Épisodes

  • Episode 3: With Whose Voice Do We Speak?

    Episode 3: With Whose Voice Do We Speak?
    Jan 25 2025
    In an era of "post-truth," where narratives vie for dominance in a hyper-capitalist attention economy and even basic facts are contested, Narrative Machines Episode 3, "With Whose Voice Do We Speak?" explores the power of myths and stories in shaping our realities. This episode examines how narratives are wielded for political, ideological, and personal ends, influencing geopolitics, identity, and culture.Key Themes & Discussion PointsWeaponizing Narratives in GeopoliticsNostalgia as a political weapon—how reactionary movements construct mythologized pasts to justify present ideologies.The Cold War-era myth of American exceptionalism and its repackaging in modern nationalist movements.The use of grand ideological myths to justify state actions (e.g., Eurasianism in Russian foreign policy).Aleksandr Dugin’s geopolitical theories as an example of constructed mythology shaping real-world politics.The influence of postmodernism on contemporary propaganda—how ideological subversion repurposes deconstructionist techniques.The manipulation of historical narratives to create self-fulfilling geopolitical strategies.The Map is the Idea of the MapCultural and ideological “maps” shape perception and dictate political realities.How competing mythologies structure conflicts, both ideological and material.The relationship between myths, ideology, and tangible geopolitical actions.The danger of mistaking narrative constructs for objective reality.Mythemes, Mimesis, and Identity ConstructionMythemes (fundamental narrative units) as the foundation of identity formation.Identity as a construct shaped by both external storytelling and self-narration.Digital identity as an extension of myth—how online personas are curated mythic selves.The role of symbols and their contested meanings (e.g., appropriation and repurposed iconography).Narratives as Tools of PowerMyth and ideology as mechanisms of control—how states and movements use narrative to direct action.The instrumentalization of myth in authoritarian politics and cultural hegemony.The interplay between postmodern critique and propaganda—how deconstruction can be wielded to obscure truth rather than reveal it.The power of mythic structures to override factual discourse in political conflicts.Postmodernism and the Crisis of Truth“Nothing is true” as a postmodern warning, not a liberatory slogan.How postmodern skepticism toward grand narratives has been appropriated by authoritarian movements.The fragmentation of shared reality into “Universe A” and “Universe B”—competing, mutually exclusive worldviews.The transition from ideological polarization to epistemological rupture, where even the fundamental facts of reality are contested.Military Memetics and Information WarfareThe role of narrative manipulation in modern psychological operations.Memes as a vehicle for ideological contagion—how internet culture has become a battleground for mass persuasion.The shift from polling and mass messaging to micro-targeted ideological engineering (e.g., Cambridge Analytica’s psychographic profiling).The military-industrial complex’s engagement with memetics—treating ideology as an adaptive system to be controlled or disrupted.The Occult Nature of Cultural WarfareMyth as mass dream—political movements as unconscious manifestations of cultural fears and desires.Fascism as an aesthetic movement—how authoritarianism thrives on mythic imagery and symbolic power.The unconscious as a battleground for ideological conflict—how myths shape mass psychology.The limits of individual agency in identity construction—how we are cast into pre-existing narratives.Retro-Futurism and the Acceleration of HistoryThe aestheticization of the past in response to the ephemerality of the present.The impact of digital media on historical perception—how time feels accelerated due to constant narrative churn.The tendency to frame contemporary politics through historical mythologies rather than present realities.The role of vaporwave, cyberpunk, and other aesthetic movements as examples of elements of retro-futurism. Cultural nostalgia and political myth.Retro-futurist aesthetics—combining past imagery with imagined futures—as a coping mechanism for modern uncertainty.The role of aesthetics in political mythmaking (e.g., the Dark Enlightenment and cyberpunk narratives).The Environmental and Economic Crisis as Mythic CollapseApocalyptic narratives as coping mechanisms for systemic instability.The failure of capitalism to resolve its own contradictions—capitalist realism as a seemingly inescapable myth at the present moment.The interplay between capitalist myth and material reality—how belief in infinite growth collides with ecological limits.Technological optimism as a mythic buffer against existential dread.For more, visit Jamescurcio.com/narrative-machines or ModernMythology.net for more affiliated podcasts.
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    43 h
  • Episode 2: Myth is Dead; Long Live Myth

    Episode 2: Myth is Dead; Long Live Myth
    Jan 7 2025

    This episode argues that the commonly held belief that myth is dead - a relic of the past replaced by modern science and reason - is itself a framing myth of modernity. Instead, myth is alive and well, but often hidden within mediums that lack the traditional aura of the sacred.

    The Sacred and the Profane:

    The tension between the sacred and propaganda, arguing that the sacred cannot be manufactured or controlled.

    The transformative power of the sacred.

    The relationship between myths and meaning. We argue that meaning is not inherent in myths but is rather a by-product of our engagement with them, and caution against attempts to codify the meaning of myths, arguing that such attempts are often driven by a desire to appropriate the power of myth for personal gain.

    Myth is not primarily about conveying meaning in a literal sense.

    Building on Episode 1's discussion of strange attractors, Episode 2 highlights how myths, like strange attractors, can drive cultural evolution toward specific values and structures.

    Myth is not something separate from our construction of reality but is rather an integral part of it.

    The episode begins to examine how myths can be used for political purposes, both for good and for ill, paving the way for further analysis in subsequent episodes. We will explore this much more closely in subsequent episodes.

    It cautions that authoritarianism, fascism, totalitarianism, etc can exploit the power of myth for their own ends.

    For more, visit Jamescurcio.com/narrative-machines or ModernMythology.net for more affiliated podcasts.
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    39 min
  • Episode 1: Foundations

    Episode 1: Foundations
    Dec 12 2024

    This first episode of Narrative Machines argues that while we may call some stories myths and others not, all stories have the potential to become myths as they are repeated and embedded in our culture.

    We use the analogy of strange attractors to describe how myths function. Just as a strange attractor represents the underlying structure toward which a system tends to evolve, myths provide a framework for understanding and organizing our experiences. The episode connects this idea to Richard Dawkins' concept of memes, which are self-reproducing information structures analogous to genes. The episode argues that memes are not just silly pictures on the internet; they represent any idea that can become a social act and shape our beliefs and actions.

    Emphasizing the importance of moving beyond simplistic interpretations of myths and recognizing the complex ways they function in our lives, we introduce several key functions of myths:

    They inform the relationships between things.

    They define our identities, place in time, and roles in society.

    They arise from and bleed back into the material world, shaping history and the future.

    They serve as a selector for social mobility.

    They must be understood in the context of their use.

    They function as strange attractors.

    The episode concludes by emphasizing the immanence of myth and its role as a fundamental aspect of human experience. It calls for recognizing the power of myth in our lives and engaging with it critically and consciously.
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    34 min