In the first of a trilogy of episodes examining the life, work, and legacy of Noam Chomsky, Justin Rogers-Cooper joins us for a discussion of Chomsky’s younger years: the historical moment into which he was born, the people and ideas that surrounded him, and the formation of his political and intellectual values. In this episode we pay particular attention to the evolution of Chomsky’s attitudes about war, fascism, and the state, as we trace his development from academic all-star to public dissident, from prominent researcher and theorist in the field of linguistics to outspoken critic of American foreign policy and leading figure in the American left. Our series will continue on the Nostalgia Trap subscriber feed: patreon.com/nostalgiatrap.
On our first episode after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade, Yasmin Nair and I take a moment to consider the implications: What does this mean for a newly emboldened right? And how can the left find new strategies of resistance? We also watch a particularly brutal episode of Mad Men (S1E3, “The Marriage of Figaro”), which brings our abortion discussion back to the early 1960s and connects concepts of “privacy” to houses, neighborhoods, and bedrooms. To listen to the whole episode, and access our massive library of bonus content, become a Nostalgia Trap subscriber for just $5 a month: patreon.com/nostalgiatrap
Historian and writer Dan McClure returns to the Trap for a talk about his incredible new book Winter in America: A Cultural History of Neoliberalism, from the Sixties to the Reagan Revolution, which explores how the cruel economic principles we call “neoliberalism” found currency in popular culture in the years since the Vietnam War, delivering us into a nightmare world that protects capital and liquidates democracy. Check out Dan’s previous appearance on Nostalgia Trap. Subscribe to the Nostalgia Trap Patreon to access our entire library of bonus content: patreon.com/nostalgiatrap
On the very first episode of Record Trap, Justin Farrar joins me to lay out our mission statement for the podcast: a regular series of conversations about music, counterculture, and radical politics. What better way to kick off this project than by talking about drugs and The Beatles? The world’s greatest rock band didn’t just put out classic albums; they also helped introduce a whole generation to the psychedelic experience through their playful artistic engagement with LSD, marijuana, and other tools of chemical adventure. We take a trip through the 1960s to explore how four lads from Liverpool journeyed to the outer reaches of their own minds and packaged the lessons for the masses. Subscribe to the Nostalgia Trap Patreon to access all our podcasts, including Record Trap w/ Justin Farrar, Gender Trap w/ Yasmin Nair, and Campus Trap w/ Ryan Boyd: patreon.com/nostalgiatrap
What makes a great teacher? In an effort to avoid becoming completely blackpilled doomers, this week Ryan and I have a conversation about our favorite teachers, from kindergarten to grad school. We try to remember the things that made us want to become teachers ourselves, and wonder if the ideas and practices of our ancient heroes can help guide us through the dark waters of today’s campus. Check out Ryan’s website Subscribe to Ryan’s Substack Subscribe to Nostalgia Trap to access all Campus Trap episodes, along with our entire bonus library
Stories about the past form the ideological foundation of the American project. This week’s guest, Alicia Puglionesi, is a historian and writer whose work often focuses on “hauntings” – both real and imagined – in our collective history. Her latest book, In Whose Ruins: Power, Possession, and the Landscapes of American Empire, explores the fake narratives and mythologies created to justify land theft, genocide, and the endless extraction of natural resources for profit. In this conversation, she explains how fundamental elements like oil, water, and atomic power were harnessed by capital through processes of historical erasure and, above all, storytelling. Subscribe to the Nostalgia Trap Patreon page to access our whole universe of bonus content, including our newest podcasts Gender Trap w/ Yasmin Nair and Campus Trap w/ Ryan Boyd: patreon.com/nostalgiatrap
Digital Humanities? More like Digital Hu-SHAM-ities, am I right? On this episode of Campus Trap, Ryan Boyd and I trade stories about our experiences with the digital pedagogy boom/bust cycle of the past decade or so, in which a whole generation was sold on the idea that computers would somehow make higher education better for everyone (spoiler alert: it didn’t happen). So if the COVID/Zoom era finally made us understand that tech can’t solve the university’s problems, what’s our path forward? Is there an opportunity to reclaim and repurpose the campus? Subscribe to listen to this episode and access all our bonus content:patreon.com/nostalgiatrap
On this week's livestream, Justin Rogers-Cooper joins us to ponder the looming economic wreckage soon washing upon America's shores, and what that means for an already volatile political and social domestic situation. We also reflect on how "delivering the goods" is a critical piece of state power, and what that means for Democrats in a world of inflation, insane gas prices, and impending mass layoffs. Fun stuff! But don't worry, we also consider the personal/psychological elements at play here. Aside from these structural traps, are we also at the mercy of increasingly deranged individuals with unimaginable power? Subscribe to listen to the whole episode: patreon.com/posts/68029440
“What is a woman? What is a man?” Go fuck yourself! Those questions are traps! In this episode of Gender Trap, Yasmin and I talk about the right’s absurd yet powerful assault on all things gender-related, and how the left’s reactive, academic takes on gender hobble our ability to fight back. What would a popular left vision of gender actually look like? Because it ain’t RuPaul! We also, of course, bring an episode of Mad Men (S1, E2, “Ladies Room”) into the mix, as we examine how Betty and Don’s fucked up 1950s nightmare marriage showcases the trap of Cold War domestic gender roles in dynamic, psychologically gory detail. Subscribe to listen to the whole episode and access our vast galaxy of bonus content, including Campus Trap w/ Ryan Boyd, Record Trap w/ Justin Farrar, and lots more: patreon.com/nostalgiatrap
Grace Elizabeth Hale is a professor of history and American Studies at the University ofVirginia whose work focuses on race, class, and culture in the 20th century, particularly in the American South. Her latest book, Cool Town: How Athens, Georgia Launched Alternative Music and Changed American Culture tells the story of how a small college town in Georgia became a center of indie and punk culture in the 1970s and 1980s, producing major bands like the B-52s and R.E.M. while maintaining a queer D.I.Y cultural scene that’s become a significant legend in the annals of American rock. What makes Athens so special? And can that magic be recreated in other places? Subscribe to access all our bonus content, including our all-new podcasts GENDER TRAP w/ Yasmin Nair and CAMPUS TRAP w/ Ryan Boyd: patreon.com/nostalgiatrap