The Cultural Marxism Conspiracy / A.J.A. Woods

 Both Sides Now

On This Day in Rotten History...

In 1336  – (681 years ago) – four thousand village defenders of a fortess in Pilėnai, Lithuania, operating under the command of a prince named Margiris, were attacked by a force of the crusading Teutonic Knights, who sought to take their fortress and convert them to Christianity. Realizing they could not mount an effective defense, but unwilling to convert or otherwise allow the invaders a victory, the Lithuanian villagers burned down their own fortress and embarked on a mass suicide of the community, killing each other and themselves. Prince Margiris cut down his wife with a sword, killed his own guards and close advisors, and threw all their bodies into the flames before taking the fatal blade to himself. Villagers, following his lead, began burning their possessions and killing the people around them. According to one account, an old woman killed a hundred other people with an ax before using it on herself. A very few villagers did manage to escape the insanity on horseback, but the rest were found dead by the Teutonic invaders when they finally entered the blood-soaked fortress. For centuries, the mass suicide at Pilėnai has been celebrated by Lithuanians as an example of mass heroism, and it has inspired works of poetry, fiction, and music. But historians and archeologists still pursue contradictory theories as to where exactly the event took place.

In 1970 – (47 years ago) – one of the great American artists of the twentieth century, Mark Rothko, who used huge, vibrant fields of color in transcendent canvases full of tension and sensuality, was found dead in the kitchen of his studio, having sliced his arms open with a razor. An autopsy revealed that he had also overdosed on antidepressants. Rothko had suffered from depression, but had also developed an aortic aneurysm that was making it physically hard for him to paint. At the time of his suicide, he had just finished fourteen large canvases for the Rothko Chapel, under construction in Houston. Due to his illness, he needed two assistants to help him apply the paint, and he never lived to see the finished chapel. His suicide triggered an ugly legal battle between his heirs and his executors. And in recent years, some of his paintings have fetched eight-figure sums on the international art market.

Rotten History is written by Renaldo Migaldi

Listen live from 9AM - 1:00PM Central on WNUR 89.3FM / stream at www.thisishell.com / subscribe to the podcast

9:15 - Art historian Harriet Senie explores America's maintenance of national myths through war memorials.

Harriet is author of Memorials to Shattered Myths: Vietnam to 9/11 from Oxford University Press.

10:00 - Historian David Broder explains what the Anti-Trump left must learn from the anti-Berlusconi left.

David wrote the recent article Being Anti-Trump Isn’t Enough for Jacobin.

10:35 - Economist Dean Baker accounts for the economics of global trade in the Trump era.

Dean wrote the recent op-eds More Republican Handouts to the Rich and The Trouble With Trade: People Understand It for Truthout.

11:05 - Historian Osamah Khalil examines the illusions America sees when it looks to the Middle East.

Osamah is author of America’s Dream Palace: Middle East Expertise and the Rise of the National Security State from Harvard University Press.

12:05 - Journalist Kevin Davis discusses the impact of neuroscience in the criminal justice system.

Kevin is author of The Brain Defense: Murder in Manhattan and the Dawn of Neuroscience in America’s Courtrooms from Penguin.

12:45 - In a Moment of Truth, Jeff Dorchen awakens to reality, or something like it.

Wonder of wonders, all beings are invited to Jeff's latest segment.

500 Years of Lying to Ourselves: An Apologetic History.

On This Day in Rotten History...

In 1873  – (144 years ago) – a thirty-five-year-old former monk named Vasil Levsky, who had led a movement to liberate Bulgaria from rule by the Ottoman Empire, was executed by hanging. Inspired by the French Revolution and by European efforts toward liberal democracy and human rights, Levsky had worked for several years to create a network of secret committees across Bulgaria to prepare for a coordinated armed uprising. But when a few of his rebel colleagues pulled a robbery without his approval and were arrested, they betrayed him to the Ottoman police. Learning of this, Levsky tried to escape to Romania, but he never made it to the border. Today he’s regarded as one of Bulgaria’s national heroes.   

In 1930 – (87 years ago) – at the International Air Exposition in Saint Louis, Nellie Jay, a two-year-old Guernsey cow from Bismarck, Missouri, became the first cow to fly in an airplane. As part of the stunt, she was milked during the flight, producing twenty-four quarts of milk that were sealed into cardboard cartons and parachuted to spectators on the ground below. To maintain their milk production, dairy cows are kept continuously pregnant and their calves are taken away from them soon after birth, often to be slaughtered for veal. When Nellie Jay reached middle age and her milk days were over, she, too, was sent to the slaughterhouse.        

In 1943 – (74 years ago) – two students at the University of Munich, the siblings Hans and Sophie Scholl, were arrested by the Gestapo for advocating resistance to Germany’s Nazi regime. They were founding members of the White Rose, a mostly student group that passed pamphlets and other materials hand-to-hand throughout southern Germany. Other White Rose activists were also arrested that day, and more were caught in the days thereafter. Hans and Sophie were among those found guilty of treason and executed by guillotine. Others went to prison until the end of World War II. Hans and Sophie Scholl had hoped that the Nazis’ recent defeat at Stalingrad would turn German public sentiment against the war. But on the very day of their arrest, Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels made a live radio speech in which he cited the Stalingrad debacle to argue for an escalation into what he called “total war.” He made... read more

Listen live from 9AM - 1:00PM Central on WNUR 89.3FM / stream at www.thisishell.com / subscribe to the podcast

9:15 - Sociologist Melinda Cooper explains how neoliberalism transformed the politics of the family.

Melinda is author of Family Values: Between Neoliberalism and the new Social Conservatism from Zone Books.

10:00 - Live from Stockholm, Mikael Mikaelsson outlines the government-industry path to green energy.

Mikael is a government adviser on science and innovation policy and international collaboration across Europe.

10:35 - Live from Bucharest, Florin Poenaru examines Romania's massive, contradictory protest movement.

Florin wrote the recent article What is at Stake in the Romanian Protests? for LeftEast.

11:10 - Artist Raoul Martinez looks beyond the limits of freedom to a future of equality and liberation.

Raoul is author of Creating Freedom: The Lottery of Birth, the Illusion of Consent, and the Fight for Our Future from Pantheon.

12:05 - Writer Joseph Daher explores the contemporary political-economy of Hezbollah.

Joseph is author of Hezbollah: The Political Economy of Lebanon's Party of God from Pluto Press.

12:45 - In a Moment of Truth, The current international trade situation pushes Jeff Dorchen over the borderline.

Did not have "international trade" in the pool for what would do that but OK.

Here's what Chuck is reading to prepare for Saturday's show:

Family Values: Between Neoliberalism and the new Social Conservatism - Melinda Cooper [Zone Books]

What is at Stake in the Romanian Protests? - Florin Poenaru [LeftEast]

Creating Freedom: The Lottery of Birth, the Illusion of Consent, and the Fight for Our Future - Raoul Martinez [Pantheon]

Hezbollah: The Political Economy of Lebanon's Party of God - Joseph Daher [Pluto Press]

And further recommended reading:

How a Russian Steel Oligarch and Putin Ally Is Profiting from the Keystone XL Pipeline - Steve Horn [DeSmog Blog]

The Paranoid Style in American Politics - Richard Hofstadter [Harper's]

With Executive Order on Policing, Trump Declares Racialized War on Dissent  - Flint Taylor [Truthout]

Making COIN The modern history of an unstoppable bad idea - Tim Shorrock [The Baffler]