Zero Squared

In this first part of a two part episode, Derick is joined by Mason Kerr to discuss the political implications of the fiction of Gene Wolfe, who passed away earlier this year, as part of a series of episodes honoring Wolfe's life and work. They discuss The Fifth Head of Cerberus, The Book of the New Sun, and Wolfe's treatment of women and gender politics, along with some diversions into Marxist aesthetics and issues in the current American left milieu."

Nikos Sotirakopoulos and Ashley Frawley join me in this second episode in what promises to be a new series of podcasts. Nikos is a committed Randian while Ashley Frawley and I are both Marxists and we debate how to define and understand capitalism with Nikos in this episode. This week’s podcast is available for our patrons. Our Patreon supporters get access to two podcasts every week: Symptomatic Redness and Zero Squared, but if you’re listening on our free feed you’ll always be able to access one or the other podcasts each week. At the moment we have 632 patrons. When we reach 1000 patrons we’ll begin production of a documentary on Western Marxism and Post-Marxism.

Glenn McDorman is a sixth-year PhD student specializing in the social, cultural, and institutional history of late antiquity and the early Middle Ages. Brandon Budda is a writer with a degree in Philosophy and English from Temple University. Together they are the host of The Gene Wolfe Literary Podcast and in this episode of Symptomatic Redness they discuss Gene Wolfe with Deric Varn.

Spencer Leonard is a lecturer in history at the University of Tennessee, a founding member of the Platypus Affiliated Society, and the author of the book “A Fit of Absence of Mind? Illiberal Imperialism and the Founding of British India.” He is also the guest this week on the Zero Books podcast. This week’s podcast is available in full for everyone. Our Patreon supporters get access to two podcasts every week: Symptomatic Redness and Zero Squared, but if you’re listening on our free feed you’ll always be able to access one or the other podcasts each week. Patrons also receive access to our new video series called The History of Communism every month.

Victoria Brooks is a writer and researcher in the area of law and sexual ethics. She teaches Criminal Law, Criminology and the law, Philosophy of Law and Law of the Environment at the University of Westminster. She is intent on systematically 'fucking' the law, otherwise known as persistently and unflinchingly questioning regimes of sexual ethics and her book Fucking Law is out now from Zero Books. This week’s podcast is available in full for Patreon supporters. Our Patreon supporters get access to two podcasts every week: Symptomatic Redness and Zero Squared, but if you’re listening on our free feed you’ll always be able to access one or the other podcasts each week. Patrons also receive access to our new video series called The History of Communism every month.

Alex Gendler is a freelance writer, editor, and translator with specialties ranging from history and political theory to internet culture and animal videos. He is also Derick Varn's gues on this week's Symptomatic Redness. Topics covered include the cities of the American Left, TED talks, and the popularity of Marxism. This week's Symptomatic Redness is available for all listeners. Enjoy!

Derick Varn returns this week in order to debate the question of whether the Soviet Union was or was not State Capitalism. Varn is, of course, the voice behind Symptomatic Redness, the poet behind the collection Apocalyptics, and my frequent interlocutor and critic. This week’s podcast is available in full for Patreon supporters. Our Patreon supporters get access to two podcasts every week: Symptomatic Redness and Zero Squared, but if you’re listening on our free feed you’ll always be able to access one or the other podcasts each week. Patrons also receive access to our new video series called The History of Communism every month.

In this episode of Symptomatic Redness Derick Varn continues his interview of Benjamin Aleshire. This episode is available in full through the Inside Zero Books patreon. Benjamin Aleshire is an artist based in New Orleans, LA. His writing has been published in The Times of London, Boston Review, and the Iowa Review among other places. He makes his living as a poet for hire in the French Quarter, writing poems for strangers on a manual typewriter, and touring widely.

Thaddeus Russell is a historian, author, and professor. He has taught history, American Studies, and the history of philosophy at Columbia University, Barnard College, and the New School for Social Research. He is also the host of the Unregistered Podcast and the guest on this week’s podcast. This week’s podcast is available in full for everyone. Our Patreon supporters get access to two podcasts every week: Symptomatic Redness and Zero Squared, but if you’re listening on our free feed you’ll always be able to access one or the other podcasts each week. Further, our video series on the History of Communism is available to our Patreon supporters monthly.

In this episode of Symptomatic Redness Derick Varn interviews Benjamin Aleshire. Benjamin Aleshire is an artist based in New Orleans, LA. His writing has been published in The Times of London, Boston Review, and the Iowa Review among other places. He makes his living as a poet for hire in the French Quarter, writing poems for strangers on a manual typewriter, and touring widely. Enjoy!

In this episode of Zero Squared the author of Give Them an Argument: Logic For the Left takes a look at Chris Cutrone from the Platypus Affiliated Society, specifically his essay "Why Not Trump"? This is a follow up podcast after three episodes of Symptomatic Redness wherein Cutrone participated in what was billed as a "hostile" interview. By the end of this episode Burgis and I decide that, despite protestations to the contrary, Cutrone is some sort of left-accelerationist . This episode is available for patron's only.

In this episode of Symptomatic Redness Derick Varn and Lexi Kay of the Swampside Chats podcast question Chris Cutrone of the Platypus Affiliated Society. In this final installment Cutrone is made to defend his apologism for Trump's claim, captured on tape, that as a powerful man he does what he likes to women, and even"Grabs 'em by the Pussy." The conversation develops from there. This episode is available for everyone.

Michael Brooks is the host of The Michael Brooks Show, the co-host of the Majority Report, and an author for Zero Books. His book Against the Web: A Cosmopolitan Socialist Answer to the IDW & the New Right will be coming out around November of this year, but in this episode of the Zero Books podcast we discuss meditation, psychedelics, intuition, and Steven Crowders recent demonetization. This week’s podcast is available in full for everyone. Our Patreon supporters get access to two podcasts every week: Symptomatic Redness and Zero Squared, but if you’re listening on our free feed you’ll always be able to access one or the other podcasts each week. Further, our Patreon only video series Disco Communism was released today. I want to ask listeners a question. Would you like to hear the audio tracks of our youtube videos as podcasts? Our videos are mostly video essays about left theory and left politics. The visual content is a big component of our videos, but some have expressed interest in hearing the essays as podcasts and I thought I’d see what people who listen regularly think. Let me know by tweeting to @Zer0Books.

In this episode of Symptomatic Redness Derick Varn and Lexi Kay of Swampside chats grill the former president of the Platypus Affiliated Society. Chris Cutrone took on a variety of relatively hostile questions for a few hours and this is second part of the conversation. It is available in full for Patrons only. Full Disclosure: Derick Varn is a former member of the Platypus Affiliated Society.

Cian Prendiville is an activist in Limerick, a member of the Socialist Party and the Limerick Soviet Centenary Committee. He is currently producing a 5-part documentary podcast ‘Bottom Dog – The Story of the Limerick Soviet, and he is the guest on this week’s podcast. Listen to Cian’s podcast here: http://limericksoviet.ie/ This week’s podcast is available in full for everyone. Our Patreon supporters get access to two podcasts every week: Symptomatic Redness and Zero Squared, but if you’re listening on our free feed you’ll always be able to access one or the other podcasts each week. The Patreon only video series Disco Communism will be coming in the next week and the audio from that first episode of that series will be made available on this feed as well.