205 episodes

Personally connecting the dots. All of them. Benjamen Walker's Theory of Everything is a proud member of Radiotopia, from PRX. Learn more at radiotopia.fm.

Benjamen Walker's Theory of Everything Radiotopia

    • Society & Culture
    • 4.3 • 1.4K Ratings

Listen on Apple Podcasts
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Personally connecting the dots. All of them. Benjamen Walker's Theory of Everything is a proud member of Radiotopia, from PRX. Learn more at radiotopia.fm.

Listen on Apple Podcasts
Requires subscription and macOS 11.4 or higher

    Not All Propaganda is Art 7: Manufacturing Dissent

    Not All Propaganda is Art 7: Manufacturing Dissent

    In 1959, Anti-Americanism surged in the UK. England seethed over America’s treatment of its Prime Minister who was smacked down for daring to use diplomacy to resolve the crisis over divided Germany.  In 1959 England also fretted over a new American export: the Beatnik. The British foreign office forcefully responded with a report advocating for “ an increased effort in the field of press, radio and television in the U.K. to say the right kind of things about the Americans.” This is the very moment Kenneth Tynan was commissioned to make a documentary for British Television about American Non-conformism and Dissent. We take a close look at one of the Cold War's most bizarre and inspired artifacts of Anti Anti-American propaganda.

    Shownotes: Laura Bradley writes on Brecht and German theater. Kenneth Tynan’s documentary aired on January 27th, 1960 and then was supposedly erased (it wasn’t).

    Support ToE and get access to the incredible exclusive bonus companion series to Not All Propaganda is Art by subscribing at https://theoryofeverything.supercast.com/, or subscribe directly in Apple Podcasts by hitting “Subscribe” right on the show page.


    Support ToE and get access to the incredible exclusive bonus companion series to Not All Propaganda is Art by subscribing athttps://theoryofeverything.supercast.com/, or subscribe directly in Apple Podcasts by hitting “Subscribe” right on the show page.

    • 58 min
    Propaganda Notes & Sources: Episode 7

    Propaganda Notes & Sources: Episode 7

    Thank you for subscribing to the exclusive bonus Propaganda Notes and Sources  podcast.  This is Episode 5 which corresponds to Episode 6 of  Not All Propaganda is Art, a limited series running on Benjamen Walker’s Theory of Everything podcast.

    Not All Propaganda is Art 6: The Kitsch Debate

    Not All Propaganda is Art 6: The Kitsch Debate

    In the summer of 1959, Nixon and Khrushchev argued over a washing machine in a backstage kitchen in Moscow, while American Cold War intellectuals gathered in the Poconos to defend Kitsch. Dwight Macdonald, whose theory of mass culture translated too easily into Anti-Americanism, was barred from participating because this was no ordinary mass culture conference; it was an Anti Anti-Americanism operation. Meanwhile, in London, Dwight Macdonald delivered a mass culture lecture of his own called "America, America,” based on the most famous article Encounter magazine never published.

    Shownotes: Jefferson Pooley wrote about Edward Shils and The Remobilization of the Propaganda and Morale Network. Sophie Scott-Brown wrote about Raphael Samuel and the New Left.

    Support ToE and get access to the incredible exclusive bonus companion series to Not All Propaganda is Art by subscribing at https://theoryofeverything.supercast.com/, or subscribe directly in Apple Podcasts by hitting “Subscribe” right on the show page.


    Support ToE and get access to the incredible exclusive bonus companion series to Not All Propaganda is Art by subscribing athttps://theoryofeverything.supercast.com/, or subscribe directly in Apple Podcasts by hitting “Subscribe” right on the show page.

    • 1 hr 4 min
    Propaganda Notes & Sources: Episode 6

    Propaganda Notes & Sources: Episode 6

    Thank you for subscribing to the exclusive bonus Propaganda Notes and Sources  podcast.  This is Episode 5 which corresponds to Episode 6 of  Not All Propaganda is Art, a limited series running on Benjamen Walker’s Theory of Everything podcast.

    Not All Propaganda is Art 5: The Play's the Thing

    Not All Propaganda is Art 5: The Play's the Thing

    In the fall of 1958, Kenneth Tynan moved from London to New York and upon arrival, clashed with Hollywood mogul Samuel Goldwyn over socially engaged art and the politics of apolitical culture on live TV. At the same moment New Yorker writer Dwight Macdonald went West to report on “New” Hollywood's ambitions to create commercially and artistically successful films. We also meet two of Professor Macdonald’s former students from a Mass Culture course he taught at Bard College in 1958. Meanwhile in France, Richard Wright suffers a number of disturbing attacks, prompting him to channel his frustrations into a revealing radio play.

    Shownotes: Tamara Walker is the author of Beyond the Shores, Hugh Wilford wrote The Mighty Wurlitzer, Tom Benjamin and Frances Hodes were both students of Dwight Macdonald at Bard College in 1958 and Dan Sinclair is the author of  Courteous Enemy.

    Support ToE and get access to the incredible exclusive bonus companion series to Not All Propaganda is Art by subscribing at https://theoryofeverything.supercast.com/, or subscribe directly in Apple Podcasts by hitting “Subscribe” right on the show page.

    • 1 hr 11 min
    Propaganda Notes & Sources: Episode 5

    Propaganda Notes & Sources: Episode 5

    Thank you for subscribing to the exclusive bonus Propaganda Notes and Sources  podcast.  This is Episode 5 which corresponds to Episode 5 of  Not All Propaganda is Art, a limited series running on Benjamen Walker’s Theory of Everything podcast.

Customer Reviews

4.3 out of 5
1.4K Ratings

1.4K Ratings

gypsydjango ,

Works!

New listener and thoroughly enjoying the topics. Plus, Benjamin is one of a very few hosts whose voice is easy to listen to and wraps you in. I’m in.

Josiebird93 ,

I’ve been hooked since day one.

I just realized I’ve been listening since 2012, back in the Too Much Information days.
My favorite episode that I revisit every so often is “recent, relevant, random”. I love this podcast because scratches a specific itch for my neurotic and curious brain. I have yet to meet another person to recommend this podcast to me, but I have been recommending it for years and it seems like friends are finally catching on and digging it. IDK if I’m glad people are finally getting where I’m coming from, or if I’m worried that we’re increasingly anxious. Anyways here’s to almost 12 years of listening! Thank you to Benjamen and everyone else who works on the show!

oldjohnhall ,

Come Up for Air

3 Stars How come the host ALWAYS sounds so astonished and horny? No matter what he’s talking about it’s like he’s saying it while he’s losing his virginity. Unnerving.

Im trying to withhold judgment though cuz I can’t tell if it’s a seriously annoying affectation or if he’s got a vocal chord disease.

All in all his staccato cadence is enough to make me wanna just read the transcript instead. 🤷🏼‍♂️

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