Noam and Jen are on time this week, because there's a lot to talk about. As we somewhat alluded to last week, the NYT dropped a story detailing Graham Platner's past. While it is being slammed as a soft catch and kill, and the main named accuser Lindsey Fifield has said there was a lot more that wasn't included in the article, what was included is pretty damning. Damning enough that, 20 years ago, Planer would have needed to drop out to keep his life from being a distraction. Alas, we don't live in those times anymore. Earlier today, it was announced that Iran has fired missiles into Israel, in response to Israel firing missiles into Beirut, which was in response to Hezbollah firing missiles into Israel. So once again we are left asking - what now? Is Trump going to actually do anything? Will Iran care?  To wrap up, we spend some time making fun of Candace Owens and her trip to Russia. Apparently St Petersburg is one big Temu America, down to the Stars coffee chain and the McDonald's that is not McDonald's. It's kind weird how all of the America First people end up in Russia to sing its praises.  For our WAWC (I told you, Noam can't make me add those Ds), Noam recommends the Apple TV show Widow's Bay. Jen recommends the tiny e-reader XTEINK X4, which is fast becoming the hip new thing in e-readers. We also have a discussion about the success of Obsession, Backrooms, and what it is that puts people in seats at the movie theatre nowadays.   

Jen and Noam are late again, but that's Noam's fault because he's a Euphoria fan (?) now. But we don't just discuss the season (series?) finale of Euphoria, we discuss the DC based America 250 events that are falling apart in real time because Trump can't keep his hands off the celebrations. And yes, despite the feigned indignation on the topic, it's a little hard to say Trump isn't making this about Trump when there's huge banners of his face on government buildings in DC. And he decides to cancel a concert in lieu of his making a speech.  Primary season has officially started, and we've already got two controversial candidates to talk about; Graham Platner and Ken Paxton. While Paxton's flaws are well known and documented, including stealing money and cheating on his wife, Platner is stacking up new ones by the day. So we ponder the big question - when does it all become too much to support, even in the pursuit of power?  For our WAWC, we do a spoiler free discussion of Backrooms, the new movie based on the viral YouTube videos created by Kane Parsons. We both agree - if you are a fan of A24 horror films, you'll like where they went with this concept. We also discuss the idea of taking a concept that doesn't have a plot, strictly speaking, and translating that into a film. And, as mentioned, we discuss the ending of season three of Euphoria which does look to be the series finale because we're a little confused as to where Levinson would even go from here with the remaining characters.   

Noam and Jen make it back a day late. It's ok, that's what a three day weekend means. We did have plenty to talk about though, seeing as Trump settled his lawsuit against his own IRS over something that happened during his last term and that means that there is now $17.76B of taxpayer money that can now be used for….well it's not really been determined what for. What's for certain is that all of the J6 participants think they have a check coming to them.  Thomas Massie lost his primary to some MAGA dude nobody really knows, but he still can't bring himself to say that Trump sucks. He did find time to take a shot at Israel though, despite them having nothing to do with his election loss. We think he might be the newest citizen of the post MAGA Podcastistan soon enough, maybe then he'll criticize the man who cost him his career. The war with Iran is still on. Or maybe it's off, No, it's still on. Still no deal with the US. Eventually someone is going to have to admit this whole situation is FUBAR and do something to fix it, although it seems like nobody wants to admit that to Trump just yet.  We spend a minute discussing the Trump administration wanting to talk to Hasan Piker and Medea Benjamin about their trip to Cuba. We also wonder what happened to all of those solar panels they brought to the Cuban people (jk we know the Cuban government took them).  For our WAWC, Noam is still making his way through season 3 of Euphoria, and Jen (and Noam) encourage everyone to go to the good Smithsonian Air and Space Museum out in Chantilly, VA.  

Surprise! Jen is visiting Boston, so we are podding in person, and we even watched a movie together to discuss (more on that later). We cover Trump's trip to China and his worrying comments on Taiwan, and transition to his domestic conflict with Thomas Massie and now Lauren Boebert. Will the Republican party become a Vancian Post-MAGA party or will Rubio symbolize some gradual retreat from maximalism? People are also still Big Mad about the Odyssey, so we talk some more about that, and about the anger that permeats pop culture debates. This leads us into What Are We Consuming, which was the new horror movie Obsession. We liked it a lot, and are happy that it is part of the trend of tapping horror YouTubers to make indie horror movies.

Jen and Noam make it back after Noam's illness (not hantavirus, just regular virus) to discuss Nick Kristof's stupid gullible toxic empathy, how it's not possible to train a dog to sexually assault anyone, how in the world could anyone question the word of 14 people, and where is all of this antisemitism coming from anyway.  We start out, however, talking about The Odyssey (the movie, that's not a pun) and the controversies about the casting announcements that were just made. Jen tries her best to explain to everyone that The Odyssey isn't real, and we both agree that Christopher Nolan knows what he's doing. We also get sidetracked into a discussion on translations and how they can go awry. For our WAWC, Noam recommends the show From on MGM+. If you didn't know that MGM has a streaming service, you're not alone, but somehow this show is on its fourth season. We also discuss the current season of Euphoria some more, Noam explains what vorarephilia is, and Jen wonders if that means there are people watching Attack on Titan for different reasons.   

Noam and Jen make fun of Richard Dawkins finding God in the machine. Ok, not God, but Claude(ia). This kicks off a rambling discussion of AI, consciousness, the Turing Test, if AI is the doom of all humanity, Sam Altman's house getting firebombed, people being way too het up over data centers, water usage for golfing courses and water features in shopping malls, and how Skynet will still send robots and it will probably be the Pentagon's fault.  On the Iran front, we discuss if it is still a front and what exactly the US Navy's role will be in guiding ships through said front. Meanwhile, the Trump administration fumbles around for a reason why they don't need to ask Congress to declare war. Nobody really knows what's going on still, but Iran seems perfectly happy to continue on as things are right now even though they are hurting financially. Speaking of Middle East financial news, the UAE is leaving OPEC and moving towards a formal relationship with Israel. As always, the Middle East is going through some changes.  For our What Are We Consuming, Noam has made it to season 3 of Euphoria and has a theory about how this season is one big subversive joke on conservative values. Jen just rambles on about Euphoria reaction videos, anime, and going shopping at yet another new Japanese life store in the DMV. 

Jen and Noam return a day late, because one of us has emergency podcast duties now. Of course we have to start with the WHCD and the attempted assasination attempt on Trump. Everyone is fine, and nobody much seemed like they felt they were in any real danger, as evidenced by the way everyone involved acted during and after the incident. And of course, it's not an assasination attempt without people claiming it was staged, but this time around we have a new group of people making the claim. It also wouldn't be an assasination attempt without people trying to engagement farm and push an unrelated agenda, this time it's the stalled White House ballroom project.  Speaking of people acting out online, the NYT decided to interview nepo babies Hasan Piker and Jia Tolentino about stealing is cool. Jen doubts that either one of them has ever stolen a damn thing ever, because they're both massive tryhards. Nevertheless, we make fun of them and the idea that stealing from Whole Foods is OK but paying someone to bring you food in the rain is not.  As for Iran, things seem to be at an impasse. Trump announced peace talks, Iran quickly pointed they agreed to no such thing, Trump pretended to be the one to call things off. How this saga ends nobody seems to know. Having a plan would be good, but unlike oil tankers in the Strait of Hormutz, that ship has already sailed.  For our WAWC, Noam tells us about how he is catching up on Euphoria in order to watch the third season that is now airing. Jen tried to watch that show once, but it was too bleak even for her (and that's pretty damn bleak). She has been vicariously watching season three through reaction videos on YouTube, and it sure doesn't seem like it's gotten any less disturbing.   

Noam and Jen are not sure what is going on. We…think the war with Iran is still on? Does Trump know? Does anyone? It's all very up in the air, which is not great when you're talking about a hot war.  We do know that "Hungarian taxpayers" were funding all of the conferences that CPAC has been holding in Hungary all these years, thanks to Magyar and his anti-corruption tear. We also know certain people were also on the "Hungarian taxpayer" payroll, given their crashout now that the goulash train is stopping. At any rate, this revelation about "Hungarian taxpayer" money sure does explain a lot about the postliberal movement.  For our WAWC, Noam recommends Daemons of the Shadow Realm, which definitely has an interesting premise and a lot of potential. Jen explains Go For It, Nakamura-kun and the controversy surrounding it, and how certain Western fans need to calm down. 

Jen and Noam are happy that Iran has not been ended. We are not happy about, well, much of anything else that has happened since Tuesday. Between Iran's ridiculous ceasefire asks, the failed ceasefire talk (singular), Trump being basically done with the whole war, and the blockade of the blockade it doesn't seem like much progress is being made.  On the topic of progress, Hungary has finally rid itself of Victor Orban! Hooray! Now hopefully Hungary can get on a more stable economic track and the EU can stop having to deal with Hungary being Russia's proxy vote.  In case you missed it, NASA went to the moon again too. OK, we flew by the moon this time, but we will be going to the moon really soon. Why? Because we like the moon, and there are resources there.  For our What Are We Consuming, Noam explains how Exit 8 does actually work as a movie, since Jen had her doubts that creepy ick vibes could be turned into an actual movie. Jen explains the Super Mario Galaxy movie and how it's not as good as the first one, but still pretty decent and enjoyable.   

Noam and Jen return, a day late but things do happen. Or maybe they don't, which is a running theme of our coverage of the Iran war. This time, maybe Trump is going to bomb all of the infrastructure if Iran doesn't open the Strait of Hormuz. Or not. Who can say really.    Speaking of dropping bombs, Nate Silver somehow ragebaited Hasan Piker into posting his follower stats on Twitter, where everyone noticed a suspiciously large number of unverified accounts follow him. Not the kind of information one releases about oneself but hey, Hasan has been under a lot of scrutiny lately.  In happy Iran news, the US rescued an Air Force officer whose plane was shot down deep in the Iranian mountains. Hooray us! Well, at least we're happy about it. I mean, Israel can't have all the insane movie plot missions.  For our WAWC, Noam recommends the very weird sounding game Crimson Desert, which somehow has both magic and robots. Jen gives a round of applause to the Winter 2025 season of anime that just wrapped up, and talks about how it's really nice that two vastly different shows are getting love from audiences.