Episode 15: Kitchen Sink: One Year of the Pod, Mailbag, and Two Evil Dougs

It’s our one-year anniversary of ranting into microphones, and in this episode, we reflect on the pod and share what we’re dreaming of for year two. While we’re never aiming for performative anger, we’re also thinking about how letting the high emotions of this unique time in history play out has been cathartic and important. 

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Episode 14: Live at Podfort: Where is Modern Protest Music?

The question keeps showing up everywhere — on Substack, in comment sections, in podcasts: where is modern protest music? Recorded live at Podfort during Treefort Music Festival, Emily and Trevor are joined by Rob Lanterman — musician, music writer, and label owner — to answer it.

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Episode 13: Epistemic Crisis: Processing Minneapolis and Our Country’s Fraying

In this episode, we drop any pretense of emotional distance and sit with the rage, grief, and fear stirred up by the killings of Alex Pretti and Renee Good in Minneapolis and the broader wave of state violence and ICE abuses.

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Episode 12: The One Where They Talk Religion

In this episode, we finally dive deep into religion—the topic we've been promising since day one. We're thrilled to be joined by Reverend Benjamin Cremer, who brings serious theological credentials and two decades of pastoral experience. More importantly, Ben brings the kind of honest, historically-grounded perspective on American Christianity that cuts through the Christian nationalist white noise (pun intended).

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Episode 11: 2026 Bingo (Predictions)

In this episode, we kick off 2026 by throwing caution to the wind and making bold predictions across 13 topics—from politics and culture to tech, religion, and even rollerblading.

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Episode 10: My First Dictatorship

In this episode, we take on the grim (and increasingly undeniable) question of America’s slide toward authoritarianism, and why naming it plainly isn’t partisan. We talk about how the two-party duopoly keeps forcing every concern into a Coke v. Pepsi “they’re all the same” dead end, making it easier to normalize power grabs with “yeah, but the other side…” logic.

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Episode 9: Squids on Mars! Attention Farming and the New Politics of Conspiracy

In this episode, we dive into why conspiracy theories feel so irresistible and ubiquitous right now, and why they’re also so corrosive. We talk about motivated reasoning, media bias, and our crumbling trust in experts, from JFK and 9/11 truthers to lab-leak debates, QAnon, RFK Jr., and the evergreen “do your own research” refrain.

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