Friends You Wish You Had

Since election day the Q folks have taken a big hit. Tough days when you're global conspiracy world view starts to crack and your leader can't seem to get it done. So we role play some strategies for dealing with the sad Q person in your life

A discussion of free market sports economics, NBA free agency update, Derek Jeter gets on our good side, and petty billionaire team owners who make us laugh and cry . Plus Jeff has a potential lucrative job opportunity for Roman.

The pandemic explodes (again!). How will Americans deal with this surge, and is there any hope on the horizon? Plus some spaceships.

November 3rd, 2020 is a few days away. Roman gets some news. 

On the 19th anniversary of September 11th, FYWYH discusses NY Times' columnist Paul Krugman's controversial twitter thread about US domestic response to the attack. We also talk about some of the correlations between America's 9/11 response, COVID, and the up coming 2020 presidential election. Plus the NFL season is underway, and we get into some NBA Playoff talk to try and lighten the mood on a Friday night. 

So it's Uki Week, and Roman laments a show of support for Trump at the annual Ukrainian American Festival. But he also shares some good news about anti-Trump sentiment in the community as well. The Bucks walk out on the NBA playoffs and it shuts the whole thing down for 72 hours. Finally the Wisconsin  shooter seems to have the support of the Trump base. Can a Ukrainian and paratrooper save the world?

Roman reacts to @becca_oneal's tweet asking if Nate Silver's work is nothing more than astrology for white men, while Jeff explains (with much disgust) why he sees Trump's 2020 reelection as inevitable. Plus we discuss the salacious new piece in Vanity Fair about Stephen Miller and his wife Katie, who "found love in a hateful place." *Florida has 67 counties *Bush won Ohio in 2004 by 118,00o votes. For more on OH voting controversy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2004_United_States_election_voting_controversies * Evgenia Peretz was the author of the Vanity Fair piece on Stephen & Katie Miller

Three things to remember about this podcast:  Play sports in a bubble, oppose authoritarians, and support refugees. 

FYWYH is on a shitshow emotional roller coaster ride of depressing thoughts. Roman sees Q-spiracies and pandemic deniers in every post he comes across, while Jeff wonders if our media bubbles are so comfortable that we can't see the Tr*mp reelection staring us in our privileged fucking faces. Oh, and professional sports are back.

It's been 10 years since Lebron proclaimed "I'm Taking My Talents To South Beach."  FYWYH looks back on how one super awkward tv special changed the NBA and the game.  Was it for better and for always?  

FYWYH plows through some random and mildly important topics, including:  This week's "Letter" and so-called cancel culture, the latest on what Q is up to and how does Michael Flynn fit in, and finally trying to figure out how the hell Jefferey Epstein got away with it the first time around.

FYWYH vents about the poor state of the entire COVID-19 response. Months and months and no progress made, and of course utter incompetence from the White House.  Also, despite Roman's assurances Jeff has little confidence in the polling numbers that indicate Biden will cruise to a decisive victory in November.  Warning, little in this pod will uplift you. 

With a chopper literally overhead, and protests continuing to rage across the U.S. FYWYH delves deeper into the turmoil facing the nation after the George Floyd murder.  We discuss generations of failed policing policies, and take a closer look at the idea of abolishing the police. What does that even mean anyway, and what does capitalism have to do with it?  Friend of the show Clark breaks down the work of Prof. Alex S. Vitale, who's 2017 book THE END OF POLICING seems like required reading as we attempt to understand this moment. 

Now that the hype has started to wear off on ESPN's Michael Jordan hagiography THE LAST DANCE, two lifelong NBA fanatics break down the epic ten-part docuseries. What did the series cover well, and what did it miss out on? Did the film's portrayal of Jordan's talent and mystique feel authentic?  How much has the NBA game changed in the 22 years since MJ buried that jumper in Utah and walked off into NBA immortality? Finally, does Jordan's nasty, dickish personality stand the test of time? FYWYH goes deep on these and other questions about the film and NBA basketball, including the inevitable GOAT conversation.  WARNING, this pod is not for casual NBA fans or for people who don't know what 'hagiography' means, it will only hurt your brain while you listen.