Ep 383: Why Is Everyone Talking About “Against the Machine”? (w/ Tyler Austin Harper)

At some point last year, I received an advanced reader copy of a book titled Against the Machine. It was written by Paul Kingsnorth, a former environmental activist, turned novelist, turned poet, turned essayist. And the first thing that caught my attention about this was actually the cover. It's really cool. It features what looks like a primeval green forest, but as if it's being displayed through an old analog computer monitor that's starting to distort it.

It also had a sort of Stranger Things style 1980s font, so it's a really cool looking cover. So like, look, you know what? I'm gonna read this book. And I did, and you know what? I was captivated.

It was about technology, but it was also about culture, and it was also about politics and the environment. Kings North talks about techno-capitalism and how it's choking civilization and destroying the earth. Um, it's not a politically careful book. It eskews jargon, it doesn't align with pre-existing tribes, it embraces its own hypocrisy and lobs its share of rhetorical bombs.

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