Not all Propaganda is Art

Don't ignore the spies' role in the creation of the media landscape of the late twentieth century. They used it to contain radical voices and maintain a dominant narrative that suited their strategic agenda.

That's the chief lesson in this series, but it takes a while to really arrive and it takes many a digression through the lives of its three main protagonists on the way to it.

A worthwhile listen if you have an interest in this era of history and culture.

“Not All Propaganda is Art” tells the story of three writers who got caught up in the Cultural Cold War between the years of 1956 and 1960: New Yorker writer and “little magazine” champion Dwight Macdonald, British theater critic and “Angry Young Man” Kenneth Tynan, and legendary Native Son novelist Richard Wright, who at this time was living in exile in France in protest of American racism. All three collaborated with and were targeted by American, British, and French security agencies in Cold War propaganda battles over contested intellectual ideas like the critique of mass culture and politically engaged art.

Comments

Time on my own

Time on my own makes me cook things, things I wouldn't normally cook with 3 vegetarians living in the same house. Slow barbequed brisket being one... ...and roast belly pork on tabouleh with improvised master stock being another. Other things time on my own seems to make me do is binge-watch old TV series and fall asleep on the sofa. Also, I make beer, as much beer as I have the capacity for in my system. Unfortunately what it hasn't done is provoke me to write any more or amend my habits around meditation or alcohol consumption. Clearly some form of cognitive intervention is going to have to take place for these. Bugger.

Distraction Aggregation for the past week or two

Image echoes There are obviously only so many ways you can photograph large mining operations and people nearby but the peculiarities of problem and solution closely juxtaposed and then the reaction too it in more ominous fashion seems oddly resonant. Image credit Brad Johnson (found via Mastodon ) Image credit Marius Michusch (found via Mastodon ) Termite The word Termite is a portmanteau and contraction of the phrase 'terminator mite'. A mighty mite that might terminate your place of dwelling from the outside in with you in it. Work My increasing cynicism about the nature of capitalism is promoting confirmation bias in my media consumption.

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