You Can't Win

We're Tom and Donald. We are two trolls that are trying to make sense of the world through conversations about the traps and scams that surround us.

Episode 170 - Time Share Politics

We chat about baseball, health, One Battle After Another and some recent adventures in populism.

10-26
01:17:10

Episode 169 - Himmler in the Sauna

We chat about da yankees losing, (temporary) peace in Gaza, European gunners and AI, and a few books.   Mentioned:   Listen, Little Man! by Wilhelm Reich (thanks to Hermitix podcast) Kaputt by Curzio Malaparte

10-12
58:59

Episode 168 - AOR2E10 The Empire Strikes Back

We wrap up our discussion of Aesthetics of Resistance Volume 2 by Peter Weiss. Most of the other, older episodes of this series are available through the Patreon.

10-05
59:34

Episode 167 - It is 1993

We chat about baseball, Israel's final years, and Tom's take on Schattenfroh so far. Mentioned: Is Irish hip-hop trio Kneecap still banned from entering Canada? Were they ever? It's unclear by Raffy Boudjikanian (CBC): https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/kneecap-ban-canada-questions-1.7645528 The Canadian Press Will Continue Not Using 'Palestine' In Most Cases by David Mastracci (The Maple): https://www.readthemaple.com/the-canadian-press-will-continue-not-using-palestine-in-most-cases/ Schattenfroh by Michael Lentz. One Battle After Another by Paul Thomas Anderson. Also: For the foreseeable future we're going to be releasing all new episodes on this free feed. You can join our Patreon for as low as $1/month to get access to the Discord and help us cover expenses but the episodes are free. Thank you for listening!

09-30
01:15:53

Episode 166 - Aesthetics of Resistance Volume 2 Read Along

Tom and Don start our reading of Aesthetics of Resistance Volume 2 by Peter Weiss, a novel about art and communist resistance to fascism. In this episode we get oriented and work through the first 28 pages. Join the Patreon and the Discord to follow along with us.

05-26
01:49:01

Episode 165 - Conspiracy with Freddy

Don chats with Freddy about the surprisingly good 2001 TV movie Conspiracy about the Wannsee Conference that planned the Holocaust.

05-11
01:28:50

Episode 164 - Freddy on Jerry

Don chats with Freddy about the Canadian philosopher G.A. Cohen on the relationship between Marxism, religion, science, and moral and political philosophy. Mentioned: Cohen's Gifford lectures (in the book If You're Egalitarian, Why Are You So Rich?) Cohen - Karl Marx's Theory of History: A Defence. Cohen - Why not socialism?

03-09
01:43:22

Episode 163 - Recitation on Fridays with Alex

We chat with our friend Alex about Deleuze and politics in academia. You can follow Alex on Twitter at @SlurricaneH (At about 50 minutes in Alex's microphone disconnected and Tom and I wrapped up with two questions.)

02-23
54:13

Episode 162 - Correction Part Two with Mike Reads the World

We chat about the second half of Correction by Thomas Bernhard with Mike Reads the World and some of the ideas it sparked in us. Check out Mike Reads the World on YouTube.  https://www.youtube.com/@mikereadstheworld We also mention the House on the Rock in Wyoming, Wisconsin as an example of eccentric building.

01-12
01:45:02

Episode 161 - Correction Part One with Mike Reads the World

We chat about the first half of Correction by Thomas Bernhard with Mike Reads the World. Check out Mike Reads the World on YouTube.  https://www.youtube.com/@mikereadstheworld

01-05
01:15:32

Episode 160 - A Year in Reading with Mike Reads the World

We are joined by Mike from the YouTube channel Mike Reads the World to chat about his reading project and our year in reading. Mike's channel is at https://www.youtube.com/@mikereadstheworld His "favorite books" video we mention is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t6aH-YHa_y4 His "Magic Mountain" essay is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EyA6Oc6_pIU Mike's books mentioned: Sei Shonagon - The Pillow Book The I-Ching Fariduddin Attar - Conference of the Birds Ovid- Metamorphoses Ngugi wa Thiong'o - The Wizard of the Crow Thomas Mann - The Magic Mountain Anna Comnena - The Alexiad We also proposed a read-long for Correction by Thomas Bernhard.

12-22
01:12:15

Episode 159 - Chickenbrained with Freddy

Our friend Freddy joins us to talk about scams, politics and how they overlap.

12-11
01:41:06

Episode 158 - The Essence of Reality

Tom walks us through the book The Essence of Reality by 'Ayn al-Qudat, a 12th Century Sufi text about going beyond the intellect to embrace mystical experience.

11-04
01:18:35

Episode 157 - Tom Loves Mods

We chat about our cookie headaches and X-Com and Lebanon and Hannah Arendt. Mentioned: Eichmann in Jerusalem by Hannah Arendt Origins of Totalitarianism by Hannah Arendt On Revolution by Hannah Arendt The X-Com 2 mod guy Tom mentions is christopherodd

09-24
01:16:34

Episode 156 - Elections in France ft Marlon Ettinger

Marlon Ettinger, a journalist living in France, joins Don to talk about French politics. Find Marlon on Twitter at @MarlonEttinger his new pod at @flep24pod and his book Zemmour & Gaullism.

07-19
01:01:02

Episode 155 - Battle Cry of Freddy ft Freddy

Our friend Freddy joins from Vienna to talk about his Euro-Trip, Noam Chomsky, the war in Gaza, and the point of philosophy. The Third Reich at War by Richard J. Evans. Battle Cry of Freedom by James M. McPherson. Understanding Power by Noam Chomsky. Left anti-communism: The Unkindest Cut by Michael Parenti. My Struggle by Karl Ove Knausgaard. This Is a Robbery (Netflix documentary about 1990 Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum robbery).

07-01
01:29:55

Episode 154 - Soul Corn

We chat about the failing Dream Port, the peace plan, paying off our debts, soul corn, some books and elections. Mentioned: Harland's Half Acre by David Malouf. My Struggle Book 1 by Karl Ove Knausgaard. Historical Capitalism by Immanuel Wallerstein. Language and Myth by Ernst Cassirer. Our Bloc by James Schneider.

06-03
01:08:04

Episode 153 - Tom and Don Go to White Castle

Tom and Don chat about some books and shows, including Robert Musil, Orhan Pamuk's The White Castle, Karamustafa, J.M. Coetzee, Joan Robinson, Wolf Hall, Copenhagen Cowboy and The Last of Us.   Mentioned: The Confusions of Young Törless by Robert Musil The White Castle by Orhan Pamuk God's Unruly Friends by Ahmet T. Karamustafa The Childhood of Jesus by J.M. Coetzee Economic Philosophy by Joan Robinson

02-04
01:09:23

Premium Episode 183 - Muslim History, pt 3 UNLOCKED

Tom tells the history of the Crusades, the Mongol invasions, and the rise of the Mamluks in part 3 of a series on Muslim history. The full series is available on Patreon.

01-10
01:49:17

Premium Episode 179 SNEAK PEEK - Muslim History, pt 1

An excerpt from a premium episode available through a Patreon subscription, in which Tom provides a history of the rise and fall of the original Islamic state, and a description of the Muslim world's social structure at the time, including the institution of slavery and transformations that came about as a result of the Islamic movement. (re-uploaded to fix some audio issues)

11-20
19:00

bad

unfunny SA dorks uploading boring discord calls. internet boomers should be euthanized. don is good on Twitter tho

10-15 Reply

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