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ArtiFact: Books, Art, Culture[TEASER] ArtiFact #65: New Georgia Film, Musk & Trump, Crypto Dystopia, & Looming CatastrophesTopics: discussing our upcoming film on Don Moss in Savannah, Georgia & Tybee Island; "Camera Work" photos curated by Alfred Stieglitz; adopting new cinematic techniques; Donald Trump, Elon Musk, & America's depression; Trump meme coins & the crypto grift; crypto removes the layers of fraudulent abstraction in Traditional Finance; how Trump could have avoided scamming his crypto followers; the DOGE dilemma; is Trump trying to provoke a constitutional crisis; will conservative culture be ascendant; how an economics cottage industry covered for Joe Biden's administration; is Left-Pessimism dead; on the oligarchy; the tech freaks; academia sucks, but the death of academic humanities will...2025-02-2101 minArtiFact: Books, Art, CultureDonald Trump & The Liberal Hydra | ArtiFact 64: Benjamin StudebakerDonald Trump's 2024 win surprised many pundits, but not Benjamin Studebaker, who had assumed the worldwide incumbency crisis in 2024 would ultimately come for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.
His newest book, "Legitimacy in Liberal Democracies", builds on his previous work on the chronic crisis of liberal democracy. In ArtiFact 64, Benjamin Studebaker and author/filmmaker Alex Sheremet discuss their reasons for expecting a Trump victory, the question of political polarization, and where liberal democracy goes from here.
You can also watch this discussion on our YouTube channel: https://youtu.be/j1nENjZNwu0
Read...2024-11-221h 41ArtiFact: Books, Art, CultureGAME OVER: Kamala Harris Pulls The Plug | ArtiFact 63: Alex Sheremet, Keith JackewiczAs soon as Joe Biden dropped out, Kamala Harris cinched the Democratic Party nomination. We assess Kamala Harris's uphill battle, and the extent to which Joe Biden condemned her to it. For example, why did Democrats hide Joe Biden's condition, even from themselves? What role will Biden's support for Israel's war crimes in Gaza play in 2024? We also assess Donald Trump's unique disadvantages, such as his horrible pick of the doughy and goofy JD Vance as Vice President.
You can also watch this discussion on our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CQ-CVOXacus
2024-08-021h 11ArtiFact: Books, Art, CultureThaao Penghlis on Memory & Greek Mythology | ArtiFact 62: Alex Sheremet, Thaao PenghlisThaao Penghlis is a legendary actor who appeared on "Days Of Our Lives", "General Hospital", "Mission Impossible", and more. Yet he is also an intellectually curious person, and put together a mini-series on the archaeology of Homer's Greece.
In ArtiFact 62, writer and filmmaker Alex Sheremet speaks with Thaao about Homer's "Iliad", the nature of cultural memory, and controversies surrounding Greek archaeology.
You can also watch this discussion on our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AnNGWHmNrBg
Listen to Thaao Penghlis's "Lost Treasures" on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com...2024-06-061h 04ArtiFact: Books, Art, CultureThe Arts Naked & Up Close | ArtiFact 61: Erik Hill, Alex SheremetAuthor and filmmaker Alex Sheremet sits down with Erik Hill of Erik Hill Reviews @erikhillreviews to discuss all things art: the relationship between filmmaking and poetry, how the Harlem Renaissance and rap music changed Alex's life, the perils of Steven Pinker, and fresh insights into Alex Sheremet's and Joel Parrish's new film, "From There to There: Bruce Ario, the Minneapolis Poet".
This discussion can also be watched on our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g1QPNsQlZRk
This interview first appeared on Erik Hill's channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FB...2024-05-221h 02ArtiFact: Books, Art, CultureI Made The Film Nobody Else Would | ArtiFact 60: Destin Davis, Joel Parrish, Alex SheremetFilmmaking can be highly technical, or not. As first-time director Alex Sheremet argues, finding the right topic and having an artistic blueprint in mind are far more important to master, as no amount of technical training will overcome bad ideas and artistic choices.
Alex Sheremet and Joel Parrish sit down with Destin Davis of the Benton Courier to discuss their upcoming film, “From There to There: Bruce Ario, the Minneapolis Poet”.
You can also watch this conversation on our YouTube channel: https://youtu.be/o-eerpxlDlw
Watch the film’s first 8 minutes on Patreon: https...2024-04-291h 05ArtiFact: Books, Art, CultureWhy White People LOVE Thomas Sowell | ArtiFact 59: Alex Sheremet, Dan SchneiderThomas Sowell has a reputation for unorthodox positions and intellectual chops, but does he deserve it? His comments on slavery, equality, freedom, and philosophical concepts are rather thin, while his claims about the public commons are hypocritical. In this video, authors and cultural critics Alex Sheremet and Dan Schneider go through some of Thomas Sowell's core beliefs, breaking down his logical fallacies, double standards, inconsistencies, and more.
You can also watch this conversation on our YouTube channel: https://youtu.be/d3LUO8mXbcg
To get the B Side to this conversation, support us on Patreon...2024-02-2156 minArtiFact: Books, Art, CultureHow Jared Taylor WASTED His Life | ArtiFact 58: Alex Sheremet, Dan SchneiderJared Taylor was born in Japan, traveled the world and became fluent in several languages, yet has wasted his life on white separatism. In this way, he extracted all the benefits of diversity—personal, professional, developmental—then decided to shut the door behind him. A longtime white supremacist, Jared Taylor nonetheless looks down on the vast majority of whites, telling Phil Donahue that he wants to be at “white cocktail parties” in “wealthy neighborhoods” full of “good-looking people”. After Donald Trump emerged, Jared Taylor was forced to reinvent himself as a Trump-style populist interested in the plight of the white working cl...2024-02-132h 48ArtiFact: Books, Art, CultureLust for Survival in Shakespeare's ANTONY & CLEOPATRA | ArtiFact 57: Laura Woods, Keith JackewiczMyths of Rome and the Orient, as well as questions of race and sexuality all play major roles in William Shakespeare’s underrated play, Antony and Cleopatra. It follows the final years of Roman triumvir Mark Antony and Egypt’s queen Cleopatra VII, as they engage in affairs, neglect their imperial duties, and wage war against Octavius Caesar (Augustus). In ArtiFact 57, authors Laura Woods, Alex Sheremet, and Keith Jackewicz discuss Antony & Cleopatra through the lens of Roman history, key aspects of Shakespeare’s writing, and ways of assessing the play as modern readers.
You can also watch this d...2024-01-251h 41ArtiFact: Books, Art, CultureBitcoin For Socialists? | ArtiFact 56: Joshua Davila, Alex SheremetBitcoin and cryptocurrency are a hotbed for right-wing ideologues, but Joshua Davila argues this technology is not going away and ought to be used for left-wing activism. Bitcoin, for example, is not inherently capitalistic, while projects on Ethereum and other protocols have been more exploratory and experimental. In ArtiFact 56, Alex and Josh discuss the concept of blockchain, why it’s valuable, on-chain models for political organization, NFTs as supportive of, and destructive to, genuine art, and expose crypto-idiots and other unsavory personalities.
You can also watch this conversation on our YouTube channel: https://youtu.be/un8jqcrQ70k2024-01-121h 14ArtiFact: Books, Art, CultureNorman Maclean’s ”A River Runs Through It” Is Great | ArtiFact 55: Alex Sheremet, Keith JackewiczNorman Maclean's "A River Runs Through It" is a great American novel, which is particularly shocking since it was Maclean’s first book and written in his 70s. In essence a memoir, “A River Runs Through It” follows the relationship between two brothers in 1930s Montana. Alex Sheremet and Keith Jackewicz dissect the book’s strengths, its powerful imagery and controlling metaphor(s), and unique structural decisions.
You can also watch this conversation on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mqXGKkRzTDY
To get the B Side to this conversation, support us on Patreon: https://www.patr...2024-01-051h 07ArtiFact: Books, Art, CultureIsrael Against The (Civilized) World | ArtiFact 54: Mouin Rabbani, Alex SheremetThe Hamas attack of October 7 was preceded by a number of escalations: ethnic cleansing in the West Bank and Jerusalem, Netanyahu’s threats to annex Palestine, encroachments into the Al Aqsa Mosque, the rise of the Lion’s Den movement and Unity Intifada, as well as Israeli-Arab normalization agreements (“Abraham Accords”) which excluded Palestinians. In ArtiFact 54, Middle East scholar Mouin Rabbani joins Alex Sheremet to discuss the prehistory of October 7, Joe Biden’s lifelong desire to protect Israel at all costs, myths about the Netanyahu government, and the region’s future.
You can also watch this discussion on our YouTu...2023-12-2248 minArtiFact: Books, Art, CultureDecolonizing Shakespeare in ”The Tempest” | ArtiFact 53: Keith Jackewicz, Alex SheremetIn light of decolonization and postcolonial theory, William Shakespeare’s “The Tempest” has received new interest. Although Caliban is often thought of as the play’s centerpiece, Prospero remains its best-sketched character, as he has complex relationships and contradictory beliefs. His subjects, Ariel and Caliban, both demand freedom, while the stories told of their unnamed island are only second-hand accounts that feed into Prospero’s own self-conception. In ArtiFact 53, literary critics Alex Sheremet and Keith Jackewicz assess Shakespeare’s mysterious play, touching on questions of decolonization, imperialism, gender roles, Orientalism, Italian politics, and much more.
To get the B Side t...2023-12-131h 09ArtiFact: Books, Art, CulturePredicting the Human with Loren Eiseley | ArtiFact 52: Arnold Schroder on ”The Night Country”Loren Eiseley was a paleontologist more famed for his beautiful writing than for scientific discoveries, a fact that both oppressed and liberated him. In his book, “The Night Country”, Eiseley discusses his childhood exploring underground worlds and compares this with his work as a scientist and writer. He deals with questions such as “the ghost in the machine”, the purpose of civilization and (cultural) evolution, and philosophical evil. Alex Sheremet is joined by radical climate activist Arnold Schroder of the Fight Like An Animal podcast to discuss Loren Eiseley’s text and its implications.
You can also watch this...2023-12-071h 26ArtiFact: Books, Art, CultureIvan Katchanovski on the Future of Ukraine | ArtiFact 51: Alex Sheremet, Ivan KatchanovskiNow that Israel’s invasion of Gaza is center stage, Russia’s war in Ukraine is getting less attention. This has frustrated Zelensky in the midst of bad news. The Ukrainian counteroffensive has failed, and both Ukrainian and Western officials are wondering if negotiations should be the next step. This will require preparing the Ukrainian public for the possibility of a worse peace deal (and less land) than in 2015 and 2022.
In ArtiFact 51, Alex Sheremet is joined by University of Ottawa professor and Ukrainian-Canadian scholar Ivan Katchanovski to discuss the Russia-Ukraine War, the costs to Ukraine, the impact of t...2023-11-191h 34ArtiFact: Books, Art, CultureMaking GREAT Independent Films On A Budget | ArtiFact 50: Joel Parrish, Alex SheremetAlthough there’s often a desire for big, Hollywood films, having too many resources, and too much polish, contradicts the mission of art. Independent films can be shot with minimal equipment and lend themselves to bigger, bolder ideas in a smaller package. In ArtiFact 50, Alex Sheremet and Joel Parrish reflect on shooting their first film, “From There to There: Bruce Ario, The Minneapolis Poet”. Topics covered: film and audio equipment, cinematography, production and post-production, finding interviews, and the practical as well as theoretical foundations of filmmaking.
You can also watch this conversation on our YouTube channel: https://youtu...2023-11-0858 minArtiFact: Books, Art, CultureWhat The Al-Ahli Gaza Hospital Bombing Really Meant | ArtiFact 49: Alex Sheremet, Keith JackewiczThe IDF is accused of bombing the al-Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza. As a result, both Israelis and Palestinians have staked their reputations on the responsible party. Yet this would already be the 35th hospital strike in Gaza since 2008, while fully half of Gaza’s medical infrastructure had been leveled in Cast Lead and again in Protective Edge. In this video, political commentators Alex Sheremet and Keith Jackewicz deal with the fallout of the Hamas attack in Gaza, the Israeli counteroffensive, the meaning of the al-Ahli Baptist Hospital strike, Palestine’s history, and Joe Biden’s increasing lack of credib...2023-10-201h 31ArtiFact: Books, Art, CultureFrank Whaley’s ”The Jimmy Show” Is So Underrated | ArtiFact 48Taking great influence from Martin Scorsese's "The King of Comedy", Frank Whaley's underrated character portrait, "The Jimmy Show", was attacked by critics and filmgoers upon release, and is mostly forgotten now. In ArtiFact 48, critics Jessica Schneider, Ethan Pinch, Alex Sheremet, and Ezekiel Yu break down the film’s strengths and weaknesses while putting it in the wider context of American comedy and stand-up routines.
You can also watch this discussion on our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D28Ib8L1BQk&
If you’d like the B Side to this conv...2023-10-1159 minArtiFact: Books, Art, CultureHow The Black Panthers Changed My Life | ArtiFact 47: Eldridge Cleaver’s ”Soul on Ice”Two years after the creation of the Black Panther Party, Eldridge Cleaver’s prison writings were published as SOUL ON ICE. He became the party’s Minister of Information, but would soon have a falling out with Huey P. Newton over tactics and ideology. In ArtiFact #47, authors Alex Sheremet and Keith Jackewicz break down the text, highlighting its strengths and weaknesses, as Alex explains why it was so critical for his own intellectual development in high school.
You can also watch this conversation on our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1DCNP2uYMo
...2023-10-041h 55ArtiFact: Books, Art, CultureNorman Finkelstein on the IMPLOSION of Ibram X Kendi | ArtiFact 46Ibram X Kendi (born Henry Rogers) is an "antiracist scholar" who is now under investigation by Boston University due to alleged mismanagement of the Center for Antiracist Research. In ArtiFact #46, Holocaust scholar Norman Finkelstein breaks down the allegations, as well as his responses to Ibram X. Kendi's scholarly writing in "Stamped from the Beginning" and "How to be an Antiracist". He concludes that, besides his alleged administrative fraud, Kendi is an intellectual hoaxer who has more in common with the Right than with the Left.
You can also watch this discussion on our YouTube channel: https://youtu...2023-09-291h 13ArtiFact: Books, Art, CultureDreamscapes In Scorsese’s ”Taxi Driver” | ArtiFact #45: Laura Woods, Jessica SchneiderUniversally heralded as an American classic, Martin Scorsese’s TAXI DRIVER (Robert DeNiro, Jodie Foster) deserves its reputation for nuance and the subtle ways in which its thematic, cinematic, and psychological elements cohere. Paul Schrader’s script allows for everything from understated racial critique, to a realistic depiction of how entanglements are made and broken, to the role of loneliness and purposelessness in the modern world. This is partly done by way of a dreamscape, which has enough plausible deniability to still feel "real".
In ArtiFact #45, Alex Sheremet is joined by Irish poet Laura Woods and poet, nove...2023-09-0559 minArtiFact: Books, Art, CultureNorman Finkelstein On Race, Class, & Robin DiAngelo’s Fraud | ArtiFact #44In the last few decades, political correctness has divided Americans and reduced their ability to embark on a real political project. According to Holocaust and Israel/Palestine scholar Norman Finkelstein, Robin DiAngelo and Ibram X. Kendi are representatives of race-based fraud, downplaying the role of class, culture, and more in order to sell books and corporate workshops.
In ArtiFact #44, Norman Finkelstein and Alex Sheremet discuss the class-based critique formulated in Finkelstein’s latest book, “I’ll Burn That Bridge When I Get To It”, as well as questions of criminal justice and criminal justice reform. The text covers p...2023-08-201h 02ArtiFact: Books, Art, CultureNorman Finkelstein Exposes The Cult Of Barack Obama | ArtiFact #43According to Holocaust and Israel/Palestine scholar Norman Finkelstein, Barack Obama’s “neat trick” allowed voters to imbue whatever political values they wished on to a blank slate who seemingly came out of nowhere. This allowed Democrats to turn the 2008 and 2012 elections into a referendum not on the candidate, but the “goodness” and “morality” of the electorate.
Finkelstein’s new book, “I’ll Burn That Bridge When I Get To It: Heretical Thoughts On Identity Politics, Cancel Culture, And Academic Freedom”, tackles, among other topics, Barack Obama’s 2020 memoir, “A Promised Land”, concluding Obama was little more than a cipher enamored by ce...2023-08-031h 27ArtiFact: Books, Art, CultureBenjamin Studebaker On The Crisis Of Democracy | ArtiFact #42: Alex Sheremet, Benjamin StudebakerAccording to the Left, Right, and Center, democracy is under attack. Donald Trump claimed election fraud in 2020, while both Joe Biden and Hillary Clinton hinted at fascism with a Republican administration. In his 2023 book, “The Chronic Crisis of American Democracy: The Way is Shut”, Benjamin Studebaker argues that neither is the case, as the very popularity of democracy is being used to energize fringe voters in lieu of passing real legislation.
In ArtiFact #42, Alex Sheremet and Benjamin Studebaker tackle “the unsolvable problem”, wage stagnation, the causes of austerity, and how political parties continue to get away with minimal...2023-07-052h 07ArtiFact: Books, Art, CultureArtiFact #41: Is YouTube Destroying Art? | Alex Sheremet, Ezekiel Yu, Dan SchneiderArt YouTube ranges from academic to street, high-brow to low-brow, natural, performative, good and bad. In ArtiFact #41, writers Alex Sheremet, Ezekiel Yu, and Dan Schneider tackle some of the more popular art YouTube channels, dissecting their arguments, assumptions, and presentation. Our questions include: how does YouTube incentivize poor artistic judgment and packaging? Does overly performative criticism damage the field? What is the difference between criticism and sociological critique? Is “honesty” really the most important quality in a critic? Is worrying about the commodification of the arts self-defeating? Plus: comments on Banksy, Kurt Cobain, Andy Warhol, Marxist theory, & more.
...2023-06-282h 05ArtiFact: Books, Art, CultureHow ”The Limits To Growth” (1972) Was Vindicated | ArtiFact #40: Arnold Schroder, Alex SheremetIn 1972, four scientists – Donella H. Meadows, Dennis L. Meadows, Jørgen Randers, William W. Behrens III – published a book called The Limits To Growth, about planetary limits based on a new computer model called World3. It was attacked by journalists, scientists, and economists who claimed it was making faulty predictions based on untested hypotheses, and was often rejected in highly emotional terms by a society that wanted to believe in infinite growth. These attacks accelerated in the 1990s, since models of food and resource scarcity failed, while the 1990s, themselves, were a highly idealistic decade.
By 2023, however, it is...2023-04-181h 34ArtiFact: Books, Art, CultureArtiFact #39: On Friedrich Nietzsche’s ”The Gay Science” | Laura Woods, Alex SheremetFriedrich Nietzsche wrote a large number of books defying systematization, creating a reputation for difficulty that is not altogether fair. For instance, “The Gay Science” (1882) captures the bulk of Nietzsche’s philosophy through great writing highlighting its own anti-obscurantism, which makes it the perfect book for introducing readers to his work. In ArtiFact #39, Alex Sheremet and Irish poet Laura Woods tackle Friedrich Nietzsche’s literary and intellectual accomplishments by carefully assessing the book’s introductory poems and 383 aphorisms, by way of Walter Kaufmann's classic translation. They dissect Nietzsche’s views of women, art, politics, war, questions of personal experience, and more, fi...2023-03-082h 34ArtiFact: Books, Art, CultureArtiFact #38: Ivan Katchanovski On Russia / Ukraine Propaganda, Maidan, Donbass, & The USSRAlthough Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 caught many analysts off-guard, Ukrainian-born scholar Ivan Katchanovski (University of Ottawa) predicted the growth of tensions well before the Maidan. In some respects, the Ukraine War as well as Vladimir Putin and Putinism had their roots in the early 1990s. On the one hand, the West made contradictory promises to Ukraine about its security while demanding they give up nuclear arms, and on the other, Zbigniew Brzezinski’s fears (The Grand Chessboard, 1997) of America’s “mismanagement” of its Russia policies were slowly realized. At the same time, Russia’s poverty and instability...2023-02-243h 35ArtiFact: Books, Art, CultureArtiFact #37: Junichiro Tanizaki’s ”Some Prefer Nettles” | Ruslan Gallopyn, Alex SheremetJunichiro Tanizaki (1886 – 1965) was a Japanese novelist born to a Tokyo merchant family. His work combined some of the best elements of modernism while tapping both Japanese and Western aesthetics. In ArtiFact #37, Alex Sheremet and Ruslan Gallopyn discuss Tanizaki’s “Some Prefer Nettles” (1929), a novel depicting a dysfunctional open marriage and impending divorce which nonetheless might be averted. The book’s dry humor, poetic descriptions, modern (especially by today’s standards) psychology, and deft use of understatement allows Junichiro Tanizaki to develop some of his richest characters.
You can also watch this discussion on our YouTube channel: https://youtu.be/3KJ...2023-02-152h 02ArtiFact: Books, Art, CultureArtiFact #36: EKPHRASM – Jessica Schneider’s Ekphrastic Poetry | Alex Sheremet, Jessica SchneiderAlthough ekphrastic poetry (‘poetry about art’) has been around for a long time, the majority of ekphrastic writing does little more than recapitulate and describe a painting. In ArtiFact #36, Alex Sheremet is joined by Jessica Schneider to discuss her recent book of ekphrastic poetry, “Ekphrasm”, and how her approach is different. From the use of recurring characters, to combining observations on photography with those on painting, to characterizing her various poetic narrators, to the use of psychological tricks, there is more to ekphrasis than meets the eye.
Painters covered include Edouard Manet, Claude Monet, Paul Cezanne, Hilma af Klint...2023-01-251h 24ArtiFact: Books, Art, CultureArtiFact #35: The Life & Times Of Bruce Ario, Poet | Joel Ario, Alex Sheremet, Dan SchneiderBruce Ario (1955 – 2022) was a great Minneapolis poet with a fascinating backstory. Although he did not have much interest in writing in the start of his adult life, a car accident and traumatic brain injury (possibly) led to mental illness, homelessness, drug addiction, a religious conversion, and, most importantly, a lifetime of poetry and prose. Author of the novel “Cityboy”, he is also creator of the ario poetic form, a 10-line, 4-stanza poem which taps plain speech and startling juxtapositions of thought and image for its poetic effect.
In ArtiFact #35, Alex Sheremet is joined by one of Bruce Ario’s...2023-01-111h 15ArtiFact: Books, Art, CultureArtiFact #34: A Climate Activist Dissects Ted Kaczynski’s Manifesto | Arnold Schroder, Alex SheremetAfter embarking on a two-decade terrorist campaign of mail bombs, Ted Kaczynski forced the Washington Post to publish “Industrial Society And Its Future”, or, the Unabomber Manifesto, in 1995. This was an infamous tract on climate change as well as on the philosophical and pragmatic ramifications of accelerating technology.
In ArtiFact #34, Alex Sheremet is joined by radical climate activist Arnold Schroder of the Fight Like An Animal podcast to discuss “The Industrial Society And Its Future”. They tackle Ted Kaczynski’s claims about Leftism and political psychology, his time frame for ecological collapse, his use and misuse of terms such...2022-12-231h 59ArtiFact: Books, Art, CultureArtiFact #33: Norman Finkelstein Speaks With Palestinian Refugees On Nakba, Gaza, The First & Second Intifada, Oslo, & Their Memories Of WarAlthough Israelis view the events of 1948 as liberation, to Palestinians, this was “Nakba”, or “disaster”. According to Israeli historian Benny Morris, the events of those first few years were tantamount to “ethnic cleansing” of Palestinians, a fact that neither Israel nor the international community have been able to properly deal with. How to resettle hundreds of thousands of Palestinian refugees and their descendants? Was the original partition of Palestine equitable and just, and if not, what would a logical compensation package look like? Was Israel interested in a genuine peace process, or do the Oslo Accords, Camp David, Taba, and events s...2022-12-062h 34ArtiFact: Books, Art, CultureArtiFact #32: Terminator vs. Terminator 2 - Judgment Day | Ethan Pinch, J. Schneider, A. SheremetJames Cameron's "Terminator" film series combines the best of Hollywood while remaining unburdened by its convention and cliche. In “Terminator” (1984), Cameron casts an apparently reluctant Arnold Schwarzenegger into the role of T800. From the opening shots of a nude, physically unfamiliar, almost biblical figure surveying Los Angeles, to the slow, complex, yet satisfying buildup of drama/plot machinations, the first Terminator is an example of novelty and craftsmanship in genre film, while “Terminator 2: Judgment Day” takes it all a step further through deeper explorations of character.
In ArtiFact #32, Alex Sheremet, Ethan Pinch, and Jessica Schneider compare the two film...2022-09-281h 34ArtiFact: Books, Art, CultureArtiFact #31 – Ryusuke Hamaguchi & Orientalism | Ezekiel Yu, Alex SheremetAlthough Ryusuke Hamaguchi has been a well-known Japanese film director for some time, it was only with 2021’s Drive My Car that his name entered the West. In ArtiFact #31, Alex Sheremet and Ezekiel Yu dissect Hamaguchi’s two best-known films: 2018’s Asako I & II, a romantic drama with strong anime overtones, and Hamaguchi’s breakthrough film, Drive My Car. Neither Alex nor Zeke are impressed with these films – from the cliched scripts, to poorly sketched characters, to cinematography which adds little to the films’ lacks, to a strange Orientalism (as well as Occidentalism) in the portrayal of women and love, neithe...2022-08-291h 46ArtiFact: Books, Art, CultureArtiFact #30: The Dumbest Things Elon Musk Has Ever Said | Alex Sheremet, Dan SchneiderElon Musk is a South African entrepreneur who has recently entered America’s cultural (and political) wars. Celebrated by Joe Rogan and Sam Harris, Elon Musk has carved out a level of celebrity most CEOs don’t get to enjoy, amassing 100 million Twitter followers, marrying his brand to his own persona, and encouraging a cult-like audience which publicly defends Musk against bad publicity. Long derided for his business practices, from poor employee and car safety standards, to Tesla lemon laundering, to a wild bet on purchasing Twitter which he is now trying to back out of, his recent foray into...2022-08-291h 48ArtiFact: Books, Art, CultureArtiFact #29: Abortion, Roe v. Wade, & The Constitution | Alex Sheremet, Dan SchneiderRoe v. Wade was overturned June 2022 by way of Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, a decision that was decades in the making, yet little prepared-for. At Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s confirmation hearing, she insisted that abortion is best viewed under the Equal Protection Clause rather than that of strict privacy, while in other contexts called Roe v. Wade a poorly argued decision bound to wither away. Despite this, little was done to formally ensure abortion rights.
In this video, Dan Schneider and Alex Sheremet discuss how Roe v. Wade was argued, what could have been adde...2022-08-231h 53ArtiFact: Books, Art, CultureArtiFact #28: Richard Linklater’s BEFORE Trilogy | Jessica Schneider, Alex SheremetAmerican filmmaker Richard Linklater occupies the space between Hollywood and the indie film scene, combining some of Hollywood’s refinements with unexpected inversions and sleights of hand. Perhaps best known for “Boyhood” (2014) and the Before Trilogy (Before Sunrise, Before Sunset, Before Midnight), these latter films defined some of Richard Linklater’s chief concerns: the passage of time, the role of nostalgia in youth and adulthood, and the tension between fantasy and reality.
You can also watch this conversation on our YouTube channel: https://youtu.be/CIgmRNDTpNQ
If you find this video useful, consider supporting our work on...2022-08-141h 22ArtiFact: Books, Art, CultureArtiFact #27: Thomas Pynchon vs. Kurt Vonnegut | Joel Parrish, Alex SheremetPublished just a few years after Kurt Vonnegut’s “Slaughterhouse-Five”, Thomas Pynchon’s “Gravity’s Rainbow” uses many of Vonnegut’s postmodern literary techniques: serpentine plots, anchoring phrases/themes, implicit and explicit political commentary without over-moralizing, humor (or attempts at humor), pastiche, and more. Yet the two books are wildly different in accomplishment. What accounts for such differences? How can we differentiate good from bad artistry in works of similar aesthetic predilections? In this video, Alex Sheremet and Joel Parrish debate the merits and de-merits of these two novels while focusing on characterization, sentence construction, insight, social commentary, the use of epigraphs...2022-05-153h 22ArtiFact: Books, Art, CultureArtiFact #26: Hermann Hesse’s ”Steppenwolf” | Joel Parrish, Alex SheremetIn Herman Hesse’s “Steppenwolf”, we get a dense text which draws on various philosophical traditions in service of richly characterizing its protagonist, Harry Haller. What does Haller think and why? Are his flights of fancy a mere defense mechanism, or is there genuine depth behind his observations? How do the book’s less obvious (but no less important) moving parts all cohere? How can modern authors use some of the same tactics without leaning into what, a century later, might veer a bit too close to cliché? In this discussion, Alex Sheremet and Joel Parrish cover these and other que...2022-05-153h 06ArtiFact: Books, Art, CultureArtiFact #25: Photography From Josef Sudek To Laura Makabresku | Joel Parrish, Alex SheremetIn ArtiFact #20, Joel Parrish and Alex Sheremet went through the history of photography from Louis Daguerre (the creator of the daguerreotype) to contemporary photographers. In ArtiFact #25, there are fewer technicals to address and more emphasis on ‘forgotten’ and misunderstood photographers, with more connections to the art world as a whole. Among the questions asked: how can artists understand the techniques of one medium and apply it to their own art? What should the viewer look for in a photograph, anyway? What are the unique advantages and drawbacks of photography, especially in light of “borrowed” tropes such as painting’s still life...2022-05-155h 01
The Year WasMay 11th...Fritz Lang’s ”M”Here is the latest from The Year Was, which is that thing I do every week. We are up to episode 168. This time we examine the year 1931 as Fritz Lang’s film thriller “M” is first released in Berlin, Germany.
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Theme music by The Tim Kreitz Band
https://www.youtube.com/c/TimKreitzAdventures/
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iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-year-was/id1458174084
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Y...2022-05-1109 minArtiFact: Books, Art, CultureArtiFact #24: Kurt Vonnegut’s “Bluebeard” | Ethan Pinch, Alex SheremetAlthough considered one of Kurt Vonnegut’s minor works, 1987’s BLUEBEARD is an interesting novel that covers some fresh territory for the author. It follows the life and work of Rabo Karabekian, the son of Armenian immigrants who flee to California after the Armenian genocide. Starting as a highly realistic, technically proficient painter, Karabekian shifts his aesthetics to Abstract Expressionism, and, after “failing” as an artist, becomes a collector with one magnum opus left inside of him, which is tucked away under padlock in his barn. This is a work of modern Expressionism which a pseudonymous writer, Circe Berman, tries to...2022-02-243h 34ArtiFact: Books, Art, CultureArtiFact #23: Sciolism & Sciolists – Jordan B. Peterson, Christopher Langan, Athena Walker & Quora Experts | Alex Sheremet, Dan SchneiderJust as television eventually gave way to mass adoption and lowest common denominator programming, the Internet, once niche, has given a means for narcissists, sciolists, and other bad actors to carve out an unsuspecting audience. Taken from the Latin “scius” (knowing) and its diminutive “sciolus” (little knower), the word “sciolist” refers to a pretender towards knowledge – conscious or not. Of course, this is a cross-cultural, cross-political phenomenon, for there is a basic, simian drive to not only “know”, but to pretend to know when one does not.
Over the past decade, pretenders such as Jordan B. Peterson, Joe Rogan, Sam Harr...2022-02-015h 49ArtiFact: Books, Art, CultureArtiFact #22: Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s ”Aurora Leigh” | Jessica Schneider, Alex Sheremet, Ezekiel YuElizabeth Barrett Browning (1806 – 1861) was one of the best poets of the 19th century, yet remains little known today and even less read. At a time when feminist literary criticism (among other relevant lenses) is ascendant, how did Barrett Browning go from a much-admired writer to one that is neglected in favor of her literary inferiors? In ArtiFact #22, Jessica Schneider, Ezekiel Yu, and Alex Sheremet tackle her classic novel-in-verse, Aurora Leigh, uncovering depths and dimensions to a work she considered containing her very best poetry.
You may also watch this discussion on our YouTube channel: https://ww...2021-12-282h 44ArtiFact: Books, Art, CultureArtiFact #21: Kurt Vonnegut‘s ”Galapagos” | Keith Jackewicz, Alex SheremetTaking up Mark Twain’s mantle, then expanding upon it, Kurt Vonnegut (1922 – 2007) was one of the greatest comic writers to have ever lived. His best-known work, Slaughterhouse-Five, features everything from sci-fi to timeless political comment, thus overshadowing his other great works.
One of these is 1986’s Galapagos, a novel which uses Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution, as well as Kurt Vonnegut’s spin on “the oversized brain”, as a controlling metaphor to explore human behavior and self-destructiveness. Featuring one of Vonnegut’s more convoluted plots, it follows a handful of characters on a cruise to the Galapagos island...2021-11-022h 30ArtiFact: Books, Art, CultureArtiFact #20: Photography From Louis Daguerre To Vivian Maier | Alex Sheremet, Joel ParrishLike cinema, photography is a recent art form which has had to “prove itself” to a skeptical audience. After Louis Daguerre created the daguerreotype, photographers grew increasingly sophisticated, experimental, and art-minded, and soon a photographic language developed. Early photographers like Alfred Stieglitz and Robert Demachy were surprisingly modern, while contemporary photographers, like Fan Ho, Vivian Maier, and Alexey Titarenko, continued to innovate into the 21st century.
What are some cues for better adjudicating photographs and photographic art? What is the relationship between cinema and photography? Can (or should) cinematic stills be great photographs? What is the “discretionary” part of...2021-10-064h 36ArtiFact: Books, Art, CultureArtiFact #19: Elizabeth Barrett Browning's "Sonnets from the Portuguese" | Alex Sheremet, Joel ParrishElizabeth Barrett Browning (1806 – 1861) was one of the best poets of the 19th century, yet remains little known today and even less read. At a time when feminist literary criticism (among other relevant lenses) is ascendant, how did Barrett Browning go from an almost universally admired writer to one that is neglected in favor of her literary inferiors? In ArtiFact #19, Joel Parrish and Alex Sheremet tackle her classic sonnet sequence, Sonnets from the Portuguese, going through roughly half the poems line by line to uncover Browning’s complicated views on love, art, and other subjects, highlighting her philosophical depth, technical skil...2021-08-242h 57ArtiFact: Books, Art, CultureArtiFact #18: All About Eva | Eva Schubert, Alex SheremetEva Schubert is a singer-songwriter, poet, and historian from Canada with several full-length albums, plus an upcoming record that was finished just weeks ago. In this conversation, Alex and Eva discuss growing up and growing into poetry, concepts of self-identity, the fears and imperatives surrounding human creativity, art as competition and communication, Eva’s thoughts as she writes her lyrics, how to avoid musical and writerly clichés, and an analysis of two albums: 2017’s outstanding “Borderless Sky” and 2019’s “Hot Damn Romance”. At the end of the discussion, we touch on our shared interests of fitness, deadlifting, nutrition, and injuries/in...2021-08-172h 19ArtiFact: Books, Art, CultureArtiFact #17: Woody Allen as Pygmalion | Ethan Pinch, Alex SheremetAs Alex Sheremet and Ethan Pinch argue, Woody Allen has been falling out of favor for a long time now – and not only for the more obvious and superficial reasons. Critics charge him with indulging a Pygmalion complex, by which he lives out his androcentric fantasies through his films, crafting the very same women he has an interest in, then letting them loose upon the screen.
There are issues with this analysis, however: not only has Woody written some great female characters that ought to be the subjects of feminist film theory, but Bernard Shaw’s “Pygmalion” does mor...2021-08-102h 37ArtiFact: Books, Art, CultureArtiFact #16: Two White Guys Explain Racism | Alex Sheremet, Dan SchneiderOver the last few years, we’ve heard that white people ought to “shut up and listen” when it comes to questions of race and racism. Yet Dan Schneider’s 2005 book, Show & Tell: A White Man’s Antiphonal Primer on Race, argues the exact opposite: that understanding white psychology, white leverage and material advantages is the key to unlocking all else. As he writes in the text, racism, to black America, is a burden to be lived through, but what is it to white America – and why does it persist? In this conversation, Dan Schneider and Alex Sheremet discuss these and ot...2021-08-022h 16ArtiFact: Books, Art, CultureArtiFact #15: Edward P. Jones - Lost in the City | Keith Jackewicz, Alex SheremetIn 1992, Edward P. Jones published what might very well be his best work of fiction: Lost in the City, a short story collection that deals with (mostly) black characters in Washington, D.C., set between the 1950s and 1990s. Primarily working through understatement, an amalgamation of poetic and prosaic style, and competing POVs, many of these characters could have been of any race, dealing with his characteristically “mature” drama in any time period. How does Edward P. Jones achieve these effects? Does he effectively move between the criminal and the working class, the religious and the disconnected, or does he h...2021-07-203h 51ArtiFact: Books, Art, CultureArtiFact #14: Kurt Vonnegut's "Breakfast of Champions" | Alex Sheremet, Joel ParrishTaking up Mark Twain's mantle, then expanding upon it, Kurt Vonnegut (1922 – 2007) was one of the greatest comic writers to have ever lived. His best-known work, Slaughterhouse-Five, features everything from sci-fi to timeless political comment, and has overshadowed his other great works. One of these is 1972's Breakfast of Champions, a novel Kurt Vonnegut had abandoned several times, even as it remains a clever examination of America’s money-obsession, corporatism, sexual dynamics, artistic fraud, and more. Imparted by a (potentially) unreliable narrator, these lessons come to a twist ending in the book's last few scenes of philosophical slapstick.
You c...2021-07-142h 36ArtiFact: Books, Art, CultureArtiFact #13: NFTs, Kitsch, 90s Culture, Rap Music, R.W. Fassbinder, Censorship | Alex Sheremet, Ethan PinchAlex is joined by painter Ethan Pinch to discuss a variety of topics: growing up on the precipice of the Internet’s mainstreaming, the role that media censorship (and thus self-censorship) play in everyday decisions, the Golden Age of rap music, Alex’s rap-to-politics-to-art pipeline, NFTs vs. Abstract Expressionism, Rainer Werner Fassbinder’s absurdist film “Satan’s Brew”, and Clement Greenberg’s classic essay on kitsch.
More specifically: is kitsch a legitimate part of artistic judgment, or is it merely an aesthetic object? Do Clement Greenberg and other Marxist critics fall into an anti-Marxist idealism trap? Is E.B. White’s “...2021-07-093h 50ArtiFact: Books, Art, CultureArtiFact #12: De-framing Steven Pinker's "Enlightenment Now" | Alex Sheremet, Joel ParrishSteven Pinker is a cognitive scientist who’s written a number of pop science classics: The Language Instinct, How the Mind Works, The Blank Slate, and more. In 2011, he waded into the culture (if not political) debates with Better Angels of our Nature, a text whose basic premise – that the world has been getting more peaceful for millennia, and that the advent of a powerful state can be credited here – has shaped this podcast's political thinking.
Although an excellent writer at his best, in 2014, he published a book about writing well – The Sense of Style – which was loaded wit...2021-06-274h 44ArtiFact: Books, Art, CultureArtiFact #11: Kurt Vonnegut's "Cat's Cradle" | Alex Sheremet, Keith JackewiczTaking up Mark Twain's mission, then greatly expanding upon it, Kurt Vonnegut (1922 – 2007) was one of the best comic writers to have ever lived. His best-known work, Slaughterhouse-Five, features everything from sci-fi to dramedy to timeless political comment, and has overshadowed his other great works. One of these is 1963’s black comedy, Cat’s Cradle, a 127-chapter novel split across a mere ~300 pages, best typifying Vonnegut’s idea that his books “are essentially mosaics made up of a whole bunch of tiny little chips, and each chip is a joke”. Featuring an artificial religion and carefully built-up philosophy (Bokononism), WMDs familiar (th...2021-06-272h 35ArtiFact: Books, Art, CultureArtiFact #10: Charles Johnson's "Oxherding Tale" | Alex Sheremet, Joel ParrishCharles R. Johnson (b. 1948) is a scholar, cartoonist, and writer who approaches literature from the Buddhist tradition. His best-known novels – Middle Passage and Oxherding Tale – offer a unique philosophical twist on slave narratives that go well beyond ‘redemptive’ and Abolitionist writing, and have still remained fresh decades after publication.
Oxherding Tale, especially, is a highly dense, character-driven work, which is obvious not only by the weight of individual sentences, but also in its complex, self-referential structure. What, exactly, makes the novel work so well, and what does it say of (and beyond) slavery? Is Andrew Hawkins a “wanderer”...2021-06-273h 18ArtiFact: Books, Art, CultureArtiFact #9: The Epic of Gilgamesh | Alex Sheremet, Joel ParrishThe Epic of Gilgamesh (c. 1200 BCE, Standard Babylonian) is based on Gilgamesh of Uruk, a historical king subject to centuries of cult-worship and mythmaking before his exploits were written down. Although this was not unlike the fate of many ancient rulers, the Epic of Gilgamesh separates itself by its poetic modernity and psychological complexity.
In this video, Joel Parrish and Alex Sheremet discuss Gilgamesh’s failed quest for immortality, the ‘wild man’ Enkidu as Gilgamesh’s foil and savior, proto-feminist characters such as the prostitute Shamhat, as well as structural questions and the power of specific passages before c...2021-06-273h 00ArtiFact: Books, Art, CultureArtiFact #8: Also Sprach Pinch | Ethan Pinch, Joel Parrish, Alex SheremetJoel Parrish and I are joined by Ethan Pinch, a painter and art critic from the UK, for an interview (and debate) on his perspectives. In previous videos and comments, the 3 of us took some divergent approaches to visual art, with Ethan distinguishing “meaning” from “interpretation”. Ethan’s video (and my specific comments under the video) can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nN9k5YHcpdM
The point of contention had to do with Ethan’s painterly criticism vs. our more narrative/literary critique of visual art. It’s a criticism worth responding to, as even the mo...2021-06-273h 54ArtiFact: Books, Art, CultureArtiFact #7: John Williams's "Stoner" | Joel Parrish, Alex SheremetJohn Williams (1922 – 1994) is best remembered today for his 1965 novel, STONER. Mostly ignored during his lifetime, the book has become a cult classic after being re-issued in 2006 by the New York Review of Books. But is the novel worthy of its more hyperbolic praise (“perfect”, “almost perfect”, “the most beautiful book in the world”)? Is the text misogynistic, as claimed by the feminist literary critic Elaine Showalter, or do such charges merely paper over some deeper problems in the novel? Finally, what can we say of John Williams’s understanding of his own work? Alex Sheremet and Joel Parrish discuss these questions...2021-06-273h 31ArtiFact: Books, Art, CultureArtiFact #6: Leonard Shlain's Art & Physics | Alex Sheremet, Joel ParrishLeonard Shlain (1937 - 2009) was a surgeon, inventor, and author whose 1991 book "Art & Physics: Parallel Visions in Space, Time, and Light" shaped much of our artistic thinking. Shlain’s core argument is: the great (visual) artists are visionaries who are able to presage discoveries in other fields by cultivating their own, more individualistic work. But how can we actually use Leonard Shlain’s theories for understanding individual works of art? And is this form of analysis enough?
You can also watch this episode on our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6nbQp9mGnHs
Read the...2021-06-264h 02ArtiFact: Books, Art, CultureArtiFact #5: The Custodian's B**** | Alex Sheremet, Joel Parrish, Dan SchneiderIn ArtiFact #5, Alex and Joel are joined by Dan Schneider to discuss his picaresque novel, The Custodian's B****.
You can also watch this episode on our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=45J0Upz1_x0
Read the latest writing from automachination: https://automachination.com
Joel's website: https://poeticimport.com
Dan's website: http://cosmoetica.com
Music sample: Lowkemia - "Lorem Ipsum" (CC BY-SA 3.0)
Timestamps:
0:14 - On Richard Linklater's "Tape", Christopher Nolan, Terence Malick, Martin Scorsese
8:28 - Introducing Dan Schneider's "The Custodian's Bitch" + prologue2021-06-261h 17ArtiFact: Books, Art, CultureArtiFact #4 - The Book of Ecclesiastes | Alex Sheremet, Joel ParrishIn ArtiFact #4, Joel Parrish and I discuss growing up religious, the literary questions surrounding the Bible's Ecclesiastes, and other works of art by Rembrandt, Countee Cullen, and Robinson Jeffers.
You can also watch this episode on our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aWgEDn4TXIY
Read the latest writing from automachination: https://automachination.com
Joel's website: https://poeticimport.com
Music sample: Lowkemia - "Lorem Ipsum" (CC BY-SA 3.0)
Timestamps:
0:14 - Joel amidst the wildfires
5:48 - Some peculiarities of Russian Orthodoxy
9:40 - Joel's religious upbringing2021-06-262h 56ArtiFact: Books, Art, CultureArtiFact #3: Art & Art's Object | Alex Sheremet, Dan SchneiderArtiFact #3: Art & Art's Object | Alex Sheremet, Dan Schneider
In this episode of ArtiFact, Alex Sheremet and poet, critic, and novelist Dan Schneider discuss the foundations of art. Unfortunately, tech issues cut the conversation short, but there is ~10 minutes of episode outtakes near the end.
You can also watch this episode on our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xse5XbhH7aE
Read the latest writing from automachination: https://automachination.com
Dan Schneider's website: http://cosmoetica.com
Music sample: Lowkemia - "Lorem Ipsum" (CC BY-SA 3.0)
Timestamps:2021-06-261h 20ArtiFact: Books, Art, CultureArtiFact #1: Abraham Maslow & Artistic Creativity | Alex Sheremet, Joel ParrishIn the first episode of ArtiFact, Alex Sheremet and co-host Joel Parrish discuss art and artists in light of Abraham Maslow's classic text, "Toward A Psychology of Being" (1962).
This discussion can also be viewed on our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rFUooBvJAOo
Read the latest writing from automachination: https://automachination.com
Joel's website: https://poeticimport.com
Music sample: Lowkemia - "Lorem Ipsum" (CC BY-SA 3.0)
Timestamps:
0:14 – Introducing Joel Parrish, co-host of ArtiFact
4:02 – Why was Joel drawn to the arts, but not other pursuits?
6:52 – How ar...2021-06-153h 31