Aesthetic Resistance Podcast

Participants: John Steppling, Aghogho Akpome, Hiroyuki Hamada, and Dennis Riches. Topics covered: the new artists against apartheid: summer rock festivals express the popular uprising against enablers of genocide, why Russia and China avoid direct confrontation with the zero-sum thinking of the US-NATO bloc, the latest “Washington Accord” for the ongoing resource extraction amid the Congo-Rwanda conflict, everyone is a socialist in their time of need, the class divide visible in who supports Zionism, pro-military themes in new television dramas, why you need to be an autodidact, Antonioni’s “The Passenger” (1975). Music track: “Betty” by Jack Littman (used with permission).

Participants: John Steppling, Hiroyuki Hamada, and Dennis Riches. Topics covered: ICE, the “Mara Lago look” of Trump’s appointees, theater of war/war as theater, ritualized warfare, hypocrisy, shortcomings and contradictions of the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), changes coming to the Congo-Rwanda conflict, Tulsi Gabbard, the US occupation of the Hawaiian Kingdom. Music track: “Baby Love” by Jack Littman (used with permission).

Participants: John Steppling, Hiroyuki Hamada, and Dennis Riches. Topics covered: Trump becomes Bush, the pale criminal, Franz Fanon on colonial war and mental disorders, is the Israel-Iran conflict a controlled demolition of the Zionist state? curbing one’s enthusiasm for schadenfreude, BBC obeys Israeli state censorship rules, the Scofield Bible and its influence on American politics, the color of marble. Music track: “Tin Tin Deo” by Dizzy Gillespie (public domain).

Participants: John Steppling, Hiroyuki Hamada, Daniel Broudy, and Dennis Riches. Topics covered: Palestine, a few words in honor of the life of Christopher Black, police actions in Los Angeles against migrants and minorities and their defenders, Mike Davis’ “No One is Illegal” (2006), Alexandre Havard-Dianine on Descartes, Rousseau, and Nietzsche, Jacinda Adern’s career after the covid years in New Zealand, digital money vs. travelers’ checks, the occupation of the mind of the target population, Jacques Ellul: agitation and integration propaganda. Music track: “Spanish Key” by Miles Davis (public domain).

Participants: John Steppling, Hiroyuki Hamada, and Dennis Riches. Topics covered: Palestine, US backtracks on General Langley’s hostile rhetoric about Burkina Faso, US plays dumb while Ukraine provokes Russia toward nuclear war, Lindsay Graham grandstanding on another trip to Ukraine, Sartre’s theory of “bad faith,” Freud vs. evolutionary psychology on the unconscious and self-deception. Kenyans fight against an imposed carbon capture scheme, Hollywood’s turn toward fascist narratives. Music track: “Diddie Wa Diddie” by Blind Blake (public domain).

Participants: John Steppling, Hiroyuki Hamada, and Dennis Riches. Topics covered: A.I. apocalypse or A.I. decline? Who still sees a purpose in art? Ann Carson, OSLO Freedom Forum, the mayor of Hamburg asks for “living space” for Israel. Do all podcasts have to converge into the same format of book reports and interviews? Was Carlos Castaneda run by MK-ULTRA? Why do spies wannabe novelists and why are some of them great novelists? Music track: “Bemsha Swing” by Thelonius Monk (public domain).

Participants: John Steppling, Roger Johnson, and Dennis Riches. Topics covered: Normalization of punishment of dissidents, the end of free speech protections, A.I. companions, Chicago Sun Times lets A.I. make its summer reading list and the result is non-existent titles, why is Israel in Eurovision and why can’t its team be jeered? What happened to the Carlos Castaneda cult? Music track: “Just a Mood” by Reed Norvo Sextet (public domain).

Participants: John Steppling, Roger Johnson, Hiroyuki Hamada, and Dennis Riches. Topics covered: Ann Carson’s lecture on handwriting, poetry and living with Parkinson's, Trump’s whirlwind Middle East tour, Burkina Faso and Congo, Yemen damages the US Navy, New Zealand emigration, sign of the times: a sculpture of “someone just like us” for Times Square, Andy Warhol and the creation of artistic taste, Nikolai Petro’s book “The Tragedy of Ukraine”. Music track: “Pine Top’s Boogie Woogie “by Pine Top Smith (public domain).

Participants: John Steppling, Roger Johnson, Hiroyuki Hamada, and Dennis Riches. Topics covered: Ann Carson’s lecture on cursive writing, poetry and living with Parkinsons, plans, structure and improvisation in the creative process, the brazen, shameless attitude of Israel in its attacks on Gaza, why satirists shouldn’t get close to politicians. Bonus track: Partial interview with John Steppling on Press TV, May 6, 2025 (5-minute segment).

Participants: John Steppling, Cory Morningstar, Roger Johnson, Hiroyuki Hamada, and Dennis Riches. Topics covered: Ibrahim Traoré, Canadian federal election, is entertainment being made for profit or pacification? April 30th—50th anniversary of Vietnam’s liberation, May Day, US and French officials speaking openly about the need to rule Africa again, recycling when we know the material is not being recycled, willful self-deception, pro sports culture driving athletes to bodily ruin, and no, your old Windows 10 PC is not junk. Bonus track: Interview with John Steppling on Press TV, April 28, 2025 (10 minutes).