Contrapuntal Consciousness (Aeon Magazine)
“Gödel, Escher, Bach” by Douglas Hofstadter turns 40 this year. Bach’s music never had a justified place in the book – but could it find one?
“Gödel, Escher, Bach” by Douglas Hofstadter turns 40 this year. Bach’s music never had a justified place in the book – but could it find one?
If the CIA can mimic people power, why couldn’t the grass-roots, in turn, emulate their PsyOp methods? You might think this type of theorizing is just spitting in the wind, and you’d probably be right.
The first episode in a series of ten animated essays: Ten Jokes, Explained — I. The In-Joke
Elon Musk is the perfect hero for our era of reboots and reality TV. Much of the mythos around him consists of tired sci-fi clichés, recycled and sold as reality. And in this way, Musk himself is like an update on L. Ron Hubbard.
A leftwing case against the term “neoliberalism” from historian Daniel Rodgers plays into the hands of those aiming to divert criticism.
Michael Haneke talks about his controversial reboot of the Home Alone franchise, and about violence, existential terror, and getting your head stuck in a doggie door.
It’s always fascinating when a public official commits a Kinsley gaffe, and the veil drops for a brief moment.