Unsubscribing. This used to be the Willamette Week podcast that just popped back up using the same feed URL, but now just has conventional centrist perspective on news.
I've listened to every episode, some of which were okay, but unsubbed today when he threw Sophie Lewis under the bus. Same type of guy that led the New York Times to—reluctantly(?)—endorse the Iraq war and promote Jesse Singal. Professes progressivism but mostly focused on opposing taxation and urging politicians to "encourage" or "recruit" business to Portland in unspecified ways, blames the Left for the all the problems. Sanders is still on X, and makes fun of alternatives like Bluesky, etc. while also criticizing Musk.
On his most recent episode as of this review, he released a two-parter episode: In part 1 he says the new DSA city council members in Portland are as bad as Pol Pot, and in Part 2 he says he's pro-business but criticizes the canceling of the Colbert show because they're cozying up to Trump. He never mentions the word "fascism" and doesn't offer a call to action. His tone tries to strike a “reasonable adult in the room” posture: he’ll criticize Democrats, but usually for being bad at messaging or governance, not for structural or ideological failings. And while he’ll go after Republicans, it’s usually with a sort of weary incredulity rather than moral outrage or systemic critique.
The vibe is very much “both sides are messy, but we still need to fix potholes and trust institutions” which reads as:
* Civility over justice
* Process over power
* “Can’t we just be normal” energy
That lands the podcast squarely in the centrist scold or civility fetishist quadrant. The commentary is clear that he wants some kind of reform, but only if it doesn't disrupt dinner.
Reasonable production but the vocal channel needs a turnup and the relationship between the intro/exit song to the content isn't clear.
