Hey it’s Matthew Sheffield. As a subscriber to Theory of Change, I wanted to let you know about a new Flux podcast called So This Just Happened.

My co-host for this show is Kali Holloway, she’s a very thoughtful journalist who you may have seen writing for The Nation and The Daily Beast. She’s also a singer and musician who’s featured in “The End of Our Deceit,” which is our podcast’s theme song.

So This Just Happened is going to focus on the people and personalities behind the news. This political moment we’re all sharing together is really complicated, not just to understand what’s happening, but also who we want to be.

We’ll be discussing why people are doing things, with a particular emphasis on stories about race, gender, and religion. Along the way, we’ll be telling some of our own individual stories as well. Each episode is part of a larger conversation so you’ll notice that there will never be a formal introduction.

Going forward, Theory of Change will be published on Monday, Doomscroll will publish on Wednesdays, and So This Just Happened will come out on Fridays.

But the best descriptions are no substitute for the real thing though, so please take a listen. I hope you’ll enjoy it. And if you are not yet a paid subscriber to Flux, I would definitely appreciate it if you would consider doing so. If you can’t afford it, please take just a few minutes to share any of our shows with a friend. Thanks!

Timecodes

01:20 — MAGA rapper Forgiato Blow and his Satan-themed rhymes and their larger context

08:30 — Why right-wing cultural products are usually very terrible

10:49 — That time a Moms for Liberty co-founder challenged Matt to a debate and then chickened out

14:37 — Many people on the center-left are getting tired of useless debates, but this is exactly what the far right wants

20:04 — How Robert F. Kennedy Jr. used real history of unethical medical practices to lie about vaccines to Black people

26:46 — How and why reactionary activists use “divide and conquer” to demoralize and divide the center-left and the progressive left

30:00 — A new app promises users it can help them shop their political values. Is that taking politics too seriously?

This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit theoryofchange.flux.community/subscribe