You Can't Win

We wrap up the final sections of Aesthetics of Resistance Volume III by Peter Weiss, from p. 209 to the end. Socialists fight over culture as the basis of a free Germany but no one can agree with what that means as the liberating armies advance.

Art, class and reliability... individual destiny and history... weighty stuff as the notes from the anti-fascist underground during the Second World War come to a climax. This Aesthetics of Resistance Volume 3 by Peter Weiss episode covers part II up to p. 209. Next AOR episode we will finish the book.

We chat about our fairly boring Springs, including Toronto sports, and Tom does an update on his recent reading, including Dostoevsky and Jameson. Mentioned: The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky An Essay on Man by Ernst Cassirer The Following Story by Cees Nooteboom Molloy by Samuel Beckett Malone Dies by Samuel Beckett The Unnamable by Samuel Beckett Marxism and Form by Fredric Jameson AOR3 read-along next time is up to p. 209.

Our fourth episode in our read-along for The Aesthetics of Resistance: Volume III, up to page 164 (Part II). Next AOR episode will be up to page 209. The war enters a new phase and there's some cinematic intrigue plus some discussion about art.

We check in about Tom's trip to Mexico, minor life updates and the news. Tom is still a bit sick so we had to cut this one somewhat short but we'll be back soon. Next Aesthetics of Resistance Volume 3 episode should be within the next week or two, up to end of Part I of the book.

We talk about pp 90 to 131 of Aesthetics of Resistance Volume 3 by Peter Weiss. The resistance to German fascism enters a new stage as isolated Communists struggle to find ways to be helpful. The art from AOR is available here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Works_of_art_in_The_Aesthetics_of_Resistance Next time (in a few weeks) we will read up to Section II (p. 164).

We chat about Ramadan and Lent, fitness and travel, investing in leftist coin Avi Lewis, and a mini-review of NTBTSTM.

We talk about up to page 90 in Aesthetics of Resistance Volume 3 by Peter Weiss in our read-along group. Then at about 57 minutes we chat about the Epstein debates and a few mini-reviews. Next read-along in a few weeks we will get to page 131. Mentioned: The Wild Pear Tree (2018) dir. Nuri Bilge Ceylan The American by Henry James Zeno's Conscience by Italo Svevo Concrete by Thomas Bernhard The Imperative to Write by Jeff Fort Blog post that discusses The Imperative to Write: https://this-space.blogspot.com/2015/08/the-imperative-to-write-destitutions-of.html

We talk about Tom leaving his job, the schizophrenia of Long 2026 and frustration over how politics works, trolling by competing in good deeds, and some mini reviews. Mentioned: The Time that Remains. The Worst Person in the World. Fistful of Dollars. Following. Eephus. This is Spinal Tap. Ralph Waldo Emerson essays. Masnavi by Rumi. Me & Rumi by Shams Tabrizi.

After our resolutions we jump into Aesthetics of Resistance by Peter Weiss, volume 3, a novel about art and fighting fascism in Europe during 1930s and 40s. We get up to page 44 in our first episode in this series. Next time (in a few weeks) we will do up to page 90. Book talk starts at 16m48s.

We chat about our favourite movies, podcasts, games, moments and books of 2025 as we get ready to say goodbye to a pretty bad year. Tom's Top Five Books: 5 Poetry of Rilke (Ed Snow trans.) 4 Aesthetics of Resistance vol II by Peter Weiss 3 Autobiography by John Cowper Powys 2 Terra Nostra by Carlos Fuentes 1 Lieutenant-Colonel de Maumort by Roger Martin du Gard Don's favourites were Aesthetics of Resistance Vol I and II by Peter Weiss and Correction by Thomas Bernhard.

We chat about whether prediction markets are forbidden, Herbert McCabe on the goodness of God, some Mubis and some books. Faith Within Reason by Herbert McCabe, OP. Oslo, August 31st. Wendy and Lucy. Bring them Down. The Smashing Machine.  Frost by Thomas Bernhard. Austerlitz by WG Sebald. Selected Writings of Walter Benjamin, Vol 2, Part One. What Maisie Knew by Henry James. Don also briefly mentions the podcasts Age of Napoleon and The Siècle.

We chat about the beginning of the end of the year, Herbert McCabe and the relationship between faith and reason, the movie Post Tenebras Lux and that show with Mussolini, and some stories out of Quebec. Mentioned: Faith Within Reason by Herbert McCabe. --- We're going to start reading Aesthetics of Resistance: Volume III by Peter Weiss in January, probably in 30-40 page chunks. Your heads up to get a copy. The AOR wikipedia page Don mentions: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Works_of_art_in_The_Aesthetics_of_Resistance

What the heck are Green Gras Target Emissions Reductions. Okay, I was tired. This ep' we talk about some recent newsy stuff (Canada, Epstein) and then get into books, including the awful new print-on-demand by big publishers. Mentioned: Ottawa Citizen article about mobilization: https://ottawacitizen.com/public-service/defence-watch/canadian-military-public-servants Giordano Bruno and the Hermetic Tradition by Francis A. Yates The Class Struggle in the Ancient Greek World by  G. E. M. Ste. Croix Alone with the Alone by Henry Corbin Stone Age Economics by Marshall Sahlins The Notebooks of Henry James Mannerism by Arnold Hauser The Social History of Art by Arnold Hauser Jimmy Breslin

We chat about baseball, our new kawaii (cute) mini-PCs, politricks and a bunch of books. Mentioned (mostly book hauls): The Mass Psychology of Fascism by Wilhelm Reich Listen, Little Man! by Wilhelm Reich Marcel Proust by William Carter The Poetry of Rilke, trans. Ed Snow Europe: A History by Norman Davies Postwar: A History of Europe since 1945 by Tony Judt Religion and Nothingness by Keiji Nishitani The Early Chinese Empires: Qin and Han by Mark Edward Lewis A History of China by Wolfram Eberhard The Confessions of Jean Jacques Rousseau Interesting Times by Eric Hobsbawm Les grands textes indépendantistes, 1774 - 1992 by Andrée Ferretti and Gaston Miron Selling Free Enterprise by Elizabeth A. Fones-Wolf Riddle of Fire (movie)

We chat about baseball, health, One Battle After Another and some recent adventures in populism.

We chat about da yankees losing, (temporary) peace in Gaza, European gunners and AI, and a few books.   Mentioned:   Listen, Little Man! by Wilhelm Reich (thanks to Hermitix podcast) Kaputt by Curzio Malaparte

We wrap up our discussion of Aesthetics of Resistance Volume 2 by Peter Weiss. Most of the other, older episodes of this series are available through the Patreon.

We chat about baseball, Israel's final years, and Tom's take on Schattenfroh so far. Mentioned: Is Irish hip-hop trio Kneecap still banned from entering Canada? Were they ever? It's unclear by Raffy Boudjikanian (CBC): https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/kneecap-ban-canada-questions-1.7645528 The Canadian Press Will Continue Not Using 'Palestine' In Most Cases by David Mastracci (The Maple): https://www.readthemaple.com/the-canadian-press-will-continue-not-using-palestine-in-most-cases/ Schattenfroh by Michael Lentz. One Battle After Another by Paul Thomas Anderson. Also: For the foreseeable future we're going to be releasing all new episodes on this free feed. You can join our Patreon for as low as $1/month to get access to the Discord and help us cover expenses but the episodes are free. Thank you for listening!

Tom and Don start our reading of Aesthetics of Resistance Volume 2 by Peter Weiss, a novel about art and communist resistance to fascism. In this episode we get oriented and work through the first 28 pages. Join the Patreon and the Discord to follow along with us.

Don chats with Freddy about the surprisingly good 2001 TV movie Conspiracy about the Wannsee Conference that planned the Holocaust.

Don chats with Freddy about the Canadian philosopher G.A. Cohen on the relationship between Marxism, religion, science, and moral and political philosophy. Mentioned: Cohen's Gifford lectures (in the book If You're Egalitarian, Why Are You So Rich?) Cohen - Karl Marx's Theory of History: A Defence. Cohen - Why not socialism?

We chat with our friend Alex about Deleuze and politics in academia. You can follow Alex on Twitter at @SlurricaneH (At about 50 minutes in Alex's microphone disconnected and Tom and I wrapped up with two questions.)

We chat about the second half of Correction by Thomas Bernhard with Mike Reads the World and some of the ideas it sparked in us. Check out Mike Reads the World on YouTube.  https://www.youtube.com/@mikereadstheworld We also mention the House on the Rock in Wyoming, Wisconsin as an example of eccentric building.

We chat about the first half of Correction by Thomas Bernhard with Mike Reads the World. Check out Mike Reads the World on YouTube.  https://www.youtube.com/@mikereadstheworld

We are joined by Mike from the YouTube channel Mike Reads the World to chat about his reading project and our year in reading. Mike's channel is at https://www.youtube.com/@mikereadstheworld His "favorite books" video we mention is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t6aH-YHa_y4 His "Magic Mountain" essay is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EyA6Oc6_pIU Mike's books mentioned: Sei Shonagon - The Pillow Book The I-Ching Fariduddin Attar - Conference of the Birds Ovid- Metamorphoses Ngugi wa Thiong'o - The Wizard of the Crow Thomas Mann - The Magic Mountain Anna Comnena - The Alexiad We also proposed a read-long for Correction by Thomas Bernhard.

Our friend Freddy joins us to talk about scams, politics and how they overlap.

Tom walks us through the book The Essence of Reality by 'Ayn al-Qudat, a 12th Century Sufi text about going beyond the intellect to embrace mystical experience.

We chat about our cookie headaches and X-Com and Lebanon and Hannah Arendt. Mentioned: Eichmann in Jerusalem by Hannah Arendt Origins of Totalitarianism by Hannah Arendt On Revolution by Hannah Arendt The X-Com 2 mod guy Tom mentions is christopherodd

Marlon Ettinger, a journalist living in France, joins Don to talk about French politics. Find Marlon on Twitter at @MarlonEttinger his new pod at @flep24pod and his book Zemmour & Gaullism.

Our friend Freddy joins from Vienna to talk about his Euro-Trip, Noam Chomsky, the war in Gaza, and the point of philosophy. The Third Reich at War by Richard J. Evans. Battle Cry of Freedom by James M. McPherson. Understanding Power by Noam Chomsky. Left anti-communism: The Unkindest Cut by Michael Parenti. My Struggle by Karl Ove Knausgaard. This Is a Robbery (Netflix documentary about 1990 Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum robbery).

We chat about the failing Dream Port, the peace plan, paying off our debts, soul corn, some books and elections. Mentioned: Harland's Half Acre by David Malouf. My Struggle Book 1 by Karl Ove Knausgaard. Historical Capitalism by Immanuel Wallerstein. Language and Myth by Ernst Cassirer. Our Bloc by James Schneider.

Tom and Don chat about some books and shows, including Robert Musil, Orhan Pamuk's The White Castle, Karamustafa, J.M. Coetzee, Joan Robinson, Wolf Hall, Copenhagen Cowboy and The Last of Us.   Mentioned: The Confusions of Young Törless by Robert Musil The White Castle by Orhan Pamuk God's Unruly Friends by Ahmet T. Karamustafa The Childhood of Jesus by J.M. Coetzee Economic Philosophy by Joan Robinson

Tom tells the history of the Crusades, the Mongol invasions, and the rise of the Mamluks in part 3 of a series on Muslim history. The full series is available on Patreon.

An excerpt from a premium episode available through a Patreon subscription, in which Tom provides a history of the rise and fall of the original Islamic state, and a description of the Muslim world's social structure at the time, including the institution of slavery and transformations that came about as a result of the Islamic movement. (re-uploaded to fix some audio issues)

A quick and casual Q&A in which we field questions from the Discord about Russia/Ukraine, our military vehicles of choice, UFOs, the future of VR, and our astrological signs.

We chat about our reactions to Tom's series on the Franklin Scandal, from the plausibility of the crimes to the political implications. What sorts of evidence should we focus on? How do we account for average people's reactions to such crimes? We sum up our feelings on the case as we prepare for future episodes on related topics.

In the conclusion to our series on the Franklin Scandal, Tom tells the fate of the investigation and lead investigator Caradori, and the results of the grand jury trial. He then takes a look at the life of one of King's associates, Craig Spence, a CIA-connected blackmailer who paid visits to the White House. Source: The Franklin Scandal by Nick Bryant

A continuation of Tom's telling of the Franklin Scandal as part of our ongoing PTK (Programmed to Kill) series. In this episode, Tom describes the backlash the investigation suffers after producing videotaped statements of the victims.

We begin with a short chat about Don's burgeoning interest in bicycling before we dive into Tom's extended review of Olga Tokarczuk's The Books of Jacob.

In this episode, Tom introduces the Franklin Committee's replacement investigator Gary Caradori and the testimony of Alisha Owen. Source: The Franklin Scandal by Nick Bryant

In this episode, Tom continues covering the Franklin Scandal, focusing on the tensions between the investigatory committee and law enforcement.

Tom continues the tale of the Franklin Credit Union scandal, this time taking a look at the initial investigations into Larry King after reports begin to emerge about his alleged criminal activities. Source: The Franklin Scandal by Nick Bryant

A new episode in our PTK series where Tom sketches out some details of the Franklin Scandal, a case with many mysterious connections. Source: The Franklin Scandal by Nick Bryant.

We continue our PTK series by closely examining the Dutroux Affair, a notorious criminal case involving kidnapping, child abuse and sex trafficking that implicated the Belgian government and high society.

Our friend Matt from the Ghost Stories for the End of the World podcast joins us to discuss Belgium in this first part of a series on the Dutroux Affair and similar cases. We discuss the place of Belgium in great power struggles and the associated political culture that developed. Matt's Twitter account is @GhostStoriesEnd

Our friend Sean joins us to discuss the history and practices of Shinto and related Japanese beliefs. We work through some common misconceptions about Shinto and the difficulties of easy comparisons to Western ideas of religion. Also Sean wanted us to note that he misspoke and meant to say "Horii Mitsuoshi," not "Horii Mitsuo". Intro by auntie004. Outro by reiyashi.

After a State of the Pod update of where we're at and where we hope to go, we work through your questions. Intro by auntie004. Outro by reiyashi.

Four hour episode about the Eternals! All Eternals! All the time! Okay so in reality we chat about content for a bit and then settle some controversies for you. Intro by auntie004. Outro by reiyashi.

Tom, Don and AgileTablet give you the Dune opinions you asked for, mostly focused on the new movie but also about the saga as a whole and the future of humanity. Intro by auntie004. Outro by reiyashi.