This week, we’re joined by Dr. Henrik S. Wilberg, recently of the NYT, author of the Substack Why We Remain in the Provinces, polyglot, surplus obsessive, and dad. We get his geographic CV and his summer travels, then go deep on the death of cool, the European/American style divide, and why vintage might be exhausted.

Along the way: how American clothing first landed in Europe, countries rediscovering their own vintage, Ralph usurping the WASP ideal and selling American cool back to itself, the soft power of cool in the post-GWOT era, designers destroyed by capitalism, and the fantasy that we’re all still living in the same world. Henrik also previews his idea of “filial style,” which he describes as “piety rather than self-expression,” and explains why we remain in the provinces.

Also: Barbra Streisand, fax machines, Brokeback Mountain, and a lot of things we forgot.

Dead stars. Nothing is the same. Listen now, link in bio.

A sporting episode? What has become of your loyal co-hosts? Well, Matty is, as always, conversant, while Conor can at least talk about Baltimore. And so we do. We talk Baltimore, in a big way: The Baltimore Colts, their leaving town under the cover of darkness, Cal Ripken Jr, uniforms, jerseys, chain stitching, Under Armour (barf), skateboarding in the 90s, “functional art,” “No Ball Playing,” Clothing as cosplay, Nerds vs. Dorks, BALTIMORE DOESNT LIKE YOU EITHER, being ripped off, pigs, regional accents, Baltimore Pride, and a bushel more! As ever, you know where the link is.

We did not trick these titans into coming on! They volunteered for another round in the um luke warm seat. Ladies and Gents, theys and thems, we welcome back to the show the sharp as a tack editorial cartoonist, Kevin Kallaugher, of The Economist, and recently ousted from The Baltimore Sun and attorney, Barry Lynn, formerly Director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, and author of Piety & Politics: The Right-Wing Assault on Religious Freedom and (titled by me) Paid to Piss People Off: Peace, Porn, and Prayer.

And, boy, do we get into it: Kal's 50th anniversary at The Economist, scandals, discovering Barry has a book of Kal's, how to engage with the checked out, mid-terms, the military, Sigh...The Democrats, Freedom of Expression Under Siege, fighting government overreach, the lame stream media, organizing on substack, Jerry Fucking Falwell, satire, humor, cartoonists and comedians and their similarities, Lewis Black, money, defining charisma, USA Bicentennial, BIG RIP to "Flimsy Lindsay" Graham, Mamdani, a box of flaming excrement, and, actually, maybe a few more boxes of burning shit.