Nostalgia Trap
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Conspiracy theories are a hell of a drug. Justin and I know this from experience, so watching the new Netflix documentary American Conspiracy: The Octopus Murders https://www.netflix.com/title/81168725 brought up some deeply identifiable thoughts and emotions for both of us. Do you REALLY want to know the exact details of the dark forces at work within our most sacred institutions? As we discuss here, there’s a heavy price to pay for that knowledge, one way or another.
This is the first half of this week's episode, go to our Patreon page to listen to the whole thing! https://www.patreon.com/posts/episode-386-of-98833719 It’s Part Four of our six-part adventure through the history of American automaking and car culture, and we’ve finally reached the moment when everything starts to unravel: the 1970s. When Arab nations decide to flex their oil muscle against the United States in 1973, they deliver American consumers into an entirely new economic reality, and Detroit struggles to meet the era’s new demands for fuel efficiency, safety, and lower emissions. Meanwhile, Japan enters the market with a new approach to cars and the production process that further erodes Detroit’s power – until an unlikely hero, the minivan, takes over the 1980s suburbs and points to a rocky road ahead.
In Part Three of our journey through the history of American car culture, we explore how the massive cultural and political shifts of the 1960s made an impact on American automaking. From the Chevrolet Corvair spinning out and making Ralph Nader a household name, to the Ford Mustang turning boring housewives and husbands into hip celebrities, this was a wild era. When Detroit takes a sinister turn with the 1965 Pontiac GTO, a muscle car war grips American street racing subcultures, before it all burns out when the gas gets too expensive and the smog chokes the skies. Full episode here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/episode-385-of-98244614
As we continue our story of America’s love affair with the automobile, it’s time to look at the tailfin behemoths of the 1950s, the cars that look like “guns you can fuck.” With the automakers morphing into weapons manufacturers to help Uncle Sam win World War II, the postwar consumer reaped the strange benefits of military technology and imperial ideology seeping into the design of his suburban luxury sedan. Meanwhile, a cute little car produced by the Nazis was slowly stealing the hearts of America’s budding counterculture. Full episode here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/97593008?pr=true
This week we watch Fast Five (2011), the fifth installment in the Fast and Furious franchise, and contemplate how these movies embed radical ideas about criminality, subversion, insurgency, and family in often goofy stories about driving really fast cars, furiously. Full episode here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/episode-383-fast-97420130 For more reflections on car culture, check out Part One of our new series, The History of America in Six Cars: https://www.patreon.com/posts/episode-382-of-t-97179277
The supreme object of the 20th century, the automobile’s development as both transportation technology and cultural totem is literally the story of American capitalism. In the first episode of a six-part series, we examine the life and legacy of Henry Ford, whose Model T took the nation by storm after its debut in 1908. As Ford rises to an unprecedented position of wealth and power, his virulent anti-semitism and destructive business impulses threaten his company’s dominance of an emerging mass market in the 1920s. The Model T’s rise and fall as the nation’s most popular commercial product gives us a chance to examine the dark forces at the heart of the progressive era, connecting Ford’s business innovations (the assembly line, the $5 day, etc) to the racism and hypernationalism that plunged the world into depression and war. The series will continue with Parts 2-5 on our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/nostalgiatrap Sources/inspiration for this episode include: Paul Ingrassia, Engines of Change: The American Dream in Fifteen Cars 100 CARS THAT CHANGED THE WORLD: THE DESIGNS, ENGINES, AND TECHNOLOGIES THAT DRIVE OUR IMAGINATIONS William Knoedelseder, Fins: Harley Earl, the Rise of General Motors, and the Glory Days of Detroit Lizabeth Cohen, A Consumer’s Republic: The Politics of Mass Consumption in Postwar America
Our friend Andrew Schustek is back with an all-new Housing Trap conversation all about the unfolding crisis of housing in 21st century New York City and beyond. This time he talks with returning guest Samuel Stein, a geographer, urban planner and housing policy analyst whose book Capital City: Gentrification and the Real Estate State is a must read for housing policy nerds (you know who you are). The boys talk about Sam’s new piece in the New York Review of Architecture and contemplate the future of affordable housing in America. You can listen to the entire Housing Trap series on our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/collection/119363?view=expanded Use the discount code AFFORDABLE at the NYRA site for 25% off a subscription, a publication well worth your support: https://nyra.nyc/subscribe
This week Justin and I discuss the 1989 tearjerker Field of Dreams https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Field_of_Dreams, a film about ghosts playing baseball in some guy’s backyard that endures as a beloved classic of American cinema. What’s going on with that? As a lifelong devotee of the film, Justin articulates why Field of Dreams hits so hard, as we explore how the secular religious magic of baseball and movies intermingle with dreams of capitalist and socialist utopias. Sign up for a free 7 day trial of our massive library of podcasts, videos, and more: https://patreon.com/nostalgiatrap
Float Universe is an Instagram meme/troll account that’s ostensibly focused on the intersection of floatation tanks and psychedelic culture. The account’s creator joins me this week to explain how the floating experience mirrors the druggy rush of online dopamine adventures, as we explore how trolling and conspiracy theories are bending our everyday realities. Sign up for a free 7 day trial of our massive library of podcasts, videos, and more: https://patreon.com/nostalgiatrap
We simply did not cover enough topics in our first “2023 Year in Review” episode, so this week Justin is back to talk about some of the big trends looming on the horizon of 2024: another grim yet insanely consequential U.S. presidential election, rising anti-immigrant sentiment on both left and right, the ominous march of genocidal war in Gaza, and the accelerating violent race for resources to light up our dumb little devices. This is the first 7 minutes of a 70 minute conversation -- listen to the whole episode and access tons of other cool stuff by subscribing to our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/posts/episode-378-big-95389642
Clay Routledge https://www.clayroutledge.com/ is a teacher, writer, and researcher in the field of existential psychology. His latest book, Past Forward: How Nostalgia Can Help You Live a More Meaningful Life explores a topic near and dear to our hearts: nostalgia and its power to shape the future. In this conversation, we talk about our own obsessions with specific pop cultural objects from our respective youths (video games, music, movies), and reflect on how nostalgic memories shape our individual and collective identities. Sign up for a free 7 day trial of our massive library of podcasts, videos, and more: https://patreon.com/nostalgiatrap
It’s time to take a nostalgic look back at the past year, as we survey some of the big trends from 2023 that will inevitably fuck up our collective 2024. This year we end up talking a lot about tech’s grip on our political and cultural imagination: labor strikes in Hollywood and the auto industry, the impact of AI, and the giant lie of green capitalism glimpsed in the debacle of electric vehicles. Will 2024 be the year the tech spell breaks? Listen to the whole episode with a 7 day free trial of our patrons-only collection: https://www.patreon.com/posts/episode-376-year-94887877
Following last week’s episode all about Elliott Smith, this week Justin and I continue our discussion of sad boys and bad dads with a conversation all about Stand By Me https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stand_by_Me_(film), the 1986 Stephen King/Rob Reiner nostalgia-fest about four boys journeying into the postwar American hinterlands to find a dead body (spoiler: the body is a metaphor). In this conversation, we explore how this movie’s sentimental, disturbing vision of mid-century American adolescence fits into a longer historical discourse of masculinity, trauma, and healing. Sign up for a free 7 day trial of our massive library of podcasts, videos, and more: https://patreon.com/nostalgiatrap
This week Justin and I talk about the genius singer-songwriter Elliott Smith, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elliott_Smith who produced a stunning body of music in the late 90s before dying, tragically and cryptically, in 2003 at the age of 34. Smith's life and art intersects with the world of punk and grunge that emerged from the Pacific Northwest in the 80s and 90s, from the "boy culture" of Gus Van Sant films to the anti-rape politics of riot grrrl era feminism. In this conversation, we try to situate Smith within that wider history and offer some thoughts on his brief but prolific career. Listen to the full episode with a free 7 day trial of our beautiful library of bonus episodes: https://www.patreon.com/posts/94028421?pr=true
Anthony Galluzzo’s new book Against the Vortex: Zardoz and Degrowth Utopias in the Seventies and Today offers a delightfully adventurous set of takes on some of this podcast’s running obsessions: the collapse of the 1960s left, revolutionary violence, cult cinema, weird sex rituals, 1970s communes and “intentional communities,” population bombs, nuclear futures and, perhaps most of all, the religious belief in infinite technological progress that animates both the right and left. Fully automated luxury communism, anyone? In this conversation, Galluzzo shares how Zardoz’s bizarre story of a bikini-clad Sean Connery’s prison break from a dystopian society recovers the lost “degrowth” movements of the 1970s and brings us a radically different vision of our collective future. ‘Tis the season for William S. Burroughs’ Thanksgiving Prayer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sLSveRGmpIE Sign up for a free 7 day trial of our massive library of podcasts, videos, and more: https://patreon.com/nostalgiatrap
Justin Rogers-Cooper joins us for a conversation all about the life, work, and legacy of George Carlin, a key American cultural figure whose standup comedy transmitted radical ideas in the form of hilarious, often profane, “jokes.” What are “jokes” anyway? In this episode we find the traps in Carlin’s perspectives and reflect on the larger concept of standup comedy, particularly in the context of a Trumpian political reality that seems closer to Carlin’s dark, apocalyptic comedic vision than ever before. Check out the rest of our series deconstructing the radical old dudes of the 20th century: A People’s History of Howard Zinn Manufacturing Noam Chomsky Subscribe for a free 7 day trial of our massive library of podcasts, videos, and more: https://patreon.com/nostalgiatrap
This week we’ve got a brand new Housing Trap conversation with guest host Andrew Schustek talking with Charlie Dulik, whose latest piece in The Baffler explores the controversy and mythology surrounding the “mom and pop landlord” in 21st century American life. Is collecting rent from tenants just another hustle for working class people? Or is “landlord” a distinct category of capitalist exploitation? Sign up for a 7 day free trial of our big beautiful library of bonus episodes, videos, documentaries, and more: https://patreon.com/nostalgiatrap
This week Justin and I try to wrap our minds and hearts around what's happening in Gaza. We offer some historical context, share some incredible Chomsky quotes (of course), and attempt to map out the future possibilities for the region. As always, though, it's hard to separate political analysis from the "fog of war" and the deep emotional stakes of watching an ongoing genocide funded by the United States government. We do our best to offer some directions for hope in an unfolding nightmare. Full episode: https://www.patreon.com/posts/episode-370-91362380
We are “back in action” and “ready to roll” and also just “ready” to continue our discussion of , a comedy television thing from the Before Times. On this episode, Peter, Geoff and David cover the opening episodes of Season 3: “Heaven’s Chimney” and “Peanut Butter, Eggs, and Dice.” There’s a lot of fun and challenging stuff here, as the show gets more confident in attacking its cultural targets, from right wing Christian cultists to self-congratulating liberal douchebags. Of course, there’s also plenty to cringe about, from Bob’s truly unbelievable depiction of a mentally challenged person to David Cross’ tired redneck minstrel character “Ronnie Dobbs.” Let’s have us a champagne jam! Full episode: https://www.patreon.com/posts/mr-trap-ep-6-now-90044447
This week Justin and I watched the forgotten 1996 science fiction thriller Chain Reaction, starring Keanu Reeves as a scientist (lol) who discovers a source of infinite free energy and becomes the target of multiple global conspiracies aimed at controlling the world’s energy future. Seen from 2023, Chain Reaction reveals high anxiety about fossil fuels, the CIA, and the “just right” porridge of liberal masculinity (hint: it’s Obama/Morgan Freeman). This is first-rate Hollywood crap that somehow functions as an uncanny prophecy of our bad future. Run, Keanu, run! Join our Patreon to access our giant library of bonus content: patreon.com/nostalgiatrap
In the past few weeks I've received many messages asking about the future of the show, so I wanted to put out a quick update about what's happening in my life (nothing too dramatic!) and where I expect the show to go. Long story short? I'm going to law school, and Nostalgia Trap will continue as I make my way through it. If you want to hear the whole story of why the hell anyone would go to law school in 2023, I tell it here, including all the weird signs and synchronicities that have set me on a somewhat unexpected, but eerily inevitable, new path.
This week I crank up the doom machine and cover a few troubling trends for a dystopian future, drawing connections between this week's horrific destruction of Lahaina, Maui to the Dust Bowl of the 1930s. What are young people supposed to think about all this? And more importantly, will today's kids ever become HOMEOWNERS? Subscribe for all our NEWS TRAP episodes and tons of bonus content: https://www.patreon.com/posts/episode-366-news-87551091
This week Justin and I survey the big stories of the hot summer of 2023, with our eye on an unfolding and genuinely shocking set of ecological developments, the continuing practical and spiritual crisis of mass migration, the ominous undertones of the Hollywood strike and, of course, the revelations from major governments that yes, aliens exist and they have cool psychedelic vehicles. Is that just another collective heat hallucination, or have we truly arrived at the next chapter of the end times saga? Check out the whole episode here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/episode-365-2023-86817216
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Veep is an HBO comedy series, starring Julia Louis-Dreyfus, that presents a dark satire of insider DC political culture. This week Justin and I consider ’s acid take on the critical years between 2012-2019, when Obama-era technocratic optimism gave way to Trumpian funhouse fascism. What Veep shows us is the reptilian machinations of the “burned out losers and conniving robots” that succeed in American party politics, giving us an opportunity to ask: is that true? Is the world really run by people this cynical and depraved?
The sci-fi horror film was a “surprise” hit last year, generating tons of internet buzz, viral Tik Tok dance videos https://www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/rcna64650 and, of course, endless think pieces. As Justin Rogers-Cooper and I talk about this week, operates on multiple levels, and contains a discourse about AI, capitalist culture, and queer family formation that makes it much more than another “killer robot” movie. Like Silicon Valley itself, sings to us: “Tell me your dreams, I will dream them too.” But are we really in charge of the dream? Check out our Patreon for bonus episodes, videos, and lots more: https://www.patreon.com/nostalgiatrap
The FBI-orchestrated murder of Black Panther Party leader Fred Hampton https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fred_Hampton in 1969 remains one of the most singularly evil crimes of the 20th century, and it’s a story about which most Americans know very little. The 2021 film Judas and the Black Messiah, directed by Shaka King, is a heavy, detailed consideration of the events that led to Hampton’s death, focusing mainly on the figure of William O’Neal, a small-time thief coerced by the FBI into becoming a confidential informant working within Hampton’s organization. As Justin and I discuss in this episode, the film puts us in the center of the complicated moral calculations that defined 1960s radicalism, and asks hard questions about the price of loyalty, freedom, and revolution. Listen to whole episode with 7 day free trial of our Patreon membership; https://www.patreon.com/posts/episode-362-and-85368710
Continuing our epic survey of , the most important television program of all time, we watch the final two episodes of ’s second season: “Operation Hell on Earth” and “The Velveteen Touch of a Dandy Fop.” As David, Peter, and Geoff discuss here, the show feels like it takes a thematic/aesthetic turn in these particular sketches, with hints of where we’re headed in Season 3. There’s weird arty stuff here (the entire “Recruiters” sketch, a parody of the basketball documentary , is uncanny), plus some all-time favorite characters (Fartin’ Gary, Droopy), and more than a few surprising takes on 90s culture and politics. Mr. Trap is included with a subscription to the Nostalgia Trap Patreon -- sign up for a FREE 7 day trial here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/mr-trap-ep-5-hey-85206762
Kristen Lovell is a filmmaker whose new documentary, The Stroll, tells the story of transgender women surviving as sex workers in New York City’s Meatpacking District during the 1980s and 1990s. This is harrowing stuff, and a perspective on urban history and gentrification like you’ve never seen before. In this conversation, Lovell tells me about her own experiences in the neighborhood, and reflects on how the Giuliani/Bloomberg era used real estate and finance to cover the city’s dark history with luxury facades. Subscribe to Nostalgia Trap to access our massive library of bonus episodes, video essays, and more: https://patreon.com/nostalgiatrap
This week Justin and I finally get around to watching Jordan Peele's latest film, , a UFO story layered with allegories about race, nature, and cinema itself. We both find something simultaneously compelling and frustrating about Peele's work, and in this conversation we try to get at the weird contours and contradictions of his auteurist project. Listen to the whole episode with a free trial of our Patreon stream: https://www.patreon.com/posts/livestream-6-16-84684829
On this week's News Trap, I tell the sad story of our podcast's PERSECUTION by the algorithmic fiends at YouTube, who are maliciously and wrongfully accusing Nostalgia Trap of advocating violence and conspiracy theories on our channel. Depsite this campaign, I persevere by sharing some startling examples of the real violence latent in the American system, with stories about housing, homelessness, and new trends in Vegas table gaming. Check out this interview with housing activist Paul Boden: https://www.theguardian.com/society/2023/may/29/paul-boden-america-homelessness-crisis Start a 7 DAY FREE TRIAL of the Nostalgia Trap Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/nostalgiatrap
