We start the show discussing the arrest and detention of Mahmoud Khalil in a glaring escalation of attacks on American civil liberties in behalf of Israel & its supporters. We’re then joined by journalist and co-host of the Odd Lots podcast Joe Weisenthal to take a shockingly timely (for us) look at markets, tariffs, crypto, and economic policy under the 2nd Trump administration. Is there a plan here? Who’s actually in charge? Will these tariffs ever actually happen? Are we careening toward a re...
Mar 10, 2025•1 hr 13 min•Transcript available on Metacast QAA’s Julian Feeld joins us today to give us his report from last week’s CPAC convention. We look at the usual carnival of cruelty on display at the Gaylord Convention Center, with an added layer of vindictiveness in the second Trump era. We also discuss at how QAnon has been fully metabolized into political discourse, and check in on some classic characters like Mike Lindell and JFK. Jr. Finally, a rather grim reading series looking at the lonely political life of Senator Fetterman. Find QAA wh...
Feb 28, 2025•1 hr 18 min•Transcript available on Metacast Will & Hesse are back to look at the Oscars’ Best Pictures of 2024. They give their takes on the high- and low-lights, offer their predictions of who will take home Oscar gold, and give a special preview of what’s coming up in Movie Mindset Season 3. For more Oscars fun: Come see Will & Hesse host an Oscars watch as part of a party for Zohran for Mayor this Sunday, March 2nd @ Nightclub 101: https://secure.actblue.com/donate/partyforzohran
Feb 28, 2025•2 hr 35 min•Transcript available on Metacast We’re joined by Mark Ames & John Dolan of Radio War Nerd to discuss what may be the wind-down of the war in Ukraine. We look at the political ramifications both domestically and internationally, how the west & Russia have fared militarily, and the lives of the Ukrainians affected by the conflict. Plus, would you believe fighter aircraft, MMA, and a drive-by slagging of union general loser George McClellan all get mentions in this? Subscribe to Radio War Nerd: https://www.patreon.com/radiowarnerd...
Feb 24, 2025•1 hr 17 min•Transcript available on Metacast Jake and Thomas return to look at the latest news of Elon’s bizarrely begotten offspring. Plus the jewish guy who shot two Israeli guys because he thought they were Palestinians, Millei’s rug pull, and Bari Weiss’ Free Press asks what exactly makes an American hero (and why does it take place in dive bar bathrooms). Subscribe to Pendejo Time: https://www.patreon.com/pendejotime
Feb 17, 2025•1 hr 26 min•Transcript available on Metacast Kath joins us for our annual review of the Big Game spectacle. We give our appraisal of what this year’s ad slate says about the state of American culture, plus reactions to Kendrick Lamar’s halftime show, and how conservatives continue to be oppressed by the TV. Then the Washington Post’s Jeff Stein joins us to discuss his reporting on what exactly Elon Musk & the DOGE team are trying to do to the federal government. Jeff’s piece on Elon & DOGE: https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2025/02/0...
Feb 11, 2025•1 hr 5 min•Transcript available on Metacast Will sits down with Zohran Mamdani, New York State Representative and candidate for New York City Mayor. After bonding over being just two boys from New York, their grade school rivalry, and touching on Zohran’s family & background, Will & Zohran discuss his plans to improve housing, transit, policing and homelessness services in New York City, as well as his plans to win this election. If you’d like to help out or get involved in his campaign, go to: https://www.zohranfornyc.com/
Feb 06, 2025•57 min•Transcript available on Metacast Beautiful Brace Belden joins us to look at Trump’s tariff’s, possible annexation of Canada, halt on federal funding, and other breaking admin news. We also discuss New York Mag’s party report from the NYC MAGA scene, and Brace briefs us on what we should know about the murderous “Zizian” rationalists, and how they fit in among all the other people who’ve broken their brains online. TrueAnon’s in-depth coverage of the Zizians here: https://pod.link/1474001390/episode/a778bfc3221464a5eff8d657bc89e...
Feb 04, 2025•1 hr 16 min•Transcript available on Metacast Alex is back on the pod to review the first full week of 2rump news, but first, we wish friend of the show Catturd a speedy recovery from his impacted bowel. Then, we look at Trumps barrage of executive orders, cabinet staffing, and denial of security clearances to a number of former NatSec ghouls. We also discuss the Democrats’ new Tuna-based appeals for viral attention, and consider how history will judge Joe Biden.
Jan 28, 2025•1 hr 10 min•Transcript available on Metacast Journalist Mohammad Alsaafin returns to the show to discuss the temporary ceasefire & hostage exchange deal reached in Gaza. We discuss why and how this came about during the Biden-Trump transition, what the actual terms of the deal are, how it leaves the political situation in Israel, Palestine and the rest of the region, and the total effects of 15 months of war. Plus, what was actually in the gift bags given by Hamas to the freed Israeli hostages. If you’re looking for ways to help, this is f...
Jan 21, 2025•1 hr 16 min•Transcript available on Metacast Felix recounts Trump’s efforts to discredit the 2020 election as part of the long history of election denial on the right in this clip from Episode 6 of his series “Seeking a Fren for the End of the World.” The full episode and rest of the series are available for subscribers at patreon.com/chapotraphouse.
Jan 15, 2025•10 min•Transcript available on Metacast Author Colette Shade joins us to discuss her new book “Y2K” on the millennial era of ~1997-2008. Will and Colette review how the boundless optimism of ‘the end of history’ curdled into the permanent pessimism of the 21st century, how computer doomed everything even if the specific prediction of the “Y2K bug” maybe didn’t literally come to pass, how nostalgia can be both useful and a trap, and of course, how everything is 9/11. Purchase “Y2K: How the 2000s Became Everything”: Bookshop: https://bo...
Jan 14, 2025•1 hr 6 min•Transcript available on Metacast We’re joined by journalist Yasha Levine & filmmaker Rowan Wernham of the new documentary “Pistachio Wars” join us to look at water in the state of California in light of last week’s L.A. wildfires. We discuss California’s water history, the network of real estate developers and agribusiness concerns that effectively control California’s water, the Resnick family and their Nut Empire, 21st century company towns, and how California water politics affect the Iran Nuclear deal. Watch The Pistachio W...
Jan 14, 2025•1 hr 5 min•Transcript available on Metacast Felix looks back at the lead-up to the 2016 election as some of the funniest and most insane days in American political history in this clip from Episode 4 of his series “Seeking a Fren for the End of the World.” The full episode and rest of the series are available for subscribers at patreon.com/chapotraphouse.
Jan 08, 2025•10 min•Transcript available on Metacast We catch up with news over our long week off, including brief hits on the two new years truck attacks (more on that Thursday), MAGA civil war over immigration & visas, various instances of Musk buffoonery, Biden’s presidential medal of freedom recipients, and Semafor’s survey of what people in the media ‘got wrong’ about 2024.
Jan 07, 2025•1 hr 5 min•Transcript available on Metacast Felix looks at Steve Bannon’s origins, plus anti-Obama hysteria pushing the GOP to the right in the 2012 primaries in this clip from Episode 4 of his series “Seeking a Fren for the End of the World.” The full episode and rest of the series are available for subscribers at patreon.com/chapotraphouse.
Jan 01, 2025•10 min•Transcript available on Metacast Felix recounts the rise of Obama-era conservative online media in this teaser for Episode 3 of his series “Seeking a Fren for the End of the World.” The full episode and rest of the series are available for subscribers at patreon.com/chapotraphouse.
Dec 25, 2024•6 min•Transcript available on Metacast We’re discussing the ongoing labor disputes with the United States Postal Service with Tyler Vasseur, a shop steward with the National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC). We discuss the BFN rank and file movement to transform the postal unions, fighting for transparency in bargaining on the long-stalled new contract for letter carriers, what an equitable contract would look like, how the letter carriers fight fits in the broader labor movement, cost of living adjustments in an era of high inf...
Dec 24, 2024•39 min•Transcript available on Metacast Will & Hesse are joined by Brian Yuzna, legendary horror writer/director/producer behind such films as Re-Animator, Society, From Beyond, Honey, I Shrunk The Kids, and many more. We discuss adapting Lovecraft, all-nude Peter Pan, Clown Theory, copypastas, uniquely American ghouls, the importance of GOOP in cinema, and how real horror fans can enjoy horror even when it’s bad. Pre-order the 40th Anniversary edition of Re-Animator here: https://www.ignite-films.com/products/re-animator?variant=4967...
Dec 23, 2024•1 hr 2 min•Transcript available on Metacast Felix documents the rise of future Fox News CEO Roger Ailes in this preview clip from episode 2 of his series “Seeking A Fren for the End of The World”. The full episode and rest of the series are available for subscribers at patreon.com/chapotraphouse.
Dec 18, 2024•10 min•Transcript available on Metacast Defector’s David Roth is back on the pod. We start with his write up of the recent drone scare over New Jersey, and how our ever-skittish suburbanites are discovering new ways to be scared of the lights in the night sky. Then, a review of recent media reactions to Luigi-mania, including the Atlantic tut-tutting over “decivilization” and the Root having a certified “bruh” moment. Finally, the most important bellwether poll of the year: the PornHub annual search trends results. Find all things Dav...
Dec 17, 2024•1 hr 13 min•Transcript available on Metacast In a new series by Felix, Josh (@ettingermentum), and Spencer, we ask: how did the Republican Party, once the dominant force in American culture for almost a generation, become a group of bowtied cosplayers and rapist streamers yelling about Litterboxes? We trace this development back to the empires built by two men—Paul Weyrich and James Dobson—as well as the failures of one Pat Buchanan. This episode draws from Dan Gilgoff’s The Jesus Machine and David Grann’s “Robespierre Of The Right.” For a...
Dec 11, 2024•1 hr 3 min•Transcript available on Metacast We catch up briefly on news around the arrest of the alleged UHC CEO assassin. Then, journalist and musician Jael Holzman returns to the show to discuss a new piece she has for Rolling Stone on the potential threats to trans people in the coming Trump administration. We look at the rather grim potential of massively undermining of trans medical care, the equally grim state of Democratic opposition, and the general fecklessness with which Democrats have handled what Joe Biden once called the “civ...
Dec 10, 2024•59 min•Transcript available on Metacast We do the work of having conversations and connecting to people by reviewing last week’s Pod Save America episode featuring Kamala Harris’ top campaign staff. Through their telling, it was an amazing feat of data, precision and triangulation that somehow came up just slightly short, but we look at some different “stories to tell” from what they’re able to reveal about the campaign’s strategy. Plus, a Thanksgiving poem from Matt. Felix’s new series “Searching for a Fren at the End of the World”, ...
Dec 03, 2024•1 hr 17 min•Transcript available on Metacast Journalist Moe Tkacik joins us to look at a number of issues she’s reported on recently. Starting with the alarming prevalence of sexual assault allegations among Trump’s new cabinet picks, we follow the trail of backlash to accountability among the ultra-rich to College campuses and of course, Israel. We then turn to Moe’s reporting on the growing tumor of private equity in the American healthcare industry, and how these financial barons are gutting our already threadbare hospital system. Find ...
Nov 26, 2024•1 hr 20 min•Transcript available on Metacast We review the various freaks, toadies, goons, and TV personalities that Trump has tapped to build his second cabinet, and speculate how much damage Vivek & Elon can actually do with their kids-table DOGE advisory board. We also discuss the coalescing view among the pundit class that the Democrats need to abandon their various activist groups, as espoused in today’s reading series by Adam Jentleson. Finally, a new (hopefully semi-regular) feature from Matt.
Nov 19, 2024•1 hr 17 min•Transcript available on Metacast We start off with some Monkey News, then continue our post-mortem on the 2024 election. Does America have a Boy Crisis? Was $450k a day to put Kamala’s name on the Sphere worth it? How many votes did Queen Latifah swing? Are there sharks in the pool? Can Rebecca Solnit construct a metaphor to save her life? Will anyone learn anything from this boondoggle? We discuss.
Nov 12, 2024•1 hr 9 min•Transcript available on Metacast We have always lived in The Zone. We take in the stunning re-election of Donald Trump, the manifest failure of Kamala Harris, Joe Biden and the entire Democratic party, and all of the myriad obungles that have brought us to this moment. This has happened before, it will happen again…Reasons to be scared, reasons for hope, and assurance that we’re still ready to ride with you all every day. Unlocked from our Patreon for all to hear. To get every episode, subscribe at patreon.com/chapotraphouse.
Nov 08, 2024•1 hr 19 min•Transcript available on Metacast We’re joined by Charles, Alex & Andrew from Episode 1 for a night of Election-themed spoofs and goofs live at the Aratani Theater in Los Angeles. Featuring the Dan Boeckner Christmas Time Players: Dan Boeckner, Nick Thorburn, Alex Fischel & Adam Halferty. And of course, a special visit from Santa.
Nov 06, 2024•2 hr 40 min•Transcript available on Metacast [Note: these Movie Mindset Horrortober Season 1 episodes were already unlocked for free this year over on the Patreon feed, just adding them to the public feed to make them more widely available. To get every Movie Mindset episode, subscribe at patreon.com/chapotraphouse.] In this final episode of this year’s Ghoulvie Screamset, Will & Hesse take a look at Michael Wadleigh’s “Wolfen” (1981) and Bernard Rose’s “Candyman” (1992). Two films taking advantage of real urban environments the horrors of...
Oct 31, 2024•2 hr 36 min•Transcript available on Metacast 
