The Culture We Deserve

Everyone is eager to turn themselves into a robot these days. Deepak Chopra has created an AI spiritual guru version of himself, Laura Kipnis botted herself up to help Silicon Valley bros read books, and the dead are returning and walking the earth and reviewing art again for UK newspapers. Who will restore our humanity? Well, the Department of Defense is now hiring writers to help us kill people more effectively, hooray. Jessa and Nico get into the urge to replicate, also Elon Musk's Heinlein fantasies of an extinction-level event. Show notes and references: http://theculturewedeserve.substack.com

The Lunar Eclipse brought America some moral dilemmas. Too bad America doesn't believe in morals anymore. Should a reporter sext with the people she profiles? If she writes things we like, why not. Should we elect someone who calls himself a Nazi and questions the Holocaust? If he angers the right people, why not. Should we in the media alert people that a rapper blew up someone else's car? If he invites us to good parties, I don't know man. Oliva Nuzzi, Mark Robinson, Matt Gaetz, Sean Combs, and others had big revelations, now we just have to figure out what to do about it. Show notes and references: http://theculturewedeserve.substack.com

People are fed up with the United States (again), and are threatening to leave if the election doesn't swing their way. American expat enclaves are popping up in Costa Rica, Portugal, and France. But is this a real response to political instability or a childish tantrum that you might be expected to live among people with whom you disagree? Jessa and Nico look into the role social media is playing in sending Americans to a small number of places, the dream of frictionless living, and exaggerating harm for the sake of your brand. Show notes and references: http://theculturewedeserve.substack.com

Google Books wanted to scan all the books of the world to digitize and hoard them and, potentially, monetize them. OpenAI wants to scan the history of human intellect to teach its computer program to think. The Internet Archive wanted to make books that weren't accessible accessible for no charge. Guess which one the court system shut down? As long as your plan is to make money, the American gov will let you do basically anything you want to do. Also: Tim Pool and other Russian tools, the FBI loves influencers, and the return of the honeytrap. For show notes and references: http://theculturewedeserve.substack.com

We are apparently so nostalgic for the Obama years that we are happy to forget whatever lessons we may have learned in the last eight years. New York Magazine declared Obamacore the time of Broad City, Hamilton, and Bad Feminist (like these were good things) -- ignoring what he truly gave us, which is Silicon Valley disruption overlords, girlbosses, and Hamilton (as a bad thing). Plus: Robin DiAngelo plagiarism scandal and the end of the woke/anti-woke grifter. For show notes and references: http://theculturewedeserve.substack.com

In Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, when a scrappy crew of kids tries to save America to get the truth out about a corrupt businessman, the businessman swarms the state with pamphlets, newspapers, parades, radio broadcasts to maintain his power. Controlling the narrative sometimes just means out-talking your opponent, and many of our most pernicious new media stars just overproduced content until they rose to the top: Twitch streaming leftists, podcast bros, Mr. Beast endurance videos. Now we have the IDF livestreaming war crimes and bots out-posting the victims of a celebrity's sexual assaults to take over search results. Nico and Jessa discuss the culture of chronic posting and asks where is the CIA when you need them? For show notes and references: http://theculturewedeserve.substack.com

Just a small town guy, beloved by children, sent to Washington to do the right thing -- is Tim Walz our chance to live in a Frank Capra film? Jessa and Nico watch Mr. Smith Goes to Washington and read Nancy Pelosi's new memoir to talk about the two archetypes of American public service, the aw shucks good guy versus the professional power player. But after Obama and the bailouts of the big banks, is it even possible to have hope anymore? Show notes and references: http://theculturewedeserve.substack.com

If your idea of a woman is small, frail, vulnerable, and weak, how do you look at women in sports? Well, by assuming that every woman who is strong, competitive, and accomplished might secretly be a man. Some people decided to spend the week Transvestigating athletes instead of any other thing in the world they could be doing. Jessa and Nico talk about women in sports, Michele Kang's comment that women athletes are treated like they are "small men," the downside of professionalizing sports, and the first fight event with men competing directly against women, the Craig Jones Invitational. For show notes and references: http://theculturewedeserve.substack.com

There's trouble in the tradwife multi-verse, restarting the convo about whether tradwives are Nazi bait or helpless babies who need saving from their own marriages. Also: are the Democrats running Kamala Harris as a candidate or as the symbol of womanhood crushing the patriarchy? That didn't exactly work for Hillary Clinton, but Harris has less baggage. From cat ladies to tradwives to white women for Kamala, we look at how our archetypes of womanhood have changed from 2016, and what that means for the future of politics.

How did a guy with as little charisma and charm as JD Vance end up as Donald Trump's running mate? Because of his authenticity. He symbolizes the American Dream -- the dream to transcend where you come from and then destroy everyone who disappointed you along the way. As one of the only real bootstrap men remaining, he is a potent symbol that is useful for both the right and the left. Jessa and Nico discuss his journey, from liberal media darling to populist puppet, and how authenticity gets weaponized in a time of great inequality. This week's sponsor: http://betterhelp.com/culturewedeserve For shownotes and resources: http://theculturewedeserve.substack.com