Chapo Trap House and the rise of the dirtbag left

hey now, the rally to restore sanity was totally radical organizing

not sure how far removed them doing a mocking reading series is from jon stewart playing a clip of a republican saying a thing and going 'BUHHHH??' and making silly faces at the camera

it's slightly more substantive because they have more time to deconstruct what makes the pieces awful and what makes their subjects' logic & ideology bad, but yeah, it does veer into Daily Show territory at times, especially when they're continually dunking on imo relatively boring people like Douthat. Megan McArdle is I think bizarre & dumb enough to warrant multiple dissections.

I find the cold open fake "interviews" the only truly Daily Show-level obvious stuff

I'm kind of gratified that they do Megan McArdle readings - she was always my hate read of choice

OK, I heard the episode a couple of weeks ago, and the Naomi Klein episode, and ... it's ok? I really don't hear it that anything radically different from the aforementioned Pod Save America. Outrage, profanity, the occasional perceptive point. I guess Chapo goes on a lot more digressions and has more esoteric references or more micro-targeted nemeses? Is that what makes it what it is? Anyway, not going to give up, I'll try a few more episodes as they're released. It's not bad or inferior or anything, just trying to pin down what sets it apart.

Perspective, I guess? Pod Save America is a Dem party podcast with guests like Obama, Hillary, Tom Perez and Chuck Schumer. I doubt those guys will be booking Chapo appearances.

Yeah it's a pretty significant ideological gulf there, maybe not as obvious in that ep

So the Chapo guys are anti-neoliberal types, right? To my ear most of their yammering didn't seem that off from the yammering of Pod Save America, and I'm not sure how or why it necessarily would be. Like, I assume they'll respond to the Vegas shooting. What would or could they say about it any different from what Pod Save said? They seem to have more in common than they have differences but like I said, I'll have to give them more time.

They've never really tackled gun laws and there's some dispute over such things on the left so I'm interested to hear their take as well. I'd say the biggest areas of discrepancy btwn the left and neoliberals is whether capitalism can be reformed or not (or even whether it has to be) and the left's hatred of US foreign policy orthodoxy.

i'd be interested in hearing their take on gun control - there's a lot of gun-nuts over on the chapo reddit who are convinced they need to be armed to the teeth for teh communist revolution

Yeah, I find the "marginalized ppl need guns to defend themselves from the nazis" argument some leftists are making less than persuasive - surely that doesn't work when the nazis get guns, too?

Like I know this line of reasoning has precedent with the Black Panthers and etc but in the end it helps the oppressor far more than the oppressed, imo.

from my side of the atlantic, pretty much any kind of pro-gun stance seems indefensible, regardless of the political leanings of those who express them, but gun-nuttery has bipartisan appeal in the usa i guess

Not quite through the whole thing but they're pretty boring and predictable on guns. I mean there's no good take really. The "woke troop" bit was all they really had to add to the discussion. But I wish they didn't always feel obligated to devote significant time to these kinds of headline grabbers. Similar with Trump doing dumb stuff. It's so hard not talk about though and that's why the Trump era is bad for the show.

Yeah I'm not enthralled with the Trump stuff either but they do less of it than most would

OK, I gave the latest episode a shot and ... yeah, I couldn't stick with it. In fact, it was making me kind of mad. I recognize the idealism (I guess?) at work, but at the same time, these Chapo cats are just so smug and self-righteous about their viewpoint. And not nearly as funny as they think they are. Though that may be a general podcast problem.

yeah I don't think "idealism" is the word you want to use there

They're really at their best when savaging b-list pundits of the "center right" and "center left"

I meant idealism in the sense that yeah, why wouldn't people want Medicaid for all? That sort of thing. Like, these things are achievable. They haven't given up, they are fighting, they are fighting for an ideal. I'm not sure I agree, and I'm not sure I find their position effective.

but sure, I can imagine totally getting into them ripping on pundits.

I don't see medicare for all as an "ideal," just a policy that was, until recently, considered outside the mainstream of political discussion (and was really only outside it for a couple decades anyway).

Yeah, the ideal is the decommodification of all health care, isn’t it? This is a step on the way there

https://soundcloud.com/chapo-trap-house/episode-148-lost-in-the-sauce-feat-patton-oswalt-10917

...huh

Yeah, really didn't expect that guy to be down with Chapo.

Yeah, the ideal is the decommodification of all health care, isn’t it? This is a step on the way there

― Hit to Death in the "Galactic Head" (kingfish)

i've become resigned to the notion that healthcare is doomed to be based on "ideals" rather than quality of care, at least until all such attempts prove disastrous in practice.

the Patton ep was easily the best of their celebrity appearances

he's been on once before no?

nope, david cross was but it was pretty ignorable iirc

ah ok.

https://www.reddit.com/r/ChapoTrapHouse/comments/75dwko/chapo_literally_changed_my_life/

reddit thread providing anecdotal evidence of the podcast being more than just a daily show snark fest for the left and actually pushing people to organizing; some of the comments sort of echo what I said above about the catharsis of the show clearing the way toward becoming more politicized

patton oswalt ep one of the better celeb guest episodes they've had. he seemed to enjoy it a lot.

felix is on one of the keepin it 1600 dudes' podcast today

four legs good, two legs better

felix is on one of the keepin it 1600 dudes' podcast today

― officer sonny bonds, lytton pd (mayor jingleberries), Tuesday, October 10, 2017 1:51 PM (twelve minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

loooooooool

where can I find this

lovett or leave it is the podcast

Wait so Obama had speechwriters named Jon Favreau *and* Jon Lovett?

I'm really enjoying those dudes, who have at least a good grasp of policy.

Here’s their show feed:

https://art19.com/shows/lovett-or-leave-it

For the interested, Felix is barely on it. Mostly pretty standard "Trump/the repubs are bad" shit

did trump and the republicans stop being bad or something?

Yes, that's definitely the point I was going for.

listened to the patton oswalt one on a run earlier this evening and...it was good! having an actual comedian on definitely helped.

Patton's story about HP Lovecraft's grave was so funny

Patton's pop-cult political takes were very entertaining. Nice that he pointed out some things he liked in Wonder Woman, as opposed to the standard how dare! reaction ppl have when someone criticises that movie.

Also even in a medium as nerdy as podcasts I don't think I'd heard a Dave Sim reference before.

this was a good ep. lol "You're looking for the monster man!". i enjoyed the theory that people are losing the capacity for abstract thought, everything has become more literal, or is at least taken that way. it's an interesting thought!

Haven't listened yet but this week's Delete Your Account has a good lineup

http://podbay.fm/show/1121355704/e/1507699817?autostart=1

also Matt is on The Dig this week but I have yet to listen

did ILX invent "Dirtbag Left"? https://newrepublic.com/article/143926/dirtbag-left-problem-dominance-politics