The Culture We Deserve

Hosted by Jessa Crispin, The Culture We Deserve covers the state of the arts.

Die, DEI 01/21/2026

Die, DEI Much like the girlboss, no matter how many times the culture tries to eulogize DEI we find it once again, walking around, making a nuisance of itself. Recent pieces in the NYTimes, Wired, and Compact try to reckon with the legacy of DEI, and then there is of course the walking mascot of DEI culture, Bari Weiss, making a mess of CBS News. Jessa and Nico talk about the enormous lengths all these people will go to avoid talking about class, why identity politics was a good idea (for a while), and why the most obvious DEI hires were Ross Douthat and Bari Weiss. Shownotes and references: http://theculturewedeserve.substack.com /episode/index/show/08b5f6c4-c5fc-4bcc-a25b-73b360099d87/id/39810775

Predictions for an Unpredictable 2026 01/14/2026

Predictions for an Unpredictable 2026 Nico was in Colombia when the United States abducted Venezuelan president Maduro, and he has some thoughts on what people in the United States commonly get wrong about South American politics. But also: predictions for 2026: the USA will do some feminist regime change in Iran, just like in Afghanistan! Serbia will be liberated from the heavy yoke of Trump Family influence! Mr. Beast will be charged with crimes against humanity! And more in politics, culture, and art. Let us know your own predictions and see shownotes here: http://theculturewedeserve.substack.com /episode/index/show/08b5f6c4-c5fc-4bcc-a25b-73b360099d87/id/39726860

Obligatory Best and Worst of the Year Episode 01/01/2026

Obligatory Best and Worst of the Year Episode 2025 may be over, but its cultural production lives on in our hearts. Nico and Jessa debate the best and worst movies, TV shows, books, and museum exhibits of the year, talk shit about your faves, and hope for better art in the future. Shownotes and references: http://theculturewedeserve.substack.com /episode/index/show/08b5f6c4-c5fc-4bcc-a25b-73b360099d87/id/39583340

Revolution and Ruin: George Eliot's Felix Holt: The Radical 12/25/2025

Revolution and Ruin: George Eliot's Felix Holt: The Radical A very special Christmas treat for our listeners. Joseph and Jessa discuss George Eliot's Felix Holt: The Radical, which asks the very important question: is the socialist's primary task to yell at people and tell them they are wrong about everything? Set in the 1830s after political reform has granted voting rights to new -- but still very limited -- populations, a small English market town deals with the tumult that follows. A powerfully rich heir returns to stand for public office as "a radical," a young man decides to devote himself to the bettering of the working classes by telling them they are all ignorant drunks, and a young woman must decide which one of these weirdos to marry. But there is also a strange paternity case and a power struggle over an estate, a satirical storyline about the foolishness of patriarchal lineage, and a few good jokes about atheists. Join the discussion: http://theculturewedeserve.substack.com /episode/index/show/08b5f6c4-c5fc-4bcc-a25b-73b360099d87/id/39533215

The Art Goes Home 12/17/2025

The Art Goes Home For the last five years, museums around the world have been struggling to answer the question of, who owns cultural heritage? Certain objects, from the Elgin Marbles to the Benin Bronzes, have been fought over as multiple entities, institutions, and nations claim true ownership. Now that the Benin Bronzes have started to return to Nigeria, only to be shoved in storage unseen by anyone except the one man who claims they belong only to him, Jessa and Nico discuss whether anything has been learned from the Decolonize movement. Shownotes and references: http://theculturewedeserve.substack.com /episode/index/show/08b5f6c4-c5fc-4bcc-a25b-73b360099d87/id/39439955

United Ireland (Take Two) 12/04/2025

United Ireland (Take Two) Jessa and Nico return from their visit to Ireland. All along the way, the subject of whether or not Ireland should be united kept coming up. But beyond the slogans and the bad ideas, there are very real issues at work, tedious and boring but also tremendously consequential. Nico reflects on the influence the Northern Ireland peace agreement had on Colombian politics, Jessa discusses how social media creates a false sense of consensus, and they both worry about our decreased ability to manage complexity in political issues. Shownotes and references: http://theculturewedeserve.substack.com /episode/index/show/08b5f6c4-c5fc-4bcc-a25b-73b360099d87/id/39278275

The Crisis of Darkness 11/19/2025

The Crisis of Darkness Our pop culture has become insipid. What is the difference between Tom Cruise and Glen Powell? Tom Cruise has darkness within him. Watching him is thrilling because you can see him struggling to contain it. Glen Powell looks at every moment like he's about to turn to the camera, wink, and try to sell you a protein powder so you can get as ripped as him. Jessa and Nico discuss the problems of Running Man (which are problems about a lack of real darkness), why Edgar Wright can never be Paul Verhoeven, and why our dark times deserve dark artists. Shownotes and references: http://theculturewedeserve.substack.com /episode/index/show/08b5f6c4-c5fc-4bcc-a25b-73b360099d87/id/39092910

Revolution and Ruin: Ivan Turgenev's Fathers and Sons 11/13/2025

Revolution and Ruin: Ivan Turgenev's Fathers and Sons A young man goes home to announce his exciting new political and philosophical ideas to his family, only for the family dinner to devolve into shouting, arguing, and eventually a duel? It's a very special Thanksgiving episode of Revolution and Ruin! Turgenev portrays a pre-revolutionary Russia, as nihilism and other ideas begin to circulate among the youth, causing friction and exasperation among their elders. Bazarov and Arkady try to test out their new ideological position, and learn whether or not one can be a young nihilist in love. Shownotes and discussion: http://theculturewedeserve.substack.com /episode/index/show/08b5f6c4-c5fc-4bcc-a25b-73b360099d87/id/39020010

Ladies Ruin Everything 11/12/2025

Ladies Ruin Everything Did women ruin the workplace? Is wokeness feminine? Is this credit card my friend? Is cancel culture Malthusian? etc etc. Yes, the political right will do anything it can to avoid talking about class, and their latest gambit is to blame women for destroying the institutions of our society with their..... feelings. And their gossip. Helen Andrews's THE GREAT FEMINIZATION essay is still making the rounds, so Jessa and Nico discuss which is worse: sexual assault or some young ladies making a TikTok in their workplace. Also whether Leah Libresco Sargeant's counter that wokeness isn't feminine so much as it is coming from a religious impulse holds up. Shownotes and references: http://theculturewedeserve.substack.com /episode/index/show/08b5f6c4-c5fc-4bcc-a25b-73b360099d87/id/39007300

Copaganda Returns 11/05/2025

Copaganda Returns PBS recently decided to schedule the documentary The Last 600 Yards, about American troops fighting in Fallujah, after having shelved it for over a decade for being too pro-military. Co-produced by Steve Bannon, its re-emergence, according to Semafor, is because Bannon wants to convince Trump and his cronies from invading Venezuela. But like all shows, films, and media that centers military or police experience, it ends up glorifying the boots on the ground. Jessa and Nico discuss the upcoming Call of Duty film, the one (white) man against the cartel action film, and just how bad the propaganda was during the War on Terror. (Rest under whatever conditions you created for millions in the Middle East, Dick Cheney.) Shownotes and references: http://theculturewedeserve.substack.com /episode/index/show/08b5f6c4-c5fc-4bcc-a25b-73b360099d87/id/38922130

American Heroes 10/29/2025

American Heroes Once an archetype has been constructed, it's really difficult to dismantle it. And one of the prevailing archetypes of the 20th century was that of the American Hero. From World War II to the genre of the Western, the idea of the Great American as someone principled but reluctant to intervene, with a complicated past but a good heart, and setting right a problem not of his own doing is firmly ingrained in our culture. But what is more worthwhile: tearing down the idea of "greatness" in a complicated figure like Abraham Lincoln or doing away with heroes altogether? Jessa and Nico discuss how difficult it is to critique an archetype and why propaganda works. Shownotes and references: http://theculturewedeserve.substack.com /episode/index/show/08b5f6c4-c5fc-4bcc-a25b-73b360099d87/id/38823690

Trickle Down Morality 10/23/2025

Trickle Down Morality In the new book Motherland, Julia Ioffe discusses how the Soviet feminist revolution was state sponsored. During and after 1917, the government mandated several rights that the women hadn't even gotten around really to demanding yet. The result was a kind of trickle down feminism, the opportunity and demand to be equal. It led to advances in women's careers in medicine and the sciences, but entrenched rather regressive gender roles in relationships and society. Because you can't dictate progress from above. Jessa and Nico discuss whether MeToo was another moment of Trickle Down Morality, and how a stupid movie like After the Hunt looks nuanced after such a stilted movement. Shownotes and references: http://theculturewedeserve.substack.com /episode/index/show/08b5f6c4-c5fc-4bcc-a25b-73b360099d87/id/38753985

The American Uncanny on Film 10/15/2025

The American Uncanny on Film Nico's got that funny feeling again, that the program the United States ran in South America for decades has come home. We talk about the uncanny feeling that has taken over the United States and how it has manifested itself in films, from John Frankenheimer's Seven Days in May to Alan Pakula's Parallax View to Paul Thomas Anderson's One Battle After Another. When the mirror is reflected only distortion, where does one go? Shownotes and references: http://theculturewedeserve.substack.com /episode/index/show/08b5f6c4-c5fc-4bcc-a25b-73b360099d87/id/38590285

Revolution and Ruin: Charlotte Bronte's Shirley 10/09/2025

Revolution and Ruin: Charlotte Bronte's Shirley In the industrial age, there was a widespread disruption of communities. Traditional methods of charity and redistribution of resources were undermined by the changing policies of the church, the military whims of the government severed trade routes and exchanges of money, and families were scattered as people looked for work. In Charlotte Bronte's Shirley, Caroline Helstone is trying to figure out what to do with her existence as she suffers the disappointment of being prevented from finding vocation. She and the other members of her community find themselves out of work, out of sorts, and in and out of respectable love, and try to make do with what is left over. Join the book club at The Culture We Deserve. http://theculturewedeserve.substack.com /episode/index/show/08b5f6c4-c5fc-4bcc-a25b-73b360099d87/id/38523125

Exploit or Be Exploited 10/08/2025

Exploit or Be Exploited In the creative economy, it is more profitable to be a dead creator than a living working writer. Or that is the lesson learned from the lawsuit the Michael Crichton estate filed against The Pitt. Crichton, who earned a quarter of a billion dollars for his contribution to the NBC show ER -- his contribution being a film script that was later adapted by someone else into a network pilot -- while the actual writers, actors, and crew made considerably less. Jessa and Nico talk about the writers who filed suit against AI, why Basquiat is in his most prolific era yet (37 years after his death), and the curse of the Frida Kahlo Barbie doll. Shownotes and references: http://theculturewedeserve.substack.com /episode/index/show/08b5f6c4-c5fc-4bcc-a25b-73b360099d87/id/38510120

Recovered Panic 10/01/2025

Recovered Panic One of the bestselling nonfiction books of the moment is a memoir about a wealthy and successful woman dealing with memories of horrific sexual assault by her teacher when she was in middle school. The only problem: her memories were "recovered" in therapy with the use of hallucinogens. Meaning they probably aren't real. And the author just so happens to have a stake in a company that is trying to get hallucinogens approved by the FDA for use in therapy to treat PTSD. Jessa and Nico talk about how the recovered memories craze of the 1980s led to our last great Satanic Panic, why everyone has PTSD now, and why women's media loves wishywashy fake memoirs about sexual assault. Shownotes and references: http://theculturewedeserve.substack.com /episode/index/show/08b5f6c4-c5fc-4bcc-a25b-73b360099d87/id/38422300

The Charlie Kirk Effect 09/25/2025

The Charlie Kirk Effect The political right has been looking for a George Floyd figure, a martyr they can name streets after and get protests around and use to pass sweeping legislation. But they have overplayed their hand with Charlie Kirk's death. Jessa and Nico sort through this cards-on-the-table moment on the right, where everyone is suddenly more sincere about where they stand than usual. So, Ted Cruz, Candace Owens, and Tucker Carlson: welcome to the resistance. Shownotes and references: http://theculturewedeserve.substack.com /episode/index/show/08b5f6c4-c5fc-4bcc-a25b-73b360099d87/id/38351755

The Biological Gig Economy 09/10/2025

The Biological Gig Economy When Cindy Bi hired a surrogate to carry her baby, she neglected to tell her that she had health issues that could put her life in danger. It turns out, she's not required to do so by law. And when the pregnancy went wrong and the child was lost, as reported in Wired Magazine, it opened up a legal, ethical hellmouth. Jessa and Nico discuss the gig economy's takeover of the womb, why the surrogacy industry is powerful yet almost entirely unregulated, and the baby market. Shownotes and references: http://theculturewedeserve.substack.com /episode/index/show/08b5f6c4-c5fc-4bcc-a25b-73b360099d87/id/38155145

Revolution and Ruin Book Club: William Thackeray's The Luck of Barry Lyndon 09/04/2025

Revolution and Ruin Book Club: William Thackeray's The Luck of Barry Lyndon When a man is down on his luck, what is he to do? His fortune squandered, his estate mishandled, his love unfaithful, Barry Lyndon goes to war, and to prison, and to the gambling table, and to Prussia, and to Ireland. He schemes his way, hoping to get back into the good graces of the universe, trying to manifest that happy ending he's put on his vision board. Jessa and Joseph discuss whether Barry is just another manifestation girlie, how politically useful the British found the Irish famine, and other adventures in capitalism and colonialism. Shownotes and references, and join the book club discussion: http://theculturewedeserve.substack.com /episode/index/show/08b5f6c4-c5fc-4bcc-a25b-73b360099d87/id/38084090

The Smithsonian is on Fire 09/03/2025

The Smithsonian is on Fire The dumbest culture war in history continues, as the Trump administration seeks to purify the national collection of knickknacks and souvenirs. And the liberals are falling for it, declaring that this is just like the time the Nazis burned books and called art degenerate. As the bitter war over wall text next to a Papier-mâché Statue of Liberty continues, Jessa and Nico discuss the "museums are not neutral" stance progressives had, why a rich kid with an MFA from Yale is not Otto Dix, and one of the architects of the contemporary culture war, Victoria Coates. Shownotes and references: http://theculturewedeserve.substack.com /episode/index/show/08b5f6c4-c5fc-4bcc-a25b-73b360099d87/id/38070685

Seeking Utopia 08/28/2025

Seeking Utopia What is behind the drive for small communities of like-minded people? The MAHA millionaire farm, the white nationalists in Arkansas, the makeshift Texas beguinage? Are we re-entering an age of utopian experimentation or are we creating cults? Jessa and Nico discuss the history of utopian projects in the American Midwest, how people from the United States have been bothering South Americans for decades with their "intentional communities," and why Swifties only want to talk to other Swifties. Shownotes and references: http://theculturewedeserve.substack.com /episode/index/show/08b5f6c4-c5fc-4bcc-a25b-73b360099d87/id/37999405

Eugenics Season 08/20/2025

Eugenics Season The fuss over Sydney Sweeney's jeans/genes ad, and there are those who accused her of "normalizing eugenics," misses an important point: we are already doing another round of eugenics. It's just that this round is about the Haves having access to surrogates, IVF, CRISPR, and other genetic assistance while the Have Nots have plummeting fertility rates and no longterm care options when they have children with health problems. Jessa and Nico talk about the history of eugenics, why it was a leftist cause for so long, and what a baby with a $5 million miracle cure says about the future of humanity. Shownotes and references: http://theculturewedeserve.substack.com /episode/index/show/08b5f6c4-c5fc-4bcc-a25b-73b360099d87/id/37889360

Variety Hour (and Twenty Minutes) 08/13/2025

Variety Hour (and Twenty Minutes) As we were recording between two long work trips and through various mishaps, this week Nico and Jessa just go through headlines and updates on previous subjects. Covered: why the Trump administration is besotted with Confederate monuments, women separatist spaces, Uber's inability to protect their passengers from sexual assault, and more ICE chat. We were tired, okay?! Shownotes and references: http://theculturewedeserve.substack.com /episode/index/show/08b5f6c4-c5fc-4bcc-a25b-73b360099d87/id/37795170

Cancel Culture Is Over, If We Want It 08/06/2025

Cancel Culture Is Over, If We Want It It's cancellation season again, although it's not really working the way it used to. Joey Swole, Sydney Sweeney, Anthony Fantano, a mother in New York who died in a mass shooting, have all been deemed by the collective as unacceptable. Is it the Trump effect that is preventing the cancellation from taking hold, or something else? Have we as a society progressed past the need for cancel culture? Ha hahaha ha haaaa hahaha. Shownotes and references: http://theculturewedeserve.substack.com /episode/index/show/08b5f6c4-c5fc-4bcc-a25b-73b360099d87/id/37700135

We're Talking About the Christian Nationalists Again 07/30/2025

We're Talking About the Christian Nationalists Again Following our earlier discussion of the documentary Apocalypse in the Tropics, Jessa and Nico get into the spread of Evangelicals in power -- not only in the United States but also where missionaries have established bases overseas. Like every other truly terrible contribution the US has made, this is all about the Cold War. Shownotes and references: http://theculturewedeserve.substack.com /episode/index/show/08b5f6c4-c5fc-4bcc-a25b-73b360099d87/id/37606165

Revolution and Ruin Book Club: Honore de Balzac's Lost Illusions 07/25/2025

Revolution and Ruin Book Club: Honore de Balzac's Lost Illusions Welcome to the creative economy, which is built to strip mine from your body and soul any glimmer of talent, skill, or genius you might possess and exploit it. Our unlucky men, Lucien and David, a poet and an inventor, are looking to make their riches in pre-1848 France, only to find the world is not built to tolerate, let alone celebrate, people like them. They try their luck. It doesn't go well. But at least Balzac spends a lot of time telling us about what kinds of velvet they were wearing along the way. Joseph and Jessa discuss why Marx loved Balzac, why a fool makes a frustrating character, and why one shouldn't read about a failed poet while on book tour. Shownotes and references: http://theculturewedeserve.substack.com /episode/index/show/08b5f6c4-c5fc-4bcc-a25b-73b360099d87/id/37545200

Video Killed the Journalist Star 07/23/2025

Video Killed the Journalist Star We are all pivoting to video. Podcasters, journalists, editors are getting out their ring lights and their botox and they are staring intently into the camera to talk to YOU about what's going on. Is the human and tactile being offered as the antidote to the artificial AI slop? Or is this just surrendering to the influencer economy? Jessa and Nico make a solemn pledge, never to show the listeners what we wear or what our hair is doing while we are recording, and discuss the implications of a news media that wants to make stars and influencers out of reporters. Shownotes and references: http://theculturewedeserve.substack.com /episode/index/show/08b5f6c4-c5fc-4bcc-a25b-73b360099d87/id/37516940

Taking Up Arms 07/16/2025

Taking Up Arms With the expansion of ICE and the flood of untrained, unprepared, un-uniformed officers on the street, things are likely to get confusing and potentially violent. Nico and Jessa discuss the Trump admin's embrace of militia culture, why Colombia doesn't have militias, and what Jessa's weird obsession with Timothy McVeigh is all about. Shownotes and references: http://theculturewedeserve.substack.com /episode/index/show/08b5f6c4-c5fc-4bcc-a25b-73b360099d87/id/37431655

Touristification 07/09/2025

Touristification It's summer, the time of year each nation flings its most obnoxious and provincial citizenry into the rest of the world on cruise ships and discount airlines. And the rest of the world responds to the binge drinking, the clacking of roller suitcases, and public displays of ignorance with, "Why are these people my problem exactly?" It's the annual Gringos On the Move episode, this time covering mass tourism at Jonestown, the Disneylandification of Kyoto, and the anti-tourist and expat protests in Mexico City, Venice, and Barcelona. Shownotes and references: http://theculturewedeserve.substack.com /episode/index/show/08b5f6c4-c5fc-4bcc-a25b-73b360099d87/id/37346450

The Antichrist Has Risen 07/03/2025

The Antichrist Has Risen Why is everyone so worried about the Antichrist again? After 9/11, the Evangelicals were afraid the Antichrist would take over the United Nations. Now Peter Thiel thinks this demon of destruction might be Greta Thunberg, but it's possible he just took psychedelics while watching Constantine and got scared. Jessa and Nico discuss why we're afraid of the apocalypse again, and whether Trump will ever give us a good Mamdani nickname. Shownotes and references: http://theculturewedeserve.substack.com /episode/index/show/08b5f6c4-c5fc-4bcc-a25b-73b360099d87/id/37271850

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