Visionaries

Visionaries - Rachel Fulton Brown

Our guest today is Rachel Fulton Brown. Rachel is an associate professor of Medieval History at the University of Chicago. She writes: I am the professor your other professors warned you about. I love Christianity, America, and the Western tradition of theology, art, philosophy, music, letters, and education. I believe in the reality of truth, beauty, goodness, and love. I teach history as an exercise in empathy, rethinking the thoughts of the past so as to shed light on our common humanity. I judge people by what they say and do, not by what others say about them. I worship Jesus Christ as Lord. Find Rachel's blog at: https://fencingbearatprayer.blogspot.com

Visionaries - The Canon Wars (Plus Eve Babitz) October 21

More on what we might all be reading (or in my case, audio books I'm listening to).
With thoughts on the "canon wars" promoted by the death of Harold Bloom. We discuss his idea of "swerving" (deliberately misreading an influence) and his terrific book, "The American Religion" in which he looks not at what denominations people belong to, but what they actually believe. Plus we discuss the fabulous Eve Babitz, who I somehow missed in the 1970s, but all of her books now have great audio versions.

 

 

Visionaries - What is our culture?

What is our culture? For me in the late 1950s it was books - Gide, Freud, culminating in Mailer's Advertisements for Myself. Then in the early 60s it was foreign films - Bergman's Wild Strawberries, Fellini's La Dolce Vita, Antonioni's L'Avventura, and most of all Godard's Breathless. Then in the later 60s, rock music - The Beatles and the Stones, culminating in Dylan. For my students today, they say it is social media - wasup with that? Then we discuss Daniel Markovits's The Meritocracy Trap - more on that to come.

 

 

 

 

Visionaries - Books on my phone

Today we look at some of the books on my phone. "The Code: Silicon Valley and the Remaking of America" by Margaret O'Mara reviews a history of computers familiar to those who have followed the industry for the past 50 years. "Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World" by David Epstein presents powerful insights into creativity and performance, debunking the 10,000 hours thing. We will get to "The Meritocracy Trap" by Daniel Markovits in an upcoming show.

 

 

 

 

Visionaries - MJDorian on Salvador Dalí

Today we discuss the creativity of Salvador Dalí with MJDorian (Milosz Jeziorski), an award winning composer who writes music for film and television and blogs about creativity. In 2016, he took on the identity of MJDorian: a faceless music producer who wears a poltergeist mask which obscures any indication of age, race, or gender. Look for his blog, Creative Codex on your blog app, where you will find, besides Salvador Dalí, discussions of Frida Kahlo, Leonardo da Vinci, Nikola Tesla, Clinton King, and others. Find more at www.mjdorian.com

 

Visionaries - Liminal Dreaming

Jennifer Dumpert, a dream hacker, explains how to explore liminal dreaming for creativity and spiritual inspiration. At the edges of consciousness, between waking and sleeping, there’s a swirling, free associative state of mind that is the domain of liminal dreams. Working with liminal dreams can improve sleep, mitigate anxiety and depression, help to heal trauma, and aid creativity and problem-solving. Readers of Liminal Dreaming will learn step-by-step how to create a dream practice outside of REM-sleep states that they can incorporate into their lives in personally meaningful ways.

We discuss her book, "Liminal Dreaming: Exploring Consciousness at the Edges of Sleep" and also what is consciousness. About the book at:  http://www.liminaldreaming.com

Find more at:  http://oneironauticum.com

Jennifer Dumpert is a San Francisco-based writer, lecturer, and consciousness hacker. She is an author, speaker, and avid dreamer. In 2009, Jennifer founded the Oneironauticum, an international organization that explores the phenomenological experience of dreams as a means of experimenting with mind. On the same night, remote participants from around the world use the same oneirogen--any herb, root, technology, practice, scent, sound, or whatever promotes vivid dreams--creating a worldwide slumber party, a night when people around the globe unite as a community of dreamers.

Visionaries - Hypermodernity - 07.15.19

Hypermodernity and the End of the World” by John David Ebert and Brian Francis Culkin, preface By Michael Aaron Kamins. This new book follows the sweep of cultural history from Modernism to Post Modernism to Hypermodernity. It looks are how the Internet is upending our world are we know it, fragmenting all. Kamins writes in his preface: “The Book of Revelation got nothing on this new Apocalypse by Culkin and Ebert. They are, no doubt, the real hype of cultural criticism today (so was John of Patmos). One is the Father of a new Americana of visionary-criticism and, from a modest casita in Santa Fe, must be sitting on the most valuable literary estate of a generation. I mention this last point because with nearly thirty books and 500+ YouTube videos—from film reviews and philosophy, to poetry and commentary on the “decay rate” of virtually all cultural phenomena [3]—John David Ebert is still practically unknown beyond a small but international “cult following,” and a tight circle of writers, artists, and meme madmen: a.k.a., the Hypermoderns

Visionaries - Raymond Storms - 07.08.19

Raymond Storms is a Reiki Certified Psychic Empath who is able to see, hear and feel energy. He works privately with clients in New York City and abroad helping them free themselves from energy blocks, thus allowing them to dive into the beautiful sea of Love that is waiting for us all. Raymond has learned to live more in the present thereby reclaiming his power and he can help you do the same. As a singer who performs in cabaret, classical music, and opera, Raymond has a unique perspective on unblocking people’s true potential. http://raymondstorms.com

 

Visionaries - Books I'm listening to. - 07.01.19

Today we discuss: "A Politically Incorrect Feminist: Creating a Movement with Bitches, Lunatics, Dykes, Prodigies, Warriors, and Wonder Women" by Phyllis Chesler. "Red Harvest" by Dashiell Hammett. "The Robots Are Coming!: The Future of Jobs in the Age of Automation" by Andres Oppenheimer. "Explaining Postmodernism (Expanded Edition): Skepticism and Socialism from Rousseau to Foucault" by Stephen R. C. Hicks. "Possible Minds: Twenty-Five Ways of Looking at AI" edited by John Brockman.

Visionaries - Brian Francis Culkn on ayahuasca and globalization

“Brian Francis Culkn on ayahuasca and globalization” Our guest is again Brian Francis Culkin, writer, cultural theorist, and film director. Today we talk about his new book, "THE AYAHUASCA DIALOGUES: globalization, plant medicine, and the healing of the human heart" that he co-suthored with shaman Ricardo Amaringo.