Robert Stark talks to LA based journalist and blogger Luke Ford about the aftermath of the Capitol Hill Riots. Check out Luke’s stream on YouTube and Periscope, and follow him on Twitter.
Topics:
The degree of responsibility Trump bares for the unrest at the Capitol
Trump’s contesting of the election and his failure to substantiate legal claims
Trump’s presidential legacy and the reasons why he lost the election
Media coverage of the riots and the political limitations of pointing out hypocrisy
The real life consequences of Hyperreality and the E-Personality
The online crackdown on the right and the motives of Big Tech
The political process and significance of the impeachment of Trump
Why Luke doesn’t think the unrest will impact America’s standing in the world
The post-Trump GOP
The hype about LA in decline and why Luke thinks LA will continue to thrive
Robert Stark talks to Hunter Wallace about the 2020 election results and why Donald Trump lost. Hunter Wallace is an Alabama based blogger at Occidental Dissent and describes himself as a Nationalist, Populist, and Centrist. You can follow Hunter on Twitter.
LA’s class structure City-Data Forum thread on demographic trends of the past decade by city
Immigrant groups in the LA region, including from Mexico, China, Bangladesh, India, Iran, Armenia, various European nations, and more recent community from Uzbekistan
Industry in LA, including entertainment, aerospace, tech, and shipping
Unique LA tropes/archetypes
Contrasting communities that have strong patronage networks with those that are more atomized Poll on hypothetical proposal to base immigration on a local level
America’s neo-tribal future The Double Horseshoe Theory of Class Politics and how that impacts how different demographic groups align politically
Crucial California issues of housing (YIMBYism), energy, water, and infrastructure being neglected by a one party state focused on national issues and a GOP that’s out of touch with younger voters and urban concerns
The degree to which LA’s post pandemic exodus and urban decay is overhyped
New urban development in LA (ex. futuristic complex planned in Beverly Hills) and metro expansions
The debate about education reform,
Robert Stark talks to Matt Forney about the Caucasus region and trends for the 2020s. Matt Forney is an author, journalist and founder of Terror House Press, whose mission is to publish outsider literary fiction, literary nonfiction, and cultural criticism/analysis. You can also follow Terror House publishing on Twitter and Instagram.
Topics:
Matt’s travels to the Caucasus region, living in Georgia for two years, and visiting Armenia
Georgia as an underrated gem, with an affordable but high standard of living, and hub for digital nomads
Geographic locations and mountainous natural beauty
Architecture and urban layout of Tbilisi, Georgia and Yerevan, Armenia
The anti-corruption Rose Revolution in Georgia
The region’s culture, Xenia hospitality culture, crossroad of Europe and the Middle East, and creeping westernization
The region’s cuisine, which is somewhat bland, but Georgian was the most exotic in Soviet Russia
Matt’s travels to Albania and misconceptions about that nation
The historic background leading up to the ongoing Nagorno-Karabakh conflict
The conflict’s geo-political alliances and implications
Observations of social trends of the past two decades and speculation about the near future
How technology and social developments are leading to greater social atomization
The pandemic’s destruction of small businesses, gig economy, and overall end of normal employment
Why Matt has reservations about the UBI (Martin Goldberg: What Happens If You Get DELETED?)
The corporate gentrification of the internet
The Mancession of the 2008 crash vs. the current Shecession, and implications on gender relations JPMorgan Chase extending billions in loans to minority homebuyers, Yelp’s anti-racist social credit nightmare, and overall unsustainability of woke neoliberalism
Matt’s prediction that Trump will win re-election and populism will align more with the GOP Terror House Press’ upcoming books, including Matt Pegan’s Dragon Day
Kevin’s past involvement with progressive politics during the Bush era, and how that movement was watered down into today’s woke left
US Tech Workers’ victory for Tennessee Valley Authority workers, and Kevin’s meeting with Trump
The recent Presidential Debate as symbolic of polarization and decline of the Empire
Trump’s initial executive order restricting foreign worker visas that was later watered down
How the pandemic exposed vulnerabilities in our nation’s borders
Trump’s support for The CARES Act bailout and PPP loans for corporations with limited benefits for the public
The stock market being propped up by buybacks, the K-shaped recovery, and dangers of an economic bubble burst
The benefits of remote work Kamala Harris – Silicon Valley Love Affair
How immigration and handling of the pandemic have become part of the divisive culture war
Robert Stark talks to Shankar Singam about the California independence movement. Shankar is executive director of Independent California and is also an author, graphic artist, and musician.
Topics:
How Shankar started identifying as a Californian rather than American, and how that’s the first step to independence
Why Independence?
The Calexit movement groups including Shankar’s Independent California, Yes California, California Freedom Coalition, and the California National Party
How the United States is stunting California’s growth, including loss of tax revenue
Shankar’s upcoming petition, proposing a commission on the potential economic benefits to independence
The legal and constitutional process to independence
How the Calexit movement is much more than a reaction to Trump
The ineptitude of the Democratic establishment, both nationally and in California
Alternative political models including a multi-party parliamentary system and local autonomy
Economic policies including public banking Shankar’s appearance on Tucker Carlson and the context of his comment on the middle class exodus
Shankar’s rebuttal to California’s detractors (ex. worst income inequality)
Foreign models for California to emulate (Canada, Australia, UK, France, and Singapore)
Robert Stark talks to Ben Winegard about academic freedom, woke culture, the election, and future political trends. Ben Winegard is an assistant professor of psychology at Hillsdale College, and you can read his article at Quillette and follow him on Twitter.
Topics:
How Ben is both anti-woke and anti-Trump, politically homeless, and tepidly backs Biden
The impact of the election outcome on the culture war and civil unrest Trump admits to “playing down” coronavirus threat in taped Woodward interviews
Trump’s synthetic populism and turn to Supply Side economics with advisor Larry Kudlow
The decline in conservatism and how the GOP can only survive politically if it adopts some form of socialism
The Democrats becoming the party of the urban professional managerial class
Ben’s prediction that the Democrats will push race based rather than class based wealth redistribution
The degree to which woke ideology is accelerating because of Trump
Ben’s preference for colorblind institutions and concern that ethnic fragmentation may be inevitable
Cancel culture in academia and the termination of Ben’s brother Bo from his position in academia The hereditarian hypothesis
The value of thought experiments in academia to advance ethics
Ben’s love of Capybaras, Otters, and the season autumn
Caleb’s involvement with Occupy Wall Street, the anti-war movement, and socialist politics
Kamala Harris’ record as a prosecutor during the tough on crime era and debate with Tulsi Gabbard
Kamala Harris’ family upbringing and evolution of her personality and moral framework
Kamala Harris as the culmination of a number of trends, including polarization and the distortion of leftwing politics
The significant role that identity politics plays for Kamala Harris They Named Her Kamala: Clinton Staff, Donors Anoint 2020 Candidate
How Kamala Harris could play a similar role that Hillary Clinton played in the Obama administration, pushing a muscular liberal interventionism
Concerns about civil liberty abuses and tech totalitarianism under a Biden/Harris administration Bezos v. Trump: 3 Major Divisions in the US Ruling Class
The degree to which Trump is an impediment to the “Open International System”
The ideological conformity, and destructive and anti-populist philosophy of the New Left