Show 544/545: Raoul Martinez on “Creating Freedom”

Raoul Martinez on “Creating Freedom” (Two-Parter)

Oddly enough, on Equal Time for FREEthought, the term freedom doesn’t come up too often. Well, not in an affirmative fashion, at least. We’ve been around too long to believe in things like the free market, free elections, or free media (though on WBAI, we come the closest to this). But we do tend to advocate for free speech and, of course, free thought. But what does freedom mean? Are we free in modern Western societies and to what degree? Can freedom be created out of non-freedom? And what can our understanding of all this help us to build a healthier, more humanistic society?

Today we will talk with Raoul Martinez about these questions and more. Raoul is a writer, artist, and award-winning filmmaker. His documentary, ‘The Lottery of Birth‘, premiered in 2012 as episode one of a series entitled Creating Freedom. It was nominated for Best Documentary at London’s Raindance Film Festival and went on to win the Artivist Spirit 2012 Award at Hollywood’s Artivist Festival. Accompanying the series is Raoul’s first book, also called Creating Freedom, written over four years and informed by over a decade of research.

Audio for part-one can be found here!

Audio for part-two can be found here!

Show 338: Douglas Rushkoff

Douglas Rushkoff on his book, Program or Be Programmed

Audio here!

**UPDATE** During my interview with Douglas, I mention that I heard one of the parties involved in the allegations of rape against  Julian Assange had “backed out” of the investigation. That was my misinterpretation of the timeline of the Assange investigation, during which the initial prosecutor dropped the rape charges. Another prosecutor later overturned that decision. I apologize for contributing to misinformation regarding this important investigation.

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The debate over whether the Net is good or bad for us fills the airwaves and the blogosphere. But for all the heat of claim and counter-claim, the argument is essentially beside the point: it’s here; it’s everywhere. The real question is, do we direct technology, or do we let ourselves be directed by it and those who have mastered it?

“Choose the former,” writes Rushkoff, “and you gain access to the control panel of civilization. Choose the latter, and it could be the last real choice you get to make.”

Michael O’Neil talks with Douglas Rushkoff this Saturday on Equal Time for Freethought at 3:00 pm!

Continue reading “Show 338: Douglas Rushkoff”