Difference between revisions of "37: Surfing the Wake of The Woke"

Before we move on to slates of octogenarians or young wild-eyed utopians with little real-world experience, it is time to end the national charade of pseudo-democracy so that we can find out whether the real thing—that is, ACTUAL consent—is any better than being groomed and negged by the creeps hanging around the ballot box. I can't promise that it will be, but don't you think it's time we found out? Of course, I'm a bit worried about what we might get. But it's unlikely to be worse than this. So, I'm game if you are.

Before we move on to slates of octogenarians or young wild-eyed utopians with little real-world experience, it is time to end the national charade of pseudo-democracy so that we can find out whether the real thing—that is, ACTUAL consent—is any better than being groomed and negged by the creeps hanging around the ballot box. I can't promise that it will be, but don't you think it's time we found out? Of course, I'm a bit worried about what we might get. But it's unlikely to be worse than this. So, I'm game if you are.

Headed to the post office? Here's my advice: don't. Think about it. There's no reason to put yourself at risk in that way because it's a headache under normal circumstances, and right now it's frankly a danger to your health. With returning sponsor, Pitney Bowes’ Send Pro Online, they'll allow you to print labels and stamps remotely, and then schedule package pickups and track shipments. Of course the cost-saving efficiency of the system varies depending upon how you value your time, but it's safe to say that it's likely to be significant. For as little as $4.99 a month, you'll get access to special discounts and save up to 40% off USPS priority mail. Plus, for being a portal listener you'll receive a free 30 day trial to get started and a free 10 pound scale to ensure that you never overpay. So go to pb.com/portal to access the special offer for a free 30 day trial plus a free 10 pound scale to get started. That's pb.com/portal to experience a savings in your shipping costs with a free trial of Send Pro Online from Pitney Bowes at pb.com/portal.

Headed to the post office? Here's my advice: don't. Think about it. There's no reason to put yourself at risk in that way because it's a headache under normal circumstances, and right now it's frankly a danger to your health. With returning sponsor, Pitney Bowes’ Send Pro Online, they'll allow you to print labels and stamps remotely, and then schedule package pickups and track shipments. Of course the cost-saving efficiency of the system varies depending upon how you value your time, but it's safe to say that it's likely to be significant. For as little as $4.99 a month, you'll get access to special discounts and save up to 40% off USPS priority mail. Plus, for being a portal listener you'll receive a free 30 day trial to get started and a free 10 pound scale to ensure that you never overpay. So go to pb.com/portal to access the special offer for a free 30 day trial plus a free 10 pound scale to get started. That's pb.com/portal to experience a savings in your shipping costs with a free trial of Send Pro Online from Pitney Bowes at pb.com/portal.

Returning sponsor Skillshare is a platform with thousands of online classes taught through high quality instructional videos that make learning anything new a snap. I recently checked out a class called Creative Breakthrough: Eight Exercises to Power Your Creativity, Confidence and Career, and I appreciated that it tried a practical approach to the eternal problem of creativity. A lot of times we sort of wait for the Muse to hit us if you will, when there are specific things that can be tried to speed up the call to action by which we summon the creative muse, and I found this class to be very helpful and stimulating in introducing us to some of those concepts and exercises. At skillshare.com/portal you can explore your creativity and get two free months of premium membership. That's two whole months of unlimited access to thousands of classes for free. So get started and joined today by heading to skillshare.com/portal for two free months of unlimited access to thousands of classes. You can find it all at skillshare.com/portal.

Returning sponsor Skillshare is a platform with thousands of online classes taught through high quality instructional videos that make learning anything new a snap. I recently checked out a class called Creative Breakthrough: Eight Exercises to Power Your Creativity, Confidence and Career, and I appreciated that it tried a practical approach to the eternal problem of creativity. A lot of times we sort of wait for the Muse to hit us if you will, when there are specific things that can be tried to speed up the call to action by which we summon the creative muse, and I found this class to be very helpful and stimulating in introducing us to some of those concepts and exercises. At skillshare.com/portal you can explore your creativity and get two free months of premium membership. That's two whole months of unlimited access to thousands of classes for free. So get started and joined today by heading to skillshare.com/portal for two free months of unlimited access to thousands of classes. You can find it all at skillshare.com/portal.

This episode's conversation was recorded in New York City (and thus away from our home studio in Los Angeles) in November of 2019 with my friend Andrew Marantz of The New Yorker magazine. I've known Andrew for a bit over six years now, and so it has been possible to trace our conversation from 2014, and the time just before the Trump and Brexit political discontinuities, into the present. What I found is rather shocking. While I initially viewed Andrew and myself as extremely intellectually compatible—coming as we do from a common cultural background of thinking progressivism—I’ve watched us be increasingly divided by how we are processing recent events.

This episode's conversation was recorded in New York City (and thus away from our home studio in Los Angeles) in November of 2019 with my friend Andrew Marantz of The New Yorker magazine. I've known Andrew for a bit over six years now, and so it has been possible to trace our conversation from 2014, and the time just before the Trump and Brexit political discontinuities, into the present. What I found is rather shocking. While I initially viewed Andrew and myself as extremely intellectually compatible—coming as we do from a common cultural background of thinking progressivism—I’ve watched us be increasingly divided by how we are processing recent events.

We will return to my uninterrupted discussion with Andrew Marantz of The New Yorker after some brief words from our sponsors.

We will return to my uninterrupted discussion with Andrew Marantz of The New Yorker after some brief words from our sponsors.

Long-term listeners sometimes asked me, “You've been predicting the chaos and turmoil of 2020 for years. So now that it's finally here, are you relaxed or stressed out?” I think it's more the latter. So what do I do? Personally, I use Theragun, which is a handheld percussive therapy device. It hammers my sore and tension-filled muscles in rapid succession to release the deep tensions inside. The depth, speed, and power are all scientifically-calibrated to produce the desired effect. And now with the new Theragun gen 4, it's whisper quiet—no louder than an electric toothbrush. They use a proprietary motor (seriously, I wondered if it was even on it first). But the result of soothed and relaxed muscles was the same as ever, which is what I've come to expect from Theragun. So why not try Theragun risk free for 30 days? There's no substitute for the Theragun gen 4 with an OLED screen, personalized Theragun app, and the quiet and power that you'll love. Starting at only $199 you can go to theragun.com/portal right now and get your gen 4 Theragun today. That's theragun.com/portal. theragun.com/portal.

Long-term listeners sometimes asked me, “You've been predicting the chaos and turmoil of 2020 for years. So now that it's finally here, are you relaxed or stressed out?” I think it's more the latter. So what do I do? Personally, I use Theragun, which is a handheld percussive therapy device. It hammers my sore and tension-filled muscles in rapid succession to release the deep tensions inside. The depth, speed, and power are all scientifically-calibrated to produce the desired effect. And now with the new Theragun gen 4, it's whisper quiet—no louder than an electric toothbrush. They use a proprietary motor (seriously, I wondered if it was even on it first). But the result of soothed and relaxed muscles was the same as ever, which is what I've come to expect from Theragun. So why not try Theragun risk free for 30 days? There's no substitute for the Theragun gen 4 with an OLED screen, personalized Theragun app, and the quiet and power that you'll love. Starting at only $199 you can go to theragun.com/portal right now and get your gen 4 Theragun today. That's theragun.com/portal. theragun.com/portal.

Long-term listeners of The Portal will know that I love a good glass of wine, and sometimes even include it as part of the interview process. Wine Access is one of our most loyal and favorite sponsors because they take the guesswork out of finding the best wines the world over. The reason I say “guesswork” is because all of us find wine intrinsically difficult to discuss. But Wine Access’s team of geeks not only scours the globe for wines with exceptional taste and value, but they educate you as to what you're drinking. For example, if you were to ask me to compare my two favorite white wine varieties from Alsace—Riesling and Gewürztraminer—as a non-expert I would be forced to analogize them to Simon and Garfunkel and the Ramones, respectively. Why? Well, both of them seem to represent the same place—in this case, Queens—yet the former is mellifluous, and sophisticated, while the letter is like getting punched in the tongue in a way that I seem to enjoy. As you can see, you're much better off letting the experts at  

Long-term listeners of The Portal will know that I love a good glass of wine, and sometimes even include it as part of the interview process. Wine Access is one of our most loyal and favorite sponsors because they take the guesswork out of finding the best wines the world over. The reason I say “guesswork” is because all of us find wine intrinsically difficult to discuss. But Wine Access’s team of geeks not only scours the globe for wines with exceptional taste and value, but they educate you as to what you're drinking. For example, if you were to ask me to compare my two favorite white wine varieties from Alsace—Riesling and Gewürztraminer—as a non-expert I would be forced to analogize them to Simon and Garfunkel and the Ramones, respectively. Why? Well, both of them seem to represent the same place—in this case, Queens—yet the former is mellifluous, and sophisticated, while the letter is like getting punched in the tongue in a way that I seem to enjoy. As you can see, you're much better off letting the experts at  

Wine Access select your next bottle and educate you as to its contents. I hope you'll appreciate Wine Access as much as we do. And right now, if you go to wineaccess.com/portal, our listeners can get $20 off their first purchase of $50 or more. That's an incredible savings over already very low prices on great bargains. But to get the $20 off, you have to go to the special URL, wineaccess.com/portal. That's wineaccess.com/portal.

Wine Access select your next bottle and educate you as to its contents. I hope you'll appreciate Wine Access as much as we do. And right now, if you go to wineaccess.com/portal, our listeners can get $20 off their first purchase of $50 or more. That's an incredible savings over already very low prices on great bargains. But to get the $20 off, you have to go to the special URL, wineaccess.com/portal. That's wineaccess.com/portal.

'''Colin:''' This audio was recorded outside of our studios and for the first 24 minutes of the discussion, it's at a slightly lower fidelity [transcriber's note: a BIT of an understatement]. We apologize for the inconvenience.

'''Colin:''' This audio was recorded outside of our studios and for the first 24 minutes of the discussion, it's at a slightly lower fidelity [transcriber's note: a BIT of an understatement]. We apologize for the inconvenience.