The H&H Podcast

Rob Henderson joins the podcast to talk about Season 2 of The White Lotus, Episodes 5 and 6. We originally said we would do Episodes 5-7 all together to close out the season, but decided there was enough here to have an additional conversation, and I’m glad we did. In the course of the discussion, I identify the ideology of the show as “Bisexual Classical Liberalism.” I got this from remembering h...

Rob Henderson joins me on the podcast to discuss The White Lotus, Season 2: episodes 1-4. I explain why I think the show is too similar to the first season. Rob goes into its portrayal of the neurotic liberal white lady, and whether she is vindicated or not regarding her suspicion that seemingly happy people are actually miserable. I make the case for a kind of right-wing maximalist interpretation...

Chris Nicholson is back on to talk about the war in Ukraine, this time with a specific focus on how the conflict might end. See here for the transcript and the video where Chris takes us through a map of Eastern Ukraine. We start by discussing the Ukrainian capture of Kherson, and Chris puts forth the theory that Russia pulled back from the city in order to focus on the capture of the entirety of...

In our final episode on the miniseries Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story, Rob and I discuss episodes 8-10 ( video here ). We go into the show taking a relatively strong stance in favor of genetic explanations of human behavior, the saintliness of the black neighbor, serial killer groupies and the nature of women, and what’s real and what’s fake regarding how the show portrays the Milwaukee police....

This is part two of my conversation with Rob Henderson on the miniseries Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story, covering episodes 4-7. For the video, click here. Episode 6, as critics have noted, is the most emotionally charged of the show. I argue that the ending revealed a lack of courage on the part of the producers. Episode 7 is when the series goes full woke, bringing in Jesse Jackson to heroical...

I talk to Rob Henderson about Episodes 1-3 of the new Netflix miniseries Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story ( video here ). I begin and end the conversation by talking about why watching the series and bringing attention to it makes me uncomfortable. What does it do to the families of the victims to make an artistic depiction of Dahmer’s life? Why should more attention be given to the story of a mu...

Chris Nicholson joins me again to talk about the war in Ukraine. Looking at a map of the situation (video of our conversation here ), we discuss what is happening around Kharkiv, Kherson, and the Donbas. The Russians are in the process of evacuating Kherson, and the question appears to be what the withdrawal will look like rather than if it will happen. Away from the front, Iranian drones are appa...

Chris Nicholson joins me to discuss the military and political situation surrounding Taiwan. We talk about the two ways China can try to take control of the island: a direct invasion or blockade. Chris believes that a direct invasion would be too costly. However, China does seem to have the potential to cut Taiwan off from the rest of the world with its navy. Furthermore, its collection of interme...

War is complicated. At the beginning of the Ukraine conflict, I listened to a lot of people who I thought made very plausible arguments that Russia had an overwhelming advantage and would ultimately prevail. At this point, it seems to me that one has to be pretty disconnected from reality to still be bullish on Russia. But I’ve been wrong before, so who knows? No longer confident in my own ability...

Marc Andreessen and Chis Nicholson join me to discuss the final episode of Better Call Saul and reflect on the Breaking Bad universe. In the course of our conversation, it becomes apparent that I had a unique and much darker take on the final episode than apparently anyone else who watched it. Marc and Chris wear me down a little bit, but I still want to believe in my theory. Looks like they were...

Rob Henderson joins me to discuss the Apple TV+ miniseries Black Bird, which is based on the true story of a convicted drug dealer named Jimmy Keene and how he was enlisted by the FBI to befriend and elicit a confession from alleged serial killer Larry Hall. We talk about its portrayal of prison politics, or lack thereof, and how believable we find the characters and how they interact with one ano...

I talk to Chris Nicholson about the second-to-last episode of Better Call Saul. Much of our conversation centers around the way the show portrays “normies.” Chris thinks that the vision presented is most likely a negative one, while I argue that the show has a rare conservative realism that recognizes actual distinctions between individuals and groups. This involves a discussion regarding how crim...

I talk to Chris Nicholson about Better Call Saul: S6E11, Breaking Bad. We discuss the role of nostalgia in art, and I bring up a recent Freddie deBoer essay on the topic. While in the past we disagreed on where Saul was going, this week we find ourselves mostly in agreement on this question but differing in our judgments of the artistic merits of what the producers are doing. Unfortunately, there...

I discuss Better Call Saul: S6E10, Nippy, with Chris Nicholson. We remain almost as puzzled as we were last week about where the series is going, and lay out three possible paths for the final three episodes: tying up loose ends, a brand new story arch, or artsy experimentation. For previous conversations on Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul, see The Breaking Bad Universe Better Call Saul: S6E7, P...

I talk to Marc Andreessen about the Breaking Bad universe. Marc explains why he thinks Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul have Nietzschean themes – or they at least give us the Nietzschean story we’re allowed to have – while I tend more towards the idea that these are Christian morality tales. Other topics discussed include what makes individuals likable or not, why we would watch a Gus Fring origi...

Chris Nicholson joins me to discuss the latest episode of Better Call Saul, Fun and Games. Where do the last four episodes go, given the limited number of loose ends that remain? We discuss the ways in which the Breaking Bad universe does a good job of showing “men being really into stuff,” and how we got the homosexual version of that here. Chris and I are on the same page in being confounded reg...

I talked to Rob Henderson about Season 1 of Yellowjackets, episodes 7-10. See our discussion about previous episodes here. We begin by talking about Rob catching covid, the brain fog he is experiencing, and how our Twitter followers feel about our vaccination status. We then move on to the show itself, and our conversation touches on how it navigates the line between natural and supernatural, char...

Chris Nicholson joins me to talk about Better Call Saul, Season 6: Episode 8, which is called Point and Shoot. We speculate on where the series will go in the last five episodes and discuss whether we would like to see yet another spinoff. Listen or watch the video here. As always, please leave any comments you have on the Substack page, not YouTube. This is a public episode. If you'd like to disc...

I spoke to Rob Henderson about Yellowjackets, Season 1, Episodes 1-6. We’ll release a discussion of Episodes 7-10 in the coming weeks (UPDATE: see here ). Usually we do an entire season of a show at once, but this time we thought it would be better to split things up. Those of you who haven’t watched the show but want to follow along can therefore go back, watch the first 6 episodes, listen to thi...

Richard Hanania and Rob Henderson discuss The Northman (2022). They both greatly enjoyed the film and debate the correct interpretation of its main conflict. Richard talks about how the movie can be seen as a feminist allegory. Near the end of the conversation, Richard and Rob speculate on what the movie’s lack of box office success can tell us about why remakes of popular franchises have conquere...

Richard Hanania and Chris Nicholson discuss Better Call Saul, Season 6: Episode 7. They talk about the underlying philosophy of the show, that of its main protagonists, and its outlook on human nature. Near the end, Richard and Chris speculate on how the show will end. For their previous discussion about the Breaking Bad universe, see here. For the video of this discussion, and where you can leave...

Chris Nicholson joins Richard Hanania for a new weekly series discussing Better Call Saul. In their first episode, they talk about big ideas in the Breaking Bad universe. Richard argues that one of the main messages of the shows is that there is a weak correlation between likability and morality in individuals, something it is very easy to fool ourselves about. Can people’s personalities and moral...

I recently spoke with Rob Henderson about the HBO show Succession. We both have found the series a smart and compelling take on our contemporary politics. Some themes we touch on: differences between conservative and liberal elites; the unusual lack of diversity for a series in our “Current Year” atmosphere; how we define “pervert” and whether one of the Roy children qualifies; the portrayal of bo...

Rob Henderson and Richard Hanania discuss the film Patton (1970). They talk about what it's like in 2021 trying to understand a movie released in 1970 portraying the America of the Second World War. Rob and Richard analyze the military's role in society; what the movie tells us about American culture during WWII and in the generation after; and divisions between elites and the masses in the US acr...

Richard Hanania and Rob Henderson review Parasite (2019). Discussion includes class differences between the US and South Korea, masculinity and class, and whether the movie had a right wing or left wing message. Watch the YouTube video here . Spoilers for the movie throughout, and spoilers for The Sopranos at about 22:30-23:30 (22:00-23:00 in the video). This is a public episode. If you'd like to...