I had never really heard of Peter Gowan before this year.
He wrote an amazing piece for the New Left Review about the financial crisis, and sometime after we had him as a guest on This is Hell (he's on at the very end of the show if you are interested).
Before he died this summer, he sat down with a couple colleagues to discuss his life and career. Read it here.
“Capitalism involves an endless struggle for value streams, and the social preconditions for the right kinds of value streams to come out of different areas—and capitalist states get very agitated if other states create spheres of influence which cut them out of the value stream. So there are tremendous efforts to restructure the internal regimes of states, along with, of course, efforts to restructure the external regimes.”
I complained quite a bit to pretty much anyone who would listen about the switch to digital television that occurred this past summer. I hate to go all cranky old man on the switch, but I just couldn't understand why anyone would want to take the crappy system of free television and replace it with an even crappier one. In Chicago I couldn't get CBS. I fired off a cranky old man email to them and received this response about a month later:
Hi Drew,
Thank you for your recent inquiry. On June 12th we will begin transmitting on VHF channel 12 from Sears Tower, and doubling the output power, after that date if you are still experiencing problems please get back to me for additional assistance.
We currently transmit on VHF channel 3. You require a Roof Mounted UHF/VHF antenna with 8-10' long elements, in good working order. Small plastic antennas or rabbit ears will not work.
Sincerely,
Paul S. Rodriguez WBBM-TV Chicago
I never got CBS in Chicago after the switch. Oh well, I have it in Philadelphia now. Suck it Rodriguez!
Plus, the green light on my government subsidized digital converter box turns on and off periodically leading me to believe that I'm being monitored in some way.
Anyway, I get some additional channels with the converter box. I've been watching the Vuelta on NBC's Universal Sports station. Sometimes I get Aussie Rules Football, which as far as I can tell has no rules at all. On weekday mornings from 8 to 9 the Universal Sports channel airs RT, some sort of Russian news agency that broadcasts in English. Immanuel Wallerstein was on this morning. Here's the video.
I'm a big fan of Wallerstein. I like the idea that the crisis that transforms the world system is always only a couple years away. I feel like he's been saying this since the 1970's, but it's fun to imagine.
These are the sorts of things I would write about if I wasn't lazy...
1. Oral History of Abandoned Lots (yes, I know that story is soooo 2002). There's a lot of empty acreage right across the street from my new apartment. What's up with that?
3. Write about Brazil's impending pharmaceutical patent infringement and what I recently read in Ha Joon Chang'sBad Samaritans about intellectual property rights and development.
4. Complain about beer and liquor sales laws in Philadelphia. Seriously, I thought this city was supposed be all about freedom?
5. I went to Italian Market yesterday and bought a 10 pound pork shoulder. 12 hours later I had a BBQ pulled pork sandwich.
6. Why do I like Cat Stevens? "Sitting" on the 1972 album Catch Bull at Four is the jam.
7. Does the bar across the street know that they are selling Dogfish Head's Raison D'Etre an 8% ABV beer for $2.50?
8. I listen to the Adam Carolla podcast every morning. It's kinda like Stern, but free. I have to ignore his politics.
I just moved to Philadelphia.
I produced a radio show in Chicago called
This Is Hell. It can be heard over the airwaves in Evanston/Chicago at 89.3 FM on Saturday mornings from 9am to 1pm or online all the time at WNUR.org. I'll be sharing information about the show here and also writing about my own interests which include development in the global south, sports, and stupid music. Enjoy.
