Matt Christman goes off live on http://www.twitch.tv/chapotraphouse
Topics: Schizophrenic bourgeois mind, life, death

Grill Stream

262 - Hyperborean Chamber II: In Through the Out Door 09.18.23

"Hitler was a product of his time," historian Kent Gardner told us in 1975, just thirty years after the end of World War II. "Was Frank Rizzo racist, or just a product of his time?" The Philadelphia Inquirer pondered in 2017 about the city's notoriously racist former police commissioner and mayor just 26 years after his death. "Christopher Columbus, no saint, was product of his time," explained a 2013 commentary in the Staten Island Advance.

We often hear this sentiment in reference to historical atrocities. Slaveowners, colonizers, genocidal tyrants, and right-wing bigots from decades or centuries past didn't know any better. They were simply responding to the time and place in which they lived — a different time, marked by different social mores, moral standards, and laws.

While it's perhaps fair to cite this cliche to explain, rather than justify, awkward song lyrics or offensive language and stereotypes used in movies from decades ago. But it's an entirely different issue with respect to how we venerate and remember the past. Especially since, in the most popular cases, famous people’s bad actions were roundly criticized, at the time.

Long popular as a catch-all to hand-wave away the misdeeds of slaveowners, colonizers and war mongers, Increasingly educational movements on the American right––from Ron DeSantis trying to remake history education to conservative propaganda targeting kids like PragerU — this "product of its time" cliché and its close cousin "don't judge the past by the standards of today" is making a bit of comeback, if it ever went away at all.

The defensive, superficially appealing cliche is a popular go-to for those who think we shouldn't criticize the supposedly sacrosanct secular deities of our past — from George Washington to Ronald Reagan. But the whole concept operates under a glaring double standard: how can we take pride in and venerate the supposedly good things Americans in history did but ignore and dismiss the bad things? How can we pick and choose our moral inheritance at will? How does the need for us to downplay slavery, colonization, and Jim Crow continue to be such a strong political force? And whose interests does this down-playing serve in 2023?

On this episode, we dissect the notion that the reactionary forces of history have just been "products of their time." We'll explore the ways in which this and related concepts are not only inaccurate, but also convenient instruments of right-wing historical revisionism, and how the need to make people feel good about our civic mythology makes for bad history, and even worse politics.

Our guest is historian and museum educator Erin Bartram.

Ep 189: PragerU, the 'Product Of His Time' Defense & the White Guilt Amelioration Industrial Complex

Annual Halloween Special featuring Frank Hurricane, John Haywood, Caleb Hanson, Tommy Anderson, and Ken Layne. Music by Lee Bains III, production, editing and additional sound design by Matthew Carter, and artwork by Hayden Miles.

Bonus: 2023 Trillbillies Halloween Special-Spectral Valley

In January and February of last year, the normal operations of Canada's capital city of Ottawa were disrupted by the so-called Freedom Convoy. The convoy involved hundreds of trucks and personal vehicles and thousands of protestors at its peak, who made a lot of noise and blocked traffic before finally being cleared out.

The initial convoy movement was created to protest vaccine mandates for crossing the United States border, but later evolved into a protest about COVID-19 mandates in general. Beginning January 22, 2023, vehicles formed convoys from several points and traversed Canadian provinces before converging on Ottawa on January 29, 2022, with a rally at Parliament Hill. The convoy was condemned by the trucking industry and labor groups. The Canadian Trucking Alliance stated that most protesters had no connection to trucking. 

That all came to an end on February 14, when Prime Minister Justin Trudeau invoked the Emergencies Act for the first time since its passing in 1988. Between February 17 and 20, a large joint-operation police presence in Ottawa arrested organizers and protesters, removed parked vehicles, and dismantled blockades from Ottawa streets.

Just a few months ago a new protest movement emerged, taking inspiration from both that convoy movement and anti-gay and trans protest movements. This one is called The Save the Children Convoy. Since this new convoy was announced, it has been subject to allegations of plans of criminal violence, infighting, and the leaders have invoked sovereign citizen and QAnon concepts. 

We talk to Luke LeBrun, editor of the publication PressProgress, about this developing story and what members of the Save The Children convoy want.


REFERENCES

Canada’s Far-Right is Planning a Convoy to Toronto to ‘Save the Children’. It’s Already Spinning Out of Control.
https://pressprogress.ca/canadas-far-right-is-planning-a-convoy-to-toronto-to-save-the-children-its-already-spinning-out-of-control/

Far-Right ‘Save the Children Convoy’ Gathering at Rural Base Camp Outside Ottawa
https://pressprogress.ca/far-right-save-the-children-convoy-gathering-at-rural-base-camp-outside-ottawa/

‘Save the Children Convoy’ Leaders Plotted to Capture Police and MPs at Secret Meetings, Participants Allege
https://pressprogress.ca/save-the-children-convoy-leaders-plotted-to-capture-police-and-mps-at-secret-meetings-participants-allege/

‘Save the Children Convoy’ Leader Calls for Jailing Politicians and Replacing Government in QAnon-Inspired Speech
https://pressprogress.ca/save-the-children-convoy-leader-calls-for-jailing-politicians-and-replacing-government-in-qanon-inspired-speech/

‘Save the Children Convoy’ Says Conservative MP Invited Them Into House of Commons as ‘VIP’ Guests
https://pressprogress.ca/save-the-children-convoy-says-conservative-mp-invited-them-into-house-of-commons-as-vip-guests/

Episode 253: The Canadian Save The Children Convoy

Bill Gates and his "philanthropic" foundation. We've heard the conspiracy theories — but what if the reality was damning enough? Our guest is Tim Schwab, journalist and author of The Bill Gates Problem: Reckoning with the Myth of the Good Billionaire.

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

QAA x Goosecult Party on Saturday December 16th: https://dice.fm/event/e8pkd-qaa-podcast-x-goosecult-party-w-john-vanderslice-16th-dec-the-goldfish-los-angeles-tickets

The Bill Gates Problem: Reckoning with the Myth of the Good Billionaire: https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250291431
Tim Schwab: https://twitter.com/TimothyWSchwab

Music by Nick Sena.

http://qanonanonymous.com

Episode 255: Busy Bill Gates feat Tim Schwab

Recorded 11/16/23

Support us on Patreon: www.patreon.com/trillbillyworkersparty

Episode 317: Ye Workers Of Iniquity

We take a look at the life and times of the embattled New York Mayor Eric Adams, who is facing tough questions from both the FBI and Manhattan prosecutors about his campaign's relationship with... Turkey? Featuring: straw donors, the Safdie Brothers, Ed Koch, open relationships, and plant-based diets.

Episode 336: Mr. Mayor Goes to Turkey

Libs of TikTok is the name of a social media presence on Facebook, Twitter, and other platforms run by a woman named Chaya Raichik. In just a few years it has catapulted from a relative unknown to a right-wing media force. Raichik mostly reposts videos, photos, and screenshots designed to stir the ire of her followers. The vast majority of her output concerns the LGBTQ community, for example calling out teachers for sharing their pronouns with students and hospitals for offering gender-affirming care. The accounts have been amplified by the likes of Joe Rogan, Glenn Greenwald, and other big names.

The account’s posts often include the names, social media handles, and other identifying information of its subjects, leading to harassment campaigns against the individuals and organizations it spotlights. Raichik’s obsessions often go on to become mainstream topics of conservative discourse. She commands the attention of some of America’s most powerful right-wing politicians, and her influence has empowered the account’s conservative fanbase to threaten and protest children’s hospitals, teachers, school districts, drag shows, and more.

To get a better idea of the real world impact of Libs of Tik Tok, we are joined by Will Carless. He is a reporter for USA Today and he recently published an investigation titled “When Libs of TikTok tweets, threats increasingly follow.” And for this report, Carless got a rare personal interview with Raichik herself.

REFERENCES

Michael Flynn and family pocketed leftover money from his legal defense fund, filing claims
https://www.semafor.com/article/11/13/2023/michael-flynn-and-family-pocketed-leftover-money-from-legal-defense-fund-filing-claims

The AP incorrectly reported that QAnon Shaman Jacob Chansley has “disavowed the QAnon movement” as he plans an Arizona congressional campaign
https://www.mediamatters.org/associated-press/ap-incorrectly-reported-qanon-shaman-jacob-chansley-has-disavowed-qanon-movement

When Libs of TikTok tweets, threats increasingly follow
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/investigations/2023/11/02/libs-of-tiktok-tweets-death-bomb-threats/71409213007/

TIMELINE: The impact of Libs of TikTok told through the educators, health care providers, librarians, LGBTQ people, and institutions that have been harassed and violently threatened
https://www.mediamatters.org/libs-tiktok/timeline-impact-libs-tiktok-told-through-educators-health-care-providers-librarians

Episode 256: Libs Of TikTok And Bomb Threats of Schools feat. Will Carless

The latest news about shrimp, climate summits, Henry Kissinger, Democratic politics, and Israel/Palestine

Sign up for our Patreon for more great content: www.patreon.com/trillbillyworkersparty

Episode 319: Krill Kings

Promoting pizzagate, joking about QAnon and telling advertisers to go fuck themselves. Elon Musk is a hilarious guy and we all appreciate his sense of humor. Which is why he'll appreciate our "jokes" about his connections to Jeffrey Epstein. Plus we chat about Marjorie Taylor Greene attempting to revive the Seth Rich conspiracy theory.

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: https://www.patreon.com/QAnonAnonymous

QAA x Goosecult Party on Saturday December 16th: https://dice.fm/event/e8pkd-qaa-podcast-x-goosecult-party-w-john-vanderslice-16th-dec-the-goldfish-los-angeles-tickets

Music by Nick Sena.

http://qanonanonymous.com

Episode 257: Elon Strolls Through The Pizzagate

Annie Kelly is back in the Peak District to delve further into an ongoing struggle between the peaceful residents of Cressbrook Dale and a rogue band of doomsday farmers led by former “Dragon’s Den” host, Rachel Elnaugh.  This time, Annie will be speaking to residents and hapless hikers who have been accosted by Rachel’s followers and their recon drones.   She’ll also unpack a mysterious “anti-Rachel” website that popped up after being advertised on flyers distributed in the area, in the hopes of discovering just who might be behind it.  Here’s a hint… it’s not the residents.   

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

Music by Pontus Berghe and NAP. Editing by Corey Klotz.

https://qanonanonymous.com

Episode 259:  Pilled in the Peak District (Part 2)

Conspiracy theories, melted online communities and cursed media — we pry open the cracks in consensus reality and journey into the hidden worlds below. The QAA Podcast is a mix of reporting, comedy, and history hosted by Jake Rockatansky, Travis View, and Julian Feeld along with co-hosts Annie Kelly, Liv Agar and Brad Abrahams. Formerly known as the QAnon Anonymous podcast.