Chapo Trap House and the rise of the dirtbag left

I'll admit I didn't know that contingent existed because I never considered this shit was interesting to anyone that didn't grow up in it

what you're describing def sounds like a "failson"

as someone who hate reads the nyt, wapo, atlantic etc. (as well as the guardian

every generation get's teh "i don't even own a TV" that it deserves

I think the reason it's popular is that it's a reasonably funny take on opinions that are normally voiced very humorlessly, and (increasingly, I think) it's a nice corrective to several different popular modes of popular political media. Not much more to it than that imo

Also it's clear that there's a newfound appetite for criticism and thought from the far left so it's partially just excellent timing

i tried listening to a few episodes of this. boring af. stans itt must be real desperate these days what jacobin is too much reading

Oh come ON. This is a bullshit criticism both of the show and people in here and you know it. Hell, the show has had on both _editors_ from Jacobin and several contributors, not to having one as a co-host.

Also, D'Souza's hilariously self-aggrandizing Hillary movie is dumber than even we could have expected when we ripped on it in that other thread.

i know u like the show so don't take it personally but i think it's v dumb + v hard to understand the appeal. but that's ok and here's why.

and the problem isn't that jacobin is great and this isn't that. the problem is that jacobin is barely tolerable and this is worse.

Mordy what are some fun lefty podcasts you enjoy, if any (I'm earnestly interested, not trying to be a dick)

i don't listen to any podcasts that i'd characterize as having a particular political pov. atm i really like mike duncan's revolutions podcast which obv touches on a lot of issues that would be of interest to lefty politics - esp when it's covering the diggers or the levellers in english civil war or 70% of the french revolution or haitian civil war or boliver. in general i'm not following contemporary US politics w/ any kind of depth (tho inevitably end up reading some jacobin or the nation article or whatever interview w/ chomsky this week). maybe that's part of the problem -- i find the current political landscape so depressing that at best this kind of thing could end up being is whistling past the graveyard but what i've heard (mostly the episodes on kingfish's recommendations!) hasn't even come up to that level. like it's literally v v boring people where even knowing the references they make doesn't make them more appealing unless that's it and it's just the joy of recognition hey i know that name hey i've complained about that online magazine before hey i also think mixing sardonic quips about obscure media figures w/ heavy-handed dour moments about /getting serious/ is the right tonality for otm'hood.

...the same phenomenon play out whenever something gets fairly popular fairly fast - people get salty as if this new thing is being forced upon them, and they become contrarians and diss the thing and elevate it just to tear it down, without ever really engaging with the thing itself

Anything people get excited about has a >90% likelihood of being a fad. The crowd / pack reactions are the way we triage stuff. IS THIS ACTUALLY IMPORTANT BARK BARK BARK BARK WELL I SAY IT IS DO YOU TRUST ME BARK BARK etc.

Podcasts seem like one of the most irrelevant media formats we have today so my vote is WOOF WOOF

I have to believe that people who don't see the humor haven't listened to the reading series or things like the one today cracking on Dinesh D'Souza.

Pretty dumb thing to say

xpost

Mordy, it sounds like you just don't dig the personalities, which obv is fine. I could go on and on about my love for the Howard Stern Show but I'll never sway someone that isn't compelled by Howard or Robin's voice.

Listening to ppl mocking D'Souza sounds hellish; his worthlessness has been well established enough and enough times on ilx alone that there couldn't be easier barrel fish to shoot.

i for one was glad to find out about his thesis that the reason the white south moved from voting democrat to voting republican in the latter part of the 20th century was because during this period white southerners got less racist

I think I saw that story on lawyersgunsmoney which iirc is a neoliberal apologist for the Democratic Party so idk what's brave and
new about the dirtbag left I guess they mock Friedman and that's surely never been done before

yeah this isn't political reporting mordy, there's no exclusives, you can read everything they talk about somewhere else.

i understand, it's commentary. somehow i'm doubting that their /take/ on D'Souza is remarkable or funny but if u guys feel really strongly about it i'll give it a listen + report back. i suspect these guys are getting a lot of mileage by doing sub-classic ilx thread humor + maybe like emotional replacement for gawker?

if you've already listened to the show and not liked it i wouldn't bother persevering tbh - unless you had any particular interest in one of the guests

More importantly who's with me on my new creative venture (note: may be a podcast) called "Derka Derka Him Sad"

+ maybe like emotional replacement for gawker?

I hadn't thought of that but I suspect it helps to explain their popularity as well

Show does feature a Deadspin writer

it's amazing reading this thread, and seeing the same phenomenon play out whenever something gets fairly popular fairly fast - people get salty as if this new thing is being forced upon them, and they become contrarians and diss the thing and elevate it just to tear it down, without ever really engaging with the thing itself

― flappy bird, Monday, 16 January 2017 19:35 (yesterday) Permalink

Idk seems like people are also critiquing the audience on ideological grounds

which also happens every time people talk about the latest fad and what it means/doesn't mean

if this isn't a passing fascination filling a temporary hole in people's commute / background non-music time, then that is probably some of the good news that I keep hearing about.
if this is that, that's okay too, the nostalgia will be fine.

I still would like to see where a podcast had an idea in it that people cared about later, though. That might be a different thread.

Caleb is eternal

which also happens every time people talk about the latest fad and what it means/doesn't mean

― The beaver is not the bad guy (El Tomboto), Tuesday, 17 January 2017 00:50 (three hours ago) Permalink

Sure but my point isn't that we're arguing about this in some radical new way, but that there are legitimate reasons to argue about it & the implied logic of that post is smarmy "no haters" type ish

enjoyed the d'souza ep. Perplexed as to why the same few people are still here still insisting that they haven't listened, don't want to, and that they have some proxy method for being able to determine that they don't like the show anyway.

If this podcast is anything like I imagine it is, then it will never change anything and besides podcasts are for nerds and I only do dope things

You got me

i'm about halfway through the d'souza ep, it's not particularly funny? i think if i heard this late at night on my local college radio station i might listen a little but ultimately it's not that engaging. are there better episodes that are more representative?

these ones are really good:

https://soundcloud.com/chapo-trap-house/episode-61-who-makes-the-nazis-feat-rickyrawls-112416

https://soundcloud.com/chapo-trap-house/episode-63-successfail-the-mcmegan-story-feat-theshrillest-12416

https://soundcloud.com/chapo-trap-house/episode-67-the-swordfish-episode-121816

i mostly listen to 2-3 baseball podcasts, the occasional film one

but i'll try one of those, flappy

i mostly listen to 2-3 baseball podcasts, the occasional film one

but i'll try one of those, flappy

― Supercreditor (Dr Morbius), Tuesday, January 17, 2017 3:02 PM (one minute ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/726177981173886976/nvNZfUaN_400x400.jpg

this one is a favorite https://soundcloud.com/chapo-trap-house/episode-3-freeway-ross-douthat-sailboat-dope

i'm about halfway through the d'souza ep, it's not particularly funny? i think if i heard this late at night on my local college radio station i might listen a little but ultimately it's not that engaging. are there better episodes that are more representative?

― marcos, Tuesday, 17 January 2017 19:58 (thirty-five minutes ago) Permalink

Second the freeway ross douthat episode. I wouldn't go in expecting pure comedy or pure politics. It's sort of a mix of insight, humor and just gawky welcome to the dark carnival of legacy punditry, but not necessarily non-stop laughs. I can see why not everyone might enjoy such a thing.

To me the show feels very much like just hanging out with some smart and funny friends and bullshitting, only elevated a level or two, and I guess that's part of the appeal for me, and also a good reason for them to keep the just a few handheld mics on a couch format.

any fans of this should also check out Uhh Yeah Dude, a less focused and (imo) funnier podcast with a similar conversational hanging out style

If I ever flame out of this industry, I would totally want to do a Chapo style podcast destroying bad professional music writers with Maura and D-40.

would listen

just hanging out with some smart and funny friends and bullshitting

yea i get this. other eps I'm exploring now are okay, i can't say it warrants a new yorker article though? (although i haven't listened to the episode where they talk about that and it sounds like they also don't think an article was warranted?) again there's shit i've heard on college radio that is basically the same thing as this, sometimes better and sometimes worse. it's bc this is based in brooklyn though huh

i can't say it warrants a new yorker article though?

i mean this is the same thing as Hipster Runoff and Pitchfork Reviews Reviews where

https://twitter.com/willystaley/status/427486358450360320

any fans of this should also check out Uhh Yeah Dude

oh yeah, UYD is a million times funnier than Chapo, and even though we have a long running thread about it I'm sure half of the grumps around here would hate it

ie the nostalgia for emo

xp

i like both UYD and CTH

would also listen to Whiney's curmudgeoncast

in terms of The Boys Get Serious episodes the Adam Curtis one is good