The idea that it is a feature of conservatives to cherish and uphold and preserve the local and the unique is literally only an idea you can get from reading a book. Because it hardly exists in the real world; the oppositw, in fact. I spend a lot of time (a lot more time than Douthat, almost certainly!) in just the sort of rural conservative places he wants to fetishize, and the people there evince zero will to preserve the localness of their communities when chain corporations move in. You NEVER hear about it as a problem. They are perfectly happy to consume fetishized simulacra of local rootedness (think Cracker Barrel). Economically, it’s symbolized by the fact the place I’m talking about is surrounded by miles and miles of “farms” (really factories), but you can’t buy decent produce at good prices because there’s no demand for these fructose factories to devote even a tiny corner of their acreage to anything actually edible, except if either heavily processed, or as absorbed as caloric input for livestock. On the other hand, there is an enormous everyday attachment among many cosmopolitan liberals who live in a place like Brooklyn or Andersonville near me in Chicago both to these places’ deep history, and in actual placemaking, via local business and even rituals.
To put it in a blunt and unfairly schematic way: every hipster neighborhood is different. Every small town is the same. It’s even true of left-leaning Internet spaces! Meaning (as these things go, given the medium) a respect for heritage and an effort at placemaking. (The way open-source way Bluesky is set up, for example, lets people create their own communities in a way impossible on X, where making a “neighborhood” is technically impossible.
Barbara Kingsolver makes this very plain in her masterpiece “Demon Copperhead”: in a place like the one where JD’s mamaw held court, the people who preserve and cherish bluegrass music are the lefties. The people perfectly content with bro country served up by media conglomerates are the conservatives.
In short: as usual the wingnut, even one of bespoke “heterodox” sort belched up by the New York Times, is full of shit, as usual.
I really enjoy the talks you two have had. I hope you keep it up!
Ilium was a good book. Nice rec work!
Glad you liked it!
Not at all relevant to the discussion but I own the exact edition of Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy that is visible on Max's shelf ha.
Love that you upped your background game! Also a brick wall is an essential Brooklyn aesthetic
Also the episode was good
The idea that it is a feature of conservatives to cherish and uphold and preserve the local and the unique is literally only an idea you can get from reading a book. Because it hardly exists in the real world; the oppositw, in fact. I spend a lot of time (a lot more time than Douthat, almost certainly!) in just the sort of rural conservative places he wants to fetishize, and the people there evince zero will to preserve the localness of their communities when chain corporations move in. You NEVER hear about it as a problem. They are perfectly happy to consume fetishized simulacra of local rootedness (think Cracker Barrel). Economically, it’s symbolized by the fact the place I’m talking about is surrounded by miles and miles of “farms” (really factories), but you can’t buy decent produce at good prices because there’s no demand for these fructose factories to devote even a tiny corner of their acreage to anything actually edible, except if either heavily processed, or as absorbed as caloric input for livestock. On the other hand, there is an enormous everyday attachment among many cosmopolitan liberals who live in a place like Brooklyn or Andersonville near me in Chicago both to these places’ deep history, and in actual placemaking, via local business and even rituals.
To put it in a blunt and unfairly schematic way: every hipster neighborhood is different. Every small town is the same. It’s even true of left-leaning Internet spaces! Meaning (as these things go, given the medium) a respect for heritage and an effort at placemaking. (The way open-source way Bluesky is set up, for example, lets people create their own communities in a way impossible on X, where making a “neighborhood” is technically impossible.
Barbara Kingsolver makes this very plain in her masterpiece “Demon Copperhead”: in a place like the one where JD’s mamaw held court, the people who preserve and cherish bluegrass music are the lefties. The people perfectly content with bro country served up by media conglomerates are the conservatives.
In short: as usual the wingnut, even one of bespoke “heterodox” sort belched up by the New York Times, is full of shit, as usual.
My sleeping pill kicked in zzzzzz good show that I won't remember
This episode is unfortunately unlistenable because John Ganz is not adequately mic’ed
agreed, had to bail after 5 mins :(
Yeah too much Read Mouth unfortunately 😔
I can barely hear the guy on the right and my headphones are at 100% volume and computer volume is at 100%.
Also, a lot of this AI stuff relies on the tech remaining viable.
OpenAI, if you go looking at the actual financials, is increasingly looking like it might turn into a Lehman Brothers.