Legalise Freedom Dot Com

LF85 Gary Lachman - Caretakers of the Cosmos: Living Responsibly in an Unfinished World

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Gary Lachman discusses his book The Caretakers of the Cosmos: Living Responsibly in an Unfinished World, which brings together many strands of esoteric, spiritual and philosophical thought to form a counter-argument to the nihilism that permeates the twenty-first century.
Why are we here? Where do we come from? Where are we going? Human beings have asked themselves these questions for millennia. Modern science usually argues that humanity is the chance product of a purposeless universe. All too often, however, its facts are found to be merely theories hanging on the next great new discovery which will give us all the answers, but which somehow always seems to be just around the next corner.
The result is a nihilistic postmodern world of politics, pop stars and pornography where millions live out empty lives, consumed by consumerism and haunted by a fear of death. For misanthropic environmentalists who view mankind as a cancer or a virus, this can’t come soon enough.
But is this really all there is to our existence? Many ancient traditions believe that humanity has an essential role and responsibility in creation.  Is it possible that we are a species with amnesia which has forgotten its place in the cosmos? And does the inexpressible longing and profound homesickness that so many of us feel point the way to our destiny?
Bumper music: Cliff Martinez ‘Traffic OST’Klaus Schulze ‘Kontinuum’

LF198 Joel Caris - Into the Ruins: Our De-Industrial Destiny

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Modern industrial civilization is a mode of existence which most of us take for granted. The abundant food, supercharged sanitation, endless entertainment, and constellation of other seemingly unlimited choices laid before us is rarely questioned, and its complexities are poorly understood. But in our headlong charge to consume more of everything whatever the cost, we have set in motion a chain of events which is currently cascading towards catastrophe.
Within the realms of energy, the economy, the environment, and the dilating danger zone where all three meet, mounting crises are already undermining our ability to keep the wheels of the capitalist road-show turning. The dream of infinite growth on a finite planet is being exposed as the fantasy it always was. And yet still we pursue the impossible as if it were inevitable, billions of conditioned consumers unwilling or unable to imagine life without their technological trinkets and toys, and still billions more impatiently awaiting their share of the techno-industrial spoils.
For most of those aware of our predicament, the future belongs either to a utopian paradise in which technology unfailingly offers solutions to each and every problem, or to a dark dystopian nightmare where the remnants of our race wander the wastelands preying on each other and praying for death. But another world is possible - a world in which we may lose everything, and yet ultimately, once again find ourselves.
Bumper music: Cliff Martinez ‘Traffic OST’Moskva-Kassiopeya ‘Black Rainbow’

LF98 Fred Kuttner - Quantum Enigma: Physics Encounters Consciousness

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Fred Kuttner discusses his book 'Quantum Enigma - Physics Encounters Consciousness', co-authored with Bruce Rosenblum. In trying to understand the atom, physicists built quantum mechanics, the most successful theory in science. But they found, to their embarrassment, that with their theory, physics encounters consciousness, a mysterious phenomenon that science cannot explain and cannot ignore. Attempts to interpret the meaning and implications of all this are often controversial. But every interpretation of quantum physics involves consciousness, and the connection of consciousness with the Universe suggested by some leading quantum cosmologists is mind-blowing. There exists a boundary beyond which the expertise of physicists is no longer the only sure guide.
In the few decades since experiments established the existence of quantum entanglement, interest in the foundations, and the mysteries, of quantum mechanics has accelerated. In recent years, physicists, philosophers, computer engineers, and even biologists have expanded our realization of the significance of quantum phenomena. Quantum theory tells us that an object can be in two places at the same time, that its existence becomes real only when observed, and that the observation of an object can instantaneously influence another distant object even if no physical force connects the two. Quantum theory thus denies the existence of a physically real world independent of its observation.
Bumper music: Cliff Martinez ‘Traffic OST’Ian Boddy ‘The Uncertainty Principle’

LF434 Alan foster - Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena, Consciousness and Evolution

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Since the advent of the modern UFO era in the wake of World War II, controversy, cover-ups, and wild speculation have surrounded the huge numbers of sightings, encounters and other bizarre happenings associated with the phenomenon. The recent expansion of the term 'unidentified flying object' to include 'unidentified aerial phenomena' and the almost all-encompassing ' unidentified anomalous phenomena' has occurred in tandem with high-level political and scientific revelations about previously secret information and covert programs.
 
To some, therefore, disclosure is happening now, right before our very eyes. Alternative theories within Ufology asking whether these phenomena could be interdimensional entities, non-material manifestations previously identified as angels or ghosts, or even past or future events somehow breaking into the present are finally eclipsing the simplistic conception of biological ETs traveling through space in physical craft, for which there is no real evidence. However, perhaps the most crucial questions remain on the margins: What is the connection between human consciousness and these phenomena? Do we play a role in their creation and do they play a role in our evolution? Are they messengers from a wider reality sent to help the human race survive?
Bumper music: Cliff Martinez ‘Traffic OST’Dionysiac ‘New Star Broadcasting’

LF433 Anthony Peake - Near Death Experiences: What's Really Happening?

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Exactly thirteen years since his first appearance, Anthony Peake returns to Legalise Freedom to discuss his latest book 'Near Death Experiences: The Science, Psychology and Anthropology Behind the Phenomenon'. Refusing to pander to the false dichotomy between militant materialists and woo-woo peddlers, Peake simultaneously seeks scientific explanations for extraordinary human experiences whilst acknowledging that the materialist-reductionist worldview will never have all the answers. His work ploughs a path which has become increasingly important as acceptance of myriad other dimensions beyond our limited everyday reality gradually awakens in the collective consciousness. In a broad discussion ranging from near-death and other out of body experiences (OBEs), to coma, dreams, precognition, and psychedelic trips, we ask whether life and death are really what we think they are.
Bumper music: Cliff Martinez ‘Traffic OST’Dionysiac ‘New Star Broadcasting’

LF195 Mark Olly - Revealing the Green Man

Mark Olly discusses his book Revealing the Green Man.
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To many, The Green Man is little more than a chubby face peering through a veil of leaves. Sometimes cute, sometimes vaguely sinister, he is nonetheless widely regarded as merely a meaningless symbol from an age long lost. In reality, however, he could rather be said to be the esoteric embodiment of the very essence of life itself, an ancient archetype once known the world over.
On a journey through myths and legends, magic and folklore, we explore the mystery of The Green Man. From the time of the Celts and Druids, the rise of the Roman Empire, the Anglo-Saxon annals, and the descent into the Dark Ages and beyond, we meet with Robin Hood, Herne the Hunter, King Arthur, and many other colourful characters along the way. It is a tale pregnant with arcane symbolism, cultish rites, the perennial wisdom of 'as above - so below', and the final revelation of the Earth's eternal cycle of destruction and rebirth.
Thousands of years ago, man went to war with nature, and thus to war with himself. Lost to the land as once was, he became Master of the World, for a while. Blinded by arrogance, hobbled by hubris, and emboldened by his technological toys, he brought the biosphere to the brink of oblivion, to exalt himself at the Earth's expense. This is our story, and we are not as clever as we might like to believe. In a timely re-learning of The Green Man's lessons, in the twilight of the industrial age, we are being invited, perchance for the final time, to change our ways, or perish.
Bumper music: Cliff Martinez 'Traffic OST'Clannad 'Herne'

LF125 Aaron Franz - History of a Time to Come: Transhumanism and Popular Culture - Part 1

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In a follow-up to our previous interview Transhumanism: Man's Scientific Rise to Godhood, Aaron Franz returns to discuss transhumanism and popular culture. This is a two part interview. Part two is here
Whether prophecy, predictive programming or outright propaganda, cinema, television and literature both past and present are rife with visions of a future in which humanity is transformed, enslaved or even annihilated by technology run amok. Science fiction, fantasy and other speculative forms foresee a time when robots, cyborgs and genetically engineered supermen manipulate the masses, artificial intelligence arises to rival and even surpass human intelligence, and humanity finally merges with machines to achieve Godlike immortality. It's a dream to some, a nightmare to others. From Brave New World to Blade Runner, from The Machine to Metropolis, and from Star Trek to The Six Million Dollar Man, we explore the hopes, fears, threats and promises of a future in which being human may no longer be enough.
www.theageoftransitions.com
Bumper music: Cliff Martinez 'Traffic OST'Brad Fiedel 'Terminator 2' OSTHawkwind 'Utopia'

LF123 Aaron Franz - Transhumanism: Man's Scientific Rise to Godhood

Aaron Franz discusses his book Revolve: Man's Scientific Rise to Godhood.
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Artificial intelligence, nanotechnology, implantable chips, and life extension. These and many other technologies are being promoted as the way for humanity to become something radically different. The transhumanist movement claims that by applying such technologies to our biology, we will become post-human. But behind this techno-utopian vision lurk the spectres of eugenics, mind control, police state propaganda, the end of privacy, and maybe even the end of the human race itself.
A new religion for a new age is being born, arising from a scientific and increasingly sinister quest for eternal life. The Philosopher's Stone of the alchemists now appears to be within reach, as man strives to transcend Earthly limitations and merge at last with the Godhead itself. In Revolve, Franz moves beyond the typical Singularity sales pitch and artificial intelligence hype to bring us face to face with something far more profound, disturbing, and ancient.
www.theageoftransitions.comHumanity+
Bumper music: Cliff Martinez 'Traffic OST'Brad Fiedel 'Terminator 2' OSTLee Rosevere 'The Machine That Won the War'

LF99 John Michael Greer - Decline and Fall

John Michael Greer discusses his book Decline and Fall: The End of Empire and the Future of Democracy in 21st Century America.
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'''Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold; Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world.' Although he was writing nearly a century ago, William Butler Yeats could just as easily be describing the United States today. The decline and fall of America's global empire is the central feature of today's geopolitical landscape, and the nature of our response to it will determine much of our future trajectory, with implications that reach far beyond the limits of one nation's borders.
Decline and Fall challenges the conventional wisdom of empire. Using a wealth of historical examples combined with ground-breaking original analysis, it shows how the United States has backed itself into a blind corner in the pursuit of political and economic power, explores the inevitable consequences of imperial collapse, and proposes a renewal of democratic institutions as the only constructive way forward. By shifting the conversation from whether today's American empire should survive to whether it can survive, and arguing persuasively that the answer to the latter question is 'no', Decline and Fall makes an invaluable contribution to the body of speculative post-industrial literature. It is a must-read for anyone concerned about where the world is headed and what, if anything, we can do about it.
Bumper music: Cliff Martinez 'Traffic OST'Cyberchump 'The Long Goodbye'

LF105 James Howard Kunstler - Too Much Magic in The Long Emergency

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James Howard Kunstler discusses some of the issues raised in his books The Long Emergency (2005) and Too Much Magic (2013), examining how the global crises in energy, the economy and the environment have unfolded in the interim.
The last two hundred years have seen the greatest explosion of progress and wealth in the history of mankind, but the age of oil that fuelled this expansion is rapidly coming to an end. The depletion of fossil fuels is about to transform life as we know it, and do so much sooner than we think. Kunstler explains what to expect after we pass the tipping point of peak oil production, setting out to prepare us for economic, political, and social changes on an unimaginable scale.
www.kunstler.com
Bumper music: Cliff Martinez 'Traffic OST'Jeff Grace 'Cold in July OST'