Bad Takes

Latest Episodes:

Republicans’ real agenda Nov 09, 2022

Show notes

In the homestretch of the campaign, Sen. Rick Scott of Florida claimed he doesn’t know any Republicans who want to cut Medicare, Medicaid or Social Security. Matthew Yglesias and Laura McGann can name a few.

In fact, as much as the election has been a debate about inflation, abortion and democracy, none of those issues will be at the top of either party’s agenda at the start of the next Congress. Instead, House Republicans are planning to force President Joe Biden to make cuts to Medicare, Social Security and Medicaid. It would be risky to cut these popular programs on their own, but Democrats won’t agree to join them without a compromise, like raising taxes. So that leaves Republicans hoping to hold up a vote on the debt ceiling to force Biden’s hand.

Suggested Reads:

Scott: Republicans want to ‘preserve’ social security and Medicare benefits,NBC News [Scott’s ‘Meet the Press’ appearance]

Republicans, Eyeing Majority, Float Changes to Social Security and Medicare, Jim Tankersley, New York Times [background on GOP spending cut plans]

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For a transcript of an episode of Bad Takes, please email transcripts@grid.news

Pelosi attack is politics Nov 02, 2022

Show notes

The morning after Paul Pelosi was attacked, the New York Times relegated the story to the bottom corner of its front page, framing the incident as a banal crime rather than attempted assassination of the speaker of the House within two weeks of the midterm elections.

Matt and Laura call the decision to place the story so low and to frame it as they did a bad take. Holding it up as a proxy for media coverage, Matt and Laura agree that in ducking the straightforward political context, the media allowed the right to hijack the story and cast doubt on what happened.

Matt argues that to understand why Pelosi has become a villain of the right, you have to understand her legacy as an effective leader, but one who has bucked conventions around keeping power. Laura thinks you also have to understand sexism.

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For a transcript of an episode of Bad Takes, please email transcripts@grid.news

Suggested Reads:

Pelosi’s Husband Is Gravely Injured in Hammer Attack by an Intruder, Kellen Browning, Tim Arango, Luke Broadwater and Holly Secon, New York Times [the “bad take”]

“Pelosi,” Molly Ball [a Laura favorite]

Fetterman's stroke threatens Matt and Laura's friendship Oct 26, 2022

Show notes

After a stroke, Senate candidate John Fetterman of Pennsylvania needs captions to hold a conversation. Matthew Yglesias sees this as a neutral statement of fact and sympathizes with lefty Twitter for lashing out at how NBC promoted a recent interview with the Senate hopeful. Laura McGann disagrees. She wants opinion writers, like Matt, to be better — to stop insulting voters who have legitimate questions, like how a stroke affects the brain. Where the two agree is on why unorthodox candidates, like celebrity TV doctor Mehmet Oz, running against Fetterman in Pennsylvania, or Herschel Walker, a former football star running in Georgia, win in our polarized age.

Suggested reads:

Ian Millhiser tweet [the ‘bad take’]

Fetterman says his stroke recovery 'changes everything' but that he’s fit to serve as senator, Dasha Burns and Jonathan Allen, NBC News [the NBC interview in question]

Dr. Oz’s Scientific Experiments Killed Over 300 Dogs, Entire Litter of Puppies, Kylie Cheung, Jezebel

Kanye West — free speech martyr? Oct 19, 2022

Show notes

The right holds up Kanye West as a conservative folk hero, even calling his bid for social media platform Parler a “groundbreaking move into the free speech media space.” Hosts Matthew Yglesias and Laura McGann point out all the things conservatives are willing to overlook to have a Black celebrity on their side.

Plus: Laura wonders if this should be a political story at all, raising larger questions of how the media covers mental health.

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For a transcript of an episode of Bad Takes, please email transcripts@grid.news

Suggested reads:

Kanye West, aka Ye, is buying Parler. Is that a smart business move? What to know about the social media app., Christian Thorsberg and Alex Leeds Matthews, Grid

Kanye West to buy the conservative-friendly social site Parler, Bobby Allyn, NPR [Contains the free speech ‘bad take’ from Parler CEO]

Biology isn't a social construct Oct 12, 2022

Show notes

A scandal in chess has reignited an old argument that sports shouldn’t be segregated by gender – an idea lefty intellectuals think will solve the question about trans participation in sports. Matt stamps it as a bad take because it’s based on a falsehood, that women aren’t allowed to compete against men in chess – they are! The idea, Matt points out, requires a belief that biology is“a social construct.” Laura agrees it is bad take, but she sees it as more insidious. Intellectuals, she argues, are threatening the existence of women’s sports behind a sheen of progressivism. No elite woman athlete – cis or trans – is calling for the end of segregated sports. The question is who gets to play women’s sports, not whether they should exist.

Send us a bad take to review at badtakes@grid.news

For a transcript of an episode of Bad Takes, please email transcripts@grid.news

Suggested reads:

What Lia Thomas Could Mean for Women’s Elite Sports, Michael Powell, The New York Times

Separating Sports by Sex Doesn’t Make Sense, Maggie Mertens, The Atlantic

Transgender sports bans raise an awkward question: Why categorize healthcare and sports by sex at all?, Heath Fogg Davis, The Washington Post [Monkey Cage]

Ann Friedman’s writing: https://www.annfriedman.com/writing

Send us a bad take to review at badtakes@grid.news.

For a transcript of an episode of Bad Takes, please email transcripts@grid.news.

Covid hawks pick the wrong battle Oct 05, 2022

Show notes

This week, a Politico article from June resurfaced online. Disability activists wanted the Biden administration to publish information on how covid is spreading inside individual hospitals, but Matt and Laura aren’t convinced they chose the right battle. Matt loses his cool over his frustration with identity politics and covid policy.

Send us a bad take to review at badtakes@grid.news.

For a transcript of an episode of Bad Takes, please email transcripts@grid.news.

Sundance’s unwarranted apology Sep 30, 2022

Show notes

Who’s allowed to tell stories about the war on terror? That’s the question Matt and Laura explore this week after the Sundance Film Festival apologized for airing the documentary film “Jihad Rehab,” a film created by a white woman who documents the experiences of four former Guantanamo Bay inmates at a Saudi rehabilitation facility for extremists. Muslim filmmakers criticized the film for its portrayal of Muslim men through the lens of a white American woman.

Suggested reads:

Sundance Liked Her Documentary on Terrorism, Until Muslim Critics Didn’t, Michael Powell, the New York Times

After ‘Jihad Rehab’: Muslim American Filmmakers Tell Sundance How to Do Better in Open Letter, IndieWire

Letter from Abigail Disney on film Jihad Rehab

Send us a bad take to review at badtakes@grid.news.

For a transcript of an episode of Bad Takes, please email transcripts@grid.news.

Covid learning loss is real Sep 28, 2022

Show notes

New data showing historic learning losses during the pandemic prompts bad takes from both the right and the left — a conservative policy fellow says kids will catch up, while a teachers union head implies tests don’t matter. Matt and Laura argue that both of these positions make kids the situation’s losers who will just keep falling behind unless they make up lost time. Plus, they explore how the pandemic shook up ideological fault lines on education.

Suggested reads:

The Pandemic Erased Two Decades of Progress in Math and Reading, Sarah Mervosh, The New York Times

School Is for Wasting Time and Money, Bryan Caplan, The New York Times (a runner-up for this week’s ‘bad take’)

Students Are Learning Well Again. But Full Recovery? That’s a Long Way Off., Sarah Mervosh, The New York Times

How federal covid aid trickled down to Xavier’s classroom, Perry Stein, The Washington Post

Send us a bad take to review at badtakes@grid.news.

For a transcript of an episode of Bad Takes, please email transcripts@grid.news.

Ron DeSantis’ cunning migrant ploy Sep 23, 2022

Show notes

Gov. Ron DeSantis has found a way to make the immigration issue work for him by flying migrants to Martha’s Vineyard. Matt and Laura agree the stunt is a smart political move, but not “the best thing that’s happened to these migrants,” as the National Review’s Rich Lowry recently claimed. Matt and Laura discuss the competing political pressures of the border crisis. Laura argues Biden has found a more humane solution to the border, while Matt questions how much has changed since Trump left office.

Suggested reads:

Has Biden’s Top Diplomat in Mexico Gone Too Far, Officials Ask?, Natalie Kitroeff and Maria Abi-Habib, The New York Times

Send us a bad take to review at badtakes@grid.news.

For a transcript of an episode of Bad Takes, please email transcripts@grid.news.

Tucker Carlson’s case for the British Empire Sep 21, 2022

Show notes

Fox News host Tucker Carlson’s glowing review of Queen Elizabeth II’s legacy divides Matthew Yglesias and Laura McGann this week. Matt gives credence to some of Carlson’s points and makes the case that the British were comparatively “better” than other brutal imperialist powers. Laura points out that the British Empire was built on violence and slavery, and she questions Elizabeth’s record.

How the World Became Rich: The Historical Origins of Economic Growth, Mark Jared Rubin and Mark Koyama

Colonialism and Modern Income: Islands as Natural Experiments, James Feyrer and Bruce Sacerdote

Republic, U.K. movement to replace the monarchy with an elected head of state (note: this is what Matt is referencing when he calls Laura a ‘republican;’ it’s in opposition to monarchists not Democrats)

Send us a bad take to review at badtakes@grid.news.

For a transcript of an episode of Bad Takes, please email transcripts@grid.news.