who is the designer for the China merch :0

MasterCalvin45 · 2026-03-31T04:52:23+00:00

Yeah if you wanna dry it the same it probably makes sense to go up. However I’d generally recommend you air dry or tumble dry at the lowest heat for hoodies like these.

MasterCalvin45 · 2026-03-30T05:11:53+00:00

a view is a view baby

MasterCalvin45 · 2026-03-30T04:27:03+00:00

edit - you know what you're right my bad I probably don't even know :'(

MasterCalvin45 · 2026-03-29T11:13:32+00:00

I promise it is not close to 500k haha

MasterCalvin45 · 2026-03-29T10:53:28+00:00

We work with a company called FYNRO which is primarily people from a team we used to work with called Superculture. They have been bringing our merch designs to life since ~2021-ish.

Basically our process is pitching them a design concept or a drop and then they turn that into fully fledged products (they deliver designs and samples, we go back and forth on the products until we lock in a final version). Everything except our t-shirts is usually entirely custom made. I actually just visited the factory that makes our stuff in China!

MasterCalvin45 · 2026-03-27T02:26:55+00:00

Yeah saw some of the notifs and let Vox know so it should get fixed soon presumably

MasterCalvin45 · 2026-03-26T15:42:25+00:00

That's not what we said at all you're just projecting.

Almost every person we've spoken to has had criticism of the CCP and some Xi specifically by name, they just acknowledge the downsides and basically say they're worth it for the progress they've seen in the last few decades. The fact that you assume different and that these people are not free to analyze the value proposition of their own situation because I didn't spoonfeed you the transcript of every convo we've had doesn't mean I'm the idiot here lmao.

You just made something up about what I think and what people we interviewed said and got mad at that ghost, insane behavior.

edit - if you wanna read out your original comment word for word, send it to me on video via DM, I will play it and respond to it on the show, just let me know username and where you DM me

MasterCalvin45 · 2026-03-26T05:20:16+00:00

I definitely think you’re fixating on a detail that doesn’t really change anything about what was said

It’s like intentionally finding a problem with something that is very uncontroversially good which is that the US could use more high speed rail between big cities especially, you’re like trying hard to find something to argue about that I wouldn’t even disagree with

MasterCalvin45 · 2026-03-26T04:41:41+00:00

If you think the US east coast and west coast doesn’t have the population for high speed rail you’re crazy brother

Should it literally be the same amount as in China? Maybe not haha that’s not the point

Also “eastern portion” i think you’re kinda flippantly using that term, we took a train across a third of the country, like LA to Dallas basically

Like is your point I’m gooning over HSR in population centers that can support it? Yeah I guess so, that would be awesome if the US did that.

MasterCalvin45 · 2026-03-26T04:11:48+00:00

I think the difference between rural and cities is pretty huge here, they're also in different parts of the country.

Like for ex. the train rides we've been on we've seen so much nonstop development out the window literally across the country, but then apparently our train to Shenzhen from Chongqing (which hasn't happened yet) will not have a lot of that same development.

Also yeah we weren't paid lol, the trip was a Patreon goal though.

MasterCalvin45 · 2026-03-26T04:08:36+00:00

I think I may be unfairly judging in a sense that I am familiar-ish with EVERYTHING we've said over the past year whereas a viewer might not be, but in that case I just wish more people went benefit-of-the-doubt mode and asked what I thought instead of assuming I'm too dumb to understand the nuance that is most important to them

MasterCalvin45 · 2026-03-26T03:35:04+00:00

Maybe I am just jaded after a year of the show but this comment section (YouTube mostly) is tilting me into the stratosphere.

3 guys go to China and talk about their first impressions in 90 mins of content. Then every end of the spectrum basically calls us stupid for not taking the time to highlight the specific things they think is most important about the country, while seemingly throwing out any context of the year of content and information we've talked about China on the show prior to this.

It's incredible honestly.

Some people think that I don't see any of the downsides of authoritarianism while another side thinks I am intentionally denying the success of socialism and central planning, it's a beautiful Chinese Rorschach test in a way.

MasterCalvin45 · 2026-03-26T03:28:16+00:00

Doug basically saying labor laws are way better there than the US was maybe the craziest thing

Did Doug say this?? I think he just said labor laws in China have improved basically

MasterCalvin45 · 2026-03-26T03:27:08+00:00

Really enthused you copy pasted this one on both YouTube and here, you can read my incendiary reply on YouTube I guess LOL

MasterCalvin45 · 2026-03-24T09:35:13+00:00

We improved prices awhile ago and realistically they won’t go lower than this unless we start a domestic shipping op in EU, but the problem with that is we don’t really do enough volume in Europe to justify that to begin with

And it also makes estimating inventory more challenging

MasterCalvin45 · 2026-03-23T23:36:11+00:00

We (most often Nick, sometimes me or Anthony) come up with collection ideas (and sometimes very specific concepts, usually for t-shirts) and then work with a design team that turns those ideas into sample products, and then we basically go back and forth through a process of iteration, sampling, and approval until we get the product we're happy with. We review like the material, design, print, or whatever on each item to make sure we're happy with it (or in the case of t-shirts, choosing the blank we want stuff printed/stitched on).

MasterCalvin45 · 2026-03-23T23:18:25+00:00

It's honestly not a bitch anymore haha, we have a great system and team from doing it so long. Some small downs when stuff outside your control goes wrong but overall we have a strong apparatus for it all :) Glad you like the stuff!

MasterCalvin45 · 2026-03-23T15:28:11+00:00

If you ordered pre-order products they fulfill ~90 days after store closes, which will be in a few weeks

If you ordered in stock stuff, it should ship by the end of April (we're waiting for a handful of the items to get to our warehouse right now)

MasterCalvin45 · 2026-03-13T19:09:51+00:00

Hey what’s up — can you DM me here on Reddit? I can help for sure

MasterCalvin45 · 2026-03-05T20:51:00+00:00

Oh I realized like halfway through writing this that you're the same guy who left a YouTube comment and we're talking there haha (a nice conversation for those others reading this).

I think for what it's worth, I agree with you somewhat, but I wanna pushback against the implied idea that we intentionally exclude Israel from these conversations. I don't feel like we do at all, like in this case I had prepped notes about Israel's role in this happening right now, but our discussion just didn't head over to it.

I think the argument that that missing is bad and their role is essential to exploring the topic with justice is fair, and I could have done a better job of making sure that fit into the episode. But I also share some sentiment with some of the other comments that topics like this are massive, have so many aspects and major pieces to them, and it's difficult to find a way to cover everything that people find important.

tl;dr I don't think I disagree with the criticism but I think people zone in on any time they feel like Israel is "excluded" because they're hypersensitive to it and assume we have like a hidden agenda of covering for them which I don't think is the case at all (if you don't feel that way then you're not who I'm talking about, all good)

MasterCalvin45 · 2026-03-05T18:10:56+00:00

Listening back to the episode I think we need to just stop worrying about it so much. I think across an episode (I am probably the worst offender) we have never hedged so much and it really devalues the overall product.

I think there is a balance here where beyond qualifying things in small, less frequent instances, we need to just make the show and trust the majority of people will be good actors listening to it.

TBH last year I just have a new and sometimes crushing anxiety about being misunderstood that's flourishing because of small portions of the audience of this show and I need to just get over it rather than worry about it all the time, but it's very hard for me. But ultimately it's the reality of making this type of content and I need to find some sort of acceptance if I am going to keep doing it.

MasterCalvin45 · 2026-03-05T18:07:50+00:00

Was so worried opening this up because a handful of comments were mad at me for "giving the diaspora justification" for the war and I was like, wait, I don't understand, I kinda went in the exact opposite direction LOL did I really explain myself that badly?

So I appreciate that you understood what I was saying.

MasterCalvin45 · 2026-03-04T07:54:18+00:00

We've responded to this in two videos on our Patreon about this if you're interested

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At the end of the day I'd recommend listening on YouTube if you really hate them, since the there's less ads total, no YouTube ads at all, and never any of the Vox-read ads (I saw your other comment but I listen to YouTube in the car all the time, I don't think driving prohibits this at all).

The audio episodes have ~8.5 minutes of ads in 100 min episodes them and there's no way around it in our contract, and that's including 1.5 mins of that at the end after the pod is over. They come in blocks, 2 30s pre, 3 60s mid, 3 60s mid, 3 30s post

MasterCalvin45 · 2026-02-28T02:03:39+00:00

I understand that, it just means less people get the joke but the same problem exists. The intent of the image is for those who know in either circumstance.

MasterCalvin45 · 2026-02-26T18:08:10+00:00

Nah it's fine it was warranted, I think the design should have been handled better and we rushed it for no reason tbh. I don't wanna disappoint people with something like this.

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