You Can't Win

After our resolutions we jump into Aesthetics of Resistance by Peter Weiss, volume 3, a novel about art and fighting fascism in Europe during 1930s and 40s. We get up to page 44 in our first episode in this series. Next time (in a few weeks) we will do up to page 90. Book talk starts at 16m48s.

We chat about our favourite movies, podcasts, games, moments and books of 2025 as we get ready to say goodbye to a pretty bad year.

Tom's Top Five Books:

5 Poetry of Rilke (Ed Snow trans.) 4 Aesthetics of Resistance vol II by Peter Weiss 3 Autobiography by John Cowper Powys 2 Terra Nostra by Carlos Fuentes 1 Lieutenant-Colonel de Maumort by Roger Martin du Gard

Don's favourites were Aesthetics of Resistance Vol I and II by Peter Weiss and Correction by Thomas Bernhard.

We chat about whether prediction markets are forbidden, Herbert McCabe on the goodness of God, some Mubis and some books.

Faith Within Reason by Herbert McCabe, OP. Oslo, August 31st. Wendy and Lucy. Bring them Down. The Smashing Machine. Frost by Thomas Bernhard. Austerlitz by WG Sebald. Selected Writings of Walter Benjamin, Vol 2, Part One. What Maisie Knew by Henry James.

Don also briefly mentions the podcasts Age of Napoleon and The Siècle.

We chat about the beginning of the end of the year, Herbert McCabe and the relationship between faith and reason, the movie Post Tenebras Lux and that show with Mussolini, and some stories out of Quebec.

Mentioned: Faith Within Reason by Herbert McCabe.

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We're going to start reading Aesthetics of Resistance: Volume III by Peter Weiss in January, probably in 30-40 page chunks. Your heads up to get a copy.

The AOR wikipedia page Don mentions: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Works_of_art_in_The_Aesthetics_of_Resistance

What the heck are Green Gras Target Emissions Reductions. Okay, I was tired. This ep' we talk about some recent newsy stuff (Canada, Epstein) and then get into books, including the awful new print-on-demand by big publishers.

Mentioned: Ottawa Citizen article about mobilization: https://ottawacitizen.com/public-service/defence-watch/canadian-military-public-servants

Giordano Bruno and the Hermetic Tradition by Francis A. Yates The Class Struggle in the Ancient Greek World by G. E. M. Ste. Croix Alone with the Alone by Henry Corbin Stone Age Economics by Marshall Sahlins The Notebooks of Henry James Mannerism by Arnold Hauser The Social History of Art by Arnold Hauser Jimmy Breslin

We chat about baseball, our new kawaii (cute) mini-PCs, politricks and a bunch of books.

Mentioned (mostly book hauls): The Mass Psychology of Fascism by Wilhelm Reich Listen, Little Man! by Wilhelm Reich Marcel Proust by William Carter The Poetry of Rilke, trans. Ed Snow Europe: A History by Norman Davies Postwar: A History of Europe since 1945 by Tony Judt Religion and Nothingness by Keiji Nishitani The Early Chinese Empires: Qin and Han by Mark Edward Lewis A History of China by Wolfram Eberhard The Confessions of Jean Jacques Rousseau Interesting Times by Eric Hobsbawm Les grands textes indépendantistes, 1774 - 1992 by Andrée Ferretti and Gaston Miron Selling Free Enterprise by Elizabeth A. Fones-Wolf

Riddle of Fire (movie)

We chat about baseball, health, One Battle After Another and some recent adventures in populism.

Kaputt by Curzio Malaparte

We wrap up our discussion of Aesthetics of Resistance Volume 2 by Peter Weiss.

Most of the other, older episodes of this series are available through the Patreon.

We chat about baseball, Israel's final years, and Tom's take on Schattenfroh so far.

Mentioned:

Is Irish hip-hop trio Kneecap still banned from entering Canada? Were they ever? It's unclear by Raffy Boudjikanian (CBC):

https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/kneecap-ban-canada-questions-1.7645528

The Canadian Press Will Continue Not Using 'Palestine' In Most Cases by David Mastracci (The Maple):

https://www.readthemaple.com/the-canadian-press-will-continue-not-using-palestine-in-most-cases/

Schattenfroh by Michael Lentz.

One Battle After Another by Paul Thomas Anderson.

Also: For the foreseeable future we're going to be releasing all new episodes on this free feed. You can join our Patreon for as low as $1/month to get access to the Discord and help us cover expenses but the episodes are free. Thank you for listening!