112 Comments
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Jeff Riley's avatar

Seriously--my favorite day of the week is Friday morning because I will have a new ATW to listen to. Love the work that MT and WK are doing !!!! Thanks!

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Gathering Goateggs's avatar

I do all my driving around chores on Friday afternoon just so I can listen on CarPlay.

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Curling Iron's avatar

You need a hobby.

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Nowhere Man's avatar

So like, something to do to while listening to America This Week? Not a bad idea.

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Mr. Raven's avatar

Rude.

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Slamy's avatar

I would love for these to be a downloadable podcast after the livestream. They’re hilarious and informative, and would be great to catch up on if we can’t tune in live.

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Maenad's avatar

So glad for this life-preserving injection of black humor into our grim and incomprehensible “reality.” Your perspective and humor are exponentially magnified as a team.

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Julinthecrown's avatar

And it's so smart!!

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Elliott's avatar

I know I speak for everyone here in voicing my pride as an American at the two wonderful main-ticket presidential candidates we have this year. Remarkable, talented orators. Capable, and so trustworthy. Sometimes it's a bit overwhelming trying to keep up with all the complex policy discussions they engage in but, it's a presidential race after all, and the best have risen to the top.

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Marji K's avatar

Satire is your calling, Elliott. 🤣

God help us all. 😱

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Biff's avatar

Word. You really need to be a policy wonk to try and keep up. There’s no trace of personality hits, identity, or of tribalism, all of the arguments are pure policy. We’re so fortunate as American voters to have these two high caliber candidates to choose from. It’s a real challenge to try and decide 🤔

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Sasha Stone's avatar

Love it, thank you.

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Christopher Grigsby's avatar

If this is going to be a regular thing, please start putting the audio into the podcast feed. 🫡

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Jim M's avatar

Yeah, I second that emotion.

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Christopher Grigsby's avatar

Is it me, or is this thread getting—smokey?

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Jim M's avatar

That would be a miracle!

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Jim M's avatar

This is great!

It's ironic...my wife and I were talking about you two this morning; we discussed how sympatico you both are in your worldview despite waaaay disparate backgrounds...

Matt finished up college and high-dee-hoe'd to the USSR for hi-jinks and basketball.

A decade earlier, Walter did a hard core Ivy League education, including a stint at Oxford before joining the ranks of the intellectual elite, culminating in his Hollywood halcyon dazes... lol

And yet, these two fellows have THE BEST show on the whole internet.

Back in the day, my wife & I would watch 60 Minutes on Sunday evenings as part of our weekend ritual. We considered ourselves rather well informed. After all, we also subscribed to the NYT, and a buncha' magazines.

Today, I wouldn't spend a plugged nickel for the NYT; either print or online. (Thank god for archive.ph ) And yeah, those 'zine subs have been lapsed for years and years. Now it's Friday after supper we watch ATW instead of Sundays w/ CBS.

And yet I think I'm better informed.

I'm just going to raise a word of caution to you two knuckleheads: don't burn out, alright? Adopt a sched that doesn't make you stale. (Maybe take a vacay, a looong one starting in the 2nd week of Nov?)

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GandalfGrey's avatar

Once upon a time I enjoyed CBS Sunday Mornings. Now it just ruins the day of rest so we turn it off.

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Cluis's avatar

Everytime I try to describe Matt and Walt on youtube I tell them "It's like MST3K, but for politics." so this checks out for me. :D

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Boris Petrov's avatar

What is that MTJ3Ws45?

Speak normal for us mortals please

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Cluis's avatar

Oh my bad! Mystery Science Theater 3000 it was a show back in the day where a dude and a couple of puppets commented on movies as they were playing. Its a lot like they do now with "react" videos, but way way superior. :D

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Boris Petrov's avatar

Great -- I was still in Europe at that time ;-))

Many thanks

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Cluis's avatar

If you haven’t seen it, I highly recommend! There are episodes on youtube I believe.

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MS's avatar

It is much appreciated, Matt and Walter. You do indeed help us maintain our sanity with your campaign coverage.

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Gym+Fritz's avatar

Just watched your “Monday” show.

You guys should consider doing a daily 30-60 minute news cast (but please keep excerpts from people like Maddow to a bare minimum, it hurts to watch them).

Seeing you two reviewing the recent news, made me realize that something really basic has been lost. Despite all of our wonderful technology, we can no longer sit down and see some reasonably unbiased person give us a 30-60 minute, non-partisan update on the all of the significant news.

Right now there is no person or organization that can be trusted to do this; I think the main problem stems from corporate ownership of what used to be independent news organizations; but I’m digressing. I don’t believe most of what I hear on traditional media. Twitter is good in some ways, but can’t do what needs to be done. Substacks are great, but the mothership’s business model has problems.

BBC has the best news presentation model I know of, it’s concise, but it has a liberal bias, and it lacks on-air feedback - that’s where Tiabbi & Kirn shine.

Think about it, collaborate (Shellenberger, etc.) or just hire some help. TFP is probable the best daily thing out there right now, but is so erratically biased (because of wiseman and a few others), that it’s hard to read some days, and they over-censor their comments section (non of this applies to Nellie)

Step into this void, please, for the greater good.

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Curling Iron's avatar

Just to add to the “what happened to Matt” chorus: Matt, you used to make it into a drinking game. What happened?

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Jim M's avatar

There's such insanity now, I don't know if his liver can take it anymore.

The guy's in his FIFTIES now! I know that I got obliterated on the last one.

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Gathering Goateggs's avatar

I was hung over for 48 hours after the Trump/Biden debate livestream.

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Jim M's avatar

I was paralyzed for the entire next day! LOL Took the second to shake it off.

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Scuba Cat's avatar

Likewise

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Bill Rice, Jr.'s avatar

I hope you talk about Nannygate. What did Kamala know about her husband and when?

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Curling Iron's avatar

What’s Nannygate?

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Bill Rice, Jr.'s avatar

The Second Gentleman impregnated his children's nanny in 2008-2009. He then covered this up, although apparently everyone at his children's exclusive private school knew what had happened. The nanny/mistress was also a teacher's aide at said school.

What financial settlement did she receive? (Follow the money)> How did she get a house in the Hamptons worth $1.4 million. How did she get an executive job with a company affiliated with Amazon.

Why would Kamala marry such a rotten person? Was she told all of this when she was dating her now-husband. Did she tell Biden's people all of this when she was vetted as a VP candidate?

Lots of great unanswered questions.

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Curling Iron's avatar

oh. More examination of the sex lives of others. Personally, I’m most concerned with my own sex life. But to each his own.

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Bill Rice, Jr.'s avatar

You can tell important things about our "leaders" when you learn they had on-going sexual affairs with their children's nanny - and then pulled strings to cover it up and perhaps made payments that weren't legal or pulled strings to get someone a job she wasn't qualified for.

To me, this tells me the type person Kamala Harris wanted to marry. It does not reflect well on her character and judgement. Of course, she herself was once the mistress of a powerful married man. She wouldn't be where she is today if this had not been the case.

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Janet's avatar

True. A lot of lying has to happen to pull this level of immorality off. Plus ignoring the lying or joining in by the other party or the next lover. . Says something about all involved.

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Curling Iron's avatar

Oh no. Someone got a job they’re “not qualified for.” Good heavens. What will happen next? Surgeons without medical degrees? Accountants that can’t make a spreadsheet? Basketball players that can not jump?

It might be a good idea to examine your implication: that it says “something” about Harris that she married a man that had an affair.

It is important in the course of personal relationships to know where your shit ends and another’s begins. I am not responsible for my spouse’s behavior anymore than Harris is. I’m sure you agree.

The last time you let the n-word slip out in a moment of frustration does not make you a “type of person.” Nor does it mean that your spouse wanted to marry the “type of person” that drops n-bombs once in a while.

The idea that the actions of a husband reflect on the wife is “The Narrative” you so stridently dismiss. Take care that when you gaze at monsters you don’t become one yourself.

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Bill Rice, Jr.'s avatar

We think differently. He knocked up the nanny, was unfaithful to his wife, paid her off somehow, got her a job she wasn't qualified for, and then lied about this for 15 years - or else he married someone who didn't give a dip shit if he was banging the nanny.

These are the people who are leading our country. I can tell this doesn't bother you at all, but it bothers some of us.

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Bill Rice, Jr.'s avatar

Also, why didn't any news organization break this scandal for 15 years? Did they spike an embarrassing story ... again?

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Mary Mead's avatar

Bit of a tangent but since this is a critique of today's news I'll encourage you to look up old clips of The McLaughlin Report - 35 years old - great summation of what went on over the previous week and it made us howl - like I do listening to you guys. Yeah things are bizarre and frankly scary but we gotta laugh.

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FlaMac's avatar

You go boys! ATW in twice a week doses is the best thing since Wonder decided to sell sliced bread.

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Steve's avatar

What is ATW?

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FlaMac's avatar

America This Week … The Matt & Walter weekly extravaganza available on Fridays.

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Steve's avatar

Thanks. someone already informed me.

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mhj's avatar

Did you ever get credentials to cover the upcoming Nuremberg Rally?

Oops, I mean Democratic Party Convention?

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mhj's avatar

Tulsi being put on a watch list the day after an interview is like Matt’s home getting an IRS in-person visit as he is testifying before Congress.

Those kinds of things do not “just happen.”

Intimidation.

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Antoinette Amy's avatar

Vance Packard, The Naked Society, among others is pretty prescient, and relevant to your conversation.

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