Temporada 1
student groans
no way homie: a spiderman review
judge, jury, jussie
rhythm of the algorithm
adVICE city
rottenhouse
she will be free
get rich, die trying
mind control thru birth control
Shehr got COVID. CDC recommended we record in a well ventilated space with lots of room between us, so we sat in my car at a park. We focus a lot on student debt cancellation and break down how it works. Then we rag on the CDC's crappy guidelines and do a brief review of the hit new movie: Don't Look Up. Don't worry there really isn't much to spoil, but if you want to play it safe, the movie stuff doesn't come in until the end. Happy New Years. My resolution is to stop you from reaching yours.
FAIR WARNING: This episode's spoiler free, but after about the 12 minute mark, we go into everything. Spiderman: No Way Home released last week, and we got tickets at the very last minute to fulfill our weekly podcast quota. First ever movie review episode, whoop. Shehr is a hardcore Marvel fan (not fanboy, he insists). Saad is most certainly not. So, uh, you can probably guess where we stand. Is it good if it's fun but a cashgrab? Is it bad if it's a superficial story but fun? We look at what the movie was trying to do, if it succeeded, and if that matters. Sparknotes version? Shehr gave it around a 9/10. Saad gave it a 5/10. Although Saad's opinion of it dropped even further after more time away from the movie whoops.
Urban Dictonary: Jussie. Definition: Something fake, fabricated, illegitimate. In a sentence: "That Gucci Wallet only has one G, that's a Jussie." The Jussie Smollett trial has wrapped up, man is guilty on five counts of CAP. Hire Shehr and Saad, LLC if you would like industry-best advice in faking a hate crime. It's a masterclass in being a dummy, but it does give us something to talk about: How do we project existing problems and attitudes onto hot-button issues? From Chicago politics to social media branding, everyone and everything takes advantage of stories like these. Also please don't go to Subway at 2AM. You're asking for a real hate crime. From me.
Content creators making content about content creation. I love recycling. A very rich man boasts about recreating the Squid Game games, so we get to talk smack. We try to define the word "content" and ask if good content is actually good. Then we look at how algorithms and hype cycles dictate what creators make and say. People always talk about content creation as something new and different from old-school jobs, but is it really? Plus we take a look at how other media jobs are affected by the content creator model. The Sparknotes version? Really successful content is for stupid people. Content that doesn't do well is actually too smart and intelligent. Hot Pocket gets no views. Therefore, we are very smart. Now excuse me while I toil away at another stupid TikTok.
God, please forgive us. Listeners, please bear with us. We've gone too far this time. Definitely our most NSFW episode, you've been warned. Pack your bags kids. Weird uncles Saad and Shehr are taking ya'll out to air some dirty laundry. We hit the "Dear Prudence" advice column at Slate Magazine to hear some truly despicable life problems. What's on the menu? Grandmas reminiscing about their passionate hookups. Three-way relationships. Blind dates with minors. Breaking the friendzone when you're already married. And the most devious of them all: a boy "relieving" himself to..... you'll have to find out. I can't stress enough, we really went all out this episode. Don't think less of us, and don't mindful of who's around when you listen to this.
Lady Justice just had her eye exam. Girl's never been blind. The boys go over the Rittenhouse trial and why it was doomed to failure. We lay out the basic facts of the night in question as well as the problems with the court room's political bias and framing. The victims of this case weren't people of color, but is it still an act of white supremacy? If so, how do we actually define white. We do have an actual answer. Then we have a heated discussion on the contradiction between supporting #BLM but also desperately wanting to use the prison system to its fullest whenever it's convenient to us. Does allowing for exceptions to a standard undermine the whole point of a standard?
From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free. Here's a history lesson on Israel and Palestine. It's dense but simmered down enough for anyone to understand. First we do a little book review on the principle Zionist text, The Jewish Question, to better understand the logic of Zionism. Then we cover the history of Israel/Palestine, from the initial Jewish migrations, to the revolts in the 1930's, to the Nakba, to the establishment of the Palestinian Authority. Here's a list of the sources we used for this episode as well as the initial piece Saad wrote earlier this year (which uses many of the same sources). Saad's piece on Medium: https://stmahmood012.medium.com/the-history-behind-israel-palestine-8d94ec4bde33 "The 1936-39 Revolt in Palestine". By Ghassan Kanafani, 1972: https://www.marxists.org/archive/kanafani/1972/revolt.htm "Criminalization of Palestinian Civil Society Will Have International Implications". By Yara Shoufani, November 10, 2021: https://www.palestine-studies.org/en/node/1651892 "Gaza: An Inquest into its Martyrdom". By Norman Finkelstein, 2018. "The Hundred Years' War on Palestine: A History of Settler Colonialism and Resistance, 1917–2017". By Rashid Khalidi, 2020. Interviews with Israeli citizens clipped from: "Everyday Israelis Express Support for Genocide to Abby Martin", from Empire Files Youtube Channel. https://youtu.be/lFoxL3sOAio Cover Art: If you know who the original creator of the episode art is please let us know so we can properly credit.
Work. Work. Go get the money. Go get th- What do you mean my card was declined? Today's question: Is poverty a choice or is it thrust upon you? We break down the numbers behind homelessness in America, look at the aesthetics of wealth, and discover "Money Mindset". When does hustling become hustling, and are we too eager to ignore the less fortunate? Poor shaming = Broke. Rich shaming = Woke.
Open your third eye, for we shall see. Open your mouth, for we shall eat from the forbidden tree. Put on your tin hat and join the mad lads. Moon landing, Atlantis, COVID, Bigfoot, Nelson Mandela. We dive into the world of conspiracies. It's a secret seminar on group think, the powerful, and cats Also condoms are a plot by the Muslims to control the world you heard it here first.
Hors d'oeuvre? Or orderves? The boys make the rounds on fighting wild animals for about 10 minutes before we get to the real meat and taters: LUV. Red flags. Annoying couples. Hookup culture. Honeymoon phase. Old school romance. We give our perspectives on all of them. Also Saad's stupid laptop will die a lonely, old virgin 'cause it won't stop farting mid-recording.