EPISODE · Apr 16, 2025 · 1H 40M
DeLillo's White Noise: psy-opping ourselves on death and po-mo
from Do You Even Lit? · host cam and benny feat. rich
“All plots tend to move deathward. This is the nature of plots.” After a break, the boys jump into the 1980s po-mo White Noise by Don DeLillo. We talk about the denial of death, toxic airborne events, and Baudrillardian copies of copies of copies (of copies...) Simulacra: The boys shake off their reddit I Love Science teenage years and start to embrace all things post-modernism. Namely, Baudrilliard's idea of the Simulacra where some "signs" no longer point to any underlying reality. Denial of Death: A fairly straight-forward retelling of Ernest Becker's Denial of Death: We're all terrified of death, so we build our entire lives to avoid confronting it. Cam and Benny try denying Becker's denial thesis. CHAPTERS (00:00:00) Chitter chatter (00:03:13) Quick summary (00:09:16) The most photographed barn in America (00:13:51) Post-modernism (00:16:35) Baudrillard's Simulacra (00:24:26) How po-mo is DeLillo himself (00:32:18) Fake preferences & signalling (00:36:36) Airborne Toxic Event (00:55:17) Fear of Death (01:17:50) Ending and Jack's arc (01:31:26) Final thoughts WRITE US: We love listener feedback. Send us a note at [email protected] to correct our bad takes, add your own, or just say hi. NEXT ON THE READING LIST: Ursula Le Guin - The Dispossessed Ted Chiang - Truth of Fact, Truth of Feeling Jonathan Safran Foer - Everything is Illuminated
What this episode covers
“All plots tend to move deathward. This is the nature of plots.” After a break, the boys jump into the 1980s po-mo White Noise by Don DeLillo. We talk about the denial of death, toxic airborne events, and Baudrillardian copies of copies of copies (of copies...) Simulacra: The boys shake off their reddit I Love Science teenage years and start to embrace all things post-modernism. Namely, Baudrilliard's idea of the Simulacra where some "signs" no longer point to any underlying reality. Denial of Death: A fairly straight-forward retelling of Ernest Becker's Denial of Death: We're all terrified of death, so we build our entire lives to avoid confronting it. Cam and Benny try denying Becker's denial thesis. CHAPTERS (00:00:00) Chitter chatter (00:03:13) Quick summary (00:09:16) The most photographed barn in America (00:13:51) Post-modernism (00:16:35) Baudrillard's Simulacra (00:24:26) How po-mo is DeLillo himself (00:32:18) Fake preferences & signalling (00:36:36) Airborne Toxic Event (00:55:17) Fear of Death (01:17:50) Ending and Jack's arc (01:31:26) Final thoughts WRITE US: We love listener feedback. Send us a note at [email protected] to correct our bad takes, add your own, or just say hi. NEXT ON THE READING LIST: Ursula Le Guin - The Dispossessed Ted Chiang - Truth of Fact, Truth of Feeling Jonathan Safran Foer - Everything is Illuminated
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DeLillo's White Noise: psy-opping ourselves on death and po-mo
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