Matt and Sam do their duty and explain what happened at the Republican National Convention—and what it revealed about Trump's grip on the GOP and his prospects for re-election. Forgive us our punditry, for we know not what we do.
Cited:
Eric Levitz, "The RNC Makes a Strong Case for America's Imminent Collapse" (
Matt and Sam breakdown the rightwing assaults on the United States Postal Service—and find it to be an emblematic crisis of Trump's presidency. What does it say not just about Trump but the forces that gave rise to him? In answering these questions and more, they circle back to their recent conversation with Samuel Moyn and discuss Never Trumpers, #TheResistance, and the upcoming election.
Recommended Reading:
Alex Shephard, "2020-08-29 00:19:01 +0000 UTC View Post
The Depressive Left strikes again: in an episode that's more fun than it sounds, Matt and Sam discuss the relationship between depression and politics, the concept of moral desert in liberal and conservative politics, and the struggle to build a society from the standpoint of human frailty, interdependence, and vulnerability. Enjoy!
Further Reading:
Matthew Sitman, "Muddling Th...
2020-07-25 14:03:54 +0000 UTC View Post
Matt and Sam do a deep-dive on the 2015 documentary, Best of Enemies, about Gore Vidal and William F. Buckley's debates on ABC Television during the 1968 Republican and Democratic conventions. Along the way they explore the connections between the personal and the political, and the complicated sexual personae of both Vidal and Buckley.
Suggestion Reading:
In this bonus episode, Matt and Sam think about thinking, with help from George Scialabba, CLR James, Irving Howe, and Lionel Trilling. How do intellectuals virtues like skepticism and doubt figure into moments of passion and protest? What does the moral obligation to be intelligent mean now? Along the way, Matt and Sam discuss the distorting effects of social media, centrist trolls, and the dangers of being too certain of one's uncertainty.
Further Reading:
Micha...
2020-06-16 18:19:49 +0000 UTC View Post
Our old friend Rusty Reno got extremely upset (while extremely online) about the cowardly, godless injunction to wear a mask in public. Then he rage quit twitter.
Thankfully, Matt, a true Reno-whisperer, is here to explain what the hell is going on. We discuss his latest article for The New Republic about the evolving right-wing response to the pandemic. How and why has the right turned a public health crisis into a culture war? We try to answer.
Plus: we divulge the resu...
2020-05-27 22:24:10 +0000 UTC View Post
For you, our loyal subscribers, some additional material from our mailbag episode, including the long awaited official Know Your Enemy position on Bob Dylan.
Enjoy!
2020-05-05 01:36:06 +0000 UTC View Post
Dissent hosted us for a discussion of the special section we edited for their Spring Issue (which you can read here if you're a Dissent subscriber!). The conversation is freewheeling, but settles on an extended discussion of conservative responses to the COVID-19 pandemic -- and whether the left can seize this moment. Enjoy!
Further Reading
Sitman, Stokes, Adler-Be...
2020-04-22 16:56:54 +0000 UTC View Post
We're joined by writer and editor Shuja Haider to discuss a topic near and dear to all of your hearts: country music. We talk country's conservative reputation, the problem with Ken Burns, and the humane politics that arise from acknowledging — as the best country songs do — our collective frailty. Plus, a bunch of great music recommendations for your quarantine listening.
A playlist featuring every song we mention in the episode, plus a few more bangers can be acce...
2020-04-02 15:28:26 +0000 UTC View Post
We welcome Know Your Enemy Film Correspondent Jesse Brenneman on the show to discuss a true marvel of the medium, Darrel Campbell's 2012 war-on-Christmas fever dream LAST OUNCE OF COURAGE. (If you really love freedom, you can watch the film here, before you listen. But it is not at all necessary.)
Jesse is a seasoned radio producer, dear friend, and very funny dude. He has his own ...
2020-03-27 15:42:46 +0000 UTC View PostMore degenerate punditry from the KYE 2020 Election Desk. We respond to last night's debate in South Carolina, and ask: Did Bernie win? Will Bloomberg survive another evisceration by Liz Warren? What cocktail of drugs is being injected into Joe Biden's ass to keep him standing? Who hates Mayor Pete more passionately — Sam or Matt?
Find out the answers to these questions and more by tuning in!
2020-02-26 18:36:52 +0000 UTC View Post
We stayed up to respond to the results of the New Hampshire primary (Bernie won) and tried to shed some light on what this all means. Enjoy!
Cited:
Matthew Yglesias, "Bernie Sanders can unify Democrats and beat Trump in 2020," Vox, Jan 7, 2020
Owen Jones, "2020-02-12 09:52:55 +0000 UTC View Post
Matt and Sam break out the good stuff for a late-night, in-depth discussion of Christopher Hitchens, the hot-take economy, and how to be a person. (There's a few minutes of Democratic Primary shoptalk in the beginning; you've been warned.) We apologize for any discernible decline in the quality of Sam's insights or enunciation toward the end of the episode (see: the good stuff).
Readings:
George Packer, "2020-01-30 18:34:03 +0000 UTC View Post
We reflect on our first year-ish of Know Your Enemy! Including: A report from the front of Matt's ongoing posting war with the illiberal right. Our thoughts on Ross Douthat's Bernie-sympathetic NYT columns. Finally, we get worked up over the latest Buzzfeed Sanders profile — and the media class's unforgivable treatment of the most humane presidential campaign in memory.
We go full Bernard Brother in this one. (Sorry, not sorry.)
Cited:...
2019-12-25 18:16:12 +0000 UTC View Post
What forces are shaping right-wing electoral politics in Europe? How have far-right parties evolved in response to Brexit? Can the European Union be a force for good?
All these questions and more in this bonus episode, an in-depth conversation with political economist David Adler. Not to be missed!
Further Reading:
Sam interviews journalist Hannah Gais about (1) the far right's ongoing efforts to infiltrate conservative media and (2) the self-victimizing grift of Quillette anti-anti-fascist Andy Ngo.
FUN!! STUFF!!
Discussed:
For the first few episodes of Know Your Enemy, we enjoyed threading thematically appropriate songs into the episodes. Then a friend (wisely) advised us against using copyrighted music on the show. So we stopped. Instead we've used music created by our friends -- especially Will Epstein, the Downtown Boys, and 2019-10-01 09:27:09 +0000 UTC View Post
Or really two weeks ago in right-wing meltdowns.... (Sam is entirely to blame for the tardiness of this episode, but it's a good one!) We discuss: Epstein (a little), the New York Times's bed bug problem, and the conservative freakout over the "1619 Project." Then we devolve into truly degenerate Democratic primary punditry. ENJOY.
"Punditry? More like FUN-ditry!"
2019-09-15 22:18:54 +0000 UTC View Post
Matt and Sam recap some juicy happenings from ONLINE (aka "dispatches from the posting wars") and then philosophize about friendship and mercy.
Just a freewheeling conversation from your hosts. Is this fun? Is this just terribly indulgent and uninteresting? Let us know!
A few sources cited:
Let there be premium content. We offer you even more analysis of the not-in-the-least-bit-fascist National Conservatism Conference! We discuss speeches by:
- Rusty Reno, the editor of First Things
- Patrick Deneen (a post-liberal critic and Matt's former professor)
- And friend of the pod Tucker Carlson
GET IT WHILE IT'S HOT.
2019-08-01 16:43:26 +0000 UTC View Post