The best of his creations, if you want to think of the best as a novel, I think is the transmigration of Timothy Archer. UBIC and Martian time slip are the most quintessential Dick novels about what it feels like to be in that kind of world. It captures some of the reasons why the world that we live in very often feels so unpleasant.
The one concept most valuable for understanding the news today might be Henry Farrell’s theory of weaponized interdependence. Whether it’s China’s influence over the NBA, the US ban of Huawei, or whether social media should be regulated on a global scale, Henry Farrell has played a key role articulating how global economic networks can enable state coercion.
Tyler and Henry discuss these issues and more, including what a big tech breakup would mean for security and privacy, why political economics suggests Facebook’s Oversight Board won’t work, what Italy might reveal about China’s future, his family connection to Joyce, his undying affection for My Bloody Valentine, why Philip K. Dick would have reveled in QAnon, why Twitter seems left-wing, and being a first generation academic blogger.
Read a full transcript enhanced with helpful links.
Recorded October 7th, 2019 Other ways to connect