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HeavyD's avatar

I can't speak for Cracker Barrel now, but 30 years ago, it was far superior than "real southern food." Maybe North Carolina was different, but in Georgia, "real southern food" consisted of Crisco biscuits, margarine, and fake syrup. Cracker Barrel used real butter and served real maple syrup. Their country fried steak and sawmill gravy were fantastic, and if you ordered over easy eggs, they came over easy. When I worked at a concept restaurant called Sweet Peas, one of the cooks lamented how shitty our ingredients were compared to his old job a Cracker Barrel. And, since you said you never went there, I'm not sure where you got such strong opinions about it's quality.

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S K's avatar
Aug 31Edited

I had to pause when she said industrial slop and come to the comments. I am also from the south. We raised our own beef for years, grow, pick, and preserve our own vegetables, and make our jellies. I am saying this to establish ny southern food roots. Every single time we ever took a road trip, we ate at Cracker Barrel because we knew the food was great. Until they took the roast beef off the menu, it was one of my favorite chains.

Also, Georgian southern food is a hell of a lot better than you describe. Baby, ain't you never had cane syrup?

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HeavyD's avatar

I can't agree with the Caro Syrup part, but you're right that there is a lot of great Georgia food. Athens had some of the best food I've ever eaten: Five Star Day Cafe, Weaver D's, Clocked. But it was not easy to find in most places in the 80s and 90s. You could barely find butter in the supermarket, but they had 30 brands of spreadable flavored trans fats. I just found that most places that claimed to be southern cooking just weren't very good. But I loved me some Cracker Barrel. I haven't lived there for a while. Maybe there's been a resurgence of real southern cooking. And I imagine Cracker Barrel sucks now.

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S K's avatar

Not Caro, Cane Syrup! Like the syrup made from sugar cane that your neighbor invites you over to make in a huge vat.

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Mewdy Bloo's avatar

In the UK there is something called golden syrup which is a byproduct of making sugar cane into sugar. It’s more popular than maple syrup. They are not going to get me to try it!

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Liz's avatar

Ah I think maple syrup is lovely but golden syrup is heaven in a tin. I do recommend you have a little taste :)

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HeavyD's avatar

Is the like a Savannah thing? I don't think I ever tried it. My friends from Tampa kept trying to get me to put Karo Syrup on my pancakes, but I see now that that's just corn syrup.

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S K's avatar

It is more common below the gnat line if that is what you mean. It is carried as a condiment in any catfish house worth its salt so you can pour it on your hushpuppies.

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HeavyD's avatar

I'm going to visit my new grand niece on Johns Island and take my daughter on a tour of the University of Charleston in November, so I'll make sure I give it a try then.

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chrisTOPHER's avatar

Katy admitted that she had never ate there and that’s my only understanding of how she could be so wrong.

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Spite House's avatar

I genuinely, unironically like Cracker Barrel and I really wish there was one closer to Seattle. I love cozy diner kitsch and Cracker Barrel offers that at a reasonable price point. Probably makes me a basic reactionary slut or something but I will always be a sucker for Americana.

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Andrew S.'s avatar

One thing that often strikes me about Jesse and (to a slightly lesser degree) Katie is how unconsciously provincial they are. I think they could more accurately describe Mars than Mississippi.

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Colin B's avatar

Yeah, they were way out of their element here. I'm not sure she realizes the unintentional humor of referring to herself as a southerner when she in fact grew up as the daughter of Ashville professors.

Bless her heart.

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Jackson's avatar

North Carolina is barely Southern. It's right there in the name. "North".

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Colin B's avatar

Right? Take it from a fella named Jackson, that's strike one.

I'll grant ya that there's some south in North Carolina, but it depends on your town. And honey? Ashville?

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Noah Stephens's avatar

“Sawmill gravy” sounds like the reason the FDA was established

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Katerwaller's avatar

Pork sausage, flour and milk - what's not to like?

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Katerwaller's avatar

Moved to NC in 1997 from New York. Agree with everything you said.

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HeavyD's avatar

Maybe it's a thing. I moved to Georgia from New Jersey in 1986. We're just full of butter and maple syrup, and I only said over easy cause no one knows what once over means.

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Theodric's avatar

I have *heard* that the food quality has declined and this has been part of their stagnation, but I haven’t been to one in years.

It was rare when I was a kid in Michigan and it was a frequent road trip spot because I loved their pancakes (they were the only place that would oil the pan to give you crispy edges) and real maple syrup.

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DalaiLana's avatar

I have only eaten there once and it made me understand why "white people food" is a meme. It was all fine, very fine, but bland and boring.

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HeavyD's avatar

I always found "white people food" to be a weird racist trope. Mexican food is spicy, Cuban food is not. Caribbean food is spicy, Ethiopian food is not. Being spicy is often a lazy way to cover up crappy ingredients. Both spicy and not spicy can be awful or delicious. And I think the people who eat the spiciest food in the world are probably southern white dudes. Have you ever seen the Scoville Heat Units on some of their hot sauces? I mean all peppers come from the Americas. It goes back to one of the prior comments about provincialism.

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Noah Stephens's avatar

When people say “white people food” they are probably thinking of English food. It is objectively bland. In a bad way. Even other Europeans joke about how bland and bad it is. I heard said joke while in London. Here’s a rough retelling from Reddit:

“Heaven is where the police are British, the cooks are French, the mechanics German, the lovers Italian and it's all organised by the Swiss.

Hell is where the chefs are British, the mechanics French, the lover's Swiss, the police German and it's all organised by the Italians.”

So, it’s more a nationalist trope than a racist one — though nationality and race were for a long time synonymous in Europe.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/706k2r/heaven_is_where_the_police_are_british_the_cooks/

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Midwest Molly's avatar

Heaven is where the police are British, the mechanics are German, and the chefs are from Latin America.

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Liz's avatar

they probably are, but English food is great. SOME of it is certainly spice-free (Cornish pasties are mostly seasoned with pepper) but plenty of other things are not, and we LOVE spicy curries etc. Often 'bland' food is meant to be eaten with very spicy/vinegary chutneys etc. At other times, the quality of the meat is enough. French food is generally never considered bland, but it is basically the same as English food.

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Noah Stephens's avatar

I presume the joke refers to British food before it was infused with spices from the delicious colonies.

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Liz's avatar

Yes probably! But for the majority of UK history we've been able to access various spices through trade routes etc.

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DalaiLana's avatar

Maybe I should have used more hot sauce then -- if that's how you're supposed to have it. But I personally do not consider "pain" to be a flavor.

It's not about spicy-as-in-hot. There's also spiced-as-in-flavorful.

You can do that with garlic and oregano and sage and plenty of other things that are well within the "white" repertoire. We also use tomato as a flavor. Which makes me wonder if "acid" was what was lacking in the dishes I had.

At Cracker Barrel I ordered two entrees and an appetizer, plus they came with a few sides. None of them were spiced-as-in-flavorful. I enjoyed the meatloaf, but the stewed turnip greens really really needed something. And the chicken pot pie also didn't seem to hit all the taste buds the way it should.

At the end of the day one cannot argue matters of taste. But I went in with great anticipation and was disappointed.

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Jackson's avatar

Won't comment on Cracker Barrel. Haven't really eaten there.

But Southern food is some of the most flavorful in the world. And that includes the "white people" too who, in the Deep South, are culturally Cajun/Creole.

And Cajun/Creole is a fusion of French/Spanish/African cuisines. With the main base being the roux which comes from French cuisine.

I think "white people food" came about as a meme as a result of the Great Migration when southerners (and their cooking) migrated north and experienced wonders of midwestern yankee fair.

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AKI's avatar

I think it came about when Twitter allowed people to be racist against white people.

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Jackson's avatar

No way. The stereotype has been around for at least as long as I can remember. And that's over 40 years.

Most give Southern whites (or the south in general) a pass. But I do have to agree there's a shitty food desert spanning huge swaths of the country and they're mostly white.

Again, just my experience driving and working around the country. You end up in a small town in the South, got two restaurants. Odds are they kick ass. End up in a random small town midwest. You're fucked. Cook your own food or just get fast good. At least the chains are predictable.

*edit*

To be clear, I don't think their food is shitty _because_ they're mostly white. I think it's shitty because they can't cook.

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Colin B's avatar

"...one of the cooks lamented how shitty our ingredients were compared to his old job a Cracker Barrel"

The Barrel's philosophy centers scratch-cooking for a lot of their popular menu items. I wouldn't call them healthy, but they are a lot closer to real food than your typical off-the-highway chain restaurant.

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Jackson's avatar

I think I've eaten at Cracker Barrel maybe once or twice. It wasn't memorably bad or good to me.

Georgian food is way better than you describe though. Atlanta is a hell of a foodie town. It's no New Orleans, but there's some legit grub there.

Also, what's up with the Crisco hate? Everyone knows it's the go to for "melt in your mouth" tender pastry vs butter based flaky, crispy/crunch pastry. On the biscuit side, Crisco is going to make a "cakier" biscuit.

I usually go with butter for that flaky/crispy textured biscuit. But a good shortening biscuit goes great with a milk gravy. Soaks it right up.

They both have their place.

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HeavyD's avatar

Crisco was developed as industrial lubricant. It's not even legal to sell as food anymore. They had to reformulated in 2007. It replaced lard which is a much healthier and delicious ingredient, and it's what southern cooking used to use (and why real Tex-Mex refried beans are so good). I agree, real southern food and soul food cooked with butter, lard, and fatback is amazing. And it's making a comeback. But in the 80s and 90s I feel southern food was in decline because of all the replaced ingredients.

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Jane's avatar

Wow, I was so sick of this dumb dust-up about Cracker Barrel that I didn't think there could be anything interesting to say about it, but I was wrong! The details Katie dug up about the history of racial discrimination and the newer corporate initiatives were fascinating.

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fillups44's avatar

Yeah, I wasn’t looking forward to this one but I did enjoy that aspect of it as well!! I’m also liking the mild rebuke that Katie’s dismissive description of Cracker Barrel food quality has started.

There are no Cracker Barrels close to me but my parents used to go when they traveled, they said the food was “okay”.

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Wendy's avatar

Another double comment (sorry) but Taylor is not automatically "self-made" just because she writes her own songs. Her dad is a rich hedge fund manager who bought a shitload of shares in the company where Swift later got her first record deal. He relocated his whole family to Nashville just for Taylor's sake, then he bought thousands of copies of her first album to juice the sales*. It's no wonder Taylor behaves the way she does given how absurdly spoiled she was as a child.

Contrast her to somebody like Dolly Parton, who truly is self-made. She grew up in poverty; her father didn't run around stuffing money in the pockets of whoever he thought would give his special little princess a career. She started off by singing at her local church, then on the local radio station, and then signed with a small record label in Tennessee. Taylor is talented, sure, but she had a LOT of help from daddy's money. I have a lot more respect for people like Dolly Parton, Bruce Springsteen, Freddie Mercury, and Jay-Z, who all came from humble or even troubled backgrounds.

Look, some musicians, like David Lee Roth, can pull off being assholes as part of their stage persona. Swift tried to lean into the Regina George reputation she acquired, but fell flat on her face because she's not a queen bee, she's a crybully who perpetually frames herself as the victim. That's not a fun, stage-friendly kind of assholery in the way that being the heel in wrestling is, it's just obnoxious and reminds us all of the worst people we went to high school with. In true narcissist fashion, Taylor couldn't even write a song about fighting homophobia without inserting her petty grievances about her haters online. She also helped launch Sabrina Carpenter specifically to get revenge on Olivia Rodrigo, like the overgrown middle schooler she is. Beyonce doesn't catch the same level of shit because she's not as messy, vindictive, or immature as Swift.

*Edit: I looked into this claim about album sales, and it’s largely speculation.

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Tyler's avatar

Liked solely for the level of detail and vitriol.

Minor anecdote: about 10 years ago I was making small talk with customer service rep in a local bank (waiting for some paperwork to print).

She said she was from Wyomissing, PA which is about 45 minutes away. I joked " do you know Taylor Swift?" (the only famous person from Wyomissing)

The lady responded "I don't really know Taylor but her younger brother was in my high school class. From what I can tell, she wasnt very nice."

Take that for what it's worth.

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Jennifer's avatar

"Liked solely for the level of detail and vitriol" - I truly have found my people here.

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TrackerNeil's avatar

Where thou findeth disgruntlement, there shalt thou find me.

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Colin B's avatar

He's from New Jersey.

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Electroverted's avatar

There's literal documentation of her releasing new singles whenever an adjacent female artist does

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Tyler's avatar

Weren't the Beatles and the Rolling Stones doing this 60 years ago?

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Electroverted's avatar

That's fine. But don't act like you care about your fellow female artists

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Lana Diesel's avatar

Let's not forget that Wildest Dreams, one of Swift's biggest hits, plagiarizes Lana Del Rey's Without You so blatantly that I suspect some money changed hands behind the scenes to avoid litigation.

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Midwest Molly's avatar

Well, even rich people can be talented.

Her Folklore and Evermore albums are wonderful. Red is pretty great also.

Her grandmother was an opera singer, and Taylor grew up playing instruments and singing. She’s a musician. Her music touches millions of people.

People like what they like. The tears that co e to my eyes and the goosebumps I get when I listen to some of her songs are an utterly natural response. It doesn’t happen because she has a rich daddy or because corporate America has foisted her upon me.

If her music doesn’t touch you, that’s fine! I find Bruce Springsteen kind of meh, and the Grateful Dead leave me cold. But I get that their music really speaks to people, and I love that.

Different strokes and all that.

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Wendy's avatar

I said that she was talented, and I never said it was bad to like her. Some of the musicians whose songs I like are worse people than she is. It is specifically the idea of her being "better" than Beyonce because she "writes her own music" that I chafe against. I'd say that they're on-par with each other; Taylor is more creative, but Beyonce has a better voice.

Swift's music is better when she's just channeling her creativity, and Evermore is a good example of that. Her song with Bon Iver was nice. The songs made to be hits, however, are often her worst work, probably because she compromises some of her vision in favor of whatever market research tells her to do. "Shake It Off," "Look What You Made Me Do," "Me," "Bad Blood" and "You Need to Calm Down" radiate such strong "Hello fellow kids," energy, in addition to having ugly, obnoxious production. It practically gives me hives. I'm also just not fond of her voice for the same lizard-brain reason I dislike Robert Plant or Peter Cetera's voices.

Most of the time, I can overlook a musician's public persona. But in Taylor's case, the combination of how annoying that persona is and how deeply she embeds it in her music just repels me. I understand some people can overlook that, and that for some, it's a feature and not a bug.

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Lana Diesel's avatar

Her song with Bon Iver was indeed nice, but her vocals are the worst part of it.

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Smooth Sayer's avatar

"she's a crybully who perpetually frames herself as the victim."

That is why she is so reliable to so many fans.

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Ms No's avatar

I don't really care what she's like as a person or how she got her break. She makes great music, has a great voice, and is a brilliant stage performer.

Needing to believe that every person whose music we listen to is someone we'd also like to be best friends with is exactly the problem identified in this episode. I don't need Taylor Swift to be my moral compass or my best buddy. I just enjoy listening to her stuff. We shouldn't need pop stars to be more than that.

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Wendy's avatar

See my reply to Midwest Molly.

I have no idea how you read my comment, where I included examples of asshole-ish stage personas as a positive thing, and walked away with the assumption that I "believe that every person whose music we listen to is someone we'd also like to be best friends with." That's such a wildly incorrect interpretation of what I said that it feels like a deliberate attempt to strawman me.

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Ms No's avatar

Your original comment, and the one to Molly, just come off as very bitter and OTT. If you've no idea how that happened, try reading them again.

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Wendy's avatar

Weird way to admit that you misinterpreted my comment because you got distracted by my (in your opinion) "over the top" phrasing.

In any case, she's going to continue to be fabulously wealthy and famous regardless of what random people like me say about her online. There is no need to defend her honor, seriously.

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Ms No's avatar

I don't agree that I misinterpreted your comment. My interpretation is that you have a weird beef against her, as evidenced partly by your repeating the online unsubstantiated rumour that her dad bought thousands of copies of her first album (after digging I found no credible evidence of this anywhere, it's just a rumour - he bought a 3% stake in the record label that sold her first album, which at the time was very small, but there is no evidence of anything else). You insist you think it's ok to be an asshole as an artist, but she's the wrong kind of asshole apparently, so it's not ok for her (what kind of assholery would you find acceptable from her, I wonder). And your whole screed seems to have been because it galled you that anyone could say she got where she did because of talent. Truth is, most pop artists unfortunately need to have money or good connections to get anywhere near to successful because that's how the industry works, and good looks play a very large role too, but none of that can have much of an effect if the music and lyrics themselves are shitty. And I also think that she is held to a higher standard than male stars, because she's female and therefore expected to be accommodating and agreeable and likeable above all else, and I think you have fallen prey somewhat to that line of thinking, unconsciously or not. I don't think it's a coincidence that the single most successful female artist of our time is constantly accused of not being nice enough, of not suffering enough to get where she is, and of not writing her own music. Women can apparently never be pure or good enough to deserve success, even if they are incredibly hardworking and prolific, people will try to take credit away from them somehow.

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Wendy's avatar

Are you under the impression that she's on trial and I'm the prosecuting attorney or something? I'm giving reasons for why I personally dislike her, and why I didn't agree with how Katie compared her to Beyonce.

As far as the CDs thing goes: you're right that it's just a rumor, I should've looked into it more before repeating it. It's also not uncommon for musicians to artificially inflate sales numbers, so even if it were true, it wouldn't necessarily be a huge indictment against her.

You lost me when you tried to use feminism to try and defend a straight white billionaire. Are female public figures held to different standards than male ones? Absolutely. But you can't chalk literally all of the hatred for Swift up to her femaleness, give me a break. If the intersection of identities is the main determining factor in how musicians are treated, why do you suppose Taylor gets so much more shit than Beyonce, Lady Gaga, or Rhianna? I hate Drake more than I hate Swift, and I hated him long before his beef with Kendrick happened. Most other people apparently hate him more than her, too, since a diss track calling him a pedophile was a number one hit. Can you imagine a song talking shit about Taylor Swift going to number one like that? I can't.

In an era where everything is so vibes-driven, it absolutely matters that she's the "wrong" kind of asshole, sorry. I can tell you what I'd find acceptable: going all in on being an asshole instead of crying about what a victim you are all the time. The problem is that she can't do that, because her sound is completely edgeless and she chose to make victimhood a huge part of her identity. When she tried to "lean in" to it, it just came across as profoundly cringey, so I think she should just keep doing what she's doing, and focus on catering to her fans instead of fixating on what her "haters" think (which she's been doing a better job of in the last few years).

Once again, what do you get out of defending her like this? She doesn't know you exist. She makes more money in five minutes than you will in your entire life. She does not need your help, and nothing I'm saying materially harms her in any way.

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Sivad's avatar

No one is really self-made. Anyone who achieves any kind of career success does so with the help of many many people. There’s no recording of Swift or Parton where they are performing unaccompanied, as just an obvious example.

I think “self-made” is a faulty premise. No one can really live up to it.

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Jackson's avatar

The 'self-made' laurels quickly devolve into victim olympics. I'm sure if we dig hard enough we can find a famous artist who came from an even more terrible background than Dolly Parton and thus, in comparison, Dolly had it easy.

Eminem and Billy Holiday come to mind.

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Midwest Molly's avatar

I saw Dolly Parton sing a song on late night television in the 90’s, just her, no music, and it was lovely.

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Later's avatar

I am impressed how ready you were to regurgitate all of these grievances with her and not actually mention music.

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Paula Yesakova's avatar

Her music isn’t worth listening to, let alone discussing. Admittedly, I only heard some of her songs, and have not had the dubious pleasure to sample all of her oeuvre, but it’s just overproduced pop trash.

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Wendy's avatar

I did, see my reply to Midwest Molly.

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Lana Diesel's avatar

While I agree with everything you say, I'm extremely over "talented/not talented" as the sole metric for liking or disliking an entertainer's output. Why can't I just be a hater? I don't like Taylor Swift's music, I don't like Taylor Swift's image, I don't like Taylor Swift's fans, and I get the sense I wouldn't like the actual human being named Taylor Swift that exists somewhere underneath all of this marketing.

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Jackson's avatar

To be fair, I'd relocate to Nashville just for Taylor's sake. And she's not even my kid.

Also, you know a whole lot about Taylor.

Taylor's dad was wealthy. That definitely helped. But she's bumping a billion dollars. That's likely multiple orders of magnitude more than her dad's entire wealth. She's the center of a multi-billion dollar business. If I understand, she's pretty integral to the business side as well, not just the talent.

So, sure, she had a leg up of someone coming from poverty. But somewhere between "daddy got me some face time and paid for a demo" and "My tour just generated billions of dollars" she far exceeded any expectation that privilege might have bought her.

I don't even like her music. I pick artists and go through their entire discography in chronological order. And I purposefully seek out genre's or styles that are outside my normal listening range. Taylor's the only artist I simply could not get through. So....many....boyfriend....songs....

Regardless. Got to give credit where it's due.

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AKI's avatar

I'm pretty sure Beyonce is a massive cunt.

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TFYFWYA's avatar

in what way is she a cry bully? I have never, to my knowledge, heard a single one of her songs and my only awareness of her is through seeing posts about her online and her general rabid fandom.

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Lana Diesel's avatar

Her team and her fans love to attribute any criticism of her to misogyny.

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Autumn's avatar

💯

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Fleeeas's avatar

The theme tune change was AWFUL and JARRING and WE WERE RIGHT.

It wouldn't be the same without the feem tune fading in and deafening me each and every time.

edit: probably the most boring episode in a long time, but I still love you. I remain devoted and waiting for an episode about Sophie LaBelle. DO AN EPISODE ABOUT SOPHIE LABELLE. Drag he...him!

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Smooth Sayer's avatar

I think the podcast hosts do not understand the hit of excitement the podcast theme gives listeners

This is also why if they wanted three months with the new podcast we would have loved that too.

It is not about the Theme (sonic logo) it is about the product. Maybe that is what's really going on with Cracker Barrel

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Fleeeas's avatar

Maybe it was the barrels we crackered along the way.

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Lana Diesel's avatar

The new theme song was just worse. Less catchy, less tonally appropriate to the show. If they had introduced a new cover of the same melody, that would be one thing. But the new song was just brown auditory glop.

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Mr. Adequate's avatar

The theme tune makes me think of white-people-dancing jokes, AND I LIKE IT THAT WAY.

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ryne's avatar

the fact that Katie assumed Youngblut was trans is a perfect example of how the whole pronoun nonsense in these stories confuses the reality of the situation. i remember when first reading and hearing about the Zizians it was very unclear

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Ms No's avatar

The leader, Jack la Sota aka Ziz, is always referred to with female pronouns, and so are the rest of the gang, who are all trans-identified males. In some cases like Michelle Zaiko it isn't even mentioned anywhere in many stories that he's male.

It's absolutely not Katie's fault that she thought Youngblut was male. The blame lies squarely with the press.

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Sivad's avatar

Katie *is* the press. She’s quite literally a journalist reporting on the story. She should have fact checked this.

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Jackson's avatar

This.

She did the right thing by cop'ing to the mistake and making a public correction.

But, as a journalist, she made a big booboo by assuming and not confirming.

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Ms No's avatar

She should have fact-checked it more deeply, but if you can't actually rely on press articles reporting reality accurately, fact-checking itself becomes that much more difficult.

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Sivad's avatar

But this was reported accurately. As have the articles about the shooter in Minnesota. I’ve seen or heard no one trying to obfuscate that that shooter was trans.

Katie just assumed that the Vermont shooter was trans due to her pre-existing biases. We wouldn’t accept this sort of carelessness from our political opponents so we shouldn’t do it ourselves.

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Ms No's avatar

Yes, it was reported accurately. But most of these stories aren't. For example, Michelle Zaiko is male but is consistently reported as female. The ringleader of the group, Jack la Sota or Ziz, is also consistently referred to as female. Why do they tell the truth sometimes and not others?

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PNWGirl's avatar

I feel compelled to defend Cracker Barrel here. There aren't many in my area anymore (though there used to be one in BELLEVUE Square, if you know that place you'll understand how kind of mind-blowing that is). But my mom and nephews like to go to the one near Andover, Mass. My Dad used to go with them too, before he died. It is an easy place to take kids, has stuff for the kids to do and is and not expensive. Now that my Dad is gone, they still go there and it's kind of their special place where they go just with my mom. I have received more than one birthday gift from my nephews purchased at the gift shop! They got me a wrap from there that I wear all the time and get compliments on. Also a purse, very cute makeup bag, cute navy top, and more. I love to think of them picking out these gifts and I treasure them.

I wore the wrap to pick them up from the ferry last week and my sister was like "oh I love that, is it Eileen Fisher?" The boys were thrilled to announce they had bought it at Cracker Barrel! 😄

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Midwest Molly's avatar

That’s hilarious about the wrap!

I be been to Cracker Barrel a handful of times- it IS a great place to go with little kids, and it’s reasonably priced.

When I lived in Chicago I was such a snob about chain restaurants. Then I moved to Pittsburgh and got over myself.

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Kendall's avatar

There was a girl on Instagram who used to make videos showing different clothing items, and people had to guess if they came from Cracker Barrel or overpriced pretentious brands like Anthropologie and Free People. As you might expect, the game was surprisingly challenging.

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Dave's avatar

I gotta say a Cracker Barrel would really improve Bellevue ,Wa . I haven’t had a good Chicken friend steak since moving out here

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AKI's avatar

Chicken friend steak?

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Paul Weeldreyer's avatar

We used to go from time to time (and I still would). My sister loved the chicken and dumplings (I like it too). I love the breakfast (and the cool little bottle of syrup. And of course the golf tee game! The anti-Cracker Barrel tone of this episode was off base lol.

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Smooth Sayer's avatar

Maybe Bill Gates liked Cracker Barrel

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AXL's avatar

Gronk actually scored a 32 on the wonderlic test, which is 87th percentile for IQ. Brady got a 33. So the dumb thing is a bit of an act. I’m a Gronk IQ truther.

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Jesse Singal's avatar

Extremely embarrassed I didn't know this crucial fact about my native culture

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fillups44's avatar

Still I like him even if he’s smart!

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Tyler's avatar

Gronk has cultivated a goofy public persona.

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Later's avatar

TBF, Gronk pre-NFL and post NFL might have very different IQs. But don't hate the guy for wanting to spend his retirement shirtless at a pool party chugging beers.

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Smooth Sayer's avatar

You are saying that Gronk was the guy at the frat that everyone thought was a dumb party guy, but was hiding how good his grades were. That scans.

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Jackson's avatar

I had to lookup Wonderlic...but if the chart I found is right, 32 would be about a 122-125 IQ or a 92-95 percentile.

This is in the median range for someone with a Masters degree.

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ThinkPieceOfPie's avatar

Gronk banked his NFL salary (~70 m) and lived off endorsement money. Smart move.

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Lana Diesel's avatar

Gronk has made a lot of money off the "dumb guy" persona. Being a great tight end is all well and good but it certainly helps to have another hook. See also: Travis Kelce.

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Rachel's avatar

I’m bat_straight! I wanna free thing for my find. Can I have your book, Jesse? Also, I came up with bat_straight when I first joined Reddit, then 10 years passed and I didn’t go on Reddit, and now I don’t remember what it means. But the only thing I can think of is “Signs” by M. Night, when all of earth is saved by the dying vision of the wife saying, “swing away”. I honestly don’t remember tho. No need to talk shit, Jesse!

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fillups44's avatar

That was such a good find and also pretty cool to be immortalized as a (good) subject on BarPod. How did you happen to find that movie? I never heard of it!

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Rachel's avatar

I saw a trailer for it when it first came out and then I saw it while scrolling kanopy, thought I’d give it a go.

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Paul Weeldreyer's avatar

I really liked Signs, but I understand that some would say it doesn't hold up.

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Rachel's avatar

Every M. Night movie holds up. He is a genius.

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AKI's avatar

Busted, Mr Shyamalan!

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Kyle Imes's avatar

The whole trend of trying to pressure celebs to speak out on geopolitical issues is a really interesting subject, cuz I genuinely don't understand the idea behind it. I've pushed people online in the past about what it could ever accomplish, and all you get are these sorts of vague answers, like spreading awareness, or using their platform to normalize a position, or x cliche, or y platitude, and none of it really ever amounts to any material outcome in the real world. So maybe it's as simple as random civilians trying to have some small power over their infinitely more powerful celeb overlords? I dunno.

Also funny to me how these people doing the pressuring are always on the left, but most times don't explicitly say what position they want celebs to take. Like how "rock the vote" was very much a left-coded slogan, but kinda pretended to be bipartisan. The contrarian in me always wants whoever the target is to play dumb, take the right-wing position, and act surprised when it gets an aggressively negative response. But maybe that's just me.

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MoonDog's avatar

I was also thinking about this. It just doesn’t make sense to me. I don’t remember a time I’ve ever been really swayed to anything by some random celebrity with no real knowledge of an issue or product.

It just seems like people are sheep? But if you’re gonna be a sheep, find a good shepherd. Not some random bitch with a guitar.

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pseudonyms for fun and safety's avatar

Yeah. Literally today I saw someone leave a comment on my favourite popstar’s instagram asking if he had ‘commented on the genocide in Palestine yet’. All it got in response was someone else pointing out that he is a popstar not a politician.

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Jerrie S. Pringer's avatar

Wouldn't it be funny if they did that with pornstars, too? Elite level hot pepper eaters? Circus clowns? The guys from 'Jackass'?

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pseudonyms for fun and safety's avatar

Oh the circus community is already coming under pressure

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Jerrie S. Pringer's avatar

Clowns Without Borders Belgium already pre-signed the petition.

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AKI's avatar

Is Clowns Without Borders the UN?

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M Yao's avatar

Cracker Barrel isn’t the best food, but when you’re on the road, you can get fried catfish with a couple sides for like five dollars less than you pay for a big Mac meal.

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2argiz's avatar

Jesse cut himself off while admitting he's "donated to Gaza".

I'm other words, he's given subscription money to Hamas, cleaned through a Western looking front group.

Talk about suicidal empathy and clueless leftism.

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Jesse Singal's avatar

I donated to the Palestinine Children's Relief fund. Here's their Charity Navigator page:

https://www.charitynavigator.org/ein/931057665

In much the same way anyone who criticizes youth gender medicine in any way is inevitably called a bigot, anyone who expresses any sympathy for Palestinians, even children who are definitionally innocent, is inevitably called an anti-Semite or accused of something something Hamas. As a Jewish American with conflicted views about the conflict (none of which are within light years of "Israel shouldn't exist"), I find it pretty gross, to be honest.

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2argiz's avatar

Nowhere did I call you an anti Semite.

It's foolish to believe there's any non corrupt, and non Hamas associated organization of any kind operating in Gaza.

I can also link you to others sites with critical positions on that group and especially the people running it, who are philosophically aligned with Hamas.

Re your "as a Jew" comment, I'm a veteran listener of bar pod, and a live show attendee. The janitor at my synagogue seems to know more about Judaism than you. You either know zilch, or even worse, you are embarrassed to exhibit jewishness on the show, so save me the "as a jew" nonsense. The way you run away from seeming too Jewish on the show reminds me of Adam freedland on his old podcast.

I will give you credit that you gave to an organization after checking it's rating, even if ignoring the bigger picture mentioned above.

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Cliff Dore's avatar

I was thinking maybe Jesse could blow the shofar at the beginning of every housekeeping segment to better ‘exhibit his Jewishness.’

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Emily's avatar

Absolutely, we need more identity policing on this podcast. Really disappointed in both the hosts. Now that Katie got sober, how are we supposed to know that she has any Irish heritage? Why is she trying to hide it????

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2argiz's avatar

It should be easy for this spokesman of the Jewish people to show some basic knowledge of Jewish life, religion, and experience.

In haven't seen it yet.

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Lana Diesel's avatar

Just got flashbacks to that mortifying episode they did about circumcision.

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Dion Taylor's avatar

"The janitor at my synagogue seems to know more about Judaism than you..."

Whoah. The "Woke Right" manifest!

Unsure if you're being serious, but if so, do you realize how this comes across? You sound exactly like the woke, scolding leftoids, the mockery of which this show was somewhat built on!

"Jesse's lived experience insufficiently embodies Judaism!"

"Guys let's cancel Jesse for not being Zionist enough in his charitable donations!"

Sad!

Keep aggressively acosting Jesse like this though please. It is sure to bring him firmly back into the fold of psychotic genocide denying zionists!

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Robert's avatar

The problem with Jesse’s Gaza revisionism is that he continually berates people for a lack of nuance but when it comes to Israel he is incredibly quick to condemn.

A quick Google also shows ample Hamas/terrorist/antisemtic connections for his charity or choice.

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Nina's avatar

Jesse admitted in a post-Oct 7 episode that he only recently discovered what the definition of Zionism is. Now he wants to earnestly give us his opinion on Palestine. No thanks. I will listen to people who actually were assed to learn and educate themselves before it became fashionable.

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2argiz's avatar

I remember jesse was promoting and loved Darrell coopers podcast on Israel.

We have to realize this proud Jew's main introduction to Israeli History was from basically a n*azi

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MoonDog's avatar

Damn. I mean I agree but damn.

I hope the money Jesse makes from this podcast makes the shit he gets from the listeners worth it.

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Penguin/Mom's avatar

Damn you’re bitter.

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HeavyD's avatar

I think you have to make your best call. But you also have to consider that your money may go straight to Hamas. And lack of money has never really been an issue for Gaza. It's always been who is stealing the money good people (and good countries) with good intentions donated. But yeah, calling that antisemitism is a dick move.

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Alphonse's avatar

Your audience is so far to the right of you one day some of them will be around to arrest you.

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2argiz's avatar

Wanting Israel to succeed in this defensive war is not a far right position at all

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Dion Taylor's avatar

Good for you Jesse. You settled on the same organization as I did when figuring out where to donate.

I have to say... when you answered the Gaza question on the Live Stream (kudos for not just ignoring it) it was quite hard to parse initially. At one point you said "I'm gonna get us cancelled now" after having said that you think "actions there may have contributed to man-made famine there" (immediately followed by a big "BUT..."). In that instant it was hard for me to reconcile a "fear of being cancelled" with an acknowledgment of something that literally all institutions and nations (other than the US and Israel itself) now consider factual.

As a paid subscriber (for 4 years now) listening to a genuinely funny and thoughtful show (which in spite of the often bizarre subject matter I really do consider good journalism) it's very easy to forget how Free Press (of Israel) adjacent a lot of your listenership is. So I do understand the reluctance to speak your mind on issues where your livelihood is at stake.

I've come close to cancelling my membership a number of times (I get that that sounds pompous and it's just one sub but it's true). So it's nice to know that in light of your donations I can continue to enjoy with a somewhat clearer conscience.

Being critical of Israel's actions and policy does not equal anti-semitism. Nobody here is racist. Take a leaf out of the Friedland book. Peace.

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Tima's avatar

Yeah, how dare he try to help people caught up in a heinous war and man-made famine. How terrible of him.

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MoonDog's avatar

The problem is that a lot of donations, money, food, supplies, ends up being directly sent to or stolen by terrorists.

So it seems like “Hey, he cares, which is cool, but he’s not actually helping.”

Although as much as I personally disagree with Jesse on a lot of things, he seems smarter than that, so I hope it’s a reputable charity that actually gets the job done. I just doubt that.

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Tima's avatar

You know the way to solve this problem? Flood the entire area with food and bare necessities and nothing will get stolen. This is the straightforward solution that many have already put forward but of course the state controlling the borders of Gaza doesn't allow it.

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Randolph Carter's avatar

It's my understanding that that is exactly what Israel has done - the largest transfer of aid during war time in world history. But once it gets there, people on the ground with guns steal it.

https://apnews.com/article/israel-palestinians-hamas-war-aid-un-ghf-567c5bffd5d7ae4cc54ea0816a159f8f

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Tima's avatar

This from the article you linked in your comment:

"Since then, Israel has allowed an average of about 70 trucks a day, compared to the 500-600 the U.N. says are needed. The military said Saturday it would allow more trucks in — 180 entered Sunday — and international airdrops have resumed, which aid organizations say are largely ineffective."

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Randolph Carter's avatar

So they're dropping off food and supplies from the air (the thing you suggested, which aid groups say is ineffective... Because Hamas and affiliated gangs steal the supplies), and they're dropping off trucks of food, less since the Palestinian gangs attack the convoys to resell the food and prevent it from getting to the people it's supposed to... What should Israel do? Send more trucks for more headlines that portray the looters and gangs attacking the convoys as civilians? Send fewer trucks so commenters can say they're being stingy? It seems like a no win situation, and a pretty strange set of demands for a country engaged in a defensive war against a decades old enemy.

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Randolph Carter's avatar

Re: the state controlling the borders of Gaza, do you mean Egypt?

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Tima's avatar

No I meant Israel. Rafah border is controlled by Israel.

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Tristan's avatar

Children are starving. If some funds are misused, it is still essential to do what we can to help. I invite you to consider whether ideas like all groups being basically Hamas there, and most funds being misused, might be simplifications to avoid the discomfort of acknowledging that this is a morally complex issue. I don’t trust assertions on the topic as simple as “don’t give any money at all.”

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Improv's avatar

Do we likewise need to wonder if we buy anything from Israel that maybe we're supporting the fascist settler movement?

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2argiz's avatar

Everything I don't like is fascism...

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Cait's avatar

Not everything. Just particularly fascist movements as indicated above.

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HeavyD's avatar

Whatever is wrong with Israel, there is nothing particularly fascist about it (if you have some information about what is fascist about it, I think we are all happy to listen). They aren't socialist and I don't think they own large parts of their private industry (again unless you know something I don't). In fact they have been moving in the opposite direction of fascism since the 80s, much like the US until this year. Ethnic minorities have full rights and serve in the kinesit, even if bigotry and mistrust remain (if only they could be like ever other country that has conquered that). If you want them to be held accountable for whatever crimes they commit as a country, using accurate language will help your cause. Using inaccurate language makes it seem like you don't know what you are talking about. Israel is a parliamentary democracy and an illegal expansionist. And, since they are a democracy, they have an opportunity to end the illegal expansionist element. And just like in the US, the only way to stop their bad behavior is likely going to be political. And if they can dismiss critics like you because you throw around unrelated monikers, they will, making all of us who want it to stop weaker.

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Cait's avatar

I was talking about the settler movement as fascist, maybe I should have thrown in millenarian and dominionst for good measure. The settler movement has enough support from fascist-to-the-core Christian Zionists here in America, so I stand by my point and invite you to read my comment again.

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HeavyD's avatar

And the reason the settler movement apart from the government does not come through in your comment is because the original poster was making unclear comparisons among tthe government of Gaza, the government of Israel, and the settler movement which is a keystone of the current government of Israel. In addition you bring up support from Christian Nationalists which I'm unclear how you separate from the US government. Are you saying Christian Nationalists are sending money directly to settlements? Are you saying Christian Nationalists are sending money directly to the Israeli government? I don't really understand how you separate the movement from the country. I believe the movement is an illegal expansionist movement but I still don't see how it is fascist, particularly because the settlers are not a separate government body. If a policy of a government is fascism, then the government is fascist.

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HeavyD's avatar

Right. So I think it's a stretch that Christian Nationalists in the US are fascists, but they at least arguably have some fascist tendencies. But, are you saying that Christian Nationalists have some kind of voting rights or government positions in Israel? Is Ireland a terrorist state because it supports a country that voted in a genocidal death cult? Is Germany a totalitarian state because it relies on Russian oil? When does guilt by association end? Also, Christian Nationalists support Israel because Jesus won't kill all the Jews if they don't have Israel. If someone who wanted you dead just started throwing money at you, would you burn it or use it? My broader point is calling Israel fascist, even if they are worse than fascists, is inaccurate. Calling JK Rowling a transohobe because she doesn't support all gender ideology is inaccurate. Calling you illiterate because you don't understand a word is inaccurate. We need to be able to describe our arguments accurately if we don't want to remain in the wilderness for a generation, and if we actually want Israel to behave in the future. I invite you to read the elements of fascism again.

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2argiz's avatar

The only fascists in the West bank is the Palestinian authority who demand a totally Judenrein state. Israel has 2 million Arab residents. The other side wants to push Jews into the sea.

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Cait's avatar

Daniella Weiss is indeed fascistic in thought, word, and deed, sorry.

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2argiz's avatar

Hmmm, a retired private individual has an opinion….. vs …. the head of the Palestinian Authority, who wants Jews out and pays salaries to terrorist’s families.

Very clear which is more of a problem here….

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Reuven's avatar

When I heard that I went straight to https://www.fidf.org/ and donated an amount equal to my BARPod annual subscription. Like a "carbon offset" but to offset terrorism.

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2argiz's avatar

Cool. I regularly donate to friends of the IDF, I'll add a bit more next time in your honor.

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Sivad's avatar

This is not a good faith judgment of the specific charity Jesse has donated to.

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Baroness Bomburst's avatar

He “cut himself off” because he realized “donated to Gaza” was an awkward phrasing, not because it was supposed to be a secret or something.

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Meg's avatar

“Blue Haired” progressives definitely eat at Cracker Barrel. Cracker Barrel is a good road trip place and if you are a small-town progressive, you probably go on a lot of road trips. I mean the ren faire, comic con, SCA meeting is not coming to you.

I am sure what really is killing Cracker Barrel is the rise in eating at home.

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Autumn's avatar

Cracker Barrel is genuinely diverse. Everyone eats there.

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Haley's avatar

Agree 💯

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Mindy's avatar

I mean this genuinely and I’m not trying to be snarky: I don’t understand why Jesse all of a sudden feels the need to be dishonest about activist organizations like the HRC and their support for, yes, medicalized gender transitions for minors.

First of all, the idea that the HRC “only supports social transition and puberty blockers” is literally made-up. As in, Jesse just made an assumption and confidently stated it as if it’s a known fact. They absolutely support access to cross-sex hormones for minors as well, and while I can’t find any explicit reference to surgeries on minors on its website, you would have to be a fool to believe that they don’t support teens having access to these procedures (at least in certain cases). I couldn’t find any evidence that they’ve ever come out against such a thing. On the webpage that explains their support for “gender-affirming care,” when surgeries are mentioned, they make no distinction between surgeries for kids vs surgeries for adults.

My impression over the years has been that Jesse supports medicalized sex changes for kids/teens as long as there is a certain level of gatekeeping and proper precautions are taken, yes? Jesse has even made comments about how, for certain kids, this care can be not only helpful but life-saving. So why are you now getting squeamish about admitting what these organizations are supporting?

Yes, Starbuck is obviously going to use the most emotionally-charged language possible to get his audience riled up, but that doesn’t necessarily make what he’s saying false.

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Paula's avatar

I think Jesse is making a distinction between children and teens, and pushing back on the idea that organizations like the HRC support hormones and surgery for 10-year-olds (not many people would admit to supporting that, except maybe Johanna Olsen-Kennedy and Andrea Long Chu). But you’re right, puberty blockers are absolutely part of a medicalized process, and pretty much every “progressive” organization supports hormones and surgery (though they may be vague about it) for teenagers under 18, who are still kids.

My impression is that Jesse has gotten more cautious over time about saying that medical transition is necessary or beneficial for certain carefully screened kids. Maybe partly because the “careful” Dutch studies have been shown to be pretty questionable, and basically all the other studies on which this claim rests are embarrassing garbage. I think he’d say now that we just don’t know who or if it will help. I guess we’ll see when his book comes out!

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Jennifer's avatar

You know, barpod turned into a hardcore Taylor Lorenz snarkpod so gradually, I didn't even notice.

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fillups44's avatar

I think Katie has been giving Jesse a hard time about Taylor Lorenz since forever. The fact that Lorenz is (or maybe was) a friend of his has made him reluctant to publicly criticize her. Lorenz has been in the middle of several online incidents that are exactly the kind of thing that BarPod runs on so Katie's critiques have been apt but I understand Jesse's reluctance. It speaks well of him as a human being.

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Meg's avatar

To be fair most people I follow in media have started to hate Taylor. I listen to people from all over the political spectrum, most people I follow hate the other people I follow but they so seem united in hating Taylor.

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Tysen's avatar

Finally. People used to defend her beyond what seemed necessary

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chrisTOPHER's avatar

Hey if you guys are willing to cave to primo feedback then can we bring back the sign offs? Just asking for a friend.

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hombrealmohada's avatar

Point of correction: Lebanon is pronounce Leban-IN, in Tennessee.

I also learned this the hard way as a volunteer for Bob Tuke, Dem US senate candidate in 2008, cold calling people to come out to a meet and greet with the candidate in the town the way Katie pronounced it.

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Theodric's avatar

American cities with foreign names not pronounced like their foreign names are one of my favorite things. Like Cairo (“kay-roh”) Illinois (which features prominently in American Gods, a good book even if the author is now cancelled).

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Jeff F's avatar

It is also how it is pronounced in Pennsylvania. (Or if you're super Pennsylvania Dutch, it's "Lep'nin")

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Bubby's avatar

And Missouri, too!

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