“Jaw Clench Study Takes Tax Dollars,” United Press International cautioned in 1975. “‘Shrimp On A Treadmill’: Rand Paul Mocks National Science Foundation Studies,” Forbes reported in 2021. “Gov't waste report finds $400K spent to give lonely rats cocaine: 'Absurd',” Fox News told viewers in 2024. 

According to these headlines, a wasteful, woke liberal government has been squandering taxpayer money on something wholly undeserving: frivolous scientific studies. Tens of thousands to millions of dollars, we’re told, are being handed out like candy so scientists can sit around watching monkeys clench their jaws, putting shrimp on treadmills, and give cocaine to rats. And who gets to choose which studies are funded? Wasteful ultra woke organizations like the National Science Foundation, National Institutes of Health, and Health and Human Services. 

It’s true that some research doesn’t end up having much practical relevance––indeed this is the nature of scientific inquiry! There are sometimes cul-de-sacs and wrong paths. But the majority of the time, studies that are trivialized in media and on the Senate floor aren’t superfluous at all. 

While soundbites like “shrimp on a treadmill” might paint a ridiculous picture, they’re also taken out of context, obscuring the scientific merit and moral import of the research and researchers, who work for years on often obscure, tedious lines of inquiry only to have their lives’ work reduced to a cheap punchline by bad-faith demagogues playing to the public’s ignorance and lizard brain impulses. 

So, why is this media and political punchline so popular? And what’s the agenda of the lawmakers and media organizations that denigrate and misrepresent research and science more broadly, and the larger current of conspicuous anti-intellectualism that has always been present in American political culture, but in the last ten years has entirely taken over the modern American Right? 

On this episode, we discuss the decades-old, anti-intellectual gambit of mocking and attacking the “frivolous study,” examining how it warps and devalues science and international cooperation in a broader effort to defund public institutions, both scientific and otherwise.

Our guest is Brenda Ekwurzel, Senior Director of Scientific Excellence at the Union of Concerned Scientists.

Ep 221: Anti-Science Mugging on the Right and the Ascent of American Anti-Intellectualism

We talk through the US entering the fray between Israel and Iran, the so-called anti-war MAGA coalition, and why everyone should have a nuke.

Previously: ROGUE STATE: Israel's Bomb (https://podcast.trueanon.com/?q=nuke#95112891)

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Episode 468: Bomb Iran

This week we're joined by returning guest Tracy Rosenthal to discuss the Zohran Mamdani mayoral campaign: how it was shaped, how it won the Democratic Primary, what it may look like going forward, and how the rest of the media and political class is reacting to it. But first, we catch up on some housekeeping re: Israel and the U.S.'s war against Iran, and talk very briefly about Peter Thiel's fixation on the Antichrist.

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

Episode 398: If You Don't Fight, You Lose (w/ special guest Tracy Rosenthal)

Will & Hesse sit down with Ari Aster, director of Hereditary, Midsommar, Beau is Afraid, and the upcoming Eddington. They rap on evil movies, mixing stupid slapstick humor with pain & discomfort, creating a contemporary western out of the recent past, some of Ari’s favorite films & filmmakers, and of course…the all-consuming sense of impending doom & lurking doubt that surrounds us.

Check out Eddington, in theaters this summer on July 18th.

Movie Mindset Bonus - Interview With Director Ari Aster

We weigh in on the recent DoJ Epstein memo and tape. Plus: Elon and Hitler.

Hit the tip line: (646) 801-1129 | tips@trueanon.com

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Episode 474: Epstein Files: Phase II

This week we're talking "toxic empathy," more Epstein-Trump news, and finally the new Democratic formula for success: saying more curse words

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

Episode 401: Gotta Have Them Libs

TWO WEEKS LEFT to pre-order YEAR ZERO: A Chapo Trap House Comic Anthology at badegg.co/products/year-zero-1

Journalist Jasper Nathaniel joins us to discuss his reporting on the West Bank and Israel’s second front in the war on Palestine. We look at the increasingly violent settler movement, Israel’s flagrant violation of international laws, the use of archaeological warfare in the region, and the constant ubiquitous violence that defines life for Palestinians living under Israeli occupation. And on the domestic front, we have an update on the good professor Davidai and his relationship to the august institution Columbia University. 

Follow Jasper’s Substack: https://substack.com/@infinitejaz
Follow Jasper on Twitter: https://x.com/infinite__jaz?lang=en
Follow Jasper on Insta: https://www.instagram.com/infinite_jaz/?hl=en


953 - The Hills Have Eyes feat. Jasper Nathaniel (7/21/25)

Originally posted May 1, 2025.
---------
We talk about the life and death of Virginia Giuffre — and take a look at the nascent “Free Ghislaine” sentiment growing in the shadow of the MAHA Movement.

Hit the tip line: (646) 801-1129 | tips@trueanon.com

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UNLOCKED: Episode 455: MAHAmaniacs

We spend time with Epstein and Trump, the President's lawsuit against Rupert Murdoch, a potential pathway to clemency for Ghislaine, and why Obama is being accused of treason.

SUBSCRIBERS: PRE-SALE TICKETS FOR ALL FOUR LIVE SHOWS WILL GO ON SALE FRIDAY 10 AM EDT AT PATREON.COM/TRUEANONPOD

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Episode 478: The Old Man and the Sea

Will welcomes comedian Eddie Pepitone to the show for a bonus interview. They rap on keeping comedy political, celebrity sell-outs, veganism, Bill Maher vs. Billy Joel, trying to calm the rage, and of course, being Just Kids From New York. 

Check out Eddie’s new special at: https://veeps.com/eddiepepitone

It is your last day to pre-order YEAR ZERO: A Chapo Trap House Comic Anthology at badegg.co/products/year-zero-1!


BONUS - The Bitter Buddha feat. Eddie Pepitone

We’re joined by Jake Romm of the Hind Rajab Foundation to discuss taking legal action against IDF soldiers, compiling war crimes reports from atrocity TikToks filmed by the soldiers themselves, and Israeli war criminals fleeing to Argentina. 

https://www.hindrajabfoundation.org/

Hit the tip line: (646) 801-1129 | tips@trueanon.com

Discover more episodes at podcast.trueanon.com

Upcoming Live Shows on sale now:

BUY TICKETS TO 10/30 HERE: https://wl.eventim.us/event/trueanon-live/659992?afflky=AdHoc&sp=829AWT

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Episode 480: GI Go Home

TrueAnon is a podcast about your enemies made by your friends. Join unlicensed private investigators Liz Franczak, Brace Belden, and Yung Chomsky for a show that will drive you insane. Every other episode is a Patreon exclusive: patreon.com/TrueAnonPod