Podcast appearances and mentions of talia lavin

This week we honor the life and work of our friend, the Broadway composer Charles Strouse—who died last week at age 96—who wrote "Annie" and "Bye Bye Birdie" and many other musicals and songs, by hearing some of his music, including "Poor Little Me," which he co-wrote with FFRF Co-President Dan Barker. Then, we speak with journalist Talia Lavin, author of the book Wild Faith: How the Christian Right Is Taking Over America.

Episodio 1317Hoy, en un nuevo programa dedicado a diseccionar Adolescencia, hablamos con Blanca Cambronero, editora de Capitan Swing. Esta editorial tiene un libro que aborda de manera muy directa el tema de la adolescencia tóxica en redes, la manosfera: "Los hombres que odian a las mujeres: Incels, artistas de la seducción otras subculturas misóginas online" de Laura Bates.https://capitanswing.com/libros/los-hombres-que-odian-a-las-mujeres/Al final del programa os recomendamos también "La cultura del odio" de Talia Lavin https://capitanswing.com/libros/la-cultura-del-odio/Y "Antisocial. La extrema derecha y la 'libertad de expresión' en internet" de Andrew Marantz https://capitanswing.com/libros/antisocial/Web: https://madresfera.com/Newsletter mensual: https://www.madresfera.com/newsletter/ Música: #mobygratis https://mobygratis.com/Conviértete en un seguidor de este podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/buenos-dias-madresfera--2023835/support.

This week Talia Lavin joins us again to discuss the Christian Right and Satanic Nazis.

Talia Lavin joins the VCW to talk about her new book Wild Faith: How the Christian Right Is Taking Over America. We talk about the Satanic Panic, Dr. Dobson's influence in creating generations of evangelical families built on ritualized violence, and how that has led to so many Americans embracing authoritarianism.Follow her on Bluesky: @swordsjew.bsky.socialBluesky: @vcwpod.bsky.socialZach: @muzach.bsky.socialDave: @davelester80.bsky.socialCheck out Zach's music by going to:  https://muzach.bandcamp.com

TW: child abuse, corporal punishment DL interviewed Talia Lavin, author of the phenomenal book Wild Faith: How the Christian Right is Taking Over America. You can follow Talia on bluesky and buy her book here. You can read about religious authoritarian parenting and also find the transcript for this podcast at strongwilled.substack.com. You can join our patreon comamunity or join our substack to support this podcast and join our discord community.  You can follow STRONGWILED on Instagram. You can follow Krispin on Instagram here.

In an address to Congress on Tuesday, President Donald Trump once again cast himself as a divine savior of the American people.“I was saved by God to make America great again,” he claimed as he recounted the failed assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania. During his 100-minute speech, Trump made direct appeals to the Christian right, a major segment of his base: “This will be our greatest era. With God's help over the next four years, we are going to lead this nation even higher.”He framed a series of policy proposals — many attacking civil rights for minorities and trans people — as part of God's plan for the nation. He called on Congress “to pass a bill permanently banning and criminalizing sex changes on children,” proclaiming “our message to every child in America is that you are perfect, exactly the way God made you.”In some ways, Trump is the kind of political leader the Christian right has been seeking for decades. He has fully championed the movement's long-held policy priorities: overturning Roe v. Wade, pushing prayer in schools, and curbing LGBTQ+ rights. Now he is taking their movement even further, embedding right-wing Christian ideology into every facet of federal policy.It's a “broad coalition across Christian denominations,” says journalist Talia Lavin, “whose goal is an extremely socially restrictive agenda.” Lavin, author of "Wild Faith: How the Christian Right Is Taking Over America," argues that today's Christian right is more receptive to authoritarianism than previous generations. “They've reached a kind of acme or apotheosis of their power and influence, where that sort of attitude towards democracy has attained real relevance in the way we're governed.” On this week's episode of The Intercept Briefing, Lavin and Intercept reporter Jessica Washington examine the Christian right's growing influence, its long-term strategy, and what, if anything, can be done to curb their vision for the country. Washington warns that many liberals dismiss Trump's alliance to the Christian right as fringe, missing its deep political impact. “While it's this convenient political organizing tool, it is also a deeply held belief,” she says — one that rejects the idea that Black people and queer people have a rightful place in American leadership. Trump, she adds, validates the belief that only white Christian males are the true inheritors of the nation's legacy. “Trump is both a product of and an accelerant of this movement.” Countering the rapid lurch toward Christian nationalism, Washington argues, requires solidarity. “We all have to band together and fight this together. And not allowing ourselves to be siloed into different issues. And recognizing that this is an attack on everyone who doesn't fit this very specific mold.” Lavin calls for active resistance — a “joyous cacophony” — to the Christian right's war on diversity, on the poor, and democracy: “We're gonna be gender rebels. We're not going to accept the gutting of social services. We're not going to accept a king.” Rather than doomscrolling, she encourages people to do “something, anything — feeding someone, attending a protest — whatever it is. All of that is how we win.” Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Quick, go vacuum and make your bed - because today we have a guest! Jake is joined by Talia Lavin, author of "Wild Faith: How the Christian Right is Taking Over America". They talk about Talia's book, deconstructing from fundamentalist religions, surviving fascism, and sandwiches.Links to find Talia's work!Buy Wild Faith: How the Christian Right is Taking Over AmericaBuy Culture Warlords: My Journey into the Dark Web of White SupremacySubscribe to Talia's newsletter: The Sword and the SandwichFind Talia on BlueSky: @swordsjew.bsky.socialMusic from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!):https://uppbeat.io/t/mood-maze/trendsetterLicense code: 9OT2MTBHWWSRZP5S Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Barbara Peters in conversation with Alison Gaylin and Talia Lavin

Well today sucks! But you're not alone. Join Jake & Brooke as they read Talia Lavin's incredible book: "Wild Faith: How the Christian Right is Taking Over America" and discuss how we got here, what comes next, and what to do about it. It's a good time! Well, not good. It's a fun time! No, fun isn't exactly the right word either. It's a time! But I hope you enjoy it nevertheless :) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Journalist Talia Lavin joins Derek to discuss her recent book, Wild Faith: How the Christian Right is Taking Over America.  Show Notes Wild Faith: How the Christian Right is Taking Over America Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ayelet and Paul are joined by Talia Lavin, author of Wild Faith: How the Christian Right Is Taking Over America to talk about the origins and spread of Christian nationalism, and how spanking your kids might just turn them into foot soldiers for the next authoritarian takeover.

Hi. Talia Lavin, author of the new book “Wild Faith: How the Christian Right Is Taking Over America," joins Katy and Cody to talk about Joe Biden pardoning his son Hunter, the Supreme Court's apparent approval of laws targeting trans youth, and why the Christian Right is now an even bigger threat during a second Trump presidency. PATREON: https://patreon.com/somemorenews MERCH: https://shop.somemorenews.com Blueland is on a mission to eliminate single-use plastic by reinventing cleaning essentials to be better for you and the planet. To take advantage of their best sale of the year for up to 30% off your entire order, go to Blueland.com/MORENEWS Founded and led by an all-woman team of skin longevity scientists, OneSkin is redefining the aging process with their proprietary OS-01 peptide, the first ingredient proven to help skin look, feel, and behave like its younger self. Get 15% off with code SMN at oneskin.co. Get the world's news at ground.news/SMN to compare coverage and see through biased coverage. Subscribe for 50% off unlimited access – their biggest discount – through our link. AG1 is offering new subscribers a FREE $76 gift when you sign up. You'll get a Welcome Kit, a bottle of D3K2 AND 5 free travel packs in your first box. So make sure to check out DrinkAG1.com/morenews to get this offer! As a special holiday offer, Whisker is offering up to $100 off Litter-Robot bundles. AND, as a special offer to viewers, you can get an additional $50 off when you go to stopscooping.com/MORENEWS. This week only, you can take 50% off any new SimpliSafe system with a select professional monitoring plan. This is your last chance to claim their best offer of the year. Head to SimpliSafe.com/MORENEWS to claim your discount and make sure your home is safe this season. Control Body Odor ANYWHERE with @shop.mando and get $5 off your Starter Pack (that's over 40% off) with promo code MoreNews at Mandopodcast.com/MoreNews

The election of Donald Trump means that the Christian right expects to have even more political influence than they did before. That might be bad news for those of us who don't believe worldly events are merely the byproducts of a transcendent spiritual battle of good vs. evil. To better understand the philosophy and goals of American theocrats, Travis and Jake spoke to Talia Lavin, author of Wild Faith: How the Christian Right Is Taking Over America. We explore her research into how rightwing evangelical Christians have worked to become a powerful constituency over past five decades, the modern-day prophets and apostles who drive the movement, the Christian Patriarchy movement which justifies the subjugation of women and the abuse of children, and why extremist Christians so easily became online conspiracy theorists. It's challenging subject matter which is made more palatable by Talia's deep knowledge and Jake making an overextended metaphor about eating moldy bagels. Talia Lavin on Bluesky https://bsky.app/profile/swordsjew.bsky.social Wild Faith: How The Christian Right Is Taking Over America by Talia Lavin https://bookshop.org/p/books/wild-faith-how-the-christian-right-is-taking-over-america-talia-lavin/21057649 Subscribe for $5 a month to get all the premium episodes: www.patreon.com/QAA Editing by Corey Klotz. Theme by Nick Sena. Additional music by Pontus Berghe, Nick Sena, Jake Rockatansky. Theme Vocals by THEY/LIVE (https://instagram.com/theyylivve / https://sptfy.com/QrDm). Cover Art by Pedro Correa: (https://pedrocorrea.com) https://qaapodcast.com QAA was known as the QAnon Anonymous podcast.

“Our enemies are waging a war, and to many of them, it's a holy war,” says host Kelly Hayes. In this episode, Hayes and guest Talia Lavin discuss the emotional impacts of the presidential election, the expansive agenda of the Christian right, and how everyday people can resist what Lavin calls “our nation's precipitous slide into autocracy.” Music: Son Monarcas, David Celeste & Heath Cantu You can find a transcript and show notes (including links to resources) here: truthout.org/series/movement-memos/ If you would like to support the show, you can donate here: bit.ly/TODonate If you would like to receive Truthout's newsletter, please sign up: bit.ly/TOnewsletter

Talia Lavin joins us to talk about her new book Wild Faith, on how the Christian Right is taking over America, but also raw milk, cruelty, demons and more. Also we declare Beef on another podcast. Music by MINTTT The power of Christ compels you to join our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/DeathSentence

Our regularly scheduled episode happens to fall on Halloween! And spooky season is feeling extra—as extra as Tucker Carlson rallying “Daddy Trump” to give America a “vigorous spanking” for being a “bad little girl.” It'd be funny if it wasn't sickening, and terrifying. We're just five days from the 2024 presidential election, featuring the return of the Orange Fascist—and white evangelical power could strong-arm the strongman back into the White House. This week, author and friend of the pod Talia Lavin unravels the intricacies of the movement, the subject of her new book, “Wild Faith: How the Christian Right Is Taking Over America,” with Katelyn and Christine. To well-funded white evangelical nationalists, only Trump can deliver us from the literal demons behind every abortion and pronoun. We need to take this group seriously, or the joke is on us come Election Day. Content Warning: This episode includes extensive discussion of child abuse and corporal punishment, which Wild Faith explores as central to the Christian right's political project: creating the conditions for future generations of obedient soldiers for God and country. Please listen with care, and take good care.  Links: Wild Faith: How the Christian Right Is Taking Over America by Talia Lavin Talia Lavin for MSNBC: Tucker Carlson's “daddy” comments speak volumes about the far right Martha Ross for The Mercury News: Tucker Carlson: How early rejection by hippie San Francisco mom made him shameless William Grimes for The New York Times: Alice Miller, Psychoanalyst, Dies at 87; Laid Human Problems to Parental Acts

We brought on Talia Lavin, author of Culture Warlords and Wild Faith: How the Christian Right Is Taking Over America to talk about the current moral panic we find ourselves in. Follow Talia: https://www.twitter.com/mobydickenergy Buy Wild Faith: https://bookshop.org/p/books/wild-faith-how-the-christian-right-is-taking-over-america-talia-lavin/21057649?ean=9780306829192 Follow Western Kabuki on Patreon: www.Patreon.com/WesternKabuki

The deeper we look into the ideological motivation of the Christian right in America, the darker it gets. In this episode Rick talks with author Talia Lavin about her new book, Wild Faith: How the Christian Right is Taking Over America. They dive into the powerful alliance between the evangelical movement and Donald Trump, exploring how religious rationalizations have cemented Trump's support among evangelicals. Lavin discusses the rise of authoritarian and theocratic ideologies within the Christian right, their success in pushing anti-abortion and anti-LGBTQ+ policies, and their long-term goals for transforming American society. The episode sheds light on how these movements perceive their political battle as spiritual warfare and what this means for the future of American democracy. Talia's book, Wild Faith: How the Christian Right is Taking Over America, available now. Timestamps: (00:01:41) Wild Faith (00:03:30) Trump's effect on the Evangelical right (00:23:21) The threats this movement poses Follow Resolute Square: Instagram Twitter TikTok Find out more at Resolute Square Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Across America, a storm is brewing as the Christian Right gains unprecedented power. From book bans to anti-trans laws, this political force is reshaping the nation. In her book, Wild Faith, author Talia Lavin delves deep into the motivations of this movement, exploring its segregationist past and apocalyptic future through primary sources and firsthand accounts. Lavin introduces readers to a cast of characters within the Christian Right, including self-proclaimed prophets, Christian militias, and influential political figures. She examines the movement's impact on various aspects of society, from abortion rights to child welfare. Wild Faithconfronts the pressing question of whether American democracy can withstand this organized theocratic movement. Shermer and Lavin discuss historical phenomena like the Satanic Panic and Recovered Memory Movement, as well as contemporary issues such as the movement's influence on societal institutions, opposition to abortion and LGBTQ+ rights, and Christian Zionism. The conversation also delves into apocalyptic beliefs, control of female sexuality, and the movement's impact on children and families.

Listen to the rest of this premium episode by subscribing at patreon.com/knowyourenemyIn this episode, Matt is joined by journalist Talia Lavin to discuss her new book, Wild Faith: How the Christian Right is Taking Over America, one of the most fascinating and unique books published on the Christian right during the Trump-era. Lavin takes her subjects seriously, but not uncritically, and especially focuses on the wrecked and ruined lives left in the wake of conservative evangelicalism's more conspiratorial and authoritarian elements, from the Satanic Panic to James Dobson's parenting manual on how to beat a "strong-willed child" into compliance. Along the way, they talk about the triumph of QAnon, End Times theology, the importance of the New Apostolic Reformation, and more—all with an eye toward how these religious views and practices help explain conservative evangelicals' overwhelming support for Donald Trump.Sources:Talia Lavin, Wild Faith: How the Christian Right Is Taking Over America(2024)— Culture Warlords: My Journey Into the Dark Web of White Supremacy (2020)— "The Sword and the Sandwich"Listen again:"The Prayers and Prophecies of Pat Robertson," Know Your Enemy, July 17, 2023

Last week, we featured an interview with the leftist American theologian, Jim Wallis, who warned about the false white gospel of contemporary Christian nationalism. And we return to the existential dangers of American religion today with Talia Lavin whose new book, Wild Faith, warns that the Christian right is actually taking over America. In contrast with Wallis, however, Lavin doesn't offer a more loving version of American christianity as an theological alternative to the evangelical right. For radically secular Lavin, the challenge is to get any kind of fundamentalist religion out of politics. That's the way to fix democracy. That's how to save America.Talia Lavin is the author of the critically acclaimed book Culture Warlords. She is a journalist who has had bylines in the New Yorker, the New Republic, the New York Times Review of Books, the Washington Post, and more. She writes a newsletter, The Sword and the Sandwich, which is featured in Best American Food and Travel Writing 2024. Named as one of the "100 most connected men" by GQ magazine, Andrew Keen is amongst the world's best known broadcasters and commentators. In addition to presenting KEEN ON, he is the host of the long-running How To Fix Democracy show. He is also the author of four prescient books about digital technology: CULT OF THE AMATEUR, DIGITAL VERTIGO, THE INTERNET IS NOT THE ANSWER and HOW TO FIX THE FUTURE. Andrew lives in San Francisco, is married to Cassandra Knight, Google's VP of Litigation & Discovery, and has two grown children.Keen On is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit keenon.substack.com/subscribe

Author Talia Lavin (whose Wild Faith is out on 10/15/24) talks Moira and Adrian through the Christian Right's takeover of American life, through objects that are unlikely to appear on your bookshelf, but that nevertheless shape the way many Americans live and what policies they have to live with. From the parenting manuals like James Dobson's Dare to Discipline to Stormy Omartian's marriage guide Power of a Praying Wife, Talia lays out how an image of the family and child-rearing built on subservience, authoritarianism and often enough violence has become part and parcel of our American landscape. (A big trigger warning on domestic, physical and sexual abuse.)

The New Abnormal team have skewered the former president's comments that women love him, calling them “sick on every level.” Plus! Talia Lavin joins the podcast to talk about her new book Wild Faith: How the Christian Right Is Taking Over America. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week we have a chat with Talia Lavin about their new book Wild Faith: How The Christian Right Is Taking Over America - and no need to fret, there will be some textual exegesis.

Author Talia Lavin joins me to talk about her new book, “Wild Faith, how the Christian Right is taking over America”, about how this reactionary movement is a grave threat to democracy.Find this episode on your favorite podcast player here: https://pod.link/1647010767/Here are some of the sources and references from this episode:The Sword and the SandwichWild Faith: How the Christian Right Is Taking Over Americahttps://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/talia-lavin/wild-faith/9780306829192/Culture Warlords: My Journey Into the Dark Web of White Supremacyhttps://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/talia-lavin/culture-warlords/9781549127830/?lens=hachette-booksNew York Times review of "Culture Warlords"https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/27/books/review/culture-warlords-talia-lavin.htmlTalia on Twitterhttps://x.com/mobydickenergyMoby Dick Energy - The PodcastComments? Suggestions? Email: didnothingwrongpod@protonmail.com This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.didnothingwrongpod.com/subscribe

Join the Hogg Hive on Patreon for ad-free episodes every week, and some upcoming bonus episodes.Kate's back from Cannes! She and BL catch up on the last films of the festival and her journey in the Tom Crui-niverse. BL went to see Nan Goldin's The Ballad of Sexual Dependency in Ballarat and is very excited to tell you about the two special editions of the mX she guest-edited for RISING this year!This week, Brodie is joined by Lucia Aniello for a chat about Hacks, a recent visit to Schwartz and Sandy's, the Tom Cruise Coconut Cake and some incredible recommendations. Lucia is the co-creator, -writer, -producer, -director and showrunner of Hacks, along with Paul W. Downs and Jen Statsky. She was a director on Broad City and the Netflix reboot of The Babysitters Club (vale queen!!!!!), and she and Paul co-wrote and -directed the film Rough Night and the webseries Time-Traveling Bong, which BL recommended way back in episode 8!See AlsoAn interview with Hacks' costume designerLucia and Paul on Talk EasyReal Housewives of South BostonAlso AlsosLucia recommends: Mary and George, On Writing by Stephen King, buying a pair of socks when you're visiting a new placeBrodie recommends: the fresh-squeezed OJ from Northcote IGA, Renee Gracie: Fireproof on Stan(nes), The Uncoupling by Meg Wolitzer (and the related story, ‘Mitzvah Night Is CANCELLED' Inside the sex strike that has infuriated husbands and shaken the ultra-Orthodox world by Talia Lavin in the Cut)Kate recommends: Officine Universelle Buly bath salts, 'How 3M Discovered, Then Concealed, the Dangers of Forever Chemicals' by Sharon Lerner, the AirFly Pro Deluxe Bluetooth Transmittor. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Gamergate, neo-Nazi's, Incels, and more! This book has all of our favorite topics. Listen to hear about how things are pretty bleak but at least we have people like Talia Lavin trying to do something about it.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/book-cult--5718878/support.

We'll continue to highlight friends who have only joined us once in this episode with Dustin whos podcast Sandman Stories Presents continues to tell folklore from all around the world "In this episode we welcome special guest Dustin from Sandman Stories Presents. We drink G7 instant coffee from Vietnam, homemade coldbrew with Meijers & Deathproof beans, and Choco Libre from Brewdog. RLXP involves tat color, lonely cats, and 13 years in Korea. We've played River City Girls, Cat Game - The Cats Collector! (Mino Games), and Euchre Free (A.I. Factory Ltd). We quick dis a couple popular mobile games. Popular Korean board games are here to. We recommend Culture Warlords by Talia Lavin, and the podcasts Japan Distilled Podcast, Because Lanuage, and One Mic: Black History."      Links -            Sandman Stories Presents - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCS_jg9MFO6NtRYHO3FRlMcg      Japan Distilled Podcast - https://japandistilled.com/      Because Language - https://becauselanguage.com/      One Mic: Black History - https://www.onemichistory.com/      Culture Warlords - https://g.co/kgs/bfrfzJ GRPVG links - linktr.ee/grandrapidians --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/grandrapidians/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/grandrapidians/support

Barbra Streisand's memoirs may be 962 pages long but Kristen and Emily keep things brisk talking about Barbra's big debut in 1968's Funny Girl. Author Talia Lavin joins the pair to discuss Barbra's career, the movie's look at femininity, and why we all love Omar Sharif. Also, Kristen breaks down why Funny Lady sucks.   You can buy Talia's book Culture Warlords here.   Listen to Ticklish Business on the new Tod Browning set newly released by Criterion! You can order it here.   This episode created thanks to our Patrons: Ali Moore Amy Hart Andrew Hoppe Christine Mier Danny David Floyd Donna Hill Gates Jacob Haller Jonathan Watkins Kimberly Krista Painter McF Chris McKay Debbi Lynne Jeffrey Kayla Ewing Peter Blitstein Peter Bryant Peter Dawson SofiaCopilled Willowgreene Andrea Basora Brittany Brock Cat Cooper Daniel Tafoya Diana Madden Emily Edwards Harry Holland Lucy Soles Nick Weerts Rosa

Today, Jordan sits down with Talia Lavin, author of Culture Warlords, to talk about infiltrating extremist spaces and all the things that come along with it.

PRESENTACIÓN LIBROS 00:02:10 El espejo se rompió de lado a lado. Miss Marple #13 (Agatha Christie) 00:06:20 Casarse con él (Lisa Kleypas) 00:08:55 Me alegraría de otra muerte. Trilogía africana #2 (Chinua Achebe) 00:12:05 Abril encantado (Elizabeth von Armin) 00:14:55 La batalla de Corrin. Leyendas de Dune #3 (Brian Herbert) 00:19:00 Recurdos. Las aventuras de Miles Vorkosigan #10 (Lois McMaster Bujold) 00:21:05 Cartas de amor de 0 a 10 (Susie Morgenstern y Thomas Baas) 00:22:25 La guía del Mago Frugal para sobrevivir en la Inglaterra del medievo (Brandon Sanderson) 00:25:15 el legado Hawthorne (Jennyfer Lyyn Barnes) 00:27:35 La cultura del odio. Un periplo por la dark web de la supremacía blanca (Talia Lavin) 00:31:05 Deberes: Bloom (Kevin Panetta) DEL PAPEL A LA PANTALLA 00:33:10 Sombra y hueso PELÍCULAS 00:43:00 La flor de mi secreto 00:47:00 Carne trémula 00:50:30 El club del odio 00:52:35 el cuarto pasajero 00:53:15 Speak no evil 00:56:05 Super Mario Bros 00:57:40 Viaje al paraíso 01:00:15 Guardianes de la Galaxia. Vol 3 01:04:25 Deberes: Ant Man and the Wasp: Quantumania / As Bestas SERIES 01:08:40 Queen Charlotte 01:14:10 La vida Bárbara 01:17:10 La diplomçatica (T1) 01:21:00 Supernormal (T2) 01:26:30 Perry Mason (T2) 01:31:40 Firefly Lane (T2B) 01:33:40 Deberes: Beef (T1) 01:35:20 DESPEDIDA En este programa suenan: Radical Opinion (Archers) / Siesta (Jahzzar) / From the Back (Pat Lok & Party Puplis) / Place on Fire (Creo) / I saw you on TV (Jahzzar) / Bicycle Waltz (Goobye Kumiko)

Talia Lavin (@swordsjew, author of Culture Warlords) joins Kath and Pat for a conversation about the modern right wing universe of con artists and grifters.

Writer Talia Lavin went undercover in 2020 to follow the far right for her book 'Culture Warlords.'

After Jesse tells Katie about a fairly awkward dinner, the hosts dig in to a particularly sumptuous buffet of internet nonsense. You can discuss this episode with other BARPod premium subscribers here.Show notes/Links:The Reply All news: https://www.theverge.com/2022/5/18/23122764/reply-all-hosts-leaving-alex-goldman-emmanuel-dzotsiOur Episode 52: Reply All Is Melting Down Like Some Sort Of Delectable Queso Dip Appropriated By A White Bon Appetit Editor: Elon Musk says the deal is on hold: LOL: ELON NO: The Buffalo shooter’s manifesto, if you can stomach it: https://bafybeicjl3cmyl4tdze5fumhkbtzsndkvxjo5nucegbaz3lobef6and3ye.ipfs.dweb.link/Mani.pdfRight-wing extremism expert Talia Lavin blames Abigail Shrier: https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/political-commentary/buffalo-shooter-white-supremacist-great-replacement-donald-trump-1353509/NYT on hate crimes: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/16/us/hate-crimes-black-african-americans.htmlJesse responds: Nick Confessore on Tucker Carlson: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/30/us/tucker-carlson-gop-republican-party.htmlAnti-Defamation League on Carlson and the “Great Replacement” theory: https://www.adl.org/news/media-watch/adl-letter-to-fox-news-condemns-tucker-carlsons-impassioned-defense-of-greatGlenn Greenwald argues that it’s unfair to blame Tucker: ESZTERGOM, HUNGARY - AUGUST 07: Tucker Carlson speaks during the Mathias Corvinus Collegium (MCC) Feszt on August 7, 2021 in Esztergom, Hungary. The multiday political event was organized by the Mathias Corvinus Collegium (MCC), a privately managed foundation that recently received more than $1.7 billion in government money and assets. The leader of its main board, Balazs Orban, who is also a state secretary in the prime minister's office, said MCC's priority is promoting "patriotism" among the next generation of Hungary's leaders. (Photo by Janos Kummer/Getty Images) This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.blockedandreported.org/subscribe

Brad and Dan begin by discussing the various dimensions of the Buffalo massacre and the shooter's understanding of Caucasian Replacement Theory (CRT). Dan demonstrates that this ideology is farm from fringe in today's American Right. Instead, it is a mainstream position touted by the likes of senators, congresspeople, and Fox News talking heads. Brad dives into the Christian nationalist elements of the shooter's identity, pointing to how he equates Whiteness with Christianity and uses both as the grounds for his violence against those who don't share both those characteristics. Talia Lavin at Rolling Stone: https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/political-commentary/buffalo-shooter-white-supremacist-great-replacement-donald-trump-1353509/ Greg Sargent at WaPo: https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/05/18/doug-mastriano-insurrectionist/ They both argue that it is not enough to be neutral on these matters. Anti-racism and anti-Christian supremacy stances demand active engagement to thwart and prevent both from cultivating in one's community. To get involved: startguide.org In the final segment, they analyze the results of various primary elections across the country. The main thesis is that these elections in PA, NC, and KY highlight the stark contrast in the visions the two parties have for the USA. Across the board, the GOP elected election-deniers and Christian nationalists. For access to the full Orange Wave series, click here: https://irreverent.supportingcast.fm/products/the-orange-wave-a-history-of-the-religious-right-since-1960 Seminar: straightwhiteamericanjesus.com/seminars To Donate: https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/BradleyOnishi For an ad-free experience and to support SWAJ: https://irreverent.supportingcast.fm/straight-white-american-jesus-premium To become a patron: https://www.patreon.com/straightwhiteamericanjesus Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://swaj.supportingcast.fm

I was joined by Talia Lavin for this episode, the author of Culture Warlords & writer of the very interesting'The Sword And the Sandwich' substack. Find her on twitter @swordsjew We chat about the history of food & fascism and how similar patterns and themes still show up in the modern political landscape. Links: Find Talia's substack here: https://theswordandthesandwich.substack.com/ Why Food Has Become a New Target for Nationalists https://www.eater.com/2017/6/30/15892900/italy-ban-ethnic-foreign-food-immigrants-kabab-nationalism My previous episodes on the Hindu far right: https://soundcloud.com/politeconversations/panel21-hindutva-despair-biryani?utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing https://soundcloud.com/politeconversations/episode-53-hindu-far-right?utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing On the Chinese exclusion act: https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2017/06/16/532697303/how-american-unions-tried-to-wage-a-war-against-chinese-restaurants-in-the-u-s TASTING FASCISM: FOOD, SPACE, AND IDENTITY IN ITALY https://ecommons.cornell.edu/bitstream/handle/1813/13767/Lo_Ruth.pdf?sequence=1 A thread I did on the Futurists & IDW parallels: https://twitter.com/nicemangos/status/1521865751690452992?s=21&t=bm59a5_ds9bI5gTlGI_wQw Here's a link to all the full, publicly released episodes of Woking Up in a handy playlist, if you haven't checked that out yet and would like to: https://soundcloud.com/politeconversations/sets/woking-up-miniseries?utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing Please consider supporting the show via patreon.com/nicemangos

Emma hosts Brian Hochman, associate professor at Georgetown University, to discuss his recent book The Listeners: A History of Wiretapping in the United States. Then, Emma is joined by journalist Talia Lavin to discuss her recent piece in Rolling Stone "The Buffalo Shooter Isn't a ‘Lone Wolf.' He's a Mainstream Republican". Purchase tickets for the live show in Boston on May 15th HERE:   https://majorityreportradio.com/live-show-schedule Become a member at JoinTheMajorityReport.com: https://fans.fm/majority/join Subscribe to the AMQuickie newsletter here:  https://madmimi.com/signups/170390/join Join the Majority Report Discord! http://majoritydiscord.com/ Get all your MR merch at our store: https://shop.majorityreportradio.com/ Check out today's sponsors: sunsetlakecbd is a majority employee owned farm in Vermont, producing 100% pesticide free CBD products. Great company, great product and fans of the show! Use code Leftisbest and get 20% off at http://www.sunsetlakecbd.com. And now Sunset Lake CBD has donated $2500 to the Nurses strike fund, and we encourage MR listeners to help if they can. Here's a link to where folks can donate: https://forms.massnurses.org/we-stand-with-st-vincents-nurses/ Support the St. Vincent Nurses today! https://action.massnurses.org/we-stand-with-st-vincents-nurses/ Check out Matt's show, Left Reckoning, on Youtube, and subscribe on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/leftreckoning Subscribe to Matt's other show Literary Hangover on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/literaryhangover Check out The Nomiki Show on YouTube. https://www.patreon.com/thenomikishow Check out Matt Binder's YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/mattbinder Subscribe to Brandon's show The Discourse on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/ExpandTheDiscourse Check out The Letterhack's upcoming Kickstarter project for his new graphic novel! https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/milagrocomic/milagro-heroe-de-las-calles Check out Jamie's podcast, The Antifada. https://www.patreon.com/theantifada, on iTunes, or at https://www.twitch.tv/theantifada (streaming every Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday at 7pm ET!) Subscribe to Discourse Blog, a newsletter and website for progressive essays and related fun partly run by AM Quickie writer Jack Crosbie. https://discourseblog.com/ Subscribe to AM Quickie writer Corey Pein's podcast News from Nowhere. https://www.patreon.com/newsfromnowhere  Follow the Majority Report crew on Twitter: @SamSeder @EmmaVigeland @MattBinder @MattLech @BF1nn @BradKAlsop The Majority Report with Sam Seder - https://majorityreportradio.com/

In today's episode, I had no choice but to deal with the sick, psychopathic killer who targeted Americans in Buffalo, NY on Saturday. I never like to cover any sensationalized event within the first few hours or days because we learn a lot more over time. Unlike our friends in the Legacy media, I do not like making up facts or lying to my audience. I want to do the best job I can to be accurate and present a logical or reasonable analysis. While I will not go into the investigation, I must deal with the glee with which the Left and their willing propaganda wing in legacy media have decided to politicize the shooting. President Biden was no where to be found when a man decided to plow through a Christmas Parade, killing 6 and injuring 62. First his team said it was a logistical problem and then later said they didn't want to play politics with the attack. The same can be said with the Brooklyn subway shooting. But, less then 24 hours after the Buffalo shooting, the Biden team is set and ready to be on the ground on Tuesday. Why? What makes this different from the other two events? It's the narrative. This time, the Buffalo killer is a white racist. That's the perfect scenario to run 24/7 coverage for the next several weeks painting America as racist and all Republicans as white supremacists. Talia Lavin literally wrote a hit piece for Rolling Stone entitled, “The Buffalo Shooter Isn't a ‘Lone Wolf.' He's a Mainstream Republican.” Yes, we have freedom of speech and of the press, but how can someone get away with painting every Constitution-loving American as being identical to the killer? It defies reason. And it does not even measure up to even just a basic review of the killer's own words found all over the internet and in his own manifesto. He admits he was drawn to and fascinated by Communism in high school. It was during the boredom of Covid lockdowns where he became radicalized by hate groups online. He calls himself an ethno-nationalist or an eco-fascist national socialist. He wants to be thought of as a populist, but would accept the other two labels. He specifically said he was not a conservative. He hates corporations and the idea we are all owned by the companies where we work. This is not how you would describe any “Republican,” let alone calling it the mainstream. Additionally, he said he chose NY because of their gun laws, making it less likely that law-abiding citizens would be able to shoot back at him. He also chose to use an AR-15 because the press “loves to hate on the AR-15, which may increase media coverage and public outlash.” He knows how the Left thinks and he is still playing them while being held in custody. He knows they will run with their political narratives and repeat his name over and over in worldwide coverage for weeks on-end. This sick, psychopath is going to be immortalized thanks to an all-too-willing press bent on playing up their own hate-induced narratives, rather than giving it the same treatment they gave to the city of Waukesha. Take a moment to rate and review the show and then share the episode on social media. You can find me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, GETTR and TRUTH Social by searching for The Alan Sanders Show.

In 2019, Jordan Peterson disappeared from public life. One year later, he re-emerged with a diagnosis, a story and no self-reflection whatsoever.Thanks to Katelyn Burns and Talia Lavin for help fact-checking this episode and Doctor Dreamchip for our lovely theme song!Support us:Hear bonus episodes on PatreonDonate on PayPalGet Maintenance Phase T-shirts, stickers and moreLinks!Joe Rogan Experience #1070 - Jordan PetersonWhy the Left Is So Afraid of Jordan PetersonWhen Your Psychologist Goes Viral: How Jordan Peterson's Fame Affected His Private PracticeJordan Peterson's Gospel of MasculinityThe Intellectual We DeserveAuditing Radicalization Pathways on YouTubeThe Left's Contempt for Jordan Peterson Is Perfectly RationalI was Jordan Peterson's strongest supporter. Now I think he's dangerous.Jordan Peterson: Why I am no longer a tenured professor at the University of TorontoJordan Peterson & Fascist MysticismSunday Times: Unedited Interview TranscriptAlgorithmic extremism: Examining YouTube's rabbit hole of radicalizationWhat is the “lite” in “alt-lite?” The discourse of white vulnerability and dominance among YouTube's reactionariesExposing Jordan Peterson's Barrage of Revisionist Falsehoods About Hitler, the Holocaust and NazismSupport the show (https://www.patreon.com/maintenancephase)

So, McMinn County School Board in Tennessee decided to remove Maus - Art Spiegelman's classic graphic novel about the Nazi Holocaust and historical memory - from their syllabus, on the grounds that some simply sketched mouse nudity and a few very mild swears would upset and corrupt their pupils, which is obviously very reasonable and evidence of extremely well balanced priorities.  Actually, alongside the epidemic of attempts across the US to remove certain sorts of books from school libraries and curricula, it is evidence that an insidious reactionary agenda is gaining traction. In this episode we talk about the decision of the school board, and look through the minutes of the meeting.  Daniel even gives an impromptu dramatic reading.  We talk about where the appalling decision comes from, and what it really means both for the students and in terms of the wider culture.  Along the way we consider the lies of slimy propagandist Christopher Rufo and the spluttering fanaticism of the increasingly unhinged James Lindsay. Content very much warnings. Podcast Notes: Please consider donating to help us make the show and stay ad-free and independent.  Patrons get exclusive access to at least one full extra episode a month plus all backer-only back-episodes. Daniel's Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/danielharper Jack's Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=4196618 IDSG Twitter: https://twitter.com/idsgpod Daniel's Twitter: @danieleharper Jack's Twitter: @_Jack_Graham_ IDSG on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/i-dont-speak-german/id1449848509?ls=1 * Episode Notes/Links  Judd Legum tweet about the banning of Maus MCMINN COUNTY BANS “MAUS”, PULITZER PRIZE-WINNING HOLOCAUST BOOK – THE TENNESSEE HOLLER (tnholler.com) "Continuing the recent spate of conservative book-banning initiatives, The Mcminn County School board just voted to ban the Pulitzer Prize-winning graphic novel “MAUS” by Art Spiegelman from all of its schools, citing the inclusion of words like “God Damn” and “naked pictures” (illustrations) of women." Official Statment from the McMinn County School Board CNN, "Maus" author reacts to his book being banned Exposed by CMD, ALEC Inspires Lawmakers to File Anti-Critical Race Theory Bills The December ALEC (American Legislative Exchange Council) workshop was led by the Heritage Foundation's Bridget Weisenberg and featured Heritage's Jonathan Butcher and Angela Sailor, Discovery Institute's Christopher Rufo, American Enterprise Institute's Ian Rowe, and Woodson Center's Robert Woodson. Thirty-one state legislators from 20 states attended, along with corporate representatives from Guarantee Life Insurance, EDP Renewables, and State Farm Insurance. In order to combat the alleged threat that critical race theory poses, speakers promoted curriculum materials from Trump's failed 1776 project and a Goldwater Institute model bill to make curriculum materials transparent. They also discussed school privatization measures such as education savings accounts and charter schools. ALEC highlighted a New York Post opinion piece written by Heritage Foundation staff that argued, “The goals of the Black Lives Matter organization go far beyond what most people think. But they are hiding in plain sight, there for the world to see, if only we read beyond the slogans and the innocuous-sounding media accounts of the movement.” Several ALEC lawmakers in attendance got the message. GOP state Rep. Beryl Amedee of Louisiana attended the workshop and later co-authored an op-ed arguing that critical race theory: “is an outgrowth, and little more than a new version of, the Marxist ideology of class warfare with the end goal of societal collapse and the re-making of society. If you know history, it's easy to both spot and identify. The problem for those confronting this potential catastrophe is how they are explaining their end goals for dealing with it.” James Lindsay at New Discourses, Groomer Schools 2: Queer Futurity and the Sexual Abuse of Your Children Dyer, Hannah, Queer futurity and childhood innocence: Beyond the injury of development Abstract: Because it is so often said that children are the future, queer theory's attention to (and searing debates on) queer futurity offers something new and important to studies of childhood. Drawing on and deepening recent attempts to meld the fields of childhood studies and queer theory, I dwell on the contradiction that results from the synchronous assumptions of the child's a-sexuality and proto-heterosexuality to show how emphasizing sexuality within a discussion of children's education is constructive. In the service of my interest in the renewal of thought concerning children's psychosexual development, I offer a critical reading of the It Gets Better social media campaign (particularly, its consequent critiques and revisions). I begin with engagement of Eve Sedgwick's 1991 seminal essay on queer childhood “How to Bring Your Kids Up Gay” and then, from there, trace contemporary queer theory's use of the figure of the child and consideration of the impact of “innocence” on childhood. In an effort to consider the contemporary residues of historical violence on theories of “healthy” child development, I also consider how histories of colonialism and trans-Atlantic slavery extend into the future and leave traces on contemporary theories of child development. McMinn TN school board minutes for January 10, 2022 The Advocate, Mississippi Mayor Withholds $110k in Library Funds Over LGBTQ+ Books Maia Kobabe, The Washington Post, Schools are banning my book. But queer kids need queer stories. Distribute the Wealth Worksheet Image of the school board members who voted to ban Maus   Mike Cochran- It doesn't matter, it's in the curriculum, all this stuff keeps popping up. So, I want to read it, you guys can fire me later, I guess. “I'm just wild about Harry, and Harry's wild about meThe heavenly blisses of his kisses, fill me with ecstasyHe's sweet just like chocolate candyJust like honey from the beeOh I am just wild about Harry, and he's just wild about me.” One of the discussion questions is define what this word “ecstasy” means. My problem is, all the way through this literature we expose these kids to nakedness, we expose them to vulgarity. You go all the way back to first grade, second grade and they are reading books that have a picture of a naked man riding a bull. It's not vulgar, it's something you would see in an art gallery, but it's unnecessary. So, teachers have gone back and put tape over the guys butts so the kids aren't exposed to it. So, myproblem is, it looks like the entire curriculum is developed to normalize sexuality, normalize nudity and normalize vulgar language. If I was trying to indoctrinate somebody's kids, this is how I would do it. You put this stuff just enough on the edges, so the parents don't catch it but the kids, they soak it in. I think we need to relook at the entire curriculum. Rufo's New York Post piece: https://nypost.com/2021/05/06/what-critical-race-theory-is-really-about/ Christopher Rufo and the Critical Race Theory Moral Panic (nymag.com) How a Conservative Activist Invented the Conflict Over Critical Race Theory | The New Yorker Rufo tweet about Maus/McMinn https://twitter.com/realchrisrufo/status/1486711700283740169 Judd Legum responds https://twitter.com/JuddLegum/status/1486736150295420939 Tennessee pastor held a "witchcraft" book burning where followers were encouraged to bring Harry Potter and Twilight books to hurl into the flames: Right-Wing Pastor Greg Locke Holds 'Witchcraft' Book Burning (newsweek.com) Book bans in schools are catching fire. Black authors say uproar isn't about students. (nbcnews.com) Book banning in Texas schools: Titles are pulled off library shelves in record numbers (nbcnews.com) The critics were right: "Critical race theory" panic is just a cover for silencing educators | Salon.com Calls to Ban Books by Black Authors Are Increasing Amid Critical Race Theory Debates (edweek.org) Moms for Liberty has turned ‘parental rights' into a rallying cry for conservative parents - The Washington Post Unmasking Moms for Liberty | Media Matters for America Friend of the pod Talia Lavin: Brownshirts vs. the Board of Education - by Talia Lavin (substack.com) & How To Report Subversive Books And Teachers in YOUR School (substack.com) A. R. Moxon: Profanity and Obscenity | Revue (getrevue.co) Southlake school leader tells teachers to balance Holocaust books with 'opposing' views (nbcnews.com)

Tonight on Out d'Coup LIVE we're talking about the essential work of organizing muscular movements in the face of a lackluster Democratic Party leadership. While the last few years has seen a new vitality in local electoral politics from groups like DSA, the Women's March, PA Stands Up, and other like-minded organizations we continue to see generational defeats in pillars of democratic struggle. Witness last week's Supreme Court arguments which seem to indicate that right-wing justices seem poised to overturn Roe v. Wade. Or, consider the monumental anti-labor Supreme Court decision in the Janus case that stripped away a union's rights to collect fair-share fees while requiring those same unions still to service those workers who are not members. Or, we can look to the Citizen's United case which granted free speech rights to corporations to contribute unlimited funds to political campaigns. All this is taking place against the backdrop of growing extremism in our communities. The resurgence of white supremacist organizations,; radical right-wing conspiracists infecting our school boards; and, extremists putting our communities at risk by refusing common-sense COVID protocols. Tonight I'll be digging into a recent article by Rebecca Traister, "The Betrayal of Roe," and the most recent book by Jane McAlevey, "A Collective Bargain: Unions, Organizing, and the Fight for Democracy." We'll also check out a new article by Talia Lavin, "Abortion, Hypocrisy, and the Will to Power." But I'd also love to hear from all of you. Your comments and calls will take priority! Join our Discord server: https://discord.gg/WMW98RQEYV

As a canonized work of fantasy fiction, a Hollywood institution, and a global cultural phenomenon, JRR Tolkien's Lord of the Rings is in a class all its own. Not only has the series had tremendous cultural staying power since its original publication in the 1950s, renewed for generations with Peter Jackson's film adaptations, but it became a lifeline for many people quarantining throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Why have Tolkien's works captivated us for so long? What does it tell us about our world and about the world Tolkien created that each perpetually has so many revealing things to say about the other? How has the series become the subject of an unending interpretive battle between reactionaries and revolutionaries who want to claim it as their own? And what does it mean to truly love Lord of the Rings for what it is, warts and all?In the inaugural episode of her new TRNN podcast Art for the End Times, writer and editor Lyta Gold dives deep into one of the most complex, lore-filled, and culturally enduring works in the fantasy canon with journalist, researcher, and diehard Lord of the Rings fan Talia Lavin. Lavin is the author of the critically acclaimed book Culture Warlords: My Journey Into the Dark Web of White Supremacy, and her writing has been featured in outlets like The New Yorker, The New Republic, The New York Times Review of Books, the Washington Post, the Village Voice, and more. She also writes regularly on her Substack The Sword and the Sandwich.Pre-Production/Studio/Post Production: Stephen FrankRead the transcript of this podcast: https://therealnews.com/reading-lord-of-the-rings-in-the-end-timesHelp us continue producing radically independent news and in-depth analysis by following us and becoming a monthly sustainer: Donate: https://therealnews.com/donate-podSign up for our newsletter: https://therealnews.com/newsletter-podLike us on Facebook: https://facebook.com/therealnewsFollow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/therealnews

This month, Talia Lavin's (author of Culture Warlords: my journey into the dark web of white supremacy) new Substack is allowing her to do a three-part series on the ouvre of fundamentalist parenting books which advocate for hitting kids. She joins KTC for a discussion of what that research experience was like, why it's so hard to get people to listen to you when you say "don't hit your kids," and how absolutely batshit these parenting books actually are. CW: Child Abuse *show notes* Talia's Substack - https://theswordandthesandwich.substack.com/ Talia on Twitter - https://twitter.com/chick_in_kiev BUY THE BOOK - https://bookshop.org/books/culture-warlords-my-journey-into-the-dark-web-of-white-supremacy-9780306846458/9780306846434

Practice that evil laugh -- it's a brand new episode of Go Fact Yourself!Saladin Ahmed is an Eisner Award-winning comic book writer who prides himself on showcasing truly lived-in worlds. He says that whether you're writing a story set in the Marvel universe or Detroit, the little details matter. But he's also helped affect things in our world too -- like when he helped call out some racist art on a box of Corn Pops. You can find Saladin's creator-owned imprint at copperbottle.net.Talia Lavin's writing has appeared in The New Yorker and The Washington Post. But her most well-known work may be the viral joke that she made as a contestant on “Jeopardy.” That wasn't the only time she took a big risk either; she'll tell us about the time that she catfished a white supremacist dating site. Talia's book about that adventure, Culture Warlords, is available now. Our guests will face off in a trivia battle about timeless nerdy inspirations.What's the Difference: Pain in the ButtWhat's the difference between “tortuous” and “torturous?”What's the difference in the function of the anus and the rectum?Areas of Expertise:Saladin: Mythological monsters, 20th Century American poetry, and action figure cartoons of the 1980sTalia: The TV show “Star Trek: The Next Generation,” author Terry Pratchett, and the “Monkey Island” video gamesAppearing in this episode:J. Keith van StraatenHelen HongSaladin AhmedTalia LavinWith guest experts:Alan Oppenheimer, actor, who has appeared in dozens of TV shows and movies for over six decades -- including as Skeletor!Denise Crosby, actor and producer whose numerous film and television roles include playingLieutenant Tasha Yar (and her daughter) on “Star Trek: The Next Generation.”Go Fact Yourself was devised and produced by Jim Newman and J. Keith van Straaten, in collaboration with Maximum Fun. Theme Song by Jonathan Green.Maximum Fun's Senior Producer is Laura Swisher.Associate Producer and Editor is Julian Burrell.Vaccine-getting by YOU.

Parker Molloy: So you've been writing this awesome newsletter over on Substack, called The Sword and the Sandwich. Can you tell me a little bit about that?Tal Lavin: Yeah, so I launched, actually, this month, October 4th, and it's a really odd... It is an odd mix. Like, I recognize it's an odd mix. The sword is first of all, because I own a bunch of swords, and love them, but also, it sort of symbolizes like I'm writing about the American right and far-right, and then the sandwiches are very literal. Like, for a really long time, I have been obsessed with Wikipedia's list of notable sandwiches, which has hundreds of sandwiches on it, from all over the world, and I have wanted to address this in some systematic way. I love projects that have structure that I can f**k around within, like a sonnet.So the premise is I'm going through every sandwich on that list. It's very arbitrary, you know? Obviously a Wikipedia thing, so it's... But I'm treating it almost like a sacred text, and then going through it and writing essays, or interviews, or recipes, or stories about each sandwich. We've covered the American hero, the bacon sandwich, and bacon, egg, and cheese, and now this week, we're on to bagels, which is exciting for me, so yeah, this week's content is harrowing tales of child abuse and bagels.That's just such an interesting combo. And just to be... Like, those are separate posts. They're not-Oh, yeah, it's not-They're not one in the same.Yeah, so it's like Monday is the s**t that will horrify you, and then Friday, we're riding into the weekend--is the stuff about the American right.No, Friday is the-Horrifying bagels.No, I really aim not to traumatize anyone with my sandwich posts. These are nonviolent sandwiches. It's like I need the break, psychically. Maybe readers do too. Sometimes, it's really hard to shift moods, when... Like, the current series is about corporal punishment in evangelical households, and the sort of ways it impacts people as adults. So it's really hard for me sometimes, to switch modes. I almost resent it. I'm like, "Ugh, now I have to write about bagels," but then I spend an hour researching and writing about bagels, and I feel better, and then dive back into hell.Yeah. Well, as you mentioned, you published the first of a three-part series on corporal punishment, evangelicals, and the "doctrine of obedience," as you write in the piece. I found it fascinating because I honestly didn't... I've never really thought about the history involved in all of that. I'm used to people on Twitter being like, "I don't think it's wrong to hit kids. I got hit, and I'm fine," and then you look at them, and you're like... They're not fine.No. Yeah.No, it's like, "Oh, you think you're fine. But are any of us, really?"I'm not.I'm definitely not.I'm so not fine, and I wasn't raised evangelical. I'm a Jew, and I'm a childless Jew even, so it's not... I can keep some distance from the material. Well, obviously so many people shared their pain with me for this series, lots of different facets of their pain, their stories, how they're coming to terms with it, how they're healing, and to me, not to be melodramatic, but it felt like, "Oh, this is why I became a journalist," and like, I have to hold this pain gently, and treat it well, and treat it as the sacred trust it is. I mean, I don't believe in any god, but whatever. Sometimes I think of things as holy or sacred, as just a stronger word for like really important. Feels necessary.I've been astounded at the response. I mean, I tried to... I have a tic about historical research. Like, almost every piece I've ever written has some element of history in it. I also dove a ton into primary sources for this piece, which in this case was Christian parenting guides, of which I read big swaths or the entirety of like three or four books, and then tons of people's testimony about how these doctrines affected them.And then, I looked at what's the historical context? Like, why did all these books start getting written in the '70s and updated in the '90s? I mean, corporal punishment obviously has been around forever, but like, corporal punishment as sort of a political necessity and as a theological doctrine really arose as like... and the evidence is pretty clear, in the books themselves, and also in like the historical record, that they arose as basically a backlash, both to the work of Dr. Spock, who wrote Baby and Child Care, and he was super popular, and everyone loved him, and he was also an antiwar activist in his later years, and got arrested protesting Vietnam. And he said don't hit your kids, right?It's hard to overstate how much these authors hate Dr. Spock. Like, they hate him. They think he sucks, and he's the reason everything's wrong, but anyway, you have this Dr. Spock influence telling you not to hit your kids, and then essentially what these books posit, or what they feel they're reacting to is like, a lot of the movements in the '60s were student-led. The antiwar movement, the gay rights movement was a youth-led thing in many cases, or perceived as a youth-led movement, the feminist movement was really led by young women, and the sort of curative, the corrective force is writing these books.James Dobson, of Focus on the Family fame, his first book was called Dare to Discipline, like he's like, "We're fighting against this godless heathens that tell us not to hit our kids." So basically, they're saying chaos and social disorder starts in the home, and you have to hit your kids to get them in line.I cannot wait to read the second and third piece of this, because the first one is great. It really starts to get into Dobson, and The Pearls, and all of that stuff, and the responses have been heartbreaking, that I've seen from people, where they are talking about how it affected them on a personal level, and on one hand, it's amazing that the story has resonated with that many people, and that that's clearly captured what they're feeling and what they're going through, and I mean, that's just you being a great writer, and interviewer, and researcher. I mean, beyond that, it's just so profoundly sad that there are so many people in this world who have been hurt in that sort of way. They haven't felt able to express these ideas themselves, for fear of backlash or for fear of coming off as weak. That was another thing that I saw in some of the replies here, but-Or because they were taught that it was holy, that it was ordained by God, and a lot of the people, the people who spoke to me, have left evangelicalism. There's a process, it's like a very common term, and sort of ex-evangelicals. Basically, it's just calling it deconstruction, sort of tearing down the doctrines you were raised up with and figuring out a new way forward, and I really applaud people who are doing that work. It's very difficult. It's very painful.My Substack's really new. Like, I have 3,000 subscribers. It's small. The post, as of now, it's been out for less than two days, and it's gotten 50,000 views almost. I think to me, that's just an indicator of how it resonates, how people... I mean, first of all, I think there are a lot of outsiders who are sort of horrified, and then there are a lot of people who are like, "This was my childhood. I've never heard it discussed this way. I've never connected these dots." And the heartbreaking thing is like people are so grateful, grateful, that someone cares, anyone, about what happened to them. Generations of kids, generations. Like, the people who talked to me ranged from 22 to 65. It's very much a live issue, and it's still happening, although spanking is, thankfully...I hate the term spanking, actually, because spanking, I think has a lovely place in kink, but when you're talking about it in child-rearing, you are talking about hitting kids, so I've actually sort of very consciously, in my public speech about this stuff, stopped using that term, because it feels like a euphemism to me. You're talking about hitting children with the intent of causing pain.That's exactly it. I made the mistake of not writing down any questions, because I was like, "I know you. We're going to just-"We're just going to vibe about-Yeah, and it's like, "Oh, man. This is so dark and hard," you know? But that's what I love about your writing. You wrote this amazing book, Culture Warlords.And yeah, it was about basically me f*****g immersing myself in online Nazi life for like 18 months, and it was hard. It was a hard thing to do, as a Jew, as a person, who doesn't like seeing clips of murders on my phone all the time, presented as just and right. But I guess yeah, my beat is like looking into darkness and coming back out with a report.It feels weird to be like, "You're so good at this," you know? This thing that involves hate, and darkness, and pain, but your book was my favorite book of last year, and it's one of those books that I recommend to anyone who's at all curious about what's happening in the world, because I don't think you could talk about any current event without talking about how so much of our lives is affected by the far right, and white supremacist groups, and antisemitic people, and it's really kind of scary how much all of that overlaps, you know? You have the white supremacist groups.They tend to overlap in their beliefs with a lot of the evangelical groups, which tend to overlap with a lot of the anti-LGBTQ groups, these sorts of things where there's a very powerful and strong coalition of people that, I don't know, they just make the world a worse place by what they do and what they say, not by existing. I mean, I'm all for people existing. I want to make that clear, but I think that their actions and what they do just makes things so much harder. Is there anything in going into writing that, or in just your work generally, that surprised you? Were there any ideas that you had, that you had to challenge and rethink along the process?Well, so one of the big... How do I put this? Okay. I will answer your question after, but this is something that... Culture Warlords was my first book. I had never written one before, and it has some first book syndrome, which is like I put too much of myself in it, you know? Where it at points bordered on the memoiristic in ways that I now look back on with a little bit of regret, just in the sense that it feels a bit self-indulgent sometimes, like we didn't need a chapter on my childhood.The other major regret I have is not including... I did address transphobia in these contexts. I didn't address it as much as it deserved. Like, it should have had its own chapter, and I'm working on a second book right now, called Lone Wolves Run in Packs, which is about sort of debunking the sort of Lone Wolf theorem that people radicalize in isolation, that sort of white supremacist terror arises because individuals make choices. It's much more about the communities that these kinds of extremism arise from.And I know transphobia is going to be at the center of a lot of what I write, because it is, at the moment, as Judith Butler very eloquently articulated recently in The Guardian, at the forefront and center of all of these rising fascist movements. And I mean, it is all interconnected. Like, that's what makes it sort of endlessly fascinating and sometimes a bit overwhelming, is like you don't know when to stop researching.For example, part two of this series is about basically how child corporal punishment affects romantic relationships in the future. Essentially, it's like if you grow up in an environment where you're told... where you accept pain as your due, and specifically in an environment where God is invoked constantly, your sinful nature is evoked constantly, and one of the more terrifying aspects of this whole Christian corporal punishment thing is like, there's a very strong recommendation in all of these parenting books. It's like, "After your kid gets spanked, first of all, if they cry too much from spanking, they're trying to manipulate you, so spank them again. And then also, like hold them, and tell them you love them, and explain, like whisper to them gently about obedience."It's creepy as f**k, to me, but it also is like, this is trauma bonding. Trauma bonding is a concept in psychology. It's a big way of how abusive relationships work, where basically, you're traumatized by someone. They hit you, they belittle you, whatever, and then they make up with you afterwards, and hold you, and comfort you from the trauma that they inflicted. So, these parental doctrines are essentially... And they're not unique to evangelicalism. I think the unique part here is that sort of theologically mandates in some circles and some biblical interpretations, but like it is pretty common, and the people that I see, who are defending hitting kids in my mentions, are like, "My parents always apologized after, and told me they loved me, and I turned out great," and like, "Did you? Because you're defending hitting kids to me. Like, you're pro-child assault, so I don't know how fine you turned out."But at any rate, at any rate, basically my A thesis of the second part, and this absolutely bears out in the 150 people that talked to me, many of them, and most of the people who responded to my questionnaire, which is a smaller subset, said like, "I was primed for abusive relationships. Like, I was primed. I knew how to pretend. I knew how to conceal my emotions. I was taught that I was worthless. I was taught that I deserve violence, and I could expect it from the people that loved me. Like, that was the lesson of my childhood, and of course, it went on to affect what I accepted as proper treatment in romantic contexts." And there's tons of other s**t. I mean, sorry. I'm babbling at this point, but it's like...You know, now I'm like reading a whole new set of primary sources, with Christian homeschooling materials, and these doctrines about patriarchy and submission, and like specifically it affects girls very strongly. Men are also affected, boys and men are also affected for sure, in slightly different ways. And I mean, of course it's all connected, right? If the people that I talked to did some really brave work in moving away from the ways they were raised with this kind of brutality, many people don't do that work, for many reasons, and go on to reproduce it in their lives.Like, it's really, really hard to say, like, "My parents, who loved me and who I love, hurt me, and did wrong," or like, "I hit my kids, and I was wrong to do that." It's like really, really, really hard, to make those moral distinctions, to assess your past and present critically, and a lot of people are neither inclined nor able to do that. And with all the empathy and respect that I can muster, I think one of the roots of authoritarianism in our country, and especially among the Christian right, is...And this is a nascent understanding. It's not backed with science. It's more just like what I've been researching lately. I think there is a current of tremendous violence that undergirds this culture. It's like, because hierarchies of sex, of gender, of spouses and children as property, you know, are at the core of this doctrine, and enforced by often brutal, often daily physical violence. So it's a self-reproducing ideology in that sense.Right. Yeah. And yeah, I mean, that's a great point. You know, one other thing I wanted to kind of touch on here, not to change gears too sharply, but one thing that I think that both... Because we both worked at Media Matters for a little bit, and one of the things there is just sort of examining the right-wing media ecosystem, which exists on big and small scales. You have Fox News, which is large, but you also have weird little networks of right-wing bloggers, that coordinate very closely, and that's not something you see on the left as much, or at all. That's why there's this ability of people on the right to really get people who oppose them to be quiet, to shut up, to go away, to not bother them because it becomes not worth it.And I know that there have been times where I've seen something, and I'm like, "I want to write about this," and then I have to think, is it worth it? And when you wrote your book, that was after you had already not only been targeted by randos online, but you had ICE giving you s**t. You had DHS upset, because you tweeted about an ICE agent's tattoo, which you were not the first person to tweet that, and you were really one of the few people who actually said, "Oh no, I mistook that tattoo. I am sorry. My mistake."But it was clear that there was this idea that you were influential in a certain sense, and they wanted to just make your life kind of hell. What was that like, and how does that affect what you write about and how you write about it? I mean, in the sense that there has to be sort of this fear that every time you go into writing these stories that you're going to get targeted. And I know that it can take a major toll on you, and I think that... I don't know. Just any time I see something like that happen, it just breaks my heart, because you do such great work, and yet you've had the federal government giving you a hard time, and trying to push you out of your job.Yeah. I mean, it sucked. That was back in 2018. But it recurs daily, in this very warped way. I got Ken Klippenstein in The Nation, to kind of tell my story through... We sued ICE under FOIA to be like, "What do you actually have?" And they didn't have my tweet, because I had deleted my f*****g tweet, which by the way, didn't say, "This guy's a Nazi." It was just a picture of the tattoo that ICE had tweeted out, without the guy's name, and it looked like an Iron Cross, and then like a picture of an Iron Cross. It was sort of like a question mark. Whatever. It was a late-night thing. I'd seen it tossed around in different circles already online.And I deleted it after 15 minutes. I was like, "I made a mistake," you know? People pointed out it might be a Maltese Cross. And the next morning, ICE issued a press release, blaming me. We FOIA'd their emails, and they were like, "Ah, we don't have her original tweet." No one had it. Like, given all the people that picked over every aspect of my life, you think someone would have screenshotted that original tweet if it truly virally influenced a trend. It didn't. It straight up didn't. That's not factual. But at the time, I mean, I was very young. I mean, not very young. I was younger, and naïve.You're like, "It was three years ago."I've aged 40 million years in the interim because that was my first... I had written a bit about the right. I'd started writing about it. I wrote my first piece about the far right in 2017, so I was pretty new in that realm. I'd had a couple of Daily Stormer pieces about me or whatever, but... It sucks, it hurts, it's weird, but when you are public, you kind of expect it. I was public on a much smaller scale than I am now, and I was employed. I was a fact-checker at The New Yorker.Oh, god. It was just like we were getting so much... The fact-checking department was getting hate mail, and at the time, right? I was very earnest. I loved my job. I loved my coworkers. It's still the best job I've ever had, probably ever will, because it was fascinating. I was learning something new every week. Like, I got to do research all the time, and it was great. Great. I called fascinating people constantly. But like, I really was like, this is... I was very like, this is impacting poorly on the company. This is impacting poorly on my peers. Like, I must sacrifice myself, because I just don't belong here anymore.And of course, like I was getting so much hate mail, and segments on Fox about it, because ICE painted a giant target on my back over a lie, because I was a convenient target. I mean, it's like The New Yorker. She's a Harvard graduate. She's Jewish. She's fat. She's the media. Whatever. Like, I was a very convenient culture war proxy. It was also at a time of very intense outrage at the whole babies in cages thing, so it's like let's throw some meat to the lions or whatever, and the meat was me.I mean, so it's like, I was so naïve, and so traumatized frankly, that I was... It was an awful week. Like, I self-harmed for the first time in ages. Like, you know? And it still comes up constantly. Any time I say anything, someone will be like, "Didn't you accuse a veteran of being a Nazi?" I'm like, "No, I didn't." Anyway. But like then you sound all tinfoily, when you're like, "The government was lying." Like, it's hard to... And I was stupid. I was stupid to resign, and thus cement a narrative that I'd done something wrong. I have so many regrets about how I handled all that s**t, like now, now that I've been through the fire a bunch more times.I will say, though, it severed me from traditional journalism, at least staffed traditional journalism. Like, I've written in a lot of publications, from The New Republic, to Vice, and whatever. I've had freelance bylines all over, but I've basically, besides a brief stint at Media Matters, which I got laid off for pay, for like money reasons, like they were trimming down their extremism department, which seems like a weird decision in retrospect.Yeah.Like, I haven't had a staff job since, and now I'm Substacking. I appreciate the stability of Substack. I also am like, obviously there's TERF ambivalence. Like, the first Substack experience I had was like Glenn Greenwald being like, "How dare you tweet," you know? And saying like I think Substack shouldn't have these outspoken TERFs on it anymore. Which f**k Glenn Greenwald. He's just like a troll all the time. I call him “Glerb” in my head.Glerb.Anyway. Whatever. It's not so interesting. I've written about... One piece that kind of goes into my reflections, and what I'd learned from that whole shitty, depressing incident, and its various ripple effects, like Laura Ingraham calling me a terrorist and stuff. I had a conversation with Lyz Lenz, who writes the Men Yell at Me newsletter, where we talked about kind of what it feels like to get these kinds of mobbings. They are absolutely techniques to silence. They are very frequently employed by the right, because the right has a much stronger villain of the day kind of methodology. That's what they do. That's like... We've studied right wing ecologies of information, and like, essentially it's like, yeah, a villain of the day can go through so many iterations, from all of these ideologically completely uniform, like punitively distinct media brands. It's a little like the five minutes of hate thing from 1984, and when you're the subject of it, it's very... And I've talked to a lot of women particularly, and transwomen, women through queer women, just women, basically, through... I'm sorry to make that... I didn't mean to make that as a distinction. It's just more like the different loci of vulnerability.We're good.It's like been almost exclusively women, through the process of like, "How do I get my information offline? How do I deal?" I have some practical tips, mostly just sign up for DeleteMe. It's a useful service. Anyone who's a journalist, frankly I think should be signed up for it, because you'll have... Chances are, you'll have your time in the hopper, especially if you are not a conservative white man. But like, a lot of it is emotional guidance. Like, the way I describe it sometimes is like having the roof ripped off your life. Like, you feel like you're just toddling along, a relatively insignificant figure, and suddenly, you're in a national spotlight as villain of the day. It's a f*****g traumatizing experience, really. I feel like this podcast is you asking reasonable questions, and then me like just rambling.No. I mean, it's all very fascinating, because it's hard to explain to people who haven't gone through anything like this, because on a smaller scale, I've gone through this. Like, there was one time, I was at home, and I was just sitting there, and Andy Ngo posted a thing that was... It was like a photo that showed his backpack, with white dots on it, and I said that it looked like a pigeon pooped on him. I thought that was just kind of funny, and I closed Twitter, and I took a nap. Then when I woke up, I had people who were like, "Wow, you were cheering for him to be poisoned with cement milkshakes and beaten to death," and I'm like, "What the f**k?"So then I delete my tweet, and I say, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean for it to be taken that way," et cetera, et cetera, and one thing I've learned is if you publicly acknowledge something and if you publicly apologize for it, they go, "Ha, we've got you." And that happened with... I remember there was one time, there was a trump rally, where David Weigel at The Washington Post tweeted out a photo that showed the rally kind of half empty, but he took it from a weird angle. It was an accident. He accidentally showed the rally looking small, and Trump himself, who at the time was the president of the United States, tweeted out a demand for an apology, so Dave responds by saying like, "Yeah, sure. I'm sorry. That was a mistake. Here. Here are some other photos from the event. We're good, right?"And then the response to that was Trump then said, "You should be fired," you know? It's this whole thing where if you ever acknowledge that maybe you got something wrong, that is what they just cling onto and create their narrative around.Yeah, I mean-That's why it's so frustrating.... it's “don't show the whites of your eyes” kind of vibe.Yeah.Oh, Andy Ngo is such a putrid f**k. I really hate him. I called him a... I think I called him a fascism-adjacent dipshit in my book, like down on paper. I wish it was in the index as like, "Ngo Andy, fascism-adjacent dipshittery of,"See also.Like, yeah. Right? He sucks, and he's so deeply transphobic and racist. Like, all of his... It's interesting. Like, he's a very big purveyor of the five minutes of hate format, and he always highlights gender-nonconforming protestors. He highlights black protestors. It's very calculated. It is very... obviously comes from very deep-seated bigotry on his part, and to me, that is just factual. It's the way he works, and he knows who his audience is, and he is who he is. We met once, because I was covering this conference. It was like him and-Oh, I remember that.It was in the book, yeah. It was like him and Tim Pool, like organized this conference to prove how tolerant they were, and I wound up being chased out.Yep.Which to me was pretty... And then they were like, "You were chased out? You just walked away, while being followed by people." And like, okay.Well, and also you were live-tweeting it at the time, so it was very clear what was happening, you know? It's like anyone who was reading your tweets saw that you were... they were... There were people there who were treating you horribly, and then you-Well, Ngo said I look like a pigeon, and that I'd waddled away, which like, pigeons are very noble birds. They can eat garbage without any adverse effects, and they successfully hide their young offspring such as I've never seen a baby pigeon. So, I admire the pigeon as an urban bird, and I don't find it offensive. And you know what? But whether I waddled, or sauntered, or whatever, people were screaming at me, and I would describe that as being chased... It's so surreal. You wind up in... I think I opened the chapter on that rally by just being like, "I'm sitting at home, arguing about whether I was chased or not." Like, you wind up in these obscene, stupid semantic scenarios, and they were like, "We're going to get security footage from the casino." It was held at a casino, "Like to prove that you weren't chased." And they never produced the security footage. They found like one security chief guy who was like, "No one was chased, probably." Because of course he would say that, right?Yeah. They're not going to be like, "Yeah, someone was chased, and we just kind of sat back and were like, huh."Like, "Yeah, people routinely get ideologically run out of our casino." Like, you know? And they're so enamored of gotchas. They also love choosing the most unflattering pictures of me online. I think also when you're a woman, and like, so they inherently see you in this sexualized way, the sheer amount of fucked up s**t that's happened with my photos... Someone posed as me on 4chan, and it was like, "I'm Talia Lavin, a journalist, and here's a bikini photo of me to prove it," and three separate times. I had posted one bikini photo in the history of time on the internet, and like, it's just weird s**t, like saying, "You look like a neanderthal," or weird Photoshops. You know what I'm talking about.Oh, absolutely.Like, it's very sexualized, and it's also this mix of like, "You're disgusting, and I'm going to sexually demean you, and..." Like, I will say, that's one of the things that I know has left some residual psychic s**t. Like, I've had periods of my life where I look in the mirror, and I'm like, "Am I the monster they think I am?" You know? And it really depends. It's like, if I'm having a good day, mentally, it all just slides off my back. If I'm having a bad day, it can sink in. And this, "Don't feed the trolls" s**t, like they're not going to go away.No.If you feed them or not.Yeah.Like, you know? It's not... You can't blame people who are targeted for how they react.Right. Yeah, and that's the thing. It's like, I still don't know what the right way to respond to-There isn't like-... harassment is, because there's not, yeah. It's just a bad situation, and it's... I mean, that's part of the reason... I don't know. I felt there came a time where I couldn't just mentally commit to having a full-time job, if that makes sense. I mean, I kind of got to this point where my mental health had just deteriorated from a lot of the same stuff that you were just kind of talking about, where-Also Media Matters specifically is like, look at horrifying and traumatic s**t all f*****g day.Yeah. It's like, I love the-Write it up in these little bulletins that no one reads. Like, I mean, it's great, and they do great work, but like-Great work, but-... it is a tough organization to work in.Yeah. I mean, and I feel like it's only gotten harder over the years, because it used to be like, "Hey, look, Bill O'Reilly said something that wasn't true." And now it's like, "Oh, Tucker Carlson invited the grand wizard of the KKK to..." You know, and you're just like, "How did we get here?" And especially the people there who have to do so much of the research on 4chan and all the online stuff. That is-Well, I mean, that was my job.Yeah, that was you.Every time I talked to... Every time someone would say to me like, "Oh wow, I can't believe that you have to do..." I'm like, "At least I don't have to watch NRATV every day. I don't have to go through 4chan." I mean, people would point out to me whenever something I tweeted would end up being screen-capped and posted to 4chan, which was sometimes helpful, and sometimes I was like, "I don't need to know this," you know? And it's just-It's like, "Just FYI, they're posting pictures of you on 4chan."It's like, "Oh, cool, cool, cool." But yeah, I mean, it's tough, and it takes a toll on you that I don't... I don't know. And it's hard to just go, "Well, it's only a few people. It's only 10 people or 100 people out of millions out there," you know? Or something like that. But I mean, if 100 people are tweeting about you nonstop, or messaging you, or trying to start a harassment campaign, it feels like it's the whole world. It really does, and it eats away at... It was eating away at my ability to stay focused on work, and doing what I wanted to do, so I mean, that is personally why I was like...You know, it's like I had a lot of reservations when it came to making a jump to trying to do a newsletter, and especially with Substack, but ultimately, I was like, I think this is the better option for me personally, because it provided a certain level of stability, a certain level of just me being able to write a bunch of things in advance, and if for two days, I can't work or can't function, essentially, then I'm okay, you know? That's kind of one of the plus-sides there.Yeah, I mean, freelancing is super “publish or perish.” It's like, if I don't write, I don't get paid, and sometimes it's hard. I mean, yeah. I mean, that resonates so much, and I think like, I mean, people have asked me, or concerned family members have been like, "Why don't you write a cookbook? Like, why don't you do something different?" I'm like, "Yeah, no I will." Like, my third book is definitely going to be like a food-focused memoir. That's the plan. But I have... And when I'm talking about my current work, I'm...Oh. Oh, now I remember what I was going to say, about why it feels so powerful when even a relatively small number of people are coming after you. My therapist, not to be like, "My therapist," but my therapist, who I started seeing just before the whole ICE thing, and he's lovely, and we've been in this therapeutic relationship for years, he's like, "It's evolutionary." There's a reason why we selectively remember bad things, selectively prize, or sort of focus and obsess on bad voices about us. It's because there is an evolutionary mandate to be aware of criticism, so you don't get kicked out of the tribe and lose your security and your food. Like, there is an evolutionary mandate to keep an eye on criticism, and it's a self-preservation mechanic in its way.It only becomes maladaptive in this completely unprecedented context, of like within a minute, a million people can see your stupid thing. Like, Twitter I think in particular, is very the sort of, "I'm talking to my sphere, and then suddenly it gets catapulted into a much larger one." Like, that's a unique feature of the platform. It's part of what makes it fun, is being able to see voices that you never would have heard, and people from all over the world, and all that stuff, but it can entail this relatively traumatic leap from like, "I'm just talking to my buddies," to like, "Now everyone's criticizing me for something," and sometimes, it's from people who are leftier than me, and sometimes that can be more painful, because I'm like, "I probably agree with you. I just wish you weren't being such a dick about it."Yeah.Or, "Am I wrong? Should I retire and become a Benedictine monk?" And then it's from the right, and to be honest, that's less painful for me most of the time, because I'm just like, "Ah, I'm used to genocidal f*****s being horrible, because I'm anti-genocide."Whoa, bold position, anti-genocide.I mean, like I don't... Yeah, and like, I... Ugh, whatever. So, context collapse is a major thing, but also, there is an evolutionary... Not that I'm so into evolutionary biology, because I think it's a lot of b******t sometimes, but there is a survival value in looking at critique. It's just the level, and ubiquity, and immediacy of that critique. Like, these are not your tribe. They're not going to imperil your food, but you're still wired to be like... You know?Yeah.To keep it in mind, because they also might kill you, or whatever.Yeah. I mean, it is good to... There is that line, of is it good to be aware of criticism or not? There are obviously things, you know, threats to your life, and those are important to know, and to be aware of, because you don't want to be harmed by someone, you know?Or your family.Yeah, or that is another one. I mean, I've had situations where it's been... I've gotten messages from people who were talking about my family, and where they live, and stuff like that. It's like, "What is wrong with you? Why would you do this? Because you disagree with something I wrote online? Because you disagree with me?" Those sorts of things, it's... A lot of it's-It's very... Yeah.Yeah, it's a product of this time of hyper-connectedness that we live in, you know? And the way we communicate, which is kind of... I mean, that's kind of the angle that I'm trying to think about a lot of things. I mean, that's kind of the premise of my newsletter, is just-The present age.Yeah, it's like here we are, and everything is insane, and I don't know what to do, you know? But we're trying to get through it. I mean, with the pandemic especially, so much of our communication has shifted to the internet, that might not have been before, but I mean, in my case, and maybe yours, it's like, yeah, it was already on the internet, but you know? It's like, I was already spending way too much time on social media before the pandemic, before it was cool.It's like, I'm a weird recluse.Yeah, exactly.Like, half my friends are online. Like, yeah.Yeah.I mean, I think it just helps me to reframe. I think a lot of people who are in this experience, especially in the first time or first several times, are like, you know, "Am I weak for feeling bad?" I'm like, "No." It's human nature, you know? You're not weak. Like, please don't beat yourself up about having feelings about people saying terrible things about you. Like, you know? That's part of my like Talia's pep talk for traumatized victims of the right-wing hate complex thing. You know, and there's also the like, "Am I wrong for seeking it out?" I'm like, you know, it can be a discipline thing, to try to not seek it out all the time. Well, yeah, it's also human nature. Forgive yourself for that, for wanting to know. That is also a very natural impulse.In my case, I mean, stuff does happen that I need to be aware of. You know, when literally the organizer of Unite the Right, Jason Kessler, posted my mom's office address on a Nazi blog. S**t like that, like I need to know. I need to warn, and I feel so f*****g guilty that my family has to suffer for my choice to traumatize myself every day. I mean, it is interesting. I do feel like the evangelical series that I'm working on now is like... is interconnected with a lot of this stuff, in ways that are maybe less explicit, maybe less overt, but I think it is interconnected. I also think these are just stories of pain that deserve honor and telling, and careful telling.But I do think it's interconnected. I also think like, you know? In my experience, if you deep dive and learn a lot about one thing, you see the way it shows up in lots of other places. I've rarely regretted learning a lot about a subject in my time. Like, could I be focusing on the Charlottesville trial? Could I be focusing on militias? Could I be focusing on what are the Oath Keepers up to lately? Like, could I be focusing on the antivax white nationalist nexus? Of course. There's so many topics. There's like-Yeah, there's no shortage.Yeah, I had to explain to someone, when I'm talking about like I study the far right, there's a massive range of topics, covering tens of millions of people. It's not like, "How could you have such a narrow beat?" It's not narrow.No.And it almost mirrors in that sense, like my experience of academics. I was very serious as a student, and I didn't do a PhD. I thought about it, but it was like I was studying one poet, and all their works, and how they came to translate things the way they did, and the deeper you dive into one topic, the more of a world it encompasses. Like, you learn one thing, and you learn the history of it, and something else, and something else, and something else, so I rarely regret my sort of history-based and deep dive model of things.It's sometimes very intensive. It requires a lot. I think I've bought, for this project, I have bought eight or nine books already, including some that are only available on paperback, so I'm going to get a copy of God, The Rod, and Your Child's Bod in the mail, which I then... Once I read it and use it, I plan to publicly burn it.Yeah. I mean, that's going to... I feel like buying that is something that ends up getting you on a watchlist or something.You'd think, but you know what? Like, corporal punishment is legal in public schools in 19 states.Yeah. I mean-It's legal in private schools in 48 states. My home state of New Jersey is one of the two that's banned it in private schools.There you go. See? “New Jersey. We've banned something.”Jersey pride.Yeah.Jersey pride. And I feel conflict when I'm talking about should it be... Like, many countries have outright banned corporal punishment, of any kind, even by parents. You know, even by parents, whatever, including by parents. Sweden was the first, in 1979, and like, is that what I'm advocating for in the US? If we had a less s**t justice system, and a less racist justice system, and whatever, it's such a punitive and carceral society, maybe. That's not what I'm advocating for when I'm just saying like, "Don't hit your kids" on social media a lot lately. I do think it's a very reasonable demand to say like, ban it in schools. Like, because people get paddled in schools every day, and it's disproportionately black students that get paddled.And that's-By paddled, I mean struck with a board to cause pain.Oh yeah. Yeah. Well, and I mean, that's another issue in itself, is that you know, with any policy, with any sort of action, it's the enforcement of said action or policy tends to affect marginalized groups more than everyone else basically, but I really appreciate you taking the time to talk to me. You are one of the smartest people I know, one of the best writers I know, and I cannot recommend enough that people subscribe to The Sword and the Sandwich for both sword and sandwich posts, because-Yeah.... you will learn something in both.Yeah, I'm like looking at all this stuff about the history of the bagel right now. I found this New York Times article from 1960, that called bagels... What was it? "An unsweetened donut with rigor mortis."Like, okay, first of all, it's so good. I'm unabashedly pro bagel in my life, so-I don't trust anyone who's not pro bagel, to be honest, so-Yeah, so there is the sandwich part. The sword part is, you know, rougher, but they're both valuable in their own way, and thank you so much for having me on.Of course. Any time.Yeah. And I enjoyed this kind of loose, wide-ranging conversation.Yeah, it was great! It was so much fun. I really appreciate it. Get full access to The Present Age at www.readthepresentage.com/subscribe

Matt Binder takes a look at the controversial discussion between Briahna Joy Gray and Talia Lavin on the Bad Faith podcast. Does the left coalition build and work to deradicalize white supremacist and neo-nazis? Or should nazis be run out of town, with force if necessary? Also: Matt discusses how he has recently been unfairly demonetized by YouTube but how this mistake by the company does not mean censorship. On the patron half of the show: It's BONUS episode #100! More discussion about Briahna Joy Gray and Talia Lavin's debate, Briahna's post-show commentary, and her controversial appearance about it all on The Hill. Also: Nicki Minaj's anti-vax comments and more! (Episode from the September 145 2021 livestream show). Support the show: http://www.patreon.com/mattbinder

CW: trauma, abuseWill Beaman draws on personal experiences to reflect on how the problematic reduction of “deradicalization” to dialogues between fascists and anti-fascists resembles other forms of emotional and relational abuse. When the imperatives of “coalition-building” require victims of right wing violence to double down on dialogues with hostile interlocutors, the supposedly public realm of ideas resembles an abusive household, in which leaving is not an option. After a cold open from Briahna Joy Gray's recent interview with Talia Lavin on the “Bad Faith” podcast, Will suggests that distinctly non-carceral and non-“paid for” modes of institutional mediation are necessary for deradicalization to be something more than the emotional blackmail of victims via toxic social norms.

CW: trauma, abuse Will Beaman draws on personal experiences to reflect on how the problematic reduction of “deradicalization” to dialogues between fascists and anti-fascists resembles other forms of emotional and relational abuse. When the imperatives of “coalition-building” require victims of right wing violence to double down on dialogues with hostile interlocutors, the supposedly public realm of ideas resembles an abusive household, in which leaving is not an option. After a cold open from Briahna Joy Gray's recent interview with Talia Lavin on the “Bad Faith” podcast, Will suggests that distinctly non-carceral and non-“paid for” modes of institutional mediation are necessary for deradicalization to be something more than the emotional blackmail of victims via toxic social norms.

Is "punching a nazi" the scalable practice or does the strategy of de-radicalization make more sense for the left? We break down the discussion that took place on "Bad Faith Podcast" between Brie Joy Gray and Talia Lavin asking the tough questions like, "how many physical fights have you been in?" Is that a position only privilege can assume? The conversation got heated to the point that Talia leaves the convo but we are focusing our chat on the 24 minutes that are readily available online. So watch the whole thing and come share some opinions with us! This episode is also a VIDEO! Come see our faces over on YouTube for free on our channel: The Banks Sisters Follow the Banks Sisters @Banks.Sisters on Instagram or @InsubordinateS5 on Twitter Follow Courtney @CourtneyBanks on Twitter and @TheCourtneyBanks on Instagram Follow Keisha @OneofTheseKeishas on Instagram and Twitter @OneofTheseKeis1 Be sure to SUBSCRIBE to This Is Bullsh*t on iTunes, Anchor.FM, Spotify or wherever you like to podcast! Be sure to check out our reality TV podcast "I Hope They Show Bravo in Hell" on iTunes, Anchor.FM, Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts! Music: Downtown via www.Bensound.com --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/this-is-bullshit-podcast/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/this-is-bullshit-podcast/support

This week, Brie spoke to political scientist, activist, former professor and writer Norm Finkelstein about his new book on identity politics and cancel culture. Specifically, he asked Brie to critique his chapter on Barack Obama, and how his identity was weaponized to sell his 2008 candidacy as having revolutionary potential that could meet the scale of the Great Recession. History has shown that Obama's no leftist, but Finkelstein's critique goes beyond Obama's policy commitments (or lack thereof) to interrogate the extent to which the  narrative of Obama as an exceptional intellect and politician is, itself, a fiction.  Did Obama really earn his spot on the Harvard Law Review, or was he a beneficiary of White liberal guilt? Is Finkelstein overly strident in his critique, or is Brie overly sensitive about critiques that center Obama's intellect and ability rather than his policy commitments? What can we learn from the people Obama surrounded himself with -- from speech writers to senior advisors -- and is Brie right that how we critique Obama matters nearly as much as the critique itself? This was a hot one, but a good one. We cut this interview down by over an hour, and end with Ben and Brie summarizing takeaways from this interview and last week's chat with Talia Lavin, and reflecting on Brie's approach to interviews and how she can continue to improve.

Subscribe to Bad Faith on Patreon to instantly unlock this episode and our full premium episode library: http://patreon.com/badfaithpodcast As the Trump era brought spiking hate crimes, white supremacist rallies, and a renewed interest in racist online communities, journalist Talia Lavin began a fascinating social experiment aimed at understanding and exposing the white nationalist movement: She went undercover as an idealized Aryan date on white's-only dating sites. To disguise her own Jewish roots, Talia used images of an anonymous European huntress to set a trap for lonely white supremacists. The result of her investigation into the alt-right was 2020's acclaimed book, Culture Warlords. Nearly a year after its publication, Brie asked Talia about what drove her to want to enter the belly of the beast, what she learned, and whether her direct experiences with white supremacy have made her doubt the possibility of a broad, multiracial coalition. To what extent, if at all, is deprograming Nazis a useful goal? Is Nazi punching as scalable as addressing the social and economic marginalization endemic to some of her targets? Why not both? It was an unexpectedly spirited conversation that ended abruptly when Talia ended the interview. Did Brie push things too far? Subscribe to Bad Faith on YouTube for video of our episodes. Find Bad Faith on Twitter (@badfaithpod)and Instagram (@badfaithpod). Produced by Ben Dalton (@wbend). Theme by Nick Thorburn (@nickfromislands).

Parker Molloy: So, I was on your podcast, Well, This Isn't Normal, back in April of last year. And I think at the time I was still under this impression that this was all going to be somewhat temporary, in terms of pandemic-related stuff, that by the fall things would return to a sense of normalcy. And now more than a year later, it seems like we're just starting to get back to whatever normal is. So, I know that the pandemic hasn't exactly helped my mental health, but I'm doing my best to power through. It was wondering, how are you holding up these days?Sara Benincasa: I am doing pretty well, but so much of that is not of my own doing. It's of my own doing in the sense that I've gotten help, I've asked for help and gotten help. But what I mean by that, is that it's not internally generated. I haven't done it all on my own. I am a member of a 12 step program, and I am a person who goes to therapy every week, talk therapy with somebody who specializes in addiction, and also does a lot of stuff with mindfulness, she's also a mindfulness meditation teacher. And then I see a psychiatrist once a month. And all of this happens online, although I did go to an in-person 12 step meeting, which was very cool. For the first time in a long time, that was very special to get to do that.But I've also got family and friends who are engaged in their own self work, whether it's through the work of sobriety, through the work of talk therapy, through fitness for their mental health, whatever, and obviously physical health, too, whatever it may be. I've just started doing pilates, which is very helpful with breathing and just being in my body, which for a lot of people, I know it's hard if you were... Either if you're dealing with some difficult memories of trauma that caused you to disengage from being in the physical body, or if you simply are somebody who mostly has gotten positive feedback from stuff you do with your brain, which your body is your brain too, but you know what I mean. If you got all your pats, and love, and approval from say, getting good grades, maybe the physical aspect of health was not emphasized, or whatever. So what I'm saying is through teachers, facilitators, mentors, sponsors, things like that, that it is a village of humans who help me stay on point. But I also, Parker, cannot believe that was April of last year.That's the thing, I had to look it up, and I was like, oh no. It has been so long, it's been a year and three months, I guess. So, time flies when you're living through a once-in-a-generation pandemic, I guess.Time is different now. Time is absolutely, there's somebody who I met in person after talking to them for four months, and it was the first time we hung out, or maybe the second time we hung out. People said, "Oh, how long have you known each other?" And we said, "Oh, this is just our second time hanging out." And then we said, "Oh, but we talked to each other for four months online. We became friends," and then it made sense. And other people shared stories of the same. Emotional time is different from chronological, calendar time, isn't it?Yeah, that's an interesting way to think about it. Because yeah, I'm trying to rework pre-internet days, or where I would make friends in the physical space, where it would be like, yeah, you hang out with someone once a week and then over the course of several months, yeah, you get to know them. But online, you could talk to someone every single day. It's almost like you have a coworker sort of relationship, it's like oh, going into the office today, and by the office I mean Twitter.Yeah. And you have these almost old-fashioned, Victorian era, or pre-invention of the telephone, epistolary relationships. Like it's all going to be in a Ken Burns documentary in a sepia filter, but it's over emails and texts instead. So much of it is through words, where we don't get the visual cue. Right now, you and I are using video, which is great because I can see your visual cues and the movement of your face. But there are still some pieces of information that we could only pick up from each other by being in person. I don't know, like if there's a loud sound. To me, it's not going to sound the same as it does if I were in the room with you, and I could see how you react to that.And I wouldn't intellectually be parsing that, but I would notice, oh, okay. That sound really startled Parker, maybe Parker really just doesn't like that kind of sound. Or maybe it would startle me too, like oh yeah, a bomb exploded down the block, nobody was hurt, in this theoretical example. I'm just pulling real-world experiences from s**t the LAPD did recently, like blowing up a bunch of fireworks and horribly damaging things. But you know what I mean? There's some things, like what if I smell really bad to you? You don't know that right now, you could just think I'm great. And then in person you could be like, this is terrifying.Be like, “oh my God, I can't believe I've been friends with her. She smells so bad, I'm so embarrassed.”“I invited her to my wedding, or the baptism of my eighth child” or something. Or I told my family, "You're going to love her so much," and she smelled terrible.“She's so great, and I bet she smells nice.” That was a weird assumption to make.It is true though for dating, people have said to me multiple times, you have to see if you guys like the way the other person smells. Which I think that's so gross to say it like that, but I also think it's very true.Yeah, that's probably true. Because if someone or something smells, that kind of throws off the entire vibe.Yeah, and pheromones too. I think it might not even be... I might have a perfectly nice perfume or whatever, but there is something chemical that happens that we know about, where people just pick up on cues about each other, and you fit or you don't. And I think that can sort of, it's chemistry. You don't know if you have chemistry, chemistry of friendship, chemistry of romance. I have a friend with whom I have great creative chemistry, it's not a sexual chemistry. Although sexual chemistry is creative, but we get excited about pitching ideas back and forth. And it's fun, and it feels like, kids playing in a sandbox is what it feels like. Very pure delight.And on that note, in terms of pitching ideas and stuff, what have you been working on? You're always working on something cool and different, and it's, oh, she's comedy, writer, on Twitter, and writing books and stuff like that. What have you been up to lately?Thank you.Any cool professional things, or just kind of-Well, I did my buddy Chris Gethard's podcast, which is called New Jersey Is The World. And Chris was saying... First of all, I wish I had Chris's career. Chris's career is above and beyond what I have done in my opinion creatively, which I know we're not supposed to compare, but I'm just prefacing this. Chris said in the podcast, he was like, "I feel like you are a person who has a career that's really similar to mine, in that people are like, 'Are you a writer, a comedian, you act once in while? What do you do?'" We both are very, I think he would probably agree that we are very fortunate to have gotten to have careers like the respective ones that we've had.And Chris is an incredible performer. I am much more of a writer, but I do enjoy performing once in a while. I have a day job, one of my books is called Real Artists Have Day Jobs. So I work in nonprofit digital marketing, which is really fun. And as a sober person, oh my God, what a change. It helped influence me to get sober, just because oh, suddenly my job wasn't showing up to make jokes at 10:00 PM in a club, And then getting wasted and getting paid with booze. It was like, oh, your job is to be on the phone at a very specific time of day, and figure out how to help out people in a certain way that they really need. That's real important. The nighttime stuff is cool too, but if you're hung over at 7:00 AM on that call, that call's not going to go great, and people will suffer. The people we serve through the nonprofit will suffer.So, that was one of the... I still didn't get sober for another year and a half, but it was one of the things that made me go, maybe puking and having hangover diarrhea is not the best move, when I'm having a pretty important phone call. So that was very helpful. But also, a paycheck is great and health insurance. And also I find a lot of meaning in that work. And then I wrote on a couple of episodes of Mystery Science Theater 3000, which is super fun and exciting. Just joke, joke, joke, joke, joke, pitching. Like, oh wow, just being on Zoom for hours with 10 hilarious people, just pitching jokes for robot puppets and a human to say, so that was super duper fun.And juggling that with a day job was obviously something else. But there is a benefit to being based on the East coast when you're interested in Hollywood type stuff, which is that if you can do it remotely, if you've got a normal times job on the East coast, chances are you can do your West coast work after hours. You know what I mean? Because of the time difference, sometimes it works out.Yeah, sure. And see, then there's me in the middle in the Central time zone.You're in the middle.I'm just in the middle of everything. I'm close to nothing, but not too far from anything, if that makes any sense. It's like I can actually out West for two hours.Yes, it's perfect And Gethard and I were talking about this on his podcast, New Jersey Is The World, on this most recent episode. Which I don't know when this podcast episode will come out, but this episode of his podcast dropped in, I guess July 17th, something like that, 2021. Anyway, we were talking about things that are Jersey-ish, because we're both from New Jersey and so are the other hosts, Mike and Nick on the show. And I said, Chicago is not the New Jersey of the Midwest. It's like the Manhattan, or the Paris, or the something. But there is an affinity that I often feel for people, this goes from Minneapolis too, but it's more for Chicago, because I think people from Chicago, or who have spent a significant amount of time there, tend to have a little more directness. They still have Midwest nice, but it's not Minnesota nice. You know what I mean?Yeah, that makes sense.It's a little more direct. And for whatever reason, I just tend to vibe with people who are from Chicagoland area or have spent a significant chunk of adult time there. They don't have to live there. And Chris was saying the same, and the other guys on the podcast seem to agree. I don't know what it is, there's something down to earth maybe? I don't know.Yeah. I think a lot of it comes down to this not being New York, but still being a big city, that kind of attitude. Where it's just like, yeah, Chicago, it's gigantic and there are a few million people here, but we're not the big city that everyone talks about all the time. We don't appear in Marvel movies. That's how I judge things.We don't get all of the attention that the other guys get, so we get to develop our own thing. Not in contrast to what is considered the standard, but in and of ourselves. And Jersey obviously is so much closer to New York, so Jersey is always the weird stepbrother to Philly, and then the definitely not as cool at all younger sibling to New York City somehow, like the forgotten one. And so, Jersey is full of people who have something to prove all the time, but then also are just really happy to be from Jersey. When where you're from gets s**t on a lot, you probably defensively get some pride around it. But also Jersey, it's the most densely populated state, it is the third smallest state, it is so diverse. So diverse, so many languages, so many countries of origin, so many different areas.Also, it's a blue state, but I grew up in a very red pocket. So, there are parts of Jersey that are extraordinarily progressive and parts of Jersey that are super, super conservative. And then you've got everything in between, although the state as a whole tends to vote Democrat. In general elections anyway, for the presidency.Yeah. And it's kind of the same here in Illinois. I grew up in the Southwest suburbs of Chicago, in an area that was super red, but it's like you go an hour North to Chicago and suddenly everything is super blue. It's just a total flip. But I like it here, so I've lived here my whole life, and my big reason for staying in the Midwest has always been, well, if climate change destroys the coasts, we will be kings.I think you're correct. I think that's what's going to happen. I think it's a hundred percent correct. I think California's worse, but New York's going to have its issues.Yeah. And then I read a New York Times article recently that was like, "Oh yeah, B-T-dubs, Lake Michigan is going to destroy Chicago," and I'm like, God dammit. My plans fall out the window. I guess I have to care about this stuff.Yeah. If you're near water, you're fucked, but if you're not near water you're also fucked. Part of my decision, I bought a place in Brooklyn, and part of my decision to do that, first of all had to do with the fact that I absolutely... There was no other time in my life where it would have been possible based on mortgage rates, and based on what homes were going for, also based on the fact that I have been sober for a few years now, so I started to make better decisions and undo some long-term damage and stuff. So I bought a tiny, tiny place compared to what somebody, honestly, from Chicago would be like, "Are you kidding?" And to me I'm like, it's a palace. I can reach out my hands on either side. This is glorious, and the person I bought it from-“I can twirl!”Yeah. And I think, I'm not sure, I don't want to speak for him, but I'm pretty sure the person I purchased from probably went to their other house, or their other, other house, or their other, other, other house. I don't know if this place was a rounding error, but they took an offer that was a lot lower than they needed to, and I'm very glad about that. But anyway, so I bought a place in part because fire season last year was so horrible, this year it's on track to be even worse. Between that, and having been so far from my family for a while, and a desire to see my nephews grow up, and to be closer to my family as my parents get older. I know that this place could very well be underwater, literally underwater, in 10 years. But it's probably not going to be on fire, knock on wood, at least from a wildfire. It could be on fire from something else.But I'm not somebody who's like, "F**k, get out of California. Everything else is better." But it was just like, all right, I love LA very, very much, but I'm waking up coughing and with my eyes swollen all the time, three months out of the year now, and I just don't like that. And my air filter is really good, but there's only so much it can do. So why don't I go home, buy a place that when I tell friends from other parts of the country what it costs, they have a heart attack, but when I tell other people in New York what it costs, they're like, "Oh my God, you're so lucky." Go into f*****g real long-term debt, more debt than I've ever been in, but have something that, God forbid I expire prematurely, I can leave it to my nephews. Or if I expire right on time, I can leave it to my nephews.And that was a real long discussion, I'm babbling a lot. But honestly, if I had tried to buy this place even a month later, I couldn't have done it. Because by then the mortgage rates were going up, and the housing values in this area were going up. I mean, New York lost one percent, not through death from COVID, they lost a lot of people death from COVID. But in the early months of the pandemic, they lost one percent of the population of people moving. And I don't even know how many more people left after. So, I feel very grateful, very fortunate, but also probably we should all move to Indiana.Indiana.I know that's an insane thing to say to somebody from Chicago.It is.Indiana is the New Jersey of Chicago.That is either being way too mean to New Jersey or way too kind to Indiana. One of those two, probably a little of both. But yeah, similarly Kayla and I just moved to a new place in Chicago. Our rent kept going up, and up, and up, and we got to that point where we were like, a mortgage is cheaper.Did you buy a place?We did!Don't tell me how much, because you wouldn't anyway, but how many square feet is it? So I can kill myself. Not really kill myself, jokes about suicide are not usually okay. I'm sorry.It's fine. I think it's like... It's pretty small, it's like 1,500 square feet. [Edit: looked it up after the podcast, and I overestimated. -pm]Excuse me, my place is 523 square feet.Are you kidding me? How, how?I am serious, 1,500 square feet! I'm screaming at the cat, the cat is asleep and doesn't care. God bless, that is so cool, oh my God.It's so exciting. We just moved in, what was it, like two weeks ago? We just moved into this new place two weeks ago, and it's so great. We're still getting unpacked, as you can see. This is my office, I have an office.You have an office? That's so amazing, I'm so happy for you guys. And you're in the city of Chicago?In the city.What an investment. That's awesome.It's kind of funny. It's in the city, but it's like way on the edge. It's like, oh cool, we have a Chicago mailing address and Chicago taxes.Yay. Still counts as Chicago.But when it comes to getting to anywhere in the city that is fun, it is not exactly an easy trip. But yeah, so we did that. And then I also just, was it in June? I left my full-time job.Wow.I've just been floating around.Bought a place, left the full-time job, living the dream. Not in a coastal city that either just had wild floods in some of the subways, or is on fire a lot of the year. You're making good choices.I hope so. We'll see.Look, if we're going to be indoors a lot of the time, which we still are sometimes where we want to have... Well, in Chicago first of all, of course you're going to be indoors. You will freeze for part of the year if you're outdoors.If you're fortunate enough to, through various circumstances, be able to have a place, whether you're renting it or purchasing it, and my mortgage is considerably less than what I would pay in rent on this place, which is nuts. And if you're in a position where that happens, and you can make that happen, or people help you, or however it happens. For anybody who's listening, however it happens, feel blessed and happy about it. And don't do what I did, which is feel guilty that you were able to do a nice thing for yourself, and then potentially your family in the midst of a terrible thing. Because you know what people really hate? I think what people hate more than somebody celebrating their privilege, is people being like, "I feel so bad. I'm so lucky, I feel so bad." That's the most obnoxious thing you can do as a human.Well, also when you remember that 20 years ago, houses were super, super cheap. So even if you got a great deal today, it's still not as good as it used to be. So, there is that.Even buying this place from somebody who I think had three other houses, I don't know. But if he's listening, sir, I don't know if you have three other houses. But even though this person did very well for themself, chose a career where people make lots of money, a.k.a. not a writer, and just unloaded this place for, if you adjust, not much more than they bought it for many, many years ago... I was going somewhere with that. What I will say, is that my family is like, "Wait, that's what you got?" They like it, they're like, "Oh, it's so lovely," but I can feel them trying not to say like, "This is like you got a..." There's midweek hotel suites in Vegas that are three times the size of this, probably.But it's also not just about that. It's like, are you in a place where you feel comfortable? I feel, one reason I wanted to move back to Brooklyn, I've lived in Brooklyn a few times over the past 15 years, and one of the reasons I wanted to move back was that I wanted to live in a neighborhood where when I go on the street, I see everybody from babies to grandmas. If it's a neighborhood where there are people starting families and where there are elders, where there are new people, where there are old people, people from... That sounds funny, it sounds like I'm saying young people are new people. But where you've got families that have been there for generations, you've got people who are starting families new there. I like that, where there's people putting time and energy into the community, that is a community that I would like to contribute to long-term.Yeah, definitely. That makes total sense. I'm happy with how things are, and I think we're in similar situations as far as our housing setups are.Yeah, we don't have the Delta variant yet, that we know of.Fingers crossed.Fingers crossed, knock on wood. It's really, and I know it's hitting the people who are hospitalized and dying from it are un-vaccinated overwhelmingly. I also know that some people who are vaccinated can get it, but they're suffering much, much less. And I feel fortunate that we're vaccinated, and I'm assuming both of us are vaxxed up?Yeah, yeah. Oh, definitely. As soon as that was a possibility for me, I was running to the Walgreens to get it.Jersey made it so easy. They were like, "Oh, do you smoke? Have you smoked?" Jersey was like, they made it the regulations so simple. The BMI is fucked up, it is grounded in not just fat shaming and fatphobia, but in racism and classism and so many different things. It doesn't make sense, it's not scientific, it's stupid. The one time I think anybody I know has benefited from the BMI's dumb ass existing, was that we all were like, "Oh, really? You ate a hamburger once? Time to go get that Rona shot." I was like, f**k it. Let's go. We were like, whatever we need to use as our quote unquote, excuse or reason. You looked at a cigarette once, come on, just go get it. And it makes life better. If you haven't gotten vaxxed up yet and you can, please go get that s**t. I'm sure most of the people who listen to this podcast have, but if you can, go get it.”Do it, just do it.” It's so funny to think about just a few months back, you'd see people constantly being like, "Oh, someone jumped in line, and they got a shot before they were supposed to." And now, you can't really give them away. You're like, please, please go get vaccinated. It's for your sake, and for all of our sakes. Because yeah, there's the Delta variant now, but then-There will be other s**t.If this s**t's bouncing around, what if there's a really scary one down the line that the unvaccinated help create? So, don't be part of the problem. Be part of the solution.My brother is in school, he used to be a nurse, he's in school to get his master's in public health. And I want to find, I'm going into the family group chat to find something he said, because I shared what's happening in Los Angeles County right now, which is really, really bad, with my family. Which is, "LA county hits 10,000 coronavirus cases in a week," this is from the LA Times newsletter. "LA county is now recording more than 10,000 coronavirus cases a week, a pace not seen since March, 2021, an alarming sign of the dangers the Delta variant poses to people who have not been vaccinated." Dot, dot, dot, "LA Times data analysis found LA County was recording 101 weekly coronavirus cases for every 100,000 residents, up from 12 per 100,000 residents for the same seven day period ending June 15th."So, that's pretty bananas. So I shared that with my family, and my brother who's in school getting his master's in public health, said, "Shows how contagious new virus variant is. The so-called Spanish flu went away because of herd immunity, and it weakened. This thing isn't getting more deadly, but it isn't weakening. Only more transmissible. Mask life forever."Well, because in LA they re-implemented the mask mandate, right?They did. And my friend Alex Winter, who's a documentarian and he's an actor, he posted something on Twitter where he was like, basically, I'm paraphrasing. He said, "The only person who's happy that we're working from home again," and it was his cat, his family's cat. Because I know he has a documentary filmmaking company, and they were able to be in the office, and that's really cool for a little while. And my buddy Sam out in Colorado was like, I forget what he does but it's like a tech, web thing. He's like, "Well, we got a full week back in the office before somebody tested positive. So, now we're back at home again.”It's so frustrating. Because at this point, at this point, so much of it is preventable. It's like, we can choose, if we collectively choose to not have it be this way, to not let the virus run free, we could get rid of it. But I guess we're all just doing the best we can, which is how I try to, in my mind, keep from having a rage blackout, thinking about people who make selfish decisions. It's like, well, they're trying the best they can.Yeah. When I think about people who are... I have a friend who is Latinx, was like, "Sara, it's not just," I was ragging on white, con spirituality people, people who think crystals will heal it, or people who are obviously super right wing or whatever. And this friend who's Latino was like, "Listen, it's not just that. There's hesitancy in the Latinx and Black communities." And I was like, "I fully get that, of course I understand. As a white lady, it's a lot..." I didn't say it in so many words, but I was basically like, "I can hold space and understanding for communities that have been directly impacted by medical racism, by experimentation, by the US government, by being treated like s**t at the doctor's office for a lot of different reasons."And I'm not trying to be a condescending, white liberal or whatever. I'm just saying like, if you have people in a room and I'm like, "Eat this peanut butter sandwich," and one person's like, "Somebody forced fed my grandma a peanut butter sandwich and traumatized her forever," and somebody else was like, "Every time I go to the peanut butter store, somebody tells me I'm stupid," and then another person was like, "Oh yeah, peanut butter has never done anything wrong to me. I'm going to eat that sandwich." I'm looking at the person eating the peanut butter sandwich and going, "Yeah, that's cool." And if their cousin is like, "I won't eat it, it's full of poison." I'll be like, "What? F**k you." Basically just white people being like, "Whatever, man. If we just all breathed..." Shut up, get out of here. Jesus is not going to help you with this.And that's what gets me, it's like if there was some... Because I understand not wanting to be the first people to get-Correct, I got that a hundred percent. See how it plays out over six months with these other people.That's the thing when it was like, oh, well here's phase one, phase whatever, and the vaccines. I'm like, well, I don't qualify yet, but that's not bad. That's okay, I'll just kind of watch. And then a couple months passed or whatever, and I was able to get it, and that was great. And now, we've gotten to the point where there have been, I looked it up the other day, something like three billion doses of vaccine that have been administered. I think it's safe to say that it is safe, probably, hopefully.Some people, you're going to always have with any kind of medication, you're always going to have some cases of bad reactions. I got the, back in the day they used to do the MMR, the measles, mumps, rubella vaccine for babies. I think it's called something else now. I got that, all the babies I know got it, all my baby friends.Got it. And if you look at a hundred thousand people taking anything, you're going to have a few who have a poor reaction, and unfortunately, sometimes it can result in death, but these are the risks we are taking. I know people who are allergic to penicillin.My mom is.Yeah, my dad's allergic to it. I know somebody who is allergic to latex. People have allergies that can be very inconvenient, and even life-threatening, nothing in life is a hundred percent safe. So, if the overwhelming chances are that you're going to be all right, go for it.Yeah, the one thing that depresses me about just the collective response to COVID overall, has been just realizing that there are some people that given, they're watching relatives die, and friends die from this preventable thing, and they're, they're still digging their heels in saying, "No, I will not do," whatever small thing, whether it's wearing a mask or distancing or whatever, they will not do it. And I'm thinking to myself, how do we come together to fight these other problems that aren't as fast, and direct, and obvious to us, like with climate change? That's a whole frustrating thing to think about, is just the fact that there are people who when confronted with this thing that is affecting them extremely directly, they're saying no. It's like, how are we going to get so many people on board to take whatever actions necessary, whatever sacrifices are necessary to successfully combat climate change?And that's why I have so much respect for people who work on climate change, or work in trying to find solutions to that. But it's hard to not just be really depressed thinking about it, thinking about how much of a challenge it is.There are people who... My friend's grandma died of COVID, and there are people who read her post about her grandma dying, about a wonderful young man at the hospital, a hospital volunteer who learned her favorite old Mexican songs, Mexican popular songs from the forties and fifties, and learned how to play them for her, saw a post about her saying how the family said goodbye, and who still don't think COVID is real because they are the most selfish people in the world. And there are a lot of people who are real pieces of s**t, who it could happen to their own Grandma, but what's more important to them is their ego. And so, I think that you can't cure selfish. That's what's hard, you can't cure selfish.You can just keep presenting as many... You can penalize selfish. You can say, "Okay, you can't work here." I'm so glad that for a limited time at least, Hollywood productions are banning anybody from set who is not vaccinated. That's very important, because those are hotspots, and there were a lot of productions that had to shut down over time because of COVID outbreaks, and then come back. And so, I think workplaces where you got to be vaccinated to be there, good. Yeah, you can pick what you put in your body, but that doesn't mean that I have to accept it. If you show up to work drunk, I can send you home. If you show up to work unvaccinated, might make people sick and take down the workplace, I can send you home.I think that there are things we can do with communication, with gentleness and compassion, but it doesn't have to mean tolerance always. Not tolerance of potentially harm. Yeah, you can go, "Oh, okay. I can see why you believe that way. You are a racist white person who was raised by racist, white people. You had a lot of early trauma in your life, and you're in pain, and you found a home on the internet among anti-vaxxers, and so that's what you're down for. Cool, cool. Still can't come to work. Go work on yourself, hope things turn out for you." I don't have to curse you out, I don't have to tell you you're dumb. I'll just go, "Oh, okay. See that in context, you're not welcome here."That's why those... There are a few states that are implementing these laws where it's like, oh, you can't force someone to... Come on. If I walk into a business, or for example in Florida, they did that. And the cruise industry which, one, I cannot imagine taking a cruise right now.It's gross.Yeah. So, I took a cruise in December, 2019. It was the first and only cruise I've ever been on. Because my parents were like, "Yeah, we want to take a big family vacation while everyone's still around." And I was like, "That's great, sure." Wasn't thrilled about the cruise, because I'm really weird about germs generally, which has made this whole thing a really interesting time for me.Yeah, because it's confirming all your fears, which is not always healthy.Yeah. But we went on the cruise and it was fun. And I was like, oh, that was a great time. That was fun. But now, I cannot imagine doing that. Just because first off, COVID's still going around. But also in Florida, they're trying to fight to make it so cruise ships can't require passengers to be vaccinated, if they want. I could understand if a cruise company wanted to be like, "Hey, we're just going to be the free for all cruise where you can be vaccinated or not. We don't care." That would be fine, if that's the choice they want to make.Oh, the sexy cruise, "We're the wild and sexy cruise."Yeah, "We're, the virus cruise."That's hot, let's do it. Hey, some people would be very into it for various reasons.Yeah, yeah.I just want to compliment you though. Parker. I know I'm moving around and making audio weird right now, but hey, guess what everybody? I'm plugging in a lamp, because my laptop was dying and now I'm reviving it. But I do want to just compliment you, as somebody with agoraphobia, for somebody who has, if you say weird about germs, I'm not making it a phobia. I'm just saying for somebody who has high anxiety around anything, to challenge that by doing something that's fun, is awesome, and I think you should be proud of yourself that you did that.It was so difficult. For weeks leading up to it, I was in therapy really trying to prepare myself. I was like, "I know this thing will be fun, and it will probably be fine, and I'll survive and we'll get home. And I'll be like, 'That wasn't so bad.'" Because that's how I approach everything in life. I freak out leading up to it, and then every single time I'm like, "Oh, that wasn't as bad as I thought it would be." That's what happens with any time I agree to do a speaking gig. I don't know if I want to go, I don't want to take an airplane by myself, and I don't want to have to stay in a hotel, and I don't want to have to be in front of a big group of people. But then I get there, and I do the thing and it's fine.And that's anticipatory anxiety. It's once you actually do it, you're fine. And I think that in some cases, not to endorse or recommend developing anticipatory anxiety, anybody, but... Not that you can really-I would choose not to, if possible.Yeah. You'd have to reverse A Clockwork Orange yourself, or something real weird and be like, "I'm going to make myself afraid of this." But I think sometimes there is more enjoyment as a result, because you're like, oh, I was so scared, and now this isn't so bad. And it helps you for the future. Every time you challenge, even a tiny bit challenge an anxiety thing…Talia Lavin writes a lot about how she deals with agoraphobia right now, and I'm always saying to her privately, I don't think she would care if I said this publicly, "Holy s**t, you're challenging it," because she posts about running and stuff, "You're [crosstalk 00:44:19]." When I was in my worst agoraphobia, I was afraid to leave my bedroom to go into the bathroom to pee. I was urinating in bowls. It's in my memoir, Agorafabulous! If that's your thing.I like that book!Thank you very much.It's very good.So I'm like, "Talia, you're running." Yes, at first it was just one route. She would show me the image of it, and it was just like back and forth across this block. Now it's expanding. Every single day that she runs outside her home, she's challenging a debilitating psychiatric disorder that she's also working on in other ways. And again, I would not share any of this if it wasn't stuff that was shared publicly already, of course. But even if she f*****g walks outside for five minutes, that's like a really big deal. So, the fact that you went on a cruise?I went on a cruise, stuck there for... See, I think the one benefit that I have in life, is that I'm married to an extremely amazing person, who completely understands and completely accepts all of my mental issues. And that's something that, I'm very lucky. Kayla is great, she is wonderful. And she helped me get through the issue with the cruise. She helped me the whole time, just making sure that things were okay. Didn't pressure me into doing the off the boat excursion type things, which was one of my fears. I stayed on the boat for a couple of those, which was still kind of fun. It's nice when everyone else is off the boat, and you're just like, "Ooh, I have the whole thing to myself."If I ever go on a cruise, I might do what you just described. Because I'm listening through it, instantly whenever I hear about a cruise, my agoraphobia brain kicks in. So, it's not making me anxious, it's just I start thinking about it through that disordered lens. But because I have so many years of cognitive behavioral therapy, and mindfulness and stuff, and medication, it still flares up but you get back on the horse, so to speak. And when I hear, I listened to it through that, and then I think oh, well, how could I make modifications so that I could enjoy it? And I never thought about that, but that would be a Night At The Museum, like an empty, magical place. That would be kind of cool.It's like, I'm going to keep going to that soft serve ice cream machine, and no one's going to stop me. No one's going to be like, "You've had five."I'd be like, "Well, I've had a Prozac and now I'm going to have other Prozac, which is what I call that machine inside my head." That's awesome, whoa. But probably, you will never go on a cruise again at least until you're older, considering the concerns about the Rona, Miss COVID.It was a good time. By the end of it, I was actually so okay with the state of things that I just kind of like, "Maybe we should do this again." And then this hit.Immediately it was like, maybe not.Several steps backwards.But maybe one day you will, when it's safer. And it will be safer eventually, we'll just be old as hell by that point.Which those are the people who seem to have the cruises down the most, the elderly who end up on there. They're the ones with these little booklets, like, "This is my 20th cruise, that's all I do for my life now." Which that sounds awesome if that's what you're into, just traveling constantly.Yeah. And the fact that whatever they've dealt with in their life, whatever they've been through, that now they get to enjoy the open sea, and they get to have fun. I do think that, I'm a bit older than you, I'm 40.I'm 35.Okay, so you can run for president now, thank God. So this might apply even more for you. For my generation, which is the same as... Well, you're a full millennial and I'm like a Zennial, on the cusp. But I was in high school when the hit major motion picture Titanic came out, and I think that it definitely made some people I know for into our twenties, I remember a few friends being like, "Yo, my grandma wants to go on a cruise, but I think about Titanic." And I feel like for some of us, it was burned into our minds. Maybe people who tend to be anxious anyway, we were like, "Oh my God. But what if that happens?" And then people seem to have gotten over that, but the indelible performance of a young Leonardo DiCaprio and Ms. Kate Winslet, it really did something for me.It's still so awkward for me. I went and saw a Titanic with my mom, and I was like... I don't know.You were in middle school maybe, you were little.Yeah, like 12 when that came out. And it was just weird, because it was like, oh, and now he's going to sketch her naked. And I'm just like, this is fine, this is fine. Everything is cool.Everything's normal. And then there's the part where they have sex, and you just see the hand up, and you're like, what's happening there?Yeah, and I just have to just keep going, pretend nothing weird is happening on screen. As my mom is kind of, I could see her glancing at my brother and me, my brother was three years younger than me even. And I was just like, no, no, everything's cool.It's cool. My buddy Jenette is in that movie, Jenette Goldstein, she's an actress and she owns my favorite lingerie shop, Jenette Bras. Which you can visit, they've got more than bras, you can visit them in many places in Los Angeles, but also in Atlanta now. But Jenette is an actress, and she's been in a bunch of James Cameron movies. She was John Connor's step-mom in a Terminator deux. And she was Vasquez in aliens, Private Vasquez who was hot and butch. And she was in, in a bit part in Titanic. I think she plays, it wouldn't have been an elderly person because her age wasn't right. But she plays a mom to dying children, where they're like, I think she's the one who's like, "Okay, kids," and puts them to bed and reads them a story as they all die.Oh, God.Yeah. That part, obviously I didn't know her back in my teens, but that part stands out to me. And the old people holding each other. But anyway, we don't have to worry about that so much as we have to worry about coronavirus.Yeah, we just have to worry about the air that we breathe giving us an infection that kills us. Which is cool, that's cool that that's just floating around out there.Yeah, it's a real different kind of bananas. I've noticed in New York City right now, a lot of people wearing masks on the street. Some people don't, but when you go into stores, some stores right now have signs up that say, "You have to wear a mask," other stores don't. We have indoor dining, we have outdoor dining. Some restaurants will say, "Please put on your mask when you go to the restroom," others don't.I think it's going to get more restrictive, because I think that as with climate change, the first time around New York was the canary in the coal mine for this thing, that the rest of the country should have paid attention to and didn't. And LA got to horrific levels of suffering as a result, that were absolutely unnecessary. This time around as with climate change, I think California is the canary in the coal mine, because they got the Delta variant first, so they have gone back into... I think they still have indoor dining as of this recording, but you have to wear masks, and they have a stronger anti-mask contingent out there. They just do, and it's a problem. I don't know, I'm glad that we live in places also where it gets cold, because it's very comforting to have that mask on anyway, in the cold months.Yeah. That's something that in the winter it's like, oh well, that's a cool idea anyway. I am more than okay wearing a mask, especially in the winter. The summer, I get it. I get that masks can be annoying.Yeah, it can. You're schvitzing. I got one of those lighter ones, a restaurant that I went to in Manhattan, Balthazar, I ate outside and then I went in the bathroom, and they had all these free masks and free latex gloves, and anybody could take them and it was really cool. And they had the kind of mask that it looks a little bit like an accordion, and it's very lightweight, but it still does the job and it's not as heavy. And I took one, I wanted to take more, but I was like, no Sara, you can just buy them. Don't take them from the restaurant. And that one is so much more comfortable than the heavy cloth mask. Although I love a heavy cloth mask with a fashion moment for the wintertime, those light ones are really nice for the summer.Yeah, just leaving the restaurant with a handful of masks and some ketchup packets or something.“Hey, sorry, you're in the industry that arguably got hit the worst by this whole thing. Nice to see you surviving, let me steal your things.” People love that.Yeah, “What else can I get for free?”People really connect to that.Yeah, that's their jam. But on that delightful note-Don't steal masks.Don't steal masks, that's going to be the lesson from this podcast. But Sara, thank you so much for stopping by and chatting with me.Yeah, this was awesome. It's so rad to hang out with you.Yeah, of course. We should speak more than once every 15 months or so.On Twitter is cool, but it's also just nice to actually talk to you and see your face and stuff.Yeah, definitely. And that's why we're recording this. I have it set up where it records what we say, but not what we see. Because I just like to be able to see people when I talk to them.I like that too. And I think it helps with interviewing, and it also helps with our mental health. I haven't made a new episode of Well, This Isn't Normal in a few months, because I had to move and write jokes for robot puppets. But I could have made time, I just was very tired, but this is making me want to pick it up again. Because it is just so nice, and obviously it doesn't have, friendship talks should not be recorded most of the time. But it is really nice to just get to talk to your friends face to face through a screen.And also this is Star Trek s**t, I'm still impressed. My grandma told me she never got over, she passed away a few years ago, my grandma, Jean. And she always was still impressed by the technology that just automatically opens doors for you at the grocery store. And I therefore, still think it's cool. But I also think being able to talk to each other in real time through screen, it has absolutely, through my sober people meetings and stuff, that absolutely saved me. To be able to do that online is huge, and just to see friends and family was huge.Yeah, definitely. I think that both of us have this sort of... Because we both are part of that sort of era of people who growing up, we didn't always have the internet. And then when we did, it was super slow and dial up and all of that. And even thinking back then, thinking oh yeah, I'll be able to talk to someone and see them super clear, and there will be no lag and it'll be perfect. It's still amazing to me. I just love thinking about technology as it advances, and try to ignore the creepy aspects of it.Yeah. And sometimes, obviously, we can't. Because we get harassment and different things. But overall, I really like Cal Newport's book, Digital Minimalism. I don't abide by all its principles, but the idea that you don't have to kick it all out the door, you figure out how to maximize your enjoyment. You do a cost-benefit analysis in your own life, which is what I wish more people would do with vaccines. What is the risk here, and what is the reward for not just me, but potentially the humans with whom I interact? And then you make a call based on that. And so, something like this I think is really lovely. Well, thanks so much.Yeah, of course. Let's do it again sometime, without the recording for a podcast.Yay!Friendship! Get full access to The Present Age at www.readthepresentage.com/subscribe

How the death of Ashli Babbit was manipulated by Neo Nazis and the right to fit their political goals. Our guest is Talia Lavin, journalist and author of Culture Warlords: My Journey Into The Dark Web of White Supremacy. ↓↓↓↓ SUBSCRIBE FOR $5 A MONTH SO YOU DON'T MISS THE SECOND WEEKLY EPISODE ↓↓↓↓ www.patreon.com/QAnonAnonymous Follow Talia Lavin: https://twitter.com/chick_in_kiev Her book, Culture Warlords: https://bit.ly/3z7UDnf QAA Merch / Join the Discord Community / Find the Lost Episodes / Etc: qanonanonymous.com Episode music by Pontus Berghe

This week Cam has a chat with Talia Lavin, the author of Culture Warlords, about January 6 and Deplatform Hate.

In this episode we welcome special guest Dustin from Sandman Stories Presents. We drink G7 instant coffee from Vietnam, homemade coldbrew with Meijers & Deathproof beans, and Choco Libre from Brewdog. RLXP involves tat color, lonely cats, and 13 years in Korea. We've played River City Girls, Cat Game - The Cats Collector! (Mino Games), and Euchre Free (A.I. Factory Ltd). We quick dis a couple popular mobile games. Popular Korean board games are here to. We recommend Culture Warlords by Talia Lavin, and the podcasts Japan Distilled Podcast, Because Lanuage, and One Mic: Black History. Links - Sandman Stories Presents - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCS_jg9MFO6NtRYHO3FRlMcg Japan Distilled Podcast - https://japandistilled.com/ Because Language - https://becauselanguage.com/ One Mic: Black History - https://www.onemichistory.com/ Culture Warlords - https://g.co/kgs/bfrfzJ --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/grandrapidians/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/grandrapidians/support

Episode 27 explores the GOP strategy to solidify its stranglehold on US power and democracy, why the Democratic Party is being held hostage by a handful of wishful-thinking idiots, and why reactionaries are freaking the f*ck out over "critical race theory."Twitter: https://twitter.com/fucking_podcastPatreon: https://www.patreon.com/fucking_podcastSHOW NOTES: Debunker Mick West Twitter profile: https://twitter.com/MickWest?s=20 'The aliens haven't landed: Why you should be skeptical of recent reports of UFO sightings' by Mick West: https://money.yahoo.com/aliens-havent-landed-why-skeptical-090251254.html 'Bigger than QAnon: Democrats can't ignore GOP's holy war' by Talia Lavin: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/ncna1269875'Fox News uses obscure outrages and local oddities to fuel its culture wars' by Parker Molloy: https://www.mediamatters.org/fox-news/fox-news-uses-obscure-outrages-and-local-oddities-fuel-its-culture-wars

The Arizona Republican election audit sham led by the QAnon owner of “Cyber Ninjas,” is quickly becoming the launching pad for a national, right-wing organizing strategy to delegitimize democracy and fan the flames of extremism.  CNN reports that QAnon inspired right-wing radicals are taking to Telegram - a social messaging platform that is far more welcoming of extremists - to deepen their conspiracies and plan. Congressional sources told CNN that they are especially concerned about plans to support Trump's re-installation as president in August.  This past weekend, former national security adviser Michael Flynn seemed to endorse a coup at the “For God & Country Patriot Roundup,” a QAnon conference in Dallas, TX. When Flynn was asked why can't a military coup like the one happening in Myanmar happen in the United States, Flynn replied: “No Reason. I mean, it should happen here. No reason.” You'll recall that it was also Flynn who called on Trump to invoke martial law to force new elections in key states.  Meanwhile, the anti-democracy movement has been hard at work on their inside game as Republican lawmakers have continued to pass voting restrictions around the country. The Washington Post reports that this year has seen the introduction of 253 bills designed to restrict voting across 43 states, according to a new report from the Brennan Center. As of mid-May, 22 voting restrictions laws have been passed in 14 states.   Media Matters for America released a list of all the QAnon supporters running for Congress in 2022.  Miami is considering a proposal to build a 20 foot sea wall to save the city from the impacts of climate change. As reported in New York Times, “Six miles of it, in fact, mostly inland, running parallel to the coast through neighborhoods — except for a one-mile stretch right on Biscayne Bay, past the gleaming sky-rises of Brickell, the city's financial district.” The FBI is investigating Trump appointed Postmaster General Louis DeJoy for illegal political fundraising for Trump.  Trump's blog is shut down for good only a month after its launch. Daryl Metcalfe's annual Right to Bear Arms Rally is this Monday.  The Arizona election audit sham attracted PA State Senator Doug Mastriano, State Senator Chris Dush, and State Representative Rob Kauffman to travel to the state like moths to the flame.  Mastriano finally makes it to prime time. On Wednesday night, on Chris Hayes's All In, Mastriano features prominently in the opening segment about the rise of dangerous, anti-democracy movement. The report points to Mastriano's visit to Arizona as case in point in how it all works.  State Senator Scott Perry ran into the woods to avoid taking questions from local media, according to Raw Story.  Former State Rep. Ryan Costello is not OK. At least that's how things seemed last night on Twitter. Apparently, PA Spotlight is squatting in his head after they published info showing that Costello donates to a school board PAC that recruits QAnon conspiracy nuts to run for office.  State Sen. Lindsey Williams is preparing to introduce a bill in the PA Senate requiring lawmakers to publicly post how they are spending millions of dollars in tax-payer funded expenses.  The New Jersey GOP primary for this year's race for Governor has turned into a Trump bootlicker competition.  Allegheny County DA Stephen Zappala found himself in a scandal this week.  He sent an email to prosecutors telling them to stop accepting plea deals from a black lawyer who called his office “systemically racist.”  Way to pull a racism, DA Zappala. On Wednesday, NASA administrator Bill Nelson announced that the space agency is planning two missions to Venus in the late 2020s. The two missions, DAVINCI+ and VERITAS will gather evidence about possible microbial live in Venus's atmosphere and more thoroughly map the planet's surface. It's been over three decades since NASA launched missions to Venus.  A new documentary, Woman in Motion, tells the story of how Nichelle Nichols, famous for her ground-breaking role as Lt. Uhura on the original Star Trek, pioneered the NASA recruiting program to higher people of color and the first women astronauts in the 1970s and 1980s. The documentary is streaming on Paramount+. Grist releases a list of new environmental films that you should add to your watch list.   Books to read:  How to Destroy Surveillance Capitalism, Cory Doctorow. Culture Warlords: My Journey Into the Dark Web of White Supremacy, by Talia Lavin. Against Civility: The Hidden Racism in Our Obsession with Civility, by Alex Zamalin Will Sean be live-blogging his vacation?

Talia Lavin spent months immersing herself in the internet’s darkest corners, becoming an expert on how white supremacists organize online and what that means for the rest of us. After publishing Culture Warlords: My Journey into the Dark Web of White Supremacy, she went for a palate cleanser and started watching Star Trek for the very first time. This week, Talia joins Tawny and Paul to discuss what it was like to watch Star Trek during the pandemic and her hopes for making a more Trek-like future out of our current reality. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A few Halfling hippies assemble an eclectic fellowship and go on the adventure of a lifetime. Dads and daddies abound. We talk Hobbits, fan fiction, thirsting for Viggo, and The Lord of the Rings with our pal Talia Lavin. You can find Talia's book Culture Warlords here. You can find Talia on Twitter here. We made a playlist to accompany this episode! It's comprised of songs that come to mind when we all think about this movie. Why Are Dads is a show in which hosts Sarah Marshall and Alex Steed attempt to understand what the hell it means to be the grown children of dads and other dad-like figures. And, as they do with all difficult subject matter, they do so by looking through a pop culture lens. You can find us on Twitter, Instagram and Patreon. You can find producer and music director Carolyn Kendrick's music here. She's also on Twitter. Fresh Lesh produces the beats for our episodes. Abigail Swartz of Gray Day Studio designed our logo!

Mayors across Canada are lobbying Ottawa ahead of the next federal budget. Edmonton Mayor Don Iveson, chair of the Big City Mayors' Caucus, joins to talk transit, homelessness, and other top municipal priorities. Audric Moses (and his wife Marni, who makes a cameo!) built a NetZero home in a northern climate. How is it performing with limited daylight hours, plenty of snow, and frigid outside temperatures? We take a tour to find out. Amid public outcry, Alberta's United Conservative government says it's walking back its plan to rescind the province's 45-year-old coal policy. Is this meaningful action, or pure politicking? We ask CPAWS conservation director Katie Morrison for some perspective. We know white supremacy continues to plague society. How does the ideology persist, and how are people radicalized? Talia Lavin takes us into her process researching and writing "Culture Warlords," including going undercover on message boards and forums on the dark web. Ryan plays a video excerpt from a church service this past Sunday, right before a pastor was arrested for violating public health orders. Real Talkers share their thoughts on the implications, and what appropriate law enforcement might look like. 8:15 - Mayor Don Iveson 37:52 - Audric Moses 1:10:09 - Katie Morrison 1:38:53 - Talia Lavin

Hello!!!! this week we R unmasking ur fash uncles with Talia Lavin! She went UNDERCOVER and infiltrated diff white supremacist spaces. Enjoy her tales of horror and beware of the BANALITY OF EVIL. You can buy her book, Culture Warlords: My Journey Into the Dark Web of White Supremacy here: https://bookshop.org/books/culture-warlords-my-journey-into-the-dark-web-of-white-supremacy/9780306846434 Theme music as always by Brandon Payton Carrillo

Daniel and Jack respond to the Jan 6th 2021 attack/coup-attempt on the Capitol Building, Washington D.C. Content Warnings. * Please consider donating to help us make the show and stay independent.  From Jan 2021 onwards, patrons get exclusive access to one extra episode a week, plus other extra benefits. Daniel's Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/danielharper/posts Jack's Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=4196618&fan_landing=true IDSG Twitter: https://twitter.com/idsgpod IDSG on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/i-dont-speak-german/id1449848509?ls=1 Episode Links/Notes: Robert Evans, "How the Insurgent and MAGA Right are Being Welded Together on the Streets of Washington, DC" https://www.bellingcat.com/news/americas/2021/01/05/how-the-insurgent-and-maga-right-are-being-welded-together-on-the-streets-of-washington-d-c/ NY Times "The Daily" Georgia Runoffs Part 2. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/05/podcasts/the-daily/georgia-election-purdue-loeffler.html Nick Fuentes Stop The Steal DC Speech: https://www.bitchute.com/video/qLNtMz6yKUyO/ Full Livestream "Save America" Rally Jan 6, 2021. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ht20eDYmLXU Mother Jones,"Meet the Right-Wing Trolls Behind “Stop The Steal”" https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2020/11/stop-the-steal/ Ali Alexander claims he put together the January 6 rally with three Republican Congressmen. https://twitter.com/jason_paladino/status/1347943638203068417?s=20 Ali Alexander being terrible on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Onesecondname/status/1139298351369768960?s=20 Alex Jones says he paid $500,000 for rally that led to Capitol riot: https://twitter.com/Vicky_ACAB/status/1347799969609228289?s=20 Video of police officer assault by Stop the Steal rioters. https://twitter.com/joshscampbell/status/1347749675777011714?s=20 Eric Munchel of Nashville, TN. Zip Tie Guy One: https://twitter.com/AricToler/status/1347756693250330628?s=20 Larry Brock of Texas, Zip Tie Guy Two: https://twitter.com/AricToler/status/1347756693250330628?s=20 Footage from inside the Capitol during the coup. https://twitter.com/insidernews/status/1347646782659031043?s=20 BakedAlaska Inside Capitol Building. https://www.liveleak.com/view?t=aRdK0_1609982302 Kim Kelly, "Is the "QAnon SHaman" From the MAGA Capitol Riot Covered in Neo-Nazi Imagery?" https://t.co/rw5LEvWWbZ?amp=1 "Given his penchant for showing up to protests shirtless, face-painted, and sporting a horned helmet like some kind of racist Party City Viking who took a wrong turn and ended up at Burning Man, Angeli’s many tattoos are often on full display, including his large trio of Odinist symbols. He has a mjolnir, or Thor’s Hammer, on his stomach, an image of Yggdrasil, or Tree of Life, etched around his nipple, and most significantly, placed right above his heart, a valknut, or “knot of the slain,” an old Norse runic symbol turned recognized hate symbol that is popular among white supremacists. In addition, the mjolnir has become a symbol of identity among self-proclaimed “heathens” (which is often code for white supremacy-aligned pagans)." Talia Jane January 6 photodump. https://twitter.com/itsa_talia/status/1347215672133251078?s=20 "The National Justice Party Stands in Solidarity with the Uprising of January 6th." https://nationaljusticeparty.com/2021/01/07/the-njp-stands-in-solidarity-with-the-uprising-of-january-6th/ Betsy Phillips thread on January 6. "The first important thing to realize is that they won." https://twitter.com/AuntB/status/1347161090061463552?s=20 Megan Squire is quoted here about boogaloo plans to return for inauguration day https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/right-wing-extremists-vow-return-washington-joe-biden-s-inauguration-n1253546 Maggie Koerth, Authorities Tepid Response Not an Aberration https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/the-polices-tepid-response-to-the-capitol-breach-wasnt-an-aberration/?ex_cid=story-twitter Talia Lavin, this isn't 1776 all over again, it's the reaction against Reconstruction https://www.thecut.com/2021/01/this-isnt-the-revolution-they-think-it-is.html Talia Lavin, When a Conspiracy is Deferred it Explodes https://newrepublic.com/article/160814/trump-protesters-attack-us-capital Robert Evans, Extremists were able to lay siege to the US Capitol because America's law enforcement ignored warnings of right-wing extremism for years https://www.businessinsider.com/capitol-siege-happened-because-police-ignored-right-wing-extremism-warnings-2021-1?r=US&IR=T Mike Davis, Riot on the Hill https://newleftreview.org/sidecar/posts/riot-on-the-hill Melissa Gira Grant, This Isn’t an Insurrection. It’s an Alliance. https://newrepublic.com/article/160816/congress-mob-law-enforcement-alliance Right Wing Watch, Capitol Breach Preceded by Widespread Calls for Violence on Pro-Trump Social Media https://www.rightwingwatch.org/post/%e2%80%8bcapitol-breach-preceded-by-widespread-calls-for-violence-on-pro-trump-social-media/ Neil Faulkner, Fascist Riot in Washington https://www.anticapitalistresistance.org/post/the-fascist-riot-in-washington QAnonAnonymous Podcast Episode https://soundcloud.com/qanonanonymous/episode-125-coup-anon-feat-elle-reeve-eleanor-janega Citations Needed Podcast https://soundcloud.com/citationsneeded/us-media-incapable-of-criticizing-maga-mobs-without-evoking-racist-cliches-about-third-world Worst Year Ever Episodes https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/first-week-of-2021-is-going-well/id1478794003?i=1000504749630 https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/happy-coup-year/id1478794003?i=1000504570156 Stuff They Don't Want You To Know podcast https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-attack-on-dc-part-i-breaching-the-gates/id732915228?i=1000504755639  

Effie, Renee and Seamus sit down (remotely) with Talia Lavin to talk about her new book, her antifascist research, and experience with Andy Ngo. We talk about nature of journalism, finding joy in dark times, and how Talia is likely wielding long swords or podcasting about Moby Dick in her free time. You can find her book, Culture Warlords here: https://www.amazon.com/Culture-Warlords-Journey-White-Supremacy-ebook/dp/B084FXPHM3 her twitter here: https://twitter.com/chick_in_kiev and to support her on patreon! https://www.patreon.com/talialavin ----------------- Intro / Outro music: "The Movement" by Mic Crenshaw (used with permission): https://www.miccrenshaw.com/

We spoke with Beth Bourdon, a public defender and Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawyer known for her work with journalists Ken Klippenstein and Talia Lavin. Bourdon talks about FOIA, past and current cases, criminal justice during COVID-19 and being a progressive in Florida. You can read the full transcript at riftmag.org. Music by Commodore1983: https://soundcloud.com/commodore1983

For close to a year, Talia Lavin went undercover in white supremacist online communities, creating fake personas that would gain her access to the dark reaches of the internet normally off-limits to her, a Jewish woman. That research laid the groundwork for her book, Culture Warlords: My Journey Into the Dark Web of White Supremacy. Lavin talks to It's Been A Minute host Sam Sanders about what it was like to infiltrate those online spaces, what she learned, and how white supremacy cannot exist without anti-Semitism.

While the Internet has given us a lot of good things, from comprehensive consumer choices to powerful movements to hold the powerful accountable, it also has its darker corners where hatred is thriving, where acts of terrible violence in the real world are inspired. As a Jewish writer who had often been targeted by anti-Semitic and misogynistic attacks online, Talia Lavin decided to go undercover and dive deep into these strange online worlds, where she finds deeply vulnerable, alienated, and dangerous individuals who pose a considerable threat to society. Her latest book, "Culture Warlords: My Journey into the Dark Web of White Supremacy," presents a number of real stories of people she encountered during these investigations which helps us understand how extremists find themselves pulled toward white nationalism online. Lavin argues that it is wrong for us to consider white nationalist terror attacks such as the Charleston Church shooting, the attack on the Christchurch mosque, or the Tree of Life Synogogue shooting in Pittsburg as "lone wolf" attacks. Instead, these attacks are being carried out by individuals who are specifically radicalized. "It doesn't take that many people influenced by an extremely heightened level of violent rhetoric by a continual saturation in dehumanization to create tremendous amounts of fear and to rip communities apart with grief," Lavin says. "I would say that I'm still pretty scared of these guys. Sometimes their fragility means that they're ripe for mockery. Other times, it means they're ripe to snap." Lavin and host Robert Amsterdam discuss the history of anti-Semitism in the United States, and how it came to represent a intellectual keystone for US white supremacists, and how, in its international expression, anti-Semitism is trans-partisan, a rhetorical force mobilized on the right and the left. "The real rhetorical function of the Jew, the reason why Jews are such a persistent target, is that they have more or less assimilated into whiteness," Lavin says. "So they get portrayed by the white power movement in the US as a cunning kind of fifth column subverting whiteness from within. (...) So the primary function that the Jews serve is this idea of a kind of omnipotent, infinitely resourceful, infinitely cunning enemy that is hell bent on your destruction." And in doing so, Lavin agues, the men hiding in these darkest corners of the Internet come to believe that they are the most oppressed members of society, that it is they who have a duty to right the wrongs - often by violent means.

(11/23/20) Talia Lavin is every skinhead’s worst nightmare—a loud, unapologetic Jewish woman, acerbic, smart and profoundly antiracist, with the investigative chops to expose the tactics and ideologies of online hatemongers. For her new book Culture Warlords: My Journey Into the Dark Web of White Supremacy, Talia created fake online profiles and a racist persona to investigate how hate speech is spread online. Join us for a journey through some of the most disturbing parts of the Internet in this installment of Leonard Lopate at Large on WBAI.

Pete speaks to journalist Talia Lavin about her new book Culture Warlords: My Journey Into the Dark Web of White Supremacy. This is a preview of an episode available in full to our $5 Patreon subscribers. To listen to the whole episode, as well as lots of other brilliant bonus episodes, please consider becoming one of our subscribers at www.patreon.com/CurrentAffairs!

Featuring special guest, thebeespatellaTopics:Supernatural season 15bThat Episode (aka 15x18, "Despair")Destiel, is it canon? What is canon?Books We're Reading:Leave the World Behind by Rumaan AlamHow to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy by Jenny OdellThe Gentrification of the Mind: Witness to a Lost Imagination by Sarah SchulmanCulture Warlords by Talia Lavin

Talia Lavin went undercover in white supremacist online communities, creating fake personas that would gain her access to the dark reaches of the internet normally off-limits to her, a Jewish woman. That research laid the groundwork for her book, Culture Warlords: My Journey Into the Dark Web of White Supremacy. Lavin talks to Sam about what it was like to infiltrate those online spaces, what she learned, and how white supremacy cannot exist without anti-Semitism.

You know, if you haven't heard, in the last few years there's been a lot of discussion around America's problems with systemic white supremacism and well, white nationalists. Everybody remembers that day in Charlottesville and the problems with the far-right we've seen since. Especially during this 2020 election season. In her new book Culture Warlords, journalist Talia Lavin goes undercover to expose the underworld of online fascists, Nazis, and Trump trolls alike. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

You know, if you haven’t heard, in the last few years there’s been a lot of discussion around America’s problems with systemic white supremacism and well, white nationalists. Everybody remembers that day in Charlottesville and the problems with the far-right we’ve seen since. Especially during this 2020 election season. In her new book Culture Warlords, journalist Talia Lavin goes undercover to expose the underworld of online fascists, Nazis, and Trump trolls alike. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Jewish American writer Talia Lavin went incognito to expose radical white supremacists and other far right hate agitators online.

This episode, we are joined by special guest Talia Lavin to talk about her excellent new book Culture Warlords. Content Warning. Talia's Twitter: @chick_in_kiev Culture Warlords: https://www.hachettebooks.com/titles/talia-lavin/culture-warlords/9780306846434/

Journalist Talia Lavin has written for The New Yorker, New Republic, and the Village Voice. Her new book Culture Warlords takes a deep dive into the online world of white supremacists. She talks with Heath about what made her want to explore this movement, what she learned lurking and sometimes participating in far right forums, and why she thinks it's important for all of us to take action against racism, antisemitism, and misogyny.

This week we spoke to Talia Lavin, the author of Culture Warlords, about her experience infiltrating the murky world of online extremism.

Today we talk with Talia Lavin about how she began investigating online hate groups, and what she learned. Talia's Book: https://bookshop.org/books/culture-warlords-my-journey-into-the-dark-web-of-white-supremacy/9780306846434 Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

Journalist Talia Lavin joins us to discuss her research on the alt right, q-anon, and why boomers think there are underground child sacrifice sex tunnels everywhere. We also talk HP Lovecraft, the Michigan militia who tried to kidnap their governor, and Trump. TALIA LAVIN @Chick_in_Kiev Patreon.com/TaliaLavin SATANIC PANIC Q ANON PIECE: https://newrepublic.com/article/159529/qanon-blood-libel-satanic-panic BOOK: https://www.hachettebooks.com/titles/talia-lavin/culture-warlords/9780306846434/?utm_expid=.OyywKgKNQfKo0ZgN1WBZtg.0&utm_referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2F MUSIC JAKE HART - Go Away IG: JakeHartEatsBrains DEAD OIL - Drip https://dead-oil.bandcamp.com/releases MERCH (SHIRTS, BANDANAS, POSTERS) PodDamnAmerica.BigCartel.Com PATREON FOR BONUS EPISODES Patreon.com/PodDamnAmerica @PodDamnAmerica @feraljokes @ptakjokes @andersleehere LISTEN TO ALEX'S THIRD PODCAST AND ALSO WHY YOU MAD AND WATCH REDACTED TONIGHT OK BYE

Ken Klippenstein joins Jordan and Rob the Blob to talk about our President’s impressive breathing, the beautiful (perfect?) return home from Walter Reed and more Trumpworld Coronavirus news. Ken also breaks in mid-conversation with an update about Stephen Miller.We also talk about Ken’s recent reporting in the Nation about how ICE is charting a new course for agency voice and ideology, its attacks on Talia Lavin and the FBI’s warnings of right wing extremism.You can follow Ken HERE.You can leave us a voicemail at: 202-570-4639. Or drop us a line at theinsurgentspod@gmail.com.You can also listen to the Insurgents on iTunes HERE.On Spotify HERE.On Google Podcasts HERE.If you’d like to become a premium subscriber and gain access to our private Discord server as well as the to-come premium episodes, you can do so here: This is a public episode. Get access to private episodes at theinsurgents.substack.com/subscribe

Today Kate and Julia talk to Talia Lavin, author of the book Culture Warlords, out October 13th. Show notes: Find Talia's book here: https://www.hachettebooks.com/titles/talia-lavin/culture-warlords/9780306846434/ Read her latest piece on QAnon for The New Republic: https://newrepublic.com/article/159529/qanon-blood-libel-satanic-panic Follow Talia on Twitter @chick_in_kiev Julia and Kate can be found at @OhJuliaTweets and @KateWillett Hosts: Kate Willett and Julia Claire Producer: Genevieve Gearity Theme Song: Emily Frembgen and Kate Willett Artwork: Adrienne Lobl

In 2020, Christians in England are rededicating their country as the "Dowry of Mary," an event that hasn’t happened since 1381 under King Richard ll. Monsignor John Armitage says reinstating this medieval tradition is an act of joy for the 21st century. Plus journalist Talia Lavin is a supporter of Bernie Sanders for many reasons, including the fact that he reminds her of a zaydie - the Yiddish term for grandfather. Lavin reflects on what it would mean to have a Jewish president and wonders if America is ready.

Talia Lavin and David Roth discuss Chapter 1 of Moby-Dick, "Loomings." We also discuss the weird life of Herman Melville, how we fell in love with this book, and introduce the podcast. Theme song by Noam Hassenfeld.

Today on XRAY In The Morning: (1)News With Friends with Emily Gilliland and Karol Collymore (2)Oh My Dollar! (3)Monthly interview with Dave Adamshick from Kitchen Table Magazine (4)Interview with Talia Lavin, writer for GQ

Strung out from another insane day of impeachment hearings, we sat down with author, comedian and friend of the pod Lindsay Goldwert to get to the bottom of the real issues plaguing the American people: what happened to lounge singer-turned State Department official Mina Chang? Why are 30-50 feral hogs terrorizing Italy? How can it be that the entire state of South Dakota is on meth? Who is paying $1,000 a month for access to a dating app? Also on the docket: there’s more evidence that Rudy Giuliani might not be so great at tech. Finally, we talk to Lindsay about her forthcoming book, “Bow Down: Lessons from Dominatrixes on How to Get Everything You Want.”    HEAR US ON ITUNES https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/this-week-in-nope/ OVERCAST https://overcast.fm/itunes1312654524/this-week-in-nope  SPOTIFY https://open.spotify.com/show/07WFZhd5bgY1l1BspArfRJ STITCHER https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/this-week-in-nope SOUNDCLOUD https://soundcloud.com/user-518735966/tracks POCKET CASTS https://pca.st/SrJY  RADIO PUBLIC https://radiopublic.com/this-week-in-nope-GAOx3N    In this week’s episode:  Here’s the latest on the Mina Chang scandal. South Dakota spent nearly $500,000 on a campaign celebrating the idea that everyone there is on meth.  Read Rudy Giuliani’s text messages with journalist Talia Lavin.    Big #YUPs to… Lindsay Goldwert, podcaster-comedian-personal finance expert and author of the forthcoming book “Bow Down: Lessons from Dominatrixes on How to Get Everything You Want.” Pre-order it here. Follow Lindsay on Twitter here.  A restaurant in Reykjavik called Dill. Make a reservation now! The Democrats’ impeachment lawyer, Dan Goldman, who is bringing the BDE every day.  

This week, writer Talia Lavin joins me to continue our targeted harassment campaign of Dan Crenshaw, discuss the conservative victimization industrial complex, commiserate about our experiences in the eye of the right wing outrage hurricane, go over some of the conspiracy theories that emerged the moment images of the burning Notre Dame cathedral hit social media, and much more. Support the show on Patreon: http://www.patreon.com/49thParahell

Writer Talia Lavin (aka @chick_in_kiev) joins DOOMED with Matt Binder to discuss the latest right wing harassment campaign: Learn to Code. We discuss how "learn to code" became a right wing harassment campaign targetting laid off journalists, how #GamerGate was ground zero for so much of this, the "actually, it's about ethics in gaming journalism" gaslighting, Tucker Carlson's bizarre coverage of this on his show, and more! Plus we listen to a #LearnToCode clip from Red Elephants' Vincent James on YouTube and the antisemitic twist to the harassment. Also, Matt lays down the hypocrisy over the uproar about Bernie Sanders' state of the union response. And don't miss the patron only half of the show with your questions, comments, and more!

Episode 42 of sh!tpost examines Ben Shapiro's comments about killing baby Hitler, a viral video showing MAGA teens mocking a native american demonstrator, and that Gillette ad. Talia Lavin joins us to talk about channeling rage for political action and justice.Show Talia some love: twitter.com/chick_in_kievJoin the discussion at Discord: discord.gg/zWzUBbeThe call-in voicemail inbox is (202) 630-0580Patreon: patreon.com/shtpostpodcast Get on the email list at shtpost.substack.com

Guest Talia Lavin joins Julian, Jake & Travis for the interview part of this episode on the Rothschild family — which QAnon people tend to blame for a lot of things. As usual, we provide you the conspiracy theory and then jump into some historical facts. Then Talia explains why she read volume 1 of the Henry Ford published "International Jew" series and how Jewish exceptionalism can be packaged with anti-semitism. Oh and we try to start a conspiracy theory about the Presbyterians, decode awful incel tinder pickup lines, and slap Jake a couple of times.

Operation Mockingbird, CIA control of the media, and the anti-semitism beneath it all — we unwrap the QAnon beliefs surrounding the media. We then dive into the actual history of the CIA and the media, and find very surprising evidence — something about a "Wurlitzer". We then tackle the "Jewish control of the media" conspiracy theory and the roots of the anti-semitic "Protocols of the Elders of Zion" pamphlet. This leads us into wealthy industrialist Henry Ford's love of anti-semitism and a quick dip into some American and international companies that played ball with the Nazis. This episode was supposed to feature Talia Lavin, but we had technical issues and lost that part of the recording. Don't worry! She'll be on an episode soon! It also mean the episode is slightly shorter than usual. Again, apologies for that! We hope you enjoy it nonetheless.

Talia Lavin drops by the podcast to discuss how incels are not merely awkward guys who have trouble talking to women — but an actual hate group. Women's bodies are discussed in some detail, shocking Warax's Puritan sensibilities. Then there is a bit about getting shot in the face — because what Warax and Natasha podcast be complete without some discussion of violence?

An Activist Journalist with the New Yorker falsely accused a wounded marine veteran of having an iron cross tattoo. This led to a wave of attacks on social media and ultimately ICE, where the man now works, had to issue a statement demanding an apology. The woman, Talia Lavin, made her twitter private following the incident and the New Yorker apologized for the error. This woman is employed as a FACT CHECKER at the New Yorker and she couldn't even fact check the tweet before sending it out and causing real harm to an innocent man. SUPPORT JOURNALISM. Become a patron at http://www.patreon.com/TimcastSupport the show (http://timcast.com/donate)

Oleg Deripaska certainly has more Ivan Drago then Apollo Creed in him. This week we are joined by Talia Lavin. Learn about Oleg’s many oligarch activities, his role in the Russian aluminium wars and the 2016 US elections. Enjoy it!

Here's part two of the episode about the Manosphere. If you haven't listened to part one, you can find that here https://soundcloud.com/politeconversations/episode-44-misogyny-the-manosphere-part-1 Some other relevant links to what was discussed: Trump and rape/sexual misconduct allegations https://www.npr.org/2016/10/13/497799354/a-list-of-donald-trumps-accusers-of-inappropriate-sexual-conduct On Trump being sued for racist leasing practices https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/features/trumps-long-history-of-racism-w497876 Roosh V on Dr. Oz https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=siVCxIXsZWI Village Voice article I mentioned by Talia Lavin: https://www.villagevoice.com/2018/05/03/the-harpy-someone-please-tell-the-times-that-incels-are-terrorists/ ---- If you enjoy the show please consider supporting. Without listeners like you this isn't possible https://www.patreon.com/nicemangos

This episode (part 1 of 2) I have Manosphere expert Kevin Logan @KFLogan and former MRA/MGTOW David Sherratt @4lternate_facts joining me to shed some light on what the ‘Manosphere' is & how it intersects with the alt right and racism. We discuss various extremist elements within & how they branch out to have a ‘more respectable face', and we also break down the terminology in relation to the recent Toronto attack. Quick reference for anyone who isn’t so familiar with that scene: MRA = Men’s Rights Activist MGTOW = Men Going Their Own Way PUA = Pick up Artistry Please forgive the audio being crackly in the first 3 mins after the episode begins. That was quickly resolved and the audio is fine after that. Here are some of the links mentioned: Kevin Logan's Descent of Manopshere series can be found here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RhwbfYa2xRk&list=PLsCEXiXqx9ihM_rmHKKfrVbCdCdO2nBiC Village Voice article I mention by Talia Lavin: https://www.villagevoice.com/2018/05/03/the-harpy-someone-please-tell-the-times-that-incels-are-terrorists/ Karen Straughan on Breivik : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lz3YxFbrwsY If you enjoy the show please consider supporting via Patreon.com/nicemangos - without listeners like you, this isn't possible. You can also support the show by leaving an iTunes Review https://itunes.apple.com/ca/podcast/polite-conversations/id1086199663?mt=2

The hilarious, smart, and talented Talia Lavin (The New Yorker, Village Voice, Jewish Daily Forward) joins us to dyke out about the everyday rage fire that is misogyny, specifically, how it plays into politics and how different parties deal with it. Talia drops some knowledge about fearless Stormy Daniels and her MMA fighter– er, lawyer, and she shares her thoughts on why it’s important to hold people accountable for misogynistic and abusive behavior. We also salivate over the movie Disobedience, praise Lena Waithe’s wardrobe choices, and Talia tells us about a sex toy that has her seeing sparks.Keep the podcast a-lez and gay by donating to our Patreon, where you can get some sapphic swag.For related content, follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Leave Us a Review if you like what you hear!Check out Sudio, our sponsor for this episode. Use the code DYKE for 15% your purchase.

This week on The 451, your hosts record their show at 7:30 am, and aren't trying to brag or anything, but check out how coherent they are! Our discussion centers around unlikely pockets of resistance, cabinet nominees and Supreme Court concessions, the Muslim ban, and what it means to be an Amercian. And Summer talks with fact checker Talia Lavin, who gives a good crash course on media -- and information -- literacy.

Shelly and I almost come to blows over which stories we tell in what order.  This week, we geek out of the Star Wars toys we picked up, Talia Lavin, the Jeopardy contestant who used Turd Ferguson in her final Jeopardy question, and a heated discussion over which muppets appeared in Sesame Street versus which ones didn’t.   Be sure to check out KFTW 97.5 - The Pirate, the first ever Fort Worth radio station solely devoted to local music! Leave us a voicemail at (682) 325-1696 and catch all of our episodes on robotunerpodcast.com Join us live every Sunday on Mixlr at 7:00PM Central U.S. Time and stalk us on Facebook! Check out all the other ‘casts I support! The Jerry Jonestown Massacre Funkytown Podcast Digital Frustrations Trade Paper Hacks The Intoxicated Gamer Primal Vision Podcast Epic Podquest Raise a Glass Podcast Send us all your hate and criticism to fujiwah@gmail.com