Eating & Shitting in the Obama Years

cold pizza party

On this episode, we decide to take a step back and reflect rather than get caught up in the political rat race of the moment. We chose Stephen Marche's recent article in the LARB, "The Obama Years," as a way to look at the recent past and figure out how we ended up like this. The article's recurring themes -- like images, eating & shitting, jumping through hoops, and sameness -- help us tackle what it's been like to live these past eight years. For example: Why are we obsessed with finding the best new food truck? Why are sewage treatment plants finding gold in our shits? How did every city end up with a "unique," quaint, hip coffee shop? We also discuss politics more explicitly, when we ask why are there no new ideas. And we talk personally about graduating during the crash and realizing early that no amount of jumping through hoops would get us where we expected to be. We also laugh at ourselves, as we realize we are total Obama years cliches. "The Obama Years" by Stephen Marche https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/the-obama-years/