Episode 146: Putting the “Crisis" in Masculinity

The Democrat didn’t win in Arizona’s 8th Congressional district this week, but the results of that race were still very, very encouraging. Dan Savage, Eli Sanders, and Rich Smith talk about why this particular loss is actually a kind of win, and then they examine a new, shade-throwing slogan that Democrats are considering for the midterms. The Republicans, this slogan goes, are the party of “corruption, cronyism, and incompetence.” Who could argue with that one? But, also: Will it work? After that, will anything work when it comes to the staggering number of Americans who just don’t vote? Katie Herzog joins Dan and Eli to look at the results of a new poll that asked this country's nonvoters what the hell they’re thinking. The answers are a trip, but they also represent an opportunity for the right politician. (Who, the poll reveals, is a certain lovable lefty authoritarian.) Finally, Rich returns to deal with the pressing issue of Professor Jordan Peterson, the Canadian psychologist whose hot take on the so-called crisis in masculinity has transformed him into “maybe the most influential public intellectual in the Western world right now.” Is there anything Peterson is actually right about? Why did he perform so well in his epic face-off with Channel 4’s Cathy Newman? (Which now has more than 9 million views on YouTube.) And why, exactly, do so many young men worship this dude? Plus, as always, the music of Ahaemfule J. Oluo!