Nostalgia Trap

Ryan Boyd teaches in the Writing Program at the University of Southern California. His website collects much of his excellent writing, including a number of pieces on pedagogy and the state of higher education that we discuss in this episode. From crippling student loans and shitty mask policies to racist administrations and right-wing censorship, Ryan helps us explore what’s wrong, what can be done about it, and why our beleaguered colleges and universities are such critical battlegrounds for the future. Subscribe to support the show and access our huge bonus library: patreon.com/nostalgiatrap.

Historian Henry Maar’s new book Freeze! The Grassroots Movement to Halt the Arms Race and End the Cold War examines the ways in which ordinary people confronted the horrors of nuclear war, with a specific focus on the extraordinary Nuclear Freeze campaign of the 1980s. In this conversation, Maar explains the roots of anti-nuclear activism in the United States, and tells us how Ronald Reagan’s aggressive Cold War posturing (along with the nuclear apocalypse film The Day After) created an atmosphere of dread that sparked an unprecedented global movement. Subscribe to support the show and to access bonus episodes: patreon.com/nostalgiatrap.

The always engaging Yasmin Nair returns to continue our survey of how COVID is fucking us up on multiple channels: politically, economically, and spiritually. From liberals cheering on the deaths of the unvaxxed to celebrities spinning off into NFT land—all while the Biden administration tells us to “Google it”—things are looking pretty grim. How do we find hope in this degraded social landscape? Listen to the whole episode: patreon.com/posts/episode-314-hope-62069216

Neil Young occupies god-tier status on Nostalgia Trap, so it’s no mystery who we’re supporting in his fight with Spotify and Joe Rogan. But this seemed like a good opportunity to talk in more detail about the connections between art and politics, particularly in the context of “the sixties,” and our friend Justin Farrar has done a lot of thinking on the subject.  Justin joins us this week to talk about Young’s musical and political legacy, as we consider the long arc of rock and roll, from Hank to Hendrix, Marilyn to Madonna, and try to articulate why Neil’s music means more to us now than ever.

Remember when oil explained everything? Sean from the Antifada podcast joins us for a conversation about the film Syriana (2005) and the politics of oil in the 90s and 2000s. From peak oil theories and endless oil documentaries to the “No Blood for Oil” chants of the anti-Iraq War movement, we explore the history of fossil fuel’s slippery place within the larger left.

Am I “queer” because I listen to Belle and Sebastian? Good question! Trap favorite KJ Shepherd joins me for a conversation about masculinity in American pop culture, and that weird line between “hipster” and “queer.” Are these identities actually subversive, or are we fooling ourselves? Listen to the whole episode on our Patreon page: patreon.com/posts/episode-311-as-w-61332587

Bill Watterson’s extraordinary comic strip Calvin and Hobbes made a huge cultural impact in the 80s and 90s, and remains an all-time favorite for both me and Justin. In this conversation, we talk about what makes Calvin and Hobbes so unique, how it connects to other 20th century comic projects from Peanuts to South Park, and how Watterson’s one man crusade against corporate tyranny pre-figured the social politics of “selling out” in the influencer age. And we’re joined this week by a very special guest, Justin’s 8 year old son, Konrad, who passionately testifies to Calvin and Hobbes’ enduring appeal for the youthful imagination. Subscribe for bonus episodes and movie club: patreon.com/nostalgiatrap.

Is there a deeper, more powerful nostalgia trap than the Christmas season? In this conversation, Yasmin Nair helps me work out my mixed emotions about the holidays, as we watch the Billy Wilder movie The Apartment (1960) and consider how its dark vision of philandering married men and “other women” in mid-century New York City shows us the Christmas season as a theater of sexual pathos, performative sentiment, and relentless cynicism. Subscribe for all our bonus treats: patreon.com/nostalgiatrap 

Our epic trilogy on the life, work, and legacy of Howard Zinn concludes with a conversation about Zinn’s place in the wider history of the American left. Was Zinn a communist, an anarchist, or what? Justin Rogers-Cooper joins us in reading through some of Zinn’s later work for clues, as we consider how his internationalism and pacifism figured into a global vision of socialist solidarity that holds heavy lessons for the current political moment. Full episode here: patreon.com/nostalgiatrap.

KJ Shepherd joins us to talk about the #FreeBritney moment and the wider phenomenon of diva worship. What makes a diva? And more importantly, how is celebrity fandom entangled with capitalism and queerness? Subscribe for access to bonus episodes and other fantastic treats: patreon.com/nostalgiatrap.