Avsnitt
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The first half of my conversation with guest Zoe Dubno—author of the novel Happiness & Love—on her recent article for NY Mag about whether we’ve gone too far in celebrating plastic surgery & extreme beauty routines.
Also discussed: there's nothing new under the sun, corporate slop gyms, parents who force their ED on their kids, being allergic to cheap things vs being a snob, the obvious benefit to being more attractive as a woman, plastic surgery creating a paucity of beauty, the benefits of literally touching grass, Francesca reads the bible (again), the prison of self-obsession, being so hot it’s a problem, there are no attractive people on the UWS, searching for the illusion of purity, the depth of Francesca’s vanity, and the immortal question: is it good to get exactly what you want?
Referenced:
“I Spray Myself with Magnesium and Read Under a Chicken Light” - by Zoe Dubno, New York Magazine
"The Year All My Friends Got Botox" - by Emmeline Clein, New York Magazine
The first half of every episode of CBT is free wherever you get your podcasts. If you'd like to become a subscriber and hear the second half, please go to www.patreon.com/criticalbabetheory. Thank you for your support xo
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My conversation with porn historian Noelle Perdue on the censorious attempt to regulate pornography today—and our heated debate about what a moral society owes its citizens.
Also discussed: “pornography is neutral but our sexual culture is not,” box dye heritage, wanting to see things you can never unsee, “The Entertainment” in Infinite Jest, choking in porn is now illegal in the UK (!), vibes-based legislation, our sexual culture, the overlap between anti-trans and anti-porn rhetoric, Francesca just wants everyone to have good sex, the “porn industry” doesn’t exist as such, stalking the halls of the Bellagio, the feature of SESTA/FOSTA is to harm sex workers—it’s not a bug, the fallacy of the Nordic Model, and how “keeping people isolated is profitable business.”
The first half of every episode of CBT is free wherever you get your podcasts. If you'd like to become a subscriber and hear the second half, please go to www.patreon.com/criticalbabetheory. Thank you for your support xo
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Saknas det avsnitt?
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A wide-ranging conversation with writer and filmmaker Sean Wilsey about literature, the left, and his film IXXI that’s premiering at Tribeca this week. We discuss how hard it is to hold on to your values, orthodoxy as a means to protect yourself, and how radicals have lost the ability to cooperate.
Also discussed: translations that are funnier than the original, “it’s really easy to throw people under whatever bus you want to keep moving,” Italy’s reputation as frivolous, The Nation doesn’t want anyone to have a good time, adorning prostitutes with flowers in Czechoslovakia, fun is a problem for political orthodoxies, profound moral alterations brought on by a work of literature, nostalgia for the worst times of one’s life, Republicans are a better hang these days, suffering without redemption is true perversion, everyone has a Southern accent at NASA, the jet-setting lifestyle of the last international magazine feature writer (Sean), we’re becoming a country of scammers and liars, and the unresolved question: did all Gen X ideas come from Woody Guthrie?
Link to Sean’s film IXXI at Tribeca, almost sold out:
https://tribecafilm.com/films/ix-xi-2026
Articles referenced:
The Nation - “Luigi Pirandello’s Broken Men” by Gus O’Connor
GQ - “The Next Giant Leap” by Sean Wilsey
The first half of every episode of CBT is free wherever you get your podcasts. If you'd like to become a subscriber and hear the second half, please go to www.patreon.com/criticalbabetheory. Thank you for your support xo
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The first half of my conversation with health and wellness journalist Leigh Weingus about GLP-1’s—and what it means for Americans to empty themselves of desire in pursuit of a fix-all miracle drug.
Also discussed: optimization culture, Francesca’s time as a fat girl, how our food system is set up to be addictive, drug use in the UC system, thriving in moderation (Leigh is the human GLP-1), a hard pitch for intuitive eating, the drug-addictification of America, “being fat was good for my personality,” the finite nature of will power, how dieting itself creates obesity, marriage is a business transaction where putting out is part of the contract, GLP-1’s as another numbing tool, Ozempic face, everything is a treatment for pre-death these days, and the perennial question: would you take a drug if it made your everything in your life perfect?
Articles referenced:
"Life in Beige" - NY Mag
"How Weight-Loss Drugs Can Upend a Marriage" - NY Times
"The Ozempic Economy Is Here: Are We Entering A Workplace Doping Era?" - Forbes
(Fact check on 40% of GLP-1 weight loss is from lean muscle mass — there seems to be conflicting research, but see here: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12322565/ )
The first half of every episode of CBT is free wherever you get your podcasts. If you'd like to become a subscriber and hear the second half, please go to www.patreon.com/criticalbabetheory. Thank you for your support xo
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Native New Yorker Alex Brook Lynn comes on the show to talk about the city in the 90’s—and what’s lost when only the rich can afford to live and work in NYC. We discuss the demise of rent controlled apartments, marking art when the stakes aren’t high, and how close to life Larry Clark’s Kids was (pretty close).
Also discussed: middle class drug dealers, how the out-of-towners are the city’s own migratory bird population, “graft for the people,” we forget that Eric Adams was the Curtis Silwa candidate of 2020, when heroin addicts were good old-fashioned heroin addicts, the days when you could pee in Central Park, white kids using the n word, having a beeper, children buying hard drugs at bodegas, the moral stain of Riker’s Island, “the 90’s were cheap enough that you could be free,” and how a rent controlled apartment is it’s own kind of trust fund.
The first half of every episode of CBT is free wherever you get your podcasts. If you'd like to become a subscriber and hear the second half, please go to www.patreon.com/criticalbabetheory. Thank you for your support xo
Articles referenced:
Jerry Saltz’s photos of 90’s New York:
https://www.vulture.com/article/jerry-saltz-new-york-art-world-1990s-slideshow.html
RealPage NYC Landlord price fixing:
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/11/24/technology/realpage-doj-settlement.html
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My very fun and very discursive talk with Sam Adler-Bell, journalist and host of leftist podcast “Know Your Enemy.” We discuss his recent viral article “The Women Leaving the New Right” in New York Mag, liberalism’s lack of meaning, the (more) vile aspects of the New Right—and how the left drove women into their arms in the first place.
Also discussed: “It’s China over here,” nebbish-maxxing, influencer-occupied government, social credit scores, serving two masters, the death drive of Israel, conflict between elites, Nick Fuentes keeping men small, Christopher Hitchens & cirrhosis, “you can die or become part of the petite bourgeoisie,” Francesca’s journey to the One True God, bone-deep hatred of women, inculcating virtue, and the greatest political sin: being annoying.
https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/young-women-leaving-maga-new-right.html
The first half of every episode of CBT is free wherever you get your podcasts. If you'd like to become a subscriber and hear the second half, please go to www.patreon.com/criticalbabetheory. Thank you for your support xo
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A surrealist interview with sign-based comedian and beloved internet denizen Alan Wagner (@truewagner) about the critically reviled Ari Aster film Eddington—and how it exposes the berserk heart of America.
Also discussed: the (unofficial) Eddington Preservation Society, a direct plea to Donald J Trump, basketweaving, Eddington as lighthearted romp, unwitting consumption of art, the final word: algorithms are bad, when Antifa comes to town, how social media negatively effects the way people on the left communicate (duh), Austin Butler just wants to play weirdos, and the three givens: death, taxes, and True Wagner.
The first half of every episode of CBT is free wherever you get your podcasts. If you'd like to become a subscriber and hear the second half, please go to www.patreon.com/criticalbabetheory. Thank you for your support xo -
In commemoration of Earth Day, climate activist Matthew Menzies comes on the show to discuss his nonviolent protest and civil disobedience with the climate group Extinction Rebellion—and how we can avert climate crisis, build community, and envision a better life.
Also discussed: how climate change is not your fault, whether podcasts steal your soul, permaculture, how oil=corn=flesh, chimpanzee civil war, the benevolent dictatorship of parenthood, Eric Adams going where it’s warm (Albania, apparently), the true antidote to apathy, the Fed crackdown on peaceful protest and free speech, being on the domestic enemies list (Francesca says: pretty fab), martyrdom as the pinnacle of spiritual achievement, the normative vs pejorative state, Trump as scammer from Queens, and the age old question: can we be fruitful and multiply without oppression?
The first half of every episode of CBT is free wherever you get your podcasts. If you'd like to become a subscriber and hear the second half, please go to www.patreon.com/criticalbabetheory. Thank you for your support xo
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***This is our 50th episode***
The utterly delightful Monique Gabriel comes on the show to discuss the power of the bitch—which becomes a conversation about spiritual living and integrates into the timeless question: how can I be a spiritual bitch?
Also discussed: adult tantrums, competitive crafting, alphas who like to be alphaed, girls school aura, “a friend to all is a friend to no one,” animus and anima, how trump brings meth head energy to the White House, POV promotions, MBA degrees = art of the yap, manifestation as original sin, reverting to the old gods, being out there in your faun, the peace of fulfilling the bloodline, and we boldly ask the question: what is it going to take to bring glitter back to America? (Hint: another Beyoncé album)
The first half of every episode of CBT is free wherever you get your podcasts. If you'd like to become a subscriber and hear the second half, please go to www.patreon.com/criticalbabetheory. Thank you for your support xo -
Novelist Andrew Ridker comes on the show to discuss the paradox of privilege and persecution at the heart of the Jewish-American experience (and literary canon)—and how it’s time to shift the plot.
Also discussed: Birthright sex romps, the cure for ambiguity, how the medium is the message in social media comment fights, the intellectual inconsistencies of Holocaust denialism, Portlandia passover seders, how Israel-Gaza is the psychic tear of the moral universe, the internet’s MO (nihilism), mogging as the law of the land, closeted DJs, and next year in Jerusalem—but not literally.
Discussed:
Andrew’s NY Mag article: https://www.vulture.com/article/jewish-american-writers-literature-new-stories-gaza-israel.html
Peter Beinart’s - Being Jewish After the Destruction of Gaza
Prospect Writers’ Workshop: https://www.andrewridker.com/prospect-writers-workshop
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Political consultant and strategist Charlie Goldensohn—aka @chez.chuck—comes on the show to discuss the Democratic Party and all its stumbling blocks.
Also discussed: innate SF degeneracy, dip preferences, Gavin Newsom (again), the gender wars, how we all become our parents, American gerontocracy, “the people who are winning are populists,” the DL on Biden’s White House mental state, who’s really driving the male loneliness discourse, and the only egalitarian marriage in America (Charlie’s parents’).
*The first half of every episode of CBT is free wherever you get your podcasts. If you'd like to become a subscriber and hear the second half, please go to www.patreon.com/criticalbabetheory. Thank you for your support. xo *
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Léonie Weerakoon—human ecologist and founder of Kinetik Ventures, a bioeconomy investment firm—comes on the show to discuss her work, sustainability, and how nature is the highest form of intelligence.
Also discussed: what it’s like to work for F1, living the globalist dream, extreme sports of sustainability, a hard pitch on moving to Luxembourg, nature as a peer, Francesca’s new conspiracy theory, how rubber led to the Industrial Revolution—plus Francesca gets a 101 on how capitalism works.
The first half of every episode of CBT is free wherever you get your podcasts. If you'd like to become a subscriber and hear the second half, please go to www.patreon.com/criticalbabetheory. Thank you for your support xo -
Johnny Gaffney—founder of Senior Centertainment (https://seniorcentertainment.org) — comes on the show to talk about his work with seniors and how we all can be good neighbors — and finally do away with the modern illusion of self-sufficiency.
Also discussed: always hailing yellow, the value of scrumming around, growing our capacity for non-romantic intimacy, VHI Behind the Music as spiritually purifying, honoring the stranger by having toilet paper, male vanity, Grinch green attraction, what it means to be a yapper, the sex scene in Showgirls, carnival barking, and Johnny’s shocking confession that he hasn’t washed his hair since the Obama administration.
The first half of every episode of CBT is free wherever you get your podcasts. If you'd like to become a subscriber and hear the second half, please go to www.patreon.com/criticalbabetheory. Thank you for your support xo
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Author and journalist EJ Dickson comes on the show to discuss her new book One Bad Mother and the impossible trap American mothers are put in—be they hot moms, influencer moms, MAHA moms or really any mom at all.
Also discussed: ER vacations, how the kids-on-airplanes discourse points to the erosion of Judeo-Christian values, therapy as emotional prostitution, what we owe each other as a communal species, the golden ticket in our society of a martyr complex plus a lack of shame, the sin of being annoying, Fauci’s karma (and romance novel), bringing back filial piety, and how everyone will fail you (even your mother).
The poem EJ references, “This Be The Verse” by Philip Larkin”:
They fuck you up, your mum and dad.
They may not mean to, but they do.
They fill you with the faults they had
And add some extra, just for you.
But they were fucked up in their turn
By fools in old-style hats and coats,
Who half the time were soppy-stern
And half at one another’s throats.
Man hands on misery to man.
It deepens like a coastal shelf.
Get out as early as you can,
And don’t have any kids yourself.
The first half of every episode of CBT is free wherever you get your podcasts. If you'd like to become a subscriber and hear the second half, please go to www.patreon.com/criticalbabetheory. Thank you for your support xo
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Simon van Zuylen-Wood—journalist and features writer at New York Magazine—comes on the show to talk about the battle for the soul of American conservatism and the battleground of elite inboxes (ie the prodigious emailing of Jeffrey Epstein). Nota bene: first half of the episode we discuss Charlie Kirk and Nick Fuentes, Epstein in the second half. Candace floats throughout, as is her wont.
Also discussed: what breakfast choice makes you a free-trade globalist, if we should just let Trump have his tariffs, gay orgies vs Epstein island parties, sympathy for the devil, JD Vance as multiculturalist, Gen Z nihilism is the book of Ecclesiastes all over again, nepo truthers, the (embarrassing) cult of Fran Leibowitz, gentle authoritarian parenting, Nick Fuentes as Kid Chaos, and Epstein Epstein Epstein Epstein.
“Inside the Conservative Campus Revolution” by Simon van Zuyvlen-Wood in New York Mag
“The Truth is Out There” by Simon van Zuylen-Wood in New York Mag
“Child’s Play” by Sam Kriss in Harper’s
The first half of every episode of CBT is free wherever you get your podcasts. If you'd like to become a subscriber and hear the second half, please go to www.patreon.com/criticalbabetheory. Thank you for your support xo
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Writer Nicole Treska comes on the show to talk about growing up in blue collar Boston under the aegis of the Winter Hill Gang—and how the left (maybe, if they stop being corporate sell outs) can win back the white working class.
Also discussed: boomer greed, the authoritarian personality, ancestral goat programming, how when people say they want to be rich what they mean is they want to be middle class in the 80’s, pandemic accelerationism, ruling like the right, how gang members just want to hang out like the rest of us, the time Francesca got neo-conned into voting for Kamala, Mamdani and dark woke, and yet again, we can’t shut up about the dog sh*t.
https://nicoletreska.com
The first half of every episode of CBT is free wherever you get your podcasts. If you'd like to become a subscriber and hear the second half, please go to www.patreon.com/criticalbabetheory. Thank you for your support xo
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Cult comic and beloved online denizen Lauren Servideo comes on the show to discuss her favorite characters (hint: it’s like choosing your favorite child), old-hat internet, and what we talk about when we talk about influencers.
Also discussed: eldest daughter discourse, Billy Crystal and the female fear of death, crust punks with a TikTok presence, how men don’t like to be propositioned to be a muse (by Francesca), MLM faux-pas, peptide propaganda, shmacting, and whether all Italians are funny.
The first half of every episode of CBT is free wherever you get your podcasts. If you'd like to become a subscriber and hear the second half, please go to www.patreon.com/criticalbabetheory. Thank you for your support xo
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The first half of every episode of CBT is free wherever you get your podcasts. If you'd like to become a subscriber and hear the second half, please go to www.patreon.com/criticalbabetheory. Thank you for your support xo
Brian Wood, founder of Panodime, comes on the show to discuss what the AI overlords really want (hint: it’s not to make your workflow more efficient) and what we need to do to ensure the AI future benefits all of us.
Discussed: tech CEO drug addicts, the problem with transhumanism, misreading Lord of the Rings, why maybe women shouldn’t vote (bc they’re making the world “unsafe for capitalism”), AI or climate armageddon, Terminator vs elites framework, and Francesca’s theory that Peter Thiel wants to subjugate the divine feminine.
https://www.panodime.com
Instagram: @pano.dime
Tiktok: @panodime
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Nota bene: starting today, the first half of every episode of CBT will be free wherever you get your podcasts. If you'd like to become a subscriber and hear the second half, please go to www.patreon.com/criticalbabetheory. Thank you for your support xo
I talk with Reuben Barsky—raconteur & denizen of the diamond district—about the myth of the urban American male and pursuit of the good life.
Also discussed: what constitutes normal male behavior, whether all immigrants are criminals (muses immigrant-descendant-of-criminals Francesca), the art of the cold call, how to not bulk, the freedom to rot, prison face, and escaping the Freddo mindset.
Update about the 49ers electrical substation conspiracy theory: neither the Seahawks nor the Patriots will be using SF practice facilities, and Niners management will be investigating the correlation between the substation and injuries. So proud to be part of this conspiracy from the ground up!
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Actress and impresario Ruby McCollister and I discuss Camille Paglia’s Sexual Personae—the resurrection of the work post-Trump, Paglia’s thrilling/exhausting prose styling, the fundamental immorality and amorality of art, and the inherent tackiness of sexuality.
Also discussed: Ruby’s theory on how JFK started the culture war (with his hotness), safe spaces at Vogue, being an emotional slut, the NYC real estate that perverted Francesca’s lifestyle expectations, how Gen X ruined the world (and the grace due boomers), Howard Stern and the end of the shock jock era, whether large tubes of Aquafor are chic, and how sometimes in a room everyone has been inside Francesca.
- Visa fler
![Vanity of Vanities [First Half]](https://is1-ssl.mzstatic.com/image/thumb/Podcasts221/v4/e0/fc/1f/e0fc1faf-4aa5-6c7e-55ad-6fa736ccc52d/mza_3700099987736937994.jpg/80x80bb.jpg)