’90s nostalgia, Ninja Turtles, and a red-baiting revival

Hello from an East Bay movie theatre! 

This week, it’s just us, trying to dodge yet another COVID surge. (A note from our producer, Mai: Lots of people are getting sick, and testing is hard to come by and not always accurate. It’s never too late to mask up again—if not for yourself, then for your more vulnerable neighbors!) 

(3:25) Jay went to see “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem” with his daughter, Frankie. We talk about the film’s pleasing animation style and nostalgia-packed soundtrack. (24:45) Next, we address a recent New York Times investigation into lefty tech millionaire Neville Roy Singham’s ties to China and consider, yet again, how a good leftist should avoid both McCarthyism and Tankieism.

In this episode, we ask: 

Has Madeline (of the Madeline children’s books) been canceled yet?!

Should Jay spend hours systematically indoctrinating his kids into musical connoisseurship? 

Is it possible to critique U.S. hegemony without being called a brainwashed propagandist? 

For more, see: 

• CoComelon, or the stuff of every parent’s nightmares 

• Why Neil Diamond is cool Dad Rock, by Tammy

• Previous episodes on the tankie problem, from June 2020 (Tankies! with Brian Hioe, New Bloom Magazine) and November 2020 (Vaccine apartheid, tankies redux, and the TTSG manifesto) 

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Thanks to everyone who’s come out to recent meet-ups in NYC and Chengdu! Check out the Discord for upcoming events in Texas and other IRL hotspots. 

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