Inspired in part by Jodi Dean's essay on neofeudalism, I wanted to spend some time discussing the feudal elements of our society, including ownership concentrated into hereditary hands and systems of obligation predicated not on divine right but on debt. Enjoy!

The show is fully self-funded. I do no monetization, no slop, no grind culture nonsense. If you’d like to support the show and/or encourage me to continue, the best way to do so is on whatever platform you’re using. Like, subscribe, leave comments, and of course share it with anyone you think may be interested.

This Place is Weird is a weekly video and podcast about marketing and consumer culture, with relevant topics from science, religion, politics, philosophy, economy, and so on. The focus is on peculiar and unexpected views of the quotidian and ordinary, that is to say that I discuss what is weird. This place, if you look at it quite clearly, is extremely weird. That place being the United States, capitalism, Modernity, planet Earth, the global North, et cetera. If you’re watching on YouTube and prefer audio format since there’s minimal editing, the show should be available on every major podcast network. If you’re listening and would rather see me talking and gesturing (and maybe in the future with some more visuals), the show is available on YouTube under my personal account: Alexander Rose (not the musician).

Today, I have a somewhat ranty episode about the internal versus external politics of consumption. We've been told time and again to vote with our wallets to such a degree that we now sublimate our political frustration more or less completely into consumerism. We shop for brands that allegedly share our values, we rail about issues on platforms, and we do absolutely nothing to exert political will. The result will be that the beatings continue.

The show is fully self-funded. I do no monetization, no slop, no grind culture nonsense. If you’d like to support the show and/or encourage me to continue, the best way to do so is on whatever platform you’re using. Like, subscribe, leave comments, and of course share it with anyone you think may be interested.

This Place is Weird is a weekly video and podcast about marketing and consumer culture, with relevant topics from science, religion, politics, philosophy, economy, and so on. The focus is on peculiar and unexpected views of the quotidian and ordinary, that is to say that I discuss what is weird. This place, if you look at it quite clearly, is extremely weird. That place being the United States, capitalism, Modernity, planet Earth, the global North, et cetera. If you’re watching on YouTube and prefer audio format since there’s minimal editing, the show should be available on every major podcast network. If you’re listening and would rather see me talking and gesturing (and maybe in the future with some more visuals), the show is available on YouTube under my personal account: Alexander Rose (not the musician).

With the realization, at a total removal thanks to Modern systems of distance and security, that today is the autumnal equinox, I had to give a shoutout to one of my favorite questions from students: is there a new religion coming? We discuss the equinox, cyclical living, the difference between material independence from nature and subjective independence from nature, the possibility of a surge in neo-Animism, how that's different from neo-Paganism, why Abrahamic religions aren't addressing these issues (with a brief case study of Evangelical Tyson Foods), whether a river has rights, I forgot the name of the Whanganui River in New Zealand, and so on. Fun stuff. Happy equinox! Do something outside. Eat with friends. Be weird

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