Nostalgia Trap - Episode 137: Fifty Shades of Bernie w/ Daniel Bessner (BONUS EP PREVIEW)
Release Date: 03/12/2019
A Right to Housing? w/ Samuel Stein
Nostalgia Trap
Do you still have hope? And does a left project even need "hope"? Samuel Stein joins us this week to discuss his latest book , a refreshingly honest look at the possibilities for change within the grim landscape of American housing policy.
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You're Like Me w/ Justin Rogers-Cooper (PREVIEW)
Nostalgia Trap
This week Justin joins me to speculate on the inevitable "October Surprise" of the coming U.S. midterm elections: Terror attack? Alien invasion? Sharknado? The landscape of possibilities seems endless. Our conversation veers into a wider discussion of MAGA's fracture and the psychosexual politics of homoeroticized schadenfreude, the pleasure of punishment, and social media lynch mobs.
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Hopelessly Inhospitable w Justin Rogers-Cooper
Nostalgia Trap
Is the widespread hatred of AI just another stupid viral moment that will be forgotten in a week? Or is there something deeper happening? Justin and I game out the historical/psychological parameters of an anti-tech cultural politics, and try to come to terms with our own attitudes about the seemingly unstoppable rise of the machines. Check out Sam Stein's latest book,
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Meet Me in the Backrooms w/ Justin Rogers-Cooper
Nostalgia Trap
In taking his internet creepypasta from YouTube to the cinema screen, director Kane Parsons has created a piece of popular art that resonates deeply with some of our favorite Nostalgia Trap themes: '90s analog culture, toxic masculinity, psychedelic dream spaces, and the overriding feeling that the historical vibe is growing dark. Justin joins me to explore this puzzle of a movie, and to unpack its uncanny connection to our collective trips into extradimensional worlds.
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Chasing It w/ Justin Rogers-Cooper (PREVIEW)
Nostalgia Trap
In the shadow of the U.S. officially losing the war in Iran, the American political and economic world continues to chase after a high that's perhaps no longer attainable. This week we examine how Trump, MAGA, AI companies, and the American left are grappling with a bubbling existential crisis that's unprecedented in scale and intensity.
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Vote Blue No Matter Who w/ Justin Rogers-Cooper (PREVIEW)
Nostalgia Trap
It's time for the old "there's a civil war brewing in the Democratic Party" conversation again, and Justin joins me to poke holes in the orthodoxies embraced by both "sides" of the alleged progressive/left vs centrist debate currently gripping the American public. It's 2016 all over again! Or is it?
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No One Wants to Work Anymore w/ Justin Rogers-Cooper (PREVIEW)
Nostalgia Trap
This week Justin joins me to explore the tall claims made in a recent New York Times piece, Are we really experiencing a generational revolt against centuries of American attitudes about education, work, wages, and life itself? Let's see what these Gen Z kids have to say.
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News Trap 7.10.26 - The End of Curiosity w/ Justin Rogers-Cooper (PREVIEW)
Nostalgia Trap
This is a preview clip from a subscribers-only episode. Does economic crisis predictably produce extreme political movements? History's lessons are a bit unclear on that point and, as we investigate in this episode, the summer of 2026 is testing our understanding of the relationship between political economy and social reality. Strap in, folks: we just found a new planet hiding behind the sun!
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New Trap 6.26.26 - Thread the Needle w/ Justin Rogers-Cooper (PREVIEW)
Nostalgia Trap
This is a preview clip from a subscribers-only episode. As a wave of Mamdani-supported COMMUNISTS win power in New York, Justin and I ask the question that's on everyone's minds: is this the future of the Democratic Party? And more importantly, what will American politics look like in the wake of the Trump era?
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News Trap 6.12.26 - Only the Orcas Can Save Us Now w/ Justin Rogers-Cooper (PREVIEW)
Nostalgia Trap
This is a free preview of a subscribers only episode. With news that Elon Musk in the world's first trillionaire after the historic SpaceX IPO, Justin joins me to discuss the financial gamesmanship at work in the AI industry, the planetary limits of this particular phase of capitalism, and the reasons why the #TeslaTakedown moment is long in the past.
info_outlineHere's a brief preview of this week's bonus episode, featuring a conversation with historian Daniel Bessner on the significance of Bernie Sanders' 2020 presidential run.
To listen to the entire episode: patreon.com/nostalgiatrap