Dr. Bruce Damer's Levity Zone

Join Dr. Bruce midway through his 2015 Levity Zone down under tour of eastern Australia. In an artsy warehouse in the artsy Sydney district of Newtown Dr. Bruce presented an evening serenade of visionary story threads woven with the chill tones of live DJ Tsentsak (aka Richard Baron). Lie back with the Aussies and take in part one of a trip through our deepest history hyperdriving up through to the fragile but potent present, riding the liminal zone between reason and magick. Credits: Dr. Bruce and Vince Polito (intro), DJ Tzentsak (music), Bo Millward (sound editing), Craig Brown (aka Slinky and Snudis-photography), Jacob Aman (site and cover art). [released 27 March 2015]

UK-Australian performer Hugo Farrant teams up with DJ Treats and enters the Levity Zone with his unique visionary rap. Hugo takes us back way before Eleusis to Mesopotamia's Spring Goddess Ishtar. We fall into his spell of words and music and journey as the grateful pilgrim in search of the divine feminine and our collective rejuvenation from Mother Nature herself. Hugo also raps with whimsical world band Dub The Magic Dragon, and PhD historian and musician Giordano Nanni, co-creator of Juice Rap News, a ship of the spoken word that pilots us through a cosmos of ideas. Hugo's own journeys have taken him afar, even featuring Mr. Julian Assange in a Rap News telling of the 2010 launch of Wikileaks' Iraq War Logs. Yours truly, Dr. Bruce was personally moved by Hugo and Treat's performance at the Rainbow Serpent Festival among the gum trees of Victoria, Australia and and thrilled to bring him and his mates to the Levity Zone. Credits: Dr. Bruce (intro), Hugo (spoken word performance), DJ Treats (music), Jacob Aman (site and art). [released 6 February 2015]

In April, 2014 the members of the Boston-based Jellicle Literary Guild met to consider a question posed virtually by Dr. Bruce on: can we remake our communities in the old model of the closely knit circle? See how a group of intelligent New Englanders tackle this question. Host and publisher of Scriptor Press Raymond Soulard has guided the guild since its founding in New Britain, Connecticut in 1988. If you would like to host your own salon with a question posed in the Levity Zone, let us know! Credits: Dr. Bruce Damer, Raymond Soulard (recording, hosting, cover art) Catfilsh Rivers (music). [released 9 jan 2015]

Join us for part 2 of the controversial Radical Remake show with Dr. Bruce, and KSCO Radio's Michael Zwerling as they take on a barrage of callers from a mostly politically right of center listenership. As a preamble Dr. Bruce summarizes the five points his Radical Remake blueprint as well as Lawrence Lessig's book Republic Lost. Both documents outline how a constitutional convention might be held in the USA to deal with corruption and reboot the country's system of governance. Credits: Dr. Bruce Damer, Michael Zwerling, Jacob Aman (cover art). [released 11 Dec 2014]

In November 2011 at the peak of the Occupy movement Dr. Bruce was moved by the protesters who so bravely spoke truth to power. Occupy represented deep dissatisfaction with a nation and a system deeply riddled with corruption that even the founding fathers of the Republic had feared and foretold. So he penned a five part document: "By and for the 99%, a visionary Blueprint for a Radical Remake of America (or any country)" which drew enough attention that he ended up on conservative talk radio. Hear Dr. Bruce in conversation with Michael Zwerling of KSCO AM 1080 bravely put forth the idea that America needs a second constitutional convention to radically remake itself. Credits: Dr. Bruce Damer, Michael Zwerling, Jacob Aman (cover art). [released 30 Nov 2014]

The Eleusinian mysteries of ancient Greece initiated an awakening into civilization, science and art but were lost when fanatical Christians and savage tribes smashed the temple as the Roman empire fell. Are we living in an inferior culture driven by non-initiates subjecting our world to the worst juvenile destructive tendancies? Dr. Bruce explores the return of Eleusisinian initiation through rites in circles held around the world in this talk from Burning Man 2014, Credits: Dr. Bruce Damer, Jacob Aman (cover art), Kyle Espenshade (music). [released 14 Nov 2014]

In honor of the passing of Dr. Alexander 'Sasha' Shulgin a special group journeyed to a lush green spring-fed valley in dry far Northern California back in June of 2014. Dr. Bruce spins a tale of how we came to vision, the coevolution of technology and then on into how we may open to a group overmind driven and connected through the 'Shulgin Chip' and reach a place where we resonate with a cosmic destiny.Thanks to author Ramez Naam for his novel Nexus which was the inspiration for this talk. Credits: Dr. Bruce Damer, Jacob Aman (cover art), Erothyme (music). [released 27 Sept 2014]

Rolling the clock way back to 1994 we find Dr. Bruce living and working in Prague, the beautiful medieval capital of the Czech lands. As well as leading a team of top class Bohemian engineers at Elixir, Dr. Bruce presents his very own Prague Gnosis in three interviews edited for you here in the Zone: Jan and Krystyna Kaplan's video documentary Good Morning Prague, Molly's interview on Radio Metropolis, and Wendy Haller's D-Salon arts piece on Radio Prague. Hear a very early Dr. Bruce wax poetically about the magic of Prague and the new alchemy of computers, give a futuristic view of the tech-nomadic life coming in the 21st Century, and the value of patronage of the arts in the post-communist world. Credits: Dr. Bruce Damer (interviewee), Jan Kaplan, Molly, Wendy Haller (now Drapac) (interviewers), Jacob Aman (cover art). [released 28 July 2014]

Back in June of 2012 Lorenzo Hagerty and yours truly, Dr. Bruce, presented a program on the life of Terence McKenna at the Esalen Institute in Big Sur, California. Join us in the Big Yurt perched over the Pacific in one of the most beautiful places on Earth. I fulfilled a promise Terence and I made to 'do my own thing' and return to Esalen in his name to present my particular raps.Join me as I weave some new myths, flow out Esalen visions and inspire a hopeful view of our coming to consciousness. Credits: Dr. Bruce Damer (presentation), Lorenzo Hagerty (introduction,editing, photography), Tom Riedel (recording), Fabio Scalabroni (music),Jacob Aman (cover art). [released 20 June 2014]

In part two of the Bubble Culture Dhiren Dasu and Dr. Bruce continue to tackle the trends, economics, and purported transformational community of the festival scene. This August 2013 studio session unravels the 'entitlement generation' and recalls the features of real community versus the ephemeral and unsustainable nature of the festivals. While peak experiences have value, Dr. Bruce asks the question: does the festival scene feed the machine? Still there is a chance for the opening of lives through transformational experience but we have the happenings from the fabled but failed 1960s Haight Ashbury to serve as our warning about the cost of casualties. Credits: Dhiren Dasu and Dr. Bruce Damer (discussants, recording, editing), Dubr8r (music), Penny Slinger (photography) and Jacob Aman (layout). [released 9 May 2014]