I’m your nerd host, Chris Hardwick
Nerdist is a place where we nerds come together and share the nerdery that we find. It's also my home to various elements of the Nerdist Empire. You might recognize me from TV. You don't realize that's where you know me from, but it is. You think you went to college with me or I look like your cousin's friend, but that is not the case. At one time or another you stumbled upon me on your moving picture box in such cerebral gems as MTV's "Singled Out" and Noam Chomsky's "Shipmates." and so much more...
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Ending with intelligent pussy talk is why this show is the best.
Also, I’m delighted that you’re coming to Nashville. I wish there was a weird way to say Nashville, as I find it hard to say Denver or Chicago normally now.
Good interview! This did get weird at the end. I was surprised you guys hadn’t heard that opposition to “pussy” before… my favorite has been a few years ago when this whole podcast thing started (’06? Geez…), Dan Savage (and later Betty White) had a great spiel about how “pussy” didn’t make sense as a derogatory term bc in reality they can take a pounding forever and are just incredibly strong, and scrots are delicate and crumble at the slightest bump, so he advocates/uses “scrots” in place of pussy. It makes his relationship advice linguistically spectacular.
Betty White was classier about it, as she is want to do, but came to the same conclusion regarding balls. But to your point, vaginas definitely don’t have a transformer/voltron style light show. (At least not at the beginning.)
Btw, found the After Hours clips on Team Coco- pretty delightful!
Wow, powerful episode so far. 28 minutes in and I’m crying. That’s a first.
I’m about halfway in, but this is a great episode so far. Really like Sean, and subject matter is super interesting. (Suicide, Scientology, Freemasons, to name a few.)
Good ep, as per usual.
Matt Groening is not a freemason, as far as I know. My brother was into dumb conspiracy crap (I’m dismissive of it out of familiarity, not from ignorance), and they actually tried to sell the the theory that Groening was sneaking in masonic references into the show- and they used stuff from the Stonecutters episode as examples.
That is: they didn’t mention the fact that the episode was a parody, so that people who were unfamiliar with the show/episode would think that he was sneaking in these references (“‘Stonecutters’? Or should we say…’freemasons’!!!”). And while I’d already had a general dislike for conspiracy theory stuff because it tends to fail the smell test… but, after hearing such a blatant misrepresentation of something I was so familiar with, I had the realization that a lot of conspiracy theory material very often *relies* on the ignorance of the reader/listener/watcher. This became even more apparent with the flood of conspiracy theories that popped up on the Internet post-9/11.
Anyway, just my 2 cents.
The cartoon is definitely about drugs. The suitcase is full of cocaine which is why the dogs like smelling it.
Ok, I am gonna be “that person” (shrill feminist that everyone hates. I have some thoughts on the use of the word “pussy” in a derogatory and/or comedic way. I want to remind you of the Todd Glass episode of WTF, where he and Marc Maron are discussing the use of anti-gay slurs and jokes, and how some comedians defend their use of those terms to keep their comedic style intact (or something to that effect). Todd says to those folks that regret losing some words to the detriment of their comedy: “tough shit, get the fuck over it” because the damage that language can do to people is worse than you losing some jokes. It would challenge people to just be funnier. Would you ask a gay person, “Can I please still use the word “faggot” in my bits? I’m *totally* with you gays and support your rights, but “faggot” is just so hilarious!” I hope you wouldn’t, and I don’t think you would.
We are currently living in a society where women’s rights are being actively revoked by our elected officials, teenage rape victims are threatened with jail time, and women are *still* the butt of jokes based solely on their being female, so I have strong feelings on this issue. I don’t agree with the word pussy being used as an insult, and I think you were doing some pretty tricky maneuvering to justify your use of it. I don’t remember you having a conversation with a woman guest of yours about this topic (I seem to remember you mentioning it with a female guest only in terms of referring to anatomy, not as an insult). I do appreciate that you are at least thinking about it, and I wanted to provide this side of it for your consideration. I hope this comes off as constructive and not troll-ish, because I am a huge fan. Thanks for a great episode once again! YMIW is about the best thing I listen to all week.
Wow, I have a weird thing about airplanes too. Now before I board, I place my palm on the outer hull of the jet before I get in. I don’t know, I think I started doing that after nine eleven…
I prefer using the p*ssy word in actual dirty talk. Why would it be derogatory? It’s an awesome, cool, sexy thing. I say, use it up! But use it correctly.
That’s just my rule. Not preaching, just sharing.
Pete, if you’re really into Mad Men i recommend the documentary,”The Century of Self.” Its split into four parts, at about an hour each but it is amazing. It’s about Freud and his theories and the implementation of his theories by ad men in the fifties and sixties. It’s essentially about desire and ad men and politicians attempt at manufacturing desire(they were successful.) Totally informative and a great companion to Mad Men (though unintentional.) The whole show is about desire or that’s what you’ll realize after watching “The Century of Self.”
Pete, if you haven’t, I think you should try restorative yoga. From your description of your meditation practice, it sounds very similar but also has the added benefit of releasing tension in your body. I love it and it’s one of the things that I look forward to the most in my week. The restorative yoga class I go to uses props to support you and you are in the poses for several minutes. You can really tune into your body and the release is fabulous. It’s better than any massage I have ever had. And there is the added benefit of no sweating, no shaking, and no looking around (because your eyes are closed). Namaste!
Nitpicking, but Zoe Saldana is latina, not black.
Also, Robin, I couldn’t agree more with what you said!
As always this episode was wonderful–and truly heartbreaking. It remains my constant favourite!
Another great episode! Strangely I’m not offended by the p-word describing passivity (I get the analogy, which is great by the way), but I’m with Sean in that I find no sex appeal in the word, it’s more funny to me than sexy. It’s the intent behind the word that matters.
P.S. I prefer Twat.
Monia is correct about Saldana’s ancestry, but she’s still the fourth Google result for ‘black zoey.’
Robin, I agree with your post 100%.
Love you Pete. live and learn
Regarding Pete’s argument in the pussy-talk section of this show, check out this article, especially the first few paragraphs:
http://www.hugoschwyzer.net/2009/11/04/penetrate-v-engulf-and-the-multiple-meanings-of-the-f-word-a-note-on-feminist-language/
is it my lack of technical savvy or is this sean o’connor podcast no longer working?
Yeah, this isn’t working.