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Latest Episodes:

Episode 186 - Ban the Vote Sep 02, 2026

Show notes

We catch up after a summer hiatus and talk about plans for another read-along or two, probably The Magic Mountain by Thomas Mann. Some bird noise and light editing on this one because it's still summer.

Episode 185 - AOR3E6 Liberation Jun 03, 2026

Show notes

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.

Episode 184 - AOR3E5 Red Orchestra May 10, 2026

Show notes

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.

Episode 183 - I Love the Dialectic Apr 22, 2026

Show notes

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.

Episode 182 - AOR3E4 Political Disaster Apr 08, 2026

Show notes

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.

Episode 181 - South of the Border Mar 25, 2026

Show notes

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.

Episode 180 - AOR3E3 Melancholy and the Infinite Sadness Mar 03, 2026

Show notes

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).

Episode 179 - Sunrise Sunset Feb 22, 2026

Show notes

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

Episode 178 - AOR3E2 The Scale of the Danger Feb 11, 2026

Show notes

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

Episode 177 - Copy of a Copy Jan 30, 2026

Show notes

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.

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