Workers' Lit

After a brief check-in at the top with Tehran Taylor, Jen and Jacob launch into Palantir CEO Alexander Karp's Manifesto, "The Technological Republic: Hard Power, Soft Belief, and the Future of the West." More specifically, we look at Palantir's 22 point summary of the text it put out, to a concerning amount of praise from the liberal and conservative establishment alike.

Do you want it?

If by “it” you mean Gretchen Felker-Martin’s 2025 queer horror novel, “Black Flame,” the answer is 100% yes!

We are joined by Jon Greenaway, writer, co-host of the “Horror Vanguard” podcast, and certified gothic literature understander. Together we enter this story about being so horny it warps reality, trauma-haunted art, supernatural resistance against patriarchal violence, and Rodney Dangerfield.

Go follow us on Patreon go be blessed beyond your wildest imagination

Guest plugs:

Check out Horror Vanguard here or wherever you get your podcasts!

Check out Jon’s blog here!

Buy Jon’s book “Capitalism, a Horror Story.”

And follow Jon @thelitcritguy.bsky.social

War propaganda has always been strange...
But now it's got Wii Sports and Legos in it.
Caleb of Kill the Computer and 60 Minute Drill joins us to talk about the "meme war" that has raged parallel to the Iran war.
First we check out the White House's slop: warning, not for the faint of heart. Then we look at Explosive Media, an Iranian-state backed media collective's, use of AI Legos to call Trump, Hegseth, and anyone else they hate every insult under the sun.
What does this mean for the future of communication? What does this mean for the future of war? What does this mean for our own sanity? Find out here.
Want to follow along? Check out this document for links to the various videos we cover.
Check out Caleb's work over at Kill the Computer and 60 Minute Drill.
https://www.patreon.com/cw/killthecomputer
https://www.patreon.com/cw/60MinuteDrill
Also follow him on Bluesky @birdrespecter.bsky.social

News sources linked below:
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/white-houses-use-of-internet-memes-to-promote-iran-war-sparks-criticism
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sUrveflgWhk
https://www.404media.co/iran-is-winning-the-ai-slop-propaganda-war/

What if the Jewish diaspora had established a mini-state in Alaska?

What if Harry DuBois had a gigantic muscle-pal instead of Kim?

What is the Messiah was gay?

All this and more is addressed in Michael Chabon’s 2007 alternate history novel, “The Yiddish Policeman’s Union.”

On top of being some darn good genre fiction, this book takes a hard and unique look at U.S. empire and its relationship to Zionism. It’s also a beautiful and fun look at numerous aspects of Jewish culture, which Chabon delights in showing off with remarkable skill…Also it describes some REALLY yummy donuts.

Note: there’s some words in this book we’ve elected not to say as non-Jews, so in the interest of respect we’ve bleeped those when we read passages out loud.

Links to articles/topics referenced in this episode:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Yiddish_Policemen%27s_Union

https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/avi-shlaim-proof-israel-zionist-involvement-iraq-jews-attacks

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lavon_Affair

https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/somebodys-protest-novel/

Folks, we regret to inform you that the internet has kind of become...important.
Today we are joined by Anthony DePice, activist, movement cheerleader, and digital organizer to talk about the wide, wonderful, horrid world of social media. We talk some (and laugh more) about various platforms, their highs and lows, and how people pursuing liberation can make our intervention on the web (hopefully without killing each other while we're at it).
Also, we talk about the online right and left more broadly. Fun times.
Check out Anthony on Instagram and other social media sites:
https://www.instagram.com/j.anthony.depice/
Check us out on Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/WorkersLit
Sources for today's discussion:
https://www.pewresearch.org/journalism/fact-sheet/news-platform-fact-sheet/
https://www2.census.gov/library/publications/2010/compendia/statab/130ed/tables/11s1134.pdf
https://www.pewresearch.org/journalism/fact-sheet/newspapers/
https://www.georgetown.edu/news/ask-a-professor-renee-diresta-how-social-media-can-shape-public-opinion/