981 - Down in the Mall (10/27/25)

It’s a call-in show! We respond to nineteen calls ranging from serious predictions about the Trump era and beyond, the future of the Middle East, Warren Zevon stories, books for kids and high schoolers, and trying to wean a friend off H3H3. Also: gossip about John Fetterman and Jair Bolsonaro. YEAR ZERO: A Chapo Trap House Comic Anthology is back on sale! Buy it at badegg.co/products/year-zero-1. Hurry while supplies last!

Secret Base’s sports-data auteur Jon Bois is back to preview a new series: a history and analysis of mound charges in baseball, coming this November. We talk a little bit about recent sports news including Dana White’s new boxing league, Shohei Ohtani’s generational run, and the Seattle Mariners (RIP). We then do a deep dive on former Reform Party member Curtis Sliwa, his statements about parades, Hasids, and cats, and his eating competition scandals. Finally, a quick check-in on Jordan Peterson’s recent health woes. Subscribe to Secret Base: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDRmGMSgrtZkOsh_NQl4_xw YEAR ZERO: A Chapo Trap House Comic Anthology is back on sale! Buy it at badegg.co/products/year-zero-1. Hurry while supplies last! NEW MERCH IS OUT NOW! Go to https://chapotraphouse.store/ and buy a new hat or shirt, especially our great new “Carousel Club” design. AND be sure to pre-save the date of October 28 for Will and Hesse’s LIVE WATCH PARTY of Re-Animator with Bryan Yuzna! Tickets available now – use the promo code CHAPO20 for 20% off! https://checkout.stagepilot.com/collections/chapo-trap-house

Drop Site’s Ryan Grim and Jeremy Scahill return to talk more about the ceasefire deal in Gaza. We discuss what finally led to this moment, whether this ceasefire will be any different than the previous ones, and the future of Gaza, Israel, and the Gulf States. We then turn to the media’s coverage of Gaza: Jeremy’s new story on The Free Press’ “debunking” of the photos of malnourished Gazan children, the news that Douglas Murray and David Frum were writing speeches for an Israeli ambassador, a supposed document from Mohammad Sinwar, and Jacki Karsh’s pro-Israel journalism fellowship. Subscribe to Drop Site here: https://www.dropsitenews.com/ NEW MERCH IS OUT NOW! Go to https://chapotraphouse.store/ and buy a new hat or shirt, especially our great new “Carousel Club” design. AND be sure to pre-save the date of October 28 for Will and Hesse’s LIVE WATCH PARTY of Re-Animator! Tickets available now – use the promo code CHAPO20 for 20% off! https://checkout.stagepilot.com/collections/chapo-trap-house

Séamus joins us to talk about Trump’s proposed “Gaza peace plan” and what horrific policies it would actually entail in practice, as well as the Democratic Party’s desperate attempts to triangulate on the issue. We also wade into the increasing possibility of regime change in Venezuela as well as ICE’s pillaging of Chicago apartment buildings. On the lighter side, we talk about Bari Weiss being given the keys to CBS news and Tyler Cowen’s Humbert Humbert-esque ode to an AI actress. Follow @Turbulence_pod on X for updates about when Séamus’s pod drops. NEW MERCH IS OUT NOW! Go to https://chapotraphouse.store/ and buy a new hat or shirt, especially our great new “Carousel Club” design. AND be sure to pre-save the date of October 28 for Will and Hesse’s LIVE WATCH PARTY of Re-Animator! Tickets available now – use the promo code CHAPO20 for 20% off! https://checkout.stagepilot.com/collections/chapo-trap-house

Will interviews Los Angeles reporter Memo Torres, whose site L.A. TACO shifted from covering food and culture in the city to some of the most indispensable and horrific coverage of ICE raids available. Memo tells us about what happens to people when they get kidnapped, covering the horrors of fortress America, and practical advice for those who might find themselves in ICE’s crosshairs. Read more at L.A. TACO: https://lataco.com/  And follow Memo Torres on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/el_tragon_de_los_angeles/?hl=en

Greetings Horror Sickos, Listener, please light a circle of candles and begin to scrawl out the ancient sigils in salt, and begin the accursed chant … “Let’s All Go to the Lobby, Let’s All Go to the Lobby, and Grab Ourselves a Snack” That’s right! Spooky season is upon us and to inaugurate another edition of Ghoulvie Screamset Horrortober, Will Massacre and Hexa Deni are back with a selection of abominable and morally ruinous films. First up, in Return of the Living Dead (O’Bannon, 1985) an assortment of punks, working stiffs and slobs accidentally expose themselves to zombie gas and help bring out the nuclear bombing of Louisville, Kentucky in this documentary about a real thing that actually happened. This hilarious and goofball horror film asks two existentially terrifying questions: What if you could feel every second of being dead? And, do you want to PARTY???? Then in The Blob (Russell, 1988), a sci fi classic gets a grisly and unforgettable remake that features Kevin Dillon playing an motorcycle riding bad boy who smokes cigs, wears a leather jacket and has to save the small town that rejects him for being too cool from a giant blob that digests and dissolves everything in its path. This episode is free, but the rest of Ghoulvie Screamset Season 3 will be paywalled!

Like many things, there used to be a bipartisan consensus that in a disaster, you help as many people get through it as quickly and safely as possible. In the past 20+ years, though, we’ve seen a shift in how the right responds to climate catastrophes — including building out a robust selection of conspiracy theories from chemtrails to Flat Earth. Will Menaker from Chapo Trap House joins us to discuss right-wing conspiracy theories about the weather, the climate, and whether we’re living on a discworld. Our guest is Will Menaker, host of Chapo Trap House. Their Movie Mindset series returns in October for spooky season, and you can also buy their new Year Zero comic book here: https://badegg.co/products/year-zero-1. Want even more Panic World content? Like ad-free episodes, bonus episodes, and access to our Discord? There’s still a week left to get your first month for just $0.50 by signing up for our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/PanicWorld. Enter “PANICYEAR” at checkout for 90% the first month. And if you want to see this conversation on video, ⁠Panic World is now posting episodes to YouTube!

Zue Jernstedt joins us live from the Global Sumud Flotilla to talk to us about delivering aid to those in Gaza and weathering attacks from Israel.

It’s Chapo—in person! Will, Felix, and Brendan James of Blowback (formerly Chapo Trap House) gather at Will’s apartment to talk about Eric Adams dropping out of the NYC mayoral race. They then read a profile of Adam Jentleson and his new PAC, Searchlight, and its novel plan to win elections by pulling Democrats to the right. Also this episode: Pete Hegseth’s mysterious all-hands meeting, Trump finally releasing the files, and Peter Thiel’s obsession with the antichrist. And be sure to vote for American Prestige at the Signal Awards: https://vote.signalaward.com/PublicVoting?utm_campaign=signal4_finalists_finalistnotification_092325&utm_medium=email&utm_source=cio#/2025/shows/genre/news-politics And check out the new Blowback season! https://blowback.show/

Will Sommer of The Bulwark returns to Chapo to talk about the right’s reaction to the assassination of Charlie Kirk as well as his funeral proceedings in Arizona. We recap the Groyper War that preceded the assassination and the pressure it put on Kirk to move right, as well as the conspiracies surrounding his shooting. Was Israel involved? Why was there no exit wound? Did Charlie have a late-in-life conversion to Catholicism? And which faction of the right will be able to define the man’s legacy? Follow Will Sommer on Twitter/X: https://x.com/willsommer