nothing here but a birth of violence

issue 138 - 16th May, 2021

CJW: Hello again and welcome.

CJW: On Becoming...

Every now and then there’ll be a new meme that spreads through author twitter about an author’s brand, or what themes they find they keep writing. I’ve seen variations go by a dozen times, easily, and I always scrolled right past each time because I had no idea what my response would be.

Being able to work out the answer to that question would mean being able to step back and look at a project subjectively, and I’m usually so deep in a project I can’t tell if it’s any good, let alone what bigger themes it might be touching on. But working through another edit on my current manuscript I finally figured it out… And it’s about damn time.

issue 136 - 2nd May, 2021

CJW: Welcome to the latest instalment of nothing here. It’s a big one. Sorry? This issue we’ve got returning guest, Andrew Dana Hudson. Thanks for joining us Andrew!

Cancelling Deleuze

[bonus] issue 135 - 23rd April, 2021

CJW: Apologies for the delay with this issue. Turns out I fucked up something when I first set up the Buttondown account, so I’ve been getting that sorted out, and it’s taken a bit longer than I hoped (which is entirely down to me having too much on this month). I put off sending this on Sunday, just so Mr Buttondown (Justin to his friends) could finish fixing my fuck up. (We’re still not done, but I came up with a temporary workaround at least.)

nothing here but toothless protest

issue 134 - 18th April, 2021

Welcome to another instalment of nothing here. I hope you’re all doing well. These are trying times, but we’re getting through, and we’ll continue to get through it.

A Eulogy for Micajahala

[bonus] issue 133 - 11th April, 2021

I imagine more than a few of our readers have lost loved ones within the last year. Thought it might help to share the eulogy I wrote for my mother on February 1st, after she died in January.

nothing here but global suicide

issue 132 - 4th April, 2021

CJW: Welcome to nothing here, coming to you via Buttondown. Hopefully everything goes smoothly and you get this email in your inbox without hassle. It’s a long one today, so let’s get straight to it.

• Our latest bonus was Maddy, about my very first dog.
• Latest unlocked bonus: Bingewatching the end of Civilisation
• Full list of unlocked bonuses.

CJW: As promised, here we are, coming to you live from Buttondown HQ.

This mail *might* end up going out to the full list because Buttondown allowed me to give new subscribers a 14-day preview of our bonus posts, but I can't remember if I hit that button before or after importing everybody.

Anyway, first a little housekeeping for our current paid subscribers - the Buttondown import carried over your Premium status, but I'm still trying to work out whether or not Buttondown knows when your subscriptions are due to expire, or if I will have to manually sort that out when the time comes. Justin at Buttondown has been a great help so far, so I've got no doubt he'll help me figure this out shortly. Worst case scenario, I've got subscription end dates saved from a Substack export, so no one will be cut off prematurely! In the meantime, I think everything is working well...

Buttondown also uses Stripe to process payments, but you will still need to re-up through Stripe when the time comes, because I can't simply transfer those payment details over for obvious security reasons. You should get notification emails from Buttondown with the correct subscription link, but I'll also be keeping an eye on things. If anything goes wrong, or you've got any questions, you can always hit me up at nothing [@] coreyjwhite.com.

CJW: This will be our last newsletter on the Substack platform. I wanted to move to Buttowndown immediately, but with an archive of over 120 letters (including bonus posts which are another thing I need to figure out on Buttondown), as well as paid and unpaid subscribers, it’s going to take me a minute to migrate everything. The real heads will know that Buttondown will be our third provider, but the newsletter has grown in size and complexity since the Tinyletter days. Depending on how it goes (I do, after all, have a day job, a novel I’m editing, a podcast, and various other projects on the go), the next bonus might be delayed so I can figure everything out. 

Current paid subscribers - all payments have been paused while I figure this out. I’ll be in touch with more information about your subscriptions later, once I’ve got everything sorted on the Buttondown back-end.

Hello and welcome to another issue of (De)Extinction Club. I mean nothinghere_. You’re at the combination DXC / NH super bleak look at just how fucked things are looking for the continent 3/4ths of us here call home.

Forget the nightmare fuel of the rather Day After Tomorrow-smelling likely scenario of ‘a major ocean current hitting a tipping point’ and all the ‘fun’ that might follow that. No, we’re locked 'n loaded and seeing things are just as fucked as they already are. (But if that’s enough for you to go out and start seeding the global ecosocialist revolution, don’t let me stop you.)

CJW: Let’s get right to it, shall we?

Our latest bonus was Can't Get You Out of My Head, and our latest unlocked bonus is on Ursula Le Guin’s , capitalism, culpability, etc. 

CJW: We've gathered together here to discuss Kylie Minogue's iconic 2001 pop hit, Can't Get You Out of My Head:

The song was released on the 8th of September, 2001 - the very end of the End of History, before two planes crashing into the World Trade Center proved that history was far from done with us.

In the opening shot of the video clip we see Kylie driving a classic muscle car along a future-coded highway, expressly demonstrating that the tools of the past were sufficient for carrying us into the future. This was neoliberal capitalism distilled into pop perfection, but little did Kylie know, the highway she was driving us all down would lead to an entrenchment of what Mark Fisher termed Capitalist Reali--

CJW: Welcome to another edition of nothing here.

Our latest bonus was the first two chapters of The Forgetting Navigations, a novella Marlee is serialising over on . Our latest unlocked bonus is , a piece of original short fiction from Marlee.

CJW: Here are the opening chapters from The Forgetting Navigations - a novella Marlee is serialising over at her Patreon.

CJW: Welcome to another edition of the nothing here newsletter.

Our latest bonus was A primer on propaganda in the 21st century courtesy of DCH, and our latest unlocked bonus is , the continuation of MKY’s explorations. 

Today I want to talk to you about propaganda in the modern world. This will be a whistle-stop tour of the strategies, tactics, tools, and channels used by bad actors, trolls, and other assholes to spread hate, disinformation, and terror. Before we do though I’d like to give a shout out to the amazing Tash Wilcocks for illustrating all of this in one brilliant go. Ok… buckle up. This is going to be a bumpy ride.

From Kissinger to Trump

As with many horrible things in the world today, a lot of this shit starts with elder statesmen and war criminal, Henry Fucking Kissinger. He was a pioneer of “constructive ambiguity” as a policy construct. It’s weasel words that “fudges” sensitive issues to let countries save face while actually accomplishing little. Or worse, exacerbating issues over time. A perfect example of this is UN Security Council Resolution 242 which had two mutually exclusive principles in it. That resolution and other policies like it in the mid 70s intentionally lit the fuse for the conflict we see in Syria today.

CJW: Welcome to another instalment of the nothing here newsletter.

Our latest bonus was The Secret of the Ancestor Simulation, in which I combine my interests in Simulation Theory and chaos magick (and some politics sneak in there too, because these are the times we live in).

There was a tweet I can no longer find1 that said something along the lines of this:

If we’re all living in an ancestor simulation then there’s a possibility that our social media posts are the only concrete record of our original’s lives, and everything about our lives between those posts is just extrapolation.

MJW: I’m light in this issue because I’m busy with a shitfight battle to manage both my mania and my outrage. The list of bullshittery gets longer and longer, with new players (or old ones you weren't paying attention to) entering the game from all sides, and all of it is IMPORTANT and FUCKED and LOUD. 

My cohort of sin eaters has corralled some of the world’s flaming shit for you, and posted here, so ENJOY!

But really: take care, friends. It’s hard and rough and scary but remember we’re in it for those who don’t have a fucking choice but to engage because it’s their lives. SO, try and eat a vegetable, and if you can’t sleep, try at least to rest. Keep hydrated, look in on yr loved ones and don’t forget to floss: you’ll need good teeth for when we eat our slumlords. Xx

Written late last year, obvz. Insert fresh metaphors and horrors since to suit…

CJW: Welcome to the final Nothing Here for 2020. We hope you have a great holiday (of whichever sort you happen to celebrate), and hopefully have had (or will have) some time to decompress a little before we have to get up and do it all again in 2021.

Got some bonuses to share:

CJW: Happy holidays good people. We decided that with Christmas approaching we’d have a little fun with this bonus, and also send it out to everyone - partially to say thanks for sticking with us, and partially because I’ve got no idea how next week’s issue is going to look, it being Xmas and all.

If you've spent any amount of time on the internet in the past few years, then you are no doubt sick of hearing about how Die Hard is a Christmas movie (or you're one of the sickos still talking about it). Let's expand the narrative a little, shall we? is a movie set around Christmas time, but herein I argue that is a in both the secular and religious sense.

MJW: I’ve emerged momentarily, from my months-long migraine fog to write one single paragraph in this fortnight’s edition, so I took the reins on the intro too. Look at me, I’m performing functionality! If I keep this up, maybe I’ll be a real girl again soon (tho not likely.) This week there’s the usual: other newsletters (we’re not the jealous type), thoughts on various Media Content, and more links to hectic news shit that you can follow if you are able to engage with the world at all (say hi for me, I’m not ready yet!). Enjoy.

I wrote our latest bonus issue - Gould’s, about the kinda-traumatic experience that made me the only book-obsessive who hates the smell of old books. For future bonuses and access the full archive, just go here to . Unlocked bonuses are .

People love the smell of old books, that musty, almost vanilla scent.

I do not.

When I was twelve, I went into Gould’s bookstore on King Street in Newtown with my mother. Newtown was my dreamland and I took solace in its dirty nineties streets, full-regalia drag queens and alterna-vibe that was so different from the suburban misery and bigoty-crush of the Central Coast, where I grew up. Gould’s was a Newtown institution, a massive shop crammed tight with second-hand books. I say massive and I say crammed tight but that doesn’t convey it. The dust was epic. The pages fluttering, old spines falling apart. Behind each row of books was another row of books. There were no prices. It was a place to get lost and stay lost. Gould’s was where old books went to die.

CJW: Welcome to another edition of nothing here. It’s a comparatively skint issue this time around - if I’d realised this is how it would pan out I could have held something back from the last overstuffed issue.

Let’s pretend we’re giving you a light one so you can focus on Thanksgiving (where applicable), and that it’s not because the last week or so has been pretty bad for your favourite (?) newsletter family.

Our latest bonus was , a personal essay of mine that originally appeared in . I’m really proud of this piece and think it came together quite well in the end. I hope to write more in a similar vein down the track.

This personal essay was originally published in Creeper Magazine Issue 1.

I don’t remember the first model kit I built.

CJW: Welcome to another issue of nothing here, your fortnightly dispatch of the now.

I wrote our latest bonus issue Wandering the Icelandic States of America, about , its timeliness and not, climate change, and accidental socialism. Quite by accident I posted it on the anniversary of the game’s release, so (to celebrate?) I thought I’d so anyone who’s played the game, or has been thinking about playing it, can have a read. For future bonuses and access the full archive, just go here to . Unlocked bonuses are (and I unlock new posts every couple of weeks, so it’s worth keeping track of).

CJW: On a recent edition of Alasdair Stuart’s fantastic positive pop-culture newsletter The Full Lid, he mentioned Operation Adopt-a-Book, to whit:

CJW: A bumper issue this time around, and it’s been a while since I had to say that.

The latest bonus is The high cost of convenience about Amazon’s bodycount, poor working conditions, their stance against worker’s rights, and the ways the pandemic has helped them further consolidate online sales. Dan’s doing important work over at , tying together disparate strands to demonstrate the full depth and breadth of the damages Silicon Valley is wreaking on our society, economy, etc.

MJW: This is nothing here, and I’m mjw, coming at you from day 116 of LOCKDOWN 2 in Melbourne, Australia, where there is officially no point to anything any more! The only things keeping me alive are hazlenut gelato and memes! In this issue we’ve got the obligatory pandemic shit, radicalised hackers, Ruby Rose and ethical sex work advertising platforms, plus a bunch of other good content that might help keep you alive too?

The latest bonus was by CJW, Our Centaur Futures, about AI’s potential as a collaborative tool rather than as an adversarial threat or as a strictly-controlled service sold to us by corporations. To get access to this bonus, future bonuses, and the full archive, just go here to .

You should never work for free, except sometimes you do, and sometimes you want to. Recently someone from Digital Learning and Technology Victoria got in touch to tell me he’d read and loved Repo Virtual and had already recommended it to his friends who’ve been reading cyberpunk since the days of Neuromancer. He asked if I would like to write something for their publication, about the possible uses of AI in education. I’m not an expert at education by any means, so I approached it more from the point of view of a student (or a lifetime learner, which I hope to be). I also didn’t want to be as pessimistic as I can be (you know that, you read this newsletter, after all), so it was an interesting exercise in trying to be positive - whilst still making note of some of the ethical and political issues caught up in current mainstream AI discourse (or largely ignored by it).

I enjoyed writing it and hope they’ll end up using it, but even if they don’t, I wanted to share it with you all. It might be a little “101”, but hopefully you’ll find something interesting.

CJW: Hello again. It’s that time. Welcome. Thank your for joining us, and I hope you get something out of this issue.

Our latest bonus came from the mind of MKY - SUCCESSION: What strange beast of the global entertainment industry is this?, all about and its place in the political-entertainment oeuvre. To get access to this bonus, future bonuses, and the full archive, just go here to . For a preview, . Latest unlock is part 2 of MKY’s .

It was however many days/months/years? into the Great Melbourne COVID-19 lockdown of 2020, when every day felt identical, just with different weather, and there was naught to do each night but stream TV shows and movies. But fresh content has slowed to a trickle to the extent that (as I can only imagine, as TV has trained me to), like someone fresh out of prison, entertainment media that once held no appeal had suddenly become enticing. Such was the case for me with the TV show Succession – given a new gloss in my mind upon learning to my surprise, nay shock, during an appearance on Chapo Traphouse, one of America's 'dirtbag left' podcasts, that Adam McKay (The Big Short) was not only a producer of the show, alongside Will Ferrell, but also directed its pilot.

And so it came to be this world-weary reviewer, who's filled the pages of newspapers, magazines and websites with his various pop-cultural dissections, stood at the base of a mountainous two seasons of critically-acclaimed, award-winning prestige drama, wondering just what awaited him in the sole piece of #resistancetv that seemed hospitable to him – the only one he had the fortitude to brave. The Handmaid's Tale adaptation being about as appealing as free-climbing an ice wall without so much as crampons on my boots. Maybe Ötzi the Iceman would have had the fortitude to get more than ten minutes into Miss America before begging for the sweet embrace of the crevasse, but this reviewer would've happily rappelled into the abyss. So Succession it would be, and probably Succession alone. Whatever awaited there nonetheless piqued my curiosity.

Would it be suffused with the same Dad Energy of Billions, the series it seemed most similar to upon initial reconnaissance? Would this too become a hate-watch of an overly-written, highly produced “victory lap for neoliberal hypercapitalism,” as a friend put it over a chat session, as I steeled myself to scale this outcropping of the global entertainment industry whose control it was orientated around?

MJW: Hello from my pain couch, on what is apparently around day 120 of Melbourne lockdown. I exist outside of time and only know that it is approximately 120 days because of an article I read somewhere. When CJW told me the newsletter was due today I was like, ‘no! Didn’t we just put one out?’ Time isn’t REAL anymore! You know, like jobs, the economy, or democracy. Anyway, enjoy our latest edition packed full of hectic shit, because, well… the world is a hectic place.

I wrote our latest bonus - Walking and Things - about walking, pain, lockdown, pandemic, writing, etc. It’s slice of life and perhaps an intimate look into my headspace (I don’t know if that’s good or not?). To get access to this bonus, future bonuses, and the full archive, just go here to . For a preview, .

I wrote about a plague once. Not a real plague, an allegorical one, or metaphorical, or impossible. The plague-victims started to walk and they could not stop. They walked themselves to death.

There’s a plague on now. I walk a lot. The two are unrelated, it’s just that, legally, we’re not really allowed to do much else.

Before I wrote that story, I walked a lot too. I lived alone then, in a small coastal town surrounded by national parks threaded with bushwalking trails, and I didn’t know many people, so to entertain myself I walked. My preferred method was brutal-uphill-death-march style, the kind of hike where my thighs screamed as I lifted each foot and propelled myself to the top of an incline, reaching a state of endorphin-rinsed-purification at the summit. I was totally clean at this stage – no drugs, smoking, drinking. I gave up coffee. Exercise was how I got out of my head then, and the best way to get out was for it to hurt.

My masochism wasn’t only displayed in my torturous paths, but inside too, in places no one passing me on the trail could see. My collapsing arches screamed. My legs sharded by shin splints. Every step, agony. I took it and bore it to show myself I was strong.

MJW: Welcome to this, the fifty-eighth installment of this newsletter, coming to you from the endless, timeless void that is level four restrictions in Melbourne. I have no idea how long I have been here, how long I will continue to be here, my entire life is house. 

DCH: Thanks for joining us for another bonus letter. We need to talk about how Google, Amazon, Facebook, Apple & other companies use forced labour to make their products in China. Meanwhile at the same time lives hang in the balance as Facebook executives pander to Nationalist politicians in India.

Content warning for descriptions of torture and genocide and other atrocities.

//

Big Tech’s supply chain keeps Uyghurs in chains

CJW: Thanks for joining us for another issue of nothing here, and a big welcome to our new readers. Hope you enjoy what we’re doing here.

If you know someone you think might appreciate this newsletter, go ahead and forward it along.

The latest bonus was the opening couple of chapters to a gonzo, psychedelic spy-fi novel Austin and I wrote a few years back - . To read it, future bonuses, and the full archive, you can . A list of if you want to see what you’re in for.

CJW: Back in 2014, Austin an I wrote a gonzo, psychedelic spy-fi book called In League with the Devil. We wrote it with a mind to both parody and exemplify the pop-spy genre - think the James Bond films rather than John Le Carre’s novels - and I think we did a pretty fucking great job of that. And it’s funny. But the problem with a weird book like the one I just described is, how the fuck do you sell it? When I picked up an agent for my sci-fi work, I thought we might be in with a shot, but she had no interest in any collaborations I worked on unless they were with more-established names…

CJW: Welcome to the latest edition of the nothing here newsletter. The last 2 weeks have gone by very quickly. I think that’s because under lockdown every day is exactly the same, and the lack of delineation makes them blur together.

I wrote our latest bonus letter, Bad Ideas. I’ve had trouble focusing on much of anything other than the day job and novel edits lately, so I put together a selection of story ideas - free to good home - with some notes about where they came from (the age-old question), and what I would do with them if I was going to develop them further. Could be good fodder for the fiction writers reading this, or just an insight into my brain for anyone who’s interested. To access it, future bonuses, and the full archive, just go here to . An updated list of if you want to see what you’re in for.

To be entirely honest, I struggled with what to put together for this bonus. The past two weeks I haven’t really been able to find the energy or inspiration to do much beyond the day job, novel edits, and playing Death Stranding*. I’ve haven’t even been able to keep on top of my newsletter reading (as in, all the articles and such I read to see what’s worth including in the newsletter), so it’s no wonder I had trouble with this bonus.

I guess I have to blame the pandemic, and the stress of being back under lockdown here in Melbourne. Has anyone else noticed weird side effects coming up recently? My short-term memory is suffering badly, to the point where I can barely keep track of what number circuit I’m on when I’m working out. I don’t think it’s actually my short-term memory - more like the increased background radiation of stress makes it harder to concentrate, and that lack of concentration leads to memories not being stored properly.

Anyway, the above is all to explain why today’s bonus is something of a mixed bag. I’d wanted to write a follow-up to my Simulation piece, or maybe a Twine game, or maybe finish a piece on Masculinity that I started ages ago, but instead you get this: a selection of possible story ideas. I thought it could be interesting for people to see what a story seed looks like, and how my brain develops it. Also, I’m not precious about these ideas (I’ve long believed the development of an idea was the important and hard part, not the idea itself), so if any of them tickle your fancy, feel free to take them for yourself and see what you can do with them.

*I will definitely be writing something about Death Stranding, but I need to finish it first to make sure my views on the first chunk of the game aren’t completely irrelevant by the end of it.

CJW: Welcome to another edition of nothing here. The pandemic continues, Melbourne’s lockdown continues, my manuscript edits continue, the revolt against systemic racist violence in America continues, but also, elite corruption and solidarity against the people still continues. Don’t let the bastards get you down.

Our latest bonus letter came from m1k3y, writing about Eugene Thacker and the movie It’s the latest example of MKY finding interesting things to say about a sci-fi film I found to be so bad that I never would have spared the mental energy. It’s his brand. To get access to this bonus, future bonuses, and the full archive, you can .

From the previously unpublished files: my write-up on / decoding of [/ excuse to talk about Eugene Thacker and (techno)magical sight/sites] the movie, Spectral.

CJW: Welcome to another edition of the nothing here newsletter. Three of the four of us are writing to you from the lands of the Wurundjeri people, meaning we’re caught inside the Melbourne Metropolitan lockdown for another 6 weeks.

I’ll be honest - it’s not easy, the fear and uncertainty of being in a virus hot-spot. But at the same time, even Australia’s worst hot-spot is better off than a lot of places in the US. So, let’s keep being sensible, maintaining social distancing, listening to scientists, and all the rest. We’re in this together, and we can do this, even if our elected leaders don’t want us to because they’d rather we were back at work for the great god Economy. Anyway…

CJW: It sure has been a fortnight. We’ve seen comics, genre fiction, gaming, stand-up comedy, and probably other industries I’ve not paid attention to, be rocked by countless allegations against influential and powerful men for sexual misconduct and other harmful and abusive behaviours. If you’re on twitter at all, or involved in any of those industries/fandoms, then you’ve certainly got some idea of what I’m talking about. I’ve written more on it below, as one case in particular is of relevance to us here.

Thanks again to our paid subscribers, who help keep our pets fed and help keep the lights on. The latest bonus was from Marlee, a love letter to the You're Wrong About podcast, and about the mental health strains that she (and many others) are experiencing throughout this pandemic. (Which is still ongoing, despite what our governments are trying to tell us…) To get access to this bonus, future bonuses, and the full archive, just go here to .

(There are so many things I could be writing about in this bonus right now. I’m so angry about so many things that some days I cannot cope with how full of rage I am and then I have to take a valium to calm down and then another one because the first doesn’t work. I was at the Dr the other day, ranting about injustice, and he had to take my blood pressure three times, then guide me through a relaxation technique to get an accurate reading. Instead of getting my blood pressure up about Indigenous over-incarceration and deaths in custody, our governments’ disgusting and petty two-tiered welfare system, and all the inequalities that get my blood all… pressurey? I’m going to write about something I love and something that helped.)

You know by now that I am, indeed, a complete nutcase.

(Ok, let me tangent here to say: I can call myself a nutcase, crazy, bonkers. cannot. In the same way that sex-workers can call each other hookers and whores, but only get to say that to each other. don’t. Look, I don’t make the rules, I just try not to fall off the edges of them.)

CJW: Welcome to issue 52 of the nothing here newsletter. 52 means we are officially 2 years old. Thanks to everyone who has followed us along this full journey and to those who have joined us more recently.

It’s another bumper issue this fortnight - there has been so much going on I feel like we’ve barely touched on some issues that would normally get featured quite prominently (the first that comes to mind is the tech companies pulling back from developing facial recognition tools and/or providing them to law enforcement).

Simulating even a single posthuman civilization might be prohibitively expensive. If so, then we should expect our simulation to be terminated when we are about to become posthuman.

For a while I kept hearing that physicists or philosophers – or some other type of expert that starts with – were certain that we were living in a simulation, and for a time I kind of accepted that. These people are smarter than me, I thought, so they should know. What I didn't realise was that so much of this belief in simulation theory was exactly that – . Faith isn't just for Christians and Bitcoin evangelists, and it’s becoming more and more apparent just how strong a grip it has on Silicon Valley and the cult of Kurzweil's singularity.