News Trap 11.7.25 - Change You Can Believe In w/ Justin Rogers-Cooper (PREVIEW

This is a preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit the Nostalgia Trap Patreon. This week Justin and I talk about the Mamdani victory in NYC; the shifting dynamics of the much hyped "civil war" within the Democratic Party; how to read the Trump administration's weak response on elections and the government shutdown; Marjorie Taylor-Greene's pivot away from QAnon world; the Heritage Foundation's fight over Nick Fuentes and Nazi influencers; bombshell news about Nayib Bukele and his El Salvador prison project.  

The US government shits the bed, Trump dumps AI feces on protesters, the East Wing of the White House gets flushed down the toilet, Mamdani squeezes out a floater upon a dying Democratic Party, and something stinks about the US dropping bombs on "drug dealers" off the coast of Venezuela. Listen to the full episode on the Nostalgia Trap Subscriber Feed    

Spoiler alert! I recorded this livestream about an hour after finishing this movie, so this is me attempting to untangle my thoughts about it. A complicated, funny, scary, and beautiful contemplation about revolutionary praxis (worst word in the world), One Battle After Another is definitely worth your time. I explain why here. Follow/subscribe to our Patreon for access to all our bonus content and News Trap episodes

This week Justin joins me to consider the dialectical nature of our 2025 reality, as we examine the utopian and dystopian properties of Bad Bunny Super Bowl discourse, the rise of Zohran Mamdani, and the accelerated unleashing of AI slop upon a world of hungry little piggies. Are we in heaven, or are we in hell? Why not both? Subscribe for a FREE 7 day trial to listen to this whole episode, plus gain access to our giant library of delicious, nutritious bonus content 

The Supreme Court is scared of crossing Trump; Stephen Miller wants to declare the Democratic Party a terrorist organization; an ICE raid in Chicago lays the groundwork for a new era of authoritarianism; late night TV says goodbye; microplastics are giving everyone cancer; and we're all awaiting an economic crash at a scale the world has never seen. Cheers! Click here to listen to this whole episode and all our livestreams, news traps, and other bonus content

This week on the Nostalgia Trap Livestream: Conspiracy theory mind-melt reaches the upper echelons of power, AI-generated savagery plunges further into the toilet, Chuck Schumer and Zohran Mamdani flirt with the limits of liberal possibility, a shocking violation of the 1st Amendment that's NOT Jimmy Kimmel (so no one cares), plus some delightful Cuban piano grooves! Listen to the whole episode here

On this week's News Trap update, Justin joins me to discuss the question on everyone's mind: when is the fever gonna break? As the cartoonish reality of Trump's second term takes on increasingly demented dimensions, we game out how larger forces, particularly the insane bubble that is the AI economy, are stirring in the background, threatening an imminent meltdown that promises to flip the script of what both left and right are currently imagining. Listen to the whole episode by joining the Nostalgia Trap Patreon with a FREE 7-Day Trial

On this week's livestream I talk about the deceptive power of the Kirk memorial, the postmodernity of conspiracy culture, the ironic twist of right-wing cancel campaigns and, of course, Jimmy Kimmel. Plus I share some juicy bits from Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland. Join the Nostalgia Trap Patreon and hear the whole episode, along with all our weekly bonus content

The fallout from Charlie Kirk's assassination continues to mutate into an escalation of the right's multi-front authoritarian campaign. On this episode, I talk with Judd Legum, journalist and creator of two of the most important  independent progressive publications of the past two decades: the political news site ThinkProgress (RIP!) and the current Substack newsletter Popular Information. We talk about people being fired for comments about Kirk's death (including Jimmy Kimmel), the Trump administration's strategy of suing their enemies, and the outlook for progressive and left journalism in this increasingly stifling political atmosphere. Support independent media! Subscribe to the Nostalgia Trap Patreon to access all our bonus content, including News Trap updates, livestreams, and more.

America is taking a turn into a dark cul-de-sac, and many liberals are hoping that Stephen Colbert and John Oliver's sunnier version of the national id will somehow, magically, win the day. But will it? Has it ever? Listen to the full episode here!