
Hosted by Quillette · EN

As Michael Jackson's new biopic crosses $790 million at the box office, the allegations against him remain largely unaddressed by mainstream culture. In this long read for Quillette, Andrew Hammel examines the evidence methodically — the police searches at Neverland, the corroborated physical descriptions, the pattern of relationships with boys from vulnerable homes, and the accounts of Wade Robson and Jimmy Safechuck. Jackson was acquitted at trial in 2005, and Hammel weighs that fact alongside the rest of the record. The result is one of the most thorough and dispassionate examinations of the case to date. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Enhanced Games handed athletes a boatload of drugs. They still ran slower than high school boys, missed every world record, and proved that steroids can't replace talent plus daily boring work. Written by Steve Magness, a performance coach and the author of Do Hard Things. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Calls to “globalise the intifada” have produced a wave of antisemitic terror and encourage an unending cycle of violence. By John Aziz Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The hard Left has once again allied itself with Islamists in the belief that they will help achieve its goals, hence repeating the mistake the communists made in 1979, in revolutionary Iran. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tarantino is quintessentially American. He lets us linger and watch Tate in all her Technicolor radiance. He lets us love her. What’s more, he lets her watch and love herself. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Van Morrison turns eighty. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A review of Jason Zengerle's biography of Tucker Carlson, tracing his fall from gifted journalist to antisemitic demagogue. By Graham Daseler. 00:00 — Carlson’s childhood debate (playing Carter vs Reagan) 01:16 — Introduction to Zengerle’s book Hated by All the Right People 01:52 — Lesson: attacking opponents vs defending ideas 02:15 — Early career as a strong, independent conservative writer 03:23 — Exposé of Grover Norquist 03:43 — Transition to television and rise as a pundit 04:05 — Joining CNN’s Crossfire 05:10 — Realisation: television > print for influence 05:31 — Washington elite social life and prominence 06:17 — Jon Stewart confrontation and fallout 07:33 — Career decline: PBS → MSNBC → failures 08:41 — Founding The Daily Caller 09:23 — Shift toward click-driven, sensational content 10:05 — “There is no line” — collapse of editorial standards 10:29 — Competition with Breitbart and hiring extremists 11:10 — Obsession with TV exposure 12:06 — Return to prominence with Fox News (2016) 12:49 — Embrace of Trump-era populism 13:06 — Private disdain vs public support for Trump 13:28 — Ratings peak and influence inside the White House 14:27 — Shift in ideology and embrace of conspiracies 15:08 — Patriot Purge and January 6 claims 15:36 — Dominion lawsuit and internal contradictions 16:06 — Exit from Fox News (2023) 16:28 — Move to Twitter/X and podcast dominance 17:00 — Increasing focus on antisemitic themes 17:46 — Controversial guests (e.g. Churchill revisionism) 18:00 — Interview with Nick Fuentes 18:16 — Selective questioning and double standards 19:00 — Personal continuity vs ideological transformation 19:22 — Reinvention as anti-elite populist 19:54 — Turn toward fringe conspiracy content 20:14 — Carlson as symbol of media degradation 20:37 — Comparison to historical demagogues 21:27 — Parallel with Joseph Sobran’s trajectory 21:47 — Ongoing political influence despite setbacks 22:00 — Conclusion: enduring opportunism and audience-first approach Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Aaron Magid's biography examines how Jordan's King Abdullah has navigated 25 years of regional turmoil through Western alliances and survival. Written by Michael M. Rosen Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Henry Kissinger’s policies influenced Cambodia’s fate, but they alone did not cause the rise of the Khmer Rouge. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This presentation is written and narrated by Dr Karleen Gribble, a researcher specialising in maternal and child health with particular expertise in breastfeeding and lactation policy. Dr Gribble argues that the replacement of sex-based language like "women," "mothers," and "breastfeeding" with gender-neutral terms like "pregnant people," "birthing bodies," and "chest feeding" in healthcare represents a failure of evidence-based medicine, cultural imperialism, and abuse of institutional power. She traces how this language shift originated in the United States around 2010–15 and spread globally through academic journals, publishers, health organisations, and funding bodies. She contends that these changes are being implemented without any research demonstrating benefits, while the limited existing studies show women find the language confusing, offensive, or dehumanising. Dr Gribble argues this is particularly problematic because it violates public health principles requiring clear communication, may harm vulnerable women with low health literacy, and imposes Western gender ideology on non-Western cultures. She documents how researchers and health professionals who question this shift face professional retaliation, and how her own research proposals to study the impact of desexed language were rejected as offensive. Dr Gribble calls for urgent research on the actual health impacts of this language change and a return to evidence-based practice that prioritises clear, dignified communication in women's healthcare. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices