DEATH // SENTENCE

What if you wanted to redefine Communism for the 21st century and accidentally wrote the plot to The Expanse? Novara Media's Aaron Bastani has written Fully Automated Luxury Communism, which extols the virtues of automation, artificial meat and asteroid mines as a means of achieving a socialist utopia. We're joined by Jon and Ash of The Horror Vanguard (https://www.patreon.com/horrorvanguard) for this epic voyage into the world of tomorrow. Music by Fetid: https://listen.20buckspin.com/album/steeping-corporeal-mess And Fuming Mouth: https://fumingmouth.bandcamp.com/ And here's the homunculus video I mention. There's like a whole genre of this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LvGx74hdhOw Here's our patreon, jokers: https://www.patreon.com/DeathSentence

Hussein Kesvani (MEL Magazine, Trashfuture) joins us to discuss his excellent book Follow Me, Akhi: The Online World of British Muslims. Predictably, we get distracted by how EXTREME Deadpool would be if he had a Venom symbiote and the religious ramifications of the Multiverse. Music by Imperial Triumphant: https://redefiningdarknessrecords.bandcamp.com/album/imperial-triumphant-inceste-ep

Gamers rise up! But in a good way. Like against your bosses. Jamie Woodcock's Marx At The Arcade (Haymarket Books) explores the history of the videogames industry right up to its present day, when labor organizing is just beginning to happen. We talk about the Marxist tool of workers' inquiry, Marx himself as a game character and why the bourgeois individualism of Sekiro has broken me. Music by Warforged: https://warforged.bandcamp.com/ and Spirit Adrift: https://spiritadrift.bandcamp.com

We're joined by Intercept columnist and writer Natasha Lennard (@natashalennard) to talk about her book Being Numerous: Essays on Non-Fascist Life. What's non-fascist life? Was Occupy cool? How do we make ourselves less Fashy? Ghosts? The answers are here. Music by Neckbeard Deathcamp: https://neckbearddeathcamp.bandcamp.com/album/so-much-for-the-tolerant-left And Full of Hell: https://fullofhell.bandcamp.com/ Support our Patreon, why don't you: https://www.patreon.com/DeathSentence

James Bridle's New Dark Age argues for a better understanding of our late-capitalist Hellworld, taking in everything from algorithmically-generated mousepads to rendition flights. We talk about his book, nihilism, art, the New Aesthetic and we beg our listeners to send us powerful psychoactive drugs! Music by TOMB MOLD: https://tombmold.bandcamp.com And False: https://gileadmedia.bandcamp.com/album/portent Support our Patreon and get exclusive episodes where, somehow, we are even dumber: https://www.patreon.com/DeathSentence Check out James' documentary series New Ways of Seeing here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000458m

It's another of our 'stuff that's not books but is as good as books' episodes, but this time kind of about a book: the manga Golden Kamuy by Satoru Noda. It's about a hunt for a stash of gold in turn-of-the-century Japan, but it's actually about colonialism, indigenous identity, the psychological effects of war, and friendship. Pod Save Anime host Emma Bowers (@hyenasandgin) is on hand to help keep us on course. We say the c-word a *lot* in this episode. Music by Smoulder ( https://smoulder.bandcamp.com ) and Sadness ( https://sadnessmusic.bandcamp.com )

We talk to Juliet Escoria about her new book Juliet the Maniac (on Melville House), the story of a teenager with some very severe mental health problems who makes all kinds of sex and drugs-related mistakes and winds up in therapy, which doesn't exactly work. It's kind of something everyone involved in the making and probably listening-to of this show can relate to, so we're into it. Music by Foie Gras and Sunn 0))) Support our Patreon for bonus episodes

British-Literary-Neocon daddy Ian McEwan has lowered himself to writing a 'scientific fiction' book to show us poor saps that they can have real feeling and emotions! So there's a robot in the background while some middle-class white people talk about their feelings. And you bet there's some bad sexual and racial politics! Music by Big Brave and DILLY DALLY. Support our Patreon and become a true WÄRBRÖTHËR (gender neutral term): https://www.patreon.com/DeathSentence

We've got comics artist, writer and critic Sarah Horrocks on the show to talk about her work so far (which has included The Leopard and Goro) and her forthcoming mecha comic. We talk Gundam, learning to draw, the nature of melodrama and whether we'd vore Donald Trump like ducks or snakes. Learn more about Sarah's work here: https://mercurialblonde.squarespace.com/ Music by Skepticism and Les Rallizes Denudes And support our Patreon here: https://www.patreon.com/DeathSentence

What if we're wrong about the current far-right movements in Europe and the US being fascists? What if they're a new, more dangerous phenomena that blends ideas from the far-right with the relative acceptability of the political centre? That's the main thesis in David Renton's The New Authoritarians, so we dissect it and, somehow, still manage to talk about horror movies, bad Lolita takes and bustin'. Music by Waste of Space Orchestra: https://wasteofspaceorchestra.bandcamp.com And Spiteful Urinator: https://spitefulurinator.bandcamp.com/album/acid-earth And here's our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/DeathSentence