1 00:00:01,720 --> 00:00:05,279 Speaker 1: Also media. 2 00:00:06,640 --> 00:00:11,799 Speaker 2: What's JD My vances? This is it could happen here 3 00:00:11,960 --> 00:00:16,160 Speaker 2: a podcast that's not behind the Bastards. But today we're 4 00:00:16,160 --> 00:00:22,640 Speaker 2: doing a little mini episode on our future possible vice president, JD. 5 00:00:23,480 --> 00:00:27,280 Speaker 2: Vance Garrison. How are you feeling today? Welcome back to 6 00:00:27,320 --> 00:00:27,960 Speaker 2: the program. 7 00:00:28,120 --> 00:00:29,560 Speaker 3: Thank you. I'm feeling pretty good. 8 00:00:29,840 --> 00:00:30,200 Speaker 2: Yeah. 9 00:00:30,320 --> 00:00:32,199 Speaker 3: Yeah, I got a great five hours of sleep. I'm 10 00:00:32,240 --> 00:00:32,800 Speaker 3: good to go. 11 00:00:33,200 --> 00:00:35,000 Speaker 2: Oh, I slept eleven good for you. 12 00:00:35,000 --> 00:00:38,080 Speaker 3: No, I've also been in the researching bad people whole 13 00:00:38,600 --> 00:00:40,080 Speaker 3: which keeps me up late at night. 14 00:00:40,440 --> 00:00:43,519 Speaker 2: Yeah. I have to do the Walls episodes tonight so 15 00:00:43,560 --> 00:00:45,640 Speaker 2: we can go back to back on the vps. But 16 00:00:45,680 --> 00:00:49,080 Speaker 2: I decided to start with JD. Vance, And you know, 17 00:00:49,120 --> 00:00:52,440 Speaker 2: I had debated with myself, is this guy worth a 18 00:00:52,440 --> 00:00:56,480 Speaker 2: full bTB episode? And I decided ultimately like no, you know, 19 00:00:56,560 --> 00:00:59,480 Speaker 2: I just don't think there's enough to him yet that 20 00:00:59,560 --> 00:01:02,520 Speaker 2: he deserves that. Perhaps that will change in the future. 21 00:01:02,840 --> 00:01:05,920 Speaker 2: But what I wanted to do was give the listener, 22 00:01:05,959 --> 00:01:08,760 Speaker 2: who I'm guessing has mostly just heard a few disjointed 23 00:01:08,800 --> 00:01:09,960 Speaker 2: things about JD. 24 00:01:10,120 --> 00:01:12,760 Speaker 3: A few a few things, one or two things, maybe 25 00:01:12,800 --> 00:01:14,080 Speaker 3: one specific thing. 26 00:01:14,000 --> 00:01:17,400 Speaker 2: One specific They probably they're probably aware of Hillbilly elogy 27 00:01:17,520 --> 00:01:19,800 Speaker 2: that was like a pretty pretty big book in the day, 28 00:01:19,840 --> 00:01:22,600 Speaker 2: and the movie was panned, and that was kind of news. 29 00:01:22,800 --> 00:01:25,600 Speaker 2: They've probably heard the couch fucking stuff, and then they've 30 00:01:25,640 --> 00:01:28,440 Speaker 2: heard allegations that he's like a straight up fascist, and 31 00:01:28,760 --> 00:01:31,959 Speaker 2: you know, he thinks that single women should be dragged 32 00:01:31,959 --> 00:01:34,199 Speaker 2: out into the street and shot or something like that. 33 00:01:34,400 --> 00:01:36,040 Speaker 3: If you have a cat and you're a single woman, 34 00:01:36,080 --> 00:01:37,479 Speaker 3: you are onto logically evil. 35 00:01:37,800 --> 00:01:41,000 Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, yeah, a socia path. And so I wanted 36 00:01:41,040 --> 00:01:43,440 Speaker 2: to provide some context for how he went from if 37 00:01:43,440 --> 00:01:46,000 Speaker 2: you can remember back to twenty sixteen, he was a 38 00:01:46,040 --> 00:01:49,200 Speaker 2: liberal darling for having written hillbilly elegy. Right, he was 39 00:01:49,240 --> 00:01:52,520 Speaker 2: this guy, this like never trump conservative who was explaining 40 00:01:52,560 --> 00:01:55,800 Speaker 2: to everyone how the evil of trump Ism had infested 41 00:01:55,880 --> 00:02:00,320 Speaker 2: and you know, latched onto the minds of small town Americans. Right, 42 00:02:00,400 --> 00:02:03,000 Speaker 2: That's kind of how he was framed today, where he's 43 00:02:03,040 --> 00:02:07,280 Speaker 2: like this hard right maga guy, literally Trump's future right 44 00:02:07,320 --> 00:02:11,560 Speaker 2: hand man, with what sounds like explicitly dictatorial ambitions. And 45 00:02:11,919 --> 00:02:14,160 Speaker 2: the mystery of this story, all of it comes down 46 00:02:14,160 --> 00:02:19,640 Speaker 2: to Peterteel. Right, many such cases, Yeah, as is often 47 00:02:19,720 --> 00:02:22,120 Speaker 2: the case, he's a major part of life. Why things 48 00:02:22,160 --> 00:02:25,520 Speaker 2: wind up where they are. The bones of JD's background 49 00:02:25,600 --> 00:02:27,320 Speaker 2: story are kind of important, so I'm just going to 50 00:02:27,320 --> 00:02:30,200 Speaker 2: give them rapidly. He was born in August nineteen eighty 51 00:02:30,200 --> 00:02:34,560 Speaker 2: four in Middletown, Ohio, born under the name James Donald Bowman, 52 00:02:34,720 --> 00:02:37,560 Speaker 2: but his parents divorced when he was a toddler. His dad, 53 00:02:37,680 --> 00:02:40,240 Speaker 2: his biodad, is pretty much out of the picture right away. 54 00:02:40,560 --> 00:02:43,400 Speaker 2: He is eventually adopted by his mother's third husband, whose 55 00:02:43,440 --> 00:02:45,560 Speaker 2: last name is Hamil, and that's the name he's going 56 00:02:45,600 --> 00:02:48,000 Speaker 2: to serve in the Marines under His mother was not 57 00:02:48,200 --> 00:02:50,800 Speaker 2: very together. There's a lot of neglect and poverty and 58 00:02:50,840 --> 00:02:53,680 Speaker 2: some drug abuse in his early life before his grandparents 59 00:02:53,760 --> 00:02:57,080 Speaker 2: move him from Kentucky to Ohio. Now, a lot of 60 00:02:57,120 --> 00:02:59,680 Speaker 2: ink has been spilled on the subject of Vance's supposedly 61 00:02:59,680 --> 00:03:03,160 Speaker 2: auto biographical book Hillbilly Elegy, which paints him as a 62 00:03:03,200 --> 00:03:06,440 Speaker 2: member of the aggrieved and abused white underclass, the forgotten 63 00:03:06,480 --> 00:03:10,320 Speaker 2: men of American politics. I'm not interested in relitigating this 64 00:03:10,400 --> 00:03:12,560 Speaker 2: stupid book, except to say that I had a kind 65 00:03:12,560 --> 00:03:15,480 Speaker 2: of similar background. My dad was in the picture, but 66 00:03:15,560 --> 00:03:18,520 Speaker 2: socioeconomically it was kind of similar. We grew up in 67 00:03:18,520 --> 00:03:22,720 Speaker 2: a very poor and troubled small town. Eventually, my caretakers 68 00:03:22,760 --> 00:03:24,919 Speaker 2: got me out of there into a more functional part 69 00:03:24,919 --> 00:03:27,720 Speaker 2: of the country. And I can see I see JD's 70 00:03:27,760 --> 00:03:30,680 Speaker 2: book as kind of cynically positioned to take advantage of 71 00:03:30,680 --> 00:03:34,200 Speaker 2: the liberal outpouring of sympathy for rural whites that followed 72 00:03:34,200 --> 00:03:37,360 Speaker 2: Trump's twenty sixteen victory, an attempt to position himself as someone 73 00:03:37,360 --> 00:03:39,760 Speaker 2: who can explain why this part of the country swept 74 00:03:39,760 --> 00:03:42,240 Speaker 2: Trump into power. Now, the reality is that this part 75 00:03:42,240 --> 00:03:44,440 Speaker 2: of the country did not sweep Trump into power. The 76 00:03:44,480 --> 00:03:47,000 Speaker 2: core of Trump support in twenty sixteen were aggrieved, but 77 00:03:47,080 --> 00:03:50,800 Speaker 2: financially comfortable, suburban white people. Vance did not write about 78 00:03:50,800 --> 00:03:53,280 Speaker 2: poor folks addicted to oxy in the hollers with any 79 00:03:53,320 --> 00:03:56,680 Speaker 2: real empathy. He painted them as helpless fools and mental children, 80 00:03:56,720 --> 00:03:58,840 Speaker 2: in himself as better for getting out. And that's really 81 00:03:58,880 --> 00:04:01,080 Speaker 2: all I have to say on the matter. To me, 82 00:04:01,320 --> 00:04:03,920 Speaker 2: his early life suggests a young man who wanted to 83 00:04:03,960 --> 00:04:06,480 Speaker 2: set himself up for a career in public life and 84 00:04:06,520 --> 00:04:09,400 Speaker 2: took the most expedient actions to do so. And that 85 00:04:09,600 --> 00:04:12,040 Speaker 2: is the context under which I see his service in 86 00:04:12,080 --> 00:04:14,960 Speaker 2: the US Marine Corps. He joined the Marines and got 87 00:04:15,040 --> 00:04:16,960 Speaker 2: himself the job that would get him as close to 88 00:04:17,000 --> 00:04:20,560 Speaker 2: action as possible without requiring that he actually do anything. 89 00:04:20,640 --> 00:04:24,479 Speaker 2: His specific gig was public affairs for a marine aircraft wing, 90 00:04:24,600 --> 00:04:27,159 Speaker 2: so he is writing about the shit that this aircraft 91 00:04:27,160 --> 00:04:30,440 Speaker 2: wing is doing, which is about the least job that 92 00:04:30,520 --> 00:04:32,919 Speaker 2: you can actually have in the military. He wrote that 93 00:04:32,960 --> 00:04:36,679 Speaker 2: he was quote lucky to escape any real fighting. After 94 00:04:36,720 --> 00:04:39,400 Speaker 2: finishing his term, he got a BA in polysci And 95 00:04:39,440 --> 00:04:42,760 Speaker 2: I'm not saying that you have to fight, for most 96 00:04:42,800 --> 00:04:45,400 Speaker 2: of what the military does is not literally fighting. I'm 97 00:04:45,400 --> 00:04:48,800 Speaker 2: just saying I see his specific positioning himself with this 98 00:04:48,960 --> 00:04:52,760 Speaker 2: job as him wanting to have marine on his CV 99 00:04:53,040 --> 00:04:56,680 Speaker 2: when he goes into politics. Right, that's my allegation, right, 100 00:04:56,800 --> 00:04:59,440 Speaker 2: Not that there's anything wrong with not fighting. 101 00:04:59,640 --> 00:05:02,279 Speaker 3: Sure, I mean, and it's also just good to point 102 00:05:02,279 --> 00:05:06,280 Speaker 3: out considering most of the rights attacks against Walls right 103 00:05:06,320 --> 00:05:09,960 Speaker 3: now are also about him not actually like seeing combat, 104 00:05:10,400 --> 00:05:12,320 Speaker 3: and Vance has gone after him for that specifically. 105 00:05:12,800 --> 00:05:14,160 Speaker 2: Yeah, trying to like. 106 00:05:14,080 --> 00:05:18,839 Speaker 3: Allude to like Vance having more combat experience. Yeah, both 107 00:05:18,880 --> 00:05:21,760 Speaker 3: men did not like fire bullets at enemy combatants. 108 00:05:22,040 --> 00:05:24,320 Speaker 2: No, and most people don't. But what I see with 109 00:05:24,520 --> 00:05:27,640 Speaker 2: Vance's service is I did this because it was a 110 00:05:27,640 --> 00:05:30,720 Speaker 2: line in my resume, whereas you don't do twenty four 111 00:05:30,839 --> 00:05:34,880 Speaker 2: years in the National Guard like just to set up 112 00:05:34,880 --> 00:05:37,240 Speaker 2: your political career. Now you do that because you want 113 00:05:37,240 --> 00:05:38,400 Speaker 2: to be in the National Guard. 114 00:05:38,800 --> 00:05:41,640 Speaker 3: Yes, Walts was definitely more like a career man in 115 00:05:41,640 --> 00:05:42,120 Speaker 3: that sense. 116 00:05:42,480 --> 00:05:45,839 Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, absolutely. After finishing his term, he got a 117 00:05:45,920 --> 00:05:49,520 Speaker 2: BA in polysci and philosophy from Ohio State and during 118 00:05:49,520 --> 00:05:51,760 Speaker 2: his first year in college he worked for a Republican 119 00:05:51,800 --> 00:05:54,039 Speaker 2: States senator. He's going to work for a couple of Republicans. 120 00:05:54,080 --> 00:05:57,440 Speaker 2: And his college in grad school, you know, law school 121 00:05:57,520 --> 00:06:00,679 Speaker 2: years then he attended Yale Law School. He made friends 122 00:06:00,760 --> 00:06:02,760 Speaker 2: with Jamil Giovanni, who would go on to be a 123 00:06:02,800 --> 00:06:07,240 Speaker 2: Conservative parliamentarian in Canada. He was mentored by professor Amy Chua, 124 00:06:07,279 --> 00:06:09,560 Speaker 2: who wrote a book about being a Tiger mom that 125 00:06:09,640 --> 00:06:11,680 Speaker 2: made a lot of people angry and was beloved by 126 00:06:11,680 --> 00:06:13,719 Speaker 2: the chunk of the country who thinks the children have 127 00:06:13,800 --> 00:06:16,640 Speaker 2: it too easy. Chua helped to convince him to write 128 00:06:16,680 --> 00:06:20,320 Speaker 2: Hillbilly Elegy, which might be her worst sin, almost definitely 129 00:06:20,400 --> 00:06:22,960 Speaker 2: is her worst sin. I can forgive some terrible acts 130 00:06:23,000 --> 00:06:25,520 Speaker 2: towards children if you don't write the book Hillbilly Elogy. 131 00:06:26,000 --> 00:06:28,919 Speaker 2: It was when Vance graduated from Yale that he first 132 00:06:28,960 --> 00:06:31,400 Speaker 2: made contact with the man who would come to define 133 00:06:31,440 --> 00:06:35,679 Speaker 2: his adult political journey. Peter Teel, the PayPal co founder 134 00:06:35,720 --> 00:06:39,280 Speaker 2: and serial entrepreneur investor, had taken a rapid turn from 135 00:06:39,320 --> 00:06:42,560 Speaker 2: his earlier libertarian politics thanks to a growing interest in 136 00:06:42,600 --> 00:06:46,440 Speaker 2: a line of political philosophy known mostly as neo reactionary 137 00:06:46,600 --> 00:06:49,640 Speaker 2: or NRX thought, although today you'll more often hear it 138 00:06:49,680 --> 00:06:52,400 Speaker 2: described as the new right. I'm not in love with 139 00:06:52,480 --> 00:06:55,560 Speaker 2: either of those terms for this particular chunk of the right. 140 00:06:55,680 --> 00:06:58,520 Speaker 2: But I think neo reactionary is better than new right. 141 00:06:58,800 --> 00:07:00,000 Speaker 3: Not as bad as dark and life. 142 00:07:00,600 --> 00:07:02,600 Speaker 2: It's not as bad as dark and we'll talk the 143 00:07:02,720 --> 00:07:05,440 Speaker 2: worst of these three terms, by far the worst of 144 00:07:05,480 --> 00:07:08,680 Speaker 2: the three terms. So I tend to stick with neo reactionary. 145 00:07:08,760 --> 00:07:11,640 Speaker 2: Although if you hear new right being used, that's that's 146 00:07:11,680 --> 00:07:12,880 Speaker 2: also what this refers to. 147 00:07:13,080 --> 00:07:14,680 Speaker 3: That's a term I've used sometimes. Yeah. 148 00:07:14,760 --> 00:07:15,040 Speaker 2: Yeah. 149 00:07:15,120 --> 00:07:17,760 Speaker 3: What time period is is just like twenty seventeen, like 150 00:07:18,200 --> 00:07:19,040 Speaker 3: where are we at here? 151 00:07:19,120 --> 00:07:22,960 Speaker 2: Twenty eleven is when he sees Peter Teal speak at Yale, 152 00:07:23,200 --> 00:07:26,400 Speaker 2: which he describes as like the moment around which his 153 00:07:26,480 --> 00:07:27,160 Speaker 2: life pivots. 154 00:07:27,320 --> 00:07:29,440 Speaker 3: So this is pre the publishing of his book. 155 00:07:29,800 --> 00:07:32,720 Speaker 2: Yes, yes, yes, he publishes He'll BILLI Elogy in twenty sixteen. 156 00:07:32,880 --> 00:07:34,760 Speaker 3: Okay, so he kind of got in on the ground 157 00:07:34,760 --> 00:07:35,960 Speaker 3: floor of some of this kind of stuff. 158 00:07:36,040 --> 00:07:38,920 Speaker 2: Yes, he is very early in teal world. He's one 159 00:07:38,920 --> 00:07:40,280 Speaker 2: of the first, he's going to be one of We're 160 00:07:40,280 --> 00:07:41,680 Speaker 2: getting to that. But I want to talk about what 161 00:07:41,760 --> 00:07:44,040 Speaker 2: neo reactionaries are because the rest of this isn't going 162 00:07:44,080 --> 00:07:45,480 Speaker 2: to make sense unless we go into that. 163 00:07:45,600 --> 00:07:46,200 Speaker 3: So sure. 164 00:07:46,560 --> 00:07:49,640 Speaker 2: Vanity Fair writer James Pogue rather ably described the New 165 00:07:49,760 --> 00:07:52,720 Speaker 2: Right as a worldview in direct competition to the liberal 166 00:07:52,760 --> 00:07:56,280 Speaker 2: idea that economic growth and technological innovation would lead us 167 00:07:56,320 --> 00:07:59,440 Speaker 2: to a better future. Instead, the growth of big tech surveillance, 168 00:07:59,520 --> 00:08:02,880 Speaker 2: nanny state governance, and social justice culture war dominance has 169 00:08:02,920 --> 00:08:06,560 Speaker 2: created a system of oppression that will destroy everything good 170 00:08:06,600 --> 00:08:10,120 Speaker 2: in the world if not stopped. The primary high priest 171 00:08:10,160 --> 00:08:12,560 Speaker 2: of this school of thought is Curtis Yarvin, who in 172 00:08:12,600 --> 00:08:14,560 Speaker 2: the early aughts from about two thousand and seven to 173 00:08:14,600 --> 00:08:19,800 Speaker 2: twenty fourteen blogged prolifically as Mincius Moldbug. Now, Jarvin is 174 00:08:19,840 --> 00:08:22,680 Speaker 2: a computer programmer. He is this guy who has had 175 00:08:22,720 --> 00:08:25,160 Speaker 2: for most of his career this desire to create a 176 00:08:25,200 --> 00:08:28,960 Speaker 2: new computer operating system that would like fix the way 177 00:08:29,000 --> 00:08:31,800 Speaker 2: in which knowledge is disseminated in a way that sounds 178 00:08:31,840 --> 00:08:34,760 Speaker 2: kind of magical to me. He never quite gets it working, 179 00:08:34,840 --> 00:08:37,880 Speaker 2: and he blogs about political philosophy the same way he 180 00:08:37,960 --> 00:08:41,720 Speaker 2: talks about programming, which he has this dream for a 181 00:08:41,720 --> 00:08:46,560 Speaker 2: way to reorient society after a soft, kind of peaceful coup. 182 00:08:46,640 --> 00:08:49,160 Speaker 2: He always emphasizes how peaceful it needs to be, that 183 00:08:49,240 --> 00:08:51,520 Speaker 2: will be, you know. Again, it's his way if he 184 00:08:51,559 --> 00:08:54,880 Speaker 2: wants to program society to make it work perfectly, you know, 185 00:08:54,960 --> 00:08:57,480 Speaker 2: based on his sort of set of values. And he 186 00:08:57,520 --> 00:09:02,679 Speaker 2: writes a series of essays how he wants to reorient society, 187 00:09:03,120 --> 00:09:06,920 Speaker 2: and these essays become kind of the central underpinning ethos 188 00:09:06,960 --> 00:09:09,360 Speaker 2: of the messy assortment of philosophies that we call neo 189 00:09:09,400 --> 00:09:13,280 Speaker 2: reactionaries or the new right. Now. The basic idea is 190 00:09:13,280 --> 00:09:16,000 Speaker 2: that this liberal nightmare healscape can only be stopped and 191 00:09:16,040 --> 00:09:19,600 Speaker 2: turned back by replacing democracy with an essentially monarchic system. 192 00:09:20,000 --> 00:09:23,040 Speaker 2: Pogue describes Jarvin as arguing for quote a Caesar like 193 00:09:23,120 --> 00:09:26,120 Speaker 2: figure to take power back from this devolved oligarchy and 194 00:09:26,160 --> 00:09:28,920 Speaker 2: replace it with a monarchical regime run like a startup 195 00:09:29,120 --> 00:09:32,080 Speaker 2: As early as twenty twelve, he proposed the acronym rage 196 00:09:32,240 --> 00:09:35,680 Speaker 2: retire all government employees as a shorthand for a first 197 00:09:35,679 --> 00:09:38,880 Speaker 2: step and the overthrow of the American regime. What we needed, 198 00:09:38,920 --> 00:09:43,679 Speaker 2: Yarvin thought was a national CEO or what's called a dictator. Now, 199 00:09:43,840 --> 00:09:47,079 Speaker 2: a lot of guys in the aughts become enraptured by 200 00:09:47,160 --> 00:09:50,480 Speaker 2: Jarvin's ideas because the way Jarvin writes, he spends most 201 00:09:50,520 --> 00:09:53,000 Speaker 2: of his free time because he gets bought out of 202 00:09:53,040 --> 00:09:55,120 Speaker 2: a company he's in, and he doesn't wind up like 203 00:09:55,320 --> 00:09:57,560 Speaker 2: super rich, but he winds up comfortable enough that he's 204 00:09:57,840 --> 00:10:00,120 Speaker 2: for a while just spending like five hundred bucks a 205 00:10:00,160 --> 00:10:03,599 Speaker 2: month on books and reading like old reactionary tracts, like 206 00:10:03,640 --> 00:10:07,640 Speaker 2: books from the eighteen hundreds of like monarchists arguing against 207 00:10:07,840 --> 00:10:11,320 Speaker 2: you know, the Enlightenment and socialism and the like. And 208 00:10:11,360 --> 00:10:14,080 Speaker 2: so he peppers his essays with a lot of different 209 00:10:14,200 --> 00:10:17,800 Speaker 2: kind of archaic flourishes, a lot of Latin, a lot 210 00:10:17,840 --> 00:10:21,640 Speaker 2: of like references to Greek and Roman philosophical figures. And 211 00:10:21,679 --> 00:10:24,880 Speaker 2: that is fucking catnip for a certain kind of guy. 212 00:10:25,360 --> 00:10:27,800 Speaker 3: Now, it makes it makes it seem like esoteric. It's 213 00:10:27,840 --> 00:10:30,240 Speaker 3: like it's kind of like, yes, like hidden knowledge, it's 214 00:10:30,280 --> 00:10:33,160 Speaker 3: being like rediscovered that like holds the key to fix 215 00:10:33,200 --> 00:10:34,080 Speaker 3: all of our problems. 216 00:10:34,200 --> 00:10:38,760 Speaker 2: Yes, he is. If you've read Enders Game, he's doing 217 00:10:38,800 --> 00:10:41,840 Speaker 2: what Ender's brother does at Enders Game, where he's writing 218 00:10:41,880 --> 00:10:45,120 Speaker 2: his little essays for the Internet, trying to like overthrow 219 00:10:45,160 --> 00:10:47,840 Speaker 2: the government using them. And there's a certain certain kind 220 00:10:47,880 --> 00:10:50,520 Speaker 2: of guy who is just deeply attracted to that idea. 221 00:10:50,559 --> 00:10:52,880 Speaker 2: One of those kinds of guys is a philosopher called 222 00:10:53,000 --> 00:10:57,040 Speaker 2: Nick Land. Land is an interesting character. We talk about 223 00:10:57,120 --> 00:11:00,240 Speaker 2: him a little during our AI Cult episodes. He's a 224 00:11:00,320 --> 00:11:02,960 Speaker 2: dude who comes out of academia and kind of has 225 00:11:03,440 --> 00:11:07,920 Speaker 2: now moved around to essentially like fascist political philosophy would 226 00:11:07,960 --> 00:11:10,480 Speaker 2: be kind of the quickest way to describe Land today. 227 00:11:10,520 --> 00:11:13,400 Speaker 2: Although he's a complicated fellow. But he is the guy 228 00:11:13,400 --> 00:11:16,520 Speaker 2: who who comes up with the term dark enlightenment for 229 00:11:16,640 --> 00:11:19,120 Speaker 2: Curtis's writing. And this is the way in which a 230 00:11:19,160 --> 00:11:21,720 Speaker 2: lot of these guys, a lot of the guys especially 231 00:11:21,760 --> 00:11:25,080 Speaker 2: who are going to come into Jarvin's work around the 232 00:11:25,240 --> 00:11:27,880 Speaker 2: mid aughts, are going to think about it right where 233 00:11:27,920 --> 00:11:31,319 Speaker 2: it's this, he has pulled the wool from my eyes, right. 234 00:11:31,400 --> 00:11:34,920 Speaker 2: He has made it clear how doomed democracy is that 235 00:11:34,960 --> 00:11:37,679 Speaker 2: it's fundamentally evil. And now that I've had this dark revelation, 236 00:11:37,760 --> 00:11:40,000 Speaker 2: I can never look at the world the same way again. 237 00:11:40,360 --> 00:11:42,480 Speaker 3: Right, And like Land was trying to do the same 238 00:11:42,480 --> 00:11:45,319 Speaker 3: thing for like the previous like fifteen years, and he 239 00:11:45,640 --> 00:11:49,640 Speaker 3: attracted a small batch of like kind of like academic followers. 240 00:11:50,480 --> 00:11:52,400 Speaker 3: A whole bunch of his colleagues kind of got more 241 00:11:52,440 --> 00:11:55,120 Speaker 3: popular than him because they were slightly more reasonable in 242 00:11:55,160 --> 00:11:56,080 Speaker 3: many ways. 243 00:11:55,880 --> 00:11:58,440 Speaker 2: Because Land's writing is never going to be like the 244 00:11:58,480 --> 00:12:03,120 Speaker 2: most viral thing on earth, right, Like, yeah, and mold 245 00:12:03,120 --> 00:12:05,560 Speaker 2: Bugs is a little better written for that, although both 246 00:12:05,559 --> 00:12:08,800 Speaker 2: of them are too dense. The guys who are going to, 247 00:12:08,840 --> 00:12:10,920 Speaker 2: like like Vance is going to be the guys who 248 00:12:10,920 --> 00:12:13,440 Speaker 2: are going to take his theories into like mainstream politics, 249 00:12:13,440 --> 00:12:15,640 Speaker 2: are going to need to trim the fat off. You know. 250 00:12:16,280 --> 00:12:19,359 Speaker 2: It's also worth noting Jarvin is the guy who introduces 251 00:12:19,400 --> 00:12:21,760 Speaker 2: the term the red pill to right wing politics. 252 00:12:22,040 --> 00:12:23,160 Speaker 3: Right, Oh, I didn't know that. 253 00:12:23,320 --> 00:12:27,400 Speaker 2: Yes, as far as I've ever seen, Jarvin is the 254 00:12:27,440 --> 00:12:30,440 Speaker 2: guy who like starts using the red pill in like 255 00:12:30,520 --> 00:12:33,200 Speaker 2: a really concerted way to describe like coming to these 256 00:12:33,240 --> 00:12:36,079 Speaker 2: understandings about you know, race science has a decent amount 257 00:12:36,080 --> 00:12:38,320 Speaker 2: to do with it earlier in Yarvin's writing career. But 258 00:12:38,400 --> 00:12:41,280 Speaker 2: like all of these ideas that we now call neo reactionary, 259 00:12:41,440 --> 00:12:44,600 Speaker 2: like that's that's a Jarvin original. He thinks the matrix 260 00:12:44,679 --> 00:12:47,240 Speaker 2: is a work of genius, of course, which it is, 261 00:12:47,240 --> 00:12:51,080 Speaker 2: but maybe not in the way that he thinks slightly. Yeah, 262 00:12:51,480 --> 00:12:55,240 Speaker 2: So anyway, Peter Teel falls in love because Teal is 263 00:12:55,280 --> 00:12:57,680 Speaker 2: by by two thousand and nine, Teal's writing stuff about 264 00:12:57,679 --> 00:13:00,880 Speaker 2: how he thinks democracy is incompatible with liberty. Right, And 265 00:13:00,880 --> 00:13:03,280 Speaker 2: when Peter Teel refers to liberty, he's not talking about 266 00:13:03,320 --> 00:13:06,720 Speaker 2: like your freedom to like to love the people that 267 00:13:06,760 --> 00:13:09,360 Speaker 2: you want to love, or do with your body what 268 00:13:09,400 --> 00:13:11,000 Speaker 2: you want to do with your body. He's talking about 269 00:13:11,040 --> 00:13:12,800 Speaker 2: his freedom as a guy with a lot of money 270 00:13:13,120 --> 00:13:15,760 Speaker 2: to not have to pay taxes. Right, That's primarily what 271 00:13:16,120 --> 00:13:19,160 Speaker 2: all of these guys mean by freedom. So Teal by 272 00:13:19,160 --> 00:13:21,559 Speaker 2: two thousand and nine is already enraptured with these anti 273 00:13:21,559 --> 00:13:25,080 Speaker 2: democratic ideas and he finds Jarvin. It's kind of unclear 274 00:13:25,120 --> 00:13:27,640 Speaker 2: to me, does Jarvin actually start him on that road 275 00:13:27,720 --> 00:13:30,000 Speaker 2: or I think it's more that he has started down 276 00:13:30,000 --> 00:13:32,520 Speaker 2: that road, and he thinks Jarvin is doing a really 277 00:13:32,559 --> 00:13:36,160 Speaker 2: good job of setting up what he's been thinking. So 278 00:13:36,200 --> 00:13:38,640 Speaker 2: he starts pumping money into Jarvin, he funds some of 279 00:13:38,640 --> 00:13:42,440 Speaker 2: his like software ambitions. He's just kind of generally supporting him, 280 00:13:42,880 --> 00:13:46,000 Speaker 2: and he begins pumping money increasingly over the early to 281 00:13:46,040 --> 00:13:49,280 Speaker 2: mid aughts into an array of influencers and thinkers who 282 00:13:49,360 --> 00:13:51,920 Speaker 2: are in alignment with what we might call mold buggy 283 00:13:51,960 --> 00:13:54,400 Speaker 2: in thought right, and he's doing that up to this 284 00:13:54,440 --> 00:13:57,760 Speaker 2: present day, Pog writes. Teal has also funded things like 285 00:13:57,800 --> 00:14:00,640 Speaker 2: The Edge Lordy and Post Left Infected New peaceople Sinema 286 00:14:00,640 --> 00:14:02,960 Speaker 2: film Festival, which ended its week long run of parties 287 00:14:02,960 --> 00:14:05,600 Speaker 2: and screenings in Manhattan just a few days before nat 288 00:14:05,640 --> 00:14:08,720 Speaker 2: Con began. He's long been a big donor to Republican 289 00:14:08,760 --> 00:14:11,679 Speaker 2: political candidates, but in recent years Teal has grown increasingly 290 00:14:11,679 --> 00:14:14,079 Speaker 2: involved in the politics of this younger and weirder world, 291 00:14:14,280 --> 00:14:17,480 Speaker 2: becoming something like an afarious godfather or genial rich uncle, 292 00:14:17,520 --> 00:14:20,760 Speaker 2: depending on your perspective. Podcasters and art world figures now 293 00:14:20,840 --> 00:14:23,120 Speaker 2: joke about their hope to get so called Teal bucks. 294 00:14:24,280 --> 00:14:27,560 Speaker 2: And if you're familiar with like the Red Scare podcast, 295 00:14:27,720 --> 00:14:30,680 Speaker 2: and those ladies you're familiar with, like the Dime square set. 296 00:14:31,160 --> 00:14:34,640 Speaker 2: A lot of them are into neo reactionary thought and 297 00:14:34,800 --> 00:14:38,240 Speaker 2: are the people that that paragraph is referring to right now. 298 00:14:38,280 --> 00:14:42,240 Speaker 2: While podcasters and cultural influencers have long been useful to Teal, 299 00:14:42,560 --> 00:14:44,960 Speaker 2: he's also tried to collect up and coming politicians with 300 00:14:45,040 --> 00:14:47,880 Speaker 2: uneven success. In twenty eleven, he gave a talk at 301 00:14:47,960 --> 00:14:50,200 Speaker 2: Yale while Vance was still a student, and discussed the 302 00:14:50,240 --> 00:14:54,080 Speaker 2: stagnation of technological progress in the United States. Vance wrote 303 00:14:54,080 --> 00:14:56,760 Speaker 2: that Teal was then quote possibly the smartest person I'd 304 00:14:56,800 --> 00:14:59,480 Speaker 2: ever met, and this moment is the moment that his 305 00:14:59,520 --> 00:15:02,960 Speaker 2: whole life pivots around meeting Peter Teal at Yale in 306 00:15:02,960 --> 00:15:05,800 Speaker 2: twenty eleven. We're gonna talk about what comes after, But Garrison, 307 00:15:06,560 --> 00:15:09,320 Speaker 2: you know what isn't receiving any money from Peter Teal. 308 00:15:09,560 --> 00:15:11,960 Speaker 3: We also cannot say that there's no way to. 309 00:15:13,240 --> 00:15:16,360 Speaker 2: It's entirely possible. It's entirely possible that we are funded 310 00:15:16,400 --> 00:15:19,240 Speaker 2: one hundred percent by Peter Teal. And if so, thank you. 311 00:15:19,440 --> 00:15:21,760 Speaker 3: Got to get those Teal bucks. 312 00:15:30,960 --> 00:15:34,200 Speaker 2: And we're back. I've just uncovered that Peter Teal is 313 00:15:34,240 --> 00:15:37,640 Speaker 2: the mind behind Chumba Casino. Garrison, this goes so much 314 00:15:37,680 --> 00:15:39,640 Speaker 2: deeper than I thought, what. 315 00:15:39,640 --> 00:15:42,680 Speaker 3: If Petertield instead just got really into sports betting, you know, 316 00:15:43,000 --> 00:15:47,960 Speaker 3: instead of dealing with all this weird like esoteric traditionalist, 317 00:15:48,400 --> 00:15:53,440 Speaker 3: like like eighteen eighties racism philosophy. What what if instead 318 00:15:53,440 --> 00:15:56,280 Speaker 3: he just got really into I don't know, the Bucks. 319 00:15:56,400 --> 00:15:57,760 Speaker 3: That's probably a sports team, right. 320 00:15:57,760 --> 00:16:01,760 Speaker 2: He put eight billion dollars on the Raiders. He took 321 00:16:01,800 --> 00:16:02,920 Speaker 2: a bath. He's fucked. 322 00:16:03,520 --> 00:16:06,600 Speaker 3: He got addicted to it too. God, he could save 323 00:16:06,640 --> 00:16:09,360 Speaker 3: so many lives sports, but I really couldn't save lives. 324 00:16:09,600 --> 00:16:13,320 Speaker 2: I've always said that Vance decided to abandon his planned 325 00:16:13,320 --> 00:16:15,040 Speaker 2: career in law, although I'm not sure I believe that 326 00:16:15,080 --> 00:16:16,160 Speaker 2: was ever his intended path. 327 00:16:16,320 --> 00:16:17,120 Speaker 3: Absolutely not. 328 00:16:17,480 --> 00:16:21,080 Speaker 2: No, he does a couple of years in law, and 329 00:16:21,120 --> 00:16:23,880 Speaker 2: he claims that Teal also is who made him decide 330 00:16:23,880 --> 00:16:27,120 Speaker 2: to convert to Christianity by defying the social template I 331 00:16:27,120 --> 00:16:30,240 Speaker 2: had constructed that Christians were dumb and atheists were smart. 332 00:16:30,560 --> 00:16:32,360 Speaker 2: I don't know how much to believe that he's actually 333 00:16:32,440 --> 00:16:34,520 Speaker 2: a Catholic. Maybe I don't. 334 00:16:34,320 --> 00:16:37,360 Speaker 3: Know, but like there's this whole new batch of like, yes, 335 00:16:37,400 --> 00:16:40,320 Speaker 3: people who are like a philosophically Catholic or like they're 336 00:16:40,400 --> 00:16:43,480 Speaker 3: Catholic in like a quote unquote Hegelian sense when when 337 00:16:43,480 --> 00:16:46,840 Speaker 3: they instruct these like larger models of like human evolution 338 00:16:47,200 --> 00:16:50,240 Speaker 3: and they view like Christianity as this like thing that 339 00:16:50,280 --> 00:16:53,360 Speaker 3: will drive the human species towards its like perfected form. 340 00:16:53,640 --> 00:16:58,200 Speaker 3: And definitely the dark Enlightenment people are a significant chunk 341 00:16:58,240 --> 00:17:00,640 Speaker 3: of kind of what caused you to who develop And 342 00:17:00,640 --> 00:17:02,680 Speaker 3: we're seeing that now with like these fake movements like 343 00:17:02,680 --> 00:17:05,280 Speaker 3: the Hegelian egirles, which are kind of like the weird 344 00:17:05,280 --> 00:17:08,479 Speaker 3: step child of some of these like Dimes Square like 345 00:17:08,600 --> 00:17:10,119 Speaker 3: influencer philosophy stuff. 346 00:17:10,200 --> 00:17:14,160 Speaker 2: Yeah, and I would say he's definitely not a Catholic 347 00:17:14,200 --> 00:17:16,320 Speaker 2: in the sense that your aunt is right. 348 00:17:16,600 --> 00:17:18,840 Speaker 3: No, no, no, no, no, no, no no. 349 00:17:18,920 --> 00:17:20,679 Speaker 2: He is a Catholic in the sense that, like he 350 00:17:20,800 --> 00:17:24,240 Speaker 2: believes there are things about social order and the roles 351 00:17:24,280 --> 00:17:28,000 Speaker 2: that people should have in society that Catholicism gets right. 352 00:17:28,200 --> 00:17:31,640 Speaker 2: And exactly that's that's the sense in which he's a Catholic. Right. 353 00:17:32,320 --> 00:17:35,400 Speaker 2: So in twenty sixteen, the same year that Vance publishes 354 00:17:35,440 --> 00:17:40,040 Speaker 2: Hillbilly Elogy and becomes a liberal darling, he joins Mythral Capital, 355 00:17:40,160 --> 00:17:43,560 Speaker 2: a venture capital firm founded by Teal Peter Teel. Advance, 356 00:17:43,640 --> 00:17:46,440 Speaker 2: all of these guys pretty much every time they create 357 00:17:46,440 --> 00:17:48,600 Speaker 2: a company, it's named after something in the Lord of 358 00:17:48,640 --> 00:17:49,040 Speaker 2: the Rings. 359 00:17:49,119 --> 00:17:51,360 Speaker 3: Fucking A J. R. R. Tolkien bullshit. 360 00:17:51,960 --> 00:17:53,919 Speaker 2: He would be so unhappy with this. 361 00:17:54,440 --> 00:17:56,960 Speaker 3: Because Tolkien was also a Catholic monarchist, but in a 362 00:17:57,080 --> 00:17:58,000 Speaker 3: very different. 363 00:17:57,680 --> 00:18:02,320 Speaker 2: Way, in a super different way. Yes. So, the two 364 00:18:02,400 --> 00:18:04,600 Speaker 2: young men that Teal adopts that he makes what are 365 00:18:04,600 --> 00:18:08,879 Speaker 2: called generational bets in is Blake Masters and JD. Vance. 366 00:18:08,920 --> 00:18:11,199 Speaker 2: And his bet is that if I really bankroll and 367 00:18:11,280 --> 00:18:15,320 Speaker 2: back these guys, they are going to be major figures 368 00:18:15,320 --> 00:18:19,840 Speaker 2: in US politics right for decades to come. And his 369 00:18:19,880 --> 00:18:21,760 Speaker 2: first step is he makes them rich. He helps them 370 00:18:21,800 --> 00:18:24,439 Speaker 2: get jobs and stuff that they get wealthy in. You know, 371 00:18:24,720 --> 00:18:27,040 Speaker 2: Masters is recruited in the same way as Vance. He's 372 00:18:27,040 --> 00:18:29,320 Speaker 2: given a cushy job in venture capital. He's handed a 373 00:18:29,359 --> 00:18:31,159 Speaker 2: shitload of Teal books to see what he can make 374 00:18:31,200 --> 00:18:33,159 Speaker 2: of them. And Vance is, you know, both of them 375 00:18:33,160 --> 00:18:35,199 Speaker 2: are decent enough at this. Vance is okay at it. 376 00:18:35,280 --> 00:18:37,880 Speaker 2: And within two years he gets hired for one hundred 377 00:18:37,920 --> 00:18:40,760 Speaker 2: and fifty million dollar fund out of Washington that focuses 378 00:18:40,800 --> 00:18:44,040 Speaker 2: on finding young companies and overlooked US cities, places that 379 00:18:44,080 --> 00:18:47,040 Speaker 2: weren't seen as traditionally tech Hubs. Soon after this, he 380 00:18:47,080 --> 00:18:49,320 Speaker 2: goes into business on his own, if we can call 381 00:18:49,359 --> 00:18:51,840 Speaker 2: it on your own, when Peter Teal is the guy 382 00:18:51,880 --> 00:18:54,240 Speaker 2: who backs your new company entirely right. 383 00:18:54,240 --> 00:18:57,320 Speaker 3: Sure, I do love that that Peter Teel somehow picked 384 00:18:57,359 --> 00:18:59,800 Speaker 3: the two most uncharismatic up and. 385 00:18:59,720 --> 00:19:03,239 Speaker 2: Come dudes, I mean, look at Peter, what does he 386 00:19:03,359 --> 00:19:05,119 Speaker 2: know about charisma? 387 00:19:05,200 --> 00:19:08,680 Speaker 3: Yeah, but like it is fun that he made these 388 00:19:08,680 --> 00:19:12,560 Speaker 3: two bets and Mark Kelly just destroyed one of them. Yeah, 389 00:19:12,600 --> 00:19:14,840 Speaker 3: criticize the man for what you will, but. 390 00:19:15,680 --> 00:19:19,639 Speaker 2: One of these weirdos go up against an astronaut on 391 00:19:19,800 --> 00:19:20,960 Speaker 2: a public debate. 392 00:19:21,840 --> 00:19:25,720 Speaker 3: Jesus Christ, you know, say what you will about electoralism. 393 00:19:25,760 --> 00:19:28,359 Speaker 3: I'm excited to see the Walls Vance debate because I 394 00:19:28,359 --> 00:19:29,159 Speaker 3: think it'll be funny. 395 00:19:29,359 --> 00:19:33,159 Speaker 2: Yeah. Well, because Vance has big daddy issues and Walls 396 00:19:33,200 --> 00:19:36,639 Speaker 2: has strong daddy energy, so we could be in for 397 00:19:36,680 --> 00:19:40,639 Speaker 2: a very interesting night. So Vance forms his own venture 398 00:19:40,720 --> 00:19:44,119 Speaker 2: capital form Narya Capital. This is another Lord of the 399 00:19:44,200 --> 00:19:47,240 Speaker 2: Rings reference. Narya is one of the rings of power, 400 00:19:47,560 --> 00:19:51,400 Speaker 2: which the rings of power are bad. Very famously, you're 401 00:19:51,440 --> 00:19:55,280 Speaker 2: part of a con. An evil monster creates them to 402 00:19:55,640 --> 00:19:59,119 Speaker 2: enslave you. If you are wearing one of the rings 403 00:19:59,160 --> 00:20:03,879 Speaker 2: of power. You have enslaved by Saarron. That's the point. 404 00:20:04,640 --> 00:20:06,160 Speaker 3: They're very famously bad. 405 00:20:06,280 --> 00:20:09,200 Speaker 2: Yeah yeah. And of course one of the major investments 406 00:20:09,320 --> 00:20:13,520 Speaker 2: Naria Capital makes is into Palentier, which is also named. 407 00:20:14,080 --> 00:20:16,920 Speaker 3: Also famously used by the Evil Wizard. 408 00:20:17,359 --> 00:20:21,400 Speaker 2: Yes, famously used by the Evil Wizard. Now, in twenty sixteen, 409 00:20:21,480 --> 00:20:24,320 Speaker 2: Vance portrayed himself as a never Trumper, calling the future 410 00:20:24,359 --> 00:20:26,880 Speaker 2: president want to be dictator? Well, yeah, how many people 411 00:20:26,880 --> 00:20:29,000 Speaker 2: in America didn't he Rape is one of the things 412 00:20:29,119 --> 00:20:32,439 Speaker 2: Vance says about Trump. So he is like not holding 413 00:20:32,480 --> 00:20:36,280 Speaker 2: his punches against the man broken clock. But behind the scenes, 414 00:20:36,440 --> 00:20:38,800 Speaker 2: he is in the process of being anointed by the 415 00:20:38,880 --> 00:20:40,800 Speaker 2: Teal crowd, who again see him as a bet in 416 00:20:40,840 --> 00:20:43,560 Speaker 2: the future of American politics. Now, this is not something 417 00:20:43,600 --> 00:20:45,720 Speaker 2: I can claim to know with confidence, but it seems 418 00:20:45,760 --> 00:20:48,760 Speaker 2: to me from the extant information that Vance's anti Trumpism 419 00:20:48,880 --> 00:20:51,520 Speaker 2: was performative, calculated to sell books when he thought he 420 00:20:51,600 --> 00:20:54,600 Speaker 2: might have a future with a new more conservative Democratic Party, 421 00:20:54,960 --> 00:20:58,280 Speaker 2: triangulating to battle populus trump Ism. The fact that he 422 00:20:58,359 --> 00:21:00,520 Speaker 2: remained close to Teal during this whole curiot, and that 423 00:21:00,560 --> 00:21:03,439 Speaker 2: Teale spoke at the twenty sixteen RNC strikes me as 424 00:21:03,440 --> 00:21:05,880 Speaker 2: evidence of a lack of any core political beliefs beyond 425 00:21:05,920 --> 00:21:09,000 Speaker 2: a personal desire for power. Now, it is worth noting 426 00:21:09,040 --> 00:21:11,240 Speaker 2: that as a younger man, he displayed none of the 427 00:21:11,320 --> 00:21:15,160 Speaker 2: signs of social conservatism. He is always an economic conservative. 428 00:21:15,160 --> 00:21:17,000 Speaker 2: He's willing to work with Republicans, right. He's one of 429 00:21:17,080 --> 00:21:20,199 Speaker 2: these guys who you could definitely see economically being in 430 00:21:20,200 --> 00:21:22,840 Speaker 2: line with their Republicans. But he does not evince any 431 00:21:22,920 --> 00:21:26,919 Speaker 2: kind of bigotry in his early life, particularly towards LGBT people. 432 00:21:27,280 --> 00:21:29,320 Speaker 2: One of his best friends from law school is a 433 00:21:29,320 --> 00:21:33,040 Speaker 2: transgender woman, Sophia and Nelson. He describes her in Hillbilly 434 00:21:33,080 --> 00:21:36,439 Speaker 2: Elogy as an extremely progressive lesbian, and wrote in an 435 00:21:36,440 --> 00:21:38,960 Speaker 2: email to her, I recognize now that this may not 436 00:21:39,040 --> 00:21:41,159 Speaker 2: accurately reflect how you think of yourself, and for that, 437 00:21:41,200 --> 00:21:43,520 Speaker 2: I am really sorry. I hope you're not offended, but 438 00:21:43,560 --> 00:21:47,280 Speaker 2: if you are, I'm sorry. Love you, JD. Sophia responded 439 00:21:47,320 --> 00:21:49,480 Speaker 2: the next day, saying, if you had written gender queer, 440 00:21:49,560 --> 00:21:51,920 Speaker 2: radical pragmatist, nobody would know what you mean. 441 00:21:52,520 --> 00:21:54,480 Speaker 3: Many such cases right. 442 00:21:55,160 --> 00:21:56,879 Speaker 2: The text of their emails has been shared with The 443 00:21:56,880 --> 00:21:59,720 Speaker 2: New York Times by Nelson. After Vance took a hard 444 00:21:59,720 --> 00:22:02,520 Speaker 2: turn to lean into the right's anti trans bigotry. This 445 00:22:02,640 --> 00:22:04,959 Speaker 2: was a move that pleased Teal himself, who has a 446 00:22:05,200 --> 00:22:08,080 Speaker 2: very law He has been anti trans and pushing anti 447 00:22:08,080 --> 00:22:11,840 Speaker 2: trans rhetoric for years before this was a mainstream thing 448 00:22:11,840 --> 00:22:14,679 Speaker 2: on the right, before the Matt Walsh types really started 449 00:22:14,720 --> 00:22:17,840 Speaker 2: pivoting Republican messaging around it. Right, Yeah, and I'm going 450 00:22:17,880 --> 00:22:20,600 Speaker 2: to quote from the Times here. Nelson, now a public 451 00:22:20,640 --> 00:22:23,320 Speaker 2: defender in Detroit, said they visited each other's homes, talked 452 00:22:23,320 --> 00:22:26,200 Speaker 2: on Zoom during the pandemic, and exchanged long emails discussing 453 00:22:26,200 --> 00:22:28,439 Speaker 2: a range of subjects, from minutia of daily life to 454 00:22:28,480 --> 00:22:31,840 Speaker 2: weighty discussions of current events and public policy issues. Nelson 455 00:22:31,840 --> 00:22:35,040 Speaker 2: attended mister Vance's wedding in Kentucky in twenty fourteen. They 456 00:22:35,080 --> 00:22:37,919 Speaker 2: pondered doing a podcast together. He suggested they call it 457 00:22:37,960 --> 00:22:40,960 Speaker 2: The Lunatic Fringe, but Nelson and mister Vance had a 458 00:22:41,000 --> 00:22:43,080 Speaker 2: falling out in twenty twenty one when Vance said he 459 00:22:43,119 --> 00:22:46,600 Speaker 2: publicly supported an Arkansas ban on gender affirming care from miners, 460 00:22:46,880 --> 00:22:49,800 Speaker 2: leading to a bitter exchange that deeply hurt Nelson. He 461 00:22:49,880 --> 00:22:52,600 Speaker 2: had achieved great success and became very rich by being 462 00:22:52,680 --> 00:22:54,919 Speaker 2: a never trumper, who explained the white working class to 463 00:22:54,960 --> 00:22:57,919 Speaker 2: the liberal elite. Nelson said, now he's amassing even more 464 00:22:57,960 --> 00:23:01,640 Speaker 2: power by expressing the exact opposite. And I think that's interesting. 465 00:23:01,720 --> 00:23:04,320 Speaker 2: It does kind of point to the whole There's no 466 00:23:04,520 --> 00:23:07,359 Speaker 2: core to this guy. There's nothing that he has ever 467 00:23:07,440 --> 00:23:13,199 Speaker 2: really cared about other than positioning himself most advantageously. And 468 00:23:13,440 --> 00:23:16,200 Speaker 2: I really do think that that gets at what actually 469 00:23:16,320 --> 00:23:17,919 Speaker 2: is inside JD. Vance. 470 00:23:18,119 --> 00:23:20,600 Speaker 3: I mean, I mean, ap proximity to political power is 471 00:23:20,640 --> 00:23:23,120 Speaker 3: the driving force for a lot of yeah, a lot 472 00:23:23,119 --> 00:23:25,600 Speaker 3: of like people who get into politics. 473 00:23:25,720 --> 00:23:29,280 Speaker 2: Yes, frankly, yes, yes, yeah, that's that's it. Now, it's 474 00:23:29,320 --> 00:23:31,440 Speaker 2: relevant that twenty twenty one was the year Vance chose 475 00:23:31,480 --> 00:23:33,880 Speaker 2: to pivot away from never Trump rhetoric and lean into 476 00:23:33,920 --> 00:23:36,960 Speaker 2: the right wing culture war bullshit. Narya had been founded 477 00:23:37,000 --> 00:23:39,119 Speaker 2: in twenty nineteen and had been backed by one hundred 478 00:23:39,160 --> 00:23:41,560 Speaker 2: million dollars from Peter Teal, as well as funding by 479 00:23:41,680 --> 00:23:45,719 Speaker 2: Eric Schmidt and Mark Andresen. Their investments included Strive asset 480 00:23:45,760 --> 00:23:49,120 Speaker 2: management and investment funds started by vivek Rama Shwami, who 481 00:23:49,160 --> 00:23:50,520 Speaker 2: was Teal's classmate at Yale. 482 00:23:50,920 --> 00:23:52,960 Speaker 3: Oh I did not know they were classmates. 483 00:23:53,119 --> 00:23:56,040 Speaker 2: Uh huh, oh, yeah, it's the class the shit fell on. 484 00:23:56,720 --> 00:23:58,720 Speaker 2: For two years, he'd been allowed to keep up the 485 00:23:58,720 --> 00:24:01,840 Speaker 2: fiction of a principled ex economic conservative who was horrified 486 00:24:01,880 --> 00:24:03,840 Speaker 2: by the bigotry and corruption of Trump World. But by 487 00:24:03,880 --> 00:24:07,120 Speaker 2: twenty twenty one, with Trump out of office and Biden's presidency underway, 488 00:24:07,440 --> 00:24:10,240 Speaker 2: Teel made it clear that he needed something else from Vance. 489 00:24:10,600 --> 00:24:12,840 Speaker 2: We got our best texture of what Vance believed by 490 00:24:12,880 --> 00:24:15,520 Speaker 2: late twenty twenty one from Pogue's Vanity Fair piece, which 491 00:24:15,560 --> 00:24:18,320 Speaker 2: was written about a neo reactionary summit in October of 492 00:24:18,359 --> 00:24:21,920 Speaker 2: twenty twenty one. Quote. Vance believes that a well educated 493 00:24:21,920 --> 00:24:25,560 Speaker 2: and culturally liberal American elite has greatly benefited from globalization, 494 00:24:25,720 --> 00:24:28,159 Speaker 2: the financialization of our economy, and the growing power of 495 00:24:28,160 --> 00:24:30,840 Speaker 2: big tech. This has led an ivy League intellectual and 496 00:24:30,920 --> 00:24:34,240 Speaker 2: management class a quasi aristocracy. He calls the regime to 497 00:24:34,280 --> 00:24:36,760 Speaker 2: adopt a set of economic and cultural interests that directly 498 00:24:36,800 --> 00:24:39,360 Speaker 2: opposed those of people in places like Middletown, Ohio, where 499 00:24:39,359 --> 00:24:41,520 Speaker 2: he grew up in the vancy. In view, this class 500 00:24:41,560 --> 00:24:43,399 Speaker 2: has no stake in what people on the New right 501 00:24:43,480 --> 00:24:46,320 Speaker 2: call the real economy, the farm and factory jobs that 502 00:24:46,440 --> 00:24:49,800 Speaker 2: months disdained class life in Middle America. This is a 503 00:24:49,800 --> 00:24:52,399 Speaker 2: fundamental difference between new right figures like Vance and the 504 00:24:52,440 --> 00:24:55,359 Speaker 2: Reaganite right wingers of their parents' generation. To Vance, and 505 00:24:55,400 --> 00:24:59,040 Speaker 2: he said, this culture war is class warfare. Vance recently 506 00:24:59,040 --> 00:25:00,840 Speaker 2: told an interviewer, I got to be honest with you, 507 00:25:00,920 --> 00:25:03,119 Speaker 2: I don't really care about what happens to Ukraine, a 508 00:25:03,200 --> 00:25:05,000 Speaker 2: flick at the fact that he thinks that the American 509 00:25:05,080 --> 00:25:08,000 Speaker 2: led global order is as much about enriching defense contractors 510 00:25:08,160 --> 00:25:10,919 Speaker 2: and think tank types as it is about defending America's interest. 511 00:25:11,240 --> 00:25:13,160 Speaker 2: I do care about the fact that in my community 512 00:25:13,240 --> 00:25:15,159 Speaker 2: right now, the leading cause of death among eighteen to 513 00:25:15,160 --> 00:25:18,080 Speaker 2: forty five year olds is Mexican fentanyl. His criticisms of 514 00:25:18,119 --> 00:25:21,040 Speaker 2: big tech as enemies of Western civilization often get lost 515 00:25:21,040 --> 00:25:23,280 Speaker 2: in the run of Republican outrage over Trump being kicked 516 00:25:23,320 --> 00:25:25,840 Speaker 2: off Twitter and Facebook, although they go much deeper than this. 517 00:25:26,240 --> 00:25:28,679 Speaker 2: Vance believes that the regime has sold an elusive story 518 00:25:28,720 --> 00:25:31,439 Speaker 2: that consumer gadgets and social media are constantly making our 519 00:25:31,480 --> 00:25:34,159 Speaker 2: lives better, even his wages stagnate and technology feeds an 520 00:25:34,160 --> 00:25:38,719 Speaker 2: epidemic of depression. Now he is backed entirely by social 521 00:25:38,720 --> 00:25:41,400 Speaker 2: media money. Sure Teel is one of the major backers 522 00:25:41,440 --> 00:25:44,880 Speaker 2: of Facebook. Right of course, he is supported entirely by 523 00:25:44,920 --> 00:25:47,160 Speaker 2: the money of the people he claims to hate, who 524 00:25:47,160 --> 00:25:48,600 Speaker 2: he claims are destroying America. 525 00:25:48,720 --> 00:25:50,760 Speaker 3: I do find this to be really interesting because it's 526 00:25:50,800 --> 00:25:55,440 Speaker 3: like a more conservative right reaction to like right wing neoliberalism. Right, 527 00:25:55,960 --> 00:25:57,840 Speaker 3: this is so different. Even though all these guys like 528 00:25:57,880 --> 00:26:00,960 Speaker 3: kind of talk about how they're like Reagan right, they're 529 00:26:01,000 --> 00:26:04,520 Speaker 3: really not. Now they're going back to a much more 530 00:26:04,760 --> 00:26:08,439 Speaker 3: nineteen like twenties style of conservatism. Almost. Yes, before like 531 00:26:08,560 --> 00:26:11,520 Speaker 3: the Southern split before like like a new Deal, and 532 00:26:11,560 --> 00:26:14,840 Speaker 3: we solidified more of like the Democrats being this liberal party, 533 00:26:14,880 --> 00:26:17,960 Speaker 3: this this more fiscally conservative party on the right, and 534 00:26:18,000 --> 00:26:20,320 Speaker 3: then that kind of gave way to like Thatcher right 535 00:26:20,320 --> 00:26:23,919 Speaker 3: England and the neoliberal takeover of the entire world. It's 536 00:26:24,000 --> 00:26:26,560 Speaker 3: like they're looking at how like neoliberalism has been totally 537 00:26:26,720 --> 00:26:30,040 Speaker 3: subsumed even by like the Democrats and like you know, 538 00:26:30,320 --> 00:26:33,199 Speaker 3: centrist left liberals, and they're reacting to it with this 539 00:26:33,280 --> 00:26:37,560 Speaker 3: much more socially conservative backlash. Yes, and that is really 540 00:26:37,680 --> 00:26:39,560 Speaker 3: the entirety of what's happened to the Republican Party the 541 00:26:39,640 --> 00:26:41,680 Speaker 3: last the last four years. And Trump's only a small 542 00:26:41,680 --> 00:26:43,800 Speaker 3: part of that. Because even Trump doesn't really care about 543 00:26:43,840 --> 00:26:46,600 Speaker 3: some of these types of like culture war issues now 544 00:26:47,119 --> 00:26:49,280 Speaker 3: that these guys care about, Like these guys are even 545 00:26:49,320 --> 00:26:51,000 Speaker 3: like further to the right of Trump on like most 546 00:26:51,040 --> 00:26:53,920 Speaker 3: things in this kind of social vein, and like where 547 00:26:53,920 --> 00:26:57,400 Speaker 3: you're viewing like you said, like a like culture war 548 00:26:57,520 --> 00:27:00,880 Speaker 3: is class war in terms of like this culture war 549 00:27:00,960 --> 00:27:04,879 Speaker 3: is like beating down like the poor white working class. Yeah, absolutely, 550 00:27:05,520 --> 00:27:08,399 Speaker 3: these small town farms aren't the real economy. They simply aren't. 551 00:27:09,119 --> 00:27:11,600 Speaker 3: The real economy is California and Texas. 552 00:27:11,840 --> 00:27:14,760 Speaker 2: These beliefs, there's an element to which they sound compelling 553 00:27:14,840 --> 00:27:16,840 Speaker 2: because parts of this are the stuff that everyone on 554 00:27:16,880 --> 00:27:20,359 Speaker 2: the left has complained about neoliberalism. But like his solutions 555 00:27:20,359 --> 00:27:23,040 Speaker 2: are fantasies. Like, for one thing, the people who are 556 00:27:23,080 --> 00:27:25,400 Speaker 2: backing him are the same kinds of people and often 557 00:27:25,440 --> 00:27:28,360 Speaker 2: the same people who were very much gung ho behind 558 00:27:28,440 --> 00:27:31,359 Speaker 2: getting rid of American factory jobs in order to maximize 559 00:27:31,400 --> 00:27:35,240 Speaker 2: their profits and the consolidation of farmland into these giant 560 00:27:35,280 --> 00:27:36,600 Speaker 2: agricultural conglomerates. 561 00:27:36,680 --> 00:27:39,800 Speaker 3: Right, Like he abandoned this part of the country because yes, 562 00:27:40,119 --> 00:27:42,560 Speaker 3: because he knows it sucks, Like, yes, it's not like 563 00:27:42,600 --> 00:27:45,400 Speaker 3: a pleasant place to live, like a decent life. It's 564 00:27:45,520 --> 00:27:46,920 Speaker 3: very hard. It's very difficult. 565 00:27:47,160 --> 00:27:50,119 Speaker 2: Yeah, and it's in part because these kind of people 566 00:27:50,119 --> 00:27:52,439 Speaker 2: who came out of the Reagan era like have no 567 00:27:52,720 --> 00:27:56,480 Speaker 2: use for factory workers or farmers in the United States. 568 00:27:56,920 --> 00:28:00,000 Speaker 2: All of that can be consolidated into these vast enterprise 569 00:28:00,240 --> 00:28:02,800 Speaker 2: is that when there are human workers necessary, we can 570 00:28:02,920 --> 00:28:06,680 Speaker 2: just grab undocumented people from across the border. Right anyway, 571 00:28:06,960 --> 00:28:20,840 Speaker 2: speaking of grabbing people, these ads will grab you. Dah, 572 00:28:20,880 --> 00:28:26,159 Speaker 2: We're back. So by late twenty twenty one, Curtis Jarvin 573 00:28:26,400 --> 00:28:29,560 Speaker 2: is still a major figure in the neo reactionary movement. 574 00:28:29,760 --> 00:28:34,160 Speaker 2: VANCE has started quoting him kind of obliquely, and in fact, 575 00:28:34,200 --> 00:28:37,560 Speaker 2: during this twenty twenty one National Conservative Conference that Pogue 576 00:28:37,600 --> 00:28:42,280 Speaker 2: pivots on, Vance makes direct reference to something that Jarvin 577 00:28:42,320 --> 00:28:44,680 Speaker 2: has written his ideas about, like we need this red 578 00:28:44,760 --> 00:28:47,840 Speaker 2: Caesar when he says during an interview, we are in 579 00:28:47,880 --> 00:28:50,600 Speaker 2: a late Republican period. If we're going to push back 580 00:28:50,640 --> 00:28:52,400 Speaker 2: against it, we're going to have to get pretty wild 581 00:28:52,440 --> 00:28:54,240 Speaker 2: and pretty far out there and go in directions that 582 00:28:54,280 --> 00:28:57,840 Speaker 2: a lot of conservatives right now are uncomfortable with. And 583 00:28:58,200 --> 00:29:01,160 Speaker 2: you know what that means is this late Republican he's 584 00:29:01,160 --> 00:29:04,320 Speaker 2: talking about Republican Rome before Caesar, you know, makes his 585 00:29:04,360 --> 00:29:07,480 Speaker 2: play for power, like that's explicitly what he is comparing 586 00:29:07,560 --> 00:29:10,400 Speaker 2: it to. And it's because Yarvin's big thing is we 587 00:29:10,400 --> 00:29:12,440 Speaker 2: don't want a left or a right wing dictator. We 588 00:29:12,520 --> 00:29:15,080 Speaker 2: want a king for the whole country right that's going 589 00:29:15,080 --> 00:29:18,200 Speaker 2: to represent everybody, which is just not what kings do. 590 00:29:18,400 --> 00:29:19,600 Speaker 2: It's not what dictators do. 591 00:29:20,240 --> 00:29:22,160 Speaker 3: This is so clearly there's also just like a fascist 592 00:29:22,160 --> 00:29:26,280 Speaker 3: line of argument, like an actual like actual like ideologically fascist, 593 00:29:26,320 --> 00:29:29,120 Speaker 3: and no people call like, you know, Reagan a fascist, 594 00:29:29,120 --> 00:29:32,880 Speaker 3: but like he's not, He's a neoliberal. Neoliberals suck. Yes, 595 00:29:32,920 --> 00:29:36,200 Speaker 3: these guys are going back like actual like fascist political theory. 596 00:29:36,600 --> 00:29:38,840 Speaker 3: That's what Mullbug is reading, that's what he's writing about. 597 00:29:39,200 --> 00:29:41,600 Speaker 2: And in twenty twenty one, Vance is saying this, I 598 00:29:41,600 --> 00:29:43,800 Speaker 2: think Trump is going to run again in twenty twenty four. 599 00:29:43,920 --> 00:29:45,400 Speaker 2: I think that what Trump should do, if I was 600 00:29:45,400 --> 00:29:47,720 Speaker 2: giving him one piece of advice, fire every single mid 601 00:29:47,760 --> 00:29:50,800 Speaker 2: level bureaucrat, every civil servant in the administrative state. Replace 602 00:29:50,840 --> 00:29:53,040 Speaker 2: them with our people. And when the courts stop, you 603 00:29:53,080 --> 00:29:55,920 Speaker 2: stand before the country and say the Chief Justice has 604 00:29:55,960 --> 00:29:58,600 Speaker 2: made his ruling, now let him enforce it, which he's 605 00:29:58,680 --> 00:30:01,960 Speaker 2: quoting Andrew Jackson there, but he's describing like the end 606 00:30:02,040 --> 00:30:03,520 Speaker 2: of democracy. 607 00:30:02,960 --> 00:30:06,440 Speaker 3: A dictatorial takeover, right, and laying out with a plan 608 00:30:06,520 --> 00:30:09,080 Speaker 3: that is very similar to Project twenty twenty five. Yeah, 609 00:30:09,120 --> 00:30:11,680 Speaker 3: I know Vance does have something personal connections to because 610 00:30:11,680 --> 00:30:13,520 Speaker 3: a lot of his friends were involved in the planning 611 00:30:13,560 --> 00:30:13,760 Speaker 3: of that. 612 00:30:14,240 --> 00:30:16,120 Speaker 2: But you can see Project twenty twenty five and what 613 00:30:16,200 --> 00:30:18,880 Speaker 2: Vance is saying here, these are all downstream of what 614 00:30:18,960 --> 00:30:21,840 Speaker 2: Yarvin's saying in twenty twelve of this rage acronym, replace 615 00:30:21,880 --> 00:30:24,680 Speaker 2: all government employees, right or retire all government employees. You know, 616 00:30:25,280 --> 00:30:26,680 Speaker 2: by the way, you will be glad to know that 617 00:30:26,680 --> 00:30:29,400 Speaker 2: by twenty twenty one, Yarvin has stopped openly using the 618 00:30:29,480 --> 00:30:32,960 Speaker 2: term dictator. So that's good. He just he just calls 619 00:30:32,960 --> 00:30:34,360 Speaker 2: it a monarchy a lot. 620 00:30:34,360 --> 00:30:36,240 Speaker 3: Now, Oh okay, that's good. Yeah, that's good. 621 00:30:36,360 --> 00:30:39,520 Speaker 2: Now. JD's pivot, which he often credits with his conversion 622 00:30:39,560 --> 00:30:42,800 Speaker 2: to Catholicism, although you can see he's been on this 623 00:30:42,960 --> 00:30:45,920 Speaker 2: road for much longer than that, was perfectly timed for 624 00:30:45,960 --> 00:30:48,720 Speaker 2: his Senate run in twenty twenty two. Peter Teel was 625 00:30:48,720 --> 00:30:51,480 Speaker 2: his biggest donor, providing fifteen million to the super Pack 626 00:30:51,560 --> 00:30:53,320 Speaker 2: that backed him, which at the time at least was 627 00:30:53,360 --> 00:30:56,080 Speaker 2: the largest amount ever given to boost a Senate candidate. 628 00:30:56,160 --> 00:30:58,440 Speaker 3: Yeah, as fifty million for a Senate run is crazy, 629 00:30:58,600 --> 00:30:59,080 Speaker 3: It's nuts. 630 00:30:59,720 --> 00:31:02,480 Speaker 2: D been a long shot candidate at first because he's 631 00:31:02,600 --> 00:31:04,960 Speaker 2: very unlikable, but the Teal money allowed for a major 632 00:31:05,000 --> 00:31:07,160 Speaker 2: ad blitz and the kind of media prep work that 633 00:31:07,240 --> 00:31:11,080 Speaker 2: only a well funded pack can provide. His pack published 634 00:31:11,080 --> 00:31:13,840 Speaker 2: the data on an open Medium page with a username 635 00:31:14,120 --> 00:31:16,880 Speaker 2: at protect Ohio values forms, which allowed the pack to 636 00:31:16,920 --> 00:31:20,320 Speaker 2: send info and advice to Vance without violating federal campaign 637 00:31:20,440 --> 00:31:23,680 Speaker 2: finance loss. Vance had been hit early for comments made 638 00:31:23,760 --> 00:31:26,080 Speaker 2: a few years back negative to Trump, but he clawed 639 00:31:26,080 --> 00:31:28,800 Speaker 2: his way back into the MAGA good graces by appearing 640 00:31:28,800 --> 00:31:32,000 Speaker 2: on Breitbart News, Tucker Carlson's Fox Show, Steve Bannon's War 641 00:31:32,080 --> 00:31:34,880 Speaker 2: Room podcast, and most of all, by positioning to himself 642 00:31:34,920 --> 00:31:37,520 Speaker 2: as a violent opponent of immigration from a write up 643 00:31:37,520 --> 00:31:41,280 Speaker 2: in Politico. In February, Thompson, who's the guy running the pack, 644 00:31:41,320 --> 00:31:43,640 Speaker 2: posted a memo to the Medium site arguing that Vance 645 00:31:43,640 --> 00:31:46,440 Speaker 2: had an opening to zero win on immigration and border security, 646 00:31:46,720 --> 00:31:48,720 Speaker 2: noting that he had a personal connection to the issue 647 00:31:48,720 --> 00:31:51,280 Speaker 2: given his mother's struggles with drug addiction. The issue was 648 00:31:51,320 --> 00:31:53,520 Speaker 2: near and dear to the primary voters, the memo argued, 649 00:31:53,560 --> 00:31:56,360 Speaker 2: and crucially could help in nabbing Trump's support. To win 650 00:31:56,360 --> 00:31:58,680 Speaker 2: a Trump endorsement, a candidate has to show a growing 651 00:31:58,720 --> 00:32:00,640 Speaker 2: ballot share to get that account, and it has to 652 00:32:00,680 --> 00:32:03,479 Speaker 2: own a critical issue, the memo read. JD can do that, 653 00:32:03,880 --> 00:32:06,680 Speaker 2: and that's exactly what JD does. When he takes the 654 00:32:06,720 --> 00:32:09,760 Speaker 2: stage at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Florida later 655 00:32:09,800 --> 00:32:12,960 Speaker 2: that month, he focuses his speech entirely on immigration, and 656 00:32:13,000 --> 00:32:15,320 Speaker 2: when his campaign goes up with its first TV ad, 657 00:32:15,520 --> 00:32:18,080 Speaker 2: it shows a direct to camera Vance telling viewers that 658 00:32:18,160 --> 00:32:21,320 Speaker 2: he nearly lost his mother to poison coming across our border. 659 00:32:22,080 --> 00:32:25,400 Speaker 2: Now by mid April, Trump has become convinced that Vance's 660 00:32:25,440 --> 00:32:28,040 Speaker 2: past mean remarks were water under the bridge, and he 661 00:32:28,120 --> 00:32:30,600 Speaker 2: calls an associate of Peter Teal to say, Hey, I'm 662 00:32:30,640 --> 00:32:33,880 Speaker 2: moving closer to endorsing Vance. Teal by this point has 663 00:32:33,880 --> 00:32:36,960 Speaker 2: also introduced Vance to David Sachs, who adds another million 664 00:32:37,000 --> 00:32:40,200 Speaker 2: dollars to his super PACs war chest. On April fifteenth, 665 00:32:40,240 --> 00:32:43,720 Speaker 2: Convinced by Vance's rising poll numbers and impressive fundraising, Trump 666 00:32:43,800 --> 00:32:47,000 Speaker 2: makes an official endorsement this helps pull Vance over the top, 667 00:32:47,040 --> 00:32:48,880 Speaker 2: and he ekes out a narrow win in the election 668 00:32:49,000 --> 00:32:52,880 Speaker 2: that followed. The next year, Vance repaid the favor, writing 669 00:32:52,920 --> 00:32:55,880 Speaker 2: a January Wall Street Journal op at where he endorses 670 00:32:55,920 --> 00:32:58,720 Speaker 2: Trump as a candidate. In twenty twenty four, this was 671 00:32:58,800 --> 00:33:00,760 Speaker 2: back and this is the start of tour three. The 672 00:33:00,800 --> 00:33:03,240 Speaker 2: Republican primary is just gearing up, and the end of 673 00:33:03,240 --> 00:33:05,440 Speaker 2: it is in enough doubt. You can remember back then. 674 00:33:05,480 --> 00:33:07,640 Speaker 2: It sounds silly now, but people really thought Desant has 675 00:33:07,680 --> 00:33:11,520 Speaker 2: had a shot, right, And so is Vance's kind of 676 00:33:11,560 --> 00:33:15,240 Speaker 2: in before any of the other major Republican figures and 677 00:33:15,400 --> 00:33:18,120 Speaker 2: backing Trump for his reducts round right. 678 00:33:18,240 --> 00:33:19,760 Speaker 3: Yeah, He's like one of the first to fall in 679 00:33:19,840 --> 00:33:20,240 Speaker 3: line here. 680 00:33:20,440 --> 00:33:22,960 Speaker 2: Yeah. And there's a few people like Sarah Huckabee Sanders 681 00:33:22,960 --> 00:33:25,080 Speaker 2: had been seen as a potential Trump VP pick, but 682 00:33:25,160 --> 00:33:28,600 Speaker 2: she waits months to actually like endorse Trump officially. So 683 00:33:28,680 --> 00:33:30,920 Speaker 2: Vance gets in on the ground floor, and this impresses 684 00:33:30,960 --> 00:33:33,040 Speaker 2: Trump that he is someone who he can count on 685 00:33:33,120 --> 00:33:36,000 Speaker 2: to be loyal. Vance wins more praise the next month, 686 00:33:36,040 --> 00:33:39,000 Speaker 2: when a train carrying hazardous materials to rails in East 687 00:33:39,000 --> 00:33:41,920 Speaker 2: Palestine in Ohio, Trump makes a visit to the town 688 00:33:41,960 --> 00:33:44,120 Speaker 2: as one of the first stops on his campaign, and 689 00:33:44,240 --> 00:33:46,840 Speaker 2: Vance organizes the visit, and he does apparently a good 690 00:33:46,920 --> 00:33:49,320 Speaker 2: job of this. Trump says to his entourage, this guy 691 00:33:49,400 --> 00:33:51,240 Speaker 2: is turning out to be fucking incredible. 692 00:33:51,840 --> 00:33:52,000 Speaker 3: Now. 693 00:33:52,000 --> 00:33:54,960 Speaker 2: By this point, Vance has befriended Trump's oldest son, Donald 694 00:33:55,000 --> 00:33:57,560 Speaker 2: Trump Junior, and set himself to the task of well 695 00:33:57,560 --> 00:33:59,720 Speaker 2: and truly kissing ass to get on that twenty twenty 696 00:33:59,720 --> 00:34:03,080 Speaker 2: four ticket. By late January of this year, Vance and 697 00:34:03,120 --> 00:34:05,840 Speaker 2: his team had received enough friendly feedback from Trump World 698 00:34:05,880 --> 00:34:08,080 Speaker 2: that they decided to invest in a full court press. 699 00:34:08,400 --> 00:34:11,600 Speaker 2: Vance began showing up on TV networks that Trump considered enemies, 700 00:34:11,600 --> 00:34:14,279 Speaker 2: doing a reverse Buddhage edge and throwing himself into the 701 00:34:14,400 --> 00:34:16,680 Speaker 2: enemy camp to take shots on behalf of the boss. 702 00:34:17,120 --> 00:34:19,719 Speaker 2: He also devoted himself to raising money for Trump from 703 00:34:19,719 --> 00:34:23,800 Speaker 2: the Silicon Valley VC set. Most of these guys were teals, friends, 704 00:34:23,880 --> 00:34:27,160 Speaker 2: dudes like David Sachs. What finally put him over the top, though, 705 00:34:27,280 --> 00:34:29,879 Speaker 2: was an article Donald Trump Junior gave his dad from 706 00:34:29,920 --> 00:34:33,080 Speaker 2: bright Bart News about the man then seen as Trump's 707 00:34:33,120 --> 00:34:36,760 Speaker 2: most likely VP pick, Doug Bergham, governor of North Dakota. 708 00:34:37,000 --> 00:34:40,400 Speaker 2: The article's title was Carl Rove endorses Doug Burgham for 709 00:34:40,520 --> 00:34:44,320 Speaker 2: Vice president, and I do love that. Carl Rove's endorsement 710 00:34:44,400 --> 00:34:46,719 Speaker 2: is the fucking kiss of death right now for a 711 00:34:46,760 --> 00:34:50,680 Speaker 2: fucking VP candidate. Very funny place for his story to 712 00:34:50,760 --> 00:34:53,319 Speaker 2: have wound up. Not a bad call by Trump, though, 713 00:34:53,320 --> 00:34:55,719 Speaker 2: I gotta say, actually it is a bad call for Trump. 714 00:34:55,800 --> 00:34:58,880 Speaker 2: But also I get it. I read one Politico article 715 00:34:58,920 --> 00:35:00,960 Speaker 2: that argues this was the final straw for Trump. It 716 00:35:01,040 --> 00:35:04,160 Speaker 2: was this Carl Rove article. I can't actually speak to that. 717 00:35:04,520 --> 00:35:06,759 Speaker 2: It is worth noting that in the months leading up 718 00:35:06,760 --> 00:35:09,600 Speaker 2: to the RNC, Trump is also being subjected to a 719 00:35:09,719 --> 00:35:13,280 Speaker 2: charm campaign by all of Peter Teal's friends, this huge 720 00:35:13,400 --> 00:35:17,760 Speaker 2: pile of wealthy Silicon Valley investors from the Washington Post quote. 721 00:35:17,840 --> 00:35:20,480 Speaker 2: In the weeks before former President Donald Trump announced his 722 00:35:20,560 --> 00:35:23,520 Speaker 2: vice presidential pick, some of tech's biggest names launched a 723 00:35:23,600 --> 00:35:25,880 Speaker 2: quiet campaign to push for one of their own. Ohio 724 00:35:25,960 --> 00:35:29,719 Speaker 2: Senator JD. Vance. The former president, fielded repeated calls from 725 00:35:29,719 --> 00:35:33,840 Speaker 2: tech entrepreneur David Sachs, pallanteer advisor Jacob Helberg, and billionaire 726 00:35:33,920 --> 00:35:37,680 Speaker 2: venture capitalist Peter Teal, Vance's former employer and mentor employing 727 00:35:37,760 --> 00:35:40,200 Speaker 2: him to add the one time Silicon Valley investor to 728 00:35:40,239 --> 00:35:42,960 Speaker 2: the ticket. According to three people familiar with the entreaties, 729 00:35:43,320 --> 00:35:45,560 Speaker 2: all caps, we have a former tech VC in the 730 00:35:45,560 --> 00:35:49,040 Speaker 2: White House. Greatest country on Earth, Baby Deli and Ashparov, 731 00:35:49,120 --> 00:35:52,719 Speaker 2: of a partner at Teal's founder's fund, wrote on X 732 00:35:52,800 --> 00:35:56,960 Speaker 2: after the announcement of Vance's nomination, Dellian s Parova s 733 00:35:57,000 --> 00:35:58,200 Speaker 2: Parov something. 734 00:35:57,960 --> 00:35:59,400 Speaker 3: Like that, Jesus Christ. 735 00:35:59,640 --> 00:36:04,360 Speaker 2: I know it's it's fucking exhausting, but that is, you know, 736 00:36:04,600 --> 00:36:06,960 Speaker 2: the JD. Vance story more or less, that's where he 737 00:36:07,000 --> 00:36:08,919 Speaker 2: comes from. That's who wants him to be the VP. 738 00:36:09,200 --> 00:36:11,279 Speaker 2: It's all of these fucking ghouls who want to own 739 00:36:11,320 --> 00:36:15,520 Speaker 2: the world and become It's these people who have achieved 740 00:36:15,719 --> 00:36:18,799 Speaker 2: the highest level of financial success you can achieve in 741 00:36:18,840 --> 00:36:22,560 Speaker 2: any society on the earth right now, and they found 742 00:36:22,840 --> 00:36:25,280 Speaker 2: that it's kind of empty. And it's kind of empty 743 00:36:25,280 --> 00:36:27,319 Speaker 2: in part because people can still be mean to you 744 00:36:27,719 --> 00:36:29,880 Speaker 2: and they don't have to care what you believe just 745 00:36:29,920 --> 00:36:31,280 Speaker 2: because you have a lot of money. 746 00:36:32,400 --> 00:36:36,560 Speaker 3: They don't like neoliberal capitalism because it fundamentally still has 747 00:36:36,600 --> 00:36:39,719 Speaker 3: a shred of like a democratic value. Yeah, and that 748 00:36:39,880 --> 00:36:42,880 Speaker 3: makes them too mad. Yeah, So instead they are going 749 00:36:42,920 --> 00:36:45,480 Speaker 3: back to like a much a much more like archaic 750 00:36:45,600 --> 00:36:49,560 Speaker 3: system where they can still maintain their personal wealth while 751 00:36:49,600 --> 00:36:53,879 Speaker 3: being like very influential through like a dictatorial means. They're 752 00:36:53,880 --> 00:36:57,120 Speaker 3: still like fundamentally capitalists, but almost in like a more 753 00:36:57,200 --> 00:37:00,759 Speaker 3: like fascistic feudal sense. Yes, like they want to be lord. Well, 754 00:37:01,080 --> 00:37:03,439 Speaker 3: that's exactly its what that's what they really want. 755 00:37:03,520 --> 00:37:06,239 Speaker 2: They are terrified of death. And what they're terrified of 756 00:37:06,280 --> 00:37:08,600 Speaker 2: more than anything. What scares the mostly about death is 757 00:37:08,600 --> 00:37:11,800 Speaker 2: the idea that like all the success they've seen goes. 758 00:37:11,600 --> 00:37:13,440 Speaker 3: Away, it's meaningless, it doesn't matter. 759 00:37:13,560 --> 00:37:17,640 Speaker 2: Fundamentally, all of this passes. No one is on top forever, 760 00:37:18,040 --> 00:37:19,920 Speaker 2: nobody is like matters. 761 00:37:20,000 --> 00:37:22,480 Speaker 3: No one's going to care about PayPal in twenty years. 762 00:37:22,560 --> 00:37:25,560 Speaker 2: That's the price of time, right, And they want to 763 00:37:25,680 --> 00:37:29,600 Speaker 2: stop the clock. That's fundamentally what near reactionaries are. There 764 00:37:29,600 --> 00:37:33,440 Speaker 2: are people who think I am special, I am super special. 765 00:37:33,960 --> 00:37:37,520 Speaker 2: The world should be oriented around recognizing how special I 766 00:37:37,560 --> 00:37:41,719 Speaker 2: am forever, and anything I can do to turn back 767 00:37:41,760 --> 00:37:45,359 Speaker 2: the clock is necessary justified like that, That's what these 768 00:37:45,360 --> 00:37:47,640 Speaker 2: people are, That's what they believe fundamentally. 769 00:37:47,440 --> 00:37:50,880 Speaker 3: Like imagine being so mad that no one will remember 770 00:37:50,920 --> 00:37:53,480 Speaker 3: PayPal in two hundred years, that you try to install 771 00:37:53,520 --> 00:37:54,480 Speaker 3: a fascist takeover. 772 00:37:54,640 --> 00:37:57,440 Speaker 2: Yes, Yes, of the United States of America, so that 773 00:37:57,480 --> 00:38:02,080 Speaker 2: PayPal always matters. It's the guys anyway, Garrison. That's the 774 00:38:02,200 --> 00:38:05,040 Speaker 2: James Donald Vance story. Not his name. 775 00:38:05,080 --> 00:38:05,640 Speaker 3: Is that his name? 776 00:38:05,840 --> 00:38:08,279 Speaker 2: No, of course not. Maybe I forget. I forget. I 777 00:38:08,280 --> 00:38:11,719 Speaker 2: always forget what JD stands for, who cares? Who gives 778 00:38:11,719 --> 00:38:14,520 Speaker 2: a shit? Hopefully he's not gonna matter much longer. 779 00:38:15,120 --> 00:38:17,120 Speaker 3: This is this is This is my biggest thing going 780 00:38:17,200 --> 00:38:19,840 Speaker 3: going into November, is that you know, if the Democrats 781 00:38:19,920 --> 00:38:22,919 Speaker 3: win on on like on their ticket, that still means 782 00:38:22,920 --> 00:38:25,160 Speaker 3: plenty of bad things around the world. Yeah, but I 783 00:38:25,239 --> 00:38:29,160 Speaker 3: also really don't want these freaks in there, Like I 784 00:38:29,320 --> 00:38:32,600 Speaker 3: really don't want them. They're they're like they're like spooky. 785 00:38:32,880 --> 00:38:35,640 Speaker 3: They're trying to do like this like like esoteric larp 786 00:38:35,760 --> 00:38:37,399 Speaker 3: in like the White House, like come on. 787 00:38:37,560 --> 00:38:39,839 Speaker 2: And most of the things that need to happen for 788 00:38:39,960 --> 00:38:42,760 Speaker 2: the world to get better can't happen while these people 789 00:38:42,840 --> 00:38:45,480 Speaker 2: are in power right like or close to power like 790 00:38:45,520 --> 00:38:48,160 Speaker 2: they There needs to be damage done to them, and 791 00:38:48,800 --> 00:38:52,440 Speaker 2: I'm I'm hopeful about that if nothing else in this election, and. 792 00:38:52,560 --> 00:38:55,040 Speaker 3: Like electoral damages is only like one type. They have 793 00:38:55,120 --> 00:38:57,239 Speaker 3: to be like culturally humiliated, Like they have to be 794 00:38:57,280 --> 00:39:00,000 Speaker 3: like culturally like rejected, being like no, like you you 795 00:39:00,000 --> 00:39:03,160 Speaker 3: you are not actually the wizards of culture that you 796 00:39:03,280 --> 00:39:05,399 Speaker 3: kind of wanted to be, Like, no one likes what 797 00:39:05,480 --> 00:39:07,120 Speaker 3: you do, no one likes what you believe like that 798 00:39:07,120 --> 00:39:09,319 Speaker 3: that it has to be like this this larger this 799 00:39:09,400 --> 00:39:12,360 Speaker 3: larger like cultural battle. That's why they have like the 800 00:39:12,400 --> 00:39:15,040 Speaker 3: culture wars. This is like super important thing. That's why 801 00:39:15,080 --> 00:39:17,760 Speaker 3: they're so scared of like queer and trans people, especially 802 00:39:17,760 --> 00:39:19,600 Speaker 3: the queer and trans people like that are like influential, 803 00:39:19,600 --> 00:39:21,640 Speaker 3: whether they be like you know, like teachers, whether they 804 00:39:21,719 --> 00:39:24,680 Speaker 3: be working like in media, making movies, television, writing books. 805 00:39:24,960 --> 00:39:26,479 Speaker 3: That's why they're so freaked out with that kind of stuff. 806 00:39:26,480 --> 00:39:27,839 Speaker 3: That's why they're trying to get out of schools. That's 807 00:39:27,840 --> 00:39:31,400 Speaker 3: why they're trying to stop Woke Disney. It's because they 808 00:39:31,440 --> 00:39:33,799 Speaker 3: know that no one's gonna want to listen to these 809 00:39:33,840 --> 00:39:36,239 Speaker 3: freaks when like gay people can make a good art 810 00:39:36,400 --> 00:39:39,840 Speaker 3: or like give a good history lesson. Yeah, that's like 811 00:39:39,880 --> 00:39:43,200 Speaker 3: there's that's like the strongest like anecdote to these like 812 00:39:43,440 --> 00:39:48,040 Speaker 3: just really really bizarre like esoteric ramblings about wanting to 813 00:39:48,080 --> 00:39:51,320 Speaker 3: go back to like nineteen ten, like racist science and 814 00:39:51,440 --> 00:39:52,520 Speaker 3: just weird, weird shit. 815 00:39:52,960 --> 00:39:56,520 Speaker 2: Yeah, you know, I think that these guys delved too 816 00:39:56,600 --> 00:39:59,080 Speaker 2: deep and too greedily if we're going to continue the 817 00:39:59,120 --> 00:40:01,399 Speaker 2: Lord of the Rings rap diferences, which by god, they're 818 00:40:01,440 --> 00:40:04,080 Speaker 2: not going to let us stop doing so. And I 819 00:40:04,120 --> 00:40:05,880 Speaker 2: think that there was this thing we used to I 820 00:40:05,960 --> 00:40:07,520 Speaker 2: used to talk about a lot when I tried to 821 00:40:07,560 --> 00:40:11,560 Speaker 2: explain like far right terminology to people back in twenty nineteen, 822 00:40:12,080 --> 00:40:16,279 Speaker 2: twenty eighteen, five decades ago, a thousand years ago. That's 823 00:40:16,360 --> 00:40:19,719 Speaker 2: my Elron moment. I was there Garrison a thousand years ago. 824 00:40:20,800 --> 00:40:23,640 Speaker 2: We talked about like the term hide your power level, right, 825 00:40:23,760 --> 00:40:26,520 Speaker 2: which these Nazis used to use, and they've just completely 826 00:40:26,560 --> 00:40:28,920 Speaker 2: given up on that. No, and the thing that they 827 00:40:28,960 --> 00:40:30,960 Speaker 2: are seeing there was like all this. I was reading 828 00:40:31,000 --> 00:40:32,879 Speaker 2: that twenty twenty two article by Poe, which I think 829 00:40:32,920 --> 00:40:35,279 Speaker 2: is a really important snapshot because it's these people about 830 00:40:35,280 --> 00:40:37,839 Speaker 2: to head into twenty twenty four, and they they know 831 00:40:38,040 --> 00:40:41,279 Speaker 2: before the dims do how badly down Biden is. Right, 832 00:40:41,320 --> 00:40:45,280 Speaker 2: the Democrats have not really taking seriously what a dangerous 833 00:40:45,280 --> 00:40:48,160 Speaker 2: position Joe Biden was going to be in for reelection yet. 834 00:40:48,640 --> 00:40:51,160 Speaker 2: But they also think that like, wow, all these young 835 00:40:51,200 --> 00:40:54,120 Speaker 2: people are showing up at our lame parties. That means 836 00:40:54,160 --> 00:40:57,160 Speaker 2: there's a broader sweep. All young people are becoming like 837 00:40:57,200 --> 00:40:59,520 Speaker 2: closer to reactionaryas. 838 00:40:58,840 --> 00:41:00,879 Speaker 3: Becoming like all weird treadcats. 839 00:41:01,360 --> 00:41:05,319 Speaker 2: Yeah, we're capturing the culture. And that's just absolutely not 840 00:41:05,560 --> 00:41:08,040 Speaker 2: what was happening. And it would have been obvious if 841 00:41:08,080 --> 00:41:11,480 Speaker 2: like they had been capable of actually like listening to people. 842 00:41:11,920 --> 00:41:15,200 Speaker 2: But what we're seeing now is they did the most 843 00:41:15,239 --> 00:41:17,960 Speaker 2: dangerous thing you could do. Is they predicted and understood 844 00:41:17,960 --> 00:41:21,839 Speaker 2: one thing about the future, but nothing else right. And 845 00:41:21,880 --> 00:41:25,440 Speaker 2: so they understood the weakness that Joe Biden represented and 846 00:41:25,520 --> 00:41:29,000 Speaker 2: kind of the weakness of his control over the Democratic Party, 847 00:41:29,280 --> 00:41:32,879 Speaker 2: but they did not understand that, like other things are possible, right, 848 00:41:32,960 --> 00:41:36,480 Speaker 2: and including the fact that like Joe Biden and largely 849 00:41:36,520 --> 00:41:39,239 Speaker 2: the other people who were running the Democratic Party might 850 00:41:39,280 --> 00:41:42,560 Speaker 2: come to understand that weakness too. And after a disastrous 851 00:41:42,560 --> 00:41:46,600 Speaker 2: debate and a shooting, go you know what, let's change course. 852 00:41:48,320 --> 00:41:51,200 Speaker 2: And I really think that that, above all else might 853 00:41:51,280 --> 00:41:54,200 Speaker 2: be What fucks them is they they completely came out 854 00:41:54,200 --> 00:41:56,640 Speaker 2: of the woodwork. They were tired of having to pretend 855 00:41:57,000 --> 00:41:59,879 Speaker 2: they didn't want a king. They thought their time had come, 856 00:42:00,120 --> 00:42:02,719 Speaker 2: and perhaps it has not. We'll still, we'll all see, 857 00:42:02,760 --> 00:42:03,440 Speaker 2: we'll all see. 858 00:42:03,680 --> 00:42:06,480 Speaker 3: Well, I'm super excited to hear what kind of just 859 00:42:06,760 --> 00:42:11,880 Speaker 3: unhinged and bizarre things Tim Walls has done. Yeah, in 860 00:42:11,920 --> 00:42:13,320 Speaker 3: the next tale. 861 00:42:13,239 --> 00:42:15,640 Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm just going to accuse him of having been 862 00:42:15,880 --> 00:42:18,480 Speaker 2: the Zodiac killer. You know, that's worked on a couple 863 00:42:18,480 --> 00:42:18,799 Speaker 2: of guys. 864 00:42:18,840 --> 00:42:19,560 Speaker 3: It seems to work. 865 00:42:19,600 --> 00:42:22,719 Speaker 2: Actually, yeah, so we're just going to do that. Call 866 00:42:22,760 --> 00:42:25,799 Speaker 2: it a night. Anyway, this has been jd vance. We've 867 00:42:25,840 --> 00:42:28,879 Speaker 2: been It could happen here, Go to hell, I. 868 00:42:28,920 --> 00:42:31,120 Speaker 3: Love you, Clean your couch. 869 00:42:31,080 --> 00:42:33,040 Speaker 2: Clean your couch. Shit, I need to do that. 870 00:42:39,160 --> 00:42:41,520 Speaker 1: It could happen here as a production of cool Zone Media. 871 00:42:41,760 --> 00:42:44,440 Speaker 1: For more podcasts from cool Zone Media, visit our website 872 00:42:44,440 --> 00:42:46,680 Speaker 1: cool zonemedia dot com, or check us out on the 873 00:42:46,719 --> 00:42:50,160 Speaker 1: iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts. 874 00:42:50,719 --> 00:42:52,840 Speaker 1: You can find sources for It could Happen here, updated 875 00:42:52,920 --> 00:42:56,960 Speaker 1: monthly at cool zonemedia dot com slash sources. Thanks for listening.