{"podcast":{"title":"The Podcast for Social Research","slug":"the-podcast-for-social-research-1078639","podcast_index_feed_id":1078639,"rss_url":"https://thebrooklyninstitute.libsyn.com/rss","website_url":"http://thebrooklyninstitute.com","image_url":"https://static.libsyn.com/p/assets/1/b/0/8/1b08a8952871520588c4a68c3ddbc4f2/5947113344_copy_4.jpg","author":"Brooklyn Institute for Social Research","episode_count":100,"summary":"From Plato to quantum physics, Walter Benjamin to experimental poetry, Frantz Fanon to the history of political radicalism, The Podcast for Social Research is a crucial part of our mission to forge new, organic paths for intellectual work in the twenty-first century: an ongoing, interdisciplinary series featuring members of the Institute, and occasional guests, conversing about a wide variety of intellectual issues, some perennial, some newly pressing. Each episode centers on a different topic and is accompanied by a bibliography of annotations and citations that encourages further curiosity and underscores the conversation's place in a larger web of cultural conversations.","last_synced_at":"2026-07-04T04:20:23.099438+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-podcast-for-social-research-1078639"},"episode":{"title":"Podcast for Social Research, Episode 97: Slop Machine Anna Kornbluh and Kate Wagner on the Aesthetics of Contemporary Fascism","slug":"podcast-for-social-research-episode-97-slop-machine-anna-kornbluh-and-kate-wagner-on-the-aesthetics-of-contemporary-fascism","published_at":"2026-06-12T17:43:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-podcast-for-social-research-1078639/podcast-for-social-research-episode-97-slop-machine-anna-kornbluh-and-kate-wagner-on-the-aesthetics-of-contemporary-fascism","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-podcast-for-social-research-1078639","url":"https://thebrooklyninstitute.libsyn.com/podcast-for-social-research-episode-97-slop-machine-anna-kornbluh-and-kate-wagner-on-the-aesthetics-of-contemporary-fascism","audio_url":"https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/thebrooklyninstitute/BISR_Aesthetics_of_Fascism_2.28.2026_mastered.mp3?dest-id=85319","summary":"In this episode of the Podcast for Social Research Anna Kornbluh and Kate Wagner consider the aesthetics of contemporary American fascism in a conversation moderated by BISR's Audrey Nicolaides. The fascism of the moment merges violent delight in destruction with nouveau riche vulgarity, middle class mediocrity, and internet meme culture. Despite incessant callbacks to the 1930s and continued deployment of classic fascist themes, contemporary fascism distinguishes itself from its historical predecessors by its speed, virulence, sites of production, and mode of distribution: the big, beautiful slop machine, hyper-capitalized, decentralized, and algorithmically determined. How does the aesthetic regime of contemporary fascism function? How is it rewiring the libidinal economy of the present, and stacking the deck for capital? What's specific to fascism in the age of polycrisis? What does it mean now to resist by \"politicizing aesthetics,\" as Walter Benjamin once enjoined us to? You can download the episode by right-clicking here and selecting \"save as.\" Or, look us up on Spotify or Apple Podcasts . This episode was produced by Gil Morejon from live audio recorded at Chicago's Twelve Ten Gallery . If you like what you've heard, consider supporting the podcast by becoming a BISR member or subscribing to Brooklyn Institute's Patreon page , where you can enjoy access to all past and future episodes of the Podcast for Social Research.","meta_description":"In this episode of the Podcast for Social Research Anna Kornbluh and Kate Wagner consider the aesthetics of contemporary American fascism in a conversatio…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":3856,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/the-podcast-for-social-research-1078639/episodes/podcast-for-social-research-episode-97-slop-machine-anna-kornbluh-and-kate-wagner-on-the-aesthetics-of-contemporary-fascism/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-podcast-for-social-research-1078639/podcast-for-social-research-episode-97-slop-machine-anna-kornbluh-and-kate-wagner-on-the-aesthetics-of-contemporary-fascism.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}