Postcard
As we wait to fully digest the mountain of fowl and chocolate products of Yule enough for our mind to begin to process the past years events and write ‘A Big Review’ – we are pointing outwards and sending you a buffet of non-Bella content. This is a new regular posting of random content called ‘Postcard’. We used to do this and some people liked it and we stopped doing it and now we’re doing it again. Content Warning this is off-topic, digressive, ephemera: sorry/not sorry.
I just came across this magnificent spoken word album by Justin Barton with Mark Fisher on capitalist realism, ecology, and psychoanalysis. This is by Hyperdub over at bandcamp HERE.
Bella keeps spawning books – or our contributors do. Out next February is ‘At Work in the Ruins’ by Dougald Hine. He’s doing a book tour of the UK in February and we’ll be organising an event in Scotland on Saturday 11 February (details as a we have them).
Dougald writes: “I remain convinced that the world is deep in trouble, deeper than we know how to talk about. I also see a danger that, when we talk about ‘taking climate change seriously’, this increasingly comes to justify the project of making our living planet and its inhabitants into an object of technological management and control. Those of us who want no part in such a project will need to find other ways of talking and other paths worth taking. I hope that At Work in the Ruins will be some help along the way.”
Some of the thinking behind the book evolved out of Dougald’s long-form column series Notes from Underground which ran through 2019-2020. Order your copy HERE – or follow him on Substack ‘Writing Home’ HERE.
Substack and Medium seem to be creating what Alexander Trocchi described in his Sigma Portfolio (1962) as:
an entirely new dimension in publishing, through which the writer reaches his public immediately, outflanking the traditional traps of publishing-house policy, and by means of which the reader gets it, so to speak, ‘hot’ from the writer’s pen, the photographer’s lens, etc.
This seems a good thing, though you do need to surf through quite a lot of crap at first. While we’re over at Substack why not try The Light Inside by Jo Clifford? Jo is a ‘playwright, performer, proud father and grandmother.’ They write: “Life scares me. I expect it scares you too. The future is so unknown…So full of fears: but so full of terrifying beauty. So full of possibilities. It’s such a joy and such a gift to be alive. I hope this newsletter is like my plays: looking at the horror and the beauty of the world with open eyes. And empowering readers and audience to dream of and to create a better world.”
Also on Substack – but on completely different theme – is Mic Wright (aka Broken Bottle Boy) who writes a scathing / seething analysis of Britain’s abject media output which is fast becoming the go-to place for help navigating through the madness.
Read his latest missive ‘A counterstrike by His Majesty’s 1st Battalion of Bastards (Volunteer Regiment)’ HERE.
Mic Wright features the Sun’s manipulation and misrepresentation of human suffering through the strikes and the story is picked up by Umair Haque. Here’s three articles to sample to see if you like his stuff:
Welcome to Dickensian Britain. Britain is Suffering in Shocking Ways — But Its Leaders Don’t Care
Will Donald Trump Spend the Rest of His Life Behind Bars?
Our Civilization Just Hit Three Great — And Ominous — Inflection Points
On a very different note this new station from Soho Radio “Zan, Zendegi, Azadi” (meaning “Woman, Life, Freedom”), is well worth a listen. The channel’s notes tell jus:
“Zan, Zendegi, Azadi” (meaning “Woman, Life, Freedom”), which was initially a Kurdish motto, has become the chant of current protests in Iran. Women bravely have risked their lives on the streets to fight against patriarchy, harassment, and servitude to a fascist system. The program is curated by an anonymous collective from Tehran, Berlin, and London in honor of Iranian people and is represented to amplify their voices on the streets of the world through local radio stations.”
Listen on MixCloud HERE.
Also good for the toons is ‘Podcart’, a Glasgow-based music blog and podcast [‘We showcase music we love not only from Scotland, but around the world’]. They recently featured Jenny Mayhem, ‘Feel Alright‘; et.nu: ‘Heart Beat Big Beat’; and the Sound of Fractures: ‘This Place’ – amongst other gems.
Podcart was founded by Halina Rifai, who also produces a weekly mental health podcast called ‘A Sonic Hug Podcast’ (@asonichug). In dark times this is important sharing. Listen to the series HERE.
Finally (!) Pat Kane’s Substack ‘E2: The Future (& Scotland Too’ – is a glory trove that will take you from inspiration to despair and back again. In his recent Reasons to Be Cheerful for 2023 piece he explains: “On the first of January, 2023, the state of Oregon in the US will make the psychotherapeutic use of psilocybin legal, under license. Also, that month, approved for the treatment of depression and PTSD, the Canadian state of Alberta will add mescaline, ketamine, MDMA, DMT and LSD to the official list.”
But also elsewhere Pat highlights (Omnipedia #8):
👩🏻⚖️12 Much Better Rules For Life (blog and YouTube interview) is an insolent riff on Jordan Petersen’s 12 Rules, by that playful, metamodern, composite philosopher Hanzi Freinacht). Some rules clearly requiring some background explanation… Worth comparing:
