Just when we thought we'd found the bottom of the barrel, we scrape a little bit further. From executive producers Van Jones and Meghan McCain, THE REUNITED STATES (2021) seeks to open a new chapter on the American story by highlighting people trying to bridge the left and right. But does a political "movement" that believes in nothing more than "listening to each other" actually do anything to address the issues allegedly dividing us? (Hint: no).

PATREON EPISODE - https://www.patreon.com/posts/47524164

John Waters' transgressive masterpiece FEMALE TROUBLE (1974) envisions a moral and aesthetic universe in which everything ugly is beautiful and vice versa. We discuss the film's radically queer vision, and the way it dissolves the barrier between high and low culture. We also discuss the seismic impact that John Waters had on one of the cohosts as a young man (hint: it's Will), and how an iconoclast becomes an elder statesman. PLUS: Trump's (non-)impeachment, Woody Allen's new movie, and why it can be more productive to criticize liberals than conservatives.

For decades the most visible socialist in Britain, the late Labour Party MP Tony Benn is the rare instance of a left-wing politician who became even more radical as his political career progressed. The 1990 documentary TONY BENN: AGAINST THE TIDE, 1973-6 looks back at four years where radical change seemed possible and Benn was at the height of his power within Labour. We discuss his thwarted political vision, and how his politics remained consistent through the dark winters of Thatcher and Blair. PLUS: American media under Biden, and the death of Larry Flynt.

Watch the documentary: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4h9qv1HQ4w8&ab_channel=ModernLonelyTV

"Tony Benn Spent His Life Fighting for Democracy and Socialism" by Leo Panitch and Colin Leys - https://www.jacobinmag.com/2020/04/tony-benn-birthday-labour-party-uk-new-left

PATREON BONUS - https://www.patreon.com/posts/47344547

Sometime after the Second World War, neoliberal economics became the default economic theory. How did this happen? And is there any hope for a return to New Deal economics? Our own Luke Savage talks to Marshall Steinbaum (writer and assistant professor of economics at the University of Utah) about how the neoclassical right’s astonishingly successful intellectual revolution came about, its core beliefs, and the profoundly antidemocratic animus it owes to the liberalism of the nineteenth century.

PATREON EPISODE - https://www.patreon.com/posts/47190155

At the height of his fame, Steven Seagal directed and starred in his passion project: ON DEADLY GROUND (1994), a big-budget action movie about saving the environment and bringing down Big Oil. This legendary disaster is the ultimate Seagal film. Come join us as we have some fun hitting the low-hanging piñata that is the Mojo Priest. PLUS: the ominous Proposition 22 - where it came from, and what it represents.

The story of two men competing for the world Donkey Kong championship becomes a metaphor for so much in society, from celebrity culture to institutional power. We revisit THE KING OF KONG: A FISTFUL OF QUARTERS (2007) and celebrate two universal archetypes: Steve Wiebe and Billy Mitchell. PLUS: fiery hot takes on the Golden Globes, the Democrats' impending midterm strategy, and the lingering discourse on the Bernie mittens meme.

"PIXEL BURN - A King, Konquered: The Fall of Billy Mitchell" - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tNLqrOqUtEM&ab_channel=Bitscreed

PATREON EXCLUSIVE - https://www.patreon.com/posts/interview-exit-w-47079354

We all got a kick out of watching the Redditors beat the hedge funds. But can finance be democratized within the framework of capitalism? That answer may not surprise you! Luke talks to Edward Ongweso Jr., a labor and technology reporter at Motherboard and cohost of the This Machine Kills podcast, about the Robinhood trading app and the implications of l'affaire Gamestop.

PATREON EPISODE - https://www.patreon.com/posts/46893915

The Superdelegates have voted and forced us to watch Jerry Seinfeld's Netflix show COMEDIANS IN CARS GETTING COFFEE. Jerry and a range of ultra-rich showbiz pals (from Ricky Gervais to Bill Maher to Ellen Degeneres to... uh, Barack Obama) go for a spin, roast a brew, and engage in lighthearted chatter that will have you asking if America's most beloved sitcom star might actually be a sociopath. PLUS: thoughts on QAnon, "the Year of the Mod," and the sad return of America's most venerable media brand.

PATREON BONUS - https://www.patreon.com/posts/46829970

What is QAnon? Where did it come from? And where does it go now that "the Storm" didn't happen? Luke talks to Daily Beast reporter and QAnon expert Will Sommer about this most ridiculous of Trump-era phenomena.

Between the collapse of the Soviet Union and the War on Terror, James Bond went on a mission to find... relevance. We watched GOLDENEYE (1995), the first end-of-history Bond film, to find how 007 fit into the New World Order. PLUS: reflections on the inauguration, Canada's wacky system of governance, and the passing of Larry King.