Well, this was supposed to be the first episode of a series breaking down Oswald Spengler’s seminal book, The Decline of the West, but events conspired to steal away the first half of the episode. In case you’re living under a rock or downloading this episode some time in the distant future, the two weeks since we released our last episode have seen a rash of terrorist attacks, murders of police officers, a military putsch against a NATO ally, a full-on nationalist Republican convention, and a rigging controversy as we head into the Democratic convention. Am I forgetting anything? I probably am, it’s been a crazy few weeks.

So John and Darryl linger on all that until the universe sends us a signal by breaking our connection, and we spend the second half of the episode introducing Spengler in a meandering manner. Next time, we’ll wrap up his introduction and get into his interpretation of the Classical (Greco-Roman) civilization. So if it seems like we’re gliding over certain topics without much extrapolation, give us time. We’re just building a foundation now, and soon we’ll all be speaking the same language!

Books mentioned in this episode:

The Age of Catastrophe, by John David Ebert

The Decline of the West, by Oswald Spengler

A Study of History, by Arnold Toynbee

Art and Fear, by Paul Virilio

War and Cinema, by Paul Virilio

Spheres, by Peter Sloterdijk

Homo Sacer, by Giorgio Agamben

Did we mention anything by Gianni Vattimo? If not, check out Nihilism and Emancipation.

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Listen on… ugh, I keep forgetting to set up Stitchr. Don’t worry, I’ll do it by the next episode.