The Culture We Deserve

As America gears up to celebrate its 250th anniversary, Jessa and Nico discuss this country's obsession with its founding, what Kamala's vision for the anniversary would have been, and whether we'll all live to celebrate 251. Also: Trump's takeover of the Kennedy Center, Philadelphia celebrates America with the British moppet Ed Sheeran concert, and by the way we both recorded this with the flu. Shownotes and references: http://theculturewedeserve.substack.com

Christopher Rufo and the rest of the anti-DEI crew are planning for a new conservative art world: please, can you spare some aesthetics? What can we all expect from antiwoke art, other than messianic actors rescuing trafficked children from predatory progressives and shirtless pics of a super ripped Donald Trump? Can the conservatives save art with Western Civilization nostalgia and NFTs? And was art ever really woke? Jessa and Nico look at the possibilities of never getting good art ever again.

With the release of the Brian Eno documentary, one has to wonder: What is the real cause of our cultural stagnation? Is it that the United States is incapable of creating new geniuses, or that all the geniuses are working now in tech? Nico and Jessa get into how media consolidation, a failing educational system, and the so-called democratization of creativity have created an entertainment industry where mediocrity reigns and "Fail Better" is just a techbro motto. Also: the effect of Trump's anti-DEI efforts and whether China just released an OpenAI killer. Shownotes and references: http://theculturewedeserve.substack.com

Is America capable of creating geniuses anymore, or just technicians who feed the nostalgia for the age of auteurs? Just a few months ago, The Brutalist was being heralded as a masterpiece, but now it's mired in controversy about AI use and accusations of Zionist politics. Both of these attacks are wrong, by the way -- it is simply that the movie is not very good. On the week of David Lynch's death, Nico and Jessa discuss the Ayn Randiness of The Brutalist, the cliches related to creative genius, and why neo-Nazis love Twin Peaks. Shownotes and references: http://theculturewedeserve.substack.com

As assisted suicide becomes more widely available, here come the death influencers. Is it wrong to monetize your suicide? Where does all this "normalization" of death end exactly? Jessa and Nico assess the void and the artists whose chosen medium is their own annihilation. Shownotes and references: http://theculturewedeserve.substack.com

Predictions! What will the glorious year of 2025 hold for us? Nico and Jessa try to sort it all out. Will Harvard graduates stop referring to themselves as radicals and revolutionaries now that actual assassinations are happening? Will the manfluencers raise an army to invade Canada and install Jordan Peterson as Trump's colonial minister? Will an American ever write a good novel again? Will the rebirth of a Temperance movement start burning down casinos and smoke shops to save the youths from sports betting and kratom? Who knows! We don't, but we will pretend to. Shownotes and references: http://theculturewedeserve.substack.com

Fine, we give up trying to make original content, let's make a list! Jessa and Nico talk about the best and worst films, television, books, art, and music of the year that got eaten by the election cycle. Full list and shownotes: http://theculturewedeserve.substack.com

As the stars align for another French Revolution (Pluto in Aquarius, baby), the billionaires and CEOs are quaking. They're upgrading their security teams, they are building compounds. Also, as things escalate with Russia, Jessa and Nico wonder if we're going to get Rocky IV-level propaganda soon. Booker Prize winner Samantha Harvey is getting review-bombed for even having a Russian character in her novel, the people demand a new Drago onto which they can project their hate and anxiety! The last Cold War gave us Mikhail Baryshnikov, who knows what wonders await us this time? Shownotes and references: http://theculturewedeserve.substack.com

Elon Musk twat that Cancel culture has been canceled. All our bad men are coming back -- Kevin Spacey, Bryan Singer, Armie Hammer. New administration, baby! So what was cancel culture even for? Nico and Jessa discuss grievance culture, how Netflix has monetized the anti-cancel culture grift, and whether anyone is going to learn anything from the last ten years of madness. Shownotes and references: http://theculturewedeserve.substack.com

Progressive self-flagellation continues this week, as now the left wonders why they don't have a Joe Rogan-like figure to lead the angry young men into socialist politics. Maybe because you guys are all desperately overeager? Maybe because you'd want them to attend a new Columbia University masters program for audio arts before you trusted them to start a podcast? Just a thought. Also: Cormac McCarthy had a teenage lover during his midlife crisis, and is Argentina our new economic libertarian father figure? Shownotes and references: http://theculturewedeserve.substack.com