"The bud disappears in the bursting-forth of the blossom, and one might say that the former is refuted by the latter . . . Yet–"  I know there was a lot to fit into this episode but I do think Ford is more complicated than some antiquated figure who warrants a hat tip to his mise-en-scene and then disposal– a disease that Anthony Mann is an “antidote” for. As per all the setup about filmic articulation and radical kernels, we don’t have to take everything in these films 1:1 as they initially appear. I do think The Searchers complicates the stereotypical view of indigenous people a bit, and makes us feel for them as brutalized subjects rather than brutal enemies. For a less tidy Ford arc than as someone who never deviated from the Stagecoach thing, and at the risk of obnoxiously saying 'Why Didn't You Do These?', Liberty Valance and Fort Apache both have more readily legible radical turns I'd say– the latter also playing both Wayne and Fonda against type in a brilliant way.

And introducing WE POD ECONO: an Our Band Could Be Your Life miniseries! We are taking a journey through Michael Azerrad’s chronicle of the 1980’s American underground rock scene, continuing today with Chapter Six: The Replacements! We’re joined by Felix Biederman to examine the self-sabotaging career of one of the greatest American bands-that-couldn’t.

Songs:
The Replacements - Something to Dü
The Replacements - Kids Don’t Follow
The Replacements - Willpower
The Replacements - Take Me Down To The Hospital
The Replacements - I Will Dare
The Replacements - Androgynous
The Replacements - Swinging Party
The Replacements - Bastards of Young

And Introducing

#91 THE REPLACEMENTS! (ft. Felix Biederman)

Ryan and Todd discuss Todd's latest book Enjoyment Right & Left, which examines the political divide in terms of the different forms that enjoyment takes. They engage with this divide across a variety of issues, from anti-trans violence to the controversy surrounding the World Cup.

Enjoyment Right & Left

Upon its release, Steven Soderbergh's TRAFFIC (2000) offered something novel: a cinematic tapestry that criticized America's War on Drugs. More than 20 years later, we consider its strengths, as well as the impact that time has diminished. PLUS: Let's read a little from Prince Harry autobiography, shall we?

Join us on Patreon for an extra episode every week - https://www.patreon.com/michaelandus

Michael and Us

#394 - The View from Nowhere

The US Federal Reserve printed $300 billion in one week to save collapsing banks and bail out wealthy Silicon Valley oligarchs. 93% of Silicon Valley Bank's deposits were uninsured, over the FDIC limit of $250,000, but the government still paid them. 56% of SVB's loans went to venture capitalist and private equity firms.

Sources and more information here: https://geopoliticaleconomy.com/2023/03/19/fed-bailout-silicon-valley-banks

VIDEO: https://youtube.com/watch?v=jyrj7gZwg3U

US Federal Reserve says its goal is ‘to get wages down’: https://geopoliticaleconomy.com/2022/05/24/us-federal-reserve-wages-inflation

US government bailout of Silicon Valley and banks is $300B gift to rich oligarchs

In their second episode devoted to the classical Hollywood genres, Ryan and Todd explore the western by focusing on some of the most popular and some of the most theoretically compelling. They discuss directors John Ford, Howard Hawks, and Anthony Mann, as well as devoting time to the western 3:10 to Yuma. Their theorization of the western stresses the way that the genre lays out the social antagonism between law and lawlessness, in which the western hero functions as a vanishing mediator.

Western

Ryan and Todd delve into the western in its most radical manifestation, but they use as a starting point, the paradigmatic western Shane. They then examine more contemporary films that turn from the individual hero into a collective one.

The Radical Western

Ryan and Todd devote this episode to the memory of Mari Ruti, who died on June 8, 2023. They discuss her core theoretical ideas and work through her major works. In addition, they include a few memories of Mari's singular life.

Tribute to Mari Ruti

Ryan and Todd offer their interpretation of Christopher Nolan's most recent film Oppenheimer. They focus on the relationship between the form of the film and its content, while considering the political implications of its depiction of the hero. They think about the film in relationship to the rest of Nolan's filmography.

Oppenheimer

In 2019, Clint Eastwood's RICHARD JEWELL took aim at two institutions — the FBI and the media — that were supposed to save America from Trumpism. We discuss one of the veteran auteur's most beautiful films, which is also one of his most loaded and ambiguous political hot-potatoes. PLUS: David Brooks' expensive meal, Doug Ford's about-face, and Jean-Luc Godard's film criticism.

"David Brooks and the $78 airport meal the internet is talking about" by Timothy Bella - https://www.washingtonpost.com/food/2023/09/22/david-brooks-newark-airport-meal/

See Will introduce THINGS (1989) at the Fox Theatre on October 3 - https://www.foxtheatre.ca/movies/the-important-cinema-club-masterpiece-classics-things/

Preorder Luke's new book "Seeking Social Democracy: Seven Decades in the Fight for Equality," coauthored with Ed Broadbent - ecwpress.com/products/seeking-s…cracy-ed-broadbent

TORONTO: See Luke and Ed Broadbent in conversation at the Toronto Reference Library on October 22 - www.eventbrite.ca/e/seeking-social…ets-713793665067

VANCOUVER: See Luke and Ed at the Central Library on November 1 - https://vpl.bibliocommons.com/events/650b36ea2d0219cf8b5cf95f

Join us on Patreon for an extra episode every week - https://www.patreon.com/michaelandus

#463 - Jewellbilly Elegy

In this episode, Todd and Ryan theorize the universal and particular as political concepts. The particular aims at aggregating an "all" and accepts the political situation or sphere for what it is. The universal confronts how the existing political sphere is even constituted. This episode urges a recalibration for the American left around universalist movements like Black Lives Matter--which confronts how constitutive racism is of both American society and capitalism in general--and against "whack-a-mole" politics (i.e. that which is typically aimed at holding individual perpetuators of inequality responsible for their actions without addressing the larger structure (capital) that keeps that inequality in tact.)

Suggestions for Further Reading:

Hegel, The Encyclopedia Logic (Cambridge currently refers to this by the accurate but clunky AF title: Encyclopedia of the Philosophical Sciences in Basic Outline Part I: Science of Logic)

Francois Julien, On the Universal
Susan Buck-Morss, Hegel, Haiti, and Universal History
Alenka Zupancic, What is Sex?
Alain Badiou, Theory of the Subject
Todd McGowan, (Forthcoming essay. Will update this shortly.)

Summer 2018

The Universal and The Particular

The adventurers are on the trail of Droki and the dragon's egg. King Carlos, the talking bear, joins the fray as a guide, and they come upon a large cavern full of explosions, Derro, and a giant.

Join us on patreon and contribute to our creations! We're making maps, one shots, more podcasts, recipes, and music for you to use however you want! www.patreon.com/wereratstudios THANK YOU FOR ALL YOUR SUPPORT!

FOLLOW US ON TWITTER:
WERERAT STUDIOS | https://twitter.com/WereratStudios
JOEL | https://twitter.com/thevillainjoel
TJ | https://twitter.com/cookiesandart

FOLLOW US ON INSTAGRAM:
WERERATSTUDIOS | https://www.instagram.com/wereratstudios/
TJ | https://www.instagram.com/cookiesandart/
JESSE | https://www.instagram.com/thechoppakwithcheese/
ELLIOTT | https://www.instagram.com/itsaginandtonic/


WWW.WERERATSTUDIOS.COM

5 - The Chicago Table - How Many Lightning Bolts Does It Take To Grow A Second Head?

Why Theory brings continental philosophy and psychoanalytic theory together to examine cultural phenomena.

Western

Why Theory

Recent comments

ex hapax

Related tracks