CJW: There's nothing here, but welcome anyway!
This issue coincidentally goes out on Austin's birthday. Austin and I first met at university 15 or 16 years ago, became fast friends, and have collaborated on an online counter-culture mag, a couple of short stories, a psychedelic, darkly comic (and sadly unpublished) spy novel, and now a company (see more below). It's been a helluva ride so far - Happy Birthday, man!
Marlee's been away for most of this fortnight, but she's back, hurriedly delivering some notes on her time in the US, and the World Science Fiction and Fantasy Convention.
As well as that, we've got the usual round-up of links and culture from various corners of the internet. It's good to have you back, or if this is your first time, it's great to have you on-board.
The Team
Corey J. White (CJW) - author of the The VoidWitch Saga. Newsletter facilitator. Naarm/Melbourne. Tweets @cjwhite.
Marlee Jane Ward (MJW) - Author of ‘Welcome To Orphancorp’ and ‘Psynode’. Host of Catastropod. ADHD, spec fic, feminism, cats. On Wurundjeri land in Melbourne, Australia. @marleejaneward
Austin Armatys (AA) - Writer/Teacher/Wretched Creature // Oh Nothing Press // MechaDeath physical edition available now // @0hnothing
John English (JE) - Photographer - Solvent Image. Writer of upcoming comic CEL. Based in Brisbane, Australia @Herts_Solvent
m1k3y (MKY) - Wallfacer / Apocalyptic Futurist / #salvagepunk / @m1k3y
Articles
AA: Zero Books: Is The Banning of Alex Jones A Sign of Progress?
Is the Banning of Alex Jones a Sign of Progress? - YouTube
Support Zero Books on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/zerobooksSubscribe: http://bit.ly/SubZeroBooksThis video is in collaboration with the Never Speak in A…
Zero Books makes an interesting case against the simultaneous purging of Alex “Puffy Nitwit Snakeoil Cretin” Jones from tech platforms like Facebook, YouTube, Spotify & Apple.
I’m still trying to wrap my head around this, but it brings up some interesting questions: Should we allow tech companies to become enforcers of social morality? If so, by what metric should they make those decisions? Should governments step in to more actively regulate the power of these global social-tech institutions? Is that even possible?
It seems to me that the traditional institutions that are supposed to facilitate and maintain the social fabric/ the “machinery” of a “just and good” society have become less powerful than the tech-elite, and are often considered less trustworthy, too. What can be done about this? Should anything be done about this?
Companies like Google & FB etc go to great pains to give the appearance of facilitating “peer to peer” communication, ostensibly so they seem more benign and “human” than state apparatus, but don’t these organisations actively contribute to maintaining hegemony for an inequitable system & its lackeys? I mean, you can check out Google’s participation in drone AI development (aka Project Maven) or Amazon’s Rekognition program for concrete examples of this historical collusion between tech companies and the military-industrial complex.
CJW: The ‘end of history’ thinking he talks about is exactly what I was referencing in the previous issue, so I’m interested to see another through-line here, though on a totally different topic.
I’m really torn on this. On the one-hand, I don’t want there to be powerful gatekeepers singlehandedly guiding public discourse (which is why we need to be rid of Rupert Murdoch and his relentless attacks on progressive politics and a society not yet entirely governed by neoliberalism), and deciding what is and is not fit for public consumption, because that could easily become a tool for fascist and/or autocratic governments. On the other hand, when someone’s abhorrent views have real life implications for innocent people, shouldn’t we as a society ostracise them? I mean, Alex Jones has had a platform for a long time (and indeed, he still has his platform, it just can’t piggyback off of some other platforms), we know his schtick, we know he isn’t going to grow, change, or have his personal views altered by well-meaning debate - so is this us as a society saying “Enough; you had your chance, and you squandered it”?
For the bigger question of tech giants, their influence over society, and possible regulation… well, fuck, that’s a huge issue, and one that probably isn’t talked about enough.
Every time a tech company is pressured into cutting ties with the military-industrial complex (I include American policing under this umbrella for obvious reasons), I just imagine some Silicon Valley arsehole with absolutely no conscience starts rubbing their hands together with glee. “Oh, Google won’t help you train automated warmachines? Well, I’ve got a warehouse full of processing power, an army of nineteen-year-old nerds, and absolutely no scruples, all I need now is some money.” And the MIC has got money.
And I think this is all related to the cult of progress. We all assume these technological advancements are inevitable simply because we can imagine them. Or to be more precise, engineers all over the world are sitting down to build these things because it sounds like an interesting problem to solve.
In a lot of ways I worry that it’s too late. My thinking here is likely influenced by Damien Williams - we need philosophy in STEM, but we needed it well before now, so that the people in a position to make these decisions, write these algorithms, and build these machines had the necessary tools to fully consider the repercussions of what they were doing.
[A couple of days later...]
CJW: Speaking of Alex Jones, I've seen people talk about him purely as a source of comedy, and I think there's possibly something there too - specifically in regards to comedians punching up vs punching down. Railing against the globalists and the elite is punching up. Railing against gay frogs is punching sideways. But attacking the parents of shooting victims is most certainly punching down.
MKY: Alex Jones is the reason expletives were invented. That said, thoughts on Who Is America? is it punching up or just like vaguely, ineffectually kinda slapping in the general direction of Power?
JE: Only watched the first episode, but my takeaway is that satire doesn't work anymore because these people are already so insane.
MKY: True. So much cringe, but the Dick Cheney bit is a thing.
JE: He's still got it though. It's funny. But then it's sad because you know - we're fucked.
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CJW: REPO VIRTUAL Corner (Apparently)
Robot Overlords - Joi Ito at Wired (via Sentiers)
Not only do we Japanese have no fear of our new robot overlords, we’re kind of looking forward to them.
It’s not that Westerners haven’t had their fair share of friendly robots like R2-D2 and Rosie, the Jetsons’ robot maid. But compared to the Japanese, the Western world is warier of robots. I think the difference has something to do with our different religious contexts, as well as historical differences with respect to industrial-scale slavery.
The Western concept of “humanity” is limited, and I think it’s time to seriously question whether we have the right to exploit the environment, animals, tools, or robots simply because we’re human and they are not.
Interesting essay from Joi Ito on the cultural differences in how Western and Japanese people react to the idea of intelligent machines and machine personhood.
Assassin Drones Are Here. Now What? - David Axe at Motherboard
This is actually something I wanted to get into Repo Virtual, but as the idea evolved it simply didn’t fit.
A demonstration of power: China derails protests before they even begin - Nathan VanderKlippe at The Globe and Mail
It was after midnight and the slow train from Chengdu was nearing the end of its 30-hour journey when Ms. Yang decided to make a run for it. She was headed to Beijing to join a protest, but it was becoming clear that the authorities were closing in. Early in the trip, relatives called to say police had come looking for her. Then, a railway worker arrived at her sleeper car bunk, saying he had been instructed to locate her.
This is kind of horrifying, but I think it’s really only degrees above what we already experience in the West. I mean, the police have told us that we have to apply to them to be allowed to protest, and they (seem to) track protest organising on Facebook so that they can have a presence either at the protest, or gather on the streets and stop a protest from being able to begin.
But really, considering how absolutely nothing changed after the Snowden files leaked, it’s fair to say that our lives will increasingly be surveilled. I think we’re only going to see a continued rise of Far Right politics and Fascism as climate change continues to put pressure on the world’s governments and economies. If the idea of a Fascist or Autocratic government with ubiquitous surveillance doesn’t frighten you, then you haven’t been paying attention.
AA: Isn’t it more frightening that some people actually love the idea of fascist or autocratic governments with ubiquitous surveillance powers? We’ve mentioned Australia’s very own Peter “Skeletor Cop Heart” Dutton before, but he’s a prime example of someone who sees our dystopian nightmare as his conservative utopia…
CJW: “Surveil me, daddy.”
Yep, some folks definitely seem eager to embrace authoritarianism as long as it is draped in a flag they love, and/or seemingly willing to shit on the same people they hate.
//
CJW: Speaking of Peter "Mr Potatohead but if he was a Villain" Dutton - the child-torturer himself tried not once, but TWICE to take the party leadership (and thus title of Prime Minister) away from Malcolm "Seems outwardly reasonable but is just as evil as all the cretins beneath him" Turnbull. The outcome of all this is that Australia now has a new Prime Minister...Scott Morrison. No, I don't know how that happened either.
Leadership "spills", as they are known, are one of Australia's favourite past-times.
In the aftermath it's this speech by Greens Senator Richard Di Natale that seems to have resonated most strongly with people on the left.
MKY: This.
The political carnage has been so extreme that in 2015 some emergency workers reportedly stopped asking patients who was prime minister, saying it was no longer a good indicator of their mental state.
just wow
AA: Is there any creature less inspiring than the Australian politician? Do they purposely act like such creeps & cretins to repel people from paying attention?
It’s so much psychic work to look at these dickheads and watch their fake self-serving bullshit.
MKY: srsly
AA: It’s like the more blatant they are the harder it is to pay attention re: void gazing & all that. Steals little bits of soul?
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JE: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/11/world/australia/larrimah-mystery.html - Jacqueline Williams at New York Times
Dusk was falling on the sweltering hot day of Dec. 16, 2017, when Paddy Moriarty went to the Pink Panther, the only hotel and bar in this tiny, dusty town, to end the day with his usual round of drinks.
He downed eight beers, typical for Mr. Moriarty, a laborer who spent most of his life in Australia’s rugged outback. Then he left for home with his dog by his side.
He was never seen again.
This story breaks the usual true-crime-mold deadlock by having occurred in a town of only 11 people. It also involves rival meat pie businesses (with suspect ingredients) and a seemingly dodgy gardener. It's still unfolding too - I'll be keeping on eye on this as it develops.
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CJW: Indigenous Weather Knowledge (via Charlie Lloyd)
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CJW: Hack the Planet: Vulnerabilities Unearthed in Satellite Systems Used Around the Globe (via Sentiers)
[...] this opens up the prospect of “cyber-physical attacks,” a brilliantly dystopic phrase if ever there was one; basically, if you crank enough power through a satellite antenna, it can radiate energy powerful enough that it affects biological tissue and electrical systems. Same general principle as a microwave oven.
Isn’t this just the plot to Goldeneye?
//
CJW: New Zealand’s productivity commission charts course to low-emission future - Robert McLachlan at The Conversation (via Charlie Lloyd)
I love that at least one country is taking climate change seriously, and thinking about the changes that actually need to be made to our economies to somehow slow this fucking freight train. And honestly, Australia might actually do something about it if New Zealand is taking charge. We can’t let those bastards win anything, not Rugby, not cricket, not addressing climate change.
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JE: Gaming’s toxic men, explained - Colin Campbell at Polygon
A series of takes on the obviously toxic culture that swirls around video games, which always makes me wonder - who are these fucks?
CJW: Inside the Culture of Sexism at Riot Games - Cecilia D'Anastasio at Kotaku AU
Where the Polygon piece looked more at the consumers of gamer culture, this piece details the culture of sexism and Frat-house-esque broism that was (is still?) prevalent at Riot Games. I’m sure the same article could be written about every larger game studio, but this is pretty damning.
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MKY : This article was originally published with the title "Astro Worms" - Katherine Kornei at Scientific American
WE’VE ALWAYS BEEN LIVING ON AN ALIEN EARTH!11111111111
If you’ve managed to mute the neverending culture war at the end of time enough for a few slivers of (non climate apoc) science journalism to slip through, it’s been pretty exciting lately - especially if, like me, ur a huge fan of the theory of panspermia. From the moon being (briefly) habitable (like, by geological time anyway) to them finding moar water on Mars - if the moon was seeded by Earth, why not Mars too? WHY NOT VICE VERSA??? - to this cool experiment showing that life could survive on… I really wanna say Jupiter, but don’t have an envelope handy to do the calcs on…
I still don’t understand why there’s tardigrades in the quantum realm tho. But damn are those water bears also so hot rn.
It’s enough to give a self-hating human hope that, no matter how badly mankind wrecks this planet, life will prevail... somewhere.
CJW: Amen to that. I think even humans aren’t capable of fucking up badly enough to kill off the Tardigrades.
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MKY: Tactical Fashion Trend, Spring 2019 & Disaster Aesthetics
Contra point: what’s a solarpunk uniform look like? Plz. somebody show me.
CJW: Solarpunk uniform is mushroom leather outerwear over t-shirts and denim scavenged from the world’s overflowing donation piles. Solar-cells sewn into jackets, and kinetic energy reclamation tech embedded into our belts and oft-repaired boots.
That Vogue link almost reads like a Blue Ant-era piece of speculative fiction. For one thing, Warcore as a fashion term is both a) very fucking cool, and b) hard evidence that this is truly the darkest timeline.
Anyway... Austin and I have talked about this before with the Gucci Winter Fall 2018/2019 collection. That collection also featured balaclavas, headscarves, and other accessories for obscuring your identity. It’s almost as if they know that we’re all going to be looting supermarkets to survive over the next few decades.
MKY: ah that explains this then
JE : And this
Podcasts
MKY: The California Thirst Trap // This Anthropogenic Life
The republic of newsletters and the anthropocene… this is the label on my favourite jam.
Books
MKY : Too Many People?
Long story short, I’ve been eagerly waiting for this Thanos-killer to arrive for… months now. But the first thing I learned in it is that even Tim Flannery has been pushing the overpopulation myth, and that made me so sad I had to put it straight down again. Did I miss this in my read of the The Future Eaters or just wasn’t woke enough to notice it back then. Sigh.
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CJW: Trucksong
I just finished Andrew Macrae’s Trucksong, which is a piece of utterly unique, and distinctly Australian science-fiction, set in a future where automated trucks roam the roads of a post-collapse society like wild animals. It it brilliant and inventive from beginning to end. It’s written in Aussie slang, which may be difficult to grasp for international readers, but if you ever persevered through Trainspotting or A Clockwork Orange, then this will be easy.
I also really enjoy Andrew Macrae’s infrequent newsletter, Slow Worries. Check it out.
(It was actually Sydney’s Footworx/Jungle monster Melt Unit who first recommended Trucksong to me a couple of years back. Shame on me for taking this long.)
Movies + TV
JE: Afflicted (Netflix)
This new documentary series follows several people who have chronic illnesses that are difficult to diagnose or unrecognised by conventional medicine. Interesting right? Well it would be, if any of these diseases were real. Hear me out - I believe these poor people are suffering, but not from a physical illness but in fact from a bunch of anxiety disorders.
A bit of history - I have struggled with an anxiety disorder most of my life. It is real, it is debilitating and it is scary. Worst of all, if left unchecked it will get more severe, manifesting in terrifying ways and twisting reality into physical symptoms that generally make you feel like you are dying. I have personally experienced ALL of the symptoms portrayed in this series. As the documentary unfolds it came as no surprise to me that all the subjects had experienced some trauma or stress that preceded their illness and I would bet everything that if they underwent some simple cognitive therapy they would drastically improve quickly. It simultaneously enraged and saddened me that this documentary did not at all touch on this but went further to solidify that these illnesses were real, almost sealing the fate of anyone suffering who watches it. More money in the pockets of the constant snake oil salesman healers featured and more despair for the mentally ill.
Maybe their next doc will be about how gangstalking is real. Deplorable.
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JE: The Gift (2015)
I’ve been a huge fan of the Edgerton brothers for as long as I can remember, following them from when they were tropfest darlings through to their theatrical debut The Square. They seem to have this method of storytelling that lays out a few strands and starts to weave them together into a tragedy of errors that always lands. Seriously The Square is one of the greatest pieces of neo-noir anything, if you haven’t seen it stop everything and watch it right now.
In The Gift, brother Joel’s first foray into directing, we get a smart tightly wrapped thriller. The classic thriller/stalker tropes are all used and then twisted in what can only be described as a serviceable way; however that isn’t a slight and Edgerton brings it all home in a great looking, tense, well written film. He also takes full credits for being the only writer/director who has managed to make Jason Bateman, not ah Jason Batemany. Or at least make him an arsehole Bateman.
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MKY: PSYCHOKINESIS
Caped dafuq out? Still wanna watch a superhero origin movie? Loved The Host? Watch this.
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MKY: MANDY
MANDY is sooooooooo Jodorwoksy and pure 80s horror. Nic Cage achieves his final form. I need to make an 80s horror bingo quiz and rewatch this again. I had a nightmare about cheese goblins after watching this. Ok not really. Who doesn’t love cheese?
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CJW: BURNING
As part of the Melbourne International Film Festival (MIFF), I saw three films, the best of which (by far) was BURNING, directed by Chang-dong Lee, starring Ah-In Yoo, Steven Yeun, and Jong-seo Jeon. As a film-festival film, it might not ever get a proper theatrical release, so you might never get a chance to see it until it inevitably ends up in some obscure Netflix category. That said, it is an incredible psychological thriller, and each of the three leads are exceptional in their roles, so if you ever do get a chance to see BURNING, you should.
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MKY: ULTRAVIOLET (2018)
Can I interest you in lowkey Polish Global Frequency? Not quite as good as my fave show of last year, the Norwegian drama Valkyrien, ‘cause it’s still yet-another-police-procedural where cops are solving crimes thanks to a collaboration with a quirky whatever… except in this case it’s a human girl fronting for a website that’s… lowkey Polish GF (oh wait, i said that already).
Comics
JE: The Seeds - Issue #1 (Dark Horse)
Just copped this new imprint from Ann Nocenti and David Aja, a Berlin-wall esque scenario that focuses in on a world devoid of technology after a calamity. This was an ambitious first issue that tackles some extensive world-building, establishes main characters and pulls a huge reveal that sent a shiver down my spine. Nocenti knows her craft and this is a master at work. Aja adds to the desolate atmosphere with his minimalist charcoal style, sticking to a nine panel format so that when there are splash pages, they hit hard.
I’m very excited to see where this goes next.
Music
JE: Violence, by Skaen
Some more dystopian electronica, this time from Belarus. Skaen delves into some dark synth layered over clunky beats and it all comes together to produce a wave of gorgeous washy doom. Best enjoyed as you contemplate your own meaningless existence.
The Process
CJW: This week I have been deep in a post-project funk. After spending 3 or 4 months working 6+ days a week on REPO VIRTUAL I’m suddenly lost. The problem isn’t that I’ve got no ideas or nothing to work on (quite the opposite really), it’s more an issue of defragmenting my brain and freeing up all the space that this fictional city and its inhabitants have taken up.
JE: Corey, I experienced some pretty real burnout last year, but mine ended with me more completely out of ideas. I think at the core the problem was the same, my head was completely filled with shit. My takeaway that I would like to share with you is pretty simple really - just remember why you do what you do, the core of it. Like a mediation almost. Might clear the weeds a bit.
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MJW: This past month I’ve been in the US, on a trip that ended with the World Science Fiction Convention in San Jose, CA. I was able to go this year due to the generosity of the SFF fan community through their Down Under Fan Fund, which sends a SFF fan to a con in the US, and every second year brings a US fan over to an Australian con. I’m now the administrator, so I’ll be running the fund for the next two years. (If you want to donate to keep the fund running and give SFF fans a chance to meet and connect IRL, go here: paypal.me/downunderfanfund) It was an interesting experience, and it made me think a lot about what makes a ‘fan’, what makes a ‘pro writer’ (both of which I identify as) and how the two identities inevitably merge.
Worldcon was a whirlwind of faces, names and pints of cider. I met innumerable folks from the international fan community as well as a fuckton of pros from the field. I also recorded an episode of Catastropod with Meg Elison (author of The Book of the Unnamed Midwife and The Book Of Etta) about feminism in the apocalypse.
There was an interesting phenomenon I noticed at the pro parties and meet & greets:
However, the coolest thing was that I got to present a Hugo Award!
NK Jemisin won the Best Novel Hugo, making her the first person to win three consecutive Best Novel Hugos for her Broken Earth trilogy: https://boingboing.net/2018/08/20/the-stone-sky.html Her acceptance speech was just perfect, and there’s video of it at the link.
The Self-Promotion
AA: Corey & I have started a label called Oh Nothing Press to release Narrative Experiments, Fine Garments & Other Weird Things. We’ve just started an Instagram account where you can peep some artwork for our first release capsule: MechaDeath. One of the artists involved in this particular release is Septian Fajrianto who I interviewed below. Check him out on insta @tianfajrianto - to put it bluntly, his work is fucking excellent and he’s a great dude - full of positive vibe and enthusiasm for making some crazy cyberpunk horror!
What is your daily routine like? Do you follow a set schedule or ritual? Does it vary?
I have a common daily routine - taking care of my family, and playing video games to expand my visual taste.
I do all my projects based on a strict schedule- it's important to me to keep the vibe of a project and find unique ideas, so i don't want to rush and b careless. I need to ensure the final art will be definitely 'final'.
Are there any interesting tools or methods/approaches you couldn’t live without?
Nothing special about tools or any approaches. Everything is about creating the visualization before I do a sketch. It makes the artwork feel like it's alive.
What inspires you?
I mostly inspired by codex, esoteric graphics, and isometric concepts. Those ancient things make me realize that what is here with us now came from the genius thoughts of traditional civilization.
Our project is influenced by Black Metal imagery and mecha from Japanese manga/anime. Are there any examples from these genres that strike you as notable?
Dragon Ball & Flame of Recca are the only manga that has affected my visual style, even sinc Elementary grade.
What are you working on anything now that people should know about?
I am now working on an Indonesian Dark/Cultural project titled Myterna. It talks about concepts like Church burning, the Crusade, Year Zero, and some other historical things i've found that many haven’t explored yet.
Do you have any advice for creatives out there trying to get there work seen?
Keep working, stay sharp, believe in yourself, and create your own world. It may takes some time, but you're about creating your creative legacy.
Thanks Septian, your enthusiasm made this project a blast! Can’t wait to see some stuff from Myterna.
CJW: That's us for another fortnight. Hit reply if you've got anything you want to share with me or any of the others. Be good to yourself, keep your loved ones close, and stay strong. Things are only getting weirder from here.