Nostalgia Trap - Episode 180: Vibe Check w/ KJ Shepherd and Bill Black
Release Date: 02/24/2020
News Trap 5.15.26 - K Hole w/ Justin Rogers-Cooper (PREVIEW)
Nostalgia Trap
It's the best of times and the worst of times, as average Americans are paying more for pretty much everything while the stock market breaks records. What's up with that? Justin joins us this week to talk about the contradictions currently bracing up the global economy, as we map out how the Ukraine and Iran Wars are reshaping global power and the outlook for everything from gas and food prices to the "AI bubble." Plus, our usual speculations on the possibilities for progressive politics and leftist revolution within this particular social and economic climate. BUY BUY BUY or SELL SELL SELL?
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News Trap 5.1.26 - Hasan Piker and Tucker Carlson Walk Into a Bar... w/ Justin Rogers-Cooper
Nostalgia Trap
Recent debates about whether or not leftist streamers like Hasan Piker should be embraced by the Democratic Party lead Justin and me to explore how the "marketplace of ideas" intersects with the broad historical and economic forces that govern our collective destiny.
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News Trap 4.10.26 - Summoning Aliens w Justin Rogers-Cooper (PREVIEW)
Nostalgia Trap
This week we check out the and consider the intersection of AI, climate crises, and sociopathic personalities that defines this historical moment. Who is really in the driver's seat of our collective future?
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Enshittification Hits the Left (PREVIEW)
Nostalgia Trap
Did Bernie's loss break the left's brain?
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News Trap 3.26.26 - Kill Box w/ Justin Rogers-Cooper (PREVIEW)
Nostalgia Trap
By joining Israel in a reckless attack on Iran, Trump has put the entire global system in the kill box, which begs the question, what's more dangerous: Trump when he's winning or Trump when he's trapped like a dog? And what happens when the material realities unleashed by this attack come home to roost?
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News Trap 3.5.26 - The Iran Wormhole w/ Justin Rogers-Cooper (PREVIEW)
Nostalgia Trap
This week Justin and I game out scenarios unfolding from the U.S./Israel attack on Iran. Is it all about Epstein? (LOL) Or might China and Russia have something to do with Trump's latest insane wager? Let's take a look at the imperial chessboard. .
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Ep 425 - Cultural Inappropriation w/ Alan Burgess and Monte Montgomery
Nostalgia Trap
My late night adventures into the local jazz underworld have introduced me to some fascinating new friends, and I wanted to bring two of them into the Nostalgia Trap universe. Monte Montgomery and Alan Burgess are old pals whose frequent conversations often veer into the uncomfortable territories of race, culture and politics that will be familiar to Trap listeners. In this first episode in a series with Monte and Alan, we tackle the idea of “cultural appropriation” within the context of “race music,” from Elvis to Eminem. Subscribe to the Nostalgia Trap Patreon for access to our...
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News Trap 2.6.26 - Brain Damage w/ Justin Rogers-Cooper (PREVIEW)
Nostalgia Trap
This is a preview clip from a subscribers-only episode. On this week's News Trap Justin and I talk about the delicious crash of the crypto hustle, the sinister promise of "agentic AI," the human wreckage of Silicon Valley's utopian projects, the sad fall of Noam Chomsky, and the larger implications of Jeffrey Epstein's legendary run as the elite's favorite BFF.
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Ep 424 - How Does It Feel? w/ Charles L. Ponce de Leon
Nostalgia Trap
When I was growing up in the 1980s and 1990s, Rolling Stone magazine was an indispensable resource for discovering the hip edge of American pop culture. Of course, I didn’t realize at the time that the magazine had its roots in the 1960s counterculture, crafted by entrepreneur Jann Wenner as a subversive Trojan horse within the staid landscape of Cold War America. On this episode, historian joins me for a conversation about his new book (UNC Press 2026), as we explore the magazine’s complex evolution and the ironies of “counterculture” becoming “mainstream.” Check out my ‘90s...
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News Trap 1.23.26 - Taking It to the Limit w/ Justin Rogers-Cooper (PREVIEW)
Nostalgia Trap
This is a brief clip from a full episode on our subscribers feed. This week Justin joins me to consider what would happen if the post-1945 "rules based order" really does collapse -- something that seems more inevitable with each passing moment. With the Trump administration acting in severely irrational ways, how will the global system react? In addition to thinking about Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney's dire warning at this week's Davos conference, we talk about the wider chaos unleashed by ICE in Minnesota, Trump's attack on the Fed, and the continued dive into the abyss of 19th...
info_outlineTrap favorites KJ Shepherd and Bill Black return for a much-needed election year vibe check, in which we discuss our individual and collective moods in the context of Bernie Sanders’ continued success in the Democratic primary. From online battles with Marc Maron and other toxic centrist dorks to the wider view of academic work in a collapsing humanities job market, KJ and Bill bring their characteristically refreshing perspectives to an increasingly chaotic historical moment.
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