Ep 408 - The Final Frontier of Sociopath Presidents? w/ Adam Kotsko
Release Date: 03/26/2025
Ep 414- Which Way, White Dude? w/ Justin Rogers-Cooper (PREVIEW)
Nostalgia Trap
(dir. Richard Linklater. 1993) remains a timeless classic of American adolescence…or does it? This week Justin joins me for a deep dive into one of the most nostalgia-laden films ever created, as we investigate how a seemingly breezy 1990s high school stoner comedy actually holds deep philosophical and political weight when viewed from 2025. From Matthew McConaughey’s lascivious lothario to Ben Affleck’s pathetic, psychotic bully, and a million characters in between, the film displays archetypes of American youth that point to the often narrow paths of identity available to each of us....
info_outline
Ep 413 - Comanches in Gaza (PREVIEW)
Nostalgia Trap
What is “settler colonialism” and how is it different from other forms of imperialism? In this episode I share excerpts from S.C. Gwynne’s bracing, controversial book , and reflect on the historical lines between the American project of removal and Israel’s current genocidal campaign in Gaza. How is Zionism related to Manifest Destiny? And what can we learn from each of these tremendously disturbing eras?
info_outline
Ep 412 - Nation of Swine w/ Justin Rogers-Cooper
Nostalgia Trap
Hunter S. Thompson’s 1971 novel remains a classic of American drug literature, a haunting reflection on the cultural and political hangover of the revolutionary 1960s. I’m not sure I’ve ever experienced a more resonant portrait of the American id than the carnival of vile, deranged American archetypes Thompson describes in these pages. Justin Rogers-Cooper has been similarly influenced by Fear and Loathing over the years, and joins me this week to talk about Thompson’s legacy, his dark take on the “meaning” of the 1960s, and his view of America as a debased post-Nazi...
info_outline
Ep 411 - House on Fire (PREVIEW)
Nostalgia Trap
An explosive piece called raises a few questions for me: What is the left's attitude toward tech? Is there anything positive about AI?Is digital technology compatible AT ALL with a progressive vision of the future? ARE WE DOOMED AS A SPECIES???
info_outline
News Trap 5.6.25 - Terminal Velocity
Nostalgia Trap
FAA failures creating realistic fears of looming airline disasters, Trump's cryptocurrency scam, quantum computing and financial apocalypse, Kanye's celebrity vagina mega corporation, Israel's endgame for Gaza, the 4Channing of the world, the Baldoni/Lively mind control machine, and much more.
info_outline
Ep 410 - Vietnam Vietnam Vietnam, We've All Been There
Nostalgia Trap
April 30, 2025 is the 50th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War, so I’m marking the occasion by reflecting on the war’s meaning all these decades later. I share my own experiences as a historian of the war, along with some clips from books and documentaries that I think capture the impossible decisions the war forced upon millions of people.
info_outline
Ep 409 - This is the End w/ Justin Rogers-Cooper (PREVIEW)
Nostalgia Trap
The recent death of Val Kilmer got Justin and I thinking about Jim Morrison and the curious legacy of The Doors in American pop culture. In this conversation, we continue our exploration of the amorphous brand of white masculinity embodied by Morrison and other doomed rock gods of the late 20th century, as we share memories of how The Doors blew our alienated teenage minds before the massive buzzkill of adulthood forced us to reckon with the cringier elements of Morrison’s persona and cultural imprint. From psychedelic drugs and beat literature to sex, cars, and jazz – The Doors broke us...
info_outline
News Trap 4.23.25 - Trapdoor (PREVIEW)
Nostalgia Trap
I'm reading S.C. Gwynne's incredible book , and it's making me think about Israel, Gaza, and the fatal arrogance of the leadership class throughout history. A brings that arrogant tendency right up to 2025, as we witness the Democratic Party's inability to conjure a coherent battle plan to confront Trump and company's unbelievably evil intentions.
info_outline
News Trap 4.16.25 - See You in the Camps
Nostalgia Trap
As the Trump administration tests the "Hamilton glitch" in the U.S. Constitution by sending Abrego Garcia and others to a foreign concentration camp without legal due process, I thought it might be time to contemplate what ordinary people can do to express their outrage/disapproval/humanity in the face of injustice.
info_outline
News Trap 4.11.25 - Hard Decoupling w/ Justin Rogers-Cooper (PREVIEW)
Nostalgia Trap
Trump's tariff carnival is doing real damage to the global economy, and Justin shares his thoughts on how a collapsing financial architecture will impact big capital, our daily lives, and the Trump project itself. Plus, we address the "Hamilton glitch" of judicial weakness, baked into the Constitution, that's creating a rapidly escalating showdown over who's really in charge.
info_outlineAdam Kotsko is a writer and cultural critic whose work focuses on American pop culture, from “cringe” comedies to our national obsession with sociopathic protagonists. His latest book, Late Star Trek: The Final Frontier in the Franchise Era considers how the Star Trek series has evolved (or devolved) in the political economy of streaming TV and the Marvel-ization of feature filmmaking. In this conversation we talk about how his work on TV sociopaths holds up during the new Trump administration, and the challenges of participating in fan culture within a fracturing and cynical landscape of cultural production.
Check out our previous episode with Adam, “Cringe Nation”
Subscribe to Nostalgia Trap to access our News Trap episodes and giant library of bonus goodness