The greatest fire in American history, in terms of loss of life, occurred in the town of Peshtigo, Wisconsin in 1871. Most people haven’t heard of it, and even people who live in the region today aren’t aware of the disaster which happened in their own backyard.
150 years later, there is speculation that the cause of the fire might have come from a highly unusual source, and some data from other fires might help solve the mystery.
Dan Boeckner of Wolf Parade, Handsome Furs, and Operators stops by to discuss some of the darker parts of Canadian history, including Mountie Gladio, Nazi connections in Ottawa, and Vancouver Island’s noted concentration of Satanists.
Support Dan’s content over on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/operators
This week, we mull the Covid-era classroom (fears of contagion and falling behind), the meaning of Trump’s attack on TikTok, Nike-brand kneeling (and not kneeling) in the NBA bubble, and universalism and particularism in the Black Lives Matter uprising.
1:40 – Will Tammy find an Oriental market in Missoula? How does Andy plan to teach through his screen? What will be the impact of these lost semesters on poor and working-class students? Also, should we blame diversity administrators for the collapsing academy?
17:07 – Why is Trump raging against TikTok? Is it because of Sarah Cooper’s impersonations, the Tulsa BTS Army, or his larger vendetta against China? Are we being tricked into siding with a mega-corporation or military state? Further reading: on US fears of the app, Western and Eastern Internets, Microsoft and tech nationalism against China, and whether TikTok is basically just as bad as Facebook. Bonus: Jay reveals his strategy for making Twitter “unusable” through his war with music writers.
35:45 – We discuss Tammy’s recent article probing the tensions within the “POC” label. Are Asians excluded from new euphemisms for ethnic minorities (“Black and brown,” “BIPOC”)? Can we include non-Black perspectives without going “all lives matter”? Could a new political bloc emerge amongst immigrants, especially Latinx and Asian Americans (see recent exchange between Pankaj Mishra and Viet Thanh Nguyen)? Does foundation funding keep domestic and global politics separate? Are we helping the right wing capture the immigrant vote? Bonus: an update on the Portland Wall of Moms.
1:01:10 – Jay advances a Manufacturing Consent thesis: the media’s coverage of BLM has kept public discussion within the boundaries of safe and acceptable topics. This leads to a bro-out over the NBA’s cringey coverage, in which the richest companies in the world have turned “social justice” into a profitable brand. (Also, Jay and Andy are hypocritically watching lots of games.) More generally, should we be optimistic or skeptical about the evolution of progressive politics this summer?
1:17:50 – Our listener question of the week! We’ve heard from some of you that our podcast is one of your first experiences with politically-oriented Asian Americans, in part because you were too busy studying orgo in college (like this comrade). Is there a split between “STEM Asian Americans” and “humanities Asian Americans”?
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Isaias rumbles ashore in North Carolina, and threatens much of the East Coast with powerful winds and heavy rains. President Trump defends his coronavirus response. Newly-leaked videos show the George Floyd encounter -- from an officer's perspective. Correspondent Steve Kathan has the CBS World News Roundup for Tuesday, August 4, 2020.
The "streaming wars" are here, but they're not what you think—or rather, where you think. While competitors are duking it out in the US, Netflix wants to take over the world.
This podcast is a production of Recode by Vox and the Vox Media Podcast Network. This episode was produced by Zach Mack, Bridget Armstrong. Our editor is Charlie Herman. Gautam Srikishan engineered and scored this episode. Nishat Kurwa is the Executive Producer.
Amanda Holmes reads Vasko Popa’s poem, “The Quartz Pebble,” translated by Anne Pennington. Have a suggestion for a poem by a (dead) writer? Email us: podcast@theamericanscholar.org. If we select your entry, you’ll win a copy of a poetry collection edited by David Lehman.
This episode was produced by Stephanie Bastek and features the song “Canvasback” by Chad Crouch.
Will’s away, but we’re joined by fan-favorite Derek Davison and host of the Tides of History podcast Patrick Wyman to discuss shrimp supply chains, the ongoing effects of the Bolivian coup, Israel and America’s militaries & the decline of empires.
Derek and Patrick’s new writing substack: discontents.substack.com
Bath Iron Works Strike Fund: https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/LocalLodgeS6
In the interview, author, podcast host, and magazine editor Kurt Andersen joins Mike to talk about his new book,Evil Geniuses: The Unmaking of America: A Recent History. In it, Andersen explains how big business ran unchecked during the final decades of the 20th century allowing greed to ascend and the working person to feel powerless, all while unraveling the fabric of middle class normalcy.
