social and economic reorganization, and, second, the importance of story and narrative for any transformative political project. Somehow this conversation then segues into a discussion of obscure political theorists, including the utopian socialists Charles Fourier and Edward Bellamy—the latter of who...
2021-05-152h 13
Post-doom: Regenerative conversations exploring overshoot grief, grounding, and gratitudeRory Varrato - Post-doom with Michael DowdIronic Joy - Post-doom regenerative conversation exploring overshoot grief, grounding, and gratitude, with Rory Varrato and host, Michael Dowd; edited by Connie Barlow.
2021-05-0953 minThe Bullshit ArtistsEncounter #5 — COVID-19 and Systems-Level Thinking, the Classroom as Polity, and an Army of SocratesesAfter some housekeeping and a brief revisit of police violence, Rory and Jack begin this episode with a consideration of COVID-19, especially focusing on its possible origins and the widespread resistance in the US to vaccination. This topic then segues into a larger discussion of systems-level thinking, including particularly the absence of that capacity among the general public and the subsequent failure to act on or even to perceive various systems-level problems in society. Next, the conversation turns to the education system's utter inability to facilitate the development of such thinking skills among students—a shortcoming that Rory suggests is...
2021-05-042h 08The Bullshit ArtistsEncounter #4 — Nuclear Holocaust, Police Violence, and AuthorityIn this episode of The Bullshit Artists, Jack and Rory begin the conversation by considering the connections between what Noam Chomsky has identified as the twin existential threats facing humanity: climate breakdown and nuclear holocaust. Then, Rory raises the issue of police violence in the United States, and the pair undertake a lengthy exploration of the nuances regarding police reform, defunding, and abolition—especially in light of recent and ongoing aggression toward black Americans. Finally, Rory puts forth the notion of the ‘temporary autonomous zone’ and explains how he believes it can apply to the classroom setting, which the two th...
2021-04-162h 11The Bullshit ArtistsEncounter #3 — The Anthropocene, the 'Benevolent Despot,' and Transformational EducationIn this episode of The Bullshit Artists, Rory begins the conversation by detailing his recent therapeutic experience with psilocybin mushrooms. Then, Jack inquires about some of Rory's research interests—including his position regarding the likelihood of human survival in the Anthropocene—as well as his activism with the NYC chapter of Extinction Rebellion. Next, Jack poses a question: given our dire planetary circumstances, could there be a legitimate justification for allowing a 'benevolent despot' to impose policies on the global population that would help to avert our species' annihilation? Finally, the duo conclude with a consideration of what schools and...
2021-04-022h 07The Bullshit ArtistsEncounter #2 — Cancel Culture, the Golden Rule, and PsychedelicsIn this episode of The Bullshit Artists, Jack begins the conversation by pressing Rory on his use of the ideological label "anarcho-communist." Then, the interlocutors turn to a long, winding discussion of what Rory had previously called the 'epistemic divide' in America, which includes aspects of 'cancel culture' and the #MeToo movement. From there, the pair pivot to some ruminations on 'the Golden Rule,' and conclude by linking that moral precept to the usage and phenomenology of psychedelics, including those drugs' potential political and psychological effects.
2021-03-182h 03The Bullshit ArtistsEncounter #1 — Introductions and IdeologiesIn this inaugural episode of The Bullshit Artists, Rory and Jack begin with some passing comments on Neera Tanden's recently-failed nomination for the Biden Administration's Office of Management and Budget directorship, then move into deeper conversation about their biographies and ideologies. Finally, they conclude the conversation with some discussion of Jack's recent book, 'What Hath Trump Rot?: How Republicans Betrayed American Ideals.'
2021-03-092h 10
WhoWhatWhy's PodcastsRadioWhoWhatWhy: Climate Change, Civil Disobedience, and Extinction RebellionNo matter how unseasonably cold or hot it gets or how powerful the storms are, there will be those who still don't accept the urgency of climate change. For the rest of us, who believe we humans are destroying life as know it on earth, the group Extinction Rebellion (XR) has a message: We must change our behavior now, or die. In this week's WhoWhatWhy podcast, Rory Varrato, a US spokesperson for the group, explains that XR was formed last fall amid one of the the biggest acts of peaceful civil disobedience in the UK in decades...
2019-02-0126 min
Act Out! podcastPublic Hospitals Don’t Exist, Land & Future for Sale + Stateside Rebel for LifeYou can't call yourself a public hospital if you can only serve the public by price-gouging another segment of the public. We take a look at why hospitals are closing and why even well-meaning reforms can't take hold in a privatized, for-profit system. There's land (and our kids' futures) for sale! You just gotta be willing to destroy it for the sake of a measly profit margin that pushes us further into climate chaos. Rory Varrato joins us to talk about Extinction Rebellion NYC: upcoming events, the power of a decentralized, collaborative structure and what...
2019-01-1833 min