Novelist Andrew Ridker comes on the show to discuss the paradox of privilege and persecution at the heart of the Jewish-American experience (and literary canon)—and how it’s time to shift the plot.

Also discussed: Birthright sex romps, the cure for ambiguity, how the medium is the message in social media comment fights, the intellectual inconsistencies of Holocaust denialism, Portlandia passover seders, how Israel-Gaza is the psychic tear of the moral universe, the internet’s MO (nihilism), mogging as the law of the land, closeted DJs, and next year in Jerusalem—but not literally.

Discussed:

Andrew’s NY Mag article: https://www.vulture.com/article/jewish-american-writers-literature-new-stories-gaza-israel.html

Peter Beinart’s - Being Jewish After the Destruction of Gaza

Prospect Writers’ Workshop: https://www.andrewridker.com/prospect-writers-workshop

Political consultant and strategist Charlie Goldensohn—aka @chez.chuck—comes on the show to discuss the Democratic Party and all its stumbling blocks.

Also discussed: innate SF degeneracy, dip preferences, Gavin Newsom (again), the gender wars, how we all become our parents, American gerontocracy, “the people who are winning are populists,” the DL on Biden’s White House mental state, who’s really driving the male loneliness discourse, and the only egalitarian marriage in America (Charlie’s parents’).

*The first half of every episode of CBT is free wherever you get your podcasts. If you'd like to become a subscriber and hear the second half, please go to www.patreon.com/criticalbabetheory. Thank you for your support. xo *

Léonie Weerakoon—human ecologist and founder of Kinetik Ventures, a bioeconomy investment firm—comes on the show to discuss her work, sustainability, and how nature is the highest form of intelligence.

Also discussed: what it’s like to work for F1, living the globalist dream, extreme sports of sustainability, a hard pitch on moving to Luxembourg, nature as a peer, Francesca’s new conspiracy theory, how rubber led to the Industrial Revolution—plus Francesca gets a 101 on how capitalism works.

The first half of every episode of CBT is free wherever you get your podcasts. If you'd like to become a subscriber and hear the second half, please go to www.patreon.com/criticalbabetheory. Thank you for your support xo

Johnny Gaffney—founder of Senior Centertainment (https://seniorcentertainment.org) — comes on the show to talk about his work with seniors and how we all can be good neighbors — and finally do away with the modern illusion of self-sufficiency. 

Also discussed: always hailing yellow, the value of scrumming around, growing our capacity for non-romantic intimacy, VHI Behind the Music as spiritually purifying, honoring the stranger by having toilet paper, male vanity, Grinch green attraction, what it means to be a yapper, the sex scene in Showgirls, carnival barking, and Johnny’s shocking confession that he hasn’t washed his hair since the Obama administration.

The first half of every episode of CBT is free wherever you get your podcasts. If you'd like to become a subscriber and hear the second half, please go to www.patreon.com/criticalbabetheory. Thank you for your support xo

Author and journalist EJ Dickson comes on the show to discuss her new book One Bad Mother and the impossible trap American mothers are put in—be they hot moms, influencer moms, MAHA moms or really any mom at all.

Also discussed: ER vacations, how the kids-on-airplanes discourse points to the erosion of Judeo-Christian values, therapy as emotional prostitution, what we owe each other as a communal species, the golden ticket in our society of a martyr complex plus a lack of shame, the sin of being annoying, Fauci’s karma (and romance novel), bringing back filial piety, and how everyone will fail you (even your mother).

The poem EJ references, “This Be The Verse” by Philip Larkin”:

They fuck you up, your mum and dad.   

    They may not mean to, but they do.   

They fill you with the faults they had

    And add some extra, just for you.

But they were fucked up in their turn

    By fools in old-style hats and coats,   

Who half the time were soppy-stern

    And half at one another’s throats.

Man hands on misery to man.

    It deepens like a coastal shelf.

Get out as early as you can,

    And don’t have any kids yourself.

The first half of every episode of CBT is free wherever you get your podcasts. If you'd like to become a subscriber and hear the second half, please go to www.patreon.com/criticalbabetheory. Thank you for your support xo

Simon van Zuylen-Wood—journalist and features writer at New York Magazine—comes on the show to talk about the battle for the soul of American conservatism and the battleground of elite inboxes (ie the prodigious emailing of Jeffrey Epstein). Nota bene: first half of the episode we discuss Charlie Kirk and Nick Fuentes, Epstein in the second half. Candace floats throughout, as is her wont.

Also discussed: what breakfast choice makes you a free-trade globalist, if we should just let Trump have his tariffs, gay orgies vs Epstein island parties, sympathy for the devil, JD Vance as multiculturalist, Gen Z nihilism is the book of Ecclesiastes all over again, nepo truthers, the (embarrassing) cult of Fran Leibowitz, gentle authoritarian parenting, Nick Fuentes as Kid Chaos, and Epstein Epstein Epstein Epstein.

“Inside the Conservative Campus Revolution” by Simon van Zuyvlen-Wood in New York Mag

“The Truth is Out There” by Simon van Zuylen-Wood in New York Mag

“Child’s Play” by Sam Kriss in Harper’s

The first half of every episode of CBT is free wherever you get your podcasts. If you'd like to become a subscriber and hear the second half, please go to www.patreon.com/criticalbabetheory. Thank you for your support xo

Writer Nicole Treska comes on the show to talk about growing up in blue collar Boston under the aegis of the Winter Hill Gang—and how the left (maybe, if they stop being corporate sell outs) can win back the white working class.

Also discussed: boomer greed, the authoritarian personality, ancestral goat programming, how when people say they want to be rich what they mean is they want to be middle class in the 80’s, pandemic accelerationism, ruling like the right, how gang members just want to hang out like the rest of us, the time Francesca got neo-conned into voting for Kamala, Mamdani and dark woke, and yet again, we can’t shut up about the dog sh*t.

https://nicoletreska.com

The first half of every episode of CBT is free wherever you get your podcasts. If you'd like to become a subscriber and hear the second half, please go to www.patreon.com/criticalbabetheory. Thank you for your support xo

Cult comic and beloved online denizen Lauren Servideo comes on the show to discuss her favorite characters (hint: it’s like choosing your favorite child), old-hat internet, and what we talk about when we talk about influencers.

Also discussed: eldest daughter discourse, Billy Crystal and the female fear of death, crust punks with a TikTok presence, how men don’t like to be propositioned to be a muse (by Francesca), MLM faux-pas, peptide propaganda, shmacting, and whether all Italians are funny.

The first half of every episode of CBT is free wherever you get your podcasts. If you'd like to become a subscriber and hear the second half, please go to www.patreon.com/criticalbabetheory. Thank you for your support xo

The first half of every episode of CBT is free wherever you get your podcasts. If you'd like to become a subscriber and hear the second half, please go to www.patreon.com/criticalbabetheory. Thank you for your support xo

Brian Wood, founder of Panodime, comes on the show to discuss what the AI overlords really want (hint: it’s not to make your workflow more efficient) and what we need to do to ensure the AI future benefits all of us.

Discussed: tech CEO drug addicts, the problem with transhumanism, misreading Lord of the Rings, why maybe women shouldn’t vote (bc they’re making the world “unsafe for capitalism”), AI or climate armageddon, Terminator vs elites framework, and Francesca’s theory that Peter Thiel wants to subjugate the divine feminine.

https://www.panodime.com

Instagram: @pano.dime

Tiktok: @panodime

Nota bene: starting today, the first half of every episode of CBT will be free wherever you get your podcasts. If you'd like to become a subscriber and hear the second half, please go to www.patreon.com/criticalbabetheory. Thank you for your support xo

I talk with Reuben Barsky—raconteur & denizen of the diamond district—about the myth of the urban American male and pursuit of the good life.

Also discussed: what constitutes normal male behavior, whether all immigrants are criminals (muses immigrant-descendant-of-criminals Francesca), the art of the cold call, how to not bulk, the freedom to rot, prison face, and escaping the Freddo mindset.

Update about the 49ers electrical substation conspiracy theory: neither the Seahawks nor the Patriots will be using SF practice facilities, and Niners management will be investigating the correlation between the substation and injuries. So proud to be part of this conspiracy from the ground up!