Pantsuit Politics
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Fighting Nihilism in a Broken News Cycle — And Why the Smut Renaissance Makes Total Sense
Posted
March 27, 2026
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March 27, 2026
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59:51Now PlayingWhen we look at the news right now — Iran, the airports, the corruption, the measles — it's tempting to decide none of it matters because, individually, we can't fix any of it. Nihilism is tempting, and we talk about how sometimes nihilism represents pride, but maybe in the right dose, it’s more like humility. Either way, “nothing matters” is being proven wrong every day. Special elections are producing surprising results. Courts are holding tech companies accountable. And people are figuring it out when institutions fail (I’m especially moved by the story of an underground railroad set up to bring Ukrainian children home from Russia). I say in this episode that my emotional cocktail has a splash of nihilism in it. But the main ingredient is my conviction that our attention and our care and our efforts make a difference.
Plus: please clap for my favorite segue in the history of Pantsuit Politics. From: “perhaps we aren’t sleepwalking into a dystopian nightmare” to “are we in a smut renaissance?” facilitated by the shelving of an erotic chatbot. If this doesn’t end your Friday with joy, I don’t know what will. -Beth
Topics Discussed:
-Nihilism is Having A Moment
-Signs of Hope
-Outside of Politics: Smut Renaissance
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