The Years of Rice and Salt 7: "The Age of Great Progress," Charisma, Air, and Empire (and Cats)

In this week's cat-heavy episode, we examine the Kerala's global anticolonial revolutionary empire. We ask lots of questions: are novels the original Turing test? Is the Kerala the K character? What does revolutionary struggle look like in this book (in the absence of whiteness, Christianity, capitalism qua capitalism, a strong sense of private property) in contrast to what it looks like in the world? What is the meaning of diversity? What does imperial power look like under the Kerala, and how does it resemble what it looks like for us? Does Travancore constitute a cult or a culture? What are the novelistic modes that this and the previous book deploy? Finally, is this utopia? Email us at [email protected] Follow us on Twitter @podcastonmars Leave us a voicemail on the Anchor.fm app Rate and review us on iTunes or wherever you listen to your podcasts! Music by Spirit of Space