The American century is over, or so say the speakers at Davos. The United States has had hegemonic control over the rest of the world, its markets, its sovereignty, its culture. But now that might be coming to an end. Jessa and Nico discuss what that means for international culture industries, which have also been playing by America's rules for decades.

Shownotes and references:

http://theculturewedeserve.substack.com

It's France in the mid-19th century, and here we have a group of young men who can't decide how to get along. They waste time and money, they go to nightclubs and restaurants, they have affairs and declare themselves and each other artistic geniuses. Meanwhile, the political situation is crumbling and people are putting up barricades in the street. It's time for Flaubert's Sentimental Education, which examines the listlessness and indecisiveness of a generation coming of age in turmoil. Jessa and Joseph discuss how this in no way resembles the contemporary impulse to podcast through a breakdown.

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Rightwing men have been accusing liberal women of having "suicidal empathy" for the immigrants they claim are trying to murder them. But the only people who truly seem to have suicidal empathy are those who identify and sympathize with the ICE agents and the politicians who are likely to turn on them next. Jessa and Nico discuss the popularity of this idea for figures like Elon Musk.

Also, over at the Nation, Anna Krauthamer attempted to reconcile her belief in prison abolition with a horrendous experience of sexual violence, and the whole thing became an illustration of the failures of the sloganeering political left to generate ideas on better ways to do things. Maybe it wasn't a great idea to try to solve complicated social issues with personal essays.

Shownotes and references:

http://theculturewedeserve.substack.com

Much like the girlboss, no matter how many times the culture tries to eulogize DEI we find it once again, walking around, making a nuisance of itself. Recent pieces in the NYTimes, Wired, and Compact try to reckon with the legacy of DEI, and then there is of course the walking mascot of DEI culture, Bari Weiss, making a mess of CBS News.

Jessa and Nico talk about the enormous lengths all these people will go to avoid talking about class, why identity politics was a good idea (for a while), and why the most obvious DEI hires were Ross Douthat and Bari Weiss.

Shownotes and references:

http://theculturewedeserve.substack.com

Nico was in Colombia when the United States abducted Venezuelan president Maduro, and he has some thoughts on what people in the United States commonly get wrong about South American politics. But also: predictions for 2026: the USA will do some feminist regime change in Iran, just like in Afghanistan! Serbia will be liberated from the heavy yoke of Trump Family influence! Mr. Beast will be charged with crimes against humanity! And more in politics, culture, and art.

Let us know your own predictions and see shownotes here:

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2025 may be over, but its cultural production lives on in our hearts. Nico and Jessa debate the best and worst movies, TV shows, books, and museum exhibits of the year, talk shit about your faves, and hope for better art in the future.

Shownotes and references:

http://theculturewedeserve.substack.com

A very special Christmas treat for our listeners. Joseph and Jessa discuss George Eliot's Felix Holt: The Radical, which asks the very important question: is the socialist's primary task to yell at people and tell them they are wrong about everything? Set in the 1830s after political reform has granted voting rights to new -- but still very limited -- populations, a small English market town deals with the tumult that follows. A powerfully rich heir returns to stand for public office as "a radical," a young man decides to devote himself to the bettering of the working classes by telling them they are all ignorant drunks, and a young woman must decide which one of these weirdos to marry.

But there is also a strange paternity case and a power struggle over an estate, a satirical storyline about the foolishness of patriarchal lineage, and a few good jokes about atheists.

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For the last five years, museums around the world have been struggling to answer the question of, who owns cultural heritage? Certain objects, from the Elgin Marbles to the Benin Bronzes, have been fought over as multiple entities, institutions, and nations claim true ownership. Now that the Benin Bronzes have started to return to Nigeria, only to be shoved in storage unseen by anyone except the one man who claims they belong only to him, Jessa and Nico discuss whether anything has been learned from the Decolonize movement.

Shownotes and references:

http://theculturewedeserve.substack.com

Jessa and Nico return from their visit to Ireland. All along the way, the subject of whether or not Ireland should be united kept coming up. But beyond the slogans and the bad ideas, there are very real issues at work, tedious and boring but also tremendously consequential. Nico reflects on the influence the Northern Ireland peace agreement had on Colombian politics, Jessa discusses how social media creates a false sense of consensus, and they both worry about our decreased ability to manage complexity in political issues.

Shownotes and references:

http://theculturewedeserve.substack.com

Jessa and Nico return from their visit to Ireland. All along the way, the subject of whether or not Ireland should be united kept coming up. But beyond the slogans and the bad ideas, there are very real issues at work, tedious and boring but also tremendously consequential. Nico reflects on the influence the Northern Ireland peace agreement had on Colombian politics, Jessa discusses how social media creates a false sense of consensus, and they both worry about our decreased ability to manage complexity in political issues.

Shownotes and references:

http://theculturewedeserve.substack.com