After a long hiatus, we bring you another installment of our series on The Gulag Archipelago by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn. We begin Chapter 6: That Spring. This episode covers the fates of POWs returning from captivity in Nazi camps. Various schemes POWs pursued to survive: join spy camp but run away when sent out on a … Continue reading Chapter 6: That Spring — Part 1

This is our twenty-second episode in our longer series on Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell. We learn that the Party rules Oceania for the sake of power alone. Power is exercised over the individual by making him suffer, not for his own good, but for the sake of the Party’s continued hold on power. O’Brien rubs … Continue reading E82: 1984, Part 3, Chapter 3 Power

This is our twenty-first episode in our longer series on Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell. O’Brien tortures Winston with an electroshock rig, and employs a protracted gaslighting technique. We examine more deeply what dystopia does to your thinking and how it uses your natural thought processes against you. In dystopia, you can be broken down, you … Continue reading E81: 1984 Part 3, Chapter 2 Electroshock Interrogation

This is our twentieth episode in our longer series on Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell. Winston is sitting in a holding cell, during the initial softening up before his first interrogations. We get to see some different kinds of people who are in with Winston, the difference between common criminals and political prisoners, and a few … Continue reading E80: 1984 Part 3, Chapter 1 The Cell

This is our nineteenth episode in our longer series on Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell. In this episode, we look in detail at Winston’s reflections before he and Julia are arrested by the Thought Police. Yes, the faceless tide of future humanity will wash dystopia into its sea, but perhaps it is better to be consciously … Continue reading E79: 1984 Part 2, Chapter 10 The Arrest

This is our eighteenth episode in our longer series on Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell. We continue with our look at the philosophy contained in Goldstein’s book. Especially today, we look at truth in dystopia: why is the Resistance all taught the same thing? Why is it important that everyone hold the same beliefs? Also civilizational … Continue reading E78: 1984 Part 2, Chapter 9 (2 of 2) Goldstein’s Book

This is our seventeenth episode in our longer series on Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell. We hear about Winston’s Hate Week experience, the censorship job after the switch flips on the “Eurasia/Eastasia is the enemy” toggle, and we begin with an analysis of the message of Emmanuel Goldstein’s book. Even though it’s the bait in a … Continue reading E77: 1984 Part 2, Chapter 9 (1 of 2) Goldstein’s Book

This is our sixteenth episode in our longer series on Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell. Winston and Julia meet O’Brien, and they are formally sworn into the Brotherhood! What really happened there? Is this meeting a ruse, a false flag operation run over and over again by the Thought Police? Can you really turn off a … Continue reading E76: 1984 Part 2, Chapter 8 Is the telescreen really off?

This is part 2 of 2 in a special series. After a long, long time, Food for Thought Police gets back together with Maltshop Entertainment to bring you a discussion of the 1999 film Mystery Men as a dystopian flick. When Captain Amazing decides to let Casanova Frankenstein go, he’s just trying to stay in … Continue reading Mystery Men as Dystopian Film 2 of 2

This is part 1 of 2 in a special series. After a long, long time, Food for Thought Police gets back together with Maltshop Entertainment to bring you a discussion of the 1999 film Mystery Men as a dystopian flick. When Captain Amazing decides to let Casanova Frankenstein go, he’s just trying to stay in … Continue reading Mystery Men as Dystopian Film