Writer, reporter, Smoke ‘Em If You Got ‘Em co-host, and pie baker extraordinaire Nancy Rommelmann returns to Uncertain Things to talk (again) about a topic she knows all too well: Portland. In 2021, she lambasted the way the media was distorting what was happening on the ground by underplaying the violence. Four years later, she’s lamenting the way the President and his cronies are distorting what’s happening on the ground by overplaying the violence. We get into ICE’s antics, Portland’s response (so far), and the “heroes” making headlines. Then we switch tacts to share our thoughts on the (much discussed) Klein-Coates interview, and Adaam is remarkably reserved in his epithets.

On the agenda:

-Rommy returns to talk Portland [00:00-04:09]

-Portland, 2004-2020 [04:10-9:15]

-Portland today: Who’s really there [9:16-18:37]

-The Trump Show [18:38-42:53]

-Ezra Klein v. Ta-Nehisi Coates [42:54-1:00:56]

-The responsibility of the commentator [1:00:57-1:22:25]

Mentioned in this episode:

* We’re addicted to destruction (w/ Nancy Rommelmann) — Uncertain Things

* Adaam on Annihilism

* Smoke ‘Em If You Got ‘Em — Substack

* Ta-Nehisi Coates on Bridging Gaps vs. Drawing Lines — The Ezra Klein Show

* Charlie Kirk, Redeemed: A Political Class Finds Its Lost Cause — Vanity Fair

* Charlie Kirk Was Practicing Politics the Right Way — The New York Times

* Make More Pie — Substack

Uncertain Things is hosted and produced by Adaam James Levin-Areddy and Vanessa M. Quirk. For more doomsday rumination, subscribe.

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ICE, Klein, Coates (w/ Nancy Rommelmann)