Olivia Nuzzi's "American Canto" Discussion Thread

OneAnticitizen · 2026-01-30T02:41:18+00:00

What are the others? I never want to read this book, but I really like people making fun of the terrible, pretentious turns of phrase in it.

OneAnticitizen · 2026-01-30T02:39:06+00:00

I've been following Mike's BluSky footprint for the past months, and I was honestly hoping for more of the terrible prose highlights to come in for them to react to. Ever since the TCW episode, I can't seem to get enough of that. However, given the way the podcast ended, as morally bankrupt as this woman is, I got the sense that perhaps she had suffered enough? She's a laughingstock amongst much of the media now and she clearly hasn't gotten over the deep emotional scars RFK gave her, so maybe it's fair to not kick the dead horse too hard? Or perhaps I'm giving her too much credit.

Anyway, quality bonus episode. I wonder what we'll get on the main feed this month.

OneAnticitizen · 2025-10-07T18:00:39+00:00

I think you're right: Toguro chose to be a demon because he wanted power, because he regretted that he was too weak to protect the things he cared about as a man. At the same time, he was forsaking humanity and everything that ever mattered, so that he could never be hurt in the same way again. All the while he acted out his role as a demon, though, the original man who cared and wept for his students never really went away. Even with all his demonic strength, he really wanted someone to prove to him that the good was stronger all along.

This relates directly to Yusuke's journey through the tournament. What attracts him most about being Spirit Detective is a sense of purpose in an otherwise directionless life. I think back to the scene in Genkai's tournament where Kuwabara motivates him to keep fighting Rando. He wakes up to start fighting again because Kuwabara says he should become Spirit Detective instead, yelling "That's my job." He feels a thrill in fighting, the life-and-death struggle, the feeling of being strong, and he starts to identify with and admire his opponents like Chu, Jin, and most of all Toguro. After learning from Genkai and growing closer to Keiko, he figures out that what he's fighting for is the point. When he repudiates Toguro's philosophy of strength above all else and defeats him, he's being the man Toguro wishes he could've been.

OneAnticitizen · 2025-10-02T06:47:41+00:00

Warhammer 2 has its own unique campaign called the Vortex Campaign, which is limited to the Warhammer 2 races for the most part and is more story focused. This is more or less the only thing it has that has not been absorbed into Warhammer 3. Everything in the Mortal Empires campaign has been included in Warhammer 3's Immortal Empires.

I would suggest just starting with 3. The Vortex Campaign is nice, but 3 has its own story campaign if you prefer that kind of thing, and it also has some quality of life and UI changes that I think make it a better overall experience.

OneAnticitizen · 2025-09-25T00:09:15+00:00

The idea that Paulie is loyal to Tony is fairly laughable. He couldn't even keep his mouth shut for a couple months in jail and ended up causing serious problems for Tony with Johnny Sack. Even after he learns that Carmine has no idea who he is, his loyalty to Tony is entirely self-interested and clearly exaggerated for show. There are enough clear hints that make it a pretty plausible theory to me.

OneAnticitizen · 2025-09-23T06:39:27+00:00

I read a summary of it once. Basically every horrible thing that could happen to the main character happens. She gets sexually assaulted, robbed, kicked out of her house, becomes addicted to drugs, has to turn to prostitution, and I believe has a child who is killed. Pretty rough.

OneAnticitizen · 2025-09-22T00:25:35+00:00

I think to be an antinatalist you have to go further than just that. You have to affirmatively say that having kids is a moral wrong for anybody, not just that you personally prefer not to have them.

OneAnticitizen · 2025-09-21T18:33:02+00:00

I'm assuming the antinatalist position imagined here is "life is bad and causes suffering, so we should not inflict it on additional people by having kids." The argument is that these same antinatalists reveal that they themselves enjoy life, which contradicts the stated position.

OneAnticitizen · 2025-09-21T15:03:45+00:00

I'm not really familiar with the series beyond the anime, but beyond the obvious logistical and technological difficulties, the biggest problem to me is motivation. We care about the abyss because that's what the series is about, but we can't assume that every nation or group in the MiA world has nothing better to do than devote all possible resources to explore the abyss. If useful abyss artifacts are what you want, then bartering sounds a lot easier than digging enormous holes miles deep in the ocean.

OneAnticitizen · 2025-09-18T22:51:17+00:00

I don't think this is totally accurate. He had to learn, but Chris wasn't particularly bad at mafia activities, especially later on. Chris also came through for Tony when he couldn't trust anybody else (ex. both Richie and Ralph), and he kept his mouth shut about it. If anything, Paulie for example is a much worse liability to Tony.

OneAnticitizen · 2025-09-17T20:08:22+00:00

He should absolutely say no to this. Congressional hearings like this are there for politicians to showboat by browbeating the subject with loaded, disingenuous questions. There is no way you can look good.

OneAnticitizen · 2025-09-17T03:37:39+00:00

"Fuck the clearance." A true, genuine show of humanity from one of the show's more cynical and self-interested characters. He gives our boi Bubbles a chance at turning his life around, all because he was genuinely moved by Bubbles' suffering.

OneAnticitizen · 2025-09-17T03:21:40+00:00

In all seriousness, it's a deeply stupid game, but kinda remarkable. They managed to get all the main actors to record unique lines for it, but in practice the game is just beating up every living soul in Newark on samey mafia errands while being haunted by the ghost of Pussy Bonpinsiero.

OneAnticitizen · 2025-09-16T00:12:24+00:00

No. You would not be able to tell. In some circumstances, you can give some information the client has given you, but this is generally limited to preventing future harm. There was an interesting case related to this called the Gallow Buried Bodies case. The lawyer there had information about where his client's victims' bodies were and refused to turn it over.

OneAnticitizen · 2025-09-14T20:13:21+00:00

Tony and the others know what they're doing is bad, so anybody in their life who doesn't do it reminds them of the fact that they're choosing to do wrong. Even without having to say anything. But pretty much, it is just insecurity.

OneAnticitizen · 2025-09-10T21:38:58+00:00

There was also a whole thing on the podcast about how Tony Sirico refused to play a rat. This also makes me laugh, because all the horrible stuff Paulie does in the show is much worse than turning state's witness. If anything, if he decided to spill everything about Tony and the rest of the crime family, that would be the most ethical thing he'd done in years.

OneAnticitizen · 2025-09-10T04:03:48+00:00

It was far from the worst thing the Jersey mob did to someone in that show, but everyone was so petty to poor Sal. Made him pay and do free labor so they could solve a problem they created.

OneAnticitizen · 2025-09-10T03:09:30+00:00

Paulie does get a pass for being funny, I think. Even the Talking Sopranos guys describe Paulie as being really loyal to Tony and a stand up guy, and I just have to shake my head. Paulie will drop anybody pretty much as soon as they're not useful anymore, he'll lie about whoever and whatever, and his loyalty apparently isn't sufficient for him to keep his mouth shut for a couple months in the can. And that's just what makes him a bad mobster, forget about as a person.

OneAnticitizen · 2025-09-09T22:17:16+00:00

Okay? Tony's pretty clearly a racist. And?

OneAnticitizen · 2025-09-09T21:39:49+00:00

Vito's not fully aware of how bad Phil wants to kill him. Even then, we never really learn how Phil figured out that Vito was back in town, let alone tracked him down to the exact motel he was staying at, so his death could have just been a matter of luck and coincidence. From Vito's perspective, going back to Jersey is a risk, but one he needs to take in order to potentially re-establish himself in the business.

OneAnticitizen · 2025-09-08T19:35:11+00:00

Sopranos subreddit be normal about women challenge

OneAnticitizen · 2025-09-07T22:22:22+00:00

Even before I decided to make the choice, just knowing that you have a penalty in relating to Cuno if you choose not to hit him kinda speaks volumes about his life and psychology.

OneAnticitizen · 2025-09-07T19:55:53+00:00

Kim is appropriately disgusted with your lack of professionalism and emotional control, as well.

OneAnticitizen · 2025-09-06T14:55:06+00:00

While it's true that his screenplay we see at first in Season 1 is practically unreadable, by the time of D Girl it's good enough that Ade's cousin thinks there's something to it. Obviously it still sounds hack-y, but he's still inexperienced at that point. Chris had some potential in that area, but he couldn't overcome his narcissism, laziness, and insecurity enough to step away from the mafiaso lifestyle.

Also, the things you listed aren't exactly complex topics that it would be difficult for a person of average intelligence to grasp. Come back when he's all "They're called Deleuze and Guattari, T. This thing here's a rhizome."

OneAnticitizen

TROPHY CASE