Nostalgia Trap

Conversations about history, politics, and pop culture.

News Trap 4.325 - Tariffs? I Just Met Her! 04/03/2025

News Trap 4.325 - Tariffs? I Just Met Her! Trump is dismantling the global neoliberal economic order that has served as the left's boogeyman for years, which SHOULD be an opportunity for the left to offer something beyond shrugging ambivalance and lib-dunking. Why isn't that happening? /episode/index/show/nostalgiatrap/id/35997710

News Trap 3.28.25 - FOMO w/ Justin Rogers-Cooper (PREVIEW) 03/28/2025

News Trap 3.28.25 - FOMO w/ Justin Rogers-Cooper (PREVIEW) Guitar Center dudes and their insanely rigid opinions lead to a conversation with Justin about the political psychology of FOMO, the rise of the pedophile hunter influencer class, the masculine desperation of emoji-driven war-planning group chat jerkoff sessions, the abject horror of students kidnapped off the streets for their views on Israel and Palestine, and Trump's assault on free trade scrambling the political alignments of the past several decades. /episode/index/show/nostalgiatrap/id/35912515

Ep 408 - The Final Frontier of Sociopath Presidents? w/ Adam Kotsko 03/26/2025

Ep 408 - The Final Frontier of Sociopath Presidents? w/ Adam Kotsko Adam Kotsko is a writer and cultural critic whose work focuses on American pop culture, from to our . His latest book, 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. /episode/index/show/nostalgiatrap/id/35873050

News Trap 3.21.25 - Irreconcilable Differences (PREVIEW) 03/21/2025

News Trap 3.21.25 - Irreconcilable Differences (PREVIEW) Fascism comes to my local city council meeting, a proud Israel supporter haunts my gym, Elon Musk's transgender daughter drives him off a cliff, Trump wants to send people to foreign torture camps for Tesla vandalism, and the incompatible worldviews boil hotter than ever. /episode/index/show/nostalgiatrap/id/35816190

News Trap 3.19.25 - Against the Wall 03/19/2025

News Trap 3.19.25 - Against the Wall Today I fall into paranoid android mode, thinking about what it means to "own the libs" from the left in the new Trump Reich. My message to an increasingly marginalized left flank: be careful what you wish for! Check out John Ganz's terrific Substack, for access to all our bonus content /episode/index/show/nostalgiatrap/id/35778995

News Trap 3.14.25 - Blowback w/ Justin Rogers-Cooper (PREVIEW) 03/14/2025

News Trap 3.14.25 - Blowback w/ Justin Rogers-Cooper (PREVIEW) Trump and Elon Musk are actively working to destroy the global economic order, but to what end? This week Justin and I consider the wacky cartoon reality that Americans inhabit, and speculate about the different forms "blowback" might take when the punishment gets real. /episode/index/show/nostalgiatrap/id/35702445

Ep 407 - A Complete Unknown w Stephen Petrus 03/07/2025

Ep 407 - A Complete Unknown w Stephen Petrus Stephen Petrus is director of Public History Programs at and co-author of the book (2015). He joins me to discuss the movie , which tracks a brief but critical moment in the life of Bob Dylan, when his rise to stardom intersected with the wider social and political project envisioned by American folk musicians, fans, and organizers. For a deeper look at the folk scene from which Dylan emerged, don’t miss Martin Scorsese’s documentary (2005) to support the show and access our huge library of bonus content, videos, News Trap episodes, and more. /episode/index/show/nostalgiatrap/id/35577645

News Trap 2.28.25 - Car's on Fire w/ Justin Rogers-Cooper (PREVIEW) 02/28/2025

News Trap 2.28.25 - Car's on Fire w/ Justin Rogers-Cooper (PREVIEW) Our good friend Justin Rogers-Cooper joins me to survey the first month of Trump's presidency, as we play out some of the nastier currents now circling in American and global political culture, from Trump's exoneration of his foot soldiers to the left salivating over Luigi Mangione, and much more. Who's really in control? And what can we anticipate as we head into truly uncharted territory? /episode/index/show/nostalgiatrap/id/35486490

News Trap 2.26.25 - The Way of the Gun (PREVIEW) 02/26/2025

News Trap 2.26.25 - The Way of the Gun (PREVIEW) A recent law school event featuring former honestly blew my mind, and made me think a lot about the intersection of crime, law enforcement, reform movements, and political violence. I try to put those ideas together alongside the current culture of J6 pardons and Luigi mania, as we fall further into a chaotic and vengeful national mindset. . /episode/index/show/nostalgiatrap/id/35440670

News Trap 2.19.25 - Into the Thresher 02/19/2025

News Trap 2.19.25 - Into the Thresher There are currently too many news stories to fit into the "ominous portents of a dark future" file, so I've chosen a few of the most flagrant examples of Trump/Musk savagery to share, along with some reflections on how to fight for our minds and for each other as the world heads down the toilet. Check out our Patreon for more: /episode/index/show/nostalgiatrap/id/35356265

Ep 406 - Work or Die, Part One (PREVIEW) 02/14/2025

Ep 406 - Work or Die, Part One (PREVIEW) I got my first job when I was 15 years old, working at a Pumpkin Patch on a local farm, and it’s been all downhill from there. I’m partly joking, but the working world has never been a place of maximum success and happiness for me, and in this episode I try to come to terms with my own job history as a way of exploring the pressures that consume many of us: bosses, bills, weird co-workers, and the dark feeling that American life is often a big depressing rip-off. I’ve got stories to tell from a lifetime of shitty jobs, from manning the bakery case at Marie Callender’s as a teenager to dealing with obnoxious D-list celebrities as a production assistant in Hollywood. As a , “work sucks, I know.” Here’s a few slices of how I found that out. Subscribe to hear the whole episode and access our whole library of bonus content: /episode/index/show/nostalgiatrap/id/35288595

Ep 405 - All I Can Say w/ Justin Rogers-Cooper 02/09/2025

Ep 405 - All I Can Say w/ Justin Rogers-Cooper The haunting documentary , which chronicles a few vibrant years in the life of Shannon Hoon, the lead singer of 90s grunge rock band Blind Melon, is a slice of deep 90s nostalgia shot on camcorder by Hoon himself before he died of a drug overdose in October 1995. In this conversation, Justin Rogers-Cooper joins me to reflect on Hoon’s complicated legacy, the strange power of his intimate pre-Internet video diary, and the larger galaxy of 90s grunge martyrs. Check out Justin’s chapter all about Blind Melon And enjoy the entire series of essays here: Our episode on 90s music with Happy Nostalgia series editor David Humphries: Our episode on Elvis with Justin, a personal favorite: Please support the show! Subscribe to our Patreon for access to all Nostalgia Trap bonus content: /episode/index/show/nostalgiatrap/id/35207725

Ep 404 - Adventures in Adjuncting (PREVIEW) 01/31/2025

Ep 404 - Adventures in Adjuncting (PREVIEW) I started teaching college history courses in 2005 when I was a graduate student at the City University of New York. Looking back at those early years, I can hardly believe how little I knew about how to teach college courses. As I mark my 20th year of teaching, I thought I would reflect on everything I’ve learned from two decades of serving as an adjunct professor at a wide range of institutions, from working class community colleges to elite private schools and everything in between. I’ve changed a lot in these years, and so has the wider political economy and culture of American higher education. In this episode you’ll hear my takes on the rise of tech in education, dealing with woke culture (the good and the bad), the slow humiliation of professorial hierarchies, belligerently anti-communist business students, and lots more. I also share some stories of true communion with students and colleagues, moments that make the whole journey, despite its many challenges, incredibly rewarding. To hear the whole episode and access our whole library of bonus content, subscribe to Nostalgia Trap here: /episode/index/show/nostalgiatrap/id/35102520

Ep 403 - Only in Dreams 01/29/2025

Ep 403 - Only in Dreams David Lynch died earlier this month, and like many others I’ve been reflecting on his legacy, not only in the wider culture but in my own personal trajectory and identity. In this episode, I focus on the latter. Rather than trying to analyze the larger meaning of Lynch’s filmography, I wanted to sort out how his work intervened on my life, in particular considering how ideas of dark magic, synchronicity, and dreams in his films connect with my own weird experience of American reality. So I share some strange stories here, along with stray thoughts on how David Lynch, more than any other artist, somehow captured the uncanny feeling that some dark undercurrent pulsed beneath the surface of American life. Some reading recs I mention in the episode: Subscribe to our Patreon page for bonus content, including full episodes, videos, and our News Trap updates: /episode/index/show/nostalgiatrap/id/35066115

News Trap 1.24.25 Broligarchy's Endgame w/ Justin Rogers-Cooper 01/24/2025

News Trap 1.24.25 Broligarchy's Endgame w/ Justin Rogers-Cooper The politics of rebuilding Los Angeles after the fires, tech maneuvering for Trump juice, social media outrage missing the mark, Elon's Nazi salute masking something darker, a new Gilded Age comes into view, what's at risk with global capital behaving like a caged animal. This is a short clip from a full episode, which you can hear by subscribing to our Patreon. Subscibers get access to all of our bonus content, including full episodes, videos, book recs, and News Trap updates: /episode/index/show/nostalgiatrap/id/34999265

News Trap 1.22.25 - What's Next? w/ Ross Barkan 01/22/2025

News Trap 1.22.25 - What's Next? w/ Ross Barkan Ross Barkan is a political writer and novelist whose is one of our favorite places for thoughtful takes on the current political and cultural landscape. He joins me this week to survey the landscape with Trump taking office again, as we consider the tech world’s shifting allegiances and cultural power, the exhaustion with #resistance outrage and performative politics, the online popularity of Luigi Mangione, the Elon Musk “Nazi” salute, and much more. Ross also tells us about his latest novel, , and reflects on why he thinks novel-writing (and reading) are such an integral part of being human. Subscribe to our Patreon and get access to all our bonus episodes and News Trap updates: /episode/index/show/nostalgiatrap/id/34964250

Ep 402 - The Bookshop w/ Evan Friss 01/18/2025

Ep 402 - The Bookshop w/ Evan Friss This week I’m joined by Evan Friss, author of the current New York Times bestseller , which traces the development of bookshops as integral, often paradoxical, spaces within the landscape of American consumer culture. What is a bookshop? And what makes it different from literally any other place you can visit? In this conversation, Evan shares some highlights from the book, as we discuss places like New York City’s The Strand, the pioneering gay rights bookshop Oscar Wilde, the proliferation of sidewalk booksellers (and the moral outrage they provoked), the unlikely redemption of Barnes & Noble as the hero of independent bookshops, and of course the rise of the villainous Amazon. As Evan explains, the bookshop isn’t dead, and its evolving fate in the 21st century provides a dynamic glimpse at how literacy and political economy intersect in the past, present, and future. Subscribe to our Patreon to support our show and access our whole library of bonus episodes: /episode/index/show/nostalgiatrap/id/34905360

News Trap 1.10.25 - Let 'Em Burn w Justin Rogers-Cooper (PREVIEW) 01/10/2025

News Trap 1.10.25 - Let 'Em Burn w Justin Rogers-Cooper (PREVIEW) Fires in Los Angeles unleash a wave of online hate from the left and right. What chance do we have to mitigate the coming climate change disasters if the population's reactions are driven by algorithms that massage and indulge our worst impulses? This is a short clip from a full-length episode for Nostalgia Trap subscribers, sign up for a FREE 7-day trial to listen to the whole thing, plus gain access to our library of bonus episodes, videos, and more: /episode/index/show/nostalgiatrap/id/34808790

Ep 401 - Love Means Research w/ David Humphries 01/03/2025

Ep 401 - Love Means Research w/ David Humphries This week I talk with David Humphries, a professor of English at Queensborough Community College in New York City, about his excellent project , which collects essays from CUNY scholars on the last “analog” moment of music fandom, the beautiful and tragic 1990s. We get a chance to trade nostalgic stories about our own music obsessions of the ‘90s, and try to frame how things changed for us (and everyone else) when streaming music blasted a whole lifestyle into oblivion. What died, and what remains alive? And are we just being cranky old men about Spotify’s algorithmic nightmare? This is an intense and fun conversation about the meaning of nostalgia and how music gives us a constant pulse through the decades of technological and cultural evolution. Subscribe to Nostalgia Trap to hear all our bonus episodes and News Trap updates: /episode/index/show/nostalgiatrap/id/34713690

Ep 400 - The Disney Revolt w/ Jake S. Friedman 12/20/2024

Ep 400 - The Disney Revolt w/ Jake S. Friedman A critical but often overlooked chapter in American labor history, the animator’s strike that shook the Walt Disney Corporation in 1941 was part of a wave of labor struggle in World War II era Hollywood. Jake S. Friedman’s book chronicles the strike in colorful detail, and includes plenty of eye-popping images of the strike’s particularly cartoonish aesthetic. Friedman joins me for a conversation about his book, the strike, and the wider history of the Disney project, which shifted dramatically in the wake of the rebellion by its key artists. From communist infiltrators to mafia-connected union leaders, this is a fascinating picture of the intersection of art, industrial capitalism, and pop culture. For more on the book, including lots of great images from the strike: Our previous episode on World War II era Disney history: Subscribe to Nostalgia Trap for bonus episodes, News Trap updates, and much more: /episode/index/show/nostalgiatrap/id/34494010

Ep 399 - Severance/Doppelganger w/ Justin Rogers-Cooper (PREVIEW) 12/13/2024

Ep 399 - Severance/Doppelganger w/ Justin Rogers-Cooper (PREVIEW) This week we watched the excellent Apple TV series and put it in conversation with Naomi Klein’s latest book . Both texts explore how the concept of “doubles” plays out in capitalist culture, and we have fun talking about the ways they did (and didn’t) blow our minds. From Klein’s refreshing take on the left’s severe mistakes of the COVID era (and how Steve Bannon greedily lapped up the detritus) to Severance’s terrifying vision of a corporation that aims to replace your entire identity, we take the opportunity to look into the mirror at the selves we make, and that are made for us. SUBSCRIBE to hear the whole episode: /episode/index/show/nostalgiatrap/id/34439870

News Trap 12.6.24 Survival of the Fittest w/ Justin Rogers-Cooper (PREVIEW) 12/07/2024

News Trap 12.6.24 Survival of the Fittest w/ Justin Rogers-Cooper (PREVIEW) A United Healthcare CEO is assassinated and the world laughs, fitness and nutrition culture goes fascist, Europe in collapse while China salivates, Trump's tariffs portend new global shockwaves. To hear the whole episode, subscribe for a FREE 7 day trial: /episode/index/show/nostalgiatrap/id/34324220

News Trap 11.29.24 - The Internet Eats America w/ Justin Rogers-Cooper (PREVIEW) 11/29/2024

News Trap 11.29.24 - The Internet Eats America w/ Justin Rogers-Cooper (PREVIEW) It's Black Friday, so between insane binges of online shopping, Justin and I sat down to record a conversation about the Netflix documentary , as we consider the path from Occupy Wall Street and Bernie Sanders to 1/6 and Donald Trump's triumph in the 2024 election. What role has internet culture played in shaping our current reality, and what can we expect in the future? This is only a short bit from a much longer episode, so subsribe to enjoy the whole thing --- lots of juicy ideas here. Subscribe for a FREE 7-day trial to hear the full episode: /episode/index/show/nostalgiatrap/id/34205685

News Trap 11.25.24 - Tending the Light 11/25/2024

News Trap 11.25.24 - Tending the Light Musk's endgame on environmental regulations, universities bracing for a war on DEI and critical race theory, Houthi pirates drawn to their deaths in Ukraine, national economies bracing for world war. Happy Thanksgiving! Subscribe to access our entire library of bonus content, including weekly News Trap updates: /episode/index/show/nostalgiatrap/id/34144371

Nostalgia Trap - Ep 398: In Levittown's Shadow w/ Tim Keogh 11/07/2024

Nostalgia Trap - Ep 398: In Levittown's Shadow w/ Tim Keogh Tim Keogh is an Associate Professor of History at the Queensborough Community College in New York City. His book turns a common American story on its head, giving us a picture of life at the economic bottom of the postwar suburban housing boom. This conversation features challenges to political orthodoxies of the right and left, and gave me a lot to chew on as we reflect on Trump’s stunning gains among urban and suburban New Yorkers. Check out our Patreon for bonus episodes and weekly News Trap updates: /episode/index/show/nostalgiatrap/id/33834312

Nostalgia Trap - Ep 397: Vincent Van Gogh to the Polls w/ Peter Sabatino 10/18/2024

Nostalgia Trap - Ep 397: Vincent Van Gogh to the Polls w/ Peter Sabatino This week I’m joined by my good friend Peter Sabatino for a conversation all about Vincent Van Gogh’s personal and artistic legacy. We both read the book , a gigantic magisterial biography that affected us both in surprising ways. While Van Gogh embodies the archetypal image of the “tortured artist,” there’s so much more to his story, and Peter and I wanted to share our personal reactions to the aesthetic gift that Van Gogh created for the world in his short, difficult, astounding life. Check out our Patreon page for weekly News Trap updates and bonus episodes: /episode/index/show/nostalgiatrap/id/33518707

News Trap 10.14.24 - Goodbye to Reality 10/14/2024

News Trap 10.14.24 - Goodbye to Reality Armed militias roam the hurricane ravaged wastelands of North Carolina, no one wants children and it's not because of the economy, Apple's Vision Pro is a massive failure, we're stepping off the ship of rational discourse and entering the wonderland of feelings as facts. Don't miss any of our News Trap updates, subscribe and ride the snake: /episode/index/show/nostalgiatrap/id/33453922

Nostalgia Trap - Ep 396: What Happened to the American Hitchhiker? w/ Jack Reid 09/27/2024

Nostalgia Trap - Ep 396: What Happened to the American Hitchhiker? w/ Jack Reid Jack Reid is an American historian and the author of (UNC Press, 2020). In this conversation, we talk about the specific culture, between the 1930s and 1970s, that produced hitchhiking as a common social experience, when ordinary Americans would travel with strangers they met on the road. What happened to hitchhiking? And what does its disappearance tell us about our lonely historical moment? Check out our subscriber feed for News Trap episodes and lots more: /episode/index/show/nostalgiatrap/id/33213112

News Trap - Justin on Why Eating Dogs Matters (PREVIEW) 09/16/2024

News Trap - Justin on Why Eating Dogs Matters (PREVIEW) Listen to the full episode and check out all our News Trap/bonus episodes by subscribing to our Patreon: /episode/index/show/nostalgiatrap/id/33073222

Nostalgia Trap - Episode 395: Atomic Twang w/ Joseph M. Thompson 08/30/2024

Nostalgia Trap - Episode 395: Atomic Twang w/ Joseph M. Thompson Joseph M. Thompson is assistant professor of history at Mississippi State University, and the author of (UNC Press, 2024). Thompson’s history tracks the deep connections between country music and the U.S. military, uncovering a concerted effort by government officials and cultural creators to cement country culture and national pride (and of course, anti-communism). Our conversation moves from Slim Pickens to Toby Keith, as we explore how the cultural politics of country continue to shape the 21st century. Subscribe to the Nostalgia Trap Patreon to check out my News Trap updates and all of our bonus content: /episode/index/show/nostalgiatrap/id/32811997

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