Angel Empire is a comedic commentary on life under late-stage capitalism that examines culture, politics, tech, work, and leisure. Hosted by comedian Catherine Shannon, the podcast aims to put a critical eye to the soul crushing insanity and hilarious absurdity of our current moment.
In the final episode of Season 1, and Matt’s last episode as a co-host of Angel Empire, we answer some of your questions. We dunk on a few annoying startups, tell you whether you’re a bad person for using Amazon Prime or working there (spoiler: no), and pinpoint the moment the world took a turn for the worst. But we also discuss what YOU can do to change things and take the power back (spoiler: a lot!). Check out some of the links below to take action in your community. Ten ways you can act:1 - Contact your reps 2 - Register everyone you know to vote 3 - Fight voter suppression with FairFight 4 - Win state legislative races from anywhere with Sister District 5 - Offset your impact by buying carbon credits 6 - Volunteer (phone bank, text bank, knock doors) for Bernie Sanders wherever you are 7 - Run for elected office (or support those who do) - Run for Something 8 - Join the youth in fighting Climate Change - Sunrise Movement 9 - Go to a protest; they're fun!10 - Always pay for journalism! --- FOLLOW Instagram @angelempirepod @catherine_allegedlyTwitter @angelempirepodEmail angelempirepod@gmail.comWindows 95 launch video (TRIGGER WARNING: Bill Gates “Dancing”).
Step into Dr. David Richo's office and fall back onto the velvet chaise. Psychotherapist, teacher, and writer David Richo joins the pod this week to discuss his book How to Be an Adult in Relationships and LOVE in a late-capitalist society. We cover the mindfulness trend, Eastern vs. Western approaches to finding happiness, phases of relationships, when to get married, our 'shadow side', ego, and more. --- FOLLOWInstagram @angelempirepod @catherine_allegedlyTwitter @angelempirepodEmail angelempirepod@gmail.comYou can buy Dave's book How to Be an Adult in Relationships here. You can find his website here.
Catherine and Matt talk new growth vectors for Angel Empire, shout out to our listeners all over the world, and discuss that stationary bike ad (you know the one). And we are taking your inquiries. Reactions to previous episodes? New topics to cover? Other thoughts/questions? We will spend a portion of an upcoming episode discussing your thoughts on the air. You can call the Angel Empire Hotline and leave a voicemail at (415) 843-1801, email your thoughts to angelempirepod@gmail.com, or slide into those DMs @angelempirepod. Finally, happy holidays from Angel Empire and our beloved corporate sponsors. Hope you have those automatic replies up and running. --- FOLLOWInstagram @catherine_allegedly @angelempirepodTwitter @angelempirepodEmail angelempirepod@gmail.com
Influential political writer Matt Stoller joins Matt #2 and Catherine to discuss his new book Goliath, a history of the century-long war between monopoly power and democracy. They also discuss Mark Zuckerberg's sad mediocrity and how we can fix it (the monopolies). High hopes! --- FOLLOWInstagram @catherine_allegedly @angelempirepodTwitter @angelempirepodEmail angelempirepod@gmail.com You can buy Matt Stoller's book Goliath at your local book store (or, you know, here), read his newsletter BIG here, and follow him on Twitter here.
Catherine and Matt discuss the magnificent Staples brand launch from earlier this year (yes, they still exist), the power of "the rebrand", and the counterfeit capitalism of WeSoft under Divi Filius Adam Neumann. --- FOLLOW Instagram @catherine_allegedly @angelempirepodTwitter @angelempirepodEmail angelempirepod@gmail.comYou can watch the Staples brand launch video here, the "Work Life Fulfillment" ad here, and the post on WeWork by Matt Stoller here.
Hunter S. Thompson is shaking: Matt attends a young plutocrats convention (Dartmouth Entrepreneurship Forum) and shares some dark insights with Catherine on data-driven voodoo dolls, private equity, and the big tech surveillance state (Hi, Mark!
Hateration in the girlbossery. Catherine and Matt discuss Jia Tolentino's essay "Always Be Optimizing," Silvia Federici on the role of women and witches in capitalism, and how to have it EVERYTHING ALL the time & ALWAYS! xoxo--- FOLLOW Instagram @catherine_allegedly @angelempirepodTwitter @angelempirepodEmail angelempirepod@gmail.com You can buy Jia Tolentino's book "Trick Mirror" at your local book store or the place you'll probably buy it from. You can see more of Silvia's work here, and you can also buy her book, "Caliban and the Witch," from where you probably buy books.
In the pilot episode, Catherine and Matt discuss who they are, why they're doing this to themselves, and the concept for the pod. They then use 2-3% of their brains to discuss game theory of grocery store lines, business book vacuity, and how late capitalist language obscures and obfuscates power relationships. --- FOLLOW Instagram @catherine_allegedly @angelempirepodTwitter @angelempirepodEmail angelempirepod@gmail.com Credit to "The Dig" podcast hosted by Daniel Denvir for alerting us to John Pat Leary and his concept of "Keywords of Capitalism".