What's more dangerous, information you know is unreliable, or news you think might be? Michael Tracey and Matt Taibbi debate tonight, while answering comments from haters
I have no idea what Matt or Michael will say about the war. With little doubt, Walt would have been a Trump apologist, excusing every single "feel it in my bones" and "no one thought they'd do that." 5-D chess all the way down, etc.
I enjoyed the Walt era of the show, but it was getting stale. I wish Walt the best and if he lands somewhere interesting, I'll check it out. But I gotta move on. I'm listening to Greenwald and Tucker as I wait for Matt and Michael.
Maybe it would help if people thought of Walt as Sharona and Michael as Natalie.
No, but his critiques of Israel are obsessive, without perspective, compassion, nuance, or balance. His trivializing the atrocities of oct 7 (particularly the wide spread reports of rape) were astonishing to me , who had been a subscriber for years. He is a good investigative reporter, and brave, but he is inconsistently unfair on this issue. Have to say , though, that his letter of grief after his husband dies was very moving
I don't think it's "hatred" but maybe some resentment as to what he suspects is undue influence of the pro-Israel lobby. He does tend to focus on it though.
I wouldn't call them "Jew-haters" but both are pretty rabid about what they see as undue influence on US policy by Israeli-aligned interests.
It gets on my nerves but not to the point I can't handle them. I take the good with the annoying.
Tucker is an odd bird. I pretty strongly agree with 75% of what he says and I have found significant value in what I have learned on his shows.
One point that I would make to Matt and Michael is that the "pizza" matter naturally drew attention simply due to its incongruity.
Back in 2020, I recall hearing about "pizzagate" but I ignored it as it seemed...crazy.
What was noticed in the recent Epstein tranche was the surprisingly large number of references to food...in particular, pizza.
What definitely made me suspicious were the excerpts Carlson read on his recent co-broadcast with Ian Carroll that repeatedly mentioned pizza with...."grape soda".
I don't drink much soda/pop any more (I'll occasionally splurge on a good root beer or ginger ale) but a very casual investigation of market segment shows that "fruit" soda is a niche market and "grape" soda a very small segment of that already niche market. How many times have you ever heard someone order a grape soda? For me, not since I was a kid and even then only a handful of times.
That "pizza and grape soda" were repeatedly referenced in the Epstein documents is very suspicious. In particular, the reference Carlson read where Epstein's putative urologist who, after prescribing an erectile dysfunction drug to Epstein, instructs Epstein to wash his hands after taking the medication and that they should go out and get "pizza and grape soda".
That's really, really, really unusual. That is very suggestive of the use of the terms "pizza and grape soda" as code for something.
But, in particular, Carlson repeatedly states that he's NOT accusing anyone of anything but merely suggesting that this does indicate that further investigation is called for. He went out of his way to repeatedly state he wasn't accusing anyone of anything.
But the Iran rants are getting a bit tired. There's a lot at play and I suspect that the Iranians merely provided the pretext by continuing to play footsy with the nuclear issue. Ray Dalio's recent article pretty well sums it up:
So there's a lot more at play than "just Israel", however one feels about the obviously significant influence the Israel lobby has in Washington. My own take is that Trump is using the opportunity to shake up the "chessboard".
Also, I really don't care about a person's spiritual experience. I heard of Carlson's claims and really didn't pay much attention.
As noted, I've learned a lot from his interviews with, for instance, Catherine Austin Fitts, Erik Prince, Richard Werner and other serious people. Yes, it's often fantastic-sounding but...a lot of it jibes. What Fitts said about the "missing money" seemed to answer, or at least be consistent with, a lot of suspicions I've had.
No, why do you think so? I might have gotten a bit off the beaten path but I simply wanted to give some examples of what I’ve learned from Carlson. I do not share his views of Israel as I think it’s genuinely a “special case” as regards US politics. I am not Jewish either.
My motivation for my rather lengthy and arguably wandering post was the initial critique of Carlson for focusing on “pizza” which did not provide context. The communications to and from Epstein regarding “pizza” include language and references that seem significantly out of place and just flat out weird, at least to me. I thought Taibbi and Tracey were not entirely fair in their critique.
Building the urgency into every utterance - is the first and most important rule of conversion in ABC sales - Matt and Michael do exactly that. No chill, no life is good, nothing of interest - uh-uh. Matt and Michael are saving us from ourselves. Again. . I lasted one minute - until Tracy theorized that "everybody" thinks that there's child abuse organization controlling the world - I'd put that number, at a guess, as significantly lower than the "jews control the world" and Elvis lives. Nobody I've ever met, heard of, or read believes this shit.
I learned more in the five-minute preamble to a meeting with five Americans in different parts of the country I just left than I'm certain I can learn from these two self-promoters.
Thoroughly depressing compared to what happens when we have an interlocutor like Walter who's actually done stuff (as has Matt to a degree) and thinks outside the box.
Nobody is pressuring folks to believe in this shit.
Many/most lap it up like mana from heaven - affirm my biases while I mainline the frisson of fear, give me my emotional fix and I'll sign up for anything.
I didn’t last that long. The pizza, pedo, Jew plot reference lost me. These two bring out the worst in each other. Reckless rambling. Walter and Matt kept each other on point, in the game.
Matt did seem to be trying to push angles that proved Trump was “finished”. Walter put him in his place a few times, when the evidence just wasn’t there. It’s disheartening to think Matt now has a political agenda.
Not a "hater", just disappointed. All of Matt's books have helped me to see many things more clearly. The podcasts with Walter were a joy, as were the literary discussions. The new Racket team is a step down in gravitas, and the new podcast with Tracy is neither enlightening nor fun.
Tracy reminds me of the kid who got beaten up regularly on the 4th grade playground because he was a sanctimonious nerd with ill-fitting clothes. Now it's sanctimony with bad hair and a grungy beard.
I miss Walter too . They complimented each other one left one right . You were better for the exchange . Walter got a bit cranky the last year which I enjoyed as well . The discussion on literature was injected into politics / media , history and pcukture .. I always felt like I was in on the joke … with the tens of thousands of other listeners who thought the same .It’s a shame it ended . It was great whilst it lasted . I will give the new show a go but it’s not as fun so far . Maybe they need to build chemistry . But you know .. if they can fake that they got it made
I'll give it another shot, but Michael Tracey is tough to listen to. He interrupts more than Walter did, but I was usually quick to give Kirn a chance because he's entertaining and funny. Tracey, not so much. I guess we'll see...hope the door is open for another co-host or perhaps rotating hosts until the right fit comes along.
I am also grieving the loss of ATW. Last week I valiantly tried to listen to Matt and Michael, but had to leave after ten minutes. Very, very disappointed.
Wow, I cannot believe you found someone worse than Walter to "avoid the news" with.
I watched for FORTY FIVE MINUTES, as the two of you took a *shred* of actual news (that the most popular media personality claims, credibly, that he's being spied on again for his anti-war views) and somehow make that about digging up a old clip of his weird demon-dog-story with his friend Megyn Kelly.
WHO THE FUCK IS TELLING YOU WHAT TO COVER. It's not your paying subscribers, it's not old Matt Taibbi... it honestly seems like your taking talking points memos from AIPAC?bari Weiss at this point>
Tucker had a show today with Glenn Greenwald. They didn't talk about demons, they talked about the VERY REAL attacks on free speech by the Trump admin, right-wing zionist shit, and of course you not only cannot actually cover it but ALSO attempt to ridicule him as if he isn't doing the most prominent and relevant anti-war, pro-speech, coverage in the entire media. And they are totally gonna throw him in jail or kill him over it.
I am also disappointed. Today I wondered if I should even watch. Matt has now returned to his roots and is taking a harder stance against Trump. Walter provided a balance and MT offers none. Both are quite anti Trump. I am looking at the big geo-political picture Trump is painting scene by scene. He is a disrupter and I believe it is impossible to make peace with a regime whose goal it is to kill us. I also know every president in the last 50 years said Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon but ignored what Iran was doing, enriching and planning the extinction of Jews and Americans worldwide ( which they have been doing through terrorism over the years.) Iran has been expanding its dominance of the whole Mid East, forcing radical Islamism and dictatorship on all. Trump’s plan is to strengthen the Western Hemisphere to unite in a vision of freedom, peace and prosperity. That cannot be done if the red ( Communists) and green (Islamists) unite against all who want freedom. Iran destroys its own people who oppose the regime. I am not a Zionist but believe in Israel’s and the U. S.’s right to exist. So while Trump is a flawed president, ( as they all are) I believe he is the only one who has, and is doing anything to change the status quo and a lot of eggs will be broken before the omelette is ready.
...I enjoyed, like you, the counterbalance of Walter taking a more conservative outlook to Matt ... so what if Walter defended POTUS more than some would like ... we DO have our own minds to question what Walter would say ... this POTUS moves fast ... some prefer the kick the can down the road method ... talk about it, throw money at it and do it again next year ... can't really say it's been effective ...
...Tracey is very different from Walter ... a deep-thinking skeptic ... that's not a bad thing ... what is unusual about Tracey is his skepticism and refusal to adopt the binary ... the easy thing is listening to people who agree with you ... choose a side!dammit ... we need the Traceys and the Kirns ...
Walter could immediately zoom in to the crux of the issue and was not by any means pro Trump. However, he did not assume that Trump was always lying and did not suffer from TDS. He is a man who wants freedom and is very cautious. Matt does also but is stuck in his left wing philosophy. But he is committed to sound journalistic standards. Tracey seems just stuck.
What do you mean by "haters?" Your subscribers may disagree with you from time to time, but no one hates you. Some of us are just a tad disappointed that you chose Michael Tracey as Walter's replacement.
I understand the appeal of "the contrarian." And it is fun (I guess) that Tracey's sexy new "brand" is based on defiling the Epstein files.
Wow, cool!
Tracey has indeed taken the contrarian view to new heights of counter-intuition with this theory (debuted to the grinning delight/relief of his right-wing billionaire hosts on the All-In investment-advice podcast) that all the 12-year-olds molested by Jeffrey Epstein were either 1) making it up, 2) mentally ill or 3) extracting blackmail money from a bunch of nice guys who just wanted to ply them with teddy bears and ice cream cones.
A bit of all three, Tracey implies.
Given that the girls were chosen mostly on the basis of their looks and cluelessness, this theory doesn't wash.
Plus, to regard their experiences as somehow exceptional (and thus incredible) flies in the face of historical precedent. Why would these girls be any different from the millions upon millions of other girls (and boys) who've suffered similar treatment at the hands of (mostly) men over the millennia?
Was the systematic rape of boys by Catholic priests in Boston (and elsewhere), and its subsequent coverup, also a fairy tale?
Or are little boys just tougher and smarter (and thus more trustworthy) than little girls?
Yeah, I know. Women. Drama queens, every one of them.
Defiling the Epstein files? I'd say MT is clarifying what is actually in there, no evidence of anyone fucking pre-pubescent children or any involvement with a global human trafficking ring.
I am a writer. I was exaggerating for effect. "Twelve-year-olds" suggests innocence and cluelessness better than a word with "teen" at the end., which to men suggests. . . well, you know, budding desire and raging hormones.
To me it makes absolutely no difference how old the girls were. And I wasn't aware that critics of Epstein were spreading rumors of a global humanitarian trafficking ring along the lines of something the Mafia would do.
What the phrase refers to in Epstein's case is not that the ring was huge but that its tentacles reached to all corners of the globe where rich and powerful people reside or vacation.
In fact, very few people were involved in this. Just as very few billionaires (14 at last count) possess wealth equal to or greater than that of four billion ordinary human beings.
Jesus, this is tedious and humorless. I'm gonna pay money to find out Candace Owens is a whack-job? Great scoop guys! The new "fuck everyone" vibes seems aimed at a younger demo than my own. I hope Matt's bet ultimately pays off for him. He has earned any success he has achieved.
The good news is I never paid by the year, so jumping ship won't cost much. I'll check back in the Fall and see if anything's gotten better. I can't imagine Tracy has much of a shelf life.
My new theory after tonight’s podcast; never mind Tucker being targeted by the CIA, I think they Kidnapped Matt. Cuz who ever this is, is not the Matt Taibbi I have come to know and respect. This Matt have such a hate on for his subscribers. I’m super sad.
The Racket 2.0 looks like Matt's pivot to get back in the good graces of those on the left who kept asking him,"What Happened to you man?"; those who made him feel like he'd sold out to boost his subscriptions.So, I think the hate for the subscribers is the plan... he wants those of us who've been with him these last few years to leave so he can get back to being respected by his people. Thing is I didn't care that Matt was a traditional liberal/Bernie Bro or that Walter seemed pretty conservative; I came here for the content, the interesting, thought provoking deep conversations that I really looked forward to every week. The new show is not that by a long shot , so I guess it's mission accomplished Matt, -1 subscriber if you're keeping track.
Yeah, I have been pondering this, too. Maybe Matt heeded Susan Rice and her threat that anyone who betrayed the Dems would get their comeuppance when they returned to power?
those of us who followed and read Matt since way back when do not like Michael Tracey and don't want to listen to him, so if that was the idea it flopped
Nothing connected with Bari/AIPAC influences will ever be fun. At best, gross.
My crowd always loves Taibbi; imagining understandable fears & concerns, tho, given obvious possibilities that could be seriously threatening to whole family ❤️🩹
Tracey is tough to listen to; it’s as if he thinks his every little meandering thought or aside is hilariously interesting.
While he does have stuff to say, his self-indulgence is painful.
This is the fundamental problem with the podisphere: without the production values of network TV, these self-produced shows boil down to personality and humor, for better or worse. Both audience and hosts take things too personally, like rock bands trying to cohere, then stay together.
Liking the new format. This is one of the more interesting conversations I’ve heard on Racket in a while.
People here are decrying the absence of Walter by saying they miss his “literary analysis” and “creative mind”, but what they actually miss is the fact that what always underlay Walter’s mental gymnastics was an unwavering defense of the Trump administration. It was predictable, stifling, and ultimately boring.
The new format is closer to what actual contrarianism and skepticism looks like, and the sooner it clears the room of the maga boomers that flocked to Walter, the better.
'People here are decrying the absence of Walter by saying they miss his “literary analysis” and “creative mind”, but what they actually miss is the fact that what always underlay Walter’s mental gymnastics was an unwavering defense of the Trump administration.'
Bring back Walter, please.
No. He had become cringe.
Additionally, Walt QUIT!
I have no idea what Matt or Michael will say about the war. With little doubt, Walt would have been a Trump apologist, excusing every single "feel it in my bones" and "no one thought they'd do that." 5-D chess all the way down, etc.
I enjoyed the Walt era of the show, but it was getting stale. I wish Walt the best and if he lands somewhere interesting, I'll check it out. But I gotta move on. I'm listening to Greenwald and Tucker as I wait for Matt and Michael.
Maybe it would help if people thought of Walt as Sharona and Michael as Natalie.
Greenwald and Tucker have both jumped the shark - 24/7 Jew-haters.
Tucker does not hate Jews. Sigh…
Neither does Greenwald.
No, but his critiques of Israel are obsessive, without perspective, compassion, nuance, or balance. His trivializing the atrocities of oct 7 (particularly the wide spread reports of rape) were astonishing to me , who had been a subscriber for years. He is a good investigative reporter, and brave, but he is inconsistently unfair on this issue. Have to say , though, that his letter of grief after his husband dies was very moving
How would you describe his beliefs about Jews and Israel? I don't follow him, but I'm curious.
I don't think it's "hatred" but maybe some resentment as to what he suspects is undue influence of the pro-Israel lobby. He does tend to focus on it though.
24/7 Jew-haters = Maybe have a problem with mow the grass genocide and murdering journalists
I wouldn't call them "Jew-haters" but both are pretty rabid about what they see as undue influence on US policy by Israeli-aligned interests.
It gets on my nerves but not to the point I can't handle them. I take the good with the annoying.
Tucker is an odd bird. I pretty strongly agree with 75% of what he says and I have found significant value in what I have learned on his shows.
One point that I would make to Matt and Michael is that the "pizza" matter naturally drew attention simply due to its incongruity.
Back in 2020, I recall hearing about "pizzagate" but I ignored it as it seemed...crazy.
What was noticed in the recent Epstein tranche was the surprisingly large number of references to food...in particular, pizza.
What definitely made me suspicious were the excerpts Carlson read on his recent co-broadcast with Ian Carroll that repeatedly mentioned pizza with...."grape soda".
I don't drink much soda/pop any more (I'll occasionally splurge on a good root beer or ginger ale) but a very casual investigation of market segment shows that "fruit" soda is a niche market and "grape" soda a very small segment of that already niche market. How many times have you ever heard someone order a grape soda? For me, not since I was a kid and even then only a handful of times.
That "pizza and grape soda" were repeatedly referenced in the Epstein documents is very suspicious. In particular, the reference Carlson read where Epstein's putative urologist who, after prescribing an erectile dysfunction drug to Epstein, instructs Epstein to wash his hands after taking the medication and that they should go out and get "pizza and grape soda".
That's really, really, really unusual. That is very suggestive of the use of the terms "pizza and grape soda" as code for something.
But, in particular, Carlson repeatedly states that he's NOT accusing anyone of anything but merely suggesting that this does indicate that further investigation is called for. He went out of his way to repeatedly state he wasn't accusing anyone of anything.
But the Iran rants are getting a bit tired. There's a lot at play and I suspect that the Iranians merely provided the pretext by continuing to play footsy with the nuclear issue. Ray Dalio's recent article pretty well sums it up:
https://raydalio.substack.com/p/it-all-comes-down-to-who-controls
So there's a lot more at play than "just Israel", however one feels about the obviously significant influence the Israel lobby has in Washington. My own take is that Trump is using the opportunity to shake up the "chessboard".
Also, I really don't care about a person's spiritual experience. I heard of Carlson's claims and really didn't pay much attention.
As noted, I've learned a lot from his interviews with, for instance, Catherine Austin Fitts, Erik Prince, Richard Werner and other serious people. Yes, it's often fantastic-sounding but...a lot of it jibes. What Fitts said about the "missing money" seemed to answer, or at least be consistent with, a lot of suspicions I've had.
Where did all that money go?
https://missingmoney.solari.com/
But I do kinda wish there had been a clearer "agenda" or topic focus in the talk tonight. After a while, I got up and wrote this comment.
is this satire?
No, why do you think so? I might have gotten a bit off the beaten path but I simply wanted to give some examples of what I’ve learned from Carlson. I do not share his views of Israel as I think it’s genuinely a “special case” as regards US politics. I am not Jewish either.
My motivation for my rather lengthy and arguably wandering post was the initial critique of Carlson for focusing on “pizza” which did not provide context. The communications to and from Epstein regarding “pizza” include language and references that seem significantly out of place and just flat out weird, at least to me. I thought Taibbi and Tracey were not entirely fair in their critique.
Natalie was the worst!
Haha, I thought they were both great.
Ur so ratioed.
Twitter’s over there dude →
Indeed. Substack is being blueskied.
Building the urgency into every utterance - is the first and most important rule of conversion in ABC sales - Matt and Michael do exactly that. No chill, no life is good, nothing of interest - uh-uh. Matt and Michael are saving us from ourselves. Again. . I lasted one minute - until Tracy theorized that "everybody" thinks that there's child abuse organization controlling the world - I'd put that number, at a guess, as significantly lower than the "jews control the world" and Elvis lives. Nobody I've ever met, heard of, or read believes this shit.
I learned more in the five-minute preamble to a meeting with five Americans in different parts of the country I just left than I'm certain I can learn from these two self-promoters.
Thoroughly depressing compared to what happens when we have an interlocutor like Walter who's actually done stuff (as has Matt to a degree) and thinks outside the box.
Nobody is pressuring folks to believe in this shit.
Many/most lap it up like mana from heaven - affirm my biases while I mainline the frisson of fear, give me my emotional fix and I'll sign up for anything.
I didn’t last that long. The pizza, pedo, Jew plot reference lost me. These two bring out the worst in each other. Reckless rambling. Walter and Matt kept each other on point, in the game.
Not only that, Matt and Walter were also fun to watch and listen to. There was friction there, distinct but complementary like oil and vinegar.
Yes, they brought out the best in each other. I really looked forward to that like no other show.
i agree. does anyone know what walter is up to these days?
Matt did seem to be trying to push angles that proved Trump was “finished”. Walter put him in his place a few times, when the evidence just wasn’t there. It’s disheartening to think Matt now has a political agenda.
Right…?
Nothing wrong with Tracey, but Walter Kirn is mother‘s milk.
🥛
Walter had extraordinary wit and broad knowledge, and was a great counterpoint to Matt. Do miss that format a lot.
Not a "hater", just disappointed. All of Matt's books have helped me to see many things more clearly. The podcasts with Walter were a joy, as were the literary discussions. The new Racket team is a step down in gravitas, and the new podcast with Tracy is neither enlightening nor fun.
Tracy reminds me of the kid who got beaten up regularly on the 4th grade playground because he was a sanctimonious nerd with ill-fitting clothes. Now it's sanctimony with bad hair and a grungy beard.
He seems like he stills harbors a lot of resentments about something. He wears his resentments on his sleeve, as they say.
I lasted 10 minutes last week. I lasted 2 minutes this week.
I want to like Michael Tracey but he is so boring and whiny compared to Walter. I’m drifting to other podcasts. Miss the joy and laughs.
True but why do you want to like him?
I miss Walter too . They complimented each other one left one right . You were better for the exchange . Walter got a bit cranky the last year which I enjoyed as well . The discussion on literature was injected into politics / media , history and pcukture .. I always felt like I was in on the joke … with the tens of thousands of other listeners who thought the same .It’s a shame it ended . It was great whilst it lasted . I will give the new show a go but it’s not as fun so far . Maybe they need to build chemistry . But you know .. if they can fake that they got it made
Seriously, what value was anyone supposed to get from today's Livestream? Who was that for?
More Michael Tracy?
Hell no. I’m out of here.
I find him tolerable in small doses. Every week? We will see how that goes.
I’ll give it a few more podcasts but will likely cancel if Tracey is still around, not a fan.
I miss Walter’s literary analysis as he sees the world very differently than I do. Learned a lot from him.
Sadly, I subscribed for a year before ATW was cancelled. Where's my refund?
Not liking this new format. I miss reading Matt's writings. Not so endeared with the new staff model.
Walter should start his own twice weekly podcast.I would subscribe.
💯
Matt was an important part of ATW.
Yes, both Matt and Walter were great together.
I'll give it another shot, but Michael Tracey is tough to listen to. He interrupts more than Walter did, but I was usually quick to give Kirn a chance because he's entertaining and funny. Tracey, not so much. I guess we'll see...hope the door is open for another co-host or perhaps rotating hosts until the right fit comes along.
Maybe Matt begs to be interrupted
I am also grieving the loss of ATW. Last week I valiantly tried to listen to Matt and Michael, but had to leave after ten minutes. Very, very disappointed.
Wow, I cannot believe you found someone worse than Walter to "avoid the news" with.
I watched for FORTY FIVE MINUTES, as the two of you took a *shred* of actual news (that the most popular media personality claims, credibly, that he's being spied on again for his anti-war views) and somehow make that about digging up a old clip of his weird demon-dog-story with his friend Megyn Kelly.
WHO THE FUCK IS TELLING YOU WHAT TO COVER. It's not your paying subscribers, it's not old Matt Taibbi... it honestly seems like your taking talking points memos from AIPAC?bari Weiss at this point>
Tucker had a show today with Glenn Greenwald. They didn't talk about demons, they talked about the VERY REAL attacks on free speech by the Trump admin, right-wing zionist shit, and of course you not only cannot actually cover it but ALSO attempt to ridicule him as if he isn't doing the most prominent and relevant anti-war, pro-speech, coverage in the entire media. And they are totally gonna throw him in jail or kill him over it.
WTF is wrong with you. You are worse than NPR.
I am also disappointed. Today I wondered if I should even watch. Matt has now returned to his roots and is taking a harder stance against Trump. Walter provided a balance and MT offers none. Both are quite anti Trump. I am looking at the big geo-political picture Trump is painting scene by scene. He is a disrupter and I believe it is impossible to make peace with a regime whose goal it is to kill us. I also know every president in the last 50 years said Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon but ignored what Iran was doing, enriching and planning the extinction of Jews and Americans worldwide ( which they have been doing through terrorism over the years.) Iran has been expanding its dominance of the whole Mid East, forcing radical Islamism and dictatorship on all. Trump’s plan is to strengthen the Western Hemisphere to unite in a vision of freedom, peace and prosperity. That cannot be done if the red ( Communists) and green (Islamists) unite against all who want freedom. Iran destroys its own people who oppose the regime. I am not a Zionist but believe in Israel’s and the U. S.’s right to exist. So while Trump is a flawed president, ( as they all are) I believe he is the only one who has, and is doing anything to change the status quo and a lot of eggs will be broken before the omelette is ready.
...I enjoyed, like you, the counterbalance of Walter taking a more conservative outlook to Matt ... so what if Walter defended POTUS more than some would like ... we DO have our own minds to question what Walter would say ... this POTUS moves fast ... some prefer the kick the can down the road method ... talk about it, throw money at it and do it again next year ... can't really say it's been effective ...
...Tracey is very different from Walter ... a deep-thinking skeptic ... that's not a bad thing ... what is unusual about Tracey is his skepticism and refusal to adopt the binary ... the easy thing is listening to people who agree with you ... choose a side!dammit ... we need the Traceys and the Kirns ...
Walter could immediately zoom in to the crux of the issue and was not by any means pro Trump. However, he did not assume that Trump was always lying and did not suffer from TDS. He is a man who wants freedom and is very cautious. Matt does also but is stuck in his left wing philosophy. But he is committed to sound journalistic standards. Tracey seems just stuck.
Do you actually believe Iran government murdered 30K protesters and foreign fighters, how so?
What do you mean by "haters?" Your subscribers may disagree with you from time to time, but no one hates you. Some of us are just a tad disappointed that you chose Michael Tracey as Walter's replacement.
I understand the appeal of "the contrarian." And it is fun (I guess) that Tracey's sexy new "brand" is based on defiling the Epstein files.
Wow, cool!
Tracey has indeed taken the contrarian view to new heights of counter-intuition with this theory (debuted to the grinning delight/relief of his right-wing billionaire hosts on the All-In investment-advice podcast) that all the 12-year-olds molested by Jeffrey Epstein were either 1) making it up, 2) mentally ill or 3) extracting blackmail money from a bunch of nice guys who just wanted to ply them with teddy bears and ice cream cones.
A bit of all three, Tracey implies.
Given that the girls were chosen mostly on the basis of their looks and cluelessness, this theory doesn't wash.
Plus, to regard their experiences as somehow exceptional (and thus incredible) flies in the face of historical precedent. Why would these girls be any different from the millions upon millions of other girls (and boys) who've suffered similar treatment at the hands of (mostly) men over the millennia?
Was the systematic rape of boys by Catholic priests in Boston (and elsewhere), and its subsequent coverup, also a fairy tale?
Or are little boys just tougher and smarter (and thus more trustworthy) than little girls?
Yeah, I know. Women. Drama queens, every one of them.
"Was the systematic rape of boys by Catholic priests in Boston (and elsewhere) and its subsequent coverup, also a fairy tale? -- Now do teachers.
Outside your silo Bonnie, no one thinks about Epstein 24/7.
. . . including me. not sure what you mean by "outside your silo."
Defiling the Epstein files? I'd say MT is clarifying what is actually in there, no evidence of anyone fucking pre-pubescent children or any involvement with a global human trafficking ring.
12 year olds? where'd you hear that?
I am a writer. I was exaggerating for effect. "Twelve-year-olds" suggests innocence and cluelessness better than a word with "teen" at the end., which to men suggests. . . well, you know, budding desire and raging hormones.
To me it makes absolutely no difference how old the girls were. And I wasn't aware that critics of Epstein were spreading rumors of a global humanitarian trafficking ring along the lines of something the Mafia would do.
What the phrase refers to in Epstein's case is not that the ring was huge but that its tentacles reached to all corners of the globe where rich and powerful people reside or vacation.
In fact, very few people were involved in this. Just as very few billionaires (14 at last count) possess wealth equal to or greater than that of four billion ordinary human beings.
Jesus, this is tedious and humorless. I'm gonna pay money to find out Candace Owens is a whack-job? Great scoop guys! The new "fuck everyone" vibes seems aimed at a younger demo than my own. I hope Matt's bet ultimately pays off for him. He has earned any success he has achieved.
The good news is I never paid by the year, so jumping ship won't cost much. I'll check back in the Fall and see if anything's gotten better. I can't imagine Tracy has much of a shelf life.
My new theory after tonight’s podcast; never mind Tucker being targeted by the CIA, I think they Kidnapped Matt. Cuz who ever this is, is not the Matt Taibbi I have come to know and respect. This Matt have such a hate on for his subscribers. I’m super sad.
The Racket 2.0 looks like Matt's pivot to get back in the good graces of those on the left who kept asking him,"What Happened to you man?"; those who made him feel like he'd sold out to boost his subscriptions.So, I think the hate for the subscribers is the plan... he wants those of us who've been with him these last few years to leave so he can get back to being respected by his people. Thing is I didn't care that Matt was a traditional liberal/Bernie Bro or that Walter seemed pretty conservative; I came here for the content, the interesting, thought provoking deep conversations that I really looked forward to every week. The new show is not that by a long shot , so I guess it's mission accomplished Matt, -1 subscriber if you're keeping track.
Yeah, I have been pondering this, too. Maybe Matt heeded Susan Rice and her threat that anyone who betrayed the Dems would get their comeuppance when they returned to power?
those of us who followed and read Matt since way back when do not like Michael Tracey and don't want to listen to him, so if that was the idea it flopped
That is exactly how I’ve been feeling. This is not the Matt I have come to admire.
Matt, your conversation with Michael is not fun. Michael filled in for Glenn Greenwald. Most of the time he was unpleasant to listen to.
Nothing connected with Bari/AIPAC influences will ever be fun. At best, gross.
My crowd always loves Taibbi; imagining understandable fears & concerns, tho, given obvious possibilities that could be seriously threatening to whole family ❤️🩹
This is not good.
As someone who has been a regular reader/listener for awhile, now I just glance at it with passing interest.
Matt's growing disdain for his audience may be the hardest part.
Tracey is tough to listen to; it’s as if he thinks his every little meandering thought or aside is hilariously interesting.
While he does have stuff to say, his self-indulgence is painful.
This is the fundamental problem with the podisphere: without the production values of network TV, these self-produced shows boil down to personality and humor, for better or worse. Both audience and hosts take things too personally, like rock bands trying to cohere, then stay together.
Liking the new format. This is one of the more interesting conversations I’ve heard on Racket in a while.
People here are decrying the absence of Walter by saying they miss his “literary analysis” and “creative mind”, but what they actually miss is the fact that what always underlay Walter’s mental gymnastics was an unwavering defense of the Trump administration. It was predictable, stifling, and ultimately boring.
The new format is closer to what actual contrarianism and skepticism looks like, and the sooner it clears the room of the maga boomers that flocked to Walter, the better.
'People here are decrying the absence of Walter by saying they miss his “literary analysis” and “creative mind”, but what they actually miss is the fact that what always underlay Walter’s mental gymnastics was an unwavering defense of the Trump administration.'
Perfectly put. Wish I'd thought to say it.