This week we talk to one of my all time favourite writers and thinkers Douglas Rushkoff. In this episode we discuss, Obama's potential to tap into bottom-up politics, what happens if we stop believing in the economy, Conspiracy Cultre, hacking reality, what the next renaissance might look like, writing comics, why advertising doesn't work and Magick. I really hope you enjoy this special 20th episode of the show. I'm a HUGE fan of Mr Rushkoff making this a very special episode for me!     Joining me in the examiners chair this week is Media-Underground's George Mortimer and FINALLY our very own Claire Lumiere!    Daddytank hits in with another baby killingly (this will make sense if you listen) awesome 'Myspace Heroes', featuring:   Babies In A Woodchipper Klam Made For Chickens By Robots The Battery Davis  Zano Bathroom Enjoy!   Douglas Rushkoff Bio (pinched from Wired.com) Douglas Rushkoff is an author, professor, media theorist, journalist, as well as a keyboardist for the industrial band PsychicTV. His books include Media Virus, Coercion, Nothing Sacred: The Truth About Judaism (a book which opened up the question of Open Source Judaism), Exit Strategy (an online collaborative novel), and a monthly comic book, Testament. He founded the Narrative Lab at New York University's Interactive Telecommunications Program, a space which seeks to explore the relationship of narrative ...

  Scott Carelli loves comics and other geek-related stuff. He talks about it weekly on his podcasts Two Geeks a Mic and a Podcast and True Believers on Geekshow.us. He also created and produces an audio series called Geek by Night also on Geekshow.us. Check them out!   After two comic reviews for series heavy in supernatural elements (Preacher, Lucifer), I thought the best choice would be to review a comic that’s much more realistic and profound. The kind of story filled with thought provoking social commentary that causes you to question the very fabric that makes up our society. Something that is so somber and disheartening that you’ll never look at humanity the same way again. Naturally, only one subject immediately came to mind: Zombies.   Yes, you read that right. Zombies, when used correctly, should make you see humanity in a different light. It might not be pretty, but it’s real and it’s honest. The best zombie stories aren’t about the living dead, but instead use that as the setting for a story about people and how they live and deal with an impossible situation. Not since Romero have zombies been used this well. Not until The Walking Dead.   Created by Robert Kirkman ...

This week we chat once again to the amazing Lon Milo Duquette! In this weeks episode we discuss the interesting topic of John Dee and Edward Kelly's Enochian Magick, the controlled-schizophrenia of Magick, how angels give you Ferrari's and 'why Magick?'...quite simply..   Joining me in the co-host dungeon this week is our newest initiate in the mystery-school that is SittingNow, Adrian Dobbie, who you may remember has written some great articles and reviews for the site. Once again, Mort of the fabulous Media Underground returns to aid us in our endeavours.   Claire provides yet another great Weekly Weird News, in which she bemoans the loss of the worlds ugliest dog, and DaddyTank's amazing  'Myspace Heroes' returns for its second week, you can check the featured artists here: Vicsid -  http://www.myspace.com/vicsid Kramer V Kramer V Godzilla - http://www.myspace.com/kvkvg Twiggy and the K-Mesons - http://www.myspace.com/twiggyandthekmesons   Next week we interview the Social Philosopher and Media Theorist Douglas Rushkoff, a personal hero of mine, about all things open-source, so keep em peeled for that!   Enjoy!

George T. Mortimer is the editor and webmaster of the amazing Media Underground, as well as being the author of The Probationer's Handbook, and The Key of it All. Each week Mort will be teaching you ways of keeping 'The Man' on his toes, and all from the comfort of your home.   Fun With Finances     A few weeks ago the fixed rate on my mortgage ran out resulting in a rather alarming increase in my monthly repayments to the Halifax Bank Of Scotland (soon to be laughably called Lloyds Trustees Savings Halifax Bank Of Scotland - or something as equally ludicrous due to recent bailout plans). Being the ever-vigilant little investor that I am – and realising the implications that the current economic crisis will have on mortgage rates - I decided to schedule an appointment with the bank to negotiate another fix rate mortgage for a few more years.   The offer they presented to me was reasonable, I thought, until I asked if there were any additional charges.   “It’s £999,” remarked the mortgage advisor as calm as you like, “for transferring from a variable rate to a fixed rate for 5 years.”   “A grand!” I exclaimed. “But I’m not transferring to anywhere, I’m already a goddamned existing ...

Each week we send our Queen of the Weird, Claire Lumiere, into the wilderness of the Internets to find the weirdest reports from the Underground, CounterCulture and the Paranormal mileau! If you have news that you feel demands the attention of the SittingNow community then drop us an email at wwn@sittingnow.co.uk   I’m going to give Kim a shout out for finding this one: A jogger named Michelle in Arizona last Thursday jogged for a mile with a rabid fox clamped to her arm! She said she knew something was immediately wrong when she saw it make eye contact and walked toward her. The brave Michelle managed to pry the fox off her arm and throw it into the trunk before driving to the hospital.   In name changing news, a 19 year old English fellow, originally George from Glastonbury, has decided that Captain Fantastic Faster Than Superman Spiderman Batman Wolverine Hulk And The Flash Combined is more fitting. Captain FFTSSBWHATFC says he changed it online for a $20 fee and as a result, his grandmother is so outraged she refuses to speak to him.   Wired.com reports that in the first analysis of genetic diversity in a modern agricultural commodity has shown results ...

This week we chat to the amazing Jonathan Downes, the director of the Centre of Fortean Zoology. Jonathan is a real-life monster hunter and has uncovered many mysteries surrounding bizarre and weird sightings of unknown and unidentified creatures. In this weeks episode we discuss The Owlman and the decline of education, The Chupacabra and tiny goats, Hitler's Koi Carp and many other weird and wonderful topics.    My new co-host is George Mortimer of the amazing Media Underground, who's been adding the great new 'Armchair Anarchy' feature to the site. As is usual, Claire brings us this weeks Weekly Weird news.   Our new music feature comes from DaddyTanks 'MySpace Heroes' music picks:   Pang - http://www.myspace.com/pangmusic Disolved - http://www.myspace.com/dissolvedamberrooms Raleigh St. Clair - http://www.myspace.com/raleighstclair   Background music comes courtesy of the amazing Martin Denny, and even Mark Snow (if you listen to the interview closely).    We'll be back next week with Lon Milo Duquette, who you'll remember from episode 5 of the show.   Jonathan Downes Biog (from Wikipedia):     Jonathan Downes is a cryptozoologist, author, film-maker, journalist, composer and singer-songwriter, with a background in radical politics and mental health care. His father, the explorer and Colonial Service Officer J. T. Downes, authored several books on wide range of subjects, such as African history, theology and Devonshire dialect. His mother ...

George T. Mortimer is the editor and webmaster of the amazing Media Underground, as well as being the author of The Probationer's Handbook, and The Key of it All. Each week Mort will be teaching you ways of keeping 'The Man' on his toes, and all from the comfort of your home.   Junk Mail Japery   Everyone hates receiving junk mail. In fact, on average, each UKhousehold receives 18 items of junk mail every week with 21 billion junk mail items being distributed to UK households every year.   There are already many websites out there that will show you how to eliminate junk mail by opting out altogether, or by saving it up and sending it all back on an appointed day as a statement of protest. I’m not going to encourage you to do any of the aforementioned, since neither of these options helps out the future of Royal Mail which is already put under strain through the overpowering regulations set by the government’s Postal Services Commission (Postcomm).   The problem that faces Royal Mail is simple: the government, whilst expecting Royal Mail to provide a universal postal service, also expects Royal Mail to handle its competitors’ bulk mail. This means that rival mail companies get paid ...

This book made an exceptionally long wait for the train home from this weekends 'Unconvention' in London, far more bearable and amusing. I mean come on, what's better than reading stories about Koi?...no, really!   Jonathan Downes is one of those writers that you'll naturally levitate towards if you're a fan of the 'Fortean' way. He runs the amazing Centre for Fortean Zoology, has written a whole load of books, and goes looking for crazy anomalous creatures in the wildest parts of the world, thus making him instantly one of my heroes.   After finally meeting the man at the Uncon this weekend, I was persuaded by a young lady, I think maybe his daughter, into buying this book. At first I was reluctant, I mean, how can a book about Koi Carp be any fun to read right? I know nothing about carp, nothing at all; luckily for the reader, neither does Mr Downes! We've all been there; broke and desperate for work to pay the rent. But I would never have had the balls to trick a Koi Carp Magazine into running a series on the 'Fortean aspects of their hobby'.    After a hilarious forward, we are propelled into the semi-true Fortean-world of Koi ...

Annoying little B-list celebrity brat, Peaches Geldof, daughter of scruffy 'Live-Aid' organiser Bob Geldof, has apparently taken a shine to 'The Great Beast 666' himself, Aleister Crowley.   That pillar of journalism, The Daily Star, reports:   We can reveal Peaches, 19, has become fascinated by Crowley – who filed his teeth into fangs and started his own religion – since picking up his book Magick Without Tears.  And she ditched musician Faris Rotter, 22, after discovering Chester French singer Drummey, 23, was also a student of Crowley’s dark works. Last night a source close to the couple said: “Peaches is obsessed with Crowley’s books and is completely taken by his teachings.  “Most of her mates think she’s nuts for getting into it all – they just think it’s too weird – but she found a kindred spirit when she met Max. “Peaches feels he’s the only one who understands her. He even has the Crowley quote ‘Quo stet olympus’ or ‘Where the gods and angels live’ tattooed below his neck.”   I know that Crowley's public profile is increasing, and I guess this was an inevitable side-effect of that, but come on!!!....Peaches....Geldof???   In other celebrity news, Jeremy Kyle has been spotted with Israel Regardie's 'The Golden Dawn' and Jade Goody is said to have ...

  Raymond Wiley and Joe McFall, formerly of OutThere Radio, launched their new show 'The DisInfoCast' today. Raymond, you'll probably be familiar with from many of our shows, and Joe from episode 1.    To kick off events, the dynamic-duo interview Sphinx-obsessed Robert Bauval, who just recently released his latest opus 'The Egypt Code' earlier this month.  The new show, released monthly, is complimented by a weekly news rundown 'DisInfo World-News' which will feature Ken and Claire of this very site, as well as our latest guest Austin Gandy. We'll be joining the fray in November presenting the latest DisInfo news with a European slant.   Subscribers to Out There can get the first few episodes of the show via the old feed before it totally migrates accross to the new Disinfo.com page.    The crew here at SittingNow are excited to hear some new material from the guys, and wish them all the best for the show...break a leg guys!