Joshua Citarella

My Book Recommendations 🎄🎁

Added 2023-12-08 13:30:01 +0000 UTC

People always ask me for book recommendations around this time of year. This December, I’m most excited for the debut book by Amber Frost: Dirtbag (2023).

In 2020, I left my teaching jobs at prestigious universities, like the School of Visual Arts and the Rhode Island School of Design, to pursue my own path outside of traditional institutions. Since then I’ve published a syllabus of readings, links, and video materials about once or twice a year.

I designed and taught these classes in the academy. This is the same material that you would otherwise find in a university setting. The detailed syllabi are behind the paywall but you can easily rip all the main titles for free from these memes:

Capitalist Realism by Mark Fisher
Inventing the Future by Nick Srnicek & Alex Williams
Four Futures by Peter Frase
The Stack by Benjamin Bratton
After Geoengineering by Holly Jean Buck
The Xenofeminist Manifesto by Laboria Cuboniks
People’s Republic of Walmart by Leigh Phillips
An American Utopia by Fredric Jameson
The Dispossessed by Ursula Le Guin

We explored these materials in depth during the early days of Do Not Research. The original reading group was one of the best peer-to-peer educational experiences that I’ve ever had. If you’ve followed the podcast you will notice that most of these authors have since appeared on the show to discuss their work in depth.

Xenofeminism by Helen Hester
A Brief History of Neoliberalism by David Harvey
Revenge of the Real by Benjamin Bratton

I recommend approaching these texts in order. Start with Mark Fisher’s Capitalist Realism and build up to The Stack by Benjamin Bratton. Each of these courses are meant to build on the preceding themes. Mat Dryhurst calls it a $5 MFA program. I think he’s right.

From Counterculture to Cyberculture by Fred Turner
Can Jokes Bring Down Governments? by Metahaven
Platform Capitalism by Nick Srnicek
Towards a Philosophy of Photography by Vilem Flusser

The “reading list” meme format is popular on radical message boards and forums. Its easy to transmit and an effective way of propagating the material to new audiences. If you want more context and detail you can unlock all of these with a subscription:

Zeroes + Ones by Sadie Plant
Zero to One by Peter Thiel
After Capitalism by David Schweickart

Lastly — I have to mention that winter is the best time to bulk (build muscle and increase calories) and still have time to cut (retain muscle and lose fat) before the summer. My most recent syllabus is also a fitness program (this is not a joke, its real). Personally, I just finished an eight week build phase. Right now, I’m doing a mini-cut and then I’ll do another twelve week build phase before the summer. Get the gains while you can.