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July 10, 2025 65 mins

Join us this week as we explore the slow-motion collapse of expertise and institutions in America through the lens of Isaac Asimov's classic science fiction story "Nightfall."

We examine how the MAGA mob's assault on knowledge mirrors the fictional planet Lagash, where civilization periodically burns itself down in fear of what it doesn't understand. We're witnessing a Cultural Revolution-style purge of expertise - except this time, the things being feared are lies manufactured by Fox News and demagogues.

Plus, Blue Gal reads driftglass's brilliant takedown of David Brooks' latest exercise in intellectual masturbation, where Brooks traces Trump support all the way back to ancient Athens to avoid the obvious conclusion that Republicans have simply chosen to embrace authoritarianism.

As always, we try to distinguish between weather and climate, between forest and trees - but right now there's just Nazi kudzu growing everywhere, getting louder and more dangerous by the day.

This podcast is not safe for work and is recorded live from the Cornfield Resistance.

LINK TO SATURDAY'S Hal Sparks Live Show tickets: https://heartlandsignal.com/halsparks-live-at-max-and-bennys-restaurant/ 

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