The first half of this episode is free.
You can find Leighton’s work at
on Substack and follow him on Twitter @lwoodhouse.“Morning in America.”
That’s what comes to mind when we think of the heady 1980s. Departing from the “malaise era” for brighter shores with wind in the sails and dawn’s gentle rays on our faces. A nation strutting with swagger anew, convinced of its exceptional destiny, ineluctable as the tide.
That makes the proliferation of cyberpunk literature and films during this period all the more interesting because it is, at heart, a genre that contrasts material progress with spiritual decay. Glittering ecumenopolises straddled by holograms that tower over seedy neon underbellies remind us that no amount of technological advancement or accretion of wealth can put to bed the questions that have haunted the human psyche since it stirred awake and began to wonder about our station in the order of things.
Last episode, I spoke with Rambo Van Halen, a writer who worked in the movie industry for two decades.
Once Upon a Time in America
A talk with Rambo Van Halen on the film industry, culture, politics, and more.
I sat down for this one with
, a journalist and Emmy-nominated documentary filmmaker who has followed with a critical eye the newfound alliance between Little Tech and the new administration.
I doubt we’ll get the techno-dystopia we seem to be begging for in the next few years. But how do you feel about being ruled by a group of elites who grow giddy at the thought of growing eggs for IVF from skin cells? Or have no qualms with a new kind of surveillance state powered by artificial intelligence?
They have outsized influence over politics right now, and their views are not so different from those of, say, Klaus Schwab at the World Economic Forum.
Of course, they’ll talk about the imperative of patriotism and the evils of the Democratic Party. But if you squint, you’ll notice that their picture of America looks a lot like Shenzhen or Dubai: strange, deracinated tech and finance hubs, which are also among the world’s most sophisticated surveillance states.
There’s disagreement over the fine print, sure, but these ascendant elites and the ones they’re trying to dislocate tend in the same direction.
Leighton is one of the writers who saw early on the divergence between populists such as Steve Bannon and the new class. I hope you’ll listen to what he has to say.
Listen to this episode with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to Contra to listen to this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.
