Zero Squared

Philosopher and rhetor Daniel Coffeen returns and repeats on the podcast this week and we discuss the french philosopher Gilles Deleuze. Also featured this week are clips from a Carlos Castaneda interview circa 1969 and sound collages about Bishop George Berkeley and perception. Miriam presents a Titanic factoid. In Lain household news the chickens are laying again.

This is a special edition of Diet Soap podcast, a follow-up episode to #90 that fits in with the themes in the last One Thousand Words podcast about Edouard Manet's Luncheon on the Grass. If you recall in that episode Ben and I ended up discussing Henri Lefebvre's idea of the Production of Space, and that same idea is the subject we take on in this episode.

This week's podcast is numbered Zero. After nearly a month on hiatus I felt it would be appropriate to put together a reintroduction to the podcast for both new and old listeners. The subject this week is the Ideology of Mister Rogers and both Benjamin and Miriam chime in with comments. This essay/collage is an excerpt from the Pick Your Battle book that is tentatively scheduled to be released in late January of 2011. Also featured this week is Chris Isto White's "Footsteps in My Head" off his album "Let's Get Friendly" which is available on iTunes.

This week you'll be hearing the second half of a conversation with Professor Adrian Johnston the author of Zizek's Ontology: A Transcendental Materialist Theory of Subjectivity. We'll discuss the various ways philosophy can intersect with and help reshape everyday life and attempts to change it. Part two of my essay on the ontology of Project Blue Beam, which is an excerpt from the Pick Your Battle book project, some excerpts from Zizek's lectures, along with a Titanic factoid can also be heard.

The guest this week is Professor Adrian Johnston the author of the book Zizek's Ontology: A Transcendental Materialist Theory of Subjectivity. We discuss Zizek's ontology, along with the ontological and epistemological ideas in the works of John Locke, Immanuel Kant, Bishop George Berkeley, and that big German guy Hegel. My son Benjamin appears briefly to discuss the movie Tron, and Miriam presents the Titanic factoid.

Abduction Researcher and Abstract Expressionist painter Budd Hopkins is on again this week as we conclude our discussion of his book Art, Life, and UFOs. We delve into the abduction subject this time, and even discuss some of my own unusual dreams from childhood. Chris Isto White's "Let's Build a Sandcastle to the Moon" is heard, along with Steve Reich's Violin Phase, the Blue Danube, and the theme from the original Day the Earth Stood Still. I have taken down the paypal button and direct those who want to help out with a few dollars to my kickstarter campaign instead. Anyone who pledges a dollar or more to the "Pick Your Battle" project will receive a copy of the story "Noam Chomsky and the Time Box" (or if you prefer to get a story about alien abductions I'll send you my story "Music Lessons" if you email me the request). If you'd like to call the Diet Soap hotline and get heard on the podcast ring me at 971-285-4604. This week during the Titanic Factoid Miriam answers listener mail.

Abduction Researcher and Abstract Expressionist painter Budd Hopkins is the guest this week. We discuss his book Art, Life, and UFOs and focus on art for the first part of what turned into a two part interview. We talk about Jackson Pollack, Robert Motherwell, Mark Rothko, Franz Kline, Piet Mondrian, the Suprematists, Surrealists, and more. After receiving a great response to my offer to give my story "Noam Chomsky and the Time Box" as a thank you for donations I have taken down the paypal button and direct those who want to help out with a few dollars to this kickstarter proposal instead. Anyone who pledges a dollar or more to the "Pick Your Battle" project will receive a copy of the story. If you'd like to call the Diet Soap hotline and get heard on the podcast ring me at 971-285-4604. Also please listen to this week's Titanic Factoid.