Against the Grain

Епизоде

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  The Rural Surge 14.09.2026 3мин

  Ella Langley’s “Choosin’ Texas” reigns atop the Billboard charts. Four of this season’s top ten TV shows are Westerns or neo-Westerns. Gen Z is embracing line dancing, Shania Twain, and Coors beer. For years, country music and motifs were associated with an America that was fading away. Matthew and Julia discuss their surprising vogue. For more like this, subscribe at patreon.com/counterepod or counterpod.substack.com.
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  The Postwar Order Is Ending (with R. R. Reno) 01.09.2026 55мин

  Karl Popper’s ‘The Open Society and Its Enemies’ (1945) defined the postwar consensus in favor of liberal democracy and ever expanding freedom. Today, that consensus has come to an end. Matthew and Julia talk to First Things editor R. R. Reno about what is arising in its place. For more like this, subscribe at patreon.com/counterepod or counterpod.substack.com.
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  AI Apocalypse Now (with Greg Conti) 27.08.2026 6мин

  Americans are turning against artificial intelligence, with data centers and Flock cameras in the crosshairs. Is AI just another technology? Or will it, as industry leaders predict, mean the end of democracy, of capitalism, even of humanity? Greg Conti joins Matthew and Julia. For more like this, subscribe at patreon.com/counterepod or counterpod.substack.com.
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  Helen Andrews on ‘Race Communism’ 04.08.2026 24мин

  Affirmative Action and DEI are usually thought to benefit racial minorities. But what happens when these measures actually benefit a numerical majority? Matthew and Julia talk to Helen Andrews about how America’s changing racial demographics have altered the logic of its racial bargain. For more like this, subscribe at patreon.com/counterepod or counterpod.substack.com.
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  Forget Wokeness: ‘The Odyssey’ Has More Basic Problems 20.07.2026 18мин

  Christopher Nolan’s “The Odyssey” has been condemned by Elon Musk and others as woke. But politics aside, does it actually work as an action movie? Matthew and Julia have their doubts. For more like this, subscribe at patreon.com/againstthepod or counterpod.substack.com.
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  How Trump Lost His Cool 01.07.2026 46мин

  Donald Trump rode a vibe shift back to the White House in 2025. Eighteen months later, the vibe has shifted back again. Matthew and Julia discuss why, and ask whether America is still moving right. Plus: A very important announcement. For more like this, become a member at patreon.com/againstthepod.
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  ‘Disclosure Day’ and our UFO Religion 15.06.2026 17мин

  “Disclosure Day,” Steven Spielberg’s film about the leaking of UFO files, is a hit. The Trump administration’s release of actual UFO files is not. Meanwhile, a Catholic exorcist has been fired for saying that UFOs are demonic. Matthew and Julia argue that rising interest in flying saucers says a great deal about the direction of our society. They also ask and answer the question of the moment: Are aliens Catholic? For more like this, become a member at patreon.com/againstthepod.
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  Heteropessimist Horror 01.06.2026 49мин

  “Backrooms” and “Obsession,” the indie sensations that beat out Star Wars at the box office this weekend, reflect a distinctly Zoomer worldview, one marked by despair about relationships and the loss of ’90s-era confidence. Matthew and Julia explore the ruined temples of American commerce and announce the rise of heteropessimist horror. For more like this, become a member at patreon.com/againstthepod.
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  Yesteryear and the Tradwife Panic 22.05.2026 12мин

  Caro Claire Burke’s Yesteryear, about a tradwife influencer who wakes up one day to find herself trapped on a nineteenth-century homestead, is topping the fiction bestseller charts. Liberals applaud the novel’s social critique, but Matthew and Julia are less impressed. Does the tradwife really represent the benighted past, as Burke thinks? Or is she the wave of the future? For more like this, become a member at patreon.com/againstthepod.
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  Repent and Submit 01.05.2026 40мин

  Young adults are driving a surge in Catholic conversions. Meanwhile, some on the right are looking east, to Islam. Matthew and Julia talk about the two hottest trends in religious conversion, and the many motives converts have—from spiritual hunger to gender politics to civilizational survival. For more like this, become a member at patreon.com/againstthepod.
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  Californian Psycho 13.04.2026 15мин

  Democrats are eager to nominate a straight white man for president—which may explain why Gavin Newsom is leaning into “toxic” masculinity. Julia and Matthew discuss the California governor’s strange but telling decision to compare himself to Patrick Bateman, the serial-killer protagonist of American Psycho. For more like this, become a member at patreon.com/againstthepod.
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  Who Killed the New Atheism? 01.04.2026 46мин

  Was it Richard Dawkins? Rebecca Watson? Fedora Guy? Or maybe Tom Holland? Matthew and Julia discuss why the New Atheism died and will never be resurrected. For more like this, become a member at patreon.com/againstthepod.
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  Where the West Is Headed, with Louise Perry 16.03.2026 21мин

  Louise Perry is one of the most perceptive observers of the trends that are transforming the West. Matthew and Julia talk to her about the migration boom, the fertility bust, and the quiet resurgence of religion—in society and her own life. For more like this, become a member at patreon.com/againstthepod.
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  How the Democratic Party Lost Its Soul 02.03.2026 56мин

  If Donald Trump is a dangerous and unpopular extremist, why hasn’t the Democratic Party’s opposition to him yielded a sustainable majority? Matthew and Julia talk to Alicia Nieves, a veteran of pro-immigrant activism and Democratic Party politics. Nieves argues that the party has lost touch with its working-class identity and that if present trends hold, it will cease to be competitive at the federal level. For more like this, become a member at patreon.com/againstthepod.
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  The Epstein Skeptics 18.02.2026 10мин

  The release of the Epstein files has been met by an outpouring of paranoid speculation—and a growing chorus of expressing justified skepticism. Matthew and Julia welcome the newcomers to the party and rebuke the holdouts. For more like this, become a member at patreon.com/againstthepod.
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  Melania Mania 02.02.2026 49мин

  Amazon Studios’ documentary about Melania Trump exceeded box-office expectations in its first weekend, despite being panned by critics and review-bombed by (non-)viewers. Matthew and Julia discuss the First Lady as style icon, fashion-industry professional, and culture-war flashpoint. For more like this, become a member at patreon.com/againstthepod.
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  Close Encounters with Ross Douthat 20.01.2026 22мин

  Are we living in a secular age? Organized religion has suffered decades of decline. But belief in conspiracies is on the rise, amid UFO disclosures, satanic panics, and lab-leak theories. Among intellectuals and elites, the New Atheism of the Aughts has been replaced by a trend toward traditional belief. Ross Douthat, New York Times columnist and author of Believe, joins Matthew and Julia. For more like this, become a member at patreon.com/againstthepod.
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  Norman, Conqueror 01.01.2026 54мин

  Orgies, amphetamines, stabbings, and an even more scandalous turn to the right: Matthew and Julia discuss how Norman Podhoretz survived the sixties and defined the decades that followed. For more like this, become a member at patreon.com/againstthepod.
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  Jacob Savage on the Lost Generation 16.12.2025 24мин

  In 2014, prestige institutions decided they had to become much more diverse—and quickly. They didn’t purge established Boomers. Instead, they did everything they could to avoid hiring white millennial men. Jacob Savage joins Matthew and Julia to tell the story of a generation derailed by DEI. For more like this, become a member at patreon.com/againstthepod.
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  How Hipsterism Led to Trumpism 01.12.2025 58мин

  Millennial Brooklyn may be left-coded, but with its nostalgic masculinism, organic food obsessions, and rural white aesthetics, the hipster era anticipated the MAGA right. Matthew and Julia explain the connection by digging into the life and influence of the original millennial-era hipster, the alternative magazine publisher Jim Goad.For more like this, become a member at patreon.com/againstthepod.