Deep State University

The guys are back to talk about David Shor and why everyone on Twitter is either (sometimes correctly, sometimes overblownly) mad or (probably wrongly, definitely annoyingly) obsessed with him and ask the question - does anyone really know what they're talking about in politics anyway? (No.) We also open with a prolonged sojourn about LSU football being bad.Suggested reading:David Shor's Unified Theory of American Politics - Eric LevitzDavid Shor Is Telling Democrats What They Don't Want to Hear - Ezra KleinThe Democrats' Privileged College-Kid Problem - Ian WardPopularism and the Child Tax Credit - Matt BruenigThe Democrats' new cult of the popular - Ryan CooperBill Clinton, Race and the Politics of the 1990s - Jamelle BouieClass is *clap clap* in session

Eric and Jackson are alive and well and totally keeping it all together, which is why they keep recording their conversations so other people can listen to them. This one's all about disasters - whether it's hurricanes or pandemics or inevitable Pacific Northwest earthquakes - and why our political systems seem to never truly be capable of preparing us for them.Some suggested reads:- The Really Big One by Kathryn Schulz - Oregon's Tsunami Risks, also Kathryn SchulzClass is *clap clap* in session

Eric and Jackson delve into the Handmaid's Tale, talking about what we can learn from Margaret Atwood and also the Hulu series that has uh... kept going for some reason.No required reading for this one, but if you don't want the book spoiled because you've somehow avoided it since 1985 and also haven't watched the show... might want to skip this one.Class is *clap clap* in session!

We're trying a new thing, shorter episodes about random stuff, a shorty if you will. Eric and Jackson talk about the institution of marriage, how it's kind of weird, and the marriage industrial complex. Sorry for Eric breaking in and out - he doesn't know how to use a microphone.Well, that's pretty much it - class is *clap clap* in session!

It feels like hardly a day goes by that we aren't confronted with another terrible example of how policing in the United States is the worst. Eric and Jackson dig into some of the history of modern policing, talk a bit about police abolition and the Defund the Police Movement, and discuss some of their concerns about the lack of a widely shared alternative to policing and what we need to be thinking about - politically, morally, and policy-wise - to address those concerns.We also talk a bit about the corruption and connections between policing and the U.S. militarism and why the Supreme Court sucks.We didn't mention much reading in the episode itself, but highly recommend folks check out these and other writings:Angela Davis' "Are Prisons Obsolete?"Alex Vitale's "The End of Policing"Class is *clap clap* in session!

Eric and Jackson get into their disagreements about the cultural value of one of America's biggest  moneymakers - superheroes! Topics range from: how 9/11 ruined comic books and country music, why we shouldn't take characters from stories mainly intended for kids too seriously, and also Zack Snyder and Joss Whedon suck.Class is *clap clap* in session

The Senate passed the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan Act on Saturday after over 24 hours of Vote-a-Rama, which will almost undoubtedly be the biggest legislative package of progressive welfare and stimulus spending ever created and will hopefully help folks get through the end of the Covid-19 pandemic. It is truly an incredible legislative accomplishment worth celebrating.  And yet, a Democratic President and several Democratic Senators still managed to make everyone upset by letting a $15 an hour minimum wage provision get stripped out by deciding not to overrule an unelected Senate Parliamentarian."Why are you so mad?" ask many of the smarmy pundits and politics knowers. "You can't just make things happen in politics by willing it into existence - the President and those Senators aren't like, Green Lanterns"Eric and Jackson dig into how Democrats tarnished what is otherwise a great and important piece of legislation by allowing the president and Joe Manchin (among others) to sabotage the $15 minimum wage, why the huge dorks who use the "Green Lantern Theory of Politics" strawman are total dopes and losers, reveal Eric's alternative theory - the Dr. Eggman Theory of Governance - and explain how deeply disappointed we are in the several U.S. Senators who let us all down (and praise the ones who didn't).Also enjoy, interludes about getting the Senate parliamentarian to do whatever you want them to do, how it's well past time for Nebraska to elect some offensive linemen to the Senate,  and Jackson cussing a lot about pundits he doesn't like and also everything else. Class is *clap clap* in session

Eric and Jackson dig into what happens when you deregulate provision of public goods like electricity and combine them with the erosion of publicly beneficial natural monopolies for the sake of profit -  long story short, you get what happened in Texas (and Flint, and soon, everywhere else)!A lot of history and energy policy - just what you always wanted. Also, jokes about Mothman and how he's helping West Virginia run the best damn vaccination delivery program in the world.Recommended reading: check out this great old article that should make you very mad about the ways in which a government fully captured by corporate interests has thrown us to the vulture capitalists for a quick buck - The Failure of Electricity Deregulation by Tyson SlocumClass is *clap clap* in session!

Eric and Jackson talk about their favorite sport - American football labor policy! That's right, we're a sports podcast now. From the NFL to the NCAA, most football players (especially the college kind) get the rough end of the labor market stick, as we discuss. We also meander into student loan debt briefly, make some policy suggestions for fixing some football labor problems, and predict next year's College Football Playoff teams.Also, we heard the complaints; this one is shorter and no Mothman :( Class is *clap clap* in session

Eric and Jackson dig into why everyone is mad about means testing (it's often bad!), why TANF is evil (it is!), and a review of various child tax credit and child allowance proposals (they're mostly good, especially Mitt Romney's!). Also featuring musings on topics ranging from Britney Spears to the Seattle Seahawks Defense circa 2014, and of course, our interest in having Mothman run for office in West Virginia. Stick around for a ranking of our favorite and least favorite welfare policies at the end.Sorry all our pods are long; we're very bad at keeping track of time.We highly recommend folks check out Jeff Stein's (@JStein_WaPo)  reporting and everything Matt Bruenig (@MattBruenig)  does over at the People's Policy Project, but here are other helpful reading materials:What the Fight Over Means Testing Is Really About The Problems With Means-Testing Are Real To Lessen Hardship, States Should Invest More TANF Dollars in Basic Assistance for Families - Center on Budget and Policy PrioritiesChild tax credit in Biden stimulus package gets drafted by Democrats Mitt Romney to introduce child benefit for millions of American families $3,000-per-child benefit: Senior Democrats prepare plan for Biden stimulus Class is *clap clap* in session

Eric and Jackson dive into the deep end of the debate on fascism. What is American fascism; how serious is it; where did it come from; and why is everyone doing it. All these questions and more will go mostly unanswered.Other topics in here: cold opens about parking spots, Marjorie Taylor Greene as the newest version of Pat Buchanan or David Duke, QAnon as a part of the apocalyptic Christian tradition, and why conspiratorial thinking has always been an essential part of American conservatism (especially blood libel and pedophile fearmongering) and consequently, the modern Republican Party.We also rank which sociopath / MyPillow CEO we think will probably win the 2024 Republican primary.You should read: "The Year the Clock Broke" by John Ganz; Marjorie Taylor Greene and the history of Republican conspiracy theories by Zack Beauchamp; Nicholas Kristof's stupid letter to his stupid friends; and Stephanie McCrummen's profile of Kevin Van Ausdal to make sense of some of this.Class is *clap clap* in session

Like many other progressive white guys, we started a podcast. Meet Eric and Jackson, former Hill staffers, occasional political hacks, and all the time policy guys, as they set out to create a podcast that will help us (and hopefully you) to understand what's happening in American politics, government, and culture from a lefty perspective.In this intro pod, we cover the Biden inauguration and big donors (they're dummies like us, but rich); our expectations for the coming Congress (low!); and our mutual interest in Mothman.Class is *clap clap* in session