The Culture We Deserve

For the last five years, museums around the world have been struggling to answer the question of, who owns cultural heritage? Certain objects, from the Elgin Marbles to the Benin Bronzes, have been fought over as multiple entities, institutions, and nations claim true ownership. Now that the Benin Bronzes have started to return to Nigeria, only to be shoved in storage unseen by anyone except the one man who claims they belong only to him, Jessa and Nico discuss whether anything has been learned from the Decolonize movement. Shownotes and references: http://theculturewedeserve.substack.com

Jessa and Nico return from their visit to Ireland. All along the way, the subject of whether or not Ireland should be united kept coming up. But beyond the slogans and the bad ideas, there are very real issues at work, tedious and boring but also tremendously consequential. Nico reflects on the influence the Northern Ireland peace agreement had on Colombian politics, Jessa discusses how social media creates a false sense of consensus, and they both worry about our decreased ability to manage complexity in political issues. Shownotes and references: http://theculturewedeserve.substack.com

Our pop culture has become insipid. What is the difference between Tom Cruise and Glen Powell? Tom Cruise has darkness within him. Watching him is thrilling because you can see him struggling to contain it. Glen Powell looks at every moment like he's about to turn to the camera, wink, and try to sell you a protein powder so you can get as ripped as him. Jessa and Nico discuss the problems of Running Man (which are problems about a lack of real darkness), why Edgar Wright can never be Paul Verhoeven, and why our dark times deserve dark artists. Shownotes and references: http://theculturewedeserve.substack.com

A young man goes home to announce his exciting new political and philosophical ideas to his family, only for the family dinner to devolve into shouting, arguing, and eventually a duel? It's a very special Thanksgiving episode of Revolution and Ruin! Turgenev portrays a pre-revolutionary Russia, as nihilism and other ideas begin to circulate among the youth, causing friction and exasperation among their elders. Bazarov and Arkady try to test out their new ideological position, and learn whether or not one can be a young nihilist in love. Shownotes and discussion: http://theculturewedeserve.substack.com

Did women ruin the workplace? Is wokeness feminine? Is this credit card my friend? Is cancel culture Malthusian? etc etc. Yes, the political right will do anything it can to avoid talking about class, and their latest gambit is to blame women for destroying the institutions of our society with their..... feelings. And their gossip. Helen Andrews's THE GREAT FEMINIZATION essay is still making the rounds, so Jessa and Nico discuss which is worse: sexual assault or some young ladies making a TikTok in their workplace. Also whether Leah Libresco Sargeant's counter that wokeness isn't feminine so much as it is coming from a religious impulse holds up. Shownotes and references: http://theculturewedeserve.substack.com