This episode is something different: a presentation by Christopher Hobson on where the world finds itself at the end of tumultuous year. It explores some of the features of the present polycrisis, and moving into conditions in which the aperture of possibility looks to be considerably widening. While the presentation can be followed easily in audio only, the video version with slides is available on the Imperfect notes substack.
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1:19:56
In conversation with Pete Chambers, Q3 2024
Continuing the conversation with Pete Chambers, recorded in the third quarter of 2024. This returns to the central theme of smartphones, social media and digital technologies, thinking through the social costs and consequences that come with them. What we are faced with is an ever-growing gap between the sophistication of our technologies and the simplification of thought and degrading of interpersonal interactions.
For more information, visit imperfectnotes.substack.com and christopherhobson.net.
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1:30:43
In Conversation with Joseph Vogl
In this episode, Chris and Pete welcome Joseph Vogl, who is a Regular Visiting Professor at Princeton University, and until last year, he was Professor of Modern German Literature, Cultural and Media Studies at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin. Our conversation focuses on Vogl's most recent book: Capital and Ressentiment: A Brief Theory of the Present (2022), while also connecting it to his previous works, The Ascendancy of Finance (2017) and The Specter of Capital (2014).
For more information, visit imperfectnotes.substack.com
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1:38:49
In Conversation with Guillaume Pitron
In this episode, Chris and Pete welcome Guillaume Pitron, an investigative journalist who has been uncovering and examining the material realities of the unceasing advance of digital technologies, most notably through a pair of books: The Rare Metals War (La Guerre des métaux rares) and The Dark Cloud (L’Enfer numérique).
For more information, visit imperfectnotes.substack.com
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1:17:20
In conversation with Pete Chambers, Q1 2024
Continuing the conversation with Pete Chambers, this time recorded in-person during a trip to Australia in February 2024.
Central to our conversation is the issue of scale, together we think through logics of consumption, transport, travel as they get scaled up and expanded, conditions in which ‘quantity has a quality all its own’.
For more information, visit imperfectnotes.substack.com and christopherhobson.net.
’Imperfect world’ is a series of conversations exploring exploring where politics, society, and technology meet. Hosted by Japan-based scholar, Dr Christopher Hobson.
Australia