<p>Even the “suck on this” version of Thomas Friedman was nicer than this one. Plus, a reader contest</p><div><hr></div><p>Narrated by Jared Moore</p><p>Art by Daniel Medina</p><p>Text published 08/20/25:</p><div class="digest-post-embed" data-attrs="{"nodeId":"8194ee68-7237-438f-a033-aacd4e24175f","caption":"Metaphor master Thomas Friedman, in the New York Times this morning:","cta":"Read full story","showBylines":true,"size":"lg","isEditorNode":true,"title":"Mean Mr. Mustache","publishedBylines":[{"id":263053,"name":"Matt Taibbi","bio":"www.Racket.news","photo_url":"https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fb60afa88-bdf9-4916-8f80-e74791478593_2000x2000.jpeg","is_guest":false,"bestseller_tier":10000}],"post_date":"2025-08-20T22:05:53.021Z","cover_image":"https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!w3q5!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc6831b22-729f-4c24-9d15-b8822a7cf002_2920x1990.png","cover_image_alt":null,"canonical_url":"https://www.racket.news/p/mean-mr-mustache","section_name":null,"video_upload_id":null,"id":171460290,"type":"newsletter","reaction_count":1046,"comment_count":312,"publication_name":"Racket News","publication_logo_url":"https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!QVLY!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F701db84f-f600-47cf-9753-ddb9d1cc7000_1280x1280.png","belowTheFold":false}"></div><p><em><strong><a href="https://support.substack.com/hc/en-us/articles/4519588148244-How-do-I-listen-to-episodes-on-my-podcast-app-">Listen to subscriber-only audio in your podcast app</a></strong></em></p><p>Share the free versions of Racket To Go on <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/racket-to-go/id1587382650">Apple Podcasts</a>, <a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/4dWbQRqiQFJ5LzqgiY1rn6?si=1OYQRLYBTm2N_WFS3OtzGQ%20https://open.spotify.com/show/4dWbQRqiQFJ5LzqgiY1rn6?si=1OYQRLYBTm2N_WFS3OtzGQ">Spotify</a>, or wherever you get your podcasts</p><div class="apple-podcast-container" data-component-name="ApplePodcastToDom"><iframe class="apple-podcast episode-list" data-attrs="{"url":"https://embed.podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/racket-to-go/id1587382650","isEpisode":false,"imageUrl":"https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/podcast_1587382650.jpg","title":"Racket To Go","podcastTitle":"Racket To Go","podcastByline":"Matt Taibbi","duration":180,"numEpisodes":262,"targetUrl":"https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/racket-to-go/id1587382650?uo=4","releaseDate":"2025-05-07T12:33:00Z"}" src="https://embed.podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/racket-to-go/id1587382650" frameborder="0" allow="autoplay *; encrypted-media *;" allowfullscreen="true"></iframe></div><iframe class="spotify-wrap podcast" data-attrs="{"image":"https://i.scdn.co/image/ab6765630000ba8a996d98f4b870ea7d42f40139","title":"Racket To Go","subtitle":"Matt Taibbi","description":"Podcast","url":"https://open.spotify.com/show/4dWbQRqiQFJ5LzqgiY1rn6","belowTheFold":true,"noScroll":false}" src="https://open.spotify.com/embed/show/4dWbQRqiQFJ5LzqgiY1rn6" frameborder="0" gesture="media" allowfullscreen="true" allow="encrypted-media" loading="lazy" data-component-name="Spotify2ToDOM"></iframe>
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Even the “suck on this” version of Thomas Friedman was nicer than this one. Plus, a reader contestNarrated by Jared Moore Art by Daniel Medina Text published 08/20/25:Listen to subscriber-only audio in your podcast app Share the free versions of Racket To Go on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts Read more

<p>Even the “suck on this” version of Thomas Friedman was nicer than this one. Plus, a reader contest</p><p>Narrated by Jared Moore</p><p>Art by Daniel Medina</p><p>Text published 08/20/25:</p><p><em><strong><a href="https://support.substack.com/hc/en-us/articles/4519588148244-How-do-I-listen-to-episodes-on-my-podcast-app-" rel="noopener noreferrer">Listen to subscriber-only audio in your podcast app</a></strong></em></p><p>Share the free versions of Racket To Go on <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/racket-to-go/id1587382650" rel="noopener noreferrer">Apple Podcasts</a>, <a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/4dWbQRqiQFJ5LzqgiY1rn6?si=1OYQRLYBTm2N_WFS3OtzGQ%20https://open.spotify.com/show/4dWbQRqiQFJ5LzqgiY1rn6?si=1OYQRLYBTm2N_WFS3OtzGQ" rel="noopener noreferrer">Spotify</a>, or wherever you get your podcasts</p>
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