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Normalizing the Unthinkable: Scandal, Authoritarianism & Cultural Collapse

Episode 1: Normalizing the Unthinkable: Scandal, Authoritarianism & Cultural Collapse

Rieff and Siegel debut their podcast, tackling Trump, Epstein, ICE, creeping authoritarianism, cultural exhaustion, the collapse of shared language, and AI.

Show notes

In the debut episode of "Invincible Ignorance", hosts David Rieff and Lee Siegel introduce the podcast and explain they're recording without guests after travel plans fell through. They dive into the major stories dominating the moment, including Trump, Jeffrey Epstein, ICE raids, and the broader political climate, making the case that American culture has reached a point of exhaustion where it can normalize and commodify virtually anything, scandal and violence included. Rieff and Siegel question whether Trump is being underestimated, exploring corruption, the specter of creeping authoritarianism, and whether the country's key institutions (military, markets, media, political establishment) would push back or simply adapt should Trump undermine or suspend the midterm elections. The conversation then turns to media and culture, using the death of the Washington Post's Book World section as a symptom of a wider collapse of shared language, middlebrow culture, and literacy. They trace a line from screen-based siloing and what they call "psychic reality" to the institutionalization of loneliness, omnipresent anger, the demand for constant affirmation, the medicalization of criticism, and the reduction of politics to biology and power. AI gets a mention as "outsourcing critical thinking," and they sign off with a promise to keep recording and eventually bring on guests.

Executive producer Matty Rosenberg
Edited by Lee Siegel, David Rieff, and Matty Rosenberg
Additional video editing by Matty Rosenberg and Esther Martel
Music arrangement and performance by Matt Schreiber

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This is a production of Radio Free Rhinecliff

Hosts


Guests

David Rieff

David Rieff

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Lee Siegel

Lee Siegel

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