Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Let’s not be the monsters we hate.

Everybody saw this coming.

“Squeaker” McCarthy

If you are still in the GOP, you are an extremist.

This year has been the longest three days of putin’s life.

Is it negotiation when the other party actually wants to shoot the hostage?

Is it irresponsible to speculate? It is irresponsible not to.

Putin dreamed of ending NATO, and now it’s Finnish-ed.

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

When someone says they “love freedom”, rest assured they don’t mean yours.

Insiders who complain to politico: please report to the white house office of shut the fuck up.

There are consequences to being an arrogant, sullen prick.

🎶 Those boots were made for mockin’ 🎵

They fucked up the fucking up of the fuckup!

I know this must be bad for Joe Biden, I just don’t know how.

My years-long effort to drive family and friends away has really paid off this year.

Too often we confuse noise with substance. too often we confuse setbacks with defeat.

The next time the wall street journal editorial board speaks the truth will be the first.

I’m sure you banged some questionable people yourself.

Republicans seem to think life begins at the candlelight dinner the night before.

If you’re pissed about Biden’s speech, he was talking about you.

Give the craziest people you know everything they want and hope they don’t ask for more? Great plan.

Let me eat cake. The rest of you could stand to lose some weight, frankly.

Sitting here in limbo waiting for the dice to roll

You are here: Home / Open Threads / Balloon Juice Podcast – Episode One

Balloon Juice Podcast – Episode One

by | 144 Comments

This post is in: 

This is an experiment. DougJ and I sat down and recorded a half hour of discussion of topics that might be of interest to you guys. They include the Global War on Trade, Stoneman Douglas activism, the Times’ Opinion page, the attack on DiFi and the olds, and Twitter.

Here is the link to the feed if you want to subscribe. We’ll be submitting this to Apple, Stitcher, etc. if it turns into something.

We’d like to have other front pagers on the show, perhaps some commenters, and some of John’s author friends.

Let us know what you think.

Reader Interactions

144Comments

  4. 4.

    BGinCHI

    Idea: Set up a webcam in Cole’s house and do live commentary on his life in the MST3K mode.

    Hilarity or tragedy ensues.

  8. 8.

    ruemara

    Ha, everyone and their maiden aunt is making a podcast. Best of luck.

    Also, don’t forget to listen, subscribe & support my podcast, Ostium, available on iTunes, Stitcher, TuneIn and probably other places I don’t care about. Because it’s not politics, it’s just a creepy mystery. Which is like politics, but less stomach churning.

    @Yutsano: He’s discussing what he’s made of?

  9. 9.

    Corner Stone

    @BGinCHI:

    Idea: Set up a webcam in Cole’s house and do live commentary on his life in the MST3K mode.

    Hilarity or tragedy ensues.

    First time as hilarity. Second time as legendary levels of hilarity.

  15. 15.

    Paul W.

    What are you guys, a bunch of idiots!? Who needs another podcast!

    Just kidding, I listened and enjoyed. SO THERE! Not every comment is negative.

  17. 17.

    WaterGirl

    BooMan has a thread up about how Trump makes decisions. I can’t bear to read it. I’m pretty sure people whisper his Trump’s ear or Trump pulls ideas out of his ass and then takes action when he’s pissed or feels like things are out of control. If somebody reads it, let me know how close or far off I am to the mark?

  22. 22.

    WaterGirl

    It’s been 48 hours since I brought Henry home a day after his surgery. He is doing 1000x better than he was on Wednesday night, which was beyond horrible, and 100x better than last night, which still felt kind of impossible. Relived to see Henry again when I look into his eyes, and he’s no longer crying and shaking all the time.

    You might want to ask me again after the fight over his liquid painkiller at 7 tonight. The first couple of fights could have been on pay-for-view, except they would have been too heartbreaking. Hoping the strategy that (kind of) worked for me this morning will work again tonight. He’s a pretty smart cookie so I’m not sure I would bet on me.

  25. 25.

    John Cole

    Here is how Trump makes decisions- he takes whatever pisses him off at the moment, asks someone about it, people rush in to talk to him because they know the last person to talk to him about something will be the direction he goes, and then he blurts it out. The WH then spends several days in damage control, and the staff has to come up with something that resembles what he blurted out, then they tell Ryan and McConnell to pass it.

  26. 26.

    Mnemosyne

    @WaterGirl:

    Do you have a special treat you can give him after the painkiller? That might help a little, especially if you can give him a little before and more of it afterwards.

    That doesn’t work on a cat, though. A cat will be like, Great, now you ruined my favorite treat. I hate you.

  28. 28.

    WaterGirl

    @John Cole: I’d say that’s pretty close.

    These steel people who were at the double-secret meeting seem to have understood Trump well enough to know they had to get him to act on this RIGHT NOW and it had to be SECRET so no one else would have Trump’s ear after they did.

    Score 1 for another set of people who apparently do not give a shit about their country.

  30. 30.

    WaterGirl

    @Mnemosyne: Tried that, starting the very first time. Didn’t help, as you can see.

    Really appreciate the laugh over your cat comment.

  31. 31.

    Mnemosyne

    @ruemara:

    I just sent it to G — he’s a much bigger fan of podcasts than I am, and he needs stuff to listen to on his killer commute to his internship.

    (It’s not the distance, it’s the traffic.)

  36. 36.

    Gin & Tonic

    I can count the number of podcasts I’ve listened to on the fingers of one finger. That’s probably another thing that makes me an old.

  37. 37.

    Mnemosyne

    @WaterGirl:

    If he has a follow-up appointment, ask them if they have the painkiller in patch form. That really seemed to help our kitty Natasha after she had surgery.

  38. 38.

    Gin & Tonic

    And, in a wonderful confluence of events, I got a new water heater installed this morning; they finished the work about an hour, I guess, before the power went out. So now I have neither hot nor cold water.

  39. 39.

    ruemara

    @WaterGirl: I try to remember my privilege in not being related to Trump voters. We only allow in the best white people in this family. We would’ve voted for Clinton a third time.

    @Mnemosyne: Hope he enjoys it. We’re working on season 3, but we really have to get more patreon support and more reviews. at 50k listeners and not even 50 5 stars reviews? *sigh*

    I am trying to think about how to drive in LA if I actually move their later this year or next year. Still waiting for the word on the fellowship.

  43. 43.

    Mnemosyne

    @Ben Cisco (onboard the Defiant):

    So even offering it is a kind of “virtue signaling,” isn’t it? ?

    (Apparently “virtue signaling” is what we’re all doing when we decry the NRA and demand that companies stop supporting them.)

  46. 46.

    Mnemosyne

    @ruemara:

    Believe it or not, there are people who successfully live here without cars. It’s a lot easier now that we have Metro Rail. You just have to pick your neighborhood carefully.

    I will keep my fingers crossed for you on the fellowship. ?

  48. 48.

    WaterGirl

    @Mnemosyne: My guys have had the patch for less painful surgeries. They actually saw through the whole bone, which causes a lot of pain. He’s on a pill painkiller and this liquid stuff. The pill form of the liquid stuff isn’t available in small enough doses for my little Henry.

    When I brought Henry in for the laser treatment on his incisions last night I brought one of the does and asked the tech to show me her technique. She wasn’t any more successful than I was, but when I held him and she gave it to him, that was better. So whenever possible, I scheduled the laser treatments for a time he is due for his liquid painkiller. Then there will be 2 of us. The rest of the time, it’s all me. What makes it tricky is that there is so much of the liquid for a single dose that you have to squirt it into his mouth 4 times to get all of it in.

    10 days, 2x a day, 4 squirts each. I am counting down. :-) I’m sure I’ll be laughing about this in a couple of weeks when Henry is done with this drug.

  52. 52.

    WaterGirl

    @Gin & Tonic: Not fair! And unless you go the fancy-dancey “hot water on-demand” water heaters, even after your power comes on it will take time to heat the water in the tank.

  53. 53.

    Mnemosyne

    @WaterGirl:

    With Natasha, we had to give her penicillin to avoid a post-surgical infection, which came in a bubble-gum flavored liquid for the right dose. We then mixed it with tuna and she would eat it, but she would wait until it was warm and really stinky. ? But she would eat it.

  54. 54.

    WaterGirl

    @ruemara: 50,000 listeners to your podcast????

    Oh, and I love mysteries but I’m not good with creepy. So I have to ask: how creepy is it?

  56. 56.

    WaterGirl

    @charluckles: You can tell the meds taste really awful by the way he acts when I get a squirt in. Even the vet says it tastes bad, so I think it would just spoil all of his food. :-( Good thought, though!

  58. 58.

    Brachiator

    @John Cole:

    Here is how Trump makes decisions- he takes whatever pisses him off at the moment, asks someone about it, people rush in to talk to him because they know the last person to talk to him about something will be the direction he goes, and then he blurts it out. The WH then spends several days in damage control, and the staff has to come up with something that resembles what he blurted out, then they tell Ryan and McConnell to pass it.

    Trump is consistent and stubbornly persistent. He keeps coming back to the shit that he promised his rabble at his rallies. The wall, which Mexico will pay for. Undoing past bad deals. Keeping Muslims out. Fucking over immigrants. Replacing Obamacare. Cutting taxes.

    The tariff stuff is the latest iteration of undoing bad trade deals. He has a chip on his shoulder about what is keeping America from being great, and his dumb ass supporters have that same chip.

    Of course, Trump’s shit is not thought out. It does not easily conform to typical right wing bullshit about the glory of free markets or individualism or liberty. It is founded on ego and resentment and bluster.

    It ain’t random. It is the same Trumpian shit over and over. And it will keep coming up until the Democrats take over the Congress and ultimately vote Trump out. Or impeach his ass.

    ETA: The podcast is a cool idea. I will check it out.

  59. 59.

    lowtechcyclist

    BJ follows TPM into the world of podcasts!

    Out: Pivoting to video.
    In: Pivoting to audio!

  60. 60.

    WaterGirl

    @Mnemosyne: At least Henry got a shot for the antibiotics. Yay for that. The shot lasts 2 weeks, so that’s one less med we had to worry about.

    P.S. That sounds really disgusting, smell-wise. My nostrils are flaring just thinking about it, and not in a good way.

  62. 62.

    WaterGirl

    @Baud: This is just like the state idiots who screwed with immigrant labor and then couldn’t get their crops picked. These people cannot even think one step ahead, so how is it they are beating us? Just sheer evil-ness?

  63. 63.

    The Dangerman

    @WaterGirl:

    BooMan has a thread up about how Trump makes decisions.

    (1) What would make Putin or Ivanka happy?

    (2) What would make him more money (porn stars are expensive)?

    (3) What would make Little Donald (Micro Donald?) happy?

    These Venn diagrams have some overlap.

  64. 64.

    Humdog

    @WaterGirl: I am really sorry to hear of the troubles for you and Henry. It feels awful when they feel awful. Maybe a dog loving friend or neighbor can hold him for you when you need to dose. My Blue is so food motivated, I had it easy.
    Best of luck! Henry knows you are trying to help. You’ll get thru this!

  65. 65.

    Mike in NC

    MSNBC speculating that Jared and his sleazy business interests will be what will finally bring down Fat Bastard. Make it so!

  66. 66.

    Corner Stone

    @lowtechcyclist:

    Out: Pivoting to video.

    God but I hate any site that embeds a video for every.single.story. But if I have time I MUCH prefer watching a video of people recording a podcast than just listening to a disembodied voice that I somehow can not come to give a shit about.
    For example. I will watch GM Street with Lombardi on the Ringer every time they put up a video. Have not listened to one single podcast of the same program.

  67. 67.

    WaterGirl

    @ruemara: Hmm. I listen to podcasts when I go to bed. Will have to try yours in the light of day first. Don’t want any nightmares. But it sounds really cool, even if it turns out to be too creepy for me. Do you really have 50,000 listeners?

  69. 69.

    Baud

    @WaterGirl:

    These people cannot even think one step ahead, so how is it they are beating us?

    We try to think 100 steps ahead and forget to take care of the matter at hand.

  70. 70.

    Corner Stone

    Oh no! It’s the Nuzzi on Ari Melber’s show! She has mutated across MSNBC platforms!

  71. 71.

    WaterGirl

    @Humdog: It is awful to see them in pain. Today he is just super quiet, but not shaking anymore, which is a total relief. Thanks for the kind words of encouragement!

  76. 76.

    ruemara

    @WaterGirl: podcasts are funny. sites measure it based on downloads. Our numbers are at 50k for folks who download & listen to our episodes. It’s an odd metric, but we’re doing fairly well for a relatively brand new podcast with that as our average.

  77. 77.

    WaterGirl

    @Corner Stone: “But what if he’s a LOSER?”

    That’s what Trump said after deciding to name his son after him. What a total piece of trash.

  80. 80.

    eemom

    @Gin & Tonic:

    I can count the number of podcasts I’ve listened to on the fingers of one finger. That’s probably another thing that makes me an old.

    I’ll see that, and raise you a I’m not sure I know what a podcast even is.

  81. 81.

    WaterGirl

    @ruemara: That’s amazing that you have that many! Do you do what Preet and others do? At the end of the podcast they ask you to go to iTunes or wherever and write a review, and they ask you to speed the word. That would be the hard part for me, I am terrible at promotion.

  84. 84.

    Brachiator

    @Ben Cisco (onboard the Defiant):

    In response to Delta killing off an NRA discount on flights (used by a whopping four people EVAR), GA LT Governor threatened to kill off a tax break that would have benefited Delta.

    A wingnut Georgia state senator protesting Delta’s decision tried to accuse the airline of giving discounts to “liberal” groups.

    The CNN reporter checked this dope on his lie, but the right wing has learned that you must keep pushing the lie no matter what. And do it with a smile.

    These idiots also don’t have a rational reason for opposing the tax concessions given to Delta (there may be some, but these dopes don’t understand them) and would prevent Amazon from setting up if they did not bow down to right wing nonsense.

  86. 86.

    Steeplejack (phone)

    @Corner Stone:

    Yes, apparently she has been fully rehabilitated and called back from exile in the Uncanny Valley.

    (Only nine minutes behind so far.)

  88. 88.

    Gin & Tonic

    So I’m sitting at work, because there is electricity and heat. At home there is apparently neither. But the rain is supposed to change over to snow shortly, and I don’t want to get stuck here overnight, so I will probably have to go home, to a dark, cold house with no running water.

  89. 89.

    Brachiator

    @Gin & Tonic:

    Sorta like radio, but for the Internet.

    You can even have…. podcasts of radio shows. Listen to them whenever you want. Or is that too meta?

  90. 90.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @WaterGirl: I don’t know what incident prompted trump to send his bodyguards to take custody of Slabhead– no mention of the Princess or That Other One. Ivana called their bluff and said, take him. Trump said, never mind, I don’t really want him. Not only did that happen X years ago, but Ivana put that story in a recent book, apparently because she thinks its funny. Not that it excuses them, for anything, but the Large Adult Children are deeply damaged.

  91. 91.

    Brachiator

    @Baud:

    I wish I knew someone with a podcast to help me get my message out.

    Wouldn’t that be a baudcast?

  93. 93.

    Corner Stone

    @The Dangerman: Ok. If you mean, or Booman or whoever, that Little Donald is some part of Trump himself, then that is #1 with a bullet. Nothing is higher priority than that.

  94. 94.

    Gin & Tonic

    This is a solid opening sentence on cnn.com right now:

    White House chief of staff John Kelly continued to misrepresent his handling of the dismissal of former top aide Rob Porter on Friday, defiantly obfuscating on exactly what he knew — and when — about the extent of the abuse allegations against Porter’s two ex-wives.

  95. 95.

    Corner Stone

    @Gin & Tonic:

    so I will probably have to go home, to a dark, cold house with no running water.

    This sounds like a metaphor for what happens to Trump, every day.

  99. 99.

    ruemara

    @Baud: we could promote Baud 2020 probably for a pack of girl scout cookies and a coffee.

    @WaterGirl: I am probably not doing as much as I should, but my (male) podcast creator does not ask any questions. And I am very tired of telling people that if they know me and are doing things I get fucking paid to do, they should probably ask me some questions. That being said, it was quite strange to know that that many were listening to me cuss.

  102. 102.

    WaterGirl

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: Adults playing games with their children as the pawns. They are deeply damaged, apparently with no notion that they are. Or maybe they do but they don’t care as long as they have money.

    Either way, they are inflicting that damage on the world.

  103. 103.

    Ajabu

    @ruemara:

    I try to remember my privilege in not being related to Trump voters. We only allow in the best white people in this family. We would’ve voted for Clinton a third time.

    After my mother’s side of the family died off, we declared a mortarium on white people in the family.

    I am trying to think about how to drive in LA if I actually move their later this year or next year. Still waiting for the word on the fellowship.

    I’ve done that coast to coast six times over the years. However you drive, the key operative word is “boring”. There’s long stretches of nothing out there in real “murica… Bring some music (and company if you can)

  104. 104.

    debbie

    @WaterGirl:

    Glad Henry’s improving, but sorry it’s been so tough on you. I don’t think he’ll remember any of this, so don’t beat yourself up over it.

  105. 105.

    debbie

    Bobo is very dispirited. More, he says, than at any time since the election. Winning!

  106. 106.

    WaterGirl

    @ruemara: My mom used this phrase a lot: A prophet without honor in his own country.” If I ignore the gender-specific pronoun, I see this happening all the time. Doesn’t make it fun, though. You are really doing great things – it’s fun to see.

  107. 107.

    The Dangerman

    @Baud:

    …but good luck attracting them now.

    I wonder what type of tax breaks and other goodies Delta could get from the Georgia GOP if they could credibly threaten to move their hub out of Atlanta?

  109. 109.

    Corner Stone

    @debbie: I hope Bobo decides it’s just too much to take anymore. Quits his cushy gig at NYT and retires to the Unabomber’s shack in the boonies. Forever.

  110. 110.

    MazeDancer

    Please to put all podcasts on TuneIn.

    Which allows “Alexa, play podcast ‘whatever name'”. And the latest episode plays. Which millions of people do while they’re cleaning the kitchen or crafting or doing something they want to have talk going on in the background.

    Pretty sure Crooked Media having all their podcasts on TuneIn is a big part if their success.

  112. 112.

    WaterGirl

    @debbie: I will keep that in mind. I am headed off to feed my crew and rest before the cage match at 7. I’ll check back in afterwords. :-)

  116. 116.

    Ajabu

    @debbie:
    Ooh, Ooh! I KNOW!
    Oh… I wish I wuz in the land of cotton, blah blah, blah…
    (Alabama actually has “Heart of Dixie” on their license plates.)

  117. 117.

    ? ?? Goku (aka Baka Amerikahito) ? ?

    You guys should get on Castbox. That’s the podcast directory app I use.

  118. 118.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Ajabu: As someone who has repeatedly driven over vast expanses of this country, I have never grown tired of the emptiness. To be able to let my eye wander as far as it could ever want to go. To sit and hear nothing but the wind. To feel the eons beneath my fingers in a stone I hold. To breathe deep of clean fresh air.

    But that’s just me.

  120. 120.

    Ajabu

    @ruemara:
    Sorry. I misread you in my initial response. Thought you were talking about driving TO L.A.
    Driving in L.A. is simple. S-LO-W-L-Y. Traffic is ubiquitous.

  121. 121.

    ? Martin

    So, this is what i was warning people about just prior to when Trump got elected:

    A regular on MSNBC’s Morning Joe, Donny Deutsch, who says he was close friends with Trump for 20 years, tells Joe Scarborough, “You felt something shift this week. You really felt the noose tightening.”

    He goes on to say that he is now “truly terrified of what he [Trump] is capable of doing – nothing short of starting a war to protect his hide…What is this man, cornered, dangerous, unhinged now – a very different man than he was 20 years ago – what is he capable of doing?” Deutsch also refers to Trump as twisted, evil and cruel.

    Narcissists have a true and false self. The false self is what you see. The true self is what they are hiding. His true self is that he’s a loser. Deep down he believes he’s a loser probably because when he was a kid he was treated as a loser (guessing the military academy had a lot to do with that). His false self is how he copes with that, by projecting himself as a winner. What’s important to know is that this is not a conscious thing. It’s reactive – when something happens that would make a normal person express self-doubt, he instead turns to the false self to make that feeling go away – he cheats on his wife (a conquest!), he says something that draws attention to him, he gets away with something – and understand that closing a big deal might suffice, but what’s likely even better is cheating the system and getting away with it.

    The problem Trump has is that he’s almost certainly unable to reach his true self any more. He functions so long as the false self can generate enough ‘winning’ to overcome the amount of ‘losing’ the real self is having to absorb. For most narcissists, that comes crashing down at some point – the false self can’t keep up – and they go into crisis. That’s usually pretty dramatic. The person they are to the world basically ceases to exist and their ability to recover comes down to their ability to accept and come to terms with their true self. But Trump, by virtue of his wealth has managed to get unbelievably far in life without that ever happening. People cover for him, they bail him out, they excuse his behavior. This is a guy that should have gone to prison in his 30s. I don’t think he can ever reach his true self again.

    If his false self ceases to function, then he is no more. This is why I said he would only resign if he could find a way to sell it as a positive. That he’s too good for the job or some bullshit. Beyond that, I think they’re going to carry him out of there. He cannot leave except on a winning note – that’s the job of his false self. That’s impossible now. So he’s gong to have to gin up more and more crisis until he can get the accolades he needs. All of this failure isn’t his failure to him, it’s the world having failed him, and he’s not going to stop until he feels like he has achieved whatever victory condition his psyche needs. If that means nuking NK, then he’ll do that, and he won’t feel guilty about it. Ivanka was probably the agent holding him in line the most – by virtue of the fact that he sees her as something he did right. She is him winning. But if she’s out, then I think the end game comes pretty quick and it won’t be pretty.

  123. 123.

    cokane

    Good job guys, I’d be interested in listening to more. Interviewing some past FPers might make for good episodes too.

  124. 124.

    Ajabu

    @OzarkHillbilly:
    It may not be just you but, as for me, I’m from a Caribbean island 27 miles long & 5 miles wide.
    Anything exceeding that drive wears my ass out. YM (obviously) V.

  127. 127.

    Mnemosyne

    @Ajabu:

    I have to drive to Pasadena in a few minutes. And it’s pouring rain.

    This is one of the days when I’m glad I have a Subaru. The all-wheel drive is overkill 99 percent of the time, but potentially lifesaving on a day like today.

  128. 128.

    Scamp Dog

    @Ajabu: I’m kind of fond of the version sung by Union soldiers: “Away down south in the land of traitors, rattlesnakes and alligators…”

  131. 131.

    Nethead Jay

    @ruemara: Oh hell yes, this sounds right up my alley. Subscribed and I think I know a few people who might be interested too.

    @ruemara: Will definitely review in several places as soon as I get a few eps in (and this looks quite bingeable). Things are kinda tight this month, but making a note of the patreon for next month.

  133. 133.

    Gravenstone

    @WaterGirl: Can you get a larger delivery syringe from the vet? Having one large enough to deliver as a single dose would likely help.

  135. 135.

    WaterGirl

    @Gravenstone: It’s the small mouth on my pup that is the issue. I could shoot it all out at once, but his little mouth couldn’t hold it all. The 7 o’clock dose was a struggle. Thank goodness the morning one tomorrow can be done at the vet when he gets his laser treatment. So I’m off the hook on that until tomorrow night. :-)

  138. 138.

    Tenar Arha

    ? guys. The discussion could be tighter. Maybe one or two fewer tangents, but I’d subscribe.

  139. 139.

    mad citizen

    I think the 25th Amendment was created and passed for a reason, and we might very well see a new part of it used this year.

  141. 141.

    David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch

    I don’t Biden and [Wilmer] are all there, anymore. I mean, maybe [Wilmer] was never all there.

    Doug J

    That’s a BINGO!

  142. 142.

    Betty Cracker

    I only listen to podcasts on solo car trips, but I made an exception for you guys. Enjoyable conversation to listen in on, and you sound pretty much like I figured you would. :-)

  144. 144.

    Crashman

    Nice pod, guys. One thing: DougJ was hard to hear at times; not sure if it was because he mumbled a bit or if his levels needed to be turned up. Otherwise, I enjoyed it and I look forward to more.

Comments are closed.