The Allusionist - 212. Four Letter Words: Park

Get in, winner: we're going on a field trip. We're spending the day in five of Vancouver's city parks with Justin McElroy, Municipal Affairs Reporter for the CBC and ranker of Vancouver's 243 parks at VancouverParkGuide.ca. Together we ponder: what IS a park? You think you know, then along comes a slab of concrete called a park to test your taxonomy.

Visit theallusionist.org/park for photos of the parks and more information about them, plus a transcript of the episode.

Events are happening! Get info at theallusionist.org/events about the meetup on 13 August in one of Vancouver's beach parks, the listening party for the live Radio 4 broadcast of our piece Souvenirs, and for Four Letter Word season, a watchalong of the films Dick and Dicks: The Musical. Want to join that? Support the show at theallusionist.org/donate and as well as keeping this independent podcast going, you also get behind-the-scenes glimpses about every episode, livestreams with me and my collection of dictionaries, and the charming and supportive Allusioverse Discord community, where we're watching the current seasons of Great British Sewing Bee and Bake Off: The Professionals.

This episode was produced by me, Helen Zaltzman, on the unceded ancestral and traditional territory of xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations. The music is by Martin Austwick. Download his songs at palebirdmusic.com and listen to his podcasts Song By Song and Neutrino Watch.

Find the Allusionist at youtube.com/allusionistshow, instagram.com/allusionistshow, facebook.com/allusionistshow, @allusionistshow.bsky.social… If I’m there, I’m there as @allusionistshow. 

Our ad partner is Multitude. If you want me to talk compellingly about your product, sponsor an episode: contact Multitude at multitude.productions/ads. This episode is sponsored by:

• Understance, a growing Vancouver BC company making thoughtfully designed, pretty and comfy bras, undies and sleepwear. They’re having a sale on June 26-July 1 so get over there and stock up at understance.com or at their stores in Vancouver, Burnaby, Calgary and Toronto.

• Squarespace, your one-stop shop for building and running your online forever home. Go to squarespace.com/allusionist for a free 2-week trial, and get 10 percent off your first purchase of a website or domain with the code allusionist.

• Quince, luxurious clothing and homewares at prices 50-80% lower than comparable brands. Go to Quince.com/allusionist for free shipping on your order and 365-day returns.


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Chapo Trap House - 949 – Big Beautiful Swill feat. Tim Faust (7/7/25)

Tim Faust returns to the show to look at the One Big Beautiful Bill Act and its dire consequences for American medicine. We discuss Medicaid as a load-bearing feature of our healthcare infrastructure, how this bill will affect millions of Americans using the program, and the potential ways forward in the wake of its evisceration. We also look at last week’s absolute omnishambles article on Zohran’s college admission, a perfect encapsulation of the Failing New York Times approach to just about everything. Pre-Order YEAR ZERO: A Chapo Trap House Comic Anthology at https://badegg.co/products/year-zero-1

Audio Mises Wire - The Mythology of Methodological Collectivism

A central belief of collectivists is that people think collectively, too. Whether one is a member of a class, religious group, or ethnic group, collectivism holds that each group has distinct interests that determine how individuals in the group think. Mises would have disagreed.

Original article: https://mises.org/mises-wire/mythology-methodological-collectivism

Read Me a Poem - “Daddy” by Sylvia Plath

Amanda Holmes reads Sylvia Plath’s “Daddy.” 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.


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It Could Happen Here - The Genocide Budget (And How to Stop It)

Mia and Gare discuss the contents of the recently passed budget bill and how its worst provisions can be defeated.

Sources:

Trans Income Project: https://www.transincomeproject.org/donate

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jul/07/planned-parenthood-trump-lawsuit

https://kffhealthnews.org/news/article/one-big-beautiful-bill-medicaid-work-requirements-affordable-care-act-immigrants/#:~:text=The%20bill%20would%20require%20states%20that%20have,individual)%20and%20138%25%20of%20that%20amount%20($21%2C597).&text=The%20Senate%20bill%20would%20allow%20states%20to,who%20seek%20emergency%20room%20care%20for%20nonemergencies.

https://www.chalkbeat.org/2025/05/16/school-choice-expansion-in-budget-bill-puts-federal-stamp-on-gop-priority/

https://www.nea.org/nea-today/all-news-articles/trumps-budget-bill-attack-public-schools-working-families-and-immigrants

https://www.americanprogress.org/article/10-egregious-things-you-may-not-know-about-the-one-big-beautiful-bill-act/

https://time.com/7299514/bill-will-devastate-public-schools

https://www.edweek.org/policy-politics/the-senate-passed-a-federal-voucher-program-whats-in-it/2025/07

https://www.au.org/the-latest/articles/not-beautiful-trumps-budget-forces-a-national-voucher-plan-on-america/

https://www.npr.org/2025/05/23/nx-s1-5397175/trump-federal-voucher-private-school

https://itep.org/trump-megabill-expensive-private-school-vouchers/

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/careersandeducation/how-trump-s-big-spending-bill-will-overhaul-repayment-for-millions-of-student-loan-borrowers/ar-AA1HXbVa?cvid=7271B17CDE424D63B5C23D6A3D1E71B7&ocid=msnHomepage

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/white-house/trump-signs-big-tax-cut-spending-bill-law-july-fourth-ceremony-rcna216753

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2025/07/05/trump-budget-bill-states-border-security/84463777007/

https://newrepublic.com/post/197412/donald-trump-big-beautiful-budget-bill-devastating-poll

https://www.kff.org/medicaid/issue-brief/allocating-cbos-estimates-of-federal-medicaid-spending-reductions-across-the-states-senate-reconciliation-bill/

https://www.kff.org/policy-watch/how-might-federal-medicaid-cuts-in-the-senate-passed-reconciliation-bill-affect-rural-areas/

https://www.cbpp.org/research/medicaid-and-chip/senate-reconciliation-amendment-would-cut-hundreds-of-billions-more-from

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/whats-in-trump-big-beautiful-bill-senate-version/

https://www.americanimmigrationcouncil.org/fact-sheet/house-reconciliation-bill-immigration-border-security/

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/heres-whats-in-the-big-bill-that-just-passed-the-senate

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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The Source - How the SBA can assist in Kerr County’s recovery

When natural disasters strike and federal emergency declarations are made, the U.S. Small Business Administration steps in with a vital recovery tool: low-interest disaster loans — including for communities in Central Texas recently impacted by flash flooding.array(3) { [0]=> string(20) "https://www.tpr.org/" [1]=> string(0) "" [2]=> string(1) "0" }