Astral Flight Simulation

I discuss Freud with Garfieldbot, writer at "The Egg Report" on substack. He's writing a long series of articles reconsidering many of Freuds ideas, which he thinks are embedded in the framework of the modern individuals understanding of themselves, their relation to the world, and the primary mode of describing human interactions for all of the 20th century.

Perhaps now its time for people like us to dispel these ideas, and you can do so without reading a now out of print book, The Ordeal of Civility, by John Murray Cuddihy. This book goes a long way to undermine the veneer of science and professionalism that Freud tried to cloak his rather petty ideas in.

Today, we go into detail about some of Cuddihy's critiques of Freud. Follow me on substack and twitter, and please become a paid subscriber to my substack to help support me continue to bring this show to you, and gain access to content not otherwise available.

Go to the Passage.Press website and pre order Xenosystems, buy Unqualified Reservations in Hardcover, buy Steve Sailer's Noticing, and subscribe to Man's World Magaine in FULL PRINT!

I make the case that American Psycho is a failed feminist critique of toxic masculinity, but succeeds as a film, with Bateman as the hero, despite the directors best efforts.

I then veer off wildly and give a details breakdown of the difference in narrative structure between film vs digital storytelling, and explain the characteristics of post-modern film, of which American Psycho is one of the last.

This episode was recorded live on twitter last year, follow me @astralflite and listen live and join the conversation. There's another hour of discussion available now on astralflight.substack.com, along with much more content than you'll get on iTunes or Spotify.

Lastly, visit @passagepress and @mansworldmag_ on twitter for updates on continues literary content and book releases, which include book clubs hosted by me that you can join (these also turn into podcasts) and many, many opportunities for you to get your own work and ideas in print. Please visit Passage.Press and MansWorldMag.online

Epstein's client list, or at least new documents containing many names, was just released today, Jan. 3, 2024. I will now release a paywalled episode from my Substack, originally titled "The Eye Atop the Pyramid," which details the connects between Balenciaga, Epstein, the Podestas, the Clintons, and the CIA.

Become a paid subscriber to my substack to hear hours worth of additional content, at AstraFlight.Substack.Com, and follow me on twitter @astralflite to join these episodes LIVE. This and many others are live presentations that involve a discussion, that is often paywalled on my substack. 

Join me and my friends Dave of the The Bizarchives and Brendan of Aureus Press as we discuss all things horror! While we go over a few zombie movies, the main focus is John Carpenter and his classic, Halloween

Part of the ongoing series in Overcoming Nihilism, Athenian Stranger and I discuss Ernst Junger's essay "Across the Line" and Martin Heidegger's Essay "The Origin of the Work of Art" as a way to introduce what the work of art is, how nihilism erodes it, and what it can offer as a way to resist the seemingly inexorable pull of nihilism.

This is a one hour excerpt of a much longer discussion that can only be found on my substack, Astralflight.substack.com.  The full episode is free there, but you must become a subscriber to hear all of my content, and become a paid subscriber to gain access to all of the episodes, some of which are only available for 5$ a month or 50$ a year. 

This is an excerpt of a roundtable discussion on Hamlet. We explore the major themes, Hamlets character and character flaws, and explore the sources of tragedy.  There is another two hours of this discussion on my substack at Astralflight.Substack.com, and if you follow me on twitter @astralflite, you can listen live and get in on these discussions.

This is an excerpt of a much longer discussion on the political philosophy of Curtis Yarvin. The episode can be found in full on my substack, AstralFlight.Substack.com, along with several other episodes not available on itunes or Spotify, including paid content only.

To read Mencious Moldbug, go to Passage.Press and buy Unqualified Reservations Volume 1 and listen along to the book club discussions we had last summer, which are available in full on my Substack. Join twitter and follow me at @astralflite and @PassagePress for more book and podcast releases, as well as further discussions on a wide range of topics (that you can join in on if you follow me on Twitter/X)

The digital age ushers in the Aquarian Consciousness. Become a paid subscriber to my substack at AstralFlight.Substack.Com to get bonus content and exclusive episodes of the Astral Flight Simulation Podcast 

Todays episode is an excerpt of a much longer discussion among members of an online reading group that read Mencius Modlbugs "Open Letter to Open Minded Progressives" together. The full episode is five hours long and can be found in its entirety on my blog AstralFlight.Substack.Com.

There will be a part two coming soon.

Go to Passage.Press and buy the first ever hardcover edition of Unqualified Reservations and read along as you listen. And stay tuned for many more collaborations with Passage Publishing.  

This is a short excerpt from a much longer episode available only with a paid subscription to my substack at AstralFlight.Substack.Com

Is it possible to come through nihilism with a an intact faith in God? Worse, if you lose faith, can you get it back? If so, how may it have changed? We discuss Nietzsche and Dostoyevski and explore what their writing can tell us about these questions, and examine whether they contain within them instructions for those grappling with a loss of faith and how to get it back. We focus on Crime and Punishment, The Brothers Karamazov, The Anti-Christ, Thus Spoke Zarsathustra, Twilight of the Idols, and a new translation of a letter Dostoyevsky wrote to his brother about his commuted death sentence.

I am joined by @1147x1147, translator of many of Dostoyevsky’s letters, and returning guest @Athens_Stranger

My friend Spendo and I discuss some details and the backround to some of our favorite Tarantino films (specifically Kill Bill and Pulp Fiction), which leads to a wider conversation about his legacy and place in the pantheon of American directors. We get into Robert Eggers, Lynch, and even Refn a little bit, as well as some Nietzsche and Baudriallard and the nature of making movies on film versus digital.

However, in order to hear the full discussion you have to become a paid subscriber to my substack, at astralflight.substack.com.

Also, this episode is a supplement to an article we wrote for Man's World Magazine Online

Readings from the book and two essays I wrote on Blood Meridian, along with insight, analysis, and discussion. The episode continues for another hour, to listen become a paid subscriber to my substack at www.astralflight.substack.com for this and several other paid episodes. 

My friend Conan Esquire and I discuss the literary heritage of Robert E. Howard and his most famous character, Conan. Can we use his Conan stories to gain insight into our modern world? Is Robert E. Howards writing worthy of elevation to that of literary greats of his genre and beyond, like Poe, Tolkein, and Lovecraft? We think the answer is yes, and hope to discuss Conan and Howard more in the future.

Please follow me on astralflight.substack.com where you'll find many more podcast episodes, as well as bonus content and episodes for paid subscribers only.

Todays episode is a discussion of Conans article "Conan the Culture Hero," found on the Man's World Magazine Website.

While at Harvard, Ted Kaczynski underwent a psychological experiment administered by CIA and MKUltra affiliated psychiatrist Henry Murray. Who was Murray, what was the purpose of this test, and what other activities did he participate in while working for the OSS, military intelligence, and the MKUltra program? In this episode, I argue the possibility that this experiment may have been far more nefarious than is admitted, and may have played a central role in Kaczynski's mental illness, philosophy, and crimes. 

Follow me on substack and become a paid subscriber at Astralflight.substack.com

The history of Arktos Media, and where they're going for the future.

Constantin von Hoffmeister, editor, and Daniel Friberg, founder and editor in chief  at Arktos media join me to tell the story of Arktos Media, promote their new website, and discuss some of the thinkers they publish. Stay tuned to this podcast for much more from them!

Follow them at Arktos Media
And me on Substack at Astralflight.substack.com

Modern man is unmoored and uprooted from his essence and set off-course from his destiny. Is there any way to recapture our true Being and “destine,” as a culture, towards a new future? We elucidate some of Heideggers’ most foundational and troublesome concepts, expand the insights with Carl Jungs idea of the unconscious and archetypes, and propose what may be a way to get western civilization back on track and carry us into the future. 

In one of the most intellectually stimulating conversations thus far on the Astral Flight podcast, Scott Mannion and I explore the current state of nihilism in the west, and in so doing perhaps make Hedieggers technical jargon more accessible and Jungs metaphysical concepts more real.

Scott Mannion is one of the most insightful and intellectually nimble podcasters working today, and his youtube show and podcast are without peer. He brings some of the most important thinkers of the dissident right together to discuss a heritage that sometimes seems to be slipping through our fingers, and how to regain our cultural and spiritual foundations. I’m honored to have been on his show and to have him on mine. I look forward to having him back.

Follow him here: ScottMannion.com
Follow me on substack: Astralflight.substack.com

Last Pirate and I discuss Decline in the terms that Oswald Spengler uses it, and use that as a way to elaborate on his philosophy of history in general.

This conversation inspired me to do a long series of episodes on the work of Oswald Spengler, so if you like this, stay tuned for much more.

Follow me on twitter and substack for far more content than gets uploaded here.

Follow Last Pirate on twitter and buy his book!!!

Get ready for one of the most in depth discussions of Elden Ring you've ever heard. I have almost four hours recorded with a roundtable of friends. We do a very deep dive on the lore, and frame the story as a Grail Myth, incorporating the "grail cycle" and Joseph Campbell.

This episode was originally recorded as a twitter space on the weekend Elden Ring won Game of the Year in 2022, and I'm uploading it now because Tears of the Kingdom Just released. Stay tuned for a Legend of Zelda episode, with many of the same guests, in the next several weeks, where we will return to the grail legend and discuss all things Zelda!

To hear the entirety of this episode you must become a paid subscriber to the Astral Flight Simulation Substack, and follow me on twitter where most of these episodes are recorded live!

An introductory discussion of Hesiod, Evola, Nietzsche, Spengler, and their understanding of the trajectory civilizations follow. What is the possibility of a revival, a Caesar, or an Ubermensch? This was an open discussion on twitter spaces that anyone can join if you follow me on twitter.

Appearances here made by Vitruveon, Pendragon, Spergler Acolyte, Athenian Stranger, War Sage, Faustian Augustus, and Herodotean Dreams. Come to twitter and join the convo, and follow me on Substack for more content like this, not available on iTunes and Spotify.

Comparing and contrasting the way Nietzsche and Dostoyevsky address nihilism. Discussion drawn from Gay Science, Thus Spoke Zarathustra, Crime and Punishment, and The Brothers Karamzov, among many others.

This is an excerpt from a 4 hour discussion held on twitter spaces, follow me on twitter for more like this to become part of the conversation, and follow me on Substack where I will make these available in their entirety, behind a paywall, along with other episodes not available on iTunes or Spotify.

Also follow my co host Athenian Stranger on Twitter for the most insightful philosophical content you'll find online. 

Uberboyo and I discuss Nietzsches slave morality in detail, and outline how it comes to replace master morality as the dominant moral framework as civilizations age

Uberboyo is a prominent YouTuber who is also very active on twitter.

I can also be found on twitter @thuleanrevenant

Curtis joins us again to discuss the first ever official publication of his first blog Unqualified Reservations, Volume 1, by passage press. Buy the book here! 

We are doing a read-through of “The Open Letter for Open Minded Progressives” in a twitter group chat, and will host a series of twitter spaces discussing the work. The chat filled up in 3 days, however if there is interest, we will make a second group chat and have a follow up group for “How Richard Dawkins got Pwned,” also in Volume 1. We will keep these reading groups going in perpetuity, so DM me on twitter to find out more. Follow me on twitter @thuleanrevenant and substack at Astralflight.substack.com, and please follow passage press @passagepres

Special episode rushed to release due to the SVB collapse. This episode was recorded on March 7th, three days before there was a run on SVB and the current unfolding crisis. My guest Erin predicts that as Pluto moves out of Capricorn and into Aquarius, there will be the collapse and death of the old order and a rebirth into a new one as we transition firmly into the age of aquarious. Are we watching the death of our monetary system and the rise of bitcoin? It's hard to say this early, but here we discuss how consciousness structures and civilizational paradigms shifts follow astrological events. We speculate that bitcoin may play a central role in the new paradigm.

Follow me on twitter @thuleanrevenant and Erin @realizingerin

Today I introduce two impressive thinkers and speakers who share their in depth, comprehensive knowledge on Oswald Spengler, one of the most important memory-holed writers of the 20th century.

Here we discuss some recently translated work of Spenglers, as well as his relationship to the politics and society of Germany between the wars. This is only one segment of an  ongoing conversation about  Spengler, but some of them take place only on twitter spaces so you'll have to follow @thuleanrevenant, Spergler @spergleracolyte, and Monopthalmus @AMonopthalmos to hear more!

Also follow me on substack at and Spergler on his substack

Lomez returns to discuss Passage Press and the Second Annual Passage Prize , the winners of which will be announced any day.  Isaac Simpson of The Carousel podcast also joins us, and after some Passage promotion, we go on to discuss literature in general.

Buy Passage Press' edition of Unqualified Reservations Vol. 1 (the first ever printed version), and follow L0M3Z on twitter.

Follow me on Twitter and Substack
Follow Isaac on Twitter and Substack

Brendan Heard of Aureus Press returns and we conclude our debate, begun in the previous episode, on the redeemable and irredeemable aspects of modern art and abstract expressionism. We both agree it's ugly, but I argue it was an inevitable progression from the decline of painting, while he thinks it's responsible for it.
Brendan will probably come back, because he's working on another book, and it's fascinating.

*Note: I said Wyeth’s painting “Christinas World” was at the MET, but its at MoMa. I also couldn’t think of the name

Meanwhile, follow me on Substack and Twitter
Buy Brendans books and sci-fi mag on his website Aureus Press
Follow him on twitter

Brendan Heard, head of Aureus Press and operator of @Trad_West_Art on twitter joins me to discuss his book "The Decline of Western Art," a comprehensive art history book that covers everything from ancient greece up until the present day. It is *the* premier introduction to western art that you could read, and he is unforgiving to "abstract impressionists" and "art speak." This episode itself serves as a fantastic introduction to art history, art criticism, and the plight of both the artist and the enjoyer of art in the digital age.

Follow me on twitter @thuleanrevenant and on substack at Astral Flight Simulation.

Season 2 begins with Brad and Kevin from Art of Darkness podcast discussing Fight Club. Part one we discuss the cultural impact of the film, and in part two we discuss the themes and meaning of the film. We also compare it to the book and even bring up American Psycho at the very end, a movie that must be watched in conjunction with Fight Club to get an idea of where the zeitgeist was at the time and where its got since then. This episode draws heavily from three essays I wrote on the film that you should read to get an idea where we’re coming from.

Follow me on Substack here.

In “Overcoding Culture” I discuss the way the woke retcon history and culture to make it look their agenda has always been reality

In “Fight Club” I do a Freudian read on the film, which I intended to supersede with a Nietzschean read in a later essay, however I deliver that in part two of this episode. This is certainly a Nietzshcean, and not a Freudian story

In “Snowflakes” I discuss several erroneous, woke reads of the film and prove how the woke are trying to reappropriate it for their ideology.

Greetings all. Charles Haywood, of The Worthy House blog, is one of my intellectual inspirations, and a resource to anyone who wants to understand our historical political and cultural moment. He deigned an essay of mine worthy of response, and granted me two hours to pick his brain and challenge some of his positions. It was an honor and a pleasure, and we plan to do this again soon! For context, before or after, I suggest you read the three essays on his blog that we discuss here:

On the Fragility of the Current Regime

On the Future Ascent of a Caesar

What to Do When Caesar Comes

And my response to his appearance on Aaron Macintyre’s show: Is the “Regime” weak?

As I mentioned last week on my sub stack (subscribe here!!) my computer crashed. I got it back up (lost everything, including my intro), but somethings off with the sound. I’m terribly embarrassed by my sound here, and wouldn’t normally run this, but he’s such a high value guest and was so gracious to come on, I have to run with it. I hope Charles doesn’t mind, and by next episode I hope to have it fixed.

In this episode we argue that the myths and fairy tales we tell ourselves today are situated firmly within the solar traditions of the West. The precession of the equinox’s are tracked by our mythology and todays myths are no different. Just as the age of Aries, the age of the ram, was ending, the “Lamb” of God was sacrificed on the Cross, but the age of Pisces, symbolized by two fish, was ushered in by Christ feeding the masses with *two fish.* And now, our secular religion of science, whose doctrines are delivered to us by scientist-priests, are telling us that the world will be drowned by melting glaciers and sea level rise, leaving our civilization a wasteland. This just so happens to come precisely when we pass into the age of Aquarius, symbolized by the sea god drowning the world with his bottomless pots of water.

But it also seems, we argue, to coincide with Nietzsches age of nihilism, Spenglers materialistic Winter phase, Evolas spiritual “Iron Age,” which also, according to Evola, corresponds with the Hindu Kali Yuga, an age in which mankind is abandoned by the Gods and the Earth is a spiritual wasteland, waiting for the sleeping king to wake up, the hero to recover the grail, the Caesar to take over, or the Ubermensch to invaluate all values.

Here we attempt to synthesize many books and thinkers that you may hear thrown about and use them to get a better perspective on the modern, digital age.

For those interested in doing further reading, most of our discussion is built upon reading we’ve done from Spenglers Decline of the West, Evolas Ride the Tiger, Revolt Against the Modern World, and The Mystery of the Grail, as well as Joseph Campbels’s Masks of God, The Hero With a Thousand Faces, Romance of the Grail, Nietzsches Thus Spoke Zarathustra, The Genealogy of Morals, and Twilight of the Idols, and Aion by Carl Jung

I sit down with Mike and Dave of Kvlture Dads, an awesome podcast about the mythopoetics of pop culture. We get into the evolution of heavy metal and the state of cultural dearth today and what we need to bring it back. Really fun episode, metal heads will rejoice.

Follow me on substack at AstralFlight.Substack.Com
Check the Kvlture Dads out on YouTube and watch their Godfather episode and RPG episode, and follow them at the Imperium Press substack.

For todays episode I'm joined by the two co-hosts of one of my favorite podcasts, Art of Darkness. In each episode they do a deep dive, and I mean they really go deeper than most other podcasts, on an artist and their work. They've covered some of my favorite authors, like HP Lovecraft, Philip K Dick, William S. Burroughs, and Roberto Bolano - who they discussed with me as their guest! They also cover painters like Heironymous Bosch and Francis Bacon and the theater impresario  Antonin Artaud.

Here we have a wide ranging discussion of things from realism vs horror, publishing, and writing in the digital age. We spend a lot of time on Burroughs as well. Literary aficionados will love this episode.

Follow their website and subscribe to their pod at Art of Dark Pod
Follow my substack Astral Flight Simulation for lots more content

Today I'm joined by my good friend Isaac Simpson who runs a blog and a substack about culture and its relationship to marketing in the digital age. Please excuse my muffled mic issue for this episode, Isaac is a really funny and insightful guy doing original work on the subject of branding and how it morphs in the 21st century. The guy also has some really hilarious comments about his forays into podcasting and promotional work for web companies, you'll really enjoy this episode.

Read the four part essay series this episode was based on, and follow his substack The Carousel.

Read his essay that we discuss Raining Frogs

Follow him and me on twitter, and subscribe to my substack for lots more content

We discuss two horror classics as well as Zantaes twitter account @mythoamerica. We use the films and the account to discuss the dark past of America, the archetypical imagery of both films, as well as their relationship to American nostalgia, coming of age stories, and our relationship to both the wilderness, the suburbs, religion, and sexuality.

Follow me on substack at AstralFlightSimulation
Follow me on twitter @AFScast

We discuss Event Horizon as a metaphor for the cultural morass we find ourselves in in the digital age

Follow me on substack at AstralFlightSimulaiton
Follow AV on substack at Rubedo Chamber

Follow me on twitter @AFScast and AV @VitruVN

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is one of my all time favorite movies, and I believe its mytho and psychological  significance can provide insight into the current predicament we face in America today, culturally and politically. By interpreting the film through The Golden Bough, Jung, Eric Neumann, and Greek Mythology, we hope to provide a deeper understanding of the imagery of American horror. We also hope its a lot of fun, this movie goes so hard.

The Texas monthly article I reference can be found here, and is highly recommended
Visit my substack, which has long form articles and podcast episodes that aren't available anywhere else
My friend Remus is not on twitter, but you can follow my friend AV here

A few months back, my friend Conan made a popular and controversial thread about A Song of Ice and Fire, calling it among other things, a “failure.” His thread inspired me to think much deeper about the series and make the obvious comparison, to Lord of the Rings. This episode is the discussion these two threads inspired, almost two hours discussing the merits of the two series, as well as the cultural context from whence they sprang. What does Tolkein’s world say about LOTR and what does Martins say about GoT? And what do the series, in turn, say about their worlds? We discuss this an more in what I hope is the first of many with Conan.

To read his tweets "The Failure of Song of Ice and Fire" and mine, "A Requiem for Frodo," visit my blog Astral Flight Simulation and follow us both on twitter!

Thaddeus Russel is one of my all time favorite podcasters, and as I tell him on this episode, he has the most intellectually diverse podcast on the internet. He had my friend and frequent guest Gio Pennichietti on his show and, for his online university they read Capitalist Realism by Mark Fisher, a book beloved by the post left.

I asked Thad to come on and discuss the book and politics in America today, particularly the left after Trump. His perspective is steeped in history and political theory, and his ideas are all very clearly his own. Even though I disagree with him pretty strongly on a couple things, I can’t help but admire someone whose not only an independent thinker, but someone whose able to weigh ideas on their own merits and accept or reject them with absolutely no recourse to ideology. This quality is very rare these days, so I am grateful he took the time with me to lay out his thoughts on the shifting sands of politics in America.

If you’ve never heard his show before, I strongly recommend you visit his Patreon page. Among other things, he has book discussions with two guests of the Astral Flight Simulation: Gio and Curtis Yarvin!!

As always, the beat that goes so hard at the end was made by my friend @edenicjesus. EP dropping in the fall

Today I'm joined by one of the two or three greatest podcasters in the world, Darryl Cooper of The Martyrmade Podcast. We recorded this episode a few days after the tragic and horrific Uvalde mass shooting, and we spend the first half discussing the psychology and archetypical significance of the spree shooter.

In part two we discuss Oswald Spengler and Cormac McCarthy, particularly Spenglers concept of the Caesar figure and McCarthys book The Road. And as usual, of course, we pepper Nietzsche throughout.

Follow Darryl and me  on substack at Martyrmade and Astral Flight, respectively, and on twitter at @martyrmade and @AFScast

Nightmare Vision and I talk about the way the internet and online subcultures shape political discourse and cultural morality

Follow me on substack at Astral Flight Simulation and Twitter @afscast
Follow Nightmare Vision on Twitter @godclosedmyeyes

Is the work of art possible in the digital age? Ostensibly this is the topic Gio and I discuss, but as we often do, we veer off onto internet political subcultures and Nick Land, among many other things. We compare/contrast The Matrix and Ready Player One, discuss Walter Benjamins "The Origin of the Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction," "Hauntology," and much more!

Follow me on twitter at @afscast
Substack at www.astralflight.substack.com
Follow Gio on YouTube at Content Minded 
and on twitter at @giantgio

Helios and I discuss the occult and demonic forces shaping our culture through the internet, using it as a body to bring into being a God whose been sleeping since before time. The fiber optic cables are its Cthulu-like mind flayer appendages, the smartphones and laptop monitors its eyes, its users its brain cells. Dark forces have been transmitting messages to us from beyond the wall of sleep, giving us the form it needs us to bring into reality so it can raise its dark master.

Follow me on twitter @afscast
Subscribe to my substack for many more episodes, long form essays, and paid content;
https://astralflight.substack.com

Amanda is one of the brightest and most creative up and coming film makers in America, and she's Hollywood royalty. We discuss her short film The Lotus Gun, her film school thesis, her legendary father John Milius, and the sorry state of American film making today. I hope Amanda is only in the early stages of a very prolific career, she is clearly capable of great things. And please, I want her to come back many times, so show your enthusiasm for her here in the comments and on twitter!

If you like this content, please consider visiting me on substack where I have long form content and many more podcast episodes, and if you become a paid subscriber you get access to even more exclusive podcast episodes!

https://astralflight.substack.com

We discuss Yarvin's essay "Monarchism and Fascism Today" (its decidedly anti-fascist, sorry liberal media). In the spirit of Moldbug, Yarvin shares a futuristic vision of an absolute monarch in which a cyberpunk CEO president has all sorts of high tech gadgets at his disposal to administer the government - but can be taken out at any time by a shadowy cabal of ominous "shareholders." We also discuss the passage prize for poetry, of which Yarvin was a judge, and Zero HP Lovecraft, a former guest on the Astral Flight Simulation podcast.

If you like what you hear, please subscribe to my substack, where you'll find long form essays of literary analysis, cultural criticism, and more, as well as exclusive podcast episodes reserved for subscribers. And if you become a paid subscriber, you'll have access to even more content, including long-form analysis and exclusive episodes and early-releases.

My substack can be found here: https://astralflight.substack.com/
And you can follow me on twitter: @afscast for even more exclusive content

A deep analysis on the essay "The Question Concerning Technology" by Martin Heidegger, elucidating the key concept "Enframing" via The Terminator.  Special quest Athenian Stranger.  Visit my substack for a long-from essay crystallizing the key points of this discussion, and also visit me and Athenian Stranger on twitter for updates on our work and access to lots of other content on philosophy, film, and culture.
Subscribe to my substack here: https://astralflight.substack.com/
If you become a paid subscriber you'll have access to extensive content that is otherwise unavailable, including long form essays on philosophy and literature by myself and guests, as well as podcast episodes that are unavailable anywhere else
Find me on Twitter at @AFScast
Find Athenian on Twitter at @Athens_Stranger

Follow me on twitter @astrikos10
Follow me on Substack
https://astralflight.substack.com/?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=web&utm_campaign=substack_profile

If you like my discussion of digital age science fiction, I insist you read “God Shaped Hole” by Zero HP Lovecraft, found here.

https://zerohplovecraft.wordpress.com/2019/10/22/god-shaped-hole/

Part 1: The Dark Enlightenment and the Digital Prison.

Platos cave is an allegory for the liberatory power of rationalism, however as history shows, rationalism isn’t always enough. Once rationalism fails, humanity regresses into what Nick Land calls a “dark enlightenment,” in which people revert to pre-rational mindsets. However, we can never really go back to the way we were in Platos Cave, and we enter novel forms of delusion. Philip K. Dick says we become trapped in the “iron prison” or rigid thought forms, however we are beyond even that - now we find ourselves more and more locked in the Digital Prison of an always online world.

Part 2: The Astral Flight Simulation

We trace the trajectory of several Science Fiction stories concerned with Artificial Intelligence antagonists, from 2001: A Space Odyssey, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, Neuromancer, Tron, and The Terminator, to The Matrix, Ex Machina, and God Shaped Hole. In so doing, we see how humanities will is superseded by that of technology, how like Faust we hand over our autonomy - our eternal souls - in exchange for the promise of technology, and are thereby locked in the digital prison. Once there we are in a new Platos cave, in which digital shadows play out on the walls, in a mimicry of the fulfillment of a religious or even a rational world.

All music herein used with permission by Turn Knight, check him out on YouTube

War propaganda in America is in full swing....yet America is not engaged in a war. Is this the run up to our next conflict, or is this pure propaganda and the disappearance of war? Because of our ever accelerating technology, the nature of warfare has changed over the last 50 years, and conflict as we know it is morphing into something totally different. By examining some of the ideas and observations of Paul Virilio, Jean Baudriallard, and Deleuze and Gattari, we may  better understand the nature of "war" in the digital age, in which the spectacle becomes more real than the event: war disappears and propaganda replaces it. Soon we shall find out if America is using this media blitz as a pretense to enter the next global conflict, or if the future of American warfare will play out exclusively in the media.