Critical Wade Theory

In this episode, I will look at Trump's authoritarian goofiness that's making him gooey over Greenland. I will then continue examining how our system (or maybe I should say "their system") helped produce Trump in the first place, by looking at the bizarre and devilish legacy of Lee Atwater, the repentant fascist political strategist bluesman. And lastly I will look at one of the...

There’s a word that comes up again and again when we talk about stories, especially old ones. Real. We ask whether a tale is real folklore. A real myth. A real fairy tale.

If you were coming of age in the early 2000s and even slightly tuned into indie music, there’s a good chance The Shins found you before you ever went looking for them. They’re an American indie rock band known for melodic, introspective songs and sharp, literate lyrics. Music that doesn’t shout for attention, but somehow stays with you. The kind of songs that feel personal, even when you can’t qui...

We like to believe our systems work — that justice is blind, democracy is fair, and truth has a fighting chance... Main photo credit: Origin unknown (if you know the original source, go ahead and let me know).

My podcast is not very successful by any means. I can say it is gaining momentum, on YouTube, but it's still not a huge show. Nevertheless, I keep receiving e-mails from right-wingers who want to be my guest. I have decided I don't want to platform them, and I don't have guests on as often as I used to anyway. Still, this shows you that right-wingers are confident, and that they want t...

The episode explores a recent ICE shooting of a woman in Minnesota, then shifts to Mark Burnett’s role in shaping Donald Trump’s rise as a media figure. From there, I analyze the influence of Burnett’s wife, Roma Downey, focusing on her role in producing Christian media. The argument is that Downey’s soft, “New Age–inflected” Christian messaging may function as a gateway that draws in audiences wh...

Today I'm talking about After We Fell, the 2021 romantic drama and the third installment in the After franchise. If you’ve made it this far into the series, you already know what kind of ride you’re signing up for. Big emotions, messy relationships, and a lot of arguing in nice-looking rooms.

[NOTE: I will upload a fuller video of this, if there is a demand for it, with "demand" meaning if even 1 person asks for it.] In his latest documentary work,  Homegrown , filmmaker  Michael Premo  turns his camera away from institutions and figureheads and instead focuses on the everyday people who became wrapped up in the events surrounding January 6. In this conversation with me (for...

If you think of the Divinyls purely through the lens of “I Touch Myself,” you'll have an idea of what this album might provide — even if the lyrics don't unsettle prudes as much as their hit about handling the bearded clam.

Released in 1965 as the title track of Dylan’s album Highway 61 Revisited, the song stands as one of the clearest statements of his break from acoustic folk into electric blues-rock. This wasn’t a gentle evolution. It was a confrontation — with tradition, with authority, and with the idea that music should behave itself.

Remembering a rock festival...that I never went to.

What happens when a country hands the keys to a werewolf? More broadly, I discuss Latin America's far-right shift.

When we think about fairy tales, most of us picture the cleaned-up versions. Soft edges. Clear morals. Princesses who suffer quietly until someone saves them. These are the Victorian-era revisions many of us grew up with, stories that have been sanded down to feel safe, instructive, and polite. But that’s not where these stories began...

Today, I'm talking about a song that lives at the crossroads of pop music and movie history. It’s called “Romancing the Stone”, and it comes from Eddy Grant in 1984. It was also made to promote a film of the same name.

There's a lot I could take about regarding Trump, like the Epstein files. But today I'm talking about a building. But really, I'm talking about power. And the line between law and ego.

A fan of Myles Kennedy asked me to post the full video version, so here it is! Now you can see my goofy face, in addition ti hearing my goofy voice.

Welcome back. Today we’re talking about Ty Segall — the 2017 self-titled album by Ty Segall. Not the first one. The second. And that detail actually matters.

Today, I'm talking about a surprisingly common pattern in predators, both living and extinct. It’s a dental setup where teeth are concentrated toward the front of the jaws, while the back of the mouth has fewer teeth or none at all. Also, what's a key difference between alligators and crocodiles? It's all right here! IMAGE CREDIT: Some joke on Reddit. Not sure of the original source.

Today we’re digging into Highway 61 Revisited, the 1965 Bob Dylan album that marked the moment he threw himself fully into electric rock. If you know even a little Dylan, you know this is the record that split audiences, rewired songwriting, and helped move popular music into a new era.

Today, I want to talk about something that, at first glance, looks like a routine university course offering. But somehow, it ends up tangled in a much bigger fight. A fight over science, education, and who knowledge is supposed to be for. I will also discuss how outrage against the course ties into a broader war on science and education overall... IMAGE: Robert F. Kennedy Jr. swam in Washington,...

In this episode, Trump urges Americans to keep waiting for his glorious golden age benefits to roll in. I also discuss the co-author of Art of the Deal, and how, despite helping Trump significantly image-wise, he went on to become a critic. I also talk about a former Disney CEO.

Full, live video version available if there's enough demand. Personally, I don't need to see my goofy face (hearing my goofy voice is enough). BUT if enough people out there wat to see the full video version, let me know in the comments. I semi-apologize for the image quality of the main photo, but we were using Zoom so what are you gonna do? Anyway, here I talk to Myles Kennedy of Alter Bridge /...

Today I want to talk - at least tangentially - about two classic stories almost everyone knows: Cinderella and Aladdin...

Let's talk about a mythological creature called The Axehandle Hound. Main image from "Cryptid Wiki."

There’s a common mistake people make when they look at ancient epics, especially Greek ones. They assume these stories are just primitive attempts to explain cruelty. Bad things happen because the gods are petty. Lightning strikes because Zeus is angry. Suffering gets shrugged off as fate. But that reading misses the point.