Parallax Views w/ J.G. Michael

On this edition of Parallax Views, Dulcie Everitt joins us to discuss her new book BrexLit: The Problem of Englishness in Pre- and Post-Brexit Referendum Literature (Zer0 Books; 2022). Dulcie's book delves into the idea of the sub-nationalist English identity (as opposed to British identity; English identity would be different from Welsh, Scottish, or Irish identity) in literature before and after the Brexit referendum that saw the UK leave the EU. It is important to note in this regard that England had a greater "Leave" vote than either "Scotland" or "Ireland", both of which voted "Remain", on the referendum.

In this conversation we delve into the issue of what English identity is and how it is amorphous, slippery, or difficult to easily define. We delve into Englishness as an identity as it relates to both empire and post-Empire Britain. This, of course, brings us to the topic of Brexit, what it was, how it was spearheaded by figures like the Tory Party's Boris Johnson and UKIP's Nigel Farage, the formation of English nationalism as a retaliation to insurgent sub-nationalisms, the role of nostalgia in the Leave campaign and Boris Johnson's famous "Take Back Control!" line, the history of Euroscepticism on both the Right and the Left, why a second referendum is unfeasible now, xenophobia and racism in relation to Brexit, Ian McEwan's Kafka inspired take on Brexit in the form of the novel The Cockroach, as well as the more hope Autumn by Scottish author Ali Smith, Jonathan Coe's The Rotters' Club and its Brexit-influenced sequel Middle England, the dystopian Perfidious Albion by Sam Byers, the question of cosmopolitanism, and much, much more!

On this edition of Parallax Views, the philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche famously declared "God is Dead". In doing so Nietzsche not necessarily celebrating the triumph of atheism, but rather raising the question of what comes next for society once religion is replaced by secularism. How do we make sense of things and find meaning in a secular world? In his new book The Universe Is On Our Side: Restoring Faith in American Public Life, Bruce Ledewitz, Professor of Law at Duquesne University Law School, attempts to tackle that question. He joins us on the first segment of the show to discuss the decline in trust of public institutions; the process theology of Alfred North Whitehead (and process theology popularizer Dr. David Ray Griffin); Jesuit theologian Bernard Lonergan's question "Is the universe on our side?"; the British philosopher John Gray and the idea that "no, the universe is not on our side", postmodernism; science as a social activity; the secularism of American Christianity; New Atheism and the failings of it; Nietzsche and the death of God as a catastrophe (even if it is true); the incompatibility of a wonder-working God in a secular world; making clear that Bruce's book is not an attack on those who have religious faith; the post-truth age; a lack of belief in the future; Martin Luther King's "the arc of the universe bends towards justice" quote; the Enlightenment and the mechanistic, materialistic worldview; David Hume and the idea that we can only gain knowledge through the senses; Carl Sagan and the Pale Blue Dot; and much, much more!

In the second segment of the show, the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft's Ben Freeman & Nick Cleveland-Stout join us to discuss their recent piece at The Intercept entitled "Until Ukraine, Russia Lobbyists Successfully Blunted Sanctions After Foreign Adventurism". We also discuss their upcoming report on Ukraine lobbying in Washington, D.C., the Foreign Agent Registration Act, the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, the public relations firm known as Ketchum, the need for transparency when it comes to foreign lobbying efforts, and much, much more!

On this edition of Parallax Views, Michael Swanson of Wall Street Window returns to the program for a segment covering the bear market (declining market), the crypto currency crash, and inflation. We also tackle the RobinHood app, cult-like hucksters in the stock market world, crazy speculation and risky behavior in the stock market, the impact on both regular people engaging in small-trading and professional investors, the potentially explosive violent social phenomena that can arise from crashes, the dot com bubble of the 90s, Facebook's rebranding as Meta after getting negative publicity, bitcoin maximalism, and much, much more.

In the second segment of the show, sociologist Eric A. Cech joins us to discuss her thoughtful, provocative book The Trouble With Passion: How Searching for Fulfillment at Work Fosters Inequality. We are often told to "follow our passions" when it comes to seeking out a career. Cech, however, argues that the "Passion Principle" has a dark side in which people are willing to suffer injustices and inequities as a price for following their passion. We discuss the reproduction of inequality and how it reproduces in ways we may not often consider at first, the Meritocratic ideology, Erin's story of being a former "passion evangelist" and how she came to question her beliefs, defining ourselves based on our work rather than any other areas of life, her interviews with college students for the book, Erin's analysis of career-advice books, self-expression in the language of the "Passion Principle"; the growth of precarity in the white-collar work force; neoliberalism; Choicewashing and how the "Passion Principle" structures the way we think about the world by explaining social phenomena not structurally but through the lens of individual choice and personal responsibility; meaning-making and how the "Passion Principle" shapes our sense of identity; Anthony Giddens and the Self-Reflexive Project; what asking children the question "What do you want to be when you grow up?" says about our society; blaming individuals in the labor force at the expense of examining inequities in labor, gender, and race; the pernicious expectation of performative passion in jobs like the barista Starbucks; emotional labor; how class inequality is reproduced by the "Passion Principle"; and much, much more.

On this edition of Parallax Views, we dive back into the realm of foreign policy and international relations. This time historian Matthew Specter joins us to discuss his new book The Atlantic Realists: Empire and International Political Thought Between Germany and the United States w/ Matthew Specter and offers a critique of the realist school of thought in international relations. In this conversation we discuss the realist thinker Hans Morgenthau, the German legalist theorist Carl Schmitt, realism as the shadow self of liberalism, and much, much more.

In the second segment of the show, "The French Connection" Marlon Ettinger joins us to discuss the aftermath of the French Presidential election and a little bit about his new book Zemmour and Gaullism. We discuss Éric Zemmour, Marine Le Pen, Emmanuel Macron, Jean-Luc Mélenchon, the French Left, and much, much more.

 

On this edition of Parallax Views, Jonathan Marshal, author of Dark Quadrant: Organized Crime, Big Business, and the Corruption of American Democracy and (with Peter Dale Scott) Cocaine Politics: Drugs, Armies, and the CIA in Central America, joins me to discuss his Lobster Magazine piece "Wall Street, the Supermob, and the CIA" examining the strange web of connections between organize crime, tax-exempt foundations, Hollywood, and U.S. intelligence in the 20th century.

Among the topics discussed:

- New York stockbroker David G. Baird, the Russian Orthodox Church, Serge Semenenko of First National Bank of Boston, the investigation of Baird's tax-exempt foundations for illegal activities, and the Central Intelligence Agency

- The "Supermob", a name taken from the Gus Russo book of the same name, that represents figures who were involved both heavily in organized crime as well as the aboveground white-collar business world

- The Chicago Outfit, Sam Giancana, and the Hollywood mob-affiliated lawyer and "fixer" Sidney Korshak

- Meyer Lansky vs. the Las Vegas-based gangster Morris "Moe" Dalitz and gangsters that become successful as businessmen beyond the criminal underworld

- Organized crime, anti-communism, the "foreign entity within our midst" narrative, and the myth of American purity

- The entertainment industry, the hotel industry, and organized crime

- The development of American capitalism and American organized crime

- And much, much more!

 

Gabriel (left) and a GCCA church service 

This is a preview of the latest episode of the show I co-host, Failed State Update.

Listen to the full episode here

In Tumacácori, Arizona, a stone’s throw from the U.S. border with Mexico, roughly 85 “destiny reservists” await their fate. They are the followers of Gabriel of Urantia. Born Anthony J. Delevin in Pittsburgh in 1946, Gabriel’s life work is a community known as the Global Community Communications Alliance (GCCA). They live in a compound in the desert where they raise animals, harvest hemp, and study their prophet’s teachings. This is all in preparation for the end of this world, and the coming of the next.

And the apocalypse, according to Gabriel, is closer now than it’s ever been.

Last week, Paladin — the channeled trans-dimensional space being who speaks through Gabriel — called the cult’s radio station KVAN-FM last week to address the people of Tucson on the air.

 

On today’s Failed State Update, former GCCA member Joshua Lilly listens to Gabriel's latest broadcast with us and helps us understand both the message and cult psychology in general.

On this edition of Parallax Views, William Hogeland of Hogeland's Bad History on Substack (and author of such rip-snorting histories as The Autumn of the Black Snake and The Whiskey Rebellion) joins me to discuss the Supreme Court draft opinion that seeks to overturn the Roe Vs. Wade decision on abortion. Hogeland wrote about this matter in a Substack entry entitled "'Deeply rooted in this Nation’s history and tradition' The Bad History in Alito’s Draft Overturning Roe v. Wade". What does the leaked draft say about the trends we're headed towards and what to make of the argument made in the draft and what is driving it? Hogeland argues that the draft has national-mythopoetic language in it that animates nationalist sentiments seeking to overturn progressive gains in the past half century.

In the second segment of the show, Sanna'a, Yemen-based journalist Nasser Arraybyee joins us to discuss the ceasefire between Houthi forces and Saudi Arabia in the 7-year long Yemen war that's turned into one of the world's worst humanitarian crises. The ceasefire has been in effect since Ramadan and is, according to Nasser, optimistically looking like it will hold. Nasser explains why this ceasefire is different; Saudi Arabia's changing relationships with Iran, Turkey, and Qatar; the United Arab Emirates; the role of al Qaeda and ISIS in Yemen; the effect of Saudi-led blockades on the Yemeni population; and much more.

In the third and final segment of today's program, Yumna Patel, Palestine New Director for Mondoweiss, joins me to discuss her new documentary Inside Israeli Apartheid. Yumna discusses the unequal treatment of Palestinians in both the Occupied Territories AND within Israel proper as well as some of the specific issues covered in her hard-hitting documentary that follows on the heels of human rights organizations like B'Tselem, Human Rights Watch, and Amnesty International discussing the question of apartheid in relation to Israel. Please be sure to watch the documentary at Mondoweiss!

On this edition of Parallax Views, Carl Rhodes, Dean of UTS Business School, University of Technology Sydney, joins us to discuss his new book Woke Capitalism: How Corporate Morality is Sabotaging Democracy. Unlike most criticisms of "woke capitalism" emanating from the right-wing and "post-left", Rhodes criticisms of "woke capitalism", for lack of a better term, come firmly from a progressive, even left-wing perspective. In this conversation we'll discuss what Rhodes sees as the limits of "woke capitalism" in combating inequity. We discuss a number of issues in relation to this as well as talking about stakeholder capitalism, the World Economic Forum and Klaus Schwab, getting woke to woke capitalism, the origins of the term woke, and much, much more.

In the second segment of the show, friend of the show Nolan Higdon joins us to discuss his new book, co-authored with Nicholas  L. Baham III, The Podcasters' Dilemma: Decolonizing Podcasters in the Age of Surveillance Capitalism. Full disclosure: Parallax Views is discussed in this new academic book! We discuss a number of topics in this conversation including the explosion of independent podcasting, niche podcasting dealing with issues like the relationship between food and imperialism, and much, much more!

On this edition of Parallax Views, former black metal journalist turned labor reporter "Grim" Kim Kelly joined me to discuss her new book Fight Like Hell: The Untold History of American Labor. We discuss the book, the role of women in the labor struggle from the beginning, how Kim got involved in labor organizing and unions, the neglected voices of labor history, and much, much more (including Kim's favorite black metal band). Then, in the second half, "The Rogue Scholar" Steve Grumbine, founder of Real Progressives and host of the Macro N Cheese podcast, joins me for a conversation about how he went from Reaganite boot-strap believer to believing in labor struggle after the Global Financial Crisis, explaining MMT, his thoughts on Chris Smalls and the Amazon Union Labor victory, and resisting the "doom pill".

From the "About the Book" section for Fight Like Hell: The Untold History of American Labor on Simon & Schuster:

A revelatory and inclusive history of the American labor movement, from independent journalist and Teen Vogue labor columnist Kim Kelly.

Freed Black women organizing for protection in the Reconstruction-era South. Jewish immigrant garment workers braving deadly conditions for a sliver of independence. Asian American fieldworkers rejecting government-sanctioned indentured servitude across the Pacific. Incarcerated workers advocating for basic human rights and fair wages. The queer Black labor leader who helped orchestrate America’s civil rights movement. These are only some of the working-class heroes who propelled American labor’s relentless push for fairness and equal protection under the law.

The names and faces of countless silenced, misrepresented, or forgotten leaders have been erased by time as a privileged few decide which stories get cut from the final copy: those of women, people of color, LGBTQIA people, disabled people, sex workers, prisoners, and the poor. In this assiduously researched work of journalism, Teen Vogue columnist and independent labor reporter Kim Kelly excavates that history and shows how the rights the American worker has today—the forty-hour workweek, workplace-safety standards, restrictions on child labor, protection from harassment and discrimination on the job—were earned with literal blood, sweat, and tears.

Fight Like Hell comes at a time of economic reckoning in America. From Amazon’s warehouses to Starbucks cafes, Appalachian coal mines to the sex workers of Portland’s Stripper Strike, interest in organized labor is at a fever pitch not seen since the early 1960s.

Inspirational, intersectional, and full of crucial lessons from the past, Fight Like Hell shows what is possible when the working class demands the dignity it has always deserved.

On this edition of Parallax Views, Suzanne Schneider of the Brooklyn Institute for Social Research joins us to discuss her new book The Apocalypse and the End of History: Modern Jihad and the Crisis Liberalism. We discuss how Suzanne is using liberalism in its technical broad context outside of the common colloquial usage of the term to refer to Democrats. Rather we discuss liberalism in regard to the Enlightenment, its values, and modernity. This leads us into a discussion of how contemporary jihadi violence by groups like ISIS and al Qaeda may, as other commentators and public intellectuals like John Gray have argued, be more modern than we are often willing to consider. This bring us to discuss the contradictions of liberalism today and the crisis point it can and seemingly has led to it. Additionally we deal with issues related to neoliberalism and its consequences, Francis Fukuyama's The End of History, German legal theorist Carl Schmitt's concept of the Sovereign, the rise of extremist movements in the West, and much, much more.