Legendary iconoclast Tony Hendra joins Real Politik to discuss the history of postwar comedy and his role therein. Hendra is best-
known for playing Ian Faith, manager of the mock heavy metal band Spinal Tap. He was also a pioneer in early British political satire, working with Monty Python founding members Graham Chapman and John Cleese, and was the first managing editor of the National Lampoon, America’s pioneer multimedia comedy powerhouse, where he worked alongside Lampoon founders Doug Kenney, Henry Beard and Rob Hoffman. While at Lampoon Hendra produced the Woodstock mockery Lemmings, discovering such figures as John Belushi, Chevy Chase, and Christopher Guest.
Tag Archives: Real Politik
Brave New University
On this week’s edition of Real Politik public intellectual and academic iconoclast Darrell Hamamoto joins James to address an array of issues including the foundation-funded identity politics movement characterizing US college campuses in 2016. Hamamoto’s incisive socio-political research 
and commentary revealing the machinations of the modern power elite and knowledge machine have made him a significant force for meaningful awareness and change. Such efforts have been met with major resistance by his university employer and the larger forces governing today’s philanthropic and federally-dependent academic institutions.
Uprooting the Experience of Normality
On this edition James speaks with philosopher and esotericist Neil Kramer on the relationships between empire, education, and the modern psyche. Kramer argues that the world is at an important crossroads where people increasingly question their 
misplaced faith in traditional institutions and the experiences they seek to govern. Today human beings are commensurately discovering their own power as individuals, and using this empowerment to question the collectivist ideas and attitudes fostered by today’s mass media and schooling.
Neil Kramer’s research, writing and multimedia endeavors focus on spirituality, mysticism, and metaphysics. He explores the relationship between inner development and the many social and cultural factors that influence our everyday lives. Kramer emphasizes embracing truth and confronting the negative in a journey to transform self.