The Lives of Others. An Orwell Reader. Delusions of American Tyranny. A deep dive into the brilliant political diagnostics of George Orwell. Sampling the things insecure tyrants tell themselves about their own alleged virtue. Reality Control. Thought Police. Crimestop. Orwellian Telescreens. War is peace, freedom is slavery, ignorance is strength. Loving hypocrisy. Discussing Stalin. Meanwhile, our solemn recommendation to watch the flawless 2006 film "The Lives of Others." The perfect Stasi tutorial for this dark moment in American history. A heartbreaking rendering of Stasi surveillance powers brought to bear against a community of writers, actors and freethinkers behind the Berlin Wall of 1984. William F. Buckley described the film as the best he had ever seen. A work of genius. Plus, actress Gina Carano of "The Mandalorian" takes heat from Hollywood for having conservative views. Sound familiar? With Listener Calls & Music via Le Castle Vania, Hyper, Beck, The Rolling Stones, Autour de Lucie, Al Green, Felix Sandman and Astrid. "A society becomes totalitarian when its structure becomes flagrantly artificial. That is, when its ruling class has lost its function but succeeds in clinging to power by force or fraud. Such a society, no matter how long it persists, can never afford to become either tolerant or intellectually stable." --George Orwell, from The Prevention of Literature 1946