Seal of Approval: "The Spectacle of Anarchist Leisure"

YouTube link: https://youtu.be/MDzofQhiZUE?si=0I0KCJSpfbu7xkEo

A wild seal, an aquarium visit, and a postmodern critique of Hamilton—this episode plunges into the absurd, the obscene, and the unhinged. From aggressive counter-readings of musicals to the uncanny parallels between porn and theatre, Melletios and Tim unravel the tangled web of leisure, labour, and the spectacle of postmodern desire. With anarchists on holiday, obscene morsels, and accidental encounters shaping the discourse, expect a sprawling, irreverent exploration of contemporary art, politics, and the capitalist dilemma of culture.

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This is a long episode, so below is a chapter list with timestamps—so you can easily return to where you left off.

Chapters:

Chapter 1: Melletios goes to an aquarium 0:00-8:12Chapter 2: Manly, Manly Racism 8:12-9:50Chapter 3: The Real Seal? 9:50-16:40Chapter 4: Let’s start (Melletios gets spiritual) 16:40-18:36Chapter 5: What does an Italian Anarchist do on holiday? 18:36-27:10Chapter 6: Melletios predicts the future 27:10-30:26Chapter 7: Tim goes to a musical 30:26-36:34Chapter 8: “I’m not interested in the plot”…proceeds to talk about plot 36:34-49:55Chapter 9: Aggressive counter reading of Hamilton 49:55-1:02:26Chapter 10: Melletios doesn’t analyse Shek and the Napolitana Wars (yum) 1:02:26-1:08:50Chapter 11: Two men discuss what 19th-century French women want 1:08:50-1:14:48Chapter 12: Silent pornos… awkward 1:14:48-1:19:01Chapter 13: Why musicals and pornos are the same 1:19:01-1:27:11Chapter 14: The curse of the supporting cast 1:27:11-1:38:34Chapter 15: The song and dance of precariat labour 1:38:34-1:44:56Chapter 16: Bonanno, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no 1:44:56-1:50:50Chapter 17: Tim tries to invert Bonanno… onnanoB? 1:50:50-1:54:30Chapter 18: The problem of leisure 1:54:30-2:03:04Chapter 19: You have to kill the kid. Obscene/Off-scene 2:03:04-2:07:45Chapter 20: Melletios feeds Tim a morsel. Obsessing about the obscene 2:07:45-2:08:53Chapter 21: Making leisure time opaque even to ourselves 2:08:53-2:14:47Chapter 22: Melletios is a DB clown 2:14:47-2:17:44