Joe Bageant

Algorithms and Red Wine

Is the 'digital hive' a soft totalitarian state?

By Joe Bageant
Ferrara, Italy

Sitting in a trendy wine bar, one of those that brings out food to match your particular choice of wine, mystified by the table setting. What was that tiny baby spoon for? Cappuccino surely, at some point, but why no big spoon to go with the knife and fork? The things a redneck American does not know grow exponentially in Bella Italia, starting with the restaurants -- not to mention several civilizations beneath one’s feet. Being in a house that has been continuously occupied for over 1000 years -- resisting the temptation to piss in the hotel room bidet, that sort of thing.

One thing the Italians can never be accused of is being a culture given to vinyl sided sameness, fast food franchises. Another thing is lack of a good educational system, given that Italy’s is among the very best in the world. So here I am sitting with some college kids trying to hang onto my end of a discussion of evolutionary consciousness, and whether Italy can withstand the cultural leveling of globalism.

Video of Joe at Brisbane Writers Festival

On his recent tour of Australia, Joe Bageant was interviewed the Australian Broadcasting Company's Steve Austin at the Brisbane Writers Festival. Austin is a great interviewer and quickly got to the heart of Joe's second book, Rainbow Pie: A Redneck Memoir, which has been published in Australia and will soon be available in North America and the UK.

The interview is an hour long and is available in MP4 and WMV video formats. Also available are a short video of highlights of the interview and an MP3 audio format. Click here and look in the left column to choose a format.