Show Notes
The morning after Paul Pelosi was attacked, the New York Times relegated the story to the bottom corner of its front page, framing the incident as a banal crime rather than attempted assassination of the speaker of the House within two weeks of the midterm elections. Matt and Laura call the decision to place the story so low and to frame it as they did a bad take. Holding it up as a proxy for media coverage, Matt and Laura agree that in ducking the straightforward political context, the media allowed the right to hijack the story and cast doubt on what happened. Matt argues that to understand why Pelosi has become a villain of the right, you have to understand her legacy as an effective leader, but one who has bucked conventions around keeping power. Laura thinks you also have to understand sexism. Suggested Reads: Pelosi’s Husband Is Gravely Injured in Hammer Attack by an Intruder, Kellen Browning, Tim Arango, Luke Broadwater and Holly Secon, New York Times [the “bad take”] “Pelosi,” Molly Ball [a Laura favorite]
More from Bad Takes
Matt talks about the time podcast celebrity Joe Rogan shamed him about his weight on air. Matt and Laura then discuss their frustration with what’s missing on both sides of the obesity debate – a conversation about recent medical breakthroughs that could help a lot of people live healthier lives. Suggested reads: #1573 – Matthew Yglesias, The Joe Rogan Experience Everything You Know About Obesity Is Wrong, Michael Hobbes @ The Huffington Post After ‘The Biggest Loser,’ Their Bodies Fought to Regain Weight, Gina Kolata @ The New York Times
Jacobin writer Branko Marcetic argues that elites learned nothing from the Iraq War. While Matt and Laura agree that this is a bad take, they point to glaring examples of what should have been learned but hasn’t. In fact, pack journalism and group mentality is getting worse.
A Wall Street Journal writer argues diversity might have distracted Silicon Valley Bank executives from risk. Matt and Laura agree the bank got exactly what it wanted. But they disagree on whether the government should have let it fail.
Description: Presidential hopeful Nikki Haley fired up a crowd at CPAC with a line Matt and Laura agree is a bad take. Covid-19 killed millions of people, and scientists fear worse viral pandemics could be on the horizon. More broadly, Matt argues, calling political opponents dangerous is bad for policy debate.
Matt’s critics say that ticketing and booting low-income drivers is unfair and doesn’t solve the problem of pedestrian injuries. Laura agrees with Matt that the evidence shows enforcing lower-level traffic infractions reduces the harms of speeding. And they throw in a complaint about Jeff Bezos.