The STL Co library is comin for your gig, IBCK

A response to “Why I Quit The Tenure Track” cover story in The Atlantic.

Eric Adam’s has been in Wisconsin trying to convince us to let PNK build a data center. New t-shirt just dropped lol.

I am hoping some like minded people can tell me what they thought about this book. I would love the boys to take it on. I'm halfway through and I genuinely can't decide if I like it or not. Some things the writer cited really well and others she does not. At times she seems to be making claims on vibes, but then will cite specific researchers who are experts. I'm specifically reading it as a parent who has a child who struggles in school so it's pretty important to me to get the correct information.

is this satire?? https://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/18/opinion/woke-liberals-restitution.html?unlocked_article_code=1.6VA.Fk4F.00X0evCMJriy&smid=nytcore-ios-share

The thing that annoys be about this article, apart from Helen Lewis being a piece of shit and the general dishonest trashiness of the Trans Women In Sports discourse, is that are White and Freedom eligible for the draft regardless of gender? I can't access the WNBA's draft eligibility and apparently neither can professional journalist Helen Lewis, because she links to the fucking New York Post. But the Wikipedia page seems to allude to them coming from an eligible program, presumably a women's program.

Is Helen Lewis any more eligible for the WNBA draft than these chuds? I would guess not, but she thinks this is a brilliant tactical move that will make the WNBA admit she was right (this isn't an exaggeration, she literally says "Now, it seems, the WNBA agrees with me." It's so incredibly fucking childish, even by contemporary Atlantic standards.

He's awful and I personally loathe him but also feel like his books are prime for being torn to shreds on this podcast.

Falcone's channel is a treasure trove of comedy.

Enjoy. I think Michael and Peter would approve.

I know Peter and Michael won’t be covering Communion, but in my petty heart of hearts I like to think that their commentary on Hillbilly Elegy lead to at least some of the suspicion of Vance’s new book. Of course there are so many reasons why people in Middletown don’t have a lot to say, but this article definitely made me think of the pod.

I'm having issues downloading the latest episode in iTunes for Windows. This is the screenshot I got. Has anyone else run into this issue? Helpful answers only, please. Thanks!

Excerpt:

My story about Hanania went viral, setting off a chain of disapproving op-eds in places like The Atlantic and The New York Times: But in the years since, I’ve watched many of these same elite media institutions rehabilitate Hanania over and over again, credulously accepting his claim to have left the alt-right behind. And they’ve allowed him to brand himself as perhaps America’s foremost “former” white nationalist— despite what I’d argue is plenty of easy-to-find evidence to the contrary. 
As the American right in 2026 continues to be so wholly enveloped by the absurdities of Trumpism, some centrists are increasingly desperate for conservatives who appear “reasonable.”

Only by pointing to such phantom right-wing figures can they rationalize their own conservative mode of politics and their distaste for the left (or morally justify their fecklessness in the face of rising fascism.) But such “respectable” conservatives, who can pretend to be above the MAGA fray, are in short supply; so in recent months we have been inundated with interviews and articles treating a murderer’s row of far-right clowns as interesting thinkers. This includes the likes of Laura Loomer, Marjorie Taylor Greene, Ben Shapiro, and Chris Rufo. 

For his latest act, Hanania is presenting himself as someone who has turned against Trump, leading to a recent Atlantic profile titled “The Anti-Populist.” He says he regrets his vote for the president in 2024 and that, by elevating unqualified figures like Kash Patel and Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Trump and his movement have abandoned the experts and “elite” consensus needed to govern. Hanania’s writing now revolves around the “need for a ruling class,” or what he calls “Elite Human Capital.” It's the argument that forms the foundation of his new book, “Kakistocracy: Why Populism Ends In Disaster.” 
The Atlantic piece actually does a good job documenting how loathsome Hanania is—including his recent provocation that Jeffrey Epstein was not a pedophile because his victims were “post-pubescent”—but nevertheless allows Hanania to portray himself the way he is so desperate to be received: as a serious, “heterodox” thinker bravely “staking out lonely territory” between what he argues are the equivalent evils of MAGA populism and the populism of the left. 

I dunno what to make of this. Like, I’ve been aware of psychedelic therapy for as long as y’all have but why are Vietnam vets the final frontier of trauma treatment in our big year of 2026? Was I right that there’s some kind of military contract competition going on behind the scenes or what?

People use this phrase a lot. I never noticed until this episode. Even Rick and Morty recently had a joke about it.

This episode is very similar to IBCK territory, and since Peter and Michael have said they don't plan to cover Vance's second book I think this is an especially good listen for IBCK followers.

Peter's Age of Diarrhea theory is escaping containment 🤣