It is fair to ask what, at this point, we want from Chibnall-era Doctor Who. Obviously I want $800 a week to watch it in the first place, but since you’ve all decided to give me that, I suppose here we are. (Thanks, by the way. You’re all ridiculously generous, and I’d have felt terribly sad not reviewing this.) But more seriously, we should discuss what a successful Chibnall episode would be. After all, if we draw the line at “be at least as good as Dracula” then we’re just going to be depressed for nine and a half weeks. We’re going to need some sort of notion of what a good Chibnall story might be in the same way that one needs a notion of a good Eric Saward story or a good Bob Baker and David Martin story. 

Spyfall, after all, gets a lot of things not wrong. For instance, it has a coherent point and a sense of itself as being about something. There’s not a lot of follow-through on it—no real substance to its sense of “vastly powerful tech companies are dangerous and scary” or engagement with the materiality of these things—but it has a point. There is also no particular reason for this point to be wedded to a James Bond pastiche, but it’s certainly not inimacable to the genre the story is playing with. And certainly the presence of a genre to play in is a good thing, giving the story a clarity of focus and purpose that, say, The Battle of Ranskoor av Kolos or Arachnids in the UK did not really have.

Obviously this consists of setting an extremely low bar and allowing the show to step over it. And the show doesn’t even manage this without stubbing a toe on the way, with its middle section being curiously unmoored from the James Bond pastiche in favor of a ghost story in the Australian outback. But there’s a minimum standard of competently constructed television being met here in a way that was in no way routine last year. And there’s a certain acceptability to it—if Chibnall at his best can come in around the level of The Sontaran Stratagem/The Poison Sky (since he nicks a set piece out of it and all) then all right. That’s basically fine, y’know? Especially if the other writers—and it’s a pretty tasty-looking set of them in the middle six episodes this season—can provide some high points.

All of which is to say that things might basically be OK. Series 11 might turn out to be an unfortunately awkward blip before Doctor Who settles into something that’s not as scintillating as either of the eras before it, but that’s at least not so infuriatingly crap that one is left wanting to charge exorbitantly high amounts for reviews in the desperate hope that you won’t have to actually do them. On the basis of part one, Spyfall looks like it belongs to a perfectly adequate era of Doctor Who.…

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To round off our first year, Daniel is joined by special guest Jason Wilson to talk about the fascinating figure Representative Matt Shea.  Hopefully this edition will please those listeners who’ve been asking for longer episodes!

Content Warning.

Download here: http://idontspeakgerman.libsyn.com/episode-39-matt-shea-with-jason-wilson

Notes and links (thanks to Jason for this compilation):

Kenneth S Stern (1997) A force upon the plain : the American militia movement and the politics of hate. https://www.worldcat.org/title/force-upon-the-plain-the-american-militia-movement-and-the-politics-of-hate/oclc/1002393469&referer=brief_results

Kathleen Belew (2019) Bring the war home the white power movement and paramilitary America https://www.worldcat.org/title/bring-the-war-home-the-white-power-movement-and-paramilitary-america/oclc/1129866369&referer=brief_results (great overview and analysis of lots of things we discussed)

Linda Gordon (2018) The second coming of the KKK : the Ku Klux Klan of the 1920s and the American political tradition https://www.worldcat.org/title/second-coming-of-the-kkk-the-ku-klux-klan-of-the-1920s-and-the-american-political-tradition/oclc/1076323469&referer=brief_results (really good material on the 1920s Klan in Oregon) 

Jane Kramer (2003) Lone patriot : the short career of an American militiaman. https://www.worldcat.org/title/lone-patriot-the-short-career-of-an-american-militiaman/oclc/52724431?referer=br&ht=edition

David A Neiwert (1999) In God’s country : the patriot movement and the Pacific Northwest https://www.worldcat.org/title/in-gods-country-the-patriot-movement-and-the-pacific-northwest/oclc/493949695&referer=brief_results (Exhaustively detailed contemporaneous work on the militia movement in PNW)

David Neiwert (2009) The Eliminationists: How Hate Talk Radicalized the American Right https://www.worldcat.org/title/the-eliminationists-how-hate-talk-radicalized-the-american-right/oclc/7390575626&referer=brief_results (This speaks to the right generally but is important for our context)

David Neiwert (2018) Alt-America : the rise of the radical right in the age of Trump https://www.worldcat.org/title/alt-america-the-rise-of-the-radical-right-in-the-age-of-trump/oclc/1017576651?referer=br&ht=edition (Best view of the current moment from long time PNW reporter)

David Helvarg (2004) The war against the greens : the “Wise-Use” movement, the New Right, and the browning of America https://www.worldcat.org/title/war-against-the-greens-the-wise-use-movement-the-new-right-and-the-browning-of-america/oclc/53993117&referer=brief_results (Specific account of the development of anti-environmental politics in the west)

Marilyn Lake and Henry Reynolds (2011) Drawing the global colour line : white men’s countries and the international challenge of racial equality https://www.worldcat.org/title/drawing-the-global-colour-line-white-mens-countries-and-the-international-challenge-of-racial-equality/oclc/1052849084&referer=brief_results (Just brilliant in historicizing the development of white supremacy – in thought and policy – across settler colonial societies around the turn of the twentieth century. Pankaj Mishra draws on it here https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/30/opinion/race-politics-whiteness.html) 

Chip Berlet and Matthew Lyons (2000) Right-wing populism in America : too close for comfort https://www.worldcat.org/title/right-wing-populism-in-america-too-close-for-comfort/oclc/247742295?referer=br&ht=edition (Chip and Matthew have done lots of fantastic work but this is essential)

James Corcoran (1991) Bitter harvest Gordon Kahl and the Posse Comitatus : murder in the heartland https://www.worldcat.org/title/bitter-harvest-gordon-kahl-and-the-posse-comitatus-murder-in-the-heartland/oclc/1087601191&referer=brief_results

Mark Fenster (2008) Conspiracy theories: secrecy and power in American culture. https://www.worldcat.org/title/conspiracy-theories-secrecy-and-power-in-american-culture/oclc/1087739570?referer=br&ht=edition (Chapter 2 has a good discussion of the 1995 congressional hearings on the militia movement) 

James Coates (1995) Armed and dangerous : the rise of the survivalist right https://www.worldcat.org/title/conspiracy-theories-secrecy-and-power-in-american-culture/oclc/1087739570?referer=br&ht=edition (Pretty good contemporaneous account of the different strands underpinning the militia movement and the 1990s far right)

Elinor Langer (2004) A hundred little Hitlers : the death of a black man, the trial of a white racist, and the rise of the neo-Nazi movement in America https://www.worldcat.org/title/hundred-little-hitlers-the-death-of-a-black-man-the-trial-of-a-white-racist-and-the-rise-of-the-neo-nazi-movement-in-america/oclc/1037466174&referer=brief_results (Important account of white supremacist movements in PNW in 1980s and 1990s) 

Leonard Zeskind (2009) Blood and politics : the history of the white nationalist movement from the margins to the mainstream https://www.worldcat.org/title/blood-and-politics-the-history-of-the-white-nationalist-movement-from-the-margins-to-the-mainstream/oclc/965823835?referer=br&ht=edition

Leah Sottile (with Ryan Haas on the podcasts) Bundyville https://longreads.com/bundyville/ (Definitive journalistic take on Matt Shea’s place in the contemporary patriot movement in PNW)

Daniel Levitas (2001) The Terrorist Next Door The Militia Movement and the Radical Right.…

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Another year over, which means that it’s time for the annual Eruditorum Press post-holiday sale at Smashwords. But first, a practical word: I’ll be putting another Boys in Their Dresses entry up tomorrow morning. I’ll do one more on December 30th. I have a few more written past that, so I’ll run the series on Fridays for a few weeks overlapping with Dalek Eruditorum, which will begin January 6th.

Currently Dalek Eruditorum is set to run in its 26-post version. But it’s a mere $35 away on Patreon from going up to its 39-post version, and has until January 6th to get there. That would add essays on The Crusade, Evil of the Daleks, The Green Death, Invasion of the Dinosaurs, Seeds of Doom, Deadly Assassin, State of Decay, Kinda, The Greatest Show in the Galaxy, the TV Movie, Planet of the Ood, Closing Time, The Magician’s Apprentice/The Witch’s Familiar, and something from Series 12.

Meanwhile, we have until January 1st to get to the $800 threshold needed for Series 12 reviews. If we don’t make it, I’ll do short reviews for $2+ patrons, but the full shebang Eruditorum Press reviews will only happen if we get up to $800. Will we do it? I don’t know. It seems increasingly unlikely, which is sad and weird-feeling, but we’ll see. In any case, if either this or the longer version of Dalek Eruditorum matters to you, time grows short to make them happen.

Right. On to the sale. This year it’s even easier than ever, because there’s one coupon code that affects every single book that I have in print. You can just go to my Smashwords page and pick any book that you want, and then use the coupon code RW23H to get the discount on any of my books.

Here’s the discounts I currently have running.

Neoreaction a Basilisk: $2.50 (50% off), matching the price it’s on sale for at Amazon.co.uk

The Last War in Albion Volume 1: $3 (40% off)

TARDIS Eruditorum, meanwhile, is on sale for the price of the relevant Doctor, as below:

TARDIS Eruditorum Volume 1: $1 (80% off)

TARDIS Eruditorum Volume 2: $2 (60% off)

TARDIS Eruditorum Volume 3: $3 (40% off)

TARDIS Eruditorum Volume 4: $4 (20% off)

TARDIS Eruditorum Volume 5: $4 (20% off)

Thank you all for a wonderful year. The support you’ve given me, especially with this spring’s “help me quit my day job” funding drive, has been nothing short of incredible. I have the best readers, and I love you all.…

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Couple of business updates for everyone.

First of all, TARDIS Eruditorum v5 is back in print just in time for the holidays. The Kindle and print editions are still stubbornly not connecting with one another, so here they are: 

Kindle

Print

At this point, volumes 1-5 of TARDIS Eruditorum, Last War in Albion 1, and Neoreaction a Basilisk are all back in print. I expect I’ll get v6 early next year, and v7 out in general… ooh, I had been saying January/February, but let’s call it March/April just cause November was kind of a train wreck for productivity. I have like three more essays to write, but they all involve a lot of television watching that I just haven’t found time for.

Speaking of Neoreaction a Basilisk, I’ve cut the UK Kindle price to the bare minimum for a bit in case anyone needs some cathartically funny reading about how we’re all fucked.

Finally, I wanted to highlight that Dalek Eruditorum is still only at the baseline 13 post version, with the Patreon stalled at $667. So it needs $33 to get the second swath of stories, and $83 to get the third. Perhaps more to the point, though, the Patreon is a full $133 away from me reviewing Series 12 of Doctor Who. Yes, I know that’s a very high goal. But equally, Series 11 was terrible and depressing and if I’m going to choke out another ten essays of trying to evaluate the Chibnall era then I’m going to need to be paid very well for it. That said, it’d feel weird and sad not to review Doctor Who, and so I remain hopeful that there’ll be a big surge of Patrons that will get me to that goal. 

But let’s start with $33 to make Dalek Eruditorum a twenty-six week affair. To review, that will mean I cover The War Machines, Enemy of the World, Inferno, The Sea Devils, The Ark in Space, Horror of Fang Rock, The Horns of Nimon, Enlightenment, Terror of the Vervoids, Paradise Towers, Rise of the Cybermen/Age of Steel, The Bells of Saint John, and World Enough and Time/The Doctor Falls. So if that sounds good, the Patreon is right where it always is.…

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In this episode, Daniel tells Jack about a lesser known but crucial figure in the rise of the ‘White Genocide’ conspiracy theory on today’s far-right, Robert Whitaker.

Direct Download / Permalink

Content Warnings for episode and links below.

*

NOTES:

Robert Whitaker’s Mantra: http://www.robertwwhitaker.com/mantra/

“ASIA FOR THE ASIANS, AFRICA FOR THE AFRICANS, WHITE COUNTRIES FOR EVERYBODY!

Everybody says there is this RACE problem. Everybody says this RACE problem will be solved when the third world pours into EVERY white country and ONLY into white countries.

The Netherlands and Belgium are just as crowded as Japan or Taiwan, but nobody says Japan or Taiwan will solve this RACE problem by bringing in millions of third worlders and quote assimilating unquote with them.

Everybody says the final solution to this RACE problem is for EVERY white country and ONLY white countries to “assimilate,” i.e., intermarry, with all those non-whites.

What if I said there was this RACE problem and this RACE problem would be solved only if hundreds of millions of non-blacks were brought into EVERY black country and ONLY into black countries?

How long would it take anyone to realize I’m not talking about a RACE problem. I am talking about the final solution to the BLACK problem?

And how long would it take any sane black man to notice this and what kind of psycho black man wouldn’t object to this?

But if I tell that obvious truth about the ongoing program of genocide against my race, the white race, Liberals and respectable conservatives agree that I am a naziwhowantstokillsixmillionjews.

They say they are anti-racist. What they are is anti-white.

Anti-racist is a code word for anti-white.”

“Anti-racist is a code word for anti-white” on RationalWiki: https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Anti-racist_is_a_code_word_for_anti-white

White Genocide at Rationalwiki: https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/White_genocide

Metapedia (far-right Wikipedia) article on Bob Whitaker: https://en.metapedia.org/wiki/Bob_Whitaker?__cf_chl_jschl_tk__=399089c0fdf5c55502f94a7b14618f8544f283e5-1575239608-0-ASsg9jPD6QX683L5pDGMYrWmbBo63JGKjDVO7qNc8fpZDk_JxqI0zgi85ND5_gtNqFlKA0aV1kZt93fvGK0eh38oZ1tkUIhoudZyDuBAi52HO8LQX3sCim0k5Dhs9PPp1B3AlIjZT5cN1PEbJW28Exr_UUO7bPlTZDnOiQvAMKYc8Pdcsi1gyX2TDoUA9zHgtFQonJUJ_F_adpxmh5nawDzTneSVy1oaYkaSFQCuEgJ7pLpWlrq9VU_zOTeDEgnPjzkKO2w9yZh7AWa94VtK2LQa994wugvE5TPxcP81-UsF

Robert W. Whitaker at Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/kindle-dbs/entity/author/B001KJ0KV4?_encoding=UTF8&node=618073011&offset=0&pageSize=12&searchAlias=stripbooks&sort=author-pages-popularity-rank&page=1&langFilter=default#formatSelectorHeader

“Why Johnny Can’t Think: America’s Professor-Priesthood” (free PDF) https://id.b-ok2.org/book/2957237/010a34

“”Why Johnny Can’t Think” shows that leftism means, “Professors should rule the world.” It demonstrates why each totally inbred generation of professors chooses a new generation of professors that is even more inbred and leftist and what actually happens when college graduates and professors actually try ruling the world through socialism, through criminal “rehabilitation,” and through the New Education. Whatever they call it, socialism or environmentalism or multiculturalism, each leftist program just means that professors should rule the world. And every time they try, it is a disaster. But college graduates keep pushing new leftists policies. That what they learned in school. That’s what we pay professors to teach them in school. Joe Sobran says in the foreword: “A former professor himself, Bob Whitaker believes that formal education has become dangerous, and often fatal, to common sense. This is nothing new, but Americans believe so deeply in formal education that they routinely sacrifice their children’s youth to it, often paying staggering amounts of money to shield them from the real world… “…the “social” sciences are another matter. These “social” sciences are often directly contradicted by the hard sciences.…

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