Film, Literature and the New World Order

In Harry Turtledove's Powerless, the citizens of the West Coast People's Democratic Republic know their place and they know what's expected of them. One day, however, one citizen decides not to hang the obligatory Workers of the World, Unite! propaganda poster in his window...and soon, the entire political order is crashing down around him. So, what does this work of alternative history tell us about our own political predicament, and what does it reveal about the dangers of political transitions? This month on Film, Literature and the New World Order, James discusses the Prometheus Award-nominated Powerless with author John C. A. Manley.

In an effort to make the Film, Literature and The New World Order podcast more like a real book club, we're going to try something different: a livestream! That's right, for the first time in Corbett Report history I'm going to be livestreaming my upcoming conversation with John C. A. Manley about Harry Turtledove's Powerless.

Film, Literature and the New World Order is back! You do remember that long-abandoned podcast, don’t you? If not, you have some archive deep diving to do. And now, you have a new book to read in the next month. It’s called Powerless and it’s by Harry Turtledove. Happy reading!

In this special surprise edition of Film, Literature and the New World Order, James joins the Big Puff Podcast to discuss Conspiracy Theory, the 1997 action drama starring Mel Gibson, Julia Roberts and Patrick Stewart. As silly as the movie may be, it actually makes for a very interesting discussion. Enjoy.

On this edition of Film, Literature and the New World Order, James examines Aesop's Fables for some of the timeless wisdom that we can still benefit from here in the 21st century.

Take Us To Your Leader! is the science fiction cliche...but what if there's no leader to be taken to, and no one to do the leading? In this edition of the Film, Literature and the New World Order series, James examines the philosophy of Eric Frank Russell's 1951 story And Then There Were None, and unlocks the secret of the most dangerous weapon.

This month on Film, Literature and the New World Order, James is joined by Prof CJ of the Dangerous History podcast to explore James Elroy’s “American Tabloid.” What do you get when you have a novel with fictional FBI/CIA/Mafia/Anti-Castro Cuban stooges become embroiled in a years-long mess that ends up with the assassination of the president? A more plausible scenario than 99% of the documentaries and books out there on the subject, that’s what. Find out more in this edition of FLNWO.

Julian Charles of TheMindRenewed.com joins us this month to discuss Being There, the 1979 film by director Hal Ashby that follows the story of Chance the Gardener, a simple man with no experience of the outside world who is suddenly thrust onto the national political stage. Despite his complete lack of knowledge and experience (or precisely because of it) the powers behind the scenes float him as a potential candidate for next president of the United States. So is this a reflection of political reality, or broad satire? What does the movie tell us about the way modern media shapes the political landscape? Find out in this edition of Film, Literature and the New World Order.

The sElection is upon us and the tensions are rising as the summer of rage gives way to the autumn of our discontent. And wouldn’t you know it, Hollywood is already programming purges, legalized murder and anarchy into the population. This month on Film, Literature and the New World Order James Evan Pilato joins James Corbett to discuss The Purge: Election Year.

Rambo III is silly popcorn entertainment. But it is silly popcorn entertainment that is set during the Soviet-Afghan war, and as such it reflects the standard propaganda narrative that was being fed to the American public at that time? So what do we make of this silly propaganda today, after 9/11 and the conquest of the brave freedomfighters of Afghanistan by NATO?

Francis Reginald Scott was a celebrated Canadian lawyer, constitutional expert, translator and scholar. And he was also the father of Peter Dale Scott. And the man who advised Pierre Elliot Trudeau to invoke the War Measures Act in 1970. Join us for this exploration of the poetry, life and fascinating career of F.R. Scott with the world’s foremost researcher on deep politics, Peter Dale Scott.

You've probably heard all about Upton Sinclair's 1906 expose of the turn-of-the-century American meatpacking industry and the Chicago stockyards...but everything you've heard about it is wrong. The book wasn't an expose of the meatpackers, the legislation it inspired served to help the industry it sought to punish, and Sinclair himself hated the end result of his book, which aimed for the heart and hit the stomach by accident. Join us for this month's edition of the Film, Literature and the New World Order as we learn not to trust what's on the label of mainline history.

On this edition of Film, Literature and the New World Order we talk to Sibel Edmonds of BoilingFrogsPost.com about the 1975 spy thriller, Three Days of the Condor. We explore the context of the film's release, the possible CIA involvement with the production itself, and what the film's ambiguous ending tells us about the nature of the deep state and the media's role in covering it up. We also discuss the future of Newsbud.

This month on Film, Literature and the New World Order David Friedman joins us to discuss Robert Heinlein’s science fiction classic, The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress. We discuss the power of Heinlein’s example of an anarchistic society and examine that society’s devolution into democracy. We also talk about whether books like this have value as metaphor or even blueprint for an anarchist transformation of society.

The Big Short purports to tell the story of the housing bubble of the last decade and the subsequent global financial collapse…and it actually isn’t as terrible as you might think. Join James on this week’s edition of Film, Literature and the New World Order as we talk to Robert Wenzel of EconomicPolicyJournal.com about what The Big Short gets right and what it leaves out.

The Film, Literature and the New World Order podcast returns to its regular schedule after a brief hiatus with a conversation with Tim Kelly of the Our Interesting Times podcast about the 1962 film adaptation of Richard Condon’s 1959 novel The Manchurian Candidate. We discuss the details of the MK-ULTRA mind control program of the CIA that were still classified at the time of the movie and why/how these details were being put before the public in fictional form at that time.

This month on Film, Literature and the New World Order we talk to Jay Dyer of JaysAnalysis.com about his review of the 2006 Christopher Nolan film, The Prestige. Topics discussed include twilight language and the revelation of the method, what Nikola Tesla signifies in the story, the art of misdirection, the similarities between stagecraft and statecraft, and much more.

In this edition of Film, Literature and the New World Order James is joined by author, artist, podcaster and researcher Thomas Sheridan of ThomasSheridanArts.com. Together they tackle James Joyce's A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man...and the entirety of the Joycean ouevre. Is Joyce the ultimate anti-imperialist, post-colonial, iconoclastic exile hero? The smith of the uncreated conscience? A literary magician? A man whose hand did many other things as well? All and none of the above? Yes I said yes he will yes.

With their new Netflix original series, "Daredevil," the Marvel Entertainment juggernaut of recent years looks set to grow even bigger. But given that Marvel is now owned by Disney, and given the long history of comic books being used for propaganda, and given the documented ties between Marvel and the Pentagon, what kind of cultural conditioning is this series subjecting us to? Are we facing a tide of "propaganda of violence," and, if so, how should we react to it? Join us in this month's Film, Literature and the New World Order for an exploration of these issues with James Evan Pilato of MediaMonarchy.com

The universe is the internet is the library is the internet is the universe. Or is it? And if so, who are the librarians? And if we have all the information we can ever want, does that mean we have knowledge or wisdom? If not, how do we make it? Or who will make it for us? Join James this month for a Film, Literature and the New World Order examination of “The Library of Babel” by Jorge Luis Borges.