Red Scare Bonus Pillow Talk
Friday, March 7, 2025

We recorded this in bed over a week ago while we were in Miami — mostly for our ourselves…to talk through some ideas and concepts. .. read more..

Justice for Tessa Dick
Thursday, March 6, 2025

"The true measure of a man is not his intelligence or how high he rises in this freak establishment..." .. read more..

"Anora" and Russians at the Oscars
Tuesday, March 4, 2025

We record an emergency ep to talk about Sean Baker’s sweep at the Oscars with his new film Anora. We talk about Sean Baker’s sentimental style and his “changemaker” interest in stories of marginalized people. He comes from good New Jersey suburb but the only layer of Ameri... .. read more..

Red Scared
Sunday, March 2, 2025

We continue our discussion of Red Scare’s turn into a real red scare platform. .. read more..

Evgenia on the third anniversary of the Z war
Monday, February 24, 2025

On this third anniversary of the war in Ukraine, I want to repost an essay Evgenia wrote a few months after it all started. .. read more..

Back to the Future
Monday, February 17, 2025

We talk about my recent epiphany that the scary and volatile world of Russia that I grew up in post-collapse in the 1990s might be the future of America, rather than a distant, embarrassing past that I used to think was irrelevant to my new life here. .. read more..

The American Dream
Saturday, February 15, 2025

A few weeks ago, I wrote about my experience in the suburbs and my realization that suburban sprawl forms the national character of America. .. read more..

Born Again Reaganites
Friday, February 14, 2025

Evgenia and I talked about The eXile and Matt Taibbi on our Red Scare ep — about how the Red Scare girls took a very similar path as Matt, starting out avant-garde and eventually transforming into MAGA-Musk reply gals. .. read more..

Trump's Ukraine payback
Thursday, February 13, 2025

It was probably not the smartest thing for Ukraine’s civil society to run a meddling op against Trump back in the day. .. read more..

Red Scare's Wake
Wednesday, February 12, 2025

We talk about the rise and fall of Red Scare, America’s once-coolest Soviet immigrant podcast. .. read more..

The unbearable uselessness of liberal anti-zionism
Monday, February 10, 2025

A review of Peter Beinart's "Being Jewish After the Destruction of Gaza" .. read more..

The Theatre Experience with Matthew Gasda
Saturday, February 8, 2025

We talk to playwright and theatre director Matthew Gasda about his plays, his theatre company Brooklyn Centre for Theatre Research, and the zeitgeist of the post-COVID downtown New York scene. .. read more..

USAID and Security State Clan Wars
Friday, February 7, 2025

...and the counterinsurgency history of the agency that will be no more. .. read more..

An incredible moment in history
Wednesday, February 5, 2025

"The U.S. will take over the Gaza strip...we'll own it.” So said President Donald Trump, reading from a prepared statement with a smirking Benjamin Netanyahu. .. read more..

Soviet lit for kids with Nika Dubrovsky
Tuesday, February 4, 2025

Artist and author (and mother) Nika Dubrovsky is back on the show to talk about Soviet cartoons and Soviet literature for kids and the unique radical progressive ethos children’s culture had in post-revolutionary Soviet society. .. read more..

Breaking up monopolies won't kill the AI god
Tuesday, February 4, 2025

I read an op-ed by Lina Khan in the New York Times today. She was the Biden administration head of the Federal Trade Commission. In that role, she has consistently tried to rein in the power of big tech…to regulate Silicon Valley monopolies…well, as much as that is possible in this ol... .. read more..

Crime Scene
Saturday, February 1, 2025

A new chapter... .. read more..

Konstantin Kisin's KGB Konnektions
Wednesday, January 29, 2025

We continue our journey through the weaponized immigrant podcaster universe — this time with Konstantin Kisin. .. read more..

The Human Use of Human Beings
Tuesday, January 28, 2025

When I was writing about AI last night, something kept nagging at me. .. read more..

Kill the AI in your head
Monday, January 27, 2025

The AI wars are back at the top of the news cycle. .. read more..