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Episode 149: Twinks May 16, 2018

Show notes

Did the wrong Democrats win some of Tuesday's primaries in Nebraska, Idaho, and Pennsylvania? The Washington Post suggests yes, but Rich Smith isn't having it and Eli Sanders and Katie Herzog hear him out. Then: Are liberals dumb to call Trump voters stupid? A big argument over an argument that won't stop until at least 2020. Finally, twinks. According to The New York Times, we have just recently entered "The Age of the Twink." Not everyone agrees, including Chase Burns, self-described "lead twink" at The Stranger. There is a lot to consider here, including whether "straight twinks" are a welcome answer to the "crisis in masculinity." Plus, as always, the music of Ahamefule J. Oluo!

Episode 148: "Like a Mother" May 09, 2018

Show notes

We just went through another big round of pre-midterm primaries, and Dan Savage, Eli Sanders, and Rich Smith talk about what the results mean. In West Virginia, a convicted criminal coal baron failed to make it through the Republican Senate primary, which… is a good thing? In Ohio, Dennis Kucinich lost in the Democratic gubernatorial primary to a wonk who used to run the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which… means the fever is breaking and voters are back to wanting effective moderates? (Or does it actually mean the fever is still spiking and voters now really, really hate anyone who, like Kucinich, has "Congressman" connected to their name?) After all that, Katie Herzog joins in to talk about Melania Trump's "Be Best" campaign and a grim story from New York: the downfall of Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, who's been a prominent foe of accused sexual predators like Harvey Weinstein but is now himself accused of violence against women. Schneiderman resigned this week, but says he didn't assault anyone and was just "role playing." What do we make of this statement? Finally, with Mother's Day upon us Angela Garbes reads from her new book, "Like a Mother: A Feminist Journey Through the Science and Culture of Pregnancy." Plus, as always, the music of Ahamefule J. Oluo!

Episode 147: Recipe for Midterm Victory May 02, 2018

Show notes

Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal is back on the show this week with her recipe for Democratic success in the upcoming midterm elections. She also answers Rich Smith's burning questions about whether the national Democratic Party is interfering too much in local primary races. But before all that, Dan Savage, Katie Herzog, and Eli Sanders trip through another crazy week—including the "raid" on Trump's old doctor, Trump's Nobel nomination, and Mueller's long list of questions for the president. They also tackle Michelle Wolf's "controversial" comedy set at the White House Correspondents Dinner and an important, hard-to-answer question: What do we do with the #MeToo-felled men who now want to make a comeback? And after Jayapal's take on the midterms, Katie Herzog encourages listeners to check out the new Rachel Dolezal documentary, The Rachel Divide, which was recently released on Netxflix. There's more to it than you might imagine. Plus a Rich Smith reading of a Lucille Clifton poem and, as always, the music of Ahamefule J. Oluo

Episode 146: Putting the "Crisis" in Masculinity Apr 25, 2018

Show notes

The Democrat didn't win in Arizona's 8th Congressional district this week, but the results of that race were still very, very encouraging. Dan Savage, Eli Sanders, and Rich Smith talk about why this particular loss is actually a kind of win, and then they examine a new, shade-throwing slogan that Democrats are considering for the midterms. The Republicans, this slogan goes, are the party of "corruption, cronyism, and incompetence." Who could argue with that one? But, also: Will it work? After that, will anything work when it comes to the staggering number of Americans who just don't vote? Katie Herzog joins Dan and Eli to look at the results of a new poll that asked this country's nonvoters what the hell they're thinking. The answers are a trip, but they also represent an opportunity for the right politician. (Who, the poll reveals, is a certain lovable lefty authoritarian.) Finally, Rich returns to deal with the pressing issue of Professor Jordan Peterson, the Canadian psychologist whose hot take on the so-called crisis in masculinity has transformed him into "maybe the most influential public intellectual in the Western world right now." Is there anything Peterson is actually right about? Why did he perform so well in his epic face-off with Channel 4's Cathy Newman? (Which now has more than 9 million views on YouTube.) And why, exactly, do so many young men worship this dude? Plus, as always, the music of Ahaemfule J. Oluo!

Episode 145: Comey, Comey, Comey Apr 18, 2018

Show notes

Eli Sanders, Rich Smith, and Katie Herzog try to process all their feelings about James Comey. Because, you know, it's complicated. Yes, it's nice to see Comey speaking truth to Trump power. But, also, Comey kinda cost Hillary Clinton the election. And no, it's not yet time to get over that one. After that, a Congressional race you should be watching in Arizona and an issue that's not getting enough attention: the shuttering on Backpage.com. Katie explains why the disappearance of Backpage is bad for sex worker safety, explores the dilemma of how best to combat human trafficking online, and explains what Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act has to do with all this. Finally, Tax Day has come and gone but a recent column from Sarah Vowell is still with us. Pointing to Henry David Thoreau—who went to jail rather than pay taxes in support of a government that embraced slavery and made war on Mexico—Vowell suggests we all think about where we draw the line. So Eli, Rich, and Katie (not the biggest contributors to the US Treasury, but definitely contributors!) talk about that one. Plus, as always, the music of Ahaemfule J. Oluo!

Episode 144: Buh Bye, Paul Ryan Apr 11, 2018

Show notes

Paul Ryan is leaving Congress, President Trump says missiles will soon be headed toward Syria, and the FBI just raided the office of Trump attorney Michael Cohen. Quite a lot to talk about this week, and Rich Smith, Katie Herzog, and Eli Sanders dive right in with a list of new lows that Ryan sunk to this year before bailing out. After that, Chase Burns is back to pore over Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg's testimony before Congress this week. How'd Zuck do? For that matter, how did our esteemed, and often elderly members of Congress do investigating social media? Will any of this make Facebook cool again? Finally, three things we're loving this week. Chase talks about why The Queen of Versailles is still a must-watch (or re-watch) for this moment. Rich says you need to see the serious-podcast-mocking American Vandal. And Katie talks up the disturbing glories of Mommy Dead and Dearest. Plus, as always, the music of Ahamefule J. Oluo!

Episode 143: Reconsidering Roseanne Apr 04, 2018

Show notes

First, an election result from Wisconsin that you need to hear about: Rebecca Dallet, the candidate backed by Democrats, just won a way-down-ballot race for state supreme court—by 11 points! Republicans like Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker are freaking out about the "blue wave" that's coming to that state, which Trump narrowly won in 2016, and Dan Savage, Rich Smith, and Eli Sanders are here to talk about why that's just great. (And what you can do to make the coming blue wave even greater.) After that, Trump's fact-free rage about migrant caravans. The president says he's now sending the US military to guard the border with Mexico. Okay… But really, what does one even do with bluster this incoherent? Then, Katie Herzog talks about Sinclair Broadcast Group (aka "Trump TV") and the Orwellian video that's been going around of Sinclair anchors at local TV stations around the country all reading from the same "fake news" script. What to do? Boycott Sinclair? Encourage its reporters to quit en masse? Vote for people who will actually regulate Sinclair's use of the public airways? Katie, Dan, and Eli discuss. Finally, the Roseanne re-boot, reconsidered. Last week Katie, Dan, and Eli all had mostly positive things to say about the show. (Although a full 2/3 of them hadn't even watched the re-boot yet!) This week, we hear a dramatic reading of comments from our Blabbermouth Podcast Facebook group arguing about whether or not people should watch Roseanne, given how "problematic" she is. Then Katie, Dan, and Eli talk about Roxanne Gay's great column on all this in The New York Times. They also answer the question: "Will you keep watching?" Plus, as always, the music of Ahamefule J. Oluo!

Episode 142: Our Data, Ourselves Mar 28, 2018

Show notes

"Bulletproof, slow, and full of wine" is how The New York Times describes a very special train that Kim Jong Un likes to ride around in, and Dan Savage, Rich Smith, and Eli Sanders all admit—it sounds kinda nice. But more importantly: there's the Stormy Daniels interview on 60 Minutes to discuss, the new US Census citizenship requirement to freak out about, and a very important question to ponder: Should we just flat-out repeal the Second Amendment? A former US Supreme Court Justice says we should, but is his argument just a gift to Trump and the frothing, paranoid right ahead of the midterms? After all that, Chase Burns is back to discuss what we all found when we downloaded our own Facebook data. When was the last time Eli got "poked"? What debt-related ad did Rich get caught clicking on? Whose contact information was given to PediaSure? And how do we feel about all this??? All is revealed. (Along with an update on the latest Facebook data scandal developments.) Finally, Katie Herzog watched this week's insanely popular reboot of Roseanne and also spent a very long time with Oregon cult members while watching Netflix's Wild, Wild Country. She tells Dan and Eli all about it. Plus, as always, the music of Ahamefule J. Oluo!

Episode 141: Revenge Porn, Facebook Storm Mar 21, 2018

Show notes

So, wait a minute: If Stormy Daniels wins her fight against Trump's lawyers, and she releases Trump sexts and (gasp) dick pics to the world, does that constitute… revenge porn? Dan Savage, Rich Smith, and Eli Sanders consider this urgent question, and then they dive into the lessons of the recent primary elections in Illinois and hear from a pro-life Democrat in Pennsylvania who wants to be accepted by the party's pro-choice members. Plus, Rich Smith asks: Why, amid all the many Trump outrages, are we not more outraged by the Trump administration's flagrant corruption? After that, social media expert Chase Burns is back to help Dan and Eli think about the scandal involving Facebook data and the Trump campaign's data firm, Cambridge Analytica. Should we #DeleteFacebook? Finally, Katie Herzog addresses the furor over her rant on last week's show about Emotional Support Animals in general, and dogs on planes in particular. Katie reads an excerpt from one of many comments posted in our Blabbermouth Podcast Facebook group about this incendiary issue, and Dan—shockingly—doesn't hold back about his dog feelings. Plus, what Rich is watching, what Dan is reading, and why Eli will be at his local March for Our Lives on Saturday, March 24—and why you should be, too. And, as always, the music of Ahamefule J. Oluo!

Episode 140: Students in the Streets Mar 14, 2018

Show notes

Conor Lamb, a super-moderate Democrat, appears to have won a previously safe Republican House seat in Pennsylvania by just a few hundred votes. Dan Savage, Rich Smith, and Eli Sanders wade into this big political news and talk about whether Lamb—who's not at all what you'd call "progressive"—is actually the kind of candidate Democrats need in order to win control of Congress. After that, high school student Scout Smissen explains why she helped organize one of this week's impressive student walkouts against gun violence, and then Dan, Rich, and Eli review how few policy changes have actually been enacted since the recent Florida high school shooting (and how long this problem has been going on without Congress passing serious, common sense gun safety laws). Finally, at the urging of a Blabbermouth listener, Rich and Eli talk about the Netflix series Flint Town, and then Katie Herzog, turning toward a very different cultural phenomenon, talks about the plague of "emotional support animals." Plus, as always, the music of Ahamefule J. Oluo! This episode is brought to you by Boll and Branch: Luxury, affordable sheets. Get $50 OFF YOUR FIRST SET OF SHEETS at BollandBranch.com, promo code BLABBERMOUTH.

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