Much like the girlboss, no matter how many times the culture tries to eulogize DEI we find it once again, walking around, making a nuisance of itself. Recent pieces in the NYTimes, Wired, and Compact try to reckon with the legacy of DEI, and then there is of course the walking mascot of DEI culture, Bari Weiss, making a mess of CBS News.

Jessa and Nico talk about the enormous lengths all these people will go to avoid talking about class, why identity politics was a good idea (for a while), and why the most obvious DEI hires were Ross Douthat and Bari Weiss.

Shownotes and references:

http://theculturewedeserve.substack.com

Nico was in Colombia when the United States abducted Venezuelan president Maduro, and he has some thoughts on what people in the United States commonly get wrong about South American politics. But also: predictions for 2026: the USA will do some feminist regime change in Iran, just like in Afghanistan! Serbia will be liberated from the heavy yoke of Trump Family influence! Mr. Beast will be charged with crimes against humanity! And more in politics, culture, and art.

Let us know your own predictions and see shownotes here:

http://theculturewedeserve.substack.com

2025 may be over, but its cultural production lives on in our hearts. Nico and Jessa debate the best and worst movies, TV shows, books, and museum exhibits of the year, talk shit about your faves, and hope for better art in the future.

Shownotes and references:

http://theculturewedeserve.substack.com

A very special Christmas treat for our listeners. Joseph and Jessa discuss George Eliot's Felix Holt: The Radical, which asks the very important question: is the socialist's primary task to yell at people and tell them they are wrong about everything? Set in the 1830s after political reform has granted voting rights to new -- but still very limited -- populations, a small English market town deals with the tumult that follows. A powerfully rich heir returns to stand for public office as "a radical," a young man decides to devote himself to the bettering of the working classes by telling them they are all ignorant drunks, and a young woman must decide which one of these weirdos to marry.

But there is also a strange paternity case and a power struggle over an estate, a satirical storyline about the foolishness of patriarchal lineage, and a few good jokes about atheists.

Join the discussion:

http://theculturewedeserve.substack.com

For the last five years, museums around the world have been struggling to answer the question of, who owns cultural heritage? Certain objects, from the Elgin Marbles to the Benin Bronzes, have been fought over as multiple entities, institutions, and nations claim true ownership. Now that the Benin Bronzes have started to return to Nigeria, only to be shoved in storage unseen by anyone except the one man who claims they belong only to him, Jessa and Nico discuss whether anything has been learned from the Decolonize movement.

Shownotes and references:

http://theculturewedeserve.substack.com

Jessa and Nico return from their visit to Ireland. All along the way, the subject of whether or not Ireland should be united kept coming up. But beyond the slogans and the bad ideas, there are very real issues at work, tedious and boring but also tremendously consequential. Nico reflects on the influence the Northern Ireland peace agreement had on Colombian politics, Jessa discusses how social media creates a false sense of consensus, and they both worry about our decreased ability to manage complexity in political issues.

Shownotes and references:

http://theculturewedeserve.substack.com

Our pop culture has become insipid. What is the difference between Tom Cruise and Glen Powell? Tom Cruise has darkness within him. Watching him is thrilling because you can see him struggling to contain it. Glen Powell looks at every moment like he's about to turn to the camera, wink, and try to sell you a protein powder so you can get as ripped as him. Jessa and Nico discuss the problems of Running Man (which are problems about a lack of real darkness), why Edgar Wright can never be Paul Verhoeven, and why our dark times deserve dark artists.

Shownotes and references:

http://theculturewedeserve.substack.com

A young man goes home to announce his exciting new political and philosophical ideas to his family, only for the family dinner to devolve into shouting, arguing, and eventually a duel? It's a very special Thanksgiving episode of Revolution and Ruin! Turgenev portrays a pre-revolutionary Russia, as nihilism and other ideas begin to circulate among the youth, causing friction and exasperation among their elders. Bazarov and Arkady try to test out their new ideological position, and learn whether or not one can be a young nihilist in love.

Shownotes and discussion:

http://theculturewedeserve.substack.com