Ambitious Crossover Attempt

Jen and Noam are finally back! Not that much has changed - we still don't know what the game plan in Iran is, nor when the Strait of Hormutz will be open again. Now the conversation is about if we will be sending troops to the Middle East, again to do what we don't know exactly. Whatever it is we're doing, it's because Israel tricked Trump somehow. Not much logic to be found in that argument, but people sure are willing to make it publicly.  We also discuss the big state sponsored holiday / human safari trip to Havana that all of the cool progressive influencers went on to "highlight the struggles of the Cuban people." Oddly, no suffering was documented, but everyone seemed to have a really good time.  For our WAWC, we finally both watched the same thing; Project Hail Mary, which we both recommend. It's a nice, not dark movie about a man and a spider rock in space.   

Noam and Jen return to the war in Iran, after a detour into discussing if Tucker is lying or telling the truth about the CIA getting ready to bring a case against him. This of curse leads to a conversation about foreign influence in the right wing griftosphere, how Twitter isn't a reliable place to make a living, and how those two things intersect.  Moving back to Iran, we discuss the reporting that the Trump administration did not plan for Iran to shut down the Strait of Hormuz. We agree that there is a distinction to be made between if the closure was unexpected, or was assumed to work itself out somehow. Whichever it is, it's clear that this is a situation that is certainly not going to give Americans the warm fuzzies about continuing this war.  We also discuss the attack on Temple Israel in Michigan, and how the word "Israel" seems to be very confusing to anti-Zionists. There is also the issue of calling attacks like this blowback for the war in Iran, which obviously makes no sense outside of excusing terrorism.  For our WAWC, Noam has nothing but Jen has a YouTube video - What Higuruma tells us about Japanese courts, human nature, and meaning of justice. In essence, it's a good primer on the Japanese court / criminal justice system, which is important for understanding a story arc in Jujitsu Kaisen.   

Jen and Noam return to the war (it's a war now, the president said so) in Iran, including the additional strikes completed by Israel on the Assembly of Experts. What they are experts in we're not sure, obviously not in Zoom. We also talk about how we still don't have an explanation for why the US attacked Iran, let alone an idea of what all of this is supposed to accomplish or what the endpoint is. Not ideal for a situation where the president is flippantly discussing how people die in war.  Speaking of war, TwitX has decided to declare war on AI slop war videos. Naturally, some people think this is some nefarious plot to hide from the world that Israel is destroyed, because surely the internet wouldn't lie to them. Then again, Trump is posting that Iran is destroyed, so there is that.  For our WAWC, Noam recommends Slay The Spire II which is finally out on early release on Steam. It has already consumed hours of his life, and we may not see him for a while. Jen recommends the anime Oshi No Ko and wonders about what makes a story ending bad vs just not what you wanted it to be.   

Noam and Jen discuss a little attack on Iran you might have heard about over the weekend, now that Noam is not on Emergency Pod duty for Commentary. Much like our discussion in the wake of the Maduro extraction, we talk about how you can be happy that something happened but have concerns about how it happened and what exactly will happen next. Obviously, this situation is both more extreme and more volatile than Venezuela, so we really hope someone knows what they're doing (we don't have much hope of that however) We also talk about the fight between the DOD and Anthropic over the DOD (allegedly) wanting to make killbots and spy on everyone effortlessly. There is a discussion to be had not just on the metis of this case, but on the use of AI in a battlefield or a criminal investigation.  For our WAWC, Noam has two Korean reality shows produced by Jeong Jong-yeon, Devil's Plan and Agents of Mystery. Jen recommends the anime Ninja Scroll (which, to settle a discussion on the pod, the movie came out in 1993 and the show was released in 2003).    

Jen and Noam return to discuss the Supreme Court shooting down Trump's "national emergency" tariffs, Jen's hope for a restructuring of executive power, Tucker lying about his trip to Israel (well at least to the airport), lying for clout, America's new figure skating darling Alysa Liu, journalists asking athletes dumb political questions, and being proud to be an American. For our WAWC, Jen recommends the new Sam Raimi film Send Help, and Noam (probably because he got tired of Jen badgering him to watch more anime) starts watching Hell's Paradise.   

Noam and Jen record a special Presidents' Day episode where we discuss important things, like Olympic controversies around fingering and penile enhancements.  OK, we also discuss actual important things, like the fact that Jeremy Carl is for some reason nominated to a position in the State Department and how he can't define white culture despite having written a whole book on the topic. This of course kicked off a whole debate on the internet about "white culture", which in Carl's defense nobody else can define either. At any rate, it's a dumb concept that makes no sense.  We spend a little time discussing ICE being pulled out of Minneapolis, but we got sidetracked by the WSJ article on the chaos within Kristi Noem's DHS.  And of course, we had to spend some time talking about how everyone hates Hasan Piker now, after his comments that Democrats are not better than Republicans on the topic of trans rights. Progressives overall are having a fit over the idea of Newsom being the candidate in 2028, but we agree he could totally mog Vance in a debate. Foe our WAWC, Noam pitches everyone on A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms again (really he just wants Jen to start watching it), and Jen explains how everyone is trashing the new BookTok'd version of Wuthering Heights.   

Jen and Noam made it to episode 200! Hooray! We have another Super Bowl to talk about, one in which people are angry at the halftime show. Again. Certain people just really like to be angry at halftime shows.  We also go over the Trump tweet - y'know, THAT tweet - and when does it all become too much to gloss over. And why does Trump get a pass at all, seeing as he's the president. For our WAWC, Jen went and saw the Melania documentary. Yeah, that was an adventure. A weirdly foot focused view of the leadup to the second inauguration of Trump. Make of that what you will.   

Jen and Noam discuss a little bit of everything, since we recorded later than usual last week. We got another Epstein files drop, unqualified people in the Trump administration, Pretti's prior run in with ICE / Border Patrol, Don Lemon getting arrested over the protest at a Minneapolis church, revelations about how Twitter works, and other random topics that come up as they do.  For our WAWC, Jen contemplates seeing the Melania movie, and Noam recommends MIO: Memories in Orbit.  

Noam and Jen discuss another shooting death in Minneapolis at the hands of ICE / Border Patrol (we can't tell the difference anymore), the intense fallout from both the shooting itself and the Trump administration's reaction to it, who will or will not keep their job, does it even matter, bringing a gun to a protest, and how bragging about lying can backfire.  We also discuss what we know about the situation in Iran, since it is still hard to get information on what is happening inside the country with protests and how many have been killed. However many it is, it is too many for the world to be this silent about it.  There is a bit of good news to report - for the first time in over a decade, there are no Israeli hostages in Gaza. The last body was returned home this week, which was a relief given everything that has happened over the past few years.  For our WAWC, Noam pitches you on watching A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, and Jen finishes up the MAPPA trifecta by watching Hell's Paradise.   

Jen and Noam return to some of the topics from last week, since things keep going from bad to worse. The situation in Iran has gotten worse, Trump seems really insistent that the US should own Greenland, and ICE is ramping up in Minneapolis for no good reason. And so we wonder, where the hell is Congress and is anyone going to stop the insanity.  For our What Are We Consuming, Noam explains how playing The Roottrees Are Dead made his online investigative skills better and Jen explains why you should watch Gachiakuta.

Noam and Jen…well they try to keep this pod from going on for hours, so they had to be a little selective with there was a baker's dozen topics to discuss from the past week. We start by checking in on Iran and the latest series of uprisings taking place. While this is certainly not the first time we've discussed an uprising in Iran, this one feels a little different.  Then we have to move on to the ICE shooting that took place in Minneapolis this past week. There is quite a lot to discuss, from the legality of the shooting itself to the reactions, which we both agree are the worst we've ever seen on social media.  On a brighter note, Noam explains why you should be watching the Korean cooking competition show Culinary Class Wars, and Jen celebrates the return of Jujitsu Kaisen for its third season. 

Jen and Noam were going to discuss the Somali Medicaid fraud story coming out of Minnesota and CBS News spiking a story about the US sending people to CECOT, but Trump ruined all of that by arresting Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro and his wife. Since nobody anywhere is talking about that, we tackle the topic of What Does It Mean and What Will Happen Next now that Maduro is in a jail cell in Brooklyn (yeah we don't get that one either really).    And we also have to talk about the season finale of Pluribus, if it did hold up for the whole season, and when season 2 will air (a long time from now, unfortunately). Noam watched the final half season of Stranger Things, so we talk about that and the merits of shows that are written with a specific ending point from the beginning. 

Noam and Jen unfortunately had to cancel their special podcast plans due to the death of Noam's grandfather, but we still recorded an episode nonetheless. We certainly had plenty to discuss; the solved yet unsolved mystery of the Brown University - MIT shooter, the TPUSA conference, how the USS Liberty incident is indeed irrelevant to any conversation in 2025, Ben Shapiro, how the Heritage American conversation is heading to some dark places, and how America is pretty damn cool. On the Pluribus front, there's the reveal of what the Big Plan is for the hivemind, Carol struggling with how everything is perfect but also completely wrong, and Manousos still making his way to Carol's doorstep. 

Jen and Noam discuss the depressing news out of Australia - a Hanukkah celebration on Bondi Beach was targeted by shooters, leaving (as of this writing) 16 dead and over 20 injured. We talk about the alarming rise of antisemitism in both the US and abroad, what globalizing the intifada means, and how every attack on Jews brings a wave of conspiracy theories. We also spend some time talking about how Candace Owens and Tim Pool are pleading poverty over having to "hire security" to deal with "threats" they receive, how everyone is getting tired of Candace, and if MAGA influencers are realizing that 2026 may well be the end of the line for them.  And Pluribus. Of course. This episode was a little different though, more of a meditation on what loneliness is and how nobody is truly an island unto themselves. Even incredibly stubborn, dickish people. 

Noam and Jen are back to discuss the never ending use of Charlie Kirk's death by his "friends" to gain clicks and downloads, the FBI announcing they have found the person responsible for planting the pipe bombs at the DNC and RNC headquarters back on 1/5/2021 (remember that?), an unplanned but very good discussion on the idea of using Palantir-type data scraping tech to find and build a case against a suspect, and FIFA inveting an award to give to Trump because he's 12.   And yes, more Pluribus talk, this time about HDP and how it fits in with moral veganism. But really, ew. Also, is anyone ever going to talk to Carol again?

Jen and Noam return after a holiday week where the news did not take a holiday. We've got Hegseth calling to leave no survivors behind during these "kinetic strikes" on boats in the middle of the ocean, Witkoff calling the Kremlin and coaching them on how to best get what they want from Trump, the shooting of two National Guard members in DC, calling their deaths before either was dead, how Comfortably Smug got his comeup, and the death of trust in anyone or anything.   Also, because this is now a Pluribus fan pod, we discuss episode 5 and how cinematography ain't dead yet. And, what's under that tarp? 

Noam and Jen discuss the thing we've been asking for TwitX to do for ages - publicly display the country of residence for accounts and if the account is connecting via a VPN. Spoiler alert; we're pretty happy about it. We also chat about the ongoing Nuzzi scandal that now has a new participant, Trump rolling out the red carpet for MBS and becoming a Mamdani stan, try to figure what the hell is going on with the Ukraine peace deal, and more Pluribus because it's a good show and you should watch it. 

Jen and Noam discuss the new(ish) information about the seedy world of Jeffrey Epstein, his qualifications for judging evil, the MAGA breakup nobody saw coming, and what's going to happen this week when the House finally votes on releasing the full Epstein files.  We also travel to China - well, actually, Hasan travelled to China, and we make fun of him for it. Plus, we touch on the end of the government shutdown and how Democrats completely botched the messaging on both the shutdown and the re-opening.  To finish, we talk some more about our new favorite show, Pluribus, and how Carol isn't the best human but she's the human we've got. Warning - there are some spoilers for E3 but nothing too consequential.   

Noam and Jen discuss attending Shabbat dinner at the Mandels, who declined to attend, the ongoing situation at both the Heritage Foundation and the conservative movement as a whole, how Kevin Roberts and Megyn Kelly are liars, weird Israeli drama, and other ephemera.  We also discuss the new Apple TV Pluribus, which is shaping up to be the next big show to watch.  Bonus - quite possibly the greatest video you will see this year, or at least the most satisfying - https://x.com/i/status/1987198590859563172 

Jen and Noam discuss the Great Reckoning taking place in conservative circles due to the Carlson-Fuentes interview, the fallout from that, Heritage Foundation president (for now) Kevin Roberts' defense of Carlson, and the fallout from that.  Also, is acknowledging antisemitism the new land acknowledgement? Are all opinions equally valid and worthy of debate? Is MAGA speedrunning its own version of wokeness?