Omnishambles

This is the final episode of What Rough Beast—and the first of something bigger. We’re becoming Omnishambles: same commitment to getting inside what’s huge, opaque, and frightening. Wider aperture. No more holding back. Virginia and Cy are co-hosting from here on out, and the new show launches next week. If you want to come with us, subscribe (it’s free!) at Omnishambles—link below.For this finale, Virginia and Cy are joined by Siva Vaidyanathan—Robertson Professor of Media Studies at UVA, author of Antisocial Media—to ask: when a bomb drops on a girls’ school in southern Iran on day one of a new war, who is the author of that decision?In this episode:* How AI-assisted weapons systems are being used in Iran — and why authorship of the strike may be genuinely unanswerable* The thread from Palantir in Afghanistan → Gaza as AI laboratory → Iran* Why the 70 days it used to take to make a decision was a feature, not a bug* Deliberative democracy, the kosher laws, and putting a brake on zeal* Why these tools are a siren song for anyone who doesn’t want accountabilityThis is the last episode under this name! We’ll see you at Omnishambles. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit virginiaheffernan.substack.com/subscribe

A deep dive into newly uncovered internal communications that reveal how a lenient plea was engineered and hidden. They trace Palm Beach police bypassing a slow-walking state attorney and the assembly of an elite legal 'armada.' Emails show Epstein drafting his own defense language, work release manipulations, payments to lawyers, and explicit planning for future pardons.

Giorgio Angelini, filmmaker and architectural designer behind Feels Good Man and The Anti-Social Network, talks meme culture and platform dynamics. He traces Pepe’s transformation, explores meme magic and online radicalization, and sketches odd intersections like Epstein, hackers, and 4chan. Short, sharp conversations about aesthetics, nihilism, protest repurposing, and a strange, hopeful look at where attention politics might lead.

They dig into how a celebrated intellectual salon was secretly bankrolled by Jeffrey Epstein and how that pipeline groomed ambitious women. They describe the pick-me dynamics, billionaire dinners, and the Playboy Club office that served as gatekeeping theater. They trace tech money’s corrupting pull on culture, the eugenics-adjacent ideas circulating among elites, and why breaking free felt like breathing again.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit virginiaheffernan.substack.com/subscribe

Cy Cantarell, a systems thinker and independent journalist who writes on infrastructure and political economy, reflects on neoliberalism’s unraveling. Short, sharp takes cover Mark Carney’s Davos reckoning, the myths of meritocracy, H‑Mart Gate and proximity to power, why maintenance workers hold hidden leverage, and where direct action can actually strain the wealth defense machine.

This week on What Rough Beast, we talk to Trevor Mitchell, a reporter on the ground in Minneapolis for the nonprofit publication MinnPost. We wanted to discuss with him what everyday life looks like under ICE occupation—and how the Twin Cities are fighting back. We discuss:* Why the most important stories are the hardest to tell—and why print journalism can reach people cameras can’t* Mutual aid networks sprouting everywhere from churches to sex shops as neighbors step up to protect each other* The Women with Walkers—senior activists protesting from chapel pews who’ve been doing this since 1967* How half of the city’s Spanish-speaking students don’t show up to school and parents are too terrified to send their kids outside* Whether this feels like war reporting, pandemic reporting, or something entirely new* Why Minnesota—and what it means when 3,000 federal agents occupy American streetsWhat Rough Beast is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support this work, please consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit virginiaheffernan.substack.com/subscribe

They unpack competing realities sparked by a violent death and how motivated reasoning invents doubt. They trace anti-pluralist organizing back through evangelical networks and cultural capture. They discuss why intolerant movements can be self-destructive yet still deadly. They recommend diary-keeping, mutual aid, and record-keeping as ways to preserve sanity and truth.

This week, on the occasion of the five-year anniversary of the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, I want to share a couple of conversations I had on the first anniversary of the insurrection with Reps. Jamie Raskin and Hakeem Jeffries, and Jamelle Bouie. What you’ll hear are vivid accounts of that day, and you’ll hear about what this seemed to mean for who we are as a country, and where we were (and are) headed. What Rough Beast is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit virginiaheffernan.substack.com/subscribe

Fred Kaplan, a national security columnist for Slate and author of multiple insightful books, delves into intricate foreign policy dynamics. He discusses the alarming 'double tap' incident in Venezuela and its implications. Kaplan argues that Trump's foreign policy resembles that of a mobster, favoring strongmen like Putin. He highlights the silence among military leaders and politicians in the face of troubling decisions and warns that the end of Pax Americana could leave the U.S. isolated in a shifting global landscape.