Episodes

  • Brief: Post-Election Online Survivor Group Dynamics

    Brief: Post-Election Online Survivor Group Dynamics
    Nov 16 2024
    The post-election online chaos has a lot in common with what can go wrong in online survivor groups. Matthew tracks how opportunities for connection and solidarity can crater into gravity wells of recrimination, trauma-dumping, moral outrage porn, and the rise of new influence hierarchies. Not just because of differences in politics and values and temperament—but because of inequality and privilege. A meditation on the difference between building a boat to sail in vs. a boat in a bottle, on considering the second arrow, and on when to log the fuck off. Show Notes Mutual Aid Hub MORAL OUTRAGE PORN C. Thi Nguyen and Bekka Williams The Second Arrow — Sutta Central Log the Fuck Off with Amber Frost, Matt Christman, & Ben Fong Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    18 mins
  • 232: Gaslighting The Election

    232: Gaslighting The Election
    Nov 14 2024
    Once upon a time, there was a golden age. A time when the news media was fair and balanced, unbiased and honest. But we've lost all that to the corrupting influence of big money, political correctness, and woke censorship. Blame the radical left. Not to worry: the online charisma of heterodox new media figures like Bari Weiss and her plucky, centrist, truth-telling little start-up, The Free Press, has come to Make Journalism Great Again. Yet their supposed heterodoxy is neither neutral nor journalistically rigorous. It's pure culture war contrarian sensationalism that wastes little ink critiquing the rise of right-wing authoritarianism. We trace these tangled threads by listening in to the supposedly non-partisan The Free Press election night livestream, which giddily praised Trump for being the consummate bullshitter that will take an ax to Democratic institutions. Show Notes The evolution of France’s left and right politics, from the 1789 French Revolution to this year's election What to Know About the Origins of ‘Left’ and ‘Right’ in Politics, From the French Revolution to the 2020 Presidential Race Our American Zion When a Terrorist Comes to Your Hometown Columbia's Own Middle East War Bari Weiss’s Unasked Questions TFP latest round of funding Thiel/Lonsdale and UATX funding UATX huge cash injection after pro-palestine protests Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    1 hr and 11 mins
  • Bonus Sample: “What will happen?” (asks a 12 year-old)

    Bonus Sample: “What will happen?” (asks a 12 year-old)
    Nov 11 2024
    Matthew got The Question on the morning after the election. At that moment, he came up with nothing but a hug. But then he chewed on it for days, and came up with eleven things to consider. So here are some notes for possible conversations with tweens about anxiety, bullies, fascism, friends, mutual aid, and love. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    6 mins
  • Brief: Tucker Carlson's Daddy Issues

    Brief: Tucker Carlson's Daddy Issues
    Nov 9 2024
    Derek discusses Tucker Carlson advocating for corporal punishment as a way to discipline children in his appearance at the Turning Points USA MAGA rally. This is an unlock from a recent Patreon bonus, with a new intro from Matthew. Show Notes Stephen Colbert: Tucker Carlson’s Weird Daddy Issues Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    29 mins
  • 231: New Age Bible, Postmodern Novel (w/ Sheila Heti)

    231: New Age Bible, Postmodern Novel (w/ Sheila Heti)
    Nov 7 2024
    Rapid-response electoral punditry is not our lane. So, while we gather our feelings and thoughts, Matthew hosts novelist Sheila Heti for a discussion of her encounter with A Course in Miracles, and what she discovered when she investigated its origin story for Harper’s Magazine. Was Helen Schucman, the book’s “scribe”, mentally ill? Was she unduly influenced by her boss at Columbia Medical School, William Thetford, who once worked for the CIA’s MKUltra programme, and with whom she was clearly in love, even though he was gay? Were they dropping acid on assignment from Langley? Why was the initial dictation of the book so radically altered by its first editors? Why did Helen Schucman curse A Course in Miracles so soon after publication? Why did she keep writing trite poems to Jesus before dying in bitterness? Heti was the ideal gumshoe for this project, because as a novelist all-too-familiar with internal voices and the feeling of “channeling,” she was able to feel her way into Helen’s life. Matthew asks her what she found. Show Notes The New Age Bible — Sheila Heti Sheila Heti — website Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    1 hr and 10 mins
  • Bonus Sample: Elections on 3 Continents

    Bonus Sample: Elections on 3 Continents
    Nov 4 2024
    Having lived under Apartheid in South Africa, voted in the UK, and now staring down this terrifying US election, Julian reflects on the political differences between the three countries. Stay tuned for some hopeful poetry at the end. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    6 mins
  • Brief: No Really, They’re Coming For Your Pets

    Brief: No Really, They’re Coming For Your Pets
    Nov 2 2024
    Recently, “holistic veterinarian” Marcie Fallek, whose latest book, “Little Miracles Everywhere: My Unorthodox Path to Holistic Veterinary Medicine," is the #1 bestseller on Amazon in the Alternative Holistic Medicine category, appeared on Children's Health Defense's daily morning show. During “Pet Vaccines and Holistic Vet Care" she spreads the same sort of vaccine misinformation and fear-mongering that RFK Jr's nonprofit has become infamous for. All of which made Derek realize that yes, they're actually coming for our pets. Show Notes Why Your Vet Bill Is So High Private Equity Is Killing Your Pets Nearly 70% of veterinarians have lost a colleague or peer to suicide, study finds The acute suicide crisis among veterinarians: 'You're always going to be failing somebody' Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    26 mins
  • 230: How Did We Get Here?

    230: How Did We Get Here?
    Oct 31 2024
    With days left before the most consequential US election in our lifetime, we reflect on the last 4.5 years of this podcast while expressing our hopes–and our own reporting goals—for the future. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    1 hr and 32 mins