Being Sincere in a Cynical World

Listen nowDownload file
Embed player
Original Air Date: 
August 11, 2018

Why is the world so damn cynical? Rather than surrendering to corrosive, hopeless snark, we look to some unexpected sources — video games, the lives lead by those who leave hate groups, and the optimism of the Afrofuturist art and culture movement — to make the case for sincerity.

A screenshot from "One Hour, One Life"
Video

In "One Hour, One Life," you start as a naked newborn. The only way you can survive even the first three minutes is if another player — a stranger — adopts you. It’s a surprisingly powerful experience – but that’s what Jason Rohrer is famous for designing.

Pop culture's constant barrage of ironic detachment
Articles

In 2012, Princeton University professor Christy Wampole wrote a New York Times column that every hipster everywhere instantly hated it — but it struck a chord with people who had grown tired of pop culture dominated by self-awareness and snark.

Christian Picciolini recounts his experience leaving the white supremacist hate group.
Articles

Charles Monroe-Kane talks with Christian Picciolini about his campaign to de-program white supremacists, including Richard Spencer, the most prominent face of American white supremacy today.

Art from Ingrid La Fleur's Afrofuturist mayoral campaign in Detroit. (Ingrid La Fleur)
Photo Gallery

Artist, activist, and Afrofuturist Ingrid La Fleur recommends collection of books, films and artists for those interested in understanding Afrofuturism as an aesthetic and as a movement.

Extras

Show Details 📻
Airdates
August 11, 2018
March 09, 2019
January 11, 2020
October 24, 2020
March 25, 2023
Last modified: 
March 24, 2023