In conjunction with celebrated author and longtime news vet Walter Kirn, we'll run down the week's biggest, most important, and also most ridiculous stories
A written transcript would be much appreciated. I can read a transcript much quicker than watching a video, and can do so without bothering other people around me.
Also, for stories where you have to follow the thread (Matt does a lot of those), you can go back and reread until you get it. With verbal stories, sometimes they move too fast to process all of the details. Or maybe (probably), i'm just slow.
Matt, as I think you are noting, there is a fairly large group that will not be able to listen to this, as entertaining and informative as I am sure it will be. But we WILL avidly read every transcript. You have been very good about transcripting other things. Please do that for this more-than-interesting looking content as well. Many thanks.
Yes, a transcript would be most welcome! But, for all you old curmudgeons out there (like me), don’t underestimate the sound f/x. If you ever watched SNL in its glory days or listened to Franken & Davis or Joe Frank or Harry Shearer then you can at least turn up your hearing aids and give the ‘cast a play. Bring it on!!!
I couldn’t care less about him as a one-time pol. (Of course, that wasn’t the point, but you might not have realized as much.) He & his former sidekick had some good moments together and their act featured a slightly amusing vocalization of a stone-age computer spitting out a ‘read out’. Probably before your time.
Probably after my time. I always thought he was an unfunny douche. But a couple of decades ago i was a waiter in NYC and we used to do the SNL after parties once in awhile. He and Dennis Miller were totally smug, condescending assholes. The main SNL guests for that episode were two big actors who have a (possibly deserved) reputation for being flaming assholes, but they couldn't have been nicer. Go figure.
I think the irony of your anecdote speaks to the oft tragedy that are first impressions . They're simultaneously; very powerful and very misleading.
Not for nothing, but I have to wonder in the case of Miller, if maybe his condescending schtick doesn't just bleed over after a performance. Or, perhaps he has the attitudinal version of resting bitch face and everything just comes off smug, while possibly the nicest guy ever. Who really knows?
Mea culpa. But, not being from Lake Wobegon, I’m also not above average in the recall dept. FWIW, I did make a bitchin’ playlist from assorted bits of Harry Shearer’s masterful “Le Show”, which was his primary solo outlet here in LALA Land back-in-the-day. The guy was devastatingly funny, a fact I was reminded of upon the recent passing of former Dodger Voice Vin Scully. Shearer hilariously nailed Scully’s schtick w/a great bit about sausage. Gotta hear it to believe it. (W/all due respect to Vin)
Gotta agree with OP regarding podcasts, but I'm gonna go further with 2 comments
(i) when Matt says " I find myself wishing I could review the material with a colleague with an appropriate sense of the absurd" it sounds as if he has never met Katie Helper.
(ii) This is pretty much connected to (i) in that it appears to the individual I call me, that ever since Matt appeared on a mainstream 'news' talkfest this year, that he hasn't baulked at allowing tossage to get in the way of the facts if it aids his public profile.
In other words, close to the same as all the drongos we abhor, lap it up if you choose, but remember cynics don't be disappointed.
in its use of phrases such as “knowledgeable sources” and “experts differ,” what I used to think of as the news, but it isn’t the news and it hasn’t been for ages.
Nailed it. I discard any content that has unnamed sources, and view 'scientists' and 'experts' as advocates.
Looking forward. Here’s a request. While everyone else is plying the outrage model for profit, please talk about solutions and actionable ideas that people can do on their own to improve their situation and contribute.
My new approach to "being informed" is to admit that here in the 21st century being informed is, in many ways, a snipe hunt for fool's gold.
Even if, by some strange quirk of fate, I stumble across the straight skinny, no one that I know will believe me if what I discover deviates from the mainstream narrative by even a molecule.
And, if by some even stranger quirk of fate, what I discover today becomes, at some point, part of the mainstream narrative tomorrow, everyone who told me I was a crazy Trumper for initially believing it, will now conveniently forget that they didn't initially believe it.
Having said that I'll also say that I like Mr. Kirn's take on things and I like Matt's take on things but podcasts are something that I can only tolerate in short bursts so I'll probably pass.
1) Your first 3 paragraphs are spot on and reflect my experience as well.
2) Podcasts are a great motivator to get mundane tasks done. I usually don't look forward to say, painting my living room, but if there is a podcast in my queue that I am eager to listen to, I'll happily pick up that paint roller.
This is fantastic. Kirn is a unique thinker, and I appreciate his writing and his musings on Twitter, especially his “art is the antidote to governmental chaos” attitude. He’s the perfect partner for you in this endeavor. It should be funny and entertaining, and occasionally terrifying.
Outstanding. I was introduced to Mr. Kirn through Substack and his piece linked in Matt’s post - about the bullshit we spend so much time staring at these days - may be the best essay I’ve ever had the privilege of reading. This will be worth way more than $5.00 a month. Looking forward to it.
Great! I love hypocrisy in government and media being lampooned.... haven't seen that word for a long time. Out and out craziness has taken over the western world, not just the media but that's a good start. It's not even 1984; it's Alice in fantastical land.
Reading NYT and WaPo is the solution to low blood pressure.
I read them because they are the voices of the people who are the greatest threats to me and my family. Their attempts to shame and manipulate are so hackneyed that I think one could say they are ~ completely uninhibited.
If you take a look at all of the people discussing this post, many self-identify as "old, curmudgeons". One does not get to be an old curmudgeon and have low blood pressure. The two are mutually exclusive. Now get off my lawn!
No I wasn’t thinking of that, Zionism, just that she’s giving voice to David French who is a Regime apologist. I find his argumentation picayune and ridiculous: six years of a attacks on Trump still begets more. Of course Trump is a jack ass but he is an avatar to the dispossessed. Attacking him will only fuel his anger and theirs.
An ardent supporter of apartheid in Israel and its leasing racists including Natan Sharansky
Obviously, leaders of both D and R wings of the US War party are fine with that, as well as with massive emergence of Nazism in Europe (Ukraine government) -- while peddling that racism and white supremacy in the US is the largest threat to US "democracy"
An ardent supporter of apartheid in Israel and its leasing racists including Natan Sharansky
Obviously, leaders of both D and R wings of the US War party are fine with that, as well as with massive emergence of Nazism in Europe (Ukraine government) -- while peddling that racism and white supremacy in the US is the largest threat to US "democracy"
I've never been a paid Common Sense subscriber, but I enjoy Nellie Bowles' weekly news wrap-up, especially when done in audio form with Katie Herzog as co-host, but that seems to be on hold.
Bari’s SubStack is fine. She does a lot of good work and reporting and brings interesting voices in, even though most of it is focused on the culture wars in some way.
A lot of people are mad that she had David French write an article this week. I totally understand why people don’t care for evangelical neocons like French, but he can be quite thoughtful on certain topics. I appreciate that Weiss gets voices from across the spectrum. That’s how it should be.
A lot of the “old left” will always hate her because of her Zionism. There’s a famous old Greenwald Intercept smear of her based on some press she got in college that people still lean on, although I think she and Greenwald are friendly now. And people also forget that Nat Hentoff, one of the great free speech writers, supported Weiss in print at that time.
That said, I'm not a paid subscriber, but I do read some of the content there, and a lot of it is free.
I'd suggest reading the free stuff and listening to the podcast for a while, and making up your own mind about it! I don't care for the "good vs. evil" or "guilt by association" ideas prevalent in today's journalism and politics.
She is an ardent supporter of apartheid in Israel and of the worst racists there -- you decide if you can stomach that.
Obviously, leaders of both D and R wings of the US War party are fine with that, as well as with massive emergence of Nazism in Europe (Ukraine government) -- while peddling that racism and white supremacy in the US is the largest threat to US "democracy"
Weiss has spoken very critically of Israel's behavior towards Palestine many times. The issue that people have a problem with is that she supports Israel at all, and she is certainly a dyed-in-the-wool Zionist, which is what I think most of the "early 2000s left" hate her for. (One of her signature issues is what she perceives as barely hidden antisemitism in anti-Zionist movements, which is definitely more controversial.)
As far as the other claim, that she's pushing the idea, that the current democratic administration sadly is, that "white supremacy" is the biggest issue in the US today? That's actually the opposite of what she believes, and is primarily why she's become so well-known. She's one of the founders of that Foundation Against Intolerance and Racism with some interesting, heterdox voices from across the spectrum like Kmele Foster, John McWhorter, Coleman Hughes, and Zaid Jilani, and their entire mission is to debunk the squishy "anti-racism" of the Robin DiAngelos of the world and focus on real issues of bigotry, with a focus on free expression.
I certainly don't agree with Bari Weiss on mnay political issues, and her overarching focus on culture war issues might be somewhat limiting, but the pieces she wrote in the Times that she was attacked for have been mostly proven correct. She seems like an empathetic person, and most of the hate towards her is totally unfounded.
I liken the Zionist/anti-Zionist/agnostic-Zionist political pundit battle to the Roger Waters vs. Nick Cave battle in popular music. Roger Waters is loudly, bitterly angry and loudly shames any artist who dares to play in Israel, while Cave chooses kindness and empathy and states that playing in Israel (or any country) doesn't mean the artist supports that country politically. And that his music "is not designed to reward people for good behaviour, nor do I make music to punish people for bad behaviour. My music is not conditional. It is for everybody, regardless of their actions, good or bad or otherwise. I hope my music has the capacity to advance the world in a positive direction."
I'll choose Cave's empathy and basic human dignity over Waters' ugly bitterness every time. And besides, Nick Cave has one of the strongest discographies of any living pop artist and the only really good Pink Floyd LP is the Syd Barrett-led "Piper at the Gates of Dawn."
Leighton's Substack is great, and he's one of my favorite political writers, but he contributes to Weiss's Common Sense, and I think they're friendly.
I think Weiss should be allowed to have both David French and Leighton Woodhouse contribute to her project. You don't have to agree with both of them, but it should be fine to interact with both of their ideas; that's the whole point of her project, and should be the whole point of any multi-faceted political journalism project.
Can't wait! I'll happily listen in, but a transcript would be great as well. The use of popular anesthetics over a period of many years has not significantly improved my attention span.
This sounds delightful, but I would greatly appreciate a transcript. I am old and curmudgeonly, and those kids need to get their podcasts off my lawn.
It won't replace the weekly written wrapup! It's a supplement. And a written transcript shouldn't be hard, if there's interest in that.
A written transcript would be much appreciated. I can read a transcript much quicker than watching a video, and can do so without bothering other people around me.
Also, for stories where you have to follow the thread (Matt does a lot of those), you can go back and reread until you get it. With verbal stories, sometimes they move too fast to process all of the details. Or maybe (probably), i'm just slow.
❤️
Add my old curmudgeonly vote to the transcript as well. Also, I need to keep my ears open for the knock on my door announcing the raid has commenced.
It's cute that you still think they'll knock.
😆 😅 😂 🤣
And another curmudgeon, old, fat, ugly, with a fortissimo case of tinnitus. Transcript, please.
Thank you "The Usual Suspect" for my morning chuckle.
I often wonder how so many people have so much time to waste when they could read a transcript much faster.
Perhaps they are all looking at their phones while driving or flying somewhere.
What, you too?
There is interest here. I have ADD with the spoken word and when i space out during a podcast, i've missed things.
Matt, as I think you are noting, there is a fairly large group that will not be able to listen to this, as entertaining and informative as I am sure it will be. But we WILL avidly read every transcript. You have been very good about transcripting other things. Please do that for this more-than-interesting looking content as well. Many thanks.
Yes, a transcript would be most welcome! But, for all you old curmudgeons out there (like me), don’t underestimate the sound f/x. If you ever watched SNL in its glory days or listened to Franken & Davis or Joe Frank or Harry Shearer then you can at least turn up your hearing aids and give the ‘cast a play. Bring it on!!!
I would rather slit my throat than listen to Al Franken.
I couldn’t care less about him as a one-time pol. (Of course, that wasn’t the point, but you might not have realized as much.) He & his former sidekick had some good moments together and their act featured a slightly amusing vocalization of a stone-age computer spitting out a ‘read out’. Probably before your time.
Probably after my time. I always thought he was an unfunny douche. But a couple of decades ago i was a waiter in NYC and we used to do the SNL after parties once in awhile. He and Dennis Miller were totally smug, condescending assholes. The main SNL guests for that episode were two big actors who have a (possibly deserved) reputation for being flaming assholes, but they couldn't have been nicer. Go figure.
I think the irony of your anecdote speaks to the oft tragedy that are first impressions . They're simultaneously; very powerful and very misleading.
Not for nothing, but I have to wonder in the case of Miller, if maybe his condescending schtick doesn't just bleed over after a performance. Or, perhaps he has the attitudinal version of resting bitch face and everything just comes off smug, while possibly the nicest guy ever. Who really knows?
No nod for Garrison Keillo and Prairie Home Companion?
Mea culpa. But, not being from Lake Wobegon, I’m also not above average in the recall dept. FWIW, I did make a bitchin’ playlist from assorted bits of Harry Shearer’s masterful “Le Show”, which was his primary solo outlet here in LALA Land back-in-the-day. The guy was devastatingly funny, a fact I was reminded of upon the recent passing of former Dodger Voice Vin Scully. Shearer hilariously nailed Scully’s schtick w/a great bit about sausage. Gotta hear it to believe it. (W/all due respect to Vin)
Yes to transcript! Maybe you can include your visual reactions and grimaces in parentheses so we don’t miss out.
Add this geezer to the transcript request list. Thanks!
Thanks Matt!
Great interest!
How will the corporate media handle this??
About strange nude man attack on Pelosi: Paul Pelosi was most likely attacked by a male prostitute
An unavoidable conclusion about Paul Pelosi
1. Assailant in his underpants
2. Paul Pelosi knows his name and tells police he’s a “friend.”
3. Assailant asks “where’s Nancy?” to make sure she’s not home.
4. Pelosi takes bathroom break from spat and makes 911 call
Conclusion: This guy was a sex partner or male prostitute!
I read everything but I pass on the audio and video products. They take far too much time. Sorry.
*dons black cloak and sinister visage*
Do it.
I second the suggestion of a written transcript
Interest here as well for transcript if you are keeping track.....
Yes to transcript. I read what comes to my inbox. Where is TK to go? Is that something separate? Old curmudgeon here too.
#MeToo
I'm with you Stanley. Please Matt, publish a transcript!
Agree. I hope this doesn't replace the weekly email/post.
Gotta agree with OP regarding podcasts, but I'm gonna go further with 2 comments
(i) when Matt says " I find myself wishing I could review the material with a colleague with an appropriate sense of the absurd" it sounds as if he has never met Katie Helper.
(ii) This is pretty much connected to (i) in that it appears to the individual I call me, that ever since Matt appeared on a mainstream 'news' talkfest this year, that he hasn't baulked at allowing tossage to get in the way of the facts if it aids his public profile.
In other words, close to the same as all the drongos we abhor, lap it up if you choose, but remember cynics don't be disappointed.
"tossage"?
Ditto (transcript). I don't often have time to listen or watch.
insert sounds of hysterical laughter here.
🤣
Sounds great. This is content worth paying for.
in its use of phrases such as “knowledgeable sources” and “experts differ,” what I used to think of as the news, but it isn’t the news and it hasn’t been for ages.
Nailed it. I discard any content that has unnamed sources, and view 'scientists' and 'experts' as advocates.
And then there's the old standby, "people familiar with the matter."
can never replace "experts"
Looking forward. Here’s a request. While everyone else is plying the outrage model for profit, please talk about solutions and actionable ideas that people can do on their own to improve their situation and contribute.
I do, and that includes following a few investigative journalists who I don't think are trying to bullshit me. And that's why I subscribe here.
Super excited for this Matt. Thank you so much for putting in the extra effort
My new approach to "being informed" is to admit that here in the 21st century being informed is, in many ways, a snipe hunt for fool's gold.
Even if, by some strange quirk of fate, I stumble across the straight skinny, no one that I know will believe me if what I discover deviates from the mainstream narrative by even a molecule.
And, if by some even stranger quirk of fate, what I discover today becomes, at some point, part of the mainstream narrative tomorrow, everyone who told me I was a crazy Trumper for initially believing it, will now conveniently forget that they didn't initially believe it.
Having said that I'll also say that I like Mr. Kirn's take on things and I like Matt's take on things but podcasts are something that I can only tolerate in short bursts so I'll probably pass.
But thanks for the heads up anyway.
1) Your first 3 paragraphs are spot on and reflect my experience as well.
2) Podcasts are a great motivator to get mundane tasks done. I usually don't look forward to say, painting my living room, but if there is a podcast in my queue that I am eager to listen to, I'll happily pick up that paint roller.
Yeah, well I'm also a crappy phone conversationalist. Without eye contact my attention to the human voice usually fades away fairly quickly.
I know from experience that more will stick in my brain if I read it.
Wasn't ripping on podcasts.
My wife loves them & one of my sons love them.
I'm more of a music at loud volumes as task motivator kind of guy.
My sons turned me on to King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizards and they've been doing the job quite nicely.
Same here, but looks like there's potential for a transcript - see a comment below.
Okay, Thanks
This is fantastic. Kirn is a unique thinker, and I appreciate his writing and his musings on Twitter, especially his “art is the antidote to governmental chaos” attitude. He’s the perfect partner for you in this endeavor. It should be funny and entertaining, and occasionally terrifying.
Outstanding. I was introduced to Mr. Kirn through Substack and his piece linked in Matt’s post - about the bullshit we spend so much time staring at these days - may be the best essay I’ve ever had the privilege of reading. This will be worth way more than $5.00 a month. Looking forward to it.
Please be the antibullshit source.
Great! I love hypocrisy in government and media being lampooned.... haven't seen that word for a long time. Out and out craziness has taken over the western world, not just the media but that's a good start. It's not even 1984; it's Alice in fantastical land.
Perfect timing for me I just cancelled my subscription to common sense and Bari Weiss (useless) but she had a good weekly roundup. So I’m even Steven.
I canceled NYT this week and was a wee bit sorry. No longer! This is will be worth the money.
Congratulations on the cancellation, I salute you!
Reading NYT and WaPo is the solution to low blood pressure.
I read them because they are the voices of the people who are the greatest threats to me and my family. Their attempts to shame and manipulate are so hackneyed that I think one could say they are ~ completely uninhibited.
Matt Tiabbi Says we need to read those two publications because it’s effectively Kremlinology : the need to be aware of the regimes talking points.
Yes, just the same way people used to read Pravda, so they know what the govt line is
Effectively I agree, affectively moved.
Auto correct
If you take a look at all of the people discussing this post, many self-identify as "old, curmudgeons". One does not get to be an old curmudgeon and have low blood pressure. The two are mutually exclusive. Now get off my lawn!
She is one of them: the liars.
I'm guessing this is based on the Zionism? Or...?
No I wasn’t thinking of that, Zionism, just that she’s giving voice to David French who is a Regime apologist. I find his argumentation picayune and ridiculous: six years of a attacks on Trump still begets more. Of course Trump is a jack ass but he is an avatar to the dispossessed. Attacking him will only fuel his anger and theirs.
I'm not a consistent reader of her stack, so I can't speak to that, but your last 2 sentences are pretty well put. Cheers.
Bari Weiss is also an outspoken racist.
Please explain
An ardent supporter of apartheid in Israel and its leasing racists including Natan Sharansky
Obviously, leaders of both D and R wings of the US War party are fine with that, as well as with massive emergence of Nazism in Europe (Ukraine government) -- while peddling that racism and white supremacy in the US is the largest threat to US "democracy"
I’m waiting
About strange nude man attack on Pelosi: Paul Pelosi was most likely attacked by a male prostitute
An unavoidable conclusion about Paul Pelosi
1. Assailant in his underpants
2. Paul Pelosi knows his name and tells police he’s a “friend.”
3. Assailant asks “where’s Nancy?” to make sure she’s not home.
4. Pelosi takes bathroom break from spat and makes 911 call
Conclusion: This guy was a sex partner or male prostitute!
An ardent supporter of apartheid in Israel and its leasing racists including Natan Sharansky
Obviously, leaders of both D and R wings of the US War party are fine with that, as well as with massive emergence of Nazism in Europe (Ukraine government) -- while peddling that racism and white supremacy in the US is the largest threat to US "democracy"
I've never been a paid Common Sense subscriber, but I enjoy Nellie Bowles' weekly news wrap-up, especially when done in audio form with Katie Herzog as co-host, but that seems to be on hold.
I was going to subscribe to Bari Weiss next -- are you saying it's not worth it?
Bari’s SubStack is fine. She does a lot of good work and reporting and brings interesting voices in, even though most of it is focused on the culture wars in some way.
A lot of people are mad that she had David French write an article this week. I totally understand why people don’t care for evangelical neocons like French, but he can be quite thoughtful on certain topics. I appreciate that Weiss gets voices from across the spectrum. That’s how it should be.
A lot of the “old left” will always hate her because of her Zionism. There’s a famous old Greenwald Intercept smear of her based on some press she got in college that people still lean on, although I think she and Greenwald are friendly now. And people also forget that Nat Hentoff, one of the great free speech writers, supported Weiss in print at that time.
That said, I'm not a paid subscriber, but I do read some of the content there, and a lot of it is free.
I'd suggest reading the free stuff and listening to the podcast for a while, and making up your own mind about it! I don't care for the "good vs. evil" or "guilt by association" ideas prevalent in today's journalism and politics.
She is an ardent supporter of apartheid in Israel and of the worst racists there -- you decide if you can stomach that.
Obviously, leaders of both D and R wings of the US War party are fine with that, as well as with massive emergence of Nazism in Europe (Ukraine government) -- while peddling that racism and white supremacy in the US is the largest threat to US "democracy"
I'd say that's incredibly unfair, and untrue.
Weiss has spoken very critically of Israel's behavior towards Palestine many times. The issue that people have a problem with is that she supports Israel at all, and she is certainly a dyed-in-the-wool Zionist, which is what I think most of the "early 2000s left" hate her for. (One of her signature issues is what she perceives as barely hidden antisemitism in anti-Zionist movements, which is definitely more controversial.)
As far as the other claim, that she's pushing the idea, that the current democratic administration sadly is, that "white supremacy" is the biggest issue in the US today? That's actually the opposite of what she believes, and is primarily why she's become so well-known. She's one of the founders of that Foundation Against Intolerance and Racism with some interesting, heterdox voices from across the spectrum like Kmele Foster, John McWhorter, Coleman Hughes, and Zaid Jilani, and their entire mission is to debunk the squishy "anti-racism" of the Robin DiAngelos of the world and focus on real issues of bigotry, with a focus on free expression.
I certainly don't agree with Bari Weiss on mnay political issues, and her overarching focus on culture war issues might be somewhat limiting, but the pieces she wrote in the Times that she was attacked for have been mostly proven correct. She seems like an empathetic person, and most of the hate towards her is totally unfounded.
I liken the Zionist/anti-Zionist/agnostic-Zionist political pundit battle to the Roger Waters vs. Nick Cave battle in popular music. Roger Waters is loudly, bitterly angry and loudly shames any artist who dares to play in Israel, while Cave chooses kindness and empathy and states that playing in Israel (or any country) doesn't mean the artist supports that country politically. And that his music "is not designed to reward people for good behaviour, nor do I make music to punish people for bad behaviour. My music is not conditional. It is for everybody, regardless of their actions, good or bad or otherwise. I hope my music has the capacity to advance the world in a positive direction."
I'll choose Cave's empathy and basic human dignity over Waters' ugly bitterness every time. And besides, Nick Cave has one of the strongest discographies of any living pop artist and the only really good Pink Floyd LP is the Syd Barrett-led "Piper at the Gates of Dawn."
Yes
Thanks! I was listening to Joe Rogan / Chris Best (one of Substack founders) podcast
and they mentioned a Recommendations section - where the authors recommend other authors to their readers. Looking for that now.
I would recommend Layton Woodhouse substack
Leighton's Substack is great, and he's one of my favorite political writers, but he contributes to Weiss's Common Sense, and I think they're friendly.
I think Weiss should be allowed to have both David French and Leighton Woodhouse contribute to her project. You don't have to agree with both of them, but it should be fine to interact with both of their ideas; that's the whole point of her project, and should be the whole point of any multi-faceted political journalism project.
Fantastic news! This should be delicious!
Thanks. Looking forward to it.
Walter Kirn and Matt Taibbi, a great combo.
Oh, Matt, didn't you get the memo? The FBI objects to the word "raid" and the media (except you, apparently) have fallen sheeplike into step.
After all, you don't want to offend your main fount of anonymous sources.
They object because Raid is a commercial spray poison for killing pests and vermin. I think the vermin would object to the FBI as well.
Can't wait! I'll happily listen in, but a transcript would be great as well. The use of popular anesthetics over a period of many years has not significantly improved my attention span.