Ep 415 - Own the Libs w/ Nick Marx

Ep 415 - Own the Libs w/ Nick Marx

Author: David Parsons June 6, 2025 Duration: 1:05:10

What happened to the idea that "conservatives can't do comedy"? Much to the horror of liberals, the past decade has witnessed the rise of a right wing comedy industrial complex, primarily found on podcasts, whose personalities and attitudes are inextricably linked to the success of Donald Trump's populist conservative project. This week I talk with Nick Marx, co-author of the book That's Not Funny: How the Right Makes Comedy Work for Them, about how figures from Joe Rogan to Greg Gutfeld have weaponized the public's fatigue with elite liberal culture, and how their popularity reveals something deep and dark at the heart of a crumbling American society.

Check out the Nostalgia Trap Patreon page to access our News Trap and SCREENSHOTZ, along with a whole library of bonus podcast episodes 

 


The conversations on Nostalgia Trap move beyond simple reminiscence, probing the powerful and often misleading pull of the past on our present. Hosted by historian and writer David Parsons, this podcast carefully untangles the threads connecting American history, contemporary politics, and the shared stories of pop culture. Each episode is built around a deep dive conversation, where the familiar narratives we tell ourselves about who we are are examined and challenged. You’ll hear how yesterday’s policy decisions echo in today’s headlines and how a forgotten film or a hit song can reveal the anxieties of its era. The goal isn’t just to inform, but to question the comforting allure of a supposedly simpler time, revealing how nostalgia itself can be a trap that shapes our collective understanding. This is a space for thoughtful, nuanced discussion that respects the complexity of the past while critically engaging with its legacy. For anyone interested in the forces that have shaped the American experience, from its founding ideals to its latest cultural moments, Nostalgia Trap offers a necessary and compelling perspective. Tune in for a podcast that consistently demonstrates how history is never truly behind us.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 100

Nostalgia Trap
Podcast Episodes
News Trap 5.6.25 - Terminal Velocity [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 48:14
FAA failures creating realistic fears of looming airline disasters, Trump's cryptocurrency scam, quantum computing and financial apocalypse, Kanye's celebrity vagina mega corporation, Israel's endgame for Gaza, the 4Chan…
Ep 410 - Vietnam Vietnam Vietnam, We've All Been There [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 40:05
April 30, 2025 is the 50th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War, so I'm marking the occasion by reflecting on the war's meaning all these decades later. I share my own experiences as a historian of the war, along wi…
Ep 409 - This is the End w/ Justin Rogers-Cooper (PREVIEW) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 4:08
The recent death of Val Kilmer got Justin and I thinking about Jim Morrison and the curious legacy of The Doors in American pop culture. In this conversation, we continue our exploration of the amorphous brand of white m…
News Trap 4.23.25 - Trapdoor (PREVIEW) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 4:44
I'm reading S.C. Gwynne's incredible book Empire of the Summer Moon: Quanah Parker and the Rise and Fall of the Comanches, the Most Powerful Indian Tribe in American History, and it's making me think about Israel, Gaza,…
News Trap 4.16.25 - See You in the Camps [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 34:11
As the Trump administration tests the "Hamilton glitch" in the U.S. Constitution by sending Abrego Garcia and others to a foreign concentration camp without legal due process, I thought it might be time to contemplate wh…
News Trap 4.3.25 - Tariffs? I Just Met Her! [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 10:23
Trump is dismantling the global neoliberal economic order that has served as the left's boogeyman for years, which SHOULD be an opportunity for the left to offer something beyond shrugging ambivalance and lib-dunking. Wh…
News Trap 3.28.25 - FOMO w/ Justin Rogers-Cooper (PREVIEW) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 7:29
Guitar Center dudes and their insanely rigid opinions lead to a conversation with Justin about the political psychology of FOMO, the rise of the pedophile hunter influencer class, the masculine desperation of emoji-drive…
Ep 408 - The Final Frontier of Sociopath Presidents? w/ Adam Kotsko [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:08:45
Adam Kotsko is a writer and cultural critic whose work focuses on American pop culture, from "cringe" comedies to our national obsession with sociopathic protagonists. His latest book, Late Star Trek: The Final Frontier…
News Trap 3.21.25 - Irreconcilable Differences (PREVIEW) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 3:10
Fascism comes to my local city council meeting, a proud Israel supporter haunts my gym, Elon Musk's transgender daughter drives him off a cliff, Trump wants to send people to foreign torture camps for Tesla vandalism, an…