You Can't Win

Our old friend Goatstein returns to riff on recent events such as the reaction to the Derek Chauvin verdict, the sickos who populate military forums, the cruelty of Trump, being appropriately cynical about politics, and more. Intro by auntie004. Outro by reiyashi.

Our friend White Sox Lex returns to talk the new baseball season, starting with pandemic craziness and conservative outrage. Then we get into doping scandals and superhuman baseball mutants and a roundup of Awful Pundits. You can check out Lex's Awful Pundits tournament at https://www.patreon.com/awfulpundits or on Twitter at @AwfulPundits Intro music by auntie004. Outro by reiyashi.

Our friend Harvey returns to talk about ending up in the hospital, leaving his job and beginning a new life as a lockdown NEET. We talk about getting healthier, confession and our experiences with Lent and Ramadan. Intro by auntie004. Outro by reiyashi.

Tom and Don catch up about the holidays. Then we get into our changing relationship with posting, as silly as it is, and what we're looking forward to in the near future. Intro music by auntie004. Outro by reiyashi.

Laid back episode where we discuss Tom's apartment-hunting plans. We get into the negatives of cheap places we've lived and how wild prices can get these days. Then we dip into some Discord questions. Intro music by auntie004. Outro by reiyashi.

Our friend Freddy, a student in the philosophy of religion, opens the episode with the description of a man's long suffering in a Moroccan prison and the ways he managed to keep his sanity. This leads to a wide-ranging discussion about enduring pain, dreams and visions, the place of Jesus in the Islam and the purpose of religion. Mentioned: Understanding the Qur'anic Miracle Stories in the Modern...

Chapo's Felix Biederman joins Tom and Don to chat about making jokes that get us into trouble, growing out of that (or not) and how humor relates to faith.  Intro music by auntie004. Outro music by reiyashi. Also check out Felix's new project Time for My Stories on Stitcher.

Unfortunately Don has been sick this weekend so we are releasing a popular recent bonus episode for the public feed. --- We talk about the historic steppe peoples of Central Asia, such as the Mongol Empire, and how they relate to the diversity of human experience. Tom talks about some of his reading in the area and Don chimes in a bit with his limited personal experience in China's far-west along...

Is genocide denial good or bad? No one can know for sure. In this episode we discuss polarization around the news that pushes people into wacky positions. Is the speed of takes driving people into strange positions? How is this different from ten or more years ago? Why do you see similar pressures across many types of political outlooks? Intro music by auntie004. Outro by reiyashi.

As the Thousand Year Quarantine rolls on we've had some problems getting a good sleep. It's something that's rarely discussed but affects us a lot. Starting off with a chat about insomnia and bad health we jump into discussion about the history of dreams and religion. Mentioned: Dreams That Matter: Egyptian Landscapes of the Imagination by Amira Mittermaier. Intro music by auntie004. Outro by reiy...

Big Dave returns for a full show of advice for listeners based on questions you sent in for him. We talk about planning for the future, life in the pandemic and things that keep us going. Intro music by auntie004. Outro by reiyashi.

In this episode we talk about how we both walked backwards into piecing together an income rather than working a normal 9-to-5, and the broader phenomenon of gig work. While there are a lot of downsides to not having stable employment, sometimes side hustles and tiny businesses can offer an alternative for people who feel they don't otherwise fit into the economy. Intro music by auntie004. Outro b...

In our official 100th public feed episode we answer some questions from the kind friends and lunatics who send them in. Ranging from the morality of Islamic dress to a variety of askers with violent impulses, we try to rule definitively on your inquiries. Intro music by auntie004. Outro by reiyashi.

Tom and Don use the "Great Reset" conspiracy theory slash real thing to talk about an economy where we don't really own anything and are tied down to debt, subscriptions and high rents. When big tech and progressive bureaucrats get together and plan our futures we might not be left with much space for self-determination. Intro music by auntie004. Outro by reiyashi.

Apologies to subscribers as technical problems destroyed a fun episode with AgileTablet we had recorded. Tom spent hours trying to fix it to no avail. We're flying into a wild rage about how annoying this is, trust us. We decided to release a Premium episode from the Patreon for the public feed. We expect the Thursday Premium episode will proceed normally. It's a fun one, though! John V and Leo jo...

Beloved guest 'Ed Buck' returns to dump on astrology as a microcosm of contemporary insanity. Professional astrologer Don and mystic wanderer Tom try to pinpoint whether irrationality is really the problem or if there is more to the story. Mentioned: Nausea by Jean-Paul Sartre, The Stars Down to Earth by Theodor Adorno, The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen, Dialectic of Enlightenment by Max Horkhei...

Our choombata Jerel returns to talk about Cyberpunk and computer hardware in this purestrain nerd episode to inaugurate the New Year. We talk about contrasting attitudes towards juegos, from Don's casual enjoyment of cyberpunk lore to Tom's love for optimization and new technology and Jerel somewhere in between.  Intro music by auntie004. Outro by reiyashi.

Our friend Mike returns to help us wade through some of the more controversial claims made about the new vaccines and try to come to grips about what the next few years will look like. While Don wishes he could get a shot and be done with it, Mike's take suggests we are getting closer to Tom's Thousand Year Quarantine. Mentioned: Medical Nihilism by Jacob Stegenga, Formations of the Secular by Tal...

Tom, Don and AgileTablet gather together to celebrate the true meaning of Christmas. Can Muslims even celebrate Christmas? Don also reports back from a viewing of Mel's The Passion of the Christ and other traditions. Plus general holiday goofing off and the Q&A. Intro music by auntie004. Outro by reiyashi.

Beloved third mic AgileTablet returns to chat about plans for the next year. As the Thousand Year Quarantine rolls on, we think of what we have accomplished and what we expect of the future. Marriage, work, health... all that good stuff. Intro by auntie004. Outro by reiyashi.

Do Muslims worship the moon? And other great anonymous questions from our audience. Topics include the C.I.Gay, AOC on Twitch, getting salafi-pilled, Chechens, Ireland and so much more. Mentioned: Treatise For The Seekers: Risalah al-Mustarshideen by Imam al-Harith al-Muhasibi and translated by Zaid Shakir, The Book of Assistance by Imam al-Haddad and translated by Dr. Mostafa al-Badawi, The Path...

The ex.haust podcast boys John and Emmet join us to discuss their take on Christopher Lasch and some of his criticisms of the American activist left. We work through some of the alienating aspects of modern left culture while trying to negotiate with constructive alternatives. Mentioned: Revolt of the Elites by Christopher Lasch, The Culture of Narcissism by Christopher Lasch, The True and Only He...

The concept of personal responsibility is often championed by right-wingers and dismissed by the left, but the reality is more complicated. We discuss some of the problems of taking initiative to better our own situations and the difficulty of doing so while accepting that a lot is beyond our own control. Mentioned: 'Jocko Motivation "GOOD" (From Jocko Podcast)' on Youtube, 'Bob Newhart-OCD' on Yo...

Our friends Jerel and Ahk return to discuss Islam and the Black Community in America - Jerel from the perspective of revert to Islam in Texas and Akh as a first-generation immigrant. We talk frictions of living as a Muslim in America and also the opportunities it presents for the future, as well as address common topics like Malcolm X and the Nation of Islam. Mentioned: Siraj Wahhaj, Sherman Jacks...

As Washington prepares to refill the swamp, our friend Alex joins us to talk about the election and our expectations for the future. Then we get into a conversation about climate change and the future of environmentalism. Mentioned: Cyclonopedia by Reza Negarestani, Limits: Why Malthus Was Wrong and Why Environmentalists Should Care by Giorgos Kallis. Intro by auntie004. Outro by reiyashi.