Nostalgia Trap

Conspiracy theories are a hell of a drug. Justin and I know this from experience, so watching the new Netflix documentary American Conspiracy: The Octopus Murders brought up some deeply identifiable thoughts and emotions for both of us. Do you REALLY want to know the exact details of the dark forces at work within our most sacred institutions? As we discuss here, there's a heavy price to pay for that knowledge, one way or another.

This is the first half of this week's episode, go to our Patreon page to listen to the whole thing! https://www.patreon.com/posts/episode-386-of-98833719 It's Part Four of our six-part adventure through the history of American automaking and car culture, and we've finally reached the moment when everything starts to unravel: the 1970s. When Arab nations decide to flex their oil muscle against the United States in 1973, they deliver American consumers into an entirely new economic reality, and Detroit struggles to meet the era's new demands for fuel efficiency, safety, and lower emissions. Meanwhile, Japan enters the market with a new approach to cars and the production process that further erodes Detroit's power – until an unlikely hero, the minivan, takes over the 1980s suburbs and points to a rocky road ahead.

In Part Three of our journey through the history of American car culture, we explore how the massive cultural and political shifts of the 1960s made an impact on American automaking. From the Chevrolet Corvair spinning out and making Ralph Nader a household name, to the Ford Mustang turning boring housewives and husbands into hip celebrities, this was a wild era. When Detroit takes a sinister turn with the 1965 Pontiac GTO, a muscle car war grips American street racing subcultures, before it all burns out when the gas gets too expensive and the smog chokes the skies. Full episode here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/episode-385-of-98244614

As we continue our story of America's love affair with the automobile, it's time to look at the tailfin behemoths of the 1950s, the cars that look like "guns you can fuck." With the automakers morphing into weapons manufacturers to help Uncle Sam win World War II, the postwar consumer reaped the strange benefits of military technology and imperial ideology seeping into the design of his suburban luxury sedan. Meanwhile, a cute little car produced by the Nazis was slowly stealing the hearts of America's budding counterculture. Full episode here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/97593008?pr=true

This week we watch Fast Five (2011), the fifth installment in the Fast and Furious franchise, and contemplate how these movies embed radical ideas about criminality, subversion, insurgency, and family in often goofy stories about driving really fast cars, furiously. Full episode here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/episode-383-fast-97420130 For more reflections on car culture, check out Part One of our new series, The History of America in Six Cars: https://www.patreon.com/posts/episode-382-of-t-97179277

The supreme object of the 20th century, the automobile's development as both transportation technology and cultural totem is literally the story of American capitalism. In the first episode of a six-part series, we examine the life and legacy of Henry Ford, whose Model T took the nation by storm after its debut in 1908. As Ford rises to an unprecedented position of wealth and power, his virulent anti-semitism and destructive business impulses threaten his company's dominance of an emerging mass market in the 1920s. The Model T's rise and fall as the nation's most popular commercial product gives us a chance to examine the dark forces at the heart of the progressive era, connecting Ford's business innovations (the assembly line, the $5 day, etc) to the racism and hypernationalism that plunged the world into depression and war. The series will continue with Parts 2-5 on our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/nostalgiatrap Sources/inspiration for this episode include: Paul Ingrassia, Engines of Change: The American Dream in Fifteen Cars 100 Cars That Changed the World: The Designs, Engines, and Technologies That Drive Our Imaginations William Knoedelseder, Fins: Harley Earl, the Rise of General Motors, and the Glory Days of Detroit Lizabeth Cohen, A Consumer's Republic: The Politics of Mass Consumption in Postwar America

Our friend Andrew Schustek is back with an all-new Housing Trap conversation all about the unfolding crisis of housing in 21st century New York City and beyond. This time he talks with returning guest Samuel Stein, a geographer, urban planner and housing policy analyst whose book Capital City: Gentrification and the Real Estate State is a must read for housing policy nerds (you know who you are). The boys talk about Sam's new piece in the New York Review of Architecture and contemplate the future of affordable housing in America. You can listen to the entire Housing Trap series on our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/collection/119363?view=expanded Use the discount code AFFORDABLE at the NYRA site for 25% off a subscription, a publication well worth your support: https://nyra.nyc/subscribe

This week Justin and I discuss the 1989 tearjerker Field of Dreams, a film about ghosts playing baseball in some guy's backyard that endures as a beloved classic of American cinema. What's going on with that? As a lifelong devotee of the film, Justin articulates why Field of Dreams hits so hard, as we explore how the secular religious magic of baseball and movies intermingle with dreams of capitalist and socialist utopias. Sign up for a free 7 day trial of our massive library of podcasts, videos, and more: https://patreon.com/nostalgiatrap

Float Universe is an Instagram meme/troll account that's ostensibly focused on the intersection of floatation tanks and psychedelic culture. The account's creator joins me this week to explain how the floating experience mirrors the druggy rush of online dopamine adventures, as we explore how trolling and conspiracy theories are bending our everyday realities. Sign up for a free 7 day trial of our massive library of podcasts, videos, and more: https://patreon.com/nostalgiatrap

We simply did not cover enough topics in our first "2023 Year in Review" episode, so this week Justin is back to talk about some of the big trends looming on the horizon of 2024: another grim yet insanely consequential U.S. presidential election, rising anti-immigrant sentiment on both left and right, the ominous march of genocidal war in Gaza, and the accelerating violent race for resources to light up our dumb little devices. This is the first 7 minutes of a 70 minute conversation -- listen to the whole episode and access tons of other cool stuff by subscribing to our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/posts/episode-378-big-95389642

Clay Routledge is a teacher, writer, and researcher in the field of existential psychology. His latest book, Past Forward: How Nostalgia Can Help You Live a More Meaningful Life explores a topic near and dear to our hearts: nostalgia and its power to shape the future. In this conversation, we talk about our own obsessions with specific pop cultural objects from our respective youths (video games, music, movies), and reflect on how nostalgic memories shape our individual and collective identities. Sign up for a free 7 day trial of our massive library of podcasts, videos, and more: https://patreon.com/nostalgiatrap

It's time to take a nostalgic look back at the past year, as we survey some of the big trends from 2023 that will inevitably fuck up our collective 2024. This year we end up talking a lot about tech's grip on our political and cultural imagination: labor strikes in Hollywood and the auto industry, the impact of AI, and the giant lie of green capitalism glimpsed in the debacle of electric vehicles. Will 2024 be the year the tech spell breaks? Listen to the whole episode with a 7 day free trial of our patrons-only collection: https://www.patreon.com/posts/episode-376-year-94887877

Following last week's episode all about Elliott Smith, this week Justin and I continue our discussion of sad boys and bad dads with a conversation all about Stand By Me, the 1986 Stephen King/Rob Reiner nostalgia-fest about four boys journeying into the postwar American hinterlands to find a dead body (spoiler: the body is a metaphor). In this conversation, we explore how this movie's sentimental, disturbing vision of mid-century American adolescence fits into a longer historical discourse of masculinity, trauma, and healing. Sign up for a free 7 day trial of our massive library of podcasts, videos, and more: https://patreon.com/nostalgiatrap

This week Justin and I talk about the genius singer-songwriter Elliott Smith, who produced a stunning body of music in the late 90s before dying, tragically and cryptically, in 2003 at the age of 34. Smith's life and art intersects with the world of punk and grunge that emerged from the Pacific Northwest in the 80s and 90s, from the "boy culture" of Gus Van Sant films to the anti-rape politics of riot grrrl era feminism. In this conversation, we try to situate Smith within that wider history and offer some thoughts on his brief but prolific career. Listen to the full episode with a free 7 day trial of our beautiful library of bonus episodes: https://www.patreon.com/posts/94028421?pr=true

Anthony Galluzzo's new book Against the Vortex: Zardoz and Degrowth Utopias in the Seventies and Today offers a delightfully adventurous set of takes on some of this podcast's running obsessions: the collapse of the 1960s left, revolutionary violence, cult cinema, weird sex rituals, 1970s communes and "intentional communities," population bombs, nuclear futures and, perhaps most of all, the religious belief in infinite technological progress that animates both the right and left. Fully automated luxury communism, anyone? In this conversation, Galluzzo shares how Zardoz's bizarre story of a bikini-clad Sean Connery's prison break from a dystopian society recovers the lost "degrowth" movements of the 1970s and brings us a radically different vision of our collective future. 'Tis the season for William S. Burroughs' Thanksgiving Prayer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sLSveRGmpIE Sign up for a free 7 day trial of our massive library of podcasts, videos, and more: https://patreon.com/nostalgiatrap

Justin Rogers-Cooper joins us for a conversation all about the life, work, and legacy of George Carlin, a key American cultural figure whose standup comedy transmitted radical ideas in the form of hilarious, often profane, "jokes." What are "jokes" anyway? In this episode we find the traps in Carlin's perspectives and reflect on the larger concept of standup comedy, particularly in the context of a Trumpian political reality that seems closer to Carlin's dark, apocalyptic comedic vision than ever before. Check out the rest of our series deconstructing the radical old dudes of the 20th century: A People's History of Howard Zinn Manufacturing Noam Chomsky Subscribe for a free 7 day trial of our massive library of podcasts, videos, and more: https://patreon.com/nostalgiatrap

This week we've got a brand new Housing Trap conversation with guest host Andrew Schustek talking with Charlie Dulik, whose latest piece in The Baffler explores the controversy and mythology surrounding the "mom and pop landlord" in 21st century American life. Is collecting rent from tenants just another hustle for working class people? Or is "landlord" a distinct category of capitalist exploitation? Sign up for a 7 day free trial of our big beautiful library of bonus episodes, videos, documentaries, and more: https://patreon.com/nostalgiatrap

This week Justin and I try to wrap our minds and hearts around what's happening in Gaza. We offer some historical context, share some incredible Chomsky quotes (of course), and attempt to map out the future possibilities for the region. As always, though, it's hard to separate political analysis from the "fog of war" and the deep emotional stakes of watching an ongoing genocide funded by the United States government. We do our best to offer some directions for hope in an unfolding nightmare. Full episode: https://www.patreon.com/posts/episode-370-91362380

We are "back in action" and "ready to roll" and also just "ready" to continue our discussion of Mr. Show with Bob and David, a comedy television thing from the Before Times. On this episode, Peter, Geoff and David cover the opening episodes of Season 3: "Heaven's Chimney" and "Peanut Butter, Eggs, and Dice." There's a lot of fun and challenging stuff here, as the show gets more confident in attacking its cultural targets, from right wing Christian cultists to self-congratulating liberal douchebags. Of course, there's also plenty to cringe about, from Bob's truly unbelievable depiction of a mentally challenged person to David Cross' tired redneck minstrel character "Ronnie Dobbs." Let's have us a champagne jam! Full episode: https://www.patreon.com/posts/mr-trap-ep-6-now-90044447

This week Justin and I watched the forgotten 1996 science fiction thriller Chain Reaction, starring Keanu Reeves as a scientist (lol) who discovers a source of infinite free energy and becomes the target of multiple global conspiracies aimed at controlling the world's energy future. Seen from 2023, Chain Reaction reveals high anxiety about fossil fuels, the CIA, and the "just right" porridge of liberal masculinity (hint: it's Obama/Morgan Freeman). This is first-rate Hollywood crap that somehow functions as an uncanny prophecy of our bad future. Run, Keanu, run! Join our Patreon to access our giant library of bonus content: patreon.com/nostalgiatrap

In the past few weeks I've received many messages asking about the future of the show, so I wanted to put out a quick update about what's happening in my life (nothing too dramatic!) and where I expect the show to go. Long story short? I'm going to law school, and Nostalgia Trap will continue as I make my way through it. If you want to hear the whole story of why the hell anyone would go to law school in 2023, I tell it here, including all the weird signs and synchronicities that have set me on a somewhat unexpected, but eerily inevitable, new path.

This week I crank up the doom machine and cover a few troubling trends for a dystopian future, drawing connections between this week's horrific destruction of Lahaina, Maui to the Dust Bowl of the 1930s. What are young people supposed to think about all this? And more importantly, will today's kids ever become HOMEOWNERS? Subscribe for all our NEWS TRAP episodes and tons of bonus content: https://www.patreon.com/posts/episode-366-news-87551091

This week Justin and I survey the big stories of the hot summer of 2023, with our eye on an unfolding and genuinely shocking set of ecological developments, the continuing practical and spiritual crisis of mass migration, the ominous undertones of the Hollywood strike and, of course, the revelations from major governments that yes, aliens exist and they have cool psychedelic vehicles. Is that just another collective heat hallucination, or have we truly arrived at the next chapter of the end times saga? Check out the whole episode here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/episode-365-2023-86817216

Veep is an HBO comedy series, starring Julia Louis-Dreyfus, that presents a dark satire of insider DC political culture. This week Justin and I consider Veep's acid take on the critical years between 2012-2019, when Obama-era technocratic optimism gave way to Trumpian funhouse fascism. What Veep shows us is the reptilian machinations of the "burned out losers and conniving robots" that succeed in American party politics, giving us an opportunity to ask: is that true? Is the world really run by people this cynical and depraved?

The sci-fi horror film M3GAN was a "surprise" hit last year, generating tons of internet buzz, viral Tik Tok dance videos and, of course, endless think pieces. As Justin Rogers-Cooper and I talk about this week, M3GAN operates on multiple levels, and contains a discourse about AI, capitalist culture, and queer family formation that makes it much more than another "killer robot" movie. Like Silicon Valley itself, M3GAN sings to us: "Tell me your dreams, I will dream them too." But are we really in charge of the dream? Check out our Patreon for bonus episodes, videos, and lots more: https://www.patreon.com/nostalgiatrap

The FBI-orchestrated murder of Black Panther Party leader Fred Hampton in 1969 remains one of the most singularly evil crimes of the 20th century, and it's a story about which most Americans know very little. The 2021 film Judas and the Black Messiah, directed by Shaka King, is a heavy, detailed consideration of the events that led to Hampton's death, focusing mainly on the figure of William O'Neal, a small-time thief coerced by the FBI into becoming a confidential informant working within Hampton's organization. As Justin and I discuss in this episode, the film puts us in the center of the complicated moral calculations that defined 1960s radicalism, and asks hard questions about the price of loyalty, freedom, and revolution. Listen to whole episode with 7 day free trial of our Patreon membership; https://www.patreon.com/posts/episode-362-and-85368710

Continuing our epic survey of Mr. Show with Bob and David, the most important television program of all time, we watch the final two episodes of Mr. Show's second season: "Operation Hell on Earth" and "The Velveteen Touch of a Dandy Fop." As David, Peter, and Geoff discuss here, the show feels like it takes a thematic/aesthetic turn in these particular sketches, with hints of where we're headed in Season 3. There's weird arty stuff here (the entire "Recruiters" sketch, a parody of the basketball documentary Hoop Dreams, is uncanny), plus some all-time favorite characters (Fartin' Gary, Droopy), and more than a few surprising takes on 90s culture and politics. Mr. Trap is included with a subscription to the Nostalgia Trap Patreon -- sign up for a FREE 7 day trial here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/mr-trap-ep-5-hey-85206762

Kristen Lovell is a filmmaker whose new documentary, The Stroll, tells the story of transgender women surviving as sex workers in New York City's Meatpacking District during the 1980s and 1990s. This is harrowing stuff, and a perspective on urban history and gentrification like you've never seen before. In this conversation, Lovell tells me about her own experiences in the neighborhood, and reflects on how the Giuliani/Bloomberg era used real estate and finance to cover the city's dark history with luxury facades. Subscribe to Nostalgia Trap to access our massive library of bonus episodes, video essays, and more: https://patreon.com/nostalgiatrap

This week Justin and I finally get around to watching Jordan Peele's latest film, Nope, a UFO story layered with allegories about race, nature, and cinema itself. We both find something simultaneously compelling and frustrating about Peele's work, and in this conversation we try to get at the weird contours and contradictions of his auteurist project. Listen to the whole episode with a free trial of our Patreon stream: https://www.patreon.com/posts/livestream-6-16-84684829

On this week's News Trap, I tell the sad story of our podcast's PERSECUTION by the algorithmic fiends at YouTube, who are maliciously and wrongfully accusing Nostalgia Trap of advocating violence and conspiracy theories on our channel. Depsite this campaign, I persevere by sharing some startling examples of the real violence latent in the American system, with stories about housing, homelessness, and new trends in Vegas table gaming. Check out this interview with housing activist Paul Boden: https://www.theguardian.com/society/2023/may/29/paul-boden-america-homelessness-crisis Start a 7 DAY FREE TRIAL of the Nostalgia Trap Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/nostalgiatrap

This week Justin and I watch the Netflix documentary Inside the Mind of a Cat and contemplate the weird social, political, and spiritual economy of our relationship with cats. From global kitty litter supply chains to the uncanny dominance of cat videos in online spaces, we try to get a handle on how cats became such integral characters in our personal lives and in the wider world. Listen to the full stream: https://www.patreon.com/posts/livestream-5-19-83262670

This week Justin and I watch the Netflix documentary Waco: American Apocalypse, which tells the story of the disastrous 1993 battle between a Christian end times cult and the United States government. I bet you can guess who won! This conversation touches on some of the gender and family dynamics at play in religious cults, and the paradox of creating a coherent "free" society with an armed population subject to the whims of charismatic religious leaders. If we're continuing the Trap method of seeing history as a map of the future, the road from Waco leads directly to Oklahoma City, Trump, and QAnon. Full episode: https://www.patreon.com/posts/livestream-5-12-82918108

David A. Banks is a Lecturer in the Geography and Planning department director of the Globalization Studies program at University at Albany, SUNY. His new book, The City Authentic: How the Attention Economy Builds Urban America, tells us how American cities are branding themselves with crafty historical "authenticity" in order to draw the creative class to populate and revitalize their dying towns. In this conversation, Banks explains how this nostalgia-driven gentrification, amplified by social media, is a powerful engine in 21st century urban planning, as capital endlessly asks us to "eat the past." Subscribe to Nostalgia Trap to access our massive library of bonus episodes, video essays, and more: https://patreon.com/nostalgiatrap

On this week's News Trap we learn about Spotify and the fresh nightmare of AI music, pay our respects to a sad teenage suicide from internet bullying, and consider the burning question of the week for online leftists: Is Chomsky canceled for hanging out with Jeffrey Epstein and Woody Allen? Full episode: https://www.patreon.com/posts/news-trap-5-3-23-82469893

This week Justin and I read a fascinating, troubling recent New York Times editorial, "Our Way of Life is Poisoning Us," and try to wrap our minds and emotions around the existential implications of "microplastics" and the larger phenomenon of a world saturated in oil-based consumer products. From Joe Rogan's freakout about chemicals shrinking our taints, to the pop eco-terrorism of How to Blow Up a Pipeline, we imagine how our corrupted political media content machine can possibly confront a wholly plasticized reality. Is it too late to stop any of this? Is the plastic in control of history? Full episode here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/livestream-4-28-82204734

Malcolm Harris is a writer, cultural critic, and prominent voice on the post-Occupy American left. He joins us this week to discuss his latest book, Palo Alto: A History of California, Capitalism, and the World, which tells the story of how California became the primary machine of American empire. From railroads and universities to social media platforms and artificial intelligence, Harris traces a history that re-orients our understanding of the West Coast's central place in the past and future of global capitalism. Check out Malcolm's previous Nostalgia Trap appearance: https://www.patreon.com/posts/episode-120-bad-22385554 Subscribe to Nostalgia Trap to access our massive library of bonus episodes, video essays, and more: https://patreon.com/nostalgiatrap

This week Justin and I watch the scary Netflix doc THE SOCIAL DILEMMA and freak out about the algorithms that control our thoughts, our feelings, and the VERY HISTORY OF HUMANITY. We're in the matrix, man! It's real! Subscribe to access our giant library of bonus episodes, video essays, and lots more: patreon.com/nostalgiatrap

Continuing our cruise through the full Mr. Show with Bob and David sketchography, David, Peter, and Geoff take a detailed look at the first two episodes of Season Two: "Now, Who Wants Ice Cream?" and "A Talking Junkie?" Both of these episodes have plenty to love, including sketches that anticipate/predict Hamilton! and the January 6th Capitol Riot, among other eerie premonitions. But there's also lots to cringe at here, as we lament the weird dynamics of race, gender, and "alt comedy" during an odd moment in late 90s pop culture. Catch up with the rest of Mr Trap on our Patreon page: Episode One - Where Do I Go Now?: https://www.patreon.com/posts/mr-trap-ep-1-do-78316534 Episode Two - Deep Nonsense: https://www.patreon.com/posts/mr-trap-ep-2-79766387

Here's the debut episode of a new weekly podcast called News Trap, in which I share the news stories, headlines, weird emails and cryptic text messages that are melting my mind each week. This is a place for me to share the Nostalgia Trap "backchannel" conversations that animate much of the content we put out. As I've mentioned on the show many times, my good friend and frequent co-host Justin Rogers-Cooper and I have been curating a private 24 hour news service, exclusively with each other via text message, for years now, and the screenshots, 3am rants, and relentless live analysis of unfolding apocalypse have been the backbone of our work together on Nostalgia Trap. So I want to let you in on our little news world. Each week I'll share the cream of the crop from these screenshots/news freakouts, plus book recommendations and other fun stuff. In this first episode, we get into lithium wars, global civil unrest, and the fraud of green capitalism, and get a surprise visit from our old pal Kurt Vonnegut. This debut episode of News Trap is free for everyone; all future episodes are for subscribers only – so join the club! Subscribe here: https://www.patreon.com/nostalgiatrap

This week Justin and I read Billie Holiday's incredible 1956 memoir Lady Sings the Blues, the story of one woman's journey through a 20th century America saturated in the legacy of slavery and social violence. We discuss the book as a visceral lesson in the lived experience of racial capitalism, tracking how a voice haunted by history carries her through fame, money, drugs, exploitation, incarceration, and death. Why does Holiday's life and voice still speak to us? And what does she have to say? Check out the whole episode here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/episode-358-lady-80456339

Carl Freedman is a writer and professor of English literature at Louisiana State University who has written a number of important books on science fiction, American politics, and Marxist critical theory. In our last conversation, we talked about his book American Presidents and Oliver Stone: Kennedy, Nixon, and Bush between History and Cinema and got into the weird cultural legacy of the JFK assassination. This week Carl returns to Nostalgia Trap to continue our survey of titanic 1960s presidents with this conversation all about Richard Nixon and his freaky place in the American political imagination. Underneath our explorations is the persistent question: Did Nixon make us, or did we make Nixon? Check out Carl's piece in L.A. Review of Books on the lines from Nixon to Trump: https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/from-nixon-to-trump-metastases-of-cultural-power/ And here's Carl's book, not to be missed: Age of Nixon: A Study in Cultural Power Subscribe to Nostalgia Trap to get all the good stuff on our bonus stream: https://www.patreon.com/nostalgiatrap

This week Justin and I take on the US/China Tik Tok fight and consider the wider implications of social media technology weaponized by states in a new cold war. Are we the lab rats for a psychological experiment conducted on a world-historical scale? Fuuuuuuuck, I certainly hope not! In either case, this is an intense conversation surveying the gangster-ass landscape of global capital at a particularly chilling moment, as we try to unlock the future by applying the reptilian logic of money and power to this week's wacky events. Russia, Ukraine, China, NATO, and of course, Las Vegas -- all on the table today. Let's do this. Subscribe to listen to all our livestreams/bonus stuff, whenever you want: https://www.patreon.com/posts/livestream-3-17-80177026

Tanya L. Roth is a historian and teacher whose new book, Her Cold War: Women in the U.S. Military, 1945-1980, details the experiences of American women after the 1948 Women's Armed Services Integration Act began a new era in the history of military service. In this conversation, Roth explains how, in the decades since World War II, the U.S. military became a central battleground in the fight for gender equality, as women challenged (and ultimately overturned) their classification as "noncombatants" and continue to reshape the structure and ideology of an institution that, for better or worse, serves as a critical engine of social engineering. Subscribe to access our weekly livestream and giant library of bonus episodes: https://www.patreon.com/nostalgiatrap

Is there property without police? This week Justin and I talk about the "bottom up" appeal of Fox News and Tucker Carlson, as we consider how concepts of home, family, and property are tied up in an ideology of crime and punishment. Lots of directions and implications here, from Ron DeSantis' sadistic turn at Guantanamo to Lori Lightfoot's loss in Chicago. How deep does America's prison mindset go? I think we're gonna find out! Listen to the whole episode: https://www.patreon.com/posts/livestream-3-10-79849586

What is "alt comedy" anyway? On this episode of Mr. Trap, we take you back to the mid-1990s, when finding hip comedy with an intelligent perspective was as difficult as finding weed and pornography. Which is to say, pretty difficult! As we survey Mr. Show's first season, we share some of our favorite bits and talk about what made Bob and David stand out in the larger world of 90s humor, from Saturday Night Live to In Living Color. Geoff and Peter tell us what makes Bob's Droopy character so special, we all have a laugh about Tom Kenny's surreal Abraham Lincoln impression, and David tells the story of his multiple, bizarre real-life encounters with the actual Bob Odenkirk and David Cross. All episodes of Mr. Trap are included with a Nostalgia Trap subscription: patreon.com/nostalgiatrap

Our friend Avi Garelick joins us to discuss his recent piece on the war between Ron DeSantis and the Disney Corporation in Florida, as we explore the longer history of Florida's extraordinary relationship to the Disney brand. Along the way, we talk about Sean Baker's haunting film The Florida Project, the weird politics and aesthetics of "New Urbanism," and the current direction of housing politics in American cities. Check out our subscribers-only podcast series on Disney's wild history: Ep 1 - Time is a Flat Circle: https://www.patreon.com/posts/trap-tv-brick-is-74949645 Ep 2 - Uncle Walt Goes to War: https://www.patreon.com/posts/trap-tv-brick-to-75566223 Ep 3 - Space Cowboys: https://www.patreon.com/posts/trap-tv-brick-76267538

This week Justin and I watch the documentary Missing 411: The Hunted and contemplate cryptids, bigfoots, and mysterious disappearances in American forests. How are American history and politics tied up in these stories? What happened to all of these people? And most of all, what the fuck is making these sounds? Join up and listen to the whole episode: https://www.patreon.com/posts/livestream-3-3-w-79523275

Freddie deBoer joins me to discuss his viral piece on 90s nostalgia, "It's So Sad When Old People Romanticize Their Heydays, Also the 90s Were Objectively the Best Time to Be Alive." This is a raw and honest conversation about what we miss about the era, what we absolutely hate about the 21st century, and how our lament for the loss of a certain kind of analog social reality is yes, old man shit, but also a call to the younger generation and a cataloging of the ways digital life has crippled us all. There was another way of living, kids. Let us tell you about it… Listen to whole episode: https://www.patreon.com/posts/episode-354-was-79472867

This week Justin and I talk about the Great Chatbot Panic of 2023, leftists in love with Trump's "brilliant" visit to Ohio, and the alleged moral authority of U.S. actions re: Ukraine, one year into the war. Let's do this. Subscribe to listen to the whole episode and access all our bonus stuff, livestreams, and videos: https://www.patreon.com/posts/livestream-2-24-79161824

In Part Two of my conversation with writer and musician Sean Nelson, we talk about the origins of his band Harvey Danger in the 1990s Seattle music scene, the bizarre rush of having a massive radio hit, and the bleak economic landscape of indie rock in the streaming era. Along the way, Sean offers some hard-earned wisdom and personal reflections on the pejorative concept of the "one hit wonder," as we contemplate the past and future possibilities of subversive popular culture. Were the 90s really the last golden age, or is that just another nostalgia trap? Listen to the whole episode: https://www.patreon.com/posts/episode-353-part-79010461