Personality Crisis

John Cole, NYT Pitchbot and mistermix
  • 5.0 (11)
  • POLITICS

A podcast featuring John Cole of Balloon-Juice.com, New York Times Pitchbot and mistermix of heymistermix.com.  The focus is on politics, and specifically the motivations and psychology of the personalities involved.

  1. 23H AGO

    Episode 13: Jay Watts on Mexico

    Jay Watts is a photojournalist and editor of the English-language Mexican news site Mexico Solidarity, which also hosts the podcast Soberanía. The site is part of the Mexico Solidary Project, which aims to promote “people-to-people understanding across borders and to concentrate efforts to oppose the US dominance that undermines México’s national sovereignty.” In the first of two episodes, Jay talks with Dylan Ris, standing in for John Cole, who’s getting ready for his twice-yearly relocation.  Jay and Dylan have a wide-ranging discussion of the Mexican Left, the US-Mexico relationship, including the USMCA negotiation, as well as the recent revelations about the CIA’s involvement in Mexico. Here are Jay’s links: Mexico Solidarity Media:  https://mexicosolidarity.com/ Mexico Solidarity Project: https://mexicosolidarityproject.org/ Jay’s Site showcasing some of his excellent photography: https://jay-watts.com/

    42 min

  2. MAY 1

    Episode 12: Gary Trauner

    Gary Trauner, three-time Democratic candidate for federal office in Wyoming, joins us again to discuss current politics. Today’s topics include Janet Mills dropping out of the Maine Senate race, Gary’s take on Jon Ossoff, who he thinks gets the message right, SCOTUS’ repeal of the Voting Rights Act, and Gary’s belief that parsing Trump’s nonsense is a fools’ game. Because John Cole was under the weather, DougJ (NYT Pitchbot) and mistermix interview Gary.

    45 min

  3. APR 25

    Episode 11: Dylan Ris on Hollywood

    Episode 11 of Personality Crisis is a little different than our usual political fare.  This one has John Cole interviewing Dylan Ris, who is a creative writer and composer living in LA.  Dylan and John have a wide-ranging discussion about what’s keeping Hollywood from green-lighting anything but derivative copies of already successful franchises.  John also expresses his opinions about who should be in the Rock ‘n Roll Hall of Fame, other than Oasis. Dylan’s latest project is a movie about what happens when a 70’s glam rock star becomes the host of a British television show: https://wefunder.com/rogerwodehouse

    41 min

  4. APR 16

    Episode 10: Mark Jacob on Journalism's Future

    Mark Jacob is the former metro editor at the Chicago Tribune, and former Sunday editor at the Chicago Sun-Times. He’s the co-author of 11 books, mostly on history. In our second episode with Mark, he and John Cole talk about the future of journalism.  Topics include Mark’s advice to someone just starting out, the disparity in financing between left and right “influencers” and Mark’s current projects. Mark’s Substack Stop the Presses: https://www.stopthepresses.news/ Courier is a journalism initiative that supports Mark’s Substack and other journalism:  https://couriernewsroom.com/ Mark’s recommended links: Jennifer Schulze’s Substack Indistinct Chatter: https://jenniferschulze.substack.com/ Greg Sargent at The New Republic: https://newrepublic.com/authors/greg-sargent Pro Publica: https://www.propublica.org/

    20 min

  5. APR 9

    Episode 9: Mark Jacob on the New York Times

    Mark Jacob is the former metro editor at the Chicago Tribune, and former Sunday editor at the Chicago Sun-Times. He’s the co-author of 11 books, mostly on history. In this episode, the first of two with Mark, he and John Cole talk about the history of the New York Times and why it has consistently missed the moment, going back to the turn of the last century.   If you’re interested in this topic, Mark has a piece on it at his Substack, called “The New York Times is on the wrong side of history”:  https://www.stopthepresses.news/p/the-new-york-times-is-on-the-wrong Mark’s Substack Stop the Presses: https://www.stopthepresses.news/ Courier is a journalism initiative that supports Mark’s Substack and other journalism:  https://couriernewsroom.com/ Mark’s recommended links: Jennifer Schulze’s Substack Indistinct Chatter: https://jenniferschulze.substack.com/ Greg Sargent at The New Republic: https://newrepublic.com/authors/greg-sargent Pro Publica: https://www.propublica.org/

    29 min

  6. APR 7

    Episode 8: Mark Histed

    Mark Histed is a neuroscientist by day, but in his personal capacity, he has a deep interest in how to re-build and sustain local media.  Today’s audio-only podcast with Mark, DougJ (NYT Pitchbot) and mistermix focuses on Mark's interests that he pursues in his personal capacity, including the concept of media as a public good, how that media could be financed, why wealthy donors probably aren’t the answer, and what can’t be done by individual reporters on their own Substacks.   Here’s Mark’s Linktree, with all of his links:  https://linktr.ee/markhisted Links to some of the sites/authors Mark discusses: Rebuild Local News:  https://www.rebuildlocalnews.org/ Micah Sifry’s Critique of the Substack model: https://theconnector.substack.com/p/the-bad-news-echo-chamber-of-pro Elizabeth Spiers: https://linktr.ee/elizabethspiers The Democracy Policy Network:  https://democracypolicy.network/

    32 min

  7. 10/09/2025

    Episode 7: Gary Trauner

    Gary Trauner ran for Congress in Wyoming twice, and for Senate once.  In 2006, he lost the closest race in the nation to incumbent Barbara Cubin.  Gary talks about his history as a candidate, what it takes to run as a Democrat in a red state, and what it was like to interact with the national Democratic infrastructure. He’s dealt with both the DCCC and DSCC, as well as the consultants they wanted him to hire.  He also gives us a rundown on the sad state of Democrats in the reddest state in the country, Wyoming.    This episode is something you don’t see or hear all the time:  a politician who shares his frank take on his experiences with the Democratic establishment.   More about Gary:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gary_Trauner

    45 min

  8. 10/02/2025

    Episode 6: Genevieve Gunther / Messaging Climate Change

    In this episode, John Cole interviews Dr. Genevieve Guenther.  Dr Guenther is a former Renaissance scholar who turned to climate research and activism after having a child and becoming increasingly alarmed about the world her son could inherit after she died. She is now an expert in climate communication. Using her training in rhetoric and cultural politics, as well as social-science research, she works to revamp the ways that we talk about the urgent need to phase out coal, oil, and methane. She is guided by the conviction that our language for the climate crisis is largely inaccurate and misleading, and that fixing this problem requires us not just to reframe talking points, but to recognize how our speech itself—what we say and what we don’t say about climate change—upholds a dangerous status quo. Dr Guenther is the author of The Language of Climate Politics, an examination of the propaganda underlying the fossil-fuel economy.   Genevieve Guenther’s website:  https://genevieveguenther.com/ The non-profit she founded:  https://www.endclimatesilence.org/

    40 min
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Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
11 Ratings

About

A podcast featuring John Cole of Balloon-Juice.com, New York Times Pitchbot and mistermix of heymistermix.com.  The focus is on politics, and specifically the motivations and psychology of the personalities involved.

Information

  • Creator
    John Cole, NYT Pitchbot and mistermix
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    13
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Personality Crisis
  • Show Website
    Personality Crisis

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