Darts and Letters

03/10/2022

Technocracy is the idea that experts should govern. For the common good, presumably. In fact, it's an idea as old as politics itself, and it emerges just about everywhere across the ideological spectrum. Technocracy is seductive. In fact, it's an idea as old as politics itself.

This episode is the first in a three-part series telling stories of technocracies past, present, and future. First, Gordon takes us through the story of Technocracy, Inc. - the 1930s movement that wanted to install a non-democratic “technate” in North America. And then, you’ll hear a wide-ranging conversation on intellectuals and expertise with perhaps the most influential intellectual of our time: Noam Chomsky. Don't miss this Darts and Letters podcast 👇

https://newbooksnetwork.com/technocracy-now-part-1

30/09/2022

Technocracy is the idea that experts should govern. For the common good, presumably. We begin a 3 pt. series telling stories of technocracies past, present, & future. Noam Chomsky starts us off. Out today for patrons, starting next week on the feed.

https://dartsandletters.ca/2022/09/30/coming-soon-technocracy-now/

16/12/2021

Dumbest book of the year? Well technically last year, but Daniel Bessner picked Obama's "A Promised Land" - which essentially "demonstrates the degree to which Obama really identified his own individual success with the success of his country". Thanks Obama. Full EP: https://bit.ly/3GtCIuU

15/12/2021

On our recent EP, Lyta Gold's pick for dumbest book is "a work of art..a perfect work of an unreliable narrator, who does not understand anything that is going on in his life." It's Cuomo's "American Crisis." Find more stocking-stuffers at https://bit.ly/3GtCIuU

11/12/2021

It "overtook The Fountainhead this year for the auspicious prize of the single worst political book I have ever read.” Matt McManus — reviewer of many conservative books, and himself author of “Post-Modern Conservatism — says Mark Levin’s “American Marxism” is the worst book of 2021. Actually, it’s not even quite a book; this NYT bestseller is actually a “post book.” Find out why:

https://bit.ly/3GtCIuU

10/12/2021

Darts and Letters' very own David Moscrop comes to the other side of the curtain to share his choice for dumbest book of the year. "The Two Michaels" - a spotty, incomplete assessment of the geopolitics of the Michaels and Meng affair

EP: https://bit.ly/3ygP86B

10/12/2021

Luke Savage of Jacobin & Michael and Us is a reluctant gourmand of liberal pablum. He serves us up a book about trust (from one of the least trustworthy politicians around), and we eat it up. 🐀

https://bit.ly/3ygP86B

10/12/2021

🚨NEW EP🚨Looking for stocking stuffers? We present to you our 1st annual Darts & Letters Dumb Book Awards. 📕💩Our esteemed roundtable — , & — make their picks, with special call-in guests & .

https://bit.ly/3ygP86B

08/12/2021

"No matter what happens to abortion access... women of a certain economic status will always be able to access abortion care." Abortion rights are a class question and a privilege question.

Our last episode - The Road from Roe https://bit.ly/3ED0hB6

EP41: The Road From Roe (ft. Becca Andrews, Chelsea Ebin & Laurie Bertram Roberts) EP41: The Road From Roe (ft. Becca Andrews, Chelsea Ebin & Laurie Bertram Roberts) By Cited Media | December 3, 2021 https://dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/media.blubrry.com/dartsandletters/p/content.blubrry.com/dartsan...

08/12/2021

“How can we make this extremely normal medical procedure something traumatic...” Becca Andrews chronicles the myriad of anti-choice regulations designed to get in people's way.

Our last episode - The Road from Roe https://bit.ly/3ED0hB6

08/12/2021

Blue states: you aren't safe if Roe is overturned. Your access to abortion WILL be threatened when clinics are slammed & abortion bans could easily come to your state

EP https://bit.ly/3ED0hB6

07/12/2021

The endgame for anti-choice activists: fetal personhood. What is that? Laurie says it’s being denied healthcare, and being forced to carry a child—even when it might kill you.

Listen to our full EP on Roe v.Wade & the fight for reproductive justice https://bit.ly/3ED0hB6

07/12/2021

What is direct aid for reproductive justice? It’s not PMC activism. It means just going and getting s**t done. When someone needs care, Laurie doesn't have time to waste in meetings.

Check out our full EP on the state of Roe v. Wade https://bit.ly/3ED0hB6

07/12/2021

🚨NEW EP🚨 For years abortion rights advocates have worried about the US abolishing Roe vs. Wade. Could this be the moment? Becca Andrews explains the TX and MS cases. Laurie Bertram Roberts on abortion in the south, and driving 221 miles to get care. Chelsea Ebin tells us the history of catholics & evangelicals coming together. https://bit.ly/3ED0hB6

18/11/2021

As the military increasingly targets young women for recruitment, so does the military cultural apparatus begin gearing its propaganda toward women. Captain Marvel, which was basically an ad for the , is a recent example.

Full EP: https://bit.ly/3qJWqye

18/11/2021

We should take the use of video games as a political tool as seriously as the US Military and security state does. Full EP: “Wargames” out now: https://bit.ly/3qJWqye

15/11/2021

🚨NEW EP🚨 Why are there so many war games? Tanner Mirrlees, author of "Hearts and Mines: The US Empire’s Culture Industry" tells about the history of the militainment industrial complex, to understand the militarization of gaming.

"War Games" out now. Listen at DartsAndLetters.ca or wherever you get your podcasts.

05/11/2021

🚨NEW EP🚨 As the family is squabbling in court today, we take a look at just how neo-feudal the Canadian economy really is.

LINEUP: Dwayne Winseck on Canadian telecoms; & Matthew Stoller on the supply crunch, monopolies, and the anti-trust movement.

01/11/2021

🚨NEW EP🚨 Democracy Dies in Snarkness📰 Why does nobody trust the media anymore? It ain’t fake news or 🇷🇺bots. Two media critics offer deeper explanations. Michael Tracey and Robert McChesney (co-founder ) tell us the media isn't all that trustworthy.

22/10/2021

China is clamping down on addictive mobile games. It won’t work. But jeez, some of these mechanics are pretty sus. We debate the ethics of them with a guy who used them, and talk to radical game developers who don’t.

Full EP at DartsAndLetters.ca or wherever you get podcasts.

15/10/2021

NEW EP🎒💵🍎

Unis, think tanks, and scholars across the US and Canada suckle on the teat of billionaires like the Kochs. We look at how their big money influences academic freedom, academic integrity, and ideas that shape our lives.

'Koch Block My Campus' now available on DartsAndLetters.ca or wherever you get your podcasts.

07/10/2021

"You essentially have a privatized space, the military intellectual complex, that is charged and funded in many cases by the US government with thinking about the United States' place in the world." Daniel Bessner discusses how the Rand Corporation helps the security state avoid democratic control.

EP https://bit.ly/3Fco37R

06/10/2021

There's a wide network of thinkers who provide the intellectual justification for forever war. Daniel Bessner calls it the "the military intellectual complex," and we discuss it on our latest episode.

Episode 35 - "The Bland Corporation" is available wherever you get your podcasts.

01/10/2021

🚨NEW EP🚨 We look at the defence intellectual complex—the thinkers and calculator men at places like RAND. Daniel Bessner of the American Prestige Podcast and Associate Professor at the University of Washington, explains why the defence complex hate real democracy, and how they provide an intellectual engine for US empire.

EP https://bit.ly/3Fco37R

29/09/2021

“This is the contradiction of Canada’s social democratic left. They want to put forward radical ideas… but they refuse to re-invent the party.”

On the latest, Nora Loreto takes on the for continuing to put forward failing strategies--election after election.

Full EP: https://bit.ly/3ELN2Pb

27/09/2021

The movement for black lives was the largest major social movement during the pandemic, but despite this literally not a single major Canadian political party centred it in their campaign. No wonder the seats didn't change. Nora Loreto explains.

EP https://bit.ly/3ELN2Pb

21/09/2021

Deindustrialization happened at a rapid pace in the US. In Canada, it happened too; but it was delayed. Historian of de-industrialization Steven High of Concordia explains how Canada demanded bailed out car companies reinvest in communities with bail out money.

EP https://bit.ly/2XAZOiM

20/09/2021

Latest EP is about how Canadian political leaders sold out working people. Christo Aivalis explains how Pierre Trudeau flipped from being a pro-labour organizer to an anti-labour PM.

EP https://bit.ly/2XAZOiM

19/09/2021

Recent polling suggests the is no longer the party of labour. On the latest EP, Historian Steven High of looks at the so-called right populist strategy of the Conservatives, and the broader politics of the working class vote.

EP https://bit.ly/3AB8ggd

18/09/2021

The "exist as a steam valve for capital" - Christo Aivalis. The party -- from Pierre to Justin -- is surprisingly in tune with the left. Enough to know when it must concede to the working class to avoid crisis, but fundamentally it remains the party of Bay Street.

EP https://bit.ly/3AB8ggd