About this episode

The episode explores the intersection of activism and modern irony through the lens of various cultural texts and figures.

Is that blank page paralyzing your activism? Is your irony a mask for your complicity? We’re using William James and David Foster Wallace to interrogate the “sneer trap” of modern irony. From Marvin Gaye’s soulful protests to BTS’s radical solidarity after the Sewol Ferry tragedy, we consider how “New Sincerity” and “Guerilla Texts” can unsettle the status quo and physically alter the world. Episode 6.35 – Writing Back: Guerilla Texts, BTS, and Gaye Readings & Resources: Gaye, Marvin. “What’s Going On.” What’s Going On , 1971. BTS. “Spring Day.” You Never Walk Alone , 2017. YouTube , https://youtu.be/xEeFrLSkMm8. James, William. “Is Life Worth Living?” The Will to Believe and Other Essays in Popular Philosophy , 1897. Wallace, David Foster. “E Unibus Pluram: Television and U.S. Fiction.” Review of Contemporary Fiction , 1993. Hesse, Hermann. Demian , 1919. Some Key Terms from this episode: Precursive Faith: The pragmatic belief that the very act of speaking out helps create the reality of that change New Sincerity: A subversive posture of absolute, vulnerable earnestness that…

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