The Carousel Podcast

My understanding of USAID was my original red pill, and came as a result of reading Confessions of an Economic Hitman while working as a legal intern at a M&A law firm in Vietnam. This is a solo episode of The Carousel discussing USAID, patronage networks, and the new Government NGO Tracker, which is being widely misinterpreted and mis-used to falsely accuse people like Richard Hanania and Christopher Rufo of being USAID recipients (certainly not defending Hanania, and I think he probably is compromised in some way, but still I’m going to be loyal to the truth). Ultimately, I believe the greatest evil of USAID-style patronage is the vast astroturfing, and thus destruction, of art, as seen on display in this viral video involving comic Natalie Cuomo. Listen to episode for full discussion!Also, I’ve paywalled many past episodes. Please become a paid subscriber so I can get the orange check, and also please subscribe on YouTube! You can also watch and follow me on X.The Carousel is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thecarousel.substack.com/subscribe

Chatting about movies, feminism, anti-capitalism, and techno-feudalism with the incisive and refreshing Nina Power!The Carousel is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thecarousel.substack.com/subscribe

On the longhousing of one of the most promising RW culture projects, Angel Studios, with the insightful Marcellino D’Ambrosio, who covered Angel’s steep decline towards on his Substack.The Carousel is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thecarousel.substack.com/subscribe

Chatting with the journalist of our generation, James Pogue, about his two new pieces on the state of politics in the New York Times (“How Long Can the Alliance Between Tech Titans and the MAGA Faithful Last?”) and Vanity Fair (“Infighting. Panic. Blame. A Special Report From Inside the Democratic Party's Epic Hangover”).YOUTUBE VERSIONThe Carousel is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thecarousel.substack.com/subscribe

Talking fires, Bass, Newsom, and all things California and Los Angeles with one of Substack’s best writers, Chris Bray! The Carousel is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thecarousel.substack.com/subscribe

Interviewing American’s answer to Adam Curtis, Pedro Gonzalez, about his interesting work on AI and The Century of the Slop.The Carousel is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thecarousel.substack.com/subscribe

I’m joined by Martin Sellner, leader of Identitäre Bewegung Österreich (Identitarian Movement of Austrian). His movement supports remigration out of Europe, what we would call mass deportations. Eery similarities pervade the overwhelming flood of immigrants into both of our countries, both inexplicably borderless, and the reactions are also quite similar, although America has perhaps more excuses for it than Austria.Crazily, the symbol of his movement has been literally banned from public display in Austria; displaying it could get you arrested in Vienna. This despite it being outwardly anti-Nazi and ethnopluralistic (e.g. not racist in the sense hand wrung over by globalists). He describes the ridiculousness of the iconoclastic symbol ban and much else in our fantastic conversation. Also joining us is Constantin von Hoffmeister of Arktos Media.The Carousel is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thecarousel.substack.com/subscribe

Why did Gavin Newsom lie about his promise to conduct one million acres of controlled burns, over-stating them by 690%? Why didn’t Rick Caruso’s properties burn while everything else did? What’s the primary cause of the LA fire? Arson? Empty reservoirs? Bad forest management?What does containment actually mean? Why don’t we do controlled burns like the Native Americans did? I speak with the Gabriel Kirkpatrick Mann, the incisive and trustworthy director of critically-acclaimed documentary Hotshot (2023), to get some answers. He embedded with firefighters for years, and he’s an expert on the topic of California wildfire, the absolute best guy to get real information from during this hectic time when bad information is everywhere. Rent and support Hotshot to discover the real truth behind the “fire industrial complex” as described by Mann.The Carousel is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thecarousel.substack.com/subscribe

Chatting about how there has not been one good movie that came out all year with Last Things, Adem Luz Rienspects, and Erewhon Groyper.HAPPY NEW YEARThe Carousel is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thecarousel.substack.com/subscribe

Discussing the many shifted vibes with Dudley Newright and Constantin von Hoffmeister. Which Luigi Mangione manifesto is real? Will Daniel Penny’s exoneration lead to a cultural shift?Did Romania end democracy in the name of democracy? What’s happening in Syria? Why have literary men disappeared?The Carousel is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thecarousel.substack.com/subscribe

Talking with Murshak and Basil about the public murder of United HealthCare CEO, the Tennessee trans supreme court case, and Andreesen’s AI chat on Rogan.Also you’ll notice new music and format. Will explain more soon.The Carousel is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thecarousel.substack.com/subscribe

Star Tablet writer Park MacDougald joins me to talk about one of Tablet’s specialties: understanding political power networks.The Carousel is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thecarousel.substack.com/subscribe

Talking with fascinating poster Titus Techera about his article “The Third Wave of Journalism,” in which he argues that the era of heroic objective journalism was no more than a fleeting manifestation of Boomer naivety, and that the internet has heralded a return to the natural state of pamphleteering.“The three waves of journalism—the successive attempts to connect political technologies, that is, institutions, to the people, corresponding to the major communications technologies, print, radio/TV, and the Internet—have dealt with this in somewhat different ways. Originally, American pamphleteering was vicious, pompous, and nakedly corrupt—but it was also organized and practiced by the noblest Americans and therefore involved the most serious thinking and the deepest disputes of American politics. Journalism was at the core of the creation and management of the first-party system and also involved the spoils of party victory to feed it.”Check out his Substack here: YouTube of this podcast (Subscribe to me on YouTube!)The Carousel is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thecarousel.substack.com/subscribe

Responding to all the talk about MartyrMade on Tucker, Jewishness in general, and where we’re headed in 8 weeks.Also sorry for the middling sound quality, that will be fixed next time.Please let me know what you think of these! Should I keep doing them?The Carousel is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thecarousel.substack.com/subscribe

It’s an art kid double header with troublemaker Nic Dolinger, following yesterday’s episode with effete art boi Noah Kumin. We learn yet more about Dimes Square, despite protestations, of course, that there is no Dimes Square and everyone involved in it is too cool to be involved in anything ever.No video with this one because I accidentally somehow deleted it. Sorry!The Carousel is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thecarousel.substack.com/subscribe

Shootin’ the sh*t with Good Ol’ Boyz host Maarek. One the smartest political history guys on the dissident right. Southern supremacist. Fantastic conversationalist and very unique guy. I had his cohost Bog Beef on an earlier episode. Video of Maarek episode: This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thecarousel.substack.com/subscribe

We round out EWOMAN WEEK with a final episode with not just any egirl, but certified autistic egirl Gwen Kansen. Gwen writes deeply insightful essays for Hobart Pulp and other publications about her experiences as autistic person and single woman living in New York City. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thecarousel.substack.com/subscribe

On this week’s Carousel we have anon Meta Prime. I like to think of him as the halfway house of the Dissident Right. Not an insult; it’s a beautiful role to play. He helps people who have recently “broken free from the mainstream delusion,” escape not into nothingness (total disconnection from friends/family/work) or toxicity (conspiritard obsessions), but into a meaningful existence as a noticer and rejector of the mainstream narrative.His steps towards a healthy dissident lifestyle are as follows: * Awakening* Framework Building* Self-Improvement* Creation* World BettermentYou can learn more about these steps, and see much more of his work, at his beautifully designed website: MetaPrime001.com.The Carousel is a reader-supported publication. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thecarousel.substack.com/subscribe

Rushing this one out to provide on-the-ground perspective of the Hamas attack in Israel, October 6th, 2023, on 50th Anniversary of the Yom Kippur War. Just minutes ago, Israel officially declared war in response to a series of coordinated attacks on both civilian and military targets, along with a rocket barrage.I’m joined by based Twitter friend and Israeli Settler Baruch Kogan. One of my favorite accounts, his wry commentary always makes me laugh. He's also a fascinating dude; he lives in a small Jewish settlement on a hill in Samaria, where he is currently posted up, attempting to better arm himself while protecting his family, and refusing to run away or back down.He says that this is the most significant Israel incursion in two decades, and will have major implications for the current Israeli government and the world. How did this happen, and why now? He answers everything in the episode. I previously appeared on his podcast Postkahanism here:And here is the YouTube version of this episode:The Carousel is a reader-supported publication. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thecarousel.substack.com/subscribe

Ladies and gentlemen, William Wheelwright. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thecarousel.substack.com/subscribe

NOTE: Due human error, this episode was not properly uploaded to Spotify and Apple. I am re-uploading it now, along with episode 61 with Sean Josh Lekach.People call him trend forecaster but this is wrong. Sean Monahan, like Brad Troemel, is artist-as-analyst. He thinks like an agency strategist, but he’s rejected the longhouse. This has led him to a strange sort of celebrity among culturenauts. He keeps naming zeitgeists—Vibe Shift, Normcore—and making gorgeous PDFs, but PDFs do not an artist make. What makes Sean an artist is his absolute refusal to play ball; the extreme stubbornness that original thinkers must insist on in order to batter away the stem cell AI people who want to turn us into more common organs.https://www.8ball.biz This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thecarousel.substack.com/subscribe

Josh Lekach toughed the gauntlets of both Los Angeles and Coca Cola to freer existence as a public thought criminal. His podcast WRONG OPINION is now part of Gavin McInnes’ Censored.tv.]He’s known for repeatedly breaking the internet, most recently with this post about a very happy 30ish woman who prefers cooking shakshuka to having children.We talk about Costa Rica (where Josh moved with his family during COVID), propaganda songs, and the Josh Lekach brand (or lack thereof). This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thecarousel.substack.com/subscribe

Another day another based founder. Matt Loberstein built Rhizal Shoes, a “grounded” and “barefoot” shoe company after getting sick of shilling white label DTC crap and wanting to create something actually beautiful. His shoes are the very definition of Anti-Synthetic Capitalism, the term now memorialized via The New York Times article which referenced WILL, Hestia Cigarettes, and I. We also call the movement “The New Natural.” The brand name Rhizal comes from micorrhizal/rhizome, symbiotic relationship between roots, plants, fungi, and the earth. The “Barefoot” footwear movement revives simpler shoe structures; it believes in enhancing muscles, bones, and balance via more direct contact with the ground. The similar-but-distinct “Grounded” footwear movement ups the ante even further, citing electromagnetic reasons for direct terrestrial contact. Encasing feet in thick rubber is somewhat like a wearing a perennial foot condom we never take off. It separates from earthy natural connections that we’ve only just begun to understand.Beyond all that, however, Rhizals actually just look really good and are super comfortable. See my review of them here. I’m not just saying that. They’re now lead off position in my shoe lineup. Perfect for summer.CLICK HERE TO SHOP RHIZAL WITH THE OFFICIAL DISGRACED PROPAGANDIST 10% DISCOUNTThe Carousel is a reader-supported publication. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thecarousel.substack.com/subscribe

On this week’s Carousel, I’m joined by a close friend of mine: ~poldec-tonteg from Urbit and BlimpDAO. He is the voice and face of the Urbit Foundation, and host of Urbit’s Zero K Podcast.We’re here to talk about rise, fall, and rise of blimps. Why is this relevant? What does it mean? Listen now. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thecarousel.substack.com/subscribe

Cancellation insurance…we’ve all thought about it. In the world of Patreon, Substack, and Twitter profit sharing, the so-called Creator Economy has never been bigger, or more essential for thinkers and artists outside the ever-narrowing Overton Window of woke popular culture. My guest today Harry Bergeron is a Twitter anon and entrepreneur working on a “cancellation parachute” called Pluribus. I’ve opened up The Carousel to him to share his thoughts, both on the above pod and in the following short article. YouTube version: This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thecarousel.substack.com/subscribe

Nabokov, Teddy Roosevelt, Ernst Junger: all amateur entomologists driven by the overwhelming urge to know and categorize the natural world. Insect Brah is the Twitter version. His exotic ontological posts recall the Judge from Blood Meridian, “whatever exists without my knowledge exists without my consent."His day job is chef, where he integrates his fascination with nature into every menu. We talk about working in the service industry, our all time favorite meals, the relationship between God and bugs, and discovering new frogs. Insect Brah’s book This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thecarousel.substack.com/subscribe

Welcome entrepreneur Charles Mayfield to The Carousel. His skincare company Farrow uses an unprecedented and borderline forgotten substance as its key ingredient: pig lard. Rubbing ultra high-end pig fat on our faces sounds insane only because we’ve been so utterly alienated from the natural animal products that used to dominate our lives. They’ve since been replaced by synthetic chemicals that are cheap to make, but expensive to our bodies. Mayfield explains that synthetic lotions came to exist in the first place only because humans stopped handling animal guts on a daily basis.But animal organs and fats are making a comeback. The “New Natural” movement has organs showing up in Erewhon smoothies, tortilla chips made with beef tallow instead of seed oils, and in the TikTok feeds of organ-shilling influencers like Paul Saladino.Zero Hedge recently interviewed me about this topic.And I’ll tell you something from personal experience: these products really are better than the synthetic crap. I tried Farrow for the first time, expecting just another face cream, and it’s genuinely like nothing I’ve ever felt before; somehow softer and richer than any lotion I’ve ever put on my [already admittedly soft, supple, perfect] skin.Farrow on TwitterFarrow on Instagram This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thecarousel.substack.com/subscribe

Should we love billboards or hate them? In this episode, advertising chads Adam Singer and Chris Gadek (founders of AdQuick) expound on the meaning of Out-of-Home (OOH) advertising and tackle the notoriously impossible task of measuring billboard impact.We talk billboard history, including the one that launched the Sunset Strip:We also chat about the death of creativity in the marketing longhouse, the end of ZIRP marketing, and why data reliance produces over-milked nostalgia cows. Check our my appearance on the AdQuick podcast here:Also watch this episode on YouTube:The Carousel is a reader-supported publication. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thecarousel.substack.com/subscribe

Paul McNiel is the man behind Wagon Box, a “network state” project in Wyoming. He essentially “bought” a town, and is now retrofitting it as a parallel-economy destination DAO for dissidents and other breeds of opt-outers who want nothing to do with mainstream society. The values of the project are pro-local, anti-corporatist, and anti-elitist: the polar opposite of everything Jackson Hole has become. That being said, he’s well-aware of the prospect of becoming just the type of parachuter he seeks to resist.He and I were both featured prominently in James Pogue's Vanity Fair exploration of the so-called Dissident Fringe.“I drove north toward Montana, where I visited with a man named Paul McNiel, whom I’d first met back during the fervid summer of 2020, at a Fourth of July picnic and anti-government rally headlined “Rage Against the State.” “I think that Livingston has the highest per-capita concentration of contributors to The New Yorker of any city in America,” he’d said when I introduced myself as a writer. McNiel is extraordinarily well read, and friendly with a number of literary types. He is a bit of a prepper, and while he is deeply Christian, he doesn’t consider himself right wing. “I don’t think the division is right-left anymore. It’s us against the machine,” he said, borrowing a phrase from the English writer Paul Kingsnorth—whose writings critiquing the power of tech and money in modern life have become popular among dissident types. He was dismissive of the local armed groups being flooded with new members. “At the end of the day,” he said, “if you’re not willing to shoot federal agents, then you’re not serious about it. They aren’t serious.”McNiel had served in Afghanistan after college, and when he left the military, he’d taken out an almost unbelievable amount of debt, largely on credit cards, so that he could get himself in the position of buying his crown jewel, a trailer park in the small town of Belgrade, Montana, just outside of Bozeman. He now owned trailer parks as far away as Alaska. He had ridden the wave. “I always tell myself: No more deals. I want to stop, and I know I have to. But I can’t.”We discuss how not to become another Jackson Hole, his background as a trailer park magnate, and his experiences as a combat veteran in Afghanistan. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thecarousel.substack.com/subscribe

Alex Garner tweets as Alexander the Great. It’s a fitting name, because he reminds me of a roman legion commander, perhaps the modern Miami version. A former Coca Cola employee and founder of the mixed-cocktail brand Yumix, he’s obsessed with the notions of tribes in today’s online/offline world. How do you evaluate someone’s character if you can’t see them in person? But how do you meet anyone interesting if everyone interesting is on Twitter? As Indian Bronson pointed out, and as I have personally experienced (with Indian Bronson himself), is that people in our world all have two names.Alex and I discuss his project Guild of Greats (formerly Based Brotherhood), an attempt to build a tribe of high quality men manifested outside the mainstream. Designed to bring about a new sort of greatness.The mission echoes other similar projects like Palestra Society and Exit Group, the latter of which I discussed with founder Bennett's Phylactery on an earlier episode. There is an overwhelming craving for war bands that can form and occupy islands outside the polluted mainstream. Then to use those islands to build both alternative economies and to use as launching points for raiding missions against the seemingly unassailable forces of globalism. This project necessarily implicates capitalism itself, as entrepreneurships is one of the few areas where genuinely dissident activities are still allowed (just ask Dissident Soaps). The only way to beat them is to outsell them.A defector from the corporatocracy—a CPG cowboy, if you will—Alex sees tribal formation as the only way out. He talks about how to build both groups of men and the pipelines we need to support them. YOUTUBE LINK HERE (it was originally a livestream we did a few weeks ago)The Carousel is a reader-supported publication.***NOTE: ALEX JUST HAD A BABY TODAY! CONGRATS TO HIM AND FAM*** This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thecarousel.substack.com/subscribe

On episode 52 of the Carousel, I’m joined by David Pinsen from one of my favorite publications: Zero Hedge.A finance guy, Pinsen covers the ins-and-outs of world affairs from an investor’s perspective. His column Portfolio Armor deftly combines culture and politics with economic predictions and outlooks, a mixture which I’ve always found to be the best method for understanding why things are happening. As Western culture declines, and the media (even my beloved Wall Street Journal) right along with it, I look to people like Pinsen and publications like Zero Hedge to get the real story.So he’s the perfect guy to chat with about the financial picture behind the Bud Light fiasco. He published a couple stories featuring quotes from me about the issue including “How I’d Save Bud Light,” about how to rehabilitate the brand’s relatable image. Interestingly, our perspectives were born out as accurate, as today Bud Light launched a summer campaign all about relatability. Also per our predictions, the AB InBev longhouse turned a decent strategy into an incoherent mess, insulting audiences even further by painting them as fat bumbling idiots. “Sock tans included…” Oh, because white people get sock tans. Is that it?David and I also cover the decline of commercial real estate, monetizing your Twitter attention, and why Republicans should stop being scared of being called racist (sort of an precursor to this viral Tweet from yesterday).David Pinsen on TwitterDavid Pinsen/Portfolio Armor on Zero HedgePortfolio Armor This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thecarousel.substack.com/subscribe

By now you’ve seen the video of Armenian dads fighting Antifa on the streets of Glendale. If you’re curious about why, listen to this calm and rational Armenian mom describe how the school indoctrinates her children with extreme gender ideology. The dads showed up to voice their displeasure, they were confronted with the Regime’s shock troops: Antifa. One member is a convicted pedophile, which seems to be a common theme. Somebody save us.A couple of years ago, an attorney named David Pivtorak decided to do something. Having grown up in the Soviet Union under communism, he could see the signs better than most Americans. He knew where this was headed. So he shifted his practice to do something courageous, something that very few other lawyers were willing to do: use the Civil Rights Act to hold woke entities accountable for discrimination. Since it’s such a novel and heroic battle, David finds himself often in the news, including appearances on Tucker and Watters. Recent headline cases include:* Lawsuit against American Express for discriminating against white people.* Lawsuit against elite LA private school The Brentwood School for DEI discrimination against Jews.* Lawsuit against aforementioned Glendale Unified School District for firing a teacher who refused to said boys aren’t girls.The Civil Rights Act is marked as the moment the American Dream died—the beginning of the American global rainbow-flag empire—by Christopher Caldwell in his sensational The Age of Entitlement. The Civil Rights Act is now used to force formerly-capitalist organizations to operate the way the government wants. We live under this giant legal fiction called Civil Rights law which allows corporations to discriminate openly against whites, straights, Christians, and men, while simultaneously outlawing all discrimination. It is upon this glaring contradiction that David mounts his attack. He now faces open battle against the forces of darkness. Join me as he talks about tangling with disparate impact, forced arbitration agreements, California’s insane woke environmentalists and much more. Follow David AKA Piv on socials (we need this guy to run for office asap!):David Pivtorak on TwitterDavid Pivtorak InstagramThe Pivtorak Law Firm This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thecarousel.substack.com/subscribe

Monsters are the heroes of our enemies. On episode 50 of The Carousel, I’m joined by the enigmatic Paulos , one of our best Substackers. Myth Pilot explores the formation of contemporary myths, monsters, heroes, and egregores. It’s not as esoteric as it sounds. Paulos bridges today’s headlines with something deep and profound, proving that today’s heroes and monsters are new manifestations of a ancient fight.We discuss his sensational piece Heroes Rise // Monsters Fall. Something strange is happening to our public statuary—a strange, slithering, serpentine-feminine Medusa-signaling suddenly dominates the shapes of new work. Paulos reveals why it’s occurring, and how it embodies the larger battle in which we find ourselves.We also cover a detailed retelling of the Perseus myth and its true meaning, harem cultures versus marriage cultures, and our own experiences with the supernatural.Follow Paulos on TwitterThe Carousel is a reader-supported publication. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thecarousel.substack.com/subscribe

Celebrated digital artist Wide Dog joins me for episode 49 of The Carousel Podcast. Mr. Dog won first place in the Passage Prize art category last year.Last week, Wide Dog and I, along with a team of anons, released a speculative Twitter brand video for Twitter Blue called “It’s Never Over.” It received over 100k views in an hour, and now has over 250k. Watch it on Twitter hereIt’s purpose? A salvo against woke marketing; proof that talented anons can create beautiful, effective propaganda in our free time. The fact that it celebrates those who actually love and need Twitter most (as opposed to spreading far-left wing ideology) explains its popularity.In this episode, we dive deep into the ideas behind “It’s Never Over,” as well as our experiences in the advertising world. We also cover how fellow based creatives can climb the ladder into mainstream marketing, make a lot of money, and be miserable.Here’s a little manifesto I wrote for Twitter Blue - “It’s Never Over”Here’s a few images from the cutting room floor. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thecarousel.substack.com/subscribe

Dissident arts impresario Astral returns to The Carousel for a conversation about the decline and fall of VICE. I freelanced briefly for VICE in the 2010s. Astral followed its rise from Montreal skateboarding/punk culture. It recently completed its full cycle from counterculture to regime propaganda as George Soros will acquire it out of bankruptcy in the coming months.We cover the history of Gonzo media. Gay Talese, Hunter S. Thompson, Larry Clarke/Harmony Korine, Big Brother Magazine, Terry Richardson up to the crazy super chat streamers of today like @bellyoftheworld.Follow Astral on TwitterSubscribe to Astral on SubstackThe Carousel is a reader-supported publication. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thecarousel.substack.com/subscribe

Lomez. The name alone sends shivers of fear up the spines of our enemies. A leader of the culture wars, he founded of Passage Publishing, a top publisher in the dissident sphere and facilitator of the Passage Prize, our version of the Pulitzer. Where most culture warriors have mastered the art of complaining, Lomez stands as an exception. He’s growing an a new and desperately needed high art regime from acorn seed. This is not to say he’s not a fantastic writer in his own right—his recent Longhouse piece in First Things blew the doors off the internet and will serve as a memetic fixture for decades to come.The Carousel is a reader-supported publication. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thecarousel.substack.com/subscribe

On episode 46 of The Carousel podcast, I’m joined by filmmaker Matthew David Wilder. He wrote Paul Schrader’s Dog Eat Dog (2016) and wrote and directed Your Name Here (2008) with Bill Pullman and Regarding the Case of Joan of Arc (AKA American Martyr) (2020) which reimagines Joan of Arc as an alt-right American terrorist. EXCLUSIVE LINK TO FULL REGARDING THE CASE OF JOAN OF ARC FILMWe talk about David’s path from trailer park to Yale, our experiences living in New York and LA, and of course the culture wars through the lens writing and art. The Carousel is a reader-supported publication. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thecarousel.substack.com/subscribe

Cancelled fine artist Arthur Kwon Lee has one of the best "coming out as based” stories I’ve ever heard. At the top of the art game in New York, represented by all the right people and having followed art world cursus honorum perfectly, he sits at a table with a diverse group of artists and a typical gatekeeper harridan in charge of shilling their work to her silver spoon rolodex of wealthy friends. She proposes that he partner with a black artist for a BLM meets Stop Asian Hate crossover classic, certain to sell among her elite client list. He initially resists, stating that his art has nothing to do with his Korean identity; it’s more focused on traditional notions of beauty, strength, and power. He call himself “roof Korean numero uno,” a reference to my all time favorite aesthetic subculture.“No trust me, it’ll be perfect!” she says, “everyone will love it!”Here, Arthur has a decision to make. Do you prostitute yourself for success, or does honor still have any value in this world? He chooses the road less traveled in glorious fashion, but I won’t spoil it. Listen to him tell the tale on this, episode 45 of The Carousel podcast.Buy Arthur’s artView Arthur’s work on InstagramArthur on Twitter This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thecarousel.substack.com/subscribe

Ezra Ballinger, protagonist of The Cowboy Church, would appreciate me keepin’ this short. So I will.J.L. Mackey is an author, poaster, and all around DisLit staple. He’s hilarious, to-the-point, and embodies the criteria for a new, based kind of Southern Gothic, something we attempt to define on the pod.His cinematic latest novella The Cowboy Church tracks Ballinger, a simple bar owner beset by chronic and crushing arthritis, as he faces off against a private equity type mogul. I’d highly recommend the read. Like most DisLit standouts (Automaton by The Writings of T.R. Hudson and Nutcrankr by Baltic State come to mind), The Cowboy Church isn’t a political work. It’s based only in that it seeks its own beauty, meaning, and truth outside the pollution of ideology.J.L. Mackey on Twitter Buy The Cowboy ChurchThe Carousel is a reader-supported publication. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thecarousel.substack.com/subscribe

In our biggest episode to date, the infamous Raw Egg Nationalist drops by to discuss the hilarious ads in Man’s World Number 10.REN leads the battle against food globohomogenization, offering a reliable stream of redpills about the patented bugs and tumors that provide globalists with higher margins on their food supply investments. His magazine Man’s World has been heralded as a new, based Vice filling the gaping hole where real journalism for men used to be. He published my piece on Ketamine in an earlier issue.He’s less heralded for his work on the ads in the magazine, some of which are satirical and hilarious, while others are real advertisements for based brands. I’m compiling a compendium of this great ad work because I love it so much. Seize the means of propaganda!Raw Egg on TwitterMan’s World ArchiveLink to REN’s books for purchase This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thecarousel.substack.com/subscribe

Today we have Inez Stepman, a thinker I discovered recently and am incredibly impressed by. Her gender analysis is rooted in Red Pill theory—she admittedly came up reading Chateau Heartiste—and she’s the first woman I’ve ever heard bring up the concept of hypergamy.She joins Peachy Keenan and Aimee Therese on the Mount Rushmore of Female Dissident Right (FDR), although I’m not sure she would agree with this characterization. She’s got a JD from UVA and now works for the Independent Women’s Forum, a right-leaning think tank which recently filed an amicus brief arguing against the U.S. Women’s Soccer absurd pay discrimination lawsuit.Stepman can cover an immense amount of ground very quickly. Our convo covers Biden’s recent pro-ESG veto, Lochner v. New York’s impact on feminism, John Calhoun’s Beautiful Ones experiment, and how school choice can serve as a patronage system for the contemporary right. Inez on TwitterHer podcast High NoonThe Carousel is a reader-supported publication. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thecarousel.substack.com/subscribe

Two important legal stories (besides the Trump indictment) came to the fore this week, and no one better to explain them than bodybuilder, Twitter anon, and high-powered attorney Ash. First, the political prosecution of of Douglas Mackey (AKA Ricky Vaughn) reached its third day of deliberations, with the jury receiving an Allen Charge—intense pressure from the judge to reach a verdict—on Wednesday. Mackey is on trial for sharing a joke meme encouraging Hillary Clinton supporters to “vote by text” during 2016 election. Despite many Dems making the exact same joke, encouraging Trump supporters to vote by text, Mackey faces prosecution in federal court while no Democrats face the same.****UPDATE: Just moments ago, the news broke that Mackey has been found guilty.Second, text of the RESTRICT Act (Senate Bill 686) has been released to widespread accusations of government overreach. It gives the state unprecedented power to control online speech via prosecution of private citizens—which is why Ash and others describe it as Gen Z’s Patriot Act. The bill, backed by both parties, ostensibly seeks to gird national security against the looming TikTok threat. In practice, however, the bill will provide a regime now known for political prosecutions with carte blanche to pursue more rebel speakers like Mackey.Here’s a viral thread from Grill Time clearly and simply explaining the provisions of SB 686, and why they amount to obvious overreach.Follow Ash on TwitterSupport the cause, now more than ever This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thecarousel.substack.com/subscribe

Welcome filmmaker Daniel Algarin to The Carousel. A working Hollywood creative director/editor, Algarin came up under David Fincher at Rock, Paper, Scissors, and has found great success cutting trailers for major film releases. But, unlike your typical Hollywood hack, Algarin actually has something to say. His viral YouTube hit Dread Pirate Roberts depicts Silk Road-founder Ross Ulbricht in his own words in the moments before his arrest. It’s the perfect short. Incisive, cinematic, perfectly-crafted, thematically-complex—a successful attempt to bring filmic quality to the small screen.If you haven’t watched it yet, I can’t think of a better way to spend four minutes of your time: Check out Algarin’s Substack Thoughtcrime for more of his work. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thecarousel.substack.com/subscribe

Last Things takes a spin on The Carousel for episode 39.Fantastic video essayist, podcaster, and conversationalist, Last Things analyzes our broken culture via popular movies and TV. His beliefs that "horror is fundamentally right wing" and that "the left can't see, the right can't speak," have become insightful memes. We cover much, but our conversation focuses on one key theme: how critical art, in the form of works like The Boys and Black Mirror, is captured and converted into propaganda by the very regime it seeks to critique. Deleuze labels a variation of this process "Deterritorialization" and "Reterritorialization"—how anything genuine is hollowed out and sold back to us with nothing more than the mask of what it used to represent.Last Things on TwitterLast Things on YouTube This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thecarousel.substack.com/subscribe

YouTuber Scott Mannion hops on the Carousel for Episode 38. Mannion specializes in Anglo Saxon symbology and meaning—his video essays and Substacks combine historical analysis with beautiful prose to unearth the roots that ground individuals in their cultures, and cultures in their lands. He digs deep into the littlest elements of being, the origins of materials of the Barbour jacket for example, to reveal the essence of our ancestries. His organization Greenwood encourages members to rediscover metaphysical hierarchies and become reacquainted with deep connections they probably never knew they had.We talk about the Queen’s burial ceremony, the U.S. Constitution, Daseins, and the role of the based brand maker in the modern world.Scott on YouTubeScott on Twitter This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thecarousel.substack.com/subscribe

Meet Yuri Bezmenov, an ambitious new anon Substacking up a storm. His namesake, a KGB defector from the 1980s, recently re-rose to prominence via this eerily prescient video about the process of demoralization. The current Yuri is a native New Yorker, the son of Chinese immigrants, which gives him a unique perspective on ideological subversion. His beat covers the signs and symbols of subversion in places like Austin, New York, and Karenland FUPAZ (his word for the network of American cities run by zombie Progressives). We talk about Red Guards, struggle sessions, urban male-female dynamics, and of course how to subvert the subversion that’s become the norm.Yuri Bezmenov on TwitterThe Carousel is a reader-supported publication. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thecarousel.substack.com/subscribe

Please welcome Asher Penn to The Carousel.Asher is founder of Sex Magazine and the man behind the Delicious Tacos short film that Curtis Yarvin can’t stop blogging about. Asher and I discuss the genesis of the project, Peter Vack, the quality of Tacos’ writing, and the state of sex in film and advertising.As one of Tacos’ biggest fans, I fully support this project, and gave $100 to the Kickstarter. The trailer captures the essence of Tacos in a way I didn’t think was possible on-screen.Why is this project so important? Yarvin puts it better than I ever could,“[Untitled Delicious Tacos Short Film] is nothing less than a kind of supergroup counterculture event…Tacos is the Hemingway, the Raymond Carver, of our scene. It needs film. Peter Vack is a badass veteran of the NY underground film scene and famous for the infamous Mike Crumplar struggle session. It needs provocative underground magazines—Asher Penn is well-known for his SEX Magazine. It needs dangerous music—I can’t even mention the former name of musician Negative XP.”Check out the trailer and give to the Kickstarter here. There are only a few days left! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thecarousel.substack.com/subscribe

Please welcome journalist Ryan Zickgraf to The Carousel. Zickgraf writes for Compact and Jacobin from a leftist perspective, and occupies the leftward fork of the horsehoe directly across from me, and from whence I came.I found him via his interesting NFL article in Compact, “It’s Not Your Grandaddy’s NFL,” which I see as a companion piece to my “The NFL’s Eggshell PR Problem.” We also share in common a background in city journalism, him with The Chicago Reader and WaPo as an Atlanta correspondent. He was cancelled(ish) from the Reader after a woke takeover.We talk about Perry Abbasi’s attempted cancellation by the Reader, sports gambling, Mobile, Alabama, and why and how corporations woke wash labor abuses away.Ryan on Twitter Ryan’s Substack The Third RailRyan on Authory This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thecarousel.substack.com/subscribe

Today we’ve got Gio. Visual artist, writer, and YouTuber Gio Pennachietti is the consummate taxonomist of online dissident spheres. His Content Minded Corner provides a vast perspective on the opposing ideologies and idiosyncrasies of our digital ocean. We chat about the definition of “content,” the meaning of counterculture, and why he uses so many euphemisms.Content Minded Corner SubstackGio on YouTubeGio on Twitter This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thecarousel.substack.com/subscribe

SPECIAL EPISODE Magdalene Taylor's OpEd for the New York Times, "Have Most Sex Please," went viral this week—titillating incels and upsetting asexuals across the land. While many will disagree, I see Magdalene as a bridge between the mainstream and heretical spheres—that rare journalist who still approaches her material with clear, open eyes. It's not often, after all, that we see a NYT piece that's positive about sex without being "sex positive" (a boner-killing academic term that paints sex as an elaborate and exhausting project to undertake). In this episode, Magdalene diagnoses our sexless society and provides the perspective of "26 year old living in Brooklyn." We talk about attraction, female sexuality, and the depolarization of the sexes. Maybe, just maybe, she's a genuine whitepill. Her articleHer Substack "Many Such Cases"Her TwitterThe Carousel is a reader-supported publication. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thecarousel.substack.com/subscribe