Kevin Heckart is a Kansas City based artist who created the artwork behind seapunk’s original aesthetic. This special episode coincides with both the one year anniversary of Silent Generation and the relaunch of the seapunk clothing line Mainframe, which features many of Heckart’s designs. The first half of episode is an interview with Heckart that serves as a spiritual threequel to Silent Generation’s prior two seapunk episodes while the later half is a broader conversation about net art and net artists such as Brad Troemel, Hito Steyerl, Laturbo Avendon, and Lorna Mills. Amongst other things they discuss how Heckart has gone viral on Tiktok for hacking animatronic fish and furby toys, how Nathan and Brad Troemel did the same undergrad program, how Hito Steyerl incorporated real life biographies into Factory of the Sun, and how Skibbidy Toilet shows how thoroughly post-internet aesthetics have permeated popular culture. 

Links:

mainframehq.net

Mainframe’s Instagram

Kevin Heckart’s Instagram

Kevin Heckart’s Tiktok 

I hacked a singing fish. - Kevin Heckart

“and yet a trace of the true self exists in the false self” meme

HIS BRAIN? NO. HIS HEART Brad Troemel meme

The Post-internet Culture Report by Brad Troemel

Untitled, 2016 by Laura Owens

Trojan Horses: Activist Art and Power by Lucy R. Lippard

Color(ed) Theory Series by Amanda Williams 

Rhizome’s Net Art Anthology

My Boyfriend Came Back from the War by Olia Lialina 

Madison Beer #NoFilter by Dis Magazine

I was Raised on the Internet exhibition at the MCA

Transdimensional Serpent by Jon Rafman

The Jogging Tumblr blog

Army of Ants by Brad Troemel

Giant Arthropods Eating Doritos early meme

Liquidity Inc. by Hito Steyerl screenshot

Factory of the Sun by Hito Steyerl

takeSomeCrime Youtube channel 

In Defense of the Poor Image by Hito Steyerl

In Defense of the Poor Image-esque Instagram post

GIFS by Lorna Mills

Repetition Mindset: Artists as Snowflakes by Brad Troemel

Provided by Kevin Heckart

Full episode available on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/SilentGeneration 

For this week’s episode Joseph and Nathan watched Francis Coppola’s latest (and likely final) film, Megalopolis. The film draws parallels between Ancient Rome and modern day New York City and has been met with widespread confusion. The boys discuss the film in the first half of the episode, detailing the performance of several actors (notably Aubrey Plaza’s role as the brilliantly named Wow Platinum) and the film's various references to Ancient Rome. In the second half of the episode the boys discuss megalopolises more broadly, including ones in real life (the Northeast Megalopolis, the European Megalopolis, Japan's Taiheiyo Belt, and China’s various megalopolises) and fictional examples (the megalopolis depicted in the 1927 film Metropolis, Mega-City One in Judge Dredd, and Coruscant in Star Wars). 

Links:

Martin Scorsese Had a Cinema Epiphany ‘Too Late’ 

Megalopolis Plot meme

Megalopolis Movie Clip - Cesar is Mine (Wow Platinum elevator scene)

Nymphet Alumni’s Ep. 90: The Baby Name Game with Sophie Kim

Francis Ford Coppola Didn’t Want ‘Megalopolis’ To Be “Some Woke Hollywood Production,” Casting “Canceled” Actors from Deadline

Tell Your Children by Alex Berensen 

Megalopolis: The Urbanized Northeastern Seaboard of the United States by Jean Gottman

What if the cities of Jersey City, Elizabeth, Union, Newark, Hoboken, and others became one larger city like NYC? Reddit post 

Why is there no major city here? (Boroughitis) by Urban Jersey Guy

The location of Gotham city

Cars.destroyed.our.cities Hartford, Connecticut post

Blue Java Banana Review by Weird Explorer

Artwork:

From Megalopolis' Interactive Scene Explained: What Happens In It

Recorded on 10/6/2024

What is Chautauqua? Chautauqua began in 1874 in Chautauqua, New York as a Summer camp that trained laymen to be Sunday school teachers. President Ulyses S Grant visited the assembly shortly after its founding in 1875, which gave Chautauqua widespread attention and engendered a national movement; the original Chautauqua (now known in the modern day as the Chautauqua Institution) gave rise to hundreds of “daughter” Chautauquas. They offered week long or month long retreats to religiously minded vacationers who wanted to enjoy nature but also wanted to stay productive by watching edifying sermons, lectures, historical impersonations, and concerts. 

On this week’s episode the boys discuss how the popular Chautauqua speech Acres of Diamonds resembles the 21st century self help book The Secret, how Chautauqua acts differed from vaudeville acts, and how a specific type of historical impersonation popular in circuit Chautauquas became synonymous with Chautauqua in the modern day. This is the third and final installment of a three part series that explores interconnected topics that deal with American culture and the outdoors. 

Links:

The Chautauqua Institution

Chautauqua: An American Narrative (2011)

The History of the Chautauqua Movement

Acres of Diamonds by Russell Conwell

Bohumir Kryl

The height of assassins versus that of their targets Reddit post

Artwork:

Participants of a Circuit Chautauqua at Gurdon (Clark County); circa 1919.

In a more anecdotal direction, this week’s episode is on American Summer camps. The boys detail how camping was first developed in 1861 by Frederick Gunn before discussing their own experiences as campers and counselors at American Summer camps. Amongst other things they discuss how modern Summer camps have felt the need to hyperspecialize and give parents an ROI, how Summer camp aesthetics are 1970’s by default, how Summer camps were depicted as WASPy in Addams Family Values, and how Summer camps were depicted as somewhat utopian in the 1964 Soviet film Welcome, or No Trespassing. This is the second installment of a three part series that explores interconnected topics that deal with American culture and the outdoors. 

Links:

The Not So Happy Campers by Mimi Swartz

About our Founder - The Frederick Gunn School

Summer Camp Capitalism

The History of American Jewish Summer Camps

I can tell from her tweets that she had to go live with grandma for a lil bit meme

Wednesday’s revolt from The Addams Family Values

Long accused of Indigenous misappropriation, Boy Scouts ask if it’s time to change

Welcome, or No Trespassing (1964)  

Artwork:

Photograph by Andy Sweet

Recorded on 9/15/2023

Full episode available on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/SilentGeneration 

On this week’s episode the boys detail the history of various figures and organizations in the scouting movement. Amongst other things they discuss how arbitrary it was that the scouting movement was inspired by scouting, how scout badges and scouting uniforms create an archive of people’s childhoods, how Cub Scouts truthfully don’t create their own pinewood derby cars, and how the TTI industry and wilderness therapy are “dark scouting.” This is the first installment of a three part series that explores interconnected topics that deal with American culture and the outdoors. 

Links:

Scouting for Boys by Robert Baden-Powell

The Zoomer Question by Isaac Wilkes 

Remembering the Wandervogel by John Savage & Johnny Ryan

David Hahn, The ‘Radioactive Boy Scout’ Who Tried To Build A Nuclear Reactor In His Backyard

Joseph as a Cub Scout

Nanook of the North (1922)

Scouts Honor: The Secret Files of The Boy Scouts of America (2023)

Artwork:

Scouts with canoe - National Parks Gallery

Creative Commons CC0 License

Recorded on 9/9/2024

Why was Nathan in Rio de Janeiro last week? Why was he there in 2018? What did he do there? What new fruits did he try? These are some of the important questions Joseph asked Nathan on this week’s episode. 

Links:

Brazil with a Z vs Brasil with an S - example 1

Brazil with a Z vs Brasil with an S - example 2

Artwork:

Picture of Rio de Janeiro taken by Nathan from Pão de Açúcar

Recorded on 9/2/2024

How did the spy-fi literary and cinematic genre come to be? This week Joseph and Nathan chronicle how detective fiction authors took inspiration from sensational espionage cases such as The Dreyfus Affair and The Rosenberg Trial to imagine what the front lines of The Cold War might look like. The boys cover “realistic” spy movies such as James Bond’s Dr. No, Three Days of the Condor, and The Bourne Trilogy before going into fantastical depictions of spies in Children’s media like The Spy Kids, Kim Possible, and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Amongst other things they discuss the difference between state and industrial espionage, Austria’s constitutionally mandated status of neutrality, and Edward Snowden’s modeling portfolio. 

Links:

Artwork:

Recorded on 8/16/2024

Full episode available on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/SilentGeneration 

This week the boys are joined by local filmmaker Charles Livingston to discuss male desire. They begin by first discussing straight male desire (the derision of the male gaze, male jealousy and possessiveness, and gender performance) before going into a deep exploration of Nathan’s thesis that yearning is the most universal and inexorable difficulty experienced by gay men. Amongst other things they discuss how the Ancient Romans conflated sexual conquest with imperial conquest, how Cleopatra in Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra weaponized mens’ desire, and how straight men and gay men seem to equally match each other in terms of desire.  

Links:

Charles Livingston’s Instagram

Wings by Charles Livingston

Oscars 2018: Facts and figures about the members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences - Orange County Register 

The VICE Guide to Being Gay

Armond and Mark scene from the White Lotus

Artwork: Germanic Warrior with Helmet, Osmar Schindler, 1902

Recorded on 8/11/2024

On this week’s (sans Joseph) episode of Silent Generation, Nathan is joined by his friend Kamara to discuss antiques. They talk about how they first got into antiques, the best antiques that they own, and the defining characteristics of several antique furniture styles (Victorian, Arts & Crafts Movement, Art Nouveau, Art Deco, and Mid-century Modern). Amongst other things they discuss how Victorian antiques and houses are construed as being haunted, how antiques seem to be most popular in rural areas, and how the antiques industry acts as a point of intergenerational exchange between different generations of gay men. 

Links:

Antiques Pinterest Board (Nathan’s antiques are at the bottom)

A Lamp & Fixture Corp 

Tighlman Chicago 

Justanswer Antiques

The Blue Fairy Book edited by Andrew Lang 

Campbell House Museum

The Slav Epic by Alphonse Mucha

THREATENED: Hector Guimard’s Art Nouveau Metra Entrance

Restor-A-Finish Youtube demo

The Roger Brown Study Collection

Artwork:

Art Deco Cubist Armchair in Vermilion Mohair Velvet and Maple, Belgium, 1920s

Full episode available on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/SilentGeneration

This week the boys cover a listener suggested topic that is closely associated with their lines of work: unions. Nathan is currently a librarian represented by the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), and Joseph works in the heavily unionized construction industry. Amongst other things they discuss how violent strikes were prior to the formation of the NLRB in 1935, how the Haymarket Affair lead to creation of the 8 hour work day, how YIMBYs feel ambivalent toward unions, and how unions mitigate but don’t eliminate the deleterious effects of monopolization. 

Links:

How Chicago’s Past Resulted in Disproportionate Lead Poisoning of Minority Children of the Present: A Narrative Review

The Redneck Army Refuses to Stay Buried by Cassady Rosenblum 

Ep. 164: Labor Union Depictions in Hollywood by Citations Needed

Ten cities facing the worst of the pension crisis

CTA has only netted 4 rail operators this year Reddit post

Noisy and Unsafe: Stop Fetishizing Old Homes by M. Nolan Gray

A ton of variation in construction labor cost M. Nolan Gray tweet

Der Streik by Robert Koehler

Recorded on 7/28/2024