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Based Camp | Simone & Malcolm Collins
Hosted by Based Camp | Simone & Malcolm Collins · EN
Based Camp is a podcast focused on how humans process the world around them and the future of our species. That means we go into everything from human sexuality, to weird sub-cultures, dating markets, philosophy, and politics.
Malcolm and Simone are a husband wife team of a neuroscientist and marketer turned entrepreneurs and authors. With graduate degrees from Stanford and Cambridge under their belts as well as five bestselling books, one of which topped out the WSJs nonfiction list, they are widely known (if infamous) intellectuals / provocateurs.
If you want to dig into their ideas further or check citations on points they bring up check out their book series. Note: They all sell for a dollar or so and the money made from them goes to charity. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08FMWMFTG
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Why Do Commie & Socialist States Kill Gays But Capitalists Don't?
Today00:47:14Tap to summarizeWhy have communist regimes throughout history consistently persecuted, imprisoned, and killed gay people? In this Based Camp episode, Malcolm and Simone Collins examine the pattern across the Soviet Union, China, Cuba, North Korea, Cambodia’s Khmer Rouge, and more — backed by direct quotes from communist leaders and historical records.They break down the ideological reasons: homosexuality framed as “bourgeois degeneracy,” linked to fascism, rejected as hedonistic “gooning,” and clashing with extreme pro-natalist policies that viewed childless people as unproductive. The episode also contrasts this with capitalism’s unmatched track record as the most gay-friendly system in global history and explores the ongoing political shift of gay men toward Republican voting.If you’re tired of revisionist history that ignores communist crimes against the LGBT community, this is the conversation you need to hear.Based Camp - Why do communists always kill gays_[00:00:00] Malcolm Collins: Hello, Simone. I’m excited to be here with you today. Today, we are going to be asking a question, which is why do communists usually kill gay people? And it’s an interesting question. There’s two groups that communists generally like to kill and that is gays and Jews. Um, Which surprises a lot of people if they haven’t studied history or only look at the weirdos approach.[00:00:26] I mean, most Jews are aware of this, but there are a lot of gays who are completely unaware of this. And they have done this over and over and over again throughout history, and the only group that seems to do it as frequently as communists do it is socialists. Is this- They also really like killing gay people[00:00:46] Simone Collins: is this because both gays and Jews accumulate wealth?[00:00:50] Malcolm Collins: No. Gays typically produce less wealth than the average citizen. It’s just that on the outside curve, gays basically just have a wider distribution curve of talent- Oh ... than average humans. Okay. So in the same way[00:01:02] Simone Collins: that like with- Oh, so they’re like hyper men.[00:01:03] They’re like extra men.[00:01:04] Malcolm Collins: Yeah, in the same way that men, like, on, if you look at like the average man and you look at the, the, the curve, like women have like a[00:01:10] Simone Collins: trigger bell curve. Yeah, the bell curve is more flattened, whereas like the male bell curve is- In terms of IQ ... yeah.[00:01:13] Malcolm Collins: Yeah, and with gays, the bell curve is flattened and shifted away.[00:01:18] Mm. But it’s flattened[00:01:18] Simone Collins: enough- Yeah, so that tip of the, the tip of the bell curve giant ...[00:01:20] Malcolm Collins: the tip of the bell curve. If you’re like, “Who are the top 10 chefs in the world?” Five of them are gonna be gay. “Who are the top 10 fashion designers in the world?” Five of them are gonna be gay. “Who are the top 10 AI designers- I mean, not average[00:01:33] in the[00:01:33] Simone Collins: world?” Gay. I mean, gay. Gay. But I mean blind.[00:01:36] Malcolm Collins: Well, no, you see this especially in creative fields. Yeah. You, you see a disproportionate number of gays. And actually I almost wanna like study this, like what the f**k causes that? But it’s also a reason why it’s, it’s, it’s a good idea to not burn the gay community be-[00:01:49] Simone Collins: Isn’t that the higher levels of testosterone?[00:01:52] It could be the higher levels of testosterone. So gay, gay men have, on average, higher levels of testosterone. What’s different from men? Higher levels of testosterone, like higher risk, high reward, like they’re going all in.[00:02:00] Malcolm Collins: That and they’re not having their brains polluted by constantly talking to women.[00:02:05] Simone Collins: Yeah. I mean- They’re not being henpecked. I mean, God, boys,[00:02:07] Malcolm Collins: right? Imagine, imagine what you[00:02:09] Simone Collins: would be able to accomplish. You would be unleashed, Bianca. You would be unleashed if you were blessed with dickness. If you[00:02:14] Malcolm Collins: didn’t have to, the, you know, yeah. There, there is, there is other ancillary benefits to the wider gay...[00:02:21] And not to say that nothing negative comes, but we’ll have that conversation later in this. But what I wanted to start by focusing on is like the, the m- ma- the majority of gay community, and this is changing. Like as we’ve pointed out, the gays are moving to Trump, right? Like in, in the voting. If they continue to move at the rate they have moved over the past few election cycles I think by the election cycle after the next, the majority of gay men will be voting Republican.[00:02:47] And I think by the next election cycle, the majority of gay white men will be voting Republican.[00:02:51] Simone Collins: Ooh ...[00:02:52] Malcolm Collins: so, yeah, guys, g- keep in mind the, the, this is a community that we can win. But historically, you look at the protests, you look at all the flags, and no, these flags don’t even really represent gayness anymore.[00:03:04] They represent like an opt-in identity at this point, the colonizer’s flag as we call it, the progress pride flag. I’m not gonna go into that right now, but so they, they, they, they have these flags, and they yell at people about Palestine. I recently saw them yelling at, A, the guy who replaced Nancy Pelosi, he was kicked out of a gay pride event when people followed him into[00:03:23] Simone Collins: it and- Oh yeah, there’s a picture of him on the front page of Drudge, like soaked in...[00:03:26] No, that’s Mamdani, never mind. But yeah yeah, there was a picture of him looking real mad.[00:03:29] Malcolm Collins: But it was, it was he wasn’t enough anti-Israel for these people and they-[00:03:33] Simone Collins: Not, oh, not enough. Never enough ... they were[00:03:35] Malcolm Collins: carrying their, their, the, apparently that’s a huge gay rights issue. And I’m like, gays, you and your natural predators, right?[00:03:41] Like communist, like the two groups that like have it in their mission statement to kill you, like Islamists and communists, right? Like Guys But let’s get into this. I wanna get into the stats, I wanna get into the facts, and I also wanna point out here that there has been [00:04:00] no governing or economic system that has been friendlier to gays throughout global history than capitalism.[00:04:08] Not one. Not one comes close to being as friendly or as open to gays than capitalist systems[00:04:17] Simone Collins: yeah, actually. Ac- I mean, look at some of the most successful capitalists today.[00:04:23] Malcolm Collins: Well, as to why, and, and there haven’t been many at all, and we can even get into it at the end if you want to purges or genocides of gays in capitalist systems.[00:04:33] It just doesn’t happen really. Happens in socialist, happens in communist- Wasn’t there the- ... doesn’t happen in[00:04:37] Simone Collins: capitalist ... the I wanna say pink scare around the time of the Red Scare?[00:04:43] Malcolm Collins: Yeah, but we didn’t kill them.[00:04:45] Simone Collins: Well, that ... Yes. Yes. Well, they- We didn’t send them to the gulags ... then, then AIDS came, and they killed themselves.[00:04:51] So there was also that. But that, that wasn’t capital- ... Well, it could’ve been capitalism’s fault because it was ... Patient Zero was a, an airline attendant, and if we weren’t so capitalistically abundant- If we weren’t so economically prosperous ... we wouldn’t be flying around the world on our little sexual romps, bring us, would we?[00:05:08] No.[00:05:08] Malcolm Collins: Yeah. If, if we weren’t so economically prosperous,[00:05:10] Simone Collins: So capitalism killed the gays really at scale- At scale ... when you think[00:05:13] Malcolm Collins: about it. No, it was orgies that killed the gays at scale. Oh. Hmm. Th- they could’ve, they could’ve just not done that when they knew a deadly disease was spreading through their community.[00:05:24] Simone Collins: Was it known to be sexually transmitted from the very beginning?[00:05:26] Malcolm Collins: It wasn’t from the very beginning, but people figured out pretty early. And it was very interesting for a lot of gay people to experience because it killed off a huge portion of gay culture, and the gays who survived it they were typically the, like, nerdy introverts.[00:05:45] And it- Yeah ... really transformed gay culture because with all the party guys who ended up dying off and all of the nerdy introverts who survived- Oh ... it sort of defined the way gay culture transformed itself. Where if you look at older gay culture, it was way more you could actually see this in stuff.[00:06:03] I wanna say, like, jockey, biker gangy.[00:06:05] Simone Collins: No.[00:06:07] Malcolm Collins: Y- you’ve seen the old videos and stuff. Like, it was, it was pretty tough, I guess you’d call it. And then it became sort of, effete and, and weird, but that was downstream of AIDS killing off the non-nerd ga...
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The Anti-Baby Internet Cult: The Girl with the List
Yesterday00:49:27Tap to summarizeSpend enough time watching girly content these days, and you’ll see a commenter or creator cite “the Girl with the List.” This batman of Lady Internet is literally summoned in content across tiktok and instagram. Her bat signal: “Where’s the girl with the list?”Her purpose? Cure baby fever. Remind you to take your birth control.Today, we explore the work of the Girl (actually girls) with the List, the unique genre of choice-based horror stories (be they pregnancy, parenting, or entirely-non-family-related activities, such as cosmetic surgery and travel), and whether this genre helps or harms. Enjoy!Show NotesThere’s a young woman named Abigail Porter (goes by Zoomie) with 1.6M followers on Tiktok who is famous for “curing baby fever” by creating abundant shorts on pregnancy and delivery body horror and frustrating experiences parents have while lactating and raising young kids.Just this week I’ve heard two mentions of her in the wild “She changed my life” said one. “I literally owe her everything”Suffice it to say she is, at best, feeding into women’s feelings of justification for not having kids, and at worst, generating fear about having kids where it didn’t exist before.Abigail is not alone in creating viral content of this genre—there’s also “the girl with the list” with whom Abigail is often confused and that list is called “YUNI’S PROS AND CONS LIST OF HAVING CHILDREN”), so we should probably talk about it!So… Why avoid pregnancies?Some highlights:* A woman whose insides needed stitches after her baby scratched her from the inside on the way out* A woman whose baby began to choke on her nipple after it literally fell off* A woman who grew a tumor on her lip the size of her pinky* Women losing their hair, their teeth, all their eyelashes* A woman who developed a mutation during pregnancy that made her insensitive to pain meds who had to endure a c-section with no pain meds* A woman who went deaf after her kid kissed her on the ear, causing what’s called “the kiss of death”* BTW, this is also known as cochlear ear‑kiss injury / Reiter’s Ear Kiss Syndrome (REKS)* It happens when someone kisses directly over the ear canal (the opening of the ear), especially using a strong suction/“air kiss.” and it can cause permanent hearing loss* A woman whose retinas detached because she pushed so hard in labor* Women whose bodies have become both temporarily and permanently deformed or uglified (swollen hands and feet, swollen legs, varicose veins, popped blood vessels in eyes, toe nails falling off, etc.)There are basically four themes:* Relatively unusual medical complications from pregnancy and lactation (like uterine prolapse, various forms of body horror)* The expenses of labor and delivery* Poop and pee horror* Pretty common parenting, pregnancy, and postpartum stuff, e.g.:* Fussy babies who are only calm when being bounced* The rectus abdominus being separated* Swelling* Using a nosfrida to suck snot out of a baby’s nose* Having strangers on the internet jump down your throat for really innocuous things, such as mentioning breastfeeding* Kids making messes around the house (flooding, vandalism, etc.)The Psychology of it AllAvailability HeuristicCreators like Abigail and Yuni make pregnancy and parenting look heuristic by making their hazards extremely visible and available, but it’s extremely easy to do the exact same thing Abigail does with other life choices, and that includes life choicesKnown genres:* Hiking (e.g., Mr. Ballen videos)* Cosmetic surgery (e.g., Wonny)* Buying homes (e.g., videos and tiktoks by home inspectors)* Eating out at restaurants (e.g. dirty restaurant audits)You can effectively develop an aversion to—even phobia of—pretty much anything by giving yourself sufficient exposure to its hazards.This genre is a form of opt-in brainwashing, though it could also be a form of unintentional, algorithmic brainwashing.Loss AversionHumans generally weigh potential losses about 1.5–2.5 times as strongly as equal-sized gains in typical risky choices, though the exact ratio and even the presence of loss aversion depend on context and measurement method (there’s a lot of research on this)See:* https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/neuroscience/prospect-theory* https://thedecisionlab.com/biases/loss-aversion* https://www.behavioraleconomics.com/resources/mini-encyclopedia-of-be/loss-aversion/* https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0167487024000485* https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/neuroscience/prospect-theoryThis means that people will be far more influenced by downsides of parenting than by upsides.It’s worse than that, though, because creators like Abigail and Yuri can’t even wrap their heads around the rewards of parenting. Abigail’s most commonly cited argument is “kids are cute” whereas Yuri’s list includes:* “Child?”* “Tax return benefits”* “Tiny everything”* “You can’t get drafted while pregnant”* “You can bribe them with candy”* No you can’t* “If you raise them right people praise you for it”Overthinking & tokophobia* Overthinking things is why mental health is plummeting* Abigail fundamentally gets people to overthink pregnancy and childrearing* Robert Sepulsky talks about how the system we’ve evolved to deal with stress wasn’t really designed for animals capable of metacognition, who can literally trigger that system by THINKINGOverthinking about pregnancy may be contributing to a rise in phobia about pregnancy (known as tokophobia).A 2017 systematic review of 33 studies (≈854,000 pregnant women worldwide) estimated a pooled prevalence of tokophobia around 14%, with individual study estimates ranging from about 3.7% to 43%.* The researches concluded that the prevalence of tokophobia “appears to have increased in recent years (2000 onwards)”, although they cautioned that this finding is complicated by changing definitions and heterogeneous methods.More moderate but still clinically relevant “fear of childbirth” (not always labeled tokophobia) is common, with estimates in some European samples of about 5% with severe fear and over a third with high fear.About AbigailHer content creation journey* Started in 2021She’s very much a product of the urban monoculture* Lives in downtown Los AngelesHer standards for hardship are quite low:* She says that getting an IUD was the most painful thing she has experienced.* She hates cleaning up after cookingShe also does love caring little things:* She says she would protect her cats, Bub and Willow, with her lifeShe has merch!* $60 “divorce your republican husband” XL crewneck sweatshirt with a wolf on it (sold out)* $50 “dump your republican boyfriend” M/L hunting camo crewneck sweatshirt (sold out)* $68 “dump your republican boyfriend” XL green crewneck* $58 “dump your republican boyfriend” XL pink hoodie* $68 “dump your republican boyfriend” L green/blue crewneck sweatshirt* $54 “dump your republican / story of my life” XL running-away-deer black crewneck sweatshirt* $60 “dump your republican boyfriend” L cameo hoodie (sold out)* $58 “dump your republican boyfriend” M navy zip-upWait why are most of these for larger people?How do we feel about this?What Abigail is doing is fine. She’s pretty clear in her content to not shame parents; she’s really empathetic toward parents (can’t say the same of many parents online!).She’s also WAAAAY more ethical and polite than your typical content creator about the clips she uses: She told NBC: ““If I’m going to do a video about bodies in particular and show somebody’s body, I’m going to make sure that I have consent from that mother first — like if she posted a video and she made this...
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Racism Through History (Get A PhD in Racism)
2d ago01:03:41Tap to summarizeIn this episode of Based Camp, Simone and Malcolm Collins dive deep into the forbidden history of group-based stereotypes and cultural pattern recognition from ancient Egypt through Renaissance Europe. This is the dark lore mainstream education won’t touch — what Egyptians really thought of Nubians and Libyans, Greek views of “effete” Persians and rowdy Macedonians, Roman donkey-god graffiti mocking Jews and Christians, medieval antisemitic pig-suckling art that makes modern versions look tame, and the surprising origins of the “French Vice,” “Italian Vice,” and “English Vice.”The Collinses explore how what we now call racism was once just observed averages, patterns, and tribal jokes — not modern ideological sin. No moralizing. Just raw historical context on how humans have always categorized “us vs. them.”Show NotesWith the release of Talkie, a 13M “vintage” language model trained only on pre-1931 text, people realized just how casual, widespread, and matter-of-fact prejudice was in even the recent past.Ancient EgyptDifferent groups were absolutely depicted, mostly with Egyptians being reddish, nubians being black, Asiatics being tan (and often bearded), and Libyans being white (and often bearded)Nubians as people to conqueredTexts and artistic programs from pharaonic Egypt sometimes emphasize Nubia as a land to be subdued and exploited, supporting a stereotype of Nubians as “barbaric” or less civilized compared to Egypt.* See:Critique of the “Black Pharaohs” Theme: Racist Perspectives of Egyptian and Kushite/Nubian Interactions in Popular Media https://www.jstor.org/stable/48763823Canaanites/Asiatics as rebellious and treacherous* Egyptian sources portray peoples to the northeast of the nile (“Asiatics,” including Levantine groups) as culturally suspect, often linked to rebellion, disorder, and treachery* They were also, however, viewed as trading partners and skilled craftsmen* TL:DR: They threatened social order* Egyptian royal narratives from the later 17th–16th centuries BCE describe the Hyksos (“Shepherd Kings”) as foreign usurpers who disrupted proper Egyptian order.* After the Theban kings of the 18th Dynasty expelled them around 1550 BCE, Egyptian texts portray this expulsion as the restoration of Ma’at (cosmic order), implicitly stereotyping Asiatic rule as chaotic, illegitimate, and oppressive* In New Kingdom imperial inscriptions, Canaanite city‑states are often framed as unreliable vassals—prone to rebellion, needing punishment, and subject to heavy tribute and forced labor conscriptionLibyans: Western barbarians turned useful soldiers and even rulers* In Egyptian sources, Libyans were stereotyped both as dangerous, warlike “western barbarians” and, over time, as useful soldiers and eventually fully Egyptianized rulers; the view shifted from hostile outsider to complex “cousin” status as Libyan groups migrated into the Delta and took power.* Sometimes they traded; sometimes they fought* “The Libu were first mentioned in New Kingdom (c. 1550-1069 BCE) texts and were often the Libyan archetype depicted in Egyptian art. Libu tribesmen were depicted with their hair cut at the nape, a sidelock, and often tattooed. All Libyan tribes were shown with light complexions and Caucasian features.” (The Collector, citing “The Meshwesh”)* They had tattoos and sidelocks and interesting haircuts* “Eventually, massive migration brought the Libyans into Egypt’s Delta during the New Kingdom, forever changing the political landscape of the Nile Valley.” (The Collector)Ancient GreeceGreeks commonly divided the world into Hellenes (Greek speakers) and “barbarians” (non‑Greek speakers), treating Greek culture as inherently superior.Persians as decadent and effete* Persians especially were portrayed as decadent, soft, and naturally suited to monarchy rather than free citizenship* Their art of Darius the Great certainly makes him look fancyAthenians: Cultural elites* Athenians were stereotyped—especially in Athenian sources—as philosophical, talkative, artistic, and politically engaged, the center of culture and debate.Spartans: Disciplined warriors* Sparta practiced xenelasia, the expulsion or strict control of foreigners, driven by fears that outsiders might spy on Sparta or corrupt its harsh, militarized way of life.* This created a stereotype of Spartans as intensely closed, suspicious of outsiders, and committed to preserving a rigid ethos that rejected luxury, commerce, and cosmopolitan influences* Spartan woman were also definitely seen differently than Athenian women (who were largely meant to be unseen), what with their athleticism, property ownership, etc.* Art of a Spartan woman running:Ionian Greeks: Cowards* Ionian Greeks of Asia Minor (e.g., coastal cities under Persian rule) were stereotyped as cowardly and weak fighters, “softened” by their mild climate and prosperity, and as good talkers but poor warriors.Boitians: Hicks* Boiotians, especially Thebans, were mocked as brutish country hicks—agricultural, uncultured, and un‑cosmopolitan—later also stereotyped as big, strong wrestlers rather than subtle thinkers.Ancient RomeChristians* Alexamenos worships [his] god” graffiti* The artist is referring to a well‑known slur that Jews and then Christians worshipped a donkey—an accusation called onolatry—and used the donkey head to mock Christ and Alexamenos as absurd, foolish worshippers* At first, Christians were seen as just another Jewish subgroup* Their devotion to a crucified man and claims about one true god were seen as peculiar but not uniquely threatening compared to other mystery cults and foreign religions.Jews: Stubborn cliquey weirdos* Jews were portrayed as stubborn subjects with a herd mentality, fiercely attached to unique customs such as circumcision and dietary laws.* Romans satirized Jews as gullible religious fanatics and puzzled over their attitudes toward pigs, sometimes imagining them as pig‑worshippers or pig‑haters, while also fearing that Romans themselves might be seduced into Jewish practices.All outsiders: Barbarian* Romans tended to divide the world into Roman and non‑Roman, with non‑Romans often lumped as “barbari” and assumed to be less civilized, less disciplined, and less politically sophisticated.* Foreigners could be mocked for accents, dress, food, and religious practices, and were frequently portrayed as either dangerously cunning or naïvely simple.* At the same time, Roman writers sometimes romanticized “barbarians” as noble savages, using them rhetorically to critique decadence and corruption inside Rome itself.Greeks: Admirable and contemptible* The good: The source of philosophy, art, and literature* The bad: Talkative, tricky, morally weak, effeminate, prone to luxury, unreliable in war (basically, brainy but soft)Phoenicians, Carthaginians, Syrians (people from the levant): Sleazy merchants* Stereotyped as sleazy merchants obsessed with money and pleasure* The phrase “fides Punica” (“Phoenician honesty”) became proverbial for deceit, and Carthaginians were especially cast as treacherous, cruel enemies whose sophistication made them dangerous.* Syrians and other easterners were depicted as lazy bon‑vivants living in over‑civilized cities, spending their time in baths and banquets instead of honest work or soldiering.* Roman elites worried that exposure to such cultures would “soften” Romans, so Levantine peoples embodied a stereotype of corrupting luxury and dishonesty.Egyptians: Ancient and sinister* Romans were fascinated and disturbed by their religious rituals and animal cults* Roman writers framed Egypt as a land of magic, superstition, and arrogant priests, and resented Roman dependence on Egyptian grain, which led to a stereotype of Egyptians as arrogant and entitledPersians / Parthians: Formidable enemies* Persians and later Parthians were stereotyped as the archetypal eastern enemy: militarily formidable but ruled by cruel, tyrannical monarchs.* Romans cast Persia as the mirror image of Rome—an empire of disciplined warriors, but with an inferior, despotic political system and excessive royal luxury.Gauls: Noble savages* Gauls were initially seen as hotheaded, brave, “noble savages”: valiant in battle but impetuous, simple, and prone to rashness.* After Gaul became more integrated into the empire, Romans began to stereotype Gauls as softening under luxury and Romanization, while still recognizing them as good ora...
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P***phelia & Pronatalism: How Whites Crashed Global Birth Rates By Banning ****
5d ago00:41:54Tap to summarizeIn this raw and data-packed episode of Based Camp, Simone and Malcolm Collins ask a provocative question: Are Europeans the only people on Earth historically into adult pairings?While most cultures around the world historically married in the early-to-mid teens, Europeans (especially Northern and Western) stood out by commonly delaying marriage until the mid-20s — even in the Middle Ages. The hosts explore whether this European norm, later exported globally through colonialism and cultural influence, may be contributing to today’s fertility crashes in East Asia, Latin America, India, and beyond.They dive into:* Aella’s “Hotness Curve” study and what percentage of men find different ages attractive* The e-girl phenomenon and why so many popular internet aesthetics look phenotypically 15* Genetic and regional differences in fertility windows and menopause age (Europeans go into menopause ~2–3 years later on average)* Historical first-marriage ages across Europe, China, India, Japan, Korea, Africa, and the Americas* Global ages of consent today and when different countries criminalized CSAM* Disney princess ages (Snow White was 14, Jasmine 15, Ariel 16…) and why normalizing teen marriage might be necessary for demographic survivalThis is a no-holds-barred, truth-seeking conversation about culture, biology, attraction, and whether some populations are simply not built for the modern delayed-marriage timeline.If you’re interested in pronatalism, human biodiversity, evolutionary psychology, or why fertility is collapsing everywhere except where European norms never fully took hold — this episode is for you.Show NotesAella’s FindingsAella also just released a substack post titled The Hotness Curve (how age changes a woman’s appeal).Using photos of women of various ages (some real, some AI generated), Aella asked various questions, including: “Casual Sex: A 200 year old vampire shows up in your window at night. She wants a one-night stand. There are no consequences, and nobody will know. Do you say yes?”Here are the answers:Aella found that “Sexual interest climbs very fast, and generally hits a cresendo around women who appeared to be ~24 years old (or 28yo for the older men).”“15% of men said yes they would have casual sex with a vampire in the body of an 11 year old. This rose to a third of men for the body of a 13 year old, and a half of men agreeing to the body of a 15 year old. By 18 we’re at roughly 70%, and by the time a 24 year old is hypothetically entering your window, ~90% of them were down.”Just a small aside: “One interesting thing to note is that the dropoff in fuckability for women - what we might call The Wall - happens for women in their mid 30’s just as predicted, but only in the eyes of men under the age of 25. For older men, we find the ‘wall’ occurs in a woman’s early 40’s. Older men assigned equivalent ‘yes I’d have sex with her’ ratings to an 18 year old as they did to a woman in her early 50’s!”Also: You should play Aella’s ageguesser game.(Simone got better than 67% of players… not very good.)The e-girl phenomenonFrom our friend Bruno: “Why does a certain “e-girl” or “internet girl” face seem to resonate so consistently with online audiences across different eras? Highly recognizable women in online subcultures seem to converge around a similar look; why does that look perform so well with netizens?Early internet figures like Boxxy, later YouTube personalities like Shoe0nHead, cosplay and streamer-adjacent figures, and then more recent cases like Belle Delphine and the current wave of TikTok, cosplay, and Twitter/X e-girl aesthetics. The more interesting question is why a particular facial and stylistic grammar keeps recurring: large expressive eyes, youthful proportions, soft or rounded features, dark hair or bangs, a slightly anime-coded presentation, and a mix of cuteness, irony, awkwardness, and sexual ambiguity.”Malcolm’s first answer: BECAUSE THEY ALL LOOK LIKE LITTLE GIRLS AND PEOPLE ARE PEDOS.The sick sad truth: Most of the world is full of pedosBasically, Europeans are the only non pedos.Maybe the concept of pedos wouldn’t exist if it weren’t for EuropeansMaybe a contributing factor to falling birth rates involves modern norms around late marriage among groups that, for hundreds of years, married much younger.Let’s explore this!Variation in Fertility WindowsA large meta‑analysis across 24 countries estimated the global mean age at menopause at 48.8 years, and by continent:* Europe: about 50.5 years* Asia (overall): about 48.8 years* Africa: about 48.4 years* Latin America: about 47.2 years* Middle East: about 47.4 yearsWHO similarly notes that most women worldwide experience menopause between ages 45 and 55.Variation in Average Ages of MarriageAverage female age at first marriage, approximate, pre‑1800* England (pre‑1800) - ~22–26 - Many parishes ~25–26; Western Europe relatively late.* Western/Northern Europe - ~20–25 - Late marriage pattern; some locales up to 27.* China - ~14–18 - Legal norms ~14–15; practice mid‑teens.* India - ~12–16 - Strong early arranged marriage; big regional variation.* Japan - ~17–19 - Village data show late‑teen marriage.* Korea (Joseon) - ~16–18 - Upper‑status women mid‑teens; similar for many commoners.* Aztec/Nahua - ~14–17 - Girls early‑mid teens; men ~18–22.* Maya - ~16–19 - Most married by ~20; post‑15 coming‑of‑age.* Sub‑Saharan Africa (major) - ~15–18 - Many societies mid‑late teens for women.Sources:* https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/036319907800300103* https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1081602X08000894* https://voxdev.org/topic/institutions-political-economy/economic-shocks-and-age-marriage-sub-saharan-africa-and-india* https://historymyths.wordpress.com/2014/07/06/myth-136-women-married-very-young-in-the-olden-days/* https://keatschinese.com/china-culture-resources/general-standards-of-ancient-chinese-marriage-age/* https://childmarriagedata.org/country-profiles/india/* https://www.aztec-history.com/aztec-society-family.html* https://mayas.mrdonn.org/marriage.htmlAges of ConsentIn the most populous countries:* Pakistan - 18 (requires marriage)* India - 18* Indonesia - 18* Nigeria - 18* Japan - 18* Ethiopia - 18* Egypt - 18* DR Congo - 18* Turkey - 18* United States - 16-18 Varies by state* Philippines - 16 (general), 14 for close‑in‑age minors* Iran - 15–18 with marriage required* Thailand - 15–18* France - 15 (16 in FRA report)* Germany - 14–16 (practical 14–18)* Bangladesh - 14–16* Italy - 14–16* Mexico - 12-18 Varies by state* Russia - 16* Vietnam - 16* United Kingdom - 16* South Africa - 16* South Korea - 16* China - 14* Brazil - 14More detail on Pakistan: Minimum ages for marriage* National framework (historical): The Child Marriage Restraint Act 1929 originally set the minimum age at 18 for males and 16 for females.* Sindh province: Since 2013, Sindh’s own Child Marriage Restraint Act has set the minimum legal marriage age at 18 for both boys and girls.* Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT): The Islamabad Capital Territory Child Marriage Restraint Act 2025 now sets the minimum age at 18 for both sexes, with significant penalties for under‑18 marriages.* Balochistan: In November 2025, Balochistan raised the legal age to 18 for girls (and 18 for boys), banning child marriage in the province.* Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP): Until very recently, these provinces still had 16 as the legal minimum for girls and 18 for boys, though Punjab has now moved to raise the age to 18; advocacy and legislation are ongoing to harmonize all provinces at 18.Despit...
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NY Times Tries to Rewrite Masculinity and Fatherhood
6d ago00:53:29Tap to summarizeIn this episode of Based Camp, Simone and Malcolm Collins break down The New York Times’ recent coordinated coverage of masculinity and fatherhood. They analyze four pieces that attempt to redefine what it means to be a dad — including a cartoon about a trans father on Father’s Day, a childless writer’s take on “modern” fatherhood, an attack on Scott Galloway’s views on paternity leave, and Ezra Klein’s conversation with Helen Lewis framing the “New Right’s very old vision of men.”The Collinses argue these articles reveal deep cultural elite contempt for actual fathers and promote unsustainable, self-indulgent views of parenting that prioritize personal identity and emotional affirmation over duty, sacrifice, and long-term human thriving. They explain why pronatalist, traditional approaches to masculinity and fatherhood will inherit the future while progressive narratives collapse under their own contradictions.Expect sharp cultural analysis, personal parenting stories, and a direct challenge to the mainstream media’s attempt to gaslight men about what fatherhood really is.Show Notes@AlexBerenson wrote: Cannot make this up, either.@nytimes opinion has had four recent pieces about fatherhood and masculinity, with six authors:Three womenA trans “man”Two childless menNot one father. The cultural elite contempt for dads runs so deep we don’t even get to speak for ourselves.The four pieces appear to be these recent New York Times Opinion items on fatherhood/masculinity:* “To My Daughter, My Gender Was Never Complicated” (guest essay in comic-strip form, by Zach Ellams, a trans-identifying parent writing about being a “trans dad” and fatherhood).* “The Most Important Way That Fatherhood Has Changed” (Father’s Day–timed essay on changing perspectives on fatherhood).* “This Masculinity Influencer Is Loud and Wrong About Paternity Leave” (criticizing a male influencer’s stance on paternity leave and broader masculinity issues).* “The New Right’s Very Old Vision of Men” (Opinion video/transcript focusing on men, masculinity and the New Right, featuring journalist Helen Lewis).“To My Daughter, My Gender Was Never Complicated”https://www.nytimes.com/2026/06/21/opinion/trans-dad-parenting-fathers-day.htmlhttps://www.nytimes.com/2026/06/21/opinion/trans-dad-parenting-fathers-day.html?unlocked_article_code=1.r1A.oWDB.tcG4utZreGgZ&smid=url-shareThis shows a series of cartoon panels about a trans father who underwent surgery at 18 and has lived as a father of a daughter, mostly quite out, for some time.It’s about how he found self acceptance through parenting (and I love that, because I—Simone—have also experienced that and can totally relate)The panels include things like:* His daughter yelling: “HOW DID YOU GROW A MUSTACHE IF YOU WERE A LADY?” at a public school* His daughter asking about a pre-transition picture of him in an album and asking:* “Who’s that?”* “It’s me”* “Oh. You look cool.”* “Then or now?”* “Then.”* Him worrying about his daughter outing him at school* “I don’t actually tell everyone I’m trans. I save that for special people”* Eventually she outs him, saying she wants to grow a beard when she grows up, and when told she can’t, insisting she can because her dad did and he was a girl.* Her various sick burns* “You’re slow because you’re old!”* “Maybe I’ll be like you when I grow up” // “Yeah?” // “Yeah. Really short.”The Backlash:* @realBrandonGill: “On Father’s Day, the New York Times decided to promote a cartoon of a woman cosplaying as a father. And they did it for a reason. Because the cultural left knows that the first step to conquering the future is brainwashing the minds of our children— and they’ve realized that strong fathers are the biggest obstacle to that goal. They want to tear the institution of fatherhood down to nothing because, to the left, things that are normal, good, and holy are a threat to their marxist revolution.”* Matt Taibbi: “Today’s NYT editorial on Father’s Day is an all-timer. Again, don’t know where to put it on the funny-vs-horrifying axis:”* @EndWokeness: “The New York Times on Father’s Day. We do not hate the media enough.”* Caitlin Flanagan: “The child’s job was to help the parent feel comfortable with his gender.”* @AfterTheReset: “Message aside, is it necessary for the cartoons to be ugly, poorly drawn, and unappealing?”Is this an affront to father’s day?* Sort of* Mother’s Day in the modern U.S. sense was founded by Anna Maria Jarvis in the early 1900s to create a solemn “memorial mothers day” honoring the sacrifices and care of individual mothers, inspired directly by her own mother Ann Reeves Jarvis’s wish for such a day and by Ann’s community health and reconciliation work.* Anna’s drive was rooted in her mother Ann Reeves Jarvis’s work: Ann had organized “Mothers’ Day Work Clubs” in the 1850s to improve sanitation and reduce infant mortality, and later “Mother’s Friendship Day” events to heal divisions between Union and Confederate families after the Civil War. Ann also expressed in a Sunday school prayer that she hoped someone would someday establish a “memorial mothers day” for the “matchless service” mothers render to humanity, a line Anna took as her guiding mission* In the U.S., Father’s Day is generally credited to Sonora Smart Dodd of Spokane, Washington, who proposed the holiday in 1909 after hearing a church sermon about Anna Jarvis’s newly established Mother’s Day. (her civil war veteran dad raised her and her siblings alone after her mother died).* I find this really relatable as a parent* Many of us have peculiarities and a story about how parenting helps with acceptance and getting someone out of their heads is actually really good* In fact, these panels even demonstrate how the author’s daughter gets him to stop overthinking things* There’s a panel where she’s like: “I spot something that starts with T!”* And all he can think of is “trans”* And he’s like: Termite? Turtleneck? Tiny morsel of wood?”* And his daughter is like: “TREES.”“The Most Important Way That Fatherhood Has Changed”https://www.nytimes.com/2026/06/15/opinion/fathers-day-fatherhood.htmlhttps://archive.is/Gn93jIn this, Frank Bruni, a (childless) contributing opinion writer who has been on staff at the time for over 25 years, talks about how fatherhood has changed between his dad and his brother’s generations (his brother has three kids in their 20s)He talks about fathers spending more time with their kids now an cites an article suggesting one reason fertility is lower is that men want to give the kids they do have more attention.In short, he says modern fatherhood is high effort, high investment, and he says that’s good.He sort of misses that the investment now isn’t in empowering kids but rather indulging them, and he provides a good example: “Mark encouraged his children to let him in by inviting them to understand him. He made sure that they met and mingled with his adult friends and thus observed how he tended relationships and what they meant to him. He also showed his children his passions.“I took Frank to a Grateful Dead concert when he was 12,” Mark told me, referring to his oldest son, who, like me, is named after my father. But that outing wasn’t just characteristically ardent Deadhead evangelism (and, well, unorthodox parenting). It reflected Mark’s sustained effort to expand the time that he and Frank spent together. The more hours, the more conversation. The more conversation, the greater the likelihood of serendipitous revelations, real familiarity, deeper connection.”“This Masculinity Influencer Is Loud and Wrong About Paternity Leave”https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/21/opinion/paternity-leave-debate.htmlhttps://archive.is/Zm4OyIn this opinion piece, Jessica Grose denounces Scott Galloway’s stance on paternity leave.It should be noted that Scott Galloway is one of the few progressive-leaning pronatalists out there (center-left liber...
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What's the Intergenerational Effect of Cousin Marriages? (5 Cousin = 1 Sibling Marriage)
1w ago00:52:28Tap to summarizeIn this raw and data-driven episode of Based Camp, Malcolm and Simone Collins tackle one of the most uncomfortable topics in modern discourse: what happens when cousin marriage is practiced across multiple generations?While a single first-cousin marriage carries moderate risk, repeated generational consanguinity causes the inbreeding coefficient (F) to compound nonlinearly. After just 4–6 generations, offspring become as genetically similar as full siblings. The hosts walk through the math, real-world population data, IQ impacts (10–30+ point drops), elevated rates of genetic disorders, miscarriages, and neurological conditions — all without moralizing or hedging.They cover:* Pakistan (50–65% consanguineous), Gulf states, Egypt, Jordan, Afghanistan, and UK Pakistani diaspora rates* Historical European examples (Hapsburgs) vs. modern British royals* Jewish rates and cultural adaptation to science* Why chain migration amplifies the practice* The strategic/political angle some conservatives quietly consider* Brief but pointed detours into halal slaughter myths, Sharia consistency, grooming gangs, and Maimonides on late-term abortion edge casesThe episode ends with a characteristically Based Camp discussion of cultural sovereignty, techno-Puritanism, and why evidence-based cultural evolution beats top-down bans.If you value brutal honesty over comfortable narratives, this one’s for you. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit basedcamppodcast.substack.com/subscribe
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How The ADL Became an Anti-Semitism Factory (This is the Fastest Cultural Shift of Our Lives)
1w ago00:52:16Tap to summarizeMalcolm and Simone Collins break down one of the fastest cultural shifts they’ve seen: the collapsing power of the “antisemitism” card and the ADL’s controversial attempt to label “Goy Slop” as hate speech.In this episode, they explore the history and modern usage of the term “goy,” why the ADL’s statement backfired spectacularly, the hilarious internet reaction (including Asmongold’s meme list), and what this reveals about changing attitudes toward Jewish organizations, identity politics, and cultural trash talk.They discuss:* The real meaning and evolution of “goy”* Why policing language like this increases antisemitism* Sentiment analysis showing overwhelming pushback* Broader cultural realignment on the right and in the mainstream* Advice for the ADL and Jewish advocacy groupsA raw, honest conversation on group identity, noticing patterns, and why the old rules no longer apply.Episode TranscriptMalcolm Collins: Hello, Simone. I’m excited to be here with you today. Today, we are going to be talking about one of the fastest cultural shifts I have maybe seen in my lifetime- ... towards the inability to play whether it’s the anti-Semite card or the racist card or the homophobe card of- of that being a card that has value in our cultural landscape.Okay.And a lot of this comes downstream of a recent ADL announcement. Or- HowSimone Collins: recent are we talking? Like, this year or just now? Like,Malcolm Collins: yesterday.Simone Collins: Oh, okay.Malcolm Collins: Like, it, it’s just blowing up on Twitter right now. People are, are clowning on it.So basically what the ADL decided to do is attempt to define goy slop, which is a term that a lot of people are using now for unhealthy food that is not good for you to eat, and there’s a fun [00:01:00] video of, like, a sweet old Jewish guy going around and showing, like, kosher foods and being like, “You gotta eat this stuff and not this other stuff.Look at all the bad chemicals.” Like, “You guys need to know this.”Speaker 7: Sent this to a friend who loves eating goy slop. I wouldn’t touch this stuff. Anything over two ingredients is goy slop. Nothing but chemicals.Malcolm Collins: But-Simone Collins: Okay ...Malcolm Collins: the ADL came out and tried todefine this as hate speech. And we’ll go into their statement, we’ll go into the history of goy, everything like that. Mm-hmm. But they tried to define it as hate speech. And then you get people like Shoeonhead where one popular tweet said, “Shoeonhead claps back at the LDA...the ADL referring to goy slop as a slur. Wait, wait. Goy, the Hebrew word that refers to non-Jews. So you have your own little slur for us-” “... but we’re bad for using it ourselves? LMAFO.” And you-Simone Collins: Yeah, that’s like banning the N-word from rap, right?Malcolm Collins: Well, no, it’s, it’s, it’s worse because it is a Jewish- Worse ... [00:02:00] slur-Simone Collins: YeahMalcolm Collins: for non-Jews.Simone Collins: Yeah.Malcolm Collins: And it is absolutely a derogatory word. Like, you can say, like, you as a Jew can try to define it as non-derogatory. Yeah. But if you’re doing that, you’re just going to make people more antisemitic because it looks like you’re treating them like idiots and they’re too stupid to be aware.And I’m okay of you know, Like gringo. Right? Like, I go to, I go to Mexico, people call me a gringo, right? Like- Yeah,Simone Collins: or gaijin.Malcolm Collins: Or gaijin.Simone Collins: Which isMalcolm Collins: fine. Or-Simone Collins: Don’t care.Malcolm Collins: Yeah. Most cultures have a derogatory word for people outside of that culture. Mm-hmm. This isn’t a Jewish thing. This isn’t a problem- Noendemic to Judaism or something like that. No.Speaker: And to be clear here, if you are Jewish and regularly hear Yiddish, you would be very aware that there are multiple idioms that use the term goy in a derogatory manner. It is clearly a derogatory word. And again, it is normal for words to mean outsider to eventually become derogatory, even if they didn’t originally have that connotation.[00:03:00]Consider the word barbarian in ancient Greek that originally just meant outsider, but eventually came to mean, uh, a lot of derogatory contextsAnd Jews will come out thinking we’re f*****g idiots and say things like, “Well, Goy in the Torah is used in a non-derogatory context to mean nation.” And it’s like, yeah, back when it also referred to the nation of Israel. But since about 300 BC in Talmudic writings, which we all have access to, by the way, it’s not just Jews who get to read those, it’s been used in a negative context.In the same way barbarian originally didn’t have a negative context, but eventually developed one. That’s fine. Don’t treat us like idiotsSpeaker 8: And I’m beginning to realize how much anti-Semitism was kept down by the self-deprecating Jewish comedian like we see in the original clip here with the guy actually [00:04:00] talking about Goy slop who’s being honest, , and how much it is risen by the Jewish Karen. And we just don’t have that many self-deprecating Jewish comedians anymore and a whole lot more Jewish KarensSpeaker 9: And the Jewish Karens seem to be completely unaware of American culture and how angry it makes Americans to be told something that we obviously know isn’t true, like that goy in a modern context is not a derogatory term.And if you are a Jew who is unaware of this, because I’m g- gonna give you the benefit of the doubt, maybe you are just unaware of this because you have no Jewish friends. But I have a lot of Jewish friends. I interact with the Jewish community a lot. I regularly see the term used in that way. In fact, if you read private communications of Jews, as people have done in the Jeffrey Epstein emails, they see it used in that way regularly., This is even known to [00:05:00] Jewish children. , There was a clip that I have here of, , a Jewish kid talking to a non-Jewish kid, , saying, “ You don’t know sh- about my friends and family, so you should actually shut the F up. You think I’m going to act towards someone, an arrogant little swine white b***h who S talks Israel knowing nothing about them?Shut up, you goy C word. Go defend terrorists. Laugh my ass off post your face. Then you’re effing embarrassing. Take your shishka...” This is another Jewish slur for non-Jewish women, , that is way more derogatory than goy, but it’s used interchangeably. Go defend the terrorists like a good little Western goy girl.”And then he says, “Goy fake ass profile.” , But the point being here is it’s used interchangeably with words like the C word or shishka or, you know, any of these other words. A- and, and we see this in plenty of videos. Again, if you are unaware that this term is used in a derogatory fashion [00:06:00] and you are Jewish, go, like, research it, I guess?Speaker 3: זה תספורת של גוי או של יהודי? גוי. תספורת שוקו וניל זה יהודי או גוי? גוי. בלורית זה תספורת של יהודי או גוי? גוי.And when you point out that at one point in history it wasn’t derogatory, that has the same energy as a person claiming the N-word isn’t derogatory because just look at how you say black in Latin languages. Clearly it doesn’t have or didn’t originally have a negative context. And it’s like, bro, that, that doesn’t, um, help your case at all. That makes you look insane and dramatically worse.The fact that a word wasn’t always negative doesn’t mean it’s not negative in the current context. And in the same voice, the fact that even at the height of the N-word’s use, [00:07:00] it was majoritively used just as a descriptor for black people, not with malice intended, that doesn’t mean that it was not a slur., And that is true, by the way. During the height, like if you’re looking at the s- the slave trade and stuff like that, when the N-word was used the most, it was mostly just used as a descriptor. That doesn’t mean it wasn’t pejorative as well.Essentially the way the defining of a slur works is not the majority use of a word, because almost all slurs when they are made slurs, their majority use is not necessarily derogatory but descriptive. It’s in the minority is the term used in a derogatory context. And almost every word in every language for non-X that’s not non-X becomes derogatory.So like let’s take Christians for example. There is no word for a non-Christian other than just saying non-Christian that doesn’t have a derogatory context now. Whether it’s heathen, heretic, [00:08:00] pagan, , all of these within a Christian mindset are gonna have a derogatory context and that’s fine. It’s pretending that they don’t that is what is freaking people out.Malcolm Collins: however, to take that word and then say that other people can’t use it themselves, the groups that it is... It, it would be as if- when you said it would be like banning the N-word- Oh, it’s- It would be like whites were still allowed to use the N-word-Simone Collins: Oh my God.Yeah, okay. Yeah ... but they banMalcolm Collins: Black people from using the N-word in rap Dear BlackSimone Collins: people, you are no longer allowed to use...
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Sins Aren’t Equal: Ranking Activities’ Sinfulness (Erotic and Otherwise)
1w ago01:25:00Tap to summarizeAre video games the most efficient sin? Malcolm and Simone Collins rank modern sins by their real-world damage — from video games and sports gambling to shopping addictions, plastic surgery, skydiving, OnlyFans, kinks, and more. They break down how to evaluate sins by time cost, financial drain, health risks, negative externalities, addiction potential, and alignment with long-term flourishing.This episode offers a practical, first-principles framework for thinking about hedonism, temptation, family traditions, and moral trade-offs in the modern world. Topics include gambling vs. heroin, why some “harmless” hobbies are more destructive than others, rechanneling vices into virtues, the value of different lives, and techno-puritan views on self-defense.Episode TranscriptMalcolm Collins: Hello, Simone. I’m excited to be here with you today. Today we are going to have an interesting conversation around ranking the severity of various modern sins so that we can understand which ones are worse for an individual in, terms of, well, just broad effects they have on your life.Like, as I’ve pointed out in other episodes, sins are basically a list of things, you know, like don’t cheat on your wife, don’t be mean to people, don’t murder people, like listen to your parents. Stuff that’s just gonna F up your life if you don’t follow it i- in a, in a general format. It’s like a big list of don’t piss on the electric fence and then a- some humans are just like, “But if I just goon all day every day, that’ll feel fantastic, right?”And it’s like, no, it won’t. Maybe for like a half a day you get to year two of that and you’re living the life of Anna Valen. See our episode on what happened to her life, right? Like going through her [00:01:00] private diaries in our Life of the Sinabyte episode.Speaker 5: you were an interesting study. Must, greed, deception, fertile ground, but rather mundane.Speaker 6: Doors to the pleasures of heaven nor hell. I didn’t care, which I thought I’d gone to the limits I hadn’t. The center bytes gave me an experience beyond the limits pain and pleasure.Indivisible.Malcolm Collins: it is not happiness at the end of the hedonism maxing tunnel.As I often point out, if you look at the people in our society who have access to everything they could possibly want, your movie star, your music star, when they indulge in that, when they indulge in the, you know, endless chain of, of women and drugs and everything like that, they often crash out as some of the least happy and satisfied humans alive.Whereas people who often do not have much, and I’m sure many of you, you know these individuals pious [00:02:00] individuals who just work to give back to the community they’re often some of the most fulfilled people you will ever meet.And so this is, this is paid off to us, but whatever religious teaching you’re using, and I’m gonna try to keep this, while this is one of the track series, I’m gonna try to keep it useful to not just Christians or Orthodox Jews or anyone, but just broadly anyone because- the, the set of laws that, like, Christians follow seems to generally be useful for other people as well.That’s why they seem to perfectly overlay with, like, the Noahide laws when Jews are like, “Well, I just want everyone to follow the Noahide laws.” And it’s like, all observant Christians already follow all of those. Like, why are you making this a separate thing? It’s just good rules for life and, and being a member of a community.But we’re going to start, because where this came up was in a fan call which we have for our paid fans who get [00:03:00] our extra weekend episodes. If you don’t know about that, that, that’s a thing. And they somebody was talking about the relative sinfulness of video games, right? And we’ll be using the Romans quote that’s in here, which is like anything you don’t do for God is sin.Basically anything you don’t do that you can’t be like, “This is something I am doing for...” whatever for God means to you. Like, for goodness, to, to, to promote humanity, the, you know, moving forwards. Whatever you wanna, you talk, it’s, it’s, it’s something that’s an object to that. Like, purely selfish action, right?And they were like, video games is a very, very expedient sin. Like, of, of the various sinful things you can do. And, and to give an example of what I mean for this, let, let’s contrast two things, okay, here. Let’s contrast the relative sinfulness of video games versus watching sports, right? Like, both of these things are things you’re fundamentally doing for yourself, for your own self-gratification.But they have [00:04:00] different impacts or potential impacts on your life. Now, obviously you can engage with either too much in a way that just completely destroys your life. We all know the person who crashed out on Warhammer for five years and then came out of a hole one day and was like, “Ugh.” WorldSimone Collins: of Warcraft, not Warhammer.Malcolm Collins: Yeah, War- World of Warcraft. World of Warcraft. That was like a thing- Yeah ... that if you lived through that- In a- ... a bunch of us nerds-Simone Collins: In a college dorm, like in a certain period of time, there was at least one kid.Malcolm Collins: Yeah. Or, and, and, and here I’ll add another one here. Magic: The Gathering card collecting.Or, or, or no, no, well, let’s just say, yeah card collecting more general. So like non-playable card collecting. No, we’ll use Magic: The Gathering ‘cause it allows us to talk about a, a, a variety of things together. If you are really into, let’s say s- sports, and so you have to, you wanna watch the games the moment they come out.Now, that already makes it relatively more bad than a video game that you can play at any time, day or night, right? [00:05:00] Because now you’re having to, even if you’re spending the same amount of time on it, that time is not variable, and therefore is going to be more intrusive on your ability to do things that are actually like a net benefit for society or God or whatever, right?Like you’re, you’re, you’re going to have to maybe not go to the thing with your kids, or not go to the things that you can slot in at any time, day or night. The, the flexibility of a sin is really important to that sin. Then you have the cost, the relative cost. But this is where something like trading cards can get really big because the relative cost of entertainment hour per dollar spend is of, of just about anything you can be into I think the lowest on video games.Now this is assuming that you are into single player video games rather than either loot box type games, which can be incorporated in single player video games if you are [00:06:00] susceptible to loot boxes. Now note, not everyone is susceptible to loot boxes. Some people can play a game with loot boxes forever and never spend on them.I think that this is something that you have to ask yourself and, and, and from your own historic behavior. If you know you are susceptible to loot boxes don’t, don’t engage with them. Right? Like d- d- don’t engage with any game that has them. And I’m sorry if that’s like taking things out for you, but one of the most dangerous you know, of all the various things we’re warned not to do, gambling is I think one of the most dangerous.And the reason why gambling is w- I, I put gambling above something like heroin. OhSimone Collins: yeah. It’s just so quickly and easily ruinous.Malcolm Collins: Yeah. It’s- While heroin can kill you in a day, it’s much less likely to, like even, even if it does kill you, like your assets are still inherited by other people, right? Like [00:07:00] i- i- it, when gambling ruins your life, it typically, one, it can ruin multi-generations of life savings just like that.But two, the people who have an issue with it often borrow against other people when they do it. And the happiness you get from it doesn’t feel very long-term satisfying. It’s like not a good... Like this is the other thing I’ll keep into account when we’re like rating sins is how good is the happiness you get out of it?The happiness that you get out of gambling isIncredibly low-grade, superficial most basal of hungers. There isn’t any sort of deep satisfaction like you may get out of beating a really hard video game or something like that, right? And so that’s where keep in mind is the pastime that like when you’re judging the potential sin of a pastime, what other sins come attached to this pastime?So if you look at something like being into [00:08:00] sports gambling is very commonly attached to being into sports.Simone Collins: Oh, so what, what, what is also the constellation of related things that you might get into?Malcolm Collins: Right. So like this is when it comes to something like hur- Yeah,Simone Collins: like if you really like going, like clubbing, the odds of you getting a drug habit, non-trivial, right?Malcolm Collins: Yeah, yeah, explode. Yeah. Which isSimone Collins: like- Or like developing alcoholism ...Malcolm Collins: if you go into a bar- Yeah ... this is why we would aga- tr- even if it’s the same amount of time- Mm ... even if it’s the same amount of cost to both go to a bar or go to a nightclub, the nightclub has a much higher probability of leading to an escalatory cycle that is going to do more deleterious impact to your life.Simone Collins: Yeah.GoshMalcolm Collins:</strong...
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Kirsche: How To Actually Win The Culture War
2w ago01:22:01Tap to summarizeKirsche joins Based Camp for an in-depth conversation on her journey from TERA PvP gamer to one of the most influential conservative VTubers. She discusses surviving a major cancellation attempt by Vice, her deep research exposing “Bridge” (the successor to DEI initiatives), why boycotts alone aren’t enough, and how the VTuber community helped turn the cultural tide.Malcolm and Simone Collins dive into tactics for defeating woke capture in gaming and corporations, the power of parallel institutions, AI tools for creators, building alternative economies, and why nerdy weirdos are winning the culture war. Topics include abortion radicalization stories, pronatalism, free speech, and practical ways conservatives can create better systems.Episode TranscriptMalcolm Collins: it Hello, everyone. I am so excited to be here with you today. Today, we actually are doing a collab with Kirsche, which is so exciting, ‘cause I’ve wanted to do this one forever. It’s like everything’s coming in at once. And the context on Kirsche, if you are not familiar with who she is or her cultural relevance, because it’s m- hugely outsized, I think.My entire life within nerdy cultural niches, we had the wokes and the proto-wokes come in, whether it was video games, whether it was, you know, cons, whether it was trading cards, whether it was y- you know, anime. They’d come in, and they would screw it all up, and they would take it over, and they’d push us out.And every time it happened, it just felt like th- there was this endless tide, and it was gonna forever happen to everything I ever had an interest in. And then one fateful day, a sort of the [00:01:00] last wave, this happened in the VTuber community. And it happened specifically targeted at Kirsche. And when this happened, we did a number of videos on it.And Kirsche, unlike every other person before her, h- held her ground and held it in a way where they actually holistically retreated. And they retreated to such an extent that post this, a conservative VTuber scene has begun to grow. And I mean, it was there beforehand, but now it feels much livelier and much more like a core part of the wider conservative movement, and it’s been beginning to regain crowd.So, like, after your attempted cancellation, you then had the guy who tried to do this to the horror space in, in favor of shadows. I don’t know if you remember this whole controversy. I do. But he tried to claim the horror space, and he got absolutely eviscerated immediately. Yes. Absolutely thrown out i- i- immediately.[00:02:00]And so her being in this, it felt very much likeSpeaker: And then we’ll know how to beat them. One day it will all be over, and everyone will forget that this was the moment. This is when it turned. And it wasn’t the mightyDaily WireSpeaker: , it wasn’tSome fancyHeritage Foundation reportSpeaker: There’s aSpeaker 4: VtuberSpeaker: namedSpeaker 4: KirscheSpeaker: DoSpeaker 2: now! Yeah.Good job,Speaker 4: Reporter.Speaker 3: Thank you, sir. That would beSpeaker 4: fox girlSpeaker 3: , sir.Speaker 2: Carry on, .Speaker: Yes, sir.Malcolm Collins: or,Malcolm Collins: But, but after this point while... And, and this is something w- I, I wanna talk about. While culturally we seem to be winning more, like, our ability to do something like boycott Harley Davidson or [00:03:00] Tractor Supply...By the way, they’re super woke, Simone. I don’t know if you know this. Oh, yeah. To the extent that they’ve actually changed their policies has not been effective. But in the spaces we’ve been closer to, like the video game space, like the Ubisoft boycotts basically we learned we have to put these companies out of business.Mm-hmm. And so I wanna talk with you about that experience, like you getting into this space before the, the big cancellation attempt How you thought about and managed that and how the culture has changed post thatKirsche: All right. Okay. So I guess the starting point is, like, how, how did I feel during the cancellation?No,Malcolm Collins: no, how’d you get into VTub- Like, when you got into VTubing, did you intend to be a political Vtuber?Kirsche: No, not really. I mean, I first got into VTubing back in, like, 2018, and I w- I wasn’t even, like, a Vtuber proper then. I was just, like, a PNGTuber. I or- originally started, like, without even a microphone.Like, two weeks of streaming, [00:04:00] no microphone, no nothing ‘cause I had just quit my job at an insurance company after an elongated period of my anxiety being incredibly bad. And so at this point in time I was hopped up on, like, three different anxiety medications and I was just like, “Well, I don’t wanna just sit around and do nothing all day.I feel like I should at least try to do something that could help my anxiety get better.” Well, my name is pretty well-known in the Tera community, so if I started streaming I would already have, like, a small audience of people who would be there, and then I could use that as, like, I’m gonna interact with people more frequently.I’m gonna, you know, get a bit out of my safe bubble of, like, I only wanna do text communications. And so, like, eventually, you know, obviously I started using my microphone. I got a PNG. So, so basically- I d- got a, like, animated GIFMalcolm Collins: How did you know the Tera community? What, what, w- w- what was your, your experience there?Kirsche: I was one of the best PVPers on the server for many, many years. I was frequently rank one on the rank board whenever like, Fraywin Canyon would have its, like, [00:05:00] rollovers. I didn’t do threes as often, but I absolutely loved Fraywin Canyon and I loved doing like, guild PVP and whatnot. Like, it, it was really weird, like, coming into a streamer scene and seeing people like Lakari, who I had healed for, like, years before, already being huge streamers, right?I was just like, “What the heck?” Zenosas Vex, I, I played with him in, like, Final Fantasy XIV raiding as well. So, like, to see all these people who, like, had been in, like, raid groups or PVP groups before in different games with me, I was like, “Oh. I was streaming. Streaming’s got pretty robust, is it not?”So itMalcolm Collins: was like a- ‘Cause, like,Kirsche: previously I never paid attention to it ... social thing.Malcolm Collins: It, it was like an alternative to what people used to do. Like, I’m, I’m gonna get out there and, and build a social life. It was like-Kirsche: Yeah ...Malcolm Collins: that... Okay, so that’s fascinating. Okay, so now describe how you go from there to, like, what radicali- what, what got you on the I’m actually gonna start talking, because we didn’t start talking about politics either.We, we had no interest in that to start. A- in fact, we started with pretty progressive political beliefs, Ooh ... getting into the space and everything. So what w- what hap- [00:06:00] was it that you were a conservative during this time or you had conservative-like beliefs, or were these beliefs that you developed over time in the space, or you just felt more comfortable talking about over time?Kirsche: I would say I was probably already on the conservative path at this point. For the 2016 election I had been registered independent basically since I could register to vote, and for the 2016 election I changed my registration from independent to Republican so that I could vote for Trump in the primary And I, I guess I had been talking about, like, the nonsense with transgender targeting children probably since about 2011, 2012 or so.Oh, that was impossible back then. Like, just in my personal life. Yeah.Malcolm Collins: Yeah, that was like- And I- ... you’d get canceled, fired for talking about that- Yeah ... like, 2011.Kirsche: Yeah. And, and I, I’d post about it, like, on my Facebook, you know, which I didn’t have many p- friends on Facebook, ‘cause I’m not a huge social media person.So I would just, like, post about it occasionally there. And so when I started streaming when my friend who would come and voice chat with me, my [00:07:00] old head moderator, Tangerine, he he would get our groups together. So he would either put us in Duty Finder and we would wait for ages, or he would, like, put it up in an LFG and we’d get other human beings.While he was doing that, I would just read articles on stream. And so sometimes I would get through, like, a paragraph. Sometimes I’d get through, like, half of it. Sometimes I would have enough time to finish it. But it was like I would read that in between, like, waiting for dungeons because I just, I enjoyed reading the news in my off time.Mm-hmm. And I didn’t have anybody in, like, real life to talk about the news with because they were all, like, either apolitical or like, “Yeah, I just don’t care. I just... It doesn’t matter to me.” So it was nice to like, you know, talk to this few people in my audience then who were also interested, like, in what was going on politically in America.And it kind of shifted once a lot more of, I guess, leftist policy kind of stuff started being her- heralded in the VTuber community as apo...
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The Trump Iran Deal is Genius & Changes The Game (+ Why We Need Sharia Law)
2w ago00:51:52Tap to summarizeMalcolm Collins breaks down the Iran conflict and the Trump administration’s surprising diplomatic masterstroke that most pundits on both left and right completely misunderstood. Instead of “giving away money” or weakness, the deal creates powerful economic incentives and on-the-ground leverage from Iran’s angry neighbors (Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar, etc.) that makes cheating far more dangerous than the weak Obama deal.We also discuss why boots-on-the-ground predictions failed, Israel’s role, the collapse of Iran’s military and leadership, and the long-term strategic wins for America. Later in the episode, Malcolm makes a provocative case for allowing Sharia law applied specifically to Muslim communities in the West as a way to reduce crime, create a forcing function on integration, and let communities see the real preferences of high-fertility Islamic subgroups.A raw, high-signal conversation that challenges mainstream narratives on both foreign policy and domestic cultural issues.Show NotesHeadlines on June 17thhttps://drudgereport.com/OBAMA DEAL BETTER?TRUMP HUMILIATIONMAGA HAWK MUTINYTEXT LEAKSNY Times Above the Fold on Iran:Live Updates: Trump Speaks at G7 Sumit After Renewing Threats on Iran https://www.nytimes.com/live/2026/06/17/world/g7-summit-trump-franceStars of Israel’s TV Channel for Bibi Fans Turn on Trump https://www.nytimes.com/2026/06/17/world/middleeast/israel-channel-14-trump-criticism.htmlYou have to click through on NY Times to get any “what’s going on with negotiations” update, and the headline is: What to Know About the U.S.-Iran Framework Agreement: The full text of the deal that could pave the way to ending the war has not been published. Initial details suggest that it defers the most contentious issues.Generally, from only scanning headlines, one gets the impression that Iran may be reaching some sort of conclusion, but it’s one unflattering to the Trump administration.What has happened as of June 17thA preliminary framework agreement (memorandum of understanding or MoU) was reached and virtually signed around June 14–15, 2026, between the US and Iran to pause the ongoing conflict.Key elements (based on public statements and reports; the full text has not been widely released yet):* Immediate ceasefire extension: Halts military operations on all fronts, including in Lebanon. This builds on earlier shaky ceasefires (e.g., from April).* Reopening the Strait of Hormuz: Iran agrees to clear restrictions/mines; the US lifts its naval blockade of Iranian ports. Shipping has begun resuming, contributing to falling oil prices.* 60-day negotiation window: For broader issues, primarily Iran’s nuclear program (e.g., enrichment freeze or limits, sanctions relief). A formal signing ceremony is planned for June 19 in Switzerland (or possibly another venue).* Other reported aspects (with some conflicting claims): Possible phased sanctions relief, asset unfreezing, and a reconstruction fund (potentially $300 billion, mostly from Gulf states/private sources rather than direct US payments).The key point per Malcolm: The powers surrounding Iran being directly invested in its recovery and improvement, and Iran’s stable future being contingent on not pissing them off.Primarily Gulf Arab states (Iran’s key neighbors across the Persian Gulf), through a proposed private ~$300 billion Reconstruction and Development Fund, will be involved in Iran’s reconstructed and therefore directly invested in Iran going forwardDetails from the Framework Agreement* The fund is not direct US government money or reparations but a private investment vehicle designed to attract capital for Iran’s postwar recovery (infrastructure, energy, logistics, manufacturing, etc.).* Gulf states (Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar, and others in the GCC) are positioned as primary backers or facilitators (”Gulf Coast Coalition”). They were attacked by Iran during the conflict and have a strong incentive for regional stability. Contributions could include loans, credit lines, or direct investments.* Why these neighbors?* Economic interdependence: Rebuilding Iran reduces future conflict risks, secures energy routes (e.g., Strait of Hormuz), and opens markets.* Mediation role: Qatar and Oman played key diplomatic roles; broader GCC involvement aligns with their security and economic goals.* Already committed: Over half the fund has pledges from companies in Gulf states, Asia, US, etc.Other international private investors (Asia, Europe, Africa, South America) are involved, but Gulf neighbors are emphasized for their direct stake and proximity.The fund unlocks only if Iran complies with nuclear limits, inspections, sanctions relief phases, and other terms. Full details await formal signing (expected ~June 19) and implementation. This structure gives neighbors leverage and investment upside in a stable Iran.What remains pending:* Israel getting on board: Netanyahu has indicated Israeli forces will not fully withdraw from Lebanon, creating friction.* How to work out sanctions and rule enforcement going forward: Loose ends on nuclear talks, sanctions, regional proxies, and enforcement. Trump has noted dissatisfaction could lead to resumed action.* Iran’s future armament: Iran’s nuclear capabilities, ballistic missiles, and broader regional influence are deferred.Is Iran Less of a Threat Today?Yes.Various ways Iran is nerfed:* Nuclear Program Setbacks:* US/Israeli strikes heavily damaged key enrichment facilities* (Natanz, Fordow, Isfahan) and related infrastructure.* While Iran retains some highly enriched uranium stockpiles and knowledge (underground elements were hard to fully destroy), its ability to rapidly advance toward a weapon has been delayed by months to a year or more.* The framework agreement includes commitments to non-proliferation and further talks on limits, reducing near-term breakout risk.* Ballistic Missiles and Conventional Forces:* Large portions of Iran’s missile launchers, production facilities, air defenses, naval assets, and drone capabilities were destroyed or degraded.* This limits its ability to project power, threaten US assets/bases, or sustain prolonged attacks.* Proxy responses (e.g., from Hezbollah, Houthis) were limited and ineffective in shifting the balance.* Economic and Logistical Pressure:* The conflict devastated Iran’s economy and defense industrial base. The recent agreement reopens the Strait of Hormuz (previously restricted by Iran, causing global oil disruptions) and lifts the US naval blockade, but under monitored terms with sanctions relief tied to compliance. This reduces Iran’s leverage via energy chokepoints while exposing it to ongoing oversight.* Leadership and Regime Strain:* Strikes targeted senior figures, command structures, and internal security (e.g., Basij bases), contributing to morale issues, desertions, and recruitment problems.* The regime survived but is in a more defensive, weakened posture.Episode TranscriptMalcolm Collins: Hello, Simone. I’m excited to be here with you today, and this is one of those days where I just need to be like- Everybody doesn’t seem to understand what happened at all, and I’m talking about on both the left and the right with this current deal with Iran, which is actually one of the more brilliant negotiated deals that I’ve seen maybe in the past 100 years in terms of us getting pretty much everything that we rea...
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