The Culture We Deserve

With all the fuss about Adolescence and the concern about our adrift young men, we have to wonder: are we about to start sending our incels to re-education camps? Jessa and Nico look at RFK Jr's plan for sending the unwell, mentally ill, and addicted to farms (is this our new agricultural policy?), and how much of our economy is now dependent on putting people away: private prisons, rehab facilities, assisted living, and retreats for the troubled. Shownotes and references: http://theculturewedeserve.substack.com

Ross Douthat has a new book, arguing that America needs a new religious revival. Sir, there is a theocracy establishing itself in Idaho, we have Tradcaths in the government trying to force us all back into patriarchal marriages, is now really the time?? America has always been weird about god, we can't seem to contemplate him for more than ten seconds at a time without praying he destroys the whole world in fiery apocalypse. Jessa and Nico discuss our new gods and whether Jim Jones would have made a better VP than JD Vance. Shownotes and references: http://theculturewedeserve.substack.com

Netflix doesn't just make reality dating shows that violate multiple international human rights treaties -- they also make adaptations of the world's greatest literature. Everything is IP! Including A Hundred Years of Solitude and The Leopard. Jessa and Nico discuss turning art into slop, people pretending they can't tell the difference between good and bad, and why what's good for the cultural industries is often not great for art. Shownotes and references: http://theculturewedeserve.substack.com

MAHA is already a mess. With RFK's recent humiliation ritual at Steak N Shake, the return of factory farming, and an international takeover of our rural land, any hope of making America healthy again is slipping away. I guess it's going to have to be mandatory Ozempic then! Jessa and Nico discuss the failed dreams of those who don't want forever chemicals in breastmilk, how health policy became a rightwing rather than leftist priority, and whether gyms are fascist.  Shownotes and references: http://theculturewedeserve.substack.com

The sex worker community hates Anora, Mexicans hate Emilia Perez, brutalists hate The Brutalist... is this where representation culture has left us? The big winners have mostly been rejected by those they claim to represent and loved by those who like a little song and dance number. Jessa and Nico discuss the aftermath of the OscarsSoWhite campaign and why Hollywood is a misrepresentation and stereotyping machine. Shownotes and references: http://theculturewedeserve.substack.com

From the cult of incels running our government to Trump's alliance with Andrew Tate to Elon Musk's mountain of neglected baby boys, one has to ask, what is wrong with all the men? Jessa and Nico discuss the root causes of men's unmooring -- naturally this is all women's doing -- and why we need new ways to organize our domestic lives. Also, coming in June 2025 from Pantheon: Jessa Crispin's new book, What Is Wrong With Men. Shownotes and references: http://theculturewedeserve.substack.com

As America gears up to celebrate its 250th anniversary, Jessa and Nico discuss this country's obsession with its founding, what Kamala's vision for the anniversary would have been, and whether we'll all live to celebrate 251. Also: Trump's takeover of the Kennedy Center, Philadelphia celebrates America with the British moppet Ed Sheeran concert, and by the way we both recorded this with the flu. Shownotes and references: http://theculturewedeserve.substack.com

Christopher Rufo and the rest of the anti-DEI crew are planning for a new conservative art world: please, can you spare some aesthetics? What can we all expect from antiwoke art, other than messianic actors rescuing trafficked children from predatory progressives and shirtless pics of a super ripped Donald Trump? Can the conservatives save art with Western Civilization nostalgia and NFTs? And was art ever really woke? Jessa and Nico look at the possibilities of never getting good art ever again.

With the release of the Brian Eno documentary, one has to wonder: What is the real cause of our cultural stagnation? Is it that the United States is incapable of creating new geniuses, or that all the geniuses are working now in tech? Nico and Jessa get into how media consolidation, a failing educational system, and the so-called democratization of creativity have created an entertainment industry where mediocrity reigns and "Fail Better" is just a techbro motto. Also: the effect of Trump's anti-DEI efforts and whether China just released an OpenAI killer.  Shownotes and references: http://theculturewedeserve.substack.com

Is America capable of creating geniuses anymore, or just technicians who feed the nostalgia for the age of auteurs? Just a few months ago, The Brutalist was being heralded as a masterpiece, but now it's mired in controversy about AI use and accusations of Zionist politics. Both of these attacks are wrong, by the way -- it is simply that the movie is not very good. On the week of David Lynch's death, Nico and Jessa discuss the Ayn Randiness of The Brutalist, the cliches related to creative genius, and why neo-Nazis love Twin Peaks.  Shownotes and references: http://theculturewedeserve.substack.com