Culturally Determined

By Aryeh Cohen-WadeSociety & Culture News News Commentary Politics

Culturally Determined episodes

July 21, 2021 Meet the NYT Pitchbot, with DougJ
The origins of Doug's "New York Times Pitchbot" project ... The "In this Ohio diner..." trope ... The NYT's de facto national status and the hollowing out of local journalism ... The Opinion page's lack of ideological and geographic diversity ... Aryeh: The NYT's real tribe is the wealthy ... Cillizza and Greenwald, Doug's bêtes noires/muses ... With Biden in power, a return to concern trolling by the media ...
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59 min
July 12, 2021 The Ghosts of American History, with Daniel Bessner
The absurd exercise of ranking presidential greatness ... Aryeh: We all agree on Lincoln and Washington, but then it's a fight ... Daniel: George W. Bush was much worse than Trump ... Did America react hysterically to the storming of the Capitol? ... Ghostbusters as a cultural expression of Reagan's America ... Nostalgia and cultural decadence ... Critical race theory, 1619, and national mythmaking ... Daniel's new podcast, "American Prestige" ...
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1 hr 25 min
June 17, 2021 A Literary Analysis of Recent American History, with Christian Lorentzen
Christian on gothic, sentimental, and ironic strains in recent US history ... Biden the pre-Boomer sentimentalist ... Trump as a postmodern gothic figure ... Why the gothic and the sentimental are two sides of the same coin ... Aryeh: It turns out that irony is never actually dead ... Who is the Great American Boomer novelist? ... Christian's review of Hunter Biden's memoir ...
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1 hr 28 min
June 14, 2021 On Millennial Jews, with Rabbi Ari Hart
Rabbi Ari introduces himself ... How do Millennial American Jews understand their Judaism? ... The unique Jewish community in Skokie, Illinois ... Identity, tribalism, and communal thickness ... The failures of Hebrew School education ... Rising anti-Semitism on both right and left in America ... Why Millennials must develop a mature relationship with Judaism and Zionism ... Rabbi Ari: "Judaism is ultimately not about you" ...
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1 hr 19 min
May 31, 2021 Special Non-Cheugy Edition, with Nicholas Clairmont
Nicholas's essay, "The Language of Privilege" ... Bottom-up vs. top-down language change (e.g. "cheugy") ... Nicholas: This is a mean way of talking ... The lefties who mock woke language ... Coca-Cola and the CIA got woke. Hooray? ... Trump's trolling and lack of virtue ... Why did the anti-Trumpers call themselves "the Resistance"? ...
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1 hr 28 min
May 24, 2021 Amazon, Chipotle, and Unions, with Alex N. Press
Amazon launches "AmaZen" to keep its warehouse workers mindful ... Amazon's total war against unions ... Jeff Bezos blasts off ... Will the feds break up Amazon? ... NYC sues Chipotle, alleging 600,000 labor violations (some involving rats) ... Why many restaurant workers are not returning ... Alex argues for passing the PRO Act ...
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1 hr 10 min
May 17, 2021 After the Orgy, with Default Friend
Default Friend's new podcast, After the Orgy ... 2008 as a hinge point in sexual culture ... Is sex positivity over? ... DF: Young people want to get married and have kids sooner ... Ancient wisdom and cosplaying as a way of life ... Get ready for hot vaxx summer! ... Why today's teens are confessing less online ... Has moral conservatism returned to the right? ...
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1 hr 21 min
May 10, 2021 A Critique of the Contemporary Left, with Ben Burgis
Ben's new book, Canceling Comedians While the World Burns ... Joe Rogan, Louis CK, and the online left's moralistic overreactions ... A material analysis of how Twitter distorts political movements ... Stalin nostalgia, guillotine gifs, and other performative radicalness ... Critiquing left rhetoric on criminal justice ... Aryeh: Cancel culture is neoliberal ... Ben: The left has made itself vulnerable to false accusations ... A socialist assessment of Biden's first 100 days ...
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1 hr 40 min
April 29, 2021 The Philip Roth Biography Mess, with Laura Marsh
Accusations of sexual assault against Philip Roth's biographer, Blake Bailey ... Laura's early negative review of the biography ... How Bailey justified Roth's mistreatment of women ... Aryeh worries about an alleged rapist framing the historical record ... Laura argues against the "this changes everything" reaction ... Criticizing the actions of Norton, the book's publisher ... What Laura found in Roth's novels that she didn't expect ... What do we do with the fact that many great authors were awful people? ...
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1 hr 8 min
April 19, 2021 Juggalos, Simps, and Cat Guys, with Magdalene Taylor
Mourning MEL Magazine ... Everything you ever wanted to know about Juggalos ... Do Juggalos vote? ... Why Magdalene identifies as a Juggalette ... Simps, incels, and pickup artists ... Trends in male horniness ... Should cat guys on dating apps pretend to not be cat guys? ... Male anxiety and the failures of media for men ...
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1 hr 6 min