Steve Wasserman is as charming as his eloquent writing, he's a raconteur, a cultural essayist & he talks to us about Tell Me Something, Tell Me Anything, Even If It’s A Lie. He takes the reader on an exhilarating journey through the world of books, featuring personal reflections on Susan Sontag, Huey Newton, Barbra Streisand, W. G. Sebald, Christopher Hitchens and more. In thirty splendid essays, originally published in such diverse publications as the New Republic and the Nation, the American Conservative and the Progressive, the Village Voice and the Economist, Wasserman delivers a riveting account of the awakening of an empathetic sensibility and a lively mind. Taken together, they reveal the depth and breadth of his enthusiasms and range over politics, literature, and the tumults of a world in upheaval. They include the remarkable tale of a bookstore owner who wouldn’t let him buy the books he wanted, to his brave against-the-grain take on the Black Panthers, to his shrewd assessment of the fast-changing world of publishing. Here is, as Joyce Carol Oates notes, “arguably the very best concise history of Cuba and the legendary Fidel Castro; beautifully composed eulogies for two close friends, Susan Sontag and Christopher Hitchens; sharply perceptive commentary on Daniel Ellsberg; a thrillingly candid interview with W. G. Sebald.
As you read this, the topic of social media is headline news once again with droves of people fleeing from Twitter/X to head over to Blue Sky and Threads. In 2019 we invited Andrew Marantz, to talk about his book, Antisocial: Online Extremists, Techno-Utopians, and the Hijacking of the American Conversation. Marantz had been embedded in two worlds. The first is the world of social-media entrepreneurs, who, acting out of naïvete and reckless ambition, upended all traditional means of receiving and transmitting information. The second is the world of the people he calls "the gate crashers"--the conspiracists, white supremacists, and nihilist trolls who have become experts at using social media to advance their corrosive agenda. Antisocial ranges broadly--from the first mass-printed books to the trending hashtags of the present; from secret gatherings of neo-Fascists to the White House press briefing room--and traces how the unthinkable becomes thinkable, and then how it becomes reality.Antisocial reveals how the boundaries between technology, media, and politics have been erased, resulting in a deeply broken informational landscape--the landscape in which we all now live. Marantz shows how alienated young people are led down the rabbit hole of online radicalization, and how fringe ideas spread--from anonymous corners of social media to cable TV to the President's Twitter feed.
The results of the 2024 presidential election may mean untold sleepless nights for progressives. The reasons for the outcome are already clouded by agitated finger-pointing. While pundits pontificate, critical analysis is met with flabbergasted disdain. With Nuts and Bolts: The Formula for Progressive Electoral Success, political organizer and strategist, Robert Creamer had months before the election taken a serious deep dive into an issue that was making Democrats nervous, this was even before Kamala Harris stepped into the race. Creamer’s book can be described as a step-by-step field manual for how progressives can win electoral campaigns - and a textbook for anyone who wants to know how electoral politics really works. It's about the fundamentals of great electoral organizing, effective political communication, understanding the self-interest of the voters, political fundraising, using social media and other new technologies, creating high intensity field programs, voter mobilization, the qualities of great organizers.
For five decades Creamer has worked on hundreds of electoral campaigns at the local, state and national levels. His firm, Democracy Partners has managed scores of high-intensity field programs for Democratic Congressional campaigns. In our conversation Bob Creamer talks candidly, often bluntly about the reason for electoral failure, noting that ill-chosen phrases like “A basket of deplorables” can radically alter a campaign’s success. Bob insists on emphasizing the progressive’s failure in the 2024 election and further election will be ignoring and not focusing on “Income Equality”.
One of the most peculiar and possibly unique features of humans is the vast amount of information we carry outside our biological selves. But in our rush to build the infrastructure for the 20 quintillion bits we create every day, we’ve failed to ask exactly why we’re expending ever-increasing amounts of energy, resources, and human effort to maintain all this data. Drawing on deep ideas and frontier thinking in evolutionary biology, computer science, information theory, and astrobiology, In The Ascent of Information Caleb Scharf argues that information is, in a very real sense, alive. All the data we create—all of our emails, tweets, selfies, A.I.-generated text, and funny cat videos—amounts to an aggregate life-form. It has goals and needs. It can control our behavior and influence our well-being. And it’s an organism that has evolved right alongside us. The Ascent of Information offers a humbling vision of a universe built of and for information. Scharf explores how our relationship with data will affect our ongoing evolution as a species. Understanding this relationship will be crucial to preventing our data from becoming more of a burden than an asset, and to preserving the possibility of a human future.
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Moments after Steve Kornacki paused slightly then continued reeling off percentages in whatever county in whichever swing state had just committed to Trump my iPhone and media feeds started going berserk. “We are doomed!” screamed one message and another declared “This is the end!” The votes across the nation were still being tabulated yet the numbers were indicating positively that Harris could not win. Any little lingering hope was quickly vanishing as Kornacki’s map was turning a nasty shade of red. The cries of unexpected defeat were stampeding across the internet machine. Friends were texting and calling with mostly garbled outrage. “What the fuck?” being the most literate comment. Later, around 3am the frenzied reaction to the election results had tempered to disbelief, numbness perhaps coupled with the overwhelming question, “Will our world as we know it come to an end now Trump has been reelected?”
Around the same time, 16 hours ahead in Melbourne, Australia, Life Elsewhere regular contributor Dr. Binoy Kampmark was already composing his response to the US election outcome with a stirring essay for CounterPunch, the title, The Price Of Eggs: Why Harris Lost To Trump. Kampmarks’s commentaries on Global, Urban and Social Studies have always received debatable reactions, not least of all his perspective on Trump. Back in 2015, when Trump was posturing for a run at the presidency, Binoy agreed that the ostentatious sham real estate mogul and reality TV personality was obviously unfit for any governmental office. Yet he did suggest that someone as absurd as Trump could be an effective way to shake up a jaded political system. Kampmark was of course, correct. The mechanics of US politics were given a serious off-road test. Now in 2024 heading into 2025 with Trump about to start a second term the landscape does appear desolate if you are not big on Cybertrucks or the likelihood of armored military vehicles roaming our streets.
Dr. Binoy Kampmark welcomed the opportunity to respond to our headline question. We urge you to listen carefully to everything he says. Your feedback is always important, now more than ever. Share your thoughts on Kampmark’sopinions, write to info@lifeelsewhere.co
Dr Binoy Kampmark is a Senior Lecturer at RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia. He teaches in the School of Global, Urban and Social Studies, within the Bachelor of Social Science (Legal and Dispute Studies) program.
Vince Beiser - Power Metal - The Race For The Resources That Will Shape Our Future
An Australian millionaire’s plan to mine the ocean floor. Nigerian garbage pickers risking their lives to salvage e-waste. A Bill Gates-backed entrepreneur harnessing AI to find metals in the Arctic.These people and millions more are part of the intensifying competition to find and extract the minerals essential for two crucial technologies: the internet and renewable energy. In Power Metal, Vince Beiser explores the Achilles’ heel of “green power” and digital technology – that manufacturing computers, cell phones, electric cars, and other technologies demand skyrocketing amounts of lithium, copper, cobalt, and other materials. Around the world, businesses and governments are scrambling for new places and new ways to get those metals, at enormous cost to people and the planet. Beiser crisscrossed the world to talk to the people involved and report on the damage this race is inflicting, the ways it could get worse, and how we can minimize the damage. Power Metal is a compelling glimpse into this disturbing yet potentially promising new world.
Vince Beiser - The World In A Grain - The Story of Sand and How It Transformed Civilization
Did you know that after water and air, sand is our most consumed natural resource? Have you ever realized how deeply sand defines and makes possible our lives? Every concrete building and paved road on Earth, every window, computer screen and silicon chip, is made from sand. This humble material is in everything from light bulbs to glasses - and we are running out of it. Award-winning journalist Vince Beiser explains how vital sand is in its many forms, from construction sand to silica to high-purity quartz. Beiser writes, “Sand has become one of the twenty-first century’s most sought-after commodities, sparking violence and destruction around the world."
Vince Beiser in addition to being a favorite, informative guest, a succinct, proficient writer he also publishes a Newsletterwe recommend.
Bohren & Der Club Of Gore - Destroying Angel
From the album, Black Earth, the German all-instrumental quartet self-describe themselves as “doom-ridden jazz music”. A foreboddin description for such charming music. Originally they were called Bohren (German for drilling), they emerged from hardcore punk and metal bands during the late 1980s, these musicians sought and discovered a new direction that reveled in sheer unhurried lethargy, a music persistently sedate, modally performed, and harmonically minimal. The album was first released in 2004, then rereleased on the important Belgium label, PIAS (Play It Again Sam) in 2016. Definitely worth investigating.
Here in these parts we just experienced two, yes, two major hurricanes in less than two weeks. First Helene, then Milton came a-blowing. For a little insight on the trauma of suffering through a hurricane, go to the artwork for this volume, enlarge it enough to read clearly, so you can read my account.
Jill Barton - The Supreme Guide To Writing
Jill Barton’s unbridled enthusiasm for writing and the law is evident from the moment we start chatting, plus she is blessed with a winning smile. And, there’s the clue to how a law professor and author has analyzed 10,000 pages of Supreme Court opinions which ostensibly should be staid and academic and revealed the astonishing news that the Justices have a sense of humor. In The Supreme Guide to Writing, Jill Barton cuts through competing advice to detail definitive grammar rules based on the nation's unequivocal authority: the U.S. Supreme Court. The book details a revolution in legal writing, with the justices progressing beyond the drab and technical for the deft and lyrical. The book pinpoints grammar and style rules that the justices follow--and describes the outdated rules they leave behind. Barton writes, today's Court casts aside formality in favor of pop-culture references, contractions, and approachable language. In addition to establishing grammar and style rules, the book illustrates best practices with hundreds of examples of the justices' most brilliant sentences from the past several years. With step-by-step instructions, the book describes how to emulate the justices' writing styles by breaking down their strategies and techniques. It shows how Justice Elena Kagan lands amusing quips and weaves together down-to-earth analogies, how Justice Neil Gorsuch executes witty retorts, and how Chief Justice John Roberts pens unforgettable lines with understated style and humor. The best writing appears effortless, but it also takes tremendous effort. Legal writing even more so. The Supreme Guide to Writing provides a nonpartisan look at how the justices present their words to the world.
Maureen Callahan - American Predator - The Hunt For The Most Meticulous Serial Killer Of The 21st Century
Most people have never heard of Israel Keyes, one of the most ambitious and terrifying serial killers in modern history. The FBI considered his behavior unprecedented. Described by a prosecutor as “a force of pure evil,” Keyes was a predator who struck all over the United States. He buried “kill kits”–cash, weapons, and body-disposal tools–in remote locations across the country. Over the course of fourteen years, Keyes would fly to a city, rent a car, and drive thousands of miles in order to use his kits. He would break into a stranger’s house, abduct his victims in broad daylight, and kill and dispose of them in mere hours. And then he would return home to Alaska, resuming life as a quiet, reliable construction worker devoted to his only daughter. When journalist Maureen Callahanfirst heard about Israel Keyes in 2012, she was captivated by how a killer of this magnitude could go undetected by law enforcement for over a decade. And so began a project that consumed her for the next several years–uncovering the true story behind how the FBI ultimately caught Israel Keyes and trying to understand what it means for a killer like Keyes to exist. A killer who left a path of monstrous randomly committed crimes in his wake–many of which remain unsolved to this day. Norman B talks with Maureenabout American Predator - The Hunt For The Most Meticulous Serial Killer Of The 21st Century. “The most horrific book I have ever read!” He tells Ms. Callahan, adding, “But, I loved every page!”
Swiss born, Berlin-based artist Anna Erhard is a talented musician who not only makes fascinating music she also understands how to use videos to accompany her work. Anna has a number of releases to investigate, her latest album, Botanical Garden showcases how she successfully mixes genres with a distinctive confidence. We selected the single I Wish from October 2021 which can also be found on her LP, Campsite. A talent to keep a watchful eye on.
Calahan Skogman - Blue Graffiti
He is proud to be from a small town in middle-of-nowhere Midwestern America. And he wants you to know why. With his debut novel, Blue Graffiti, Calahan Skogman relishes in portraying a place he is all too familiar with, albeit Johnston is a figment of his imagination. Pouring his soul out in words about the environment he grew up in was not enough for Mr. Skogman, he goes further and creates a believable world of situations and relationships with realistic characters. On a cross-country drive, it’s small town you could stumble upon, pop into the local bar, where you’d spot ruggedly-handsome construction-worker Cash eying the beautiful green-eyed, Rose. It’s the straight-forwardness of Calahan’swriting that captures the reader, he paints a realistic picture of Johnston and it's inhabitants without meandering into long-winded prose, yet he has found a way to draw the reader in to a romantic tale of self-discovery without depending on cliches. Calahan Skogman's enthusiasm for life and telling his story is compelling, his large beaming smile radiates through the airwaves. As the conversation weaves into questions about sex, drugs and rock ’n’ roll, Calahan articulates with the care and thoughtfulness of a seasoned raconteur. It may come as no surprise then to learn that Skogman is a critically acclaimed actor. He tells of dressing-up as a kid and a fascination for the arts while eagerly pursuing a career in professional sports. Perhaps these juxtapositions are why Calahan is such an engaging guest and how he has crafted an exceptional book in Blue Graffiti.
Jennifer Ackerman - The Bird Way: A New Look At How Birds Talk, Work, Play, Parent and Think
“There is the mammal way and there is the bird way.” But the bird way is much more than a unique pattern of brain wiring, and lately, scientists have taken a new look at bird behaviors they have, for years, dismissed as anomalies or mysteries –– What they are finding is upending the traditional view of how birds conduct their lives, how they communicate, forage, court, breed, survive. They are also revealing the remarkable intelligence underlying these activities, abilities we once considered uniquely our own: deception, manipulation, cheating, kidnapping, infanticide, but also ingenious communication between species, cooperation, collaboration, altruism, culture, and play. Drawing on personal observations, the latest science, and her bird-related travel around the world, from the tropical rainforests of eastern Australia and the remote woodlands of northern Japan to the rolling hills of Lower Austria and the islands of Alaska’s Kachemak Bay, Jennifer Ackerman shows there is clearly no single bird way of being. In every respect, in plumage, form, song, flight, lifestyle, niche, and behavior, birds vary.
Augustine Sedgewick - Coffeeland: One Man’s Dark Empire and the Making of Our Favorite Drug
What do you know about coffee? A wonderful new book will change how you look at - or taste coffee again. Augustine Sedgewick takes us on an extraordinary adventure of discovery, revealing details and history, even the most ardent coffee lover will be surprised by. In Coffeeland - One Man’s Dark Empire and the Making of Our Favorite Drug the learned Augustine Sedgewick has brilliantly chronicled the most consequential revolution by telling the global history of one family. His book is both innovative and factual as he effortlessly untangles the routes that carried coffee from the slopes of El Salvador to the shelves of US supermarkets. Augustine exposes a realm of ruthless entrepreneurs, hardworking laborers, laboratory chemists, and guerrilla fighters. Plus, he is a wonderful and enthusiastic guest.
All spring, Dr. Elizabeth Hilborn watched as her family fruit farm of many years became increasingly diminished, suffering from a lack of bees. The plentiful wildlife, so abundant just weeks before, was gone. Everything was still, silent. As an environmental scientist trained to investigate disease outbreaks, she rose to the challenge. Step by step, day by day, despite facing headwinds from skeptical neighbors, environmental experts, and agricultural consultants, she’d assembled information. Her observations provided a framework, a timeline to explain the evidence she’d collected.The chemicals found in her water samples showed beyond any doubt that not only her farm, but her greater farming community, was at risk from toxic chemicals that travelled with rain water over the land, into water, and deep within the soil. Hilborn was given a front row seat to the insect apocalypse. Even as a scientist, she’d been unaware of the risks to life from some common agricultural chemicals. Her goal was to protect her farm and the animals who lived there. But first she had to convince her rural neighbors of the risk to their way of life, too. Elizabeth Hiborn is a delightful and informative guest, we’re sure like us, you will be moved by her story.
Liran Einav & Amy Finkelstein - We’ve Got You Covered: Rebooting American Health Care
Few of us need convincing that the American health insurance system needs reform. But many of the existing proposals focus on expanding one relatively successful piece of the system or building in piecemeal additions. These proposals miss the point. As the Stanford health economist Liran Einav and the MIT economist and MacArthur Genius Amy Finkelstein argue, our health care system was never deliberately designed, but rather pieced together to deal with issues as they became politically relevant. The result is a sprawling yet arbitrary and inadequate mess. It has left 30 million Americans without formal insurance. Many of the rest live in constant danger of losing their coverage if they lose their job, give birth, get older, get healthier, get richer, or move. Einav and Finkelstein suggest it's time to tear it all down and rebuild, sensibly and deliberately. Marshaling original research, striking insights from American history, and comparative analysis of what works and what doesn’t from systems around the world, The authors argue for automatic, basic, and free universal coverage for everyone, along with the option to buy additional, supplemental coverage. Their wholly original argument and comprehensive blueprint for an American universal health insurance system will surprise and provoke. Amy Finkelstein is an engaging guest who manages to explain not only complex but often daunting facts with an effortless charm and grace.
Maureen Callahan - American Predator
Most people have never heard of Israel Keyes, one of the most ambitious and terrifying serial killers in modern history. The FBI considered his behavior unprecedented. Described by a prosecutor as “a force of pure evil,” Keyes was a predator who struck all over the United States. He buried “kill kits”–cash, weapons, and body-disposal tools–in remote locations across the country. Over the course of fourteen years, Keyes would fly to a city, rent a car, and drive thousands of miles in order to use his kits. He would break into a stranger’s house, abduct his victims in broad daylight, and kill and dispose of them in mere hours. And then he would return home to Alaska, resuming life as a quiet, reliable construction worker devoted to his only daughter. When journalist Maureen Callahanfirst heard about Israel Keyes in 2012, she was captivated by how a killer of this magnitude could go undetected by law enforcement for over a decade. And so began a project that consumed her for the next several years–uncovering the true story behind how the FBI ultimately caught Israel Keyes and trying to understand what it means for a killer like Keyes to exist. A killer who left a path of monstrous randomly committed crimes in his wake–many of which remain unsolved to this day. Norman B talks with Maureen about American Predator - The Hunt For The Most Meticulous Serial Killer Of The 21st Century. “The most horrific book I have ever read!” He tells Ms. Callahan, adding, “But, I loved every page!”
“Most of these were made without any intention of making an album, just improvisations on simple themes. I mostly write lyrics with a guitar in my hand on the couch late at night but to find the real musical language of an album, I go outside with my amp and looping pedal and spin out hours and hours of improvisation”. Multi-instrumentalist, vocalist, whistler and songwriter, Andrew Bird talking about his latest album, Outside Problems. The Chicago- based artist picked up his first violin at the age of four and spent his formative years soaking up classical repertoire completely by ear. As a teen Bird became interested in a variety of styles including early jazz, country blues and folk music, synthesizing them into his unique brand of pop. Outside Problems shows that the subtle economy of Bird’s compositions are captivating.
We begin with Sick & Tired a cut from a well-crafted album by Perth-based, Blue Honey. Five members here if you don’t count the two teddy bears I spied in their PR photo. Sick & Tired is an LP I certainly recommend, plus top marks for the impressive drumming.
Mary Jane Dunphe - Stage Of Love
Stage Of Love is from the album of the same name by poet, songwriter, vocalist, performer and video artist, Mary Jane Dunphe. Based in New York, Mary Jane has collaborated in diverse projects and says her work is an idiosyncratic assemblage of crooning and danceable avant-pop songs, full of longing, a love letter to no one in particular. I just discovered Mary Jane's video for Stage Of Love, oh my, please don't break the spell.
Avery Hutley presents as Marumaru with Phantom Falling from a double-sided single. Originally from Sydney, Averyis now living in Tokyo, translating manga and recording music at home. Phantom Falling is deceptively alluring, it sounds familiar yet completely new. This is hardly surprising as Marumaru says, “My music is for those ghostly moments when reality falls so far short of fiction, full to bursting with the fear that you feel nothing at all”. Excellent artwork by Emily Husmann.
R. Missing - My Time As A Ghostly Someone Else
New York based vocalist Sharon Shy, who along with musician Toppy present as R. Missing. As you listen to Sharon Shy’s almost deadpan vocals you’ll know there is a story going here with My Time As A Ghostly Someone Else. The smart electro music-bed carries the song along perfectly. For some reason, the song and production conjurs up a futuristic-city vista for me. What do you see?
OK, I’ll be clear about this one - it’s fantastic! Joan Sweeney, Andrew Milk, Gemma Fleet and Sebastian Ymai, queer activists involved with visual art, festivals, club nights and live art have created an exceptional album with Off The Tongue. These lovely folks out of Glasgow have an energy, a vibrancy I’m always on the look-out for. It was difficult to select just one cut to play, even though No Fuss is truly amazing. Now here is a band I would love to see live and had a sneak peek in the studio when this record was being made. Top marks and Current Affairs are on the brilliant Tough Love imprint, so there.
Tetra Hydro K - Alone Inside (part 1)
Now here is a cut you can dance your socks off to. Tasty production from a French duo who shared this info, “Tetra Hydro K is the name of a laboratory based in a secret location, run by Doctors Kanay and Krilong. Their research concentrates on experimenting with organic elements (live musical instruments) in a computer-generated environment. When testing these musical concoctions, specialists have been left scratching their heads with unanswered questions: Is it electronic? Acoustic? Dub? Dubstep? Drum and Bass? Why can’t I stop dancing?” Now, if you believe any of that, I have a bridge to sell you, although, some of that does sound sort of reasonable. Love it!
Ah, knock me down with a feather. This is so good. I’m Scared is a beautiful song from an exceptional album. Ayo Leilani is Witch Prophet, a Toronto based, singer-songwriter who uses a soundscape of vocal layers, loops, raps and harmonies on a bed of hip-hop, jazz and soul-inspired beats produced by her wife and business partner, Sun Sun. Gateway Experience is a stunning album, focused on the connection with the human brain, dreams, seizures, god and otherworldly abilities. The title of the album is an ode to the released CIA report where they studied the use of sound tapes to manipulate brainwaves with a goal of creating altered states. Examples include out of body experiences, remote viewing, psychic abilities and the ability to heal ones body. Plus, you must take note of the fabulous videos and photography.
Chuck Collins - Alter To An Erupting Sun
Altar to an Erupting Sun is a near-future story of one community facing climate disruption in the critical decade ahead. Rae Kelliher is a veteran environmental activist and pioneer in the death-with-dignity movement. Facing a diagnosis of terminal illness, she engages in a shocking suicide murder, taking the life of an oil company CEO for his role in delaying responses to climate disruption. Seven years later, Rae’s friends and family gather at her Vermont farm community to try to understand her violent exit and the rapid social transformations around them. Altar to an Erupting Sun focuses attention on the decades-long culpability of the fossil fuel industry in funding denial movements, blocking change. and locking us on course to an uninhabitable earth. Altar lifts up the history of several important movements over the last forty years including the grassroots anti-nuclear power, Central America solidarity, and effort to shut down the School of Americas. Rae Kelliher, the lead character in the story, is also part of anti-eviction movements in Boston and efforts to stop construction of a fracked gas pipeline. Collins also depicts real time tactical debates among climate change activists about direct action, destruction of property, and how to focus attention on the leaders of the fossil fuel industry.
Jennifer Ackerman - The Bird Way: A New Look At How Birds Talk, Work, Play, Parent and Think
“There is the mammal way and there is the bird way.” But the bird way is much more than a unique pattern of brain wiring, and lately, scientists have taken a new look at bird behaviors they have, for years, dismissed as anomalies or mysteries –– What they are finding is upending the traditional view of how birds conduct their lives, how they communicate, forage, court, breed, survive. They are also revealing the remarkable intelligence underlying these activities, abilities we once considered uniquely our own: deception, manipulation, cheating, kidnapping, infanticide, but also ingenious communication between species, cooperation, collaboration, altruism, culture, and play. Drawing on personal observations, the latest science, and her bird-related travel around the world, from the tropical rainforests of eastern Australia and the remote woodlands of northern Japan to the rolling hills of Lower Austria and the islands of Alaska’s Kachemak Bay, Jennifer Ackerman shows there is clearly no single bird way of being. In every respect, in plumage, form, song, flight, lifestyle, niche, and behavior, birds vary.
Bristol-based producer and vocalist TLK’s says her Primed For Loss EP explores the nuance of maternal loss in early childhood. Her music stretches the thin fabric of selfhood, leaning deeply into the ethereal realm. Fluid in genre and form, and emphasising improvisation as a core tenet for psychological processing, the enchanting sound of TLK is permeating the Bristol scene.
Setting up a Zoom conversation with three people you have not met before could be really daunting. Do they all have sound and lighting that works properly? Will we have to spend ages in edit sweetening the audio? What happens if they talk over each other? We shouldn’t have worried. There was singer, guitarist Jen White in Las Vegas, lounging comfortably in a cozy corner of a sofa, ensconced with with plaid blankets, wearing a rakish cap and beaming smile - while over at his studio in Swindon, Wiltshire, guitarist and multi-instrumentalist, Stu Rowe sat calmly - and XTC co-founder, Andy Partridge grinned as he leaned over the back of a chair surrounded by walls of books in an undisclosed, secret location. The sound and the visuals were perfect for a conversation with The 3 Clubmen.
The release of the trio’s debut 4-track The 3 Clubmen EP prompted this get-together. Playing the music and waxing lyrical about how their EP doesn’t tidily slot into any genre is important, but we wanted to know more. How did this project come together? What’s the process for writing songs from different locations? And, the name, there has to be a story behind that? (Little did we expect a Roaring Donkey would be involved). Big thanks to Andy, Jen and Stu for a conversation with The 3 Clubmen.
Kris Berle & Skydrips - Keep An Eye On You
Skydrips a live DJ act from Berlin, Germany teams up with artist and musician, Kris Berle for a nice gentle hip-swayer, Keep An Eye On You. They say, the song is a dialogue between the Moon and The Earth as a way to find a deeper meaning in life. Sounds fair enough. The other side is equally as good.
Hyroglifics - Hotwire (ft. Liza Jane)
Staying in a subdued rhythmic mode we head on over to the English west country city of Bristol where it does seem that a massive amount of cool releases emanate…Matt Harris aka Hyroglifics know for his drum ’n’ bass outings gives us a selection of grime, hip hop, techno and ambient with debut album, I’ll Wait, I Guess. About the theme of his LP, Mattsays, “I believe that good things happen with time, however, I also wanted this album to depict the realities of waiting for something and how seemingly hopeless it may seem at times”. And, we are advised that the album download includes mobile phone wallpapers. Nice.
Out of South Africa comes multifaceted artist, Lwendo with his self-titled album. With Season And Love, Lwendomakes it clear he isn’t mimicking anyone, instead setting his own unique style. Tasteful, competent work going on here.
As this one was playing I had to reread the accompanying promo notes a couple of times, ‘cause I thought, perhaps I was listening to the wrong cut. The Southampton-based artist says this about Summer Be Gone, “It’s loosely based around my dislike of the hot summer months and how I prefer being cocooned inside while it's dark and cold outside. I'm not really a fan of crowds, so I appreciate winter and the way there seems to be more space between folks in that season”. Now that sounds at odds to me as this lilting song unfolds. But then, Mike Gale adds, "I'm naturally introverted and have never enjoyed being onstage in front of people, so performing live was always my least favourite part of making music. Now I'm solo I feel no pressure to perform live at all, maybe one day but for now I'm happy.” So, it’s not all doom and gloom with Mike, although I suspect giving him a kind smile on a hot sunny day may brighten his mood, a little.
The name Fred Abong has popped up so many times over the years while listening to alternative and indie music. Fredbegan his musical career in the 1980’s on Rhode Island as a drummer, bassist and guitarist in various hardcore punk bands. Then he spent the early 1990s playing bass for Throwing Muses and then Belly. Later he put music as a profession on hold for academic pursuits, earning a PhD in Humanities and serving as a professor at various universities for eight years before returning to music. Apart from his work as a solo artist, Fred Abong is also currently bassist in the Kristin Hersh Electric Trio. Now Fred has a new solo album, Fear Pageant on Seattle’s Disc Drive label. We selected, Father for this volume, it’s a reflective song in keeping with the theme of this LP. Don’t overlook this one.
Wreckless Eric - The Old Versailles
I’m so pleased to have spent many hours in the company of Eric Goulden, better know as Wreckless Eric, in part because he is a very funny man, full of dry British sarcasm, but Eric is also a brilliant observer and commentator on our topsy-turvy world. His latest album, Leisureland is Eric at his Wreckless best, that is to say, this is a serious rock ’n’ roll record, his heritage, his passion, his love of a pounding good riff are all here. Turn The Old Versailles up way loud and then pop on over here listen to our recent conversation. An honest work by a lovely geezer.
Ahmed White: Under the Iron Heel: The Wobblies and the Capitalist War on Radical Workers
In 1917, the Industrial Workers of the World was rapidly gaining strength and members. Within a decade, this radical union was effectively destroyed, the victim of the most remarkable campaign of legal repression and vigilantism in American history. Under the Iron Heel is the first comprehensive account of this campaign.
Founded in 1905, the IWW offered to the millions of workers aggrieved by industrial capitalism the promise of a better world. But its growth, coinciding with World War I and the Russian Revolution and driven by uncompromising militancy, was seen by powerful capitalists and government officials as an existential threat that had to be eliminated. In Under the Iron Heel, Ahmed White documents the torrent of legal persecution and extralegal, sometimes lethal violence that shattered the IWW. In so doing, he reveals the remarkable courage of those who faced this campaign, lays bare the origins of the profoundly unequal and conflicted nation we know today, and uncovers disturbing truths about the law, political repression, and the limits of free speech and association in class society.
Ahmed White’s dramatic, deeply researched account of how legal repression and vigilantism brought down the Wobblies—and how the destruction of their union haunts us to this day is an important book. Ahmed is a terrific, informative and considerate guest. He is the Nicholas Rosenbaum Professor of Law at the University of Colorado in Boulder.
Erich Schwartzel: Red Carpet - Hollywood, China, and the Global Battle for Cultural Supremacy
Erich Schwartzel has written a fascinating book, Red Carpet - Hollywood, China, and the Global Battle for Cultural Supremacy. His story-telling reads like the screenplay for a Netflix documentary, designed to binge-watch. If there were such a category, then Schwartzel’s book would come under the heading binge-read. He takes the reader back in time to early Hollywood while filling in the gaps in the movie industry in China. There are generous amounts of anecdotes and tantalizing details all perfectly placed to make Red Carpet a page-turner. Erich’s depiction of dubious characters, American and Chinese who validated a curious relationship between Hollywood and China suggests the narrative is not only about the movie business but the state of our world. Erich Schwartzel is an engaging conversationalist, you won’t want to miss.
Golden Vessel & Filous - Great Big Warm House
We begin by heading down to beautiful Bondi Beach where the dedicated crew at Mammal Sounds work 24/7 to release exceptional work, here we have top-rated Australian artist Golden Vessel who has teamed up with Austrian artist Filousfor their new single Great Big Warm House, the first cut from their collaborative EP scheduled for release in August.This one delivers a little twist toward the end. Most enjoyable.
Apologies to Ms. Uzor if I completely messed up the pronunciation of her name. It would seem that after all these years of living in the USofA I manage to scramble my Englishness into American speak, which results in a hybrid that’s almost a language of its own. Norwich-based Maria Uzor says this about Ventolin, "This was actually the first song I wrote for the album back in November 2022, it came together really quickly, like 10 minutes or something, and the final version isn’t much different from the demo, just with added guitars. It’s a playful tongue-in-cheek nod to my fellow asthmatics."Fair enough. Maria’s debut album, Soft Cuts should be investigated.
Pittsburgh Slim and The Bawl Slant - Lonely Boy Sunday
Down on England’s Southern Coast, Brighton to be exact, there you could bump into Nico, the energetic chap behind Shoredive Records. His latest venture is the intriguing collaboration between Pittsburgh Slim a rapper from NYC, formerly signed to Jay-Z's Def Jam recordings and self-proclaimed Swedish Grunge band, The Bawl Slant. The result is a healthy take on some recognizable riffs completing the much-too-be admired, Lonely Boy Sunday, from the lad’s Falling album. Smartly conceived.
This is the work of Rye Thomas out of Washington DC, working under the very apt moniker of, Soft Punch. Rye knows his way around at producing carefully crafted music. There’s a lot going on here on Here / Now, not least of all Rye’sintelligent overdubbing his voice to full effect. Recommended.
Vhinz - Le Passage (ft. Margot Ferro)
Ever since Serge Gainsborough and Jane Birkin pretended to copulate in front of a microphone for Je T'aime,...Moi Non Plus, whispering in French over a rhythm track has definitely been a way to capture my attention. Here, producer Vhinz and Margot Ferro on vocals go further, after all the lyrics on Le Passage are more interesting. Vhinz shows off his production skills with some quirky electronics on the LP, Belvedere, where you’ll find additional vocalists. This one is available on Citizen Records by way of Dijon, France. Spicy!
Occasionally I discover an instrumental that fits into the mix, here is Nevaris, a percussionist, keyboardist, vocalist, composer and visual artist who teamed up with legendary bassist-producer Bill Laswell for the album, Reverberation. Combining dub, funk, Afro-Latin rhythms, turntablism and extended improvisation, Nevaris and Laswell have created an album that would work well in any manner of situations. Surprise your dinner guests with this one. Disruption is an excellent place to start.
Before I pressed record, I shared this true story with Steve Turner. Bruce and John of SubPop came to me and said, “You know John Peel, right? Could you send him some of our records?” I did know Peel and I did send him a package of early SubPop releases - Green River, Tad, Nirvana etc. Peel played this new music on his legendary and highly influential show, not just once, but night after night. Now you need to understand, this was way before the days of instant communication, the internet and email were far in the future. Some weeks went by, then, one day, John Peel calls me, “Norman, what’s all this amazing music from Seattle all about, tell me more, send me more!” Meanwhile the UK music press had taken note of Peel’s enthusiasm for this new music out of the Pacific Northwest. Articles were written and eventually a journalist was dispatched to the Emerald City. The rest is, as they say, is history. By the way, SubPop never did reimburse me for the postage.
Mud Ride - A Messy Trip Through The Grunge Explosion by Steve Turner and Adam Tepedelen is a down-and-dirty chronicle of the birth and evolution of the Seattle grunge scene—from amateur skate parks and underground hardcore clubs to worldwide phenomenon. In the late 80s and early 90s, Steve Turner and his friends—Seattle skate punks, hardcore kids, and assorted misfits—started forming bands in each other’s basements and accidentally created a unique sound that spread far beyond their once-sleepy city. Mud Ride offers an inside look at the tight-knit grunge scene, the musical influences and experiments that shaped the grunge sound, and the story of Turner's bands, Green River and Mudhoney, which went from underground flophouse shows to selling out stadiums with Nirvana and Pearl Jam. Including stories about the key moments, musicians, and albums from grunge's beginnings to its come-down from the highs of global success and stardom, this is the first account of the musical phenomenon that took over the world from someone who was there for it all.
In our conversation, Steve and I recall people, places and venues all so important to his story, and yes we do go off on tangents sometimes. Turner is an engaging guest, his slight self-effacing demeanor underplays his importance as a guitarist. Aficionados of Grunge will delight in his storytelling and so will everyone intrigued by rock ’n’ roll.
As Wreckless Eric he needs little introduction — he wrote and recorded the classic Whole Wide World and had a hit with it back in 1977. Since then it's been a hit for countless other artists including The Monkees, Cage The Elephant and Billie Joe Armstrong of Green Day. Eric’s version featured in the 2022 Expedia / Superbowl / Ewan MacGregor travel ad, and the Cage The Elephant version is the new theme tune for the podcast Smartless. As Eric Goulden it's a little more complicated - a musician, artist, writer, recording engineer and producer, he didn’t like either the music business, the mechanics of fame, or the name he’d been given to hide behind, so he crawled out of the spotlight and disappeared into the underground. He went on to release twenty something albums in forty something years under various names - The Len Bright Combo, Le Beat Group Electrique, The Donovan Of Trash, The Hitsville House Band, and with his wife as one half of Wreckless Eric & Amy Rigby, finally realising he was stuck with the name Wreckless Eric.
This new album, Leisureland, marks a return to his more ramshackle world of recording - guitars and temperamentally unpredictable analogue keyboards, beatboxes and loops in conjunction with a real drummer, Sam Shepherd, who he met in a local coffee shop in Catskill, New York. He was delighted to find that Sam lived around the corner and could easily drop by to put drums on newly recorded tracks. The recording methodology may have been Contemporary American but the subject matter is almost entirely British. It also contains more instrumentals than any of his previous albums.
In our conversation, Eric talks about the process of making Leisureland, which came about during the Covid lockdown and his near death experience. In his dead-pan, yet jocular way, Eric recounts how he wasn’t aware of his critical state, laying in a hospital bed while everyone around him thought he was about to die. When asked how he is doing, Eric’sretort is, “It’s great to be alive!” You can hear his verve, his reflection on still being here in Leisureland. This is Wreckless Eric recognizing who he is, sharing a lifetime of ideas and observations. Wreckless Eric Is Wreckless Eric, Again.
David Neiwert The Age of Insurrection: The Radical Right's Assault On American Democracy
From a smattering of ominous right-wing compounds in the Pacific Northwest in the 1970s, to the shocking January 6, 2021 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, America has seen the culmination of a long-building war on democracy being waged by a fundamentally violent and antidemocratic far-right movement that unironically calls itself the “Patriot” movement.
So how did we get here? Award-winning journalist David Neiwert — who been following the rise of these extremist groups since the late 1970s, when he was a young reporter in Idaho — explores how the movement was built over decades, how it was set aflame by Donald Trump and his cohorts, and how it will continue to attack American democracy for the foreseeable future. Neiwert especially studies how the Pacific Northwest has long been a breeding ground of extremist violence, from the time when neo-nazis migrated to the area from southern California in the 1970s, through the great battles in Portland and Seattle and neighboring towns over the last decade.
Laying out how these groups organize their terroristic violence and attacks on democratic institutions at every level—including local, state, and federal targets—Neiwert details what their strategies and plans look like for the foreseeable future.
David Neiwert is an award-winning investigative journalist and the author of several books, including Red Pill, Blue Pill: How to Counteract the Conspiracy Theories that are Killing Us (Prometheus 2020), Alt-America: The Rise of the Radical Right in the Age of Trump. David also writes about and publishes photos of Orca whales, his book, Of Orcas and Men: What Killer Whales Can Teach Us is an essential read.
Jori Lewis - Slaves for Peanuts: A Story of Conquest, Liberation, and a Crop That Changed History
Who knew the humble peanut could provide a fascinating backdrop for an expedition into history, geography, culture, economics, and West Africa. Award-winning independent writer, Jori Lewisweaves a complex story in Slaves For Peanuts with a deft hand at including the tiniest of details without ever boring her reader. Few of us know the peanut’s tumultuous history or its intimate connection to slavery and freedom. Jori Lewisexplains the natural and human history of a crop that transformed the lives of millions. She reveals how demand for peanut oil in Europe ensured that slavery in Africa would persist well into the twentieth century, long after the European powers had officially banned it in the territories they controlled. Delving deep into West African and European archives, Lewis recreates a world on the coast of Africa that is breathtakingly real and unlike anything modern readers have experienced. Slaves For Peanuts is told through the eyes of a set of richly detailed characters—from an African-born French missionary harboring runaway slaves, to the leader of a Wolof state navigating the politics of French imperialism—who challenge our most basic assumptions of the motives and people who supported human bondage. At a time when Americans are grappling with the enduring consequences of slavery, here is a new and revealing chapter in its global history.
Naoise Mac Sweeney - The West: A New History In Fourteen Lives
Prize-winning historian Naoíse Mac Sweeney delivers a captivating exploration of how Western Civilization the concept of a single cultural inheritance extending from ancient Greece to modern times - is a powerful figment of our collective imagination. An urgently needed emergent voice in big history, she offers a bold new account of Western history, real and imagined, through the lives of fourteen remarkable individuals. From Herodotus, a mixed-race migrant, to Phylis Wheatley, an enslaved African American who became a literary sensation; and from Gladstone, with a private passion for epic poetry, to the medieval Arab scholar Al-Kindi - the subjects are a mind-expanding blend of unsung heroes and familiar faces viewed afresh. Naoíse Mac Sweeney’s enthusiasm for history is refreshingly engaging and a delight to listen to.
Carolyn Hays - A Girlhood: Letter To My Transgender Daughter
One ordinary day, a caseworker from the Department of Children and Families knocked on the Hays family's door to investigate an anonymous complaint about the upbringing of their transgender child. It was this knock, this threat, that began the family's journey out of the Bible Belt but never far from the hate and fear resting at the nation's core. Self-aware and intimate, A Girlhood asks us all to love better, not just for the sake of Hays' child but for children everywhere enduring injustice and prejudice just as they begin to understand themselves. A Girlhood is a call to action, an ode to the community, a plea for empathy, and hope for a better future. A Girlhood is a love letter to a child who has always known exactly who she is--and who is waiting for the rest of the world to catch up. Carolyn Hays is an award-winning, critically acclaimed, bestselling author, who has chosen to publish to A Girlhood: Letter to My Transgender Daughter under a pen name to protect the privacy of her family.
The incidental music in this edition is Hecate from the LP, Månens Hav by Swedish artist, Sofia Nystrand who uses the moniker Vargkvint. Growing up in the Swedish archipelago of Roslagen, she lived close by the harbour where ferries arrive from Finland, and her bedroom window offered a clear view out over the ocean. ‘Hav’ took its name from the Swedish for ‘the sea’, and though she lives in Stockholm now, its power and mythology remain a constant companion. “When I’m not close,” she confesses, “I feel a bit disoriented.” Månens Hav, you see, means ‘Oceans of the Moon’.