Shows
The Same, but WorseElection MixdownAndrew, Marshall, and Jerry get together for a Thanksgiving chat about the election.2025-01-191h 14The Same, but WorseThe Same, But Worse - Higher EdMarshall and Andrew got together to chat about Marshall's piece on the LPE blog about higher education: https://lpeproject.org/blog/should-higher-education-ratify-privilege-or-public-service/.2024-04-1356 minThe Same, but WorseElection WatchAndrew and a couple of special guests go deep on the Turkish election. Sorry for the lack of content lately, it's been a busy spring for all of us.2023-05-281h 59
The Same, but WorseHigh Plains Billionaire DrifterWith Marshall sidelined by actual work, Andrew and Jerry discuss the recent FTX meltdown, Musk's acquisition of Twitter, and develop a typology of billionaires. Along the way we also discuss the repudiation of expertise as a relevant aspect of decision-making and establish which games are good for dads.2022-12-141h 31The Same, but WorsePlanet of ScamsWe discuss the proliferation of scams of all kinds in late capitalism and the failure of regulators to come to grips with this problem. After Marshall departs, Andrew and Jerry talk about the shortcomings of localism and the most important thing in politics, owning your ideological enemies online.2022-09-202h 07The Same, but WorseAbortions for None, and Miniature American Flags for AllMarshall, Andrew, and Jerry discuss the Dobbs decision, how we got here over the decades, and the ultimate failure of Democratic centrism to protect abortion rights. In the second half, we sketch an outline of the evolving American constitutional order and come up with an ingenious solution to the problem of global warming and world peace (must credit TSBW if implemented).2022-09-202h 05The Same, but WorseOn Elite CaptureAndrew, Marshall, and Jerry take a dive into Olufemi Taiwo's book "Elite Capture" and try to figure out what diagnostic as well as prescriptive lessons it can teach us.2022-06-151h 22The Same, but WorsePodcasting as Allocation of Coordination RightsWe welcome to the podcast Sanjukta Paul to talk about her work in untangling the ball of twine that is modern antitrust. Come for the detailed history of trucking deregulation in the 90s, stay for the debate over how and to what end we should formulate social theories.2022-04-291h 45The Same, but WorseThe Vibes DoctorsIn the absence of Marshall, Andrew and Jerry set about performing discourse surgery (spoiler: the patient died), trying to figure out why the vibes are fucked, and deploying our most sophisticated numerological tools to determine the most appropriate number of bullet points to have on your platform.2022-04-191h 30The Same, but WorseEpisode 5 - Postwar Sitcoms as Engines of Citizen FormationWe're joined by Mike Cheyne, a genuine doctor of suburban studies, to walk us through the way that postwar sitcoms functioned as loci of formation of ideas about civic participation and citizenship, and how the TV revolution of the 70s steered into the neoliberal turn.2022-03-112h 10The Same, but WorseEpisode 4 - Midwestern Populism, with Cory HaalaWe welcome our first guest, Cory Haala, to talk about the populist tradition in the Midwest. We discuss its roots and legacy and whether any lessons for our present moment can be gleaned from it.2022-01-211h 49The Same, but WorseEpisode 3 - Second Time as FarceWith Marshall luxuriating in the Utah mountains (probably) and thus unavailable, Andrew and Jerry formulate a programmatic and try to dig out why it is that everything feels like a shittier retread all the time.2022-01-071h 20The Same, but WorseIrrational Expectations - Part 2Andrew and Jerry kibbitz about the Volcker shock, how to get from here to utopia, and whether solidarity is possible in the age of neoliberal atomization. Fun!2021-12-1052 minThe Same, but WorseIrrational ExpectationsMarshall, Andrew, and Jerry become the dads of the entire economics profession. We discuss the mystificatory nature of economic ideology, cast a side-eye on expertise, and attempt to sow discord between Friedmannians and Hayekians.2021-12-061h 12The Same, but WorseGot My Mind on My Mannheim and My Mannheim on My MindGot My Mind on My Mannheim and My Mannheim on My Mind by Andrew Hart, Marshall Steinbaum, Jerry Vinokurov2021-11-1156 minThe Same, but WorseThis Is Fine - Episode 3.1Not quite in time for a Thanksgiving argument with your Facebook uncle, but well ahead of schedule for a Christmas argument with the same, we're pleased to bring you a breakdown of the November elections.2018-11-3053 minThe Same, but WorseEpisode 2.2 - The World Only Spins... Forward?On this episode, we speak with writer and theater director Isaac Butler, who is the author, with Dan Kois, of a new oral history of Tony Kushner's "Angels In America," titled "The World Only Spins Forward." As always, we do a brief review of recent notable political events and then get to talking about what "Angels" accomplished and what it means today.2018-03-141h 07The Same, but WorseEpisode 2.1 - That Was The Year That WasWelcome back, Finers! We've returned after a long, child-induced hiatus, just in time to fire up Season 2: Everything Is Still Fine, There's Nothing To Worry About, Really. On this episode, intrepid reporter Sam Thielman joins us for a retrospective on perhaps the dumbest year in American history; we discuss everything from Russian ad buys on Facebook to the Virginia governor's race, and make 100% ironclad predictions about how the following year is going to play out.2017-11-121h 20The Same, but WorseThis Is Fine - Episode 1.16 - Part 2Part 2 of our conversation with Alex Wellerstein. This is a re-upload because the initial version was missing non-Alex tracks.2017-08-0853 minThe Same, but WorseEpisode 1.16 - No Nukes is Good Nukes... Or Is It? - Part 1Welcome to Episode 1.16: No Nukes Is Good Nukes, or Is It? Thanks for listening, Finers; please subscribe and leave us a review on iTunes or your favorite podcast app, and make sure to keep a copy of this episode in your local fallout shelter. In this two-parter, we get down into the details of nuclear weapons history with Alex Wellerstein of the Stevens Institute of Technology. We discuss various efforts intended to achieve nuclear disarmament, who has the authority for nuclear weapons use, what are the biggest threats facing us in the future, and what you can do to reduce...2017-07-3058 minThe Same, but WorseEpisode 1.15 - Contraventional WisdomWelcome to This Is Fine episode 1.15: Contraventional Wisdom. Thank you very much for listening, Finers. In this week’s podcast, we talk about Iran-Contra, a little over thirty years after Reagan’s apology to the country for the scandal in March 1987. We focus mainly on Malcolm Byrne’s conclusive 2014 book, “Iran-Contra: Reagan’s Scandal and the Unchecked Abuse of Presidential Power,” which takes advantage of extensive primary source documents unavailable to Independent Counsel Lawrence Walsh during his investigation of the scandal in the late 1980s. We discuss the scandal and its parallels to the Trump administration today. As always, the show notes a...2017-07-071h 11The Same, but WorseEpisode 1.14: Heads I Win, Tails You LoseWelcome to This Is Fine episode 1.14: Heads I Win, Tails You Lose. Thank you very much for listening, Finers. In this week’s podcast, Judith Miller, a law professor at the University of Chicago who worked as a federal public defender, joins us to give a public defender’s perspective on our criminal justice system. We discuss some of the criminal and civil protections for police officers, including ways in which the exclusionary rule has been hollowed out. We also discuss the ways that the defense is handicapped relative to the prosecution, in pre-trial evidence gathering, sentence reduction offers for test...2017-06-231h 09The Same, but WorseEpisode 1.13: Mo' Prisons, Mo' ProblemsWelcome to This Is Fine episode 1.13: Mo' Prisons, Mo' Problems. Thank you very much for listening, Finers. In this week’s podcast, we discuss mass incarceration and some of the injustice in our criminal justice system. We discuss Michelle Alexander’s New Jim Crow and Chris Hayes’ A Colony in a Nation. We briefly touch on order: police shootings, underpolicing, and the difficulty of prosecuting police misconduct. We also look at the law: tax farming of citizens, prosecutorial discretion and misconduct, plea bargains, and the consequences of judicial elections. Finally we look at some possible criminal justice reforms. As always, the sh...2017-06-041h 14
The Rights To Ricky Sanchez: The Sixers (76ers) PodcastNBA Scout Elan Vinokurov On Sixers Draft ProspectsWe're NBA Draft as all get-out right now, with guests every week until the draft to tell you who to like and who not to like. This week we've got NBA Scout Elan Vinokurov, talking the top of the draft and the Sixers at #3, and lots of guys Mike loves and Spike has never heard of in the second round. We also discuss Klay Thompson trade rumors, Jerry Colangelo's interview on 94WIP, the war with Andrew Sharp and Open Floor, and the NBA Finals.
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Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod...2017-06-021h 22
The Same, but WorseEpisode 1.12 - Health Care? More Like Health Don't Care!Welcome to This Is Fine episode 1.12. Thank you very much for listening, Finers. In this week’s podcast, we take on the state of American health care, discussing at length the recently passed Republican zombie bill, the American Health Care Act, as well as Elizabeth Rosenthal’s book, An American Sickness, which discusses health care’s broken cost structure. We discuss some of the paths forward for health care reform, and then close with a rare foray into current events, as the Trump administration’s recklessness manages to flabbergast even us. As always, the show notes are available at http://www.this...2017-05-251h 13The Same, but WorseEpisode 1.11 - The New, New Marshall PlanWelcome to This Is Fine episode 1.11: The New, New Marshall Plan. Thank you very much for listening, Finers. In this week’s podcast, guest Marshall Steinbaum, a senior economist and fellow at the Roosevelt Institute, joins us to discuss how there is no free market to be found in the state of nature and how the United States has always had an active industrial policy, often favoring the wealthy. We discuss why the movement to defund and privatize public goods like education coincided with the civil rights’ movement attempt to extend those goods to non-whites. Finally, we touch on the ways...2017-05-021h 09
The Same, but WorseEpisode 1.10 - Fox PopuliWelcome to This Is Fine episode 1.10: Fox Populi. Thank you very much for listening, Finers. In this week’s podcast, guest Sam Thielman helps us understand the business model that has sustained Fox News. We also talk about the ways in which state and local politicians have conspired with large corporations in places like Chattanooga, Tennessee to keep rural services like broadband expensive and only available through corporate oligopolies. Is fighting against monopoly power a way forward for the Left? As always, the show notes are available at http://www.thisisfine.net/2017/04/20/episode-1-10-fox-populi/.2017-04-2041 min
The Same, but WorseEpisode 1.9 - Sons of AutarkyWelcome to This Is Fine episode 1.9: Sons of Autarky. Thank you very much for listening, Finers. In this week’s podcast, we talk about how the crisis of declining male labor force participation, the opioid epidemic, the Trump vote, and racism are all connected by one powerful narrative, autarkic patriarchal white labor (APWL). That’s the belief that a man's purpose is to provide for his family and that purpose can be only honored by certain types of work. Examining APWL, we look at some of the damage this story many men tell themselves has caused, and we look for a wa...2017-04-0656 min
The Same, but WorseEpisode 1.8: Any Organized PartyWelcome to This is Fine, Episode 1.8: Any Organized Party. Thank you for listening, Finers. In this week's podcast, we talk with writer, academic, activist, and erstwhile Twitter-opinion-haver Freddie DeBoer about the challenges of left organizing in the runup to the 2018 elections. We contemplate whether the left can usefully cooperate with the Democratic Party, ask what a more small-d-democratic platform would look like, and bemoan the broken media ecosystem.
Show notes are available at our website, http://www.thisisfine.net/2017/03/23/episode-1-8-any-organized-party/2017-03-231h 11
The Same, but WorseEpisode 1.7 - How Deep is Your State?Welcome to This Is Fine, episode 1.7: How Deep Is Your State? Thank you very much for listening, Finers. In this week’s podcast, we talk Turkey, or specifically the differences between the Deep State in a country like Turkey and the law enforcement and intelligence services in the U.S., particularly their leaks about the Trump campaign's involvement with Russia. As always, the show notes are available at www.thisisfine.net.2017-03-091h 00The Same, but WorseEpisode 1.6 - part 2 - It's Time For Some Game TheoryEpisode 1.6 - part 2 - It's Time For Some Game Theory by Andrew Hart, Marshall Steinbaum, Jerry Vinokurov2017-02-2844 min
The Same, but WorseEpisode 1.6 - part 1 - Organize, Organize, OrganizeEpisode 1.6 - part 1 - Organize, Organize, Organize by Andrew Hart, Marshall Steinbaum, Jerry Vinokurov2017-02-1656 min
The Same, but WorseEpisode 1.5 - Trump of the ElitesWelcome to This Is Fine, episode 1.5: Trump of the Elites. Thank you very much for listening, Finers. In this week’s podcast, we use Chris Hayes' Twilight of the Elites as a jumping off point for a discussion of elites, experts, and ways that we might improve institutional trust and accountability. As always, the show notes are available at www.thisisfine.net.2017-02-021h 10
The Same, but WorseEpisode 1.4: No State SolutionWelcome to This Is Fine, episode 1.4, no state solution. Thank you very much for listening, Finers. In this week’s podcast, we look at foreign policy in the Obama and Trump eras, asking whether Obama really constitutes a break from previous presidencies, when intervention might be justified, how much disruption we can expect from Trump, and whether there's any hope for Israel. Here's hoping we survive the inauguration.
As always, the show notes are available at www.thisisfine.net.2017-01-181h 06
The Same, but WorseEpisode 1.3: The media is the message - part 2Hello friends, and welcome to the second half of our discussion of the state of American news media. You can find the show notes at our website (http://www.thisisfine.net/2016/12/21/episode-1-3-the-media-is-the-message/), and make sure you take a listen to part 1 to get the full context.2017-01-0542 min
The Same, but WorseEpisode 1.3: The media is the messageWelcome to This Is Fine, episode 1.3, part 1: the media is the message. Thank you very much for listening, Finers. In this week’s podcast, we look at the Shorenstein Center's review of media coverage in the election, shake our heads in disbelief at the Times' need for approval and dismal new public editor, and ask if the media's coverage of Trump is newly dangerous or part of a continuum of decline in political reporting.2016-12-2132 minThe Same, but WorseEpisode 1.2: Argumentum Ad PopulumWelcome to This Is Fine, episode 1.2: argumentum ad populum. Thank you very much for listening, Finers. In this week’s podcast, we share our origin story in Southern California; explore what populism is and if it can turn left (verdict: not an ambi-turner); make the case that a Nazi political theorist is not in the best position to diagnose liberalism's faults; and sketch out our visions of protest in the Trump era. Articles discussed in this episode:
Jedediah Purdy, "Populism's Two Paths" in The Nation
https://www.thenation.com/article/the-two-populisms/
Malloy Owen, "Don't Mourn, Repoliticize" in The Point Magazine
ht...2016-12-0754 min
The Same, but WorseEpisode 1.1 : WTF?! This Is Not Fine!Welcome to This Is Fine, episode 1.1: WTF? This is Not Fine! Thank you very much for listening.
In this week's podcast, we ask:
How the fuck did that happen? How heroic really were Wright Patman and other segregationist Democrats who fought against corporate power until the changing of the Democratic guard in the 1970s? How did Trump make hate taste so great to so many? And what are our views of the horrific near future and how we might combat it?
Remember: please try to not kill your relatives at Thanksgiving, and please send us reader questions for This is...2016-11-221h 00