Call It Like I See It

Excerpt from the episode "Why a Political System Goes from Order to Disorder, and the Reason 'the Why' Matters."  In that episode, James Keys and Tunde Ogunlana considered whether what feels like rising disorder America’s political and legal system is actually the result of entropy, as understood in a physics sense, and discussed what this means for people who value things like representative government and rule of law.

https://impartialspectator.substack.com/p/the-entropy-of-power

#politicalanalysis #disorder #authoritarianism #podcast #entropy #podcastclips

James Keys and Tunde Ogunlana discuss at the controversy in the WNBA surrounding the idea of transgender participation that has followed statements by Sophie Cunningham suggesting that transgender girls should be banned from women’s sports and consider why this issue can so reliably get people fired up and how, because of this, it may be being used opportunistically by many actors to raise their profile or as a distraction from other news stories.

Lynx hold off Fever 108-100, rallies surround game after Sophie Cunningham's stance on transgender athletes (MPR News)

WNBA condemns ‘bad-faith’ efforts to fuel transgender player debate (The Guardian)

WNBPA denounces 'demonization' of groups amid debate around transgender athletes, says 'we will not be used as political pawns' (Yahoo! Sports)

WNBA says fans should have been free to wear shirts with messaging about transgender issue (Local 10)

James Talarico tells Rachel Maddow how bigoted, anti-trans politics distract from GOP corruption (Advocate)

"Mostly big black gay ladies and a few scared-looking Sophie Cunninghams" - Joe Rogan calls out NBA-WNBA sexuality double standard (Yahoo! Sports)

James Keys and Tunde Ogunlana consider whether what feels like rising disorder America’s political and legal system is actually the result of entropy, as understood in a physics sense, and discuss what this means for people who value things like representative government and rule of law.  The guys then react to a recent article that argues that a rise in self-imposed perfectionism that may be tied to societal trends is making kids more anxious, as opposed to just increased screentime as may currently believe.

The Entropy of Power (Impartial Spectator Substack)

We’ve been blaming screens for anxious kids. A new study points to a completely different culprit (Fast Company)

James Keys and Tunde Ogunlana take a look at the online backlash to Christopher Nolan’s “The Odyssey” over its inclusion of black characters and consider the extent to which it is driven by people are trying to “own the past” in the Orwellian sense, people who are just ignorant as far as the history of the Mediterranean, or just general malcontents.  The guys then discuss the recent move by Tuskegee University, one of the top HBCUs in the country, to ban their students from wearing bonnets and durags to class and in the cafeteria and whether this kind of move is justified or a sneak attack on Black culture.

Critics Rave About ‘The Odyssey’—And Slam Elon Musk’s Anti-Woke Campaign (Forbes)

Go woke, get rich: why rightwing hate campaigns don’t affect the box office (The Guardian)

The Fear of Black Greeks (The Atlantic)

‘The Odyssey’ Is Officially One of the Biggest R-Rated Movies in Box Office History (Collider)

No bonnets, du-rags or bedroom shoes: Tuskegee University updates student rules for fall (WSFA)

Tuskegee University’s New Dress Code: Bans Bonnets, Durags on Campus (The Source)

James Keys and Tunde Ogunlana discuss Mark Galeotti’s “Homo Criminalis - How crime organises the world,” the 2025 book that takes a look at the many forms organized crime has taken in societies throughout history, including how an argument can be made that the state itself is one of those forms.  The guys then look at how much of what we see in modern times further illustrate the blurry lines between the overworld and the underworld.

Homo Criminalis: How Crime Organises the World (Amazon)

James Keys and Tunde Ogunlana discuss the recent article by Rose Horowitch of The Atlantic entitled “The End of Reading is Here,” including how widespread reading shaped and sharpened minds of people, and of society as a result, over the past few hundred years, why people today are reading for information or entertainment so much less, and how societies may fundamentally change as people read less and less over time.

The End of Reading Is Here (The Atlantic)

James Keys and Tunde Ogunlana discuss the video “How Amsterdam Invented Capitalism” and consider how what took place in Amsterdam actually exposes some of the inherent contradictions between how capitalism is perceived versus how it is practiced.  The guys then discuss how capitalism and other economic systems evolve over time even if the perception of them remains fairly static.

How Amsterdam Invented Capitalism (YouTube)

James Keys and Tunde Ogunlana react to the revelation that President Trump made over $2 billion in in his first year back in office and discuss whether the free pass many Trump supporters give him with his obvious self-dealing is a result of Trump giving them “somebody to look down on.”  The guys then take a look at the recently released autopsy report of the 2024 election from the Democratic party and consider whether the apparently widening disconnect between the Democratic party leadership and its base may be setting them up to fail, or at least underperform, in the upcoming midterm elections.

As Trump reports $2.2 billion in 2025 income, ethics experts raise alarms (LA Times)

Trump's $2B income in 2025 raises fresh questions about profiting off presidency (PBS)

Does Trump Worry About Conflicts of Interest? ‘I Found Out That Nobody Cared.’ (NY Times)

Lyndon B. Johnson Quotes (Goodreads)

Takeaways from the Democratic National Committee’s long-awaited autopsy report on 2024 election (AP News)

Building the middle class may be a ‘defining goal’ under a Harris presidency — how that may shape a key tax credit (CNBC)

James Keys and Tunde Ogunlana react to some recent research from Emma Harrington and Natalia Emanuel that suggests that in some scenarios, there are some very real social and psychological costs with working from home.  The guys then discuss what at least feels like a drastic uptick in spam calls offering loans of various sorts, and consider how close we are to spam making phones essentially unusable for incoming calls.

We Liked Remote Work. Then We Looked at the Data. (NY Times)

Remote work is making Americans lonelier and sadder, new study suggests (Scientific American)

Ignore unexpected calls about loans you didn’t apply for (FTC.gov)

Class-Action Suit Targets Liberty Financial Over Unsolicited Robocall Loan Offers (RIS Media)

Americans are getting 2.5 billion robocalls a month — the highest level in years (CBS News)

Scam Messages Are Everywhere. CNET Survey Finds 96% of Americans Are Targeted by Scammers Each Week (CNET)

Scam Calls Have Gotten Out of Control. This One Strategy Actually Helps (CNET)

James Keys and Tunde Ogunlana discuss the Jay-Z’s deal with Target to exclusively release the 30th anniversary edition of his first album Reasonable Doubt despite (or taking advantage of) efforts from black activists to maintain boycott against Target for its rollback of DEI initiatives.  The guys then consider how this illustrates a consequence of the “Splintering of Black America” Eugene Robinson talked about in his 2011 book “Disintegration.”

Jay-Z's Target Deal: A Career Built On Contradiction (Forbes)

Jay-Z Target Deal Proves He Always Shows Up When We Boycott (Baller Alert)

Disintegration: The Splintering of Black America (Bookshop.org)

'Disintegration' Of America's Black Neighborhoods (NPR)