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Black Mirror is both a phenomenon and an outlier, one that has gained cult status in some quarters (though perhaps there’s a generational divide there? You’ll need to ask our producer Owen for more on that. He has views…). It started life on the UK’s once quite edgy and adventurous Channel 4, the brainchild of journalist, arch-satirist and presenter, Charlie Brooker. He has either written, or prompted creative discussions for each episode, working with his producer Annabel Jones.
Stripe’s commander Medina, played by the one and only Shiv Roy (aka Sarah Snook!!)But what makes it incredibly unusual is that it is an anthology show; in other words, one made up of a series of unrelated, stand-alone episodes. This is obviously much more expensive than a regular show because new sets, casts, designs etc are needed every time. The common thread is the impact of technology, socially, relationally, economically, and politically. Some gripe that it often piggy-backs on ideas that are developed at greater length elsewhere, but that does seem nit-picky when the production values are so high and the provocations so thoughtful. If that was not the case, it’s unlikely Netflix would have thrown huge budgets at it or so many A-list stars given their right arms to be in it.
That said, it is rarely comfortable viewing and sometimes incredibly dark. As this episode is… the discussion we had was very ‘interesting’!
The premise of Men against Fire: soldiers are given neural implants that affects their perceptions, especially of enemies, so that they appear as lethal grotesques, or ‘roaches’. However nothing is as it seems. But what is interesting is that none of the ethical issues are as straightforward as they first seem. In this clip, psychiatrist Arquette (played by the brilliant Michael Kelly) explains the ethos behind the implants to protagonist Stripe (Malachi Kirby).
- Brooker was initially inspired to focus on propaganda by a British John-Pilger-made documentary about the Iraq war called The War You Don’t See.
- But his thinking was subsequently shaped by Men Against Fire: The Problem of Battle Command by military historian S L A Marshall, and Dave Grossman’s On Killing: The Psychological Cost of Learning to Kill in War and Society.
- An intro to the concept of ‘Othering’
- Finally, a flavour of Brooker’s less intense work (apols for some of the NSFW language)
The total population of the 16 Caribbean nations comes to only around 44 million (so 0.54% of the world’s population). But just stop for a moment to think of its cultural impact: this is a region punching well above its weight:
- in music (eg mambo, calypso, dancehall, ska, reggae
- in international cuisine with the joys of things like jerk cooking or rum
- in sport (cricket and athletics especially)
- on many other cultures via its diasporas
- through its joyful festival and carnival culture
- in intellectual clout with the likes of CLR James (Trinidad) and Frantz Fanon (Martinique); not to forget the Nobel-winners: Sir Arthur Lewis (St Lucia) for Economics; V.S. Naipaul (Trinidad & Tobago) and Sir Derek Walcott (St Lucia) for Literature. [Plus I’ve not even MENTIONED our very own Carib genius, The Crooner — just a matter of time, surely — let alone anything to do with pirates]
So it’s to Derek Walcott that we turn now (1930-2017). He won the Nobel in 1992 for his varied writing (plays, short poems, epic poetry, criticism), work that bridged all kinds of different influences making him one of the leading post-colonial writers of his generation.
In this episode we discuss his beautiful, Love after Love, which was his publisher’s Poem of the Week only the other day.
Some other connections
- George Herbert’s LOVE III
- Timothy Keller’s short book (based on a talk he often gave) The Freedom of Self-Forgetfulness.
- Joel even mentioned Calvin’s Institutes, so more on them here.
Lake Street Dive is a highly talented and versatile band made up originally of friends who met at music college over 20 years ago (the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston). Since then, they have successfully experimented with different genres while the line-up has changed slightly. There is so much to love about their music, with its invention, virtuosity, flexibility and joie-de-vivre. This song, Making Do, is deceptively straightforward at first listen, though – and prompted a very interesting discussion.
The core line-up on this 2021 album, Obviously, was:
- Rachael Price (original line-up) – vocals, writing
- Bridget Kearney (original line-up) – vocals, background vocals, bass, synthesizer, writing
- Michael Calabrese (original line-up) – drums, writing, background vocals, percussion
- Akie Bermiss (joined 2017) – vocals, keyboards, synthesizer, piano, background vocals, writing
- Mike “McDuck” Olson (original line-up, last album) – guitar, mandolin, strings, trumpet, writing
The Guilty Pleasures (we were prepared to admit to…)
- Sophie the Doodler Killingley: Lloyd-Webber & Stilgoe’s Starlight Express
- Joel the Crooner Bain: Jerry Zucker’s Rat Race (mainly for Rowan Atkinson)
- Mark the Scribbler Meynell: Chris de Burgh’s 1975 album Spanish Train and Other Stories
