Chapo Trap House

We review the year in Podcasts, according to the New York Times. Then, Sinema flips, the Young Republicans present the Allen Dulles award, and the CIA has a mental wellness problem. Finally, some movie mindset recommendations for your holiday season. Hell on Earth launch show/party @ Littlefield 1/20/23, tickets here: https://littlefieldnyc.com/event/?wfea_eb_id=479703214227 Matt w/ Talking Simpsons podcast, Live at SF Sketchfest, 1/25/23, tickets here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/talking-simpsons-tickets-210772966617 Hell on Earth Bibliography/Reading List Here: https://www.chapotraphouse.com/hell

Our old friend Elon Musk* calls in to give us some updates on company policy and future projects from Twitter HQ. Then we’re joined by Ryan Broderick, author of the Garbage Day newsletter, to discuss all things online, from the woes of politicized moderation, to a future without Twitter, to the many ethical & technological horrors presented by new AI technology. Find Ryan’s great newsletter about the Internet here: https://www.garbageday.email/ *James Adomian

Will talks to Ross Grooters, co-chair of Railroad Workers United, Deven Mantz of BMWED Teamsters, and Jonah Furman of Labor Notes about the tentative agreement being forced on railroad workers, the demands of the unions, and where organizing goes from here. Visit www.railroadworkersunited.org to support the union.

We start off with some Law & Order: SVU talk that flows into a discussion of crime paranoia that cost the Democrats the house in suburban Long Island. Then, America’s epidemic of loneliness and corrupt hustlers trying to scam people into unnecessary for-profit hospice care. Grim! So we lighten up the back half of the ep with some more listener questions.

We catch up with World Cup news, engage in some vile orientalism about Qatar, and take a look at American colleges and universities partnering with gambling sites to wring some more profit out of their students and sports programs. Then, an in-depth reading series on a Peter Thiel-aligned movement of eugenics, biological optimization, “secular Calvinism,” and more dubious effective altruism, all wrapped up in one couple and their plans to out-breed the world. Find all of the programming and subscriber announcements mentioned at the end of the episode here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/announcing-hell-74753159

Hinge Points is back for a new season, baby! This first ep is free, but expect new episodes for the next 5 Thursdays, only at patreon.com/chapotraphouse. Matt and Danny Bessner (from American Prestige) invite Chris to discuss the question: What if Doggerland (the area of land between Britain and France) was never filled in with water?

Coming Jan 11th from Chapo Trap House: HELL ON EARTH: The Thirty Years War & The Violent Birth of Capitalism In this special preview mini-sode, Matt and Chris discuss their new history podcast series, coming soon exclusively on patreon.com/chapotraphouse.

We’ve got more midterms wrap up as Dems clinch the senate, Kari Lake goes down in Arizona, and Blake Masters’ school shooter campaign ads resurface. Then, we round up the first few weeks of Elon’s Twitter takeover and the FTX collapse, two more massive frauds of the billionaire class apparently destined for self-destruction. Finally, a eulogy for one of the Grand Broads of conservative media.

We’re joined by QAnon Anonymous’ Julian Feeld & Annie Kelly to discuss their new miniseries MANCLAN, covering online masculinity influencers. Julian and Annie’s series pulls together a lot of threads we’ve been discussing lately including loneliness, the rightwing grip on “manliness”, bizarre male diet trends, the new age-ification of online reactionaries and much more. You can subscribe to Qanon Anonymous to get Manclan and all their premium content here: https://www.patreon.com/qanonanonymous

It’s the end of another tour, so we’re once again turning to the phone lines for a Chapo call-in show. So, thanks for the questions, enjoy the answers. And a special thanks to everyone who came out to these live shows, they were some of our best ever. We’ll probably do more calls in the future now that we have an easy method for cataloguing and searching calls, so feel free to send in more under-30-second audio recording questions to [email protected]

It’s Halloween season so we’re taking a look at the increasing amount terror many Americans are now experiencing previously-benign concepts like “school” and “voting.” We also take a look at the “retvrn” type traditionalists, and how the fantasy of what they want to “retvrn” to so badly keeps getting more and more recent. We are going to do a CALL-IN show in the next week or so. Email us an audio question of NO LONGER THAN 30 SECONDS to [email protected] by end of day 10/25/22 and we may answer it on an upcoming episode. Finally, last few days to grab your tickets to Ft. Lauderdale. This show is ALMOST sold out so buy while you still can. Three big acts, Donzii, [STAND-UP NAME REDACTED] and of course us at Chapo. Tix here: https://www.jointherevolution.net/concerts/chapo-trap-house/

We’re back from the first part of our fall tour and kicking around some news items: Kanye continues to find wild new ways to embrace conservatism, Liz Truss’ government wildly flails, Bolsonaro has a pretty wild story about encountering a young Venezuelan woman. Plus, we discuss the vandalism stunt on a Van Gogh painting in the name of climate activism, and take a look at a typical day for a VC-backed tech CEO. Last chance to catch us live this year at Revolution in Ft. Lauderdale on 10/30: https://www.jointherevolution.net/concerts/chapo-trap-house/

This episode is about Kanye’s continued right turn/presidential ambitions, but we get to everything from American food culture to failed conservative banking schemes to Gambo to dybbuks. “Freewheeling” as they might say. Thanks to all who came out to the L.A. show, still spots open in NYC and Florida, these shows have been hot, hot, hot! Come thru: https://www.chapotraphouse.com/live

In a semi-sequel to the classic movie ep on Patriot’s Day (CTH083), the gang takes a look at Peter Berg’s 2012 blockbuster Battleship. We imagine a world where board games rule cinema IP over superheroes, talk about disgracing WWII vets, and wonder if these are the weakest movie aliens of all time. L.A.: Our live show is THIS SATURDAY, 10/8/22 at The Theater at the Ace Hotel. We are going to do a limited ticket giveaway on Patreon and on twitter this Wednesday (10/5/22). Details posted to Patreon imminently. All dates & Tickets to all our upcoming shows: https://www.chapotraphouse.com/live

Chapo goes to Hell and meets the various denizens there: 𖤐 Satan 𖤐 Hitler 𖤐 LaVey 𖤐 Hitchens Featuring: Henry Zebrowski, Derek & @Dril, James Adomian. Dates & Tickets to all our upcoming shows: https://www.chapotraphouse.com/live And of course, links to our new merch: https://chapotraphouse.shop/

Comedian Tom Myers stops by the pod to discuss the news of the day, including Ron DeSantis’ immigrant trafficking stunt, Lindsay Graham’s proposed federal 15 week abortion ban, Brett Favre’s Mississippi welfare fraud, and an important new scientific discovery. Check out Tom’s pod Tom Myers vs. The Rest of the World here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/tom-myers-vs-the-rest-of-the-world/id1538275781 Dates & Tickets to all our upcoming shows: https://www.chapotraphouse.com/live And of course, links to our new merch: https://chapotraphouse.shop/

Will and Chris host a round table of three organizers from across the country fighting to unionize Starbucks: Vic from Buffalo, Alisha from Oklahoma City, and Quentin from Portland, OR. They discuss the progress they’ve made at their respective locations, how they achieved it, and where they hope to go from there. We also discuss Starbucks’ retaliation methods (ranging from buffoonish to insidious), various legal challenges they’ve faced, and building bonds across the labor movement. Also, the most insane Starbucks orders they’ve ever seen. Support Starbucks Workers United: No Contract No Coffee pledge: https://crm.broadstripes.com/ctf/SJID0H Solidarity Fund for SBWU partners by Coworker: https://secure.actblue.com/donate/starbucksworkersfund DSA Labor Solidarity Fund: https://laborsolidarity.com And here is Alisha’s Jacobin piece on Starbucks use of reproductive benefits as a cudgel against organizers: https://jacobin.com/2022/08/starbucks-abortion-transgender-health-care-promises-pr-stunt-union-contract

The boys start with a roundtable discussion of 9/11 and modern fashion trends. Then, we take a look at the New York Times new in-depth reporting on Yeshiva schools in NYC failing to teach children basic skills, and how that relates to the state & purpose of public education in general. Finally, Will has sourced an exquisite reading series on the passing of the Queen by Chicago’s own Jon Kass. Dates & Tickets to all our upcoming shows: https://www.chapotraphouse.com/live And of course, links to our new merch: https://chapotraphouse.shop/

Contained within: Joe Biden’s red light speech, Donald Trump’s Special Master, another new British PM, Pope fights the Catholic Deep State, French president sex gossip, Rick Scott blows election fund, Keffals vs. Kiwi Farms, and more! Dates & Tickets to all our upcoming shows: https://www.chapotraphouse.com/live And of course, links to our new merch: https://chapotraphouse.shop/

We start off the ep with some Movie Mindset interrogation of Felix’s current viewing habits. Then, a look at a re-energized Joe Biden and the outlook of both the Dems and Republicans as we round the home stretch into the midterms. Then, we finally address a bit of pressing international news we’ve been neglecting, namely, if the Finnish PM is cool or nah. If you are listening to this podcast you are legally required to come to our live shows: https://www.chapotraphouse.com/live And purchase our new merch: https://chapotraphouse.shop/

In a bit of bonus content, Will interviews legendary author and screenwriter Jerry Stahl about his extremely funny and extremely dark, new book of gonzo reporting and personal memoir: Nein, Nein, Nein!: One Man’s Tale of Depression, Psychic Torment, and a Bus Tour of the Holocaust. Jerry relates his surreal experience of visiting Auschwitz, Buchenwald, and Dachau by tour bus rather than train, reviews the cafeteria and gift shop selections available at these historical sites, the friends he made along the way, and muses on moments in human history that fall in between chops of the axe. http://www.akashicbooks.com/catalog/nein-nein-nein/"

Matt and Will put on their sports radio hats and rank the prospects for the 2024 GOP primary. Then we discuss the bug scourge now plaguing America, and the people who are NOT doing their part to stamp out the menace. New merch store! Tons of hot new merch! Get it, wear it, do NOT answer anyone’s questions about it: https://chapotraphouse.shop/ And, all our tour dates + tickets over at https://www.chapotraphouse.com/live

We discuss the equal parts terrifying and stupid possibility that Trump or an associate actually tried to sell nuclear secrets to the Saudis, and all the insane ramifications for domestic and world politics. Then, we’re joined by Tom and Tarence of the Trillbillies to talk about the recent catastrophic flooding in Kentucky, and how the years of government neglect and industrial mining in the region have exacerbated the disaster. Also, prayers up for our boy Salman Rushdie. Link to the disaster relief mutual aid mentioned in the ep: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeAMXIPoChrCeYk7aMlsa0MuHFguB5CM1Gm-H8zJlYUCcllmw/viewform?fbclid=IwAR1bciEajmf80sYbS8mLDOmSZRk6tEBo1j4_cslNDP2Sggf1DkLekzdLhWU&fs=e&s=cl Tarence’s piece in the Baffler on the flood: https://thebaffler.com/latest/flooding-in-the-sacrifice-zone-ray Dates + Tickets for our fall tour here: https://www.chapotraphouse.com/live

Live from the Aladdin Theater in beautiful Portland, Oregon! Chapo is joined by our Women’s Auxiliary Unit of Kath Krueger & Amber Rollo and America’s #1 treats connoisseur Bill Oakley to discuss the issues of the day. Topics include: Portland’s phallocentric history, Alex Jones’ legal losses, Nancy Pelosi’s trip to Taiwan, and the recent victory for abortion rights in Kansas. Plus: can women find true fulfillment through becoming landlords? AND: a roundtable discussion of fast food culture in America featuring a tasting menu of local Portland delicacies selected by Mr. Oakley himself. Truly a value sized show! Dates + Tickets for our live shows (including the Ft. Lauderdale show now rescheduled to 10/30) are here: https://www.chapotraphouse.com/live

If you are in NYC this Thursday, 8/11/22, come thru to Littlefield in Gowanus for a night of comedy, games and the LAST EVER live appearance of Amber Frost in a public show. Amber, the Pod About List boys and DM Patches will all be taking the stage for a vicious, no holds barred competition of wits and Giant Jenga. All proceeds go to the Kentucky Health Justice Fund, so you’ll not only be supporting a specific woman (Amber) but all women. Tickets here: https://littlefieldnyc.com/event/?wfea_eb_id=387105592247 Donate to the Kentucky Health Justice Fund: https://www.kentuckyhealthjusticenetwork.org/donate.html

We’re joined by special investigator Brace Belden to look into the increasingly bizarre saga of the Black Hammer group, which recently made news as subject of a police raid, a suspicious death among their group members, criminal accusations against their leader, and now accusations of being part of a foreign influence operation. We discuss all this as well as the political value of Being Normal. Dates + Ticket links to TrueAnon’s live shows: https://www.patreon.com/posts/tour-general-no-69113927 Dates + Tickets for OUR live shows (including the Ft. Lauderdale show now rescheduled to 10/30) are here: chapotraphouse.com/live Streaming tickets for our Pickathon fest set at Noon (PST) next Saturday, 8/6 are available at: https://frqncy.live/pickathon/?r=52e3

It's Blowback Season 3 Day! The boys are joined by Traitor Brendan James the occluded producer and his comprador running dog Noah Kulwin to talk Korea, the forgotten war. Topics include: why Korea is forgotten while Vietnam never goes away, popular misconceptions of the North Korean people and government, the fruitiness of American general Douglas MacArthur, allegations of the American use of bio-weapons during the Korean War, and much, much more. For all things Blowback go to: blowback.supportingcast.fm For all our upcoming live show dates + tickets, go to: chapotraphouse.com/live

@PFTCommenter joins us for a tour around the wide world of sports! We talk the new Saudi golf tour LIV, Cletus the NFL transformer, gambling tips, the horniness of Yankee greats, and the future of sports media. PLUS Rep. Clay Higgins speaks directly to the cartels. Tickets for our Fall tour available at: https://www.chapotraphouse.com/live

The boys mourn the loss of former Japanese PM Shinzo Abe and reflect on his life and career and speculate as to why someone smoked his ass with a 2-liter pepsi and pack of Mentos. They then discuss Elon "Mr. Too Damn Follow Through" Musk's backing out of buying Twitter, Hunter Biden's latest antics, and President Brandon's cratering approval rating.

We hope everyone had a nice holiday weekend. After last week’s coverage of the politics of the Roe reversal, we now move on to taking a look at the media, because boy is the consent manufacturing machine whirring into gear. Will looks at a trio of pieces from the New York Times that appear to be buttering up the readership to place the blame squarely on those least responsible, plus time well-spent on a profile of the most annoying people on Earth! Tickets to our live shows, merch & more (well, actually not much more, but those two things!) over on www.chapotraphouse.com

The crew discusses the massive news of the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe. We talk about the overt evils and incompetent failures that got us to this point, the immediate reactions from various parties, and what may lie in the future.

With Will stuck in the Schengen Zone, Matt & Felix hold down the fort discussing Rod Dreher’s similar visa predicament, as well as elections in Colombia and France, Herschel Walker’s rapidly multiplying secret families, and the potential hyper-federalization of America. Tickets to our upcoming live shows + our summer merch sale can be found over on www.chapotraphouse.com

Stavvy stops by to discuss his new YouTube stand-up special and, of course, help answer advice questions submitted to other publications. This edition features a particularly insane mix of advice seekers and includes lazy first graders, animal apparel charity fraud, and the mischievous spirit of the Fox. Watch Stav’s special right now for free at: https://youtu.be/eNpkhX85yf0 Everything in our store is 25% off now through the end of July: https://shop.chapotraphouse.com/ And finally, keep your eyes on Patreon for information on presale tickets for our August 4th show at the Aladdin Theater in Portland, OR.

Between a piece on “the left’s” positions on Ukraine, the NYT’s coverage of the death of Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, and Rebecca Traister’s new profile of Dianne Feinstein, the theme of today’s episode is “looking the truth in the face and ignoring the most obvious conclusion.”

We do a public company audit over our failure to obtain PPP loans for our podcast business like our more industrious competitors. Then, a few current events including Trump at the NRA convention, Swedish hospitality habits, and the bloody shambles of indignities around the Queen’s platinum jubilee. Finally, a reading series from Biden-world about the president’s frustration that he just can’t seem to catch a break!

Normal! Natural! Healthy! Sane! It’s an episode on the California primaries! Friend of the show Josh Androsky stops by to give you everything you need to know to vote responsibly in the upcoming elections in California. But fear not, non-Golden State residents, this episode has laffs for you as well: bumbling Dems, insane Republicans, cop buffoonery, a cavalcade of goofy names! Plus, Josh’s argument for building local power as a possible hope for escape from our dismal political reality. Tickets to the Rally for LA, Tues 5/31 featuring Matt Christman, Los Dug Dug’s, Bill Corbett, Adam Conover, Jamie Loftus and more: bit.ly/rallyforla

Helllllloooo babies! Just as we anticipated, Eric Adams explores a run for president in 2024, so we look at the possibility of New York’s mayor taking his vibe revolution national. We also look at some juicy financial drama going on over at Black Rifle Coffee Company, plus, Tom Friedman’s sad, ominous lunch with the President. Catch us a Pickathon August 6th, tickets at: www.pickathon.com

In a more serious episode, we talk to author and journalist Nick Bryant about his 2009 book “The Franklin Scandal: A Story of Powerbrokers, Child Abuse & Betrayal.” We’ve mentioned the Franklin Credit Union scandal in passing on the show before, but it begins with the collapse of the Franklin Credit Union in Omaha, Nebraska in 1988 due to rampant corruption and embezzlement of its manager, Lawrence E. King, Jr. Soon after, King was accused, along with GOP lobbyist Craig Spence, of orchestrating a massive child prostitution ring, shuttling minors between Omaha and D.C., and using their solicitation to blackmail high ranking political figures. Bryant’s work examines the evidence behind this, and we discuss the scandal, the victims, the cover up, intelligence agency connections of its perpetrators, and the crucial links between intelligence-led sexual political blackmail operations of the past with the Epstein case today. Follow Nick on Twitter here: @nick__bryant Find more info, Nick’s book and Nick’s blog on his website here: nickbryantnyc.com

Author, anti-crypto advocate (and yes, film & TV star) Ben McKenzie stops by to talk Cryptocurrency. We discuss the lies & fraud at the center of Crypto, the use of celebs to boost the scheme, and his experiences traveling to the Miami Bitcoin conference and a Bitcoin mining server farm to research his forthcoming book. Keep an eye out for Ben and Jacob Silverman’s forthcoming book. You can find some of their recent writing on the topic in Slate here: https://slate.com/author/ben-mckenzie

Fighting suppression from Joe Brandon’s Ministry of Truth, the boys go berserker to bravely take on the dual enemies of Dark MAGA and reactionary article-slingers who dare ask, “are all films actually fash?”

He is not appreciated... the boys are joined by Pod About List to talk Father Stu, the new movie from Hollywood Catholic powerhouses Mark Wahlberg, Mel Gibson, and Mel Gibson's girlfriend. Donate to Marie Newman https://marienewmanforcongress.com/ Pod About List Tour Dates and tickets https://www.swagpoop.com/shows

We just noticed it happens to be a midterms year, so your favorite presidential podcasting duo of Chris and Matt have teamed back up to relaunch our beltway insider series. We’re joined by campaign reporter extraordinaire Dave Weigel to break down the key races to watch, track the trends to follow, and generally put drills to our temples as we attempt to once again engage in American Electoral Politics. If you want to catch us a Pickathon near Portland, OR in August, tickets here: https://pickathon.com/

We’re getting absolutely zooted on microplastics for today’s ep, then looking at Bill Clinton’s “if I didn’t do it” article in the Atlantic on his true intentions behind NATO expansion in the 90’s, and another piece on what the Democrats can do to recapture Gen Z for the midterms.

The boys discuss outgoing press secretary Jen Psaki and her history with Amazon’s anti-union consulting company, some former Obama guys and their good opinions, and Jenifer Rubin’s advice for helping Dems in the midterms. Then, we take a look at a piece taking Morbius to task for failing to live up to Vampires’ potential as maligned outsiders. Find Felix’s conversation about the opiate crisis on our Patreon here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/64735826 Tickets to Jacques + Friends Podcast Dream live show at Littlefield on 4/15: https://littlefieldnyc.com/event/?wfea_eb_id=262639771627

Live from Houston, we’re joined by Jake and Thomas from the Pendejo Time podcast for another movie pitch. This time we’re attempting to break into the evangelical Christian film market (think God’s Not Dead and The Reliant) with a moral fable about a boy discovering the true magic of Uncles. Listen to Pendejo Time here: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/pendejo-time/ Subscribe to Pendejo Time here: https://www.patreon.com/pendejotime Follow Pendejo Time here: https://twitter.com/pendejotime?lang=en Note: I’m splitting this ep into two parts just to make it easier to keep all the Poppy material separated in case I want to collect them down the line, but 614a & b are one ep for all the Chapo archivists out there.

Live from Dallas and Houston, we finally deliver the third part of our investigation into the life and times of President George H.W. Bush. This installment looks at his time as head of the C.I.A., his involvement with various figures associated with the Kennedy assassination and its investigation, and his business dealings with various shady Houston financial institutions. Note: I’m splitting this ep into two parts just to make it easier to keep all the Poppy material separated in case I want to collect them down the line, but 614a & b are one ep for all the Chapo archivists out there.

Amber catches up with teamster Matt Maini. They discuss Teamsters for a Democratic Union’s (TDU) victory in the recent Teamsters leadership election, and what their win means for the direction of the 1.4 million member union in the near future. Listeners can help by donating to TDU and its sister organization TRF. You can also buy a super cool vintage "TDU: a Cause Worth Trucking For.... Rank & File Power" t-shirt online at https://tdustore.myshopify.com/collections/apparel/products/tdu-cause-worth-truckin-for-t-shirt

We continue to look at the domestic media response to the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine. This time, we’re talking about “the left” and how some of their “half-baked” ideas about foreign conflict lack serious intellectual rigor and nimbleness, curtesy of an article by “fully baked” author Eric Levitz. Please follow and support the Amazon Union drive: https://twitter.com/Amazonlabor https://www.amazonlaborunion.org/

Our live show from the South by Southwest festival in Austin, TX.

We’re back from the first leg of our tour of the South and here to look at the responses to war in Ukraine brewing in the foreign policy op-ed world. We’ve got reading series by Shadi Hamid in the Atlantic and our old friend Max Boot in WaPo, both asking “well, yes, American foreign intervention has been very bad in the past, but maybe this time it would be very good?” Tickets to Houston, Dallas and New Orleans shows still available at: https://www.chapotraphouse.com/live