Participants: John Steppling, Hiroyuki Hamada, and Dennis Riches. Topics covered: opposition to data centers, data centers claimed to be national security assets, Japan’s militarization and growing protests against it, Bill Gates “ticks” all the boxes as a loathsome plague on the health of humanity, MAGA diehards think Trump is playing 5-D chess, social pressure to stay in the polarized left-right/blue-red mindscape, working class musicians no longer get into the music business, officers refuse to carry out the orders of the Secretary of War, the Charlie Kirk assassination in the Spectacle, Anthony Blinken tells the real reason for shutting down the war in Afghanistan. Music track: “Stranger in a Strange Land” by Leon Russell (Live 1972).

Fourth installment of a discussion between Guy Zimmerman and John Steppling.

Participants: John Steppling, Cory Morningstar, Hiroyuki Hamada, and Dennis Riches. Topics covered: The US-Israeli war of aggression against Iran, USS Gerald Ford sails home, Marxism and environmentalism, data centers and electricity supply, A.I. proven mathematically to lead to rapid economic collapse, weird scenes inside the White House Correspondents Dinner, Japan ramps up military exercises in nearby seas, Iran lets a Japanese oil tanker through the Strait of Hormuz, the rehabilitation of Michael Jackson? the cultural legacy of the Marquis de Sade. Music track: “Stack O’Lee Blues” by Mississippi John Hurt (public domain).

Participants: John Steppling, Hiroyuki Hamada, Ray Hosseini, and Dennis Riches. Topics covered: The US-Israeli war of aggression against Iran, food shortages on US Navy ships, Western Marxism, the forgotten US-Iran Algiers Accord of 1981, oil refineries exploding everywhere, the mysterious deaths of nuclear scientists everywhere all at once, pejorative terminology: who defines what is “hardline,” “regime,” “strongman”? weather modification warfare in the Gulf States, Trump’s spiritual advisor speaks in tongues; his enemies worry about inter-dimensional demons. Music track: “Travellin’ Blues” by Blind Willie McTell (public domain).

Participants: John Steppling, Hiroyuki Hamada, and Dennis Riches. Topics covered: The US-Israeli war of aggression against Iran, responsibility of the Western NGO complex for supporting excuses for the war, the failure of the bad faith ceasefire, blockade upon blockade in the Strait of Hormuz, witting and unwitting limited hangouts, the lack of anti-imperialist critics of the war, the Artemis moon mission and its detractors, the toxic American food supply, the reactionary tendencies of the American working class. Music track: “Statesboro Blues” by Blind Willie McTell (public domain).

Participants: John Steppling, Hiroyuki Hamada, Ray Hosseini, and Dennis Riches. Topics covered: Iran-US+Israel ceasefire? Zionist refugees flee to Cyprus and Argentina, “Heaven’s Gate” and the end, in 1980, of an era in film-making, Hollywood done with Cimino, Friedkin and other directors who made films for adults, plastic surgery and the Mar a Lago look, nicknames for Trump’s dementia and his Iran adventure: Dumbkirk, Stalling-grad, Water-Gold-Plated-Loo, General Clusterfuck at the Battle of Little Big Porn, Music track: “Big Plans” by Jack Littman (used with permission).

Participants: John Steppling, Hiroyuki Hamada, and Dennis Riches. Topics covered: Jonathan the 193-year-old tortoise, Bertrand Russell, Napoleon and ancient the tortoises on St. Helena Island, Trump’s falling star, No Kings protests—performance art with no demands, US allies back away nervously from the Israel-US war on Iran, Iran War as a Project Hail Mary, the atrociousness of Israel exceeds that of South African apartheid in the 1980s, FBI, CIA and military advisors on Hollywood writing teams, Klaus Theweleit’s “Male Fantasies”, Andrew Ross’ choice of four iconic moments of the 1960s, Andy Warhol, Music track: “Betty” by Jack Littman (used with permission).

Participants: John Steppling, Luna Nguyen, EJ Johnson, Hiroyuki Hamada, Cory Morningstar and Dennis Riches. Topics covered: The branding and marketing of US military organizations, the aesthetics and excesses of military and ICE agent uniforms, military propaganda embedded in all entertainment, the mental decline of Donald Trump, Hegseth’s holy war, the struggling U.S. Navy fleet, reactions in Vietnam to the war against Iran, Vietnam’s history of economic reform and dealing with corruption, the impossibility of mythic journeys in a nation of interstate highways. Music track: “Baby Love” by Jack Littman (used with permission).

Participants: John Steppling, Ray Hosseini, Hiroyuki Hamada, and Dennis Riches. Topics covered: Contradictory retroactive justifications for war, the struggling U.S. Navy fleet, Trump administration meltdown and clown show, clown shoes. Israeli officials missing in action, A.I. fakes as proof of life, Stalingrad is to Germany as Iran is to the U.S. The impossibility of mythic journeys in a world guided by GPS, living in the eternal present in the Giant’s realm at the top of the beanstalk. Music track: “Deep Blue Sea Blues” by Clara Smith (public domain).

Participants: John Steppling, Cory Morningstar, Hiroyuki Hamada, and Dennis Riches. Topics covered: Contradictory retroactive justifications for war, migrant workers stranded in the Gulf States, Erika Kirk qualified for high-level public office? Western Asian states jostle for position in the coming post-empire order, Trump administration clown show, war motivated by eschatological motives, fog of war and a flood of fake A.I. generated videos of missile strikes, the war emergency being used as a new excuse for citizen lockdowns, etc... Music track: “Desafinado” by Stan Getz (public domain).