A bridge-burning interaction with a former mentor leads to this week's topic: social media alcoholism. Are Extremely Online people so addicted to fighting and feuding on social media that they lash out even worse when their opponent tries to back off? Is humanity simply turning into phone-obsessed bugs prompted only by signals? Does Isaac look constipated in his headshot or does everyone actually love it?
PLUS: More listener email, Howard Schultz is annoying, and how The Daily Show is responsible for modern day "you got owned!" culture.
Charles's controversial Apple bit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PFLJ4YTh73I
Senator Amy Klobuchar is the chief topic of this week's Klobu-chat! The good Senator from Minnesota was the subject of a recent NYT profile (https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/22/us/politics/amy-klobuchar-staff.html) which listed a number of horror stories about Klobuchar's management style. Charles and Isaac examine the comb salad story, what makes an evil boss vs. a merely bad one, and whether women managers have an easier time being bad than men.
Also discussed: Andrew Yang, the crime of insurmountable student debt, and whether we will ever have a weirdly-named President.
An email from a "fan" prompts a discussion about the purpose of the show. PLUS: even more gay talk, the value of Alex Jones, and our very first negative iTunes review!
A certain someone is ill so this week's episode features three unreleased clips from the past!
1: Isaac and Charles talk about knowing and not knowing what women want, the friendzone, and more!
2: The show is joined by Adam Tod Brown and Dan D'Aprile to discuss Bears Ears and the federalization of land.
3: The infamous "Pets" episode featuring Chris Callahan and Rachel Louie that takes a turn into a conversation on trans rights that is naturally very well-informed.
A final statement on the question of whether the show is too gay. Featuring guest commentary by Adam Tod Brown (Unpops.com)
Podcast King Adam Tod Brown from Unpopular Opinion (Unpops.com) is this week's guest! Isaac and Adam have some bad blood stemming from a Twitter spat over the MAGA Bomber, and Charles is quick to exploit this tension, resulting in an hour of heated arguing between Adam and Isaac about conspiracy theories, nationalism, immigration, the purpose of Trumpism, and more!
Not a Huge Fan fan Mike Nieman joins the show to provide live feedback on the strengths and weaknesses of the podcast. Unfortunately this goes awry as Mike is incapable of speaking into a microphone and Isaac quickly throws him under the bus. Some expressed concerns: the show is too gay and doesn't talk enough about serious issues.
Also discussed: why Isaac has an adenoidal voice, how some of Charles's coworkers depress him on the idea of modern masculinity, and whether Isaac and Mike are uncomfortable with effeminate men.
An attempted discussion of the shutdown quickly goes off the rails as crazed nationalist Isaac goes at it with globalist cuck Charles over Trump's wall plan! Also joining the show is microphone-avoider Mike Nieman. Marvel as men with a shallow grasp of the issues attempt to argue their way into dominance!
Friend of the show Mike Nieman joins Isaac and Charles for the state-mandated discussion of the MAGA Teen/Native American drummer confrontation. Nobody understands why everybody cared so much about this encounter. Are we doomed to years of everything getting Rashomoned to death?
Also discussed: whether Charles is an impossibly difficult person, Isaac's infamous Robin Williams post, and the importance of keeping a list of enemies.
Mattio Martinez returns to talk with Charles and Isaac about the "imperial phase:" the segment of certain artists's careers when they are at their critical, commercial, and cultural peak. More interestingly, the show focuses on the post-imperial phase, where the artist feels most free to create but almost always ends up making something weird.
Examples cited: Garth Brooks' alter ego Chris Gaines, the films of Steven Spielberg from AI onwards, and whether Kanye has exited his imperial phase.
Also discussed: Mattio's drag experience and his distaste for Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
Articles:
Wikipedia on the imperial phase - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imperial_phase
FT on the end of incrementalism - https://www.ft.com/content/12ab216c-1587-11e9-a581-4ff78404524e
