Chapo Trap House

Blowback’s Noah Kulwin joins Will in talking to filmmakers Christian Hansen and Zachary Treitz about their new Netflix series “American Conspiracy: The Octopus Murders”. Centered around the mysterious death of journalist Danny Casolaro, the sprawling story eventually touches on everything from spy software, the CIA, Native American Reservations, the mob, Iran-Contra, rail guns, and more. Catch American Conspiracy: The Octopus Murders streaming now on Netflix.

Alex joins us once again to look at the news of the day, starting with a more serious look at the recent self-immolation in protest of U.S. Airman Aaron Bushnell. After that some lighter fare, with some stories of the bad Biden dog, Elizabeth Warren smoking weed with Ed Markey, and an article chronicling Biden’s stroke game going back to the 70’s. Finally, we read the big new piece on Bari Weiss’ University of Austin and its “Forbidden Courses”. Check out Fortune Kit here or wherever you get pods: https://soundcloud.com/fortune-kit And the FYM podcast here or wherever you get pods: https://chapofym.podbean.com/

Friend of the show & tech journalist Ed Zitron stops by to check in on the state of the internet. Have they cracked AI video yet? Does the VisionPro herald an en-goggled future? Just how stupid is Elon Musk, actually? We explore the end of the era of techno optimism and as our most advanced internet tech seems to aid less and abuse more. Subscribe to the Better Offline podcast here: https://www.betteroffline.com/ Find Ed’s newsletter here: https://www.wheresyoured.at/tag/newsletter/

We give our annual post-Super Bowl report rating the spectacle and the ads, including the increasing, and increasingly funny, conservative opposition to the whole idea of “football”. Plus, a review of a tough week for Joe Biden, including a new round of trepidation about his age and fitness. Finally, we look at an amazing profile of Bill Ackman, a man who manages to be such an intense Wife Guy he’s ruined his wife’s life.

Today, executive director of the Electronic Intifada Ali Abunimah joins us to discuss the war in Palestine. We cover recent attempts to delegitimize and destroy UNRWA, atrocity propaganda, evolving capabilities of Palestinian resistance, changing attitudes towards Israel in the U.S., and the life, career and death of Palestinian author Refaat Alareer. Find the Electronic Intifada here: https://electronicintifada.net/ And on YouTube here: https://www.youtube.com/@TheElectronicIntifada You can find Gaza Writes Back, the short story collection edited by Refaat Alareer, here: https://justworldbooks.com/books-by-title/gaza-writes-back/

Caleb, Patrick and Cameron of Pod About List stop by to take a look at the lighter side of news. Topics include: mandatory potty training in Utah, a Chinese spy bird, dick biting, and the international crisis of cousins. Pod About List is on tour with Home Planet soon, find all their dates here: https://www.swagpoop.com/shows And check out Home Planet’s recent video “Junior Associate” featuring Pat & Caleb here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fLBMKU8f6KE&ab_channel=HomePlanet

Jake and Thomas from Pendejo Time join us to look at this year’s scuffle at the Texas border, and the brave trucker patriots volunteering for Civil War 2. Subscribe today for access to the full episode and all premium episodes! www.patreon.com/chapotraphouse

Alex Nichols a.k.a. @Lowenaffchen joins us to look at a series of certified Good Mental Moments from our top politicians. Then, we transition to doing a live listen to the new Tom McDonald feat. Ben Shapiro song FACTS. Is Ben bringing Tom down? Is that an AI or is Ben really that robotic? Do you really want to be talking compound interest in your rap verse? Alex puts on his Fortune Kit hat to discuss that and more. Check out Fortune Kit here or wherever you get pods: https://soundcloud.com/fortune-kit And the FYM podcast here or wherever you get pods: https://chapofym.podbean.com/

EDIT: Original file of this episode contained some muted audio clips. File is now fixed, redownload to correct. We start off today’s episode with a farewell to the DeSantis campaign as the Never Back Down PAC backs down, and dedicates its last days to puzzling through Iowa to the Moon Palace Retreat. We discuss Biden’s general lack of a coherent position going into this long, long general campaign, and how it’s leaving his would-be defenders in the lurch. BUT, for the main thrust of this ep, we celebrate one man: The Beekeeper. Because when the hive is threatened, when the Queen is producing faulty Offspring, then there’s one man you must call. To Bee or Not To Bee? To bee, bitch. Let’s keep some bees. Tickets to Talking Simpsons at SF Sketchfest on 1/24 here: https://sfsketchfest2024.sched.com/event/1VUtV/talking-simpsons

Well, here we are, Iowa Caucus day 2024. Considering we all took several points of permanent sanity damage this time 4 years ago, what’s insane this year is how on rails this whole thing is. Nonetheless, our elections correspondent Josh (@ettingermentum) returns to update us on the state of the races for 2024. We look at how Biden’s long-term hyper-commitment to Israel affects his chances, Trump’s advantages and disadvantages in his ‘24 campaign, the RFK Jr. of it all, and the race for #2 between the rest of the GOP candidates.. Find Josh’s newsletter here: https://www.ettingermentum.news/ Tickets to Talking Simpsons at SF Sketchfest on 1/24 here: https://sfsketchfest2024.sched.com/event/1VUtV/talking-simpsons

Ryan Grim shares an anecdote about democratic congressman and party hatchet-man Josh Gottheimer from his new book on The Squad. Subscribe today for access to the full episode and all premium episodes! www.patreon.com/chapotraphouse

We had some other news items to discuss, but the bulk of this episode is taken up with one piece of breaking news: Did you know that there's a tunnel under Eastern Pkwy? Yes we’re discussing the ridiculous story out of Brooklyn about a group of Chabad-Lubavitch members attempting to dig a secret and unlicensed tunnel under the streets of Crown Heights. We also take a look at Bill Ackman facing some blowback against his wife in his crusade against “academic plagiarism”. Alone, you come India. Buy Amber’s book: https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250269621/dirtbag

Will and guest Séamus Malekafzali discuss the Houthi Red Sea blockade. Subscribe today for access to the full episode and all premium episodes! www.patreon.com/chapotraphouse

Stavvy baby joins us to ring in the New Year with some talk on Christmas gift-giving, review some recent comedic offerings from Israeli TV and Tucker Carlson’s X show, and finally to look at some of recent political developments in the great city of Baltimore and state of Maryland. Watch Stav’s special “Fat Rascal”, streaming now on Netflix. And listen to the Stavvy’s World podcast wherever you get podcasts.

Ben and Hesse from Seeking Derrangements stop by to cover a slew of gay-related news stories, from gay sex in the senate hearing room, to the downfall of George Santos, sex crimes among the sex-panicked Moms For Liberty, and some guys trying to build a libertarian utopia in the Mediterranean. Subscribe to Seeking Derrangements at: https://www.patreon.com/seekingderangements

After a last minute guest cancelation leaves Will in a tight spot, Hesse Deni from Seeking Derangements and Movie Mindset comes off the bench to field another slew of questions sourced from advice columns. Q's include: What to do when your mom spends too much money on premium pornography? What if your child is in school with a dark psychopath? How to defend your home from the tooth fairy and much more. Subscribe to Seeking Derangements https://www.patreon.com/seekingderangements/posts Submit Questions to the Seeking Derangements help line at 332 203 8247

TrueAnon’s Liz Franczak helps us look at this week’s GOP debate, the candidates’ pandering to the weirdest freaks in their audience, and Ron DeSantis’ love of Calvin Coolidge. Subscribe today for access to the full episode and all premium episodes! www.patreon.com/chapotraphouse

Felix is joined by Stef aka @iwrite4jacobin to discuss his investigation into Argentina’s AMIA bombing. The 1994 bombing of a Jewish community center in Buenos Aires has generated much speculation as to who the perpetrators actually were, accusations of irregularities in the investigation, suspicions of cover-ups, connections with intelligence agencies, and the probable suicide of a prosecutor related to the case. Stef takes us through the whole story and its implications for relationships between America, Israel, Iran and Argentina. Find Stef’s series of essays on the incident on Substack, starting with Part 1 here: https://whitesiadbarre.substack.com/p/interpreting-the-amia-i-peronism And follow him on twitter here: https://twitter.com/iwrite4jacobin

Sports journalist Karim Zidan returns to the show to catch up with Felix about the world of combat sports and their attendant politics. They discuss responses to Israel/Gaza in the MMA world, developments in Saudi Arabia’s use of sports for soft power, political use of fight sports in Chechnya, and the deep bromance between Dana White and Donald Trump. Find Karim's writing at: https://www.sportspolitika.news/ Follow Karim at: https://twitter.com/ZidanSports Prod note: we’re putting out two public episodes today, partially to re-align the episode numberings to keep Monday eps even and Thursday eps odd. Obviously something only I care about, but also just letting you know to expect a regular Patreon ep this Thursday.

TrueAnon’s Brace Belden returns to the show as the crew continues discussing the war in Palestine. We look at Israel’s military shortcomings, the IDF’s penile obsession, the domestic propaganda war, and some measures Biden could take we might actually support. We also touch on Gavin Newsom’s vetoing of an anti-Caste based discrimination law, and a Ron DeSantis aide who apparently willed himself to death. Catch Will at the New Bedford Whaling Museum’s 2024 Moby-Dick Marathon: https://www.whalingmuseum.org/program/moby-dick-marathon-2024/ And keep an eye on TrueAnon’s feed for an upcoming announcement that will “end politics as we know it”.