Your Questions, Answered

After several trying months, Matt and Sam can finally discuss the lawsuit against KYE and Dissent magazine filed by Young Americans Foundation , the successor organization to Young Americans for Freedom. (We prevailed, for now anyway.) Then we turn to three SCOTUS rulings from the end of the session: (1) Biden vs Nebraska  (the student debt ruling); (2) Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard (the affirmative action ruling); and (3) 303 Creative LLC v. Elenis (the gay wedding website design ruling). Each of these rulings represents a victory for the conservative legal movement, an exercise of raw power by the court, and a blow to dignity and decent policy for millions of Americans. Taken together, they help us understand  the workings of the conservative intellectual pipeline — at law schools, fellowships, and well-endowed non-profits — to change federal policy. How do conservative institutions work together to (in the eyes of the law) turn victims into oppressors and vice versa? Listen to find out. Sources:Jennifer Schuessler, "Conservative Group Withdraws Lawsuit Against Left-Wing Podcast," New York Times, July 12, 2023John A. Andrew III, The Other Side of the Sixties: Young Americans for Freedom and the Rise of Conservative Politics (1997)Sarah Posner, "The Legal Muscle Leading the Fight to End the Separation of Church and State," Washington Spectator, April 1, 2007Emma Brown and Jon Swaine, "Amy Coney Barrett, Supreme Court Nominee, Spoke at Program Founded to Inspire a 'Distinctly Christian Worldview in Every Area of Law,'" Washington Post, September 27, 2020Melissa Gira Grant, "The Mysterious Case of the Fake Gay Marriage Website, the Real Straight Man, and the Supreme Court," New Republic, June 29, 2023Thomas Sowell, "The Day Cornell Died," Weekly Standard, October 30, 1999Katherine Stewart, The Power Worshippers: Inside the Dangerous Rise of Religious Nationalism (2020)...and don't forget to subscribe to Know Your Enemy on Patreon for access to all of our bonus episodes!

17 Juli 20231h 17min

Know Your Enemy presents: an episode of Ordinary Unhappiness — a new podcast about psychoanalysis with hosts Abby Kluchin and Patrick Blanchfield. Their guest? Sam Adler-Bell! In the episode that follows, we talk about how Sam came to study conservative thought from a leftist perspective and what role psychoanalysis plays in that project; discuss the libidinal satisfactions of conservative politics; and speculate about the contemporary absence of sophisticated right-wing psychoanalytic thinkers. Then they turn to a favorite writer, journalist Janet Malcolm, author of Psychoanalysis: The Impossible Profession and The Journalist and the Murderer. They talk about parallels between the role of the analyst and that of the journalist; interiors and interiority; secrets, thefts, and betrayals; the so-called “Freud wars”; and the internal politics of psychoanalytic institutions. Finally, they examine Malcolm’s famous claim that the task of the journalist is “morally indefensible” and its implications for the work of the analyst. Further reading: Sam Adler-Bell, "Janet Malcolm’s Dangerous Method," The New Republic, Mar 20, 2023Sam Adler-Bell, "Succession's Repetition Compulsion," The Nation,  Nov 10, 2021Hannah Gold, “Analysis Interminable: On Janet Malcolm,” The Nation, June 25, 2021.Janet Malcolm, Psychoanalysis: The Impossible Profession  (1982)— In The Freud Archives  (1984)— The Journalist and the Murderer  (1990)...and don't forget to subscribe to Know Your Enemy on Patreon for access to all of our bonus episodes! For more  Ordinary Unhappiness:  Linktree: https://linktr.ee/OrdinaryUnhappinessTwitter: @UnhappinessPodInstagram: @OrdinaryUnhappinessPatreon: patreon.com/OrdinaryUnhappiness

6 Juli 20231h 51min

Subscribe to Know Your Enemy on Patreon to listen to this bonus episode, and all of our bonus content: https://www.patreon.com/knowyourenemyIn this follow-up to "What's Wrong with Men?, Matt and Sam talk with the essayist and critic Phil Christman about his 2018 Hedgehog Review article, "What Is It Like To Be a Man?"—an article that figured prominently in their conversation—as well as two posts responding to the episode published on his always excellent Substack, The Tourist. They discuss how the discourse about men has evolved in recent years, the darker and more deranged consequences of an "abstract rage to protect," some of the ways gender and class might relate to each other, and more about Matt's psyche than you might care to know.Sources:Phil Christman, How To Be Normal (2022)"What Is It Like To Be a Man?" Hedgehog Review, Summer 2018"Guy stuff. Boy time. Brosephery." The Tourist, June 11, 2023"Manfulness. Hot guy stuff. Convening a bro-seph bro-dsky reading group." The Tourist, June 22, 2023Leonard Michaels, The Men’s Club, (1981)Rudyard Kipling, “If—“ (1941)

30 Juni 20232min

Subscribe to Know Your Enemy on Patreon to listen to this bonus episode, and all of our bonus content: https://www.patreon.com/knowyourenemyLast week, televangelist, businessman, conspiracy theorist, and former Republican presidential candidate Pat Robertson died at the age of 93. Though mostly known today for his deranged comments about homosexuality, abortion, feminism, and other "sins" causing everything from natural disasters to 9-11, Robertson had a major influence on the evolution of the Republican Party and the religious right. Where did Robertson come from, and what was distinctive about Robertson's theological and political views? What were the innovations of the Christian Coalition, the group he founded in 1987, in organizing conservative believers for the GOP? How did he respond to the end of the Cold War and adapt his message for the 1990s and the supposed advent of a "New World Order"?In this episode, Matt and Sam take up these questions and more, plus offer a discussion of James G. Watt, Ronald Reagan's first Secretary of the Interior, who died in late May. An evangelical Christian known for railing against the Beach Boys, his offensive comments about Native Americans and others, and using the supposed imminent return of Christ to justify destroying the environment.Sources:Pat Robertson obituaries: NYT, Washington PostJames G. Watt obituaries: NYT, Washington PostDaniel Schlozman, When Movements Anchor Parties: Electoral Alignments in American History (2016)Jacob Heilbrunn, "His Anti-Semitic Sources," New York Review of Books, April 20, 1995Pat Robertson, The New World Order (1991)James Conaway, "James Watt, In the Right with the Lord," Washington Post, April 27, 1983John Taylor "Pat Robertson’s God, Inc." Esquire, Nov 1994.

17 Juni 20233min

"Many men in this country are in crisis, and their ranks are swelling," Missouri Senator Josh Hawley said at the National Conservatism conference in 2021. "And that's not just a crisis for men. It's a crisis for the republic." Some version of this sentiment — that men are in trouble, adrift, or falling behind — is shared by writers and thinkers across the political spectrum. It's nearly impossible to open a magazine without finding an article about the state of manhood in America. Brookings Institution scholar Richard Reeves' 2022 book Of Boys and Men: Why the Modern Male Is Struggling, Why It Matters, and What to Do about It is a best-seller. Figures like Jordan Peterson and Andrew Tate attract huge audiences, serving as reactionary self-help gurus for young people eager to be told what a man is and how he should behave. One doesn't have to accept the right's framing of the problem — nor any kind of gender essentialism — to acknowledge the statistics: boys and men are falling behind in education, in work-force participation, and succumbing to drugs, alcoholism, and suicide. Hawley — apparently having stewed on the topic for two years — has just released a book on "manhood," which advises a revival of biblical virtues to guide the aimless young men of 21st century America. To pair with Hawley, we  read Harvey Mansfield's 2006 book on "manliness." Putting Hawley's evangelical Christian preaching in conversation with Mansfield's Straussian philosophical playfulness proved very constructive. Along the way, we talk about our own relationship to manhood and try to decide which (if any) of the virtues associated with maleness are worth preserving, defending, or even advising young men to embrace. Further reading: Harvey C. Mansfield, Manliness, Yale University Press, 2006.Joshua Hawley, Manhood: The Masculine Virtues America Needs, Regnery, 2023. Joshua Hawley, "America's Epicurean Liberalism," National Affairs, Fall 2010.Becca Rothfeld, "How to be a man? Josh Hawley has the (incoherent) answers," The Washington Post, May 18, 2023.  Phil Christman, "What Is It Like to Be a Man?" Hedgehog Review, Summer 2018.Martin Amis, "Return of the Male," London Review of Books, Dec 5, 1991. Martha Nussbaum, "Man Overboard," New Republic, June 22, 2006. Idrees Kahloon, "What's the Matter With Men?" The New Yorker, Jan 23, 2023.Zoë Heller, "How Toxic Is Masculinity?" The New Yorker, Aug 1, 2022. Lisa Miller, "Tate-Pilled What a generation of boys have found in Andrew Tate’s extreme male gospel." New York Magazine, Mar 14, 2023. ...and don't forget to subscribe to Know Your Enemy on Patreon for access to all of our bonus episodes!

5 Juni 20231h 51min

Subscribe to Know Your Enemy on Patreon to listen to this bonus episode, and all of our bonus content: https://www.patreon.com/knowyourenemyMatt and Sam take the pulse of the 2024 presidential race: Is DeSantis already doomed? Does Trump still have the juice? Can Biden handle a full campaign schedule? And how do you solve a problem like Kamala?The answers to these questions and more! Enjoy some rank punditry!SourcesNate Cohn, "Why Ron DeSantis Is Struggling," New York Times, May 5, 2023Shane Goldmacher, Maggie Haberman & Jonathan Swan, "Why Ron DeSantis Is Limping to the Starting Line," New York Times, May 13, 2023Reid J. Epstein & Shane Goldmacher, "Biden’s Slow Start Worries Democrats. Aides Insist All Is Well," New York Times, May 14, 2023Sam Adler-Bell, "The One Thing Trump Has That DeSantis Never Will," New York Times, Apr 10, 2023Matthew Sitman, "The 'Weekend at Bernie’s' Primary," Commonweal, Mar 3, 2020.

18 Maj 20232min

With the Writers Guild of America strike underway, the plight of television writers—especially their treatment in the age of streaming and artificial intelligence—is garnering new, and overdue, attention. Matt and Sam are joined by two friends of the podcast, Will Arbery and Dorothy Fortenberry, who write for major television shows: Will is a writer for HBO's Succession, and Dorothy for Apple TV+'s Extrapolations. They discuss how they write about political topics and themes, such as rightwing political candidates or the effects of climate change, in these fraught times, when the demands of good art can seem in tension with a simplistic and moralistic culture. Also discussed: parents, children, and families, now and in the coming climate crisis; how and whether people can change; and, of course, the WGA strike and why it matters.Sources Cited:Michael Schulman, "Why Are TV Writers So Miserable," The New Yorker, Apr 29, 2023Alex Press, "TV Writers Say They’re Striking to Stop the Destruction of Their Profession," Jacobin, May 3, 2023.Sam Adler-Bell, "Succession's Repetition Compulsion," The Nation, Nov 10, 2021.Pope Francis, Laudato si’ (“On Care for Our Common Home”), May 2015Listen to previous Know Your Enemy episodes with these guests:"We Can Be Heroes" (w/ Will Arbery), November 11, 2019"Suburban Woman" (w/ Dorothy Fortenberry), October 29, 2020"Living at the End of Our World" (w/ Daniel Sherrell & Dorothy Fortenberry), September 2, 2021...and don't forget to subscribe to Know Your Enemy on Patreon for access to all of our bonus episodes!

4 Maj 20231h 16min

Subscribe to Know Your Enemy on Patreon to listen to this bonus episode, and all of our bonus content: https://www.patreon.com/knowyourenemyThe boys discuss Matt's recent Dissent essay on the 845-page report of the "Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol." What did the Jan 6 report — and the committee's work — achieve? Was the report a missed opportunity? How should political actors navigate the relationship between historical constraints and contingency? And is there a way to wed the Democrats' eagerness to "defend democracy," as such, with a more robust program for social and economic justice? We puzzle it out.Sources:Matthew Sitman, "Will Be Wild," Dissent, Apr 18, 2023.Jill Lepore, "What the January 6th Report is Missing," The New Yorker, Jan 9, 2023.David Sirota, "The Long American Meltdown Led to the January 6 Insurrection" Jacobin, Jan 6, 2022Sam Adler-Bell, "Is the January 6 Committee Really Saving Democracy?" New York Magazine, Jul 11, 2022.Executive Summary of the Jan 6 Report

29 Apr 20231min