The Existential Reader
@theexistential.bsky.social
Existentialism for the digital age. Exploring shifts in sense of place, new strains of alienation, and the hauntological.
patreon.com/TheExistentialReader
theexistentialreader.substack.com
https://ko-fi.com/theexistentialreader
patreon.com/TheExistentialReader
theexistentialreader.substack.com
https://ko-fi.com/theexistentialreader
Very proud to announce my Twitter account was flagged for "inauthentic behaviours" and "spam". Let's have a look at my activity on there...
February 26, 2025 at 10:16 AM
Very proud to announce my Twitter account was flagged for "inauthentic behaviours" and "spam". Let's have a look at my activity on there...
In episode one of the podcast I went on a bit of a rant after listening to this pricks 👇 speech in Munich. In hindsight I feel like I went too off script but then again how do we argue against this new strain of fascism? Is reasoned debate even possible with these people?
Reflections on Episode One of The Existential Reader Podcast
In what tone should our response to Fascistic provocations be?
open.substack.com
February 23, 2025 at 6:40 PM
In episode one of the podcast I went on a bit of a rant after listening to this pricks 👇 speech in Munich. In hindsight I feel like I went too off script but then again how do we argue against this new strain of fascism? Is reasoned debate even possible with these people?
open.substack.com/pub/theexist...
A bit of existential psychogeography.
A bit of existential psychogeography.
After Walking in the City Listening to Nine Inch Nails' Ghosts V
A strange mood
open.substack.com
February 18, 2025 at 11:04 AM
open.substack.com/pub/theexist...
A bit of existential psychogeography.
A bit of existential psychogeography.
After struggling with the editing and after much anxiety the prelude to The Existential Reader is available. Very much a work in progress! www.patreon.com/posts/prelude-122215339
Prelude | The Existential Reader
Get more from The Existential Reader on Patreon
www.patreon.com
February 13, 2025 at 7:52 PM
After struggling with the editing and after much anxiety the prelude to The Existential Reader is available. Very much a work in progress! www.patreon.com/posts/prelude-122215339
You can’t kill an idea, but ideas die nevertheless. Ideas serve their purpose or simply fail. News ideas emerge, for better or worse.
Mono no aware - the pathos of things. An awareness of impermanence. Knowing that nothing lasts forever, and that nothing is supposed to last forever.
Mono no aware - the pathos of things. An awareness of impermanence. Knowing that nothing lasts forever, and that nothing is supposed to last forever.
On the Existence of Ideas
Is Elon a Fascist or something new?
theexistentialreader.substack.com
January 27, 2025 at 8:06 PM
You can’t kill an idea, but ideas die nevertheless. Ideas serve their purpose or simply fail. News ideas emerge, for better or worse.
Mono no aware - the pathos of things. An awareness of impermanence. Knowing that nothing lasts forever, and that nothing is supposed to last forever.
Mono no aware - the pathos of things. An awareness of impermanence. Knowing that nothing lasts forever, and that nothing is supposed to last forever.
“Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make four. If that is granted, all else follows.”
“Sometimes, Winston. Sometimes they are five. Sometimes they are three. Sometimes they are all of them at once.”
“Sometimes, Winston. Sometimes they are five. Sometimes they are three. Sometimes they are all of them at once.”
The Free Speech Agenda
What is actually being defended?
open.substack.com
January 26, 2025 at 2:32 PM
“Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make four. If that is granted, all else follows.”
“Sometimes, Winston. Sometimes they are five. Sometimes they are three. Sometimes they are all of them at once.”
“Sometimes, Winston. Sometimes they are five. Sometimes they are three. Sometimes they are all of them at once.”
An introduction to The Existential Reader! Have a read if you are interested in art, culture, existentialism, and hauntology!
Prelude
An introduction to The Existential Reader
theexistentialreader.substack.com
January 24, 2025 at 11:21 AM
An introduction to The Existential Reader! Have a read if you are interested in art, culture, existentialism, and hauntology!
open.substack.com/pub/theexist...
Dostoevsky’s ridiculous man, the death of God, and alienation - an endless search for meaning. #existentialism #alienation #booktok
Dostoevsky’s ridiculous man, the death of God, and alienation - an endless search for meaning. #existentialism #alienation #booktok
Dostoevsky’s Ridiculous Man Meets Nietzsche and Marx
Do these three nineteenth century thinkers cross paths in alienation?
open.substack.com
January 23, 2025 at 1:54 PM
open.substack.com/pub/theexist...
Dostoevsky’s ridiculous man, the death of God, and alienation - an endless search for meaning. #existentialism #alienation #booktok
Dostoevsky’s ridiculous man, the death of God, and alienation - an endless search for meaning. #existentialism #alienation #booktok
“The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command.” - Orwell, 1984
January 22, 2025 at 1:25 PM
“The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command.” - Orwell, 1984
In his essay, The End of History?, Francis Fukuyama lays out his reasoning for liberal democracy and market capitalism as the "endpoint of mankind's ideological evolution." How has this victory shaped our sense of place and identity, and the ways in which we perceive others? #Manchester
The Typical Manc and the Cliched City Part II: 'Madchester' and the New Economy
The second essay in a series on sense of place, identity, and stereotypes
open.substack.com
January 20, 2025 at 7:00 PM
In his essay, The End of History?, Francis Fukuyama lays out his reasoning for liberal democracy and market capitalism as the "endpoint of mankind's ideological evolution." How has this victory shaped our sense of place and identity, and the ways in which we perceive others? #Manchester
"Lynch captured something from the everyday, tapping into something that exists in the real world, to give back to his audience through his eyes. In Lynch’s works, there is always the sense of something lurking, either beyond or beneath the familiar, an eeriness, a danger. The unheimliche."
On the Death of David Lynch
His work remembered
open.substack.com
January 17, 2025 at 5:59 PM
"Lynch captured something from the everyday, tapping into something that exists in the real world, to give back to his audience through his eyes. In Lynch’s works, there is always the sense of something lurking, either beyond or beneath the familiar, an eeriness, a danger. The unheimliche."
In uncertain times...place trust in white billionaires? Some thoughts I have on the future at risk.
MAGA and Reform UK - The Sound of a Dying Whale or the Loss of the Future?
Thoughts on the immediate future - and the future to come
open.substack.com
January 15, 2025 at 3:28 PM
In uncertain times...place trust in white billionaires? Some thoughts I have on the future at risk.
Reposted by The Existential Reader
Reposted by The Existential Reader
You may not be shocked to learn that Elon Musk has egregiously misled the world about the Oldham grooming story. I've been reporting on it for years and so much of the noise traces back to one bad faith rabble rouser called Raja Miah. This is the real story.
manchestermill.co.uk/p/elon-musk-...
manchestermill.co.uk/p/elon-musk-...
Elon Musk thinks there is a hidden grooming scandal in Oldham. Why can’t the police find it?
This week’s controversy can be traced back to a vicious online campaign that has terrified politicians – but struggled to substantiate its claims
manchestermill.co.uk
January 11, 2025 at 8:33 AM
You may not be shocked to learn that Elon Musk has egregiously misled the world about the Oldham grooming story. I've been reporting on it for years and so much of the noise traces back to one bad faith rabble rouser called Raja Miah. This is the real story.
manchestermill.co.uk/p/elon-musk-...
manchestermill.co.uk/p/elon-musk-...
Do cities begin the mind? Looking at the reincarnation of Manchester and the shift in sense of place and identity.
#JoyDivision #Manchester #Hauntology #MusicAndCulture #Existentialism #typicalManc
#JoyDivision #Manchester #Hauntology #MusicAndCulture #Existentialism #typicalManc
The ‘Typical Manc’ and the Cliched City Part One: Joy Division and the 1970s
The first in a series of essays on sense of place, identity, and stereotypes
theexistentialreader.substack.com
January 12, 2025 at 11:13 AM
Do cities begin the mind? Looking at the reincarnation of Manchester and the shift in sense of place and identity.
#JoyDivision #Manchester #Hauntology #MusicAndCulture #Existentialism #typicalManc
#JoyDivision #Manchester #Hauntology #MusicAndCulture #Existentialism #typicalManc
Were songs like 9 to 5 really a rallying call for feminists and workers? Or were they symbolic of a resignation to a less glorious fate, an acceptance that we are all playing a “rich man’s game” that we can never walk away from?
#80spop #hauntology #capitalistrealsim
medium.com/@snelgrovecr...
#80spop #hauntology #capitalistrealsim
medium.com/@snelgrovecr...
Neoliberalism, Capitalist Realism, and 80s Pop: Dolly Parton, Cyndi Lauper, and the Right to Party
The second instalment in our reflections on neoliberalism and capitalist realism in 80s pop
medium.com
January 10, 2025 at 4:35 PM
Were songs like 9 to 5 really a rallying call for feminists and workers? Or were they symbolic of a resignation to a less glorious fate, an acceptance that we are all playing a “rich man’s game” that we can never walk away from?
#80spop #hauntology #capitalistrealsim
medium.com/@snelgrovecr...
#80spop #hauntology #capitalistrealsim
medium.com/@snelgrovecr...
An insightful breakdown into Musk and his fascism. Musk could very well be the most dangerous man on the planet right now. I'm wondering, can Musk run for President? I'm beginning to think it could be a long-term goal for this maniac.
Elon Musk’s fascist turn isn’t puzzling at all.
It’s all about labour 🧵
It’s all about labour 🧵
January 7, 2025 at 10:19 AM
An insightful breakdown into Musk and his fascism. Musk could very well be the most dangerous man on the planet right now. I'm wondering, can Musk run for President? I'm beginning to think it could be a long-term goal for this maniac.
Nosferatu. Out now.
January 6, 2025 at 1:01 PM
Nosferatu. Out now.
open.substack.com/pub/theexist...
A look at a seminal decade in music and Western culture. Every Wednesday at The Existential Reader. Subscriptions are currently free. #80smusic #80spop #80snostalgia #neoliberalism #hauntology #theexistentialreader
A look at a seminal decade in music and Western culture. Every Wednesday at The Existential Reader. Subscriptions are currently free. #80smusic #80spop #80snostalgia #neoliberalism #hauntology #theexistentialreader
Pop music in the 80s
The first in a series on pop music, neoliberalism, and the new world
open.substack.com
January 5, 2025 at 12:34 AM
open.substack.com/pub/theexist...
A look at a seminal decade in music and Western culture. Every Wednesday at The Existential Reader. Subscriptions are currently free. #80smusic #80spop #80snostalgia #neoliberalism #hauntology #theexistentialreader
A look at a seminal decade in music and Western culture. Every Wednesday at The Existential Reader. Subscriptions are currently free. #80smusic #80spop #80snostalgia #neoliberalism #hauntology #theexistentialreader
“It is easier to imagine the end of the world than the end of capitalism.”
“Capital is an abstract parasite, an insatiable vampire and zombie maker; but the living flesh it converts into dead labour is ours, and the zombies it makes are us.”
Mark Fisher-Capitalist Realism: Is There No Alternative?
“Capital is an abstract parasite, an insatiable vampire and zombie maker; but the living flesh it converts into dead labour is ours, and the zombies it makes are us.”
Mark Fisher-Capitalist Realism: Is There No Alternative?
January 3, 2025 at 12:12 PM
“It is easier to imagine the end of the world than the end of capitalism.”
“Capital is an abstract parasite, an insatiable vampire and zombie maker; but the living flesh it converts into dead labour is ours, and the zombies it makes are us.”
Mark Fisher-Capitalist Realism: Is There No Alternative?
“Capital is an abstract parasite, an insatiable vampire and zombie maker; but the living flesh it converts into dead labour is ours, and the zombies it makes are us.”
Mark Fisher-Capitalist Realism: Is There No Alternative?
theexistentialreader.substack.com/p/is-god-rea...
God isn't dead. The idea of God, the God of the monotheistic faiths, still afflicts us. MAGA, Zionism, Islamic extremism all attest to this this.
God isn't dead. The idea of God, the God of the monotheistic faiths, still afflicts us. MAGA, Zionism, Islamic extremism all attest to this this.
Is God Really Dead?
What is the condition of God in our time? And does it even matter?
theexistentialreader.substack.com
January 2, 2025 at 10:24 AM
theexistentialreader.substack.com/p/is-god-rea...
God isn't dead. The idea of God, the God of the monotheistic faiths, still afflicts us. MAGA, Zionism, Islamic extremism all attest to this this.
God isn't dead. The idea of God, the God of the monotheistic faiths, still afflicts us. MAGA, Zionism, Islamic extremism all attest to this this.
Reposted by The Existential Reader
Nietzsche (1882): "For the new year... I want to learn more and more to see as beautiful what is necessary in things; then I shall be one of those who make things beautiful. Amor fati: let that be my love henceforth! I do not want to wage war against what is ugly."
January 1, 2025 at 9:11 AM
Nietzsche (1882): "For the new year... I want to learn more and more to see as beautiful what is necessary in things; then I shall be one of those who make things beautiful. Amor fati: let that be my love henceforth! I do not want to wage war against what is ugly."
theexistentialreader.substack.com/p/things-to-...
Observations made in 2024. Happy New Year and all that!
Observations made in 2024. Happy New Year and all that!
Things to take with us at the end of 2024
It’s New Year’s Eve, so it feels right that my first Reflections piece is a look back on the year just gone.
theexistentialreader.substack.com
December 31, 2024 at 6:17 PM
theexistentialreader.substack.com/p/things-to-...
Observations made in 2024. Happy New Year and all that!
Observations made in 2024. Happy New Year and all that!