What I'm Reading
Added 2023-11-08 13:45:00 +0000 UTC
Tár (2022) directed by Todd Field
Social media has wreaked havoc on cultural institutions. Unfounded allegations pushed out a revered Guggenheim curator. The Phillip Guston debacle led museums to doubt the intellect of their visitors. But despite the frequency and prevalence of these controversies, the theme has gone largely unrepresented in film, literature, etc. Tár is the first film that addresses this unfolding crisis from an elite insider perspective. The main character is a talented but tyrannical conductor in the Berlin Philharmonic. The tension of the story revolves around the elite aspirant motivations of her subordinates and the dictatorial structure of the institution. Lydia Tár is the villain (I don’t think the film could be made otherwise). But its a milestone reflection on our period of elite reckoning. Pay attention to how they discuss the western canon and draw lines of validity around *some* identity politics.
The Terraforming by Benjamin H. Bratton
I’m hearing a lot of conversations about AI and its imminent consequences for creative labor. I think Holly Herndon put it well — prompt images are a way to visualize the power of the tool but its applications go much further. It’s worth considering that many of us are creatives in some capacity; artists, writers, musicians, shitposters, etc. Our own interests often take the forefront in many of these articles. But there is an important conversation to be had about systems modeling and governance that seems to be overlooked.
I’m revisiting Bratton’s Terraforming. I’ll speak to him about these issues on an upcoming podcast.
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Our friends in Berlin, Trust.support, hosted Benjamin Bratton for this power house lecture exploring the famous Peter Thiel quote: “Crypto is Libertarian, and AI is Communist”. It seems like a lot of people are content to hate both and understand neither.
Anti-Social Socialism Club by Dustin Guastella
This is probably the most challenging and productive read I’ve encountered this year. I’ve mentioned it before on the Twitch stream but its something that keeps coming up in conversation. It’s essential that these arguments come from our own side. Most of today’s edgelordy counter-productive politics arise from people nominally on the left who express tacit support for the opposition because they see no other way of constraining the overreach of moralists and bureaucrats. Dustin Guastella makes the necessary “unpopular but true” argument. He doesn’t like talking on podcasts but I certainly wish he would.
NEW MODELS radio plays
Most of these are paywalled but its an incredible work of art. If you’re not a subscriber you can check out this earlier piece: Ricky Backtrace, Private Trend Consultant.
Gaza War history
Lastly, I’m listening to American Prestige for detailed history and coverage of the war in Gaza. This is the best International Relations podcast. It’s always in my weekly rotation.
The Lobby
We recently watched The Lobby parts 1 & 2 on the live stream. A few people have asked to archive the stream, so I’ll keep these recordings up for a short while on YouTube. Join us next Monday on Twitch for parts 3 & 4.
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