4 episodes

Conversations with interesting people about the stuff they love.

Gweek Gweek

    • Technology
    • 4.2 • 105 Ratings

Conversations with interesting people about the stuff they love.

    Dark Star Rising: Magick and Power in the Age of Trump

    Dark Star Rising: Magick and Power in the Age of Trump

    How did Trump manage to become president of the United States? There's no simple answer. It involves fear, racism, nationalism, populism, hatred, dirty tricks, manipulation, and more. But the one thing I never suspected was that occult beliefs and practices played a part in Trump's surprising victory. In Gary Lachman's new book, Dark Star Rising: Magick and Power in the Age of Trump, I learned that occult and esoteric thinking permeates the alt-right, Putin's inner circle, and even Trump himself.

    Before I read Dark Star Rising, I had no idea that Trump was a devoted follower of the New Thought movement, which has it roots in 19th century mysticism. Trump's family attended Marble Collegiate Church in New York, which was ministered by a pro-Christian nationalist named Norman Vincent Peale, who promulgated a doctrine of "positive thinking" -- the idea that you can use your mind to cure yourself of disease, get rich, or even become president ("Change your thoughts and you can change the world"). I also didn't know that the alt-right bases much of its ideology on an Italian philosopher and mystic born in 1889 named Julius Evola, who thought the problem with Mussolini was that he wasn't a big enough fascist. And then there's Aleksandr Dugin, a very influential Russian fascist philosopher who is a kind of Rasputin figure for Putin and who pushes the idea that the only way to return Russia to greatness is by wiping liberal democracy off the face of the earth. Dugin is relatively unknown in the West, except among members of the alt-right and the dark enlightenment, who would love to install the kind of fascist regime Dugin is advocating in their own countries. Dark Star Rising introduced me to all of these phenomena, along with many other related concepts, such as using Pepe memes as a form of chaos magick - a postmodern magical practice that stresses achieving desired outcomes through applied experimentation as opposed to rituals and symbols of traditional mystic practices.

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    Lachman is an erudite scholar of occult history, and he combines his encyclopedic knowledge of esotericism with his ability to clearly explain complex ideas to good use in Dark Star Rising. He wisely avoids ascribing any kind of paranormal efficacy to occult practices, and instead presents what can, and often does, happen when zealous people apply occult-influenced ideologies to the real world.

    • 40 min
    020: MAD's Al Jaffee

    020: MAD's Al Jaffee

    Ruben Bolling and I had a terrific time interviewing one of our heroes, the amazing Al Jaffee, who has been a member of MAD magazine’s usual gang of idiots for 56 years (his work has appeared in every issue, save one).

    Best known for his MAD Fold-in, which has appeared on the inside back cover of the magazine since 1964, he’s also the creator of a long running column, "Snappy Answers to Stupid Questions," and my favorite, his dozens and dozens of whimsical inventions that border on the edge of plausibility. Ruben went to Al Jaffee’s studio in New York to talk to him about his remarkable career. It's so great to discover that someone you grew up worshipping turns out to be incredibly nice!

    • 1 hr
    168: South Pole diary, 2-page RPG adventures, Bitcoin for the Befuddled

    168: South Pole diary, 2-page RPG adventures, Bitcoin for the Befuddled

    168: South Pole diary, 2-page RPG adventures, Bitcoin for the Befuddled by Gweek

    • 31 min
    11: Marina Konnikova, author of The Confidence Game

    11: Marina Konnikova, author of The Confidence Game

    Maria Konnikova’s new book, The Confidence Game: Why We Fall for It . . . Every Time, takes a deep dive into the psychology of con artists and the psychology of the trusting people they take advantage of. It’s a scary and fascinating book that reveals the methods and motives of con artists like Bernie Madoff, Jim Bakker, and Lance Armstrong, and explains why everyone is vulnerable to the con artist’s game, even other con artists.

    • 28 min

Customer Reviews

4.2 out of 5
105 Ratings

105 Ratings

Mo_Poppins ,

Geekily gratifying...

Solid, substantial, info-packed podcasts! I've only listened to two podcasts, so far, but Mark Frauenfelder has done a great job of producing a show that's eclectic and interesting in the topics covered, and if you're big on learning new things and getting a little curiosity fix (and you probably are, if you're a BoingBoing fan), you might love this. Great value for your time. :)

fcerillo ,

Gweek is the Gweektastic

Gweek is an awesome podcast, tons of information, fun facts, interesting guests and lively conversation about things like comics cartoonist, games, toys, geek culture and much more. It’s so much fun, I always look forward to the next show. I hope that you enjoys it as much as I do.

pdx_stu ,

Mind Expanding

Greet podcast! I always have to pause the podcast so I can write down stuff to go search later. Always interesting.

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