House of Strauss

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.houseofstrauss.comStar Substacker Rob Henderson has written a spectacularly haunting memoir of his own life, titled Troubled. Consider this podcast a sneak preview, as the book is coming soon and you won’t want to miss it. Rob is not only among America’s leading millennial intellectuals, but his upbringing is among the roughest I’ve ever heard. It’s a miracle that he’s self sustaining, to say nothing of achieving so highly as a writer and thinker. With all that in mind, we discuss the vast chasm between his native Red Bluff, CA and the Ivy League campus he eventually arrived at. Rob, who coined the term “luxury beliefs,” has a lot of thoughts on how higher status Americans are broadcasting the wrong messages to those who live elsewhere. Oh, and we get into the issue of university presidents in hot water over the “genocide hearing.” Enjoy…

Steve Kornacki is, as you may know, the affable guy who gives you highly accurate election information on NBC. He’s got other projects, though, and I found this one fascinating. In this episode we discuss “The Revolution,” a podcast series on Newt Gingrich’s rise to power. Kornacki’s series argues that the Newt-fueled 1994 Republican takeover of the House is crucial to understanding our current era. Before the 1994 midterms, we were in one political reality; Afterwards, the country fundamentally changed. Steve and I talk about all this, plus get into why he avoids sharing any of his own politics. Oh, let’s tease this: Steve gets into what the 2022 midterms meant and why he believes the Dobbs effect is overstated. Enjoy… This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.houseofstrauss.com/subscribe

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.houseofstrauss.comComing off Sunday’s thrashing of the Eagles, the San Francisco 49ers are riding high. Naturally, we had to have 49ers +/- host Tim Kawakami on to discuss a variety of Niners and Niners adjacent topics. Of course, given Tim’s status as the best sports writer in the state over the last two decades, we also had to get into why the industry isn’t doing a better job delivering a product TK’s succeeding with. Topics include but aren’t limited to…* Why LA-based sports writers tend to leave sports writing * Tim wrote a Brock Purdy column that might be his most read ever* TK’s thoughts on 49ers fans getting mad at Purdy doubters like Steven Ruiz* Is Trent Williams the most valuable Niner? Do offensive linemen get their proper due?* If customers are flocking to this Niners content and John Canzano is crushing it in the Pacific Northwest, then what is the sports writing industry missing?

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.houseofstrauss.comWe booked Bogut. Then Australian NBA news items popped up and the Warriors lost a 24 point lead on national TV. Just as we got Henry Kissinger killed earlier in the week, it seems HoS has had a negative impact on all issues adjacent to our wonderful guest. No matter. It was a great talk, especially when we went down Warriors memory lane. Before all that, we, of course, discussed whether this is the end for that storied core Bogut once played alongside. Oh, and we also talked Josh Giddey, the firing of Daniel Moldovan, and Gregg Popovich grabbing the PA microphone to scold his crowd.

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.houseofstrauss.comMichael Moynihan is one of my favorite podcasters. I always enjoy him at his Fifth Column home and, of course, when he visits HoS. The genesis of this pod is Michael’s 2018 Vice interview with Open AI CEO Sam Altman, which was on the topic of UBI (Universal Basic Income). To give a sense of how the interview went, here’s Moynihan’s recent Instagram description of the exchange, posted in the aftermath of Altman’s firing (and before his rehiring): So OpenAI CEO Sam Altman was fired. This is apparently news requiring a New York Times homepage takeover, with three (!) stories speculating about the reason for his ouster. Allow me to offer an alternate theory: Altman was fired because he’s an insufferable asshole. I interviewed him back in 2018…one of the most pompous, absurd, unpleasant people I’ve ever spoken to on camera. You see, Altman suffers from that most common Silicon Valley delusion…the one convincing billionaires that because they are very clever with computer code, they can also solve the world's most vexing social problems. Altman is a proponent of universal basic income and believes that when jobs are automated away, a more socialist government can make it all better with UBI-like transfer payments to the newly unemployed. I gently pushed back on this idea. He didn't handle it well. Here are two clips from the tail end of my interview with Altman.So that’s our jumping off point to questions about the damage well meaning utopians can cause, whether AI will replace journalists, and, obviously: Would people prefer AI Sports Illustrated writers or AI Sports Illustrated swimsuit models? Also we get into an Israel/Gaza detour and address whether the culture war has ended. Great talk, hope you enjoy.

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.houseofstrauss.comIf you wanted to follow the Open AI debacle in depth, Ashlee Vance’s articles in Bloomberg have been mandatory. Lucky for us, he took a moment out of his busy reporting schedule to hop on HoS and discuss the bigger picture questions connected to the corporate crackup. Also, there’s quite a reason for his proximity to the situation, which he reveals in the podcast. I’m not even sure how to timestamp this one, as the conversation jumps around to a lot of abstract places. I’ll just say that it’s a discussion I personally can’t stop thinking about since we had it. Vance is my favorite writer on the topic of the imminent future and there are some staggering possibilities afoot. Should we be terrified? Should we be inspired? Can we, fairly soon, become immortal? Do we want that? We discuss all this, plus talk about Ashlee hanging out with a community of brain-implant augmented monkeys

We’re rejoined by Ross Barkan, the best New York politics reporter, plus an overall astute commentator on many matters. This time, we’re talking about how the Israel/Gaza situation has shaken up U.S. domestic politics and revealed a massive generation gap between TikToker and TV watcher. I’m aware that not everyone necessarily comes to HoS for this conversation, but I aim to channel what’s interesting to me, in hopes it might be interesting to you. Oh yea, and towards the end, Ross and I discuss his confusion about the In Season Tournament. Enjoy…House of Strauss is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.houseofstrauss.com/subscribe

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.houseofstrauss.comWe talk to Pablo, host of Pablo Finds Out, proprietor of the Pablo Torre Substack, and all around media man. I’m very intrigued by his recent interviews, including but not limited to Larsa Pippen + Marcus Jordan. We discuss this inquiry into forbidden love, Dan Le Batard’s Trump tapes, Stephen A. Smith’s sex advice and much more regarding the modern sports media landscape.

Mr. Goodwill is, to borrow a phrase from Colin Cowherd, a young man who’s covered the NBA forever. He currently writes and podcasts about the league at Yahoo!, but he once was a beat writer, cutting his teeth while following terrible teams. In this episode, we take a trip down memory lane, reminiscing about what the NBA media industry was like, and what our lives were like. Did we live in a golden age without really knowing it? House of Strauss is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.houseofstrauss.com/subscribe

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.houseofstrauss.comThis podcast is unlike the other podcasts. Why? Because Super Producer Anthony Mayes spliced in our reaction to Adam Silver talking on another podcast. Beyond and because all that, a great conversation among pod friends. Topics include but aren’t limited to…* We all watch Adam Silver talking about the ways NBA Twitter influences league policy (2:40)* We spend many minutes doing a Mystery Science Theatre 3000 on this Adam Silver interview with JJ Redick* Redick + Silver on the science changing with load management (12:35)* The NBA’s “Hawkeye” issue is pissing teams off (33:00)* Why are Warriors fans so interested in the Chris Paul addition? (40:00)* How do the Light Years boys feel about Media Bob Myers? (56:40)* Klay and the Warriors going to breakup? (104:14)* Andy doesn’t like how Jordan Poole is getting blamed for last season (110:30)* Lack of Warriors developing young players not Kerr’s fault? (112:10)* Why did Saam and Andy both tweet about the Mean Girls reboot? (115:00)