Useful Idiots with Katie Halper and Aaron Maté

Subscribe at usefulidiots.substack.comNorman Finkelstein, the prolific (and widely canceled) political scientist, and author of 11 books, joins the show to give us a sneak preview of his new book on cancel culture and identity politics. He explains what makes today's cancel culture new, what makes it not so new, and why it’s worse, in some ways, when the Left does it: “Obviously there’s cancel culture on the right. But the cancel culture on the right, or the mainstream, the establishment, whatever you want to call it, for a person of the left, is a given. That’s a part of what it means to be on the left. The true Left. You’re going to be marginalized, ignored. That’s the history of the Left.” He critiques MSNBC's Bernie-bashing and identity-politics-weaponizing—Joy Ann Reid and her body-language expert, who diagnoses Bernie Sanders’ self-incriminating “turtling,” in particular— gives Noam Chomksy his due credit and sings the praises of W.E.B. DuBois. Finkelstein also directs his formidable fire at White Fragility author Robin DiAngelo: “And what's her message to white people? Her message to white people is every white person... who's laying out in the street because he or she is homeless, which there are quite a lot in my neighborhood. Every white person from that person to Jeff Bezos, they all profit from racism. And then they, the CEOs, they get to play the enlightened ones because they give money to Black Lives Matter. So, the message to white people is be careful what you're willing to give up, because you're benefiting from this system. Every white person benefits from the system. If you let them climb one rung higher, you are going to go one rung lower. So it's a warning to white people to be cautious, careful, wary, of the demands of black people.... ”Plus, Katie and Matt lament the way Andrew Yang sabotaged his own campaign, depriving himself of what could have been a game-changing “Useful Idiots Show Bump,” and review some important penis-representation-related news stories. Stand by for the substack-only section of the interview where Norman talks more about Angela Davis, Ta-Nehisi Coates, and reveals an early crush. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.usefulidiotspodcast.com/subscribe

“This is kind of the Holy Grail for the left that can never quite get pulled off,” says Ross Barkan, author of The Prince: Andrew Cuomo, Coronavirus, and the Fall of New York. “It usually gets pulled off by moderates, or Barack Obama.”We talked to Ross about one of our favorite people — the demented neoliberal monster/werewolf Andrew Cuomo — but also about the upcoming New York City mayoral elections, which will be the large-scale litmus test on the state of the Democratic electorate since the 2020 primaries. New York City has one of the most rabidly progressive voter bases in the country, but the Democratic Primary next Tuesday has for some time now appeared likely to be dominated by moderates like former NYPD officer and Brooklyn borough president Eric Adams. Friend-ish-of-show Andrew Yang, who snubbed a Useful Idiots interview request during this campaign, has fallen off to fourth place in a recent poll, in the most recent demonstration of the ironclad Law of the Useful Idiots Bump. Will he make it back up in time to replace Bill de Blasio?Barkan discusses with us some of the factors that may be influencing the quasi-surprising New York results. Three of the four top candidates — Yang, Adams, and former sanitation chief Kathryn Garcia — seemingly go against national type. “All three of these candidates, Yang, Garcia, Adams, are explicitly against de-funding the police,” he says. “Who’s going to win? I don’t know, but I think Adams has the inside track.”Barkan, who wrote a pleasingly vicious book about Cuomo that depicts him in the garb of Machiavelli on the cover, also explained how the New York governor managed to pull off a surge in popularity last year despite horrific management of the pandemic. “Journalism… too often takes on the tropes of fiction, and seeks narratives, heroes and villains,” Ross said. “Cuomo filled that void,” giving journalists the tough-talking uncle figure to Donald Trump’s crazy-nitwit act. Reporters ran with that simple storyline for months, ignoring things like Cuomo’s craven manipulation of death toll figures for nursing homes.From there we basically just said gratuitous things about Cuomo and his doofus brother, but it’s worth a listen, particularly if you’re high. Also: we plow through the four food groups, stopping to discuss ICE’s sterling wokewash efforts, a dude who maybe got too much credit for being swallowed by a whale, and what “POS” stands for on a U.S. State Department Twitter handle. That and more, on this week’s Useful Idiots. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.usefulidiotspodcast.com/subscribe

Subscribe at usefulidiots.substack.comRoss Barkan on the New York Mayoral Race and Cuomosexuals, Plus Whale Mouthwash, Republicans Hit the Pipe, and Jeff Bezos Should Eat the Mona Lisa“This is kind of the Holy Grail for the left that can never quite get pulled off,” says Ross Barkan, author of The Prince: Andrew Cuomo, Coronavirus, and the Fall of New York. “It usually gets pulled off by moderates, or Barack Obama.”We talked to Ross about one of our favorite people — the demented neoliberal monster/werewolf Andrew Cuomo — but also about the upcoming New York City mayoral elections, which will be the large-scale litmus test on the state of the Democratic electorate since the 2020 primaries.New York City has one of the most rabidly progressive voter bases in the country, but the Democratic Primary next Tuesday has for some time now appeared likely to be dominated by moderates like former NYPD officer and Brooklyn borough president Eric Adams. Friend-ish-of-show Andrew Yang, who snubbed a Useful Idiots interview request during this campaign, has fallen off to fourth place in a recent poll, in the most recent demonstration of the ironclad Law of the Useful Idiots Bump. Will he make it back up in time to replace Bill de Blasio?Barkan discusses with us some of the factors that may be influencing the quasi-surprising New York results. Three of the four top candidates — Yang, Adams, and former sanitation chief Kathryn Garcia — seemingly go against national type. “All three of these candidates, Yang, Garcia, Adams, are explicitly against de-funding the police,” he says. “Who’s going to win? I don’t know, but I think Adams has the inside track.”Barkan, who wrote a pleasingly vicious book about Cuomo that depicts him in the garb of Machiavelli on the cover, also explained how the New York governor managed to pull off a surge in popularity last year despite horrific management of the pandemic.“Journalism… too often takes on the tropes of fiction, and seeks narratives, heroes and villains,” Ross said. “Cuomo filled that void,” giving journalists the tough-talking uncle figure to Donald Trump’s crazy-nitwit act. Reporters ran with that simple storyline for months, ignoring things like Cuomo’s craven manipulation of death toll figures for nursing homes.From there we basically just said gratuitous things about Cuomo and his doofus brother, but it’s worth a listen, particularly if you’re high.Also: we plow through the four food groups, stopping to discuss ICE’s sterling wokewash efforts, a dude who maybe got too much credit for being swallowed by a whale, and what “POS” stands for on a U.S. State Department Twitter handle. That and more, on this week’s Useful Idiots. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.usefulidiotspodcast.com/subscribe

Click here for the extended interview.“Protest with a guitar? Not this candidate.”This, written about a 21-year-old city council candidate with hippy sensibilities and a drive to help the underdog: Dennis Kucinich. Since that article in 1967, Kucinich served 16 years as the US house rep from Ohio, gained national fame in his two presidential bids, and was vindicated by the Washington Post as the future of American politics.Now, Kucinich is out with a new book The Division of Light and Power, which shares stories of his early days in politics as a 23-year-old city councilman and later mayor in Cleveland, Ohio (read Matt’s full book review here). What he saw was a corrupt and bent system. So his career became a crusade against it.In his first unsuccessful council run, he realized the incumbent never lost because he took care of people, giving favors to powerful donors and making sure his influential constituents were kept happy. ‘So,’ thought Kucinich, ‘that’s what I’ll do.’But taking care of people for Dennis meant helping normal Clevelanders who, like his own family, couldn’t pay the rent, couldn’t keep the lights on, couldn’t feed their kids. He helped these people and they noticed. And he won.Whether against cheating vote-counters, corrupt utility companies, war-mongering presidents, or racist legislation, Dennis Kucinich’s political career has been a constant battle against immorality and a fight for the helpless.Kucinich describes how his life is echoed by the sound of coins clinking on a white metal table as his parents counted pennies to pay the rent. By the time he was 17, he lived in 21 different places, including a few cars. All this only built the man he is and “translated into the necessity of standing up for economic justice for people who are struggling.”That, plus music, theatre, and ripping off doors in this Useful Idiots interview.Meanwhile, we accept credit for the Breaking Points’ #usefulidiotsbump, read Hunter Biden’s drug-feuled texts about his tanned penis and love of the N-word, call out Texas Governor Greg Abbott’s attempt to imprison migrant children, and sell an invisible Kurt Loder sculpture for thousands.All this, and more, on this week’s Useful Idiots. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.usefulidiotspodcast.com/subscribe

“Protest with a guitar? Not this candidate.”This written about a 21-year-old city council candidate with hippy sensibilities and a drive to help the underdog: Dennis Kucinich. Since that article in 1967, Kucinich served 16 years as the US house rep from Ohio, gained national fame in his two presidential bids, and was vindicated by the Washington Post as the future of American politics.Now, Kucinich is out with a new book The Division of Light and Power, which shares stories of his early days in politics as a 23-year-old city councilman and later mayor in Cleveland, Ohio (read Matt’s full book review here). What he saw was a corrupt and bent system. So his career became a crusade against it.In his first unsuccessful council run, he realized the incumbent never lost because he took care of people, giving favors to powerful donors and making sure his influential constituents were kept happy. ‘So,’ thought Kucinich, ‘that’s what I’ll do.’But taking care of people for Dennis meant helping normal Clevelanders who, like his own family, couldn’t pay the rent, couldn’t keep the lights on, couldn’t feed their kids. He helped these people and they noticed. And he won.Whether against cheating vote-counters, corrupt utility companies, war-mongering presidents, or racist legislation, Dennis Kucinich’s political career has been a constant battle against immorality and a fight for the helpless.Kucinich describes how his life is echoed by the sound of coins clinking on a white metal table as his parents counted pennies to pay the rent. By the time he was 17, he lived in 21 different places, including a few cars. All this only built the man he is and “translated into the necessity of standing up for economic justice for people who are struggling.”That, plus music, theatre, and ripping off doors in this Useful Idiots interview.Meanwhile, we accept credit for the Breaking Points’ #usefulidiotsbump, read Hunter Biden’s drug-feuled texts about his tanned penis and love of the N-word, call out Texas Governor Greg Abbott’s attempt to imprison migrant children, and sell an invisible Kurt Loder sculpture for thousands.All this, and more, on this week’s Useful Idiots.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.usefulidiotspodcast.com/subscribe

Click here for the extended interview.Saagar Enjeti tells a story from his time as the co-host of The Hill’s Rising, in which he described the seniority system for House of Representatives Committee assignments. “I did a segment this is all I said: ‘Maxine Waters will be the chairwoman of the Financial Services Committee till the day she dies,’” he recounts. “So her fucking staff called the boss of The Hill and said I issued a death threat against Maxine Waters! I shit you not. They said I was threatening her life.”He pauses. “They don’t call you. They call your boss’s boss. And here’s the thing, she’s the chairwoman of the Financial Services Committee. And Hill reporters need to be able to talk to her. They know exactly whom to threaten.”This is how legacy media works. People who work in big institutions end up having to stay on a leash, avoiding even accidental offense, lest their co-workers lose access to important people. “My natural inclination is to say, ‘Go fuck yourself,’” Saagar explains. He didn’t that time, but, adding that he’s talking not about Maxine Waters but her “chickenshit chief of staff,” he doesn’t have to hold back anymore, because he’s “not off the record anymore, bitch.”After a groundbreaking and enormously successful run at The Hill, Krystal and Saagar have followed the iconic path of a certain former rock music podcast, going solo by launching a subscriber-supported show called Breaking Point that debuts next week. The longtime friends-of-show are true pioneers in the modern media age. At a time when virtually every other political discussion show is aimed exclusively at one political demographic or another, their Rising program represented literally the only mainstream effort to speak to all of America.Their core concept, which roughly speaking featured a conservative (Enjeti) and a liberal (Ball) discussing politics in a non-combative fashion, was shockingly successful. In addition to putting out a hit book, The Populist's Guide to 2020: A New Right and New Left are Rising, Krystal and Saagar consistently cranked out huge numbers — in their last month at The Hill, they outpaced CNN programming in terms of viewers.And yet, their insistence on retaining editorial independence resulted in parting on awkward terms with their former employers. We had a great talk with them both, not just about their new show, but about the irrationality of mainstream media business, and the weirdly petty ending with The Hill. Krystal, for instance, described The Hill’s weird fatwa on all collaborators with her own podcast with Kyle Kulinski, Krystal, Kyle & Friends — including Kulinski himself. Kulinski was a consistently strong guest for Rising, and helped the show especially in its early stages. “He always would deliver numbers,” Krystal said. “But once I started doing the podcast with Kyle, he was banned from appearing on Rising.” The Hill even placed a de facto ban on Katie, a regular Rising guest, appearing on Krystal, Kyle & Friends. This is just the beginning of a long and candid discussion of the looniness of the modern media business with two of its more successful innovators. That, plus a colorful talk about Barack Obama’s late-night droning habits, flag-stealing Republicans, and the brilliance of scientists who are able to secure funding to shoot debatably cute micro-animals into piles of sand. All this and more, on this week’s free edition of Useful Idiots. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.usefulidiotspodcast.com/subscribe

After a groundbreaking and enormously successful run at The Hill, Krystal and Saagar have followed the iconic path of a certain former rock music podcast, going solo by launching a subscriber-supported show called Breaking Point that debuts next week.The longtime friends-of-show are true pioneers in the modern media age. At a time when virtually every other political discussion show is aimed exclusively at one political demographic or another, their Rising program represented literally the only mainstream effort to speak to all of America.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.usefulidiotspodcast.com/subscribe

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.usefulidiotspodcast.com/subscribe

Click here for the extended interview.We had to speak with guest Aaron Maté of The Grayzone via Skype, because other platforms wouldn’t service his location — he was calling in from the capital city of our sanctioned enemy, Syria. What, you might ask, was Aaron Maté doing in Syria? “I thought you guys weren’t supposed to talk about my real mission here,” he said, “which was to negotiate a co-host position for Useful Idiots for Bashar al-Assad.”Put that in your conspiratorial pipe and smoke it, Oz Katerji! Our dream of making dictatorial podcast history lives! The last remaining stumbling block in negotiations — Assad is represented by William Morris, while Katie and I have different representation — is a trifle. This is gonna happen, haters. Followers of Useful Idiots know that one of the original conceits of the show was that Katie and I would provide a forum for people shut out or shut down by the mainstream press. The very title, Useful Idiots, was a reference to the hot establishment insult of the time, deployed against those deemed unwitting “assets” of Vladimir Putin. Our very first guest, then-presidential candidate Tulsi Gabbard, was perhaps the most prominent American to be denounced as a “Useful Idiot.” Many other friends-of-show, from Glenn Greenwald to Chris Hedges, have worn the designation. Perhaps no other figure in media, however, more perfectly represents the profile of the Useful Idiots guest than Aaron Maté. Known from his on-air work at Democracy Now! and from his writings at places like The Nation, the veteran journalist was one of the first to feel the effects of the point-and-shriek mania directed toward “Russiagate Denialists.” In the past years he’s probably done more than any one reporter to debunk Russiagate myths, and his most potent weapon has been doing the journalistic basics — reading public documents, and calling for comment. In recent weeks, Aaron pulled off one of his biggest coups on that score, interviewing the current lynchpin of the Russiagate conspiracy theory, Konstantin Kilimnik. For those not familiar with the case, Kiliminik is a Russian citizen, living in Moscow, who was the focus of a recent Treasury Department statement accusing him of having “provided the Russian Intelligence Services with sensitive information on polling and campaign strategy” while working with the Trump campaign. “Boom!” says Aaron, imitating Russiagaters. “Now we have our smoking gun.”The humorous thing about this story is that, despite the supposed centrality of Kilimnik to the collusion theory, no American official ever interviewed him. Aaron did, and the contents of that interview raise a host of questions about the Trump-Russia collusion case. He describes that explosive interview in this episode.Meanwhile, we go through the Four Food Groups, discuss the Democrats’ immigration policy and Marjorie Taylor Greene’s conception of second-class citizenship, and wonder why there was never a rock band called Michelle Bachmann Turner Overdrive. All this, and more, on this week’s Useful Idiots. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.usefulidiotspodcast.com/subscribe

Human rights lawyer Steven Donziger has been trapped in his apartment for two years without a fair trial. Hear his story.Plus: Biden and Republicans kill journalists while the Queen kills her dogSubscribe at usefulidiots.substack.comLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.usefulidiotspodcast.com/subscribe

Steven Donziger helped win an $18 billion settlement on behalf of 30,000 Amazonian Indigenous people who were exposed to toxic waste from Chevron’s oil drilling in Ecuador. The company waged a legal campaign against him and when he refused to turn over his computer and cellphone, he was accused of contempt of court. Although not convicted, he has been under house arrest for over 650 days. Federal prosecutors declined to prosecute him so the judge, who is a member of the Right Wing Federalist Society, appointed a private law firm with ties to Chevron to do it. Donziger talks to us... from his house, obviously, about the “parade of horrors,” what makes the case unprecedented, why he remains hopeful and what people can do https://www.donzigerdefense.com/. Plus Joe Biden jokes about running over reporters, mispronounces a congress woman’s name and Gwyneth Paltrow’s vagina candle turns into an inferno. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.usefulidiotspodcast.com/subscribe

Longtime friend-of-show Abby Martin, maker of the remarkable documentary Gaza Fights for Freedom, drops in for a Zoom chat to discuss the outbreak of hostilities in Israel.Subscribe at usefulidiots.substack.comLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.usefulidiotspodcast.com/subscribe

Click here for the extended interview.Longtime friend-of-show Abby Martin, maker of the remarkable documentary Gaza Fights for Freedom, drops in for a Zoom chat to discuss the outbreak of hostilities in Israel. Included also in this week’s free episode of Useful Idiots:— In “Democrats Suck,” Matt excitedly discusses a story about the Biden administration teaming with private entities to circumvent prohibitions on illegal surveillance, not realizing that no one cares about this nearly as much as he does;— For “Republicans Suck,” Katie denounces the Liz Cheney story, but goes counter-intuitive: “The Republicans who don’t want her to lose her power, they suck,” she says, adding, “How’s that for a curveball?” The point being that Liz Cheney actually sort of sucks a lot and isn’t any kind of icon of awesomeness. Also, Katie works in a Bernie impression that makes powerful use of a James Adomian cadence technique;— “Would you rather eat shit, or necrophile?” is a series of words that had never been written or spoken before in sentence form, at least not that Google could find. Those days are over, though, as we debate which is worse, eating French Fries made of human waste or having sex with a dead person. That conversation went about as expected, but it did take an interesting turn as we stopped to consider: is having sex with dead Henry Kissinger more repugnant than sex with the living version? — A man fires a .50 caliber rifle in his backyard, things go bad, he makes a proud explanatory video, and lulz ensue;— A 13-year-old cheerleader was stabbed a “horrific” number of times by Omar Sharif, and Katie makes sure the tragedy did not happen in vain;— Israel bombs residential buildings in Gaza, and the hosts, and guest Abby Martin, haggle over the relative horribleness of Andrew Yangs tweet responses. Also, we seriously discuss America’s longstanding and apparently unshakeable support of the occupation.All this, and more, on this week’s Useful Idiots. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.usefulidiotspodcast.com/subscribe

Also, we semi mis-predict a patent waiver outcome, discuss a sex work ruling, and relive a beaver attackSubscribe at usefulidiots.substack.comLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.usefulidiotspodcast.com/subscribe

Click here for the extended interview.Useful Idiots returns with friend-of-show and the great not-fully-canceled political author of our time, Thomas Frank. The author of books like Listen, Liberal and The People, No and What’s the Matter With Kansas in this episode had occasion to draw on the experience of one of his other words, The Conquest of Cool. The discussion started with the viral sensation of the week, the so-called “Woke CIA ad,” which featured a 36-year-old self-described “cisgender millennial who has been diagnosed with generalized anxiety disorder” who is “intersectional” and wants you to join the drone-and-snoop crew at Langley. The CIA’s new mascot even worse a t-shirt with a raised fist, echoing Bob Beamon at the 1968 Olympics — joining the secret services is now an act of countercultural defiance. Reactions to the ad have been hilarious in all directions, especially from self-serious media organizations who appeared wounded by the Internet’s swift collective ridicule of its tone (The Intercept even published a piece called, “Woke” CIA Ad Is No Reason to Throw Out the Language of Liberation). To Katie and me, it was funny first and foremost, but Tom saw in it a repeat of corporate America’s re-framing of the image of capitalism in the eighties and nineties. By marketing consumerism as a defiant, anti-conformist mode of personal expression, capitalist America surfed on the insouciance and cool of sixties liberation movements rather than being made the victim of them. The “woke” CIA seems absurd on its face, but it’s the same kind of rebrand, with the agency responsible for droning, torture, and mass surveillance rebooting as an employer willing to speak the “Language of Liberation.” Moreover, it’s one more step in the overhaul of the meaning of “liberalism” that seems destined, as Tom says, to leave even him without a party, sooner or later. Plus, as Katie predicted, Useful Idiots was able to convince Biden to take a step in the right direction by granting *a* waiver but not *the* waiver. Stand by for our extended conversation with Thomas, which includes a COVID-19 retrospective. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.usefulidiotspodcast.com/subscribe

Friend-of-show Dr. Cornel West has been in the news a lot of late, and not always in a happy way. At the end of February, the brilliant professor of Philosophy, Divinity, and African-American studies announced he was leaving his longtime employers at Harvard University, and moving back to Union Theological Seminary, where he began his teaching career back in 1977. Harvard denied his request to be considered for tenure, apparently for political reasons.On Useful Idiots, West talked about the likely reasons behind Harvard’s decision (outspokenness on Palestine?), Joe Biden’s first 100 days, and the influence of his late mother Irene B. West.Also: Katie and I debate how many Secret Service agents it takes to get Mike Pence up a ski hill, we denounce the deeply unfunny campaign against the #YangGang, and we give detailed reviews of all of the movies nominated for Best Picture from this year’s Academy Awards ceremony (without seeing them of course). Is Nomadland a space adventure? Is Mank a misspelled fur-bearing animal? What’s the over/under on debilitating-disease themes for next year’s Oscars?We explore all these important questions, and more, on this week’s Useful Idiots.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.usefulidiotspodcast.com/subscribe

Click here for the extended interview.Friend-of-show Dr. Cornel West has been in the news a lot of late, and not always in a happy way. At the end of February, the brilliant professor of Philosophy, Divinity, and African-American studies announced he was leaving his longtime employers at Harvard University, and moving back to Union Theological Seminary, where he began his teaching career back in 1977. Harvard denied his request to be considered for tenure, apparently for political reasons.On Useful Idiots, West talked about the likely reasons behind Harvard’s decision (outspokenness on Palestine?), Joe Biden’s first 100 days, and the influence of his late mother Irene B. West.Also: Katie and I debate how many Secret Service agents it takes to get Mike Pence up a ski hill, we denounce the deeply unfunny campaign against the #YangGang, and we give detailed reviews of all of the movies nominated for Best Picture from this year’s Academy Awards ceremony (without seeing them of course). Is Nomadland a space adventure? Is Mank a misspelled fur-bearing animal? What’s the over/under on debilitating-disease themes for next year’s Oscars? We explore all these important questions, and more, on this week’s Useful Idiots. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.usefulidiotspodcast.com/subscribe

David Sirota of The Daily Poster weighs in on SALT deductions, Biden's presidency, and the future of journalism.Subscribe at usefulidiots.substack.comLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.usefulidiotspodcast.com/subscribe

Click here for the extended interview.The “Useful Idiots bump” strikes again. Over the weekend, the New York Times editorial board ran the following headline:Why Are Democrats Pushing a Tax Cut for the Wealthy?In the piece, the Times railed against the actions of congressional Democrats, particularly from the tri-state delegation, who have been pushing for a repeal of the $10,000 cap on State And Local Taxes, a.k.a. SALT. In a fit of pique, Donald Trump pushed through the cap in 2017 in an open effort to hurt blue states — one of his economic advisers called the plan “Death to Democrats”. Nasty partisan reasoning aside, the tax break Trump cut down on was and is mainly for people at the top of the tax bracket. So why have Democrats been trying to repeal it for years? “Mean-spirited motivation,” said Useful Idiots guest David Sirota of Substack’s Daily Poster, “but actually, the one piece of [Trump’s] tax bill that was actually really progressive.”Sirota had been one of the only people in the press to push the issue; once he joined our show to talk about it, he clearly pushed the establishment heavies at the Times to change their stance. Sirota talked with Useful Idiots hosts about the bizarre history of the SALT cap and the ugly giveaway fact that Democrats aren’t even seeking to raise the cap, but demanding a full repeal. “That’s the tell that this is about helping the really rich,” Sirota said.If you’re wondering how the Times got the UI bump from an interview released today, just trust us — we recorded last week. In fact, we also recorded the interview before the Times announced it was launching a new product it hopes will compete with Substack, whose success is another topic we discuss with David on the show. Useful Idiots: we change the future! All that, plus an assessment on how Biden is doing and other news, in this free interview. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.usefulidiotspodcast.com/subscribe

A nation is gripped by a police-abuse trial, and Republicans and Democrats both find a way to suck about itSubscribe at usefulidiots.substack.comLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.usefulidiotspodcast.com/subscribe

What separates the human being from the lower animals? Language? Morality? Comfortable shoes?None of the above, says Live Science. The real differentiator, they say, is what lay beneath, explaining in a classic headline about comb jellies that became fodder for this week’s “Isn’t that weird?”:YOUR MOST DISTANT COUSIN DOESN’T EVEN HAVE AN ANUSAs it turns out, the primitive jellyfish-like creatures have inspired a whole literature of anus headlines. “Animal with an anus that comes and goes could reveal how ours evolved,” wrote New Scientist a few years back. “An animal has been discovered with a 'transient anus' that only appears when it is needed,” was the take from Insider. “Meet the sea creature with an anus that disappears when not in use,” added the CBC. In this episode, Katie and I review the comb jelly coverage, while also debating our favorite songs by the great eighties pop band, Simple Anus. Also, Katie explains the history of a “sponge the size of a minivan” found north of the Hawaiian Islands, we very briefly discuss a country that apparently disappeared after a volcano “unleashed ash” (say that five times fast) on it, and we continue pushing our self-referential joke involving the Vanguard podcast well past the point of being funny. All that, plus news, commentary, awkward silences and more, on this week’s Useful Idiots. Check in to this space for additional content, including interviews with two guests, in the upcoming days. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.usefulidiotspodcast.com/subscribe

Click here for the extended interview.“We were on Useful Idiots, bro,” said Gavin, co-host of the Vanguard podcast.“Bro, that was fucking crazy!” said Zac, his other half. “This was super trippy, guys,” agreed Gavin. “They were reacting to us reacting to them.”Now, in the next episode of Useful Idiots, we react to them reacting to us reacting to them, resulting in the following visual:The plan is to keep doing this until the center of the screen folds in on itself and we start moving backward in time. It’s not the best joke in the world, but as William Blake once said, “If the fool would persist in his folly he would become wise.”Also this episode, we interview 2020 presidential candidate Marianne Williamson, who tells a great behind-the-scenes story about interacting with Bernie Sanders during that run, and also explains her regrets about how she responded to attacks on her by fellow Democrats and their allies in media. Marianne had some friends who’d urged her to look at it as a fighter or an athlete might: get up and knock them all out. “I needed more people to say ‘Get up and get out there and fight,’” she said. “So much of my life had been about being gentler.” All that, plus her thoughts on the future of the Democratic Party, Yemen, her progressive candidates summit and more, during this episode of Useful Idiots. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.usefulidiotspodcast.com/subscribe

Talking with the former presidential candidate about the progressive candidate summit, smears, and "liberal bullshit."Subscribe at usefulidiots.substack.com to hear the extended interview with Marianne WilliamsoLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.usefulidiotspodcast.com/subscribe

Click here for the extended interview“Like who the fuck is reading anything from Rolling Stone now?” asked Zac and Gavin, hosts of the Vanguard podcast, when pondering our mysterious — and completely unjust — firing at the hands of the iconic music magazine. Katie and I would like to know the same thing. And, Zac and Gavin? We’re with you. None of it makes any sense to us, either. “I just think it’s crazy that you as a company would have Matt Taibbi and Katie Halper in to do a podcast, and then a year in, it’s like, ‘Oh, they said something controversial!’” said Gavin, shaking his head. “Cause they already have that centrist bloc down. It’s like, anyone who goes to Rolling Stone for their news, they’re probably not a firebrand fuckin’ progressive.”He went on. “I’m not gonna listen to Useful Idiots if it’s hosted by Ezra Klein, and Samantha Bee, or whatever the fuck.”“Fuck Rolling Stone, basically,” added Zac.Frankly, even if Rolling Stone tried to hire us back, we’d say no. We’re happy here at Substack. But with the help of shows like Vanguard, we’d like to build a groundswell of support, and make them beg. And this time, as Katie points out, we’ll go in “guns blazing,” and accept the job “on our terms.” It’s no secret that part of the reason we left was that the magazine shut down our plans to bring in Bashar al-Assad as a third host, and that was when he was willing to work for free. Well, screw that. In order to even consider coming back, we not only want Assad, we want him at cost, plus one more full-time, adult salary. What do we need that for? Listen to the episode above and, as the flag on Gavin’s wall says:Oh, and also: we interview some guy named Noam Chomsky (extended interview coming next week), and scrutinize the thrilling PBS interview of former al-Nusra/al-Qaeda leader-turned-very-handsome-man Abu Mohammed al-Jolani. Katie taps her beard-crit background, while we both investigate the two most important questions of our time: which four goateed male celebrities combined look like one PBS interviewer Martin Smith, and why do I keep thinking Smith is British?All that, and more, in this week’s free episode of Useful Idiots. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.usefulidiotspodcast.com/subscribe

We interview some guy named Noam Chomsky (extended interview coming next week), get to the bottom of why we broke up with Rolling Stone, and scrutinize the thrilling PBS interview of former al-Nusra/al-Qaeda leader-turned-very-handsome-man Abu Mohammed al-Jolani. Katie taps her beard-crit background, while we both investigate the two most important questions of our time: which four goateed male celebrities combined look like one PBS interviewer Martin Smith, and why do I keep thinking Smith is British?Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.usefulidiotspodcast.com/subscribe

[This interview was recorded before the Governor of Arkansas Vetoed the anti-transgender health care bill].] The Arkansas Senate just passed a bill with a title straight out of dystopian fiction: the Arkansas Save Adolescents from Experimentation Act, or SAFE. Roundly denounced as the most extreme law of its type ever passed, the bill is one of about two dozen laws aimed at trans care currently being considered at the state level. To find out what’s actually in these bills, we spoke with Dr. Erica Anderson, a trans clinician and psychology professor from the University of California, San Francisco.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.usefulidiotspodcast.com/subscribe

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.usefulidiotspodcast.com/subscribe

In this Useful Idiots interview, Matt Stoller walks us through some of the myths about big tech. Many members of Congress seem to believe the firms don’t intervene enough; Stoller explains that their massive existing levels of intervention are the problem, that the financial incentives of what he calls “surveillance advertising” move firms like Facebook to push users in the direction of ever more enraging, divisive, and conspiratorial content. Plus Matt (Taibbi) and Katie talk about Ted Cruz, Woke-washing and penis mishaps.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.usefulidiotspodcast.com/subscribe

The House Energy and Commerce Committee held hearings with the CEOs of Facebook, Google, and Twitter this week, the latest in a long series of efforts by Congress to demand “accountability” for fake news, hate speech, and foreign propaganda. “The time for self-regulation is over. It’s time we legislate to hold you accountable,” said Rep. Frank Pallone of New Jersey, the committee’s chairman. As one member after another stood up and demanded that the executives clamp down on harmful content, Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg, Google’s Sundar Pichai, and Twitter’s Jack Dorsey pushed back, a little. “I don’t think we should be the arbiters of truth,” said Dorsey, “and I don’t think the government should be either.”With those hearings on the way, we invited Matt Stoller, Director of Research at the American Economic Liberties Project, to talk about the issues surrounding speech and tech monopolies. While there’s a rising sentiment among Democratic legislators like Pallone and new New Economic Council appointee Timothy Wu for a re-think of the First Amendment that would enlist tech monopolies as partners in speech control, Stoller outlined a different strategy, based on altering the financial model of these firms. “The question that we have to ask is not whether you should block crazy people from saying things,” Stoller told us. “The question, though, isn't whether Alex Jones should have a platform. The question is, should YouTube have recommended Alex Jones 15 billion times through its algorithms so that YouTube could make money selling ads?”In this Useful Idiots interview, Stoller walks us through some of the myths about big tech. Many members of Congress seem to believe the firms don’t intervene enough; Stoller explains that their massive existing levels of intervention are the problem, that the financial incentives of what he calls “surveillance advertising” move firms like Facebook to push users in the direction of ever more enraging, divisive, and conspiratorial content. “It's like if you were in a bar, and there was a guy in the corner that was constantly egging people onto getting into fights, and he got paid whenever somebody got into a fight, Stoller said. “That's the business model here.”Check out the video and audio above for more from Matt, as well as for the four food groups, which include: the “Wokewash of the week,” Ted Cruz’s hilarious use of the word “cynical,” and two horrifying penis-mishap stories, including an amazing re-enactment with a doorknob hole, and a lawsuit filed by a man who just can’t hold it anymore. Watch this space and your RSS feed for more content in the upcoming days! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.usefulidiotspodcast.com/subscribe

Jesse Singal and Katie Herzog, co-hosts of the podcast Blocked And Reported, join Useful Idiots to talk about the failed campaign to get Singal driven off of Substack and what, according to Herzog, some of Singal's most vocal critics have in common with QAnon. They also talk about how they met and why they started their podcast and how they're not exactly canceled. Singal discusses his new book "Quick Fix," about the dangers of fad psychology. And Matt and Katie discuss the indefensible hoarding of vaccine, and debate the important question: can robbing blind people ever be funny? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.usefulidiotspodcast.com/subscribe

We spoke to legendary Pentagon Papers whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg about the nuclear threat nobody is talking about, the end of the world and how he, despite all that, stays hopeful. But before diving in with Ellsberg, Matt and Katie talk about, of course, Dems sucking, Republicans sucking, things being weird and terrible and even bring you a stoned moment. Stand by for the youtube episode. And, dear paying subscribers, stand by for the paywalled video and audio sections dropping soon where we talk to Ellsberg about the way he’s been cynically rehabilitated by his critics as a “good whistleblower” in order to present Snowden, Assange, and Manning as bad ones. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.usefulidiotspodcast.com/subscribe

Useful Idiots, the podcast Matt Taibbi and Katie Halper started in the summer of 2019 at Rolling Stone, is moving. After eighty episodes that included interviews with the likes of Tulsi Gabbard (our first guest), Roger Waters, Andrew Yang, Erin Brockovich, Michael K. Williams, Noam Chomsky, Marianne Williamson, Adam McKay, Bernie Sanders, Nadya Tolkonnikova of Pussy Riot, Tim Robbins, Adolph Reed, Chris Hedges, and many others, the show that was created with the idea of being a home for voices shut out or shouted down in traditional media outlets is moving, appropriately, to Substack.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.usefulidiotspodcast.com/subscribe

This was a crazy one, even by Internet standards. As if it weren’t enough that reporters and editors are being purged at mainstream news organizations all over the world, from the New York Times to the Guardian to Teen Vogue, a new campaign has begun targeting writers already shunned by the regular press, working as independent contractors at Substack.Last week, a series of articles and Tweets, including a much-circulated piece by Jude Ellison Sady Doyle called “In Queers We Trust: All Others Pay Cash,” targeted this platform, home to thousands of writers covering a huge variety of subjects, as a purveyor of bigotry and hate speech. Doyle called Substack a perfect example of how “patriarchy and capitalism function together,” among other things because it publishes… Jesse Singal, a soft-spoken Brooklyn-based writer who would probably win an inoffensiveness contest with a “Hang In There, Baby!” poster.Singal and his co-host, Katie Herzog have nonetheless long been bêtes noires to the American left, for the crime of covering taboo gender controversies like detransitioners (people who have transitioned to one gender and then later transitioned back) the wrongful termination case of Canadian sex researcher Kenneth Zucker (despised by the trans community), and “desistance” (ostensibly, young people who stop experiencing gender dysphoria). Not liking their reporting is one thing. Doyle went further and called Singal a “high-profile supporter of anti-trans conversion therapy who is also widely known to fixate on and stalk trans women in and around the media industry.” The stalking and “conversion therapy” accusations were gobbled up by a sizable portion of professional media figures, who seemed untroubled by the total absence of evidence for such claims. “Nobody can even name a victim,” says Herzog. “It’s fucking QAnon!”As far as Singal is concerned, the crazy episode wasn’t all bad, unmasking as it did an increasingly common sentiment across the media business. “Even Jesse Singal, center-left shit-lib-ism,” he said, “is apparently too far to the right for these people.” Ultimately, Doyle threatened to leave Substack unless the platform dropped Singal, which triggered a massive Internet fracas involving high-profile journalists on both sides. Free-speech advocates rallied behind Singal in an episode with Je Suis Jesse overtones, while backers of Doyle doubled and tripled down on invective geared toward Singal as the root of all evil in the universe.Herzog, who’s had her own run-ins with many of the same critics, rushed to her co-host’s defense, and though Substack ultimately did the right thing and refused to give in to demands that Singal be ditched, it was a bizarre example of just how weird and unfriendly the news business has become in recent years. Since Useful Idiots is all about making sure the targets of moral manias have a chance to tell their side of a story, we were glad to have both Jesse and Katie on for what turned out to be a fascinating discussion in this week’s episode. We’ve reproduced the bulk of it here, with more to come in a bit, along with a series of other segments geared more toward other issues in the news of late. Also: Singal discusses his new book Quick Fix, about the dangers of fad psychology, while Katie and I talk about the Sovietization of media, the Biden administration’s indefensible hoarding of vaccine, and debate the important question: can robbing blind people ever be funny? This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.usefulidiotspodcast.com/subscribe

Here is our first truly independent podcast episode of Useful Idiots! [It is audio only and video will be released Tuesday.] We spoke to legendary Pentagon Papers whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg about the nuclear threat nobody is talking about, the end of the world and how he, despite all that, stays hopeful. But before diving in with Ellsberg, Matt and Katie talk about, of course, Dems sucking, Republicans sucking, things being weird and terrible and even bring you a stoned moment. Stand by for the youtube episode. And, dear paying subscribers, stand by for the paywalled video and audio sections dropping soon where we talk to Ellsberg about the way he’s been cynically rehabilitated by his critics as a “good whistleblower” in order to present Snowden, Assange, and Manning as bad ones. You will be able to find us on RSS feeds soon. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.usefulidiotspodcast.com/subscribe

We will be dropping our first Useful Idiots UNCHAINED episode with Daniel Ellsberg shortly. Here’s an audio trailer so it gets into the Apple Podcast pipeline, which is something we barely understand. Enjoy. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.usefulidiotspodcast.com/subscribe

Stella Moris, lawyer and life partner of Julian Assange, joins the show to discuss the current status of Assange's case and it’s implications for global journalism. Hosts Matt Taibbi and Katie Halper discuss arguments for and against independent journalism outlet Substack.Merch link: https://teespring.com/stores/useful-idiotsLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.usefulidiotspodcast.com/subscribe

Shahid Buttar joins the show to discuss Democrats, Fox News, and free speech. Hosts Matt Taibbi and Katie Halper discuss Tennessee GOP efforts to prohibit kneeling during college sports national anthems.Merch link: https://teespring.com/stores/useful-idiotsLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.usefulidiotspodcast.com/subscribe

Journalist Aaron Maté joins the show to talk about the start of Biden's foreign policy, and his reporting on Syria and the OPCWMerch Link: https://bit.ly/3uiFz4DLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.usefulidiotspodcast.com/subscribe

Glenn Greenwald rejoins the show to discuss recent journalism news, content moderation, and more on GameStop/Wall Street. Hosts Katie Halper and Matt Taibbi trade off takes related to the contentious confirmation hearing of Neera Tanden.Merch Link: https://teespring.com/stores/useful-idiotsLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.usefulidiotspodcast.com/subscribe

Congressman Ro Khanna makes another appearance to discuss the state of Covid relief, his experience during the January 6 riot and more. Hosts Katie Halper and Matt Taibbi discuss other recent news, including an inspired metaphor from Thomas Friedman on the Gamestop story.Merch Link: https://teespring.com/stores/useful-idiotsLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.usefulidiotspodcast.com/subscribe

David Dayen joins hosts Matt Taibbi and Katie Halper to break down the GameStop/Wall Street Story. They also discuss the early days of Biden's presidency, and the moves that are available to him with his new authority.Merch Link: https://teespring.com/stores/useful-idiotsLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.usefulidiotspodcast.com/subscribe

Thomas Frank joins hosts Matt Taibbi and Katie Halper in this special post-inauguration episode, looking ahead to the Biden era, and how the media can transition from Trump.Merch Link: https://teespring.com/stores/useful-idiotsLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.usefulidiotspodcast.com/subscribe

Matt and Katie talk about the fallout from the storming of the capitol. Andre Damon of the World Socialist Web Site discusses how censorship has affected political opposition from the left.Merch Link: https://teespring.com/stores/useful-idiotsLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.usefulidiotspodcast.com/subscribe

Disclaimer: this episode was taped early Wednesday, before the events at the Capitol. Investigative reporter Stefania Maurizi joins the show to give an update on the Julian Assange case. Hosts Katie Halper and Matt Taibbi discuss the reconfirmation of Nancy Pelosi as Speaker of the House.Merch Link: https://teespring.com/stores/useful-idiotsLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.usefulidiotspodcast.com/subscribe

Matt and Katie discuss the latest on the debate over Covid stimulus negotiations, NYU professor Mark Crispin Miller talks academic freedom.Merch Link: https://teespring.com/stores/useful-idiotsLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.usefulidiotspodcast.com/subscribe

Vice writer Edward Ongweso Jr joins the show to discuss surveillance by tech companies, Biden's 'Biracial Commercial' thoughts, the DOJ's antitrust lawsuit against Google, and more. Matt breaks down a recent piece from his substack, 'TK Media,' about the flailing efforts by democrats to pass the Covid relief package.Merch Link: https://teespring.com/stores/useful-idiotsLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.usefulidiotspodcast.com/subscribe

Matt Christman joins the show to talk modern political identity in America and 'Chapo Trap House.' Katie and Matt watch a clip from MSNBC ridiculing him for his record of passing legislation that he's writtenMerch Link: https://teespring.com/stores/useful-idiotsLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.usefulidiotspodcast.com/subscribe

Erin Brockovich joins hosts Matt Taibbi and Katie Halper to discuss her recent book on the U.S. water crisis, Biden's EPA transition pick, Michael McCabe, and how to effectively fight against corporations who pollute.Merch link: https://teespring.com/stores/useful-idiotsLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.usefulidiotspodcast.com/subscribe

Ryan McMahon and Jon Thompson join the show to talk about their excellent podcast Thunder Bay. Katie reads a couple passages from former president Barack Obama's recent memoir 'A Promised Land.'Merch Link: https://teespring.com/stores/useful-idiotsLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.usefulidiotspodcast.com/subscribe

Legendary rock musician Roger Waters joins the show for a wide-ranging conversation on U.S. foreign policy, what happens after Trump, Julian Assange and more.Merch Link: https://teespring.com/stores/useful-idiotsLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.usefulidiotspodcast.com/subscribe