Soundtrack of the Week

It's the Fourth of July Episode! What's more patriotic than liberal protests railing against the government and right-wing glorification of the military? This week, the gang talks about the nationwide No Kings protests and President Donald Trump's military parade. The discussion turns into a critique of the mainstream media and how they are dropping the ball in a big way. (0:00:00) - Intro (protes...

Ty is out this week, but the show must go on, so Jay and Meredith take the helm and bring in special guest Chad ( @cheatsy.bsky.social ‬). It's June, so the gang discusses Pride Month, including some of the many challenges faced by the LGBTQ+ community. This time, someone with direct knowledge and experience speaks about the main topic. (0:00:00) - Intro (Ty is dead, SOTW welcomes Chad, Meredith a...

It's Memorial Day Weekend! Like other summer holidays, people are hitting the roads and the skies to enjoy the three-day weekend away from home. Other people, like Meredith, are afraid to travel and staying home. This week, the gang discusses their traveling fears, including money, stressful itineraries, and dying. Air traffic controllers getting DOGEed isn't helping. (0:00:00) - Intro (news updat...

Third places are neutral public spaces outside the home (first place) and work (second place) where people can gather and interact, e.g. churches, coffee shops, bars, parks, malls, movie theaters, clubs, etc. Since at least the 1990s, third places have been disappearing, leaving people nowhere to go. This week, the gang explores why third spaces are going away, what the consequences are and what c...

Keeping good on his promise to purge the country of dangerous, illegal immigrants, President Donald Trump has executed a massive deportation campaign. However, Trump's immigration crusade may have gone too far, resulting in a constitutional crisis that has put potentially thousands of innocent people in the crosshairs, many of whom are U.S. citizens. This week, the gang breaks down the federal gov...

Democracy is on the line, so the left is doing the only thing they know to do: Protest! From the recent "Hands Off" movement to people demonstrating outside Tesla dealerships (and some setting Cybertrucks on fire), people are hitting the streets to express their disapproval of the current president. But are they affecting change? This week, the gang discusses the merits of protesting in the United...

Jay and Ty recently discovered they have a half brother that no one knew about for more than 30 years. How did they find out? Ty submitted a 23&Me. Ty sees nothing wrong with obtaining this information, Jay is vehemently against a corporation collecting DNA data and flipping families upside down, and Meredith tries to rein the two in. This week, the gang discusses the topic of data privacy, in...

The gang is taking a break this week. Instead of leaving you hanging, Ty reached deep into the archives and resurrected an episode of the first edition of SOTW. Listen to Episode 147, where Ty, Jay and Meredith talk about the state of the nation ... in 2013! Needless to say, a few things have changed since then. Strap in for this one. The gang recorded for more than three hours every week back in...

Heaven's Gate. The Branch Davidians. Children of God. The Republican party? Liberals and conservatives have been accusing each other of being in a cult since forever, but neither has exhibited all of the classic characteristics and traits ... until now. This week, the gang discusses the idea that Republicans are beginning to cross the line from party cohesiveness and loyalty to straight-up cult st...

Diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) policies are under attack by the federal government in an attempt to restore meritocracy in both the public and private sectors. There's only one problem: Meritocracy is a myth. This week, the gang discusses how the lack of a merit-based system renders policies like DEI necessary to ensure everyone is on a level playing field by circumventing our implicit bias...

In a special edition of the show, Ty, Jay and Meredith are joined by Geoff Gerling, a Missouri Democratic party officer and former SOTW co-host. Geoff returns to the show to discuss where Democrats went wrong heading into Election Day and how the party can bounce back. The gang gets deep into the weeds, including political messaging, who will lead the Democratic party and why the show "The West Wi...

UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was assassinated in broad daylight in the middle of New York City. Rather than decry a cold-blooded killing, Americans seemed to be indifferent at minimum, with many publicly praising the murderer, Luigi Mangione. Meanwhile, Daniel Penny, a man acquitted of killing an unarmed homeless man acting crazy on a New York City subway, was invited to watch the Army-Navy...

It's the first episode of 2025, which means it's time to set some goals! Inspired by the conservative think tank Heritage Foundation's Project 2025 manifesto that President-elect Donald Trump totally, unequivocally, in no way knows anything about, the gang has created their personal Project 2025 (sans an authoritarian overthrowing of the government to force far Christian-right ideals). It's like a...

It's the Christmas Episode! The gang closes out 2024 by giving each other symbolic gifts. Since no one is actually getting any of these gifts, there's no limit to what the gift can be. In typical SOTW fashion, things get weird and awkward quickly, with a Shyamalan twist at the end. Happy holidays! We'll see you next year! (0:00:00) - Intro (School district boundaries make no sense, return-to-work...

A porn star professor. Links to porn sites on kids' toy boxes. Someone got their own costume line at Spirit Halloween for spittin' on that thang. There were some sexy headlines this year. Is America getting out of its Puritan phase of sex and embracing its sexuality? This week, the gang talks about their relationship with sex and whether or not Americans' attitudes on the topic are becoming more l...

It's Thanksgiving week! While Americans stuff their faces with an offensive amount of food and trample over each other to get 20% off a 75-inch 4K ultra-high-def TV, it is also a time to reflect on what we are thankful for. That is exactly what the gang does this week. Ty, Jay and Meredith take a break from their default mode of resigned cynicism (well, kind of) and dig deep to find things in thei...

What was supposed to be a tight race ended up being a total massacre of the Democratic party, with Donald Trump winning a second term as president and Republicans taking control of the House and the Senate. Voters dismissed Democrats' claims of fascism, including the party's own base. This week, the gang discusses how we got here and what to do next. (0:00:00) - Intro (Nosferatu vs. Batman, Ron Re...

It's the Halloween episode! Fear is always a hot topic this time of year, so Ty, Meredith and Jay will tackle it head-on. This year, the gang will bring in the spooky season by talking about what they are afraid of now that they are all middle-aged. Conversely, they will also discuss what they feared in their early adult years but no longer bothers them today. Fear is always in us, but changes ove...

Barring any major trauma, most people have fond memories of their childhood up to early adulthood. We look back at those years through rose-colored glasses, often ignoring the negative aspects of the past. Nostalgia can be a healthy way to cope with the present, but at what point does it cross the line into escapism, denialism or history revisionism? Ty, Meredith and Jay reminisce about being youn...

America's pastime, baseball, is being replaced with a new favorite pastime: betting on baseball. Less than 10 years ago, you had to go to Las Vegas to bet on sports. Today, three-quarters of states allow online sports betting, turning the industry into a multibillion-dollar behemoth. But what are the real costs of legalized gambling at your fingertips? This week, the gang discusses gambling and wh...

DISCLAIMER: The opinions expressed in this episode do not necessarily reflect the future beliefs of the people saying them, and therefore cannot be used against them after recording. With that out of the way, this episode dives into accountability in the 21st century. Everyone is airing their thoughts, opinions and beliefs on social media, podcasts and comment sections, putting their lives in the...

The amount of hate on social media has ramped up over the years, especially during an election year, but has the amount of contempt and disdain for one another bled over into the physical world? Jay seems to think so. This week, the gang talks about whether or not cities across the United States are turning into New York City in Ghostbusters 2, with everyone feeding on each other's hate and genera...

Artificial intelligence is evolving faster than any technology in human history, leaving governments and the general public scrambling to figure out how to deal with it. Although current AI-generated images can't even get hands right, the technology will soon be able to create photos, text, video and audio that not even the trained eye will be able to detect as fake. What are the consequences of A...

The summer Olympics are underway! Every four years, the world comes together in unity for more than two weeks as countries show off their elite athletes who compete in more than 300 events in more than 30 sports. How does one become an Olympian? Child exploitation. This week, the gang explores the idea that becoming a professional athlete in the 21st century requires sacrificing your childhood, a...

Former President Donald Trump was centimeters away from death after a failed assassination attempt during his campaign rally in Butler, Pa. In the immediate aftermath, there were calls for unity and to turn the down the temperature in the political environment ... that never happened. Meanwhile, President Joe Biden appears to have little chance in winning the election and refuses to end his bid fo...