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Incredibly Interesting Authors
by Boing BoingInterviews with authors of thought-provoking books, both fiction and non-fiction
Copyright: Happy Mutants 2106
Episodes
Incredibly Interesting Authors 012: Gary Lachman, author of Dark Star Rising: Magick and Power in the Age of Trump
40m · PublishedHow did Trump manage to become president of the United States? There's no simple answer. It involves fear, racism, nationalism, populism, hatred, dirty tricks, manipulation, and more. But the one thing I never suspected was that occult beliefs and practices played a part in Trump's surprising victory. In Gary Lachman's new book, Dark Star Rising: Magick and Power in the Age of Trump, I learned that occult and esoteric thinking permeates the alt-right, Putin's inner circle, and even Trump himself.
Before I read Dark Star Rising, I had no idea that Trump was a devoted follower of the New Thought movement, which has it roots in 19th century mysticism. Trump's family attended Marble Collegiate Church in New York, which was ministered by a pro-Christian nationalist named Norman Vincent Peale, who promulgated a doctrine of "positive thinking" -- the idea that you can use your mind to cure yourself of disease, get rich, or even become president ("Change your thoughts and you can change the world"). I also didn't know that the alt-right bases much of its ideology on an Italian philosopher and mystic born in 1889 named Julius Evola, who thought the problem with Mussolini was that he wasn't a big enough fascist. And then there's Aleksandr Dugin, a very influential Russian fascist philosopher who is a kind of Rasputin figure for Putin and who pushes the idea that the only way to return Russia to greatness is by wiping liberal democracy off the face of the earth. Dugin is relatively unknown in the West, except among members of the alt-right and the dark enlightenment, who would love to install the kind of fascist regime Dugin is advocating in their own countries. Dark Star Rising introduced me to all of these phenomena, along with many other related concepts, such as using Pepe memes as a form of chaos magick - a postmodern magical practice that stresses achieving desired outcomes through applied experimentation as opposed to rituals and symbols of traditional mystic practices.
Lachman is an erudite scholar of occult history, and he combines his encyclopedic knowledge of esotericism with his ability to clearly explain complex ideas to good use in Dark Star Rising. He wisely avoids ascribing any kind of paranormal efficacy to occult practices, and instead presents what can, and often does, happen when zealous people apply occult-influenced ideologies to the real world.
Incredibly Interesting Authors 011: Marina Konnikova, author of The Confidence Game
28m · PublishedIncredibly Interesting Authors 005: Alex Stone, author of Fooling Houdini
27m · PublishedIncredibly Interesting Authors 004: Greg Ross of Futility Closet
23m · PublishedFor nine years the popular website Futility Closet has collected arresting curiosities in history, literature, language, art, philosophy, and mathematics. This book presents the best of them: pipe-smoking robots, clairvoyant pennies, zoo jailbreaks, literary cannibals, corned beef in space, revolving squirrels, disappearing Scottish lighthouse keepers, reincarnated pussycats, dueling Churchills, horse spectacles, onrushing molasses, and hundreds more. Plus the obscure words, odd inventions, puzzles and paradoxes that have made the website a quirky favorite with millions of readers -- hundreds of examples of the marvelous, the diverting, and the strange, now in a portable format to occupy your idle hours.
Here's my interview with Greg about his new book and his new career as a full-time curator of curiosities.
Buy a copy of the Futility Closet book on Amazon.
Incredibly Interesting Authors 003: Paleo Manifesto author John Durant
35m · PublishedJohn Durant is a leader of the growing ancestral health movement. Durant study evolutionary psychology at Harvard prior to founding Paleo NYC and Barefoot Runners NYC, the largest Paleo and barefoot running groups in the world. In his new book The Paleo Manifesto: Ancient Wisdom for Lifelong Health, Durant argues for an evolutionary – and revolutionary – approach to health. Blending science and culture, anthropology and philosophy, Durant distills the lessons from his adventures and shows how apply them to day-to-day life. He blogs at HunterGatherer.com
Incredibly Interesting Authors 002: Jony Ive biographer Leander Kahney
0s · PublishedLeander Kahney has covered Apple for more than a dozen years and has written three popular books about Apple, including Inside Steve’s Brain and The Cult of Mac. His newest book is a biography of Apple's senior VP of design, called Jony Ive: The Genius behind Apple's Greatest Products
Millions are familiar with Apple's legendary aesthetic. It's what makes their products instantly recognizable, and is synonymous with craft, care, and quality.
And though the design is iconic, few are familiar with the man behind the design: Jonathan Ive, chief designer. Not only has Ive made Apple one of the most valuable companies in the world -- his design has overturned entire industries, from music and mobile phones to PCs and tablets.
Unlike his former boss and creative partner Steve Jobs, Ive shuns the spotlight. Naturally shy and soft-spoken, he lets his work speak for itself. In Jony Ive: The Genius behind Apple's Greatest Products, Kahney offers a gripping and thorough examination of a remarkably creative career and provides insight into the principles underlying Ive's success.
Here's my interview with Leander in the second episode of my new podcast, Incredibly Interesting Authors.
Incredibly Interesting Authors 001: Dilbert creator Scott Adams
25m · PublishedScott Adams is not only a world-famous cartoonist, he’s also a world-class failure. And he’s the first to admit it. In his new book, How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big, the Dilbert creator explains how failure can lead to success if you develop the right skills to make the most of your mistakes.
Part memoir and part business guide, How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big, is the entertaining and useful story of Adams’ remarkable success within the context of dozens of failures.
Incredibly Interesting Authors has 7 episodes in total of non- explicit content. Total playtime is 3:00:47. The language of the podcast is English. This podcast has been added on August 8th 2022. It might contain more episodes than the ones shown here. It was last updated on March 25th, 2024 02:18.