Mailbucket #20: Who Can You Trust About Portland?

Also: Fact-checking human sacrifice

From time to time our in-box around these parts begins to overflow with thoughtful, knowledge-adding, and/or hilarious emails that are either too unwieldy to read on air or too good to hold onto. That’s when we slop ‘em into a Bucket, subject them to some slight editing, and append any & all reactions in italics. Priority, obviously, goes to those who can elicit the most dings….

Lesssgo:

From: Brian S.

Subject: Hamas Didn’t Want My Tuna

Date: Sept. 30, 2025

Hi Gents,

I listened to your great John Spencer interview, and wanted to weigh in with my lived experience on the Gaza starvation narrative.

I was in Cyprus in March/April 2024 with my NGO and the United Arab Emirates, as part of a logistics team loading pallets of food onto a Gaza-bound barge and cargo ship.

During that time, social media had no shortage of unscrupulous, clout-chasing shitsticks confidently asserting that there was absolutely no relief effort happening. According to these wizards, it was a false-flag operation designed to mask the intentional starvation of the Gazan citizenry. These bullshit allegations were liked and shared by many thousands -- who then rushed to comment on our NGO’s social media to tell us that we were frauds.

It was surreal to say the least, and more than disheartening. Meanwhile, my colleagues and I were shuffling half-ton food pallets around a 93-degree warehouse while being shat upon by asshole Cypriot pigeons.

At the very same time the Temu Goebbels gang was serving up their codswallop, we were receiving directives -- from Gaza -- of what foods they didn’t want us to send.

“No more canned tuna” sure doesn’t sound like something you’d say when malnourished and food insecure. Right? But what do I know?

I should also note that the IDF was a necessary part of our logistics chain, scanning every single pallet we sent, and occasionally slicing a perfectly wrapped one open to make sure that we were sending flour, and not gunpowder or tunnels.

The fact that IDF were present at a food-lift operation hints that they may need to up their genocide game.

The sad reality is that the average, objective, truth-seeking individual is grossly outnumbered by the teeming masses of incredibly vocal know-nothings, whose execrable emissions are bolstered by cheerleading simpletons, and a largely activist media with a narrative to push.

One should view any and all claims related to this conflict with intense scrutiny.

(Thank you for your service, your testimony, and above all your grade-A vocabulary.)

*

From: Will R.

Subject: The Human Sacrifices at Cahokia Might Have Been a Dedication Ceremony

Date: Oct. 2, 2025

Hey Matt,

I recently caught the conversation you had with Luke Kemp, and I had to mail in. I grew up in Central Illinois about an hour or so drive from Cahokia, and while I am not an expert, I did take classes from the archeologists in college who excavated the site, and have kept up with the literature since then. In fact, when you said you were headed to Cahokia, I sent you my collected notes on the Mound Builders via X, some of which I’ve cited in this email.

To be fair, I haven’t read the book, so my comments are just focused on the conversation. Still, there are a lot of important addendums and additions that I think are relevant.

As Kemp mentioned, there were human sacrifices at Cahokia. But I think he underplayed what made them so unique. For one, they are all located in Mound 72, which is aligned 30 degrees off the east/west line, the summer solstice sunrise/winter solstice sunset. The rest of the mounds are aligned 5 degrees off true north, which at the time would have been cardinal north.

Mound 72 is also unique because it was built in a space once occupied by a woodhenge that was relocated about 2,000 feet from its original position. Interestingly enough, there is a completely different site, almost exactly like it, roughly four miles away. An old woodhenge was pulled up and in its place was dug a pit with human sacrifices. Research on these two sites places both events at the start of the massive growth period for Cahokia, what Tim Pauketat calls the Big Bang. The researchers interpret this as evidence that the people’s religious beliefs and social structure were dramatically shifting as they built one of the largest pre-Columbian cities in North America. But I like to think it might have been a kind of dedication ceremony.

Kemp however misfires when he claims that the fall of Cahokia was due to environmental factors. This was the going theory about 10 years ago, but the evidence just doesn’t stack up anymore.

At first, archaeologists thought that Cahokia may have undergone excessive deforestation, leading to soil loss and flooding. But work published in 2021, covered by the New York Times, has called into question that theory. You can find more on that here. Climate change was also a going theory for a while, but a spat of research, including this paper published in 2024, finds no support for this model: “We saw no evidence that prairie grasses were taking over [fields], which we would expect in a scenario where widespread crop failure was occurring.”

I am most convinced by a theory advocated by Emerson and Hedman (2015), in a comprehensive chapter on the collapse of Cahokia. As they write,

We present new bioarchaeological evidence that demonstrates that as many as one-third of the Cahokian residents were immigrants and that these immigrants likely represented groups that were culturally, ethnically, and perhaps linguistically distinct from local populations. Given the lack of a smoking gun implicating environmental-derived factors, we posit that internal divisions among social, political, ethnic, and religious factions provide a more reasonable description of events that led to Cahokia’s dissolution.

I also want to add an important addendum to what Kemp said. While it is true that Cahokia mounds remained unoccupied for a time, the surrounding region was quickly occupied. It is around the time of the Mound Culture collapse that the Osage is suspected to have moved from Kentucky into the current day Missouri. Besides, the American Bottom region only makes sense to settle if you are planting maize or the Eastern Agricultural Complex. Bison wouldn’t start coming into the region until the ~1400s, and when that did happen, the Illiniwek quickly settled what is now Kaskaskia in the floodplain.

One final thing: If you ever make the drive east, I would highly suggest visiting Serpent Mound in Ohio. It is off the beaten path, but these structures were built in middle of a massive meteor crater, near an area where mastodons were once hunted.

Otherwise, keep up the good work!

(Indeed we *did* visit the amazing Serpent Mound, just prior to striding up that big-ass Cahokia pyramid [the rest of that museum was closed] back in March. Is this a good place to confess that I learned about both sites by watching Ancient Apocalypse? Which brings me to an important side point: Say what you will about the tenets of the Younger Dryas impact hypothesis, throwing some sweet Netflix production cash at the wonders of our own continent is an effective way to drum up interest in stuff that every American should know, yet sadly does not.

Emails like these are precisely why we have the ‘Bucket; thank you for it!)

*

From: Laura S.

Subject: Moynihan Taught Me!

Date: Oct. 15, 2025

Bringing back an old chestnut to help Michael feel better!

I believe I heard on the last episode Michael lamenting that either nobody’s opinion changes, or that you have not changed anyone’s opinions. I am a perfect example of how shows like The Fifth Column matter.

I’ve been pretty moderate my whole life, but drifted left in my 20s and 30s, mostly because I was a military spouse and the war in Iraq in particular left me furious at neocons. And I hated Trump during the 2016 elections. When he won, I must cop to a couple solid years of TDS, which I feel is kind of justifiable. More shamefully though, I thought anyone who voted for him must be an idiot. This despite being raised in a very Trumpy region of the country.

Then COVID hit. I started listening to podcasts as a cope. Not many at first, but my all-time favorite, Andrew Sullivan, was a must-listen every week. I heard the famous “tidal pool” episode and started to listen to you guys because you were funny and a lot of what you said about COVID was ringing true to me.

Listening to your show made me want to go and find more content. So I went back and listened to some of Michael’s interviews with Trump supporters. I realized that so many of them were like the people I grew up with, and they were voting for perfectly logical reasons. My hometown also was devastated by NAFTA and the collapse of the steel industry. Michael’s interviews with people who felt left out of the American dream rang true.

I am not a Trump voter, but my opinion of his supporters has changed drastically. And the Democratic Party has completely lost me. If there were any such thing as a moderate Libertarian party, I think that’s where I would fit? Doesn’t matter -- I just want you all, and especially Michael, to know that your/his work does matter and it does change minds. When it’s done with empathy and clarity. Thanks, guys.

(No thank YOU, Laura! But please stop trying to make Michael feel better; it’s a lost cause.

Speaking just for myself, political homelessness can be pretty comfortable after a while. Helps keep you [theoretically] sane, while all others are frothing and speaking in tongues. At the very least, it encourages you to de-emphasize political identity and team-membership in human relations, which I think is not just healthy, but a pre-condition for getting to a healthier national place. Blame the politicians and political hustlers and bureaucrats and busybodies first, and be charitable/humble enough about mere voters to recognize that voting-rationales are like assholes -- everybody’s got one, and they all stink!)

*

From: Ezra W.

Subject: Anal Cunt Fandom

Date: Oct. 12, 2025

Gents,

Long-time paying subscriber here. Drinking an Old Fashioned with mezcal because, somehow, it feels like if I make all the cocktails Suderman posts, I’m getting full value out of my subscription to his Substack. Now that I think about it, this setup is just costing me more money with every bottle of obscure, bitter booze I purchase to try his recipes. Fuck me.

I was thrilled to hear that M.M. is an Anal Cunt fan. Back in ‘06, I was doing freelance music blurbs for my local arts paper. AxCx was coming to town, and I got the assignment (requested, actually) to write the preview. Below is my submission as published. Get a load of the opening band names! It was a great fucking show.

Love you guys to bits,

Anal Cunt with Meat Shits, Waco Jesus, Circle of Dead Children, Amoebic Dysentery, Unregistered Sex Offender, Estuary and more

Saturday · Sudsy Malone’s

In late 2004, while Jeb Bush and the Florida Supreme Court were battling over Terri Schiavo’s feeding tube, another plug was almost pulled. This one was keeping Anal Cunt frontman Seth Putnam alive. Following a drug-fueled flirtation with suicide, Putnam decided he needed to get some rest and that a few handfuls of sleeping pills were just the ticket. The nap turned into a coma that lasted for almost two months, with doctors proclaiming the whole time that he would be a vegetable if he ever awoke. Meanwhile, Anal Cunt fans were simultaneously mourning and enjoying the delicious irony that Putnam, the godfather of Hate Metal, had penned the tune “You’re in a Coma,” one of hundreds of purposefully offensive, under-a-minute Grindcore detonations in the Anal Cunt (or AxCx for those bothered by the language) catalog.

Their reign of terror began in 1988, with Putnam putting together the band as a one-off joke, just one in a long line of such projects he’d invented for a single gig or recording. But this time, the joke took on a life of its own and, before they could back out, the Speed-Noise trio was touring the U.S. and selling copies of their “debut,” 47 Song Demo. Imitators began multiplying as quickly as fans, with a whole generation of Punk stock realizing that there were no boundaries on this new frontier of tastelessness. With Putnam at the helm, AxCx endured over a decade of lineup changes, label woes and enough real-life outrageousness to fill 10 Spinal Tap sequels, all the while doing little to change their formula of comical irreverence set to blast beats. They officially called it quits in 2001 but were resurrected two years later, having a fairly successful run when Putnam’s “accident” occurred. In the year and a half since, he’s focused primarily on physical rehabilitation. There have been a handful of AxCx shows, and the band is promising a new album this summer. For now, Cincy fans are as lucky to get this glimpse of these Hatecore legends as Putnam is to be alive. (EW)

(Fan-fucking-tastic. Thank you!)

*

From: Matt N.

Subject: Uncle Donny’s Frog Boil

Date: Oct. 13, 2025

Fellas,

I’ve been subscribed for a little over 2.5 years as an Anywhere-I-Can-Get-An-Aisle-Seat member (i.e., not Never Fly Coach), and one of my favorite things about the pod is that it reliably offers sober (ha!) perspectives when the rest of the commentariat is soiling diaper after diaper.

As a reformed millennial progressive who soiled a diaper or three during Trump 1.0, I find myself worryingly numb to the transgressions of Trump 2.0.

Take immigration enforcement, for example. The left says these are illegal detainments of non-white people that eschew due process, while the right folds its arms and says this is just federal agents doing their jobs to get illegal immigrant criminals off the streets.

The truth is somewhere in between. I stand closer to the left side of this issue, but I feel the pull of the right -- and then stare deep into the gray void and feel the complacency settle in.

I appreciated Michael’s mea culpa on a recent episode in which he admits he underestimated the sycophancy and unrestrained buffoonery of Trump 2.0. And with that in mind, I worry that we of the political middle -- so nauseated by the activism that has defined the past decade -- may not realize before it’s too late that we are cooked.

Use whatever parable you like -- the boy who cried wolf, the frog boiling in water -- but I am feeling the need to become a bit more vigilant. Maybe it’s the One Battle After Another afterglow talking.

History comforts us with the truth that most of this is, in fact, precedented, e.g., the ‘60s were wilder than 2020, not to mention the 1860s.

But, it does seem unprecedented that our executive is so disinterested in the basic virtues of the American Project. That sets off the alarm bells for me. I’ll finally get to my question: do you also worry about complacency? What would turn the alarm bells into a full air raid siren? Is it some kind of election coup in 2026 or 2028? A step too far into lawfare?

This message is not to accuse you of complacency or of writing off this administration’s transgressions. I know your poor producer has dug through many gigabytes of mono-, dia-, tri?-, poly?-logues about Trump’s various oversteppings.

I think we’re all grateful that TFC is not a place for activism. Sure, there’s Be Brave, Call Bullshit. But we all know that comes with an asterisk or two. Anywho, what say you on this topic of complacency?

(Complacency is ultimately in the eye of the beholder, and I am not overfond of telling people how to think and act, especially about politics. That said, my hope is to be useful, and to that end I’d highlight four past pieces of writing that suggest practical ways of thinking through Trump-related controversies:

1) “The 5-Step Process for Playing Defense Against Trump’s Bad Ideas,” Dec. 5, 2016

2) “FCC Chair Preemptively Rubbishes Trump’s Dumb Tweet About Challenging Media Licenses,” Oct. 11, 2017

3) “Don’t Feed President Troll,” Feb. 17, 2018

4) “The Alarmingly High, Frustratingly Unknown Stakes of Election 2024,” Nov. 5, 2024

All of these are basically attempts to subject possible threats to a likelihood test, in such a way that hopefully focuses the mind on substance more than the president’s distracting style. Re-reading them is a reminder that in many ways, the most important or worrying of my 5 Steps for Playing Defense Against Trump is #5, which is: “How might he be changing the political conversation in such a way to make what is currently unlikely possible?” He has changed the Overton Window so much that the year 2029 is just not likely to resemble anything like 2014; I think mostly for the worse, though there’s no use crying about it, or pining for some lost Golden Era.

I see my role, as ever, in helping citizens play defense against their government, and just to hopefully understand things a tad bit better. The civic challenge, it seems to me, is largely to rebuild some of the societal, non-governmental ties that have come undone, recover some citizen self-respect, and get on with building what comes next. But, YMMW.)

*

From: Stephen M.

Subject: Trying to Find the Truth About Portland

Date: Oct. 10, 2025

Hey fellas,

Let’s just get this out of the way: I’m not a paid subscriber, but it’s only because I live in Portland and my taxes are too damn high.

As I was driving in to downtown this morning, I had #527 on, and was heartened to hear you guys move past the caricatures of what’s happening at Portland’s ICE facility. Granted my commute is only 10 minutes, so you may yet get to some of this, but as a millennial I guess it’s my prerogative to comment before listening to the whole thing.

There are a couple of twists in this story that I think you’d all find interesting and that I think helps frame the truth about Portland in the midst of a lot of unhelpful TikTokified rhetoric.

First, Portland has been circling the toilet drain for a decade at least. In 2015 our then-mayor, Charlie Hales, changed the city code in such a way that we’ve been unable to enforce camping bans (there are contributing factors that have risen up through the courts that I know you’re all aware of).

Obviously, we juiced our dysfunction with literal amphetamines when we decriminalized hard drugs. Unsurprisingly, the extended rioting in 2020 was a fucking nightmare to live through here, but it can’t be overstated just how much poisonous toothpaste our elected leaders here have blasted into our civic life, and ain’t none of it going back in the tube.

As for what’s been happening down at the ICE facility at our South Waterfront: is it a warzone? Hardly. Is it peaceful? Absolutely not. After weeks of dealing with antifa rioters who made a homemade noise weapon and were using it all hours day and night, a school was forced to leave (they’re good Portlanders though, so they blamed ICE), and a woman sued the city to enforce the noise ordinance.

The judge ruled that the city has the right to not enforce its laws and that was that. The woman who brought the lawsuit has been harassed, threatened, she’s had people try to break into her apartment. Portland police have been effectively non-responsive until now.

I think for me what’s been frustrating to watch as this plays out in national media is that Trump is Trumping -- he’s exaggerating grossly, he’s ratcheting up rather than de-escalating, all the usual bullshit. But the Left is just fucking lying. Portland is not thriving.

My office is directly across the street from our Central Library where a man was shot and killed in broad daylight a couple months ago. Another guy was stabbed and beat with skateboards (I don’t think that was Moynihan’s friend??) a few weeks back, also in the middle of the day. I dodge fenny and meth smoke, human excrement, and piles of trash on the reg.

So yes, what’s happening is nowhere near the scale of 2020. But why should even one city block become a lawless, menacing place? Why should even one resident have to deal with noise all night for 100+ nights, and be threatened and harassed only to have a police force and entire legal system that simply shrugs it off?

I was in a meeting with Chief Bob Day last night -- he’s a good guy in an impossible situation. Much like him, I don’t want to see troops in the streets of my city, but I’d much rather that than the multifaceted dehumanization that exists on so many sidewalks here. I don’t want a police state, but dammit the Democratic Party out here has lost their damn minds and are apparently just completely unable to govern.

The sad truth is, I live in a city with two legal systems. If you have a job and a house and pay your taxes, you’re expected to follow the law, and you’ll be fined or arrested if you don’t. If you don’t have a job or a house or pay your taxes, you can basically do whatever the fuck you want whenever the fuck you want to do it. We’re in social freefall.

OK, that’s long enough. I’m not even sure what the purpose of this email is other than to try to bear witness to the ongoing insanity and heartbreak of my hometown.

Thanks for all the work you fellas are doing. Keep it up and keep drinking.

(1. Please note that, because of your laggard subscriber status, this email comes last. 2. Also, STOP EMAILING BEFORE LISTENTING TO THE WHOLE THING!! Sorry, habit. 3. Bearing witness is why we do Mailbuckets! Also, it happens that I have an answer for your subject line.

I’m admittedly biased, but friend, ex-landlord, and still listener-boozekeeper of the pod, Nancy Rommelmann, has consistently done the best reporting I’ve seen about Portland over the past decade. Just yesterday, she published a ginormous bit of reportage on recent Portlandia over at RealClear Investigations (I prefer the version she posted on her Substack). You won’t [and shouldn’t] necessarily agree with it all, but she approaches the subject honestly, with deep local knowledge & reportorial vigor.

Having lived the past 28 years in three serially misgoverned American cities [Los Angeles, the District of Columbia, New York], I feel -- and smell! -- your civic frustrations viscerally. But this country is too big, and the federal government already too overstretched/inefficient, to have a national police force always at the ready to correct local dysfunction. Influence what you can, and if it gets too bad, leave, is my counsel, rather than feed the already overstuffed and increasingly erratic beast in Washington.

Until next ‘Bucket!)