William James once said that modern people suffer from an “ontological wonder sickness.” Through the exploration of various cultures throughout the world, authors J David Osborne and Kris Saknussemm attempt to get to the heart of our lost moment, and provide some potential paths out. NO COUNTRY is a psychogeographical exploration of culture, art, language, and the power of creativity.
Kris and I are moving the whole podcast behind a paywall! There’s this episode and then one next week, and then we’ll be doing the show on Patreon.
Tearing through the facade, hummingbirds, skydiving, where fear lives, the weapon of the apocalypse, how we get incarnated, the blue monkey-headed goddess of inquisitiveness, and arranging calendars by feast days.
David tells of his recent tornado adventures, followed by a discussion of the term "Two Spirit" as it's commonly used in modern discourse. This leads to a bigger discussion of the rich histories and traditions of Native peoples (timely talk for Indigenous Peoples' day). How do we view these cultures respectfully while still granting them the agency? What are ways to express culture without becoming a neoliberal subject?
On this episode, Kris and I talk about the recent story out of LA County, in which schoolkids may be encouraged to pray to Aztec gods. As fans of syncretism and blood sacrifice, Kris and I wrestle with the idea that there may be too much happening too fast. We also talk about the modern trend of couching personal grievances in broad social justice frameworks, giant mollusks, and physical confrontations. I recount a recent performance piece I witnessed that completely blew my mind and restored my faith in art.
In Part 2, Kris recounts the story of a giant lizard in a tub. We are so focused on the nouning of everything, but people are verbs. We want to understand people as dynamic oscillations between modes. We also cover using cons for good, sexual intimacy, chicken guts in the street, revisionist history, and we round out with a thought exercise: what if you could see five minutes into the future? Would you have a future at all?
Get the exclusive Patreon episode here!
We talk about Freak Power and Hunter S. Thompson in order to explore the difference between the counterculture of the 1960s/70s and the current culture of activism/wokeness/progressivism? Did cancellation exist in the 60s? What’s the difference between ideas and beliefs. David and Kris discuss their lines in the sand when it comes to free speech and offense: is there anything that goes too far? It seems like when I was growing up (David) it was the right who were the censors. Now it comes from both sides depending on the issue.
On the bonus episode:
Narrative Control and the Origins of Caliber
What does it mean to control the narrative? Is there a narrative to control at all? What are good and bad optics? How about the difference between surface and substance? Pride and hate?
We ask a very important question: are you the hero of your life?
Can empowerment erode agency?
And finally, David tells a story of a time when his life might have been saved by a bad case of diarrhea.
Subscribe to the Patreon for $5/month to get this and 16 other episodes!
What about the Gabby Petito story is capturing the American consciousness so powerfully? What symbolic truths are revealed? Kris and I look at it through the symbolic lens of “women in trouble” and the darkening of the ubiquitous documentation of our lives on social media.
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On this episode, Kris and I attempt to tease out the general malaise we’ve been feeling culturally as of late. We begin by discussing 9/11, taking it as an opportunity to talk about the shift we’ve made ideologically in the past 20 years. Why don’t we consider ourselves “left” anymore? We go into 9/11 conspiracies and how our thoughts have evolved. Whatever happened to intellectual humility? What is the mythopoetic story of 9/11?
Note: Rage Against the Machine’s self-titled album came out in 1992, not 1998.
Kris took a road trip to see Patti Smith perform at the Henry Miller library. We have a discussion about both the importance of a set of rules, and the imperative to break them. Is cancel culture on its last legs? What is "doomer optimism"? At the end of the day, if we're ever going to move past some of this stuff, we have to get tired of ourselves.
Patreon episode - "Circus Ominous":
This episode is very much worth giving the Patreon a try. At the moment we have 14 bonus episodes, and for $5 you can try it out and see if it's worth it. How do you break out of stale patterns of thought? We dive deeper into the dark heart of American Mayhem, exploring the sinister alchemy of Charles Manson moving to Los Angeles. Are there living demons of regional America? Did the Sharon Tate murders have a symbolic, occult effect on the country?
Subscribe now for a month and try out our bonus content. I think you'll dig it!
Part 1:
In this episode, Kris and I take a deep dive into the mystery surrounding the death of Bruce Lee. We also wonder where all of the stars have gone? Is there a reservoir of attention and charisma that is spread too thin across the internet? Was part of Bruce Lee's appeal a kind of doomed energy? Does the fact that he’s from Seattle have anything to do with it? What's going on with Seattle and the PNW in general, anyway? Probably ghosts.
Was the accidental death of Brandon Lee on the set of The Crow an accident at all? Or was some kind of curse involved? David tells the story of the strange happenings on the set of the film, the demon that followed Bruce Lee through Dragon, the similarities between Brandon's death and The Game of Death, and much more. This leads to a conversation about curses in general, and the perception of them in PNG culture in particular. There's also a practical tip relating to enhancing your memory and shifting the way you perceive the things that you can't change. Subscribe here!
Part 1:
We have our first guest! Please welcome Kris’s mother, Ellen to the show. We talk about hearing about Pearl Harbor on the radio, child development, and the power of music. She is a lovely person with a lot of insight. Kris was on the edge of his seat the whole time. Did she reveal any deep secrets about his past? One or two.
Kris and I talk about the sense of psychic collective guilt permeating the atmosphere these days. What’s the deal with all of those signs touting “kindness” as a virtue? Where did the phrase “shooting fish in a barrel" come from? All this and more in this extra episode.
Subscribe to the Patreon here for bonus content!
Part 1:
Is it valuable to actively engage with dissonant ideas? Should we uproot our understanding of how the world works? In this episode, Kris puts the idea of conspiracy theories into practical terms. How do we break out of tautological thinking? Why did the “Richard Gere gerbil” story gain such traction?
What is “Conspiracy Brain”? / Conspiracy as Metaphor / The Council Bluffs Scenario / Visualizing Patterns
Part 2 (available here):
How do our personal associative patterns work? How does swarm intelligence work? Is there any thinking outside of communication? Kris and I continue our deep dive into how patterns and associations work, and investigate a strange synchronicity between Kris’s dreams and David’s real life.
River Dave / Synchromysticism / Victor Hugo Thought He Was Victor Hugo / Wherever Two or More Are Gathered in My Name
Show notes and blogs, in addition to 12 bonus episodes, are all available at the Patreon!
