2020: 30 Cultural Things That Saved me from Insanity during the Pandemic
Dec 31, 202 23:30–as I think about the amount of culture we consumed this year I can’t help but realize that most people talk about the same things.
How odd that even when there are algorithms that know us better than we know ourselves everyone seems to be watching “Queen’s Gambit”.
Here’s are a few recommendations of things that kept me sane and might help you break out of the box.
Music
Nosotros somos de la raza ancestral
De la Inka
Wiracocha
La cultura antigua, ¿va?
Yo soy serpiente dorada
- Dengue Dengue Dengue
A Mystical Peruvian version of Daft Punk. Producers, DJs and designers, mix Peruvian culture with electronic sounds. Yes, listen now.
Fav Song: Serpiente Dorada
2. Los Mirlos
Pioneers of Psychedelic Amazonian Cumbia for over 46 years–enough said.
Fav Song: Cumbia de los Pajaritos
3. Mercedes Nasta: Basalto
Basalto(basalt): For it’s symbology of transformational power, from incandescent lave to dark stone; for being a source of worship and a vital element of mexican modernist architecture.
A musical tribute to Mexican architecture–from the ancestral volcanoes that produce the landscape and sacred stone to modernist the Luis Barragán. I am all about love songs for volcanos.
Fav Song: Paricutin Spotify // Apple Music
Film
In this journey, he has to find out, in solitude and silence, who he really is
4. Embrace of the Serpent–Ciro Guerra
A young shaman helps a sick German explorer search for a rare healing plant.
He will embark in a completely different journey than he had signed up for, and no he will not post about his “aya” spiritual enlightenment it on IG.
w/ subscription Amazon Prime
5. Color out of Space–Richard Stanley
After a meteorite crashes into their farm, a family must deal with incomprehensible entities that completely destroy their minds. Yes–it’s a Lovecraft thing.
Rent YouTube // Amazon Prime //iTunes
6. The Last Wave–Peter Weir
A successful, pragmatic western lawyer experiences a premonition and gradually enters a hidden spiritual realm with help from a group of forgotten Indigenous Australian people.
w/ Subscription Criterion // HBO Max
Rent Amazon Prime //iTunes
7. Badlands–Terence Malick
A movie where the protagonist is the expansive, awe inspiring timeless nature of the Midwest.
A young woman who is enthralled by a charming young man serial-as you would if that serial killer is a young Martin Sheen.
w/ Subscription Criterion
Rent iTunes // Amazon Prime
Series
8. Naoki Urasawa’s Monster
A psychological noir series that forces you to question your ethics and the repercussions of your actions even when well intended (should resonate with many of us).
Deals with many contemporary themes like, right wing nationalism, conspiracies, hidden power and the oppression of being a minority.
As timely as it GETS.
Free on Youtube
9. The Sopranos & The Wire
If you haven’t seen these shows–now’s the time to watch.
They show you two different sides of America that exist today, the “self-made” men and the completely destitute part of our society.
I’d sum up The Sopranos as the journey of an American man, that romanticizes the past and given all opportunities to change rejects this.
The Wire shows us the completely opposite side, it’s a critique of a system in which people are pushed slowly but surely into a life of crime.
I can’t stop saying “let’s get a pizz” & “gabagool” in my head after watching.
w/ Subscription HBO Max
10. Raised by Wolves
Ridley Scott’s work is legendary, but can be an acquired taste, specially Alien or Prometheus. If you enjoy that weirdness this is for you.
The show explores what seem to be his favorite themes: the nature of humanity, consciousness, what does having a soul mean, faith, religion and the possibility of a deeper, infinitely ancient history of life in the universe–and how all androids bleed milk.
w/ Subscription HBO Max
Podcasts
11. Weird Studies
A filmmaker and a professor talk art and philosophy at the limits of the thinkable.
Discussions around “weird” topics: Machen, Lovecraft, tarot, synchronicities, Nietzche, Jazz, Tech-Gnosticism, Bergson, Crowley and even goblins.
Machines of Loving Grace: Technology and the Unabomber || Spotify // Apple
The Medium is the Message || Spotify // Apple
On John Keel’s ‘Mothman Prophecies’ || Spotify // Apple
12. Push Back with Aaron Maté
An independent news show which covers news stories that rarely seem to get attention by larger news outlets–I learned about this show by trying to find good coverage about the explosion in Lebanon.
Here are some good episodes to get started:
Lebanon’s corrupt, colonial system leads to explosion catastrophe|| Spotify // Apple
Blaming Moscow for Hunter Biden’s laptop is Russiagate disinformation || Spotify // Apple
Inside Trump’s outgoing execution spree || Spotify // Apple
13. The East is a Podcast
A critical lens on the history of the present of West Asia and Other cultures.
Another podcast that talks about issues from happening around the globe, with a refreshing perspective. Some good eps:
Lebanon Revolts! || Spotify // Apple
New Kings of the World: Dispatches from Bollywood, Dizi, and K-Pop || Spotify // Apple
Punjab Farmer’s Movement Confronts the Modi Juggernaut || Spotify // Apple
14. La Advertencia (it’s in Spanish)
Narrated by Diego Luna, this documentary shows us how the Guatemalan people were able to force their corrupt President to leave officeand put him in jail. Same goes for all his military, political and corrupt business allies.
Something we can only dream of as members of the shining beacon of Democracy.
Comics
15. Zojaqan
A grieving human mother is catapulted into a parallel universe where she travels through time interacting with a local alien society and becoming their Demi-God.
16. H.P Lovecraft’s At the Mountains of Madness by Gou Tanabe
One of the biggest challenges for anyone working on turning an HP Lovecraft story into something visual is probably how to get over the fact that everything is so “indescribably horrific”.
This comic book does an amazing job of illustrating in the most artistic way the horrific experience a group of adventurers visiting the north-pole endure as they discover the meaninglessness of the human species at a cosmic scale and this little creatures called shoggoths.
Buy at Amazon
17. Pantheon
A hilarious retelling of the most important myth in Ancient Egypt. Horus, son of Isis, vows bloody revenge on his Uncle Set for the murder and usurpation of his Pharaoh father. The cover tells you exactly what to expect.
Buy at NoBrow
Non-Fiction
18. Journal of The Plague Year
You will get a completely different perspective of the current pandemic by reading someone’s account of surviving The Plague which had a killed 30–50% of the population.
No, people have not changed.
19. k-punk: The Collected and Unpublished Writings of Mark Fisher
You probably have a political ideology that leaves little space for alternatives or better futures. This is a great analysis of why that is and what to do about it. if you understand something is wrong with our consensus reality but you can’t point out what it is, this is the book for you.
Audiobook / Book / K-Punks Blog
19. American Cosmic
You have probably heard something about UFO’s this year. This book brings forth the question from a social science perspective: are UFO’s a new religion?
20. Popol Vuh
The “Book of the People” includes the Mayan creation myth, and chronicles of the Kʼicheʼ people.
I am really interested in Mayan philosophy–simply because it gives us access to think about the world from a less utilitarian western perspective.
Amazon (Spanish) // Amazon (English) // Audiobook ES // Audiobook EN
Fiction
20. Children of Time & Children of Ruin
If you were ever enthralledby the idea that octopi are intelligent and have another kind of mind these are the books for you–it delves into what “spiderness” or “octopussness” could belike–what would a society of smart octopi be like?
How would the interaction between humans and those societies unfold?
Children of Time (Book 1) Amazon // Adubible
Children of Ruin (Book 2) Amazon // Audible
21.
22. The Gone World
A murder mystery that blends the multiverse, philosophy and cosmic horror weaved in a story about the end of humanity–like a time-travel season of True Detective.
You haven’t read anything like this.
Fun fact: it will be adapted by Neil Blomkamp (Elysium, District 9)
23. The Book of Mirdad
If you are slaves on Earth & you were told: “Renounce Earthly Freedom, for in Heaven awaits you unimaginalbe Freedom!” Answer him: “He who did not taste Freedom on Earth, will not know it in Heaven!”
A philosophical tour of Sufi, Theosophist and Tolstoy philosophical thought in a package that feels like a mystical, biblical story–best compared to Siddhartha or The Alchemist.
Fun fact this was one of Osho’s favorite books.
Art Books
“the Tarot constitutes first and foremost an apprenticeship in seeing”
24. Dali’s Tarot
The Tarot is a weird artifact, some might think it’s just ignorant magical thinking. Others see it as a tool to gain psychological insight and creative inspiration. And yet other people have seen the strange imagery and can’t help but feel there’s something more.
Legend has it that when preparing props for the James Bond film Live and Let Die, producer Albert Broccoli commissioned Surrealist maestro Salvador Dalí to create a custom deck of tarot cards. Inspired by his wife Gala, who nurtured his interest in mysticism, Dalí eagerly got to work, and continued the project of his own accord when the contractual deal fell through.
Whatever you may think of Tarot these cards are gorgeous, and back in the Renaissance Tarot was used to play games as well
25. Mexican Style
We come out of the dream suddenly,
we only come to dream,
it isn’t true, it isn’t true
that we come to live on the earth.
Like grass in spring
is our being.
Mexico is surreal–our culture is a mixture of mystical, colorful, ancient, modern traditions. Sometimes obscured by stereotypes and portrayals from our northern neighbors this book manages to show the unique identity of our country and its unique style, craftsmanship and culture.
Apps
26. Punkt
Did you ever dream of having a diary but were never able to summon the discipline? Well this app makes it slightly easier, but less romantic.
It’s well known that tracking your mood, and gratitude can help you lead a better life. This app makes that pretty easy.
Download for iOs // No Android (sry)
27. Mesmerize
If you are an experience meditator, or someone who believes meditation shouldn’t be “objectified” i.e meditation shouldn’t be FOR a goal (meditation for a better Performance Review!) then this app might be for you.
They keep it simple, just open up the app it has a few settings to go from a guided to a completely unguided meditation session and it has some other fun features like bed time stories and trippy visualizations.
28. Clubhouse
The trendiest app, it’s the perfect place to see the Dunning Kruger in it’s purest form: VCs talking about Stoicism, Engineers talking about Morality.
On the other side it’s been a fantastic place to “give back” i.e help young designers learn the ropes (feel so old) and connect with a diverse audience to hear from all different perspectives on what living through the collapse of the Global Empire feels like.
Games
28. Ghost of Tsushima
If Akira Kurosawa had made a video game, this would be it.
Kurosawa’s films deal with the fundamental goodness and dignity of the human being. Against all odds, and circumstances his characters will always show us that the ultimate value is that of “being human”
In this game a Young Samurai must break the ultimate taboo and give his most precious possession to maintain his humanity: his family and honor.
29. FF7
A giant MegaCorp is extracting the planet’s life blood to turn it into junk and wage war against other MegaCorp Techno-States? Sounds pretty familiar.
You are a member of a scrappy group of environmental “terrorists” who want to save the Planet, and you’ll do all that while falling in love.
30. Hades
One of the best games I’ve played. That might sound like a ridiculous over-reaction, believe me–it is not. This game has a fantastic mix for simple mechanics, fun dialogue awesome art and an Olympian setting.
All of these things come together into a game that you won’t stop playing over and over.
Honorary Mention: Pretend it’s a City
When you leave New York, you are astonished at how clean the rest of the world is. Clean is not enough.
If you want to understand the mind of a New Yorker (I.e someone who lives in a box inside of a freezer infested with rats) and why they accurately made the decision to live in the greatest city on Earth watch this.
America has gotten its revenge on New York, because it’s moved right in. Now it is a mall. That’s the final victory of the suburban sensibility.
You can like people with lots of money for certain reasons, hate them for certain reasons, but you cannot say that an entire city of people with lots of money is fascinating. It is not
