Normal Men

The Normal Men talk college football, Venezuelan stabs, and what genAI won't do for you.

Goodbye to 2025!  The Normal Men talk food, travel, optimism, and dating.

The Normal Men dive into appellate immigration strategy and the Battle of Chicago with Mark Fleming of National Immigrant Justice Center.  Also, stroads and the modern authoritarian; primary ethics and efficiency.   National Immigrant Justice Center: https://immigrantjustice.org/ Illinois Coalition for Immigrant & Refugee Rights: https://www.icirr.org/ Organized Communities Against Deportation:  https://www.organizedcommunities.org/

We interview Mike Sacks, who is running for Congress in NY-17; people are doing more mass shootings; Propter sounds robotic; and what is truth, really?   Mike Sacks (https://bsky.app/profile/mikesacks.bsky.social) is running for Congress in the New York's Fightin' Seventeenth: (https://bsky.app/profile/mikesacks.bsky.social/post/3lmev4vf4hc2n) Learn more here:  https://www.mikesacksforcongress.com/ Give his campaign money here:  https://secure.actblue.com/donate/mike-sacks-donate Early corvid scholarship by Mr Sacks:  https://www.dukechronicle.com/article/cb488d23-ab03-42be-994b-1fe5b2054038   An AI-generated video of a crow sledding on a frisbee:  https://www.facebook.com/reel/864322122972412

Infant diction, Noted Underdogs Duke, birthright citizenship, c-c-c-cocaine, coffee: black. Norwegian outreach:  https://bsky.app/profile/norwayinusa.norway.no/post/3m4bcalmg7s2u   Coffee, black:  https://bsky.app/profile/bmhughes.bsky.social/post/3m6wc33skm22z

The majesty and the mystery of Lane Kiffin, what on earth is up with oil, war crimes in your war crimes, and optimism in Tennessee.

Talking turkey, taking questions, slandering yams, and giving thanks with distinguished alumnus golikehellmachine.

Green energy and touring finances with Jael Holzman of Heatmap and Ekko Astral (@jael.bsky.social), the Epstein Files, and Peak Trump.   listen to Horse Glue by Ekko Astral here:  https://ekkoastral.bandcamp.com/album/horseglue and submit questions for mailbag here:  https://golikehellmachine.com/2025/11/16/thanksgiving-mailbag/

Normal Man Haydon (@haydonmp.bsky.social) joins us to talk about strokes and those who may have had them!  In addition to that premortem, shutdown perimortem and election postmortem.

Truck Talk returns with harsh words for Stellantis, SNAP impact discussion (human edition not macro edition), and just-in-time election previews (at 43:50).   please help some people out at: https://teamfeed.feedingamerica.org/teams/7634

Prof. Liz Sepper joins us to talk state of play on reproductive rights (remember those?), we do the needful on Graham Platner, and the Trump Administration prepares to Thanos SNAP. add'l reading:   Hospital system outcomes in Texas: https://www.propublica.org/article/texas-abortion-ban-sepsis-rates-dallas-houston George's coffee table: https://bittersoutherner.com/magazine

The incomparable Don Moynihan (@donmoyn.bsky.social) joins us to talk administrative burden, No Kings gets people in the streets, and there are hijinks in Argentina.

On the joys of travel, Chinese tariffs and mineral access, and appropriate appropriations.

A Normal Man returns to take us through the unpleasantness in Portland, we break down the shutdown, and sans George the video game freaks get digital.

With special guest Eva Cantor (@machete.gay on Bluesky).  George talks us through some real economic growth, Propter breaks down pre-snap federal shutdown reads, Eva talks us through a whole lot of violent extremism, and the gun touchers geek out.

Lowtax gives us a report on South Florida and the Very Specific Type of Guy (hint: Jeremy Shockey jersey) that lives there now (0:00-3:15). This week’s main event is Jimmy Kimmel, and the Men review MAGA’s effort to bring everyone who doesn’t salute Charlie Kirk at every opportunity to heel (3:15-32:45). Tom Homan secures the (Cava) bag before a check in on Trump Administration approvals and energy politics (32:45-1:06:30). We also talk about Maine (Ed is from Maine) and the quixotic politics on the margins of the lower 48 (1:06:30-1:21:15). Finally, a brief check in on the biggest embarrassment in the history of South Carolinian football and the run for his money being offered by the UNC Tarheels (1:21:15-1:27:00).

The Normal Men are back and covering it all this week. To start (0:00-17:30) we check in on the fighting game community before Soda Chat and learnings about the weird stuff they’re drinking up in Maine. George and Propter reminisce about A&W and the gang laughs at grocery stores. Next up, Elon’s unhealthy obsession with fertility and race, as well as some discussion of the very real shifts in global birth rates around the world (17:30-30:30). Speaker of the House Mike Johnson broke some news this week: the President is a snitch (30:30-42:45) and the all carrot no stick Republican governing theory turns its eye to Georgia manufacturing (42:45-57:30). Our government murdered 11 Venezuelans this week, and the Men discuss, followed by some conversation about movies ranging from the light-hearted to the troubling (57:30-1:19:30). 

Join the Normal Men for a break in the midst of Labor Day weekend for some college football chat and a victory lap celebrating Lowtax’s beloved Florida State University Seminoles (0:00-12:00). Next we talk Senate primaries and Senior Maine Correspondent Ed explains why Maine is actually a very large state, George commemorates one of our strongest Representatives, and the Men talk through the doomed logistics of applying tariffs to packages (12:00-42:00). Next up, it’s Glonzo time as Propter leads a discussion about the health of the President (42:00-51:00). Then it’s on to LLMs and why they’re such efficient mechanisms for cooking your brain (51:00-1:19:00). Finally a little Labor Day roundup of how each of the Men intended to spend their day off, including bachelor life, woodworking, grilling, potty training, and an anecdote about how seriously the state of Georgia takes college football (1:19:00-1:31:00).

Kick back with your heavily caffeinated beverage of choice as the boys dive into the world of canned stimulants (0:00 to 20:00). This week we’ve got Musicology Duck on to share some of her experiences from the streets of DC amidst a federal occupation of the nation’s capital (20:00 to 1:03:00). We also dive into President Trump’s efforts to take control of interest rates by an attempt to remove Governor Lisa Cook from the Federal Reserve’s Board of Governors (1:03:00 to 1:32:15) before a review of a landmark election result in Iowa (1:32:15 to end).