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 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

Episode 155 - Battle Cry of Freddy ft Freddy 07/01/2024

Episode 155 - Battle Cry of Freddy ft Freddy Our friend Freddy joins from Vienna to talk about his Euro-Trip, Noam Chomsky, the war in Gaza, and the point of philosophy. The Third Reich at War by Richard J. Evans. Battle Cry of Freedom by James M. McPherson. Understanding Power by Noam Chomsky. Left anti-communism: The Unkindest Cut by Michael Parenti. My Struggle by Karl Ove Knausgaard. This Is a Robbery (Netflix documentary about 1990 Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum robbery). /episode/index/show/youcantwin/id/31956667

Episode 154 - Soul Corn 06/03/2024

Episode 154 - Soul Corn We chat about the failing Dream Port, the peace plan, paying off our debts, soul corn, some books and elections. Mentioned: Harland's Half Acre by David Malouf. My Struggle Book 1 by Karl Ove Knausgaard. Historical Capitalism by Immanuel Wallerstein. Language and Myth by Ernst Cassirer. Our Bloc by James Schneider. /episode/index/show/youcantwin/id/31573827

Episode 153 - Tom and Don Go to White Castle 02/04/2023

Episode 153 - Tom and Don Go to White Castle Tom and Don chat about some books and shows, including Robert Musil, Orhan Pamuk's The White Castle, Karamustafa, J.M. Coetzee, Joan Robinson, Wolf Hall, Copenhagen Cowboy and The Last of Us. Mentioned: The Confusions of Young Törless by Robert Musil The White Castle by Orhan Pamuk God's Unruly Friends by Ahmet T. Karamustafa The Childhood of Jesus by J.M. Coetzee Economic Philosophy by Joan Robinson /episode/index/show/youcantwin/id/25831212

Premium Episode 183 - Muslim History, pt 3 UNLOCKED 01/10/2023

Premium Episode 183 - Muslim History, pt 3 UNLOCKED Tom tells the history of the Crusades, the Mongol invasions, and the rise of the Mamluks in part 3 of a series on Muslim history. The full series is available on Patreon. /episode/index/show/youcantwin/id/25559661

Premium Episode 179 SNEAK PEEK - Muslim History, pt 1 11/20/2022

Premium Episode 179 SNEAK PEEK - Muslim History, pt 1 An excerpt from a premium episode available through a Patreon subscription, in which Tom provides a history of the rise and fall of the original Islamic state, and a description of the Muslim world's social structure at the time, including the institution of slavery and transformations that came about as a result of the Islamic movement. (re-uploaded to fix some audio issues) /episode/index/show/youcantwin/id/25073277

Episode 152 - Evil Russia Q&A 11/07/2022

Episode 152 - Evil Russia Q&A A quick and casual Q&A in which we field questions from the Discord about Russia/Ukraine, our military vehicles of choice, UFOs, the future of VR, and our astrological signs. /episode/index/show/youcantwin/id/24924342

Episode 151 - The Franklin Scandal recap 10/23/2022

Episode 151 - The Franklin Scandal recap We chat about our reactions to Tom's series on the Franklin Scandal, from the plausibility of the crimes to the political implications. What sorts of evidence should we focus on? How do we account for average people's reactions to such crimes? We sum up our feelings on the case as we prepare for future episodes on related topics. /episode/index/show/youcantwin/id/24772782

Episode 150 - The Franklin Scandal pt VI 10/02/2022

Episode 150 - The Franklin Scandal pt VI In the conclusion to our series on the Franklin Scandal, Tom tells the fate of the investigation and lead investigator Caradori, and the results of the grand jury trial. He then takes a look at the life of one of King's associates, Craig Spence, a CIA-connected blackmailer who paid visits to the White House. Source: The Franklin Scandal by Nick Bryant /episode/index/show/youcantwin/id/24560616

Episode 149 - The Franklin Scandal pt V 09/19/2022

Episode 149 - The Franklin Scandal pt V A continuation of Tom's telling of the Franklin Scandal as part of our ongoing PTK (Programmed to Kill) series. In this episode, Tom describes the backlash the investigation suffers after producing videotaped statements of the victims. /episode/index/show/youcantwin/id/24424107

Episode 148 - The Bikes of Jacob 09/12/2022

Episode 148 - The Bikes of Jacob We begin with a short chat about Don's burgeoning interest in bicycling before we dive into Tom's extended review of Olga Tokarczuk's The Books of Jacob. /episode/index/show/youcantwin/id/24343989

Episode 147 - The Franklin Scandal Pt IV 08/31/2022

Episode 147 - The Franklin Scandal Pt IV In this episode, Tom introduces the Franklin Committee's replacement investigator Gary Caradori and the testimony of Alisha Owen. Source: The Franklin Scandal by Nick Bryant /episode/index/show/youcantwin/id/24229173

Episode 146 - The Franklin Scandal Pt III 08/11/2022

Episode 146 - The Franklin Scandal Pt III In this episode, Tom continues covering the Franklin Scandal, focusing on the tensions between the investigatory committee and law enforcement. /episode/index/show/youcantwin/id/24027915

Episode 145 - The Franklin Scandal Pt II 08/01/2022

Episode 145 - The Franklin Scandal Pt II Tom continues the tale of the Franklin Credit Union scandal, this time taking a look at the initial investigations into Larry King after reports begin to emerge about his alleged criminal activities. Source: The Franklin Scandal by Nick Bryant /episode/index/show/youcantwin/id/23915169

Episode 144 - The Franklin Scandal Pt I 06/13/2022

Episode 144 - The Franklin Scandal Pt I A new episode in our PTK series where Tom sketches out some details of the Franklin Scandal, a case with many mysterious connections. Source: The Franklin Scandal by Nick Bryant. /episode/index/show/youcantwin/id/23391266

Episode 143 - Dutroux Affair Deep Dive ft. "Ghost Stories" Matt 02/01/2022

Episode 143 - Dutroux Affair Deep Dive ft. "Ghost Stories" Matt We continue our PTK series by closely examining the Dutroux Affair, a notorious criminal case involving kidnapping, child abuse and sex trafficking that implicated the Belgian government and high society. /episode/index/show/youcantwin/id/21988550

Episode 142 - Bad Bad Belgium ft. "Ghost Stories" Matt 01/24/2022

Episode 142 - Bad Bad Belgium ft. "Ghost Stories" Matt Our friend Matt from the Ghost Stories for the End of the World podcast joins us to discuss Belgium in this first part of a series on the Dutroux Affair and similar cases. We discuss the place of Belgium in great power struggles and the associated political culture that developed. Matt's Twitter account is @GhostStoriesEnd /episode/index/show/youcantwin/id/21879731

Episode 141 - The Mystic Orient ft. Sean Moorhead 11/29/2021

Episode 141 - The Mystic Orient ft. Sean Moorhead Our friend Sean joins us to discuss the history and practices of Shinto and related Japanese beliefs. We work through some common misconceptions about Shinto and the difficulties of easy comparisons to Western ideas of religion. /episode/index/show/youcantwin/id/21304424

Episode 140 - State of the Pod Update + Q&A 11/22/2021

Episode 140 - State of the Pod Update + Q&A After a State of the Pod update of where we're at and where we hope to go, we work through your questions. /episode/index/show/youcantwin/id/21237347

Episode 130 - Fly Into the Sun 11/08/2021

Episode 130 - Fly Into the Sun Four hour episode about the Eternals! All Eternals! All the time! Okay so in reality we chat about content for a bit and then settle some controversies for you. /episode/index/show/youcantwin/id/21079010

You Can't Win

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