This week we talk to Cy Canterel (again!), about her recent video essay “Epstein, Elite Power Networks, and The Utility of Disgrace.” Cy is a New Orleans-based “feral scholar,” a media theorist/technologist decoding systems of power and meaning. We discussed:

* World Systems Theory as a map for understanding elite power: How Immanuel Wallerstein’s framework reveals the parallel reality inhabited by the ultra-wealthy—a class that exists “state-free” by choice, moving agnostically between systems to extract resources

* What the Epstein emails actually reveal: Beyond individual scandals, the documents show systematic patterns of how power consolidates—from the differential treatment of “core,” “semi-peripheral,” and “peripheral” actors to the strategic uses of disgrace itself

* The death of meritocracy: How discovering the emotional immaturity, illiteracy, and sheer cognitive dysfunction behind some of our most powerful institutions forces us to confront what we were really being acculturated into

* From neoliberalism to what comes next: Why it’s crucial not to reject everything that came before, and what figures like Zohran Mamdani might signal about a new paradigm that prioritizes collective flourishing over individual charisma

* Self-regulation as revolutionary act: How showing up with a “still center” in the face of chaos—without capitulating or getting mealy-mouthed about principles—offers a model we desperately need

Cy’s recommendations:

* Rob Horning - Writer who has a Substack called “Internal Exile” and wrote the essay “Mass Authentic”

* David Chapman - Wacky but so smart about how he thinks about meaning

* Sarah Perry - Philosopher who wrote a “Every Cradle Is a Grave,” about the ethics of birth and suicide

* Richard Siken - Poet who won the Yale Series of Younger Poets for his book “Crush”; also wrote “War of the Foxes” and is a painter

Virginia’s recommendation:

* “Loved and Missed” by Susie Boyt - An incredibly moving novel about a woman who takes over the care of her granddaughter as her daughter contends with addiction.

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