rabbit h0le

Greetings from the hurricane ravaged coasts of South Carolina. Emily and I recorded this episode a few weeks ago and then, well, a bunch of stuff happened. Including a hurricane. I’m fine. We got incredibly lucky here in South Carolina but it did delay things a bit.Do you want to feel old? Want to feel how horrifyingly fast the year is moving? Then take a listen to this podcast and realize how many things you’ve forgotten about that happened only a few weeks ago.On Veep and The West WingOur contractually required thoughts on the Olivia Nuzzia/ RFK scandalThe Trump and Laura Loomer stuffWhat is a war crime anyway?Eva Galperin, Electronic Frontier Foundation's Director of Cybersecurity, walks us through the Telegram arrest. After we recorded this episode, one of the things that Galperin warned about came to pass: Telegram promised to give more data to the cops.Telegram Changes Policy, Says It Will Provide User Data to AuthoritiesObamacoreMets whimsyDark Wire by Joseph CoxTelegram Isn't an Encrypted Messaging AppSome Background on BrazilEva on TwitterEva on Bluesky

Content warning for discussion of pregnancy and miscarriage.We recorded an emergency episode because Brittany Dawn is pregnant, and we have a lot of feelings about it.Listen to the whole thing by subscribing to our Patreon. For $5, you're supporting the show, and get two extra episodes a month.https://www.patreon.com/RabbitH0lePodcast Mentioned in the episode:What’s in Brittany Dawn’s SettlementGrowing GoodingsRodruiges family SnarkMusic by Janus Rose

https://www.patreon.com/RabbitH0lePodcastIn this ep:Matthew on the things that get donated to a used bookstoreEmily on Julie and Julia (2009)Matthew on Telegram and France and Elon and BrazilThe concept of “hate following” da new york mets baby love da metsBiblequest review on board game geek Half price booksBonnie’s cookbook store Seattle bookstoreMicrowave cooking for one by marie t smithGault on telegram (charging documents)Nytimes backpage article ObidiahMets reddit Cyclones seinfeld night Baseball murder casehttps://www.patreon.com/RabbitH0lePodcast

https://www.patreon.com/RabbitH0lePodcastWhat’s the deal with all of those “pirated” movie and TV clips that show up on TikTok and Instagram? Well, some of them are being quietly breadcrumbed across your feeds by the studios themselves—and it’s proving to be a great way to get people to watch at least one network sitcom.This week, Emily and Matthew go down the rabbit hole with Alex Cranz, deputy editor at The Verge and host of the Vergecast, and share our deepest darkest secrets: We watch (and like) Young Sheldon.In this episode:Big Bang Theory and weird nerdsWatching TV on Facebook ReelsTikTok as cable accessContent creators and labor lawsLinks discussed:The Nursery Nurse Young sheldon subreddit “Bluey moms who smoke weed” Facebook Group Winnah Basset Why I left teaching Kevin Can F*** Himself Caroline EasomWhat’s going on with MrBeast Japanese reality show documentary Comrade “Young Sheldon” is a communist You can find Alex on the Vergecast or on Twitter  

Support us on Patreon!Today’s episode begins with a very long discussion about the perils of buying semi-legal weed in NYC and South Carolina.We’re here with the incomparable Gita Jackson of Aftermath to discuss Charli XCX, Brat Summer, and the Kamala Harris pop culture moment. Do we keep getting sidetracked? Yes, but it’s an incredible discussion and we do get to Brat and Kamala.We also get to …Gita’s thoughts on Overwatch 2Faded Japanese snacks in the bodega windowDispensaries with evil aurasGirl-boss co-optingWatching a washed presidentDiet-Coke as slopPolitics as fandom, fandom as politicsShow notesThe South Carolina weed noteEmily’s Taylor Swift jezebel article Yes, Kamala IS Brat Brat Summer Is Dead, Long Live Brat SummerAaron Sorkin’s Liberal Fantasy Runs the WorldSome Thoughts on ObamacoreGita on politics and fandomMike Binder Thomas JeffersonYou can find Gita and their work at https://aftermath.site/ Our theme music is by Janus Rose

https://www.patreon.com/RabbitH0lePodcastBefore starting rabbit h0le, Emily and I hosted a little show over at Vice called Cyber.Towards the end of February 2024 we heard a rumor that everyone would be fired and the site would be deleted. It turned out half of that was true. When we knew our days were numbered but before they’d revoked access to everything else, we recorded one final episode of Cyber with Tim Marchman, Anna Merlan, and Mack Lamoureux.We dished on what it was like to work for Vice, the last days of a failing media empire, and the perils of modern journalism. The episode lived for a few days before, finally, it was pulled from the air.Of course, we saved a copy of it. Here it is in all its glory.The rumors of the website’s closure felt very real at the time and many of the journalists who’d worked at Vice were bad about saving their work. We needed a fast way to archive it all. Thankfully, two incredible software engineers—Chris Cummings and Karen Gault—stepped up to help us save everything.The story of how they did it is our first piece of Patreon content! Click the link below to subscribe and hear the tale in full from Karen and Chris. There might even be a weird aside about Mormon investments in nuclear weapons.https://www.patreon.com/RabbitH0lePodcastOn Nukes and Mormonshttps://dingoranchlabs.com/

The Habsburg royal family was once the most powerful dynasty in Europe. Now they’re a joke associated with inbreeding, Paradox grand strategy games, and VERY prominent chins. The Habsburgs lost most of their political power in the Great War, but they got to remain rich. And influential.How influential? Ask journalist Christopher Hooks, who attended a Habsburg convention in suburban Texas. Yes, the Habsburgs have conventions. We had a lot of questions too. Thankfully, Hooks is on hand in this episode of rabbit h0le to answer them.What is suburban Texas anyway?Royalists, loyalists, and Spanish Carlists in the Republic of TexasThe Patron saint of World War IThat Habsburg WayThe last man of a decaying royal line posting EvangelionA two-headed eagle haunting a children’s bookMore thoughts on being electionpilledHow NOT to create a viral election rumorFeeling Blessed at the Habsburg Convention in PlanoDubbie: The Double-Headed EagleThe Habsburg WayThe Catholic case for Karl’s sainthood

Joe Arden had a pretty good thing going. As the voice of dozens of romance novel hunks, he commanded the adoration of listeners and high prices from authors looking to put his voice to their fantasies. Fans called him “the king of fuck.”Then a sexting scandal turned that audience against him. It’s a story that involves BookTok, smut, and a man who built a following while never showing his face. Anna Merlan is here this week to go down the Joe Arden rabbit hole with us. She wrote about Arden’s fall for Business Insider. This is how tape worksElection pilledDoing business as your personaStar Wars as romance novelWe explain Bad Dragon to AnnaSome recommendations for German language prestige TVJoe Arden, the king of smut, built a career seducing women with his voice. Then, a sexting scandal turned BookTok against himFlight Attendant / Romance Book YouTuberThe Herbalism Community Is at War With Itself Over Abuse AllegationsFear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail ‘72The Seattle Kraken embraced thirsty ‘BookTok’ hockey romance videos. It backfired.Recommendation that Emily forgot to shout-out during the podcast: Two romance novels written by former VICE editor Chloe Angyal.Theme music by Janus Rose