Chapo Trap House

Felix looks at Steve Bannon’s origins, plus anti-Obama hysteria pushing the GOP to the right in the 2012 primaries in this clip from Episode 4 of his series “Seeking a Fren for the End of the World.” The full episode and rest of the series are available for subscribers at patreon.com/chapotraphouse.

Felix recounts the rise of Obama-era conservative online media in this teaser for Episode 3 of his series “Seeking a Fren for the End of the World.” The full episode and rest of the series are available for subscribers at patreon.com/chapotraphouse.

We’re discussing the ongoing labor disputes with the United States Postal Service with Tyler Vasseur, a shop steward with the National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC). We discuss the BFN rank and file movement to transform the postal unions, fighting for transparency in bargaining on the long-stalled new contract for letter carriers, what an equitable contract would look like, how the letter carriers fight fits in the broader labor movement, cost of living adjustments in an era of high inflation, changes in work environments post-COVID, and ongoing efforts to privatize the Post Office. More on BFN here: https://www.fightingnalc.com/about-bfn

Will & Hesse are joined by Brian Yuzna, legendary horror writer/director/producer behind such films as Re-Animator, Society, From Beyond, Honey, I Shrunk The Kids, and many more. We discuss adapting Lovecraft, all-nude Peter Pan, Clown Theory, copypastas, uniquely American ghouls, the importance of GOOP in cinema, and how real horror fans can enjoy horror even when it’s bad. Pre-order the 40th Anniversary edition of Re-Animator here: https://www.ignite-films.com/products/re-animator?variant=49677000933719 And check out the trailer for the re-release by friend of the show Ben Clarkson: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zIyXfP6egIs&ab_channel=IGNMovieTrailers

Felix documents the rise of future Fox News CEO Roger Ailes in this preview clip from episode 2 of his series “Seeking A Fren for the End of The World”. The full episode and rest of the series are available for subscribers at patreon.com/chapotraphouse.

Defector’s David Roth is back on the pod. We start with his write up of the recent drone scare over New Jersey, and how our ever-skittish suburbanites are discovering new ways to be scared of the lights in the night sky. Then, a review of recent media reactions to Luigi-mania, including the Atlantic tut-tutting over “decivilization” and the Root having a certified “bruh” moment. Finally, the most important bellwether poll of the year: the PornHub annual search trends results. Find all things David Roth at the Defector: https://defector.com/author/david-roth Last bits of merch going at discount over at https://chapotraphouse.store/

In a new series by Felix, Josh (@ettingermentum), and Spencer, we ask: how did the Republican Party, once the dominant force in American culture for almost a generation, become a group of bowtied cosplayers and rapist streamers yelling about Litterboxes? We trace this development back to the empires built by two men—Paul Weyrich and James Dobson—as well as the failures of one Pat Buchanan. This episode draws from Dan Gilgoff’s The Jesus Machine and David Grann’s “Robespierre Of The Right.” For a full list of sources, check our works cited doc here: www.chapotraphouse.com/seeking

We catch up briefly on news around the arrest of the alleged UHC CEO assassin. Then, journalist and musician Jael Holzman returns to the show to discuss a new piece she has for Rolling Stone on the potential threats to trans people in the coming Trump administration. We look at the rather grim potential of massively undermining of trans medical care, the equally grim state of Democratic opposition, and the general fecklessness with which Democrats have handled what Joe Biden once called the “civil rights issue of our time” in both policy and rhetoric. Read Jael’s piece here: https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/trump-trans-health-care-republicans-democrats-1235198473/ Purchase Refaat Alareer’s “If I Must Die” here: https://bookshop.org/p/books/if-i-must-die-poetry-and-prose/21530923?ean=9781682196212&gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQiAgdC6BhCgARIsAPWNWH3V8BcDXv-gg8uxdBjH7qVFtCKGHzt5Z5bMBSUunOfyar68lDFw5EwaAtCmEALw_wcB

We do the work of having conversations and connecting to people by reviewing last week’s Pod Save America episode featuring Kamala Harris’ top campaign staff. Through their telling, it was an amazing feat of data, precision and triangulation that somehow came up just slightly short, but we look at some different “stories to tell” from what they’re able to reveal about the campaign’s strategy. Plus, a Thanksgiving poem from Matt. Felix’s new series “Searching for a Fren at the End of the World”, an examination of the last 50 years of Conservative media, premieres next Wednesday, December 11, right here on your Chapo feed.

Journalist Moe Tkacik joins us to look at a number of issues she’s reported on recently. Starting with the alarming prevalence of sexual assault allegations among Trump’s new cabinet picks, we follow the trail of backlash to accountability among the ultra-rich to College campuses and of course, Israel. We then turn to Moe’s reporting on the growing tumor of private equity in the American healthcare industry, and how these financial barons are gutting our already threadbare hospital system. Find Moe on Twitter: https://x.com/moetkacik And here writing at the American Prospect: https://prospect.org/topics/maureen-tkacik/

We review the various freaks, toadies, goons, and TV personalities that Trump has tapped to build his second cabinet, and speculate how much damage Vivek & Elon can actually do with their kids-table DOGE advisory board. We also discuss the coalescing view among the pundit class that the Democrats need to abandon their various activist groups, as espoused in today’s reading series by Adam Jentleson. Finally, a new (hopefully semi-regular) feature from Matt.

We start off with some Monkey News, then continue our post-mortem on the 2024 election. Does America have a Boy Crisis? Was $450k a day to put Kamala’s name on the Sphere worth it? How many votes did Queen Latifah swing? Are there sharks in the pool? Can Rebecca Solnit construct a metaphor to save her life? Will anyone learn anything from this boondoggle? We discuss.

We have always lived in The Zone. We take in the stunning re-election of Donald Trump, the manifest failure of Kamala Harris, Joe Biden and the entire Democratic party, and all of the myriad obungles that have brought us to this moment. This has happened before, it will happen again…Reasons to be scared, reasons for hope, and assurance that we’re still ready to ride with you all every day. Unlocked from our Patreon for all to hear. To get every episode, subscribe at patreon.com/chapotraphouse.

We’re joined by Charles, Alex & Andrew from Episode 1 for a night of Election-themed spoofs and goofs live at the Aratani Theater in Los Angeles. Featuring the Dan Boeckner Christmas Time Players: Dan Boeckner, Nick Thorburn, Alex Fischel & Adam Halferty. And of course, a special visit from Santa.

[Note: these Movie Mindset Horrortober Season 1 episodes were already unlocked for free this year over on the Patreon feed, just adding them to the public feed to make them more widely available. To get every Movie Mindset episode, subscribe at patreon.com/chapotraphouse.] In this final episode of this year’s Ghoulvie Screamset, Will & Hesse take a look at Michael Wadleigh’s “Wolfen” (1981) and Bernard Rose’s “Candyman” (1992). Two films taking advantage of real urban environments the horrors of city life, from the intrusion of primordial natural evil in Wolfen, to manifesting the everyday horror of urban poverty in Candyman. Thanks for listening to our second outing of Movie Mindset! Will & Hesse will be back next year with a full season 2 of the series. Let us know if there's anything you're dying for us to cover, and stay watchin’ everybody.

Chapo elections unit Dave Weigel and Josh “Ettingermentum” return for one last check-in on the state of the 2024 US Elections. We review Trump’s fascist clown show rally at Madison Square Garden over the weekend, and discuss its potential impacts on the final week of the race. We look at the closing arguments & strategies of both campaigns, the increasingly strained relationship between the electorate and the media, key senate races to watch, and give final chances for Trump & Harris. LOS ANGELES: Come to our 11/4 Election Eve show with E1 & live house band featuring Dan Boeckner and Nick Diamonds: https://link.dice.fm/b1eb3de54f54 We are releasing another batch of SIGNED COPIES of Matt’s book, ¡No Pasarán!, tomorrow/today TUESDAY, OCTOBER 29th, at Noon ET/9am PT at chapotraphouse.store. Sales open ONLY until this Thursday, October 31st, get your copy! Find Dave’s reporting at Semafor here: https://www.semafor.com/author/david-weigel Find the Ettingermentum newsletter here: https://www.ettingermentum.news/

[Note: these Movie Mindset Horrortober Season 1 episodes were already unlocked for free this year over on the Patreon feed, just adding them to the public feed to make them more widely available. To get every Movie Mindset episode, subscribe at patreon.com/chapotraphouse.] Brendan James returns to take on two triumphant works from writers-turned-directors: Clive Barker’s “Hellraiser” (1987) and William Peter Blatty’s “The Exorcist III” (1990). Both films feature visions of Hell’s intrusion onto earth; two competing and complementary visions of evil, one from a gay British man and the second from a devout American Catholic. Will, Hesse and Brendan go deep on these films, highlighting in Hellraiser some of the most ghoulish practical effects ever put to screen, and in Exorcist III dissecting one of the most infamous jump-scares in film history.

Journalist Max Read joins us to discuss his new piece on the proliferation of “AI Slop”: unwanted, low quality, often surreal content flooding the internet and degrading its various platforms. We talk about the dystopian quality of the trend, the economic factors encouraging it, and how it portends poorly for the future of online. Max’s AI Slop piece: https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/ai-generated-content-internet-online-slop-spam.html Subscribe to Max’s newsletter READ MAX at https://maxread.substack.com/ Order Matt’s Book (and check out the new merch!): https://chapotraphouse.store Come to our 11/4 Election Eve show in LA with E1: https://link.dice.fm/b1eb3de54f54

[Note: these Movie Mindset Horrortober Season 1 episodes were already unlocked for free this year over on the Patreon feed, just adding them to the public feed to make them more widely available. To get every Movie Mindset episode, subscribe at patreon.com/chapotraphouse.] Will & Hesse look at two starring God Tom Atkins: John Carpenter’s “The Fog” (1980) & Tommy Lee Wallace’s “Halloween III: Season of the Witch”. Also a Carpenter double feature of sorts, one from the director himself, and one continuing from his iconic Halloween (1978) film as he intended the franchise to be, an anthology. The Fog is a true American ghost story wrestling with monstrous crimes of our past, and Halloween III is an outrageous gorefest with one of the most infamously ludicrous plots in all horror cinema. Tom Atkins plays an everyman sex symbol in both, laying pipe as he’s terrorized by ghosts & robots through anonymous northern California towns. Note: Will promised we’d timestamp the Tom Atkins Ass Shot in the description. I do not have time to do that this evening. Sorry.

[Note: these Movie Mindset Horrortober Season 1 episodes were already unlocked for free this year over on the Patreon feed, just adding them to the public feed to make them more widely available. To get every Movie Mindset episode, subscribe at patreon.com/chapotraphouse.] Will & Hesse are joined by Nymphowars’ Theda Hammel to discuss two horror films from 1964 starring the legend Vincent Price: Sidney Salkow’s “The Last Man on Earth” & Roger Corman’s “The Masque of the Red Death”. Both deal with the end of the world in their own way and highlight Price’s unique combination of campiness and dramatic heft for both comedic and horrifying effects.

We start today with Alex and Felix explaining a notoriously filthy video game streamer and his repellent political views/personal hygiene to Will. Then, we check in on the Harris campaign as it continues to search for meaning, substance, moral clarity, strategic vision, & more while election day looms. Meanwhile, in MAGA-land, a look at the J6 defendants behind bars: putting on plays, podcasting, recording billboard #1 hits, punching holes in the prison drywall…is life in the big house better than what they left? Vic Berger’s “THE PHANTOM OF MAR-A-LAGO”, a found footage mini-doc about Trump’s life out of office in his southern White House premieres Tuesday, Oct. 15th (Today!) exclusively at patreon.com/chapotraphouse. Order Matt’s Book (and check out the new merch!): https://chapotraphouse.store Come to our 11/4 Election Eve show in LA with E1: https://link.dice.fm/b1eb3de54f54

It’s been one year since 10/7, so we discuss a bit of what’s changed - if anything - in perception and politics of the war in Palestine. We then look at the 2024 election, the effects of recent and impending natural disasters, and last week’s VP debate. We also discuss Kath’s recent piece in the Nation about the return of the #resistance, and Elon Musk’s funny little dance at Trump’s recent rally. Idk, we’re all starting to get that familiar icky feeling in the pits of our stomachs again about November, aren’t we, is it happening again? Read Kath’s piece in The Nation: https://www.thenation.com/article/politics/resistance-kamala-harris-online/ Buy Matt’s Book: https://chapotraphouse.store/products/no-pasaran Come to our 11/4 Election Eve show in LA with E1: https://link.dice.fm/b1eb3de54f54

Alex joins us to go in on now-indicted Mayor Eric Adams. We go through the many hilarious details of the unsealed indictment, the Turkish Connection, airline bribes, New York to Easter Island via Ankara travel, ice cream trickery, and windows literally falling off of Turkish buildings in NYC. We also look at Tablet magazines full-throated defense of Adams & the necessity for foreign bribes. ¡No Pasarán! Matt Christman's Spanish Civil War is available NOW along with a crop of new merch at https://chapotraphouse.store/ Tickets for our Election Eve live show with Episode 1 on Monday 11/4 in LA available now at: https://link.dice.fm/b1eb3de54f54

BLOWBACK’s Brendan & Noah return to the show. We start off today’s show discussing Israel’s massive escalation into Lebanon, and Brendan & Noah point out the many parallels between America’s current position and the various atrocities and mis-adventures they’ve chronicled on Blowback over the seasons. Plus much more on Blowback’s current season focused on Cambodia, and the many crimes, colorful characters, and surprising sources of magnanimity they’ve uncovered through their show. Find all things Blowback at https://blowback.show/ Tickets on sale for our Mon. Nov. 4 show in Los Angeles tomorrow for Patreon subscribers. Sales for No Pasaran! Matt Christman’s Spanish Civil War start Oct. 1 at chapotraphouse.store.

Journalists Christopher Robbins & Katie Way from the independent outlet Hellgate return to the show to help update us on NYC Mayor Eric Adams' chaotic administration. We look at the scandal and indictments surrounding a number of top Adams officials, including multiple sets of siblings, all embroiled in bribes, extortions, and various other forms of graft. We also discuss NYPD scandal in light of the recent subway shooting which left multiple people injured and one bystander braindead. Follow Hellgate’s New York City coverage here: https://hellgatenyc.com/

Ben & Matt of the JUSTICE WARRIORS comic series join us this week. We look at the SECOND Trump assassination attempt in about as many months, Trump’s increasingly intimate relationship with Laura Loomer, and just his insane personal and political arc over the last few months. Then, more seriously, the continued blatant demagoguery around immigration stirred up by Republicans that Democrats and the Harris campaign seems unequipped to respond to. Finally, a few stories that seem to have crossed from the pages of Justice Warriors into reality. Find Justice Wariors Vol. 2: VOTE HARDER here, out now: https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Justice-Warriors-Vol-2/Matt-Bors/JUSTICE-WARRIORS/9781952090325 Watch Ben’s kick ass trailer for the book here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UPClsOwhPuE&ab_channel=BenClarkson

Will, Felix & David Roth review Trump’s masterful rhetorica gambits from Tuesday night’s debate with Kamala Harris. Subscribe today for access to the full episode and all premium episodes! www.patreon.com/chapotraphouse

Derek & Danny of the American Prestige podcast join us to review the new film Reagan. Can a film that accurately depicts the 40th president of the United States as a vacuous himbo who eagerly repeats the last thing told to him also portray him as a righteous colossus who single-handedly defeated the scourge of Soviet Russia. Sure! Why not? We consider the dim boomer hagiography presented to us by the director of other timeless classics such as Casper: A Spirited Beginning. American Prestige is moving to Supporting Cast, keep an eye out for how to find them on their new platform: https://www.americanprestigepod.com/p/important-announcement-american-prestige

Long time friend of the show James Adomian stops by to catch up on some news, including the conservative rumor of bikers traveling to Colorado to fight Venezuelan gangs, the North Carolina GOP gubernatorial candidate who was a five-night-a-week customer at a porn store, and the Swifties for Kamala Zoom call. We also check in with some of our old friends Elon Musk & Sebastian Gorka. James’ new stand-up special Path of Most Resistance is available now for purchase at 800 Pound Gorilla: https://800poundgorillamedia.com/products/james-adomian-path-of-most-resistance And will be streaming on YouTube starting September 19th!

The Chapo 2024 Elections team returns to the pod to look at the state of the presidential race post-Democratic National Convention. Kamala’s positioning in the election remains strong, but what does her convention performance tell us about a potential Harris administration? Is the Trump GOP really bungling this? Exactly how shitty is JD Vance as a VP pick, and is Tim Walz committing Dog Fraud? And just how much can the Democrats cover their ears and pretend Gaza doesn’t exist after the convention? All this and more discussed in today’s ‘sode. Find Dave’s reporting at Semafor here: https://www.semafor.com/author/david-weigel Find the Ettingermentum newsletter here: https://www.ettingermentum.news/

Alex back on the pod today as we touch briefly on cranks from the past and Ye’s nitrous fixation. Then, Biden and his team continue to seethe about being kicked off the ticket, while Tim Waltz’s midwestern diet sends the right into some sort of race-based rage. Then, despite his possible PTSD, Trump is still able to toss off some casual insults to cherished American institutions that would get any other politicians run out of town and Bolsonaro attacked by bees.

Dan Boeckner recounts the saga of Canadian journalist being “elicited” by a nice Chinese man and his wife. Subscribe today for access to the full episode and all premium episodes! www.patreon.com/chapotraphouse

We’re joined by video doc king Jon Bois to discuss some of his recent projects with Secret Base, specifically REFORM!, a history of Ross Perot and the Reform party. Jon shares his fascination and research into this bizarre eddy of American electoral politics, the various cranks and characters that populated it, and how the Reform Party prefigured a swath of our current political landscape. We also touch on James Rebhorn’s character in Independence Day, slipping on banana peels, and the best and worst of Olympic sports. Part 1 of the REFORM! Series is on YouTube here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NqqaW1LrMTY Subscribe to Secret Base on Patreon for all of their premium content: https://www.patreon.com/SecretBase Rick Perlstein's POW/MIA piece Amber recommended: https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/enduring-cult-vietnam-missing-action/

The Washington Post’s Jeff Stein stops by to discuss his extensive new piece investigating the ever-ballooning U.S. international sanctions regime. Despite Biden recently bragging he’s leaving office with the U.S. not involved in any foreign conflicts, the U.S. now has sanctions in place in over a third of all nations around the world, including more than 60% of “developing” nations. Jeff walks us through this increasingly central policy of worldwide economic coercion, how it shapes American imperial aims, and some intended & unintended consequences of the exponential expansion of sanctions in the 21st century. Then, we take a quick look at the state of the Veepstakes, Josh Shapiro’s whole deal, and of course, RFK Jr. and the road-kill bear. Check out Jeff’s sanctions investigation here: https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/interactive/2024/us-sanction-countries-work/

Will, Felix & Séamus discuss western reporting on recent “unrest” in Israel that tries very hard to elide the root cause. Subscribe today for access to the full episode and all premium episodes! www.patreon.com/chapotraphouse

Felix and Alex provide some Olympics commentary by reviewing the last few Assassin’s Creed games. Plus, a return of our Animal News segment with a discussion of how much screen time captive gorillas should get. Then: Republicans get “weird,” Megyn Kelly critiques Kamala’s rise to power, Trump seems like he’s running out of gas, and Israel gets a January 6 by people demanding their soldiers’ freedom to commit sexual violence. Finally, a reading series on the phenomenon of “medbeds” and the people who hope Trump will unleash unlimited free space healing technology. Get your fresh merch restocks at: https://chapotraphouse.store/

Will, Felix & Kath discuss the moral imperative of Gaza with a new Kamala candidacy. Subscribe today for access to the full episode and all premium episodes! www.patreon.com/chapotraphouse

We’re joined by streamer Hasan Piker for an honestly unprecedented news round-up. Joe Biden is OUT of the Presidential race (and possibly dead??), and Kamala Harris is now the presumptive nominee. Mere days after avoiding getting his head blown off by millimeters, it appears Donald Trump has LOST the mandate of heaven. And Trump’s VP pick, as recently as last week a symbolic football-spike in a race presumed already won, is rapidly deflating when put in front of real people. All that plus Lord of the Rings and Aarons Sorkin reading series inside! Watch Hasan daily on Twitch at: https://www.twitch.tv/hasanabi Merch restocked at https://chapotraphouse.store/

I DID EVERYTHING RIGHT AND THEY SHOT AT ME! Kath joins us today to review a somewhat eventful week, from Trump’s shooting and the various reactions to it, to more extremely statesmanlike appearances from Joe Biden, to ol’ JD from the holler makin’ it all the way to vice presidential nominee, we’ve got a lot to go over. PLUS, we’re joined for a bonus interview by Middle Tennessee DSA’s Mina Parkinson to hear about their project abolishing medical debt through QUILT, as well as the right-wing Daily Wire led assault on sexual education and books in general in the Volunteer State. AND: Live show at the DNC with True Anon. Park West Chicago, August 21st. Tickets on sale TODAY, JULY 16th, at 10am CST. This link should go live then, get your tickets asap! https://www.axs.com/events/629724/chapo-x-trueanon-live-at-the-dnc-tickets NEW MERCH SHOP UP AT: www.chapotraphouse.store All links for QUILT projects, DONATE NOW: Campaign Page: quilt-tn.com/debt QUILT Website: quilt-tn.com QUILT Instagram: @quilt_tn DSA Middle TN Instagram: @MidTN DSA Follow Mina @getinthedevice

We’re joined by Ryan Grim & Jeremy Scahill of the NEW independent journalism venture Drop Site News. We look at how the Biden campaign meltdown has pushed the war in Palestine out of the news, and the relationship between Biden’s long history of bad policies and the current crises he’s leading. Plus, mainstream media’s failed coverage of both topics, and some Drop Site reporting on Democratic megadonors gives a glimpse into Joe Biden’s aggrieved and petty motivations. Support Jeremy & Ryan’s independent journalism and check out Drop Site at: https://dropsitenews.com/

As a special endcap to this season of Movie Mindset, Will, Hesse & Chris interview the director of Repo Man, Sid & Nancy, Walker and many others, the great Alex Cox. They discuss the Los Angeles of Repo Man, his visual style, his approach to making “political” films, and various genres, writers, and actors he admires. And of course, we get to the bottom of who killed JFK. Alex is currently crowdfunding what may be his last movie, “My Last Movie” on Kickstarter. Please consider kicking in and becoming one of the dead souls: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/alexcoxfilms/my-last-movie Find the rest of this season of Movie Mindset, including our episode on Repo Man, on Patreon here: https://www.patreon.com/collection/510340?view=expanded

Last week’s stunningly bad debate and a few shocking Supreme Court rulings have rapidly taken the 2024 Presidential Race into relatively unprecedented waters. We’ve assembled the CTH election unit of reporter Dave Weigel and analyst Josh aka Ettingermentum to survey the state of the race, Joe Biden’s quickly diminishing outlook, and potential surprise outcomes that may lay ahead. Plus, key tips and tricks to master your playthrough of Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree. Find Dave’s reporting at Semafor here: https://www.semafor.com/author/david-weigel Find the Ettingermentum newsletter here: https://www.ettingermentum.news/

Will talks to musician and climate journalist Jael Holzman (Ekko Astral, Heatmap News) about her experience as a congressional reporter at outlets like Axios and Politico, and the conditions that led her to quit. We discuss the institutionalized bias against accurate reporting on topics like climate change and trans rights & healthcare, the outrageous complacency with baseless stories from the likes of LibsofTikTok, and other incidents of casual “lavender scare” that permeate the D.C. press corp. Check out Jael’s medium post on quitting congressional journalism here: https://medium.com/@jaelholzman/why-im-leaving-congressional-journalism-ee97e2bbebf6 And get into Ekko Astral here: https://ekkoastral.bandcamp.com/album/pink-balloons

We’re joined by journalist Sharif Abdel Kouddous and filmmaker Kavitha Chekuru to discuss their new film The Night Won’t End: Biden’s War on Gaza. The film examines the lives of three families as they try to survive the continued assault on Gaza. Will and Felix discuss the film, the civilian toll of the war, the U.S. state departments continued obfuscation around civilian casualties, and the complete breakdown of international human rights law around the war. The film is available in its entirety on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ECFpW5zoFXA&ab_channel=AlJazeeraEnglish

Featured player Alex Nichols returns to look at the creeping criminalization of the “edgar” haircut in Tekkkxas, the jomney sun-ization of the U.S. Navy, the state of the American “young” fascist movement, and Joe Biden’s floundering celebrity outreach program. Keep an eye out on our Patreon for a new series of Vic Berger videos covering Trump’s time away from the White House in Mar-a-Lago, premiering exclusively at pateron.com/chapotraphouse starting June 18.

We talk to Lance Oppenheim, director of Ren Faire, the new docu-series on HBO. Ren Faire looks at the drama behind the scenes of the enormous Texas Renaissance Festival. When capricious 86-year-old owner and founder “King” George Coulam attempts to retire, his underlings, the obsequious & loyal-to-a-fault Jeff and the ambitious & conniving Louie, are pitted against each other in their attempts to gain control of the park. It’s a darkly comedic real-life Shakespeare story, but it also touches on a lot of ideas about work, employment, ownership, power, performance, alienation, and an (unhealthy?) obsession with the past, all in the context of a very particular modern workplace. All three episodes of Ren Faire are available now to stream on Max (the place for HBO).

Last week, we looked at Trump’s felony convictions and the various weaknesses that brings his campaign. This week, we turn to Biden world. First, Hunter is in court on federal gun charges, leading us all to learn about his bizarre taste crack music. Then, we spend the majority of this ep reading through the absolutely addled interview Joe Biden gave to Time magazine last week. How cooked is he? Can we make sense of any of this? How could we get two candidates this bad leading their presidential tickets? We discuss all inside.

We have Alex on today to first and foremost look at newly released soda rankings. Then, we catch up on reactions to Trump’s conviction, examine the many Rubicons people are always crossing, and ask if Barron will be Augustus Batman or something. Then, two new banger campaign ads from new MAGA star Valentina Gomez. Finally, a long reading series about Erik Prince’s far-right podcast group chat, and the various good & normal opinions shared there from the many luminaries in his orbit.

Chief Chapo foreign correspondent returns to take us around the wide world of conflict. We get an update on the war in Gaza including the bombing of Rafah, the failing floating Pier, and the Biden administration's attempts to broker some kind of deal between Israel, Palestine and Saudi Arabia without gaining any concessions or movement toward peace in the process. Plus, we discuss the death or Iranian president Raisi, the situation in Ukraine, and what the hell’s going on in French New Caledonia. For more Derek: The article on Germany Derek references at the end of the pod: www.foreignexchanges.news/p/whats-the-matter-with-germany Subscribe to Foreign Exchanges: www.foreignexchanges.news And American Prestige: www.americanprestigepod.com/

We sit down with Mike Cheslik, the director of the new(ish) silent comedy action farce Hundreds of Beavers. We discuss his Wisconsin influences, ultra-DIY approach to filmmaking, making your film exactly as stupid as it needs to be, and the inherent humor of watching a guy in a mascot costume get wrecked on camera. There are still a few in-theater opportunities to catch Hundreds of Beavers: https://www.hundredsofbeavers.com/tickets/ And it’s also available for rental at home on Apple and Amazon.