you have to see Chris Morris' The Day Shall Come

The secret plot = q anon. The Hero =Trump

that is why cross of iron is such a powerful film

There's also the other, tinier subset of the prestige jingo film: the military or war-zone comedy. Remember the 2016 Tina Fey-Martin Freeman Afghanistan war-journalism film "Whiskey Tango Foxtrot"? No? How about the 2001 film "Buffalo Soldiers" (starring Joaquin Phoenix), which though it was set during 1988-89 on a US Army base in West Germany, was considered unpatriotic because Phoenix's enlisted character is a black marketeer and involved in making heroin. "Buffalo Soldiers" premiered everywhere else in 2001 but had to be held until 2003 for premier in the United States, and there was still an uproar because we were invading Iraq.

The response to Ben Affleck is "If the Shah wasn't America's favorite Middle Eastern monarch in the 1970s, why did we sell him the then state-of-the-art F-14 Tomcat fighter? They were going to use the planes to scare off Soviet MiG-25 photo-recon aircraft because the F-4 Phantom jet fighters we had sold the Imperial Iranian Air Force in the early 1970s could not reach the operating altitude of the MiG-25s. Don't tell us this was because Bank Melli had bailed out Grumman (the manufacturer of the F-14) a few years previously. So what is it, Ben?"

This was THE ONE of the three you have discussed that pissed me off the most. I hated the CIA torturer guy with the pet monkey, I disliked Maya, I hated that killing bin Laden was made to be the only way out because of the stupid "use helicopters" plan, and even that partially failed (with Pakistan getting a wrecked "stealth" helicopter out of it.) They try to make their paranoia and the misery inflicted all seem worthwhile by re-enacting the 2009 Camp Chapman attack, where the CIA got suicide-bombed by a triple agent. It's all psychotic garbage that helped to prime the Trump voter base in the last election, that and "American Sniper." The reality of anti-partisan/"terrorist" actions is perfectly depicted in Efim Klimov's "Come and See" (1987), which is about the German Army and Waffen-SS rampaging together through occupied White Russia (Belarus) in 1943, as seen by a raw recruit Soviet partisan "soldier" who can't be older than 15. "Schindler's List" wishes it was this movie.

Citaitons Needed Marathon I need to do

Media personality and pal of ours, Jamie Peck joins Jake to discuss what the fuck was going on during the Indie Sleaze era, why people are talking about it again, how it relates to our respective lives, and why we're throwing a SHOW about it that's also my birthday here in Los Angeles (TICKET LINK BELOW).

JAMIE PECK
https://linktr.ee/jamiepeck
@jamie_elizabeth
@ELCPod
https://www.patreon.com/everybodylovescommunism

THE WOKE MOB
https://www.youtube.com/@TheWokeMob

CRIME WAVE
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/crime-wave-an-indie-sleaze-party-tickets-785522397637?aff=oddtdtcreator

SOURCES
https://www.vice.com/en/article/d383aq/did-the-era-of-the-strokes-set-rock-and-roll-back
https://www.meetmeinthebathroomfilm.com/

MERCH
poddamnamerica.bigcartel.com

PATREON + DISCORD
patreon.com/poddamnamerica

Crime Wave w/ Jamie Peck

To hear the full episode, subscribe at patreon.com/TrueAnonPod
--------
After months of anti-Palestinian repression, raids, arrests, and pictures of crusty antifa types with Israeli flags, we attempt to figure out the roots and solutions to the philosemitic fever gripping Germany’s media and political class.

Episode 364: What's Up With Germany: Part 1 (preview)

Join us, as we plunge into unexplored depths, into hell itself, to discover why you have to PAY TO DO YOUR FUCKING TAXES IN THIS COUNTRY.

SOURCES:
https://www.propublica.org/article/inside-turbotax-20-year-fight-to-stop-americans-from-filing-their-taxes-for-free
https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/24071005/irs-direct-file-free-tax-software-turbotax-review

OTHER PODS
@vanquishedpod
@idkypod
@whyyoumadpod

MERCH
poddamnamerica.bigcartel.com

PATREON + DISCORD
patreon.com/poddamnamerica

DARK PATTERNS: THE ODIOUS WORLD OF TAX SOFTWARE

Kyle Kern aka @laborkyle joins Jake to talk about Alex Garland's big dumb radical centrist film, Civil War.

KYLE KERN
@laborkyle
@horrorvanguard
@agabpod
https://www.youtube.com/laborkyle

MERCH
poddamnamerica.bigcartel.com

PATREON + DISCORD
patreon.com/poddamnamerica

Civil War w/ Kyle Kern

In this public News Brief, we discuss Establishment reaction to pro-Palestinian protests on US campuses, from liberal handwringing to police crackdowns to therapy-speak.

News Brief: Campus Anti-Genocide Protests & the Weaponization of Squishy Bad Faith "Safety" Rhetoric

Will & Hesse talk to Radu Jude, the director of the new comedy feature Do Not Expect Too Much from the End of the World. The film features an overworked production assistant as she drives around Bucharest shooting videos for a large multinational company as a satire of the malaise and indignity of modern life. Will, Hesse and Radu discuss the film’s send-up of TikTok masculinity influencers, the relationship with earlier films edited into the movie, the various versions of Romania Jude depicts and much more..  

Do Not Expect Too Much from the End of the World is now in theaters and will be streaming on MUBI starting May 3.

Movie Mindset

Movie Mindset Bonus: Interview With Director Radu Jude

Well, here we are.  The Julian loyalists are facing off against the Western Rockatansky forces as veteran journalist Mike Prysner (Eyes Left Podcast, Empire Files) remains a neutral and unwavering eye.  The result?  Total destruction of all three of our brains as we struggle our way through a showing of A24’s “Civil War.”  We’ll look at everything from interviews with the film’s director to its reception by various audiences alike in an attempt to understand how and why this film was made.  So, grab your squad, pop an XP token, and join us as we breach the Oval Office in an effort to make sense of “Civil War.” 

Subscribe for $5 a month to get an extra episode of QAA every week + access to ongoing series like Manclan, Trickle Down, Perverts and The Spectral Voyager: www.patreon.com/QAA

Editing by Corey Klotz. Theme by Nick Sena. Additional music by Pontus Berghe. Theme Vocals by THEY/LIVE (instagram.com/theyylivve / sptfy.com/QrDm). Cover Art by Pedro Correa: (pedrocorrea.com)

Mike Prysner: https://www.twitter.com/MikePrysner

Empire Files: https://www.patreon.com/empirefiles

Earth's Greatest Enemy: https://earthsgreatestenemy.com/

https://www.qaapodcast.com

QAA was formerly known as the QAnon Anonymous podcast.

Civil War Movie Night feat Mike Prysner (Premium E242) Sample

Relatives of Michael Flynn tried and failed to sue CNN because they didn’t like being associated with QAnon (despite saying “Where we go one we go all” on camera.) The QAnon community reacts to Donald Trump’s ongoing legal woes. And Jesse Watters continues to prove that he’s the most Q pilled of all the Fox News hosts.

REFERENCES

CNN: Watch CNN Go Inside A Gathering of QAnon Followers
https://www.cnn.com/videos/business/2021/02/05/inside-qanon-culture-meeting-donie-osullivan-pkg-ctn-vpx.cnn

Above The Law: Flynn Family’s SLAPP Suit Against CNN Slapped Down By Judge
https://abovethelaw.com/2024/04/flynn-familys-slapp-suit-against-cnn-slapped-down-by-judge/

Media Matters: Fox News host Jesse Watters tells QAnon influencer he loves and follows him on social media: “We'll be in touch”
https://www.mediamatters.org/qanon-conspiracy-theory/fox-news-host-jesse-watters-tells-qanon-influencer-he-loves-and-follows-him

Subscribe for $5 a month to get an extra episode of QAA every week + access to ongoing series like Manclan, Trickle Down, Perverts and The Spectral Voyager: www.patreon.com/QAA
Editing by Corey Klotz. Theme by Nick Sena. Theme Vocals by THEY/LIVE (instagram.com/theyylivve / sptfy.com/QrDm). Cover Art by Pedro Correa: (https://pedrocorrea.com)
https://qaapodcast.com/

QAA was formerly known as the QAnon Anonymous podcast.

Trump and The Flynns vs. The Law (E277)

In this News Brief, we breakdown the White House's latest attempt to arm and fund Israeli war crimes while looking like helpless. bumbling humanitarians.

News Brief: Axios, NYT Help White House Obscure Their Role in Rafah Invasion

We take a walk down memory lane and revisit some of our least favorite characters: newly indicted CFO of the Epoch Times Bill Guan, the Falun Gong’s relationship with the media organization, and just why Brandon’s DOJ might be cutting ties to the erstwhile propaganda frenemy. ALSO: why are we doing GAMESTOP fun pumps again??? 

Michael Pack interview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C0A8EeTUDAc

Check out our previous episodes: 

Falun Gong 1 
https://www.patreon.com/posts/episode-283-gong-81457652
Falun Gong 2 
https://www.patreon.com/posts/episode-284-gong-81692584
Falun Gong 3
https://www.patreon.com/posts/episode-286-gong-81973328
Falun Gong 3.5
https://www.patreon.com/posts/episode-288-gong-82335095?l=es

Freakanomics 
https://www.patreon.com/posts/episode-134-47100466

Haters and Losers
https://www.patreon.com/posts/episode-317-and-88759543

Episode 384: Epoch End Times

“Obama lauds small business owners in his State of the Union,” announced The Washington Post. “I have always said that there is nothing more optimistic – perhaps maybe getting married – than starting a small business,” Speaker Nancy Pelosi tells us. “John Kerry would raise taxes on 900,000 small businesses,” insisted a reelection ad for George W. Bush.

Everywhere we turn we are centering the needs of and reminded of the glowing status of the “small business.” They are the bipartisan holiest of holies in our economy – the scrappy little guy that also props up the moral pillars of capitalism – evidence that with a little elbow grease and knowhow anyone can build a business in their image. Small businesses are one of two major vehicles for COVID-19 relief – a wholly uncontroversial good that both parties, all ideologies, everyone!, can agree are worth protecting and prioritizing. 

But what do pundits and politicians mean exactly when they say “small business”? How does our romantic vision of “small business” match up with reality, and how is their plight used as a messaging vanguard to strip away environmental and labor regulations, tort protections, taxes and a host of safeguards against corporate greed?

The rhetoric forces the evocation of a wholesome image of a Mom-and-Pop candy store in Appleton, Wisconsin, in order to push for laws that will ultimately benefit hedge funds, Dupont and Koch Industries, and a murderers row of polluters and worker abusers.

Our guests are Public Citizen's Lisa Gilbert and Street Fight Radio's Bryan Quinby.

Episode 111: How “Small Business” Rhetoric Is Used to Protect Corporate America

The United States and its close allies Saudi Arabia and Israel have been bombing and occupying large sections of the so-called “Muslim world” for decades – drastically ramping up after the 9/11 attacks and seemingly with no end in sight. The U.S., like all empires, cannot operate a large, complex system premised on violence, meddling and subjugation without a moral pretext. This moral pretext, even before 9/11, was primarily about fighting a war on so-called “Terrorism” or “Islamic extremism” while allegedly promoting “stability,” “freedom” and “democracy.”

Along with American news media’s constant fear-mongering over scary Muslims lurking in the shadows, a major pillar propping up this moral pretext is pop culture – namely the cultural products coming out of Hollywood. Our decades-long "War on Terror" would no doubt be much more difficult to sustain without a constant reminder from TV and film that, despite the fact that the average American is more likely to be killed by a vending machine than a terrorist attack, the threat of Islamic terrorism remains ever-present and existential, marked by an inevitable “clash of civilizations” devoid of context or any notion that the U.S. is a primary driver of violence across the globe.

Over the course of three episodes, we'll be taking a look at how Hollywood’s television and studio film output helps prop up America’s military aggression in the Middle East, engages in both casual and explicit racism, strips conflicts of any historical or imperial context pushes the idea the only Good Muslim is a snitch or CIA agent, and generally leaves its audience angry and ill-informed. 

In this episode, we review Hollywood’s long history of anti-Muslim racism in both classic and campy action/adventure films and TV and how it both primed us for – and sustains – the never-ending and self-perpetuating "War on Terror."

Episode 113: Hollywood & Anti-Muslim Racism (Part 1) - Action and Adventure Schlock

Our cultural context for understanding what we see on the news and hear in our politics, is often informed by the films and TV shows we’ve grown up watching. Pop culture is powerful and persuasive, and — for a century now — racist, Orientalist and cartoonish portrayals of Arabs and Muslims have littered our screens, big and small. This is the second episode in our three-part Citations Needed series on anti-Muslim racism in Hollywood. On Part I, we discussed big budget action and adventure films like Delta Force, American Sniper and True Lies, where Muslims get blown away at every turn.

But not every movie and TV show is quite so overt in its vilification of the designated enemy. Since the release of these movies, the state curated narrative in film has diversified, broadening to include savvier Oscar-bait productions in which anti-Muslim racism is dressed up in elaborate plot structures and supposedly nuance "debates".

Films like Argo, Syriana, and Zero Dark Thirty are lauded for their ostensible complexity, subtlety, and nuance, such as their willingness to suggest that government agencies like the CIA are bloated and bureaucratic. Instead of scenes with a tough action hero bodyslamming or mowing down teeming hordes of Muslim terrorists, these films are part of a smarter genre of jingoistic action film — the prestige thriller — featuring flawed protagonists, some meta comedy, and women CIA agents excelling in a historically male-dominated field of coups and torture. 

But ultimately, they project the same tired nationalism and ideology reinforcement just in a sleeker, more modern form. On this episode, we’ll examine how anti-Muslim and anti-Arab propaganda is disseminated through the contemporary prestige thriller genre.

We're joined by historian, artist and author Maytha Alhassen.

Episode 114: Anti-Muslim Racism in Hollywood (Part II) - Oscar-Bait Imperialism

For over a hundred years, the American film industry has been promoting and glorifying U.S. foreign policy, initially working with the military and Department of Defense, and eventually, the CIA as well. From its origins as a producer of wartime propaganda like 1911’s The Military Air-Scout to its contemporary role as purveyor of high-tech action epics like Iron Man, Hollywood and the American war machine reinforce each other — myth and politics intertwine.

In the process, the entertainment industry has reaped handsome rewards. Producers, directors, and other top brass in the entertainment industry are lavished with military equipment for filming, personal tours of government headquarters, and inside information — or at least what government officials want filmmakers to believe is inside information — all under the guise of lending “authenticity” and “realism” to film and, to an extent, television shows as well.

But what are the costs of this so-called “authenticity?” How do the U.S. military and intelligence agencies use benign-sounding partnerships like “on-set consulting” and “equipment loaning” arrangements to shape and censor narratives so they make American Empire look, at worst bumbling and good natured, and, at best, heroic and pure hearted?

In Parts I and II of this three-part series on Hollywood and anti-Muslim racism, we analyzed over half a dozen films and TV shows, illustrating how state-driven narratives of U.S. nationalism and vilification of an official enemies animate Hollywood’s cultural products, namely those targeting Arabs and Iranians. On this episode, we’ll explore the intersection of U.S. military and intelligence agencies with Hollywood, taking a closer look at how the military state helps shape films and television showing that pro-U.S. messaging used to smear Muslims doesn’t happen in a vacuum, but is often subsidized by the very forces dropping bombs on them.

Our guest is Professor Matthew Alford, co-author of National Security Cinema: The Shocking New Evidence of Government Control in Hollywood.

Ep 115: Hollywood & Anti-Muslim Racism Part III - How the Pentagon & CIA Sponsor American Mythmaking

By now, it's largely taken for granted that country music is a racialized signifier, interchangeable with right-wing politics. And it’s not such an unreasonable generalization: the political currents of twanged and drawled patriotic paeans like Lee Greenwood's "God Bless the USA," Toby Keith's "Courtesy of the Red, White, and Blue (The Angry American)," and Brooks & Dunn's "Only In America" leave little to the imagination.

But how, exactly, did this come to be? After all, country music, a descendant of the blues, folk, Tejano, and other genres, with connections to labor organizations like the Industrial Workers of the World and social-justice movements, has historically attracted musicians spanning the political spectrum, and didn’t necessarily emerge from such a staunchly right-wing political tradition.

Rather, popular conceptions of country music have long been deliberately shaped by a series of broader ideological projects. Throughout the 20th and early 21st centuries, conservative politicians and other right-wing forces have exploited the genre to promote illiberalism, racism, revanchist politics, and runaway anti-intellectualism where not giving a shit about the world beyond one’s own cold beer, pickup truck, old lady is not only acceptable, but actively encouraged and flaunted. 

On this episode, we examine how the genre of country music has been wielded as a tool of reactionary politicking in the US, from the machinations of Henry Ford in the 1920s to the Nixon administration’s Southern Strategy in the 1960s and ‘70s to the heady Shock and Y’all days of the Bush years, and how a once working-class tradition became a cultural cul de sac of worn-out tropes and middle-class, white grievance politics.  

Our guest is writer, editor and artist Alexander Billet.

Episode 119: How the Right Shaped Pop Country Music

Citations Needed is a podcast about the media, power, PR, and the history of bullshit. It is hosted by Nima Shirazi and Adam Johnson, and produced by Florence Barrau-Adams.

Episode 114: Anti-Muslim Racism in Hollywood (Part II) - Oscar-Bait Imperialism

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