You Can't Win

We are joined by Mike from the YouTube channel Mike Reads the World to chat about his reading project and our year in reading. Mike's channel is at https://www.youtube.com/@mikereadstheworld His "favorite books" video we mention is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t6aH-YHa_y4 His "Magic Mountain" essay is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EyA6Oc6_pIU Mike's books mentioned: Sei Shonagon -...

Our friend Freddy joins us to talk about scams, politics and how they overlap.

Tom walks us through the book The Essence of Reality by 'Ayn al-Qudat, a 12th Century Sufi text about going beyond the intellect to embrace mystical experience.

We chat about our cookie headaches and X-Com and Lebanon and Hannah Arendt. Mentioned: Eichmann in Jerusalem by Hannah Arendt Origins of Totalitarianism by Hannah Arendt On Revolution by Hannah Arendt The X-Com 2 mod guy Tom mentions is christopherodd

Marlon Ettinger, a journalist living in France, joins Don to talk about French politics. Find Marlon on Twitter at @MarlonEttinger his new pod at @flep24pod and his book Zemmour & Gaullism.

Our friend Freddy joins from Vienna to talk about his Euro-Trip, Noam Chomsky, the war in Gaza, and the point of philosophy. The Third Reich at War by Richard J. Evans. Battle Cry of Freedom by James M. McPherson. Understanding Power by Noam Chomsky. Left anti-communism: The Unkindest Cut by Michael Parenti. My Struggle by Karl Ove Knausgaard. This Is a Robbery (Netflix documentary about 1990 Isab...

We chat about the failing Dream Port, the peace plan, paying off our debts, soul corn, some books and elections. Mentioned: Harland's Half Acre by David Malouf. My Struggle Book 1 by Karl Ove Knausgaard. Historical Capitalism by Immanuel Wallerstein. Language and Myth by Ernst Cassirer. Our Bloc by James Schneider.

Tom and Don chat about some books and shows, including Robert Musil, Orhan Pamuk's The White Castle, Karamustafa, J.M. Coetzee, Joan Robinson, Wolf Hall, Copenhagen Cowboy and The Last of Us.   Mentioned: The Confusions of Young Törless by Robert Musil The White Castle by Orhan Pamuk God's Unruly Friends by Ahmet T. Karamustafa The Childhood of Jesus by J.M. Coetzee Economic Philosophy by Joan Rob...

Tom tells the history of the Crusades, the Mongol invasions, and the rise of the Mamluks in part 3 of a series on Muslim history. The full series is available on Patreon.

An excerpt from a premium episode available through a Patreon subscription, in which Tom provides a history of the rise and fall of the original Islamic state, and a description of the Muslim world's social structure at the time, including the institution of slavery and transformations that came about as a result of the Islamic movement. (re-uploaded to fix some audio issues)

A quick and casual Q&A in which we field questions from the Discord about Russia/Ukraine, our military vehicles of choice, UFOs, the future of VR, and our astrological signs.

We chat about our reactions to Tom's series on the Franklin Scandal, from the plausibility of the crimes to the political implications. What sorts of evidence should we focus on? How do we account for average people's reactions to such crimes? We sum up our feelings on the case as we prepare for future episodes on related topics.

In the conclusion to our series on the Franklin Scandal, Tom tells the fate of the investigation and lead investigator Caradori, and the results of the grand jury trial. He then takes a look at the life of one of King's associates, Craig Spence, a CIA-connected blackmailer who paid visits to the White House. Source: The Franklin Scandal by Nick Bryant

A continuation of Tom's telling of the Franklin Scandal as part of our ongoing PTK (Programmed to Kill) series. In this episode, Tom describes the backlash the investigation suffers after producing videotaped statements of the victims.

We begin with a short chat about Don's burgeoning interest in bicycling before we dive into Tom's extended review of Olga Tokarczuk's The Books of Jacob.

In this episode, Tom introduces the Franklin Committee's replacement investigator Gary Caradori and the testimony of Alisha Owen. Source: The Franklin Scandal by Nick Bryant

In this episode, Tom continues covering the Franklin Scandal, focusing on the tensions between the investigatory committee and law enforcement.

Tom continues the tale of the Franklin Credit Union scandal, this time taking a look at the initial investigations into Larry King after reports begin to emerge about his alleged criminal activities. Source: The Franklin Scandal by Nick Bryant

A new episode in our PTK series where Tom sketches out some details of the Franklin Scandal, a case with many mysterious connections. Source: The Franklin Scandal by Nick Bryant.

We continue our PTK series by closely examining the Dutroux Affair, a notorious criminal case involving kidnapping, child abuse and sex trafficking that implicated the Belgian government and high society.

Our friend Matt from the Ghost Stories for the End of the World podcast joins us to discuss Belgium in this first part of a series on the Dutroux Affair and similar cases. We discuss the place of Belgium in great power struggles and the associated political culture that developed. Matt's Twitter account is @GhostStoriesEnd

Our friend Sean joins us to discuss the history and practices of Shinto and related Japanese beliefs. We work through some common misconceptions about Shinto and the difficulties of easy comparisons to Western ideas of religion. Also Sean wanted us to note that he misspoke and meant to say "Horii Mitsuoshi," not "Horii Mitsuo". Intro by auntie004. Outro by reiyashi.

After a State of the Pod update of where we're at and where we hope to go, we work through your questions. Intro by auntie004. Outro by reiyashi.

Four hour episode about the Eternals! All Eternals! All the time! Okay so in reality we chat about content for a bit and then settle some controversies for you. Intro by auntie004. Outro by reiyashi.

Tom, Don and AgileTablet give you the Dune opinions you asked for, mostly focused on the new movie but also about the saga as a whole and the future of humanity. Intro by auntie004. Outro by reiyashi.