site banner
PaperclipPerfector  4d ago (text post)   2373 thread views

Friday Fun Thread for March 27, 2026

Be advised: this thread is not for serious in-depth discussion of weighty topics (we have a link for that), this thread is not for anything Culture War related. This thread is for Fun. You got jokes? Share 'em. You got silly questions? Ask 'em.

2
Top Bottom Old Controversial Comments
Jump in the discussion.

No email address required.

What are your best War podcasts? I'm looking to Monitor the Situation, but all the podcasts I normally listen to are entirely too biased, either engaging in TDS, engaging in performative anti-TDS, or Israel blaming/defending to degrees I find distasteful. I want real conflict examination.

I like war nerd and ACOUP's content but I'm not going to pay for the Patreon to get a podcast, for context. I like the modern war institute podcast, but they don't release enough.

Parts of Hardcore History. Not strictly war or a podcast but always liked Historia Civilis. Again not really a podcast but Shawn Ryan or Jocko Willink. You could also check out IRGC affiliated X accounts. The selfies they take just before launching missiles at Israel are pretty funny. Or check Telegram channels to see Russian’s war footage on the Ukrainian front lines.

I’m not really a war guy.

Ugh. Historia Civilis is so frustrating! He makes great videos, well animated, well narrated, but takes increasingly long breaks between them (now up to 6 months!), and has become increasingly ideological across the lifetime of his channel.

Used to be that he just had a forgivable historian's bias for a few things here and there. (admires Agrippa, dislikes Octavian) Now, he puts out ahistorical propaganda pieces like Work, and his progressive/lib bias overshadows the history in videos like Reform or Revolution? 1830 to 1832.

I used to think about subscribing to his Patreon to support his content because I enjoyed it but he takes far too long of a recess in making videos. I agree with you. I’ve also see what I thought were insertions of his own personal opinions in his playlist about Caesar that I didn’t like very much, and struck me as somewhat political. Granted they were lowkey, but I still noticed them immediately. I would probably agree with him however in his opinions about Agrippa, as I’m favorable to him as well. I’m ambivalent about Octavian.

and his progressive/lib bias overshadows the history in videos like Reform or Revolution? 1830 to 1832.

I honestly found the last part of that video particularly funny, as it's his side (progressive/the current Establishment) that has been standing in the way and blocking elections from being won/any reform from occurring.

I doubt he'd've condemned it if he understood the full implication, but most progressives are invested in not understanding that, which is why they still call themselves "liberals".

Could be worse, could be Mike Duncan.

The History of Rome guy? I didn't sense any egregious shitlibbery from him when I listened to that podcast.

He claims to have been "radicalized" during the Revolutions podcast researching the Haitian revolution, though I suspect it was a long slow metamorphosis into being a boomerlib (the sections of the Revolutions pod on Indians and slavery in the American Revolution are also extremely cringe). His tweets today are something about how there's no ethical consumption under capitalism but it's particularly unjustifiable to be a Yankees fan, and then as you scroll down it's the worst redditshit you can imagine ("You'll be shocked to learn the guy who popped up to defend Pete Rose's honor and scold me for being insensitive spends his time on twitter harassing transwomen and spewing invective against Muslims").

I suspect his 'radicalized' story is false. I've listened to the Haitian story of the podcast, including the end where he narrates the history of Haiti, and he's not exactly a Haiti apologist. He doesn't sanitize or downplay the crimes either the biracial population or slave population committed, and he never particularly emphasizes foreign depredations in Haiti's history either. If anything, once the French are kicked out he seems more sympathetic to the biracial leaders than the pure black leaders. He didn't present a sob story for Latin American independence either.

What is this place?

This website is a place for people who want to move past shady thinking and test their ideas in a court of people who don't all share the same biases. Our goal is to optimize for light, not heat; this is a group effort, and all commentators are asked to do their part.

The weekly Culture War threads host the most controversial topics and are the most visible aspect of The Motte. However, many other topics are appropriate here. We encourage people to post anything related to science, politics, or philosophy; if in doubt, post!

Check out The Vault for an archive of old quality posts. You are encouraged to crosspost these elsewhere.


Why are you called The Motte?

A motte is a stone keep on a raised earthwork common in early medieval fortifications. More pertinently, it's an element in a rhetorical move called a "Motte-and-Bailey", originally identified by philosopher Nicholas Shackel. It describes the tendency in discourse for people to move from a controversial but high value claim to a defensible but less exciting one upon any resistance to the former. He likens this to the medieval fortification, where a desirable land (the bailey) is abandoned when in danger for the more easily defended motte. In Shackel's words, "The Motte represents the defensible but undesired propositions to which one retreats when hard pressed."

On The Motte, always attempt to remain inside your defensible territory, even if you are not being pressed.


New post guidelines

If you're posting something that isn't related to the culture war, we encourage you to post a thread for it. A submission statement is highly appreciated, but isn't necessary for text posts or links to largely-text posts such as blogs or news articles; if we're unsure of the value of your post, we might remove it until you add a submission statement. A submission statement is required for non-text sources (videos, podcasts, images).

Culture war posts go in the culture war thread; all links must either include a submission statement or significant commentary. Bare links without those will be removed.

If in doubt, please post it!


Rules


Recommended Posts And Communities

Recommended Realtime Chats