In light of recent events, a thread of our favorite KYE episodes for new & eager to be initiated listeners. (Feel free to let us know which ones we're forgetting.)
First off, our flurry of nuance on the Trump/Fascism debate:
Effective immediately, we are suspending
@SamAdlerBell
from the podcast for saying "actually the Jews were persecuted for having too much swag."
We’ve asked him to take time to reflect and learn about the impact of his comments.
@KnowYrEnemyPod
is a really good and smart podcast you should be listening to. It’s Chapo but only the smart episodes, with people who actually know what they’re talking about. Killer soundtrack too.
What's at stake when left and right argue about the American past?
In the new ep, we chat with
@jbouie
about historiography as culture war, the 1619 Project, anti-racism, and patriotism.
As discussed on the latest KYE w
@Econ_Marshall
, they don't want to "open the economy." They want to throw the bodies of service and industrial workers directly at the virus for profit.
It's an eliminationist class war against those who cannot "work from home" by those who can.
Impressive how quickly “open the economy” became a phrase every media outlet & pundit just decided was a neutral, anodyne descriptor rather than a horrific rightwing euphemism for condemning 100,000s of workers, disproportionately African-American, to death for corporate profits
Here’s a dumb question I’ve never seen asked: Whats the best podcast theme song? Most of them are public domain guitar jangles so I want to cast a wide net.
My all-time nominee is
@bestshow4life
but current champ is
@YourKickstarter
.
@KnowYrEnemyPod
I'm just re-listening some of your earlier episodes and having a blast. The German Philosopher "Fichte" is pronounced "fish-te" for an American. A Fichte is a tree - a spruce. But the way you pronounced his name - "fickte" - means "fucked" in past tense xD
Our latest episode! An in-depth discussion with ACT UP veteran
@peterstaley
on the history of AIDS activism, America’s pandemic response, and Dr. Anthony Fauci’s complex role in both.
A personal (if depressing) favorite: America's culture of guns with
@PatBlanchfield
.
On how traumatic repetitions of spectacular violence are rooted in American history and ideology.
This is a good one: my really truly very wide-ranging
@thedigradio
interview with
@SamAdlerBell
and
@MatthewSitman
on the history of conservative intelligentsia, what happened to it under Trump, and where it might go from here.
We’re a little behind schedule this week; we’ve been working our producer to the bone, so we’re permitting him a spa day.
However, we’ve got Nicole Hemmer (
@pastpunditry
) on Rush Limbaugh coming Tuesday!! 🙌
NEW episode! It’s about one of the greatest books ever written about American politics, Garry Wills’s NIXON AGONISTES. It’s got it all: Nixon psycho-biography, reports from the campaign trail, the ‘68 conventions, Wallace, the Southern Strategy, & more
“As
@MatthewSitman
and
@SamAdlerBell
have frequently suggested on their consistently excellent podcast about the American right… we need to pay attention to such talk and learn to interrogate it… What exactly is the American right giving itself permission to do?“
Good piece by
@DamonLinker
detailing how the right's comprehensive unshackling of itself from any obligation to reality in depicting the leftist menace is designed to create "a permission structure for future action," justifying anything in response:
I know communists read theory and fascists read theory, but do liberals or conservatives read theory? Like, what's the principle theoretical text in modern conservatism? Who should I read if I'm trying to understand these ideologies in a "know thy enemy" sort of way
it's great that Trump will cheer for illegal protests undertaken against lockdown orders he himself backed, but
@SpeakerPelosi
won't spare a tweet for Amazon workers striking for their health and safety.
Recorded a *barn burner* on the Bozells tonight. (Don't worry,
@HeerJeet
, we cited your Nation piece *and* got in the Menachem Begin.) We covered a lot of ground—and, perhaps, ended up in some unexpected places. Stay tuned!
A recent and particularly nerdy entry: our episode on Saul Bellow and Allan Bloom — touching on Leo Strauss, late 80s campus wars, Great Books, The Jews, love, and friendship.
For your listening pleasure, here's our deep-dive on Joan Didion's conservatism—her Sacramento roots, her early writing for National Review, why she loved Barry Goldwater (and hated Ronald Reagan), and much more. Our guest? The great Sam Tanenhaus. Enjoy!
This is Matt. Unless otherwise stated, election night tweets from the KYE account will be me exorcising my anxiety and participating, with all of you, in the grand conversation that is Election Twitter
Limbaugh tells his listeners that Trump’s withdrawal from Syria was all part of a ploy to throw people off the scent of the operation against Baghdadi.
"There have been more than a few irregularities. They have been substantiated," Gov Bevin says, explaining his decision to not concede the
#KyGov
election. "We want the process to be followed." ^JC
New episode: An intimate and nuanced conversation with
@maximillian_alv
about conservatism’s appeal to the working class — beyond “false consciousness.”
We're star struck by these natal star charts for Oprah and Prince Harry prepared by Nancy Reagan's astrologer, Joan Quigley. Was this week's interview in their destiny?
#PrinceHarry
#MeghanMarkle
#OprahMeghanHarry
My friends, please report this tweet and my account as hacked. Wild that people get suspended immediately for saying "fuck" to a politician, but this shit has been going on for an hour. (-SAB)
Pres Trump gearing up to attack 1619 in his speech today. He is expected to say, “Critical Race Theory, the 1619 Project, and the crusade against American history is toxic propaganda—an ideological poison that, if not removed, will dissolve the civic bonds that tie us together.”
~~ sincere tweet filter ~~
We held an exclusive video meeting for some elite
@KnowYrEnemyPod
subscribers (John Birch Tier...) last night, and I have to say, if that group was representative, we have the kindest and most thoughtful listeners in the game.
A reflection on the afterlife of the 1/6 siege on the US capitol, examining how different factions of the right and left have metabolized the event and its connection to resurgent anti-democratic forces in our political life.
ICYMI, hosts
@MatthewSitman
and
@SamAdlerBell
reflect on depression, frailty, mutual obligation, and what we all deserve.
(An episode released from the Patreon archive. Subscribe for more like this!)
This week is our first premium, subscriber-only episode, on the life and work of our friend Antonin Scalia. Subscribe @ our link in bio to hear about:
- his eating habits
- his household rules on kids’ attire
- the lessons he learned from the hit TV show 24
- some legal stuff
@PatrickDeneen
We discussed this. (So it's slightly odd that you're acting like we didn't.) Again, I think you'd find, if you listen to the episode, that Matt is entirely fair to you and still as decent as ever.
@johnthorntonjr
@PatrickDeneen
@SamAdlerBell
@MatthewSitman
Sam here (Matt’s commie cohost): I’d love for you to listen to some episodes, Patrick, and see what you think. The title is tongue in cheek, and Matt is just as generous (intellectually and personally) as you remember him!
Makes a good Sunday listen! And hang tight for our bonus ep (should be out Mon or Tues) that’s Sam and I drinking bourbon and talking about...Ronald Reagan
If only there were a podcast which had for several months been exploring the emerging fault lines in movement conservatism, including the Ahmari/French divide...
@dan_sinykin
@SamAdlerBell
this actually happened to me once before. after which, i set up two-factor verification. but apparently Musk got rid of that function for people who don't pay. (which, if you think about it, is sort of like a protection racket.)
And if you wanna hear the purest uncut shit, please subscribe on Patreon for the bonus episodes.
Including: the Bozell family saga, Hitchens, Gore Vidal, Critical Race Theory, and all the eps with
@davidrkadler
(who's not allowed in front of the paywall).
Happy Thanksgiving to all
@KnowYrEnemyPod
listeners! We’re grateful for the love so many have shown us since we started the podcast—especially our comrades at
@DissentMag
, who now sponsor it, & our clutch Patreon subscribers.
Here’s the latest ep!
"Kevin Williamson is not afraid of overpowering people with his strong personality. [The Smallest Minority] is an irreverent overview of social media and the ways that they enable a mob to stamp out independent thinking." —5-star Amazon review
OUT NOW 🔥
The rumors are not true. We are not signing with HBO to turn the podcast into a televised special. Negotiations broke down due to their strict “no beer or cigs on stage” rule.