The Unsociablists

Episode Notes We are joined by Charlie of "Of the Eldest Gods," "The Bits," and "Mystery in the Machine" Podcasts to discuss the American education system and how it prepares us to join a world of alienation. The world is a scary place. The only way forward is to band together and face it with love and solidarity.

Episode Notes In the time since the election things have somehow kept happening! We discuss the election, Turkey Day, Hunter Biden, and a whole lot of stuff and still somehow there is more to discuss again! Free Palestine. End the Genocide. Episode art from @Swarthy_Bastard.

Episode Notes Kyle and Phil are back on their propaganda sh*t. Two doofuses enter, both leave content in the knowledge of their shared friendship after discussing the messages and ideological training received by we who enjoy cultural ephemera - whether in music, movies, television, or dreaded influencers. This episode focuses on culture. Please, if you have the capacity, keep the victims of Israel's genocide against Palestinians in your mind, protest, and support those in need. From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.

Episode Notes Kyle and Phil are back! The next installment in our propaganda is coming! However, this is not that. Today we are catching up on all the ridiculous nothing that's been going around in the last month: The Debate, The Trump Not-Getting-Shot, Kamala's Coconut-Pilled Candidacy, and more! Please, if you have the capacity, keep the victims of Israel's genocide against Palestinians in your mind, protest, and support those in need. From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.

Episode Notes Kyle and Phil are back on their propaganda sh*t. Two doofuses enter, both leave content in the knowledge of their shared friendship after discussing the messages and ideological training received via advertisement and commercial mInD CoNtRoL! This episode focuses on advertisement. Please, if you have the capacity, keep the victims of Israel's violence against Palestinians in your mind, protest, and support those in need. From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.

Episode Notes Kyle and Phil are back on their propaganda sh*t. Two doofuses enter, both leave content in the knowledge of their shared friendship after discussing the messages and ideological training received in the news, This episode focuses on news consumption and tactics of receiving information. Please, if you have the capacity, keep the victims of Israel's violence against Palestinians in your mind, protest, and support those in need. From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.

Episode Notes Welcome back! This month we collected all of our previous Z&O episodes. Please enjoy the comical and philosophical stylings of our two interstellar friends. We also talk news! If you'd like to skip to the news please scroll to 2:14:30.

Episode Notes Kyle and Phil are back on their propaganda sh*t. Two doofuses enter, both leave content in the knowledge of their shared friendship after discussing the messages and ideological training received in the news, through media consumption, and from your apple-munching teachers. Recorded the weekend before October 7, so there are some... gaps... in the news blast. Topics include the Biden admin's extending the border wall, Dianne Feinstein's corpse, UAW's strike actions, and so much more! Please, if you have the capacity, keep the victims of Israel's violence against Palestinians in your mind, protest, and support those in need. From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.

Episode Notes Things are tough in this world, for the two of us and for all of you. Why not sit down, crack open a beverage, and play a game? Kyle is unavailable for this one, but Phil takes us all through a new list of fantastical and entertaining games to occupy what free time you have between the hours of work and sleep. Find out more at https://the-unsociablists.pinecast.co This podcast is powered by Pinecast.

Welcome to the End Times! We have non-potable water, hot winds, and flash floods - all the attractions one might desire! Kyle and Phil discuss the state of air and water in the rapidly worsening climate crisis and comb through the news of the day, week, month, whatever it is. It's important, however, to maintain some small hope in the face of catastrophe. We implore our listeners to seek out that hope in love and solidarity with you fellow human and workers among you. Be safe out there. Find out more at https://the-unsociablists.pinecast.co This podcast is powered by Pinecast.

Episode Notes Book-learning's for suckers! Or, so you may think! Christina Kann of Deus Ex Media and Wilding Press joins the Unsociablists to discuss literature, left politics, and their intersections in the modern industry. Find Christina's work here and please follow along for writing tips and entertainment! https://linktr.ee/christinakann https://www.wildlingpress.com/ https://www.deusexmedia.org/ Find out more at https://the-unsociablists.pinecast.co This podcast is powered by Pinecast.

Episode Notes Back with another edition of the Unsociablist Podcast! Today we go over a few key topics and general understandings of what it means to be anti-capitalist. What is capitalism? How does the world system, as it is currently formed, exist as a product and enforcer of the capitalist model? Is there any escape?! All this (and more!) awaits you! Please subscribe if you like what you hear! Find out more at https://the-unsociablists.pinecast.co This podcast is powered by Pinecast.

Episode Notes The Boys are Back! Welcome to The Unsociablist Podcast, Season Two! A brief announcement before we get back to things in a more regular kind of way. Love and Solidarity, and please remember to subscribe and tell your friends if you enjoy what you hear. Find out more at https://the-unsociablists.pinecast.co This podcast is powered by Pinecast.

Episode Notes Kyle and Phil emerge from their cocoons, slimy and visibly uncomfortable, to bring you the thrilling conclusion of Zorzon and Oglob's Wacky Galactic Bonanza! It's been a long time coming, but finally we conclude the epic tale of two interstellar pals' confrontation with true evil: Mokrath! After the special, we get into some news items and discussions from the last few months. We are expecting to come back to monthly releases starting this summer, so keep an eye out for more episodes soon! As always, you can contact us through email at: unsociablistpod@gmail.com or on Twitter as @unsociablist. Love and Solidarity Find out more at https://the-unsociablists.pinecast.co This podcast is powered by Pinecast.

Episode Notes Back and stranger than ever! Kyle and Phil emerge from their cocoons, slimy and visibly uncomfortable, to bring you the thrilling conclusion of Zorzon and Oglob's Wacky Galactic Bonanza! Look out for the full episode this coming week! As always, you can contact us through email at: unsociablistpod@gmail.com or on Twitter as @unsociablist. Find out more at https://the-unsociablists.pinecast.co This podcast is powered by Pinecast.

Episode Notes Hey All! Hope you had a great summer, the coolest summer of the rest of your lives! We are releasing a watchalong for Batman the Animated Series S1E54 (if you're on HBOMax) or S1E59 (if you have the DVD or, y'know, whatever). Catch up with us and the news of the day! Find out more at https://the-unsociablists.pinecast.co This podcast is powered by Pinecast.

Episode Notes Hey everyone, did you miss us? We're not back to a regular schedule yet, but we'd be remiss if we missed an opportunity to show our support for the most American holiday, especially with what a great job our country is doing lately at not dooming us all. With women going back to being treated like objects, and other minorities sure to have their rights taken away in the near future, we've never been closer to the vision of our founding fathers. We read a couple articles that really highlight the kind of regressive and contradictory thinking needed to still be a patriot of this hellish country, and still claim you support social liberties. After all, if you want to defend conservatives' rights to fight for evil ideology, can you really still say your ideology is good? No, but it makes these liberals feel warm and gooey inside, and at the end of the day, that's what really matters. If you have any thoughts, suggestions, angry emotes, or whatever that you'd like to send us, please reach out at UnsociablistPod@gmail.com or on twitter as @unsociablist. I recognize posting this will bring us spam and I dare you to do it. Find out more at https://the-unsociablists.pinecast.co This podcast is powered by Pinecast.

Episode Notes Kyle and Phil have decided to take a while away from the pod. As Phil says in the announcement, we are looking forward to coming back with more Lefts In the Past, the Continuing Adventures of Zorzon and Oglob, and other parts of this podcast that we really love. Both of us have been struggling with burnout recently, so please forgive our absence in the near future. As always, you can contact us through email at: unsociablistpod@gmail.com or on Twitter as @unsociablist. Love and solidarity. Find out more at https://the-unsociablists.pinecast.co This podcast is powered by Pinecast.

Episode Notes NATO - North Atlantic Treaty Organization - can't possibly be evil, right? Begun in 1949 as a union to "Keep the Russians out, Keep the Americans in, and Keep the Germans down" (priorities in no particular order), NATO has been a fixture of 20th and 21st century life in the West. But what is NATO? Is it the benevolent, defensive organization that my NPR program has told me it is? Or is it something more; something deeply involved in the internal functions of its member states? Stay-behind missions, train bombings, nuclear brinkmanship, foreign invasions, and coalition demolition of nations: NATO has it all. Let's begin our brief discussion of NATO and its propaganistic portrayal in the West. If you have any thoughts, suggestions, angry emotes, or whatever that you'd like to send us, please reach out at UnsociablistPod@gmail.com or on twitter as @unsociablist. I recognize posting this will bring us spam and I dare you to do it. https://free-palestine.carrd.co/#donations https://bailproject.org/ Find out more at https://the-unsociablists.pinecast.co This podcast is powered by Pinecast.

Episode Notes It isn't well-known among most Americans that the U.S. has invaded Nicaragua 12 times in our history. From the filibustering adventurers of the 19th century to funding death-squads in the 1980s, American meddling in Central America has a long history. Today, Phil and Kyle discuss the beginning of the U.S. occupation of Nicaragua that extended from 1912 to 1933, the anti-intervention movement in the United States, and the guerilla fighter who's name has been adopted by the Nicaraguan socialists: Augusto Sandino. Banks and business interests dominated American foreign policy in Latin America, and we will be exploring some of the connections within the State Department and high finance that made the invasion of Nicaragua a reality. If you have any thoughts, suggestions, angry emotes, or whatever that you'd like to send us, please reach out at UnsociablistPod@gmail.com or on twitter as @unsociablist. I recognize posting this will bring us spam and I dare you to do it. Phil and Kyle would also like to give a shout out to those of us still in the streets fighting for the rights of Palestinians and those fighting for justice and abolition of the American police state. The best way to show solidarity with those struggling against the American empire is to struggle against the empire at home. https://free-palestine.carrd.co/#donations https://www.phillybailfund.org/ https://bailproject.org/ Find out more at https://the-unsociablists.pinecast.co This podcast is powered by Pinecast.

Episode Notes Kyle is back after Phil's fantastic solo episode! Today we watch an all-time classic: Futurama. Developed from the mind of Matt Groening and company of Simpsons fame, Futurama begins when a very dumb 20th century man freezes for 1000 years in a cryogenic pod on New Years Eve 1999. When he awakes from his cold, long slumber, he finds himself in the year 3000! Many gags and silly happenings logically follow. Slurm! Highly addictive green sludge that advertises itself as such. Please slurp down this definitely-not-worm-poop and enjoy an episode centered on the profit motive and silly other sh*t. Start your watch along experience at 07:58. The news and further discussion begins at 36:55. If you have any thoughts, suggestions, angry emotes, or whatever that you would like to send us, please reach out at UnsociablistPod@gmail.com or on twitter as @unsociablist. I recognize that posting this will bring us spam and I dare you to do it. https://free-palestine.carrd.co/#donations https://bailproject.org Find out more at https://the-unsociablists.pinecast.co This podcast is powered by Pinecast.

There's no Kyle for this one. No really, it's just Phil. There's also, like, only 3 minutes of leftism at the end. Sorry folks, Kyle's taking a well-earned vacation, so we're swapping Left in the Past with our variety episode; Phil is doing a good old fashioned Top 10 list. Come listen to a weird nerd rant about video games he likes! ...Or don't, we won't know. If you have any thoughts, suggestions, angry emotes, or whatever that you'd like to send us, please reach out at UnsociablistPod@gmail.com or on twitter as @unsociablist. I recognize that posting this will bring us spam and I dare you to do it. https://free-palestine.carrd.co/#donations https://bailproject.org Find out more at https://the-unsociablists.pinecast.co

Episode Notes The CIA, despite how embedded of an institution it seems today, was not always a facet of American foreign and domestic policy (even if they are technically barred from domestic interference). Before 1947 and the National Defense Act there was no Central Intelligence Agency. President Harry Truman and the increasingly powerful, post-war "military-industrial complex" birthed this aggregated and independent intelligence-gathering organization to rationalize the hundreds of reports that came to the Oval Office every day, and gave this new organization more power than maybe had been bargained for. Join us as we breeze through the early history of the CIA and some of the rationale for its creation. If you have any thoughts, suggestions, angry emotes, or whatever that you'd like to send us, please reach out at UnsociablistPod@gmail.com or on twitter as @unsociablist. I recognize posting this will bring us spam and I dare you to do it. https://free-palestine.carrd.co/#donations https://bailproject.org/ Find out more at https://the-unsociablists.pinecast.co

Episode Notes All the episodes from your favourite family comedy sitcom in one place! Listen as the Balts' grips on reality slip away in the comforting miasma of laugh tracks. Kyle and Phil also have a short discussion on the ongoing conflict in the Ukraine. If you have any thoughts, suggestions, angry emotes, or whatever that you'd like to send us, please reach out at UnsociablistPod@gmail.com or on twitter as @unsociablist. I recognize posting this will bring us spam and I dare you to do it. https://free-palestine.carrd.co/#donations https://bailproject.org/ Find out more at https://the-unsociablists.pinecast.co

Episode Notes Should we really call them "films" these days? What with Netflix being the specific platform for this one, and most of the theater releases having concurrent streaming options, feels like the words "film" or "cinema" are pretty obsolete. I mean, I love movies. I like sitting in the seats and taking in a 100 minute story. Oh well. The world is ending; cinematic experiences going away isn't the worst part of that I suppose. We discuss the movie "Don't Look Up" - a very obvious allegory for climate catastrophe. Please enjoy as we experience the world-ending phenomena of capitalist realism! If you have any thoughts, suggestions, angry emotes, or whatever that you'd like to send us, please reach out at UnsociablistPod@gmail.com or on twitter as @unsociablist. I recognize posting this will bring us spam and I dare you to do it. Phil and Kyle would also like to give a shout out to those of us still in the streets fighting for the rights of Palestinians and those fighting for justice and abolition of the American police state. The best way to show solidarity with those struggling against the American empire is to struggle against the empire at home. https://free-palestine.carrd.co/#donations https://www.phillybailfund.org/ https://bailproject.org/ Find out more at https://the-unsociablists.pinecast.co

Managua About Town It isn't well-known among most Americans that the U.S. has invaded Nicaragua 12 times in our history. From the filibustering adventurers of the 19th century to funding death-squads in the 1980s, American meddling in Central America has a long history. Today, Phil and Kyle discuss two particular episodes surrounding the man who tried to reinstate slavery in Nicaragua - the "freebooter" William Walker - and the later coup orchestrated against the liberal reformer and nationalist José Santos Zelaya in 1909. We lay the context for our follow up episode, which will focus on the U.S. Occupation of 1912-1933 and the beginning of the Sandanista movement. If you have any thoughts, suggestions, angry emotes, or whatever that you'd like to send us, please reach out at UnsociablistPod@gmail.com or on twitter as @unsociablist. I recognize posting this will bring us spam and I dare you to do it. Phil and Kyle would also like to give a shout out to those of us still in the streets fighting for the rights of Palestinians and those fighting for justice and abolition of the American police state. The best way to show solidarity with those struggling against the American empire is to struggle against the empire at home. https://free-palestine.carrd.co/#donations https://www.phillybailfund.org/ https://bailproject.org/ Find out more at https://the-unsociablists.pinecast.co

Episode Notes Nihilism, a word that we've often heard but rarely discuss. What does it mean to be nihilist? Is it an abdication of responsibility to the world around you, or is it an acceptance to only change what can be changed? As much as anyone can really be an adherent of some philosophy, Kyle and Phil have dabbled in nihilistic beliefs to greater and lesser extents. One thing we've certainly come to realise is that we must focus on the world around us and continue materially help as many people as you can, even if the world will end in a fiery ball of nuclear destruction over some pipeline in the steppe country of eastern Europe. If you have any thoughts, suggestions, angry emotes, or whatever that you'd like to send us, please reach out at UnsociablistPod@gmail.com or on twitter as @unsociablist. I recognize posting this will bring us spam and I dare you to do it. https://free-palestine.carrd.co/#donations https://bailproject.org/

Episode Notes From the studio that brought you Capital F comes a new and exciting story about two aliens - pacifist by nature and by training - who must confront the evils of the galaxy in ways they never imagined they could. Zorzon and Oglob take center stage to fight Mokrath, the Depletor, and must make strange alliances to succeed. Can our heroes maintain their commitment to peace and justice as the galaxy is threatened by such a foe? Can their uneasy alliances sustain their efforts? Can Oglob really tell the future with a paper fortune teller? Find out in this full length episode of Zorzon and Oglob's Wacky Galactic Bonanza - Part One: Mokrath Ascending... If you have any thoughts, suggestions, angry emotes, or whatever that you'd like to send us, please reach out at UnsociablistPod@gmail.com or on twitter as @unsociablist. I recognize posting this will bring us spam and I dare you to do it. https://free-palestine.carrd.co/#donations https://bailproject.org/

Episode Notes Reading series No. 1: Phil brings us a piece about how we should not complain about being stiffed for our work and Kyle reads a NYT opinion piece about how the conservative right can't use the left's _obvious bad behavior (screaming) to justify their slip into anti-democratic beliefs. Oh, the guys who wrote it? One's a Brookings Institute fellow and the other worked for Reagan and both Bush administrations - so they are definitely the best voices for moderation..._ If you have any thoughts, suggestions, angry emotes, or whatever that you'd like to send us, please reach out at UnsociablistPod@gmail.com or on twitter as @unsociablist. I recognize posting this will bring us spam and I dare you to do it. https://free-palestine.carrd.co/#donations https://bailproject.org/

Episode Notes One of the best sitcoms of the 2000s and maybe of American Television ever, 30 Rock - for those of you who haven't seen it - is a satirical analogue for working behind the scenes at SNL. As such, the cast draws from former SNL stars and is written and led by alum Tina Fey. It's funny, it's smart, it's got, like, lukewarm lib messages, but whatever enjoy a show for once, jeez. Watchalong begins at 9:59 for those who want to join in. News and discussion begins at 30:26 for those who don't. If you have any thoughts, suggestions, angry emotes, or whatever that you'd like to send us, please reach out at UnsociablistPod@gmail.com or on twitter as @unsociablist. I recognize posting this will bring us spam and I dare you to do it. https://free-palestine.carrd.co/#donations https://bailproject.org/

Episode Notes Trigger Warning for those ahead: discussions will include the violence experienced by victims of the anticommunist crusade that American empire waged against the Global South and "Third World" which may be graphic and disturbing. Indonesia, a country that today has in the realm of 270 million inhabitants, is a large island chain to the south of mainland Asia. A long and diverse history precedes the story we retell today, one of kingdoms and conflict and community formation. For us, however, we will focus on the mid twentieth century and the violent military coup (supported by the U.S. State Department and the CIA) which overthrew the elected government. Given lists of people to be eliminated for the rewards of bribes and aid from the capitalist powerhouse across the pacific, the Suharto military regime instituted a bloody terror that killed over 1 million people: targeting communists specifically but also sweeping up ethnic Chinese, feminists (declared as castrating witches), and workers in unions. The tactics developed in Indonesia - disappearances, torture and propoganda - would be copied in many other countries allied with the United States in the Cold War. Information discussed in this episode is largely drawn from Vincent Bevins' book Jakarta Method as well as the documentary The Act of Killing. If you have any thoughts, suggestions, angry emotes, or whatever that you'd like to send us, please reach out at UnsociablistPod@gmail.com or on twitter as @unsociablist. I recognize posting this will bring us spam and I dare you to do it. Phil and Kyle would also like to give a shout out to those of us still in the streets fighting for the rights of Palestinians and those fighting for justice and abolition of the American police state. The best way to show solidarity with those struggling against the American empire is to struggle against the empire at home. https://free-palestine.carrd.co/#donations https://www.phillybailfund.org/ https://bailproject.org/

Episode Notes Why is it that almost every network procedural seems to be centered around cops? Detectives, Navy Investigators, Homicide units - all these cop shows and all these stakes. Through endless coverage and entertainment programming people absorb the belief that cops are always, without question the "good guys." But we know that to be untrue. Policing in America is nothing like NCIS or Bones. Police in America are the edge of the coercive power of the dictatorship of the bourgeoisie. Dominating neighborhoods, arresting and murdering people without cause or consequence, extracting what little people can collect through fines and civil asset forfeiture - what do cops provide that justifies the glowing coverage in entertainment and in news media? Phil and Kyle discuss this topic and wrap up with a round up on the latest news. If you have any thoughts, suggestions, angry emotes, or whatever that you'd like to send us, please reach out at UnsociablistPod@gmail.com or on twitter as @unsociablist. I recognize posting this will bring us spam and I dare you to do it. Phil and Kyle would also like to give a shout out to those of us still in the streets fighting for the rights of Palestinians and those fighting for justice and abolition of the American police state. The best way to show solidarity with those struggling against the American empire is to struggle against the empire at home. https://free-palestine.carrd.co/#donations https://www.phillybailfund.org/ https://bailproject.org/

Episode Notes Mutual Aid for people effected by the tornadoes in Kentucky: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1YTzQFT4ANDcChivFDfUW9oC0gJWDyT9FHoDrAD2VA7A/htmlview Published in 1922, the novella Siddhartha follows a young man, son of a Brahmin, on his journey through life to find a “true” Self.  The boy's name is one commonly associated with the physical manifestation of the Buddha - Siddhartha Gautama - who makes an appearance in the book as “Gotama, the Illustrious One.”   A brief - and maybe a bit orientalist - story about a young man seeking purpose and meaning and the Self. We discuss some of our impressions, main themes of unity in all things, and get on to the news of the day. If you have any thoughts, suggestions, angry emotes, or whatever that you'd like to send us, please reach out at UnsociablistPod@gmail.com or on twitter as @unsociablist. I recognize posting this will bring us spam and I dare you to do it. Phil and Kyle would also like to give a shout out to those of us still in the streets fighting for the rights of Palestinians and those fighting for justice and abolition of the American police state. The best way to show solidarity with those struggling against the American empire is to struggle against the empire at home. https://free-palestine.carrd.co/#donations https://www.phillybailfund.org/ https://bailproject.org/

Episode Notes Religion, belief, faith - social and personal structures that have followed and intertwined with human development for millennia. It's a broad topic, but we - woefully unqualified as we are - decided to take a stab at it. Do we live in a world where belief is entirely dissolved by capitalism in our supposedly secular society? Or are there other, sinister forces that have taken the place of faith and emerged as a new, "real" god? Let's try to talk it through and see if staring into the eyes of the unholy turns us madder than we already are. If you want to listen hear/read more on Ian Wright's essay "Marx on Capital as a Real God" please follow this link: Essay - https://ianwrightsite.wordpress.com/2020/09/03/marx-on-capital-as-a-real-god-2/ Video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gvp8khkvoQQ If you have any thoughts, suggestions, angry emotes, or whatever that you'd like to send us, please reach out at UnsociablistPod@gmail.com or on twitter as @unsociablist. I recognize posting this will bring us spam and I dare you to do it. Phil and Kyle would also like to give a shout out to those of us still in the streets fighting for the rights of Palestinians and those fighting for justice and abolition of the American police state. The best way to show solidarity with those struggling against the American empire is to struggle against the empire at home. https://free-palestine.carrd.co/#donations https://www.phillybailfund.org/ https://bailproject.org/

Episode Notes We review a fine and dandy show "Squid Game" about playing a bunch of childhood games under the watchful eyes of our capitalist overlords. If you have any Watchalong Suggestions, thoughts, angry emotes, or whatever else that you'd like to send us, please reach out at UnsociablistPod@gmail.com or on Twitter @Unsociablist. I recognize posting this will bring us spam and I dare you to do it. Phil and Kyle would also like to give a shout out to those of us still in the streets fighting for the rights of Palestinians and those fighting for justice and abolition of the American police state. The best way to show solidarity with those struggling against the American empire is to struggle against the empire at home. https://free-palestine.carrd.co/#donations https://www.phillybailfund.org/ https://bailproject.org/ Find out more at https://the-unsociablists.pinecast.co This podcast is powered by Pinecast.

Episode Notes How does one self-actualize under the regime of capital and wage relations? Squander your youth and vigor on the menial tasks dictated to you by your boss and employer - that ought to make you feel fulfilled, right? Kyle and Phil discuss the tippy-top of that pyramid in Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs: Self Actualization. After dispensing with physiological and psychological needs, one finds oneself at the gates of true fulfillment. However, even when the most essential demands of human life are met, capital and the alienation it causes demand the sacrifice of our ability to be our best selves - unless it turns a profit. Join us in our rambling journey towards finding a f*cking purpose to all this. If you have any thoughts, suggestions, angry emotes, or whatever that you'd like to send us, please reach out at UnsociablistPod@gmail.com or on twitter as @unsociablist. I recognize posting this will bring us spam and I dare you to do it. Phil and Kyle would also like to give a shout out to those of us still in the streets fighting for the rights of Palestinians and those fighting for justice and abolition of the American police state. The best way to show solidarity with those struggling against the American empire is to struggle against the empire at home. John Deere UAW Workers GoFundMe: https://www.gofundme.com/f/support-john-deere-strike https://free-palestine.carrd.co/#donations https://www.phillybailfund.org/ https://bailproject.org/

Episode Notes Batman. He's the most complicated of super-figures. He's got dead parents, a conscience-wielding butler, and a boat load of cash. Maybe not so complicated, I guess. Anyhow, we hop into the 78 minute animated movie and pseudo-detective-flick Batman: the Mask of the Phantasm. Released in 1993 as a longform attachment to the Batman: Animated Series. The film follows Batman as he remembers his fondest relationship to a beautiful, sassy woman named Andrea Beaumont - daughter of a mobbed-up lawyer and financier. The two share a common love for their parents, three of the four being deceased, and the film makes a lot of it to be sure. Though marketed to kids, the movie - as well as the animated television show - are incredibly twisted and dark. The villain (the Phantasm) commits at least two very chilling - if not explicitly gory - murders on screen. There are obvious parallels between the paths of the non-violence (eh, that's not really the word) of Batman and the Phantasm's allegiance to bloody revenge. A beautifully told story within a universe that doesn't feel the need to conform to it's meta, this movie takes you through emotions of fond nostalgia and horrible despair for the loss of what could have been. If you have any Watchalong Suggestions, thoughts, angry emotes, or whatever else that you'd like to send us, please reach out at UnsociablistPod@gmail.com or on Twitter @Unsociablist. I recognize posting this will bring us spam and I dare you to do it. Phil and Kyle would also like to give a shout out to those of us still in the streets fighting for the rights of Palestinians and those fighting for justice and abolition of the American police state. The best way to show solidarity with those struggling against the American empire is to struggle against the empire at home. https://free-palestine.carrd.co/#donations https://www.phillybailfund.org/ https://bailproject.org/

Episode Notes My world's on fire, how 'bout yours? Today we discuss the thing that depresses us the most: climate change. The world's heating up, the water is rising, and there's nothing one person can do about it, which is why this week we really need to remember to share love and solidarity with each other. If you have any thoughts, suggestions, angry emotes, or whatever that you'd like to send us, please reach out at UnsociablistPod@gmail.com or on twitter as @unsociablist. I recognize posting this will bring us spam and I dare you to do it. Phil and Kyle would also like to give a shout out to those of us still in the streets fighting for the rights of Palestinians and those fighting for justice and abolition of the American police state. The best way to show solidarity with those struggling against the American empire is to struggle against the empire at home. https://free-palestine.carrd.co/#donations https://www.phillybailfund.org/ https://bailproject.org/

Episode Notes In this Unsociablist Watchalong, Phil and Kyle revisit an old favourite of the two's childhoods: Doug. An empathetic child making his way through junior high with an eclectic cast of fellow students whose troubles tend toward the silly. The art style is fun, the music is great, and the gags are funny as hell, but there's also a good message to be found underneath the trappings of this children's television show. Hmm, maybe we should watch something a bit more...advanced? Oh well, these are fun. If you have any Watchalong Suggestions, thoughts, angry emotes, or whatever else that you'd like to send us, please reach out at UnsociablistPod@gmail.com. I recognize posting this will bring us spam and I dare you to do it. Phil and Kyle would also like to give a shout out to those of us still in the streets fighting for the rights of Palestinians and those fighting for justice and abolition of the American police state. The best way to show solidarity with those struggling against the American empire is to struggle against the empire at home. https://free-palestine.carrd.co/#donations https://www.phillybailfund.org/ https://bailproject.org/

Episode Notes Phil and Kyle talk about the distorting effects of mediated reality, a society of individuals creating their own versions of the world, and the self absorption of those enmeshed in our Spectacle. Kyle has been reading; it's a terrible habit. Don't do it kids. Definitely don't believe that your consumption habits are praxis either. If you have any thoughts, suggestions, angry emotes, or whatever that you'd like to send us, please reach out at UnsociablistPod@gmail.com or on twitter as @unsociablist. I recognize posting this will bring us spam and I dare you to do it. Phil and Kyle would also like to give a shout out to those of us still in the streets fighting for the rights of Palestinians and those fighting for justice and abolition of the American police state. The best way to show solidarity with those struggling against the American empire is to struggle against the empire at home. https://free-palestine.carrd.co/#donations https://www.phillybailfund.org/ https://bailproject.org/

Episode Notes One of the seminal features of the Saturday morning cartoon lineup, Samurai Jack was and remains one of the coolest kid's shows to ever exist. Look, I'm old now, but this show is still neat. Themes of life and death and tragedy and conquest and sacrifice - this show is a righteous call to action for the stoic that little Kyle could have been when he was a weepy little 7 year-old. And while I may have failed to answer that call, I can still respect the beautiful art and sound design that goes into this cartoon for children. Watch along - available on HBOMax and elsewhere - by starting your episode at the 09:51 mark. Phil and Kyle also speak to the recent fall of Kabul, Chilean constitutional reform, and how we are all creating hell on earth in little and big ways every day. If you have any thoughts, suggestions, angry emotes, or whatever that you'd like to send us, please reach out at UnsociablistPod@gmail.com. I recognize posting this will bring us spam and I dare you to do it. Phil and Kyle would also like to give a shout out to those of us still in the streets fighting for the rights of Palestinians and those fighting for justice and abolition of the American police state. The best way to show solidarity with those struggling against the American empire is to struggle against the empire at home. https://free-palestine.carrd.co/#donations https://www.phillybailfund.org/ https://bailproject.org/

Episode Notes A romp through the memory-holed times following 9/11 and the American war machine on auto-pilot. The American Service Members Protection Act is a direct refutation of the UN's institution of the International Criminal Court. This 2002 Bill sponsored by Jesse Helms in the Senate and Tom DeLay in the House authorized the President to send forces to invade the Hague in the Netherlands if any American is brought before the ICC for war crimes. We also discuss the end of one specific AUMF, the one for Iraq. The Biden Administration has signaled their approval of the repeal because "...repeal of the 2002 AUMF would likely have minimal impact on current military operations." If you have any thoughts, suggestions, angry emotes, or whatever that you'd like to send us, please reach out at UnsociablistPod@gmail.com. I recognize posting this will bring us spam and I dare you to do it. Phil and Kyle would also like to give a shout out to those of us still in the streets fighting for the rights of Palestinians and those fighting for justice and abolition of the American police state. The best way to show solidarity with those struggling against the American empire is to struggle against the empire at home. https://free-palestine.carrd.co/#donations https://www.phillybailfund.org/ https://bailproject.org/

Episode Notes When we spell Family, we spell it with a Capital "F." Welcome to the inaugural, full-sized pilot episode of Capital F. The plucky Balt family will continue to weather through some of the worst and most ideologically baffled times in America, and you'll get to enjoy their sorrows and pain from the comfort of your couch. So flip that channel over to Dimelodeon and stay tuned for this, the first episode of the rest of your life: Capital F. If you have any thoughts, suggestions, angry emotes, or whatever that you'd like to send us, please reach out at UnsociablistPod@gmail.com or @unsociablist on Twitter. I recognize posting this will bring us spam and I dare you to do it. Phil and Kyle would also like to give a shout out to those of us still in the streets fighting for the rights of Palestinians and those fighting for justice and abolition of the American police state. The best way to show solidarity with those struggling against the American empire is to struggle against the empire at home. https://free-palestine.carrd.co/#donations https://www.phillybailfund.org/ https://bailproject.org/

Episode Notes Welcome to the Internet! Phil and Kyle are having a look around. Today we review the stand-out "standup" special from music man Bo Burnham. Confronting once again the question, does culture mean anything? This is the first in an upcoming, sporadic series of Unsociablist Cinema Corner Reviews. Burnham's newest special Inside roused the attention of many left-media consumers. Does this mean anything at all? Maybe. Does the underlying class character of the artist inform his interpretation of the over-stimulating world of content we live in? Yes. Does that mean we can't enjoy what Kyle and Phil have both agreed is one of the better pieces of art to come out of the pandemic? No. Enjoy things for a change, jeez. If you have any thoughts, suggestions, angry emotes, or whatever that you'd like to send us, please reach out at UnsociablistPod@gmail.com. I recognize posting this will bring us spam and I dare you to do it. Phil and Kyle would also like to give a shout out to those of us still in the streets fighting for the rights of Palestinians and those fighting for justice and abolition of the American police state. The best way to show solidarity with those struggling against the American empire is to struggle against the empire at home. https://free-palestine.carrd.co/#donations https://www.phillybailfund.org/ https://bailproject.org/

Episode Notes who is outside my window yelling "WE ARE BACK TO NORMAL"? show yourself. coward. i will never be normal. We revisit the through-line that has connected this podcast from its humble beginnings to the towering heights upon which we now stand. How normal have things been for you? Well the pandemic has ended, so any problems you are facing are entirely your fault and the new administration is doing everything perfectly. Kyle and Phil discuss the return to Obama-era normalcy in our politics, the lack of critical thought expended on our political expressions, and of course the booming economy we have now that Joe has saved us all. As a note, Kyle and his fiancé Luci are now husband and wife as of the release of this episode. Your thoughts and prayers for Luci are much appreciated. If you have any thoughts, suggestions, angry emotes, or whatever that you'd like to send us, please reach out at UnsociablistPod@gmail.com. I recognize posting this will bring us spam and I dare you to do it. Phil and Kyle would also like to give a shout out to those of us still in the streets fighting for the rights of Palestinians and those fighting for justice and abolition of the American police state. The best way to show solidarity with those struggling against the American empire is to struggle against the empire at home. https://free-palestine.carrd.co/#donations https://www.phillybailfund.org/ https://bailproject.org/

Episode Notes Session Nine: Jamming With Edward. Click play at 7:10 to watch along! Cowboy Bebop, a magnificently animated show about bounty hunters and their tangles with love, death, despair, humor, and the unknowable. Far and away one of the most beautiful animes ever created, Bebop takes viewers along for an anthologically structured trip through a future of gangsters, poverty, obscene wealth, and betrayal. With the episode we decided to watch today, we examine the destitute planet Earth, abandoned - by those who could afford to - after ecological and meteoric crises. Those who live on the surface must burrow underground to avoid "rock showers" from the exploded moon. Squalor, poverty, and Peeps™ mark the lives of humans trapped under the rubble of a forgotten home planet. Phil and Kyle would also like to give a shout out to those of us still in the streets fighting for the rights of Palestinians and those fighting for justice and abolition of the American police state. The best way to show solidarity with those struggling against the American empire is to struggle against the empire at home. https://free-palestine.carrd.co/#donations https://www.phillybailfund.org/ https://bailproject.org/

Episode Notes What happens when union participation is at a near historic low? Precarit-ization and neofeudal constructs are asserting themselves more forcefully in the First World economy. While these relations have always existed at the periphery of capitalist empire and in the exploited Global South, the contradictions of contract work and elimination of hard-won gains by labor are exposed ever more blatantly. Kyle "works" in the PMC-Information Economy-Hashtag Market of media content creation. Phil works in the service industry as a grocery store worker and is a member in his local union. These two forms of work, often incorrectly pitted against each other as "skilled" or "unskilled," are not so different as they may seem on the surface. The cultures of the white collar and blue collar are often very disparate and there are definitely different expectations when it comes to participating in the economy - Kyle gets to mostly work from home during a pandemic while Phil is exposed to asshats wearing masks around their ankles looking for a frozen pizza brand that was discontinued decades ago. However, underlying each is the same down-to-up exploitation and extraction of "surplus value." This is a topic we have discussed previously from the angle of "alienation" and we wish to take another look at what workers can do and do do in an effort to overthrow their class relations. Phil and Kyle would also like to give a shout out to those of us still in the streets fighting for the rights of Palestinians and those fighting for justice and abolition of the American police state. The best way to show solidarity with those struggling against the American empire is to struggle against the empire at home. https://free-palestine.carrd.co/#donations https://www.phillybailfund.org/ https://bailproject.org/

Episode Notes Phil and Kyle watch the hit NBC primetime show Community. A sitcom set in the weirdest community college one can find west of the Mississippi. Season 3, Episode 2 "Geography of Global Conflict" takes the gang to an overly-competitive Model UN -off. We discuss how the UN is of course a laundering factory for empire and ultimately contributes nothing toward the betterment of humanity besides empty gestures and rhetoric. This episode comes at a time of horrible violence being committed by the American-supported, settler-colonial state of Israel on the people of Palestine. “We know too well that our freedom is incomplete without the freedom of the Palestinians.” Nelson Mandela Please, if you have the time or ability, donate to one or more of the causes listed below. The BDS movement has been illegally criminalised in many places in the United States, however you can still help in other ways. Free Palestine, end the Israeli apartheid. https://free-palestine.carrd.co/#donations https://laborforpalestine.net/ https://uscpr.org/ https://www.savethechildren.org.uk/where-we-work/middle-east/occupied-palestinian-territory *According to Stars and Stripes (an US Army news outlet publishing from within the DoD) there are 18,000 contractors in Afghanistan as of January 2021. "More than 18,000 contractors remain in Afghanistan, a Defense Department report released this week said, after the Pentagon announced Friday it had reduced its troop total in the country to 2,500." This would make the ratio 7.2:1 contractor to troop. https://www.stripes.com/news/middle-east/troop-levels-are-down-but-us-says-over-18-000-contractors-remain-in-afghanistan-1.659040 **A good documentary on the Friday Protests from Empire Files, Gaza Fights for Freedom: https://www.filmsforaction.org/watch/gaza-fights-for-freedom/

~Episode Notes~ How frequently have you heard anti-capitalist viewpoints expressed on CNN, in the New York Times, on the pages of the Washington Post, or from your car radio - tuned to the sultry, hushed tones of NPR's newsreaders? Contrary to their guises of neutral arbiters that have no ideological allegiance, the premier press outlets are far from "objective." Instead they serve the same interests that all capitalist ventures serve - to consolidate and extract wealth. Phil and Kyle tread the path of the many more intelligent people who came before and examine the pro-business bent of reporting in corporate news outlets and in the culture at-large. “Even if the press does not mold our every opinion, it does mold opinion visibility; it can frame the perceptual limits around which our opinions take shape. Here may lie the most important effect of the news media: they set the issue agenda for the rest of us, choosing what to emphasize and what to ignore or suppress, in effect, organizing much of our political world for us. The media may not always be able to tell us what to think, but they are strikingly successful in telling us what to think about.” Excerpt from Inventing reality: the Politics of News Media by Michael Parenti This podcast is powered by Pinecast.

Episode Notes In an episode that got pretty intense at times, Phil and Kyle discuss collaborators, who should be included among them, and the ways maybe they should be treated if the glorious revolution ever comes in minecraft. If you'd like to reach out, please email us at UnsociablistPod@gmail.com. Beats used in the episode are produced by Yung Kartz. This podcast is powered by Pinecast.

Episode Notes Phil and Kyle's good friend Daniel lays down some of his poetry for us! Beats used in this piece were created by Yung Karts - https://www.yungkartzbeats.com/ This podcast is powered by Pinecast.