This week Meghan welcomes back journalist Jamie Kirchick. Jamie was on The Unspeakable last fall with Mike Pesca and Virginia Heffernan, his co-hosts on the political analysis podcast Not Even Mad, which is currently on hiatus. Now, he’s here for a very different reason. On February 4, Jamie published an extraordinarily long and quite remarkable–even shocking– article about the case of the film actor Armie Hammer, whose reputation was annihilated in early 2021 when he was accused by a series of women of physical and sexual violence and even cannibalism. Though investigations have so far turned up nothing along these lines, the court of public opinion has held firm in its rebuke of Hammer and there’s been little incentive in Hollywood or the news media to take an honest look at the facts. But Jamie’s article may be a significant turning point and he came on the podcast to recap the story, talk about what it was like to report it, and reflect on the various cultural dynamics that allowed things to play out as they did. Jamie is a columnist for Tablet Magazine and a writer for the digital news and culture site Air Mail, where his story, Armie Hammer Breaks His Silence, was published.

 

Jamie stuck around for some bonus chat about Meghan’s favorite question; how he feels about being the age he is (spoiler: 39). That led to other topics; for instance how he feels about being gay amidst a so-called “queer” revolution and how, as an elder millennial, he feels about Gen Z. To hear that portion, go to meghandaudm.substack.com and become a paying subscriber.

 

Guest Bio:

Jamie Kirchick is a columnist for Tablet magazine, a writer-at-large for Air Mail and the author of the bestseller Secret City: The Hidden History of Gay Washington.