S6E4: James Kirchick & The Secret City

I've heard 10 plus episodes. And the vast majority of the interviews are absolutely sparkling. This is an exception. Distinctly uncompelling guest. i hope he writes better than he speaks.

paul dakota

Hey Dave. Gore basically got everything right. And decades before the rest of us. But. Big but. His fiction largely blows. Lincoln and Burr are his exceptions. But otherwise, plenty of piffle. Vidal was a magical being. We're lucky to live in his backwash.

paul dakota

Gore Vidal was a favorite writer back in the ‘80s and ‘90s. His emphasis on the national security state grew over time to the point where I got bored and began to consider him a conspiratorial crackpot. After 911, Hitchens became my cup of tea and I let go of Vidal. Now, I look back at the intervening years and wonder whether Vidal was the one who got it right after all. Time to go back and read Gore Vidal.

Dave

This guy is a neoliberal tool. He’s been working for the regime from day one. Steps in line and supports every last war started by the global American empire. Now Russia? Big surprise. Tomorrow China. He’s scum. That’s also why he’s a very boring guest. I hate the woke left as much as the next guy, but Kirchick’s ilk are THE WORST. All the greatest evils of our current age are caused by neoliberals who are constantly patted on the back for shoving blue pills up their ass every morning. Congratulations James. You have all the right opinions for fitting into this fucked up hell hole the west has created. You better enjoy your rewards while they last. Edit: Hitchens was also a war supporting neoliberal tool. Bleh! This episode was gross.

Thumperdinck

Biden sucks and kirchick doesn’t get to complain about where we are now because he voted for this.

Andrew McGovern

Enjoyed this but James is wrong to say Labour suffered two heavy electoral defeats under Corbyn. 2017 was a hung parliament so far from being a massive defeat.

Steven Vaughan

Did I complete an interview triangle with Kirchick on Andy Cohen ?

K.D.F.

To be clear... I am not, myself, an “anti-colonialism” nut. I live in the real world. And I understand that modern society - and my ultimate existence - is the result of hundreds of years of progress stemming from cultural impositions and Europeans migrating to “the new world.” And I accept that a lot of shit went down and not all of it was good, but...here we are. The reason I brought it up, though, is to point out how the self-righteous idealists who try to push their cultural mores on the rest are actually engaging in the very oppression they supposedly are against.

Erix Antoine

The joys of diversity just don't seem to be turning out as promised, do they?

BrienPiechos

Just so you know, the motivation behind Christian missionaries was getting native cultures to abandon ritual cannibalism. It was much more common than is taught, and took many forms. I'm not talking specifically about the horrific Aztec stuff we know about, but more mild forms of corpse-ingesting as a ritual of respect, etc. Still, cannibalism. Europeans understood it had an ancient history in their own times and Christianity substituted this with ritual. It's important that if you want to fully understand and reject the Western influence on your culture to be aware that what we are led to believe about early Christian settlers is also skewed by a hostile media and Robert Maxwell's "educational" publications. Martyrmade did an amazing piece on this.

BrienPiechos

It's people like you...🙄🙄

Neil G.

I wish Trump would go away. But this CLOWN saying that white supremacy is part of the reason he won is nonsense. Almost as bad as William Friedkin with the fake alligator tears blubbering about why do we need guns. Clowns.

Poetical Gore

Not sure this interview needed it’s own pod

Anthony Punnett

Yeah... It's labeling, putting people into convenient boxes - creating a generalized identity...and then trying to impose your specific sociopolitical issues onto others. I find it insulting and a cultural aggression.

Erix Antoine

White male homosexuals are now the new Conservatives.

Jorge Espinha

Oh yes! I would love that!

Jorge Espinha

Has the dude would say " that's like your opinion, man..."

Jorge Espinha

What a great rant hermano! Portuguese is also a gendered language it seems our Brazilian cousins are taking the lead with the idiotic pronouns. Good luck! I had the feeling "latino" was very insulting, a generic bag where you put everybody you don't bother to understand. An Argentinian doesn't have a lot in common with a Cuban except for the language and inside every country there are huge differences. And why would a Paraguayan that speaks guarani at home be referred as "latino" when is Spanish isn't his first language?

Jorge Espinha

Elvis trailer looks good Brett’s a hater lol

Harold B

What a neocon. Go Glenn Greenwald.

Rob Motto

That bit at the end about “Latinx,” man... I’m Hispanic. I find that very irritating. It’s the “first world” trying to push their hangups and cultural mores on other people. It’s basically another form of colonialism. Back in the day, Europeans came off their ships and pushed “Christianity” on the natives or “savages,” as they called them. And now, they use social media to push their idiocy to “enlighten” the “backward people” of the third world. It’s insulting. And, for a certain segment, it’s resulted in pushing “inclusive language,” where gendered words now end in “e” (Like saying “Amige” or “hermane” instead of having those words end in “a” or “o.” As is grammatically correct. Spanish, like all Romance languages, is a gendered language. It’s grammatically gendered. It has nothing to do with sexual identity or inclusiveness. A pencil is not “male” you simply use “El” as its pronoun for grammatical purposes. There are no gender neutral pronouns in Spanish. Sorry. But there are gender neutral terms... so just use that. And, as for “Latinx?” It’s a gringo invention. Sorry. It’s the “Imperialist Americans...” (you know the ones? The ones who fronted the “puppet governments” you insist are still around, as if this were still the 1970s) ...pushing their mores onto the rest of the world. So, as a proud Bolivian, let me just say: handle your own business and leave us the fuck alone. Rant over. But James is right. Most of us hate that shit.

Erix Antoine

🌈Oslo 🌈

Knokkel knokkel

“I’d rather watch The Umbrellas of Cherbourg for the fourth time than watch an HBO documentary about how hard it was to get an illegal abortion.” Same, Bret.

Adriaan

Yeah, Bret hates Pride but can't stop talking about his gayness. Happy Pride, Bret.

slimshadyfan666

I enjoyed all the homo talk ! 👍

Knokkel knokkel

This guy aint politically homeless. Ivy League educated journo who votes for Hillary and Biden. Speaks well of RINOS like Cheney and Kinzinger, but puts down Jim Jordan. Kirchick seems to have found his niche as a uniparty shill.

Billy Schafer

Meh. Kirchick comes off as a guy who really likes to hear himself talk. Had to turn it off after 30 min.

Chase

Well said.

David Willis

"We don't celebrate it, because Pride is a sin". (I died! LOL) (I heard it in The Young Pope's voice).

Dirk

I respect your views & everyone has to make decisions for themselves, for their own private reasons. With that said, if your world was so open & accepting, why did you stay in the glass closet for so long? I believe you denied being gay in interviews in the past (I could be wrong). Did you feel it could effect your career? Anyhow, I agree with the author - mixed feelings of Pride. Not my thing & now the monetization of Pride Month feels a little 😬. Still, I’ll take it. Acceptance, in whatever form it comes, is a good thing. This was a good interview topic & guest - a fresh topic on your podcast to hear some new thoughts. Oh & please with Rose of all people - she was the queen of flaunting sex - her VMA dress was more risqué than the absolute Pride floats. Like gay men, once you age out of peak hotness, the tut tutting starts to come.

AshSebash

Kirchick never heard of the war in Yugoslavia?

Stevan Popovic

I enjoyed this episode. Kirchik is clearly a man of integrity. I hope you invited Douglas Murray to come on the podcast for a chat?

Peter Neal

Kirchick once a neo con always a neo con

Mister Farkel

Would describe myself as a huge opponent of Pride. Pride, like many movements, has been hijacked by it's most radical elements and turned into something that appeals to deliberately provocative zealots, and is made possible by "allies" who use it as a vector to achieve a status they cannot otherwise achieve while advocating for themselves of pursuing their own interests, otherwise know as Cat Ladies and politicians. Two groups of people nobody likes and for good reason. I walk into Target and the Pride display has a child mannequin front and center wearing a white shirt with rainbow colored letters that say "Ask me about my pronouns." I see SWAT teams dragging away parents who are protesting Drag Queen Story Hour at the local library they pay taxes for. I see bakers drug through the courts for a decade because they didn't want to bake a gay wedding cake. This isn't about acceptance anymore. Other older individual homosexuals I know also find Pride to be a embarrassment. It's not a parade anymore. What it has really become is a victory march, a humiliation ritual people who do not support the LGBTQwhateverthefuck agenda must be subjected to, sponsored by corporations we know never have our best interests at heart. My major gripe is the recent focus on children. It's ALWAYS about access to children now. There are hundreds if not thousands of memes depicting the Slippery Slope "fallacy" that was actually a cliff, starting from "we want the same rights as everyone else in our private bedroom" (an unassailable premise, much like the seemingly benign "black lives matter" slogan used as cover for a violent anti-white revenge campaign) to 2022, where pedophilia is now being not merely excused but advocated on behalf of. The critics of Pride are right. The facts are on their side in 2022. Moderate gay voices aren't going to reel this Satanic circus back in and Bret's position is so centrist those who share it can't have any meaningful impact. The zealots will not listen. And that's too bad. There are a number of gay artists who have made contributions to culture I deeply enjoy, obviously since I pay to be here. But if I were given a referendum vote on making Pride illegal I would vote for it. And that would be the nicest thing a straight person could do for their gay friends at this point because people who are far less open minded are really fed up. This shit has gone WAAAAAAAY too far and requires saving from itself.

BrienPiechos

Okay, I listened to to the episode. Dude, I don't like ya fuckin' attitude.

slimshadyfan666

Brett keeps serving it hot, fresh, and tight

Fernando

I don’t think anyone here would mind if you took a little break for a while, old chap.

James__

slimshadyfan666

DC native here 🙌🏽🙌🏽 super pumped for this

Harold B

Krystal crushed them both in glorious fashion. Really exciting TV.

Joseph Orlando

I've been reading this; it's a great book and you will not be disappointed

E

am going to listen on my run. will say more later, after my run

richard owain roberts

Excellent guest. It sounds like a fascinating book.

Erix Antoine

Very interesting conversation, enjoyed it. I was intrigued to hear Bret take on Pride month. Season Six is awesome!

Elizabeth

Loved this

Christy A

wow

Jerome Busca

The writers are the best guests.

Jorge Espinha

Funny, I just watched Kirchick on Bill Maher in that fiery panel with Krystal Ball - she made him and Bill look stupid. But I like him more after this interview and will check out his book.

Thomas Matich

Great stuff!

Andrew Lee

Fantastic interview. Amazing guest. Loved it. 🙌

Patrick

Amazing

PETER GREER

Just to confirm - yes, there are a lot of us who are politically homeless. You get used to it 😂

Devils 1973