Nostalgia Trap

This week Justin and I talk about the idea of "fragile capitalism" in the context of the big crypto collapse, Peloton's hilarious demise, baby formula shortages, and other troubling signs of a global economy on the brink. What happens when the forces in control can't keep the lights on? To listen to the whole episode and access our excellent library of bonus content: patreon.com/posts/66310876

The impending demise of Roe v. Wade occupies our attention this week, as Yasmin narrates some key moments in the wider history of abortion politics over the last 50 years. We survey the racial and class dimensions of abortion access, reel at the scourge of liberal feminism, and gossip about the evil pro-life “Catholic socialists” lurking amongst us on the left. Most of all, though, this conversation focuses on tactics, from the relentless power-grabs of the right to the public demonstrations, mutual aid and OCCUPY experiments of the left. How do we reboot the framework of resistance? Because we’re gonna need a reboot. To listen to the full episode: patreon.com/posts/gender-trap-ep-2-66230122

Gender Trap is an all-new podcast series with me (David Parsons) and Yasmin Nair attempting to move the conversation forward on gender and sexuality in politics, economics, and popular culture. In our inaugural episode, we explore the different modes of performative masculinity available to American men, from Alan Alda to Jason Momoa, explain why Mad Men will be a central text for our discussions, and offer some ideas about new ideological frameworks for navigating the trap of gender. All future episodes of Gender Trap will be available exclusively for Nostalgia Trap subscribers at patreon.com/nostalgiatrap. 

What else could we talk about today? Justin and I go dead alien/queer Marx on the Supreme Court's Roe v. Wade leak, and reflect on the idea of "sliding back" on race and gender vs liberal narratives about the inevitable march of progress. The fascists are here. They're making their moves; we know what they want. What are OUR moves?  Subscribe to listen to all our bonus content:  patreon.com/posts/livestream-5-4-w-66017971

Brian Oliu is a writer and teacher whose latest book, Body Drop: Notes on Fandom and Pain in Professional Wrestling, takes an intensely personal, often brutal approach to analyzing wrestling’s weird place in American culture. In this conversation, we talk about the wages of violence, gender, and capitalism in the sport itself, and in the giant corporations that control it. What’s “fake”? What’s “real”? Wrestling knows that it ain’t so simple.  Subscribe and access our library of bonus episodes: patreon.com/nostalgiatrap

So is Biden gonna cancel these student loans or what? On this week's livestream, Justin and I talk about liberals fleeing Elon Musk's Twitter (lol), get into our predictions about where the student loan question is headed (the Supreme Court, probably), think about the American right's "cult of the gun," and explore the idea of a borderless world via excerpts from Thomas Paine, Noam Chomsky, and Donatella Di Cesare (with special appearances from Billy Joel and Don Draper). To listen to the whole livestream and access our entire galaxy of bonus content: patreon.com/posts/65689550

Justin Farrar’s first appearance on the show was a dense journey through the history of rock music and American counterculture, and it got me thinking about (and listening to) The Doors for the first time in years. Like many of us, I grew up with Jim Morrison’s iconic presence looming out from lots of different corners: posters in head shops, t-shirts worn by stoned high schoolers, the Oliver Stone movie (and attendant urban legends about Val Kilmer’s eerily channeled performance), and above everything else, the weird, ubiquitous music of The Doors themselves, blasting out of oldies stations and tape decks in friends’ cars. In this conversation, Justin returns to share his ideas about The Doors as both a musical act and cultural phenomenon, as we consider how the group’s pulsing blues rock and dark poetry synced so magically with the apocalyptic historical moment from which it emerged.  To accompany this episode, Justin has created 2 different excellent Spotify playlists:   The Doors Legacy: Art Rock, Punk, Post-Punk, Goth, Alt-Rock, Experimental        Songs from artists influenced by Morrison/The Doors The Doors: California Noir        Songs from The Doors that capture the dark underbelly of Los Angeles Listen to the whole episode and access all our bonus content: patreon.com/posts/episode-323-red-65611155

This week Justin and I talk about the right's pedophile/masculinity obsession, from Tucker Carlson and testicle tanning to predictable election-year assaults on teachers and other liberal cucks. Is this just normal American insanity, or is something stranger going on? To listen to the whole episode and access our entire library of bonus content: patreon.com/posts/livestream-4-20-65392882

Gregory Daddis is a professor of history at San Diego State University whose work focuses on the history of the Cold War and the American war in Vietnam. His latest book, Pulp Vietnam: War and Gender in Cold War Men’s Adventure Magazines, explores how hyper-violent, hyper-sexualized images of war in macho “pulp” magazines of the 1950s shaped the attitudes of young American men in the Vietnam War. In this conversation, we take a look at the industry that produced these magazines, talk about Daddis’ own experiences with military service, and discuss how American culture is part of the deeply gendered and racialized landscape of war. Subscribe to access our library of bonus content: patreon.com/nostalgiatrap

On this week's livestream, Justin brings us some key ideas from Chomsky, Fanon and, of course, C.L.R. James, as we ponder the questions: How do people become obedient to structures that oppress them? What conditions create solidarity? What conditions breed division? And what do The Doors have to do with any of this??!! To listen to the whole episode and access our entire catalog of bonus episodes: patreon.com/posts/livestream-4-13-65106738