Aesthetic Resistance Podcast

Participants: John Steppling, Hiroyuki Hamada, and Dennis Riches. Topics covered: Jonathan the 193-year-old tortoise, Bertrand Russell, Napoleon and ancient the tortoises on St. Helena Island, Trump’s falling star, No Kings protests—performance art with no demands, US allies back away nervously from the Israel-US war on Iran, Iran War as a Project Hail Mary, the atrociousness of Israel exceeds that of South African apartheid in the 1980s, FBI, CIA and military advisors on Hollywood writing teams, Klaus Theweleit’s “Male Fantasies”, Andrew Ross’ choice of four iconic moments of the 1960s, Andy Warhol, Music track: “Betty” by Jack Littman (used with permission).

Participants: John Steppling, Luna Nguyen, EJ Johnson, Hiroyuki Hamada, Cory Morningstar and Dennis Riches. Topics covered: The branding and marketing of US military organizations, the aesthetics and excesses of military and ICE agent uniforms, military propaganda embedded in all entertainment, the mental decline of Donald Trump, Hegseth’s holy war, the struggling U.S. Navy fleet, reactions in Vietnam to the war against Iran, Vietnam’s history of economic reform and dealing with corruption, the impossibility of mythic journeys in a nation of interstate highways. Music track: “Baby Love” by Jack Littman (used with permission).

Participants: John Steppling, Ray Hosseini, Hiroyuki Hamada, and Dennis Riches. Topics covered: Contradictory retroactive justifications for war, the struggling U.S. Navy fleet, Trump administration meltdown and clown show, clown shoes. Israeli officials missing in action, A.I. fakes as proof of life, Stalingrad is to Germany as Iran is to the U.S. The impossibility of mythic journeys in a world guided by GPS, living in the eternal present in the Giant’s realm at the top of the beanstalk. Music track: “Deep Blue Sea Blues” by Clara Smith (public domain).

Participants: John Steppling, Cory Morningstar, Hiroyuki Hamada, and Dennis Riches. Topics covered: Contradictory retroactive justifications for war, migrant workers stranded in the Gulf States, Erika Kirk qualified for high-level public office? Western Asian states jostle for position in the coming post-empire order, Trump administration clown show, war motivated by eschatological motives, fog of war and a flood of fake A.I. generated videos of missile strikes, the war emergency being used as a new excuse for citizen lockdowns, etc... Music track: “Desafinado” by Stan Getz (public domain).

Topics covered: The liberal left’s conditional criticism of the war against Iran, the problem with the liberal attack on the “illiberalism of the Iranian regime”, Jon Stewart recycles stale anti-Muslim jokes from 2001, pretends not to know why Iran attacked US bases in the Gulf States, the communist leadership of Vietnam goes along with Trump’s plan for Gaza Board of Peace (Bored of Peace), governments everywhere refuse to condemn the aggression against Iran, voice mild concerns instead, Trump’s cabinet and its supporters claim to be carrying out God’s holy plan, the unconscious assumption of white European supremacy among liberals and among “aspiring whites” in the Global South. Music track: “Spanish Key” by Miles Davis (public domain).

Participants: John Steppling, Cory Morningstar, Hiroyuki Hamada, and Dennis Riches. Topics covered: the hybrid war on Iran, US Navy within stinking distance near Iran, report from Cuba, report from Vietnam, the Epstein Regime, ICE and the prison industrial complex, Los Angeles lawyer Harry Weiss’ pool parties (circa 1970). Music track: “Dos Gardenias” by Roberto Sanchez.