I took a few days with the family last week to take advantage of spring break. Knowing me as well as she does, 99 took matters into her own hands and recorded Show Notes with Manny, so I didnāt come to the microphone unprepared upon my return. So, check out their Max-less Show Notes for feedback from last week, which includes some really brilliant takes from Unf*ckers who wrote in about our affirmative action episode.
Letās kick things off with a piece from our own Manny Faces, which he teased in Show Notes. This is a two-parter. Instead of linking to the piece directly, please go to the home page of Mannyās Substack and subscribe. Then you can read the pieceāThe Far Right Infiltration of Hip Hop: Rumble, DJ Akademiks, and the hidden danger of platforming so-called "Hip Hop" provocateurs.
Manny pulls on some familiar threads in the UNFTR universe by likening the addition of DJ Akademiks on the conservative platform Rumble to the work of PragerU, among other examples. Itās a really thoughtful piece (as one might imagine) that uncovers the desire among right-wing figures like Steve Bannon to infect the minds of young Black Americans.
Taibbi.
Of course this happened when I took a few days off. Probably better, because it allowed me the chance to just soak in the bloodbath that was Mehdi Hasanās interview with Matt Taibbi. The two had been circling one another on Twitter before Taibbi threw down the proverbial gauntlet to appear on Hasanās show; a gauntlet Hasan was all too happy to pick up. And, ouch. Just ouch. Over the course of 20 minutes, Mehdi Hasan dismantles Taibbi, who is reduced to a puddle of smoldering poo. You can see it for yourself if you havenāt already indulged.
YouTube: Mehdi Debates Matt Taibbi on the 'Twitter Files' and Elon Musk
Listeners know that Iāve professed my admiration for Taibbi in the past, much to the chagrin of 99 and others who tired of his act long before I did. Griftopia was one of my favorite political books, and Iāve read a great deal of his work before and after it. I go all the way back to his New York Press days when he reported on presidential campaigns while tripping his face off. He was my generationās Hunter Thompson. I didnāt delight in this brutal takedown as much as I stared at it like a train wreck.
It will undoubtedly even out for Taibbi. Heāll continue to lose followers on the left while gaining more on the right. And heāll pad his numbers on Substack. What makes me sad is how, just days after this undressing, Taibbi was dropped like a bad habit by Elon Musk as well, and for different reasons. Taibbi is a cautionary tale in the new world order of independent platform stars. The money is there for the taking. It just depends upon the price of your soul.
Youngkin.
Get to know this dude: Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin. He has extremely high approval ratings, is seen as a more palatable answer to Trump than Ron DeSantis, and is mentioned more often in mainstream media. In other words, heās cultivating a national profile and building for a possible presidential run. NPR recently reported that Youngkin is slow-walking the restoration of voting rights to formerly incarcerated people in Virginia, breaking from precedent and raising eyebrows. Perhaps heās beginning to lay the all-so-important conservative groundwork thatās required to make it through the primary season.
In 2021, Forbes estimated Youngkinās net worth at $470 million. Itās plausible, considering the massive sums he was able to lend his campaign and the fact that he was former CEO of The Carlyle Group, the multi-billion dollar private equity group. It's been reported that Youngkin was recently canvassing the NYC donor class, which appears largely ready to walk from Trump, though thatās impossible to say for sure.
Anyway, my guess is youāll start to hear a lot more about him in the coming months.
So, because Max is lazy and took a few days off, there's no episode this week as he prepares to solve issues in the Middle East, define socialism and rewatch season two of Miami Vice. In the meantime, enjoy this week's newsletter.