Past Due with Ana Marie Cox and Open Mike Eagle

Rick Wilson (@TheRickWilson) and Ana Marie Cox (@anamariecox) meet for their monthly airing of grievances. Rick and Ana discuss how America is quickly becoming dismissed on the world stage, why a White House social media summit is the pinnacle of dum-dum behavior, how fetishization of normalization is unpleasant, and how the executive order overreaches of the Obama administration (which once cause...

This week Shannon Watts (@shannonrwatts) joins Ana Marie Cox (@anamariecox) to discuss how she built the anti-gun violence group Moms Demand Action from the ground up. Shannon’s new book Fight Like A Mother is both a memoir, but also a handbook for replicating these triumphs, as a sort of Activism for Dummies. Ana and Shannon honestly examine MDA’s origins, successes, goals, failures, and how to f...

This week Anna Merlan (@annamerlan) helps us Ana Marie Cox (@anamariecox) parse America’s increasingly conspiratorial culture. Anna spent eight years covering conspiracy groups and just came out with a book, Republic of Lies: American Conspiracy Theorists and Their Surprising Rise to Power. Join us as we discuss vaccinations, UFOs, spying on Quakers, and finding a path forward. Also, check out our...

This week Vann Newkirk (@fivefifths) joins Ana Marie Cox (@anamariecox) to discuss conspiracy and its complex relationship with marginalized groups. Why does conspiratorial thinking appeal to those who feel “othered” within their society? Vann walks us through how the historic mistreatment of people of color has created a baseline of skepticism that can grow into full-on conspiracy. As Vann says:...

This week Will Sommer (@willsommer) joins Ana Marie Cox (@anamariecox) for a discussion of his work in exploring the wide-spread radicalization of mostly middle-aged people who think a shadowy cabal is going to take revenge on everyone they don’t like. And also make other people (including the still living JFK Jr.) like them and support their cause? QAnon, it turns out, is a bit of a mess. Which y...

This week Jesse Walker (@notjessewalker) joins Ana Marie Cox (@anamariecox) for an exciting round of “Who’s Right and Who’s a Nut?” Jesse Walker reminds us that you don’t need a tinfoil hat to believe in conspiracy theories, and that they have surrounded us for centuries. Afterwards they talk about when conspiracy theories have been based in malice, versus when they have actually been true. This i...

This week Adam Savage (@donttrythis) joins Ana Marie Cox (@anamariecox ) to talk about his new book “Every Tool's a Hammer: Life Is What You Make It.” They talk about glue, principles of metal working, and how to forgive yourself when you mess up. Afterwards, they talk about why we are going to need radical empathy in order to make it through these troubling times. Finally, they discuss the myths...

When you think of a Native American person what comes to your mind? Is it a sports decal? Is it Tonto on the Lone Ranger? Did you just think of all of the White people you know who claim to have Native ancestry? This week writer Tommy Orange (@thommyorange) joins Ana Marie Cox (@anamariecox) to unpack those stereotypes and talk about his book, There, There. They begin with a conversation on the vi...

Y’all ever create a constitutional crisis to own the libs? This week, Rick Wilson (@TheRickWilson) joins Ana Marie Cox (@anamariecox) to talk Ana down after another week of neverending bad news. They discuss light topics such as the recent pro-forced birth laws in Alabama and Georgia, the need for democrats to campaign in the Midwest, and the future of our country. Afterwards, Jordan Klepper (@jor...

CW: Depression and Suicide. If you or a loved one is struggling with depression or suicidal ideation, please call the National Suicide Hotline: 1-800-273-8255. You are worthy of love and you deserve to be alive.   This week Heather Armstrong (@dooce) joins Ana Marie Cox (@anamariecox ) to discuss family, a changing work world-- and also going into several medically induced comas to cure her depres...

CW: Suicide and Sexual Assault What does it mean to be a well meaning white person? What does it mean to have to deal with well meaning white people? This week Damon Young (@DamonYoungVSB) joins Ana Marie Cox (@anamariecox) to grapple with those questions and more. They start with a conversation on vulnerability, and eventually move onto a broad discussion on race and intersectionality. Tune in fo...

There are many misconceptions surrounding poverty in America. Author Stephanie Land (@stepville) joins Ana Marie Cox (@anamariecox) to discuss her experiences as a maid and how those myths affect policy and perceptions of low income people. They talked about what government should be doing, and what individual people can do to make other’s lives easier. Afterwards they dive into the psychological...

CW: Sexual Assault Got Mueller Madness? Join Ana Marie Cox (@anamariecox) and Rick Wilson (@TheRickWilson) as they get up from a fetal position and debrief the Mueller Report. They begin with a quick review of the day from the perspective of the White House and various media outlets. Afterwards they talk about what it will take to defeat Trump in 2020, and which candidates they think can make it i...

This week host Ana Marie Cox (@anamariecox) is joined by Kathleen Hall Jamieson and Jay Rosen (@jayrosen_nyu) to talk about why scrolling down your news feed has become such a painful and depressing chore. Kathleen Hall Jamieson breaks down the rise of cynicism in the last 25 years and what the American media consumer can do to turn things around. Later, Jay Rosen joins Ana to talk about why polit...

Need some advice on how to deal with that one uncle who brings up the Birther Conspiracy at every family gathering? This week journalist Eli Saslow (@elisaslow) joins host Ana Marie Cox (@anamariecox) to discuss to radicalization of older people. One of our listeners, Holly Griffith, is a NASA rocket scientist. She wrote to us because she’s experienced a huge disconnect with her mother over fake n...

This week Nausheena Hussain (@nausheena) and Beth Gendler (@bethgendler) join host Ana Marie Cox (@anamariecox) to remind us that asking invasive questions requires a strong relationship, and that the internet is free! Nausheena and Beth talk about how their relationship formed over a common interest in stopping gun violence, and grew into a solidarity movement known as Muslim-Jewish Women on Minn...

In the wake of the blockbuster Cohen testimony, there’s a lot to be unpacked about how the Trump family handles relationships, and in particular how Trump has spent his entire life commodifying and branding women. Ana Marie Cox (@anamariecox) is joined this week by Nina Burleigh (@ninaburleigh) who is Newsweek’s national politics editor. She wrote the book “Golden Handcuffs: The Secret History of...

Jussie Smollett. Yeah. That whole thing. Ugh. Ughhhh. This week, Ana Marie Cox (@anamariecox) interviewed Rolling Stone journalist Jamil Smith (@JamilSmith) about how to untangle this mess. There’s a rising trend in hate crime and organized hate groups across the country, and as a society we lack the tools to parse solutions to these developments. Jamil discusses the implications of this trending...

Whether you’re going out to dinner, or sitting at home with a pint of Ben and Jerry’s, Valentine’s Day offers unique problems for everyone. This week, Ana Marie Cox (@anamariecox) interviewed Blythe Roberson (@blythelikehappy) to talk about the modern pitfalls of dating men, when sometimes you can’t stand them. In her new book, How to Date Men When You Hate Men, Blythe Roberson covers the sexism t...

Tune in this week for a double interview feature! First, Dr. Tressie Cottom joined Ana Marie Cox for “the hot take superbowl.” They began by recapping the Northam debacle in Virginia and where it fits into our historical moment. They continued with a discussion of Dr. Cottom’s new book THICK: And Other Essays. From Betsy Devos to our society’s flawed concept of beauty, Dr. Cottom wrote about her p...

This week proud Kansas native Sarah Smarsh (@Sarah_Smarsh) joined Ana Marie Cox (@anamariecox) to discuss her new book Heartland: A Memoir of Being Broke in the Richest Country on Earth. From not knowing you’re poor, to feeling shame about your social class, Sarah Smarsh covers what growing up white and working class is like. Next, they discussed the intersection of public policy and private life,...

This week Rick Wilson (@TheRickWilson) joined Ana Marie Cox (@anamariecox) to talk about the government shutdown, and the newest implications of the Trump presidency. They covered how Trump’s decisions have affected everyone from Congress to the average American citizen. Afterwards, they talked about coping; teaching that taking care of yourself can be macro and take the form of activism, or micro...

Have you ever cancelled a celebrity? Do you believe you can separate the art from the artist? Do Twitter arguments and trending hashtags matter in the real world? This week Dianna Anderson (@diannaeanderson) joins Ana Marie Cox (@anamariecox) to answer all these questions and more. In her new book, Problematic: How Toxic Callout Culture is Destroying Feminism, Dianna Anderson ponders the strive to...

This week Ashley Nicole Black (@ashleyn1cole) joined Ana Marie Cox (@anamariecox) to talk about her own experiences as a writer and an academic and pass out some advice along the way. They began by talking about the changes in comedy in the age of widespread “wokeness.” They covered broader social issues, and eventually got on a more personal level: the pressure to become a mother and what it mean...

The typical American family holiday can be characterized by the three F’s: food, family, and football. This week Ana Marie Cox (@amc) and Mina Kimes (@minakimes) talked about the intersections of sports and politics, and why football isn’t the safest dinner table topic anymore. They began with the importance of football both personally and politically, and continued by talking what it’s like to be...