Unbalanced.mn - Logan Carroll

We're Back! Like, brah, did you, like, even doubt us? No bueno, no bueno broseph. (Also Brosephina's and Brosephonica's.) We've got a new focus that should (hopefully) enable us to get this out consistently without killing ourselves. Deets in the episode. We also have a new producer, too! So, consistency is the goal all around. This is a professional podcast description, right? I'll just remind you I'm a (3rd place) award-winning journalist so, yes, it's 𝒕𝒂𝒖𝒕𝒐𝒍𝒐𝒈𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 professional.

Episode Notes Logan continues his profile of Costin Alamariu. In part one, we looked at his life. This time, we dig into his book and his project. It's a doozy. We go to gross places in this show, and this episode has got Clockwork Orange-level grossness. It's grodie--to the max. There's a more detailed trigger warning before we get to anything to rough, though. Seriously, maybe just pass on this one. We open on the horrors of nuclear winter, close on the collapse of journalism, and the part in between is the bleak part. There are three very pleasing tidbits, though: 1) Myles gives us an update on ex-Proud Boy head-honcho Erique Torrio's legal trouble. 2) There are chuckles aplenty. 3) Theme song by Daniel Carroll with Wesley Mitchell on drums, and bumper music by St. Cloud-based Don't Look at Me from their album Give a Cluck. 10/10 would buy again. Smother us in love! Rumble us a slow pennyfarthing!

The first of a two-parter digging into Costin Alamariu, aka Bronze Age Pervert. Logan leads a deep-dive into the life and times of this fashy and flashy Borat knock-off, whose admirers include Minnesota State Senator Roger Chamberlain, (allegedly) swarms of GOP staffers, and at least one spree killer. We trace Costin's path from a childhood in a collapsing left-wing dictatorship to his ascendancy as the Wackiest Fascist Around. (Seriously, his writing is bonkers.) We hit all the notes: his glory days working the high school newspaper with B.J. Novak (aka Ryan from The Office,) his stint as resident Dracula at Yale, and that time he solicited relationship advice from a neo-fascist web forum. Yes, those are all true things in this episode. On the front end, Myles shares his thoughts on the Russian invasion of Ukraine, with a message for lefties who might be so focused on U.S. imperialism they don't seen Russian imperialism. He's also got an update on the infiltration of Patriot Front. Great music by locals Wooden Shoe Ramblers: https://woodenshoeramblers.bandcamp.com/album/in-the-ruins-theyve-left-us-well-plant-gardens-still. Also, we're skirting copyright law with a Todd Snider song that was too perfect to not include, The Ballad of the Kingsmen (live version.) Theme song by Dan Carroll with Wes Mitchell on drums. Hit us up on Twitter: @unbalanced_mn Prop us up on Patreon: patreon.com/unbalancedmn

Episode Notes Logan needs a little extra time for the next big episode, so Myles put together this quick look at a couple recent news items: the San Diego prosecution of left-wing protestors and the right-wing spree killing in Denver last December. Find out more at https://unbalanced.pinecast.co

Episode Notes Fear mongering about crime in the Twin Cities metro. Part 3 of 3. With special guest Alex Parene, a journalist covering the right wing in America and a Twin Cities native. Find out more at https://unbalanced.pinecast.co

Episode Notes Fear mongering about crime in the Twin Cities metro. Part 2 of 3. Featuring Ruth DeFoster, a professor of mass communication at the University of Minnesota focusing on media depictions of crime. Find out more at https://unbalanced.pinecast.co

Episode Notes Fear mongering about crime in the Twin Cities metro. Part 1 of 3. Find out more at https://unbalanced.pinecast.co

Episode Notes A look at some of the biggest lies around the impeachment of Donald Trump then being spread by the Freedom Club network. Find out more at https://unbalanced.pinecast.co

Episode Notes We deconstruct the idea of "western civilization" with the podcast's first guest, Curtis Dozier, a classics professor who documents far-right appropriations of Greco Roman Antiquity (and who had written about one local outlet before I even approached him.) Find out more at https://unbalanced.pinecast.co

Episode Notes A look at some of the connections between the Freedom Club network and national conservative networks. Find out more at https://unbalanced.pinecast.co

Episode Notes A look at how the Freedom Club network conjured the specter of left-wing violence from nowhere after Trumps 2019 rally in Minneapolis. Find out more at https://unbalanced.pinecast.co

Episode Notes Re-posting the first season for all to listen to! The first episode is a read-through of an anti-Native American essay published by the Center of the American Experiment on Indigenous People's Day, 2019. Find out more at https://unbalanced.pinecast.co

Season 3, Episode 1: Schools For the first episode after a longer-than-intended hiatus, Myles and Logan talk about the growing (and growing and growing) phenomenon of right-wing education activism by talking to a teacher, a parent, and J.D. Duggan, a Minnesota-based journalist. Twist ending: it was the Freedom Club all along. Bumper music this week is Adrift, 53, and Epiphany Song by local artists Pine and Fire, "two working class queers from the North Country," according to their folksy AF bandcamp where you can check out their new EP, the son. You can also follow them on Instagram. Theme song by Dan Carroll, with Wesley Mitchell on drums. Spread the word!!1! https://twitter.com/Unbalanced_MN Fill the coffers!!!! https://www.patreon.com/unbalancedmn If you notice an increase in the audio quality, you can thanks our Patreon subscribers. Because of their largess, we were able to buy new microphones and a new audio interface. Thanks for believing in us! Find out more at https://unbalanced.pinecast.co

¡𝐶𝑎𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑙𝑖𝑐𝑖𝑠𝑚𝑜! The bad news: extreme wealth has been driving the American Catholic Church to the right for decades. The good news: Catholics won't be on the fascists' side. In this - the last episode of season 1 - Logan (he/him) talks to Stanley Payne about the relationship between the Catholic Church and the Franco regime, and to Heidi Schlumpf about how extreme wealth has contributed to the American Catholic Church's right-ward slide since the 90s. Payne (he/him) is a world-renowned expert on the modern history of Spain who wrote the "definitive history of the Spanish Catholic church in English." Schlumpf (she/her) is the executive editor of the National Catholic Reporter. Myles (he/him) has got the (now-old) news (Logan says: "my bad,") and ace reporter/comic artist/funny folk Hannah Jones (they/them) has got the low-down on why the MNGOP don't like democracy (seriously, they got ample documentation.) Highlights of the episode include the restless souls of David Koch and Andrew Breitbart drinking shandies, gay wolves, and only classy swears. Bumper music this week is Coastin' by Defy the Mall, Back Row Kids by Normcore, Procrastinating in the Sun by the Spin Wires, and Iguana by Plaga de Baila. All are licensed under an attribution, non-commercial, share alike creative commons license, and are available at Free Music Archive. Theme song is Sacrilegious by Dan Carroll, with Wes Mitchell on drums. Find out more at https://unbalanced.pinecast.co

Unbalanced News this week is a couple weeks old (dang lead times are killing us, I know.) But: the far-right reacts to the Chauvin verdict, the far-right praises Tucker Carlson, and Friend of the Show Roger Chamberlain flashes a far-right symbol on the floor of the MN Senate. Our main segment is a bonfire conversation. Naasir Qaz and Tracy Gunapalan join Logan, Myles, and guest host Hannah Jones to talk about the shared and conflicting interests between journalists and activists. (And we're lumping in organizers with activists, sorry to everyone that offends. Jen, I'm looking at you.) Together, Naasir and Tracy are the Neighborhood Reporter, and have been covering Twin Cities protests and politics for the last year. They share their recent experiences on the ground in Brooklyn Center, MN. While covering the protests of the killing of Daunte Wright, they were detained several times and had equipment broken by law enforcement. Follow them on Instagram, Twitter, and/or Facebook. Hannah is a local journo, formerly of the late great City Pages. They are currently nearing the completion of their pandemic project: an online graphic novel called Monstrous. Follow them on Instagram. Bumper music this week is From the Void and #jetblackchallenge, both by THNKWYZE, also known as Marcus Joe. THNKWYZE is a Native American hip hop artist from Seattle, WA. Follow him on Soundcloud. Our theme song was written and performed by Dan Carroll, with Wesley Mitchell on drums. Find out more at https://unbalanced.pinecast.co

Historical Perspectives Myles gives the run-down on far-right organizing in the Twin Cities as Stop the Steal, Proud Boys, Qanon, and militia groups walk into the big tent, largely unchallenged by mainstream conservatives. Then, former National Socialist Movement chairman Jeff Schoep is joined by Anti-Racist Action organizers Katrina Knutson and Jay Nevilles in a look back at fascist and anti-fascist organizing in the Twin Cities in the 80s-2000s. Music this week is local bands Atomic Lights and Cat Breath, and fictional band The Ain't Rights performing Nazi Punks Fuck Off from the film Greenroom. As always, we lean pretty heavily on This Week in Fascism published at It's Going Down. Our theme song is written and performed by Dan Carroll, with Wes Mitchell on drums. If you've got money you don't want, think about supporting the show by supporting the bands on bandcamp (linked above,) This Week in Fascism on LiberaPay, and/or us on Patreon! Find out more at https://unbalanced.pinecast.co

News and Views 1 Myles takes us on a whirl-wind tour of terrible news and fascist tactics in this our first of a new format: news and views. There is no main segment, rather, the whole episode is an extended news segment. We reward patient listeners with a preview of the next two regular episodes and a plea for money and tweets. Bumper music this week is by local bands Catbreath? and Atomic Lights, both liscenced through a "Myles said they said it was cool" license. Check them out on Bandcamp. The theme song is written and performed by Dan Carroll, with Wes Mitchell on drums. Find out more at https://unbalanced.pinecast.co

In this episode... Sam takes the week off... Logan and Myles riff on the aspirational nature of pretending we have a weekly show... More news sourced from This Week in Fascism, who were banned from Patreon under questionable circumstances (you can donate at https://en.liberapay.com/thisweekinfascism/.) Our main story is a look at a network of right-wing media based in Minnesota and built around the conservative Freedom Club. From misrepresenting what citations say, to publishing a regular column by a neo-fascist, the network exploits their respectability to promote misinformation and extremist messaging. Bumper music is Through the Looking Glass by Westy Reflector, and Sisyphus by The Toothaches, both are lisenced under a non-commercial, attribution, share alike Creative Commons license and available at freemusicarchive.org. The theme song is written by Dan Carroll and performed by Dan Carroll and Wes Mitchell. Help make the show happen by donating at patreon.com/unbalancedmn. Find out more at https://unbalanced.pinecast.co

Qanon Myles leads us on a tour of the news: a study finds evidence of right-wing bias in police violence; in a moment of crisis, Minnesota's legislators of color can't rely on their local police; and December was the largest single month for cryptocurrency donations to far-right extremists, thanks to a $500K donation from a french software engineer. We lean pretty heavily on This Week in Fascism from It's Going Down. Check it out for more up-to-date news: https://itsgoingdown.org/author/this-week-in-fascism/. In the main segment, Logan sat down for a beer and a 3 hour conversation with a follower of Q. Bumber music is "Black Tears" by Ms. Derringer and "Social Kapital" by Glad Rags, both licensed under and an attribution, non-commercial, share-alike Creative Commons license and available at Free Music Archive: https://freemusicarchive.org/ The theme music is "I'm with Qpid" by Dan Carroll, with Wes Mitchel on drums. Find out more at https://unbalanced.pinecast.co

Special Coup Edition! On Monday, the nation's capital kind of looked like a fascist revolution. Strange days, huh? We'll have to wait to see if comparisons to the Beerhall Putsch are apt, but, in the meantime, Logan, Myles, and Sam look at some of the ways media got the story wrong in this special bonus episode. Find out more at https://unbalanced.pinecast.co