Against the Grain

Young adults are driving a surge in Catholic conversions. Meanwhile, some on the right are looking east, to Islam. Matthew and Julia talk about the two hottest trends in religious conversion, and the many motives converts have—from spiritual hunger to gender politics to civilizational survival. For more like this, become a member at patreon.com/againstthepod.

Democrats are eager to nominate a straight white man for president—which may explain why Gavin Newsom is leaning into “toxic” masculinity. Julia and Matthew discuss the California governor’s strange but telling decision to compare himself to Patrick Bateman, the serial-killer protagonist of American Psycho. For more like this, become a member at patreon.com/againstthepod.

Was it Richard Dawkins? Rebecca Watson? Fedora Guy? Or maybe Tom Holland? Matthew and Julia discuss why the New Atheism died and will never be resurrected. For more like this, become a member at patreon.com/againstthepod.

Louise Perry is one of the most perceptive observers of the trends that are transforming the West. Matthew and Julia talk to her about the migration boom, the fertility bust, and the quiet resurgence of religion—in society and her own life. For more like this, become a member at patreon.com/againstthepod.

If Donald Trump is a dangerous and unpopular extremist, why hasn’t the Democratic Party’s opposition to him yielded a sustainable majority? Matthew and Julia talk to Alicia Nieves, a veteran of pro-immigrant activism and Democratic Party politics. Nieves argues that the party has lost touch with its working-class identity and that if present trends hold, it will cease to be competitive at the federal level. For more like this, become a member at patreon.com/againstthepod.

The release of the Epstein files has been met by an outpouring of paranoid speculation—and a growing chorus of expressing justified skepticism. Matthew and Julia welcome the newcomers to the party and rebuke the holdouts. For more like this, become a member at patreon.com/againstthepod.

Amazon Studios’ documentary about Melania Trump exceeded box-office expectations in its first weekend, despite being panned by critics and review-bombed by (non-)viewers. Matthew and Julia discuss the First Lady as style icon, fashion-industry professional, and culture-war flashpoint. For more like this, become a member at patreon.com/againstthepod.

Are we living in a secular age? Organized religion has suffered decades of decline. But belief in conspiracies is on the rise, amid UFO disclosures, satanic panics, and lab-leak theories. Among intellectuals and elites, the New Atheism of the Aughts has been replaced by a trend toward traditional belief. Ross Douthat, New York Times columnist and author of Believe, joins Matthew and Julia. For more like this, become a member at patreon.com/againstthepod.

Orgies, amphetamines, stabbings, and an even more scandalous turn to the right: Matthew and Julia discuss how Norman Podhoretz survived the sixties and defined the decades that followed. For more like this, become a member at patreon.com/againstthepod.

In 2014, prestige institutions decided they had to become much more diverse—and quickly. They didn’t purge established Boomers. Instead, they did everything they could to avoid hiring white millennial men. Jacob Savage joins Matthew and Julia to tell the story of a generation derailed by DEI. For more like this, become a member at patreon.com/againstthepod.

Millennial Brooklyn may be left-coded, but with its nostalgic masculinism, organic food obsessions, and rural white aesthetics, the hipster era anticipated the MAGA right. Matthew and Julia explain the connection by digging into the life and influence of the original millennial-era hipster, the alternative magazine publisher Jim Goad.For more like this, become a member at patreon.com/againstthepod.

Are women ruining the workplace? Are meme-makers ruining conservative intellectual culture? Is our literature better off without litbros like David Foster Wallace? Matthew and Julia talk with Helen Andrews, author of the viral Compact essay “The Great Feminization.” For more like this, become a member at patreon.com/againstthepod.

The legacy of World War II seems unsettled as never before. Figures on left and right flirt with fascist iconography, and influencers question who the war’s true villain was. Are these signs of a growing discontent with the conventional lessons of the “Good War” and the postwar settlement they support? To sort fact from falsehood, Sean McMeekin, professor of history at Bard College and author of Stalin’s War, joins Matthew and Julia. For more like this, become a member at patreon.com/againstthepod.

Fashion is having a conservative moment. The carefree femininity of “barbiecore” is out; power suits are in. Matthew and Julia visit four stores in Manhattan that are participating in the right shift in American style. There they find evidence of a new respect for masculinity, and a less progressive understanding of what it means to be a man or woman. For more like this, become a member at ⁠patreon.com/againstthepod⁠.

In 1892, the avant-garde novelist Joris-Karl Huysmans shocked secular Paris by converting to Catholicism. In his strange life, brilliant writings, and transgressive commitment to traditional religion, Huysmans anticipated many of the spiritual trends we see around us today—from occultism to exhaustion with porn and screens. Matthew and Julia discuss. For more like this, become a member at patreon.com/againstthepod.

On Saturday, September 13, Terence Crawford defeated Saul “Canelo” Alvarez to become the undisputed super-middleweight champion of the world. Matthew and Julia were in Las Vegas for the fight between the quiet man from Omaha and the Mexican superstar. They discuss the importance of combat sports to national and class identity, the appeal of boxing for anti-bourgeois writers, the rise of MMA in America, and Donald Trump’s plans to host a UFC fight at the White House. For more like this, become a member at patreon.com/againstthepod.

Controversial and long hard to obtain, Jean Raspail’s novel The Camp of the Saints (1973) has been touted by some as a prescient description of the politics of mass migration and attacked by others for its presentation of migrants. On September 16, a new translation with an introduction by Nathan Pinkoski will appear from Vauban Books. Matthew Schmitz and Julia Yost interview Nathan about the book’s strengths, weaknesses, and contemporary relevance. For more like this, subscribe at patreon.com/againstthepod.

Sydney Sweeney’s roles in HBO’s “Euphoria” and “The White Lotus” made her one of the faces of Gen Z. Is the ad campaign about her “great jeans”—combined with the revelation that she’s a registered Republican—a sign that young people are turning right? Matthew Schmitz and Julia Yost discuss how a girl with all-American looks became a potent symbol in the culture war. For more like this, subscribe at patreon.com/againstthepod.

Due to a production error, some listeners have had trouble playing this episode. We are republishing it for their convenience.Jeffrey Epstein was a real man who committed real crimes. But the truth about his case has been obscured by the Epstein myth—a synthesis of conspiracy theories that explains everything from the failures of US foreign policy to the inequities of our legal system by laying blame on a particular group: the Jews. For more like this, subscribe at patreon.com/againstthepod.

Jeffrey Epstein was a real man who committed real crimes. But the truth about his case has been obscured by the Epstein myth—a synthesis of conspiracy theories that explains everything from the failures of US foreign policy to the inequities of our legal system by laying blame on a particular group: the Jews. For more like this, subscribe at patreon.com/againstthepod.

Which is a more realistic portrayal of the way we live now—Ari Aster’s “Eddington” or Lena Dunham’s “Too Much”? Matthew Schmitz and Julia Yost on the face-off between two great millennial directors. For more like this, subscribe at patreon.com/againstthepod.

How Peter Navarro, a Democratic congressional candidate and idealistic liberal, survived run-ins with dominatrixes, sex cultists, and Martin Sheen on his way to becoming a MAGA martyr and Trump’s tariff czar. For more like this, subscribe at patreon.com/againstthepod. 

Matthew and Julia explain the right’s takeover of American culture—how it happened, what it means, and what the future holds. For more like this, subscribe at patreon.com/againstthepod.