The Dorx try to understand recent events in the Area Formerly Known As Persia by interrogating animator-cartoonist-painter-comic book creator Zartosht Soltani, who grew up there before moving to New York City. What’s causing the uprisings? What outcomes are possible? What’s it like being jailed in Iran? Zartosht has personal experience with the latter, which he’s channeled into his new comic book DEEV. He also observes that America is becoming more like his former country in alarming ways. Plus: useful vs useless idiots, American vs Iranian communists, “only 3,000,” extremist families, nepotism, learning English in bars, and liberation through painting.
Hanukkah is over, but we still have plenty to say about candles, miracles, and commemorating atrocities. We offer our respective reviews of 2025, and Cori talks more about his joylessness, depression, and identifying with “victim groups.” Nina reports progress on her SSDI Blue Book playing card illustrations, including a transgender Jack (“LadyJack”) and Queen Prostate Cancer. Is Down Syndrome progressive? Does Cori “feel Jewish” yet? What should we watch on TV? Do we have any listeners left? Whatever the question, the answer is increasingly: GO BILLS!
After learning about Nina’s inability to whistle and Cori’s interest in Sharia Enthusiast meetups, the Dorx return to the tired old subjects of gender and online drama. That stupid blue dress comes up again, while a cancellation mob forms on “our side”, at least as bad as the old cancellation mobs on “their side” that got “us” here in the first place. Will it ever end? (No.) How do you say ‘bullshit’ in French? (‘Connerie,’ according to Google Translate.) What is the #1 most common stupid mistake young people make? (Tell us in the comments!) Plus: incinerated balls, personality-disordered cliques, shopping at Aldi, the virtue of self-awareness, and George & Ira Gershwin. Fascinatin’!
Cori is acutely depressed, so we discuss his inner world, psychic bodies, primal wounds, and spiritual maladies. We also answer some Listener Questions: is it OK to be tired of TERFing? What are our favorite cat memories? What is Cori’s latest forecast for the future? It’s a far cry from our energetic gender days, but we’re still surviving, which is sometimes the best we can hope for.
You begged us to stop talking about gender, and start talking about economics. So by popular demand we just made up, the Dorx discuss F.A. Hayek’s The Road To Serfdom for an hour. Collectivism! Individualism! Planned economies! Marx! Socialism, Communism, and Capitalism! Power! Competition! If that doesn’t thrill you or make you fall asleep, we also mention fleas and liquid crystals.
Although we answer your not-actually-existent pleas to talk economics, we failed to answer your Listener Questions. Next time, my little turtledoves! Feel free to leave more in the comments.
Cori enters the ranks of the Truly Old by discussing his fascinating medical problems, including depression, vasovagal response, blood tests, and his severely impaired endocrine system. Nina attends a Chloe Cole talk hosted by ISU College Republicans and hears chants for free hormones outside and Christian prayers inside. Is finding Jesus really the solution? Is Cori depressed, or supernatural? Will our podcasts be retarded forever? Plus: Low-Dose Naltrexone, Nina’s body temperature, Christian Nationalism, and KITTENS!
Recorded during the High Holy Days, after catching up on sensitivity, innocence, hard surfaces, insect bites, and fasting, Cori attempts to school Nina in who is and is not “really Jewish,” obnoxious as only a fresh convert can be. So we get into a long-winded discussion about faith, culture, foundational literature, the Torah, contradictions, G*d’s face vs backside, the Ramayana, and more. Finally we circle back to Genspect’s 2025 conference and how tired Nina is of manipulating people through empathy. Was Nina’s father a Jew? Are atheists really shallow? Why is Cori suddenly trying to be “Good”? And to whom is he referring when he mentions animal control and getting arrested? That’s at least one mystery that won’t be revealed in this vaguecast.
In this weeks-late release (blame Mr. Flounce) we ask: Is it ever a good idea to fire someone for saying crazy, wrong, and/or threatening things in public? Nina would like to always say no, but even she admits that in some occupations, such as medical care, stating you want certain ethnic groups to die is grounds for dismissal. But most canceling is motivated by lust for revenge, not safety, despite protestations of “accountability” and “consequences”. We also discuss a very bad spider bite, distracting kittens, taglines, Groypers, Jimmy Kimmel, misinformation, moral outrage, Schadenfreude, gay vs homosexual vs queer, and Hey Zeus!
The Dorx record the day after the assassination of Charlie Kirk, which happens to be the 24th anniversary of the World Trade Center attacks. We reminisce about 9-11-01: where we were, how we felt, how we’ve changed since. Then we discuss the current climate of political violence, comparing the reaction to Kirk’s death to that of George Floyd’s. Then Cori edits out 18 minutes about people denouncing him online, because it’s Rosh Hashanah and why carry resentments into the new year? So suddenly you’ll hear both of us talking about kittens.
The Dorx discuss Robin/Robert Westman, the psychotic Minneapolis Catholic school shooter. Was he left-wing or right-wing? Does trans ideology cause psychosis, or is it just coincidental? What is the difference between racism and white nationalism? Do women owe the world reproductive labor? What might happen to Cori as the political wrecking-ball pendulum keeps swinging rightward? Was the Unicorn Ranch llamas or alpacas? Plus: Cori insists trannies are a class but TERFs are not, because he doesn’t get intersectionality. Why didn’t we just talk about kittens?
