ACFM

Adam Smith claimed that “the propensity to truck, barter and exchange… is common to all men”, but anthropologists know that this isn’t the case. In fact, humans tend towards the opposite. So why do we feel compelled to give away our wealth?

Nadia, Jem and Keir unwrap the cultural and economic pressures on doing pressies in a loosely festive edition of ACFM. Talking about Santa’s workshop, energy price controls and the lavish tradition of potlatch, they bring in the works of Marcel Mauss and David Graeber plus music from The Velvet Underground and Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry.

An ever-expanding playlist of all the music discussed on the show can be found on Spotify – just search ACFM.

Books: Emmanuel Levinas – Totality and Infinity / E.P. Thompson – The Moral Economy of the English Crowd in the Eighteenth Century / Bronislaw Malinowski – Argonauts of the Western Pacific / Georges Bataille – The Accursed Share / David Graeber – On Flying Cars and the Declining Rate of Profit / Marcel Mauss – The Gift / Jacques Derrida – The Gift of Death

Music: The Velvet Underground – ‘The Gift’ / Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry – ‘Merry Christmas (Happy New Year)’ / El Vez – ‘Feliz Navidad’ / El Vez – ‘Feliz Navi-Nada’ / Fox The Fox – ‘Precious Little Diamond’ (Shep Pettibone Remix) / Patti Smith – ‘Free Money’ / Double Exposure – ‘My Love Is Free’ / The Dickies – ‘Silent Night’

Produced and edited by Matt Huxley and Chal Ravens. PRS Licence Number: LE-0016481

We don’t get enough of it. We take drugs all day to fend it off. We’ll do it when we’re dead. And it’s our last line of defence against 24/7 capitalism.

Sleep, the main course in life’s feast! The ACFM crew rouse themselves from slumber to wokeness in this month’s Trip, exploring the political and cultural aspects of shut-eye. How has a biological necessity been manipulated by everything from mechanical clocks, electric lighting, screen addiction and the insatiable needs of capitalism?

Nadia Idle lives up to her name and argues we should all be spending more time in bed, Keir Milburn worries about an insomniac culture obsessed with productivity, and – despite his sideline as a party organiser and DJ – Jeremy Gilbert rails against the culture of all-night dancing.

Remember you can find the exciting multimedia version of this podcast on Novara Media’s SoundCloud. An ever-expanding playlist of all the music discussed on the show can be found on Spotify – just search ACFM.

Music: The Beatles – I’m Only Sleeping / Nirvana – Where Did You Sleep Last Night / Chumbawamba – I With That They’d Sack Me / John Coltrane – Russian Lullaby / Alex De Grassi – Luther’s Lullaby / Faithless – Insomnia / The Beatles – I’m So Tired / Flowered Up – Weekender / The Fall – Rowche Rumble

Books & articles: E. P. Thompson – ‘Time, Work-Discipline and Industrial Capitalism’ / Paul Lafargue – The Right to Be Lazy / Jonathan Crary – 24/7: Late Capitalism and the Ends of Sleep

Produced and edited by Matt Huxley and Chal Ravens. PRS Licence Number: LE-0016481

ACFM reunite for spooky season with one thing on their minds: the horror, the horror!

Nadia, Jeremy and Keir embark on a historical, literary and cinematic exploration of scary stuff. Why do (some) humans love to be terrified? What can horror teach us about the nature of the universe? What do the latest crop of scary movies say about the fears plaguing our society?

From Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein to Jordan Peele’s ‘Get Out’, from H.P. Lovecraft’s cosmic horror to Sigmund Freud’s idea of the uncanny, the gang discuss books and ideas spanning several centuries – along with music from Bauhaus, Gravediggaz and Metallica.

An ever-expanding playlist of all the music discussed on the show can be found on Spotify – just search ACFM. Remember you can find the  version of this show on Novara Media’s SoundCloud.

Books: Joseph Conrad – Heart of Darkness / Sigmund Freud – The Uncanny / Susan Hill – The Woman in Black / Stephen King – On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft / H.P. Lovecraft – Various / Paul Santilli – ‘Culture, Evil, and Horror’ / Mary Shelley – Frankenstein / Bram Stoker – Dracula / Horace Walpole – The Castle of Otranto / H.G. Wells – The War of the Worlds

Films: Everything Everywhere All At Once / Get Out / Halloween / Invasion of the Bodysnatchers / Night of the Living Dead / Poltergeist / Rosemary’s Baby / White Zombie

Music: Dave Matthews Band – ‘Halloween’ / Bauhaus – ‘Bela Lugosi’s Dead’ / Warren Zevon – ‘Werewolves of London’ / Jegsy Dodd – ‘A Scouse Werewolf in London’ / Metallica – ‘Enter Sandman’ / Ray Parker Jr – ‘Ghostbusters’ / Gravediggaz – ‘Diary of a Madman’ / Insane Clown Posse – ‘Hocus Pocus’ / Black Sabbath – ‘Paranoid’

Produced and edited by Matt Huxley and Chal Ravens. PRS Licence Number: LE-0016481

We live in irrational times. From the resurgence of interest in astrology, tarot and occultism to the deepening influence of conspiracy theories and positive thinking, culture is experiencing a turn towards the magical. What does that mean for those of us on the “weird left”?

Nadia Idle, Jeremy Gilbert and Keir Milburn gather round the cauldron for an episode that will challenge believers and rationalists alike, with music from Siouxsie, Queen and The KLF. Up for discussion: Sigmund Freud, the I Ching, modern macroeconomics, the Pendle Witches, the fake religion of Discordianism and much more.

A playlist of all the music discussed on the show can be found on Spotify.

Music: The KLF – ‘Justified & Ancient (Stand By The Jams)’ / The KLF – ‘3AM Eternal’ / A Guy Called Gerald – ‘Voodoo Ray’ / Miles Davis – ‘Miles Runs The Voodoo Down’ / Screamin’ Jay Hawkins – ‘I Put A Spell On You’ / Queen – ‘It’s A Kind of Magic’ / Siouxsie & The Banshees – ‘Spellbound’ / MC 900ft Jesus – ‘Truth Is Out Of Style’ / Lisa King – ‘You’ve Got Magic’

Books and films: Sigmund Freud – The Unconscious / John Higgs – The KLF: Chaos, Magic and the Band Who Burned A Million Pounds / The KLF – The Manual: How to Have A Number 1 The Easy Way / K Foundation Burn a Million Quid / Ben Myers – The Perfect Golden Circle / Robert Shea & Robert Anton Wilson – The Illuminatus! Trilogy

Produced and edited by Matt Huxley and Chal Ravens. PRS Licence Number: LE-0016481

In 1999, an anonymous Italian collective published a novel called Q. Imagined by its left-wing authors as an “operation manual for cultural disruption,” the book has had a bewildering political afterlife, with its story arc and the collective’s media pranks around Satanic ritual and paedophilia seemingly providing the basis for alt-right conspiracy theory QAnon. Did a ’90s literary prank foment an American insurrection?

In a Microdose to accompany an ACFM Trip episode about magic, Keir Milburn speaks to Wu Ming 1, one of Q’s co-authors and a founding member of the Wu Ming collective, about the universal appeal of conspiracies.

Books: Q – Luther Blissett / La Q di Qomplotto – Wu Ming 1 / The Tyranny of Algorithms – Miguel Benasayag / The Critique of Judgement – Immanuel Kant

The stage magician mentioned by Wu Ming 1 is Mariano Tomatis and the walking tour of Leeds mentioned by Keir is a NovaraFM episode called Riots and the Red Flag.

How can we care for each other within a system that doesn’t care about us? In this episode, Nadia Idle, Jeremy Gilbert and Keir Milburn get to grips with birth, death and all the social reproduction in between.

When did we start putting our elders in care homes instead of our own homes? What happens when childcare is socialised instead of privatised? And why do we seem to be talking about “self-care” more than caring for others?

The gang consider these questions and more in a suitably extended episode, with help from Foucault, feminist theory and caring tunes by Kate Bush, Bill Withers and Rihanna. A reminder that the SoundCloud version of this podcast has extra music and surprises – head to Novara Media’s SoundCloud to find it.

Music: Vashti Bunyan – ‘Lately’ / Bill Withers – ‘Lean On Me’ / Kate Bush – ‘The Man With the Child In His Eyes’ / George McRae – ‘Rock Your Baby’ / The Beatles – ‘When I’m 64’ / Sam and Dave – ‘Hold On I’m Coming’ / Rihanna – ‘Umbrella’

Books, podcasts & videos: Joan Tronto – Caring Democracy / Michel Foucault – The Care of the Self / The Care Collective – The Care Manifesto / David Graeber on Novara FM, February 2019 / Plan C – WTF is Social Reproduction? / Christine Berry – Challenging the Asset Economy: Ownership in the Care Sector

Produced and edited by Matt Huxley and Chal Ravens. PRS Licence Number: LE-0016481

In a tabletop role-playing game (TTRPG), a group of people take a trip into an imaginary world, guided by an MC or ‘dungeon master’. Not limited to the Tolkien-esque themes of the famous Dungeons & Dragons, TTRPGs range from gritty sci-fi scenarios to steampunk heist fantasies, and from everyday life to magic, monsters and vampires.

In this Microdose, Nadia, Keir and Jeremy gather round the table to talk about how role-playing games have evolved over half a century and what different game-playing styles might say about other societal battles – from feminism and reactionary masculinism to the revenge of the nerds.

Discussing games like Call of Cthulu and Vampire: The Masquerade, as well as TV shows like Game of Thrones and The Expanse, the gang look at the huge cultural impact of TTRPGs. How has the rise of Silicon Valley changed the reception of geek culture? How might a players’ politics turn up in their gameplay? How have women navigated these subcultural spaces so long dominated by men? Shake those polyhedral dice and find out.

Books and podcasts: The Elusive Shift: How Role-Playing Games Forged Their Identity – Jon Peterson / The Grognard Files / One Shot / Not DnD/ What Would the Smart Party Do? / What Am I Rolling?

Games are all around us. They let us escape from drudgery and experiment with other worlds and ways of being. But they can be traps too: apps designed to be addictive, producing only the most hollow sense of achievement.

In this Trip, Nadia, Jeremy and Keir throw their polyhedral dice to explore how games shape our inner and outer lives. How has game theory been used to explain human behaviour? How can we make play emancipatory in a gamified world? Is there such a thing as a left-wing game? And how has the figure of the ‘gamer’ become synonymous with introversion, misogyny and reactionary politics?

The gang discuss games both ancient and modern – from chess to Super Mario, Go to Dungeons & Dragons – with music from Koji Kondo, The Who, Tinie Tempah and more. An ever-expanding playlist of all the music discussed on the show can be found on Spotify – just search ACFM.

Look out for a Microdose episode on Dungeons & Dragons coming soon.

Books & articles: Ludwig Wittgenstein – Philosophical Investigations / Roger Caillois – Man, Play and Games / Johan Huizinga – Homo Ludens / Patrick Jagoda – Experimental Games: Critique, Play, and Design in the Age of Gamification / James Carse – Finite and Infinite Games / Alex Williams & Jeremy Gilbert – Hegemony Now: How Big Tech and Wall Street Won the World (And How We Win it Back)

Music: Koji Kondo – Super Mario Bros. Theme Song / Masato Nakamura – Sonic Theme Song / The Clash – ‘The Card Cheat’ / Joe South – ‘Games People Play’ / Tinie Tempah – ‘Passout’ / Janet Kay – ‘Silly Games’ / Business Man AKA Trentemøller – ‘Dubby Games’ / The Who – ‘Pinball Wizard’ / Amy Winehouse – ‘Love is a Losing Game’ / Koji Kondo – The Legend of Zelda Theme Song

Games: Apocalypse World / Chess / Comrades / Disco Elysium / Dixit / Dungeons & Dragons / Go / Microscope / Sonic The Hedgehog / Super Mario Bros /  Red Plenty Games / Tomb Raider

What defines each era? Historians often lean on terms that point to technology: bronze, steam, carbon, silicon. So is technology a fundamental aspect of being human? On this wide-ranging Trip, the gang take on one of their biggest topics yet.

Starting from the basis that technology is an application of knowledge for a practical purpose, Jeremy Gilbert, Nadia Idle and Keir Milburn propose the washing machine as the most important invention of the 20th century, theorize a fully automated luxury Keynesianism, and consider what motivates the left’s apparent technophobia.

They also discuss techno-adjacent political formations, from Luddites to Accelerationists to cyborg feminists, and return to a classic ACFM conversation about technologies of the self.

Expect techno music, obviously, plus songs from Kraftwerk, Phuture and Laurie Anderson. An ever-expanding playlist of all the music discussed on the show can be found on Spotify.

Books & articles: Katrine Marçal – Mother of Invention: How Good Ideas Get Ignored in an Economy Built for Men / JM Keynes – The Economic Possibilities for our Grandchildren / EP Thompson – The Making of the English Working Class / Joseph Schumpter/ Capitalism, Socialism, and Democracy / Donna Haraway – A Cyborg Manifesto / Helen Hester – Xenofeminism / Foucault – Technologies of the Self / Nick Srnicek & Alex Williams – Inventing the Future: Postcapitalism and a World Without Work / David Stubbs – Future Days / Andy Beckett – Promised You a Miracle

Music: Pink Floyd – ‘Welcome to the Machine’ / Kraftwerk – ‘The Robots’ / Model 500 – ‘No UFO’s’ / Horrible Histories – ‘The Luddites Song’ / Phuture – ‘Acid Trax’ / Laurie Anderson – ‘O Superman’ / Disco Inferno – ‘Even The Sea Sides Against Us’ / The Houghton Weavers – ‘The Song of the Weavers’

Produced and edited by Matt Huxley and Chal Ravens. PRS Licence Number: LE-0016481

Throughout history, countless good ideas have been side-lined or dismissed because they were put forward by women. That’s the frustration which motivates historian Katrine Marçal, who delves into her myth-busting research for a Microdose all about technology’s missed turnings.

With ACFM host Nadia Idle, the author of Mother of Invention: How Good Ideas Get Ignored in an Economy Built for Men lays out some of the questions and frustrations she’s encountered in her studies. Why did it take 5,000 years to put wheels on a suitcase? Why was the electric car rejected as too feminine when it was first conceived, a century ago? And how come all the early computer programmers and coders were women?

Look out for the next ACFM Trip on technology with Nadia, Jeremy Gilbert and Keir Milburn, landing soon.