QAA Podcast Premium E317 Sample — “Sorry We Funded Nuzzi”

Hosts: Julian Feeld, Travis View, Jake Rockatansky, Liv Agar
Release Date: December 23, 2025

Episode Overview

This premium sample of QAA Podcast episode 317, “Sorry We Funded Nuzzi,” blends the show’s signature mix of comedy, personal anecdotes, and media commentary. The hosts riff on personal chaos, relationships, and their guilt-laden support for journalist Olivia Nuzzi’s recent book (which includes a famously awkward incident involving RFK Jr.). The episode quickly pivots from intimate life stories to jabs at internet culture and media consumption, poking fun at themselves along the way.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Opening Banter & Personal Anecdotes ([00:00]–[03:07])

• Liv shares a chaotic Monday morning, recovering from a late-night out due to a situationship breakup and mishaps with her plumber, literally named Mario.
• The group jokes about Mario being a real-life “Super Mario” and spins humorous innuendo (e.g., “laying pipe”) into discussions of masculinity and relationships.
• Memorable Quote:

  “The image of me on the floor of my apartment soaking up water with a towel while he was leaving felt emblematic of the general relationship I have to men in my life.”
  —Liv Agar [04:02]

2. Group Dynamic & Reflections on Breakups ([03:08]–[06:52])

• Hosts riff on personality types in relationships, comparing themselves to sharks (“stay moving”) and starfish (“motionless”).
• Liv details how her situationship ended with a very public coffee shop breakup, which she found strangely familiar and almost transactional.
  • Notable Quote:

  “...every injury has its equivalence, which can be paid in compensation, if only to the pain of the person who injures. ...sometimes all you can expect from men is that they feel some amount of guilt for the troubles they've caused you.”
  —Liv Agar quoting Nietzsche [05:19]

• Travis and Liv discuss how people process emotional fallout from relationships differently, blending sincerity and banter:
  • “If I stay still too long, I'm like, wait, why am I even alive?” —Jake Rockatansky [02:08]
  • “I'm like a starfish. ...If you do time lapse photography, you can slowly get up.” —Travis View [02:12]

3. Segue Into Olivia Nuzzi & Media Commentary ([06:53]–[09:03])

• The personal narrative gives way to Liv’s work assignment: review Olivia Nuzzi’s much-maligned book, which Travis View had arranged to have delivered.
• The hosts discuss both the awkward notoriety around Nuzzi’s exchange with RFK Jr. and the joke that Travis is now publicly listed as a supporter due to low book sales.
  • “So few people buying it, Travis, that now you're kind of like a public figure. Like, your name is in the... thanks.” —Julian Feeld [07:35]
  • “She reads your name... in a list of the... 10, 12 that she reads at the end of the audiobook.” —Jake Rockatansky [07:55]
• Continuing to skewer themselves, Travis admits to seeking “alternate means” of obtaining review copies when possible, but still often buys them:
  • “There are maybe two dozen people who read new books anymore, and I feel like we should support the people who still produce it.” —Travis View [08:24]

4. Meta-Podcast Jokes & Inside References ([08:48]–[09:03])

• The crew digresses into self-deprecating humor about their roles and past “support”—including Travis (jokingly) as an “executive producer” on Nuzzi’s teenage music video “Jailbait.”
• “I did notice... you were the executive producer of Jailbait, the song she made when she was 16. Travis, how did your name end up in that video?” —Julian Feeld [08:48]

Timestamps for Notable Segments

• Liv’s chaotic Monday, plumber mishap: [00:50]–[03:07]
• Breakup experience and philosophy: [04:02]–[05:45]
• Start of Olivia Nuzzi book discussion: [06:53]
• Travis as a (reluctant) book backer: [07:35]–[07:55]
• Supporting dwindling “book culture”: [08:24]
• Meta banter about podcasting and inside jokes: [08:48]–[09:03]

Tone & Style

QAA’s trademark approach is in full effect: dry, sardonic humor, candid admissions, and heavy self-awareness. The hosts poke fun at each other and themselves, openly dissecting the awkward overlaps between personal experiences and their professional media lives. Banter skids seamlessly from everyday woes—like flood-prone laundry rooms—to the collapsing ecosystem of political journalism and internet-inflected cultural critique.

Summary for New Listeners

In this sample episode, listeners get a glimpse of what makes QAA Podcast unique: deeply personal storytelling mashed up with biting cultural commentary and relentless in-jokes. The team deftly moves from Liv’s misadventures with men and plumbing to the odd infamy of funding an unpopular journalist’s book, with each anecdote acting as microcosms of a “melted” online and real-life culture. The episode underscores the absurdity of modern media and relationships, god-level podcast chemistry, and a willingness to laugh at their own role in the strangeness.

Selected Quotes

• On breakups and the roles of men:

  “I guess sometimes all you can expect from men is that they feel some amount of guilt for the troubles they've caused you. Ideally an amount equal to your own pain. But it’s hard to be so hopeful.”
  —Liv Agar [05:19]

• On funding Olivia Nuzzi’s book:

  “So few people buying it, Travis, that now you're kind of like a public figure. Like, your name is in the... thanks.”
  —Julian Feeld [07:35]

• On buying and reviewing controversial books:

  “There are maybe two dozen people who read new books anymore, and I feel like we should support the people who still produce it.”
  —Travis View [08:24]

For the full episode and QAA’s archive, listeners are directed to subscribe to the show’s Patreon.