Time To Say Goodbye

Hello!Apologies for the slight delay in getting this episode out but we have a great show today with the writer Jazmine Hughes. We talk about Ta-Nehisi Coates’s new book about writing, the West Bank and his travels, the writer-as-activist-celebrity, and the strange and tangled relationship that we, as minority writers, have with prestige media outlets. Enjoy! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit goodbye.substack.com/subscribe

Hello!This week Tyler pays tribute to the great literary critic Fredric Jameson who tragically passed away recently. We talk about the importance of his work and why it will be hard to find someone like him given the state of the academy and literary culture. And then we dive into what happened between RFK and Olivia Nuzzi and how journalism ethics talk ruins every party.Enjoy! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit goodbye.substack.com/subscribe

Hello!A quick note before we start: We recorded this as we always do on Tuesday for an early Wednesday release. The last part of the show focuses on what at the time was a wishy-washy and evasive response from Kamala Harris when asked about what Trump and Vance were doing to Haitian residents in Springfield, Ohio. Since then, Harris has come out and called their attacks a “crying shame” and likened it to Trump’s demonization of the Central Park Five. We decided to keep the section in the show because while it’s great that Harris did finally address it, I (Jay) still find it interesting that she chose to liken it to well-worn things she’s already talked about, but decline to say anything positive about immigrants or immigration at all. This defensiveness is what we were responding to and while I think the tone we reached would’ve been muted a bit, I still think the logic is sound and relevant. Other than that, we talked about how we now view the “fascism debate” in light of these disgusting attacks on a specific, vulnerable population who already is seeing daily bomb threats at schools, and we talked a bit about the latest assassination attempt on Donald Trump’s life. Enjoy! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit goodbye.substack.com/subscribe

Hello!Today we have a fun conversation with recurring guest Ben Recht, a professor of computer science and machine learning at UC Berkeley and Leif Weatherby, an associate professor of German at NYU. We talk about the article they wrote about Nate Silver’s latest book, the world of Big Data, and then we start talking about how maybe the inability for the iPhone to improve might signal a type of end of history. This was a fun one with lots of random asides with two very smart people so please enjoy! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit goodbye.substack.com/subscribe

Hello!Welcome back to school everyone. This week, we talk about an article in the New York Times that asks whether we infantilize students and whether we should start treating 18 year old college kids like adults. We also get into the admissions numbers out of MIT after the Affirmative Action Supreme Court and whether we might be seeing a sea change in how the public looks at prestigious Ivy League institutions (as in they hate them now). Enjoy! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit goodbye.substack.com/subscribe

Hello! Today, we talk about Kamala’s big speech at the DNC, the cat-and-mouse game her campaign is playing with the media, why we’re probably fine with it in the end, and RFK’s 45 minute speech that outlined his new role as Trump’s new attack dog. (Mostly because JD Vance is not doing so well.) We also talked about scandal in the English Department at Pomona College and a big story in the Chronicle of Higher Education that stars some of the most annoying people you’ll ever read about. Also as a periodic reminder: This show is free and we love putting it out, but if you enjoy what we do and can find it in your heart to hit the subscribe button and contribute $5 a month, it really does help us keep going with this project. Thank you! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit goodbye.substack.com/subscribe

Hello! We’re joined today by Matt Karp, a columnist for Harper’s, a professor of History at Princeton and one of the most intelligent and incisive writers on the left. We talk about AOC’s big night at the DNC, the somewhat moribund state of the left after Bernie’s big win in the 2020 Nevada primary, and whether the future for the left is bright or gloomy. This was a lively one and lotta good thinking from Matt here so please take a listen! One note: apologies I think there was some street work being done towards the back end but we tried to clean it up as best as we could. Shouldn’t be too much of a problem. thanks! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit goodbye.substack.com/subscribe

Hello!Today, we talk about the rural vote and the positioning of Tim Walz as the rural whisperer. Will it work? Is there such a thing as a “rural identity” that might look at Walz and gravitate towards him? What’s the thinking behind all that? To help us through it, we talked to Paolo Cremidis, the organizer of the recent Rural Americans for Harris Zoom call and the executive director of the Outrun coalition. Topics covered: Ice skating rinks turned into giant Fiji water bottles, running back Obama, the Sims, how the culture warriors of the right misunderstand rural voters and what rural voters actually want. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit goodbye.substack.com/subscribe

Hello!This week we’re extremely excited to have on Astra Taylor, a filmmaker, author, and organizer with the Debt Collective. We talk about Walz, whether VP picks matter, good vibes and joy for once, and also what the hell was RFK Jr. thinking when he dumped that dead bear cub in Central Park. Astra also talks to us about the book she co-authored with Leah Hunt-Hendrix titled “SOLIDARITY: THE PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE OF A WORLD CHANGING IDEA,” which all of you should pick up and read as it’s extremely relevant to everything we discuss on the show. Enjoy!Jay and Tyler This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit goodbye.substack.com/subscribe

Hello!We brought back repeat guest and esteemed journalist Bradford William Davis to talk about White Dudes for Harris, “weird,” and Trump at the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) conference this week in Chicago. Also discussed: good cringe, Cocomentum, and whether the left should just kinda let the liberals and the identity politicians cook. Please enjoy! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit goodbye.substack.com/subscribe

HELLO! Today we talk about the Kamala campaign, who she should pick as VP, speculate on where Joe Biden might be, and offer a spirited defense of AOC doing politics. Gets a bit unhinged in the middle tbh but we at least had a good time with this one. If you’d like to see Trump play the theme song, click here (Substack won’t let us embed tweets bc Elon did it first, I guess. https://x.com/GraduatedBen/status/1815807377309864437 This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit goodbye.substack.com/subscribe

Hello! Today, we talk about what exactly is going to happen to the country just a few days after the assassination attempt of Donald Trump and whether this will go down as a turning point in the country’s history or if it might just be quickly forgotten as everyone goes deep into RNC and JD Vance talk. Jay shares his very stupid thoughts on whether Donald Trump might have seen God after a near-death experience and the chances that he might be a changed man and Tyler makes both the best case and worst case for what will happen with the Trump/Vance ticket. Enjoy! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit goodbye.substack.com/subscribe

Hello! This week, we are back from vacation and catching up on the only story in America, which is the mental fitness of the President. Jay is on Team “The Democrats are probably too incompetent and divided to actually run a difference candidate in time and so it might actually make sense for them to just get behind Biden and hope everything breaks correctly and they draw to flush against Trump’s made two pair.” Tyler is on Team “It is fundamentally bad to have a President who cannot do normal things and needs 12 days to recover from an international flight. Also what are we doing here?!” WE DEBATE. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit goodbye.substack.com/subscribe

Hello! Today, we are extremely excited to have on John Ganz, author of the new book When the Clock Broke, a retelling of the 1990s that touches on politics, music, television, and the history of right wing cranks who ultimately would become a prelude for Trumpism. There’s a ton that we discuss: The LA riots, Pat Buchanan, Murray Rothbard, Sister Souljah, and much more. If you’re interested in how the fringe elements of the 1990s became much less fringe by 2016, this is a wonderfully written and engaging history that not only feels relevant and prescient, but also funny and alive. QUICK NOTE: We will not have an episode next week bc of vacation stuff but we will have a lot of announcements about the show throughout July so please stay tuned. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit goodbye.substack.com/subscribe

Hello!Today we’re doing a Pardon The Interruption-styled show in which we go down a list of topics. We’re experimenting a bit with format these days and so please let us know if this more rapid fire version works for you! Today’s topics: Hobby Horsing as a sport? Dimension Apple from a great post from the Read Max Substack. Tiger parenting in 2024. Are you a crazy sports parent or a math/violin parent? Is there a difference? Joe Biden’s age and the promise of President Harris. The jumps in this are incredible fwiw. Just a warning: We will be taking July 4th weekend off but should have a fun post for you that week. Enjoy! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit goodbye.substack.com/subscribe

Hello!Today, we have a great conversation with Andrew Boryga, the author of VICTIM, a truly subversive and funny novel about a young writer who hustles his way through the media world by just giving it what it wants from him: oppression stories, identity trauma tales, and a lot of embellishment. We also talk about Caitlin Clark (Jay tries to do a sports talk segment) and the great novel JAMES by Percival Everett. Do books like JAMES and VICTIM signal some change in the way that the publishing industry thinks about race and what stories it might want to promote right now? ALSO WE ARE NOW ON YOUTUBE. Please take the time to check out our video stuff and subscribe if you can. Enjoy! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit goodbye.substack.com/subscribe

Hello! Today’s show is a talk about an exciting new book by Anastasia Berg and Rachel Wiseman titled “What are Children For?” (Release date: June 11) We talked about “slow love,” the common complaint from millennials that they do not have enough financial stability to start families, the ambivalent mother narrative, and something right in Tyler’s wheelhouse: eco apocalypse fiction. Why is the United States birthrate declining? Why are middle and upper-middle class women waiting longer to have children, or, in many cases, forgoing the decision altogether? We discuss all that with Anastasia and Rachel. If you’d like a little preview of the show, we have it up on our BRAND NEW YOUTUBE PAGE. (PLEASE SUBSCRIBE AND LIKE!) Just as a reminder: Tyler and I will be rolling out a bunch of new features in July for paid subscribers but for now, please bear with us we add video to our show. Thank you! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit goodbye.substack.com/subscribe

Hello!Today, we talk about Biden’s speech at Morehouse College which should be seen as a preview for his message to Black voters amidst polling results that show he has lost a significant percentage of both the Black and Latino vote. We also talk about the passing of Bill Walton, activism in the NBA and sports, in general, and what we should think about the social justice basketball moment from 2020 in the bubble when the league and its corporate sponsors wallpapered half of Disney World with social justice slogans. Enjoy! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit goodbye.substack.com/subscribe

Hello! This week, we have on David Austin Walsh, author of “Taking America Back: The Conservative Movement and the Far Right,” a new book that tracks the development and coddling of far right political figures and their co-dependent relationship with mainstream Republicans. Lotta good history here and David asks Kang whether he thinks “Rich Men North of Richmond” is still good. This is a lively one with a lot of interesting history about conservative media and how it developed through the middle to late 20th century. Enjoy! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit goodbye.substack.com/subscribe

Hello! This week we talk about something we meant to discuss last week — Macklemore’s new song “Hind’s Hall,” and politics in music and literature. There’s some Immortal Technique, the Coup, and Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young thrown in there too. We also talk about the pretty bad polls that came out for the Biden campaign, which showed him losing in some weird ways in battleground states and took a deeper look into the crosstabs, always the more interesting part of any poll. thanks as always for listening! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit goodbye.substack.com/subscribe

Hello! This week we are happy to present one of our most requested guests, Vincent Bevins. He is a longtime foreign correspondent and the author of two books, The Jakarta Method and If We Burn. We talked about the lessons of the mass protests of the 2010s around the world, the allure and some of the downsides to leaderless/horizontal protest movements, and about how the media has covered the campus protests around the country. This is a good one so please enjoy! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit goodbye.substack.com/subscribe

Hello!This week we revived a TTSG tradition of answering your questions on the air. Topics covered range from why Tyler puts on a wetsuit and swims out to rocks to fish for striped bass, the rise in extreme sports, why standardized tests are actually good, the state of the student protests going forward and our worries about state repression, and Jerry Seinfeld complaining that all sitcoms are too woke. (One note, we recorded this yesterday morning before the NYPD crackdown at Columbia and CCNY. We included a short note at the start of the episode.) Enjoy! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit goodbye.substack.com/subscribe

Hello!Today, we talk about everything that’s happening on campus from Columbia to NYU to Berkeley. Tyler talks about the responsibilities of faculty in these moments and what he thinks is driving a surprisingly strong faculty response to the arrests in New York City. We also talk about how to process the instances of antisemitism at these protests and Jay talks about some of the difficulties that have arisen with the leaderless activism model over the past decade or so. Also, we will be having some announcements coming up in the next weeks so please stay tuned. Enjoy! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit goodbye.substack.com/subscribe

Hello,Today’s episode is our conversation with Dr. Feroze Sidhwa, a trauma surgeon who traveled to European Hospital in Gaza in late March. He talks to us about what he saw there and the massive humanitarian toll, particularly on children. We talked about the conditions at the hospital and the role of the doctor as truth teller in a conflict that is being obscured from view. Dr. Sidhwa and his colleague Dr. Mark Perlmutter wrote an account of their trip which you should read here. And you can see his recent appearance on Democracy Now. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit goodbye.substack.com/subscribe

Hello!Today, we have a packed show with our guest Danny Bessner of the American Prestige podcast. Danny argued the other side of the fascism debate and expressed why he and others believe the word is not appropriate to describe what’s happened to the American right. And Danny stuck around while we discussed Tyler’s debunking of the book “White Rural Rage” and why the type of liberal elite discourse we have right now might eventually be politically catastrophic (while also just being gross.) As always, if you would like to support the show, please help us out with a $5 a month substack subscription. Thank you! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit goodbye.substack.com/subscribe

Hello!Today’s guest is the John Ganz, author of the Unpopular Front substack and the upcoming book “When The Clock Broke.” We talk about the now years-long debate about whether what’s happening among the right wing in American should be called “fascism” and how such definitions should and should not be used in a political manner. We also talk about normie/resistance liberals and the concept of a popular front that needs to exist to defeat all that Trump might bring with him into office. These links will be a helpful primer if you’re unfamiliar. John’s latest on the debateAndrew Marantz’s latest piece on the debateJay This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit goodbye.substack.com/subscribe

Hello!Tyler is back for today’s episode in which we talk about open container laws in New Jersey, the discourse about the discourse on Kate Middleton and the Royals, and some thoughts on how to get children off their phones and the Internet, more broadly. Jay reveals that his takes are aging at a more rapid rate than he is and Tyler proves his Marxist bonafides by suggesting the most radical plan you’ve ever heard for getting kids to stop staring at some glowing rectangle for hours and hours upon end. As always, this show only works because of your contributions. We want to keep all the episodes free so if you could find it in your heart to pay $5 a month, you can do so at goodbye.substack.com. That helps us keep the lights on here. Enjoy! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit goodbye.substack.com/subscribe

Hello!Today a very special March Madness episode with New York Times and CNN contributor Jane Coaston. We talk about the recent ascent of women’s basketball, the gendered ways in which we always expect good, progressive behavior from women’s coaches and athletes, Caitlin Clark-as-Larry Bird and Caitlin Clark-as-baller, and a bit about NIL and the transfer portal. I’ve wanted to have Jane on the pod for a very long time and this will not disappoint if you want her very good takes on women’s sports.Tyler will be back next week. Enjoy!Jay This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit goodbye.substack.com/subscribe

Hello!Today’s episode is a talk with Vinson Cunningham about his new novel GREAT EXPECTATIONS which came out yesterday and is in bookstores everywhere. It’s everything you would expect from Vinson: beautiful sentences, long meditations on hoops, the church, and love, and a engrossing storyline that follows a young man who goes to work on the campaign of a certain senator from Illinois during his first presidential run. BUY IT HERE. And if you’re in New York City, Vinson will be in conversation with Doreen St. Felix tonight at Greenlight Books in Brooklyn. Jay This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit goodbye.substack.com/subscribe

Hello!Today, we talk to two people who have been thinking about reporting about AI for quite a long time: Repeat guest Ben Recht, a professor of electrical engineering and computer science at Berkeley and Karen Hao, a journalist who has written an excellent series of pieces for the Atlantic. We talk to Ben about SORA, OpenAI’s video generator that only exists in trailer form so far and what might happen if it’s actually good. (We don’t think it’ll be good. At least yet.) And then we talk some philosophy. There’s also a surprise at the start of the show. And then we talk to Karen about the massive amount of water and energy that AI might consume in the near future and why everyone seems to want massive, cumbersome and expense-heavy giant tools and not the smaller, more streamlined tools that might actually create something of use. Links: SORA announcementKaren’s articles on AI for the MIT Technology Review (really good)…and her more recent (also really good) work for the Atlantic. thank you! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit goodbye.substack.com/subscribe

Hello!On today’s episode, we talk about Aaron Bushnell, the active-duty Air Force twenty-five year old who self-immolated in Washington, D.C., the history of the act and how it has been seen in different eras and different contexts. We compare, for example, how Barack Obama talked about the self-immolation of Mohamed Bouazizi, a Tunisian street vendor who is credited with sparking the Arab Spring with how much of the liberal commentariat talks about Bushnell (largely in terms of mental health). And we try to make sense of what demands this act places on the public and how it could be understood. We also talk about this: We also talk about Jay’s recent article about Pretendianism in the New Yorker and Tyler talks about his own experiences as a minority in the academy. Some reading: Wapo report on BushnellArticle Jay wrote in 2022 about the self immolation of Wynn BrucePretendian article Enjoy! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit goodbye.substack.com/subscribe

Hello!Today, we talked about a topic that we’ve been circling around for a while — the minority vote. We now have months of polls all pointing towards the same trends in terms of Black, Latino and Asian voters all moving towards the right for a variety of reasons, most of which are left unexamined by many in the mainstream presses. That, of course, doesn’t mean that we don’t hear about the “Black vote” or the “Latino vote.” We do read the polling results and see charts detailing the shift. But that second part — the explanation for why — almost never gets voiced for what I imagine is the very simple reason that most campaigns, pundits, and the like don’t really know the answers. We talk about all that on the show and give our own thoughts about why different groups of people might be leaving the Democrat Party and what implications it might have not just on 2024, but for the future of progressive politics. Can the Dems hold together their coalition by just screaming at minorities that if they don’t show up, they’re going to be living in a fascist state? Thanks for listening and as always, if you’re receiving this email and haven’t subscribed to the show, we would greatly appreciate your support to help us keep the lights on here. READING LISTArticle in Slow Boring about the moderate Black voterPoll of Latino voters shows concerns about inflation and the economyRecent research showing that Black voter concerns about Climate ChangeIs Biden’s Israel policy alienating Black voters? This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit goodbye.substack.com/subscribe

Hello!Today’s episode is an interview with Carrie Sun, whose memoir PRIVATE EQUITY came out yesterday. (Buy it here!) The book is a memoir about the time Carrie spent working as the right hand for one of the country’s most famous billionaire hedge fund managers. We talk about the allure of finance and Wall Street, Ishiguro and restraint in writing, the ways in which political awakenings can sometimes be quite mundane in their origins, and a lot more about this wonderful book. If you’re a fan of everything from Ishiguro to Michael Lewis, this book is worth checking out, especially if you want to see what its like to work in a place where there are daily exploitations, insane expectations, but also sometimes there’s a bag on your desk and there’s a $2000 pair of leggings inside. Enjoy! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit goodbye.substack.com/subscribe

Hello!Today, we talk about the Apple Vision Pro and its grim vision for how you should be spending your time. Also, we talk a lot about Jaron Lanier’s most recent essay about the Virtual Reality in the New Yorker, specifically the question he poses about how technology should fit into our lives and whether tech can just create things because they’re cool without affixing their products to some greater mission for humanity. The Apple Vision Pro doesn’t come with any story about how its going to change everything or even a particularly great series of launch apps that feel revolutionary. It just kinda is a VR headset that asks you to wear it around all the time. Lanier’s essay, as we discuss, asks whether “all the time” technology actually makes sense. ENJOY! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit goodbye.substack.com/subscribe

Hello! This week we have on Musa Al-Gharbi, a professor of sociology at Stony Brook University. We talk a lot about “kids these days” and the tendency for all sorts of reactionaries to blame them for everything that’s wrong with this country. Don’t like illiberal attitudes on campuses? Blame the kids. Do you think free expression is at risk? Blame the kids. Feel like democracy is on the brink of collapse? Blame the kids. (As always, if you’re reading this and not subscribed to our substack or Patreon, please consider supporting the show at goodbye.substack.com. It’s just $5 a month and helps us keep it going.) Musa’s work is a critical intervention into all this kid blaming and we talk about the actual problem: Adults these days. We also touch on teachers, peer review as gatekeeping, and much more! Here’s some info on Musa’s upcoming book from Princeton University PRess, which I encourage everyone to pre-order. A piece he wrote outlining the problem with people saying “the kids these days” are responsible for everything that’s wrong with the discourse. Referenced in our conversation: Science is a strong-link problem by Adam MastroianniA look at the Polarizing Effect of the March for Science on Attitudes toward Scientists by Matthew MottaA study on the difference between trust in science and trust in scientists by Marcus Mann and Cyrus Schleifer And Musa’s recent look at antisemitism in America and a lot of the ways in which it is misunderstood. Enjoy! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit goodbye.substack.com/subscribe

Hello!This week, we talk about the big Polyamory article in New York Magazine and the proposition that breaking the bonds of monogamy might be a political statement, one that frees both sides from the constraints of marriage. Are we just reinventing ways to justify selfish behavior? And why does every personal decision in the lives of upper middle class, well-educated people need to turn into some movement that promises nothing? We also continue our ongoing talk about visions of the climate future with a conversation about “Psalm for the Wild Built” by Becky Chambers, which, in turn, led to a longer conversation about surf movies and Tyler’s hobby of fishing at 3 AM in a wetsuit in the cold unruly waters of coastal Maine. Enjoy! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit goodbye.substack.com/subscribe

Hello! In today’s episode, we talk about Octavia Butler’s “The Parable of the Sower,” a science fiction novel from 1992 that unexpectedly found itself on the best seller’s list in 2020. The novel imagines a violent and grim future in which the world has warmed beyond safe inhabitation, the lucky get to live in walled off communities while the poor all kill one another in the streets. We talk about visions of climate apocalypse and how Butler, through no fault of her own, might have created a hegemonic vision of a warmed earth, one that has become almost cliche in the thirty years since Sower’s publication. Why don’t we have other, new visions for climate death? What would those even look like? We also get a bit into a recent article in The Atlantic about Butler and her use of “historofuturism” in her work. And we talk a bit about the state of the Black quarterback and muse on why Lamar Jackson might get a more traditional, sports-talk-racist treatment than other Black quarterbacks in the league. We will be continuing our look into extinction literature next week with a look at Becky Chambers’s “A Psalm for the Wild-Built.” If you’d like to read it before the show, please do so! As always, if you’d like to upgrade your subscription and help support the show, we rely on your contributions to keep it going. Please click over and help us for $5 a month! — TTSG This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit goodbye.substack.com/subscribe

Hello!I’m very excited to announce that Tyler Austin Harper will be our co-host for the next month or so. Tyler was on the show last month and introduced himself then, but for those who missed it, he’s a writer at the Atlantic and a professor of literature in the environmental studies department at Bates College. He specializes in extinction literature and film. For the next month or so, Tyler and I are going to talk to guests and to one another about a variety of topics, including literature and movies. In this episode, for example, you’ll find a “Book Corner” at the end where we talk about the rise of true crime podcasts and a recent op-ed in the Times. Tyler also wrote a piece about the Claudine Gay scandal at Harvard, which we discussed at some length here. As always, if you’re getting this email and want to support the show, please subscribe for $5 a month and you’ll receive access to our Discord server, where all these things are discussed at great length. thank you!Jay This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit goodbye.substack.com/subscribe

Hello! Today we have a great interview with Nithya Raman, the City Councilmember for Los Angeles’s District 4. We talk about housing, the despair around the homelessness problem in California’s biggest cities, and whether there might be a different future for the city’s political machine. My interest in Councilmember Raman started back when I was writing the newsletter for the Times because there was an effort by some of the more powerful local politicians to redraw her district in ways that would both disenfranchise many of the people who had voted for her to be their representative but also seemed to reflect the unrelenting power of homeowners in Southern California. You can read some of those pieces here, here, and here. What became clear to me during the reporting of those pieces was that Mike Davis was right when he wrote “the most powerful ‘social movement’ in contemporary Southern California is that of affluent homeowners, organized by notional community designations or tract names, engaged in the defense of home values and neighborhood exclusivity.” The real battle in California, then, is between the self interests of homeowners to protect their value and the “character” of their neighborhoods and the best interests of everyone else. This is not a fight that follows basic partisan lines nor is it one that really has much coherence to it, but it’s the fight that every politician in California, especially in Los Angeles or here in the Bay Area, must navigate to get anything done. Nithya and I talked about all that and the massive scandal in the Los Angeles City Council in 2022, where Latino members of the council and labor leaders were caught on tape making bigoted statements about pretty much every other group in the city. What those tapes revealed, at least to me, was how a type of identity politics actually functioned in the country’s second biggest city. If you want to know a bit more about Nithya, here’s a link to her campaign page and a story about the leaked tape scandal.thank you! TTSG This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit goodbye.substack.com/subscribe

Hello!In our Discord server, which you can access by subscribing to the show for a measly $5 a month, a user asked me to not do shows about sports. I took this request seriously as I generally aim to please, but am sad to announce that after much deliberation, I do think it’s worth having a conversation about a very distinct phenomenon I’ve observed over the past few years. As recently as 2020, it was difficult to have a conversation about sports without bringing in all that “politics.” LeBron was talking about Trayvon Martin and George Floyd. The NFL, still enmeshed in the blackballing of Colin Kaepernick, put together a variety of initiatives around ending racism or whatever. The NBA had its weird bubble spectacle with all its Nike approved slogans on every surface possible, including the player jerseys. Today, almost all of that is gone. Sports coverage, for the most part, feels explicitly apolitical. Even the NBA’s big concession post the summer of 2020 — that they would not play any games on election days and use their arenas as polling sites — came and went this year without any real interruption to what had become a non-stop In Season Tournament hype cycle. Are we in a period of overcorrection? To discuss this question, I brought on Bradford William Davis, an investigative sports journalist and a former sports columnist at the New York Daily News. Here is a sampling of Bradford’s work. A lengthy investigation into Major League Baseball’s practice of using multiple balls during the season. (for my money, one of the finest works of investigative sports reporting in the past five years)A look into injury and labor concerns in the NFL An investigation into sexual assault and misconduct in US FencingTIMESTAMPS6:02- are we in a moment of overcorrection for politics in sports media? 17:05 - OHTANI TALK and did he not come to SF because of crime, homelessness and wokeness? 28:45 - DRAYMOND TALK and “mental health” as a catch-all explanation. 45:00 - a defense of investigative journalism in sports 52:00 - JUST TELL US WHAT’S HAPPENING, REPORTERS! ANNOUNCEMENT: We will be taking the next two weeks off for the break but will be back on Wednesday January 3rd. Thank you! Jay This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit goodbye.substack.com/subscribe

Hello!Today on the show, we have Tyler Austin Harper, a literary scholar and an assistant professor of Environmental Studies at Bates College. We talk about the history of extinction literature, the books that tech moguls read and the vision it inspires, the dangers of science fiction and all that’s happening in the Ivy Leagues right now. 0:00 - Jay talks about the new direction of the show, which for now will be a “degenerate Asian version of In Our Time.” 2:40-6:00 - Jay and Tyler talk about Maine and the L.L. Bean outlet. 7:00-34:00 - EXTINCTION LITERATURE TALK 34:00- end - How to think about what’s happening on campus, the need to address concerns about double standards in speech with seriousness and good faith, and a defense of DEI programs. You should read Tyler’s work as well. Here are some linksHow Much Blood is Your Fun Worth? in the Atlantic. I’m a Black Professor. You Don’t Need to Bring That Up. in the AtlanticThe Moral Theater of Social Justice Parenting in NYTI Teach at an Elite College. Here’s a Look Inside the Racial Gaming of Admissions in NYT Lastly, I wanted to put in a short message here about the future of the show. As noted, the show will still continue and while there’s no definitive plan yet on what the next months will look like, there will still be episodes and an ongoing assessment of what’s working and what’s not. Obviously, the show will not be the same without Tammy, but the community we built over the past three and a half years has always been extremely important to me and not something I take for granted. If you have any suggestions or complaints or whatever, please feel free to email me at [email protected]. I’m extremely grateful for all of your support over all these years and I want you to know that you also have a say in what comes next. thanksJay This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit goodbye.substack.com/subscribe

Hello from the “White Projects”! For Tammy’s final ep as co-host, we answer questions from our beloved subscribers. Thank you for asking us to ponder: * Vice, Jezebel, and the loss of irreverent digital media* What makes podcasting so terrifying (and freeing) * Biden vs. Trump in early polls + in Tammy’s reporting on young voters * Our worst takes from 3.5 years of blabbering * Whether TTSG was a guerilla marketing campaign for Jay’s bookTo get Tammy’s infrequent writing updates (soon replacing her TinyLetter, R.I.P.), sign up here, and find links to her older work here. You can also keep in touch via email and follow her on Instagram for eventual zine-y things! Mai can be reached via email, but apologizes in advance for her dismal reply rate. Subscribe on Patreon or Substack to join the TTSG Discord community. You can also follow us on Instagram, TikTok, and X (Twitter), and email us at [email protected]. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit goodbye.substack.com/subscribe

For Tammy’s last TTSG book club as pod host (!), we welcome Jillian Tamaki, award-winning author and a key member of our early-COVID Discord crew. Jillian’s new graphic novel, Roaming, published with her cousin and co-author, Mariko Tamaki, follows three Canadian college freshmen on a spring break trip to New York. We hear about Jillian’s use of vernacular tourist archives like Flickr and YouTube to build scenes of NYC from afar; the complex dynamics among young women friends, especially when traveling; and what makes a good artistic collaboration. [Note: From 3:15 to 26:10, Jillian presents a slideshow, but the BTS is great even without the visuals!] 🎧 Heads-up: Tomorrow (Monday, Dec. 4) Tammy and Jay will record their final co-host ep, and take listener questions! Ask away here: https://forms.gle/bVtcVVyyNKz7Epe76 Subscribe on Patreon or Substack to join our Discord community. You can also follow us on Instagram, TikTok, and X (Twitter), and email us at [email protected]. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit goodbye.substack.com/subscribe

Hello from Philly! This week, Andy joins us for one of Tammy’s last eps as a host of TTSG. 🥲 After catching up on dog COVID, [6:10] we discuss how China’s historical self-identification as a vanguard of the Third World has given way, through decades of technological and economic growth, to a more general anti-West position. [29:00] We also reflect on the various pockets of U.S. public opinion on Gaza and Zionism, from Andy’s college students to our elected officials (and their press secretaries). [53:30] Finally, we debate whether the term “barbaric” has been selectively applied since October 7, along with larger questions of media bias. In this episode, we ask: Where does China’s relatively strong support of Palestine come from, and is it actually as strong as it seems? How does the movement for a free Palestine fit into the idea of what it means to be a good leftist? Should media outlets rethink when to publish gruesome images of victims of violence? For more, see: * Times coverage of the Biden-Xi Summit (and Blinken’s reaction to a Biden gaffe) * More on the three young Palestinian American students who were shot in Vermont, the NYU doctor who was fired over his racist social media posts, and the friendship between a Palestinian and a pro-Israel chef in Philly that has soured* Words from Lydia Polgreen and from Jay on the question of publishing graphic photos of children killed in Gaza Reminder: Tammy is hosting a virtual TTSG book club meeting for subscribers tonight at 5pm PST // 8pm EST (9am in Shanghai) with cartoonist, illustrator, and Discord OG Jillian Tamaki! We’ll get some BTS insight from Jillian on the graphic novel she just published with her cousin and co-author, Mariko Tamaki, Roaming. You can find the Zoom info on Discord or in this post! Subscribe on Patreon or Substack to join our Discord community. You can also follow us on Instagram, TikTok, and X (Twitter), and email us at [email protected]. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit goodbye.substack.com/subscribe

Hello! This week, Jay talks to a student organizer for Columbia University Apartheid Divest, a coalition of seventy five student organizations who have been organizing and putting on protests on campus. Last week, the administration of Columbia University suspended two of the student groups – Students for Justice in Palestine and Jewish Voices for Peace. The organizer and Jay talk about why Columbia made this decision, what the climate is like on campus, and what the administration has been telling students about the suspensions. We also talk about divestment, broadly, as an organizing tactic and discuss the anti-apartheid divestment protests for South Africa. Tammy will be back next week for three more episodes!Reminder: On Nov. 29, Tammy will host her last TTSG book club event over Zoom with cartoonist, illustrator, and Discord OG Jillian Tamaki—on Jillian’s new graphic novel, Roaming! Check out the Discord for details and a book discount.Subscribe on Patreon or Substack to join our Discord community. You can follow us on Instagram, TikTok, and X (Twitter), and email us at [email protected]. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit goodbye.substack.com/subscribe

This week, we’re joined by our friend Jamie Lauren Keiles, a former contributing writer at the New York Times Magazine who is working on a book about nonbinary identity in America and posting at the archival Instagram account @sexchange.tbt. [4:45] Jamie discusses his resignation from the Times Magazine, and why he signed the recent open letter by WAWOG (the Writers Against the War on Gaza) as well as an earlier letter criticizing NYT’s trans coverage. [47:40] We also talk about the process of unlearning pro-Israel propaganda and where a trans, anti-Zionist, observant Jew finds himself today, both institutionally and spiritually. In this episode, we ask: How is the presumed “objective” position within a media institution created and reinforced?What good (if any) can an open letter do? And how much does it matter what an American Jew thinks about all of this? How do people’s minds actually get changed on Israel-Palestine? For more, see: * Jamie’s latest Substack post: Do I believe that there are questions that should never be asked? * Jamie and Jazmine Hughes on Democracy Now! discussing their resignations from the Times Magazine * Jay’s recent piece on the chilling of pro-Palestine speech within journalism * AP coverage of the Writers Bloc action in the New York Times building last week[1:04:00] And a big announcement! Listen to the end to catch Tammy and Jay present a new phase for the podcast. (Spoiler: Tammy is moving on in early December; Jay is continuing and wants your feedback.) As always, subscribe on Patreon or Substack to join our Discord community, which we hope to continue cultivating into the future. Also: On Nov. 29, Tammy will host her last TTSG book club event with cartoonist, illustrator, and Discord OG Jillian Tamaki—on Jillian’s new graphic novel, Roaming! Check out the Discord for details and a book discount.You can follow us on Instagram, TikTok, and X (Twitter), and email us at [email protected]. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit goodbye.substack.com/subscribe

This week, we are joined by Tania Hary, the executive director of Gisha (“access”), an Israeli legal organization that fights for the freedom of movement of Palestinians. [2:25] We discuss the restrictive status quo that was in place long before October 7, in which Israel controlled travel in and out of the occupied territories, the flow of goods and food into Gaza, and the Census-like registry of the Palestinian population (that is implicated in the questioning of Gazan fatalities). [30:45] Tania explains how political repression and compulsory military service convince many Israelis that theirs is the “most moral army in the world.” In this episode, we ask: How are Israelis consuming images from and narratives about Gaza? What does it mean for politicians and media to dispute information, namely death counts, coming from sources in a besieged Gaza? What does this war reveal about the world order, humanitarian law, and human rights? For more, see: * A recent press conference on how to report accurately on Gaza, featuring Tania* Reporting from Haaretz on the backlash against Arab Israelis* Tania’s testimony before the UN Security Council earlier this year* Protesters braving it in Tel Aviv this past weekSubscribe on Patreon or Substack to join our Discord community and participate in our upcoming IRLish book event. You can also follow us on Instagram, TikTok, and X (Twitter), and email us at [email protected]. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit goodbye.substack.com/subscribe

Hello! This week, New York Times Magazine contributing writer and repeat guest Rozina Ali talks with us about media coverage of the war in Israel and Gaza as well as the challenges faced by journalists, more than twenty of whom have been killed in the region over the past two weeks. We also discuss whether there has been a chilling of speech in the West, the history of suppressed expression when it comes to Israel and Palestine, and how all this may shake out in politics and public sentiment. In this episode, we ask: How accurate are the comparisons of this moment to 9/11, in terms of media suppression, Islamophobia, and our ability to parse complicated political issues? Does social media incentivize checking certain boxes around Israel-Palestine over moving dialogue forward? Why are U.S. elected officials so out of touch with public opinion? For more, see: * Retaliation within Israel (Crackdown on Freedom of Speech of Palestinian Citizens of Israel), on U.S. college campuses (A “McCarthyite Backlash” Against Pro-Palestine Speech), at the 92Y (92NY Pulls Event With Viet Thanh Nguyen Over Criticism of Israel), and more (A Surge in Suppression)* A growing list of journalist casualties since October 7, from the Committee to Protect Journalists * Mona Chalabi’s visualization of deaths in the war versus New York Times coverage of those deaths* Articles on the killings of synagogue president Samantha Woll in Detroit and of Muslim six-year-old Wadea Al-Fayoume in Chicago * Egyptian comedian Bassem Youssef, interviewed by Piers Morgan* Rozi’s Times Magazine profile of Rashida Tlaib, from March 2022 * Our first episode with Rozina, from March 2021: Kimchi nationalism, Biden on immigration and foreign policy, and Desi identities * Plus, our episode with Viet Thanh Nguyen, from August 2020: Ethnic Studies, Revolutionary Politics, and the Third World Liberation Front* A recent U.S. opinion poll on the war, from CBS News/YouGov (compared with lackluster support for a ceasefire in Congress)* Last week’s episode with Amjad Iraqi, a policy analyst and Palestinian citizen of Israel: The siege in Gaza and Israel’s end gameIf you’re a writer, journalist, or media worker who has faced retaliation for expressing your views on the war in Gaza, you can reach out to the National Writers Union for support by filling out this survey. Subscribe on Patreon or Substack to keep us going and join our Discord community. You can also follow us on Instagram, TikTok, and X (Twitter), and email us at [email protected]. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit goodbye.substack.com/subscribe

This week, we’re joined by Amjad Iraqi, a senior editor at +972 Magazine and a policy analyst at the think tank Al-Shabaka. Since Hamas’s brutal attack and Israel’s declaration of war, thousands of people in Gaza, the West Bank, and Israel have been killed. More than a million people have been ordered to leave the northern Gaza Strip; more than two million Gazans are being denied food, water, electricity, and fuel. [3:10] Amjad, a Palestinian citizen of Israel based in London, explains what’s different about this moment for both Palestinians and Israeli Jews. [32:30] He also untangles the international context in which Hamas operates, both in relation to its Arab neighbors and global powers like the United States—the only country, he believes, with the power to stop Israel from committing genocide. [47:20] Finally, Amjad highlights the need to reject colonial and statist frameworks in fighting for Palestinian liberation. In this episode, we ask: How was Israel able to manufacture a forgetting of occupied Palestinians by Israeli Jews?How has the politics in Israel shifted following Hamas’s attack? How should we understand this latest wave of violence, given the violence required to maintain Israel’s “status quo”? What are the freedom dreams of Palestinian people?For more, see: * Amjad’s writing in the wake of Hamas’s attack in southern Israel—‘Get out of there now’—and an older piece he wrote about “the worn-out aphorism of a ‘cycle of violence’” in Israel-Palestine* A useful conversation with Tareq Baconi, Amjad’s colleague at Al-Shabaka* Our previous TTSG conversations on Israel-Palestine: * Embracing U.F.O.s and rejecting Zionism, with Arielle Angel (August 2023)* Loving Palestine, with Esmat Elhalaby (May 2021) * Sheikh Jarrah and What Feels Different This Time about Israel/Palestine, with Josh Leifer (May 2021) Subscribe on Patreon or Substack to join our Discord community. You can also follow us on Instagram, TikTok, and X (Twitter), and email us at [email protected]. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit goodbye.substack.com/subscribe

Hello from yet another devastating news week! [0:30] We begin by addressing Hamas’s recent attack on Israel, to which Netanyahu responded with a declaration of war. (We’ll have an area expert on the show next week to talk about all this at greater length.) [12:10] In the second half of the episode, we discuss the new U.S. Senator from California, Laphonza Butler, and how her appointment by Gavin Newsom (following Dianne Feinstein’s death) factors into next year’s race for that seat. We explore the organizer-to-politician career path and ponder how labor-y a labor candidate has to be. In this episode, we ask: What would unbiased media coverage of Israel/Palestine actually look like? Has the (online) left overcorrected on identity politics and started to judge “diverse” figures too harshly? For more, see: * More on where Laphonza Butler fits into the California Senate race and her labor-world connections * An excerpt from Regarding the Pain of Others, by Susan Sontag* Manufacturing Consent, by Noam Chomsky and Edward S. HermanSubscribe on Patreon or Substack to join our Discord community. You can also follow us on Instagram, TikTok, and X (Twitter), and email us at [email protected]. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit goodbye.substack.com/subscribe