The Relentless Picnic

Coming soon to https://patreon.com/relentlesspicnic, starting on Wednesday, January 31st.

We report on some changes we're making to our Patreon page, make public some formerly-locked-up bonus content, and speak about the future of The Relentless Picnic — which is real, and is coming. We've missed you, friends. patreon.com/relentlesspicnic

"The eternity I detect in Nature I predicate of myself also. How many springs I have had this same experience! I am encouraged, for I recognize this steady persistency and recovery of Nature as a quality of myself." —Henry David Thoreau, Journal, 1856 CABIN is a series from The Relentless Picnic. It's one story told over 11 episodes. It's a story about solitude and isolation, community and loss, Henry David Thoreau and Ted Kaczynski—and it's told through audio recorded throughout 2019, 2020, and 2021. This is the final episode of CABIN. Support us at patreon.com/relentlesspicnic for access to a ton of bonus content. Our web site is relentlesspicnic.com SOURCES (Ep. 11): - Treat: Hotel Room Q&A pt. 3: More Q's, more A's, 8:09–11:26 (Aug. 2019), available to our Patreon supporters: bit.ly/3q1Jl24 ; - The journals of Henry David Thoreau (1837-1861): bit.ly/36Lxavm ; - "Anthony Bourdain on Vices, Humanity, and Foodies" by Khushbu Shah (Eater; Aug. 2014): bit.ly/3q4rtmY ; - season photo: "Untitled #2214" by Todd Hido, 1998.

"In the streets and in society I am almost invariably cheap and dissipated, my life is unspeakably mean. But alone in the distant woods or fields, even in a bleak and, to most, cheerless day, I come to myself, I once more feel myself grandly related, and that cold and solitude are friends of mine. I wish to get the Concord, the Massachusetts, the America, out of my head and be sane a part of every day." —Henry David Thoreau, Journal, 1855 This is the penultimate episode of CABIN, which will conclude with Ep. 11. Cabin is a series from The Relentless Picnic. It's one story told over 11 episodes. It's a story about solitude and isolation, community and loss, Henry David Thoreau and Ted Kaczynski—and it's told through audio recorded throughout 2019, 2020, and 2021. Support us at patreon.com/relentlesspicnic for access to a ton of bonus content. Our web site is relentlesspicnic.com SOURCES (Ep. 10): - "Deserter's Song" by Blackout Beach, 2011: spoti.fi/3IukcDJ ; - season photo: "Untitled #2214" by Todd Hido, 1998.

"It is in vain to dream of a wildness distant from ourselves. There is none such. It is the bog in our brain and bowels, the primitive vigor of Nature in us that inspires that dream. I shall never find in the wilds of Labrador any greater wildness than in some recess in Concord, i.e., than I import into it." —Henry David Thoreau, Journal, 1856 Cabin is a series from The Relentless Picnic. It's one story told over 11 episodes. It's a story about solitude and isolation, community and loss, Henry David Thoreau and Ted Kaczynski—and it's told through audio recorded throughout 2019, 2020, and 2021. Support us at patreon.com/relentlesspicnic for access to a ton of bonus content. Our web site is relentlesspicnic.com SOURCES (Ep. 9): - Jacques Ellul, The Technological Society (1954): amzn.to/3o2zdmy ; - An anonymous comment submitted to relentlesspicnic.com, Feb. 29, 2020 ; - Plato, Apology (40C-41C); - "The Last Frontier: Homesteaders on the margins of America" by Ted Conover (Harper's; Aug. 2019): bit.ly/3KyesLl ; - season photo: "Untitled #2214" by Todd Hido, 1998.

"So I agree with the anarcho-primitivists that the advent of civilization was a great disaster and that the Industrial Revolution was an even greater one. I further agree that a revolution against modernity, and against civilization in general, is necessary. But you can’t build an effective revolutionary movement out of soft-headed dreamers, lazies, and charlatans. You have to have tough-minded, realistic, practical people, and people of that kind don’t need the anarcho-primitivists’ mushy utopian myth." —T. Kaczynski, "The Truth About Primitive Life: A Critique of Anarcho-Primitivism," 2008. Cabin is a series from The Relentless Picnic. It's one story told over 11 episodes. It's a story about solitude and isolation, community and loss, Henry David Thoreau and Ted Kaczynski—and it's told through audio recorded throughout 2019, 2020, and 2021. Support us at patreon.com/relentlesspicnic for access to a ton of bonus content. Our web site is relentlesspicnic.com SOURCES (Ep. 8): - Pandora's Hope: Essays on the Reality of Science Studies, by Bruno Latour (1999): bit.ly/3qxCaxK ; - The Unabomber In His Own Words (2018), dir. Mick Grogan, on Netflix: bit.ly/2DbHkuh ; - Technological Slavery: The Collected Writings of Theodore J. Kaczynski, a.k.a. “The Unabomber”, ed. and introduction by David Skirbina, 2010: amzn.to/2STTFYH ; - Jacques Ellul, The Technological Society (1954): amzn.to/3o2zdmy ; - "Why the Future Doesn't Need Us" by Bill Joy, Wired (4/1/00): bit.ly/3hw5uQD ; - "Harvard and the Making of the Unabomber" by Alston Chase, Atlantic (June 2000): bit.ly/3mISjzh ; - "Eco-terrorists set fire to Vail Mountain 20 years ago, and the response showed how mutual aid could benefit mountain communities" by Randy Wyrick, Denver Post (10/27/18): dpo.st/3EKRHzF ; - season photo: "Untitled #2214" by Todd Hido, 1998.

A brief update from Adam, Erikk, and Nick on three very important fronts. First, news on the upcoming conclusion to our CABIN series. Second, on relentlesspicnic.com/store Third, on the continued existence of patreon.com/relentlesspicnic, the live shows we've been doing for our Patreon supporters, and the show we've got coming up on Monday, December 6th, 2021. Register here: crowdcast.io/e/digupthehatchet We're not gone. And we're thankful for you.

“‘Oh!’ say the technophiles, ‘Science is going to fix all that! We will conquer famine, eliminate psychological suffering, make everybody healthy and happy!’ Yeah, sure. The technophiles are hopelessly naive (or self-deceiving) in their understanding of social problems. Thus it will take a long and difficult period of trial and error for the technophiles to work the bugs out of their Brave New World (if they ever do). In the mean time there will be great suffering.” —T. Kaczynski, Industrial Society and Its Future (1995). Cabin is the new season from The Relentless Picnic. It's one story told over multiple episodes. It's a story about solitude and isolation, community and loss, Henry David Thoreau and Ted Kaczynski—and it's told through audio recorded throughout 2019 and 2020. Support us at patreon.com/relentlesspicnic for access to a ton of bonus content. Our web site is relentlesspicnic.com SOURCES (Ep. 7): - The Unabomber In His Own Words (2018), dir. Mick Grogan, on Netflix: bit.ly/2DbHkuh ; - Technological Slavery: The Collected Writings of Theodore J. Kaczynski, a.k.a. “The Unabomber”, ed. and introduction by David Skirbina, 2010: amzn.to/2STTFYH ; - Walden; or, Life in the Woods, by H.D. Thoreau (1854): bit.ly/35RyPPQ ; - Patrick Conley: bit.ly/3pGdIIL ; - Ken Baumann: bit.ly/2WUmHK1 ; - Jacques Ellul, The Technological Society (1954): amzn.to/3o2zdmy ; - Eric Hoffer, The True Believer (1951): amzn.to/34TDrFl ; - The History of Violence in America, eds. H.D. Graham & T.R. Gurr (1969): amzn.to/3rCmGsl ; - Chester C. Tan, Chinese Political Thought in the Twentieth Century (1971): amzn.to/3aUNCgQ ; - L. Sprague de Camp, The Ancient Engineers (1963): amzn.to/3o8lavW ; - “Why the Future Doesn’t Need Us,” by Bill Joy (WIRED, Apr., 2000): bit.ly/3hw5uQD ; - season photo: "Untitled #2214" by Todd Hido, 1998.

“It may be objected that primitive man is physically less secure than modern man, as is shown by his shorter life expectancy; hence modern man suffers from less, not more than the amount of insecurity that is normal for human beings. But psychological security does not closely correspond with physical security. It is true that primitive man is powerless against some of the things that threaten him; disease for example. But he can accept the risk of disease stoically. It is part of the nature of things, it is no one’s fault, unless it is the fault of some imaginary, impersonal demon. But threats to the modern individual tend to be MAN-MADE.” —T. Kaczynski, Industrial Society and Its Future (1995). Cabin is the new season from The Relentless Picnic. It's one story told over multiple episodes. It's a story about solitude and isolation, community and loss, Henry David Thoreau and Ted Kaczynski—and it's told through audio recorded throughout 2019 and 2020. Support us at patreon.com/relentlesspicnic for access to a ton of bonus content. Our web site is relentlesspicnic.com SOURCES (Ep. 6): - The Unabomber In His Own Words (2018), dir. Mick Grogan, on Netflix: bit.ly/2DbHkuh ; - Technological Slavery: The Collected Writings of Theodore J. Kaczynski, a.k.a. “The Unabomber”, ed. and introduction by David Skirbina, 2010: amzn.to/2STTFYH ; - Discourse on the Origin and Basis of Inequality Among Men (a.k.a. the “Second Discourse”), Jean-Jacques Rousseau, 1755 ; - Walden; or, Life in the Woods, by H.D. Thoreau (1854): bit.ly/35RyPPQ ; - “Walking,” by H.D. Thoreau (1862): bit.ly/35P4Dor ; - season photo: "Untitled #2214" by Todd Hido, 1998.

“The Industrial Revolution and its consequences have been a disaster for the human race. The continued development of technology will worsen the situation. There is no way of reforming or modifying the system so as to prevent it from depriving people of dignity and autonomy. If the system breaks down the consequences will still be very painful. But the bigger the system grows the more disastrous the results of its breakdown will be, so if it is to break down it had best break down sooner rather than later. We therefore advocate a revolution against the industrial system. This revolution may or may not make use of violence; it may be sudden or it may be a relatively gradual process spanning a few decades. This is not to be a POLITICAL revolution. Its object will be to overthrow not governments but the economic and technological basis of the present society.” —T. Kaczynski, Industrial Society and Its Future, 1995. Cabin is the new season from The Relentless Picnic. It's one story told over multiple episodes. It's a story about solitude and isolation, community and loss, Henry David Thoreau and Ted Kaczynski—and it's told through audio recorded throughout 2019 and 2020. Support us at patreon.com/relentlesspicnic for access to a ton of bonus content. Our web site is relentlesspicnic.com . SOURCES (Ep. 5): - The Unabomber In His Own Words (2018), dir. Mick Grogan, on Netflix: bit.ly/2DbHkuh ; - Technological Slavery: The Collected Writings of Theodore J. Kaczysnki, a.k.a. “The Unabomber”, ed. and introduction by David Skirbina, 2010: amzn.to/2STTFYH ; - Discourse on the Origin and Basis of Inequality Among Men (a.k.a. the “Second Discourse”), Jean-Jacques Rousseau, 1755 ; - season photo: "Untitled #2214" by Todd Hido, 1998.

“One writer says that Brown's peculiar monomania made him to be ‘dreaded by the Missourians as a supernatural being.’ Sure enough, a hero in the midst of us cowards is always so dreaded. He is just that thing. He shows himself superior to nature. He has a spark of divinity in him. They talk as if it were impossible that a man could be ‘divinely appointed’ in these days to do any work whatever; as if vows and religion were out of date as connected with any man's daily work; as if the agent to abolish slavery could only be somebody appointed by the President, or by some political party. They talk as if a man's death were a failure, and his continued life, be it of whatever character, were a success.” —H.D. Thoreau, “A Plea For Captain John Brown,” 1859. Cabin is the new season from The Relentless Picnic. It's one story told over multiple episodes. It's a story about solitude and isolation, community and loss, Henry David Thoreau and Ted Kaczynski—and it's told through audio recorded throughout 2019 and 2020. Support us at patreon.com/relentlesspicnic for access to a ton of bonus content. Our web site is relentlesspicnic.com SOURCES (Ep. 4): - “A Plea for Captain John Brown,” by H.D. Thoreau (1859): bit.ly/2CPiMHT ; - Walden; or, Life in the Woods, by H.D. Thoreau (1854): bit.ly/3jS0Woq ; - Videos and resources on John Brown, the raid on Harpers Ferry, and its aftermath: youtu.be/EG4ukrMtdNs , youtu.be/bB_kbFAui-U , youtu.be/LPyqE2zpQCg , youtu.be/Ax7KjLUOt8w , youtu.be/roNmeOOJCDY , youtu.be/q-E-ffXl2Uk , youtu.be/MILN_17KH6M , youtu.be/dmyswQs6_Bw . - Henry David Thoreau: A Life, by Laura Dassow Walls (2018): amzn.to/2B22qdw ; - “Civil Disobedience,” by H.D. Thoreau (1849): bit.ly/2OYTQjz ; - Westward, I Go Free: Tracing Thoreau’s Last Journey, by Corinne Smith: amzn.to/2OUyYKi ; corinnehsmith.com ; thoreausociety.org ; - Thoreau’s letter to Parker Pillsbury, April 10 1861: bit.ly/2WVVdEg [“Blessed are they who never read a newspaper, for they shall see Nature, and through her, God. But alas I have heard of Sumpter, & Pickens, & even of Buchanan, (though I did not read his message)”] ; - Thoreau’s journals, 1860-61: bit.ly/2WXHUmI ; - “The Wreckage,” The Relentless Picnic, ep. 27: bit.ly/2By6Md7 ; - Joanna Newsom, “Does Not Suffice” (youtu.be/FkjkT-ohCpQ) & “Good Intentions Paving Company” (youtu.be/KCCl3nzL5PI) ; - Don DeLillo, Mao II (1991): amzn.to/30VqmJc ; - The Unabomber In His Own Words (2018), documentary on Netflix: bit.ly/2DbHkuh ; - season photo: "Untitled #2214" by Todd Hido, 1998.

“Most men, even in this comparatively free country, through mere ignorance and mistake, are so occupied with the factitious cares and superfluously coarse labors of life that its finer fruits cannot be plucked by them. . . . Some, not wise, go to the other side of the globe, to barbarous and unhealthy regions, devote themselves to trade for ten or twenty years, in order that they may live—that is, keep comfortably warm—and die in New England at last.” —H.D. Thoreau, Walden, “Economy,” 1854. Cabin is the new season from The Relentless Picnic. It's one story told over multiple episodes. It's a story about solitude and isolation, community and loss, Henry David Thoreau and Ted Kaczynski—and it's told through audio recorded throughout 2019 and 2020. Support us at patreon.com/relentlesspicnic for access to a ton of bonus content. Our web site is relentlesspicnic.com SOURCES (Ep. 3): - Walden; or, Life in the Woods, by H.D. Thoreau (1854) ; - The journals of Henry David Thoreau (1837-1861): bit.ly/36Lxavm ; - “Ktaadn,” by H.D. Thoreau (1848): bit.ly/2CSXvga ; - The Maine Woods, by H.D. Thoreau (posthumously, 1862): bit.ly/3icJ5HO ; - “Early Retirement Extreme” by J.L. Fisker (2010): amzn.to/2ZpEZn2 ; - Ben Gaddes: appalachianben.tumblr.com, bengaddes.com, & bit.ly/2ZA4CBZ ; - Henry David Thoreau: A Life, by Laura Dassow Walls (2018): amzn.to/2B22qdw ; FURTHER READING: - An excerpt from "On Trails" by Robert Moor (2016), on Thoreau and Katahdin: bit.ly/3gbBibC ; - “What Happened to the Thoreau Spring Plaque [on Katahdin]?” by Howard R. Whitcomb (2015): bit.ly/31u79jq .

“I perceive that we partially die ourselves through sympathy at the death of each of our friends or near relatives. Each such experience is an assault on our vital force. It becomes a source of wonder that they who have lost many friends still live. After long watching around the sickbed of a friend, we, too, partially give up the ghost with him, and are the less to be identified with this state of things.” —H.D. Thoreau, Journal, 1859. Cabin is the new season from The Relentless Picnic. It's one story told over multiple episodes. It's a story about solitude and isolation, community and loss, Henry David Thoreau and Ted Kaczynski—and it's told through audio recorded throughout 2019 and 2020. Support us at patreon.com/relentlesspicnic for access to a ton of bonus content. Our web site is relentlesspicnic.com SOURCES (Ep. 2): - Walden; or, Life in the Woods, by H.D. Thoreau (1854) ; - The journals of Henry David Thoreau (1837-1861): bit.ly/36Lxavm ; - Henry David Thoreau: A Life, by Laura Dassow Walls (2018): amzn.to/2B22qdw ; - Letter from N. Hawthorne to H.W. Longfellow (Nov. 21, 1848): bit.ly/3fjSqeP ; - With Walt Whitman in Camden, vol. 1, by Horace Traubel (1906): bit.ly/2YpXhEq ; - “Pierre Menard, Author of the ‘Quixote’” by Jorge Luis Borges (tr. 1962): bit.ly/2UACA7H ; - season photo: "Untitled #2214" by Todd Hido, 1998.

Cabin is the new season from The Relentless Picnic. It's one story told over multiple episodes. It's a story about solitude and isolation, community and loss, Henry David Thoreau and Ted Kaczynski—and it's told through audio recorded throughout 2019 and 2020. Support us at patreon.com/relentlesspicnic for access to a ton of bonus content. Our web site is relentlesspicnic.com SOURCES (Ep. 1): - The journals of Henry David Thoreau (1837-1861): bit.ly/36Lxavm ; - Walden; or, Life in the Woods, by H.D. Thoreau (1854) ; - Into the Wild (dir. Sean Penn, 2007; based on the 1996 book by Jon Krakauer about Christopher McCandless) ; - Grizzly Man (dir. Werner Herzog, 2005) ; - season photo: "Untitled #2214" by Todd Hido, 1998.

A preview of CABIN: the upcoming season from The Relentless Picnic.

Are we further apart? Are we being fooled? This is an episode about our phantom selves, how we're doing right now, and the feeling that something important has gone wrong. SOURCES: - "Ep. 27: The Wreckage," The Relentless Picnic (Feb. '18): bit.ly/2GhA6CW ; - "How Do We Write Now?" by Patricia Lockwood, Tin House (Apr. '18): bit.ly/2Gfyj1p ; - "In the Age of A.I., Is Seeing Still Believing?" by Joshua Rothman, The New Yorker (Nov. '18): bit.ly/2zwnggK ; - "Brain-Eating Amoeba Lurk in U.S. Lakes. But Should You Worry?" PBS NewsHour (Aug. '11): to.pbs.org/2IviXbF ; - If I Forget Thee, Jerusalem, by Wm. Faulker (1939) ; - music from the episode: bit.ly/2UFK6QM (ft. "All Fires" by Moonface, from Spencer Krug: patreon.com/spencerkrug ). - Image: Hundertacht House, Bonn-Kessenich, North Rhine-Westphalia, 2007, Uwe Schröder Architekten. Photo: Stefan Müller

The world is a snakepit of competing takes and diverging minds. How is anybody supposed to live? In this episode, we play a game called Passage Potluck to straighten it all out. We assembled a packet of short excerpted texts, and forced ourselves to connect dots between, through, and around them, at random. The passages we wound up discussing are assembled for listeners here: bit.ly/peoplespacket ; but the full packet we had in front of us is for our Patreon supporters here: bit.ly/patreonpacket . Music from the episode: https://bit.ly/2B7rUnc ; Image credit: Thomas Prior.

The confidence we’ve always had as a people isn’t simply some romantic dream, or a proverb in a dusty book we read just on the Fourth of July. In this episode we’re talking democracy and consumerism through those American specters John Dewey, the thirty-ninth President James Earl Carter, and the citizen-reviewers of Amazon dot com. SOURCES: - Jimmy Carter, Address to the Nation on Energy (Nov. 8, 1977): bit.ly/2R3bFNo ; - John Dewey, The Public and Its Problems (1927): a.co/d/aRa9JvB ; - John Dewey, The Quest for Certainty (1929) ; - WaPo "Presidential" podcast, "Jimmy Carter: Keeping the Faith." transcript: wapo.st/2POYTlk ; - Peanuts to the Presidency: the Jimmy Carter Campaign (1978): youtu.be/kHgMS2xVyJY ; - American Experience: Jimmy Carter, PBS Films (2002): youtu.be/FXyeIklDDEI ; - footage from "The Made-for-TV Election 1980" film, dir. William Brandon Shanley, starring Martin Sheen (1986): youtu.be/LeJxuOVXEm8 ; - Jimmy Carter, "Crisis of Confidence" speech (July 14, 1979), transcript: bit.ly/2Jc6AQf , video: youtu.be/kakFDUeoJKM ; - "A Former President, A Person of Faith," interview with Jimmy Carter on 1A (March 2018): bit.ly/2CWH40Y ; - "John Dewey's Radical Critique of the New Deal," by Daniel O'Connor (2010): bit.ly/2Any2rB ; - John Dewey, "The Teacher and the Public" (1935) ; - James Fallows, "The Passionless Presidency: The trouble with Jimmy Carter's Administration, " The Atlantic (May 1979): bit.ly/2yssLNJ ; - cover image: Stefan Czapsky, 1990 ; - music from the episode: https://bit.ly/2AouMw9 .

Let's talk about movies. How would you talk about a movie if it wants you to shut up? Climb aboard for a one-way trip down the river of striking images, dream-like sequences, and too many meaningful looks. From the ridiculous to the sacred, we examine the examinations of the unspeakable silence at the heart of life. SOURCES: - 2001: A Space Odyssey, dir. Stanley Kubrick (1968) ; - Plato, Republic (514a & ff.) ; - Song to Song, dir. Terence Malick (2017) ; - Paul Schraeder's review of Song to Song: bit.ly/2vqghom ; - Paul Schraeder, Transcendental Style in Film: Ozu, Bresson, Dreyer, with new introduction, "Rethinking Transcendental Style" (2018): a.co/eiNRfRh ; - Stalker, dir. Andrei Tarkovsky (1979) ; - Late Spring, dir. Yasujirô Ozu (1949) ; - Five Dedicated to Ozu, dir. Abbas Kiarostami (2003) ; - cover image: Lucas Samaras, 1975 - music from the episode: bit.ly/2AN40zL .

This week it’s fourteen conversations about one thing. We do a little research on the symptoms of fascism and begin to feel like an expendable character in the first act of a horror film. Plus: TED talks are blindfolds at the museum, why you must laminate the best parts of your body, and the moral arc of the universe bends toward destruction, but also hope? Q.E.D., friends. SOURCES: - Umberto Eco, "Ur-Fascism" (NYRB, June 1995): https://bit.ly/1mXBPS6 ; - Plato's Meno, 72a ; - "How we can build AI to help humans, not hurt us," a TED talk by Margaret Mitchell (03/12/2018): https://youtu.be/twWkGt33X_k ; - "How to win at evolution and survive a mass extinction," a TED talk by Lauren Sallan (11/21/2017): https://youtu.be/rtcrqLWZr_0 ; - "Capitalism isn't an ideology -- it's an operating system," a TED talk by Bhu Srinivasan (03/06/2018): https://youtu.be/Y0UB6g8Rsyw ; - clip from George Carlin, "Doin' it Again" (1990): https://youtu.be/hNd_x3w-yNo ; - Masha Gessen, "Autocracy: Rules for Survival" (NYRB, Nov. 2016): https://bit.ly/2fGj4PY ; - Reggie Watts at TEDx Berlin (12/05/2013): https://youtu.be/Y7IxzpB-UMM ; - episode cover image: "Ministers Meeting, Rome, Italy, 1940" by Carl Mydans ; - music from the episode: https://bit.ly/2KCdI8R .