Champagne Sharks

This is a preview of two premium episodes we recently uploaded over at patreon.com/champagnesharks.  Both episodes, 118 and 119, are listener question episodes where we answer questions people pose to us. If you want to hear some of the questions we answer in these episodes, and also gain access to our archive of almost 60 premium episodes that you would not have heard before if you've only been listening to the free episodes, subscribe for only $5/month over at patreon.com/champagnesharks.

Episode 118 can be found here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/cs118-listener-q-21726614

Episode 119 can be found here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/cs119-listener-q-21728040

Remember that you don't need an Apple product to rate and review the show; just click here to create the AppleID needed to rate and review: https://appleid.apple.com/account#!&page=create. Then click here to review and rate the podcast in Itunes: itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/champ…d1242690393?mt=2.

Co-produced & edited by Aaron C. Schroeder / Pierced Ears Recording Co, Seattle WA ([email protected])

Opening theme composed by T. Beaulieu. Closing theme composed by Dustfingaz (https://www.youtube.com/user/TheRazhu_)

I recently put it up to a vote which Premium Bonus episode listeners would most like to see unlocked to free listeners, and our latest episode was the one most people voted for. So here it is.

In this episode, I take a concept created by author Mark Fisher, Capitalist Realism, and apply it to Black people to create a concept I call Black Pathology Realism, the idea that Black pathology and squalor is taken as such a given in society, by both Black and White people, that no one can truly even imagine a world where it doesn't exist, that it's just taken as the natural state of things. Something that can only be managed but not eliminated or cured. We discuss other things too, but we keep returning to that theme.

Discussed in this episode:

* Thread by Tariq Nasheed showing the now-deleted tweet by Sophia A. Nelson blaming Black men for Serena's recent tennis loss while praising White men https://twitter.com/tariqnasheed/status/1039016711855329280

* The book Capitalist Realism by Mark FIsher https://amzn.to/2QFNTaQ

* The Wikipedia entry for Capitalist Realism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capitalist_Realism:_Is_there_no_alternative%3F

* This link of Jake Tapper grilling Ocasio-Cortez on how she plans to pay for her radical socialist platform is interesting because of all the unapologetically proactive and socialist propositions she stands by in the course of a single interview. Think about how such things never happen in political interviews about the Black condition, which usually are just filled with empty platitudes and Civil Rights reminescing https://www.mediaite.com/tv/jake-tapper-grills-ocasio-cortez-over-how-to-pay-for-40-trillion-platform-guess-im-not-going-to-get-an-answer/

* Compare that to this Beto O'Rourke speech that was being praised by Black and White people alike for being so brave and progressive on race https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SGWmh-maevk

* Two breathlessly romantic pieces memorializing a recently deceased woman who lured Nazi men to their deaths via seduction and even killed a few by her own hand. Compare it to the narrow range of historical resistance Beto O'Rourke was allowing himself to praise in Bla

* ck people. From the Inquisitr: https://www.inquisitr.com/5063183/freddie-oversteegen-who-as-teenager-lured-nazis-into-a-forest-to-make-out-then-had-them-killed-dies-at-92/  From Washington Post: https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/freddie-oversteegen-dutch-resistance-fighter-who-killed-nazis-through-seduction-dies-at-92/2018/09/16/7876eade-b9b7-11e8-a8aa-860695e7f3fc_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.65fb9a70540e

Co-produced & edited by Aaron C. Schroeder / Pierced Ears Recording Co, Seattle WA (pierc...

We discuss Deray McKesson getting chased out of Ferguson at his own book signing event by an actual Ferguson organizer and protester, Michael Hassell, and how it backs up much of what we've said about Deray all along.

Mentioned in this episode:

* Darren Seals's (RIP) original 2016 Twitter thread accusing Deray and Black Lives Matter or being protest crashers and opportunists https://twitter.com/KingDSeals/status/756072813702762496

* Profile of Darren Seals that came out after he died: https://thecorrespondent.com/5349/meet-darren-seals-then-tell-me-black-death-is-not-a-business/1512965275833-fe73c5b1

* Death of Edward Crawford, the figure in the iconic Ferguson protest photo https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/ferguson-protester-edward-crawford-subject-iconic-photo-found-dead-n755401

* Michael Hassell's Facebook Live video documenting his crashing of Deray's event: https://www.facebook.com/city8670/videos/1749923361771582/?hc_ref=ARSnknTaPOeMK389_XirUhRb9Uglnp8N0D8Qh1m0MdeAsYnfRmHOMMJwUr2D2B4mSa4&__xts__[0]=68.ARCz8gR-s-d2FtZG7N-x6YYyiGBgQA-QbzVb4UB4puvpw_ctb8XVlPtM6FBxllL0K07TL9n1EoHMVNL0B_alAuapwAB5dF6YQWfBvz47iMuZzOKivKrimt-tLyFlRNARjjW6zMtlXQ1bZxlOYKMpBfJZFLrjuYlNAJMHdvmRzsrWRI2afp6SA5M&__tn__=FC-R

* Yonasda Hill's interview with Michael Hassell after the incident asking him why he did it and his relationship with not just Deray but also with the three founders of Black Lives Matter, https://www.facebook.com/city8670/videos/1749923361771582/?hc_ref=ARSnknTaPOeMK389_XirUhRb9Uglnp8N0D8Qh1m0MdeAsYnfRmHOMMJwUr2D2B4mSa4&__xts__[0]=68.ARCz8gR-s-d2FtZG7N-x6YYyiGBgQA-QbzVb4UB4puvpw_ctb8XVlPtM6FBxllL0K07TL9n1EoHMVNL0B_alAuapwAB5dF6YQWfBvz47iMuZzOKivKrimt-tLyFlRNARjjW6zMtlXQ1bZxlOYKMpBfJZFLrjuYlNAJMHdvmRzsrWRI2afp6SA5M&__tn__=FC-R

* Drew Franklin's first expose article about Deray, Ferguson, and Teach For America http://www.orchestratedpulse.com/2015/10/the-movement-lives-in-ferguson/

* Drew Franklin's second, even more in-depth and target expose of Deray, "Why DeRay Mckesson's Baltimore Campaign Looks Like It Comes Right Out of Teach for America's Playbook" https://www.alternet.org/news-amp-politics/why-deray-mckessons-plan-baltimores-schools-looks-it-comes-right-out-teach

* Thread by activist Ashley Yates about the shenanigans done by Deray and the Black Lives Matter founders in the past...

This is a preview of a premium bonus episode. To get access to this episode subscribe for $5/month at patreon.com/champagnesharks.  This will not only give you access to this current premium episode you’re previewing, but also all the back premium episodes you may have missed as well and all future bonus premium episodes.

Today Leslie Lee III from the podcast Struggle Session joins me to discuss a recent book excerpt from Deray McKesson's memoir that appeared in NY Magazine titled "I Was Raised by Storm".

Struggle Session is a podcast that wades into the reactionary hellhole of modern pop culture in America and talks video games, movies, TV, wrestling, comic books, music, anime, and all of your problematic faves. They can be found and supported over at https://www.patreon.com/strugglesession

Discussed in this episode:

* "I Was Raised by Storm" by Deray McKessons http://www.vulture.com/2018/09/i-was-raised-by-storm.html

The song playing in the intro is "Slippery People by The Staple SIngers. There is now a Champagne Sharks Spotify playlist where you can find all the songs used in our episodes and others we plan to use later

open.spotify.com/user/tbilzie/pla…qsRgGCs-7nPw-cHA

Co-produced & edited by Aaron C. Schroeder / Pierced Ears Recording Co, Seattle WA ([email protected])

Opening theme composed by T. Beaulieu. Closing theme composed by Dustfingaz (https://www.youtube.com/user/TheRazhu_)

D. and Mike host an episode without me. It's pretty good.

Discussed in the episode:

* The Curious Cat question I was asked that gets discussed https://curiouscat.me/ChampagneSharks/post/612723514

* The babysitters who let the kids in their car smoke week: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wQsM52oec0Y and https://www.kron4.com/news/national/babysitters-force-kids-to-smoke-weed-post-video/1408035844

* Videos on why Saturday morning cartoons died: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e1LO5887HVg and also https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RryI7JJ2GHQ

* Gizmodo article on Saturday cartoons D. mentions https://gizmodo.com/saturday-morning-cartoons-arent-dead-theyre-everywhere-1642859147

Support the show and get double the episodes by subscribing to bonus episodes for $5/month at patreon.com/champagnesharks.  If you can’t subscribe right now for whatever reason, do the next best thing and tell as many people as you know about the show.

Co-produced & edited by Aaron C. Schroeder / Pierced Ears Recording Co, Seattle WA ([email protected])Opening theme composed by T. Beaulieu. Closing theme composed by Dustfingaz (https://www.youtube.com/user/TheRazhu_)

We discuss the recent fiasco surrounding internet "comic" personality Luvvie Ajayi. We made this double length, so hopefully this makes up partially for the long break we had due to my operation and injuries.Mentioned in this episode:

* The NY Times profile of Luvvie https://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/06/style/luvvie-ajayi-blogger.html

* A breakdown of the Luvvie vs. Tevin Campbell controversy that took over Black Twitter for a week https://thegrio.com/2018/08/18/tevin-campbell-aretha-franklin-tribute-twitter/

* Amanda Seales's strawman filled rants on IG: https://www.instagram.com/p/Bmum4wUnbxL/?taken-by=amandaseales and also https://www.instagram.com/p/Bm5_wGGHVqE/?taken-by=amandaseales

* Luvvie's rambling, circuitous, strawman-filled response essay claiming people were denying her blackness due to her being African https://www.awesomelyluvvie.com/2018/08/about-blackness-africanness.html

* Twitter thread of an African conservative commentator on Twitter who used a Black liberal's attack on her for being conservative as an excuse to launch into a totally unrelated rant bashing Black Descendants of American Slaves, and the Africans and white racists who jumped in her replies to cheerlead her https://twitter.com/obianuju/status/1031917218408411136

* My Twitter thread about the Luvvie controversy: https://twitter.com/RickyRawls/status/1032395205348155392

* Bozoma St. John, the Ghanian-American PR person who recentyl was appointed to help Papa John's rebreand after a controversy involving it's founder being racist and using the N-word: https://www.blackenterprise.com/bozoma-saint-john-is-helping-papa-johns-re-brand/. St. John has also been hired in the past to help rebrand Uber, another terrible corporate actor that had its own racism controversies even after hiring her. She also was hired as a human racism shield to help rebrand Apple's image on diversity issues after they got in trouble for racism.

* Bozoma jumping in on Twitter to defend Luvvie, a fellow African-American, against slander in a way she never has for Black Descendants of American Slaves: https://twitter.com/badassboz/status/1030621722268057601. Note she even name drops and humblebrags meeting Tevin Campbell and attending the Soul Train Awards, even as she simultaneously joins Luvvie in shading him and by implication Black American culture.

* Bozoma St. John repeating the strawman that Luvvie and all her defenders kept saying, claiming that people were questioning Luvvie's blackness due to her being African https://twitter.com/badassboz/status/1030632447527010304

Support the show and get double the episodes by subscribing to bonus episodes for $5/mont...

We welcome Shannon Strucci, an editor who runs the YouTube channel StrucciMovies and is currently working on a video essay series about parasocial relationships called FAKE FRIENDS. The latest installment of Fake Friends can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KLA-uFKjQ-g

Mentioned in this episode:

* "Dylan Sprouse And James Gunn Accused Jared Leto Of Creepiness On Twitter" http://dlisted.com/2018/05/17/dylan-sprouse-and-james-gunn-accused-jared-leto-of-creepiness-on-twitter/

* Dave Bautista May Not Do Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 Without James Gunn's Script https://io9.gizmodo.com/dave-bautista-may-not-do-guardians-of-the-galaxy-vol-3-1828138248

* Director James Gunn Apologizes for Anti-Gay and Sexist Comments on Blog Post https://www.glaad.org/blog/director-james-gunn-apologizes-anti-gay-and-sexist-comments-blog-post

* ArenaNet throw two Guild Wars 2 writers to the wolves https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2018/07/06/arenanet-throw-two-guild-wars-2-writers-to-the-wolves/

* Guild Wars 2 writers fired following heated Twitter exchange with streamer https://www.pcgamer.com/amp/guild-wars-2-writers-fired-following-heated-twitter-exchange-with-streamer/?__twitter_impression=true

* James Gunn’s firing shows we’re still living in the Gamergate era https://www.vox.com/platform/amp/culture/2018/7/24/17599132/james-gunn-fired-gamergate-guardians-of-the-galaxy

* On James Gunn, Fake Outrage and Letting The Bad Guys Win https://moviebobcentral.com/2018/07/23/on-james-gunn/

* The Maniac Who Conquered Marvel https://www.buzzfeed.com/adambvary/james-gunn-guardians-of-the-galaxy?utm_term=.sl7QVRM56E#.pikgYro8Z5

* The “controversy” over journalist Sarah Jeong joining the New York Times, explained https://www.vox.com/2018/8/3/17644704/sarah-jeong-new-york-times-tweets-backlash-racism

Support the show and get double the episodes by subscribing to bonus episodes for $5/month at patreon.com/champagnesharks.  If you can’t subscribe right now for whatever reason, do the next best thing and tell as many people as you know about the show.\

Co-produced & edited by Aaron C. Schroeder / Pierced Ears Recording Co, Seattle WA ([email protected])

Opening theme composed by T. Beaulieu. Closing theme composed by Dustfingaz (https://www.youtube.com/user/TheRazhu_)

This is a preview of a premium bonus episode. To get access to this episode subscribe for $5/month at patreon.com/champagnesharks.  This will not only give you access to this current premium episode you’re previewing, but also all the back premium episodes you may have missed as well and all future bonus premium episodes.

This episode we discuss a recent shooting of a Black man in Clearwater, Florida, where the gunman got off on a stand your ground defense.

Mentioned in this episode:

"Gunman in death of father not charged based on Florida’s ‘stand your ground’ law" https://www.nbcnews.com/nightly-news/video/gunman-in-death-of-father-not-charged-based-on-florida-s-stand-your-ground-law-1283708995875

Co-produced & edited by Aaron C. Schroeder / Pierced Ears Recording Co, Seattle WA ([email protected])

Opening theme composed by T. Beaulieu. Closing theme composed by Dustfingaz (https://www.youtube.com/user/TheRazhu_)

This is a preview of a premium bonus episode. To get access to this episode subscribe for $5/month at patreon.com/champagnesharks.  This will not only give you access to this current premium episode you’re previewing, but also all the back premium episodes you may have missed as well and all future bonus premium episodes.

This episode we discuss a recent criminal controversy involving reality stars and Instagram models and apparent escorts, the Clermont Twins. We end up also discussing some other hard-hitting (not really) topics along the way.

Mentioned in this episode:

"She was in reality TV’s ‘Bad Girls Club.’ Now she’s charged with stealing a dead man’s identity." https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2018/07/12/she-was-a-reality-tv-bad-girl-now-shes-charged-with-stealing-a-dead-mans-identity/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.d6b8a7130b20

The C.O.W.S. podcast discussing Black Mirror https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UtzwwNLM4bk

"James Gunn Slammed After His Horrific Tweets Joking About Pedophilia Surface" https://hollywoodlife.com/2018/07/20/james-gunn-old-tweets-pedophilia-rape-offensive-jokes-deleted-apology/

Co-produced & edited by Aaron C. Schroeder / Pierced Ears Recording Co, Seattle WA ([email protected])

Opening theme composed by T. Beaulieu. Closing theme composed by Dustfingaz (https://www.youtube.com/user/TheRazhu_)

We welcome Michael Brooks, host of The Michael Brooks Show and cohost of The Majority Report with Sam Seder to discuss Sorry to Bother You, the recent movie by Boots Riley of the rap group The Coup. The Michael Brooks show can be found and supported at https://www.patreon.com/TMBS.

Support the show and get double the episodes by subscribing to bonus episodes for $5/month at patreon.com/champagnesharks.  If you can’t subscribe right now for whatever reason, do the next best thing and tell as many people as you know about the show.

Opening intro song is "Guillotine" by the Coup.

Co-produced & edited by Aaron C. Schroeder / Pierced Ears Recording Co, Seattle WA ([email protected])

Opening theme composed by T. Beaulieu. Closing theme composed by Dustfingaz (https://www.youtube.com/user/TheRazhu_)