Cormac McCarthy’s ‘Blood Meridian’ Diagnoses Everyday Fascism
If everyday fascism’s essence is the anti-humanist view of living beings as disposable instruments, then Cormac McCarthy’s Blood Meridian is its field manual and warning.
Ioannis Mademlis
Based in Greece, Ioannis Mademlis researches AI‑driven autonomous systems and studies European history, society, and culture at the Hellenic Open University. He publishes short fiction and writes essays from the meeting point of technology and the humanities.
Paul Verhoeven Made the Blueprint for Neo-Totalitarianism
Paul Verhoeven’s sci-fi films are like how-to manuals for neo-totalitarianism, which doesn’t rely on coups, martial law, violent suppression of the opposition press, or paramilitary factions roaming the streets to instill our obedience.
Gravity’s Rainbow Under Today’s Hypersonic Skies
In our era of awe-inspiring hypersonic weaponry, we turn to Thomas Pynchon, who warns in Gravity’s Rainbow that the Rocket is never mere hardware; it is a nihilistic creed whose liturgy is speed.
Today’s AI Sublime Was Forged in Cold War Cinema’s Atomic Monsters
Horror and sci-fi nuclear cinema of the Cold War era is our finest rehearsal for the AI future, and that’s why pop culture still reaches for monstrous metaphors when technology leaps beyond comprehension.
How David Lynch’s Beetle-Infested Nightmares Creep into AI-Assisted Assassinations
So long as AI-assisted assassinations are sold as clean acts of “self-defense”, modern states will keep writing sequels to David Lynch’s beetle-infested nightmares.