Trump waved it around, but everyone just pointed and laughed

The Antikythera device calculated and predicted eclipses and astronomical conjunctions

opening bits should only last 15 minutes. this ancient alien jacking off cold open has to end. Terrence should seek help.

We talk to the Times’ Emanuel Midolo about the killing of foreign correspondent David Holden in 1977. Plus: spies, journalists, journalists as spies, and solving a sordid murder at the margins of the Cold War. Emanuele Midolo is the author of the new book MURDER IN CAIRO, co-authored by Peter Gillman, about Holden’s murder: https://timesbookshop.co.uk/murder-in-cairo-9781785907029/

Discover more episodes at podcast.trueanon.com.

Episode 447: Smiley's Person

Musician and actor Will Oldham (aka Bonnie "Prince" Billy) returns to the show to discuss tariffs, breathing, artificial "intelligence," Clever Hans, Kentucky history, and the new Bonnie "Prince" Billy album, "The Purple Bird," out now where all fine records are sold

Lexington fans, Bonnie "Prince" Billy will be performing at the Singletary Center for the Arts on UK Campus on Tuesday, April 15th, get your tickets: https://www.eventticketscenter.com/bonnie-prince-billy-lexington-tickets/1024087/e?gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAjw47i_BhBTEiwAaJfPpkc5K4sNSDRsUbpZk3VaQNb3RfJju1k2KWBdaPdcucOAWJfdR2ESoBoCBKMQAvD_BwE

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

Episode 387: Out Of The Whimsical Frying Pan, Into The Fire (w/ special guest Will Oldham)

"Senate Weighs Investing $120 Billion in Science to Counter China," trumpeted The New York Times in 2021. "A New Economic Patriotism Can Help Unite Our Divided Congress," argued Newsweek in 2023. "US cedes ground to China with ‘self-inflicted wound’ of USAid shutdown, analysts say," cautioned The Guardian in 2025. 

In recent years, we’ve been exposed to the latest version of a centuries-old geopolitical message: We all have a common enemy, and we all need to unite to fight it by making our own country stronger. That enemy—most commonly China—is threatening to outpace, if it isn’t already outpacing, the US in infrastructural investment, educational programs, technological development, and elsewhere, and we need to devote millions, billions, even trillions of dollars to restoring the vitality of our institutions in order to reverse this trend. 

But why must defeating an "enemy" be the justification for policy that has the potential to benefit the public? Why should we just accept the premise that there must be an "enemy" to compete against and defeat? Why can’t policy be enacted for the sole purpose of improving people’s lives? And how does this messaging about the threat of a looming adversary serve the ruling class?

On this episode, we detail the timeworn trope of the common enemy as a "unifying" device, looking at how increasingly so-called progressives are appealing to feel-good sentiments of unity and to the genuine needs for sound infrastructure, robust social safety nets, corporate regulation, and functional institutions in order to sell the idea that there is, and always will be, a shadowy bad guy that must be vanquished. 

Our guest is historian, professor and author Greg Grandin.

Episode 218: The Siren Song of Rallying Around a 'Common Enemy' to Promote Progressive Causes

This week we're discussing The Parliamentarian, the Doomsday Clock, Real Human Stories, and more Ethicist dilemmas

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

Episode 389: Real Human Stories

EDIT: We're taking the week off from putting out a free episode, so we're unlocking our Patreon episode from Monday, featuring our old pal Kate Wagner, author of the blog McMansion Hell. Our conversation covers a lot of ground: the Pope, the modern conservative movement's relationship to Catholicism, whether or not the bourgeoisie might be giving up on their own project, the so-called "Abundance" agenda, urban sprawl, and much more. 

If you'd like to hear more premium content like this, please subscribe to our Patreon: www.patreon.com/trillbillyworkersparty

And if you'd like to hear us on the most recent Chapo Trap House episode, go here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/928-wait-and-see-127415022

**UNLOCKED** Fuck It, We Sprawl (w/ special guest Kate Wagner)

We talk about the outrageous bullshit the Amerikkkan government is doing in El Salvador, a little Salvadoran history, CECOT, DHS…

Episode 454: Dogecau

This week we take a look at some of the early effects of the tariffs, as well as the nature and purpose of RFK Jr's MAHA agenda, before pivoting to a review of Trump's first 100 days in office. Finally we turn to a very sleepy article in the New York Times about how the Resistance is...sort of...doing some stuff...and other stuff...

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

Episode 390: Moloch's Vertical Integration

Episode 395: Your Lucky Episode

Comedy legend Larry Charles (Fridays, Seinfeld, Borat, Curb Your Enthusiasm & much more) returns to the show to discuss his new book Comedy Samurai: Forty Years of Blood, Guts, and Laughter. We have a wide ranging discussion of Larry’s life in comedy including post-war Brooklyn as a comedy incubator, grinding out avant-garde sketch comedy with Andy Kaufman, the prevalence of coke and other drugs in the comedy writing scene, getting tackled by the Secret Service trying to get a joint to Jimmy Carter’s sister, and the difficulties in comedic creative relationships. Larry also gets candid about his disappointment with the prevalence of zionism among his erstwhile comedy partners, and we talk about the humanizing force of humor in the face tragedy and despair.

Pick up Comedy Samurai here: https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/larry-charles/comedy-samurai/9781538771549/?lens=grand-central-publishing

AND: get your pre-order in for YEAR ZERO: A CHAPO TRAP HOUSE COMICS ANTHOLOGY starting today at www.badegg.co

947 - Laugh Now, Cry Later feat. Larry Charles (6/30/25)

Alex back on the show today to look at the continuing fallout of Trump’s attempts to wash his hands of Epstein. From the baffled & betrayed Trump-curious internet trend-seekers, to the dyed-in-the-wool loyalists, the admin seems to have picked the absolute worst way to disarm this bomb. Plus: Greg Abbott makes a why-even-bother play to cover up Musk’s bribery, and Biden gives a why-even-bother explanation for his diminished capacity pardons.

Pre-Order YEAR ZERO: A Chapo Trap House Comic Anthology at badegg.co/products/year-zero-1

951 - My Boys And In Some Cases Gals feat. Alex Nichols (7/14/25)

We talk to investigative journalist Jack Poulson (https://jackpoulson.substack.com/) about the so-called Gaza Humanitarian Foundation's roots in private equity, mercenary firms, private intelligence outfits, and intelligence agents in the US & Israel.

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

Discover more episodes at podcast.trueanon.com

Episode 390: Moloch's Vertical Integration

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