Workin’ for the Weekend #56: Baby Moynihan Meets Playboy Norberg, and Mike Pesca Was WRONG

Also: The Foxconn con, Eli Lake everywhere, and Noam Dworman goes HAM on Philip Bump

Start the edibles now—it’s a holiday weekend, and this is a LONG one….

* Before we get to the style—by which I do mean Episode #419 vet Johan Norberg’s baby-smooth Swedish face and requisite floppy hair, and more importantly Moynihan’s fit circa 2008—let us briefly indulge in a bit of substance. Starting with the apparently controversial take that Wisconsin’s Foxconn plant was not exactly the world’s greatest advertising for American industrial policy. Here’s the former Vice News employee on the topic, from 2019:

And here, from 2020, is Reason’s Zach Weissmueller:

* There will be so much more Swedish content below that I wanted to sneak in some Mike Pesca (#343, #418), admitting this past week that HE WUZ WRONG about the infamous Central Park Karen story. From The Gist’s episode description:

In May 2020, Amy Cooper had her dog off leash in New York City's Central Park, when a black bird watcher name Christian Cooper asked her to leash her dog. In response, Amy Cooper said she would call the police and tell them that "an African American man" was threatening her. A video of the incident went viral, and "the Central Park Karen" was born. Only, the story was more nuanced than the media had led many to believe about what had really transpired that day, and it was reporter Kmele Foster who dug into this story and found levels of detail which, upon reading it, made Mike rethink his position on this incident.

For more on the topic, please consult #187, #308, #321, #324, Special Dispatch #78, #325, Members Only #165, M.O. #172, as well as Workin’ for the Weekend #50.

* Our promiscuous pal Eli Lake (#52, #65, #141, #174, S.D. #51, #326, #368, #407) has been oot & aboot, including on the “News About the News” pod Ink Stained Wretches subbing in for Chris Stirewalt (#396) on an episode titled “Unblemished Record of Heterosexuality” (thanks Gabrielle G), as well as on The Reason Interview with Nick Gillespie (S.D. #72, #379), where he helped explore “the darkest corners of the deep state.” Did I mention that Nick is out mired in the Burning Man muck?

* Someone in the comments—and please do remember, the comments section, which is literally the best on the Internet, is available only to paying subscribers—recently asked for a little more what-you-can-expect from this weekly missive, so here’s a little foreshadowing of a near-future Fif’ topic: Reason’s Robby Soave (#332) wrote a piece this week critical of the 17-year sentence imposed on Proud Boys leader Andy Biggs:

In court, prosecutors argued that Biggs' actions certainly constituted terrorism because, though January 6 did not involve widespread destruction—exploding buildings, massive casualties—its impact on the nation's collective scarring is like that of a terrorist attack, they said. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jason McCullough argued that the psychological fallout from January 6 is "no different than the act of a spectacular bombing of a building."

The judge quibbled slightly with this argument—accusing prosecutors of "overstat[ing]" their case—but ultimately agreed in principle that "while blowing up a building in some city somewhere is a very bad act… the constitutional moment we were in that day is something that is so sensitive that it deserves a significant sentence."

This does not seem overly scientific. 

* Speaking of Mr. Soave, he had Mr. Norberg on this week to talk about that Cato Institute Sweden/Covid study:

* I honestly can’t believe we haven’t had Johan on the pod ‘til now. Here’s his Reason author page (including my favorite bit, “Bernie's Right—America Should Be More Like Sweden: But not in the way he thinks”). Here’s his current New and Improved series, his former Dead Wrong series, and—most importantly!—the link to his forthcoming book, The Capitalist Manifesto. You wanna whole mini-doc on the Swedish economy? Boom:  

* OK, OK, some hot Moynihan/Norberg action from the archives. In reverse chronological order, here’s a 2009 bit dissecting the Great Financial Crisis….

…. and Johan in 2008 defending his spiritual godfather Milton Friedman from the slurs of Naomi Klein….

…. and finally on the perennial topic, “Swedish Myths and Realities”:

* We are not remotely finished here, my little Droogies. Here’s a crabby piece I wrote this week: “Democrats Try To Whitewash Their Starring Role in School Closures.”

* Massive Fif’-fave crossover event alert: Ethan Strauss (#185, #333, #383, M.O. #151, #408) on Friday went on the Smoke ‘Em If You Got ‘Em podcast co-hosted by Sarah Hepola (#354) and Nancy Rommelmann (#79, S.D. #27, S.D. #30, #198, #203, S.D. #34, S.D. #50, S.D. #64 & S.D. #111), to talk about “how Nike ads went astray, what ‘The Blind Side’ scandal tells us about current racial politics, if men need sex-segregated spaces, and why Jordan will always be hotter than LeBron.” And if I can recommend a recent Fif’tastic pairing, please do couple Ethan’s new “ESPNmageddon on the table: Is this the tipping point for the sports giant?” with the latest from Ben Dreyfuss (#83, #97, #148, #214, M.O. #129, M.O. #140, #392), titled “Hollywood Writers Want Streaming Viewership Data. It Will Change Everything Forever.” Smart media people writing smart media things about The Great TV Unbundling.

* Our friend Noam Dworman, the intellectually tenacious and very sweet owner of The Comedy Cellar (and a terrific musician to boot), has a podcast called Live From the Table (Moynihan’s been on it). On Aug. 24, Noam invited Washington Post columnist Philip Bump, in part to discuss Bump’s persistent pooh-poohing of the Hunter Biden investigations as having anything potentially meaningful to do with the president of the United States. The interview … got contentious:

Bump’s curious incuriosity about the facts pertaining to the Bidens was noted by New York Post columnist (and Laptop From Hell author) Miranda Devine (“With his voice rising to soprano levels of panic and arms flailing, he was a man in distress for much of the hour-plus podcast”). After which Bump sniped on Twitter, “Not sure if the intent of this was explicitly to ask dimwitted questions repeatedly until I lost my patience, but it does seem to have paid off for the host!”

That was probably a mistake.

Dworman Thursday shot back, “Listen here, I’ve really had enough about this,” and, well, read the whole thread, which (of course!) included an invitation to come back on. Some of the ensuing headlines: “Washington Post’s Philip Bump Embarrasses Himself While Defending Joe Biden’s Corruption” (The Federalist), “Washington Post's Philip Bump Stumped By Hunter Biden Text About ‘Pop’ Getting 50%: ‘It's Circumstantial,’” (RealClearPolitics), “Bump Strikes Out at Those Questioning Prior False Claims” (Jonathan Turley), and so forth.

* Doubly pursuant to M.O. #178, Sara Thompson informs us that: “Elvis Costello sang ‘Tie Me Kangaroo Down’ on Frasier”:

* Further pursuant to the Rolf Harris discourse is this amazing find from L Brown:

* Comment of the Week comes from Chris McKeever:

I don’t care if Moynihan denies it...he read Eisenhower’s quote about Sweden being a country of suicide, high taxes and FREE SEX, and decided in that moment he would move there one day.

* Walkoff music is a whole damn show, the August 1972 pilot of The Midnight Special, to be exact, hosted by a country-rockin’-the-vote John Denver. Incredible scenes. (Thanks, Pete Morris!)