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Is Trump Karmic Payback?

Posted on November 21, 2018 by normanbradio

David Shields’ new book is organized into six chapters and sixty subsections and gets increasingly harrowing in its focus, moving from childhood to sex to media to virtue-signaling to chaos theory to “apocalypse always.” The book’s central thesis is that we have met the enemy and he is us. As daunting as that may sound, Shields’ cleverly deconstructs the idiot-savant-autocrat at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue in Nobody Hates Trump More than Trump: An Intervention by focusing with laser-like intensity on Trump’s fan-fiction base, and the emotional needs/moral failures of the city, country, and world that created him. The best-selling author argues that Trump loathes himself. No human being on the planet is less capable of joy or even fulfillment. This is the key connection between himself and his voters. Shields offers up a much-needed discussion on why sixty-three million Americans voted for Trump. A huge number of things we love are big, sick jokes (from WWE to horror movies to the NFL), he says, adding, the method to Trump’s madness is that in a shame culture, he’s shameless, this gives him enormous appeal and leverage to people who are resentful. The key to iconic celebrities is that they embody the culture’s contradictions, e.g., Jesus, Elvis, Madonna. Trump is a “winner” who acts like a “loser.” He’s a millionaire “schlub.” This allows him to play both ends against the middle. This is mad brilliance or lack of both. Is Trump is karmic payback for an America lost to simulacra for at least twenty years? Make sure you don’t miss the spirited conversation with David Shields on our next edition.

The Podcast is available at NPR One & iTunes

Sundays 12 noon ET at The Source WMNF HD3
Sundays 10.00am ET at WNRM The Root
Mondays 5.00pm PT & Wednesdays 2.00pm PT at NWCZ Radio
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Fridays at 9.00pm GMT on Cornucopia Radio

If you miss any editions of Life Elsewhere, go here then go to the Listen On-Demand panel, choose the date of a show and click play.

Life Elsewhere Music airs:
Sundays 11.00am ET at WNRM The Root
Wednesdays at 3.00pm Pacific Time on NWCZ Radio
Fridays at 10.00am Eastern Time on IRN
Cornucopia Radio airs Life Elsewhere Music throughout each week
You can hear all the volumes over at Mixcloud

Show #300

A Story Of Violence & Redemption

Posted on November 15, 2018 by normanbradio

Set among the conservative rural working poor of the Blue Ridge Mountains and America’s War on Terror raging in the background, Sarah St. Vincent has chosen an austere backdrop for her debut novel, Ways To Hide In Winter. She deftly uses her experience as a human rights lawyer, working with victims of domestic violence to portray convincing and emotional depth to her characters. Her story unfolds with Kathleen, a survivor of a car crash that left her widowed at twenty-two. She retreats to a remote corner of a state park, where she works flipping burgers for deer hunters and hikers – happy, she insists to be left alone. But, when a stranger appears in the dead of winter, seemingly out of nowhere, Kathleen is intrigued, despite herself. He says he’s a student from Uzbekistan, and his worldliness fills her with curiosity about life beyond the valley. After a cautious friendship settles between them, the stranger confesses to a terrible crime in his own country, and Kathleen finds herself in the grip of a manhunt – and face-to-face with secrets of her own. In our next edition, Sarah St. Vincent talks with Norman B about Ways To Hide In Winter and a topic she knows much about – domestic abuse.

The Podcast is available at NPR One & iTunes

If you miss any editions of Life Elsewhere, go here then go to the Listen On-Demand panel, choose the date of a show and click play.

Show #299 V2

The Chaos & Unknowing Of Contemporary Life

Posted on November 14, 2018 by normanbradio

Adam Nemett boldly admits to working on his debut novel, We Can Save Us All for over twelve years. The time it took to finally get his sprawling, ambitious book published is essential to why it’s such a fascinating read. Nemett graduated from Princeton University where he co-founded MIMA Music Inc, a student organization that grew into an educational 501(c)3 nonprofit that has operated in 40 countries worldwide. So, it’s hardly a coincidence that in his novel, The Egg is an off-campus geodesic dome where David Fuffman and his crew of alienated Princeton students train for what might be the end of days. America is in a perpetual state of war, climate disasters global states of emergency, and scientists believe time itself might be collapsing using a theory known as Chronostrictesis. When this takes hold on the mainstream, many Americans find themselves popping the new drug Zeronal, a pill that allegedly slows down the experience of time. Meanwhile, storms are lasting longer, and the floodwaters are rising. Adam’s ribald and multi-layered story may be the question of our time: just who is responsible for fixing all of this? Make sure you don’t miss Norman B’s conversation with Adam Nemett, we cannot promise you will hear the answers to the questions he poses in We Can Save Us All, but his enthusiasm will engage you.

The Podcast is available at NPR One & iTunes

If you miss any editions of Life Elsewhere, go here then go to the Listen On-Demand panel, choose the date of a show and click play.

Show #299

Dispelling The Myths Of Thomas Cromwell

Posted on November 9, 2018 by normanbradio

After a decade of researching the Royal Archives, the award-winning and New York Times bestselling author, Diarmaid MacCulloch has emerged with the most thoroughly researched and complete biography of Thomas Crowell – a polarizing political figure most know for his unwavering service to volatile King Henry VIII, the demise of Anne Boleyn, and his hand in the Reformation. Thomas Cromwell: A Revolutionary Life sheds light onto a fascinating part of history, one that helped shape the course of English politics and the future of the Protestant religion. Since Crowell’s life met its end on the scaffold in 1540, history has not been kind to this self-made commoner who rose from obscurity to become the architect of England’s split with Rome. However, MacCulloch unveils a more sympathetic figure. Was Cromwell the villain of history or the victim of its creation? A masterful storyteller, not afraid to interject a healthy portion of English wit, MacCulloch dispels popular myths. Despite being unable to control the violent humor of his King, Cromwell made his mark on England, setting her on a path to religious awakening and indelibly transforming the system of government of the English-speaking world. Norman B’s conversation with Diarmaid MacCulloch is certainly not for history buffs alone, as illustrated by the author’s deadpan reference to the current US President’s possible resemblance to the one-time narcissistic, volatile ruler of England.

The Podcast is available at NPR One & iTunes

If you miss any editions of Life Elsewhere, go here then go to the Listen On-Demand panel, choose the date of a show and click play.

Show #298 V2

Graphic Design In The Age Of Unrest

Posted on November 9, 2018 by normanbradio

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As the Midterm Election Day progressed social media was very much alive and well with almost everyone it seemed rushing to let the rest of us know what they had been doing mere moments before by posting selfies with “I Voted!” stickers, front and center. If you were not already sure how our world has changed in the age of Trump, then the cacophony of “I Voted!” stickers should have convinced you. The omnipresent stickers came in never-ending varieties, from the generic to the overtly partisan and the downright ornery, “I Voted – Have You?” No matter if we accept or not, that all of these tiny, little graphic messages were designed. Someone, somewhere produced artwork that had to be sent to a printer. A perfect example of graphic design being used to make a point, to get a message across. Which is exactly what graphic design is meant to do. These miniature statements in mostly red, white and blue may not be the pinnacle of brilliant graphic design but they initiated a discussion on graphic design in times of unrest. Acclaimed New York-based creative director, Robert Newman suggests the anonymously-designed “I Voted!” stickers are not too far removed from the bold, unforgettable graphics of Emory Douglas for Black Panthers in the 60’s. He adds, “In times of unrest, graphic designers always shine.”

Robert Newman discusses graphic design in the age of unrest on our next edition. Below are links to many of the graphics we mention in the show and illustrated above.

Feminist Graphic Design

Afropunk

Pink Pussy Hat

Trump Magazine Covers

The Podcast is available at NPR One & iTunes