Zero Squared

C Derick Varn is the guest this week. Varn is a reader at Zero Books, poet, and teacher currently living in Cairo, and my co-host on the now defunct Pop the Left podcast. In this episode of Zero Squared we discuss last year’s online debate between Sam Harris and Noam Chomsky as well as our tendency on the left to avoid difficult arguments. The Motte and Bailey doctrine is mentioned and utilitarian and deontological/Kantian ethics are discussed. Here’s a description of the Motte and Bailey doctrine from “Rational Wiki”: Motte and Bailey is a snarl word purporting to describe a particular form of equivocation wherein one protects a desirable but difficult to defend belief or proposal by swapping it with a more defensible, perhaps trivially true interpretation when the former comes under scrutiny. The trivial version is only temporarily proposed to ward off critics and not actually held. The "difficult" (bailey) version always remains the desired belief, but is never actually defended. This gives the belief an air of being counter-intuitive yet somehow true. In this episode you’ll hear clip from the online course “Law and Justice,” the song Telestar by the Tornados, a clip from the Waking Up podcast with Sam Harris, and a short clip from the film “Fight Club.” Right now you’re listening to Nmesh : Nu.wav Hallucinations, but in just a moment you’ll hear C Derick Varn and I discuss Sam Harris and Chomsky.

C Derick Varn is the guest this week. Varn is a reader at Zero Books, poet, and teacher currently living in Cairo, and my co-host on the now defunct Pop the Left podcast. In this episode of Zero Squared we discuss last year’s online debate between Sam Harris and Noam Chomsky as well as our tendency on the left to avoid difficult arguments. The Motte and Bailey doctrine is mentioned and utilitarian and deontological/Kantian ethics are discussed. Here’s a description of the Motte and Bailey doctrine from “Rational Wiki”: Motte and Bailey is a snarl word purporting to describe a particular form of equivocation wherein one protects a desirable but difficult to defend belief or proposal by swapping it with a more defensible, perhaps trivially true interpretation when the former comes under scrutiny. The trivial version is only temporarily proposed to ward off critics and not actually held. The "difficult" (bailey) version always remains the desired belief, but is never actually defended. This gives the belief an air of being counter-intuitive yet somehow true. In this episode you’ll hear clip from the online course “Law and Justice,” the song Telestar by the Tornados, a clip from the Waking Up podcast with Sam Harris, and a short clip from the film “Fight Club.” Right now you’re listening to Nmesh : Nu.wav Hallucinations, but in just a moment you’ll hear C Derick Varn and I discuss Sam Harris and Chomsky.

Eliot Fintushel is the guest this week as we discuss his novel Zen City which was published by Zero Books in June. The book received a starred review in publisher’s weekly: Zen City succeeds brilliantly, deftly weaving a tragic romance that’s about all of us, and none at all. Thanks goes out to Tom B, Nick M, Emanuel K, and Paul C, for becoming Zero Books Club members. Zero Books Club members gain access to our new Inside Zero Books Podcast, are invited to participate in bi-monthly online workshops in critical theory or, get access to audio books from our Advancing Conversations book, and receive occasional promotional discounts on selected Zero Books. This episode includes an explanation of Zen from Alan Watts along with some instructions on how to ride a bicycle. The music you’re listening to right now is Stereolab’s “Fried Monkey Eggs” but in just a moment you’ll be listening to Fintushel describing life in Zen City.

Eliot Fintushel is the guest this week as we discuss his novel Zen City which was published by Zero Books in June. The book received a starred review in publisher’s weekly: Zen City succeeds brilliantly, deftly weaving a tragic romance that’s about all of us, and none at all. Thanks goes out to Tom B, Nick M, Emanuel K, and Paul C, for becoming Zero Books Club members. Zero Books Club members gain access to our new Inside Zero Books Podcast, are invited to participate in bi-monthly online workshops in critical theory or, get access to audio books from our Advancing Conversations book, and receive occasional promotional discounts on selected Zero Books. This episode includes an explanation of Zen from Alan Watts along with some instructions on how to ride a bicycle. The music you’re listening to right now is Stereolab’s “Fried Monkey Eggs” but in just a moment you’ll be listening to Fintushel describing life in Zen City.

Last Wednesday bubb.la hosted a debate in Stockholm in cooperation with Marxist-Humanist Initiative and this week’s podcast is a recording of that debate between libertarian economist Per Bylund and marxist economist Andrew Kliman. Thanks goes out to our Zero Book Club members and encourage listeners who haven’t signed up as members to do so. This Friday’s members only Inside Zero Books podcast will feature a conversation with Ashley Frawley who is the author of the Semiotics of Happiness and a member of the Zero Books editorial team.

Last Wednesday bubb.la hosted a debate in Stockholm in cooperation with Marxist-Humanist Initiative and this week’s podcast is a recording of that debate between libertarian economist Per Bylund and marxist economist Andrew Kliman. Thanks goes out to our Zero Book Club members and encourage listeners who haven’t signed up as members to do so. This Friday’s members only Inside Zero Books podcast will feature a conversation with Ashley Frawley who is the author of the Semiotics of Happiness and a member of the Zero Books editorial team.

Emanuel Kumlien is the guest this week as we discuss a debate in Stockholm between Andrew Kliman (the author of Reclaiming Marx’s Capital) and Per Bylund (author of The Seen, the Unseen, and the Problem of Production). Kliman is an advocate for Marx’s writings and Bylund is an advocate for Mises. Thanks to Sando N, Niall S, Luke F, Paul H, Viktor O, Nathan S, Stanley S, for signing for Zero Books Club memberships. Last week’s members only Inside Zero Books podcast featured a conversation with C Derick Varn about the history, meaning, and threat of the alt right. What does a Zero Books Club member get you? Members gain access to our new Inside Zero Books Podcast. This is a second hour of the Zero Books podcast every week that will feature conversations about the left and left publishing with members of the Zero Books editorial team. That is you’ll hear from Ashley Frawley, Douglas Lain, C Derick Varn, and Alfie Bown as well as they discuss political theory and/or the ups and downs of radical publishing within a clickbait culture. Zero Books Club members will be invited to participate in bi-monthly online workshops in critical theory or philosophy run by Zero Books authors. Upcoming workshops will feature Daniel Coffeen and Mike Watson on Deleuze and Conceptual Art. Members get access to audio books from our Advancing Conversations book series on a quarterly basis. Upcoming titles include conversations with longevity researcher Aubrey de Grey, satirical novelist Geoff Nicholson, and Zippy the Pinhead cartoonist Bill Griffith. And members will also receive occasional promotional discounts on selected Zero Books titles and the knowledge that they’re supporting an international Critical Theory and Left Politics publisher, on the Guardian described as “One of the most exciting radical presses of the moment.”

Emanuel Kumlien is the guest this week as we discuss a debate in Stockholm between Andrew Kliman (the author of Reclaiming Marx’s Capital) and Per Bylund (author of The Seen, the Unseen, and the Problem of Production). Kliman is an advocate for Marx’s writings and Bylund is an advocate for Mises. Thanks to Sando N, Niall S, Luke F, Paul H, Viktor O, Nathan S, Stanley S, for signing for Zero Books Club memberships. Last week’s members only Inside Zero Books podcast featured a conversation with C Derick Varn about the history, meaning, and threat of the alt right. What does a Zero Books Club member get you? Members gain access to our new Inside Zero Books Podcast. This is a second hour of the Zero Books podcast every week that will feature conversations about the left and left publishing with members of the Zero Books editorial team. That is you’ll hear from Ashley Frawley, Douglas Lain, C Derick Varn, and Alfie Bown as well as they discuss political theory and/or the ups and downs of radical publishing within a clickbait culture. Zero Books Club members will be invited to participate in bi-monthly online workshops in critical theory or philosophy run by Zero Books authors. Upcoming workshops will feature Daniel Coffeen and Mike Watson on Deleuze and Conceptual Art. Members get access to audio books from our Advancing Conversations book series on a quarterly basis. Upcoming titles include conversations with longevity researcher Aubrey de Grey, satirical novelist Geoff Nicholson, and Zippy the Pinhead cartoonist Bill Griffith. And members will also receive occasional promotional discounts on selected Zero Books titles and the knowledge that they’re supporting an international Critical Theory and Left Politics publisher, on the Guardian described as “One of the most exciting radical presses of the moment.”

Chris Knight is currently senior research fellow in the department of anthropology at University College, London, focusing his research on the evolutionary emergence of human language and symbolic culture. He lives in London. His book Decoding Chomsky is coming out from Yale University Press in September. Here’s a description from the back jacket: Occupying a pivotal position in postwar thought, Noam Chomsky is both the founder of modern linguistics and the world’s most prominent political dissident. Chris Knight adopts an anthropologist’s perspective on the twin output of this intellectual giant, acclaimed as much for his denunciations of US foreign policy as for his theories about language and mind. Knight explores the social and institutional context of Chomsky’s thinking, showing how the tension between military funding and his role as linchpin of the political left pressured him to establish a disconnect between science on the one hand and politics on the other, deepening a split between mind and body characteristic of Western philosophy since the Enlightenment. Provocative, fearless, and engaging, this remarkable study explains the enigma of one of the greatest intellectuals of our time. If you like this podcast you might leave a review at iTunes and if you don’t like this episode leave a comment on the blog. The membership site is still on course for a September release and, when it is up online, you’ll be hearing lots of calls for you to join. In the meantime you should get your hands on Daniel Coffeen’s Reading the Way of Things, Mike Watson’s Towards a Conceptual Militancy, or Grafton Tanner’s book about Vaporwave entitled Babbling Corpse. In this episode you’ll hear the voice of Noam Chomsky, an instrumental version of Pokemon, and the theme for Roboboogie.codeclub.org.uk.

Chris Knight is currently senior research fellow in the department of anthropology at University College, London, focusing his research on the evolutionary emergence of human language and symbolic culture. He lives in London. His book Decoding Chomsky is coming out from Yale University Press in September. Here’s a description from the back jacket: Occupying a pivotal position in postwar thought, Noam Chomsky is both the founder of modern linguistics and the world’s most prominent political dissident. Chris Knight adopts an anthropologist’s perspective on the twin output of this intellectual giant, acclaimed as much for his denunciations of US foreign policy as for his theories about language and mind. Knight explores the social and institutional context of Chomsky’s thinking, showing how the tension between military funding and his role as linchpin of the political left pressured him to establish a disconnect between science on the one hand and politics on the other, deepening a split between mind and body characteristic of Western philosophy since the Enlightenment. Provocative, fearless, and engaging, this remarkable study explains the enigma of one of the greatest intellectuals of our time. If you like this podcast you might leave a review at iTunes and if you don’t like this episode leave a comment on the blog. The membership site is still on course for a September release and, when it is up online, you’ll be hearing lots of calls for you to join. In the meantime you should get your hands on Daniel Coffeen’s Reading the Way of Things, Mike Watson’s Towards a Conceptual Militancy, or Grafton Tanner’s book about Vaporwave entitled Babbling Corpse. In this episode you’ll hear the voice of Noam Chomsky, an instrumental version of Pokemon, and the theme for Roboboogie.codeclub.org.uk.

Grafton Tanner is a writer and musician from Georgia. His writing has appeared in Paste magazine, Film Matters, and The Blue Indian, and his debut book, Babbling Corpse: Vaporwave and the Commodification of Ghosts, was published by Zero Books on June 24, 2016 Thanks go out to Mir B, Seamus M, Paul H, Mathieu D, Brad P, Dave W, and Nigel W as they are the first members of the Zero Books Club which officially started on September 2nd. Zero Books members gain access to our new Inside Zero Books Podcast. This is a second hour of the Zero Books podcast every week that will feature conversations about the left and left publishing with members of the Zero Books editorial team. That is they’ll hear from Ashley Frawley, Douglas Lain, C Derick Varn, and Alfie Bown as well as they dicuss political theory and/or the ups and downs of radical publishing within a clickbait culture. Inside Zero Books will also fearute interviews with radical thinkers and authors from around the world. Zero Books Club members will also be invited to participate in bi-monthly online workshops in critical theory or philosophy run by Zero Books authors. Upcoming workshops will feature Daniel Coffeen and Mike Watson who will lead discussions on Deleuze and Conceptual and Radical Art respectively. Members get access to audio books from our Advancing Conversations book series on a quarterly basis. Upcoming titles include conversations with longevity researcher Aubrey de Grey, satirical novelist Geoff Nicholson, and Zippy the Pinhead cartoonist Bill Griffith. Members will also receive promotional discounts on selected Zero Books titles and the knowledge that they’re supporting an international Critical Theory and Left Politics publisher, one that the Guardian described as “One of the most exciting radical presses of the moment.” Please do join. This episode includes an advertisement for the Macintosh Plus, a clip from the Internet Club’s hit Pacific, a clip from Chuck Person’s Eccojams volume 1, a Cabin in the Woods Collage, and the newly invented Vaporwave Nike Revolution with George Carlin, and Grafton Tanner’s Rising from the Past.

Grafton Tanner is a writer and musician from Georgia. His writing has appeared in Paste magazine, Film Matters, and The Blue Indian, and his debut book, Babbling Corpse: Vaporwave and the Commodification of Ghosts, was published by Zero Books on June 24, 2016 Thanks go out to Mir B, Seamus M, Paul H, Mathieu D, Brad P, Dave W, and Nigel W as they are the first members of the Zero Books Club which officially started on September 2nd. Zero Books members gain access to our new Inside Zero Books Podcast. This is a second hour of the Zero Books podcast every week that will feature conversations about the left and left publishing with members of the Zero Books editorial team. That is they’ll hear from Ashley Frawley, Douglas Lain, C Derick Varn, and Alfie Bown as well as they dicuss political theory and/or the ups and downs of radical publishing within a clickbait culture. Inside Zero Books will also fearute interviews with radical thinkers and authors from around the world. Zero Books Club members will also be invited to participate in bi-monthly online workshops in critical theory or philosophy run by Zero Books authors. Upcoming workshops will feature Daniel Coffeen and Mike Watson who will lead discussions on Deleuze and Conceptual and Radical Art respectively. Members get access to audio books from our Advancing Conversations book series on a quarterly basis. Upcoming titles include conversations with longevity researcher Aubrey de Grey, satirical novelist Geoff Nicholson, and Zippy the Pinhead cartoonist Bill Griffith. Members will also receive promotional discounts on selected Zero Books titles and the knowledge that they’re supporting an international Critical Theory and Left Politics publisher, one that the Guardian described as “One of the most exciting radical presses of the moment.” Please do join. This episode includes an advertisement for the Macintosh Plus, a clip from the Internet Club’s hit Pacific, a clip from Chuck Person’s Eccojams volume 1, a Cabin in the Woods Collage, and the newly invented Vaporwave Nike Revolution with George Carlin, and Grafton Tanner’s Rising from the Past.

Daniel Coffeen is a rhetor and a philosopher — if by philosopher you mean somebody who plays with concepts and ideas. He formally taught at UC Berkeley and the SF Art Institute but now spends his time writing and consulting. Coffeen is a frequent guest to the Zero Squared podcast and his book Reading the Way of Things is out now from Zero Books. A review of his book on Amazon sums his book up nicely: Coffeen throws the act of reading into such a dizzying light that I can't rightly say when I even began reading the book. Was it when it slid from the envelope, announcing itself in its bold, lime-green cover? In one sense yes, as that marked the beginning of the physical reading-event. But in another sense, a different reading started when I first heard Coffeen on the Partially Examined Life podcast, six months prior. And a different sense of reading began when I picked up Anti-Oedipus on a lark in Morningside Heights, New York, 17 months ago. Reading is an event, an interplay between text and reader, where both are always already in motion, hooking up to one another and creating new relations. Starting next week we’ll be launching the Zero Books membership site which will include a member’s only weekly podcast tentatively titled Inside Zero Books, monthly workshops on critical theory and politics often set up around Zero Books titles, quarterly audiobooks, and, for a slightly higher monthly rate, an invitation only writing workshop. In this episode you'll hear the voice of Rick Roderick, the theme from the 70s television show Taxi, a clip from John Berger’s Ways of Seeing, and an excerpt from a speech from Maneul DeLanda.

Daniel Coffeen is a rhetor and a philosopher — if by philosopher you mean somebody who plays with concepts and ideas. He formally taught at UC Berkeley and the SF Art Institute but now spends his time writing and consulting. Coffeen is a frequent guest to the Zero Squared podcast and his book Reading the Way of Things is out now from Zero Books. A review of his book on Amazon sums his book up nicely: Coffeen throws the act of reading into such a dizzying light that I can't rightly say when I even began reading the book. Was it when it slid from the envelope, announcing itself in its bold, lime-green cover? In one sense yes, as that marked the beginning of the physical reading-event. But in another sense, a different reading started when I first heard Coffeen on the Partially Examined Life podcast, six months prior. And a different sense of reading began when I picked up Anti-Oedipus on a lark in Morningside Heights, New York, 17 months ago. Reading is an event, an interplay between text and reader, where both are always already in motion, hooking up to one another and creating new relations. Starting next week we’ll be launching the Zero Books membership site which will include a member’s only weekly podcast tentatively titled Inside Zero Books, monthly workshops on critical theory and politics often set up around Zero Books titles, quarterly audiobooks, and, for a slightly higher monthly rate, an invitation only writing workshop. In this episode you'll hear the voice of Rick Roderick, the theme from the 70s television show Taxi, a clip from John Berger’s Ways of Seeing, and an excerpt from a speech from Maneul DeLanda.

Jerry Barnett is an author, technologist, campaigner, photographer and entrepreneur. With a long background in anti-fascism campaigning, he has become increasingly disillusioned with the new left, which has taken on many of the attitudes and methods of the old right. His book Porn Panic is out from Zero Books this month. In this episode you’ll also hear a collage partially lifted from Stephen Naish’s recent youtube book trailer for his upcoming book Bringing Up Baby. You’ll also hear some pornographic music from the 70s, an excerpt of Kate Brooks debating against the proposition that free speech includes the right to offend, and Tony Babino’s lounge club cover of The Internationale, and a clip from Sexopolis by Jean Pierre Mirouze.