You Can't Win

We're Tom and Donald. We are two trolls that are trying to make sense of the world through conversations about the traps and scams that surround us.

Episode 185 - AOR3E6 Liberation 06/03/2026

Episode 185 - AOR3E6 Liberation We wrap up the final sections of Aesthetics of Resistance Volume III by Peter Weiss, from p. 209 to the end. Socialists fight over culture as the basis of a free Germany but no one can agree with what that means as the liberating armies advance. /episode/index/show/youcantwin/id/41517545

Episode 184 - AOR3E5 Red Orchestra 05/10/2026

Episode 184 - AOR3E5 Red Orchestra Art, class and reliability... individual destiny and history... weighty stuff as the notes from the anti-fascist underground during the Second World War come to a climax. This Aesthetics of Resistance Volume 3 by Peter Weiss episode covers part II up to p. 209. Next AOR episode we will finish the book. /episode/index/show/youcantwin/id/41236400

Episode 183 - I Love the Dialectic 04/22/2026

Episode 183 - I Love the Dialectic We chat about our fairly boring Springs, including Toronto sports, and Tom does an update on his recent reading, including Dostoevsky and Jameson. Mentioned: The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky An Essay on Man by Ernst Cassirer The Following Story by Cees Nooteboom Molloy by Samuel Beckett Malone Dies by Samuel Beckett The Unnamable by Samuel Beckett Marxism and Form by Fredric Jameson AOR3 read-along next time is up to p. 209. /episode/index/show/youcantwin/id/40969075

Episode 182 - AOR3E4 Political Disaster 04/08/2026

Episode 182 - AOR3E4 Political Disaster Our fourth episode in our read-along for The Aesthetics of Resistance: Volume III, up to page 164 (Part II). Next AOR episode will be up to page 209. The war enters a new phase and there's some cinematic intrigue plus some discussion about art. /episode/index/show/youcantwin/id/40780470

Episode 181 - South of the Border 03/25/2026

Episode 181 - South of the Border We check in about Tom's trip to Mexico, minor life updates and the news. Tom is still a bit sick so we had to cut this one somewhat short but we'll be back soon. Next Aesthetics of Resistance Volume 3 episode should be within the next week or two, up to end of Part I of the book. /episode/index/show/youcantwin/id/40613145

Episode 180 - AOR3E3 Melancholy and the Infinite Sadness 03/03/2026

Episode 180 - AOR3E3 Melancholy and the Infinite Sadness We talk about pp 90 to 131 of Aesthetics of Resistance Volume 3 by Peter Weiss. The resistance to German fascism enters a new stage as isolated Communists struggle to find ways to be helpful. The art from AOR is available here: Next time (in a few weeks) we will read up to Section II (p. 164). /episode/index/show/youcantwin/id/40290640

Episode 179 - Sunrise Sunset 02/22/2026

Episode 179 - Sunrise Sunset We chat about Ramadan and Lent, fitness and travel, investing in leftist coin Avi Lewis, and a mini-review of NTBTSTM. /episode/index/show/youcantwin/id/40187120

Episode 178 - AOR3E2 The Scale of the Danger 02/11/2026

Episode 178 - AOR3E2 The Scale of the Danger We talk about up to page 90 in Aesthetics of Resistance Volume 3 by Peter Weiss in our read-along group. Then at about 57 minutes we chat about the Epstein debates and a few mini-reviews. Next read-along in a few weeks we will get to page 131. Mentioned: The Wild Pear Tree (2018) dir. Nuri Bilge Ceylan The American by Henry James Zeno's Conscience by Italo Svevo Concrete by Thomas Bernhard The Imperative to Write by Jeff Fort Blog post that discusses The Imperative to Write: /episode/index/show/youcantwin/id/40068080

Episode 177 - Copy of a Copy 01/30/2026

Episode 177 - Copy of a Copy We talk about Tom leaving his job, the schizophrenia of Long 2026 and frustration over how politics works, trolling by competing in good deeds, and some mini reviews. Mentioned: The Time that Remains. The Worst Person in the World. Fistful of Dollars. Following. Eephus. This is Spinal Tap. Ralph Waldo Emerson essays. Masnavi by Rumi. Me & Rumi by Shams Tabrizi. /episode/index/show/youcantwin/id/39931160

Episode 176 - AOR3E1 Happy New Year 01/12/2026

Episode 176 - AOR3E1 Happy New Year After our resolutions we jump into Aesthetics of Resistance by Peter Weiss, volume 3, a novel about art and fighting fascism in Europe during 1930s and 40s. We get up to page 44 in our first episode in this series. Next time (in a few weeks) we will do up to page 90. Book talk starts at 16m48s. /episode/index/show/youcantwin/id/39692740

Episode 175 - Best of a Bad Year 2025 12/28/2025

Episode 175 - Best of a Bad Year 2025 We chat about our favourite movies, podcasts, games, moments and books of 2025 as we get ready to say goodbye to a pretty bad year. Tom's Top Five Books: 5 Poetry of Rilke (Ed Snow trans.) 4 Aesthetics of Resistance vol II by Peter Weiss 3 Autobiography by John Cowper Powys 2 Terra Nostra by Carlos Fuentes 1 Lieutenant-Colonel de Maumort by Roger Martin du Gard Don's favourites were Aesthetics of Resistance Vol I and II by Peter Weiss and Correction by Thomas Bernhard. /episode/index/show/youcantwin/id/39543880

Episode 174 - Negative Theology 12/14/2025

Episode 174 - Negative Theology We chat about whether prediction markets are forbidden, Herbert McCabe on the goodness of God, some Mubis and some books. Faith Within Reason by Herbert McCabe, OP. Oslo, August 31st. Wendy and Lucy. Bring them Down. The Smashing Machine. Frost by Thomas Bernhard. Austerlitz by WG Sebald. Selected Writings of Walter Benjamin, Vol 2, Part One. What Maisie Knew by Henry James. Don also briefly mentions the podcasts Age of Napoleon and The Siècle. /episode/index/show/youcantwin/id/39401935

Episode 173 - Old Fat Guy Updates 11/29/2025

Episode 173 - Old Fat Guy Updates We chat about the beginning of the end of the year, Herbert McCabe and the relationship between faith and reason, the movie Post Tenebras Lux and that show with Mussolini, and some stories out of Quebec. Mentioned: Faith Within Reason by Herbert McCabe. --- We're going to start reading Aesthetics of Resistance: Volume III by Peter Weiss in January, probably in 30-40 page chunks. Your heads up to get a copy. The AOR wikipedia page Don mentions: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Works_of_art_in_The_Aesthetics_of_Resistance /episode/index/show/youcantwin/id/39205790

Episode 172 - Green Grass Target Emissions Reductions 11/19/2025

Episode 172 - Green Grass Target Emissions Reductions What the heck are Green Gras Target Emissions Reductions. Okay, I was tired. This ep' we talk about some recent newsy stuff (Canada, Epstein) and then get into books, including the awful new print-on-demand by big publishers. Mentioned: Ottawa Citizen article about mobilization: https://ottawacitizen.com/public-service/defence-watch/canadian-military-public-servants Giordano Bruno and the Hermetic Tradition by Francis A. Yates The Class Struggle in the Ancient Greek World by G. E. M. Ste. Croix Alone with the Alone by Henry Corbin Stone Age Economics by Marshall Sahlins The Notebooks of Henry James Mannerism by Arnold Hauser The Social History of Art by Arnold Hauser Jimmy Breslin /episode/index/show/youcantwin/id/39098810

Episode 171 - Making Popcorn 11/07/2025

Episode 171 - Making Popcorn We chat about baseball, our new kawaii (cute) mini-PCs, politricks and a bunch of books. Mentioned (mostly book hauls): The Mass Psychology of Fascism by Wilhelm Reich Listen, Little Man! by Wilhelm Reich Marcel Proust by William Carter The Poetry of Rilke, trans. Ed Snow Europe: A History by Norman Davies Postwar: A History of Europe since 1945 by Tony Judt Religion and Nothingness by Keiji Nishitani The Early Chinese Empires: Qin and Han by Mark Edward Lewis A History of China by Wolfram Eberhard The Confessions of Jean Jacques Rousseau Interesting Times by Eric Hobsbawm Les grands textes indépendantistes, 1774 - 1992 by Andrée Ferretti and Gaston Miron Selling Free Enterprise by Elizabeth A. Fones-Wolf Riddle of Fire (movie) /episode/index/show/youcantwin/id/38953040

Episode 170 - Time Share Politics 10/26/2025

Episode 170 - Time Share Politics We chat about baseball, health, One Battle After Another and some recent adventures in populism. /episode/index/show/youcantwin/id/38783015

Episode 169 - Himmler in the Sauna 10/12/2025

Episode 169 - Himmler in the Sauna We chat about da yankees losing, (temporary) peace in Gaza, European gunners and AI, and a few books. Mentioned: Listen, Little Man! by Wilhelm Reich (thanks to Hermitix podcast) Kaputt by Curzio Malaparte /episode/index/show/youcantwin/id/38554265

Episode 168 - AOR2E10 The Empire Strikes Back 10/05/2025

Episode 168 - AOR2E10 The Empire Strikes Back We wrap up our discussion of Aesthetics of Resistance Volume 2 by Peter Weiss. Most of the other, older episodes of this series are available through the Patreon. /episode/index/show/youcantwin/id/38467560

Episode 167 - It is 1993 09/30/2025

Episode 167 - It is 1993 We chat about baseball, Israel's final years, and Tom's take on Schattenfroh so far. Mentioned: Is Irish hip-hop trio Kneecap still banned from entering Canada? Were they ever? It's unclear by Raffy Boudjikanian (CBC): The Canadian Press Will Continue Not Using ‘Palestine’ In Most Cases by David Mastracci (The Maple): Schattenfroh by Michael Lentz. One Battle After Another by Paul Thomas Anderson. Also: For the foreseeable future we're going to be releasing all new episodes on this free feed. You can join our Patreon for as low as $1/month to get access to the Discord and help us cover expenses but the episodes are free. Thank you for listening! /episode/index/show/youcantwin/id/38410305

Episode 166 - Aesthetics of Resistance Volume 2 Read Along 05/26/2025

Episode 166 - Aesthetics of Resistance Volume 2 Read Along Tom and Don start our reading of Aesthetics of Resistance Volume 2 by Peter Weiss, a novel about art and communist resistance to fascism. In this episode we get oriented and work through the first 28 pages. Join the Patreon and the Discord to follow along with us. /episode/index/show/youcantwin/id/36721695

Episode 165 - Conspiracy with Freddy 05/11/2025

Episode 165 - Conspiracy with Freddy Don chats with Freddy about the surprisingly good 2001 TV movie Conspiracy about the Wannsee Conference that planned the Holocaust. /episode/index/show/youcantwin/id/36522710

Episode 164 - Freddy on Jerry 03/09/2025

Episode 164 - Freddy on Jerry Don chats with Freddy about the Canadian philosopher G.A. Cohen on the relationship between Marxism, religion, science, and moral and political philosophy. Mentioned: Cohen's Gifford lectures (in the book If You're Egalitarian, Why Are You So Rich?) Cohen - Karl Marx's Theory of History: A Defence. Cohen - Why not socialism? /episode/index/show/youcantwin/id/35590095

Episode 163 - Recitation on Fridays with Alex 02/23/2025

Episode 163 - Recitation on Fridays with Alex We chat with our friend Alex about Deleuze and politics in academia. You can follow Alex on Twitter at @SlurricaneH (At about 50 minutes in Alex's microphone disconnected and Tom and I wrapped up with two questions.) /episode/index/show/youcantwin/id/35393235

Episode 162 - Correction Part Two with Mike Reads the World 01/12/2025

Episode 162 - Correction Part Two with Mike Reads the World We chat about the second half of Correction by Thomas Bernhard with Mike Reads the World and some of the ideas it sparked in us. Check out Mike Reads the World on YouTube. We also mention the House on the Rock in Wyoming, Wisconsin as an example of eccentric building. /episode/index/show/youcantwin/id/34823725

Episode 161 - Correction Part One with Mike Reads the World 01/05/2025

Episode 161 - Correction Part One with Mike Reads the World We chat about the first half of Correction by Thomas Bernhard with Mike Reads the World. Check out Mike Reads the World on YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/@mikereadstheworld /episode/index/show/youcantwin/id/34722905

Episode 160 - A Year in Reading with Mike Reads the World 12/22/2024

Episode 160 - A Year in Reading with Mike Reads the World We are joined by Mike from the YouTube channel Mike Reads the World to chat about his reading project and our year in reading. Mike's channel is at His "favorite books" video we mention is here: His "Magic Mountain" essay is here: Mike's books mentioned: Sei Shonagon - The Pillow Book The I-Ching Fariduddin Attar - Conference of the Birds Ovid- Metamorphoses Ngugi wa Thiong'o - The Wizard of the Crow Thomas Mann - The Magic Mountain Anna Comnena - The Alexiad We also proposed a read-long for Correction by Thomas Bernhard. /episode/index/show/youcantwin/id/34567105

Episode 159 - Chickenbrained with Freddy 12/11/2024

Episode 159 - Chickenbrained with Freddy Our friend Freddy joins us to talk about scams, politics and how they overlap. /episode/index/show/youcantwin/id/34378940

Episode 158 - The Essence of Reality 11/04/2024

Episode 158 - The Essence of Reality Tom walks us through the book The Essence of Reality by 'Ayn al-Qudat, a 12th Century Sufi text about going beyond the intellect to embrace mystical experience. /episode/index/show/youcantwin/id/33768392

Episode 157 - Tom Loves Mods 09/24/2024

Episode 157 - Tom Loves Mods We chat about our cookie headaches and X-Com and Lebanon and Hannah Arendt. Mentioned: Eichmann in Jerusalem by Hannah Arendt Origins of Totalitarianism by Hannah Arendt On Revolution by Hannah Arendt The X-Com 2 mod guy Tom mentions is christopherodd /episode/index/show/youcantwin/id/33188292

Episode 156 - Elections in France ft Marlon Ettinger 07/19/2024

Episode 156 - Elections in France ft Marlon Ettinger Marlon Ettinger, a journalist living in France, joins Don to talk about French politics. Find Marlon on Twitter at @MarlonEttinger his new pod at @flep24pod and his book Zemmour & Gaullism. /episode/index/show/youcantwin/id/32220122

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