Somewhat related, maybe: it would be so nice to have the ATW needle move a little more toward Matt's fact-based analysis and away from Walter's monologues and interruptions. I get that the balance of M's sober accounting and W's skeptical flair is key to the show, but it's getting increasingly hard to take the latter's "let me tell you all how it is" hectoring -- even when I agree with him!
I respectfully disagree: the personal angle is really why I tune in.
I might only request that Matt include more popular culture references for balance: e.g., when he described Biden's circa-2019 campaign emotions being either rage or a bewildered fear akin to seeing the "Predator" [cf. Arnold Schwarzenegger] remove its mask. Priceless.
At this point...actually, really for quite some time...revealed political antics rarely surprise me and so I come for the entertainment and perspective. The more poetic, the better. I'm a sucker for a good, descriptive polemic with pointed metaphors and similes.
Of course, bombshells take precedence (cripes, talk about a metaphor). If there's "hot news", that should be the priority.
Maybe Matt could include a "cheat sheet" on Racket that viewers could use as reference.
I'm knee-deep in tech developments all day long and long for a circa-1972 National Lampoon-style breakdown. Yes, I may need help. But I do certainly respect your opinion.
To that end, here's a list of topics that seem to have fallen off the radar:
1.) It's been several weeks. Any forensic analysis has certainly completed. So exactly who is the stiff in the Cybertruck that was (more-or-less incompetently) blown up in front of the Trump property in Las Vegas? Was he shot with that Desert Eagle? That cannon might have taken his head off. Very odd.
2.) I am still insanely intrigued: is this a legit video of Thomas Matthew Crooks? If it is, it sure seems to raise questions:
3.) Speaking of assassination attempts, is there any further word of the second attempted assassin? What about how he might have gotten away were it not for a bystander getting his plate number?
4.) Any inside word on the confirmation of Tulsi Gabbard, RFK Jr or Kash Patel? All seem critical.
"At this point...actually, really for quite some time...revealed political antics rarely surprise me and so I come for the entertainment and perspective."
I agree completely, with this and a lot of what you're saying here. It's not the revealed antics I want, it's the analysis of what's actually happening in the country. Last Friday they only got through, what, two of DJT's executive orders? And most of one was spent with WK ranting about one company's DEI policies.
I don't at all want him to go away, and I see all the ways in which MT doesn't have a flair for extemporaneous speaking. I just would like him to rein it in. This is all to taste, of course -- for mine, I don't need to hear again that he's part Roma and lives in small-town Montana and went to an Ivy and and and. Brevity is the soul of wit, even still in the podcast era.
Point taken. Recollections can be like spices: there for taste but too much can spoil a dish.
I have to admit I was amused when WK did bring up the vaguely hostile attitude between people of Norwegian and Swedish descent in MN. Of course, this is completely passive aggressive and almost always unspoken. I lived up there for a while and found that somewhat charming.
I'm of partial Swedish descent and my father would tell me of slurs from his childhood. Norwegians were called "herring-chokers" but in response would reply, "A thousand Swedes ran through the weeds, chased by one Norwegian".
In a world with a handful of ethnic and racial tensions taking up all the screen-time, it was refreshing for a reminder that there are others that never make the news!
As a final gesture...here's another topic that is more-than-just-simmering and ostensibly not unrelated to other possible disclosures: what appears to be ongoing and potentially increasing sabotage of underseas cables in the Baltic.
The Nordstream sabotage has yet to see a proper vetting and may have been the initial volley (cripes, me and metaphors today!) in what could get easily get very messy very quickly. There's a lot of underseas cables all over the world.
I literally had to turn it off. I just couldn't take it. I mean the constant interruptions just as I'm hanging on Matt's always well-considered words . . . BAM! Here comes vaping Walter again, busting in like a locomotive without apology and making me feel like Matt and I both got run over by a train . . . again! I mean, I have SUCH respect for Matt's reporting AND his immense creative talent. But he is so danged polite, and probably fearful of triggering Walt's ire, which I suspect is easy to do. For the sake of the show, Matt always gives Walter back the floor. He figures he'll just wait it out. But of course he loses his train of thought, and we lose the pearl of wisdom that might otherwise have been delivered with humility and that quintessential Taibbi question mark, "You know. . . right?" It's painful to watch Matt trying to get to the next talking point (so we viewers can get on with our day). Walter is way too in love with himself and his, yes, delightful wit. But there is such a thing as restraint. And how I wish he'd mention, just once, the cleverness of the essay Matt's wrote that is the whole point of this episode, and pay homage to the incredible amount of boring reporting it takes to know what Matt knows, while Walter is flying around the country being delightful on various right-wing talk shows. He knows Vance. And George Clooney starred in his movie. And he's now making a movie based on . . . Matt? Walter Kirn, the fresh-faced kid from Minnesota (my home state too) made it big on both coasts. Frankly, I don't give a damn.
I agree Bonnie well said. But perhaps a problem under the covers.
Together they are synergistic but apart that would not be possible.Could you sit and watch a podcast with just Walter? Not likely and besides there would be no one there for Walter to interrupt. Matt's written works are exemplary because he has the thinking time to get it down onto the paper with flair. On the show his verbal delivery is harder for him. He is very careful before speaking...a good thing. However.........
For me the application to apply is patience. I have no problem with calling on patience when Matt speaks. It is always worth the wait but with Walter I don't have that patience. Nor does Walter it seems with Matt far too often. I am struggling a tad with my renewal coming up with that exact issue among others with Walter. As I have said before it seems to be the Walter show with special guest Matt. Matt is in a tough spot and am sure it has been talked about at Racket.
For some people the exchanges are fine.I had a very good friend with a very bad stutter so you can imagine how long some conversations could take. You had to have patience.
If I could instigate a mute feature on some of Walters runs somehow
I may be able hang in there for Matt. Thank god I can't read lips.
My thoughts exactly, Tim. As I wrote in a comment on Matt's conversation with Tucker, I learned more in five minutes from that interview than I did in the whole of any of Matt's conversations with Walter. Matt doesn't need Walter. Surely WE don't, unless for us the point of Racket is to be entertained and vicariously make fun of people. Matt is extremely articulate and fully capable of expressing himself when he isn't cowed and imbalanced by The Locomotive. Tucker was, by contrast with Walter, appreciative and curious, and not competing with Matt, as Walter does, but collaborating with him and asking great questions.
I appreciate this perspective! As 2024 dragged on, I began to grow aggravated with Walter's contributions to the podcast, and at times I even resorted to skipping his segments until Matt resumed talking; I think going forward, I need to simply skip the podcast and rely solely on Matt's written reporting and his solo interviews elsewhere.
Walter, to your point just now about Dr. Jay's comment on African economies being wrecked in Covid, I was just in Cambodia and Vietnam, and both tour guides attested to the economic ruination there caused by the BS lockdowns!
I have progressive friends who hyperventilate constantly about things Trump *says*. It doesn't seem to help when I point out that he's a blowhard, and I'd rather look at his actions rather than what he says. I'm going to try to deploy the rawhide bone explanation and see if that helps.
Hey boys, tonight was the best 90+ minutes I've spent since my honeymoon night nearly 60 years ago. Great balance and stupendous insight and information. THANKS!
How about honestly? Not making up stupid nonsense. Just report what is going on. Not your opinion of what is going on unless you label it your opinion.
No need to get rude. I also thought Matt was diplomatically implying that to be the great journalist he is, he'll have to stay honest in his takes on Trump?
Great show, as always! And,for the record, I love you both and what you bring to these discussions- Walter is a creative and expresses himself differently from Matt the truth-seeking journalist, but that’s what makes it fun and interesting… and seeing Matt doubled over laughing at Walter’s linguistic flights of fancy is always entertaining!
Sorry to say I don't think II'll be able to listen to Walter anymore after witnessing his rant against Whitney Webb. Even earlier than this, I often thought you didn't need him, Matt.
Kirn must have listened to some of his naysayers. Not interrupting tonight. Can’t say it ever bothered me. Good friends in conversation always interrupt each other. That’s how I see it!!
RFK’s predecessor as HHS secretary, assuming he’s confirmed, had the impressive medical qualifications of having been the CA AG and suing nuns to force them to provide birth control.
As a person who was in the hospital for 3 weeks in September of 2020, and three of those days on a vent, all this light hearted talk on the the origins of the virus piss me off. I’m still dealing with the after affects.
"A Vatican Meeting Added to Scrutiny of Tulsi Gabbard’s Foreign Travels
Ms. Gabbard, President Trump’s nominee for director of national intelligence, was briefly subject to special scrutiny on airline flights last year, but not, officials say, for the partisan reasons she has alleged.
By Mark Walker Adam Entous and Julian E. Barnes
Reporting from Washington
Jan. 28, 2025Updated 3:34 p.m. ET
Starting last summer, former Representative Tulsi Gabbard publicly berated the Biden administration, claiming that she was placed on what she called “a domestic terror watch list” as punishment for critical comments she had made about Vice President Kamala Harris.
The reality was more complicated. A federal agency responsible for protecting flights did briefly subject her to special scrutiny — but not for the reason she asserted, according to two senior U.S. officials briefed on the matter. Rather, they said, the additional security measures were triggered by an event she attended at the Vatican that was organized by a European businessman who appeared on an F.B.I. watch list."
Sounds like pure BS to me. And if it's not, none of what's alleged, even if true, would indicate that Gabbard was planning on blowing up the plane or otherwise committing violent acts in America.
If the No-Fly and screening lists are being used for purposes other than flight safety, that's an abuse in and of itself.
They Hay-Adams hotel across from the White House is also fabulous. I was there for an interview in 1987 at the employer's expense. It was a cold winter day and I had come down from Baltimore on a train. By the time I got to my hotel room my feet were terribly cold. I took off my shoes and socks. Then I realized I had to use the bathroom. I looked in and saw there was tile floor in the loo. Dreading cold tiles, I walked in. Turns out, the floor was HEATED!!! Oh God. I just stood there and sighed
I just want to say there are a LOT of haters on here who are only pissed off about Israel and Gaza. They probably haven't been around as long as the rest of us. I think the chemistry and bro quality that both of you play around with shows what true friendship and true relationships look like. Some days you're the windshield and some you're the bug. I enjoy your duo and I really don't appreciate people bringing X posts into this conversation. They are two separate things. If you don't like Walter or you don't like Matt, don't listen, but don't try to deprive the rest of us.
Somewhat related, maybe: it would be so nice to have the ATW needle move a little more toward Matt's fact-based analysis and away from Walter's monologues and interruptions. I get that the balance of M's sober accounting and W's skeptical flair is key to the show, but it's getting increasingly hard to take the latter's "let me tell you all how it is" hectoring -- even when I agree with him!
I respectfully disagree: the personal angle is really why I tune in.
I might only request that Matt include more popular culture references for balance: e.g., when he described Biden's circa-2019 campaign emotions being either rage or a bewildered fear akin to seeing the "Predator" [cf. Arnold Schwarzenegger] remove its mask. Priceless.
At this point...actually, really for quite some time...revealed political antics rarely surprise me and so I come for the entertainment and perspective. The more poetic, the better. I'm a sucker for a good, descriptive polemic with pointed metaphors and similes.
Of course, bombshells take precedence (cripes, talk about a metaphor). If there's "hot news", that should be the priority.
Maybe Matt could include a "cheat sheet" on Racket that viewers could use as reference.
I'm knee-deep in tech developments all day long and long for a circa-1972 National Lampoon-style breakdown. Yes, I may need help. But I do certainly respect your opinion.
To that end, here's a list of topics that seem to have fallen off the radar:
1.) It's been several weeks. Any forensic analysis has certainly completed. So exactly who is the stiff in the Cybertruck that was (more-or-less incompetently) blown up in front of the Trump property in Las Vegas? Was he shot with that Desert Eagle? That cannon might have taken his head off. Very odd.
2.) I am still insanely intrigued: is this a legit video of Thomas Matthew Crooks? If it is, it sure seems to raise questions:
https://www.panorama.it/video/news/thomas-crooks-odio-trump-repubblicani
3.) Speaking of assassination attempts, is there any further word of the second attempted assassin? What about how he might have gotten away were it not for a bystander getting his plate number?
4.) Any inside word on the confirmation of Tulsi Gabbard, RFK Jr or Kash Patel? All seem critical.
"At this point...actually, really for quite some time...revealed political antics rarely surprise me and so I come for the entertainment and perspective."
I agree completely, with this and a lot of what you're saying here. It's not the revealed antics I want, it's the analysis of what's actually happening in the country. Last Friday they only got through, what, two of DJT's executive orders? And most of one was spent with WK ranting about one company's DEI policies.
I don't at all want him to go away, and I see all the ways in which MT doesn't have a flair for extemporaneous speaking. I just would like him to rein it in. This is all to taste, of course -- for mine, I don't need to hear again that he's part Roma and lives in small-town Montana and went to an Ivy and and and. Brevity is the soul of wit, even still in the podcast era.
Point taken. Recollections can be like spices: there for taste but too much can spoil a dish.
I have to admit I was amused when WK did bring up the vaguely hostile attitude between people of Norwegian and Swedish descent in MN. Of course, this is completely passive aggressive and almost always unspoken. I lived up there for a while and found that somewhat charming.
I'm of partial Swedish descent and my father would tell me of slurs from his childhood. Norwegians were called "herring-chokers" but in response would reply, "A thousand Swedes ran through the weeds, chased by one Norwegian".
In a world with a handful of ethnic and racial tensions taking up all the screen-time, it was refreshing for a reminder that there are others that never make the news!
As a final gesture...here's another topic that is more-than-just-simmering and ostensibly not unrelated to other possible disclosures: what appears to be ongoing and potentially increasing sabotage of underseas cables in the Baltic.
The Nordstream sabotage has yet to see a proper vetting and may have been the initial volley (cripes, me and metaphors today!) in what could get easily get very messy very quickly. There's a lot of underseas cables all over the world.
Uhfff yes, other than Seymour Hersh there’s been nothing by way of investigative reporting (that I know of anyway!).
Herring-chokers! Ha!
To each his own, I guess. I happen to enjoy Walter and his musings.
Who said Brevity is the soul of wit? Curious George here
LOL
I enjoy solo Matt and solo Walter, but also ATW with both. Its always a great show, I have never been disappointed.
I hope to feel that way again soon!
I literally had to turn it off. I just couldn't take it. I mean the constant interruptions just as I'm hanging on Matt's always well-considered words . . . BAM! Here comes vaping Walter again, busting in like a locomotive without apology and making me feel like Matt and I both got run over by a train . . . again! I mean, I have SUCH respect for Matt's reporting AND his immense creative talent. But he is so danged polite, and probably fearful of triggering Walt's ire, which I suspect is easy to do. For the sake of the show, Matt always gives Walter back the floor. He figures he'll just wait it out. But of course he loses his train of thought, and we lose the pearl of wisdom that might otherwise have been delivered with humility and that quintessential Taibbi question mark, "You know. . . right?" It's painful to watch Matt trying to get to the next talking point (so we viewers can get on with our day). Walter is way too in love with himself and his, yes, delightful wit. But there is such a thing as restraint. And how I wish he'd mention, just once, the cleverness of the essay Matt's wrote that is the whole point of this episode, and pay homage to the incredible amount of boring reporting it takes to know what Matt knows, while Walter is flying around the country being delightful on various right-wing talk shows. He knows Vance. And George Clooney starred in his movie. And he's now making a movie based on . . . Matt? Walter Kirn, the fresh-faced kid from Minnesota (my home state too) made it big on both coasts. Frankly, I don't give a damn.
I agree Bonnie well said. But perhaps a problem under the covers.
Together they are synergistic but apart that would not be possible.Could you sit and watch a podcast with just Walter? Not likely and besides there would be no one there for Walter to interrupt. Matt's written works are exemplary because he has the thinking time to get it down onto the paper with flair. On the show his verbal delivery is harder for him. He is very careful before speaking...a good thing. However.........
For me the application to apply is patience. I have no problem with calling on patience when Matt speaks. It is always worth the wait but with Walter I don't have that patience. Nor does Walter it seems with Matt far too often. I am struggling a tad with my renewal coming up with that exact issue among others with Walter. As I have said before it seems to be the Walter show with special guest Matt. Matt is in a tough spot and am sure it has been talked about at Racket.
For some people the exchanges are fine.I had a very good friend with a very bad stutter so you can imagine how long some conversations could take. You had to have patience.
If I could instigate a mute feature on some of Walters runs somehow
I may be able hang in there for Matt. Thank god I can't read lips.
We will see. :>}
Cheers
My thoughts exactly, Tim. As I wrote in a comment on Matt's conversation with Tucker, I learned more in five minutes from that interview than I did in the whole of any of Matt's conversations with Walter. Matt doesn't need Walter. Surely WE don't, unless for us the point of Racket is to be entertained and vicariously make fun of people. Matt is extremely articulate and fully capable of expressing himself when he isn't cowed and imbalanced by The Locomotive. Tucker was, by contrast with Walter, appreciative and curious, and not competing with Matt, as Walter does, but collaborating with him and asking great questions.
I appreciate this perspective! As 2024 dragged on, I began to grow aggravated with Walter's contributions to the podcast, and at times I even resorted to skipping his segments until Matt resumed talking; I think going forward, I need to simply skip the podcast and rely solely on Matt's written reporting and his solo interviews elsewhere.
Hey Matt are the drones still flying around? Would love an update on what’s going on with that whole thing if you get the chance.
Here’s the latest
https://x.com/ericldaugh/status/1884304662633013706?s=42
Walter, to your point just now about Dr. Jay's comment on African economies being wrecked in Covid, I was just in Cambodia and Vietnam, and both tour guides attested to the economic ruination there caused by the BS lockdowns!
Great metaphor by Walter about the rawhide bone.
I have progressive friends who hyperventilate constantly about things Trump *says*. It doesn't seem to help when I point out that he's a blowhard, and I'd rather look at his actions rather than what he says. I'm going to try to deploy the rawhide bone explanation and see if that helps.
The rawhide bone comment was golden! I think I’m going to employ that imagery, too.
Hey boys, tonight was the best 90+ minutes I've spent since my honeymoon night nearly 60 years ago. Great balance and stupendous insight and information. THANKS!
How about honestly? Not making up stupid nonsense. Just report what is going on. Not your opinion of what is going on unless you label it your opinion.
How about reading the piece in question, instead of commenting based on the piece he wrote in your head?
No need to get rude. I also thought Matt was diplomatically implying that to be the great journalist he is, he'll have to stay honest in his takes on Trump?
I was being honest, not rude.
🤔
????
wow, you're triggered! someone please get youself a paper bag and just breathe deeply. It'll be ok.
Great show, as always! And,for the record, I love you both and what you bring to these discussions- Walter is a creative and expresses himself differently from Matt the truth-seeking journalist, but that’s what makes it fun and interesting… and seeing Matt doubled over laughing at Walter’s linguistic flights of fancy is always entertaining!
Is it just me or is Michael Steele shapeshifting into Al Sharpton?
Sorry to say I don't think II'll be able to listen to Walter anymore after witnessing his rant against Whitney Webb. Even earlier than this, I often thought you didn't need him, Matt.
When or where is this rant?
Possibly on Twitter...? I heard an explanation on a Due Dissidence show:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ibZ5l6MKp7w&t=961s
Kirn must have listened to some of his naysayers. Not interrupting tonight. Can’t say it ever bothered me. Good friends in conversation always interrupt each other. That’s how I see it!!
I hope nothing changes . Matt holds his own ; it’s not a performance it’s an authentic freestyle conversation ..
RFK’s predecessor as HHS secretary, assuming he’s confirmed, had the impressive medical qualifications of having been the CA AG and suing nuns to force them to provide birth control.
This did not have to happen. It was a manufactured virus. Everybody knows it! No one will ever admit it!!
As a person who was in the hospital for 3 weeks in September of 2020, and three of those days on a vent, all this light hearted talk on the the origins of the virus piss me off. I’m still dealing with the after affects.
Matt, can you address this?
"A Vatican Meeting Added to Scrutiny of Tulsi Gabbard’s Foreign Travels
Ms. Gabbard, President Trump’s nominee for director of national intelligence, was briefly subject to special scrutiny on airline flights last year, but not, officials say, for the partisan reasons she has alleged.
By Mark Walker Adam Entous and Julian E. Barnes
Reporting from Washington
Jan. 28, 2025Updated 3:34 p.m. ET
Starting last summer, former Representative Tulsi Gabbard publicly berated the Biden administration, claiming that she was placed on what she called “a domestic terror watch list” as punishment for critical comments she had made about Vice President Kamala Harris.
The reality was more complicated. A federal agency responsible for protecting flights did briefly subject her to special scrutiny — but not for the reason she asserted, according to two senior U.S. officials briefed on the matter. Rather, they said, the additional security measures were triggered by an event she attended at the Vatican that was organized by a European businessman who appeared on an F.B.I. watch list."
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/01/28/us/politics/tulsi-gabbard-trump-intel-pick-watch-list.html
Sounds like pure BS to me. And if it's not, none of what's alleged, even if true, would indicate that Gabbard was planning on blowing up the plane or otherwise committing violent acts in America.
If the No-Fly and screening lists are being used for purposes other than flight safety, that's an abuse in and of itself.
They Hay-Adams hotel across from the White House is also fabulous. I was there for an interview in 1987 at the employer's expense. It was a cold winter day and I had come down from Baltimore on a train. By the time I got to my hotel room my feet were terribly cold. I took off my shoes and socks. Then I realized I had to use the bathroom. I looked in and saw there was tile floor in the loo. Dreading cold tiles, I walked in. Turns out, the floor was HEATED!!! Oh God. I just stood there and sighed
I just want to say there are a LOT of haters on here who are only pissed off about Israel and Gaza. They probably haven't been around as long as the rest of us. I think the chemistry and bro quality that both of you play around with shows what true friendship and true relationships look like. Some days you're the windshield and some you're the bug. I enjoy your duo and I really don't appreciate people bringing X posts into this conversation. They are two separate things. If you don't like Walter or you don't like Matt, don't listen, but don't try to deprive the rest of us.