The Culture We Deserve

Dutch historian and author Rutger Bregman wants to start a new brain drain -- starve industries like finance and consulting from the world's genius by redirecting Harvard grads into "good work." His new book is Moral Ambition, and in it he pleads with those who have a bit of talent, a bit of smarts, to use it to solve social problems rather than create them. Jessa and Nico go through the recent history of Elites Solving Problems, from Effective Altruism to Christian Missionaries to the Nonprofit Grift. But also ask, why does everyone start squirming when you suggest that perhaps you should actually live by those lofty ideals you have? Shownotes and references: http://theculturewedeserve.substack.com

The story of a young man, filled with fiery ambition, twisted political ideology, and resentment toward everyone and everything and utterly lacking adequate paternal guidance.... gee, I wonder why this might resonate in the age of incels, aspirational fascists, and Elon Musk reply-guys. The Revolution and Ruin podcast gets into 19th century France, manic pixie goth girls, misdirected rage, and why orphans have all the fun. Join the discussion: http://theculturewedeserve.substack.com

AI is hallucinating whole genocides now, our influencers are at war with the bots, and the only beacon of truth and ethical journalism is.... Jake Tapper? Good luck! Jessa and Nico get into the Tapper/Thompson book Original Sin about the cover-up of Biden's decline and why the press is largely ignoring some of its bombshell revelations.  Shownotes and references: http://theculturewedeserve.substack.com

All our animals are going to die of bird flu, but at least we'll have raw milk cocktails to take the pain away. Casey Means was suggested for the Surgeon General post the same week that the sex cult/mindfulness startup OneTaste did their media redemption tour and the New York Times invited the wealthy and the celebrated to talk about their skincare regimens and if ruling the world stresses them out. We will all be so very well! We're all carrying flame retardant in our tissue but we are glowing from all the powdered collagen. (Justice for Marianne Williamson!) Shownotes and references: http://theculturewedeserve.substack.com

Are the jiu jitsu men radicalized? Are gyms a white nationalist training camp? Is protein a masculinist conspiracy? Will the swole take up arms in their big meaty arms and overthrow the government? There has been a lot of fear of the swole and the ripped, with Ezra Klein calling UFC a gateway drug to rightwing radicalization and the New York Times referring to Hasan's physique as a "MAGA body." Jessa and Nico dig into this fear of jocks, and whether rolling around on the floor with other men, your face in a sweaty crotch, turns you fascist.  Shownotes and references (and join our Revolution and Ruin book club!): http://theculturewedeserve.substack.com

Maybe two non-Catholics are not the best people to discuss the legacy Pope Francis is leaving behind, although Catholics like Ross Douthat and JD Vance are doing worse. Jessa cries about the death of the pope, and Nico manages to put his Catholic school trauma to the side to assess Pope Francis as a world leader and not just a religious one.  Shownotes and references: http://theculturewedeserve.substack.com

Welcome to episode one of The Culture We Deserve's Book Club, Revolution and Ruin: Reading the European 19th Century. In this inaugural episode, Joseph and Jessa discuss Mary Shelley's The Last Man, a prophetic novel about disease, war, and the end of mankind. Unlike the apocalyptic spectacles of your standard end of the world movies and television shows, Shelley's slow burn gets into the grief and despair of humanity's end. Shelley was born at the tail end of the French Revolution and just before the revolutions of 1848, and she is invested in the questions of her era: how should a nation organize itself? how should resources be distributed? how is a person to live amid disruption and unpredictability? And what is the point of making art during tumult? Join the discussion at: http://theculturewedeserve.substack.com

Looking back at the first round of the Culture Wars, with Jesse Helms discussing a crucifix submerged in urine on the floor of the senate, one figure remains misunderstood: Thomas Kinkade. The "Painter of Light." The guy your alcoholic grandmother who would never admit she terrorized you really loved. Kinkade's career combines the worst of American culture -- multi-level marketing schemes, Jesus Christ kitsch, and televangelism -- into one product. Jessa and Nico discuss Art for Everybody, the new documentary seeking to rehabilitate Kinkade's image, and whether if Kinkade were alive today he would be appointed the new head of the NEA or Kennedy Center (yes).  Shownotes and references: http://theculturewedeserve.substack.com

Three professors who study totalitarianism and fascism have fled for Canada, is that bad? Is this brain drain or are our elites just refusing to be slightly inconvenienced by a situation they helped to create? Jessa and Nico discuss the capitulation of the academic Resistance, the great Elite Replacement, and why America wants to be Hungary so bad. Shownotes and references: http://theculturewedeserve.substack.com

With all the fuss about Adolescence and the concern about our adrift young men, we have to wonder: are we about to start sending our incels to re-education camps? Jessa and Nico look at RFK Jr's plan for sending the unwell, mentally ill, and addicted to farms (is this our new agricultural policy?), and how much of our economy is now dependent on putting people away: private prisons, rehab facilities, assisted living, and retreats for the troubled. Shownotes and references: http://theculturewedeserve.substack.com

Ross Douthat has a new book, arguing that America needs a new religious revival. Sir, there is a theocracy establishing itself in Idaho, we have Tradcaths in the government trying to force us all back into patriarchal marriages, is now really the time?? America has always been weird about god, we can't seem to contemplate him for more than ten seconds at a time without praying he destroys the whole world in fiery apocalypse. Jessa and Nico discuss our new gods and whether Jim Jones would have made a better VP than JD Vance. Shownotes and references: http://theculturewedeserve.substack.com

Netflix doesn't just make reality dating shows that violate multiple international human rights treaties -- they also make adaptations of the world's greatest literature. Everything is IP! Including A Hundred Years of Solitude and The Leopard. Jessa and Nico discuss turning art into slop, people pretending they can't tell the difference between good and bad, and why what's good for the cultural industries is often not great for art. Shownotes and references: http://theculturewedeserve.substack.com

MAHA is already a mess. With RFK's recent humiliation ritual at Steak N Shake, the return of factory farming, and an international takeover of our rural land, any hope of making America healthy again is slipping away. I guess it's going to have to be mandatory Ozempic then! Jessa and Nico discuss the failed dreams of those who don't want forever chemicals in breastmilk, how health policy became a rightwing rather than leftist priority, and whether gyms are fascist.  Shownotes and references: http://theculturewedeserve.substack.com

The sex worker community hates Anora, Mexicans hate Emilia Perez, brutalists hate The Brutalist... is this where representation culture has left us? The big winners have mostly been rejected by those they claim to represent and loved by those who like a little song and dance number. Jessa and Nico discuss the aftermath of the OscarsSoWhite campaign and why Hollywood is a misrepresentation and stereotyping machine. Shownotes and references: http://theculturewedeserve.substack.com

From the cult of incels running our government to Trump's alliance with Andrew Tate to Elon Musk's mountain of neglected baby boys, one has to ask, what is wrong with all the men? Jessa and Nico discuss the root causes of men's unmooring -- naturally this is all women's doing -- and why we need new ways to organize our domestic lives. Also, coming in June 2025 from Pantheon: Jessa Crispin's new book, What Is Wrong With Men. Shownotes and references: http://theculturewedeserve.substack.com

As America gears up to celebrate its 250th anniversary, Jessa and Nico discuss this country's obsession with its founding, what Kamala's vision for the anniversary would have been, and whether we'll all live to celebrate 251. Also: Trump's takeover of the Kennedy Center, Philadelphia celebrates America with the British moppet Ed Sheeran concert, and by the way we both recorded this with the flu. Shownotes and references: http://theculturewedeserve.substack.com

Christopher Rufo and the rest of the anti-DEI crew are planning for a new conservative art world: please, can you spare some aesthetics? What can we all expect from antiwoke art, other than messianic actors rescuing trafficked children from predatory progressives and shirtless pics of a super ripped Donald Trump? Can the conservatives save art with Western Civilization nostalgia and NFTs? And was art ever really woke? Jessa and Nico look at the possibilities of never getting good art ever again.

With the release of the Brian Eno documentary, one has to wonder: What is the real cause of our cultural stagnation? Is it that the United States is incapable of creating new geniuses, or that all the geniuses are working now in tech? Nico and Jessa get into how media consolidation, a failing educational system, and the so-called democratization of creativity have created an entertainment industry where mediocrity reigns and "Fail Better" is just a techbro motto. Also: the effect of Trump's anti-DEI efforts and whether China just released an OpenAI killer.  Shownotes and references: http://theculturewedeserve.substack.com

Is America capable of creating geniuses anymore, or just technicians who feed the nostalgia for the age of auteurs? Just a few months ago, The Brutalist was being heralded as a masterpiece, but now it's mired in controversy about AI use and accusations of Zionist politics. Both of these attacks are wrong, by the way -- it is simply that the movie is not very good. On the week of David Lynch's death, Nico and Jessa discuss the Ayn Randiness of The Brutalist, the cliches related to creative genius, and why neo-Nazis love Twin Peaks.  Shownotes and references: http://theculturewedeserve.substack.com

As assisted suicide becomes more widely available, here come the death influencers. Is it wrong to monetize your suicide? Where does all this "normalization" of death end exactly? Jessa and Nico assess the void and the artists whose chosen medium is their own annihilation. Shownotes and references: http://theculturewedeserve.substack.com

Predictions! What will the glorious year of 2025 hold for us? Nico and Jessa try to sort it all out. Will Harvard graduates stop referring to themselves as radicals and revolutionaries now that actual assassinations are happening? Will the manfluencers raise an army to invade Canada and install Jordan Peterson as Trump's colonial minister? Will an American ever write a good novel again? Will the rebirth of a Temperance movement start burning down casinos and smoke shops to save the youths from sports betting and kratom? Who knows! We don't, but we will pretend to. Shownotes and references: http://theculturewedeserve.substack.com

Fine, we give up trying to make original content, let's make a list! Jessa and Nico talk about the best and worst films, television, books, art, and music of the year that got eaten by the election cycle.  Full list and shownotes: http://theculturewedeserve.substack.com

As the stars align for another French Revolution (Pluto in Aquarius, baby), the billionaires and CEOs are quaking. They're upgrading their security teams, they are building compounds. Also, as things escalate with Russia, Jessa and Nico wonder if we're going to get Rocky IV-level propaganda soon. Booker Prize winner Samantha Harvey is getting review-bombed for even having a Russian character in her novel, the people demand a new Drago onto which they can project their hate and anxiety! The last Cold War gave us Mikhail Baryshnikov, who knows what wonders await us this time?  Shownotes and references: http://theculturewedeserve.substack.com

Elon Musk twat that Cancel culture has been canceled. All our bad men are coming back -- Kevin Spacey, Bryan Singer, Armie Hammer. New administration, baby! So what was cancel culture even for? Nico and Jessa discuss grievance culture, how Netflix has monetized the anti-cancel culture grift, and whether anyone is going to learn anything from the last ten years of madness. Shownotes and references: http://theculturewedeserve.substack.com

Progressive self-flagellation continues this week, as now the left wonders why they don't have a Joe Rogan-like figure to lead the angry young men into socialist politics. Maybe because you guys are all desperately overeager? Maybe because you'd want them to attend a new Columbia University masters program for audio arts before you trusted them to start a podcast? Just a thought. Also: Cormac McCarthy had a teenage lover during his midlife crisis, and is Argentina our new economic libertarian father figure?  Shownotes and references: http://theculturewedeserve.substack.com

Quick, how do we politically, financially, and culturally exploit the lower classes, now that the politicians admit maybe wealth inequality and the abandonment of class issues has led us to a second Trump administration. There will be lots of solemn talk about the dignity of the working class, lots of PhDs doing working class ethnography, etc. But probably we still won't get healthcare, unless you count RFK replacing fluoride with ivermectin in our water supplies. Jessa and Nico talk about how the working class just can't win, and if there is still an American dream. Shownotes and references: http://theculturewedeserve.substack.com

It's the era of the sore winner. Trump voters are feeling emboldened, from racist texts to more Trump flags going up to personal confrontations. And billionaires from Silicon Valley to pop music are bitter they should ever be questioned or criticized about the constant stream of dreck they pump into the world. Jessa and Nico discuss why too much is never enough in the age of infinite branding. Shownotes and references: http://theculturewedeserve.substack.com

In DC, Philadelphia, and Portland, monuments to Donald Trump's legacy as a white supremacist and sexual predator have been popping up. Their creator has yet to be revealed (please don't be Banksy). But it does open the door to the question: are we doomed to suffer through four more years of bad anti-Trump art? Or will the pro-Trump guys like Beeple take over cringe creation? And if the bro podcasters are to blame, and the socialist Twitch streamers couldn't save us, what do we do with our culture of overproduction?  Shownotes and references: http://theculturewedeserve.substack.com

God, this is so boring and please let it be over. Swing state fatigue, billionaire media, and a political sphere dominated by bro podcast hosts.  Show notes and references: http://theculturewedeserve.substack.com

Is it a contradiction that in this age of trigger warnings people are calling this a golden age of horror? Or is there something cozy and coddling about what is celebrated as prestige horror? Is Longlegs even scary, is The Substance just a montage of better horror films, does Red Rooms even haunt you, bro? Jessa and Nico discuss Variety's 100 Best Horror Movies list, lists as anti-content, and why contemporary horror fails to get at what people are truly afraid of. Show notes and references: http://theculturewedeserve.substack.com

Still dealing with pre-election tension. But some bullying ads ("everyone will know whether you voted!") have us thinking, is it true what they say, that the Democratic party has become too feminized? And the Ta-Nehisi Coates media tour prompts us to ask, is it possible to have a great run in interviews and TV and still have written a not very good book? Or do we have to support bad books forever just because they have good politics. (See also: Han Kang Nobel discourse.)  Show notes and references: http://theculturewedeserve.substack.com

Everyone is eager to turn themselves into a robot these days. Deepak Chopra has created an AI spiritual guru version of himself, Laura Kipnis botted herself up to help Silicon Valley bros read books, and the dead are returning and walking the earth and reviewing art again for UK newspapers. Who will restore our humanity? Well, the Department of Defense is now hiring writers to help us kill people more effectively, hooray. Jessa and Nico get into the urge to replicate, also Elon Musk's Heinlein fantasies of an extinction-level event. Show notes and references: http://theculturewedeserve.substack.com  

The Lunar Eclipse brought America some moral dilemmas. Too bad America doesn't believe in morals anymore. Should a reporter sext with the people she profiles? If she writes things we like, why not. Should we elect someone who calls himself a Nazi and questions the Holocaust? If he angers the right people, why not. Should we in the media alert people that a rapper blew up someone else's car? If he invites us to good parties, I don't know man. Oliva Nuzzi, Mark Robinson, Matt Gaetz, Sean Combs, and others had big revelations, now we just have to figure out what to do about it.  Show notes and references: http://theculturewedeserve.substack.com

People are fed up with the United States (again), and are threatening to leave if the election doesn't swing their way. American expat enclaves are popping up in Costa Rica, Portugal, and France. But is this a real response to political instability or a childish tantrum that you might be expected to live among people with whom you disagree? Jessa and Nico look into the role social media is playing in sending Americans to a small number of places, the dream of frictionless living, and exaggerating harm for the sake of your brand. Show notes and references: http://theculturewedeserve.substack.com

Google Books wanted to scan all the books of the world to digitize and hoard them and, potentially, monetize them. OpenAI wants to scan the history of human intellect to teach its computer program to think. The Internet Archive wanted to make books that weren't accessible accessible for no charge. Guess which one the court system shut down? As long as your plan is to make money, the American gov will let you do basically anything you want to do. Also: Tim Pool and other Russian tools, the FBI loves influencers, and the return of the honeytrap. For show notes and references: http://theculturewedeserve.substack.com

We are apparently so nostalgic for the Obama years that we are happy to forget whatever lessons we may have learned in the last eight years. New York Magazine declared Obamacore the time of Broad City, Hamilton, and Bad Feminist (like these were good things) -- ignoring what he truly gave us, which is Silicon Valley disruption overlords, girlbosses, and Hamilton (as a bad thing). Plus: Robin DiAngelo plagiarism scandal and the end of the woke/anti-woke grifter.  For show notes and references: http://theculturewedeserve.substack.com

In Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, when a scrappy crew of kids tries to save America to get the truth out about a corrupt businessman, the businessman swarms the state with pamphlets, newspapers, parades, radio broadcasts to maintain his power. Controlling the narrative sometimes just means out-talking your opponent, and many of our most pernicious new media stars just overproduced content until they rose to the top: Twitch streaming leftists, podcast bros, Mr. Beast endurance videos. Now we have the IDF livestreaming war crimes and bots out-posting the victims of a celebrity's sexual assaults to take over search results. Nico and Jessa discuss the culture of chronic posting and asks where is the CIA when you need them? For show notes and references: http://theculturewedeserve.substack.com

Just a small town guy, beloved by children, sent to Washington to do the right thing -- is Tim Walz our chance to live in a Frank Capra film? Jessa and Nico watch Mr. Smith Goes to Washington and read Nancy Pelosi's new memoir to talk about the two archetypes of American public service, the aw shucks good guy versus the professional power player. But after Obama and the bailouts of the big banks, is it even possible to have hope anymore? Show notes and references: http://theculturewedeserve.substack.com

If your idea of a woman is small, frail, vulnerable, and weak, how do you look at women in sports? Well, by assuming that every woman who is strong, competitive, and accomplished might secretly be a man. Some people decided to spend the week Transvestigating athletes instead of any other thing in the world they could be doing. Jessa and Nico talk about women in sports, Michele Kang's comment that women athletes are treated like they are "small men," the downside of professionalizing sports, and the first fight event with men competing directly against women, the Craig Jones Invitational. For show notes and references: http://theculturewedeserve.substack.com

There's trouble in the tradwife multi-verse, restarting the convo about whether tradwives are Nazi bait or helpless babies who need saving from their own marriages. Also: are the Democrats running Kamala Harris as a candidate or as the symbol of womanhood crushing the patriarchy? That didn't exactly work for Hillary Clinton, but Harris has less baggage. From cat ladies to tradwives to white women for Kamala, we look at how our archetypes of womanhood have changed from 2016, and what that means for the future of politics. 

How did a guy with as little charisma and charm as JD Vance end up as Donald Trump's running mate? Because of his authenticity. He symbolizes the American Dream -- the dream to transcend where you come from and then destroy everyone who disappointed you along the way. As one of the only real bootstrap men remaining, he is a potent symbol that is useful for both the right and the left. Jessa and Nico discuss his journey, from liberal media darling to populist puppet, and how authenticity gets weaponized in a time of great inequality. This week's sponsor: http://betterhelp.com/culturewedeserve For shownotes and resources: http://theculturewedeserve.substack.com

Congratulations to all the TikTok astrology girls, you were right about someone trying to shoot the former president mid-July. Please enjoy life under government surveillance. There's a slogan from the American Evangelical community, God Doesn't Call the Qualified, He Qualifies the Called. It's used to justify everything from sending teens off to do missionary work in countries they know nothing about to supporting a presidential candidate like Trump. Nico and Jessa wonder whether this has moved from being an Evangelical slogan to an American mindset. And what has truly changed since 2016? This week's sponsor: http://betterhelp.com/culturewedeserve For shownotes and references: http://theculturewedeserve.substack.com

The elites are feeling weird again. Biden blames the Elites for pushing him to retirement, Marine le Pen and other populists are claiming to protect the little people against the Elites, the New York Times keeps hiring Harvard Men to write op-eds about how the Elites have failed us.... Everyone wants to go to Yale, but no one wants to be caught out as an Elite. Jessa and Nico talk about a new level of Nazi daddy issues, why rightwing think tanks are making art now, and what makes an Elite elite.  This week's sponsor: http://betterhelp.com/culturewedeserve For shownotes and references: http://theculturewedeserve.substack.com

Alternative title for this episode: Don't let the Prez sundown on me. Why is the inability to retire or withdraw, damn the consequences, a recurring problem in American politics? From Biden to RBG to Mitch McConnell, the powerful all want to die in the saddle. Is it the baby boomers, or is it what that generation represents: infinite growth, unquestioned power, top of the world baby. Jessa and Nico discuss the long American 20th century, how to bow out gracefully, and why cancel culture is a poor substitute for real accountability. This week's sponsor: http://betterhelp.com/culturewedeserve For shownotes and references: http://theculturewedeserve.substack.com  

Is American culture hostile to children? With certain hotels, resorts, restaurants, and other public spaces forbidding the presence of kids, and the government ending its extremely popular pandemic-era family aid program, and the endless social media complaints about screaming children and bad parenting, yeah okay maybe. But is this a new development, or are we inventing a golden age where children were treasured and welcomed? What would a society that actually accommodated children (or women, or disabled people, or the impoverished etc etc) look like? Jessa and Nico talk about the history of feminist urban planning, the real reason no one wants to end remote work (our cities are broken), and depopulation hysteria. This week's sponsor: http://betterhelp.com/culturewedeserve For shownotes and other resources: http://theculturewedeserve.substack.com  

Amazon controls everything, literature is culturally irrelevant outside of the Tiktok subgenres of Dark Academia Dark Romance Dark Fantasy, the industry is still going through corporate consolidation, etc etc. Jessa and Nico get into the terrible state of publishing, and what happens to an industry wholly dependent on the university system when the university system goes into crisis.  This week's sponsor: http://betterhelp.com/culturewedeserve For shownotes and references: http://theculturewedeserve.substack.com  

What's an Arts District without any art? Mostly condo buildings named after composers, restaurants with a $200 seafood tower, and Madam Butterfly as muzak. And what's a literary community without any literature? It's spending tens of thousands of dollars on an MFA so you can teach creativity workshops online. Jessa and Nico assess the wreckage left by Philadelphia's shocking University of the Arts closure, the rise of the creativity coach, and the monoculture of elite overproduction. This week's sponsor: http://betterhelp.com/culturewedeserve For shownotes and related materials: http://theculturewedeserve.substack.com  

If the masculinity influencers like Tate and Huberman are our society's surrogate daddies, who are the women giving mother? Are the makeup YouTube tutorials, home cooking TikToks, and parasocial substitutes a baby bottle replacement for the nurturance and care women feel like they lack? What is the divide between the metaphorical mother and the literal human woman? Can you self-care your way through late capitalism and environmental collapse, yes or no. Plus: Lauren Southern renounces tradwife life, Jurgen Klopp is once again the ideal father, and more. This week's sponsor: http://betterhelp.com/culturewedeserve Subscribe to our newsletter for show notes, references, and more: http://theculturewedeserve.substack.com

It's not a great time to be a fan. The hooligan, the violent and illogical fanatic who will commit crimes to defend their faves, is no longer found only in sports. The hooligan can be found worshipping pop stars, politicians, Netflix shows, and comic book characters. There they are, issuing death threats to those who dare to criticize a singer-songwriter. They are in your mentions, swarming you for not liking a video game. Jessa and Nico take the moment of Jürgen Klopp's departure from Liverpool FC to think about the state of fandom, what it gives and what it takes and what it requires from us.  This week's sponsor: http://betterhelp.com/culturewedeserve http://theculturewedeserve.substack.com

Jessa and Nico return from their week off to discover nothing has really changed. We're still talking about campus protests (instead of what they are protesting), technology is still celebrating the destruction of things that are handmade and skillful and good, people are still trying to declare who art is "for" and who is allowed to have opinions about it, and American fascists are still nostalgic about the Austro Hungarian empire. From Eurovision to Kendrick v Drake to Germany's memory culture. 

Americans are being warned by their government that before they leave the country they need to check their luggage for any "stray ammo" or weaponry that they might have stashed in there. Is the world getting sick of America's nonsense? Europe is ending its golden visa program, Turks & Caicos has Americans under arrest for trying to bring guns etc on vacation, and Venice is now charging entry fees for disembarking from the foul cruise ships. Jessa and Nico contemplate the American "the world is my oyster" entitlement. Also: campus protests, the cruise ship essay, Salman Rushdie got stabbed by a guy from Jersey, and more. This week's sponsor: http://betterhelp.com/culturewedeserve http://theculturewedeserve.substack.com