Ambitious Crossover Attempt

Noam and Jen are back for 2025! While it feels like it has been a few months since we last recorded it has only been a few weeks, we can't help that the internet had no chill over the holidays.

We get back into the groove by discussing the current SCOTUS case that will decide if TikTok US will be allowed to continue after 1/19, the legal arguments on both sides of the case, the viability of China owning a social media platform that operates in the US, how far can 1st Amendment and national security arguments be stretched, ByteDance sacrificing TikTok US before they will sell, and what the potential blowback will be if TikTok goes bye-bye.

Relatedly, we discuss Mark Zuckerberg's big announcement about the changes coming to content moderation and internal operations at Meta, his newfound hero status in certain circles, playing the victim on Rogan, and why he's striking this tone now (hint - it's related to the TikTok case).

Lastly we discuss the wildfires currently burning in parts of Los Angeles, DEI water distribution, politicians who can't handle a crisis, how fires work, the importance of fixing immediate issues first, and how this is all the environmentalists' fault.

We will be back on Twitch, likely this week, discussing all of the TV we've been watching over the past few weeks. Click below to subscribe!

https://www.twitch.tv/ambitiousxover

Jen and Noam sit down one last time in 2024 to talk about how old people are just the worst. This past week gave us a Wall Street Journal piece detailing how Biden's term has been marked by good days and bad days, the disappearance of Congresswoman Kay Granger and how it was discovered that she has been in an assisted care facility since July, if Trump really cares that Elon stepped into Congressional doodoo, the apparent allure of living in the bad part of DC, the attack on a Christmas market in Magdeburg and how the motive doesn't make much sense to normies, and the rise of Terminally Online Rabbits.

We will be taking a few weeks off from streaming due to the holidays / vacation but we'll be back in 2025 with more random nonsense! In the meantime, be sure to subscribe to the Twitch channel.

https://www.twitch.tv/ambitiousxover

Noam and Jen try very hard to fit the past week into an hour and….we did pretty well! We discuss Luigi Mangione and how he is not qualified to make final decisions on anyone in the healthcare industry, Biden's mass pardon / commutation of prisoners on house arrest since COVID and how some non violent offender really do belong in prison, the silliness of prison abolitionists being mad that a guy who sent minors to prison for money is out free, what the actual is going on over at Bluesky, Assad officially being ousted in Syria and what comes next for the country, and the hysteria over "drones" in the night sky.

Check us out Thursday nights at 7:30pm EST on Twitch, we'll be back this week with talk about Arcane, Dan Da Dan, the Game Awards, game trailers, and who knows what else.

https://www.twitch.tv/ambitiousxover

Jen and Noam do their very best to tackle all of the important news stories from last week. We have everyone's favorite segment the Taylor Lorenz Minute where she has given us the concept of rawdogging air and a charming meme celebrating the murder of UHC's CEO Brian Thompson. From there we talk about the aforementioned murder of Thompson, the vile cheering on of his death due to his job title, how we don't even know why he was murdered, and how none of this is going to help fix the US healthcare system.

We also take a look at coups around the world, starting with the attempted coup in South Korea that Noam had forgotten about and catching up with the goings on in Syria and the end of the Assad regime.

Check us out Thursday nights at 7:30pm EST on Twitch.

https://www.twitch.tv/ambitiousxover

Noam and Jen go over the surprisingly successful offense that anti-Assad forces have mounted in Syria over the past few days, including their retaking of Aleppo (that's a city in Syria) and their unimpeded march toward Damascus. We discuss what this means as far as downstream effects of actions that Ukraine and Israel have taken, how Iran and Russia are in no position to help Assad, where is China going to land on all of this, the silliness of isolationism, and how the Axis of Upheaval is being rapidly upheaved.

We also spend some time discussing the Harris campaign post mortems (or lack thereof) currently happening, with the excuses being put forth by campaign heavyweights as to how mistakes were made but not by them. There is also a brief discussion of Rogan's decision to not host Zelensky when approached to do so and what the true meaning of audience capture is.

Check us out Thursday nights at 7:30pm EST on Twitch, we certainly have plenty to discuss on the TV front this week.

https://www.twitch.tv/ambitiousxover

Jen and Noam discuss Matt Gaetz withdrawing from the Attorney General nomination at Trump's request and what does it mean, the Ethics report and what could possibly be in it that is so bad that Gaetz gave up his political career to keep it from coming out, the exodus to Bluesky, how skeeting is working out for everyone, how to terraform Mars, and if Noam should DM Elon about radiation poisoning.

Check us out Thursday nights at 7:30pm EST on Twitch (not this Thusday though, it's Thanksgiving)

https://www.twitch.tv/ambitiousxover

Noam and Jen try to dissect Trump's bizarre Cabinet nominations, from the stupid to the desperate to the dangerous. We speculate on recess appointments, how everyone hates Matt Gaetz, who will actually make it through confirmation, if any Republican will actually go against Trump on his picks, and the weird hazing of RFK Jr.

At the end, we give a brief rundown of what we're watching, and Jen makes the most ambitious crossover joke ever.

Check us out Thursday nights at 7:30pm EST on Twitch.

https://www.twitch.tv/ambitiousxover

Jen and Noam discuss the only thing that happened this week - Donald Trump is officially going back to the White House. We don't try to unpack all of the things because nobody needs to get in all of their takes in the first week but we give initial thoughts on what the election does and does not mean, how we don't really have enough hard data to know the answer to that, jumping to conclusions based on confirmation bias, discussing policy vs vibes and emotions, what libertarian hell is, and the value of data driven arguments.

We also touch on the pogram in Amsterdam that took place over the weekend and how it ties in to fears both rational and irrational about immigration and assimilation.

Check us out Thursday nights at 7:30pm EST on Twitch.

https://www.twitch.tv/ambitiousxover

Noam and Jen spend this last episode before the election discussing the intricacies of the popular anime Neon Genesis: Evangelion, how its themes refer back to the Old Testament, and the value of subjugating one's personal desires to the greater good.

Nah, just kidding. They discuss the accusation leveled by Nate Silver and Nate Cohn that the 2024 general election polls are the victim of herding, which is the desire to not stand out from the crowd by publishing polling results that would be perceived as outliers to…well there are a lot of reasons they get into. They briefly discuss Trump's last week of campaigning and what the hell it means, from dump trucks to mic stands to Liz Cheney.

Stick around to the end of the pod for Noam's truly heterodox opinion about what electoral outcome would be best for America and whether he and Jen will attend the post-election pink keffiyeh protest.

Check us out Thursday nights at 7:30pm EST on Twitch.

https://www.twitch.tv/ambitiousxover

Jen and Noam discuss the decision made by…well not the employees of the Washington Post to not endorse a candidate this election cycle and their disagreements on the importance of it, their agreement that Israel's strike on Iran's long range missile and drone manufacturing plants is very important for both the situation in the Middle East and in Ukraine, whether Trump's chat with Rogan will be important and why, the importance of encouraging your supporters to go vote, and Noam recommends the film Strange Darling because it is important to enjoy entertainment that isn't politics.

Check us out Thursday nights at 7:30pm EST on Twitch.

https://www.twitch.tv/ambitiousxover