Read With Me

Wherein Ben and Holly Berkley Fletcher welcome Alicia Wanless to tell us about her new book, The Information Animal, a historical and contemporary survey of the human information consumption. Pre-order Alicia's book here. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.dogshirtdaily.com/subscribe

Wherein Ben, Holly Berkley Fletcher, and Alicia Wanless welcome Dr. Tony Volk, a developmental psychology researcher, to talk about the dynamics of bullying, on the playground and in the Oval Office. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.dogshirtdaily.com/subscribe

Wherein Ben and Holly Berkley Fletcher welcome Virginia Heffernan and Jonathan Rauch to talk about philosophy in the present moment and taking action one day at a time. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.dogshirtdaily.com/subscribe

Wherein Ben, Alicia Wanless, and Eve Gaumond discuss the craziest recent events in Canadian politics, including lies, plagiarism, and threats of secession. Anastasiia Lapatina joins in to discuss the last episodes of her podcast on US-Ukrainian relations. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.dogshirtdaily.com/subs...

Wherein Ben and Alicia Wanless welcome Professor Lucy Jackson to tell us all about the Greek chorus, from its theatrical role to its philosophical significance. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.dogshirtdaily.com/subscribe

Wherein Ben, Holly Berkley Fletcher, and Alicia Wanless discuss Trump administration influencers, puppets as graduation speakers, and maple syrup smuggling in the tariff era. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.dogshirtdaily.com/subscribe

Wherein Ben welcomes Mike Pesca to talk about podcasts, scandals, and the JFK assassination, and they read the newly released Houthi PC Small Group battle plans live on the show. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.dogshirtdaily.com/subscribe

Wherein Ben and Holly Berkley Fletcher discuss the Trump administration's leak of classified military information via group chat and welcome Anna Bower to tell us about her search for the administrator of DOGE. The as-yet-unnamed puppy was also there. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.dogshirtdaily.com/subscrib...

Wherein Ben, Holly Berkley Fletcher, and Eve Gaumond discuss the upcoming elections in Canada. Also, Ben has a new puppy. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.dogshirtdaily.com/subscribe

Wherein Ben and Holly Berkley Fletcher discuss Ben's new video, Holly's new podcast, and why big law firms are capitulating to Trump. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.dogshirtdaily.com/subscribe

Wherein Ben and Alicia Wanless welcome Frédéric Mérand, Canadian political scientist, to discuss Canada's potential integration with the EU. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.dogshirtdaily.com/subscribe

Wherein Ben and Holly Berkley Fletcher discuss the destruction of US soft power mechanisms, including Voice of America and the US Institute of Peace. Holly gives an update on South Sudan. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.dogshirtdaily.com/subscribe

Wherein Ben’s guest doesn’t show up so he takes questions from the audience on disinformation and Chuck Schumer's decision making—and ends up channeling the estimable Alicia Wanless. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.dogshirtdaily.com/subscribe

Join me for my next live video in the app This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.dogshirtdaily.com/subscribe

Thanks to all who joined. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.dogshirtdaily.com/subscribe

Thank you Kathleen Doxer , Christie , Cathy Wilson , Burch Craig , Gregory Speth , and many others for tuning into my live video with Anastasiia Lapatina ! Join me for my next live video in the app. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.dogshirtdaily.com/subscribe

I met Nastia Panchenko several months ago when did a #SpecialMilitaryOperation in New York City at the Russian consulate there. She was among a number of young Ukrainians who came to the projection, after which she told me her remarkable story about coming to the United States alone as a teenager after the full-scale invasion. Now almost 18, she has been living in New York on her own, finishing hi...

Good Morning : I don’t know what the universe is of undecided swing voters who are also fans of 20th Century classical music. But for all eight of them out there, consider this video my personal appeal to you. For everyone who needs an explanation, the piece is an homage to—or maybe a parody of—Aaron Copland’s famous 1942 piece, “ Lincoln Portrait ,” which features a spoken-word narrator reading f...

In my last post , I urged people to subscribe to Yours Ukrainian, a new Substack by my friend—and employee—Anastasiia Lapatina: In this conversation, Nastya and I talked about the project, as well as about her extraordinary, if very brief, career, which grew up alongside the Russian full-scale invasion of Ukraine. It’s a pretty amazing story, and she’s a great narrator of her own tale. Nastya’s la...

Last week, I wrote this piece urging people to support the independent Ukrainian media organization, Svidomi . In that piece, I promised a podcast with the organization’s chief and founder, Anastasiia Bakulina . Our conversation got delayed by a few days for technical reasons. First, my recording software failed for reasons that may or may not be related to the worldwide cyber outage. Then, just a...

One year ago today, Elizabeth Tsurkov, a Princeton University graduate student, journalist, and Middle East scholar was abducted in Baghdad by the Iranian-backed terrorist group, Khatib Hezbollah. Today, her sister Emma Tsurkov held a rally outside the Iraqi embassy and spoke about her sister in an effort to pressure Iraqi officials to push for her release—and in an effort to pressure American off...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.dogshirtdaily.com Former President Trump filed his reply brief on his request before the Supreme Court for a stay of the D.C. Circuit’s mandate.

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.dogshirtdaily.com Special Counsel Jack Smith lost no time filing his opposition to Trump’s request before the Supreme Court of a stay of the D.C. Circuit’s mandate. Here’s the government’s brief in its entirety.

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.dogshirtdaily.com As expected, Donald Trump has gone to the Supreme Court seeking of stay of the D.C. Circuit’s issuance of its mandate to the district court on Trump’s claim of presidential immunity—which would let his Jan. 6 trial proceed. This is Trump’s brief.

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.dogshirtdaily.com At long last, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals this week issued its opinion on presidential immunity in the Jan. 6 criminal case against former President Donald J. Trump. The opinion is a 57-page per curiam by Judges Henderson, Pan, and Childs.