On Monday, everyone thought Trump might be dead. The mere whiff of a possible Weekend at Bernie’s scenario practically made the topic mandatory for Dumpster Fire, but in the writers’ room, we also discussed Greta Thunberg, who still can’t stop frowning even as she glides across the Mediterranean on her racing yacht. Seafaring activism. Can you imagine the mind-numbing conversations on that boat? And then she emerged from her botched voyage with that haircut—hacked bangs like a peasant farmer trying to be Lord Farquaad.
We also discussed the Polish CEO who snatched a kid’s hat at the U.S. Open, the Rock’s dramatic weight loss, creepy robots, UK authoritarianism, and the media’s fear of dead-naming a mass shooter who killed two children in Minneapolis.
We also worked on some exciting evergreen material.
On Tuesday, Trump appeared at a press conference, dispelling viral chatter about his death and, just like that, the news cycle jetted elsewhere. Bridget contributed her first entry to Pirate Wires Daily, arguably the most relevant and hard-hitting daily newsletter in the entire media.
Comedy legend and Phetasy friend Dave Landau—who one of you described as “the best lesbian standup working,” a joke we routinely reference—appeared on Joe Rogan’s podcast.
That night, you guys showed up in the chat for the Dumpster Fire launch—800 people. If you put that in a comedy club or live studio audience context, that’s a big crowd.
On Wednesday, Real America tackled free speech, with insight from Greg Lukianoff, President of the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) and a First Amendment expert. After a busy day of defending free speech, Greg walked us through some of the precarious and strange realities we’re facing, from the unfolding case in Texas to the authoritarianism that has seen 10,000 Britons arrested to the Supreme Court case about “Bong Hits for Jesus.”
You guys had some great points. Margaret brought some good news, and Reynolds offered a compelling suggestion for how to prevent the collapse of free speech online. We found out that Max troll-tweets about how Sydney Sweeney is “mid” (lol), and Craig graced us with his good vibes and a solid Forky reference.
There’s also the Zoom chat, which is a huge part of Real America’s magic, so if you’re on the fence about Zooming in, take the leap—it’s a blast. This week, Britain took a thrashing: RJ pointed out that England can’t even churn out good music anymore. Lots of great questions, but the one that stuck out for me was: Is debanking a free speech issue?
Real America sessions are never long enough.
On Thursday,Walk-Ins Welcome featured Andrew Heaton, who is in Scotland as part of his yearly voyage to the homeland. If you don’t know Heaton, you’ve got to check him out. He and I were co-workers for a while. One year, at a company Christmas party, he made me laugh so much that my stomach hurt for days. One of my great regrets in life is that, on his last weekend in Dallas, I chose to attend a soccer game instead of meeting him at a high-end ostrich race.
He showed up to my daughter’s 1st birthday in the most stylish outfit I have ever personally seen on a man, then immediately charmed every single person there, able to completely dismantle tribalism with a few charming questions. When my daughter was older, he once asked her, “What do you think the Sun smells like?”
I spent a lot of time around Andrew while he was working on his most recent book, “Tribalism is Dumb: Where It Came from, How It Got So Bad, and What to Do about It,” and even in those stages, it was obvious that he was thrashing through some powerful ideas, presented with his lovely comedic approach. If political homelessness were a family, Bridget and Andrew would undoubtedly be siblings.
And on Friday, we closed the week the way we started it: warming up in front of a flaming pile of cultural and existential garbage. Friday’s Dumpster Fire was a wild ride, as is typical for this time of year. As often happens with Dumpster Fire, one of the most difficult parts of this episode was nailing down an appropriate number of topics. Her “Breaking Bridget” about Malcolm Gladwell is the stuff of Phetasy Lore, classic “Breaking Bridget.” We barely discussed the topic in the writers’ meeting, so what you’re getting is pure, spontaneous, and magically passionate Phetasy.
Thanks for another great week. Enjoy your weekend, Pham.
REAL AMERICA WITH BRIDGET PHETASY
The Battle for Free Speech
Free speech is the bedrock of our democracy, and it’s a right that many Americans take for granted. But free speech is under attack, it’s in retreat in Europe and Canada and polling shows many young Americans don’t support it. Our guest this week, Greg Lukianoff, calls it an eternally radical idea and an ideal we must never stop fighting for.
WALK-INS WELCOME - EPISODE #354
The Evolution of Tribalism: From Caves to Culture Wars
Comedian Andrew Heaton returns to talk about his new book Tribalism Is Dumb: Where It Came from, How It Got So Bad, and What to Do about It. He and Bridget discuss the evolutionary and social roles that tribalism has played throughout human history and why it has become so toxic in the last 20 years.
DUMPSTER FIRE - EPISODE #243
Democrats Have A Language Police Problem
“Trump Is Dead” was trending all weekend, Bridget explores the conspiracy theories, and Greta is sailing to Gaza. Again.
DUMPSTER FIRE - EPISODE #244
Democrats Ha
Comedians are being arrested for tweeting jokes, Malcom Glawell admits he was a coward and Putin and Xi are probably harvesting organs in order to achieve immortality. It’s a full dumpster fire today and Bridget’s feeling feisty.
Get A "Real" Job
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Aug 20
Bridget & Jeren are back to discuss the difference between a 9 to 5 job and working freelance, or in the service industry. They discuss the various jobs they’ve had over the years, what was modeled for them by their parents, the weirdest jobs they’ve ever had, the concept of a “real” job and what that means to them, the benefits and challenges of workin…
THE SPECTATOR
“The Internet is Dying and So Are We”
Check out Bridget’s most recent article for The Spectator, “The internet is dying and so are we,” which examines the Dead Internet Theory and the limits of human expansion.
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Beyond Parody with Bridget Phetasy is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.