Kerouac and the Decline of the West: Semmelweis7 on the Beats, Vitalism, and the future of literature in America

Greetings Semmelweis, thank you for taking the time to discuss Kerouac and your recent book “Jack Kerouac and the Decline of the West,” through Rogue Scholar Press. Before we get to the topic of the book, can you tell us how you discovered Kerouac and what effect he had on you? Thanks for having me

Requiem for a Subterranean

When I was 18 a friend took me to a block party where I didn’t know anyone. I spent the weekend with the hosts older brother, and while everyone around us did keg stands, jumped in the pool, and ran through the streets, we drank High Life, chain-smoked, and chatted excitedly about our favorite books,

Learn to Swim: The Gig Economy and the Coming of a New Era

The Internet is an Ocean The last time Jupiter and Saturn were visible on the horizon, as they were in 2020, was the year 1226. According to Jung, in his book Aion, this conjunction heralded the second half of the Age of Pisces, which birthed a new consciousness in the West. Around this time many

A Genealogy of Sci-Fi for the Digital Age

            Zero HP Lovecraft is the future of science fiction. His work, still in its early phase, takes the next step in countenancing the condition of technologically enframed culture. As space age sci-fi was passing the zenith of its life-span and beginning its downward arc, digital age sci-fi was initiating launch. When any movement or

A Genealogy of Sci-Fi for the Digital Age

            Zero HP Lovecraft is the future of science fiction. His work, still in its early phase, takes the next step in countenancing the condition of technologically enframed culture. As space age sci-fi was passing the zenith of its life-span and beginning its downward arc, digital age sci-fi was initiating launch. When any movement or

The West’s Event Horizon

The Faustian Event Horizon The internet is a black hole, and the spirit of West has gone beyond the Event Horizon. The apex of the Faustian Spirit, the ultimate manifestation of our grasping toward the infinite, surely must have been the space program. Despite putting a man on the moon and a satellite outside our

Zero HP Lovecraft and the Fallen State of Literature

Greetings Zero, I’m honored to have you as the first of what I hope to be many interviews with writers and thinkers producing content today. Reading “The Gig Economy” and “God Shaped Hole” was one of the most vivifying reading experiences of my life, akin to discovering Bolaño or Borges. What I mean by this

Cervantes and Simulation

A Quixotic Age Don Quixote is the perennial myth of our time. We find ourselves in the twilight of the Modern age, as Quixote was in the twilight of the feudal. The Don was inspired by the romantic stories that inspired his ancestors, but instead of becoming the heroic knight he played the fool. The

Introduction: LARPING for a Vision – Dead Forms and Zombie Ideas

Throughout history, books and ideas have held an inspirational place in the actions of Great Men and era-defining movements. They’ve shaped the course of history to the will of such peoples or birthed new ways of life within existing frameworks, often breathing new life into a faltering civilization. Alexander slept with a copy of the

Introduce Yourself (Example Post)

This is an example post, originally published as part of Blogging University. Enroll in one of our ten programs, and start your blog right. You’re going to publish a post today. Don’t worry about how your blog looks. Don’t worry if you haven’t given it a name yet, or you’re feeling overwhelmed. Just click the