Amos and Ex: Living in the End Times

In this first episode of 2019, Amos and Ex continue their discussion on “apocalypse” (or at least radical social critique) in television and film. In addition to talking about memes and news from Washington–Elizabeth Warren, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, etc.–the films/programs discussed today include Pump Up the Volume (1990), Fight Club (1999), Memento (2000), and Mr. Robot (2015-2019).

In this final episode of 2018, Amos and Ex chat about the apocalypse as imagined by Hollywood. Best and "worst" end of the world films, from zombie apocalypses to more serious science fiction films like Denis Villenueve's Arrival (2016) to the Coens' No Country for Old Men (2007). Also discussed is the notion that American film, as a artform, has come to an end.

Today Amos and Ex talk Coen Brothers films, the prospects of Alexandria Ocasio Cortez’s proposed Green New Deal in Washington, anarchist LARPing, David Graeber’s take on the ongoing gilets jaunes movement in France, and how being a leftist is like being a Minnesota Vikings fan.

Happy Holidays, yalls. Tis the season for your co-hosts to discuss the ways in which the Christian tradition especially seems to have lost its appetite for eschatological or end-of-days thinking (relative to the 1990s “Left Behind” hysteria) as we actually get closer to such a moment coming to pass. Likewise, given the “eschatological” utopianism embedded within some far left traditions, where are...

Who starts a podcast in the 21st Century by talking about the GREAT Omaha band 311? Amos and Ex do. Also discussed further are 2018 election outcomes and the main focus: reconceptualizing climate change as a technology itself to be manipulated, regulated, and shaped by by humans.

The morning after. As the Democrats boast about recapturing the US house of Representatives our jolly hosts Amos and Ex stumble their way through the day after the 2018 midterm elections and discuss the results of both national and state races. Bottom line: a mixed bag of hope and anxiety.

Amos and Ex talk Halloween, Slovenian philosopher Slavoj Zizek, the hyperreal / simulated nature of the Trump presidency, and why the Left needs to take a cue from the American President and start being “more like him” (without all the incompetence, lying, sexism, and human rights violations) if it wants to win. That is: be more ruthless, brazen, and seemingly “irrational” in its demands and tacti...

our co-hosts spend the entire hour discussing the recent United Nations climate report and how to proceed with organizing and advocacy.

Amos and Ex talk Medicare for All and discuss how the only way to solve the climate crisis is by starting with health care. Giving people medical care first frees up everyone to do more of everything sooner. Also discussed are organizing strategy generally, former North Dakota congressional representative Rick Berg, and how fixing these dire social and policy problems requires that the Left does a...

As it snows on North Dakota Amos and Ex talk valve-turning and the dire UN Climate report, which doesn't give us much time to turn things around, and eventually wander off into discussions on “hyperreality,” Medicare for All, and Trump's politics of clownishness.

Amos and Ex try not to vomit all over the microphones as they talk Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. Other topics include, Kanye West, the #MeToo movement, feminism-as-class struggle in the wake of the Kavanaugh hearings, and revolutionary subjectivity in the 21st Century (hint: it just might be the whistleblower).

Today’s topics: music, the “death” of the political Left, Steve Bannon, the Nonpartisan League in North Dakota, and reasons to hold on to a sliver of hope for a resurgent Left in the Trump era.

Welcome to Living in the End Times! In this first “official” episode, Amos and Ex talk film, income inequality, nonprofit liberalism, and the ways in which the Left has failed the working class.