Podcasts about kerouac

In this NBN episode, host Hollay Ghadery speaks with Kay Sohini about her graphic memoir, This Beautiful, Ridiculous City: A Graphic Memoir (published by Ten Speed Graphic, 2025). A vibrant graphic memoir of a woman—an immigrant, a survivor, a writer, a foodie, and, ultimately, an optimist—who rebuilds her life in New York City while recovering from the trauma of an abusive relationship. “An intimate portrait of the city not only as a place of dreams, but as a vital source for healing and self-discovery.”—Nick Sousanis, Eisner Award–winning author of Unflattening On her first night in New York City, Kay Sohini sits on the tarmac of JFK Airport making an inventory of everything she's left behind in India: her family, friends, home, and gaslighting ex-boyfriend. In the wake of that untethering she realizes two things: she's finally made it to the city of her literary heroes—Kerouac, Plath, Bechdel—and the trauma she's endured has created gaping holes in her memory. As Kay begins the work of piecing herself back together she discovers the deep sense of belonging that can only be found on the streets of New York City. In the process she falls beautifully, ridiculously in love with the bustling landscape, and realizes that the places we love do not always love us back but can still somehow save us in weird, unexpected ways. At once heartbreaking and uplifting, This Beautiful, Ridiculous City explores the relationship between trauma and truth, displacement and belonging, and what it means to forge a life of one's own. About Kay Sohini: Kay Sohini is a South Asian researcher, writer, and graphic novelist based in New York. She holds a PhD in English from Stony Brook University and her essays and comics have been featured in The Washington Post, The Nib, and more. Her work focuses on utilizing comics in the scholarly examination of healthcare justice, environmental humanities, resisting disinformation, and creating an equitable future for all. This Beautiful, Ridiculous City is her first book. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

In this NBN episode, host Hollay Ghadery speaks with Kay Sohini about her graphic memoir, This Beautiful, Ridiculous City: A Graphic Memoir (published by Ten Speed Graphic, 2025). A vibrant graphic memoir of a woman—an immigrant, a survivor, a writer, a foodie, and, ultimately, an optimist—who rebuilds her life in New York City while recovering from the trauma of an abusive relationship. “An intimate portrait of the city not only as a place of dreams, but as a vital source for healing and self-discovery.”—Nick Sousanis, Eisner Award–winning author of Unflattening On her first night in New York City, Kay Sohini sits on the tarmac of JFK Airport making an inventory of everything she's left behind in India: her family, friends, home, and gaslighting ex-boyfriend. In the wake of that untethering she realizes two things: she's finally made it to the city of her literary heroes—Kerouac, Plath, Bechdel—and the trauma she's endured has created gaping holes in her memory. As Kay begins the work of piecing herself back together she discovers the deep sense of belonging that can only be found on the streets of New York City. In the process she falls beautifully, ridiculously in love with the bustling landscape, and realizes that the places we love do not always love us back but can still somehow save us in weird, unexpected ways. At once heartbreaking and uplifting, This Beautiful, Ridiculous City explores the relationship between trauma and truth, displacement and belonging, and what it means to forge a life of one's own. About Kay Sohini: Kay Sohini is a South Asian researcher, writer, and graphic novelist based in New York. She holds a PhD in English from Stony Brook University and her essays and comics have been featured in The Washington Post, The Nib, and more. Her work focuses on utilizing comics in the scholarly examination of healthcare justice, environmental humanities, resisting disinformation, and creating an equitable future for all. This Beautiful, Ridiculous City is her first book. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/literature

In this NBN episode, host Hollay Ghadery speaks with Kay Sohini about her graphic memoir, This Beautiful, Ridiculous City: A Graphic Memoir (published by Ten Speed Graphic, 2025). A vibrant graphic memoir of a woman—an immigrant, a survivor, a writer, a foodie, and, ultimately, an optimist—who rebuilds her life in New York City while recovering from the trauma of an abusive relationship. “An intimate portrait of the city not only as a place of dreams, but as a vital source for healing and self-discovery.”—Nick Sousanis, Eisner Award–winning author of Unflattening On her first night in New York City, Kay Sohini sits on the tarmac of JFK Airport making an inventory of everything she's left behind in India: her family, friends, home, and gaslighting ex-boyfriend. In the wake of that untethering she realizes two things: she's finally made it to the city of her literary heroes—Kerouac, Plath, Bechdel—and the trauma she's endured has created gaping holes in her memory. As Kay begins the work of piecing herself back together she discovers the deep sense of belonging that can only be found on the streets of New York City. In the process she falls beautifully, ridiculously in love with the bustling landscape, and realizes that the places we love do not always love us back but can still somehow save us in weird, unexpected ways. At once heartbreaking and uplifting, This Beautiful, Ridiculous City explores the relationship between trauma and truth, displacement and belonging, and what it means to forge a life of one's own. About Kay Sohini: Kay Sohini is a South Asian researcher, writer, and graphic novelist based in New York. She holds a PhD in English from Stony Brook University and her essays and comics have been featured in The Washington Post, The Nib, and more. Her work focuses on utilizing comics in the scholarly examination of healthcare justice, environmental humanities, resisting disinformation, and creating an equitable future for all. This Beautiful, Ridiculous City is her first book. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/biography

THE KEROUAC PROJECT: https://www.kerouacproject.org/JACK KEROUAC SCHOOL OF DISEMBODIED POETICS: https://www.naropa.edu/academics/schools-centers/jack-kerouac-school-of-disembodied-poetics/The thread of Jack Kerouac's literary and personal life in the American imagination might be unwound succinctly in the following terms: ambitious and fun-loving young man leaves behind his small-town upbringing to chase heroes and dreams in the American West, finding along the way new paths to enlightenment while blazing a trail for generations of seekers to follow.It is a theme familiar to most of us, because more than a few of our favorite novels embrace it. It is also, in the case of Kerouac, almost entirely a fiction. The man most associated with the peripatetic Beat Generation spent more than half his life in his hometown of Lowell, Mass., living with his mother. This master of the postwar American idiom grew up speaking the French dialect of his Canadian immigrant parents and actually attempted an early draft of On The Road (the book was eventually published in 1957) in the dialect of his Franco-American community. Despite the image of a modern spiritual seeker who eventually found a home in Buddhism, Kerouac was born and died a self-identified Catholic; and despite his iconic status as a chronicler of the road, the most prominent theme in Kerouac's novels is a mysticism of place.Kerouac's mystical visions had another specific theme—the crucifixion. In Maggie Cassidy, Christ speaks to him from a crucifix after confession:“My child, you find yourself in the world of mystery and pain not understandable—I know, angel—it is for your good, we shall save you, because we find your soul as important as the soul of the others in the world—but you must suffer for that, in effect my child, you must die, you must die in pain, with cries, frights, despairs—the ambiguities! the terrors!”The Autobiographical Novels of Jack KerouacVisions of Gerard (written 1956, published 1963)About Kerouac's saintly older brother, who died as a child.Doctor Sax (written 1952, published 1959)Maggie Cassidy (written 1953, published 1959)Youthful porchlight romancing in Lowell.The Town and the City (written 1946-49, published 1950)Vanity of Duluoz (written and published 1968)Kerouac's last published novel, a memoir of early days.On The Road (written 1948-56, published 1957)Visions of Cody (written 1951-52, published 1972)More about Neal Cassady.The Subterraneans (written 1953, published 1958)Kerouac's pathetic love story about a black girl who dumps him for Gregory Corso.Tristessa (written 1955-56, published 1960)Junkie prostitute girlfriend in Mexico.The Dharma Bums (written 1957, published 1958)Big Sur (written 1961, published 1962)Desolation Angels (written 1956-61, published 1965)Satori in Paris (written 1965, published 1966)

Kerouac's Road: The Beat of a Nation debuted at the Tribeca Festival in New York City last night

Kerouac's Road: The Beat of a Nation debuted at the Tribeca Festival in New York City last night

ABOUT LAURA LEE BAHR Laura Lee Bahr is an award-winning indie author / performer / filmmaker with a gift for the hilariously, tragically absurd. ​She is the screenwriter for the multi-award winning feature films Jesus Freak and the little Death. She is the author of the novels Haunt (winner of the Wonderland Book Award, Best Novel) and Long-Form Religious Porn, and the short-story collection Angel Meat (winner of the Wonderland Book Award, Best Collection). Laura's debut feature as writer/director, Boned, won “Best Micro-Budget Feature” at the Toronto Independent Film Festival and is currently distributed through Gravitas (available everywhere). She was the Spring 2018 writer-in-residence at the Kerouac house. https://www.lauraleebahr.com/ https://x.com/lauraleebahr https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCf00tI2OJpXYvMfjB0plsKQ https://www.tiktok.com/@lauraleebahr? https://www.teepublic.com/user/legends_of_tabletop CORE Products: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/browse.php?filters=100202_0_0_0_0 https://www.etsy.com/shop/MidwestResinGeek https://www.patreon.com/legendsoftabletop Theme music created by Brett Miller http://www.brettmillermusic.net

Available today! Meet Canadian author, David LeBrun, whose first book, a travel memoir, is being published today by Tortoise Books. Delirium Vitae is a recounting of David's adventures in Central America when he fled the cold Canadian winter to party with an old friend, promptly ran out of money, and began the slow journey of discovering what he was running from while returning home. In this episode, David talks about the jobs-related book he was working on during the trip and how it was scuttled when this one emerged. Delirium Vitae weaves David's adventures with colorful if sketchy characters into a portrait of a sensitive and observant young man, trying to grapple with life's tragedies. He also offers insights into his long writing process, the usefulness of editors and critique groups, and what to focus on as a writer. Come for the breakneck, page-turning escapades, stay for the thoughtful exploration of self-healing through writing. A wonderful episode for readers and writers.David's book at Tortoise Books:https://tortoisebooks.com/store/deliriumvitaeDavid's website, including some short stories:https://www.davidlebrun.ca/Thoughts? Comments? Potshots? Contact the show at:https://booksshowstunes.discreetguide.com/contact/Support us!https://booksshowstunes.discreetguide.com/support/Sponsored by Discreet Guide Training:https://training.discreetguide.com/Social Media:YouTube: @MadActsXTwitter: @Mad_ActsBlueSky: @mad-acts.bsky.socialFB: @BooksShowsTunesIG: @Mad_ActsLI: Jennifer K. Crittenden

Welcome to our new series, “The Beat Goes On,” where we will celebrate the work and enduring influence of Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, William Burroughs, and the other writers whom we identify as “The Beats.” - that crop of artists who worked to expand our consciousness, exploring the hidden possibilities of post WW2 America in the 1950s - Other significant names to be explored: Diane Di Prima, Tuli Kupferberg, Ed Sanders, Delmore Schwarz, Anne Waldman, Carolyn Cassidy, and many others.We will also include jazz musicians like Miles Davis, John Coltrane and Dizzy Gillespie, whose sinuous Bebop lines influenced the expansive prose of Kerouac and poetry of Ginsberg, and comedians like Lenny Bruce, Lord Buckley, Brother Theodore and Dick Gregory with their scathing critique and unmasking of our nation's hypocrisy beneath the self-deceptive rhetoric of American exceptionalism.  And, then there are their artistic children like Hunter S. Thompson, Charles Bukowski, Tom Waits and Lou Reed…. The list goes on.First off: we need to define that confusing term “beat”… Once the satirists were able to pin them down, the Beats and their devotees were labelled “Beatniks” (a cold war epithet) and put into a farcical box. This is where I, as a child, first became aware of them through the character of Maynard G. Krebs on the Dobie Gillis show. The child-like, pre-hippie with the dirty sweatshirt and goatee, indelibly played by Bob Denver, later of Gilligan fame. He was a gentle figure of fun, not to be taken seriously. But, the truth goes so much deeper. Kerouac defined Beat as short for “beatitude” - a state of grace, a codex for the maturing “peace and love” Baby Boom generation coming up - those in search of existence's deeper meaning beyond the consumerist and war-like American culture being offered as our only option.Well, boy, do we need them now! HENRY MILLER INTERVIEWOur inaugural offering is a 1964 interview with the writer Henry Miller, of TROPIC OF CANCER, TROPIC OF CAPRICORN, and THE ROSY CRUCIFIXION TRILOGY fame, among many others. This is an insightful, in depth look at a artist of gargantuan influence. Miller was interviewed by Audrey June Wood  in Minneapolis during a speaking tour; he considered this interview to be one of his best. Miller discourses on some of his favorite books and authors and the struggle of writing well. It was released on Smithsonian/ Folkways Records.Strictly speaking, Miller was not a Beat - he preceded them, and out lived many of them, making it to 88 in 1980, but he was their spiritual and artistic pathfinder.Living hand to mouth, on the edge, abroad in Paris, writing free form in a raw, explicit, semi-autobiographical manner, telling the truth about sex, love, art, and struggle - he set the artistic compass for the Beats - as Dostoevsky and Walt Whitman had done before him. They are all part of a chain - a chain of searchers, and we are fortunate to have these lights to guide us on our own personal journeys to self realization. Please enjoy…THE BEAT GOES ON. 

The great Gene Meyer (@genemeyelol on the socials) of Bandit fame returns to the pod to discuss Vernon the Company Man. We get literary with some associations to Kerouac, Ginsberg, Arthur Miller, but we even it out with jokes about PRimus shirts being more effective than chastity belts. This tune is certainly a unique departure in terms of this record, but also for Claypool in general, thanks to excellent tabla and sitar provided by Mike Dillon and Gabby La La, respectively. Dig?Get involvedInstagramFacebookEmailBurn your money 

Vinny here. I'm gearing up to write my first fiction novel, based on my experience living in Japan. It's daunting to write fiction when there's already so much good stuff out there. So why do it?Because if you're a dreamer, there's no alternative. The point of writing a book isn't to be better than other books; I'm not trying to be the next Hemingway, or Kerouac, or Murakami.The point to me is honestly not even to make money, although that's an intended byproduct of writing something real and unique.I'm writing these books — even fiction — to figure out who the hell I am and what I'm capable of. Taking on a worthy challenge is what human beings are built for. It's what we crave, and it's what many of us are missing.To continually grapple with a creative challenge is a life well lived.For more Dare to Dream content find us on: Apple Podcasts:⁠ ⁠https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-dare-to-dream-podcast/id1522983890⁠⁠ Spotify:⁠ ⁠https://open.spotify.com/show/599zlweDDcmXP5YhOX6TFw⁠⁠YouTube:⁠ ⁠⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCoimyPFCjO_qrJhH4ALafcA⁠⁠ Instagram:⁠ ⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/thedaretodreampodcast/⁠⁠Vincent's Book, When the Sky Opens and the Answers Shimmer: https://www.amazon.com/When-Sky-Opens-Answers-Shimmer/dp/B0DSQ7MYRZ?ref_=ast_author_dp Join Vincent's Newsletter - Vinny's Field Notes:⁠ https://vincentvanpatten.substack.com/⁠Join Gregory's Newsletter - Live a Story Worth Telling:⁠ ⁠⁠https://liveastoryworthtelling.gregoryrussellbenedikt.com/laswt⁠ If you're feeling empty despite your “success”, book a discovery call with Gregory:⁠ https://calendly.com/gregoryrussellbenedikt-1/discovery-call⁠

Few Americans have been as explicit in their warnings about Donald Trump than the St. Louis based writer Sarah Kendzior. Her latest book, The Last American Road Trip, is a memoir chronicling Kendzior's journey down Route 66 to show her children America before it is destroyed. Borrowing from her research of post Soviet Central Asia, Kendzior argues that Trump is establishing a kleptocratic “mafia state” designed to fleece the country of its valuables. This is the third time that Kendzior has been on the show and I have to admit I've always been slightly skeptical of her apocalyptic take on Trump. But given the damage that the new administration is inflicting on America, I have to admit that many of Kendzior's warnings now appear to be uncannily prescient. As she warns, it's Springtime in America. And things are about to get much much hotter. FIVE TAKEAWAYS* Kendzior views Trump's administration as a "mafia state" or kleptocracy focused on stripping America for parts rather than traditional fascism, comparing it to post-Soviet oligarchic systems she studied as an academic.* She believes American institutions have failed to prevent authoritarianism, criticizing both the Biden administration and other institutional leaders for not taking sufficient preventative action during Trump's first term.* Despite her bleak analysis, Kendzior finds hope in ordinary Americans and their capacity for mutual care and resistance, even as she sees formal leadership failing.* Kendzior's new book The Last American Road Trip follows her journey to show her children America before potential collapse, using Route 66 as a lens to examine American decay and resilience.* As an independent voice, she describes being targeted through both publishing obstacles and personal threats, yet remains committed to staying in her community and documenting what's happening. FULL TRANSCRIPTAndrew Keen: Hello everybody, it is April the 18th, 2025, a Friday. I'm thrilled today that we have one of my favorite guests back on the show. I call her the Cassandra of St. Louis, Sarah Kendzior. Many of you know her from her first book, which was a huge success. All her books have done very well. The View from Flyover Country. She was warning us about Trump and Trumpism and MAGA. She was first on our show in 2020. Talking about media in the age of Trump. She had another book out then, Hiding in Plain Sight, The Invention of Donald Trump and the Erosion of America. Then in 2022, she came back on the show to talk about how a culture of conspiracy is keeping America simultaneously complacent and paranoid that the book was called or is called, They Knew. Another big success. And now Sarah has a new book out. It's called The Last American Road Trip. It's a beautifully written book, a kind of memoir, but a political one, of course, which one would expect from Sarah Kendzior. And I'm thrilled, as I said, that the Cassandra of St. Louis is joining us from St. Louis. Sarah, congratulations on the new book.Sarah Kendzior: Oh, thank you. And thank you for having me back on.Andrew Keen: Well, it's an honor. So these four books, how does the last American road trip in terms of the narrative of your previous three hits, how does it fit in? Why did you write it?Sarah Kendzior: Well, this book kind of pivots off the epilog of hiding in plain sight. And that was a book about political corruption in the United States and the rise of Trump. But in the epilogue, I describe how I was trying as a mom to show my kids America in the case that it ended due to both political turmoil and corruption and also climate change. I wanted them to see things themselves. So I was driving them around the country to national parks, historic sites, et cetera. And so many people responded so passionately to that little section, especially parents really struggling on how to raise children in this America that I ended up writing a book that covers 2016 to 2024 and my attempts to show my children everything I could in the time that we had. And as this happens, my children went from relatively young kids to teenagers, my daughter's almost an adult. And so it kind of captures America during this time period. It's also just a travelog, a road trip book, a memoir. It's a lot of things at once.Andrew Keen: Yeah, got great review from Ms. magazine comparing you with the great road writers, Kerouac, of course, and Steinbeck, but Kerouak and Steinback, certainly Kerouack was very much of a solitary male. Is there a female quality to this book? As you say, it's a book as much about your kids and the promise of America as it is about yourself.Sarah Kendzior: Yeah, I think there is in that, you know, I have a section actually about the doomed female road trip where it's, you know, Thelma and Louise or Janet Bates and Psycho or even songs about, you know, being on the road and on the run that are written by women, you know, like Merle Haggard's I'm a Lonesome Fugitive, had to be sung by men to convey that quality. And there aren't a lot of, you know, mom on the Road with her husband and kids kind of books. That said, I think of it as a family book, a parenting book. I certainly think men would like it just as much as women would, and people without kids would like just as people with kids, although it does seem to strike a special resonance with families struggling with a lot of the same issues that I do.Andrew Keen: It's all about the allure of historic Route 66. I've been on that. Anyone who's driven across the country has you. You explain that it's a compilation of four long trips across Route 66 in 1998, 2007, 2017, and 2023. That's almost 40 years, Sarah. Sorry, 30. Getting away my age there, Andrew. My math isn't very good. I mean, how has Route 66 and of course, America changed in that period? I know that's a rather leading question.Sarah Kendzior: No, I mean, I devote quite a lot of the book to Route 66 in part because I live on it, you know, goes right through St. Louis. So, I see it just every day. I'll be casually grocery shopping and then be informed I'm on historic Route 66 all of a sudden. But you know it's a road that is, you once was the great kind of romanticized road of escape and travel. It was decommissioned notably by Ronald Reagan after the creation of the interstate. And now it's just a series of rural roads, frontage roads, roads that end abruptly, roads that have gone into ruin, roads that are in some really beautiful places in terms of the landscape. So it really is this conglomeration of all of America, you know of the decay and the destruction and the abandonment in particular, but also people's, their own memories, their own artistic works, you know roadside shrines and creations that are often, you know pretty off beat. That they've put to show this is what I think of our country. These are my values. This is what, I think, is important. So it's a very interesting journey to take. It's often one I'm kind of inadvertently on just because of where I live and the direction I go. We'll mirror it. So I kept passing these sites again and again. I didn't set out to write this book. Obviously, when I first drove it when I was 19, I didn't know that this was our future. But looking back, especially at technological change, at how we travel, at how trust each other, at all of these things that have happened to this country since this time, it's really something. And that road will bring back all of those memories of what was lost and what remains to be lost. And of course it's hitting its 100th anniversary next year, so I'm guessing there'll be a lot of reminiscing about Route 66.Andrew Keen: Book about memories, you write about that, eventually even your memory will just or this experience of this trip will just be a memory. What does that suggest about contextualizing the current moment in American history? It's too easy to overdramatize it or perhaps it's hard not to over dramatize it given what's happening. I want to talk about a little bit about that your take on America on April the 18th, 2025. But how does that make sense of a memorial when you know that even your memories will become memories?Sarah Kendzior: Yeah, I mean it's hard to talk frankly about what's happening in America now without it sounding over dramatic or hyperbolic, which I think is why so many people were reluctant to believe me over my last decade of warnings that the current crises and catastrophes that we're experiencing are coming, are possible, and need to be actively stopped. I don't think they were inevitable, but they needed to be stopped by people in charge who refused to do it. And so, my reaction to this as a writer, but just as a human being is to write everything down, is to keep an ongoing record, not only of what I witness now, but of what know of our history, of what my own values are, of what place in the world is. And back in 2016, I encouraged everyone to do this because I knew that over the next decade, people would be told to accept things that they would normally never accept, to believe things that they would normally, never believe. And if you write down where you stand, you always have that point of reference to look back towards. It doesn't have to be for publication. It doesn't have to for the outside world. It can just be for yourself. And so I think that that's important. But right now, I think everyone has a role to play in battling what is an authoritarian kleptocracy and preventing it from hurting people. And I think people should lean into what they do best. And what I do best is write and research and document. So that's what I meant. Continue to do, particularly as history itself is under assault by this government.Andrew Keen: One of the things that strikes me about you, Sarah, is that you have an unusual background. You got a PhD in Soviet studies, late Soviet studies.Sarah Kendzior: Anthropology, yeah, but that was nice.Andrew Keen: But your dissertation was on the Uzbek opposition in exile. I wonder whether that experience of studying the late Soviet Union and its disintegration equipped you in some ways better than a lot of domestic American political analysts and writers for what's happening in America today. We've done a number of shows with people like Pete Weiner, who I'm sure you know his work from the Atlantic of New York Times. About learning from East European resistance writers, brave people like Milan Kundra, of course, Vaclav Havel, Solzhenitsyn. Do you think your earlier history of studying the Soviet Union helped you prepare, at least mentally, intellectually, for what's happening in the United States?Sarah Kendzior: Oh, absolutely. I think it was essential, because there are all sorts of different types of authoritarianism. And the type that Trump and his backers have always pursued was that of a mafia state, you know, of a kleptocracy. And Uzbekistan is the country that I knew the most. And actually, you what I wrote my dissertation about, this is between 2006, and 2012, was the fact that after a massacre of civilians... A lot of Uzbekistan's journalists, activists, political figures, opposition figures, et cetera, went into exile and then they immediately started writing blogs. And so for the very first time, they had freedom of speech. They had never had it in Uzbekistan. And they start revealing the whole secret history of Uzbekistan and everything going on and trying to work with each other, try to sort of have some impact on the political process in Uzbekistan. And they lost. What happened was the dictator died, Islam Karimov died, in 2016, and was replaced by another dictator who's not quite as severe. But watching the losing side and also watching people persevere and hold on to themselves and continue working despite that loss, I think, was very influential. Because you could look at Václav Havel or Lech Walesa or, you know, other sort of. People who won, you know, from Eastern Europe, from the revolutions of 1989 and so forth. And it's inspiring that sometimes I think it's really important to look at the people who did not succeed, but kept going anyway. You know, they didn't surrender themselves. They didn't their morality and they didn't abandon their fellow man. And I think that that's important. And also just to sort of get at the heart of your question, yes, you the structure of it, oligarchs who shake down countries, strip them and sell them for parts. Mine them for resources. That model, especially of what happened to Russia, actually, in particular in the 1990s of these oligarch wars, is what I see as the future of the United States right now. That is what they're trying to emulate.Andrew Keen: That we did a show with Steve Hansen and Jeff Kopstein, both political scientists, on what they see. They co-wrote a book on patrimonialism. This is the model they see there. They're both Max Weber scholars, so they borrow from that historic sociological analysis. And Kopstein was on the show with John Rausch as well, talking about this patrimonials. And so you, do you share the Kopstein-Hansen-Rausch analysis. Roush wrote a piece in the Atlantic about this too, which did very well. But this isn't conventional fascism or communism. It's a kind of 21st century version of patrimonialism.Sarah Kendzior: It's definitely not traditional fascism and one of the main reasons for that is a fascist has loyalty to the state. They seek to embody the state, they seek to expand the state recently Trump has been doing this more traditional route somewhat things like wanting to buy Greenland. But I think a lot of what he's doing is in reaction to climate change and also by the way I don't think Trump is the mastermind or originator. Of any of these geopolitical designs. You know, he has a team, we know about some of them with the Heritage Foundation Project 2025. We know he has foreign advisors. And again, you know, Trump is a corporate raider. That is how he led his business life. He's a mafia associate who wants to strip things down and sell them for parts. And that's what they wanna do with the United States. And that, yes, there are fascist tactics. There are fascists rhetoric. You know there are a lot of things that this country will, unfortunately, and has. In common, you know, with, say, Nazi Germany, although it's also notable that of course Nazi Germany borrowed from a lot of the tactics of Jim Crow, slavery, genocide of Native Americans. You know, this has always been a back and forth and America always has had some form of selective autocracy. But yeah, I think the folks who try to make this direct line and make it seem like the 20th century is just simply being revived, I've always felt like they were off because. There's no interest for these plutocrats in the United States even existing as a sovereign body. Like it truly doesn't matter to them if all of our institutions, even something as benign as the Postal Service, collapse. That's actually beneficial for them because then they can privatize, they can mine resources, they can make money for themselves. And I really worry that their goal is partition, you know, is to take this country. And to split it into smaller pieces that are easier to control. And that's one of the reasons I wrote this book, that I wrote The Last American Road Trip because I don't want people to fall for traps about generalizations or stereotypes about different regions of this country. I want them to see it as a whole and that our struggles are interconnected and we have a better chance of winning if we stand by each other.Andrew Keen: Yeah, and your book, in particular, The View from Flyover Country was so important because it wasn't written from San Francisco or Los Angeles or D.C. Or New York. It was written from St. Louis. So in a way, Sarah, you're presenting Trump as the ultimate Hayekian b*****d. There's a new book out by Quinn Slobodian called Hayek's B******s, which connects. Trumpianism and mago with Neoliberalism you don't see a break. We've done a lot of shows on the rise and fall of neoliberalism. You don't say a break between Hayek and TrumpSarah Kendzior: I think that in terms of neoliberalism, I think it's a continuation of it. And people who think that our crises began with Trump becoming the president in 2017, entering office, are deluded because the pathway to Trump even being able to run for president given that he was first investigated by the Department of Justice in 1973 and then was linked to a number of criminal enterprises for decades after. You know, that he was able to get in that position, you know that already showed that we had collapsed in certain respects. And so I think that these are tied together. You know, this has a lot to do with greed, with a, you know a disregard for sovereignty, a disregard human rights. For all of this Trump has always served much better as a demagogue, a front man, a figurehead. I do think, you he's a lot smarter. Than many of his opponents give him credit for. He is very good at doing what he needs to do and knowing what he need to know and nothing more. The rest he gives to the bureaucrats, to the lawyers, et cetera. But he fills this persona, and I do wonder what will happen when he is gone because they've tried very hard to find a successor and it's always failed, like DeSantis or Nikki Haley or whoever. And I kind of wonder if one of the reasons things are moving so, so fast now is they're trying to get a lot of things in under the wire while he's still alive, because I don't think that there's any individual who people have the loyalty to. His cult is not that big. It's a relatively small segment of the country, but it is very intense and very loyal to him. I don't think that loyalty is transferable.Andrew Keen: Is there anything, you know, I presented you as the Cassandra from St. Louis, you've seen the future probably clearer than most other people. Certainly when I first came across your work, I wasn't particularly convinced. I'm much more convinced now. You were right. I was wrong. Is there, anything about Trump too, that surprised you? I mean, any of the, the cruelty? Open corruption, the anger, the hostility, the attempt to destroy anything of any value in America, the fact that they seem to take such great pleasure in destroying this country's most valuable thing.Sarah Kendzior: Yeah, it's extremely sad and no, he doesn't surprise me at all. He's been the same guy since I was a little kid. You know, he was a plot line on children's television shows in the 1980s where as a child, I was supposed to know that the name Trump was synonymous with corruption, with being a tax cheat, with being a liar, you know, these were just sort of cultural codes that I was expected to know. What surprised me more is that no one stopped him because this threat was incredibly obvious. And that so many people in power have joined in, and I'm assuming they're joining in because they would rather be on the side with all that power than be a target of that power, but that they feel apparently no sense of loss, no sense grief for things like the loss of national parks, public education, the postal service, things that most folks like, social security for your elderly parents. Most Americans... Want these things. And most Americans, regardless of political party, don't want to see our country torn apart in this fashion. And so I'm not surprised by Trump. I'm surprised at the extent of his enablers at the complicity of the press and of the FBI and other institutions. And, you know, it's also been very jarring to watch how open they are this time around, you know, things like Elon Musk and his operation taking out. Classified information. The thing is, is I'm pretty sure Trump did all that. I mean, we know Trump did this in his first term, you know, and they would emphasize things like this box of physical written documents in Mar-a-Lago illegally taken. But, you know my mind always just went to, well, what did they do digitally? Because that seems much easier and much more obvious. What did they with all of these state secrets that they had access to for four years? What kind of leverage would that give them? And I think now they're just kind of, they're not bothering to hide anything anymore. I think they set the stage and now, you know, we're in the midst of the most horrible play, the most terrible performance ever. And it's, you can be still crushing at times.Andrew Keen: And of course, the real question is whether we're in the last act. Your book, The Last American Road Trip, was written, mostly written, what, in 2024 from?Sarah Kendzior: 2023.Andrew Keen: 2023. So, I mean, here's, I don't know if you can answer this, Sarah, but you know as much about middle America and middle Americans as anyone. You're on the road, you talk to everyone, you have a huge following, both on the left and the right in some ways. Some of your books now, you told me before we went live, some of your previous books, like Hiding in Plain Sight, suddenly become a big hit amongst conservative Americans. What does Trump or the MAGA people around him, what do they have to do to lose the support of ordinary Americans? As you say, they're destroying the essential infrastructure, medical, educational, the roads, the railways, everything is being destroyed, carted off almost like Stalin carted of half of the Soviet Union back into Asia during the Second World War. What does he have to do to lose the support of Middle America?Sarah Kendzior: I mean, I don't think middle America, you know, by which like a giant swath of the country that's, that's just ideological, diverse, demographically diverse supports him. I mean some do certainly. He's got some hardcore acolytes. I think most people are disillusioned with the entire political system. They are deeply frustrated by Trump. They were deeply frustrated. By Biden, they're struggling to pay bills. They're struggling. To hold on to basic human rights. And they're mad that their leverage is gone. People voted in record numbers in 2020. They protested in record number throughout Trump's first term. They've made their concerns known for a very long time and there are just very few officials really listening or responding. And I think that initially when Trump reentered the picture, it caused folks to just check out mentally because it was too overwhelming. I think it's why voter turnout was lower because the Democrats, when they won, didn't make good on their promises. It's a very simple thing. If you follow through with your campaign platform that was popular, then you're going to retain those voters. If you don't, you may lose them, especially when you're up against a very effective demagogue who has a way with rhetoric. And so we're just in such a bad place, such a painful place. I don't think people will look to politicians to solve their problems and with very good reason. I'm hoping that there are more of a sense of community support, more of sense that we're all in this together, especially as financially things begin to fall apart. Trump said openly in 2014 that he intended to crash the American economy. He said this on a Fox News clip that I found in 2016. Because it was being reprinted all over Russian-language media. They loved this clip because it also praised Putin and so forth. And I was astounded by it. I was like, why in the world isn't this all over every TV station, every radio station? He's laying out the whole plan, and now he's following that plan. And so I'm very concerned about that. And I just hope people in times like this, traditionally, this opens the door to fascism. People become extremely afraid. And in their fear they want a scapegoat, they are full of rage, they take it out on each other. That is the worst possible move right now from both a moral or a strategic view. People need to protect each other, to respect each other as fully human, to recognize almost everyone here, except for a little tiny group of corrupt billionaires, is a victim in this scenario, and so I don't see a big difference between, you know, myself and... Wherever I go. I was in Tulsa yesterday, I was in San Francisco last week. We're all in this together and I see a lot of heartache wherever I go. And so if people can lend each other support, that is the best way to get through this.Andrew Keen: Are you suggesting then that he is the Manchurian candidate? Why did he say that in 2014?Sarah Kendzior: Well, it was interesting. He was on Fox during the Sochi Olympics, and he was talking about how he speaks with Putin every day, their pals, and that Putin is going to produce a really big win for us, and we're all going to be very happy about it. And then he went on to say that the crashing of the economy and riots throughout America is what will make America great again. And this is in February 2014. Fox has deleted the clip, You know, other people have copies. So it is, it's also in my book hiding in plain sight, the transcript of that. I'm not sure, like a Manchurian candidate almost feels, you know like the person would have to be blackmailed or coerced or brainwashed somehow to participate. I think Trump is a true volunteer and his loyalty isn't to Russia per se. You know, his loyalty is to his bank accounts, like his loyalty is to power. And one thing he's been after his whole life was immunity from prosecution because he has been involved or adjacent to such an enormous number of crimes. And then when the Supreme Court granted him that, he got what he wanted and he's not afraid of breaking the law in any way. He's doing what all autocrats do, which is rewrite the law so that he is no longer breaking it. And he has a team of lawyers who help him in that agenda. So I feel like on one sense, he's very. All-American. It's kind of a sad thing that as he destroys America, he's doing it in a very American way. He plays a lot of great American music at his rallies. He has a vernacular that I can relate to that and understand it while detesting everything he's doing and all of his horrific policies. But what they want to turn us into though, I think is something that all Americans just won't. Recognized. And we've had the slipping away of a kind of unified American culture for a while, I think because we've lost our pop culture, which is really where a lot of people would bond, you know, movies, music, all of it became split into streaming services, you know. All of it became bifurcated. People stopped seeing each other as much face to face, you know, during COVID and then that became kind of a permanent thing. We're very fragmented and that hurts us badly. And all we've kind of got left is I guess sports and then politics. So people take all the effort that they used to put into devouring American pop culture or American civic life and they put it into this kind of politics that the media presents as if it's a game, like initially a horse race during the election and now like, ooh, will the evil dictator win? It's like, this is our lives. Like we have a lot on the line. So I wish they would do, they would take their job more seriously too. Of course, they're up paywalled and on streaming sites, so who's watching anyway, but still it is a problem.Andrew Keen: Yeah, it's interesting you talk about this death wish, you mentioned Thelma and Louise earlier, one of the great movies, American road movies, maybe in an odd way, the final scene of the Trump movie will be similar to the, you seem to be suggesting to, I'm not gonna give away the end of Thelmer and Louise to anyone who's watching who hasn't seen it, you do need to see it, similar ending to that movie. What about, you've talked about resistance, Sarah, a one of. The most influential, I guess, resistors to Trump and Trumpism. You put up an X earlier this month about the duty of journalism to resist, the duty to thinkers to resist. Some people are leaving, guys like Tim Snyder, his wife, Marcy Shaw, Jason Stanley, another expert on fascism. You've made it clear that you're staying. What's your take on people like Snyder who are leaving this country?Sarah Kendzior: Well, from what I know, he made a statement saying he had decided to move to Canada before Trump was put in office. Jason Stanley, on the other hand, explicitly said he's moving there because Trump is in office, and my first thought when I heard about all of them was, well, what about their students? Like, what about all these students who are being targeted by ICE, who are being deported? What about their TAs? What about everyone who's in a more vulnerable position. You know, when you have a position of power and influence, you could potentially do a lot of good in helping people. You know I respect everyone's decision to live wherever they want. Like it's not my business. But I do think that if you have that kind of chance to do something powerful for the community around you, especially the most vulnerable people in it who at this time are green card holders, people here on visas, we're watching this horrific crackdown at all these universities. My natural inclination would be to stay and take a stand and not abandon them. And I guess, you know, people, they do things in different ways or they may have their own personal concerns and, you know that's fine. I just know, you know I'm not leaving, you know, like I've got elderly parents and in-laws. I've got relatives who need me. I have a lot of people who depend on me and they depend on me in St. Louis and in Missouri. Because there aren't that many journalists in St. Louis. I think there could be, there are a lot of great writers in St Louis, you know, who have given a chance, given a platform, you could really show you what it's actually like here instead of all these stereotypes. But we're always, always marginalized. Like even I'm marginalized and I think I'm, you know, probably the most well-known in terms of being a political commentator. And so I feel like it's important to stand my ground but also You know, I love this, this state in the city and I love my community and I can't fathom, you know, leaving people in the lurch at a time like this. When I'm doing better, I'm on more solid ground despite being a target of various, you know organizations and individuals. I'm at a more solid down than somebody who's a, you know a black American or an immigrant or impoverished. Like I feel like it is my job to stand up for you know, folks here and let everyone know, you know what's going on and be somebody who they can come to and feel like that's safe.Andrew Keen: You describe yourself, Sarah, as a target. Your books have done very well. Most of them have been bestsellers. I'm sure the last American road trip will do very well, you're just off.Sarah Kendzior: It is the bestseller as of yesterday. It is your bestseller, congratulations. Yeah, our USA Today bestsellers, so yeah.Andrew Keen: Excellent. So that's good news. You've been on the road, you've had hundreds of people show up. I know you wrote about signing 600 books at Left Bank Books, which is remarkable. Most writers would cut off both hands for that. How are you being targeted? You noted that some of your books are being taken off the shelves. Are they being banned or discouraged?Sarah Kendzior: I mean, basically, what's been happening is kind of akin to what you see with universities. I just think it's not as well publicized or publicized at all, where there's not some sort of, you know, like the places will give in to what they think this administration wants before they are outright told to do it. So yes, there is an attempt to remove hiding in plain sight from circulation in 2024 to, you know, make the paperback, which at the time was ranked on Amazon. At number 2,000. It was extremely popular because this is the week that the Supreme Court gave Trump immunity. I was on vacation when I found out it was being pulled out of circulation. And I was in rural New Mexico and I had to get to a place with Wi-Fi to try to fight back for my book, which was a bestseller, a recent publication. It was very strange to me and I won that fight. They put it back, but a lot of people had tried to order it at that time and didn't get it. And a lot of people try to get my other books and they just can't get them. You know, so the publisher always has a warehouse issue or a shipping problem and you know, this kind of comes up or you know people notice, they've noticed this since 2020, you know I don't get reviewed in the normal kind of place as a person that has best selling books one after another would get reviewed. You know, that kind of thing is more of a pain. I always was able to circumvent it before through social media. But since Musk took over Twitter and because of the way algorithms work, it's more and more difficult for me to manage all of the publicity and PR and whatnot on my own. And so, you know, I'm grateful that you're having me on your show. I'm also grateful that, you Know, Flatiron did give me a book tour. That's helped tremendously. But there's that. And then there's also just the constant. Death threats and threats of you know other things you know things happening to people I love and it's been scary and I get used to it and that I expect it but you know you never could really get used to people constantly telling you that they're gonna kill you you know.Andrew Keen: When you get death threats, do you go to the authorities, have they responded?Sarah Kendzior: No, there's no point. I mean, I have before and it was completely pointless. And, you know, I'll just mostly just go to people I know who I trust to see if they can check in on things. I have to be very vague here who are not in the government or in the police or anything like that. I don't think anyone would protect me. I really just don't think anyone could help. You know, one thing is, you know, yes, I'm a prominent critic of Trump and his administration, but I was also a prominent critic of. The DOJ and Merrick Garland for not doing anything about all of these threats and also a critic of Biden and the Democrats for not impeaching quickly, for not being more proactive, for not acting with greater urgency. So I'm targeted by kind of everyone except for people who don't have any power, which is a strange situation to be in because I love my readers and I think that they're wonderful and I'm incredibly grateful for them because my books largely spread through word of mouth. It is scary for me, just as like a mom in Missouri without a lot of resources to be targeted by all of these kind of high profile, wealthy, powerful people. But all I have is my voice and my writing. And so I just do what I can. And that's just the way the cards have been dealt for me and it is what it is, so.Andrew Keen: Later historians write about this period in 50 or 100 years time. How do you think you mentioned the Biden administration, you were critical of them. We haven't talked about Kamala Harris's failed presidential term, which I wasn't particularly impressed with. How much moral responsibility do you think that Biden and Harris should be accused of for Trump too?Sarah Kendzior: Yeah, I mean, well, first of all, I'd be delighted if we have historians in the future. Well, I will be, even if I don't.Andrew Keen: Well, there will be, even if, I don't know, in America, there'll be somewhere.Sarah Kendzior: I is where it'll be some sort of AI creation that just, you know, belches out, make America great again, like, you know, like in The Shining or something, just over and over and over again. But assuming we have real historians that actually assess the situation, I think they are going to be tremendously critical of the Biden administration. I think it may in fact go down as one of the worst of all time. And he will be seen as a Neville Chamberlain-like figure who had the opportunity to stop or slow A number of autocratic practices and either chose to look the other way or to enable them. Because the thing is, in 2016, people were very doubtful that America could become an autocratic state. They hadn't seen this before. A lot of this was new to them. From 2016 through 2021, we saw all that Trump was capable of, and he committed a large multitude of crimes,RetryClaude hit the max length for a message and has paused its response. You can write Continue to keep the chat going.AKplease continueEditHere's the continuation of the transcript:Sarah Kendzior: ...and those crimes, not just him, but his cohort were never held accountable. And what they did during the Biden years was plan all of their next moves. Like you don't suddenly have a gulag for Americans in El Salvador, like just off the top of your head. You know, all of this takes planning. We knew about a lot of the plans, you know, the Democrats campaigned about combating Project 2025. And my question to them was, well, what what if you lose? How are you going to combat it then? You know what, if he gets back, what are you gonna do? They would be so offended. They're like, how dare you, you question us. How dare you question, you know, our plans? They're, like, well, I don't, you don't have a plan. Like, that's my question is what is the plan? And they didn't. And they could have spent those four years creating a bulwark against a lot of the most horrific policies that we're seeing now. Instead, they're kind of reacting on the fly if they're even reacting at all. And meanwhile, people are being targeted, deported, detained. They're suffering tremendously. And they're very, very scared. I think it's very scary to have a total dearth of leadership from where the, not just the opposition, but just people with basic respect for the constitution, our civil rights, etc., are supposed to be.Andrew Keen: You mentioned Project 2025, we've got David Graham on the show next week, who's written a book about Project 2025. Is there anything positive to report, Sarah? I mean, some people are encouraged by the behavior, at least on Friday, the 18th of April, who knows what will happen over the weekend or next week. Behavior of Harvard, some law firms are aggressively defending their rights. Should we be encouraged by the universities, law firms, even some corporate leaders are beginning to mutter under their breath about Trump and Trumpism?Sarah Kendzior: And it depends whether they actually have that power in wielded or whether they're just sort of trying to tamper down public dissent. I'm skeptical of these universities and law firms because I think they should have had a plan long ago because I was very obvious that all of this was going to happen and I feel so terribly for all of the students there that were abandoned by these administrations, especially places like Columbia. That gave in right away. What does hearten me though, you know, and I, as you said, I'd been on this tour, like I was all over the West coast. I've been all over, the Midwest and the South is, Americans, Americans do understand what's happening. There's always this like this culture in media of like, how do we break it to Americans? Like, yeah, well, we know, we know out here in Missouri that this is very bad. And I think that people have genuine concern for each other. I think they still have compassion for each other. I think there's a culture of cruelty that's promoted online and it's incentivized. You know, you can make money that way. You could get clicks that that way, whatever, but in real life, I think people feel vulnerable. They feel afraid, but I've seen so much kindness. I've been so much concern and determination from people who don't have very much, and maybe that's, you know, why people don't know about it. These are just ordinary folks. And so I have great faith in American people to combat this. And what I don't have faith in is our institutions. And I hope that these sort of in between places, places like universities who do a lot of good on one hand, but also can kind of act as like hedge funds. On the other hand, I hope they move fully to the side of good and that they purge themselves of these corrupt elements that have been within them for a long time, the more greedy. Aspects of their existence. I hope they see themselves as places that uphold civic life and history and provide intellectual resistance and shelter for students in the storm. They could be a really powerful force if they choose to be. It's never too late to change. I guess that's the message I want to bring home. Even if I'm very critical of these places, it's never to late for them to change and to do the right thing.Andrew Keen: Well, finally, Sarah, a lot of people are going to be watching this on my Substack page. Your Substack Page, your newsletter, They Knew, I think has last count, 52,000 subscribers. Is this the new model for independent writers, journalist thinkers like yourself? I'm not sure of those 52,00, how many of them are paid. You noted that your book has disappeared co-isindecially sometimes. So maybe some publishers are being intimidated. Is the future for independent thinkers, platforms like Substack, where independent authors like yourself can establish direct intellectual and commercial relations with their readers and followers?Sarah Kendzior: It's certainly the present. I mean, this is the only place or other newsletter outlets, I suppose, that I could go. And I purposefully divorced myself from all institutions except for my publisher because I knew that this kind of corruption would inhibit me from being able to say the truth. This is why I dropped out of academia, I dropped out of regular journalism. I have isolated myself to some degree on purpose. And I also just like being in control of this and having direct access to my readers. However, what does concern me is, you know, Twitter used to also be a place where I had direct access to people I could get my message out. I could circumvent a lot of the traditional modes of communication. Now I'm essentially shadow banned on there, along with a lot of people. And you know Musk has basically banned substack links because of his feud with Matt Taibbi. You know, that led to, if you drop a substack link in there, it just gets kind of submerged and people don't see it. So, you know, I think about Twitter and how positive I was about that, maybe like 12, 13 years ago, and I wonder how I feel about Substack and what will happen to it going forward, because clearly, you Know, Trump's camp realizes the utility of these platforms, like they know that a lot of people who are prominent anti authoritarian voices are using them to get the word out when they are when they lose their own platform at, like, say, the Washington Post or MSNBC or... Whatever network is corrupted or bullied. And so eventually, I think they'll come for it. And, you know, so stack has problems on its own anyway. So I am worried. I make up backups of everything. I encourage people to consume analog content and to print things out if they like them in this time. So get my book on that note, brand new analog content for you. A nice digital.Andrew Keen: Yeah, don't buy it digitally. I assume it's available on Kindle, but you're probably not too keen or even on Amazon and Bezos. Finally, Sarah, this is Friday. Fridays are supposed to be cheerful days, the days before the weekend. Is there anything to be cheerful about on April The 18th 2025 in America?Sarah Kendzior: I mean, yeah, there's things to be cheerful about, you know, pre spring, nice weather. I'm worried about this weekend. I'll just get this out real quick. You know, this is basically militia Christmas. You know, This is the anniversary of Waco, the Oklahoma City bombings, Columbine. It's Hitler's birthday. This is a time when traditionally American militia groups become in other words,Andrew Keen: Springtime in America.Sarah Kendzior: Yeah, springtime for Hitler. You know, and so I'm worried about this weekend. I'm worry that if there are anti-Trump protests that they'll be infiltrated by people trying to stoke the very riots that Trump said he wanted in order to, quote, make America great again and have everything collapse. So everyone, please be very, very careful this weekend heading out and just be aware of the. Of these dates and the importance of these days far predates Trump to, you know, militia groups and other violent extremist groups.Andrew Keen: Well, on that cheerful note, I asked you for a positive note. You've ruined everyone's weekend, probably in a healthy way. You are the Cassandra from St. Louis. Appreciate your bravery and honesty in standing up to Trump and Trumpism, MAGA America. Congratulations on the new book. As you say, it's available in analog form. You can buy it. Take it home, protect it, dig a hole in your garden and protect it from the secret police. Congratulations on the new book. As I said to you before we went live, it's a beautifully written book. I mean, you're noted as a polemicist, but I thought this book is your best written book, the other books were well written, but this is particularly well written. Very personal. So congratulations on that. And Sarah will have to get you back on the show. I'm not sure how much worse things can get in America, but no doubt they will and no doubt you will write about it. So keep well, keep safe and keep doing your brave work. Thank you so much.Sarah Kendzior: Yeah, you too. Thank you so much for your kind words and for having me on again. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit keenon.substack.com/subscribe

This week on Zed Games Paul, Tom, and Maylee all get fully sick with husky voices included before diving into the week in #GamingNews, Classifications, EU Kids and FoMO Crackdown, Game Informer Rebirth, and Bam Returns to THPS3+4. Paul Is forced to slow down and make tea in Wanderstop from Ivy Road, and Tom gets his Kerouac on for road trip nostalgia while playing Keep Driving from Y/CJ/Y Timestamps and Links: 01:52 - Gaming News 13:26 - Wanderstop from Ivy Road w/ Paul 24:45 - Keep Driving from Y/CJ/Y w/ Tom 35:16- Netherworld get's Poke-them'd 36:32 - Dirk Warhard Podcast Exclusive Extended Cut

Rescue and patchwork relationship.B Book 3 in 18 parts, y FinalStand. Listen to the ► Podcast at Explicit Novels.Loving your enemy is easy, you know precisely where both of you stand(Right where we left off)The closest Marine had been waiting for me to finish my bonding moment with Menner before speaking. He walked and talked like an officer."You are certainly Mr. Cáel Nyilas," he nodded. "I'm Lt. Robeson, United States Marine Corps. I would like to take you and your party home. What is the situation?""Lieutenant, this young lady is Aya Ruger. She was kidnapped along-side me and managed to kill over twenty of our enemies, so be careful around her." I was deadly serious about what I said. Aya should get proper credit for all the people she sedated then drowned. Dead was dead, even if it was accidental."These two," I pointed to Zhen and Mu, "are Lúsìla ninda and Amar, Taiwanese nationals suffering some shock from the abrupt crash landing of the aircraft. They don't seem to know why they were kidnapped, but they were instrumental in aiding Aya and me making it to shore during the typhoon.""If you say so, Sir," he nodded. He did believe me, yet a soldier was taught to be skeptical of anything a civilian told him about a military situation. "The bodies?""Those are the corpses we found after the storm. I decided we should attempt to place them in your custody so you can figure out who they are," I suggested."Sir, I don't think we can let civilians keep their weapons aboard the flight," the Marine Lt. stated since I had both a pistol and submachine gun, Aya had her pistol and Zhen had her and Mu's blades. A Marine NCO sent a party to gather the dead."Marine, I am Cáel Nyilas, Irish diplomat, freebooter and Champion of the worst possible causes," I began my spiel."You probably have some orders concerning bringing me in alive. I am not so constrained and am more than willing to steal this aircraft and fly back to Hawaii without you. My team keeps their weapons, or you give me your best shot, right now," I met his gaze. He mulled over his options. Two Romanians and two Marines were starting to load the ad hoc body bags aboard the C-37B."Normally I don't take that kind of crap from a civilian and I don't want you to think I'm making an exception because of your Security Clearance. I'll let your people keep your weapons, but if something goes wrong, I'm shooting you first," he assured me."Done deal," I offered my hand and he shook it."Oh and Happy Tibetan Independence Day," he congratulated me."What?" I gasped. Rescue and patchwork relationships{6 pm, Sunday, August 17th ~ 22 Days to go}{11 pm Sunday, Aug. 17th (Havenstone Time)}{And just this once, 11am Monday, Aug. 18th Beijing Time}"Oh and Happy Tibetan Independence Day;, nice work.," the Marine congratulated me."What?""How is that possible?" muttered Mu."Yippee!! No more burning monks," Aya fist-pumped. Personally, I think she did that for the enjoyment of our guardians and to piss off Zhen and Mu just a tiny bit more.(Mandarin) "Brother," Zhen studied her brother's pained expression. "What has gone wrong?"(Mandarin) "The province of Tibet apparently has broken away," he groused. In English, to the Marine Lieutenant he repeated, "How is this possible?""I take it you didn't know Peace Talks had broken out?" he grinned. I doubted the Lt. bought my 'these are my two Taiwanese cobelligerents' story, but belief was above his pay grade, so he didn't give a shit."Yes," Mu mumbled, "we knew of the proposed cease-fire.""Yes, you mean both sides actually honored it?" I added. I really had been out things for a while."Nearly two days ago, noon, Peking Time, the People's Republic of China and the Khanate put a six month cease-fire into effect which has remained intact for forty-one," he looked at his watch, "forty-one and a half hours." He was being a cock to the petulant Mu. No one called Beijing 'Peking' anymore. I had even ordered Beijing Duck on several menus. Peking was the height of Western Imperialist thinking, or so it looked to Mu.(Mandarin) "He is yanking your chain, Mu," I explained. "You are looking pissed off at being rescued, which isn't doing my alibi for you much good.""My apology," Mu nodded to the lieutenant. "Is there any news from the Republic of China? Are they free as well?" That was nice of Mu to call Taiwan by its pet name, the ROC."Not yet," he patted Mu's unwounded leg, "but with the utter shellacking the Khanate put on the People's Navy (really the People's Liberation Army Navy, but the Marine was getting his shots in) it is only a matter of time."I had been translating in a low voice to the V nători de munte in order for them to keep up with the conversation. They all started laughing. The Marines joined in. There was a huge joke here that we had missed out on while stranded.(Romanian) "So, ask them if they know where their aircraft carrier is," Menner chuckled. Most Romanians had grown up knowing of only one China.Me: (Romanian) "What!"A Naval Corpsman who didn't know Romanian, but knew 'aircraft carrier' just fine jumped in: "Oh yeah, the missing Chinese Aircraft carrier," she chortled.Mu: "What!"I'd only been gone two and a half days. What the hell had been going on?(What had transpired in my absence and the subsequent consequences)(Notes:P R C = People's Republic of China; PLA = People's Liberation Army;P L A N = People's Liberation Army Navy;P L A A F = People's Liberation Army Air Force;R O C = the Republic of China {aka Taiwan, aka Chinese Taipei, aka the "other China"};The First Unification War {aka what the Khanate did to China in 2014};Truce lasts from August 16th 2014 until February 15th, 2015 = 183 days)There are several classic blunders grownups should know to avoid: never fight a land war in Asia, never go in against a Sicilian when death is on the line, and, if you are going to cross a master thief, first make sure you have nothing of value. For the land war in Asia, check with my partner, the Khanate. Substituting Black Hand for Sicilian ~ check with Ajax, use an Ouija board. So far, destiny was batting .500.The last blunder I created entirely on my own, but I felt it was the true and right response for the circumstances. So witness the Six Families of the Ninja and the greatest theft in all of recorded history.In the closing hours of the First Unification War, as in many wars, some serious theft was going on; mainly it was the People's Republic getting fleeced.The most obvious and immediate blows came in the Spratlys and Parcel Islands where Khanate forces (actually, elements from all the JIKIT players) seized the key island in the Parcel chain, Woody Island, and secured the P L A N base the Chinese had created there, including the 2,700 meter runway built there in the 1990's. The 1,443 Chinese civilians and 600 military inhabitants in the area were incidental complications and the survivors were about to be 'repatriated' to the mainland anyway; the Khanate didn't want them hanging around as they prepared for the inevitable end of the six-month truce.Yes, the Khanate had stolen the most important island airfield ~ an unsinkable carrier really ~ in the South China Sea. It was also the northern end of the potential People's Republic of China's stranglehold on the east-west sea lanes between East Asia and the rest of the World, i.e., roughly 25% of all global trade.The southern end? That would be the Spratlys. There are few 'real' islands in that 'island group' and only two worth having: the artificial one the P L A N was building and the one the ROC has a 1200 meter airfield on. That artificial island and every other PRC/P L A N outpost in the region was also stolen by the Khanate between 4 a.m. and noon of that final day of active conflict.Every geological feature that had been the basis for the PRC's claims to all of the South China Sea was now in Khanate hands. Considering how much the P L A N had bullied everyone else in that portion of the globe, the Khanate taking over their geopolitical position was incredibly awkward. It was going to get worse.Technically, the Khanate hadn't stolen the P L A N 'South Sea Fleet' (SSF); they'd blown the fuck out of it, including sinking the sole fully-functioning P L A N carrier Liaoning as well as five of the nine destroyers and six of the nineteen frigates in her battle group. The Liaoning and one destroyer had died in those last few hours as the SSF was racing for the relative safety of Philippine waters ~ so close, but no cigar.So the Khanate had stolen the ability of the P L A N to project power in the South China Sea until February 15th, 2015 when the U N brokered truce ended. But that was not the epic theft, though. That distinction went to the Ninja. What did they steal? A semi-functional Chinese nuclear powered super-aircraft carrier still under construction.The beast had no official name yet, but she was a 75,000 ton engine of Global Domination laid down in 2011 and clearly complete enough to float and to be steered under her own power. (To be on the safe side, the Ninja included stealing four tugboats to help in their getaway.) So, you may be asking yourself, how does one 'steal' a nuclear-powered, 1000 foot long, 275 foot wide and ten-story tall vessel?For starters, you need a plan to get on board the sucker. We had begun with the Black Lotus. They wanted to sneak onboard, exit the dockyard the ship was being built in, then sink it off the coast so it couldn't be easily salvaged. That was plan A.Enter the Khanate and their plans; they too wanted to sink this vessel, and destroy the dry docks while they were at it. That was plan B. Actually, the Khanate desire was to contaminate that whole section of the port city with fallout from shattered reactors. They knew they would have to apply overkill when they smashed that bitch of a ship because the PLAN had hurriedly put on board its defensive weaponry ~ ensuring that the Khanate couldn't easily destroy it. For their approach, Temujin's people wanted the Black Lotus' help with the on-the-ground intelligence work. But the Black Lotus didn't want to help anyone irradiate Chinese soil.Enter JIKIT as referee. All those islands the 'Khanate' was busy stealing were actually part of a larger JIKIT mission called Operation Prism. Another object that was a part of the overall plan was Operation Wo Fat, the sinking of the Liaoning ~ again GPS direction and distance to be courtesy of the Black Lotus.JIKIT absolutely needed the Black Lotus. The Black Lotus wouldn't help anyone planning on poisoning any part of China for the next thousand years. Sinking the unnamed and incomplete vessel off the coast in deep waters meant no nuclear leakage and plenty of post-war time to salvage the wreck before it did start to hemorrhage. The Khanate wanted to kill this potential strategic nightmare no matter what it cost the Chinese ecology.JIKIT went to the Ninja to help them adjudicate the issue. All the lights flared brightly in Ninja-Town when they heard of that delicate dilemma. They could make everybody happy and send a clear message to the Seven Pillars expressing how unhappy the six surviving families were about the 7P's trying to annihilate them when all of this 'unpleasantness' began.The Khanate was already going to blast the shipyards and docks, the Black Lotus was already going to sail the ship into deep waters, so why not take it one step further, sail the ship into Japanese waters and declare it Khanate property as a colossal Fuck You! to the PRC, PLAN and specifically the Seven Pillars, all at the same time?Now normally, you can't steal a ship that big. The owners will notice it is missing and come looking for it. And you can't sell or hide the damn thing. So, you steal it at the tail end of a war before the players can capture, or sink it. It just so happened the Ninja had access to a war and such a time table.The next problem: where do you put it? The Khanate's closest safe haven was 8,000 km away at the Eastern Mediterranean Seaport of Izmir.But wait!The Khanate was about to steal an island airbase with its own (albeit small) harbor. The Khanate was confident that a few weeks after the truce, an alternate port, or two, would become available for the two-to-three year process it would require to prepare the vessel so it could be commissioned as the true warship it was meant to be.So, how do you steal a well-guarded, humongous ship with its skeleton crew of 500? You need a distraction ~ a big one. Remember those Khanate airstrikes? They intended to destroy the dockyards anyway. Now all they had to do was 'miss' the carrier.They could do that. If you recall, to dissuade the Khanate from sinking the ship in the final days of the war, the PLAN had hastily put teeth on the thing by giving it all its pre-designed defensive weaponry and added jury-rigged radar and sonar systems. The carrier could defend itself if needed. With the new plan (C), the airstrikes could avoid those teeth, thus reducing the risk of losing their precious planes and pilots.A series of bombing runs and missile hits near the carrier would convince the PLAN admiral in charge to hurriedly put some distance between the ship and shore, Not out to sea. That would be stupid. Within the harbor, his weaponry could adequately defend his ship. And if she took serious damage, he could run her aground, so the vessel wouldn't really sink.The only problem was that out in the harbor, with everything exploding, he was away from the only ground security support available. That was when the Amazons, Black Lotus, Ninja and JIKIT mercenaries would make their move. How could they sneak up on such a big, important ship? By using the submarines the US Navy, the British Royal Navy and Japanese Defense Force were providing, of course.Note: As I stated earlier, Lady Fathom, Addison and Riki had wandered way off the reservation . By this time, if you were a Japanese, British, or American submarine commander in the Yellow Sea and you weren't part of this madness, you were insanely jealous of those who were.The missions JIKIT was sending them on were:-definitely Acts of War if they were ever discovered,-far more dangerous than any war game exercise they'd ever been part of, and-the ultimate test of their crews and equipment.These people weren't suicidal. They believed they were the best sneaks under the Seven Seas and now they could prove it ~ in 50 years when this stuff was declassified (if it ever was).For the one American, two British and four Japanese submarines inserting the assault teams, this whole mission had a surreal feel to it. They were transporting a packed assortment of women of Indian, Malaysian and Indonesian descent along with some very lithe Japanese ladies and gents, none of who talked a whole lot.There was a third group with the spooky women and spookier Japanese teams, and that group was scared shitless about the sudden turn their lives had taken. They were all former American and British servicewomen (to not tick off the Amazons too much) with carrier and/or nuclear reactor experience who had been RIFed (Reduction in Force, aka fired) in the past five years from their respective national navies.Around a week ago, they had all answered an advertisement by a logistics support corporation that was going to do a 'force modernization' in an unnamed country. They all knew that mean the Khanate. The job had been laid out as 'basically your old job with the addition of training the natives' and it included the promise of no combat.It was a guaranteed five year contract with an option for a year-to-year extensions for another five years if you desired to stick around. For that, you received your 'pay grade upon retirement + 20%', free room and board, private security, judicial protections and a $10,000 to $10,900 signing bonus. For many struggling military families, it was manna from Heaven and thousands were signing up.Then 72 hours ago, a different group from the same company came knocking on the women's doors. If you could come with them right then and there, they had a satchel of money, $100,000 to $109,000, tax free, and a Non-disclosure Agreement for you to sign. Sure, the deal sounded shady, but the money was very real.Twenty-four hours later those who accepted the money found themselves in a small fishing village on Ko Island, Japan. There some rather fiercely intense people outlined the job they were needed for. From a submarine, the assault teams would sneak aboard the carrier, neutralize the crew and then the new crew (them) would sail it to Jeju, Jeju Island, South Korea.At that point they would be allowed to stay with the vessel (preferred), or depart for a non-war zone of their choice. Both options came with another $100,000 to $109,000 payment. Anyone who declined this particular job would remain incognito on Ko Island for another 48 hours then be allowed to leave without the need to return their initial payment.Of the 312 job applicants, 293 volunteered for both the first and second parts of the assignment. With the technical and linguistic expertise of the Amazons and 9 Clan members that would be enough to get their prize to Jeju Island's temporary safety and then make the last leg to Woody Island and a more permanent anchorage.Besides the airstrikes to goad the carrier away from the wharves, all the Khanate had to do with the carrier was put three or four clearly Mongolian faces onboard when the various nations of the world came calling. After all, what was the public going to believe:, the Khanate had pulled off yet another daring (i.e., mostly JIKIT) Special Forces coup, just as they'd managed to do throughout this short war, or that 'Ninjas stole my Battleship, umm, carrier' stuff some PRC leaders were claiming? Forty-eight hours later the whole globe was able to watch the newly named Khanate supercarrier, the  z Beg Khan, passing through Japanese territorial waters while being escorted by South Korean and Japanese warships.The PRC did complain to the United Nations over the 'theft' of both the carrier and 'their' islands, but the Security Council, led by the UK, could and would do nothing about the 'latest round of injustices heaped upon the People of China'. By the time the UN got around to doing nothing, the next round of JIKIT diplomacy was causing the PRC even greater headaches.That greatest theft, while remarkable in its own right, was really a sideshow to the reordering of the political order in Southeast Asia. The big winner wasn't the Khanate. And it certainly wasn't the mainland Chinese. No, the nations to immediately prosper were an unlikely pair, the Republic of India and the People's Republic of Vietnam (PRV). The Republic of China (R O C) was also getting its own small boost as well.By gambling their precious navy, India had become the largest power broker in the South China Sea's resource bonanza. She went from a minimal presence to being the critical ally of the Khanate and the 'big stick' (naval-wise) of Asia's new dynamic duo. The Indians had the only two functional aircraft carriers in the region and the Khanate had Woody Island with a mega-carrier number of planes sitting on it.Their combined naval aviation was not something any of the others powers wanted to mess with. The duo then sealed their supremacy by making the duo a trio. That third member was the PRV. Vietnam was the land-based logistical anchor of the three regional powers.Not only did Vietnam gain the prestige denied it for over two centuries, it redressed the P L A N humiliating treatment of their own navy for the past thirty years. The Khanate's naval aviation would shield Vietnam's economic exploitation of the Parcel Islands. The Indian Navy could counter anything the P L A N South China fleet could come at them with.Yes, the P L A N had two other fleets, the Northern and Eastern, but both had been put through their own 1001 levels of Hell by the Khanate's air power, plus they had to protect the Chinese heartland from Russia and North Korean ambitions. The South Koreans and Japanese were suddenly a very real threat from the East too. But for the time being, the Indians had the decisive edge.The final location for the  z Beg Khan was an old familiar haunt for some Americans, Da Nang, PRV. It had the facilities, courtesy of the US military from the 1960's and 70's, to be the new base for the Khanate's Eastern Fleet and logistical hub for their naval aviation forces in the Parcel Islands.The Vietnamese were thinking with more than their testicles, as were the Indians. Sure, geopolitical clout was nice, yet that was only the icing on the economic cake that was the Parcel Island Accords. That hasty bit of JIKIT backroom dealings gave a 50% stake in the Parcels to the PRV.India got 20% of something she had 0% in a month ago. The Khanate gained a 20% stake for their audacity and the ROC gained 10% because the other three would protect its share from the PRC. Something was better than nothing and the three legitimate powers agreed to the deal because in less than six months, the PRC would be back in the game.The Indians and Vietnamese wanted the Khanate to stay interested in the region and the Taiwanese wanted to forge closer ties to the Khanate. That treaty was a 'no-brainer'. Within one week, the Vietnamese were strutting like peacocks and internal political opposition to the Indian intervention into the South China Sea in the Indian parliament was silent.The Spratly Islands was a tougher deal to work out within the six month timetable. There were more players ~ the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei, Indonesia and Thailand (who had a non-functional carrier). The JIKIT deal gave everyone but the Indians a 10% piece of the huge natural gas, oil and fisheries pie and the Indians got 20% once more.The Philippines and Malaysia were both very opposed to this treaty; they believed they deserved a far larger portion of those regional resources. Indonesia and Thailand also felt they could hold out for a bigger slice and weren't happy with India getting so much for basically having a double handful of ships (34 actually) sailing about.That 'handful of ships' was the point JIKIT was trying to make. If the PRC beat the Khanate next year, did any of the players think the PRC would give them anything, even if they promised them more right now? Really? When the PLAN had the biggest guns, they hadn't respected any other claims to the region. Why would that change in the future?The reality was this: India would only stick around if they had the economic incentive to remain. Vietnam, the Khanate and the ROC were watching the clock and realized this was the best deal they would get. Brunei and the Philippines were also coming to that understanding. Brunei was tiny (thus easy to defend), very rich already and a good ally of the British.The Philippines had a very weak navy and a non-existent naval air force. They couldn't even enforce their current claims versus Brunei, much less confront the PLAN, or any other nation's current military. The Philippines was, sadly, relatively big and very poor. Its big traditional ally was the United States, and the US was currently busy doing 'not much' about the South China Sea situation.The world's biggest navy was partially taking up its traditional (and treaty bound) role of interposing itself between the North Koreans, PLAN/PLAAF and Russians arrayed near Japan and South Korea, or busily not 'ratcheting up tensions' in the region by sending more forces into the front lines.President Obama was urging dialogue and 'stepping back from the brink' even though every country in Southeast Asia felt the brink had already dissipated the moment the PRC was forced to accept the cease-fire. In this context, the Philippines had good reason to be feeling lonely at the moment.Bizarrely, both New Delhi and Hanoi were singing the praises of US Secretary of State John Kerry and the Rt. Honorable Phillip Hammond, Secretary for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs for the UK, for their deft handling of the crisis, thank you, Riki Martin and Lady Yum-Yum.Riki wasn't expecting any thanks. She was certain she'd be fired and imprisoned for the rest of her life. Lady Fathom Worthington-Burke was sure she'd get two additional knighthoods out of the deal, which would look very nice engraved on her tombstone. Javiera had long ago decided to face the music and go down with the ship, so to speak.The CIA's Addison Stuart already had her exit strategy. She was going to go work for the Khanate, building up their clandestine service when this whole mad scheme collapsed into recriminations and 'extreme sanctions'. Mehmet, Air Force Sr. Master Sgt. Billings and Agent-86 had all decided to go with her. Katrina had their escape plane on standby. Mehmet's family was already 'vacationing' in Canada.Anyway, the Republic of India, the Khanate, the Republic of China, the People's Republic of Vietnam (the Vietnamese were happy to already be getting half of the Parcel Island windfall), the Sultanate Brunei (Lady Fathom 'knew' some people and the Sultan was an autocratic Muslim ruler, just like the Great Khan) and the Philippines (because they had no other true choice) were all coming around to signing the Spratly Accords.Indonesia and Thailand were kind of waiting for a better deal. Malaysia was downright hostile, having gravitated toward the PRC over the past decade and been assured by the PRC a better apportionment would be their reward for upsetting the treaty process.The Great Khan's answer was simple. He publically threatened the Malaysian Federation in general and both the King (Sultan Abdul Halim of Kedah) and Prime Minister of Malay (Dato' Sri Najib Tun Razak) in particular with military action if they kept dragging their feet.He even told them how he'd do it. He'd butcher or expel every living thing in the states of Perlis and Kedah (~ 2.1 million people) and give those empty lands to Thailand to settle along with the added sweetener of Malaysia's 10% of the Spratlys. He would also invade Eastern Malaysia, taking the island state of Labuan for himself while giving Sarawak to Indonesia and Sabah to the Philippines if those to states agreed to the split.He'd also decimate their navy & air force before devastating every port city, just like he'd done to China. He'd already killed more than two million Chinese. What was another two million Malays to him? Also, Indonesia wanted Sarawak and the Philippines had claims on Sabah. While they were openly and publically defying the Great Khan's plan, could Malaysia really take the chance?What would India and Thailand do while this was going on? Thailand stated that it would protect its territorial integrity, whatever that meant. India wasn't returning Malaysia's phone calls while showing their populace re-runs of Malaysian violence against their Hindu minority, the bastards!To the world, the Indian Navy proclaimed it would 'defend itself and its supply lines' which was a subtle hint that they would shepherd any Khanate invasion force to their destination. Why would the Indians be so insensitive? The Malaysians were screwing up their deal to get 20% of both the Parcel and Spratlys wealth, that's why.If the Khanate went down, there was no way India could defend their claims (which they'd won by doing nothing up until now). Oh yeah, Vietnam began gathering up warplanes, warships, transport ships and troops for the quick (710 km) jaunt across the Gulf of Thailand to north-eastern Malaysia to kill Malaysians because Vietnam needed the Khanate to ensure their own economic future as well.That military prospect had a cascade effect, especially among the Indonesian military. If the Indian Navy remained active, the vastly more populous Western Malaysia couldn't reinforce the state of Sarawak. Sure, the Philippines was unlikely to conquer Sabah on their own, but all the Indonesians needed was for Sabah to be kept pre-occupied while their army took their promised territory, fulfilling a fifty year old dream of conquest/unification.The United Nations blustered. It wasn't that they didn't care, they did. They also cared about the deteriorating situations in Libya, Nigeria, Syria and Ukraine. The situation was complicated by the unwillingness of the permanent members of the Security Council, namely the PRC and Russia, to recognize the Khanate.In reverse, when those two tried to stick it to the Khanate, the UK stoically vetoed them. Why? Well, more on that later. Let's just say the Khanate was good for business in the European Union in general and the United Kingdom in particular because the Khanate was prepared to economically befriend the British. Ireland was being treated in a promising manner too. The United States,the United Nations?Let's just say that in the two months following the cease-fire, the Khanate bloodily and brutally solved the ISIS conundrum and the Donbass Crisis. When the smoke cleared, the Khanate had reintroduced the practice of impalement to the modern battlefield, driven the separatists from the Ukraine and was on the border with Israel and Jordan.Sure, the Ukrainians were stun-fucked by the Khanate's 'peace-keepers' going on a bloody rampage through the eastern rebellious regions, but they had delivered up peace by mid-September. Yes, the Russians were in an uproar about the impalements.As the Khanate spokesperson said, 'if they aren't your people, then it is not your problem' and 'there are no more Russians left alive in the Ukraine'. In fact, fewer than a thousand people, all armed insurgents, were executed in such a manner, but the terror created by the highly publicized killings had the effect of sending a hundred thousand people stampeding over the frontier into Russia proper.Next, the Khanate said it wanted to 'reexamine' the Crimean situation. There were Turcoman in that area and they weren't being treated well, or so it was claimed.Even as Russia and the Khanate were posturing in the Donbass, the Khanate struck in the Middle East. By the end of September, Syria and Lebanon had ceased to exist as organized entities. Most of those two countries as well as portions of western Iraq became Turkish provinces in the Khanate infrastructure. Northeastern Syria, southeastern Turkey and northern Iraq became the Khanate state of Kurdistan.It was a campaign reminiscent of the 13th century Mongol conquest, not a modern military struggle. Whole villages were eradicated. The entire Arab population of Mosul was exiled to the new territories in the East. The city was repopulated with Kurds from Turkey. Back in Turkey, those Kurds were replaced by Armenians from Azerbaijan, cauterizing another internal issue within the Khanate.Jordan was cautiously hopeful. Israel? "We don't seem to be having problems with Hezbollah anymore," with a shrug and "it could be worse." As for ISIS; there really was an Islamic State controlling more than half of Iraq and all of Syria now and it allowed no other pretenders to that distinction. By the time the world woke up to that reality though, the Great Hunt had happened and I was dealing with the consequences of that.A larger ideological and political matter was occurring in the United States, the United Kingdom (and to a limited extent Australia and Canada). The Ramshackle Empire (aka the Khanate) was just that ~ a Frankenstein nation fueled more by nationalistic pride and nostalgia for a Super-State (that only two living people had firsthand experience with) than an integrated armed forces and infrastructure.It may have been built upon more than a 13th century creation and two hundred years of real and imagined oppression. It did have long term planning and real genius driving it forward. Having throttled the PRC into giving them six precious months of peace to 'tidy up the backyard' (aka the Middle East and Russia) and forge a true nation, the Khanate was now hiring experts to aid them in the task.First and foremost, Temujin and the Earth & Sky had envisioned an armed state built upon military principles and discipline. Fate had delivered to them the means of their own salvation in the form of NATO's policy of disarmament and 'Reduction-In-Force' levels (RIFed).The US and UK had trained tens of thousands of male and female volunteers in their Armed Forces in infrastructure creation and management for the Afghanistan and Iraq campaigns. From 2010, those militaries had informed those experts that their services were no longer required. Unlike the shrinking militaries of the 1990's, there was no private sector to 'soak up' the majority of those personnel.The Earth & Sky had been working on the problem of nation-building on a time table and they kept coming up short. They had to fight to create their state first, so the all-important after-battle had been something their leaders dreaded. Temujin had been understanding about not everything being 100% ready. Few wars were fought that way.Then a young male Amazon of mixed Magyar ancestry talked history with the Earth & Sky representative to a seemingly inconsequential personage's funeral. A few critical E&S leaders (a minority, to be sure) immediately sought ways to cultivate this man into what was a ten year plan to open doors to the Amazons. Then that man saved the Great Khan's life and everything changed.Before the E&S had even remotely considered directly approaching the Amazons for help, the Amazons came knocking on their door. The Seven Pillars of Heaven had tried to kidnap a camp full of Amazon children ~ an assault on their future. The two secret societies were bound by one unique, fortunate idiot and a mutual thirst for vengeance.They were also directed by two incredibly foresighted, ambitious and brilliant people. In Katrina of Epona, the E&S elders found someone who equaled their hope to see the Seven Pillars humbled and humbled immediately. Moreover, these were the Amazons they were dealing with. Amazons always sought both lightning decisions and long term solutions.From the moment Iskender left his third meeting with Cáel Nyilas, Katrina put the fruits of the First Directive (the Amazons efforts to recruit militant outsider women) into overdrive. Havenstone had the apparatus in place to screen potential inductees. All they had to do was add a "can you suggest any other people who might be interested in this line of work" box to their employment forms.That brought men into the process in surprising numbers. The market was flush with military veterans having trouble readjusting to the civilian community. The Khanate wasn't hiring killers. They wanted ex-military and civilian police officers to create a national police force.They also wanted engineers and builders, cadres for their cadet corps and a whole range of specialist in jobs most of the Western World took for granted. The money came from off-shore accounts funded by Havenstone International. The employment opportunities came from Earth & Sky front companies operating in the UK and the US (and Israel, but that was another matter).They had already started hiring scores of civilian English-speaking experts to help build their newborn nation's infrastructure before the first blow landed. English hadn't been chosen out of any cultural bias. Relying on Russian and Chinese sources wasn't feasible, the Khanate wasn't overly linguistically gifted where distant tongues were concerned and, as pointed out, the English-speaking world had a glut of applicants.Now to the problem, there were people in the US and UK who weren't happy with their citizenry going to the Khanate and helping them to survive and thrive. These power groups wanted the Mongol-Turkish Empire to keep the resources flowing to the West, without any reciprocal commitment on their part.Imagine their surprise when some wonks at the State Department and Foreign Ministries found bundles of expedited passport requests to the (former) nations of Turkmenistan, Turkey, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan and Mongolia (and later Afghanistan and Iraq). The Department of Defense  Ministry of Defense were discovering their former military personnel and civilian contractors with Security Clearances were heading the same way.Of all those destinations, only Mongolia and Kazakhstan were under any kind of 'Restricted Travel' advisories. Barring any coherent anti-Khanate strategy from their administrations, the bureaucracies were doing their jobs, with Havenstone exerting just enough influence to get the job done while flying beneath the radar.After JIKIT was created, the group had a US Senator greasing the wheels to get the requests expedited. In England, Lady Worthington-Burke shamelessly used the people at the other end of the O'Shea hotline to get the job done overseas. She did have to sell out a teammate, but that was what good boys were for ~ taking one for the team. (That would be me, if there was any misunderstanding.)When Cáel Nyilas was kidnapped under the watchful eye of the FBI (I wasn't sure how they got that bum-wrap), the whole situation exploded. The PRC didn't have me, yet promised they might produce me if certain concessions were made. According to Addison, I was worth 5,000 barrels a day of refined fuel oil and 50 tons of coal a month, and the Great Khan agreed to pay! Woot! I was loved by somebody who was a somebody.All that attention drove home some salient points. I was a noble scion of Ireland, Romania, Georgia and Armenia (in no particular order) and they all wanted to know why the US had let me be kidnapped. Didn't my president know I was a sacred national treasure? After JIKIT tracked down the bribes and clandestine activities to Chinese shell corporations, those powers wanted to know what sanctions would be applied.'But wait, wasn't I a private citizen?' my national leaders pleaded. Then the PRC made a case which boiled down to 'I had it coming for being a fiancé to Hana Sulkanen and a brother to the Great Khan', while ignoring me being snatched in the territorial US of A. Of course, they didn't claim to have actually done the kidnapping.Javiera was waiting on that one; 'What was their excuse for kidnapping a little US girl to force my compliance?' The furious Federal authorities even found two dead adult bodies and two digits from said child to add to the media frenzy. To prove I had migrated to fantasy land, the CNN journalist got it right ~ they had tortured the girl and I had killed two of them for it. Just ask the Romanian Army how lethal I could be.In a rare comment, Temujin informed the international press that he believed I was still alive. Why did he believe that? If I wasn't, they would have been able to spot the pile of dead enemy around me and my 'boon companion' (go Aya!) from orbit. Until they discovered this carnal pit from Hell, I was surely still alive.Just at the cusp of turning publically against the Mongol barbarians, the world suddenly got angry with their enemy, the PRC. The principal two Western regimes were paralyzed with indecision until my miraculous cry for help from the middle of the Pacific showed the world I was alive, had punished my enemies and rescued others from under the opponent's cruel thumb.Clearly if I started ranting against the People's Republic of China, my government would be rather peeved with me. I hadn't screwed a dozen poli-sci majors to miss out on that obvious situation. I behaved and hoped they wouldn't make me die from an embolism, or some other equally implausible cause.(DC is a marvel. 9 pm, Monday, August 18th. 21 days)I'd been dragged to DC, to honor promises made in Rome a week ago. I had another choice; I could have justifiably said I was still getting over my kidnapping ordeal. But that choice fucked over Javiera Castello, my boss at JIKIT (Joint International Khanate Interim Task force).That was how I ended up in a 'secret and secure' meeting with Tony Blinken, Deputy National Security Advisor (DNSA) and his experts. He was someone I didn't know. The rest, I'd had a verbal run-in with them after the Romanian bloodbath. I'd been cranky. I would hardly consider us to be on good terms now.All four experts were from the US State Department. They were foregoing their usual group of flunkies because this meeting wasn't really happening. All the participants were officially somewhere else, mostly not even in D.C. Had this soiree 'really happened', the Congressional sub-committees would have been able to request the minutes of Tony's meeting with members of JIKIT and:·         Victoria Nuland, Ass. Sec. of State for European & Eurasian Affairs (ASSEEA)·         Robert O. Blake Jr., Ass. Sec. of State for S & C Asian Affairs (ASSCAA)·         Daniel R. Russel, Ass. Sec. of State for E. Asian and Pacific Affairs (ASSEAP)·         Bill A. Miller, Director of the U.S. Diplomatic Security Service (DSS) (aka Big Willy)We made stiff, formal introductions (which signaled the utter lack of trust in the room.) Javiera hadn't wanted to put me through an interrogation this soon after my near-death experience, considering my snarky nature when stressed. The White House was putting the squeeze on her. The main player was Tony, who talked with the Leader of the Free World on a weekly, if not daily, basis.The Diplomatic Security Service people had successfully peeled off Pamela and my SD Amazons only after they agreed I could keep Aya. They tolerated me keeping the nine-year old girl despite the obvious fact she had gone through worse hardships than I had endured and was still packing her Chinese QSW-06 suppressed pistol.I had already fabricated and submitted my report on how I'd overcome a plane-full of rogue delinquents from the Forumi i Rinis  Eurosocialiste t  Shqip ris  (Euro-socialist Youth Forum of Albania) bent on recruiting impressionable European socialites by accessing my Twitter account.That's right, the Albanians had it out for me. I reiterated that critical bit of data to the Department of Homeland Security when they questioned me on the veracity of my memories. The two ethnic Chinese I was found with? I thought they were from Taiwan, and they both appeared to be suffering from amnesia.I was already suffering repercussions from my pathological refusal to take life seriously. Javiera believed I was about to get a formal apology from Ferit Hoxha, Permanent Representative of Albania to the United Nations. Damn it! Now I had to do something nice for the Albanians. Maybe I'd offer them membership in the Khanate, full-statehood with an economic package to sweeten the deal.Yes, that was how Albania and Kosovo joined the Khanate, a product of my love for exaggeration and a little post-Ottoman solidarity over Tarator (cold soup made of yoghurt, garlic, parsley, cucumber, salt and olive oil with a side of fried squids), Tav  Kosi (lamb meatballs) and Flia & Kaymak (a dessert I highly recommend).We had toasted the Pillars of Kanun (Albanian oral law and tradition): ~ Nderi (honor), Mikpritja (hospitality), Sjellja (Right Conduct) and Fis (Kin Loyalty), ~ and he promised to tell his people that I had Besa which was an Albanian-ism for being a man who would honor his word of honor (despite us being brought together by my lie). The shit-ton of financial and military aid I asked the Great Khan to sweeten the pot with might have helped as well.Later, Lady Yum-Yum told me that the military leaders of NATO called it a 'master-stroke' in neutralizing Comrade Putin's Russian-backed 'Greek threat

Los creadores Jimmy Barnatan y Mike Inverno traen a Navarra la banda sonora del largometraje documental 'Sal&Dean. Tras los pasos de Kerouac'. "En el viaje a América hemos descubierto un país muy contradictorio pero apasionante. Hemos hecho un mix en nuestro viaje por estados demócratas y republicanos y hemos sentido un país acogedor que no creo que un tipo como 'el innombrable' pueda cargarse", dice Barnatan en referencia a Trump.

In the March episode, Jacob Riyeff joins host Aaron Lelito to talk about his poetry collection, Be Radiant, which is available now from Fernwood Press. We chat about Jacob's writing background, from beat poet beginnings of reading Ginsberg and Kerouac to the fascination with the natural world (i.e. knowing the difference among marshes, bogs, and swamps). Along the way, Jacob shares his love of Old English poetry, and how it matters to us as English speakers in 2025. He tells us why is collection is subtitled "A Sonata Pome," and closes the episode with a reading of two pieces, "On the Year's First Compost" and "Shallow Ocean, ca. 460-420 million years ago." See more about Be Radiant here and more about Jacob at his website.

As a teenager in the mid-2000s, Maxime Cassady from southern France discovered Kerouac, who sowed in him the desire to travel. For 7 years armored with only his guitar and his surfboard as luggage, he traveled all around the world. As a musician he creates music that sails from sweet cowboy folk to psychedelic rock carrying only one message: love. In his new band MICRO-ONDES he is experimenting and performing wild punk and synth sounds.  Becoming popular on the internet for his love of fashion brought him whole new audience and we talk the pro's and cons of that! sensibilisation avec une mandolineSupport the podcast here!Want to meditate with me virtually?Connect with me on instagram! XO Amandolin

Send us a textWe intended for this to be just one episode but felt that we had a lot more to say and ended up with enough for 2 five minute episode the next will follow in March 1st 2025.this is the introduction to a blog on the beats on our website links belowThe Beat movement was a literary movement which emerged in the United States in the post war-era. ‘Beat' was slang for ‘down and out or poor and exhausted'. Jack Kerouac also spoke of the beat, especially the Jazz beat and also beatitude in a spiritual sense.  Central elements of Beat culture were the rejection of standard moral and narrative values, the importance of spiritual quest,  rejection of materialism,  experimentation with psychedelic drugs and sexual liberation. Pivotal works include Alan Ginsberg's Howl, William Burrough's Naked Lunch and jack Kerouac's  On The Road. The core group met in 1944 in and around Columbia University in NYC, although later writers settled on the West Coast. The beat writers were attracted to jazz and especially bebop because of its, underground, counter-cultural status. The writers were also influenced by the ‘improvisational' nature of jazz which many tried to replicate in their writing. There is a good documentary called " The source" a standard definition version is on You tube here  but full fat versions are available to buy from apple  or Amazon Prime the imdb page is here This is our website This is our InstagramThis is our Facebook group

Hear how the writers who lit up the literary world, Ginsburg, Burroughs and Kerouac, shaped 20th century culture

Emily Buchanan hears reaction from the US to the biggest religious news story of the week: Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde and her sermon addressed to President Trump at the National Prayer Ceremony.It's the eve of Holocaust Memorial Day and we're live at Auschwitz-Birkenau ahead at the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the concentration camp. A new book of previously unpublished work by Jack Kerouac chronicles 'The Buddhist Years' As the writer of On the Road and The Dharma Bums, which turned many people onto Buddhism, we'd love about a writer that got you interested in religion or spirituality. Email Sunday@bbc.co.ukAnd we hear from George Antone, an aid worker from the Holy Family Church in Gaza City. He's been sheltering with 500 other members of the parish since the start of the war and keeping in touch with Sunday. Correspondent Nick Beake has the latest on the ceasefire.PRESENTER: EMILY BUCHANAN PRODUCERS: CATHERINE MURRAY & SABA ZAMAN EDITOR: TIM PEMBERTON

Few novels have had the cultural impact of Jack Kerouac's speed-fueled mad dash across the continent in search of kicks as On the Road. One doubts the 1960s ever would have happened had Kerouac's Beat Generation coterie not inspired a mass embrace (and mockery) of bohemian jazz culture rebelling against the conformity of Eisenhower-era conservatism and Atomic Age anxieties. This episodes explores the background of Kerouac's famous experiment in spontaneous prose, noting its affinities with both the picaresque and the roman a clef. We talk such pivotal influences as Allen Ginsberg and Neal Cassady and the steep price of fame the increasingly embittered Kerouac paid as he became the guru to the hipsters and hippies. And we do it all while snapping our fingers, Daddio. 

Triple Crowner and owner of Triple Crown Coffee, Chris "Cookie Monster" Pirrello takes a break from the grind to join Doc in the studio to talk trail and share some stories. Settle in and buckle up as Cookie and Doc cover some serious ground including discussion of figuring it out, cocky youth, special cookies, lost chapstick, Doe Eyes, competitive beard teams, Kerouac, Hemingway, alcohol shenanigans, concerned moms, Antarctic rucking, how not to be a one-trail wonder, the impact of microcommunities, supermodel trails, unfinished business in Washington, only quitting tomorrow, and the incredible story of Triple Crown Coffee. An instant classic. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Winging It: Improv's Power & Peril in the Time of AI & Trump (Spring, 2024) is Randy Fertel's third book, his second on improvisation. Creating something impromptu and without effort challenges our assumption that everything of value depends upon long study, tradition, and hard work. Improvisation comes to disrupt all that. The gesture all improvisations share—I will create this on the fly, or as Donald Trump has it, my gut knows more than many brains—defies rationality and elevates embodied emotions, instinct, and intuition. Claiming to be free of serious purpose, improvisation only pursues pleasure. Or, so it says. Through the lens of neuroscience, bioevolution, and well-known cultural texts, Winging It explores the links among the many disciplines improv informs—from Louis Armstrong's “West End Blues” to the hip-hop masterpiece Hamilton. It defines what connects Kerouac's On the Road, rock and roll, improv comedy, Fred Astaire's tap, detective fiction, the Marvel Cinematic Universe, psychedelics, hookup culture, AI, even politics—in particular, the reign of the Improviser-in-Chief Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

Winging It: Improv's Power & Peril in the Time of AI & Trump (Spring, 2024) is Randy Fertel's third book, his second on improvisation. Creating something impromptu and without effort challenges our assumption that everything of value depends upon long study, tradition, and hard work. Improvisation comes to disrupt all that. The gesture all improvisations share—I will create this on the fly, or as Donald Trump has it, my gut knows more than many brains—defies rationality and elevates embodied emotions, instinct, and intuition. Claiming to be free of serious purpose, improvisation only pursues pleasure. Or, so it says. Through the lens of neuroscience, bioevolution, and well-known cultural texts, Winging It explores the links among the many disciplines improv informs—from Louis Armstrong's “West End Blues” to the hip-hop masterpiece Hamilton. It defines what connects Kerouac's On the Road, rock and roll, improv comedy, Fred Astaire's tap, detective fiction, the Marvel Cinematic Universe, psychedelics, hookup culture, AI, even politics—in particular, the reign of the Improviser-in-Chief Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/performing-arts

Winging It: Improv's Power & Peril in the Time of AI & Trump (Spring, 2024) is Randy Fertel's third book, his second on improvisation. Creating something impromptu and without effort challenges our assumption that everything of value depends upon long study, tradition, and hard work. Improvisation comes to disrupt all that. The gesture all improvisations share—I will create this on the fly, or as Donald Trump has it, my gut knows more than many brains—defies rationality and elevates embodied emotions, instinct, and intuition. Claiming to be free of serious purpose, improvisation only pursues pleasure. Or, so it says. Through the lens of neuroscience, bioevolution, and well-known cultural texts, Winging It explores the links among the many disciplines improv informs—from Louis Armstrong's “West End Blues” to the hip-hop masterpiece Hamilton. It defines what connects Kerouac's On the Road, rock and roll, improv comedy, Fred Astaire's tap, detective fiction, the Marvel Cinematic Universe, psychedelics, hookup culture, AI, even politics—in particular, the reign of the Improviser-in-Chief Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/sociology

Winging It: Improv's Power & Peril in the Time of AI & Trump (Spring, 2024) is Randy Fertel's third book, his second on improvisation. Creating something impromptu and without effort challenges our assumption that everything of value depends upon long study, tradition, and hard work. Improvisation comes to disrupt all that. The gesture all improvisations share—I will create this on the fly, or as Donald Trump has it, my gut knows more than many brains—defies rationality and elevates embodied emotions, instinct, and intuition. Claiming to be free of serious purpose, improvisation only pursues pleasure. Or, so it says. Through the lens of neuroscience, bioevolution, and well-known cultural texts, Winging It explores the links among the many disciplines improv informs—from Louis Armstrong's “West End Blues” to the hip-hop masterpiece Hamilton. It defines what connects Kerouac's On the Road, rock and roll, improv comedy, Fred Astaire's tap, detective fiction, the Marvel Cinematic Universe, psychedelics, hookup culture, AI, even politics—in particular, the reign of the Improviser-in-Chief Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/communications

Winging It: Improv's Power & Peril in the Time of AI & Trump (Spring, 2024) is Randy Fertel's third book, his second on improvisation. Creating something impromptu and without effort challenges our assumption that everything of value depends upon long study, tradition, and hard work. Improvisation comes to disrupt all that. The gesture all improvisations share—I will create this on the fly, or as Donald Trump has it, my gut knows more than many brains—defies rationality and elevates embodied emotions, instinct, and intuition. Claiming to be free of serious purpose, improvisation only pursues pleasure. Or, so it says. Through the lens of neuroscience, bioevolution, and well-known cultural texts, Winging It explores the links among the many disciplines improv informs—from Louis Armstrong's “West End Blues” to the hip-hop masterpiece Hamilton. It defines what connects Kerouac's On the Road, rock and roll, improv comedy, Fred Astaire's tap, detective fiction, the Marvel Cinematic Universe, psychedelics, hookup culture, AI, even politics—in particular, the reign of the Improviser-in-Chief Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/popular-culture

Add little Milton in the Panhandle as another Florida town that threw out its pro-development, pro-industry city council in what can now be called a statewide trend.Famous 20th century "Beat" author Jack Kerouac spent the final years of his life in Orlando and St. Pete. Bob Kealing shares this history in his book, "Jack Kerouac: Where the Road Ends." Kerouac is best known for his novel, "On the Road."Visit the Jack Kerouac house in Orlando.

On this encore episode of The Lebenthal Report, Michael & Dominick welcome award-winning graphic novelist, painter, and frequent cover artist for The New Yorker, Eric Drooker. Together they dive into the unique struggles successful artists face, from the pressures of fame and wealth to the pursuit of true fulfillment. Using examples like Rauschenberg, Rosenquist, and Kerouac, they discuss how legacy often lies not in material success but in giving back through art, mentorship, and philanthropy. Plus, Eric shares insights on his iconic New Yorker covers and the economic realities shaping modern artistry. Don't miss this thought-provoking discussion of art, success, and purpose. Learn more about Eric or shop his graphic novels and prints at Drooker.com.

On this episode of The Lebenthal Report, Michael & Dominick welcome award-winning graphic novelist, painter, and frequent cover artist for The New Yorker, Eric Drooker. Together they dive into the unique struggles successful artists face, from the pressures of fame and wealth to the pursuit of true fulfillment. Using examples like Rauschenberg, Rosenquist, and Kerouac, they discuss how legacy often lies not in material success but in giving back through art, mentorship, and philanthropy. Plus, Eric shares insights on his iconic New Yorker covers and the economic realities shaping modern artistry. Don't miss this thought-provoking discussion of art, success, and purpose. Learn more about Eric or shop his graphic novels and prints at Drooker.com.

Lagrange Point by Alan Stroud published by Flame Tree Press 2023 Terra by Allen Stroud published by Flame Tree Press 2023 Hellweg's Keep by Justin Holley published by Flame Tree Press 2023 The Day and Night Books of Mardou Fox by Nisi Shawl published by Rosarium Publishing October 2024 One Eye Opened in that Other Place by Christi Nogle published by Flame Tree Press 2024 Women of Horror and Speculative Fiction in Their Own Words: Conversations with Authors and Editors edited by Sebastien Doubinsky and Christina Kkona published 2024 by Bloomsbury Academic

Bookwaves/Artwaves is produced and hosted by Richard Wolinsky. Links to assorted local theater & book venues   Anne Hillerman Anne Hillerman discusses her latest novel, “Lost Birds,” and her career as a writer with host Richard Wolinsky. Anne Hillerman has written nine books in a series of mysteries featuring the native detectives Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee, created by her father, the legendary novelist, the late Tony Hillerman (1925-2008). Previously a writer of travel books focusing on Santa Fe and environs, she began working on these novels following the death of her father and chose to increase the role of a minor character, Bernadette Manuelito, from Tony Hillerman's books to one of primary protagonist. That change was later emulated in the “Dark Winds” television series. Complete Interview   Caleb Carr (1955-2024) Caleb Carr in 2002. ​​​​​Caleb Carr (1955-2024), author of The Alienist and other works, in conversation with Richard Wolinsky, recorded in the KPFA studios October 15, 1997. Digitized, remastered and edited in September 2024, this interview has not been heard in over a quarter century. Caleb Carr, who died on May 23, 2024 at the age of 68, was a military historian, a novelist, and a writer who examined the nature of violence in his fiction and non-fiction. He was perhaps best known for his best-selling novel The Alienist, which recently became a two-season streaming series. Over all, he wrote 11 books, several articles and reviews, worked on both seasons of the television series and two exorcist films. He was the son of Lucien Carr, a key member of the group that included Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg. Lucien Carr went to prison for manslaughter for killing the sexual predator who had abused him as a youth. Kerouac helped him dispose of the knife. This interview was recorded in the KPFA studios on October 15, 1997 while Caleb Carr was on tour for The Angel of Darkness, the sequel to The Alienist. While he never came back directly to the character of Lasso Kreisler, the protagonist of The Alienist, Caleb Carr's final novel, a contemporary mystery, Surrender, New York, featured as its protagonist an expert on the life and work of Kreisler. His next book following The Angel of Darkness was Killing Time, a dystopian science fiction novel. Complete Intervew   Book Interview/Events and Theatre Links Note: Shows may unexpectedly close early or be postponed due to actors' positive COVID tests. Check the venue for closures, ticket refunds, and vaccination and mask requirements before arrival. Dates are in-theater performances unless otherwise noted. Some venues operate Tuesday – Sunday; others Wednesday or Thursday through Sunday. All times Pacific Time. Closing dates are sometimes extended. Book Stores Bay Area Book Festival  See website for highlights from the 10th Annual Bay Area Book Festival, June 1-2, 2024. Book Passage.  Monthly Calendar. Mix of on-line and in-store events. Books Inc.  Mix of on-line and in-store events. The Booksmith.  Monthly Event Calendar. BookShop West Portal. Monthly Event Calendar. Center for Literary Arts, San Jose. See website for Book Club guests in upcoming months. Green Apple Books. Events calendar. Kepler's Books  On-line Refresh the Page program listings. Live Theater Companies Actors Ensemble of Berkeley. See website for specific days and times, and for staged readings at LaVal's Subterranean Theater. Actor's Reading Collective (ARC).  See website for upcoming readings. African American Art & Culture Complex. See website for calendar. Alter Theatre. See website for upcoming productions. American Conservatory Theatre A Whynot Christmas Carol, November 26-December 24, Toni Rembe Theatre. Aurora Theatre  Fallen Angels by Noel Coward, October 19 – November 17. Awesome Theatre Company. See website for information. Berkeley Rep. The Matchbox Magic Flute, October 18 – December 9, Roda Theatre. Berkeley Shakespeare Company. See website for upcoming shows. Boxcar Theatre. New Years Eve at the Speakeasy, Jan. 1, 2025. Magic Man, Jan 3 – June 2, Palace Theatre. Brava Theatre Center: New Roots Theatre Festival, November 14-17. See calendar for current and upcoming productions. BroadwaySF: See website for events at the Orpheum, Curran and Golden Gate. Kimberley Akimbo, November 6 – December 1, Golden Gate. See website for special events. Broadway San Jose:  Come from Away, November 21-24, 2024. California Shakespeare Theatre Closed. Center Rep: Dragon Lady, written and performed by Sara Porkalob, October 27 – November 24. Central Works  The Contest by Gary Graves, Oct. 19 – Nov. 17. Cinnabar Theatre. Gutenberg! The Musical January 17-26, 2025, Warren Theatre, Sonoma State University. Club Fugazi. Dear San Francisco ongoing. Check website for Music Mondays listings. Contra Costa Civic Theatre A Charlie Brown Christmas, Nov. 23 – Dec. 15. Curran Theater: See website for special events.. Custom Made Theatre. In hibernation. Cutting Ball Theatre. See website for information and notice of a final production. 42nd Street Moon. See website for upcoming productions. Golden Thread  AALA: A Family Trilogy by Adam Ashraf Elsayigh, Nov. 16-17, Z Space. Hillbarn Theatre: Anastasia, December 5 -29, 2024. Lorraine Hansberry Theatre. See website for upcoming productions Lower Bottom Playaz  See website for upcoming productions. Magic Theatre. the boiling by Sunui Chang  April 3 -20, 2025. See website for additional events. Marin Theatre Company Waste by Harley Granville-Barker,  Feb. 6 – March 2, 2025.Transcendence Theatre: Broadway Holiday, December 12-15, 2024. Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts Upcoming Events Page. New Conservatory Theatre Center (NCTC) The Gulf, An Elegy by Audrey Cefaly, October 18 – November 24. Oakland Theater Project.  Ghost Quartet by Dave Malloy, Oakland Nov 1-24. Flax Art & Design, San Francisco, Dec. 5-8. ODC Theatre. Odd Salon: Upcoming events in San Francisco & New York, and streaming. Pear Theater. The Agitators by Mat Smart, Nov 22 – Dec. 15. See website for staged readings and other events. Playful People Productions. See website for upcoming productions and events. Presidio Theatre. See website for complete schedule of events and performances. Ray of Light: See website for Spotlight Cabaret Series at Feinstein's at the Nikko and upcoming productions.. San Francisco Playhouse. The Play That Goes Wrong, September 21 – November 9. SFBATCO.  See website for upcoming streaming and in- theater shows. San Jose Stage Company: See website for upcoming schedule. Shotgun Players.  Thirty Six: Do You Like What You See by Leah Nanako Winkler. November 18 – December 22. South Bay Musical Theatre: Urinetown,  January 15 – February 15, 2025. Saratoga Civic Theater. Stagebridge: See website for events and productions. Storytime every 4th Saturday. The Breath Project. Streaming archive. The Marsh: Calendar listings for Berkeley, San Francisco and Marshstream. Theatre Lunatico  See website for upcoming productions. Theatre Rhino  Cabaret, November 21 – December 15. Streaming: Essential Services Project, conceived and performed by John Fisher, all weekly performances now available on demand. TheatreWorks Silicon Valley. Miss Bennett: Christmas at Pemberley by Lauren Gunderson and Margot Melcon, December 4- 29. . Word for Word.  See website for upcoming productions. Misc. Listings: BAM/PFA: On View calendar for BAM/PFA. Berkeley Symphony: See website for listings. Chamber Music San Francisco: Calendar, 2023 Season. Dance Mission Theatre. On stage events calendar. Oregon Shakespeare Festival: Calendar listings and upcoming shows. San Francisco Opera. Calendar listings. San Francisco Symphony. Calendar listings. Filmed Live Musicals: Searchable database of all filmed live musicals, podcast, blog. If you'd like to add your bookstore or theater venue to this list, please write Richard@kpfa.org                                   . The post November 7, 2024: Anne Hillerman – Caleb Carr appeared first on KPFA.

Caleb Carr in 2002. ​​​​​Caleb Carr (1955-2024), author of The Alienist and other works, in conversation with Richard Wolinsky, recorded in the KPFA studios October 15, 1997. Digitized, remastered and edited in September 2024, this interview has not been heard in over a quarter century. Caleb Carr, who died on May 23, 2024 at the age of 68, was a military historian, a novelist, and a writer who examined the nature of violence in his fiction and non-fiction. He was perhaps best known for his best-selling novel The Alienist, which recently became a two-season streaming series. Over all, he wrote 11 books, several articles and reviews, worked on both seasons of the television series and two exorcist films. He was the son of Lucien Carr, a key member of the group that included Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg. Lucien Carr went to prison for manslaughter for killing the sexual predator who had abused him as a youth. Kerouac helped him dispose of the knife. This interview was recorded in the KPFA studios on October 15, 1997 while Caleb Carr was on tour for The Angel of Darkness, the sequel to The Alienist. The interview includes mention of a movie-length pilot for a science fiction series, directed by Joe Dante. That pilot, originally titled The Warlord, Battle for the Galaxy, was released on DVD as The Osiris Chronicles. It is not available for streaming. While he never came back directly to the character of Lasso Kreisler, the protagonist of The Alienist, Caleb Carr's final novel, a contemporary mystery, Surrender, New York, featured as its protagonist an expert on the life and work of Kreisler. His next book following The Angel of Darkness was Killing Time, a dystopian science fiction novel. The post Caleb Carr (1955-2024): “The Alienist” and “The Angel of Darkness,” 1997 appeared first on KPFA.

For our latest Are We Here yet? podcast we offer four perspectives sure to keep you contemplating on this upcoming Indigenous People's Day. Our Season III guest Doug Harris, retired archivist for the Narragansett Tribe spoke to us regarding New England's Ceremonial Stone Landscape for episodes 87 and 88.  We feature two clips here, the first focused on answering the question, ‘what is this place and who are we?' The second which ends our podcast focuses on his groundbreaking work alongside Smithsonian documentarian Ted Timreck, our guest for episode 132, which has dispelled many falsehoods about the peoples of this part of North America.  How they lived, traded and thrived for thousands of years.  Sandwiched between our clips of Doug Harris we offer contemporary native American poets and their work with poet and essayist Joshua Michael Stewart, a frequent guest of our show. We originally aired his reading of these six poems in 2021.   Joshua is the author of three books of poetry, his latest being 2022's ‘Love Something'.  His soon to publish ‘Welcome Home, Russell Edson' combines the graphic novel with the prose poem. He writes for M the Media Project under the feature, ‘The Way of Wind and Stream'.  Listen to our episode on Kerouac at 100 from March 2022.  But first, our host Scott M. Graves reads from his 2020 essay ‘Borders'.  Scott was investigating the early colonial New England period of King Philip's War for several years which led him to taking a deeper dive into the competing concepts over land ownership between indigenous and English colonial cultures.  ‘It didn't escape me at the time that I was doing this amateur investigative work while the question of immigration in the US was speeding into a raging crisis,' he told us. ‘what results here are my thoughts on a very deep, very flawed piece of debris just underneath our skin that continues to leave scars on our culture.  We can and should do better'.  The issue h only become more polarizing and central to the presidential election in 2024.

We asked, you answered! In response to a listener recommendation, we revisit a conversation from 2017 in which Mike and Jacke discuss Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness, Francis Ford Coppola's Apocalypse Now, and Eleanor Coppola's Hearts of Darkness. PLUS novelist Fred Waitzkin (Searching for Bobby Fisher, Anything Is Good) stops by to discuss his choice for the last book he will ever read. Enjoy this? Try these from our archive: 110 Heart of Darkness - Then and Now 619 Fred Waitzkin on Kerouac, Hemingway, and His New Novel 505 Ford Madox Ford (with Max Saunders) Help support the show at patreon.com/literature or historyofliterature.com/donate. The History of Literature Podcast is a member of Lit Hub Radio and the Podglomerate Network. Learn more at thepodglomerate.com/historyofliterature. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

With just weeks until the election, dirty tricks are afoot. Kerouac and Todd are relaunching the show to take a closer look at what's happening. 

On this week's MRR Radio, Zu From All Over and Michael From The North Bay record an impromptu set in the car on their way up to Olympia Washington, with the best Indie Slacker Punk, Lo-Fi Chaos, and relentless DIY Ethos to guide the way. Kerouac'n In The Evergreen State CALAMITY JANE - Olympia SEAWEED […] The post MRR Radio #1921 appeared first on MAXIMUM ROCKNROLL.

I am very happy to be back after my brief summer hiatus to bring to you a truly inspirational story of someone who has experienced all of life's highs and lows and has come through it all thanks to grace, resilience, great friends, and incredible talent. Today I am honored to be speaking with Grammy-nominated recording artist, songwriter, activist, filmmaker and friend, John Forte. John is probably best known for writing and producing songs for The Fugees and their multi-platinum record The Score, and for his subsequent collaborations with Wyclef Jean. After huge success as a producer in the late 90s and following the tough unsuccessful (in John's mind at the time) release of his first album, Poly Sci, John went into a deep isolation. Then when an opportunity presented itself for him to work as a middleman connecting people who were acting as drug couriers, John took it. His focus was less on the work he was doing and more on what he could do with the money he was making – make more music. In July of 2000, Forté was arrested at Newark International Airport. As he explained to GQ magazine back in 2022, “I was picking up two carriers who had already been cooperating in a controlled sting, because they'd been caught and apprehended with 14 kilograms of liquid cocaine,” he says. He was sentenced to the mandatory minimum of 14 years and incarcerated at FCI Loretto, a low-security federal prison in Pennsylvania. With friends like Carly Simon and with support from an unlikely ally then Senator Orin Hatch from Utah, Forte's case was presented to President George W Bush for commutation and his sentence was commuted. After serving 7 years, John was finally free. John left prison and went on to do what he was always called to do – make music. For more than two decades, John has produced solo albums and a myriad of collaborative projects. John is currently composing the score and writing/producing the soundtrack for the forthcoming “Kerouac's Road: Beat of a Nation” for Universal, he also recently scored the forthcoming 6-part HBO series “Eyes on the Prize”. John's music has also been featured in films and television, including the Emmy-nominated “Momentum Generation” for HBO. John also created The Brooklyn Nets inaugural theme song back in 2012, a very personal thing for him as a Brooklyn native. The film, The Russian Winter, was released in 2012, following John's concert tour through Russia while exploring his life up until then. A second film about John's life is currently in production, Settling the Score. John is also very involved in prison reform and social justice initiatives – all while he is enjoying his life as a father of two living on Martha's Vineyard. In this two-part interview – John and I talk about his upbringing, his incredible career, his time in prison, his incredible commutation by President Bush and all the amazing work he has accomplished since then - not to mention the wonderful life he has built – savoring the simple pleasures in life like fishing and being a Dad, while writing, making music and producing films. John's story is one of promise, hope, redemption, and love. His life and example move and inspire me - I know it will you too... If you enjoy the show, please rate and review us on Apple Podcasts, and follow us on Instagram at The Interview with Leslie. A new podcast is released every Wednesday.

Ashir Badami is quite likely the least interesting person in the room. His only claim to fame is bouncing around South and South East Asia as a kid with his family before somehow landing in Malta where the azure blue seas turned his wanderlust into a love of travel writing and poetry. He has lived in the shadows as a closet writer, and aspiring journalist (Go Medill!), and his passion for writing and literature has endured parochial boarding schools in South India (where Kerouac was banned) and even the vagaries of the West Coast Tech Bro scene where he made his living as a marketing zombie. He recently returned to the Chicago area with his amazing wife and highly-entertaining five-year-old. He currently teaches media innovation at his alma mater, the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University. The First Time is a live lit and music series recorded at Martyrs in Chicago's North Center neighborhood. Each reader tells a true first tale, followed by any cover of the storyteller's choosing, performed by our house band, The First Time Three. The First Time is hosted by Jenn Sodini. Production by Andy Vasoyan and Executive Producer Bobby Evers. Podcast produced by Andy Vasoyan. Recorded by Tony Baker.

Notes and Links to Jesse Katz's Work      For Episode 249, Pete welcomes Jesse Katz, and the two discuss, among other topics, his childhood love of baseball, formative and transformative books and writers, lessons learned from early writing, LA and MacArthur Park lore, and salient themes and issues in the book like poverty and the punitive nature of powerful interests, grief, and various forms of violence, as well as larger narratives about the immigration system, family units, and traumas and silences.      Jesse Katz is a former Los Angeles Times and Los Angeles Magazine writer whose honors include the James Beard Foundation's M.F.K. Fisher Distinguished Writing Award, PEN Center USA's Literary Journalism Award, a National Magazine Award nomination, and two shared Pulitzer Prizes. As a volunteer with InsideOUT Writers, he has mentored incarcerated teenagers at Central Juvenile Hall and the former California Youth Authority.    Buy The Rent Collectors   Jesse Katz's Website   New York Times Review of The Rent Collectors   At about 2:00, the two discuss Jesse's recent book launch at Skylight Books, which Pete was lucky to attend At about 4:10, Jesse talks about generous feedback, including from those featured in the book At about 6:30, Jesse discusses the experience of recording the audio for his book At about 9:45, Jesse gives background on his relationship with language growing up At about 12:15, The two share memories of reading formative works on Jackie Robinson At about 14:30, Jesse describes takeaways from his adolescent readings of Hemingway, Kerouac, and immersive writers, and college reading that “flipped the switch,” including Joe McGinniss and Hunter Thompson At about 18:15, Jesse talks about his relationship with his alma mater, Bennington College, and Bret Easton Ellis and other standout alumni At about 19:55, Jesse highlights Matthew Desmond and Susan Orlean as contemporary writers (especially Orlean with her The Library Book and Desmond with his Poverty by América, an inspiration for The Rent Collectors) who inspire and thrill At about 22:55, Pete makes a connection between American Psycho and The Rent Collectors, especially with regards to litanies, and Jesse expands on “the cost of being poor” At about 24:50, Pete and Jesse talk about Jesse's book, The Opposite Field, and connections to the great Luis J. Rodriguez At about 27:50, Jesse responds to Pete's questions about how he sees the book now, speaking about The Opposite Field At about 29:00, Pete highlights a generous blurb from hector Tobar, and Jesse outlines how Hector's support propelled Jesse to get to work on realizing the book's finish At about 32:00, Jesse cites Giovanni's (Macedo, the book's protagonist) own healing and his generosity in sharing his story At about 34:00, Pete and Jesse discuss the book's opening, and why Jesse decided to start the book in the middle of the story with Giovanni “rising from the dead” At about 38:50, Jesse gives background on Giovanni's backstory, especially with regard to his father, and not knowing the reason for his father's death At about 42:10, Jesse expands upon the setting of MacArthur Park, the focus of the book's Chapter Two, and its denseness and uniqueness in LA At about 43:30, The two discuss Giovanni's early forays into gang life and some members of the clique featured in the book At about 45:30, Jesse speaks about Reyna, Giovanni's mother, and how she felt powerless in keeping her son from gangs At about 47:40, Jesse speaks to the staying power of gangs and how they “[fill] a void,” and Pete quotes Father Greg Boyle and his thoughts on hopelessness  At about 49:45, Jesse replies to Pete's question about Francisco Clemente, who survived the targeted shooting by Giovanni and how he stood up against the rent collectors At about 51:20, Jesse describes the “older, savvier gang members” who were sought out by Giovanni At about 54:30, Pete and Jesse talk about how he sets the scene in the book for the horrendous events perpetuated by the gang and Giovanni; Jesse also details how he used court transcripts and written correspondence with Giovanni to piece together Giovanni's thoughts before and after the shooting At about 58:30, The backlash and early investigations about the homicide are discussed At about 1:00:45, Pete charts Giovanni's life in the immediate aftermath of the murder, and Jesse responds to a question about his a key decision  At about 1:04:10, Jesse speaks to the naivete of Giovanni's dialogue with Holmes, the investigator  At about 1:05:40, The two discuss sentencing for Giovanni and his reflection on his crimes and aftermath At about 1:07:00, Jesse talks about Daniela, the mother of Luis Angel, and how he tried and failed to find her to speak with for the book, and why it was maybe for the good that she didn't have to relive the trauma At about 1:09:45, Jesse ruminates on Giovanni's future At about 1:11:15, Jesse reflects on how the book may help him with his parole At about 1:13:00, Pete and Jesse trade quotes and meditate on the book's hopeful lessons At about 1:14:50, Jesse gives contact info and book buying information       You can now subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts, and leave me a five-star review. You can also ask for the podcast by name using Alexa, and find the pod on Stitcher, Spotify, and on Amazon Music. Follow me on IG, where I'm @chillsatwillpodcast, or on Twitter, where I'm @chillsatwillpo1. You can watch this and other episodes on YouTube-watch and subscribe to The Chills at Will Podcast Channel. Please subscribe to both my YouTube Channel and my podcast while you're checking out this episode.     I am very excited about having one or two podcast episodes per month featured on the website of Chicago Review of Books. The audio will be posted, along with a written interview culled from the audio. A big thanks to Rachel León and Michael Welch at Chicago Review.    Sign up now for The Chills at Will Podcast Patreon: it can be found at patreon.com/chillsatwillpodcastpeterriehl     Check out the page that describes the benefits of a Patreon membership, including cool swag and bonus episodes. Thanks in advance for supporting my one-man show, my DIY podcast and my extensive reading, research, editing, and promoting to keep this independent podcast pumping out high-quality content!       This is a passion project of mine, a DIY operation, and I'd love for your help in promoting what I'm convinced is a unique and spirited look at an often-ignored art form.    The intro song for The Chills at Will Podcast is “Wind Down” (Instrumental Version), and the other song played on this episode was “Hoops” (Instrumental)” by Matt Weidauer, and both songs are used through ArchesAudio.com.     Please tune in for Episode 249 with Ben Tanzer. He is an Emmy-award winning coach, creative strategist, podcaster, writer, teacher and social worker who has been helping nonprofits, publishers, authors, small business and career changers tell their stories for 20 plus years.     He produces and hosts This Podcast Will Change Your Life, which was launched in February 2010, focuses on authors and changemakers from around the country and the world, and was named by Elephant Journal as one of "The 10 Best Podcasts to Help you Change your Life.”    His written work includes the short story collection UPSTATE, the science fiction novel Orphans and the essay collections Lost in Space and Be Cool. His most recent novel is The Missing.    The episode will go live on August 27.    Lastly, please go to https://ceasefiretoday.com/, which features 10+ actions to help bring about Ceasefire in Gaza.

Imagine a road trip up the southern Californian coast stopping off at cool little beach towns along the way. But instead of doing it in a car, on the highway, getting stuck in traffic, with nothing to do or see … you surf it instead. The Pacific Surfliner train travels 351 miles from San Diego to San Luis Obispo, through Los Angeles, Ventura, Santa Barbara and more … and for much of that journey you are literally hugging the coast so closely you can almost smell the ocean. In today's episode, recorded on location, host Aaron Millar, and producers Jason Paton and Ally Nisbet, head out on a long weekend ‘track trip' down the So-Cal coast. “This is one of my favorite trips of the year so far. A lot of the episodes we make are about proper adventures, and deep stories about culture and history. This was just pure fun. I love southern California, and hope this episode captures that spirit and special vibe of the west coast. Kerouac had it wrong, the open tack beats the open road any day for me … especially when there's surfing at the end of the line.” - Aaron Highlights include: · Kayaking with sea lions in Santa Barbara · Spotting dolphins in Channel Islands National Park, off the coast of Ventura · Catching waves with pro-surfer John Daniels in Oceanside · Riding one of the most beautiful stretches of the Pacific Surfliner: gorgeous headlands, mist covered mountains, and ocean waves crashing on the shore Thanks to Pacific Surfliner for helping to make this trip possible. If you like what you hear and fancy taking the scenic route yourself, you can book your tickets at pacificsurfliner.com. Students under 25 get a 15% discount Thanks also to santabarbaraca.com, visitventuraca.com, visitoceanside.org, Andre from Cal Coast Adventures, all the crew at Island Packers, Jim Kempton from the California Surf Museum, and John Daniels from Learn to Rip Surf Lessons Follow the show on Instagram @armchairexplorerpodcast This episode was produced by Armchair Productions, the audio experts for the travel industry. Brian Thacker did our pre-production, Jason Paton and Ally Nisbet did the field recording and audio production, Aaron Millar wrote and presented it. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Stephen D. Edington, a Unitarian Universalist minister, discusses his personal journey and the influence of Jack Kerouac on his spiritual beliefs. Good links:Register for the event on August 30 at the Henry Miller LibraryLowell Celebrates Kerouac Unitarian Universalist FaithBooks by Steve EdingtonSummaryStephen D Edington, a Unitarian Universalist minister, discusses his personal journey and the influence of Jack Kerouac on his spiritual beliefs. He shares how he transitioned from a conservative Baptist upbringing to a more liberal interpretation of Christianity and eventually found his place in the Unitarian Universalist faith. Steve explains his belief in a higher power and the importance of self-discovery in his spiritual journey. He also discusses his involvement in the Lowell Celebrates Kerouac festival and the continued interest in Kerouac's writings among different generations. Jack Kerouac was a complex figure who embodied multiple identities and roles. He was seen as an intellectual, spiritual, romantic, and cultural icon. While he was not overtly political, he had revolutionary and messianic qualities. Kerouac was both an intellectual and an athlete, excelling in academics and sports. His driving force was his duty to write, which he considered his purpose on Earth. He sought recognition as a major American writer and inspired others to pursue their own creative journeys. Kerouac's life ended tragically, but his writing continues to inspire and resonate with readers.Sound Bites!"I was raised in a pretty conservative Baptist church in southern West Virginia.""I believe there is some reality or some power that is greater than myself.""I've always felt like I've been on some kind of a journey of discovery throughout my life.""He's an intellectual, he is spiritual, he is romantic.""He might have blanched a little bit at political.""He was both intellectual and athlete."Below is the Kerouac presentation/sermon Steve Edington will be presenting at the Palo Alto Unitarian Universalist Church on the 25th of August.Why Jack Kerouac MattersIn 1988 I came to Nashua, New Hampshire to begin what turned out to be a 24 year ministry with the Unitarian Universalist Church there. One of my colleagues in our district ministers' chapter was your minister, Amy Morgenstern, who was serving a congregation in Vermont. She eventually made her way westward here to Palo Alto, and I stayed in New England. We've kept up our friendship over the years. One of our points of connection was and is our affinity for some of the Beat Generation writers; and, for me, Jack Kerouac in particular. I don't think Amy became the “Kero—wacko” that I have become, but we have a shared interest in the writer. She's been very kind and generous in having me here to speak at someSupport the Show._________________________________________________This podcast is a production of the Henry Miller Memorial Library with support from The Arts Council for Monterey County! Let us know what you think!SEND US AN EMAIL!

Our guest, Kerouac scholar Jim Jones, describes Kerouac's sojourn to Seattle in the summer of 1956. There, he worked as a fire lookout at Desolation Peak atop the North Cascade Mountains. Along the way, Jones recounts personal encounters and friendships with other Beat Generation luminaries, including Allen Ginsberg, William S. Burroughs, and Gregory Corso. Adding a touch of practical insight, firefighter, EMT, and seasoned fire lookout Jim Henterly complements Jones' literary perspective. Together, they reveal Kerouac's Cascadian adventure while exploring the feelings of anticipation, vulnerability, and disappointment that often accompany travel to unknown lands. "When people tell you about a place, you form an impression in your imagination. And when you get there, it's either going to coincide or clash with your imagination of it.” ~Jim Jones

Novelist Fred Waitzkin (Searching for Bobby Fischer) stops by to discuss Jack Kerouac, Ernest Hemingway, and his new novel Anything Is Good, which tells the story of a childhood friend who was a genius - and who ended up living among the unhoused for years. PLUS Michael Blanding (In Shakespeare's Shadow: A Rogue Scholar's Quest to Reveal the True Source Behind the World's Greatest Plays) stops by to discuss his choice for the last book he will ever read. Help support the show at patreon.com/literature or historyofliterature.com/donate. The History of Literature Podcast is a member of Lit Hub Radio and the Podglomerate Network. Learn more at www.thepodglomerate.com/historyofliterature. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"I know it's complicated. I'm aware that my graduation may be, among other things, posthumous. But what if I stop Buffy Angel Show the Ascension. What if I capture Faith?"Back after our hiatus and really excited to discuss the final episodes of BTVS Season 3. With Choices, Kara and Penny get into it about Kerouac, the college selection process, core trauma, how much Wesley should shut up, Cordelia's senioritis, the multiverse, and appropriate heist fashion.Next time, we'll be covering Season 3, Episode 20, “The Prom.” We'll be sharing some of our own Prom pictures and memories and we'd love for you to join in. Send us pictures of your own Prom (or school formal) and let us know if we can share them on Instagram and Facebook! What was the theme? Who did you go with? What was the music?  Keep Slaying!News Links/Referenced LinksOriginal Trailer/WB Promo: Buffy Choices PromoTPN Commentary on “Choices”: Choices • S03E19 • TPN's Buffy Guide The Happy Wanderer: The Happy WandererJoin the Zedhead community - https://www.patreon.com/jasoncabassiJoin the conversation! You can email or send a voice message to stillslayingfeedback@gmail.com, or join us at facebook.com/groups/podcastica and https://www.facebook.com/still.slaying.a.buffy.verse.podcast where we put up comment posts for each episode we cover. Follow us: Still Slaying: a Buffyverse Podcast from Podcastica Network (@stillslayingcast) • Instagram photos and videosTheme Music:℗ CC-BY 2020 Quesbe | Lucie G. MorillonGoopsy | Drum and Bass | Free CC-BY Music By Quesbe is licensed under a Creative Commons License.

Youth Services Librarian Meagan joins us once again to promote the 'Adventure Begins at Your Library' Summer Reading Challenge. This Challenge opened on June 8th and goes through August 10th! Learn more and register by visiting oakcreeklibrary.org/src. Or, visit our events calendar to stay up to date on all of the fun activities that will keep you and your family busy this summer: oakcreeklibrary.org/events. Check out what we talked about: Books mentioned: "Around the World in Eighty Days" by Jules Verne with readalike "The Time Machine" by H.G. Wells. The "Throne of Glass" series by Sarah J. Maas with readalike series "An Ember in the Ashes" by Sabaa Tahir. "Grandad's Camper" by Harry Woodgate with readalike "On the Trapline" by David Robertson. "On the Road" by Jack Kerouac with readalike "Off the Road: My Years with Cassady, Kerouac, and Ginsberg" by Carolyn Cassady. The "Dragon Rider" series by Cornelia Funke with readalike series "The Inheritance Cycle" by Christopher Paolini. "You Are Here: Connecting Flights" edited by Ellen Oh with readalike "Look Both Ways: A Tale Told in Ten Blocks" by Jason Reynolds. The "Uglies" series by Scott Westerfeld with spinoff series "Imposters" by the same author. "The City of Ember" by Jeanne DuPrau with readalike "The Giver" by Lois Lowry. "Amira & Hamza: The War to Save the Worlds" by Samira Ahmed with readalike "Aru Shah and the End of Time" by Roshani Chokshi. To access complete transcripts for all episodes of Not Your Mother's Library, please visit: oakcreeklibrary.org/podcast Check out books, movies, and other materials through the Milwaukee County Federated Library System: countycat.mcfls.org hoopladigital.com wplc.overdrive.com oakcreeklibrary.org

jD is back and he's joined by Daniel from Chicago to discuss his Pavement origin story and dissect track number 38. Transcript: [0:00] Hey, it's JD here, and I just wanted to throw something down, somewhat of a challenge to all you musically inclined folks out there.We are going to be doing a pod list again this year, and a pod list is simply a podcast playlist.It's a pod list. The previous four pod lists have consisted of talented members of our Pavement community submitting songs that they have covered from the Pavement oeuvre.Pavement adjacent songs are also welcome. So you could do PSOI, you could do Jicks, you could do Malcolm is Solo.Anything is fair game, truly. So get your band together or grab an acoustic guitar and just play your fucking guts out.From there, submit the song to me by email and we'll go from there.So please submit those songs, jd at meetingmalkmus.com, or even better, use wetransfer.com if it's a big WAV file. And WAV files are what I prefer.That will work out just magnificently. That's what she said.Podlist 5 coming July 8th. So get those songs in and be a part of something special. Thanks so much.Now, on with the show.Track 3:[1:24] Previously on the pavement top 50.Track 2:[1:27] What do you have to say dan from rochester about playbook oh man so um first of all when i i listened to this a lot this week and there's three versions so i did some some deepdiving into comparing the different like studio versions that are out there but the first thing that surprised me was the length is relatively short it's slightly less than three and a half minutesand to me that song always felt like very epic.Track 3:[1:58] Hey, this is Westy from the Rock and Roll Band, Pavement, and you're listening to The Countdown.Track 4:[2:05] Hey, it's J.D. here, back for another episode of our Top 50 Countdown for the seminal indie rock band, Pavement.Week over week, we're going to count down the 50 essential Pavement tracks that you selected with your very own Top 20 ballots.I then tabulated the results using an abacus and a six-pack.[2:24] Okay, there were only four left, but I was thirsty. see how will your favorite pavement song fare in the ranking you'll need to tune in to find out so there's that this week we're joinedby pavement superfan daniel daniel how are you doing motherfucker uh doing good how are you i am excellent today it's a bright and sunny day out i did a 10k walk it's uh just fantastic itis a good day it's like i'm in chicago and it's uh 50 degrees and so that's like summer so yeah right to have that in february is like just another another planet it's amazing yeah so let's getright into this let's talk about your pavement origin story daniel from chicago i am from a town in the south called montgomery alabama Okay.And I'm also 45, late Gen Xer.Discovering music in the early 90s, you really had to try to search out cool stuff, and especially in a shitty town like Montgomery, Alabama. Alabama.[3:42] There were like only one record store that was independent and you kind of had to like know a person to get there. And.[3:52] So that's a big part of my origin story is I am from a shitty place.And the more I get to know pavement, I realize that Stockton is a lot like Montgomery.It's strip malls and crime and not a lot to do, not a lot of real culture.So I see that connection now.When I was a teenager, I was into classic rock like Neil Young and Bob Dylan and Steve Miller Band, I guess, was my intro to what my dad showed me about rock and roll.But I started 10th grade and I noticed a guy had the iconic pavement sunny side up shirt. Right.And I said, this guy knows something. He kind of shined with this aura.And at the time, I didn't know much about indie rock or alternative rock.But I knew a lot about film.I was into Tarantino, and that led me to John Woo and other independent film.[5:17] I knew a lot about beat literature, like Kerouac and Ginsberg, Burroughs.So we met, and he helped me with the pavement and the Sonic Youth. We traded CDs.I traded VHS, independent film, with him.And we eventually started a shitty noise band in his garage.Oh, that is so cool. Yeah. Yeah. And we talked about Pavement and Sonic Youth, Daydream Nation.At the time, I think Crooked Rain was the big one, and Wowie was pretty big on our playlist.List um but i'm really thankful for that meeting and his taste was just um beyond anything of people from montgomery so i that's my story and i i continue to love pavement my entire lifehas been my favorite band and i felt very special uh having them as a part of my life and i i'm not sure who it was that said.[6:38] I think it might be Mark Arm from Mudhunt Honey said, when you listen to Pavement, you feel smarter.And I feel like I'm in on some kind of secret.Yeah. And I feel enlightened when I listen to Stephen Moutmiss and his poetry and his lyrics.I feel smarter. And coming from a place of like education was not valued and no culture, it meant a lot for me to like have pavement as this kind of avant-garde art band that led me todifferent bigger cities and bigger ideas.Is so so what was take take me through your experience daniel take me through that so you saw him wearing the sunny side up shirt what was the first spin like like what did you spin firstif you remember i remember and and what was going on in your head when you heard it i got crooked crooked rain crooked rain first and i remember the disc and people these days missout on the artwork of the disc right it's got that layer of like kind of red and maroon art.[8:01] And i spun it and i was like first off i've never heard uh a vocalist sound like this before right and i was like is he singing or is he like speaking um and they're in the liner notesthere's a picture of like a singer but i always thought it was that that was mouth mess or that was spiral stairs i wasn't sure but it turns out it's like just a random collage um i wasn't sure ifthe the singer was playing guitar or was just like singing.Wow. Like something from a different world completely. And unlike any music.[8:46] That i've uh ever encountered even since it's um now i can kind of associate what not miss was doing with like lou reed yes big time uh but at the time it was just like what is thisvocalist doing and then there were parts of the guitar playing it was like kind of dissonant guitar and i was like is are these guitars even in tune like it sounds like noise in some parts but somelodic and others and so melodic and others and that's their secret yeah um.[9:25] And then i started listening to the lyrics um the first song that comes to mind i wrote on my uh we used to have book covers of paper to cover the book i wrote the entire uh lyrics forstop breathing this is like the most poetic I don't know what he's talking about but I was also I went to it like an art high school and I was in creative writing and I would do my best to tryto emulate in my poetry what mountainous was doing with like his prose or his lyrics right Right, okay.So he was talking about, I think, stuff around a father-son relationship in that song, and I had struggles with my dad, and as we all probably do.Sure. And I was like, abstractly, he's talking about stuff that is really hitting home.And so there were some songs I didn't get at first, like...[10:39] But yeah we'll talk about some of that stuff later sure okay yeah um so that was your first experience with them and crooked rain what a great jumping off point and just to followup on you know like who's playing what and what are they doing it wasn't like you could tune into mtv at the time and see a great deal of pavement you know and and sort of match it uplike you could with with other bands.You know, in this case, they were so rarefied.It would be tough to get your hands on, you know, live footage or anything like that. So that leads me to my next question.When did you see them live? Did you see them live?First, my first concert by them was.[11:28] It must have been early my first semester at auburn university i went uh started uh 97, i went to birmingham alabama at a place called the nick i think that's what it is and so it musthave been september or october of 1997 and it was a like maybe uh, 100, 200 person venue. It was a very small venue.And me and my two friends from Auburn, we got there nerdy, super early and waited at the rail of the front row.[12:18] And it turns out that we were right across from Spiral Stairs guitar setup.Okay. And it was in support of Right in the Corners.So, amazing show.I think at the time, what they were doing was they were playing about 15 songs with an encore of three songs. And they played Credence.Sinister Purpose was their cover that they played.And they they had their set list on paper plates which i thought was very diy and cool and spiral at the end of the set uh he picked up his paper plate threw it like a frisbee and i caught it soi had the the set list i don't have it anymore but oh damn one time it was in my dorm it was in a collection as i moved around the country of course of course but i wish i had had thatamazing moment.Probably, I would say it's probably my third or fourth concert ever. Um, and.[13:35] I went to REM and Radiohead in support of Monster. That was my first.So it's in good company.Yeah, I bet. So how did you find like-minded people in uni?Was it easy or did you have to seek them out like you did in high school?Or how did you find your compatriots to go to that show with?This is so funny. uh the first day of english class the teacher asked what what what do we like and get to know you ice icebreaker questions and me and this guy cleave we both put thesame bands we really liked pavement number one lemon heads number two rem number three we we wrote those identically, and it's it's like this uh serendipitous kind of thing happenedwith us and we became, very close friends and at the time he was like really into pink floyd and i said hey man you got to get really back into pavements better than pink floyd so weobsess over our mutual love of malchmas and uh pavement so that that's how that connection happened but other times in my life i've never really found someone who says pavement's myfavorite band and maybe you're my probably my.[15:04] Like third person i they always seem to be like a french band no one is like so obsessed like i am or possibly you are.And that's okay with me. Like, this is something, it's very special kind of in this time where everything feels like homogenized.I'm glad that this is a special thing for a few of us.Yeah, I think so too. We can unite in that, unite in our solodom.In our solitude. dude. Um, What's your go-to record these days?[15:51] Well, it's grown. It's changed over time. Of course. As it should, probably.I think the most bang for your buck and artistic expression of what they represent is Wowie Zowie.Sure. Yeah, I can get behind that. It is their version of the White Album in that it is so many different genre attempts.And it feels loose it feels fun um it's thematically all over the place yeah and, i just it just feels like a real expression of what they were going for as a band yeah i i i'm not sure if it's likethe best album but for me i think it feels like pavement and what they wanted um and the the go-to for me i hope it makes your list is uh grave architecture okay i find that to bequintessential uh a pavement song but yeah Yeah, it's just so all over the place and wacky that I love it.What do you say we take a quick break and we come back on the other side of track number 38?Sounds good. All right, cool.Track 3:[17:18] Hey, this is Bob Mustanovich from Pavement. Thanks for listening.And now on with a countdown.Track 2:[17:26] 38.Track 4:[20:04] Alright, track 38 is Date with Ikea, the first spiral jam on the countdown.It's the fifth from Pavement's fourth record, Bright in the Corners, after Blue Hawaiian at 50, Embassy Row at 44, Old to Begin at 43, and Starlings of the Slipstream at 40.Without further ado, number 38, Date with Ikea.Daniel from Chicago.Hey. Talk to me about your experience with this song.Well, it was the first Pavement album that I was able to buy on its release date.So it has a special place.It was released, I think it's April 17th, 1997.97 and i good went to my local mall and walked in and bought this album and, it's a banger it's a really fucking good album and 100% it's it it rocks and this song is a rocker and you feellike there's some shimmering layered guitar going on yeah Yeah. Um.[21:30] I'm not sure what the song's about. It feels like... Tough to discern.At the time, I didn't know what Ikea was.Now I know. I think it's a Norwegian furniture store, wholesale furniture.[21:50] So now I think I know what the meaning of the song is.Because I've had a date with Ikea. I bought a house, and I've had to go to Ikea to celebrate needing furniture.And I remember going to Ikea going, oh, this is what the song is about.Maybe domestication.Maybe it's a union.I like domestication. Yeah. But the lyrics are about a relationship strife.The actress is always breaking things. That made me think something's going wrong in the relationship or he's annoyed with his partner.Not sure. But Spiral's songs have always had their own feel to them.And this feels like a quintessential uh spiral stairs song not what what else does it sound like in those years maybe uh like super chunk like no pocky for kitty, i don't know if you know ofany other bands that might sound like but.[23:08] No, because it's tough, because his cuts sort of stand alone on a pavement record, because they're so radically different than the stuff that SM does, right?I think that's what I'm trying to get at, yeah.[23:24] But lyrically, you can go down the same bottomless pit with both of their lyrics.I think Malk tends to be, he's got the turn of phrase, right?He's got the gift for a turn of phrase in a way that Spiral doesn't necessarily have the same horsepower at this stage in the game.If you listen to PSOI, like that first record, All This Sounds Gas, man, is he firing on all cylinders on that record.I think so. So that is prime beef.And I love it. Uh, his two outings on brighten the corners are both, you know, I think they're both a great jumping off point for what you need to get from, from spiral. That's just my take.I think you're right. Uh, the idea that it can be on the same album and feel so different.[24:25] Right. And I'm okay with that. Sort of their secret weapon in a way, right i think so i there and i'm in a lot of ways i'm not sure uh spirals influence on what mountainous does that'skind of a mystery i i believe it showed up more on probably slanted and yeah the early stuff yeah the eps off the top i think they were much more collaborative collaborative but i'm likingwhat i hear this this is a rocker this feels like it's got the.[25:04] Almost like a classic rock feel to it of maybe tom petty in there and the heartbreakers, but um got the sing-along chorus here's the a weird thing about uh the spiral Spiral stuff.When I would go to the shows, the crowd would cheer so much for Spiral.It was almost like we were rooting for this underdog.[25:40] And when spiral was playing his, uh, cuts like mountainous, what it seemed like he didn't know what he was supposed to be doing.He would not, he wouldn't have a guitar part to it. He, he would just kind of like Panama. I'm playing guitar.And, but I noticed how much the crowd would get behind, uh, like spirals chance to shine.Shine so you happen to see any dates on the most recent tour in 2022 i did i saw one of the chicago okay i found that steve was much more uh on board with the spiral stuff if if for lack ofa better term if he wasn't on board in the earlier years and i don't know that i'm i'm prescribing that on him.I shouldn't, but I sort of am.And I just feel like they were much more cohesive, like band-wise, this time out.I saw the same thing, and I think I read in interviews where Mountmess before had seemed kind of apprehensive to put his ball in the pavement court, per se.He was very much on board with being a band that was reuniting and good vibes in general yeah but at the time i think what you notice about uh.[27:07] Bright in the corners is oh he's starting to get his own voice mountainous right and it's, it has to feel um daunting to have other people in the band wanting to collaborate whenyou're you're like really finding your groove.So with Wowie, there's, I think, maybe one spiral cut, Brighton two, but then with Terror zero, you're starting to see, Mount Missus realizing that I have something to say and I want it tobe the singular vision.[27:53] That's just my take. I add a lot of meaning and interpretation that might not be there.No, that's what we do with our favorite bands, right?They add, they give us that to sort of interpret. But I feel like.[28:09] Mount miss really was hitting his groove and maybe spiral was hitting his groove as well and they just it was a sign that they needed to take some time off hey listen i don't want tomake this comparison too apt but it's interesting to me that having watched the beatles documentary george is shut out of that song and then he immediately rips off all things must passwhich which is a double record, which just shows like how he had all these songs in the bag.And it's like, how did John and how did John and Paul not include any of his stuff on Let It Be?And then, you know, 40 years later or 30 years later, you have Terror Twilight, which I think is sorely lacking a spiral song.Like, I think that there's part of that record that, that, you know, because a lot of people, it's their number five.And I think it's their number five, because it doesn't sound like a pavement record, necessarily.It sounds lush and rich, production-wise.I continue to call it a beta test for Steve's first solo record.[29:27] It's just interesting to me that it's lacking this something, and I think that something is a Spiral Gem. you might be on to something with that.And, and I'm, I'm, I'm, while I'm glad they both had a great solo careers, um, it is, it's sort of missing something.Yeah. So where do you think in terms of the ranking, this comes in at 38, what do you think, uh, is it properly rated?Is it overrated? Is it underrated? Uh.[30:02] I'm a little, I've been thinking about this. I think it might be overrated.If you would have asked me in 1997, I would have said it should be up there in the 30s.I don't think this has aged for me as well as it should have. I don't know.[30:25] Nowadays, I listen to Brighton and I go, what's the song three on there?Oh, he had to ask me that.I'm cool and underqualified is who I am. I don't have that stuff at my fingertips. No, I've got this.So if you listen to Transport is Arranged. Okay.Going right into Old to Begin. Yeah. Those...It kind of is in between transport and old to begin.And I feel like those are like way stronger songs.Like, and also those are songs where Malcolm is really starting to have his own voice.And it's like very unique rock.And I think those songs, since I heard old to begin, it's like 44 or 43.I I think it's I think those two songs Transport and Old to Begin, are better than Date with Ikea so for some reason I'm feeling like.[31:40] The lack of cohesion of this album, give it a shot, listen to it without Date With Ikea.It's a different album, and it's an interesting choice by the engineers and the producers to put Date in between those two.I think it should be ranked lower. I'm sorry, JD. No, that's okay.That's why I asked the question.[32:08] Hopefully uh transport somewhere in the top 50 i think that's such a a fucking rocker and it's so heavy at the end um but yeah i would put date and probably in my uh, a little bitlower would it crack the top 50 still i don't think so i if i'm going to be completely honest it's going to be in the lower 50 maybe 60s or 70s okay wow you heard it here here first folks stilllove it chicago still love it though it's one of his children but he just disparaged it uh daniel do you have anything that you would like to plug at all is there anything that you're known foron the internet or oh let me tell you i am a therapist here in chicago and i uh as you can see by my uh many plaques on the wall i'm trained to do uh psychotherapy Therapy in the westernsuburbs of Chicago.If you know anyone that wants therapy or wants to try it out for the first time, I specialize in anxiety, depression, addiction, and men's issues.Oh, boy. I ticked a few of those boxes.[33:26] My greatest hits right there. Yeah. Well, it's been great talking to you, and I really appreciate you taking the time to do this. So thanks for that.Thank you for having me on. It's my pleasure.Wash your goddamn hands.Track 3:[33:43] Thanks for listening to Meeting Malcomus, a pavement podcast where we count down the top 50 pavement tracks as selected by you.If you've got questions or concerns, please shoot me an email.JD at meetingmalcomus.com.Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/meeting-malkmus-a-pavement-podcast/exclusive-contentAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

We were joined by countercultural historian Pat Thomas, and Peter Hale, manager of the Ginsberg estate, and discover their new collaboration Material Wealth Mining the Personal Archive of Allen Ginsberg.*A prolific poet, raconteur, activist, and thinker, Allen Ginsberg was also a prolific collector, meticulously saving letters, postcards, draft notes and manuscripts, photographs and snapshots, appearance bills and rally broadsheets, not only featuring him personally, but also his fellow poets, singers, lovers, writers, journey companions, friends, and agitators. Gathered here publicly for the first time is his personal archive of events and experiences documenting his life as a young man, breakaway poet, expansive spirit, curious intellectual traveler, and relentless enthusiast of the provocative and the profane.There are hundreds of thousands of items carefully stored and archived at Stanford University's Allen Ginsberg collection. Counterculture historian Pat Thomas, with the full cooperation of the Allen Ginsberg Estate's Peter Hale, has compiled and annotated a remarkable volume of material, unearthing in the process one astounding find after another. The result is a tome of previously unpublished historical paperwork and vintage graphics and photographs and ephemera that promises an unprecedented look inside one of the most prolific poets and agitators of cultural mores of the 20th century.*Pat Thomas is a counterculture historian and archival music producer (and liner-note writer) whose expertise and interests have helped him author such books as Listen, Whitey! The Sights & Sounds of Black Power 1965–1975 and Did It! Jerry Rubin: An American Revolutionary. He has co-curated Invitation to Openness: The Jazz & Soul Photography of Les McCann 1960-1980, co-edited My Week Beats Your Year: Encounters with Lou Reed, an anthology of interviews about the iconic musician, and contributed to The (Original) Adventures of Ford Fairlane: The Long Lost Rock n' Roll Detective and Kerouac on Record: A Literary Soundtrack. Thomas was a consultant on the PBS documentary The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution and compiled the 3-CD box set The Last Word on First Blues for the Allen Ginsberg Estate (1970s recordings of Ginsberg, Bob Dylan, and Arthur Russell), and the 2-CD set Songs of Innocence and Experience of Ginsberg's 1969 recordings (with Don Cherry and Elvin Jones) putting William Blake poems to music with vocals by Allen.Peter Hale grew up in Italy, Germany, and then Boulder, CO where he earned a BA in Classics, Greek & Latin, from the University of Colorado, all the while attending classes in music, poetry and meditation at Naropa University. He became part of the staff at Allen Ginsberg's office in 1992, and in 1997 helped craft his posthumous estate, which he currently manages. He studied Guitar with Dave Van Ronk & Danny Kalb, and Piano with Peter Barbieri. He currently produces his own music, and djs around NYC. He lives in Ridgewood, Queens.Adam Biles is Literary Director at Shakespeare and Company. His latest novel, Beasts of England, a sequel of sorts to Animal Farm, is available now. Buy a signed copy here: https://www.shakespeareandcompany.com/books/beasts-of-englandListen to Alex Freiman's latest EP, In The Beginning: https://open.spotify.com/album/5iZYPMCUnG7xiCtsFCBlVa?si=h5x3FK1URq6SwH9Kb_SO3w Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The tectonic plates of America are shifting beneath our feet. Can you feel the tremors?I'm not talking about the foundations of our continent. I'm talking about the foundations our nation.Our continent is rock, soil, and water; mountains and prairies and oceans white with foam.Our nation is a people; a family that we love.And if I might continue quoting Kate Smith for a moment, we would be wise to ask God to, “stand beside her and guide her through the night with the light from above.”We feel the tremors of our unsteady family – our nation – not in our soles, but in our souls.I felt the tremors of the waning “Me” generation shift into the groupthink perspective of the “We” in 2003. To read my nascent ramblings about it, just go to MondayMorningMemo.com and type “1963 All Over Again” into the website search block. This will take you to my MondayMorningMemo for December 15, 2003.These are the important paragraphs:“AOL and Google.com are the Kerouac and Salinger of the new generation that will soon pry the torch from the hands of Boomers reluctant to let it go. Chuck Berry and Elvis Presley have become Tupac Shakur and Eminem, and the Baby Boomers' reaction to them is much like their own parents' reaction to Chuck and Elvis. But instead of saying, ‘Take a bath, cut your hair and get a job,' we're saying, ‘Pull those pants up, spin that cap around and wash your mouth out with soap.'“At the peak of the Baby Boom there were 74 million teenagers in America and radio carried a generation on its shoulders. Today there are 72 million teenagers that are about to take over the world. Do you understand what fuels their passions? Can you see the technological bonds that bind them?”“Baby Boomer heroes were always bigger than life, perfect icons, brash and beautiful: Muhammad Ali… Elvis… James Bond. But the emerging generation holds a different view of what makes a hero.”The only hard choice in life is the choice between two good things.Freedom and Responsibility are both good things. But like all dualities, they oppose each other. The more you have of one, the less you have of the other.All responsibility with no freedom makes you a slave. All freedom with no responsibility makes you a self-absorbed hedonist and an asshole.But I promised to tell you how to keep your balance during this earthquake, didn't I?Here's how to do it: remind yourself that different people perceive the world differently. They notice different things. They value different things. They live in their own private reality, and you live in yours.You are acutely aware of what you see that they do not, and you want to open their eyes.They are acutely aware of what they see that you do not, and they want to open your eyes.Both of you feel you are being attacked.I have a question for you: do the two of you have the courage to shut up and listen? Really listen? Can you muster enough courtesy and grace and self-restraint to share why you value what you value without disparaging or attacking what they value and why they value it?If both of you can do this, you will find your balance and quit hating each other.The birds will start singing, the flowers will bloom, a rainbow will appear, and everyone will laugh in joyous relief that the ugliness is finally over.As I look back on the events that have marked the previous 37 zeniths of the “We” generation that have occurred during the past 2,960 years (937 BC,) I realize that no one is likely to do this.But I thought I would give it a shot.Roy H. Williams50,000 new restaurants open in the United States each year, and most of them are...

Triple Triple Crowner LP "Lil' Buddha" Kiatoukaysy takes a brief break from the trail to drop into the Hiker Trash Radio studio. Fresh off the Eastern Continental Trail, Lil' Buddha, the son of Laotian immigrants with 55,000 trail miles under his belt, talks trail and a lot, lot more with Doc. Settle in and buckle up as Doc and Lil' Buddha cover a lot of ground, including his uncanny cold tolerance, HWAP, subversive acts, Kerouac, Dharma, 45 packets of ramen in a Jansport on the JMT, diversity on the trail, the evolution of thru hiking since 1995, flexing on rude motorists, the benefits of having a thru hiker boss, the Pangea Traverse, getting caught between battling grizzlies, and how to be the Executive of Nothing. Epic. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices