Discourse Pod

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.discourseblog.com

Discourse Blog and Slate’s very own Caitlin Schneider returns to the third chair, and you know what that means! Another fully deranged episode, including:

* Jack tries to coin a new catchphrase involving Frasier

* We get into MAGA’s Certified Loser reaction to Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl performance

* We remember some Super Bowl Halftime Shows and are informed of The White Lotus’ Sabrina Impacciatore’s surprise performance at the Opening Ceremonies

* The funniest and stupidest scandals coming out of the Winter Olympics, including Quad God, Minions Guy, and that Norwegian athlete who begged on live TV for his girlfriend to take him back after cheating on her

* And in our After Dark segment available only to subscribers, we return to The Complaints Dept. for important, subversive takes on AI, depressing Super Bowl ads, and the sorry state of closed captioning on Peacock

This week’s cultural recommendations:

* Jack recommends Derry Girls creator Lisa McGee’s new show, How to Get to Heaven From Belfast, on Netflix

* Caitlin recommends (with admitted reservations) director Paul Schrader’s Facebook page

* Aleks recommends Creed’s 2001 Thanksgiving Day Halftime Show x 9/11 Tribute

Want to hear the full, extended episode on your preferred podcast app? First, subscribe to Discourse Blog here. Then, follow these instructions:

Spotify: Tap the “Play” button and select “Link Account” to sync your Substack subscription and unlock it instantly.

Apple Podcasts & Others: Go to Settings in Substack > select Discourse Blog > scroll to the “private podcast feed” section > select “set up podcast” > then copy and paste the link it generates into your preferred app.

And don’t forget to like and subscribe to our YouTube channel!

That’s it!

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.discourseblog.com

OG Discourse Blog-er and current More Perfect Union producer Paul Blest returns as third chair just in time for the first big contest of this year’s election cycle, including:

* Analilia Mejia’s shocking win in the special election to fill New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill’s former Congressional seat

* Taylor Rehmet flipping a deep-red state Senate seat in Texas

* And what this all could mean heading into November

* The massive layoffs at the Washington Post

* And in our extended episode available only to subscribers, we discover how Jeffrey Epstein very likely read some stories we’ve worked on…😬

This week’s cultural recommendations:

* Jack recommends The Nation’s special Gaza package, “A Day for Gaza,” he helped oversee and The Muppet Show revival on Disney+

* Paul recommends the latest Ryan Davis & the Roadhouse Band’s record, New Threats from the Soul and Summer House on Bravo

* Aleks recommends the app WaterMinder

Want to hear the full, extended episode on your preferred podcast app? First subscribe to Discourse Blog here. Then, follow these instructions:

Spotify: Tap the “Play” button and select “Link Account” to sync your Substack subscription and unlock it instantly.

Apple Podcasts & Others: Go to Settings in Substack > select Discourse Blog > scroll to the “private podcast feed” section > select “set up podcast” > then copy and paste the link it generates into your preferred app.

That’s it!

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.discourseblog.com

With Producer Sam pulling double-duty this week, we get into a lot, including:

* Why Wirecutter recommends the ugliest products

* How the killing of ICU nurse Alex Pretti by CBP in broad daylight has unleashed a huge, mainstream wave of hating ICE

* A quick review of Bari Weiss’ “bold” new vision for CBS News and her announced lineup of wacko contributors

* Tony Dokoupil interviewing his mom

* A sidebar about how maybe TV news is bad for democracy

* Jeff Bezos’ gutting the Washington Post the same week as the Melania Trump documentary insta-flopped

* And in our extended episode available only to subscribers, we reminisce, gossip, and reopen deep traumatic wounds about working at Fusion and digital media in the 2010s

This week’s cultural recommendations:

* Jack tried to watch Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein but ended up watching Rich Peppiatt’s Kneecap, about the eponymous Irish hip-hop trio, instead

* Sam recommends season five of Broad City and acknowledges the existence of Harry Styles’ new song “Aperture” and Hilary Duff’s return to music

* Aleks recommends subscribing to Consumer Reports over Wirecutter and the podcast Bandsplain, especially its recent episode about Portishead

Want to hear the full, extended episode on your preferred podcast app? First subscribe to Discourse Blog here. Then, follow these instructions:

Spotify: Tap the “Play” button and select “Link Account” to sync your Substack subscription and unlock it instantly.

Apple Podcasts & Others: Go to Settings in Substack > select Discourse Blog > scroll to the “private podcast feed” section > select “set up podcast” > then copy and paste the link it generates into your preferred app.

That’s it!

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.discourseblog.com

We’re ringing in one full year of Trump’s second administration with Katherine back in the third chair to discuss how we’re all coping (not well), the key differences we’re noticing between Trump Era 1 and Trump Era 2 (spoiler alert: more organized, vicious fascism), and important digressions into:

* An exciting new segment called Katherine’s Snack Box

* We remember some political cartoons (I could not find the one Katherine mentions; if you know which one she’s talking about, PLEASE GET IN TOUCH)

* What radical acts of self-preservation we’re performing to keep ourselves from sliding into unending abyss of defeat and nihilism that might only end by going full Bell Jar mode

* Make sure to read Katherine’s Big Piece about Tony Dokoupil’s miserable tenure leading The CBS Evening News in The Intercept

This week’s cultural recommendations:

* Jack recommends Kleber Mendonça Filho’s The Secret Agent

* Katherine recommends The Format’s new record, Boycott Heaven

* Aleks recommends the new season of the HBO and BBC series, Industry

Want to hear the full, extended episode on your preferred podcast app? First subscribe to Discourse Blog here. Then, follow these instructions:

Spotify: Tap the “Play” button and select “Link Account” to sync your Substack subscription and unlock it instantly.

Apple Podcasts & Others: Go to Settings in Substack > select Discourse Blog > scroll to the “private podcast feed” section > select “set up podcast” > then copy and paste the link it generates into your preferred app.

That’s it!

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.discourseblog.com

This is a shorter, single-topic episode serving as a followup to Rafi’s excellent blog chronicling what he’s seen as ICE continues its violent invasion of his hometown. He tells us what it’s been like to have his community overtaken by armed goons and the acts of bravery that have surprised and inspired him, and the dark future ahead for all of us if we don’t join together in collective action.

We’re also debuting extended episodes, exclusively for paid subscribers, starting this week. Every episode will now include an additional 15–30 minutes where we discuss an additional topic, share gossip, and/or trade rumors. It’s fun! This week: a quick tour of Bari Weiss’ catastrophic takeover of CBS News, including Tony Dokoupil’s flop debut as the new anchor for the CBS Evening News.

Want to hear the full, extended episode on your preferred podcast app? First subscribe to Discourse Blog here. Then, follow these instructions:

Spotify: Tap the “Play” button and select “Link Account” to sync your Substack subscription and unlock it instantly.

Apple Podcasts & Others: Go to Settings in Substack > select Discourse Blog > scroll to the “private podcast feed” section > select “set up podcast” > then copy and paste the link it generates into your preferred app.

That’s it!

We’re BACK from the holiday break, baby!!! New Year, New Regime! It was a big week for the military industrial complex, so naturally we had to have Troop Knower Jack Crosbie back in the third chair. We get into:

* The origins of COUP TALK and its glorious Discourse Pod debut. The big idea? According to Cros: What if—and hear him out—some coups are good? Cros also gets into quite a bit more about where he sees the next few years of domestic military action going

* Jack and Cros go long on the clear as day coup (let’s start saying it!) in Venezuela and how the Trump Administration’s ability to act with aggressive impunity led to Renee Nicole Good’s murder in Minneapolis

This week’s cultural recommendations:

* Jack recommends the latest season of The Traitors UK (if you’re in America, find a way to watch it, just don’t ask us how…) and Slow Horses on Apple TV

* Cros recommends Landman on Paramount+ (but he does not recommend creator Taylor Sheridan, EXCEPT if he agrees to do a profile with Cros) and New Yorker writer Susan Orlean’s memoir, Joyride

* Aleks recommends Josh Safdie’s Marty Supreme

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.discourseblog.com/subscribe

After a slight illness-related delay (get better soon Producer Sam!!!), we are BACK for our last pod of the year. Thank God Caitlin was free to be third chair for an ep that covers a lot of ground, including:

* A disturbing rumor about an actor who allegedly is out and proud about having an AI girlfriend (it’s giving James Franco x body pillow on 30 Rock)

* How President Obama putting Lady Gaga’s “Abracadabra”—a song he has maybe heard once—on his annual “favorites of the year list” is the final straw (however, if he starts putting podcasts on these lists, we take everything back; then the lists are good and he should put Discourse Pod on it)

* Pondering what Katy Perry deep cuts Justin Trudeau might know

* A short detour into the rise of I’ve Had It’s Jennifer Welch

* Remembering MSNBC’s Hardball (ya burnt!)

* Trump’s “Patriot Games,” which is definitely NOT just the Hunger Games

This week’s cultural recommendations:

* Jack semi-recommends Celine Song’s The Materialists and definitely recommends Rob Reiner’s When Harry Met Sally

* Caitlin recommends the 4K restoration of Mad Men on HBO Max

* Aleks kinda recommends the Taylor Swift docuseries The End of an Era

We’ll back in the New Year with an important update on the future of the pod and the blog—but until then, Happy Holidays!

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.discourseblog.com/subscribe

The holiday season is in full swing and we’re bursting with joy for:

* Whether Frequent Podcast Guest Katherine is still vaping (watch to find out)

* N*zz* Watch pt. 1,000,000,000

* Trump took the brain test for people with dementia three times. Seems fine!

* The Warner Bros. acquisition by either Netflix or Paramount, both of which are outcomes that are definitely good

* Important digressions about: the birds, the cosmos, watching an eclipse on Fifth Avenue, the black licorice effect of Felicity Jones, the WGA screener app, and misspelling your own name

This week’s cultural recommendations:

* Jack recommends the 4K restoration of Stanley Donen’s Charade at Film Forum (playing through Dec. 18); also available through the Criterion Collection and on YouTube

* Katherine recommends rewatching the medical drama House

* Aleks recommends Mary Bronstein’s If I Had Legs I’d Kick You

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.discourseblog.com/subscribe

We’re back! After taking a week off for the Thanksgiving holiday, producer Sam steps out from behind the curtain to be our third chair this week and boy do we cover a lot! Including:

* Elf on the Shelf culture

* Wicked: For Good and Oz’s opaque political system and the lack of sexual chemistry between a gay guy and a green lesbian

* The Olivia Nuzzi-Ryan Lizza feud getting really dark

* A wild story about a University of Oklahoma student writing a bad essay, getting a zero, and using it as the latest flashpoint in the anti-trans culture war

* The absolutely cursed and definitely made-up “FIFA Peace Prize” Trump got that is giving Pacific Rim Emmy

Also: We finally figured out our closing segment! And it only took seven episodes. It’s everyone’s cultural recommendations for the week:

* Jack recommends Traitors UK Series 3, all-celebrity edition, now on Peacock for U.S. viewers

* Sam recommends The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives reunion and the wonky 4K remaster on Mad Men on HBO Max

* Aleks recommends Heated Rivalry on HBO Max

Until next week!

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.discourseblog.com/subscribe

Discourse Blogger and absolute newshound Rafi Schwartz is third chair this week to chat Trump going absolutely googly-eyes meeting Zohran Mamdani; what it means (and doesn’t) about his forthcoming tenure as mayor; and the Olivia Nuzzi-Ryan Lizza drama continuing apace with increasingly bleak missives (Cros’ blog about this is a must-read). And MOST IMPORTANTLY: Producer Sam hops on to give her official, professional producer stamp of approval to only the production (NOT!!! the lyrics) of “Jailbait,” from Nuzzi’s failed attempt to be a pop star.

(And wouldn’t you know it, right as we finished recording, the New York Times reported that Vanity Fair is “reviewing its ties” to Nuzzi as their west coast editor.)

PROGRAMMING NOTE: There will be no new episode next week for the holiday, but we’ll be back the following week!

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.discourseblog.com/subscribe