Steve Wasserman is as charming as his eloquent writing, he's a raconteur, a cultural essayist & he talks to us about Tell Me Something, Tell Me Anything, Even If It’s A Lie. He takes the reader on an exhilarating journey through the world of books, featuring personal reflections on Susan Sontag, Huey Newton, Barbra Streisand, W. G. Sebald, Christopher Hitchens and more. In thirty splendid essays, originally published in such diverse publications as the New Republic and the Nation, the American Conservative and the Progressive, the Village Voice and the Economist, Wasserman delivers a riveting account of the awakening of an empathetic sensibility and a lively mind. Taken together, they reveal the depth and breadth of his enthusiasms and range over politics, literature, and the tumults of a world in upheaval. They include the remarkable tale of a bookstore owner who wouldn’t let him buy the books he wanted, to his brave against-the-grain take on the Black Panthers, to his shrewd assessment of the fast-changing world of publishing. Here is, as Joyce Carol Oates notes, “arguably the very best concise history of Cuba and the legendary Fidel Castro; beautifully composed eulogies for two close friends, Susan Sontag and Christopher Hitchens; sharply perceptive commentary on Daniel Ellsberg; a thrillingly candid interview with W. G. Sebald.

As you read this, the topic of social media is headline news once again with droves of people fleeing from Twitter/X to head over to Blue Sky and Threads. In 2019 we invited Andrew Marantz, to talk about his book, Antisocial: Online Extremists, Techno-Utopians, and the Hijacking of the American Conversation. Marantz had been embedded in two worlds. The first is the world of social-media entrepreneurs, who, acting out of naïvete and reckless ambition, upended all traditional means of receiving and transmitting information. The second is the world of the people he calls "the gate crashers"--the conspiracists, white supremacists, and nihilist trolls who have become experts at using social media to advance their corrosive agenda. Antisocial ranges broadly--from the first mass-printed books to the trending hashtags of the present; from secret gatherings of neo-Fascists to the White House press briefing room--and traces how the unthinkable becomes thinkable, and then how it becomes reality.Antisocial reveals how the boundaries between technology, media, and politics have been erased, resulting in a deeply broken informational landscape--the landscape in which we all now live. Marantz shows how alienated young people are led down the rabbit hole of online radicalization, and how fringe ideas spread--from anonymous corners of social media to cable TV to the President's Twitter feed.

The results of the 2024 presidential election may mean untold sleepless nights for progressives. The reasons for the outcome are already clouded by agitated finger-pointing. While pundits pontificate, critical analysis is met with flabbergasted disdain. With Nuts and Bolts: The Formula for Progressive Electoral Success, political organizer and strategist, Robert Creamer had months before the election taken a serious deep dive into an issue that was making Democrats nervous, this was even before Kamala Harris stepped into the race. Creamer’s book can be described as a step-by-step field manual for how progressives can win electoral campaigns - and a textbook for anyone who wants to know how electoral politics really works. It's about the fundamentals of great electoral organizing, effective political communication, understanding the self-interest of the voters, political fundraising, using social media and other new technologies, creating high intensity field programs, voter mobilization, the qualities of great organizers.

For five decades Creamer has worked on hundreds of electoral campaigns at the local, state and national levels. His firm, Democracy Partners has managed scores of high-intensity field programs for Democratic Congressional campaigns. In our conversation Bob Creamer talks candidly, often bluntly about the reason for electoral failure, noting that ill-chosen phrases like “A basket of deplorables” can radically alter a campaign’s success. Bob insists on emphasizing the progressive’s failure in the 2024 election and further election will be ignoring and not focusing on “Income Equality”.

One of the most peculiar and possibly unique features of humans is the vast amount of information we carry outside our biological selves. But in our rush to build the infrastructure for the 20 quintillion bits we create every day, we’ve failed to ask exactly why we’re expending ever-increasing amounts of energy, resources, and human effort to maintain all this data. Drawing on deep ideas and frontier thinking in evolutionary biology, computer science, information theory, and astrobiology, In The Ascent of Information Caleb Scharf argues that information is, in a very real sense, alive. All the data we create—all of our emails, tweets, selfies, A.I.-generated text, and funny cat videos—amounts to an aggregate life-form. It has goals and needs. It can control our behavior and influence our well-being. And it’s an organism that has evolved right alongside us. The Ascent of Information offers a humbling vision of a universe built of and for information. Scharf explores how our relationship with data will affect our ongoing evolution as a species. Understanding this relationship will be crucial to preventing our data from becoming more of a burden than an asset, and to preserving the possibility of a human future.

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Moments after Steve Kornacki paused slightly then continued reeling off percentages in whatever county in whichever swing state had just committed to Trump my iPhone and media feeds started going berserk. “We are doomed!” screamed one message and another declared “This is the end!” The votes across the nation were still being tabulated yet the numbers were indicating positively that Harris could not win. Any little lingering hope was quickly vanishing as Kornacki’s map was turning a nasty shade of red. The cries of unexpected defeat were stampeding across the internet machine. Friends were texting and calling with mostly garbled outrage. “What the fuck?” being the most literate comment. Later, around 3am the frenzied reaction to the election results had tempered to disbelief, numbness perhaps coupled with the overwhelming question, “Will our world as we know it come to an end now Trump has been reelected?”

Around the same time, 16 hours ahead in Melbourne, Australia, Life Elsewhere regular contributor Dr. Binoy Kampmark was already composing his response to the US election outcome with a stirring essay for CounterPunch, the title, The Price Of Eggs: Why Harris Lost To Trump. Kampmarks’s commentaries on Global, Urban and Social Studies have always received debatable reactions, not least of all his perspective on Trump. Back in 2015, when Trump was posturing for a run at the presidency, Binoy agreed that the ostentatious sham real estate mogul and reality TV personality was obviously unfit for any governmental office. Yet he did suggest that someone as absurd as Trump could be an effective way to shake up a jaded political system. Kampmark was of course, correct. The mechanics of US politics were given a serious off-road test. Now in 2024 heading into 2025 with Trump about to start a second term the landscape does appear desolate if you are not big on Cybertrucks or the likelihood of armored military vehicles roaming our streets. 

Dr. Binoy Kampmark welcomed the opportunity to respond to our headline question. We urge you to listen carefully to everything he says. Your feedback is always important, now more than ever. Share your thoughts on Kampmark’sopinions, write to [email protected]

Dr Binoy Kampmark is a Senior Lecturer at RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia. He teaches in the School of Global, Urban and Social Studies, within the Bachelor of Social Science (Legal and Dispute Studies) program.

Vince Beiser - Power Metal - The Race For The Resources That Will Shape Our Future

An Australian millionaire’s plan to mine the ocean floor. Nigerian garbage pickers risking their lives to salvage e-waste. A Bill Gates-backed entrepreneur harnessing AI to find metals in the Arctic.These people and millions more are part of the intensifying competition to find and extract the minerals essential for two crucial technologies: the internet and renewable energy. In Power Metal, Vince Beiser explores the Achilles’ heel of “green power” and digital technology – that manufacturing computers, cell phones, electric cars, and other technologies demand skyrocketing amounts of lithium, copper, cobalt, and other materials. Around the world, businesses and governments are scrambling for new places and new ways to get those metals, at enormous cost to people and the planet. Beiser crisscrossed the world to talk to the people involved and report on the damage this race is inflicting, the ways it could get worse, and how we can minimize the damage. Power Metal is a compelling glimpse into this disturbing yet potentially promising new world.

⁠Vince Beiser -⁠ ⁠The World In A Grain - The Story of Sand and How It Transformed Civilization

Did you know that after water and air, sand is our most consumed natural resource? Have you ever realized how deeply sand defines and makes possible our lives? Every concrete building and paved road on Earth, every window, computer screen and silicon chip, is made from sand. This humble material is in everything from light bulbs to glasses - and we are running out of it. Award-winning journalist Vince Beiser explains how vital sand is in its many forms, from construction sand to silica to high-purity quartz. Beiser writes, “Sand has become one of the twenty-first century’s most sought-after commodities, sparking violence and destruction around the world."

Vince Beiser in addition to being a favorite, informative guest, a succinct, proficient writer he also publishes a Newsletterwe recommend.

⁠ ⁠Bohren & Der Club Of Gore - Destroying Angel

From the album, Black Earth, the German all-instrumental quartet self-describe themselves as  “doom-ridden jazz music”. A foreboddin description for such charming music. Originally they were called Bohren (German for drilling), they emerged from hardcore punk and metal bands during the late 1980s, these musicians sought and discovered a new direction that reveled in sheer unhurried lethargy, a music persistently sedate, modally performed, and harmonically minimal. The album was first released in 2004, then rereleased on the important Belgium label, PIAS (Play It Again Sam) in 2016. Definitely worth investigating.

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Here in these parts we just experienced two, yes, two major hurricanes in less than two weeks. First Helene, then Milton came a-blowing. For a little insight on the trauma of suffering through a hurricane, go to the artwork for this volume, enlarge it enough to read clearly, so you can read my account. 

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Jill Barton - The Supreme Guide To Writing

Jill Barton’s unbridled enthusiasm for writing and the law is evident from the moment we start chatting, plus she is blessed with a winning smile. And, there’s the clue to how a law professor and author has analyzed 10,000 pages of Supreme Court opinions which ostensibly should be staid and academic and revealed the astonishing news that the Justices have a sense of humor. In The Supreme Guide to Writing, Jill Barton cuts through competing advice to detail definitive grammar rules based on the nation's unequivocal authority: the U.S. Supreme Court. The book details a revolution in legal writing, with the justices progressing beyond the drab and technical for the deft and lyrical. The book pinpoints grammar and style rules that the justices follow--and describes the outdated rules they leave behind. Barton writes, today's Court casts aside formality in favor of pop-culture references, contractions, and approachable language. In addition to establishing grammar and style rules, the book illustrates best practices with hundreds of examples of the justices' most brilliant sentences from the past several years. With step-by-step instructions, the book describes how to emulate the justices' writing styles by breaking down their strategies and techniques. It shows how Justice Elena Kagan lands amusing quips and weaves together down-to-earth analogies, how Justice Neil Gorsuch executes witty retorts, and how Chief Justice John Roberts pens unforgettable lines with understated style and humor. The best writing appears effortless, but it also takes tremendous effort. Legal writing even more so. The Supreme Guide to Writing provides a nonpartisan look at how the justices present their words to the world.

⁠Maureen Callahan⁠ - ⁠American Predator - The Hunt For The Most Meticulous Serial Killer Of The 21st Century

Most people have never heard of Israel Keyes, one of the most ambitious and terrifying serial killers in modern history. The FBI considered his behavior unprecedented. Described by a prosecutor as “a force of pure evil,” Keyes was a predator who struck all over the United States. He buried “kill kits”–cash, weapons, and body-disposal tools–in remote locations across the country. Over the course of fourteen years, Keyes would fly to a city, rent a car, and drive thousands of miles in order to use his kits. He would break into a stranger’s house, abduct his victims in broad daylight, and kill and dispose of them in mere hours. And then he would return home to Alaska, resuming life as a quiet, reliable construction worker devoted to his only daughter. When journalist Maureen Callahanfirst heard about Israel Keyes in 2012, she was captivated by how a killer of this magnitude could go undetected by law enforcement for over a decade. And so began a project that consumed her for the next several years–uncovering the true story behind how the FBI ultimately caught Israel Keyes and trying to understand what it means for a killer like Keyes to exist. A killer who left a path of monstrous randomly committed crimes in his wake–many of which remain unsolved to this day. Norman B talks with Maureenabout American Predator - The Hunt For The Most Meticulous Serial Killer Of The 21st Century. “The most horrific book I have ever read!” He tells Ms. Callahan, adding, “But, I loved every page!”

⁠Anna Erhard - I Wish

Swiss born, Berlin-based artist Anna Erhard is a talented musician who not only makes fascinating music she also understands how to use videos to accompany her work. Anna has a number of releases to investigate, her latest album, Botanical Garden showcases how she successfully mixes genres with a distinctive confidence. We selected the single I Wish from October 2021 which can also be found on her LP, Campsite. A talent to keep a watchful eye on. 

Calahan Skogman - Blue Graffiti

He is proud to be from a small town in middle-of-nowhere Midwestern America. And he wants you to know why. With his debut novel, Blue Graffiti, Calahan Skogman relishes in portraying a place he is all too familiar with, albeit Johnston is a figment of his imagination. Pouring his soul out in words about the environment he grew up in was not enough for Mr. Skogman, he goes further and creates a believable world of situations and relationships with realistic characters. On a cross-country drive, it’s small town you could stumble upon, pop into the local bar, where you’d spot ruggedly-handsome construction-worker Cash eying the beautiful green-eyed, Rose. It’s the straight-forwardness of Calahan’swriting that captures the reader, he paints a realistic picture of Johnston and it's inhabitants without meandering into long-winded prose, yet he has found a way to draw the reader in to a romantic tale of self-discovery without depending on cliches. Calahan Skogman's enthusiasm for life and telling his story is compelling, his large beaming smile radiates through the airwaves. As the conversation weaves into questions about sex, drugs and rock ’n’ roll, Calahan articulates with the care and thoughtfulness of a seasoned raconteur. It may come as no surprise then to learn that Skogman is a critically acclaimed actor. He tells of dressing-up as a kid and a fascination for the arts while eagerly pursuing a career in professional sports. Perhaps these juxtapositions are why Calahan is such an engaging guest and how he has crafted an exceptional book in Blue Graffiti.

Jennifer Ackerman⁠ - ⁠The Bird Way: A New Look At How Birds Talk, Work, Play, Parent and Think ⁠

“There is the mammal way and there is the bird way.” But the bird way is much more than a unique pattern of brain wiring, and lately, scientists have taken a new look at bird behaviors they have, for years, dismissed as anomalies or mysteries –– What they are finding is upending the traditional view of how birds conduct their lives, how they communicate, forage, court, breed, survive. They are also revealing the remarkable intelligence underlying these activities, abilities we once considered uniquely our own: deception, manipulation, cheating, kidnapping, infanticide, but also ingenious communication between species, cooperation, collaboration, altruism, culture, and play. Drawing on personal observations, the latest science, and her bird-related travel around the world, from the tropical rainforests of eastern Australia and the remote woodlands of northern Japan to the rolling hills of Lower Austria and the islands of Alaska’s Kachemak Bay, Jennifer Ackerman shows there is clearly no single bird way of being. In every respect, in plumage, form, song, flight, lifestyle, niche, and behavior, birds vary.

This volume was not intended to be a non-stop mix, even though a series of misadventures and unfortunate events dictated there wouldn’t be enough time to record a full commentary. Then, as we put the playlist together it became obvious that the music we had selected worked so well segueing from one cut to another. In fact, it was almost as if the music we curated would only work as a nonstop, continuous mix. Listen, and follow along with details here.

⁠Toby - Aint It (ft. Chelsea Warner)⁠⁠

We begin with a delightful (familiar?) sounding uplifting electro-house cut from Toby Nolan from Australia’s Gold Coast, featuring superb vocals from Sydney singer/songwriter Chelsea Warner. “I initially started writing this song in mid-2020 during the height of the Covid lockdown. A few months later I decided to share it with Chelsea to see if she’d be interested in doing some vocals for it. I’ve always thought she had an incredible voice and I thought she would be the perfect fit,” says, Toby.  We agree and top marks for those busy bees at Mammal Sounds for sharing Ain’t It with us.

Faunix - 2Soleils

Mr Ashtree and Phoenix de Pandore are Faunix out of France who enjoy delving into ​​a hybrid crossover of styles. Clarinets, piano, strings, basses, drums, polyphonic voices are all included on their self-titled album. On 2Soleils they conjure up a tasty dub, they describe as “Sun, energy, vibrations, between shadow and light”. Make sure you check out all the cuts.

⁠Vudufa - Lo Que Soño El Margay

Staying in France we head to Radio Chigurio Records out of Paris to hear from Francisco de Los Heros who explores his Afro-Peruvian musical heritage by fusing it with ambient, hip-hop and electronic music. Vudufa creates a magical collision between machines and Peruvian folklore, also paying homage to the Amerindian tribes of Amazonia, mystical ceremonies and subgenres of Afro-Peruvian music such as marinera, festejo, landó, tondero, zamacueca or toromata. Vudufa is inspired by the rhythms inherited from the Peruvian natives and the African slaves of the colonial era. Essential listening.

⁠Perpetual Void - Tree House⁠⁠

The vocals are in there somewhere, “Go to a place. Where no one can hear me scream. They can't see me cry. In my hiding tree” This Glasgow outfit describe their sound as an ambient band creating ethereal, emotive soundscapes. No reason to argue with that, but I do wish that the afore mentioned vocals were w wee bit more pronounced.

⁠Voice Actor - SLUSH 77

This one is on the intriguing Stroom label out of Belgium, who have the byline, “The Girl That Won't Return Your Love But Is Totally Worth It” Here we have music by Noa Kurzweil  (Supertalented) & Levi Lanser (Ludittes) presenting as Voice Actor. The album Fake Sleep is certainly worth your time investigating. There is a lot going with each track, SLUSH 77 being a fine example. Once upon a time this may have been classified as weirdly odd - and that’s a good thing. Interesting sleeve artwork by Luca van Grinsven. Yes, Fake Sleep has been on repeat play at Life Elsewhere Tower once the power came back on.

⁠Exit Rituals - A Fluid Portrait⁠ 

Written by Alan Myson & Anneka Warburton Blinding Void is the first EP by Exit Rituals; a new collaborative project from producer and composer Ital Tek and vocalist/songwriter Anneka. This six track EP is a first glimpse into the married pair's ongoing musical experiments, drawing from a much larger body of material as they work towards their debut album. The question is she actually singing “Pink fat, meat bone”? No matter, I like what this Brighton-based couple are doing. Cool sleeve artwork by Anneka

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Augustine Sedgewick - Coffeeland: One Man’s Dark Empire and the Making of Our Favorite Drug

What do you know about coffee? A wonderful new book will change how you look at - or taste coffee again. Augustine Sedgewick takes us on an extraordinary adventure of discovery, revealing details and history, even the most ardent coffee lover will be surprised by. In Coffeeland - One Man’s Dark Empire and the Making of Our Favorite Drug the learned Augustine Sedgewick has brilliantly chronicled the most consequential revolution by telling the global history of one family. His book is both innovative and factual as he effortlessly untangles the routes that carried coffee from the slopes of El Salvador to the shelves of US supermarkets. Augustine exposes a realm of ruthless entrepreneurs, hardworking laborers, laboratory chemists, and guerrilla fighters. Plus, he is a wonderful and enthusiastic guest. 

All spring, Dr. Elizabeth Hilborn watched as her family fruit farm of many years became increasingly diminished, suffering from a lack of bees. The plentiful wildlife, so abundant just weeks before, was gone. Everything was still, silent. As an environmental scientist trained to investigate disease outbreaks, she rose to the challenge. Step by step, day by day, despite facing headwinds from skeptical neighbors, environmental experts, and agricultural consultants, she’d assembled information. Her observations provided a framework, a timeline to explain the evidence she’d collected.The chemicals found in her water samples showed beyond any doubt that not only her farm, but her greater farming community, was at risk from toxic chemicals that travelled with rain water over the land, into water, and deep within the soil. Hilborn was given a front row seat to the insect apocalypse. Even as a scientist, she’d been unaware of the risks to life from some common agricultural chemicals. Her goal was to protect her farm and the animals who lived there. But first she had to convince her rural neighbors of the risk to their way of life, too. Elizabeth Hiborn is a delightful and informative guest, we’re sure like us, you will be moved by her story.

Elizabeth Hilborn - Restoring Eden: Unearthing the Agribusiness Secret That Poisoned My Farming Community

Carnations - I Die

I like everything about this cut from Sydney band, Carnations. I Die is from their debut self-titled five-track cassette on the Urge imprint. Everything works here, the relentless bouncy beat, along with the gloomy title repeated over and over. Not an easy task to accomplish, yet this bunch of talented folk deliver with an almost naive charm. Make sure you check out all the cuts. Nice quirky video, too.

⁠Bedchamber - Patterns⁠

As this one begins, I’m prompted to blurt out, “I know this!” Then the vocals kick in and I realize I almost spoke too soon. Yes, there is that little hook that does sound familiar, but this four-piece from Jakarta, Indonesia are clearly doing their own thing. Patterns comes from Bedchamber’s LP, Capa City, with nine cool tracks to investigate.

⁠Joyful Forfeit - Please Don’t Change⁠⁠

Here is a challenge, listen to Please Don’t Change right up until the bridge before the vocals come in. See if you can describe how you think the vocals will sound. Joyful Forfeit surprised me. This cut is so well accomplished as is the album, Everything Came To Light. Hailing from Lancaster, Pennsylvania, Kody Stieve presents as Joyful Forfeit who says “Over the past several years he has developed migraines, where I have difficulty with my field of vision, thought processing, and overall discomfort for periods of time.  Much of that discomfort is in my eyes, where they feel extremely heavy, or painful and that they’ll just fall out of my face”. This goes a long way to explain the emotional and autobiographical mood of Kody’s work. Excellent.

⁠Lemonade Baby - Tints (ft. Kevin Collett)⁠⁠

At this point we are we are satisfyingly familiar with the releases from Australian producer, Lemonade Baby. So, it will come as no surprise we give a big thumbs up to this collaboration with fellow Brisbane based artist Kevin Collett. About the single Tints, LB says, “I actually had the vibe and lyrics but just needed a title for the song. I met up with Kevin in the studio and showed him the idea and then laid down a verse in 3 takes. The title Tints sorta works, you can’t see people’s eyes thru tinted glasses, or there is even saying, rose-tinted-glasses which is in theme with the concept.” We don’t recommend dancing while you drive, but you will want to wriggle your bum around to this one.

⁠Varsity - Head In The Clouds⁠⁠

Stephanie Smith, Dylan Weschler, Patrick Stanton, Jake Stolz and Paul Stolz are Varsity, they are out of Chicago and they make splendid music. I listened to Head In The Clouds a number of times on headphones to make sure I was correct in noting how good the production is. Not complicated or tricky, simply well executed. Interesting artwork for their series of sleeves, too.

⁠Holly Powers - Make Me Feel Light⁠

Aww, Make Me Feel Light captured me immediately. Holly Powers confidently uses delicate vocals and harmonies alongside her accessible yet intriguing melodies. This Edinburgh-based songwriter clearly has a lot of talent. I want to hear more from Holly, much more.

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