Podcasts about punish the birth

Hello Interactors,This week, the European Space Agency launched a satellite to "weigh" Earth's 1.5 trillion trees. It will give scientists deeper insight into forests and their role in the climate — far beyond surface readings. Pretty cool. And it's coming from Europe.Meanwhile, I learned that the U.S. Secretary of Defense — under Trump — had a makeup room installed in the Pentagon to look better on TV. Also pretty cool, I guess. And very American.The contrast was hard to miss. Even with better data, the U.S. shows little appetite for using geographic insight to actually address climate change. Information is growing. Willpower, not so much.So it was oddly clarifying to read a passage Christopher Hobson posted on Imperfect Notes from a book titled America by a French author — a travelogue of softs. Last week I offered new lenses through which to see the world, I figured I'd try this French pair on — to see America, and the world it effects, as he did.PAPER, POWER, AND PROJECTIONI still have a folded paper map of Seattle in the door of my car. It's a remnant of a time when physical maps reflected the reality before us. You unfolded a map and it innocently offered the physical world on a page. The rest was left to you — including knowing how to fold it up again.But even then, not all maps were neutral or necessarily innocent. Sure, they crowned capitals and trimmed borders, but they could also leave things out or would make certain claims. From empire to colony, from mission to market, maps often arrived not to reflect place, but to declare control of it. Still, we trusted it…even if was an illusion.I learned how to interrogate maps in my undergraduate history of cartography class — taught by the legendary cartographer Waldo Tobler. But even with that knowledge, when I was then taught how to make maps, that interrogation was more absent. I confidently believed I was mediating truth. The lines and symbols I used pointed to substance; they signaled a thing. I traced rivers from existing base maps with a pen on vellum and trusted they existed in the world as sure as the ink on the page. I cut out shading for a choropleth map and believed it told a stable story about population, vegetation, or economics. That trust was embodied in representation — the idea that a sign meant something enduring. That we could believe what maps told us.This is the world of semiotics — the study of how signs create meaning. American philosopher Charles Sanders Peirce offered a sturdy model: a sign (like a map line) refers to an object (the river), and its meaning emerges in interpretation. Meaning, in this view, is relational — but grounded. A stop sign, a national anthem, a border — they meant something because they pointed beyond themselves, to a world we shared.But there are cracks in this seemingly sturdy model.These cracks pose this question: why do we trust signs in the first place? That trust — in maps, in categories, in data — didn't emerge from neutrality. It was built atop agendas.Take the first U.S. census in 1790. It didn't just count — it defined. Categories like “free white persons,” “all other free persons,” and “slaves” weren't neutral. They were political tools, shaping who mattered and by how much. People became variables. Representation became abstraction.Or Carl Linnaeus, the 18th-century Swedish botanist who built the taxonomies we still use: genus, species, kingdom. His system claimed objectivity but was shaped by distance and empire. Linnaeus never left Sweden. He named what he hadn't seen, classified people he'd never met — sorting humans into racial types based on colonial stereotypes. These weren't observations. They were projections based on stereotypes gathered from travelers, missionaries, and imperial officials.Naming replaced knowing. Life was turned into labels. Biology became filing. And once abstracted, it all became governable, measurable, comparable, and, ultimately, manageable.Maps followed suit.What once lived as a symbolic invitation — a drawing of place — became a system of location. I was studying geography at a time (and place) when Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and GIScience was transforming cartography. Maps weren't just about visual representations; they were spatial databases. Rows, columns, attributes, and calculations took the place of lines and shapes on map. Drawing what we saw turned to abstracting what could then be computed so that it could then be visualized, yes, but also managed.Chris Perkins, writing on the philosophy of mapping, argued that digital cartographies didn't just depict the world — they constituted it. The map was no longer a surface to interpret, but a script to execute. As critical geographers Sam Hind and Alex Gekker argue, the modern “mapping impulse” isn't about understanding space — it's about optimizing behavior through it; in a world of GPS and vehicle automation, the map no longer describes the territory, it becomes it. Laura Roberts, writing on film and geography, showed how maps had fused with cinematic logic — where places aren't shown, but performed. Place and navigation became narrative. New York in cinema isn't a place — it's a performance of ambition, alienation, or energy. Geography as mise-en-scène.In other words, the map's loss of innocence wasn't just technical. It was ontological — a shift in the very nature of what maps are and what kind of reality they claim to represent. Geography itself had entered the domain of simulation — not representing space but staging it. You can simulate traveling anywhere in the world, all staged on Google maps. Last summer my son stepped off the train in Edinburgh, Scotland for the first time in his life but knew exactly where he was. He'd learned it driving on simulated streets in a simulated car on XBox. He walked us straight to our lodging.These shifts in reality over centuries weren't necessarily mistakes. They unfolded, emerged, or evolved through the rational tools of modernity — and for a time, they worked. For many, anyway. Especially for those in power, seeking power, or benefitting from it. They enabled trade, governance, development, and especially warfare. But with every shift came this question: at what cost?FROM SIGNS TO SPECTACLEAs early as the early 1900s, Max Weber warned of a world disenchanted by bureaucracy — a society where rationalization would trap the human spirit in what he called an iron cage. By mid-century, thinkers pushed this further.Michel Foucault revealed how systems of knowledge — from medicine to criminal justice — were entangled with systems of power. To classify was to control. To represent was to discipline. Roland Barthes dissected the semiotics of everyday life — showing how ads, recipes, clothing, even professional wrestling were soaked in signs pretending to be natural.Guy Debord, in the 1967 The Society of the Spectacle, argued that late capitalism had fully replaced lived experience with imagery. “The spectacle,” he wrote, “is not a collection of images, but a social relation among people, mediated by images.”Then came Jean Baudrillard — a French sociologist, media theorist, and provocateur — who pushed the critique of representation to its limit. In the 1980s, where others saw distortion, he saw substitution: signs that no longer referred to anything real. Most vividly, in his surreal, gleaming 1986 travelogue America, he described the U.S. not as a place, but as a performance — a projection without depth, still somehow running.Where Foucault showed that knowledge was power, and Debord showed that images replaced life, Baudrillard argued that signs had broken free altogether. A map might once distort or simplify — but it still referred to something real. By the late 20th century, he argued, signs no longer pointed to anything. They pointed only to each other.You didn't just visit Disneyland. You visited the idea of America — manufactured, rehearsed, rendered. You didn't just use money. You used confidence by handing over a credit card — a symbol of wealth that is lighter and moves faster than any gold.In some ways, he was updating a much older insight by another Frenchman. When Alexis de Tocqueville visited America in the 1830s, he wasn't just studying law or government — he was studying performance. He saw how Americans staged democracy, how rituals of voting and speech created the image of a free society even as inequality and exclusion thrived beneath it. Tocqueville wasn't cynical. He simply understood that America believed in its own image — and that belief gave it a kind of sovereign feedback loop.Baudrillard called this condition simulation — when representation becomes self-contained. When the distinction between real and fake no longer matters because everything is performance. Not deception — orchestration.He mapped four stages of this logic:* Faithful representation – A sign reflects a basic reality. A map mirrors the terrain.* Perversion of reality – The sign begins to distort. Think colonial maps as logos or exclusionary zoning.* Pretending to represent – The sign no longer refers to anything but performs as if it does. Disneyland isn't America — it's the fantasy of America. (ironically, a car-free America)* Pure simulation – The sign has no origin or anchor. It floats. Zillow heatmaps, Uber surge zones — maps that don't reflect the world, but determine how you move through it.We don't follow maps as they were once known anymore. We follow interfaces.And not just in apps. Cities themselves are in various stages of simulation. New York still sells itself as a global center. But in a distributed globalized and digitized economy, there is no center — only the perversion of an old reality. Paris subsidizes quaint storefronts not to nourish citizens, but to preserve the perceived image of Paris. Paris pretending to be Paris. Every city has its own marketing campaign. They don't manage infrastructure — they manage perception. The skyline is a product shot. The streetscape is marketing collateral and neighborhoods are optimized for search.Even money plays this game.The U.S. dollar wasn't always king. That title once belonged to the British pound — backed by empire, gold, and industry. After World War II, the dollar took over, pegged to gold under the Bretton Woods convention — a symbol of American postwar power stability…and perversion. It was forged in an opulent, exclusive, hotel in the mountains of New Hampshire. But designed in the style of Spanish Renaissance Revival, it was pretending to be in Spain. Then in 1971, Nixon snapped the dollar's gold tether. The ‘Nixon Shock' allowed the dollar to float — its value now based not on metal, but on trust. It became less a store of value than a vessel of belief. A belief that is being challenged today in ways that recall the instability and fragmentation of the pre-WWII era.And this dollar lives in servers, not Industrial Age iron vaults. It circulates as code, not coin. It underwrites markets, wars, and global finance through momentum alone. And when the pandemic hit, there was no digging into reserves.The Federal Reserve expanded its balance sheet with keystrokes — injecting trillions into the economy through bond purchases, emergency loans, and direct payments. But at the same time, Trump 1.0 showed printing presses rolling, stacks of fresh bills bundled and boxed — a spectacle of liquidity. It was monetary policy as theater. A simulation of control, staged in spreadsheets by the Fed and photo ops by the Executive Branch. Not to reflect value, but to project it. To keep liquidity flowing and to keep the belief intact.This is what Baudrillard meant by simulation. The sign doesn't lie — nor does it tell the truth. It just works — as long as we accept it.MOOD OVER MEANINGReality is getting harder to discern. We believe it to be solid — that it imposes friction. A law has consequences. A price reflects value. A city has limits. These things made sense because they resist us. Because they are real.But maybe that was just the story we told. Maybe it was always more mirage than mirror.Now, the signs don't just point to reality — they also replace it. We live in a world where the image outpaces the institution. Where the copy is smoother than the original. Where AI does the typing. Where meaning doesn't emerge — it arrives prepackaged and pre-viral. It's a kind of seductive deception. It's hyperreality where performance supersedes substance. Presence and posture become authority structured in style.Politics is not immune to this — it's become the main attraction.Trump's first 100 days didn't aim to stabilize or legislate but to signal. Deportation as UFC cage match — staged, brutal, and televised. Tariff wars as a way of branding power — chaos with a catchphrase. Climate retreat cast as perverse theater. Gender redefined and confined by executive memo. Birthright citizenship challenged while sedition pardoned. Even the Gulf of Mexico got renamed. These aren't policies, they're productions.Power isn't passing through law. It's passing through the affect of spectacle and a feed refresh.Baudrillard once wrote that America doesn't govern — it narrates. Trump doesn't manage policy, he manages mood. Like an actor. When America's Secretary of Defense, a former TV personality, has a makeup studio installed inside the Pentagon it's not satire. It's just the simulation, doing what it does best: shining under the lights.But this logic runs deeper than any single figure.Culture no longer unfolds. It reloads. We don't listen to the full album — we lift 10 seconds for TikTok. Music is made for algorithms. Fashion is filtered before it's worn. Selfhood is a brand channel. Identity is something to monetize, signal, or defend — often all at once.The economy floats too. Meme stocks. NFTs. Speculative tokens. These aren't based in value — they're based in velocity. Attention becomes the currency.What matters isn't what's true, but what trends. In hyperreality, reference gives way to rhythm. The point isn't to be accurate. The point is to circulate. We're not being lied to.We're being engaged. And this isn't a bug, it's a feature.Which through a Baudrillard lens is why America — the simulation — persists.He saw it early. Describing strip malls, highways, slogans, themed diners he saw an America that wasn't deep. That was its genius he saw. It was light, fast paced, and projected. Like the movies it so famously exports. It didn't need justification — it just needed repetition.And it's still repeating.Las Vegas is the cathedral of the logic of simulation — a city that no longer bothers pretending. But it's not alone. Every city performs, every nation tries to brand itself. Every policy rollout is scored like a product launch. Reality isn't navigated — it's streamed.And yet since his writing, the mood has shifted. The performance continues, but the music underneath it has changed. The techno-optimism of Baudrillard's ‘80s an ‘90s have curdled. What once felt expansive now feels recursive and worn. It's like a show running long after the audience has gone home. The rager has ended, but Spotify is still loudly streaming through the speakers.“The Kids' Guide to the Internet” (1997), produced by Diamond Entertainment and starring the unnervingly wholesome Jamison family. It captures a moment of pure techno-optimism — when the Internet was new, clean, and family-approved. It's not just a tutorial; it's a time capsule of belief, staged before the dream turned into something else. Before the feed began to feed on us.Trumpism thrives on this terrain. And yet the world is changing around it. Climate shocks, mass displacement, spiraling inequality — the polycrisis has a body count. Countries once anchored to American leadership are squinting hard now, trying to see if there's anything left behind the screen. Adjusting the antenna in hopes of getting a clearer signal. From Latin America to Southeast Asia to Europe, the question grows louder: Can you trust a power that no longer refers to anything outside itself?Maybe Baudrillard and Tocqueville are right — America doesn't point to a deeper truth. It points to itself. Again and again and again. It is the loop. And even now, knowing this, we can't quite stop watching. There's a reason we keep refreshing. Keep scrolling. Keep reacting. The performance persists — not necessarily because we believe in it, but because it's the only script still running.And whether we're horrified or entertained, complicit or exhausted, engaged or ghosted, hired or fired, immigrated or deported, one thing remains strangely true: we keep feeding it. That's the strange power of simulation in an attention economy. It doesn't need conviction. It doesn't need conscience. It just needs attention — enough to keep the momentum alive. The simulation doesn't care if the real breaks down. It just keeps rendering — soft, seamless, and impossible to look away from. Like a dream you didn't choose but can't wake up from.REFERENCESBarthes, R. (1972). Mythologies (A. Lavers, Trans.). Hill and Wang. (Original work published 1957)Baudrillard, J. (1986). America (C. Turner, Trans.). Verso.Debord, G. (1994). The Society of the Spectacle (D. Nicholson-Smith, Trans.). Zone Books. (Original work published 1967)Foucault, M. (1977). Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison (A. Sheridan, Trans.). Vintage Books.Hind, S., & Gekker, A. (2019). On autopilot: Towards a flat ontology of vehicular navigation. In C. Lukinbeal et al. (Eds.), Media's Mapping Impulse. Franz Steiner Verlag.Linnaeus, C. (1735). Systema Naturae (1st ed.). Lugduni Batavorum.Perkins, C. (2009). Philosophy and mapping. In R. Kitchin & N. Thrift (Eds.), International Encyclopedia of Human Geography. Elsevier.Raaphorst, K., Duchhart, I., & van der Knaap, W. (2017). The semiotics of landscape design communication. Landscape Research.Roberts, L. (2008). Cinematic cartography: Movies, maps and the consumption of place. In R. Koeck & L. Roberts (Eds.), Cities in Film: Architecture, Urban Space and the Moving Image. University of Liverpool.Tocqueville, A. de. (2003). Democracy in America (G. Lawrence, Trans., H. Mansfield & D. Winthrop, Eds.). University of Chicago Press. (Original work published 1835)Weber, M. (1958). The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism (T. Parsons, Trans.). Charles Scribner's Sons. (Original work published 1905) This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit interplace.io

[caption id="attachment_5359" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] "Dolmen de Menga entrance: Massive stone portal of 6,000-year-old Neolithic tomb in Antequera, Spain."[/caption][caption id="attachment_5354" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] "La Peña de los Enamorados: Distinctive mountain face aligned with Dolmen de Menga, resembling human profile."[/caption] Key Ideas: The invention of architecture during the Neolithic period marked a significant shift in human psychology and religion, creating a division between natural and man-made spaces and giving rise to new concepts of ownership, territoriality, and sacred spaces. The relationship between architecture and the awareness of death is explored, with the idea that built structures allowed humans to create a sense of permanence and continuity in the face of mortality. Neolithic dolmens and their alignment with the summer solstice may have played a crucial role in rituals related to death, the afterlife, and the cyclical nature of the cosmos. The astronomical alignment of the Dolmen de Menga is part of a larger pattern of archaeoastronomical significance in Neolithic monuments across Europe, suggesting a shared cosmological understanding among ancient societies. Neolithic art and architecture, including the use of red ochre and iron oxide paintings, may be linked to shamanic practices and altered states of consciousness. Peter Sloterdijk's theory of spheres is applied to understand the evolution of human spatial awareness and the desire to recreate protected, womb-like spaces through architecture. The fundamental nature of architecture and its role in human life is explored through various philosophical, psychological, and sociological perspectives. Adventure Time with My Daughter My daughter Violet likes the show Adventure Time. She loves mythology, creepy tombs, long dead civilizations and getting to be the first to explore and discover new things. I took my 6-year-old daughter to the Neolithic portal Tomb, or Dolmen, Dolmen de Menga in Antequera, while on a trip to Spain. This ancient megalithic monument, believed to be one of the oldest and largest in Europe, dates back to the 3rd millennium BCE. It is made of 8 ton slabs of stone that archaeologists have a passing idea of how ancient people moved. It has a well drilled through 20 meters of bedrock at the back of it and it is oriented so that the entrance faces a mountain that looks like a sleeping giant the ancient builders might have worshiped. All of this delighted my daughter. The dolmen's impressive architecture features massive stone slabs, some weighing up to 180 tons, forming a 25-meter-long corridor and a spacious chamber. Inside, a well adds to the mystery, possibly used for rituals or as a symbol of the underworld. What's truly fascinating is the dolmen's alignment with the nearby La Peña de los Enamorados mountain. During the summer solstice, the sun rises directly over the mountain, casting its first rays into the dolmen's entrance, illuminating the depths of the chamber. This astronomical alignment suggests the ancient builders had a sophisticated understanding of the cosmos. According to archaeoastronomical studies, the Dolmen de Menga might have served as a symbolic bridge between life and death, connecting the world of the living with the realm of the ancestors. The solstice alignment could have held great spiritual significance, marking a time of renewal, rebirth, and the eternal cycle of existence. Sharing this incredible experience with my daughter and witnessing her awe and curiosity as she felt the weight of boulders that men had moved by hand, is a moment I'll treasure forever.  I reminded her that every time she has seen a building, be it a school or a sky-scraper, it all started here with the birth of architecture, and maybe the birth of something else too. Thinking about prehistory is weird because thinking about the limits of our human understanding is trippy and prehistory is, by definition, before history and therefore written language, meaning we cant really know the subjective experience of anyone who was a part of it. Talking to a child about the limits of what we as a species do or can know are some of my favorite moments as a parent because they are opportunities to teach children the importance of curiosity, intuition and intellectual humility than many adults never learn. Watching Violet contemplate a time when mankind didn't have to tools or advanced scientific knowledge was a powerful moment when I saw her think so deeply about the humanity she was a part of. What the Invention of Architecture did to Psychology Anecdote of the Jar by Wallace Stevens I placed a jar in Tennessee, And round it was, upon a hill. It made the slovenly wilderness Surround that hill.   The wilderness rose up to it, And sprawled around, no longer wild. The jar was round upon the ground And tall and of a port in air.   It took dominion everywhere. The jar was gray and bare. It did not give of bird or bush, Like nothing else in Tennessee. Prior to the advent of architecture, the world was an undivided, seamless entity, with no clear boundaries between human habitation and the natural environment. The construction of dolmens and other architectural structures shattered this unified perception, creating a new paradigm in which humans actively shaped and claimed portions of the earth for their own purposes. This act of claiming space and erecting structures upon it represented a profound psychological shift, as humans began to assert their agency and control over their surroundings. The division of the world into natural and man-made spaces had far-reaching implications for human psychology. It fostered a sense of ownership and territoriality, as individuals and communities began to identify with and attach meaning to the spaces they created. This attachment to claimed spaces gave rise to new concepts of home, belonging, and identity, which were intimately tied to the built environment. Simultaneously, the unclaimed, natural world began to be perceived as a separate entity, one that existed beyond the boundaries of human control and understanding. The impact of this division on religion was equally profound. The creation of man-made spaces, such as dolmens, provided a tangible manifestation of human agency and the ability to shape the world according to human beliefs and desires. These structures became sacred spaces, imbued with religious and spiritual significance, where rituals and ceremonies could be performed. The separation of natural and man-made spaces also gave rise to new religious concepts, such as the idea of sacred and profane spaces, and the belief in the ability of humans to create and manipulate the divine through architectural means. The significance of this division between natural and man-made spaces is beautifully captured in Wallace Stevens' anecdote of the jar. In this short poem, Stevens describes placing a jar in a wilderness, which "took dominion everywhere." The jar, a man-made object, transforms the natural landscape around it, asserting human presence and control over the untamed wilderness. This simple act of placing a jar in the wild encapsulates the profound psychological and religious implications of the invention of architecture. The jar represents the human impulse to claim and shape space, to impose order and meaning upon the chaos of the natural world. It symbolizes the division between the natural and the man-made, and the way in which human creations can alter our perception and understanding of the world around us. Just as the jar takes dominion over the wilderness, the invention of architecture during the Neolithic period forever changed the way humans perceive and interact with their environment, shaping our psychology and religious beliefs in ways that continue to resonate to this day. The Relationship of Architecture to the Awareness of Death Robert Pogue Harrison, a professor of Italian literature and cultural history, has written extensively about the relationship between architecture, human psychology, and our understanding of death. In his book "The Dominion of the Dead," Harrison explores how the invention of architecture fundamentally altered human consciousness and our attitude towards mortality. According to Harrison, the creation of built structures marked a significant shift in human psychology. Before architecture, early humans lived in a world where the natural environment was dominant, and death was an ever-present reality. The invention of architecture allowed humans to create a sense of permanence and stability in the face of the transient nature of life. By constructing buildings and monuments, humans could create a physical manifestation of their existence that would outlast their individual lives. This allowed for a sense of continuity and the ability to leave a lasting mark on the world. Harrison argues that architecture became a way for humans to assert their presence and create a symbolic defense against the inevitability of death. Moreover, Harrison suggests that the invention of architecture gave rise to the concept of the "afterlife." By creating tombs, pyramids, and other burial structures, humans could imagine a realm where the dead continued to exist in some form. These architectural spaces served as a bridge between the world of the living and the world of the dead, providing a sense of connection and continuity. Harrison also argues that architecture played a crucial role in the development of human culture and collective memory. Buildings and monuments became repositories for shared histories, myths, and values. They served as physical anchors for cultural identity and helped to create a sense of belonging and shared purpose among communities. However, Harrison also notes that architecture can have a complex relationship with death. While it can provide a sense of permanence and a symbolic defense against mortality, it can also serve as a reminder of our own impermanence. The ruins of ancient civilizations and the decay of once-great buildings can evoke a sense of melancholy and serve as a testament to the ultimate transience of human existence. Death and Ritual through Architecture Recent archaeological findings have shed light on the potential significance of the alignment of Neolithic dolmens with the summer solstice. These ancient stone structures, found throughout Europe and beyond, have long been shrouded in mystery. However, the precise positioning of these megalithic tombs suggests that they may have played a crucial role in Stone Age rituals related to death, the afterlife, and the cyclical nature of the cosmos. On the day of the summer solstice, when the sun reaches its highest point in the sky and casts its longest rays, a remarkable phenomenon occurs within certain dolmens. The light penetrates through the narrow entrance, illuminating the interior chamber and reaching the furthest recesses of the tomb. This alignment, achieved with great intentionality and skill, has led archaeologists to speculate about the beliefs and practices of the Neolithic people who constructed these monumental structures. One theory suggests that the dolmens served as portals for the souls of the deceased to ascend to the heavenly bodies. The sun, often revered as a divine entity in ancient cultures, may have been seen as the ultimate destination for the spirits of the dead. By aligning the dolmen with the solstice, the Neolithic people perhaps believed that they were creating a direct pathway for the souls to reach the sun and achieve a form of celestial immortality. Another interpretation posits that the solstice alignment was a way to honor and commemorate the dead. The penetrating light, reaching the innermost chamber of the dolmen, could have been seen as a symbolic reunion between the living and the deceased. This annual event may have served as a time for the community to gather, pay respects to their ancestors, and reaffirm the enduring bond between the generations. Furthermore, the cyclical nature of the solstice, marking the longest day of the year and the subsequent return of shorter days, may have held profound symbolic meaning for the Neolithic people. The alignment of the dolmen with this celestial event could have been interpreted as a representation of the cycle of life, death, and rebirth. Just as the sun reaches its peak and then begins its descent, the dolmen's illumination on the solstice may have symbolized the passage from life to death and the promise of eventual renewal. While we may never know with certainty the exact beliefs and rituals associated with the Neolithic dolmens and their solstice alignment, the structures themselves stand as testaments to the ingenuity, astronomical knowledge, and spiritual convictions of our ancient ancestors. The precision and effort required to construct these megalithic tombs and align them with the heavens suggest a deep reverence for the dead and a belief in the interconnectedness of life, death, and the cosmos. The Astronomical Alignment of the Dolmen de Menga and Its Broader Significance The astronomical alignment of the Dolmen de Menga with the summer solstice sunrise is not an isolated phenomenon, but rather part of a larger pattern of archaeoastronomical significance in Neolithic monuments across Europe and beyond. Many megalithic structures, such as Newgrange in Ireland and Maeshowe in Scotland, have been found to have precise alignments with solar and lunar events, suggesting that the ancient builders had a sophisticated understanding of the movements of celestial bodies and incorporated this knowledge into their architectural designs. The alignment of the Dolmen de Menga with the summer solstice sunrise may have held profound symbolic and ritual significance for the Neolithic community that built and used the structure. The solstice, as a moment of transition and renewal in the natural cycle of the year, could have been associated with themes of rebirth, fertility, and the regeneration of life. The penetration of the sun's first rays into the inner chamber of the dolmen on this date may have been seen as a sacred union between the celestial and terrestrial realms, a moment of cosmic alignment and heightened spiritual potency. The incorporation of astronomical alignments into Neolithic monuments across Europe suggests that these ancient societies had a shared cosmological understanding and a deep reverence for the cycles of the sun, moon, and stars. The construction of megalithic structures like the Dolmen de Menga can be seen as an attempt to harmonize human activity with the larger rhythms of the cosmos, creating a sense of unity and connection between people and the natural and celestial worlds they inhabited. Originally these structures were probably lovingly adorned with paint and patterns. This paint was usually made of red ochre and iron oxide.  We know that because the paintings that are left in Iberia are made of these materials and the extremely few neolithic portal tombs that were protected from the elements still have geographic markings.   [caption id="attachment_5367" align="aligncenter" width="715"] Here is me hiking up to look at some iron oxide neolithic paintings[/caption][caption id="attachment_5365" align="aligncenter" width="605"] Here is a little guy made out of iron oxide who is about six thousand years old[/caption][caption id="attachment_5372" align="aligncenter" width="466"] The 4th millennium BC painting inside the Dolmen Anta de Antelas in Iberia[/caption]   Some researchers, such as David Lewis-Williams and Thomas Dowson, have proposed that the geometric patterns and designs found in Neolithic art and architecture may represent the visions experienced by shamans during altered states of consciousness. Other scholars, like Michael Winkelman, argue that shamanism played a crucial role in the development of early human cognition and social organization. According to this theory, the construction of sacred spaces like the Dolmen de Menga may have been closely tied to the practices and beliefs of shaman cults, who served as intermediaries between the physical and spiritual realms. What is Architecture: Why did we invent it? Philosopher, Peter Sloterdijk's theory of spheres, particularly his concept of the first primal globe and its subsequent splitting, offers an intriguing framework for understanding the evolution of human spatial awareness and its manifestations in art and architecture. Sloterdijk's "spherology" posits that human existence is fundamentally about creating and inhabiting spheres - protected, intimate spaces that provide both physical and psychological shelter. The "first primal globe" in his theory refers to the womb, the original protected space that humans experience. According to Sloterdijk, the trauma of birth represents a splitting of this primal sphere, leading humans to constantly seek to recreate similar protective environments throughout their lives and cultures. This concept of sphere-creation and inhabitation can be seen as a driving force behind much of human culture and architecture. Applying this framework to Neolithic architecture like dolmens and portal tombs, we might interpret these structures as attempts to recreate protected, womb-like spaces on a larger scale. These stone structures, with their enclosed spaces and narrow entrances, could be seen as physical manifestations of the desire to recreate the security and intimacy of the "primal sphere" and our universal interaction with it through the archetype of birth. In the Neolithic period, the world was perceived as an undifferentiated sphere, where the sacred and the secular were intimately intertwined. The concept of separate realms for the divine and the mundane had not yet emerged, and the universe was experienced as a single, all-encompassing reality. In this context, the creation of the earliest permanent architecture, such as portal tombs, represents a significant milestone in human history, marking the beginning of a fundamental shift in how humans understood and organized their environment. Portal tombs, also known as dolmens, are among the most enigmatic and captivating architectural structures of the Neolithic era. These megalithic monuments, consisting of large upright stones supporting a massive horizontal capstone, have puzzled and intrigued researchers and visitors alike for centuries. While their exact purpose remains a subject of debate, many scholars believe that portal tombs played a crucial role in the emergence of the concept of sacred space and the demarcation of the secular and the divine. Mircea Eliade. In his seminal work, "The Sacred and the Profane," Eliade argues that the creation of sacred space is a fundamental aspect of human religiosity, serving to distinguish the realm of the divine from the ordinary world of everyday existence. He suggests that the construction of portal tombs and other megalithic structures in the Neolithic period represents an early attempt to create a liminal space between the sacred and the secular, a threshold where humans could encounter the numinous and connect with the spiritual realm. Remember that this was the advent of the most basic technology, or as Slotedijik might label it, anthropotechnics. The idea that sacred and secular space could even be separated was itself a technological invention, or rather made possible because of one. Anthropotechnics refers to the various practices, techniques, and systems humans use to shape, train, and improve themselves. It encompasses the methods by which humans attempt to modify their biological, psychological, and social conditions. The Nature of Architecture and Its Fundamental Role in Human Life Architecture, at its core, is more than merely the design and construction of buildings. It is a profound expression of human creativity, culture, and our relationship with the world around us. Throughout history, scholars and theorists have sought to unravel the fundamental nature of architecture and its impact on the human experience. By examining various theories and perspectives, we can gain a deeper understanding of the role that architecture plays in shaping our lives and the societies in which we live. One of the most influential thinkers to explore the essence of architecture was the philosopher Hannah Arendt. In her work, Arendt emphasized the importance of the built environment in creating a sense of stability, permanence, and shared experience in human life. She argued that architecture serves as a tangible manifestation of the human capacity for creation and the desire to establish a lasting presence in the world. Arendt's ideas highlight the fundamental role that architecture plays in providing a physical framework for human existence. By creating spaces that endure over time, architecture allows us to anchor ourselves in the world and develop a sense of belonging and continuity. It serves as a backdrop against which the drama of human life unfolds, shaping our experiences, memories, and interactions with others. Other theorists, such as Martin Heidegger and Gaston Bachelard, have explored the philosophical and psychological dimensions of architecture. Heidegger, in his essay "Building Dwelling Thinking," argued that the act of building is intimately connected to the human experience of dwelling in the world. He suggested that architecture is not merely a matter of creating functional structures, but rather a means of establishing a meaningful relationship between individuals and their environment. Bachelard, in his book "The Poetics of Space," delved into the emotional and imaginative aspects of architecture. He explored how different spaces, such as homes, attics, and basements, evoke specific feelings and memories, shaping our inner lives and sense of self. Bachelard's ideas highlight the powerful psychological impact that architecture can have on individuals, serving as a catalyst for introspection, creativity, and self-discovery. From a sociological perspective, theorists like Henri Lefebvre and Michel Foucault have examined the ways in which architecture reflects and reinforces power structures and social hierarchies. Lefebvre, in his book "The Production of Space," argued that architecture is not merely a neutral container for human activity, but rather a product of social, political, and economic forces. He suggested that the design and organization of space can perpetuate inequality, segregation, and control, shaping the way individuals and communities interact with one another. Foucault, in his work on disciplinary institutions such as prisons and hospitals, explored how architecture can be used as a tool for surveillance, regulation, and the exercise of power. His ideas highlight the potential for architecture to serve as an instrument of social control, influencing behavior and shaping the lives of those who inhabit or interact with the built environment. By engaging with the diverse theories and perspectives on architecture, we can develop a more nuanced understanding of its role in shaping the human experience. From the philosophical insights of Arendt and Heidegger to the psychological explorations of Bachelard and the sociological critiques of Lefebvre and Foucault, each perspective offers a unique lens through which to examine the essence of architecture and its impact on our lives. As we continue to grapple with the challenges of an increasingly urbanized and globalized world, the study of architecture and its fundamental nature becomes more important than ever. By unlocking the secrets of this ancient and enduring art form, we may find new ways to create spaces that nurture the human spirit, foster connection and belonging, and shape a built environment that truly reflects our highest values and aspirations. Violet's Encounter with the Dolmen It is a common misconception to think of children as blank slates, mere tabula rasas upon which culture and experience inscribe themselves. In truth, children are born with the same primal unconscious that has been part of the human psyche since prehistory. They are simply closer to this wellspring of archetypes, instincts, and imaginative potentials than most adults, who have learned to distance themselves from it through the construction of a rational, bounded ego. While I talked to the archaeologist on site of the Dolmen de Menga, I saw the that these rituals and symbols are still alive in the unconscious of modern children just as they were in the stone age. I looked at the ground to see that Violet was instinctually making a little Dolmen out of dirt. My daughter Violet's recent fear of the dark illustrates this innate connection to the primal unconscious. When she wakes up afraid in the middle of the night, I try to reassure her by explaining that the shadows that loom in the darkness are nothing more than parts of herself that she does not yet know how to understand yet or integrate. They are manifestations of the unknown, the numinous, the archetypal - all those aspects of the psyche that can be terrifying in their raw power and otherness, but that also hold the keys to creativity, transformation, and growth. Violet intuitively understands this link between fear and creativity. She has begun using the very things that frighten her as inspiration for her storytelling and artwork, transmuting her nighttime terrors into imaginative narratives and symbols. This process of turning the raw materials of the unconscious into concrete expressions is a perfect microcosm of the way in which art and architecture have always functioned for humans - as ways of both channeling and containing the primal energies that surge within us. When Violet walked through the Dolmen de Menga and listened to the archaeologist's explanations of how it was built, something in her immediately responded with recognition and understanding. The dolmen's construction - the careful arrangement of massive stones to create an enduring sacred space - made intuitive sense to her in a way that it might not for an adult more removed from the primal architect within. I see this same impulse in Violet whenever we go to the park and she asks me where she can build something that will last forever. Her structures made of sticks and stones by the riverbank, where the groundskeepers will not disturb them, are her way of creating something permanent and visible - her own small monuments to the human drive to make a mark on the world and to shape our environment into a reflection of our inner reality. By exploring the origins of architecture in monuments like the Dolmen de Menga, we can gain insight into the universal human impulse to create meaning, order, and beauty in the built environment. The megalithic structures of the Neolithic period represent some of the earliest and most impressive examples of human creativity and ingenuity applied to the shaping of space and the creation of enduring cultural landmarks. Moreover, studying the astronomical alignments and symbolic significance of ancient monuments can shed light on the fundamental human desire to connect with the larger cosmos and to find our place within the grand cycles of nature and the universe. The incorporation of celestial events into the design and use of structures like the Dolmen de Menga reflects a profound awareness of the interconnectedness of human life with the wider world, a theme that continues to resonate in the art and architecture of cultures throughout history. [caption id="attachment_5361" align="alignnone" width="2560"] Here is my explorer buddy[/caption] Bibliography Arendt, H. (1958). The Human Condition. University of Chicago Press. Bachelard, G. (1994). The Poetics of Space. Beacon Press. Belmonte, J. A., & Hoskin, M. (2002). Reflejo del cosmos: atlas de arqueoastronomía del Mediterráneo antiguo. Equipo Sirius. Criado-Boado, F., & Villoch-Vázquez, V. (2000). Monumentalizing landscape: from present perception to the past meaning of Galician megalithism (north-west Iberian Peninsula). European Journal of Archaeology, 3(2), 188-216. Edinger, E. F. (1984). The Creation of Consciousness: Jung's Myth for Modern Man. Inner City Books. Eliade, M. (1959). The Sacred and the Profane: The Nature of Religion. Harcourt, Brace & World. Foucault, M. (1975). Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison. Vintage Books. Heidegger, M. (1971). Building Dwelling Thinking. In Poetry, Language, Thought. Harper & Row. Jung, C. G. (1968). The Archetypes and the Collective Unconscious. Princeton University Press. Lefebvre, H. (1991). The Production of Space. Blackwell. Lewis-Williams, D., & Dowson, T. A. (1988). The signs of all times: entoptic phenomena in Upper Palaeolithic art. Current Anthropology, 29(2), 201-245. Márquez-Romero, J. E., & Jiménez-Jáimez, V. (2010). Prehistoric Enclosures in Southern Iberia (Andalusia): La Loma Del Real Tesoro (Seville, Spain) and Its Resources. Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society, 76, 357-374. Neumann, E. (1954). The Origins and History of Consciousness. Princeton University Press. Rappenglueck, M. A. (1998). Palaeolithic Shamanistic Cosmography: How Is the Famous Rock Picture in the Shaft of the Lascaux Grotto to be Decoded?. Artepreistorica, 5, 43-75. Ruggles, C. L. (2015). Handbook of Archaeoastronomy and Ethnoastronomy. Springer. Sloterdijk, P. (2011). Bubbles: Spheres Volume I: Microspherology. Semiotext(e). Sloterdijk, P. (2014). Globes: Spheres Volume II: Macrospherology. Semiotext(e). Sloterdijk, P. (2016). Foams: Spheres Volume III: Plural Spherology. Semiotext(e). Turner, V. (1969). The Ritual Process: Structure and Anti-Structure. Aldine Publishing Company. Winkelman, M. (2010). Shamanism: A Biopsychosocial Paradigm of Consciousness and Healing. Praeger. Further Reading: Belmonte, J. A. (1999). Las leyes del cielo: astronomía y civilizaciones antiguas. Temas de Hoy. Bradley, R. (1998). The Significance of Monuments: On the Shaping of Human Experience in Neolithic and Bronze Age Europe. Routledge. Devereux, P. (2001). The Sacred Place: The Ancient Origins of Holy and Mystical Sites. Cassell & Co. Gimbutas, M. (1989). The Language of the Goddess. Harper & Row. Harding, A. F. (2003). European Societies in the Bronze Age. Cambridge University Press. Hoskin, M. (2001). Tombs, Temples and Their Orientations: A New Perspective on Mediterranean Prehistory. Ocarina Books. Ingold, T. (2000). The Perception of the Environment: Essays on Livelihood, Dwelling and Skill. Routledge. Norberg-Schulz, C. (1980). Genius Loci: Towards a Phenomenology of Architecture. Rizzoli. Renfrew, C., & Bahn, P. (2016). Archaeology: Theories, Methods, and Practice. Thames & Hudson. Scarre, C. (2002). Monuments and Landscape in Atlantic Europe: Perception and Society During the Neolithic and Early Bronze Age. Routledge. Sherratt, A. (1995). Instruments of Conversion? The Role of Megaliths in the Mesolithic/Neolithic Transition in Northwest Europe. Oxford Journal of Archaeology, 14(3), 245-260. Tilley, C. (1994). A Phenomenology of Landscape: Places, Paths and Monuments. Berg. Tilley, C. (2010). Interpreting Landscapes: Geologies, Topographies, Identities. Left Coast Press. Twohig, E. S. (1981). The Megalithic Art of Western Europe. Clarendon Press. Watkins, A. (1925). The Old Straight Track: Its Mounds, Beacons, Moats, Sites, and Mark Stones. Methuen. Whittle, A. (1996). Europe in the Neolithic: The Creation of New Worlds. Cambridge University Press. Wilson, P. J. (1988). The Domestication of the Human Species. Yale University Press. Zubrow, E. B. W. (1994). Cognitive Archaeology Reconsidered. In The Ancient Mind: Elements of Cognitive Archaeology. Cambridge University Press. Zvelebil, M. (1986). Hunters in Transition: Mesolithic Societies of Temperate Eurasia and Their Transition to Farming. Cambridge University Press. Zvelebil, M., & Jordan, P. (1999). Hunter-Fisher-Gatherer Ritual Landscapes: Spatial Organisation, Social Structure and Ideology Among Hunter-Gatherers of Northern Europe and Western Siberia. Archaeopress.

A new episode of Off Center in which Scott and Mathias Klang, a lawyer and professor at Fordham University, talk about surveillance microcosms and how spying is shaping our lives.   In this episode, Scott and Jhave, a previous guest on Off Center, give the first 5-minute AI update. Sign up for ⁠⁠⁠the CDN newsletter⁠⁠⁠ here. References Rettberg, Jill Walker. 2024. Machine Vision: How Algorithms Are Changing the Way We See the World. Cambridge, UK: Polity Press.  Bentham, Jeremy, 1748-1832. 1995. The Panopticon Writings. London; New York: Verso.  Orwell, George. 1949. 1984. England: Secker & Warburg.  Foucault, Michel. 1977. Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison. New York: Pantheon Books.  Suno Inc. 2024. Suno AI. https://www.suno.ai/.  Johnston, D. J. 2018. ReRites. Anteism Books. https://glia.ca/rerites/.  Forsgren, Seth & Hayk Martiros. 2022. Riffusion. https://www.riffusion.com/.   sp0n, Inc. 2017. Citizen. Android & iOS. 

“SHAME ON YOU!” It seems the whole world is constantly screaming these words at us. “You are unworthy, invalid, inferior.”This episode takes place at the gym, and I speak about shame and my theories on its origins in human history. I then add my take on it as an unhealthy and unnatural emotion, and definitely not an effective one.This one's long and filled with some academic references. I've added a bibliography below. I've also created a Guide on my Instagram (@khanyis.isibhakabhaka). Otherwise, enjoy. And feel free to shoot me a DM with your own opinions or arguments on this.With loveKhanReference listWays of Seeing by John BergerThe video of the BBC production "Ways of Seeing" (Episode 2): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JU_RToLqOsADiscipline and Punish : The Birth of the Prison by Michel FoucaultVisual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema by Laura Mulvey. pp. 6-18Peter A Levine, PhD on Shame - Interview by Caryn Scotto D'Luzia: https://youtu.be/i2CN5nhmfxkNot mentioned:Performative Acts and Gender Constitution: An Essay in Phenomenology and Feminist Theory, by Judith Butler. Available: https://www.jstor.org/stable/3207893Men, Women and Worthiness: The Experience of Shame and the Power of Being Enough by Bree BrownThe Diamond Net. Shame and the Shadow (Shame and Love Series 2): https://youtu.be/gfNLCNM4WJ8... Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Charles and Aaron sit down with John Hirschauer to discuss the history of mental institutions and the implications of deinstitutionalization. Recommendations: Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes Discipline & Punish: The Birth of the Prison by Michel Foucault The Insanity Offense: How America's Failure to Treat the Seriously Mentally Ill Endangers Its Citizens by E. Fuller Torrey Questions? Comments? Email us at institutionalized@nebulouspodcasts.com

The Grind is a series of interviews with young scholars and PhD students on the many ways of "making a way" in the theological academy, and all the trials and joys therein. Cody Bivins-Starr is a PhD student in theological ethics at the University of Aberdeen and is writing his dissertation on a theology of madness under the direction of Dr. Brian Brock. In this interview for our podcast series, The Grind, Cody and I talk about applying to PhD programs, dissertation research, PhD supervisors, and much more. PODCAST LINKS: Blog post: https://wipfandstock.com/blog/2023/01/24/the-grind-cody-bivins-starr-on-considering-madness-theologically-picking-a-phd-supervisor-and-researching-for-a-dissertation/ Cody's academia.edu page: https://aberdeen.academia.edu/CodyBivinsStarr The Tao of Tea (Portland, OR): https://taooftea.com/ Sisters of the Road (Portland, OR): https://sistersoftheroad.org/ CONNECT: Website: https://wipfandstock.com/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/wipfandstock Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/wipfandstock Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wipfandstock/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvht9V0Pndgvwh5vkpe0GGw SOURCES MENTIONED: Barth, Karl. Church Dogmatics II.2: The Doctrine of God. Brock, Brian. “Parenting as political resistance: Disability and ‘dealing with' late-modern medicine.” Fanon, Frantz. The Psychiatric Writings from Alienation and Freedom. ———. The Wretched of the Earth. Foucault, Michel. The Birth of Biopolitics: Lectures at the Collège de France, 1978–1979. ———. Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison. ———. Madness and Civilization: A History of Insanity in the Age of Reason. OUTLINE: (01:28) – Assam tea and espresso tonic (03:08) – From Grudem to Hauerwas to Barth and Bonhoeffer (06:43) – Barth and political theology (09:38) – Assemblies of God – Anglican – Mennonite (16:36) – A theological account of madness (23:04) – Picking a PhD program/supervisor (30:53) – Pros and cons of PhD programs in the UK (37:09) – Pains and joys of the PhD process (44:08) – Reading non-theological sources (50:45) – Mapping life post-PhD (55:31) – Advice for prospective PhD students

A reading by host Rick Whitaker of the opening pages of Michel Foucault's 1975 magnum opus Surveiller et Punir: Naissance de la prison translated by Alan Sheridan as Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison published in 1977 by Pantheon Books. "On 2 March 1757 Damiens the regicide was condemned 'to make the amende honorable before the main door of the Church of Paris', where he was to be 'taken and conveyed in a cart, wearing nothing but a shirt, holding a torch of burning wax weighing two pounds'; then, 'in said cart, to the Place de Greve, where, on a scaffold that will be erected there, the flesh will be torn from his breasts, arms, thighs and calves with red-hot pincers...." Music by Brad Garton. Support the show

About our Guests:Dr David Lyonhttps://www.sscqueens.org/people/david-lyonVanessa Henrihttps://www.linkedin.com/in/vanessahenri Papers or resources mentioned in this episode:Beyond Big Data Surveillance: Freedom and Fairnesshttps://www.sscqueens.org/news/beyond-big-data-surveillance-report-released David Lyon (1994) Electronic Eye: The Rise of Surveillance Societyhttps://www.goodreads.com/book/show/237851.Electronic_EyeDavid Lyon (2001) Surveillance Society: Monitoring Everyday Lifehttps://www.goodreads.com/book/show/237855.Surveillance_SocietyDavid Lyon (2018) The Culture of Surveillance: Watching as a Way of Lifehttps://www.goodreads.com/book/show/36739405-the-culture-of-surveillanceDavid Lyon (2022) Pandemic Surveillancehttps://www.politybooks.com/bookdetail?book_slug=pandemic-surveillance--9781509550302Michel Foucault (1975) Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prisonhttps://www.goodreads.com/book/show/80369.Discipline_and_PunishSmith, Richard Angus (2015) Spying and Surveillance in Shakespeare's Dramatic Courts (Ph.D Thesis)https://ses.library.usyd.edu.au/handle/2123/11591Other:History of Henry VAct 2, Scene 2DUKE OF BEDFORD: The king hath note of all that they intend,By interception which they dream not of.https://www.opensourceshakespeare.org/views/plays/play_view.php?WorkID=henry5&Act=2&Scene=2&Scope=sceneThe Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of DenmarkAct 3, Scene 1KING CLAUDIUS:Her father and myself, lawful espials,Will so bestow ourselves that, seeing, unseen,We may of their encounter frankly judge,And gather by him, as he is behaved,If 't be the affliction of his love or noThat thus he suffers for.http://shakespeare.mit.edu/hamlet/hamlet.3.1.html

About our Guests:Dr David Lyonhttps://www.sscqueens.org/people/david-lyonVanessa Henrihttps://www.linkedin.com/in/vanessahenri Papers or resources mentioned in this episode:Beyond Big Data Surveillance: Freedom and Fairnesshttps://www.sscqueens.org/news/beyond-big-data-surveillance-report-released David Lyon (1994) Electronic Eye: The Rise of Surveillance Societyhttps://www.goodreads.com/book/show/237851.Electronic_EyeDavid Lyon (2001) Surveillance Society: Monitoring Everyday Lifehttps://www.goodreads.com/book/show/237855.Surveillance_SocietyDavid Lyon (2018) The Culture of Surveillance: Watching as a Way of Lifehttps://www.goodreads.com/book/show/36739405-the-culture-of-surveillanceDavid Lyon (2022) Pandemic Surveillancehttps://www.politybooks.com/bookdetail?book_slug=pandemic-surveillance--9781509550302Michel Foucault (1975) Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prisonhttps://www.goodreads.com/book/show/80369.Discipline_and_PunishSmith, Richard Angus (2015) Spying and Surveillance in Shakespeare's Dramatic Courts (Ph.D Thesis)https://ses.library.usyd.edu.au/handle/2123/11591Other:History of Henry VAct 2, Scene 2DUKE OF BEDFORD: The king hath note of all that they intend,By interception which they dream not of.https://www.opensourceshakespeare.org/views/plays/play_view.php?WorkID=henry5&Act=2&Scene=2&Scope=scene The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of DenmarkAct 3, Scene 1KING CLAUDIUS:Her father and myself, lawful espials,Will so bestow ourselves that, seeing, unseen,We may of their encounter frankly judge,And gather by him, as he is behaved,If 't be the affliction of his love or noThat thus he suffers for.http://shakespeare.mit.edu/hamlet/hamlet.3.1.html  

Bodyscapes of Power https://www.shopkanibal.com/ (The Radical Secular is sponsored in part by Kanibal & Co.) (00:00) Intro and T-Shirts (05:34) Why have we accepted intersex surgeries that mutilate children? Modernism recognized that traditions often brutalized the body. Post-modernism as a reaction against the failures of modernism to prevent the atrocities of the 20th century. Teasing apart the contradictions between the emancipatory and reactionary aspects of both modernism and postmodernism. (12:53) Architecture and design and the tension between traditional, modern and postmodern styles. Sameness vs. minimalism and simplicity. (24:19) Michel Foucault. The modern state and its controls on the body, along with its capacity for liberation. The shadow side of modernism. Balancing majority rule with minority rights. De facto vs. de jure oppression. Why do we still tolerate male circumcision? Right wing attacks on the body, generally. Karl Marx as an enlightenment thinker. The increase in the subtlety of bodily oppression. (43:02) Focus on property and individual rights was a reaction against totalitarian feudalism. But now, property rights under neoliberalism are pushing us back toward feudalism--the marriage of corporate and state power. Rejection of modernity as a misdirected reaction against the excesses of capitalism. The contradictions of Ayn Rand. (54:32) The US was founded in resistance against tyranny, but the modern right has now changed their definition of tyranny to include any broad-based protections against oppression. The power of markets to support the public good vs. the oppression of unfettered capitalism. Post-liberalism as a systemic approach focused on outcomes. (01:04:44) Biopolitics. The point of the spear is the freedom of the body. Foucault's panopticon and surveillance. Non-violent control. The illusion of choice. How legal and human rights frameworks can blunt surveillance, and David Brin's "sousveillance." The downsides of privacy. (01:14:51) The institutionalization of backward and traditional ideas about the body. The compounding problems of encoding of prejudices and hierarchies in AI. The standardization of the white male body type, to the exclusion of the unique bodily concerns of women and POC, everything from temperature norms, to the minimization of the pain of menstruation. Challenging oppressive truths, without falling into relativism. The reactionary co-opting of the narratives of liberation, and the use of state power. A return to science, the downranking of personal opinion. Edward Bernays 1928 seminal work on "Propaganda." (01:33:56) Post-truth regimes break down the connection to rationality, but enthusiastically use all the modern apparatus of state power to enforce their manufactured "truths." Parallels between Soviet methods of oppression / indoctrination using citizens to inform on each other, and the modern GOP with their bounty laws and kids ratting out teachers. Policy differences pale into insignificance, compared to protecting democracy itself. (01:45:57) A postliberal mission statement. Labor unions. Wrapup and outro. ______________________________ Show notes: https://www.hrw.org/report/2017/07/25/i-want-be-nature-made-me/medically-unnecessary-surgeries-intersex-children-us (“I Want to Be Like Nature Made Me” Medically Unnecessary Surgeries on Intersex Children in the US) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Discipline_and_Punish (Michel Foucault. Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison) ______________________________ https://www.patreon.com/theradicalsecular (Patreon) https://www.theradicalsecular.com/ (Website) Email: theradicalsecular@gmail.com Instagram: @radical_secular https://www.facebook.com/theradicalsecular (Facebook) Twitter: @RadicalSecular https://the-radical-secular.captivate.fm/ (Podcast) All standard podcast venues: Apple, Google, Stitcher, Amazon, Gaana, Saavn

Dorian has started working at Rikers Island Correctional Facility as RMAS Arts Program Coordinator. In this episode, he talks about developing music therapy-based programs to help incarcerated persons cope with their current situation....Forensic Music Therapy: A Treatment for Men and Women in Secure Hospital Settings by Stella Compton Dickinsonhttps://www.amazon.com/Forensic-Music-Therapy-Treatment-Hospital/dp/1849052522The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexanderhttps://newjimcrow.com/about/buyThe Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America by Richard Rothsteinh]]ttps://www.epi.org/publication/the-color-of-law-a-forgotten-history-of-how-our-government-segregated-america/Discipline & Punish: The Birth of the Prison by Michel Foucaulthttps://www.amazon.com/Discipline-Punish-Prison-Michel-Foucault/dp/0679752552So Many Tears by Tupac Shakurhttps://genius.com/2pac-so-many-tears-lyricshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/So_Many_TearsSupport the show

Abolition is not about your feelings! It's the long awaited episode where we discuss in detail what it means to be and practice PIC (prison-industrial complex) abolition. In our What's the Word? segment, Brendane and Alyssa unpack Michel Foucault's concept of discipline and docile bodies to think about the way power compels us to regulate our bodies and behaviors. Today, we read Mariame Kaba's new book We Do This 'Til We Free Us: Abolitionist Organizing and Transforming Justice. We pulled out three important themes that we felt help us understand how we got to a place where we can't imagine a world without prisons: punishment vs. consequences, transformative justice vs. restorative justice, and safety vs. security. This leads us into conversations about non-reformist reforms, the difference between crime and harm, accountability, gaslighting of Black sexual assault survivors, and the usefulness of hope. In our What in the World?! segment, we discuss the murder of 16-year-old Ma'Khia Bryant by Ohio police, the ongoing punishment and incarceration of Ashley Diamond, and the cancel culture "crisis" and who really gets cancelled (spoiler: it's not rich celebrities). CW: Throughout the episode we make reference to sexual assault and perpetrators of sexual harm. We describe the medical and juridical process of rape cases from 00:57:00 to 01:01:00. Please take care of yourself as you need while listening. Liked what you heard? Donate here! Discussed this week: We Do This 'til We Free Us: Abolitionist Organizing and Transforming Justice (Mariame Kaba, 2021 Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison (Michel Foucault, 1995) Ma'Khia Bryant (New York Times, 2021) Free Ashley Diamond (GoFundMe) ZD merch available here and the syllabus for ZD 102 is here! Let us know what you thought of the episode @zorasdaughters on Instagram and @zoras_daughters on Twitter! Transcript will be available on our website here.

In this episode we consider to what extent the Night's Watch plays a role in the idea of restorative justice in Westeros and ask how we can begin to talk about "community service" when the service performed is either not recognised or valued by significant proportions of the community.   Mentioned in this episode: Rohani, S. and Abootalebi, H. 2015, "Mending Wall: A Study of Restorative Justice in George RR Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire and Tales of Dunk and Egg," k@ta, vol. 17, no. 2, pp. 58–63. Zedner, L. 1994, "Reparation and retribution: Are they reconcilable," Mod. L. Rev., vol. 57, no. 2, p. 228. Foucault, M. 1977, Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison, translated by A. Sheridan, Penguin, London. Van Ness, D.W. and Strong, K.H. 2014, Restoring justice: An introduction to restorative justice, Routledge.   You can support us on Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/tropewatchers. If you enjoyed A Clash of Critics, check out our flagship podcast, Trope Watchers, the podcast about pop culture and why it matters: tropewatchers.com. CW: A Clash of Critics frequently discusses issues such as violence, abuse, sexual assault, bigotry, and other sensitive topics.

In this episode we eat lunchables in honor of our school days and analyze the classic movie, Richard Linklater's School of Rock (starring Jack Black) through the lens of Michel Foucault's Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison. We're looking at the carceral mind-set of schools, rocking out to escape the panopticon and answering the ultimate question: Is Jack Black part of the system of punishment or a true rocker rebel freeing kids from their scholastic prison?

In this episode we explore how sovereign power is wielded in the North and consider the function of Gared's execution as a spectacle.    Mentioned in this episode: Foucault, M. 1977, Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison, translated by A. Sheridan, Penguin, London. Race for the Iron Throne (Bran I Analysis): https://racefortheironthrone.wordpress.com/2012/03/22/chapter-by-chapter-analysis-bran1/    You can support us on Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/tropewatchers. If you enjoyed A Clash of Critics, check out our flagship podcast, Trope Watchers, the podcast about pop culture and why it matters: tropewatchers.com. CW: A Clash of Critics frequently discusses issues such as violence, abuse, sexual assault, bigotry, and other sensitive topics.

Hack for Belarus.Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison by Michel Foucault.Mustard gas.CRISPR.Our guest Dr Alec Balasescu.Your hosts are Arvind Vermani and Ilya Belikin. Thank you for listening. Posit is a global network facilitating sustainable innovations. You might join our community and support this podcast at our place.

A very excited Chantelle and Tissot speak with Imogen Tyler about her latest book, Stigma: the Machinery of Inequality Useful links- https://stigmamachine.com/author/drimogentyler https://www.zedbooks.net/shop/book/stigma/ http://www.morecambebaypovertytruthcommission.org.uk/ Reading: S. Lindqvist, Exterminate All The Brutes M.Rediker, T. Chakraborty M. van Rossum (eds), A Global History of Runaways, A Global History of Runaways: Workers, Mobility, and Capitalism, P.Mendez, Rainbow Milk N.Machiavelli. The Prince M. Foucault Discipline and Punish The Birth of the Prison Listening: Tyler, the Creator - EARFQUAKE https://open.spotify.com/album/5zi7WsKlIiUXv09tbGLKsE?highlight=spotify:track:5hVghJ4KaYES3BFUATCYn0 Jarvis Cocker, Domestic Disco (Instagram only!) One tribe ft. Gem – What Have you Done? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9u0fAV8igT4 Pulp – A Different Class https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2fD6kxn1zjI&list=PLWnwmKpuSlyc9-RfYO1zBM0d4bCzhPbsZ *Please note season 9 is recorded entirely via video call during the COVID-19 Global Pandemic. Hosts Chantelle and Tissot and executive producer George pride themselves on ensuring a comfortable and encouraging recording atmosphere but this is clearly difficult to suffice remotely. Bear with us on this*

A very excited Chantelle and Tissot speak with Imogen Tyler about her latest book, Stigma: the Machinery of Inequality Useful links- https://stigmamachine.com/author/drimogentyler https://www.zedbooks.net/shop/book/stigma/ http://www.morecambebaypovertytruthcommission.org.uk/ Reading: S. Lindqvist, Exterminate All The Brutes M.Rediker, T. Chakraborty M. van Rossum (eds), A Global History of Runaways, A Global History of Runaways: Workers, Mobility, and Capitalism, P.Mendez, Rainbow Milk N.Machiavelli. The Prince M. Foucault Discipline and Punish The Birth of the Prison Listening: Tyler, the Creator - EARFQUAKE https://open.spotify.com/album/5zi7WsKlIiUXv09tbGLKsE?highlight=spotify:track:5hVghJ4KaYES3BFUATCYn0 Jarvis Cocker, Domestic Disco (Instagram only!) One tribe ft. Gem – What Have you Done? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9u0fAV8igT4 Pulp – A Different Class https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2fD6kxn1zjI&list=PLWnwmKpuSlyc9-RfYO1zBM0d4bCzhPbsZ *Please note season 9 is recorded entirely via video call during the COVID-19 Global Pandemic. Hosts Chantelle and Tissot and executive producer George pride themselves on ensuring a comfortable and encouraging recording atmosphere but this is clearly difficult to suffice remotely. Bear with us on this*

This week Jim and Aaron discuss the topic of defunding the police. Is it different than abolishing the police? Is it all the same? We discuss Joe Biden's timeline to his current position in the party, and his position on defunding the police. Be sure to like, subscribe, and share! Want to learn more about abolishing the police? Here are some resources from this episode: The Daily Show: Joe Biden on reforming the police - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tmUL1IYbH0U Mass Incarceration: https://www.prisonpolicy.org/reports/pie2020.html The Marshall Project: https://www.themarshallproject.org/records/3382-police-abolition Reimagining communities without police: https://nonewsfjail.files.wordpress.com/2016/05/8stepsnew.pdf The Struggle to Abolish the Police is nothing new: http://bostonreview.net/race/garrett-felber-struggle-abolish-police-not-new Against the State: An Introduction to Anarchist Political Theory: https://www.amazon.com/Against-State-Introduction-Anarchist-Political/dp/0791474488 Discipline & Punish: The Birth of the Prison: https://www.amazon.com/Discipline-Punish-Prison-Michel-Foucault/dp/0679752552/ref=sr_1_2?crid=2ML4PB8P4SB7&dchild=1&keywords=michel+foucault+discipline+and+punish&qid=1592955447&s=books&sprefix=Michel+F%2Cstripbooks%2C141&sr=1-2 Editors Note: Jim will clarify my point on Single Transferable Vote next week, Jim acknowledges his explanation in retrospect was not as clear as he would have liked. Also...Jim acknowledges that "relavatory" is not a word...revelatory was the word he was going for.

This is Lecture 4 (out of 6) in the Based Deleuze lecture course. You can get the whole series at gum.co/deleuze. ➡️If you'd like to join my Discord server, request an invitation here. ➡️Big thanks to my patrons who help me keep the lights on. Consider becoming one here. Works Cited Deleuze, Gilles. “Postscript on the Societies of Control.” October 59 (1992): 3–7. Foucault, Michel. The Courage of Truth (The Government of Self and Others II). Edited by Frédéric Gross. Translated by Graham Burchell. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2011. Foucault, Michel. Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison. Translated by Alan Sheridan. New York: Vintage Books, 1995. Murphy, Justin. “Parrhesia and the Future of Honesty (Talk given at the Invisible College, London).” Other Life (blog), October 11, 2019. https://plnk.to/otherlife/e/1000453126804 Navia, Luis. Diogenes the Cynic: The War Against the World. Amherst, NY: Humanity Books, 2005. Shannon, Claude E. “A Mathematical Theory of Communication.” The Bell System Technical Journal 27, no. 3 (October 1948). https://doi.org/10.1002/j.1538-7305.1948.tb01338.x

Welcome to the 2019 CSA Series. Joy talks to fellow CSA mid-Atlantic Region board member Demi Eluwawalage to discuss her presentation "Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison Attire." Image: Detroit Publishing Co./Library of Congress/Wikimedia Commons/Public Domain Find us here: Website: www.unravelpodcast.comPatreon: www.patreon.com/unravelpodcast PayPal: www.paypal.me/unravelpodcast Instagram: @unravelpodcast Twitter:@unravelpodcast Facebook: www.facebook.com/unravelpodcast/ Pinterest: Unravel: A Fashion Podcast www.pinterest.com/afashionpodcast/ Stitcher: www.stitcher.com/podcast/unravel-podcastWaller Gallery Website www.wallergallery.com/ Waller Gallery Instagram: @wallergallery Jasmine's Nicaragua Instagram: @recuerdosdenicaragua

Josh interviews Jared "Jay" Ware about prison abolitionism. Kathy and I finished our most recent Orange Is the New Black recap (Season 6 Episode 3). Jared "Jay" Ware is a prison abolitionist, freelance writer, co-host of the podcast Millennials Are Killing Capitalism and producer of the Beyond Prisons podcast. His work has been published with Shadowproof.com, The New Inquiry, In These Times, SF Bay View, Worker's World, Off Tha Record, and Hampton Institute. Students for a Democratic Society had a storied and important history in American political activism. Hopefully, most people remember the police and state violence that resulted in the deaths of Mike Brown, Tamie Rice, Eric Garner, and Sandra Brown as well as the situation in Ferguson Missouri. We have talked about Michelle Alexanders book "The New Jim Crow" many times before on this podcast. Angela Y Davis book "Are Prisons Obsolete" is a relatively quick read but very fundamental to understanding prison abolition. The site Critical Resistance is a very good starting place for investigating stories about abolition and resistance to statist power. It is also the home to "The Abolitionist" newspaper. I suspect Jay was referring to Elizabeth Hinton's book "From the War on Poverty to the War on Crime" A good place to start on the thinking of Michelle Foucault is in his book "Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison." Bryan Burrough's book "Days of Rage" discusses revolutionary violent groups in the United States. My favorite book about John Brown is "Patriotic Treason" by Evan Carton. W.E.B Dubois scathing critique of popular notions of slavery and of reconstruction was called "Black Reconstruction in America" Jay's interview with prisoners after the Lee Correctional Riot provides an important counter-narrative to the "official story" of what happened in South Carolina a few months ago. It is important to read the full list of demands around the August 21st Strike. We have covered Restorative Justice many times on the podcast, this is the first time we have talked about Transformative Justice. This is a piece from Mariame Kaba from her site Prison Culture. Some of the people Jay shouted out were: Jailhouse Lawyers Speak Kinetic Justice (Free Alabama Movement) Mariame Kaba Frantz Fanon Jackie Wang's book "Carceral Capitalism" I will try and fill in the ones I am missing over time. The DOJ Letter I was referring to was in response to the Federal First Step Act. Elizabeth Warren has been getting blasted by police, prosecutors, and correctional officers for her statement that our criminal justice system is racist (I suspect most of this is political posturing since what she said is factually correct). If you want to know more about why what she said was factually correct, you can listen to all of the early episodes of this podcast or read this overview of the evidence. The National Review article that mentions John Pfaff as an answer to Elizabeth Warren's claim can be found here. John Pfaff's response can be found in this Twitter thread. Tom Cotton's argument about Mass Incarceration was a real thing (can't make this stuff up).

JF and Phil delve deep into Arthur Machen's fin-de-siècle masterpiece, "The White People," for insight into the nature of ecstasy, the psychology of fairies, the meaning of sin, and the challenge of living without a moral horizon. WORKS CITED OR DISCUSSED Arthur Machen, "The White People" - full text (https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_White_People_(Machen)) or Weird Stories audiobook (http://www.weirdstudies.com/3a) read by Phil Ford Arthur Machen, Hieroglyphics: A Note Upon Ecstasy (https://www.gutenberg.org/files/40241/40241-h/40241-h.htm) H. P. Lovecraft, "Supernatural Horror in Literature" (http://www.hplovecraft.com/writings/texts/essays/shil.aspx) J.F. Martel, Reclaiming Art in the Age of Artifice (https://www.northatlanticbooks.com/shop/reclaiming-art-in-the-age-of-artifice/) Susanna Clarke, Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell (https://www.amazon.com/Jonathan-Strange-Norrell-Susanna-Clarke/dp/B00YTJ4X8I/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_14_t_0?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=3HJRSB4DNWHR4EF6BNVX) Jack Sullivan (ed)., The Penguin Encyclopedia of Horror and the Supernatural (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Penguin_Encyclopedia_of_Horror_and_the_Supernatural) John Keel, The Mothman Prophecies: A True Story (https://www.amazon.com/Mothman-Prophecies-True-Story/dp/0765334984/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1519189041&sr=1-1&keywords=the+mothman+prophecies) Patrick Harpur, Daimonic Reality (https://www.amazon.com/Daimonic-Reality-Field-Guide-Otherworld/dp/0937663093/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1519189061&sr=1-1&keywords=daimonic+reality) Jacques Vallee, Passport to Magonia: From Folklore to Flying Saucers (https://www.amazon.com/Passport-Magonia-Folklore-Flying-Saucers/dp/0987422480/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1519189093&sr=1-1&keywords=passport+to+magonia) Louis Pauwels and Jacques Bergier, The Morning of the Magicians (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Morning_of_the_Magicians) Michael Foucault, Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison (https://www.amazon.com/Discipline-Punish-Prison-Michel-Foucault/dp/0679752552) J.K. Huysmans, Against Nature (À rebours) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/À_rebours)

To die, to sleep — perchance to be judged no longer viable in society and sentenced to burn alive from within. Who is truly avenged by our cocktails of untested heartstoppers? Justices: why did we stop, then start, doing this again? Join us at the top of the scaffold of lies we tell ourselves, where we countenance barbarisms and watch the clock till it runs all the way out. SOURCES: - Michel Foucault, Discipline & Punish: The Birth of the Prison (1975): http://a.co/eerXzt2 ; - 60 Minutes, "The Execution of Joseph Wood" (Nov. 29, 2015): http://bit.ly/2kgmw8Z ; - Oklahoma's KFOR-TV on Clayton Lockett's botched execution (Apr. 29, 2014); reporter Courtney Francisco, eyewitnessing: https://youtu.be/d06awQ1L2TM ; - Furman v. Georgia (1972): http://bit.ly/2kIZ6bH ; - news clips on the decision in Furman v. Georgia: https://youtu.be/yeOykQHeRlY?t=2m23s ; - Gregg v. Georgia (1976): http://bit.ly/2kfGh0d ; - a cartoon on the case, produced (amazingly) by the Georgia State Bar: https://youtu.be/3-BNkWHmCqg ; - Bloody Code https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bloody_Code ; http://bit.ly/2CB3Bwe - Two Treatises of Government, by John "Hornsbury" Locke (1689) ; - 30 for 30, Doc & Darryl (dir. Judd Apatow & Michael Bonfiglio, 2016): http://es.pn/2ASRfPt ; - Glossip v. Gross (2015): http://bit.ly/2oGy6Pc ; - J. Alito, for the 5-4 majority: http://bit.ly/2oBvBh0 ; - J. Breyer, dissenting: http://bit.ly/2CZtAOU (& published in handsome volume here: http://a.co/7M59QDr) ; - Nino, concurring: http://bit.ly/2Bxk19L ; - J. Thomas, concurring: http://bit.ly/2BIRZua ; - Audio & transcipts of oral arguments (argued Apr. 29, 2015) on Oyez here: https://www.oyez.org/cases/2014/14-7955 ; - Death Penalty Information Center: deathpenaltyinfo.org; fact sheet: http://bit.ly/2yiSHKz ; - Don Delillo, Americana (1989): http://a.co/bhyKIYp ; - music from the episode: http://bit.ly/2kHBjbX ; FURTHER READING: - McGautha v. California (1971), in which J. Harlan, writing for the court (6-3), said: "To identify before the fact those characteristics of criminal homicides and their perpetrators which call for the death penalty, and to express these characteristics in language which can be fairly understood and applied by the sentencing authority, appear to be tasks which are beyond present human ability." http://bit.ly/2kIHVqH

Join historians Bridget Keown and James Robinson, with Sociologist Mia Renauld, as we are joined by Dr. Rashad Shabazz, who stopped by Northeastern University to promote his new book, Spatializing Blackness Architectures of Confinement and Black Masculinity in Chicago". We talk about Dr. Shabazz's academic path and making connections between international carceral containments before arriving at racialization of carceral power in Chicago, and how it manifests from slavery to schools. He explores how masculinity is performed in poor black spaces. Rashad Shabazz is an associate professor in the School of Social Transformation at Arizona State University. He received his bachelor’s degree in political science and philosophy from Minnesota State University-Mankato, a master’s degree from the Department of Justice & Social Inquiry at Arizona State University, and a doctorate in the History of Consciousness from the University of California, Santa Cruz. For further reading: "Spatializing Blackness" by Rashad Shabazz https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25404003-spatializing-blackness?ac=1&from_search=true "City of Quartz: Excavating the Future in Los Angeles" by Mike Davis https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/484028.City_of_Quartz Schools Under Surveillance: Cultures of Control in Public Education edited by Torin Monahan and Rodolfo D. Torres https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7048854-schools-under-surveillance?from_search=true "Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison" by Michel Foucault https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/80369.Discipline_and_Punish?from_search=true "Are Prisons Obsolete?" by Angela Y. Davis https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/108428.Are_Prisons_Obsolete_?ac=1&from_search=true "Golden Gulag: Prisons, Surplus, Crisis, and Opposition in Globalizing California" by Ruth Wilson Gilmore https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/111975.Golden_Gulag?ac=1&from_search=true "The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness" by Michelle Alexander https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6792458-the-new-jim-crow?ac=1&from_search=true "Slaves of the State: Black Incarceration from the Chain Gang to the Penitentiary" by Dennis Childs https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23508133-slaves-of-the-state?ac=1&from_search=true "From the War on Poverty to the War on Crime: The Making of Mass Incarceration in America" by Elizabeth Hinton https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/27311802-from-the-war-on-poverty-to-the-war-on-crime?ac=1&from_search=true "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/318431.Long_Walk_to_Freedom?from_search=true "Soledad Brother: The Prison Letters of George Jackson" by George Jackson https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/962568.Soledad_Brother?ac=1&from_search=true "Assata: An Autobiography" by Assata Shakur https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/100322.Assata?ac=1&from_search=true "Live from Death Row" by Mumia Abu-Jamal https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/449916.Live_from_Death_Row?ac=1&from_search=true Dillon Rodriguez: http://ethnicstudies.ucr.edu/people/faculty/rodriguez/ "Punished: Policing the Lives of Black and Latino Boys" by Victor Rios https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11155862-punished?ac=1&from_search=true The Breaking History podcast is a production of the Northeastern University History Graduate Student Association. Our Producers and Sound Editors are: Matt Bowser and Dan Squizzero Our Theme Music was composed by: Kieran Legg

In the fourth episode of Film Magistery Dino talks about surveillance and how the society is subdued the heavy tracking from many different sides. As the reference to the theme the German film The Lives of Others (von Donnersmarck, 2006) is chosen to be discussed and how East Germany's security police, the Stasi, kept the whole nation under its firm surveillance. Bentham's concept of Panopticon is mentioned as an important element in discussion about surveillance. But what does surveillance mean to us? Does it concern us on a personal level or are we just saying “I don’t care; they can monitor me anywhere and anytime - I have nothing to hide”? But what when surveillance is undertaken by private companies, domestic or foreign governments? Dino asks if a society should passively accept surveillance or perhaps contest it and demand from politicians to legislate and control it. There is also a mentioning of some other examples of films with surveillance as the main theme: The Conversation, Minority Report, Caché, Brazil, Rear Window etc. Relevant links: The Lives of Others (IMDb) The Lives of Others (Letterboxd) Film Magistery YouTube channel Surveillance (Wikipedia) Michel Foucault - Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison David Phillips - Identity and Surveillance Play in Hybrid Space Online Territories: Globalization, Mediated Practice and Social Space, 2011. Julia Angwin - Dragnet Nation Hubertus Knabe - The Dark Secrets of a Surveillance State (Ted Salon) Dino's Uncomplete Film Masterpiece list

with Kent Schullhosted by Chris Gratien This episode is part of our series on Islamic law Download the seriesPodcast Feed | iTunes | SoundcloudWhile humans have devised no shortage of ways to punish each other throughout history, the rise of the prison and incarceration as a method for dealing with crime is primarily a nineteenth century phenomenon. In this episode, Kent Schull discusses his recent book about the development of the Ottoman prison system and explores the lives of Ottoman prisoners.Stream via Soundcloud (US / preferred) Kent Schull is Associate Professor of History at State University of New York, Binghamton. (see academia.edu)Chris Gratien is a doctoral candidate at Georgetown University researching the social and environmental history of the Ottoman Empire and the modern Middle East. (see academia.edu)Episode No. 158Release date: 7 June 2014Location: German Orient Institut, IstanbulEditing and production by Chris GratienBibliography courtesy of Kent SchullErzurum: the prison and prisoners (Source: Keghuni, No. 1-10, 1903, 2nd year, Venice, St Lazzaro) fromhoushamadyan.orgSELECT BIBLIOGRAPHYSchull, Kent F. Prisons in the Late Ottoman Empire: Microcosms of Modernity. 2014. Foucault, Michel. Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison. New York: Pantheon Books, 1977.Adams, Bruce F. The Politics of Punishment: Prison Reform in Russia, 1863-1917 (DeKalb, Ill: Northern Illinois University Press, 1996).Ignatieff, Michael. A Just Measure of Pain: The Penitentiary and the Industrial Revolution, 1750-1850 (New York: Pantheon Books, 1978).Maksudyan, Nazan, ‘Orphans, Cities, and the State: Vocational Orphanages (ıslahhanes) and Reform in the Late Ottoman Urban Space’, IJMES 43 (2011), pp. 493-511.Peters, Rudolph. Crime and Punishment in Islamic Law: Theory and Practice from the Sixteenth to the Twenty-first Century (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005).Yıldız, Gültekin. Mapusane: Osmanlı Hapishanelerinin Kuruluș Serüveni, 1839-1908 (İstanbul: Kitabevi, 2012).Abrahamian, Ervand. Tortured Confessions Prisons and Public Recantations in Modern Iran. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1999.