Can I please get a hat? Living in Hawaii, it wasn’t plausible for me to have come to the live show; I realize this is a peasant’s argument...sorry but holy shit I really want a hat. Like I’ll pay but for fuck’s sake why do I have to beg??
On the super nichy point re French relations with the Indians in North America, a good deal of that is covered in the broadly fascinating book "Champlain's Dream" by David Hackett Fischer.
Posting with trepidation bc you know *guns*: I really appreciated the commentary regarding the conversation about firearms and the way we talk about them in our society. The public conversation is all about bad cops and the lack of mental health and gun control laws, instead of a consistent public conversation about the responsible use of firearms and individual responsibility around firearms, given that to do so would mean accepting the reality of firearm ownership in the US. Thus promoting what responsible use means is limited to those already inclined to do it, and doesn’t influence those who aren’t.
We also don’t talk enough about the pervasiveness of the gang/crime nexus and why this way of life is not just harmful to the people in it and those directly around it, but is also used by the music industry to glamorize it, and dare I say promote and incentivize it, keeping everyone alarmed and once again ignoring the idea of promoting responsible use/personal responsibility. There’s a genre of music (narco corridos) that celebrates cartel violence and is used to issue warnings; this happens in the US too, where song lyrics aren’t just celebrating violence but are actively soliciting it (see the indictment against Young Thug /Yak Gotti/YSL etc).
Free speech and all that, guys can rap about whatever they want (and if they are dumb enough to solicit murder lol when they get convicted for the assassination). And I get it, if it bleeds, it leads/ledes, you don’t make money if you don’t get the clicks. Still, it’d be nice to see a broader conversation about behavior and gun ownership etc. Just tilting at windmills I guess
You’ve talked about the discussion that inevitably occur after a shooting, and you’ve attempted to take that conversation in a direction that differentiates between different things. I appreciate that. There isn’t one type gun violence or violence in general. The explosions of bloodshed that erupt in places like Chicago are not the same thing as the Buffalo and Uvalde shootings. They shouldn’t be lumped together. Similarly, there isn’t one gun culture. A culture that forces you to internalize a bunch of boring rules and procedures before even touching a gun is different from one that prizes being decked out in a paramilitary gear and blowing stuff up. Both of those are different from the culture in drill rap. Those things should not be lumped together any more than distinct types of violence should be. Yet, such distinctions are rarely made or even acknowledged. I appreciate that you at least try to bring some nuance to what is usually a stupid conversation.
It’s a cavil of sorts, but I chafe at the amount of energy expended on discussions about micromanaging the ages at which people can buy anything, including firearms. In this case, it feels a lot like “fighting the last war” - because two recent events involved people who were under 21, we must therefore create regulations targeted at the under-21 group.
Well, no: their age might not be the explanatory variable in this case. And the time we spend talking about “solutions” related to this specific aspect of the issue might (and very likely is) a waste.
Good convo about Depp/Heard. I’ve been following Nancy and Sarah (Smoke ‘Em if You Got ‘Em!) and thought both Johnny and Amber were horrible to each other. I figured it would be a wash but at least JD would have called out AH for her part. I thought AH presenting herself as 100% the victim in the op-ed was gross and wrong.
I’ve known mutually abusive couples (my grandparents) and can tell you, some women are fully capable of being monsters.
Anyways, I’m now in this weird spot of being a woman and not being appalled! and horrified! by the outcome and what it means for the future of domestic abuse survivors.
Why can’t we just take these things case by case and not have it speak for all humanity?
Once again, I’m keeping my opinions to myself (aside from a public substack comment section) so I’m not totally ostracized.
Just needed to rant. I feel like I’m taking crazy pills (to steal a phrase from Podhoretz).
Thanks guys! You’re always a dose of sanity in this increasingly insane world
Great episode, as always. I think Kmele was was perhaps too hard on States Attorney Mosby for overcharging in the Freddie Gray death, because of not mentioning the following caveat: Yes, under normal circumstances, she didn’t have enough evidence. However, she was arguably forced to charge the way she did because the last six officers who saw him alive and well all closed ranks and stonewalled the investigation. (That’s my understanding, anyway. A prosecutor could have declined to prosecute at all for lack of evidence, but that wouldn’t sit right either, imo)
As someone who's very much in the Star Wars "community," there are a lot of racist people complaining about her. Some actual "N words" being used, but mostly complaints that the writers care more about "woke diversity" than writing a good story. I'm also highly skeptical of people obsessing over her being a bad actress, because she isn't a lower quality actress than someone like Gina Carano or Hayden Christensen, or many other Star Wars actors.
On electric cars versus gasoline: I LOVE the idea of an electric car. Very little maintenance and FAST AS FUCK. But, this country is so far away from mass adoption for so many reasons, it’s absolutely absurd to talk seriously about it happening within even the next ten years. For one, you couldn’t build them if you wanted to. Between the infrastructure for mining the raw materials necessary that is way behind where it needs to be to the rest of the mess that is the supply chain now and for the foreseeable future. Companies are building them as fast as they can, and they’re still a SMALL chunk of overall car sales. Here’s the thing that’s no EV evangelist ever wants to admit: GASOLINE IS AMAZING. The gas pump delivers roughly 10 gigawatts. Your gas tank stores roughly 500 kWh when full. EVs and chargers can’t begin to touch these numbers presently. They’ll continue to get more efficient, and storage will get better, but they’re not yet, and unless some really stunning breakthroughs happen soon (and not just in a university lab, but actually commercialized), we’re going to need reliable sources of fossil fuels. I haven’t even touched on how far behind our grid is. Before the bear market set in over the last several months, just look at the stock price of companies like Generac.
Re: guns/mental health/etcetera, as this is nominally a media criticism podcast, by far the dumbest thing I read this week regarding the subject was in the WSJ:
If you can’t get beyond the pay wall, the headline is: “ Less Than 5% of Violent Acts Are Linked to Mental Illness, Research Shows”.
I get it, you’re trying not to stigmatize mental health, but what’s really bothersome to me about this is that it’s mental health professionals going out of their way to try to say the opposite of what is clearly true, and this doesn’t help solve the problem. If a person murders a classroom full of children and teachers, they are mentally ill, full stop. And if anyone feels that murder is an acceptable way to settle a dispute, there is at least someone there that me, the layman, would characterize as mental illness.
My favorite dumb renaming is the ski resort "Palisades" (literally the most generic name known to man). Apparently the word Squaw is so inherently offensive your ski resort needs to have the name of a Cincinnati white flight suburb.
Second on the hat. Would love some sort of merch store!
Can I please get a hat? Living in Hawaii, it wasn’t plausible for me to have come to the live show; I realize this is a peasant’s argument...sorry but holy shit I really want a hat. Like I’ll pay but for fuck’s sake why do I have to beg??
On the super nichy point re French relations with the Indians in North America, a good deal of that is covered in the broadly fascinating book "Champlain's Dream" by David Hackett Fischer.
Posting with trepidation bc you know *guns*: I really appreciated the commentary regarding the conversation about firearms and the way we talk about them in our society. The public conversation is all about bad cops and the lack of mental health and gun control laws, instead of a consistent public conversation about the responsible use of firearms and individual responsibility around firearms, given that to do so would mean accepting the reality of firearm ownership in the US. Thus promoting what responsible use means is limited to those already inclined to do it, and doesn’t influence those who aren’t.
We also don’t talk enough about the pervasiveness of the gang/crime nexus and why this way of life is not just harmful to the people in it and those directly around it, but is also used by the music industry to glamorize it, and dare I say promote and incentivize it, keeping everyone alarmed and once again ignoring the idea of promoting responsible use/personal responsibility. There’s a genre of music (narco corridos) that celebrates cartel violence and is used to issue warnings; this happens in the US too, where song lyrics aren’t just celebrating violence but are actively soliciting it (see the indictment against Young Thug /Yak Gotti/YSL etc).
Free speech and all that, guys can rap about whatever they want (and if they are dumb enough to solicit murder lol when they get convicted for the assassination). And I get it, if it bleeds, it leads/ledes, you don’t make money if you don’t get the clicks. Still, it’d be nice to see a broader conversation about behavior and gun ownership etc. Just tilting at windmills I guess
Commenting to say I'm listening to this while at an arcade, never thought that combo would happen
EDIT: Matt, I'm playing NBA Jam and the 93 Rockets players are Dream and Kenny Smith. Life is good
Moynihan really just going to deadname the Patreon like that? 🤣
You’ve talked about the discussion that inevitably occur after a shooting, and you’ve attempted to take that conversation in a direction that differentiates between different things. I appreciate that. There isn’t one type gun violence or violence in general. The explosions of bloodshed that erupt in places like Chicago are not the same thing as the Buffalo and Uvalde shootings. They shouldn’t be lumped together. Similarly, there isn’t one gun culture. A culture that forces you to internalize a bunch of boring rules and procedures before even touching a gun is different from one that prizes being decked out in a paramilitary gear and blowing stuff up. Both of those are different from the culture in drill rap. Those things should not be lumped together any more than distinct types of violence should be. Yet, such distinctions are rarely made or even acknowledged. I appreciate that you at least try to bring some nuance to what is usually a stupid conversation.
It’s a cavil of sorts, but I chafe at the amount of energy expended on discussions about micromanaging the ages at which people can buy anything, including firearms. In this case, it feels a lot like “fighting the last war” - because two recent events involved people who were under 21, we must therefore create regulations targeted at the under-21 group.
Well, no: their age might not be the explanatory variable in this case. And the time we spend talking about “solutions” related to this specific aspect of the issue might (and very likely is) a waste.
Does anyone know how to download these episodes? Wanted to listen to this on the plane...
Zoomin’ with Toobin 🤪
Good convo about Depp/Heard. I’ve been following Nancy and Sarah (Smoke ‘Em if You Got ‘Em!) and thought both Johnny and Amber were horrible to each other. I figured it would be a wash but at least JD would have called out AH for her part. I thought AH presenting herself as 100% the victim in the op-ed was gross and wrong.
I’ve known mutually abusive couples (my grandparents) and can tell you, some women are fully capable of being monsters.
Anyways, I’m now in this weird spot of being a woman and not being appalled! and horrified! by the outcome and what it means for the future of domestic abuse survivors.
Why can’t we just take these things case by case and not have it speak for all humanity?
Once again, I’m keeping my opinions to myself (aside from a public substack comment section) so I’m not totally ostracized.
Just needed to rant. I feel like I’m taking crazy pills (to steal a phrase from Podhoretz).
Thanks guys! You’re always a dose of sanity in this increasingly insane world
Great episode, as always. I think Kmele was was perhaps too hard on States Attorney Mosby for overcharging in the Freddie Gray death, because of not mentioning the following caveat: Yes, under normal circumstances, she didn’t have enough evidence. However, she was arguably forced to charge the way she did because the last six officers who saw him alive and well all closed ranks and stonewalled the investigation. (That’s my understanding, anyway. A prosecutor could have declined to prosecute at all for lack of evidence, but that wouldn’t sit right either, imo)
As someone who's very much in the Star Wars "community," there are a lot of racist people complaining about her. Some actual "N words" being used, but mostly complaints that the writers care more about "woke diversity" than writing a good story. I'm also highly skeptical of people obsessing over her being a bad actress, because she isn't a lower quality actress than someone like Gina Carano or Hayden Christensen, or many other Star Wars actors.
On electric cars versus gasoline: I LOVE the idea of an electric car. Very little maintenance and FAST AS FUCK. But, this country is so far away from mass adoption for so many reasons, it’s absolutely absurd to talk seriously about it happening within even the next ten years. For one, you couldn’t build them if you wanted to. Between the infrastructure for mining the raw materials necessary that is way behind where it needs to be to the rest of the mess that is the supply chain now and for the foreseeable future. Companies are building them as fast as they can, and they’re still a SMALL chunk of overall car sales. Here’s the thing that’s no EV evangelist ever wants to admit: GASOLINE IS AMAZING. The gas pump delivers roughly 10 gigawatts. Your gas tank stores roughly 500 kWh when full. EVs and chargers can’t begin to touch these numbers presently. They’ll continue to get more efficient, and storage will get better, but they’re not yet, and unless some really stunning breakthroughs happen soon (and not just in a university lab, but actually commercialized), we’re going to need reliable sources of fossil fuels. I haven’t even touched on how far behind our grid is. Before the bear market set in over the last several months, just look at the stock price of companies like Generac.
Re: guns/mental health/etcetera, as this is nominally a media criticism podcast, by far the dumbest thing I read this week regarding the subject was in the WSJ:
https://www.wsj.com/articles/mass-shootings-revive-debate-over-role-of-mental-health-11654108898
If you can’t get beyond the pay wall, the headline is: “ Less Than 5% of Violent Acts Are Linked to Mental Illness, Research Shows”.
I get it, you’re trying not to stigmatize mental health, but what’s really bothersome to me about this is that it’s mental health professionals going out of their way to try to say the opposite of what is clearly true, and this doesn’t help solve the problem. If a person murders a classroom full of children and teachers, they are mentally ill, full stop. And if anyone feels that murder is an acceptable way to settle a dispute, there is at least someone there that me, the layman, would characterize as mental illness.
My favorite dumb renaming is the ski resort "Palisades" (literally the most generic name known to man). Apparently the word Squaw is so inherently offensive your ski resort needs to have the name of a Cincinnati white flight suburb.
Is anyone having problems getting this in the Pocket cast app? I got the email 9 hours ago and it's still not available - even copying the link.