Chapo Trap House

Amber welcomes back Rhode Island teamster Matt Maini for some union talk. They discuss union internal politics, rank and file leadership, the value of strikes, and organizing Amazon. Check out the TDU GoFundMe here: https://www.gofundme.com/f/transforming-the-teamsters-from-the-bottom-up

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Movies are Back! And we start with a brief discussion of Venom 2: Return of Goop. Then, Felix is joined by WikiLeaks editor-in-chief Kristinn Hrafnsson to discuss a new report from Yahoo News that details the CIA’s plots to kidnap or kill Julian Assange while he was sheltered in London’s Ecuadorian embassy. They discuss the obsession with revenge on Assange and WikiLeaks under Mike Pompeo, the possibility of real justice for Assange, and some slivers of hope in the future of the WikiLeaks project. Then, to finish up the ep, we have a reading series from Maureen Dowd’s latest column on that kooky, adorkable senator who seems to love everyone’s hate, Kyrsten Sinema.

We liked this one from last month a lot, so we're unlocking it today. Subscribe today for access to all premium episodes! www.patreon.com/chapotraphouse We do a deep dive into the history, culture, purpose, and various crimes of the Navy SEALs.

Attorney Steven Donziger faces sentencing for his criminal contempt charge. Will and Steven discuss updates on his case, the UN’s ruling his house arrest violates international law, and what can be done to support him. Information on Steven’s case and ways to support collected at https://www.freedonziger.com/ Rally before Steven’s sentencing at 500 Pearl st. at 8:30 a.m. Oct. 1. More info here: https://twitter.com/SDonziger/status/1440085788759236609 Call in to his sentencing, Oct. 1, 10:00 a.m. ET U.S.: (877) 266-8189 International: (409) 207-6980 More info here: https://twitter.com/SDonziger/status/1443617319163412490

We’re back to a normal-style ep after a week of interviews. We’re taking a look at the fast-tracked aid package to intelligence agents suffering unreality issues, the Biden administration addressing just the optics at the border, and AOC addressing just the optics of the Iron Dome bill. Finally, we having a reading series that functions as a bit of a coda to Will and Matt’s visit to Ozy Fest way back in 2018. One last time, go subscribe to https://www.youtube.com/chapotraphouse And go grab some of Simon Roy’s great posters over at https://shop.chapotraphouse.com/ More merch coming soon!

Felix talks to former governor of Illinois Rod Blagojevich. Subscribe today for access to all premium episodes! www.patreon.com/chapotraphouse

Will talks to India Walton, the socialist candidate who won the Democratic primary for Mayor of Buffalo in June. They discuss the ongoing opposition to her campaign from the establishment incumbent she defeated in the primary and his corporate allies, how she plans to make Buffalo work for the city’s tenants and renters, and how she will address policing issues as the mayor of a large American city. If you’d like to learn more about India’s campaign or donate, go to: https://www.indiawalton.com/

Will and Matt talk to Kim Stanley Robinson, author of the Mars Trilogy, 2312 and last year’s Ministry for the Future. They discuss reckoning with climate change, science fiction literature as an attempt to conceive of our own future’s history, and what kinds of beliefs humans might need to survive that future.

We celebrate 20 years of 9/11 by taking a 2-part look at the political and cultural insanity of the era immediately following the attacks. Today, we look at the hysterical jingoism, veneration of idiotic leaders, politically enforced censorship, and the seminal war-blogger classic “The Pussification of the Western Male” We’ll continue on Thursday’s ep with looks at TV, Film and Culture from the era, plus another canonical 9/11 reading series. Stay tuned!

Canada Correspondent Dan Boeckner stops by to update us on the impending Canadian federal elections. We break down the parties and their platforms, from the Victims of Communism-respecters, to the Semen Retentionists. We also read an op-ed from the Toronto Sun on why Drake is the most dangerous and disrespectful man in Canada. Check out Dan’s podcast The Bottlemen wherever you get podcasts, and subscribe here: https://www.patreon.com/DaBottlemen And find Dan’s patreon for his music here: https://www.patreon.com/operators

Once more into the breach of Afghanistan takes: the media now turns to our precious abandoned military ordnance to hand-wring over, and Britain continues to feel the cold shoulder of the Biden administration. We also cover China’s new gaming ban, and an effort to gin up a BDS movement against the Taliban.

We start off discussing Jeopardy!, Tesla Bots, and how all these conservative radio hosts keep dying of COVID. Then we talk about Tony Blair crying about Afghanistan and step inside Tom Friedman’s mind palace to explore the Taliban’s strategic cousin and nephew reserves.

We look at the brutal, stupid, and embarrassing end of our brutal, stupid, and embarrassing twenty year occupation of Afghanistan.

We review Obama’s 60th Birthday Bash on Martha’s Vineyard, which we were all of course invited to. Then, we take a look at the ongoing “Havana Syndrome” phenomenon, in which U.S. intelligence operatives continue to report un-diagnosable symptoms supposedly generated by a non-existent superweapon. Finally, we take a look back at everyone’s early pandemic “cuomosexual” phase.

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We start today looking at Democrats’ feckless failure to extend the eviction moratorium. That being a fairly dismal topic, we try to lighten things up with two reading series checking in with how some old friends of the show are handling their new post-election lives in DC.

We take a look at the 2007 Antoine Fuqua/Mark Wahlberg film “Shooter,” a fascinating relic of the 2nd G.W. administration that asks the question “what if a hardass marine sniper operator type fuckin merked Dick Cheney?” Also, Matt brings up some deep lore from the author Stephen Hunter’s other novels that really makes him seem like a fertile well of insane ideas.

This is the first episode of Chapo all-stars Derek Davison & Daniel Bessner’s new foreign policy podcast “American Prestige”. To get more, go here: http://patreon.com/americanprestige In the premiere episode of American Prestige, Danny and Derek get into the US's withdrawal from Afghanistan. Did the military intentionally botch the withdrawal? Has the imperial frontier contracted in any meaningful way? Will the Taliban gain legitimacy with the Afghan people? Plus, an in-depth interview with Stephen Wertheim, discussing his new book “Tomorrow, the World”, which explores how and why during World War II U.S. elites decided that their nation should, indeed must, dominate the world.