Culturally Determined

Stephen talks about his new book, "On Writing and Failure." Aryeh and Stephen discuss morality and art, Canadian vs. American literary culture, the link between writing and mental illness, and more.Recorded February 22, 2023LINKSStephen's new book, "On Writing and Failure: Or, On the Peculiar Perseverance Required to Endure the Life of a Writer"https://www.amazon.com/Failure-Field-Notes-Stephen-Marche/dp/1771965169Wikipedia on Fitz-Greene Halleckhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fitz-Greene_HalleckMiles Klee's profile of @Catturd2 https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-features/catturd2-maga-twitter-shitposting-king-1234674671/Stephen's essay, "On One of the Most Influential Essays of the 21st Century: Of Snark and Smarm"https://lithub.com/on-one-of-the-most-influential-essays-of-the-21st-century-of-snark-and-smarm/Follow @StephenMarcheFollow @AryehCW

A kooky tweet from Rebekah Jones, the Florida Covid whistleblower who might not actually be a whistleblower, inspires Aryeh and Nick to debate whether the left has a grifter problem, the morality of Al Sharpton, whether liberals willfully misunderstand the right, Joe Biden's tall tales, and more!Recorded February 15, 2023LINKSNick's tweet that launched the debatehttps://twitter.com/NickClairmont1/status/1622970758136999936Charles C.W. Cooke on Rebekah Joneshttps://www.nationalreview.com/2021/05/rebekah-jones-the-covid-whistleblower-who-wasnt/Nick's 2017 Atlantic piece on populist trade policyhttps://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2017/04/buy-american-trump/523584/Glenn Loury and John McWhorter on Al Sharptonhttps://bloggingheads.tv/videos/30689?in=07:43Sean Campbell in New York Magazine on Black Lives Matterhttps://nymag.com/intelligencer/2022/04/black-lives-matter-6-million-dollar-house.htmlRick Perlstein's 2012 piece, "The Long Con"https://thebaffler.com/salvos/the-long-conSteve Stewart-Williams on disliking political opponents for views that most don't actually holdhttps://mobile.twitter.com/SteveStuWill/status/1618738446360776705Follow @NickClairmont1Follow @AryehCW

Aryeh speaks with his cousin Ora Peled Nakash about the growing Israeli protest movement, which was sparked by Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu's move to limit the independence of Israel's judicial system. Ora explains why she was personally motivated to join the protests and to give a speech at the first large rally in Tel Aviv. They discuss how Israeli politics reached this perilous point, the many reasons why Netanyahu wants to disempower the Supreme Court, and how these efforts could damage Israel's tech industry—or even lead to a global crisis. Recorded February 3, 2023LINKSEnglish translation of Ora's speech at the January Tel Aviv protesthttps://drive.google.com/file/d/1F3CRZ7IX-AFkAZ6i3SBzTK-IpuSgMAaw/view?usp=sharingThe Times of Israelhttps://www.timesofisrael.com/Follow @OraPeledNFollow @aryehcw

Raina Lipsitz discusses her new book, "The Rise of a New Left: How Young Radicals Are Shaping the Future of American Politics." Are charismatic figures like AOC and Bernie responsible for the resurgence of socialism in the US? Or did structural/economic forces make a left revival inevitable? What lessons have organizers learned from the failures of past generations? Is "defund the police" a good policy? Plus: How do leftists evaluate President Biden's first two years in office? Recorded January 26, 2023LINKSRaina's book, "The Rise of a New Left: How Young Radicals Are Shaping the Future of American Politics"https://www.versobooks.com/books/3979-the-rise-of-a-new-leftRaina's websitehttps://rainalipsitz.com/Follow @rainalipsFollow @aryehcw

Writer and "BookTok" expert Leigh Stein tries to assuage Aryeh's fears about the wildly popular video app. Should we be worried about TikTok's Chinese origins? Is the app poisoning the minds of America's youth—or is that idea just the sign of a xenophobic moral panic? Could Gen Zers teach Millennials how to stop looking at their phones? Plus: The two self-confessed Twitter addicts discuss whether Elon Musk has killed the site for good.Recorded January 18, 2023LINKSNYT: "Auburn Banned TikTok, and Students Can’t Stop Talking About It"https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/15/business/auburn-tiktok-ban-students.htmlLeigh's novel, "Self Care"https://www.amazon.com/Self-Care-Novel-Leigh-Stein/dp/0143135198Leigh's TikTok accounthttps://www.tiktok.com/@leighstein?lang=enFollow @rhymeswithbeeFollow @AryehCW

Comedian Sophie Zucker talks about her new one-woman musical, "Sophie Sucks Face," which tells the story of a young Jewish woman who makes out with her cousin at their grandfather's funeral.Recorded November 21, 2022LINKSSophie Sucks Facehttps://www.sophiezucker.com/sophie-sucks-faceSophie's Instagram @stringcheesezuckerhttps://www.instagram.com/stringcheesezucker/?hl=enFollow @sophierzuckerFollow @AryehCW