anarchySF - an anarchist, science fiction podcast

Episoder

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  The (State of) Exceptional Mars Express 18.02.2026 1t 3min

  All the dweebs are going to the moon, but we're taking this baby all the way to Mars (or shall I say Marx?) with this excellent French animated sci-fi noir thriller.Some topics:- The State of Exception- Lines of Flight- Homo Sacer- The Teleology Crisis- The Inescapable Reality of Labor
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  Blowing Shit Up With Your Communist Mech in Lancer 05.02.2025 1t 12min

  We talk about the tabletop RPG/War game Lancer and its unusual utopianism Some topics: - Those who Walk Away from Omelas and the structure of Dystopia/Utopia - Reimagining the French Revolution - The Role of Violence in a Communist Utopia - Permanent Revolution
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  Grounding ourselves in Saint of Bright Doors 26.05.2024 56min

  We never left, so we are not back. We just like to keep you guessing about episode times. This time we talk about the brilliant Saint of Bright Doors, a decolonial multifaceted dark fantasy novel that's quite a thinker, but also pretty accessible. Give it a read! Eden recommends playing "Laysara: Summit Kingdom", which kinda fits the theme of this episode.
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  Eternal Discourse War With Warhammer 40k 04.10.2023 1t 27min

  We talk about how to critique the Fascist sentiments in Warhammer 40k, without worrying too much about the degrees of intent or satire behind it.
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  Acknowledging the Complexities of Humanity with Ammonite 22.05.2023 1t 15min

  We talk about Ammonite, a somewhat under-the-radar excellent sci-fi book about a virus killing all the men in a far-off planet and exploring indigenous lands as a colonizer anthropologist Themes explored: - Anthrophopolitics and diversity within identity - Biopolitics and virology - "Going Native" (TM) - Some Ursula LeGuin themes Eden's ep of death-sentence about The Dawn of Everything: https://soundcloud.com/death-sentence-pod/david-wengrow-and-david-graeber-the-dawn-of-everything
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  Can we fix it? Maybe! Kinda! With Ixion 27.02.2023 1t

  We talk about the sci-fi strategy game Ixion and its somber adventure through space. Some topics discussed: - Shameful space - Space is silence and death - Gravestone science - Accelerating the flows - The eternal recurrence of the same - Middle management euphemisms Referenced Some More News video 'Jeff Bezons Learned Nothing in Space': https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T7TQFFH9gj8&ab_channel=SomeMoreNews
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  The Potential and Limitations of Clowning on Billionaires on Space Sweepers 07.01.2023 57min

  This is an especially rambly episode of us talking about the excellent kitchen sink space romp movie Spacesweepers. Topics discussed: - Billionaires hate humanity - The limits of Villainry - What internationalism looks like - The ethics/politics distinction
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  Raging in alliance with The Only Harmless Great Thing 26.09.2022 1t 9min

  We read Brooke Bolander's short and painful novelette and spoke about: - Nuclear semiotics - The uses of violence - The master's tools - Being pushed to the corner
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  Optimist Awakenings with Citizen Sleeper 07.08.2022 1t 16min

  Citizen Sleeper is touching and optimistic without being saccharine and might be just what we need in these trying times. The podcast opens with us venting our feelings and thoughts about another demonstration of incredible violence from Israel against the Palestinian people. Free Palestine! Then we talk some themes. Here's what you can expect: Gaming under capitalism Vicious and virtuous cycles Refugee experience Care ethics - A softer world is possible) Intra-class struggles Radical embodiment (Yes, Eden talks about the body some more)
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  Repo Virtual repossesses Cyberpunk 09.05.2022 1t 3min

  We talk about Corey J White's modern vision of Cyberpunk: Repo Virtual, reimagining the genre and its radical potential. Topics discussed: - Data creep - Radical potential of games - Firearms in smart cities - Cyberpunk's questionable beginnings - Opting in / Opting out - Identity politics and data dystopia Referenced pieces: - Video discussing (among other things) how youtube manufactures identities: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=41B5YonixBs&ab_channel=F.DSignifier - Watched over by machines of loving grace: https://allpoetry.com/All-Watched-Over-By-Machines-Of-Loving-Grace
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  Spire, racialization and resistance 21.02.2022 1t 10min

  We discussed the role-playing game Spire, with its different ways of representing oppression and the struggle against it. - Epistemic vice and epistemic resistance - Construction of knowledge and infrastructure space - Adevnturism and the challenge of struggling in a hopeless fight - Good weird and bad weird Links: Eden's podcast appearance about magical realism and much more: https://www.patreon.com/posts/inner-experience-62792132?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copy_to_clipboard&utm_campaign=postshare Eden's essay on the topic: https://www.notthesky.com/posts/essays/on-becoming-a-god/
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  The Materialist Fantasy of Mordew 16.01.2022 1t 8min

  Mordew is a down-to-earth, complex fantasy world, and a promising beginning to a promised trilogy. We talk about: - Realist fantasy - Materialist morality - Knowledge and Protagony - Mark Fisher's Red Plenty See much more anarchist science fiction at anarchysf.com External links: Protagony, by Innuendo Studios: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R943_eAvnWw&t=75s&ab_channel=InnuendoStudios
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  Woah, the Matrix 05.01.2022 1t 1min

  We dive deep into "The Matrix (1999)" and a little bit into the sequels. No Resurrections here as this was recorded before it came out. Topics discussed: - What is the Matrix? - Snooty philosophers vs. the Matrix - Abolishing everything - The Messiah Complex - Do we want to escape to the Desert of the Real? - Fighting together Editing took a while, so references to current events are referring to about a month ago, including the sad discussion of Charles Mills' death. Charles Mills' NYT obituary (many more exist): https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/27/us/charles-w-mills-dead.html CCK Philosophy's video on Baudrillard and the Matrix: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bf9J35yzM3E&t=804s&ab_channel=Jonas%C4%8Ceika-CCKPhilosophy 
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  Kurt Vonnegut Wrote Some Pretty Good Books 29.08.2021 54min

  We talk about a medley of Kurt Vonnegut books, how they play around with cynicism and sentimentalism, how they're anarchist and humble and absurdist. Near the end Eden mentions this paper by David Graeber and David Wengrow: http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/62756/1/__lse.ac.uk_storage_LIBRARY_Secondary_libfile_shared_repository_Content_Graeber%2C%20D_Farewell%20to%20childhood_Graeber_Farewell%20to%20childhood_2015.pdf?fbclid=IwAR1tVc7d35wbjGhGmH-L2VnhDqUHEMaSiMH0ubzQEaUhZlJcxSX-f4_H80w
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  Dishonored, not Resentful 30.06.2021 59min

  We talk about the video game franchise Dishonored. Topics discussed: - The means of magical production - Sociological storytelling - Resentiment - Hypocritical opiate (of the masses) - What good is an individual? - What to do after a revolution
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  Oval - Is Reciprocity in Our Nature? 25.03.2021 1t 11min

  We had a great time talking about Oval, by Elvia Wilk. It's a complicated little story about being an artist in Berlin and watching as the world around you burns, or turns. Discussions: - Leftism's "call to action" - Reciprocity vs. Transactions - The Relationship Between Hi-Tech and Art - How Tech Falls Apart - Human Nature and Economics References: "Hauntology" is discussed in Derrida's "Spectres of Marx" We mention a video by the great youtube channel space commune, about art and gentrification: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJqBAqM-8KU&ab_channel=SpaceCommune
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  Elysium, design fiction and fake scarcity 16.02.2021 1t 11min

  We talk about a cool little action movie that didn't do well in theatres but has its own little place in our hearts with its scathing critiques of bad environmentalism, bad identity politics, and bad cyberpunk.  Paper on design fiction (though it doesn't use the term): https://www.hellofosta.com/writing/the-future-mundane
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  An Unkindness of Ghosts and the Love of Saying No 02.01.2021 1t 16min

  We talk about the Rivers Solomon's thought provoking and gut punching "An Unkindness of Ghosts". But we promise there are no spooks! Some rough discussion topics though (Body manipulation, sexual assault and rape). Topics discussed: - The pneumatics of power - The revolutionary potential of food - Afropessimism - Racialization - Midwives - Gendered Racism External reading referenced: - Article about Afropessimism: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2020/07/20/the-argument-of-afropessimism - More critical view on Afropessimism: https://www.academia.edu/44499560/Nick_Mitchell_The_View_from_Nowhere_On_Frank_Wildersons_Afropessimism_Spectre_November_2020_ - Desert: https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/anonymous-desert
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  Aniara also Carries Ruin Within 09.12.2020 1t 10min

  We talk about the incredible film adaptation to the early 20th century epic poem Aniara. Pretty depressing stuff, but we refuse to be doomers. Discussion topics: - Why are the people who cause calamity in charge of fixing it? - Why do we obey? - Why do we work? - How do temporary hierarchies become permanent? - Opium for the masses - The complicity of scientists  Lindsey Ellis video essay on three act structure: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o0QO7YuKKdI&ab_channel=LindsayEllis Oliver Thorn's video essay on airport security: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yyzd_a6vLWY&ab_channel=PhilosophyTube On "efficiency" compromising the readiness of hospitals for a pandemic: https://www.currentaffairs.org/2020/09/gambling-with-your-health
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  Annihilation, Discussions of Bodies Being Morphed 21.11.2020 1t

  We talk about Jeff Vandermeer's New-Weird book - Annihilation, a book about climate horror and accepting uncomfortable changes. Issues discussed: - The horror of climate change - Unintelligible politics - The failure of facts and logic - Doing better than Lovecraftian racism - Becoming other - Permeable boundaries