Chapo Trap House

I DID EVERYTHING RIGHT AND THEY SHOT AT ME! Kath joins us today to review a somewhat eventful week, from Trump’s shooting and the various reactions to it, to more extremely statesmanlike appearances from Joe Biden, to ol’ JD from the holler makin’ it all the way to vice presidential nominee, we’ve got a lot to go over. PLUS, we’re joined for a bonus interview by Middle Tennessee DSA’s Mina Parkinson to hear about their project abolishing medical debt through QUILT, as well as the right-wing Daily Wire led assault on sexual education and books in general in the Volunteer State. AND: Live show at the DNC with True Anon. Park West Chicago, August 21st. Tickets on sale TODAY, JULY 16th, at 10am CST. This link should go live then, get your tickets asap! https://www.axs.com/events/629724/chapo-x-trueanon-live-at-the-dnc-tickets NEW MERCH SHOP UP AT: www.chapotraphouse.store All links for QUILT projects, DONATE NOW: Campaign Page: quilt-tn.com/debt QUILT Website: quilt-tn.com QUILT Instagram: @quilt_tn D

We’re joined by Ryan Grim & Jeremy Scahill of the NEW independent journalism venture Drop Site News. We look at how the Biden campaign meltdown has pushed the war in Palestine out of the news, and the relationship between Biden’s long history of bad policies and the current crises he’s leading. Plus, mainstream media’s failed coverage of both topics, and some Drop Site reporting on Democratic megadonors gives a glimpse into Joe Biden’s aggrieved and petty motivations. Support Jeremy & Ryan’s independent journalism and check out Drop Site at: https://dropsitenews.com/

As a special endcap to this season of Movie Mindset, Will, Hesse & Chris interview the director of Repo Man, Sid & Nancy, Walker and many others, the great Alex Cox. They discuss the Los Angeles of Repo Man, his visual style, his approach to making “political” films, and various genres, writers, and actors he admires. And of course, we get to the bottom of who killed JFK. Alex is currently crowdfunding what may be his last movie, “My Last Movie” on Kickstarter. Please consider kicking in and becoming one of the dead souls:  https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/alexcoxfilms/my-last-movie Find the rest of this season of Movie Mindset, including our episode on Repo Man, on Patreon here: https://www.patreon.com/collection/510340?view=expanded

Last week’s stunningly bad debate and a few shocking Supreme Court rulings have rapidly taken the 2024 Presidential Race into relatively unprecedented waters. We’ve assembled the CTH election unit of reporter Dave Weigel and analyst Josh aka Ettingermentum to survey the state of the race, Joe Biden’s quickly diminishing outlook, and potential surprise outcomes that may lay ahead. Plus, key tips and tricks to master your playthrough of Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree. Find Dave’s reporting at Semafor here: https://www.semafor.com/author/david-weigel Find the Ettingermentum newsletter here: https://www.ettingermentum.news/

Will talks to musician and climate journalist Jael Holzman (Ekko Astral, Heatmap News) about her experience as a congressional reporter at outlets like Axios and Politico, and the conditions that led her to quit. We discuss the institutionalized bias against accurate reporting on topics like climate change and trans rights & healthcare, the outrageous complacency with baseless stories from the likes of LibsofTikTok, and other incidents of casual “lavender scare” that permeate the D.C. press corp. Check out Jael’s medium post on quitting congressional journalism here: https://medium.com/@jaelholzman/why-im-leaving-congressional-journalism-ee97e2bbebf6 And get into Ekko Astral here: https://ekkoastral.bandcamp.com/album/pink-balloons

We’re joined by journalist Sharif Abdel Kouddous and filmmaker Kavitha Chekuru to discuss their new film The Night Won’t End: Biden’s War on Gaza. The film examines the lives of three families as they try to survive the continued assault on Gaza. Will and Felix discuss the film, the civilian toll of the war, the U.S. state departments continued obfuscation around civilian casualties, and the complete breakdown of international human rights law around the war. The film is available in its entirety on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ECFpW5zoFXA&ab_channel=AlJazeeraEnglish

Featured player Alex Nichols returns to look at the creeping criminalization of the “edgar” haircut in Tekkkxas, the jomney sun-ization of the U.S. Navy, the state of the American “young” fascist movement, and Joe Biden’s floundering celebrity outreach program. Keep an eye out on our Patreon for a new series of Vic Berger videos covering Trump’s time away from the White House in Mar-a-Lago, premiering exclusively at pateron.com/chapotraphouse starting June 18.

We talk to Lance Oppenheim, director of Ren Faire, the new docu-series on HBO. Ren Faire looks at the drama behind the scenes of the enormous Texas Renaissance Festival. When capricious 86-year-old owner and founder “King” George Coulam attempts to retire, his underlings, the obsequious & loyal-to-a-fault Jeff and the ambitious & conniving Louie, are pitted against each other in their attempts to gain control of the park. It’s a darkly comedic real-life Shakespeare story, but it also touches on a lot of ideas about work, employment, ownership, power, performance, alienation, and an (unhealthy?) obsession with the past, all in the context of a very particular modern workplace. All three episodes of Ren Faire are available now to stream on Max (the place for HBO).

Last week, we looked at Trump’s felony convictions and the various weaknesses that brings his campaign. This week, we turn to Biden world. First, Hunter is in court on federal gun charges, leading us all to learn about his bizarre taste crack music. Then, we spend the majority of this ep reading through the absolutely addled interview Joe Biden gave to Time magazine last week. How cooked is he? Can we make sense of any of this? How could we get two candidates this bad leading their presidential tickets? We discuss all inside.

We have Alex on today to first and foremost look at newly released soda rankings. Then, we catch up on reactions to Trump’s conviction, examine the many Rubicons people are always crossing, and ask if Barron will be Augustus Batman or something. Then, two new banger campaign ads from new MAGA star Valentina Gomez. Finally, a long reading series about Erik Prince’s far-right podcast group chat, and the various good & normal opinions shared there from the many luminaries in his orbit.

Chief Chapo foreign correspondent returns to take us around the wide world of conflict. We get an update on the war in Gaza including the bombing of Rafah, the failing floating Pier, and the Biden administration's attempts to broker some kind of deal between Israel, Palestine and Saudi Arabia without gaining any concessions or movement toward peace in the process. Plus, we discuss the death or Iranian president Raisi, the situation in Ukraine, and what the hell’s going on in French New Caledonia. For more Derek: The article on Germany Derek references at the end of the pod: www.foreignexchanges.news/p/whats-the-matter-with-germany Subscribe to Foreign Exchanges: www.foreignexchanges.news And American Prestige: www.americanprestigepod.com/

We sit down with Mike Cheslik, the director of the new(ish) silent comedy action farce Hundreds of Beavers. We discuss his Wisconsin influences, ultra-DIY approach to filmmaking, making your film exactly as stupid as it needs to be, and the inherent humor of watching a guy in a mascot costume get wrecked on camera. There are still a few in-theater opportunities to catch Hundreds of Beavers: https://www.hundredsofbeavers.com/tickets/ And it’s also available for rental at home on Apple and Amazon.

The Pendejo boys are back ostensibly to cover some new Greg Abbott shenanigans out of Texas, but we also look at the ICC seeking arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant, the collapse of Red Lobster, a GOP candidate out of Missouri literally running against being “weak and gay,” and Chiefs’ kicker Harrison Butker’s redpilled address to Benedictine graduates. Find Pendejo Time wherever you get podcasts, and subscribe to their patreon here: https://www.patreon.com/pendejotime Also check out the Pendejo Time album here: https://pendejotime.bandcamp.com/album/pendejo-time

Alex is on today as we catch up with the weekend’s drama over the 2024 Eurovision song contest and ask which is more real, twitter or Eurovision (those are the only two options). Then, some disastrous new polls for the Biden campaign, Trump searches for a VP and praises Hannibal Lecter, and Bret Stephens & Gail Collins search for the true value of a commencement speech and decide it’s about telling kids to get off their damn phones. Check out WFYM radio: https://chapofym.podbean.com/

We’re joined by a former university administrator (who prefers to remain anonymous, though we have reviewed and verified their credentials) for an insider’s perspective of the current state of college administration, and a discussion of just why colleges and universities around the country are reacting with such extreme opposition and often violence to the ongoing pro-Palestinian protests. Topics include increasingly corporate university structure, internal bias against certain perspectives and student organizing, and the foreign influence over university operations.

Will talks to Anny Viloria Winnett, a UAW 4811 ASE Trustee, Graduate Student Worker at the UCLA School of Public Health, and an organizer involved with UCLA’s pro-Palestinian encampments. They discuss last week’s violent assaults on the UCLA encampments, first from a group of Zionist vigilantes and subsequently by the LAPD. They then discuss the university’s response, keeping the movement resilient and safe in the face of such opposition, and some answers for all the media who want to know “why are you here?”

Tom, Tarence and (welcome to the show!) Aaron from the Trillbillies join us for another week of horror and spectacle around the War in Gaza. We touch on the ceasefire agreement being rejected basically as we were recording, some of the clumsy NYPD PR response to last week’s Columbia raid, and the pundit class tantrum over being denied free access to interviews with protesting students. But we also have some levity, in John Fetterman’s freakout over vat meat, the Biden admin’s flaccid signaling over marijuana legalization, and Patrick Bet-David’s praise for future God-Emperor Barron. Find Trillbillies wherever you get podcasts, and subscribe here: https://www.patreon.com/trillbillyworkersparty

Will & Hesse talk to Radu Jude, the director of the new comedy feature Do Not Expect Too Much from the End of the World. The film features an overworked production assistant as she drives around Bucharest shooting videos for a large multinational company as a satire of the malaise and indignity of modern life. Will, Hesse and Radu discuss the film’s send-up of TikTok masculinity influencers, the relationship with earlier films edited into the movie, the various versions of Romania Jude depicts and much more.. Do Not Expect Too Much from the End of the World is now in theaters and will be streaming on MUBI starting May 3.

Alex joins us again to catch up on the ongoing pro-Palestinian protests and the range of responses to them, from blatant attempts to provoke the protesters, to complaining about encampments ruining your teaching of silence. Then, Kristi Noem killed her dog, the defrocking of an AI priest, and Trump expressions that live in our heads. Tickets to Will & Hesse’s Movie Mindset screening & talkback of Death Wish 3 in NYC on May 4: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/chapo-trap-houses-movie-mindset-screening-of-death-wish-3-w-will-hesse-tickets-877569192077

Welcome to Movie Mindset season 2! Will & Hesse look at two films somewhat bookending the career of the great James Cagney: Lloyd Bacon’s Footlight Parade (1933) & Billy Wilder’s One, Two, Three (1961). The first is a pre-code musical spectacular, allowing Cagney to show off his song and dance skills as a promoter of live “prologues” for movie houses, the later a cold war screwball comedy, together they show the insane range of Cagney across a career also notable for roles as gangsters and tough guys. But here, we get to see his work making the most racist and offensive musical numbers imaginable to a depression-era crowd, and joke-a-minute comedy chops as a beverage exec trying to keep his boss’s daughter from eloping with a Communist while opening up east Germany to the wonders of Coca-Cola.  Tickets to Will & Hesse’s Movie Mindset screening & talkback of Death Wish 3 in NYC on May 4: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/chapo-trap-houses-movie-mindset-screening-of-death-wish-3-w-will-hesse-tickets-877569192077