Red Scare

Get a couple of used copies of Paul Goldberger’s The City Observed, an architectural tour of Manhattan from the Custom House to Spuyten Duyvil. It’s out of print but it’s by far the best book on New York since Fitzgerald’s Lost City and will amaze you.

What I love: They don’t try to be likable, pandering, pitying like so many other podcasts do They can’t help but piss everyone off at some point and yet they still have quite the following. They change their mind, viewpoints constantly. Rather than tow the party line they say out loud our conflicting inner thoughts about the mess of the world. No one is safe. Whenever I happen to fall into their demographic of whoever they are picking on this week, I find it grating and I listen to something else, but then I’m back next week to hear them pick on someone else. Healthy? No. Addicticting? Yes. The bad: The most reasonable critique is that they seem totally blasé about everything and have the vocal fry to match their attitude that nothing matters. For some reason this doesn’t bother me. Maybe because it’s also my wavelength. I do think that Anna tends to dominate the convo and can sometimes speak round and around the same idea which is usually some take that ‘wammin are bad but actually that’s ok?’ Lastly, although it’s iconic, the cover photo. When I have Apple CarPlay on I have to quickly switch to maps because it looks like I’m straight up watching porn in my car. Final thoughts: This show does best when the hosts tackle a specific piece of writing and have a discussion. Even more interesting when they pick apart something more historical and obscure. I like to feel like I’m learning something.

I go back and forth every episode deciding which gal I’m in love with. It often changes with each new story or whimsical sentence that grabs my attention. I feel like I’m in the room, listening to the two loves of my life talk about this crazy world we’ve been dropped into. It is refreshing to know that there are intelligent, bright, and funny women in this life. I rarely find humans who make me feel as though I’m not the only one sitting in this theater.

Funny, interesting, soft voices, cute giggling, and unexpectedly episodic without intending to be so. Each episode is like watching a tv show. The episodes stand on their own even though it’s just commentary and the occasional interview. The only good people in New York!

I implore you to dig further into exactly why hosting Steve Bannon of all people is horrific. BehindTheBastards did an excellent episode on him that I highly encourage you to listen to, as well as following the excruciatingly sourced info linked with the episode. Don’t ever trust a word that man says. He only agreed to come on a show like this to humanize himself to the left. He’s a war monger and propagandist who has a huge hand in Trump becoming president in the first place. I was rooting for you. I was so excited when I found you. I couldn’t wait to shout to the rooftops spreading the word. I can no longer do that after this.

I really tried to like this podcast,but they pretend to be representing the views of working class women on feminism and as a working class single mother who has lived in poverty my whole life, has only working class friends without college degrees, I have to say they are way off the mark. Most of the working class women I’ve known wouldn’t even listen to this podcast due to the image they use, finding it degrading to women or in poor taste. But according to red scare, only uptight wealthy white feminists would feel that way. I’m also deeply concerned to hear these podcasters say women should choose to use their bodies and “sexuality “ to get ahead. As most working class women know from experience because we have had to do that just to feed our kids, not because we choose to, that is the opposite of empowering and leftists should be fighting for a world where that’s not the best option women have for getting ahead instead of excusing it at the expense of the most vulnerable women in society. Also sex is a lot less liberating when you’re poor and have no access to abortion or affordable reproductive health care, like most of the poor in the US. Consider that before talking about how great sex is for women and anyone who disagrees must be an uptight white woman clutching her pearls. On the other hand, y’all seem more committed to making yourselves a comfy living by catering to a target audience with money than leftism. Just like the woke liberals you criticize.