Overview of Red Scare — “Call Her Pregnant”
In this episode, the hosts bounce between personal updates, career fantasy-planning, pop culture criticism, fashion shopping habits, and broader reflections on aging, femininity, and public image. The conversation moves from Dasha’s law school ambitions and “Brick” app-induced self-discipline to a long appreciation of Lost in Translation, a discussion of Léa Seydoux’s acting philosophy, a defense of Alex Cooper’s marriage/pregnancy, and a skeptical look at UFO “disclosures.” The overall tone is playful, self-aware, and opinionated, with recurring themes of identity, performance, and wanting a meaningful structure in adult life.
Career Anxiety, Discipline, and “Adult Reinvention”
The opening stretches center on the hosts joking about whether it’s too late to start new careers.
- Dasha seriously-to-jokingly considers:
- law school,
- becoming a defense attorney,
- architecture,
- the military,
- politics,
- or getting another degree.
- They frame law school as appealing because it offers:
- structure,
- purpose,
- discipline,
- and a chance to “straighten out” life.
- The “Brick” app, which limits phone use, is presented as a small but meaningful life reset that could improve focus and self-control.
They also riff on the idea of starting a law firm together, with the joke being that they would probably lose every case but market themselves as rebellious “canceled” celebrity attorneys.
Fashion, Shopping, and the Joy of Consumption
A large portion of the episode is spent on clothes, resale apps, and shopping as a mood regulator.
- The hosts compare:
- Mango vs. Zara,
- The RealReal vs. ThredUp,
- eBay, Depop, Etsy, and Mango Outlet.
- ThredUp is described as especially satisfying because it enables bulk buying of low-cost, nostalgic, early-2000s mall brands.
- They joke about:
- “dress for the job you want,”
- wearing pencil skirts and blazers as pseudo-office cosplay,
- and reorganizing wardrobes with Marie Kondo-like intensity.
Shopping is portrayed as both a real pleasure and a coping mechanism for boredom, irritability, and bodily discomfort.
Lost in Translation, Art Criticism, and Meaning in Culture
The hosts spend significant time on Lost in Translation, treating it as a nearly perfect film.
Why they admire it
- They praise it as a tender, funny, and emotionally precise portrait of loneliness, marriage, and dislocation.
- They reject a cynical reading that reduces it to a predatory age-gap fantasy.
- They highlight the film’s:
- visual elegance,
- emotional restraint,
- and sympathetic treatment of all its main characters.
Wider point about criticism
They use the film discussion to expand into a larger argument about criticism:
- Art criticism is framed as a “failed” or thwarted art form.
- Great critics often blur the line between criticism and creation.
- They discuss figures like:
- Dave Hickey,
- Jerry Saltz,
- Paul Schrader,
- Nick Pinkerton.
The argument is that the best critics are often artists in another form, or people who use criticism as a medium for self-expression.
Léa Seydoux, Acting, and the Need to Be Seen
A major thread is their reaction to Léa Seydoux’s interview about why she became an actress.
Key ideas from the discussion
- Seydoux says she became an actress because she wanted to “exist” and be documented.
- The hosts read this as an unusually honest statement about performance and selfhood.
- They connect her comments to broader ideas from:
- John Berger,
- Camille Paglia,
- Quentin Crisp,
- and the concept that women and gay men often have a talent for “being” rather than “doing.”
Their take on acting
- Acting is described as especially appealing to shy people who want to be seen on their own terms.
- The best actresses, in their view, often:
- have less rigid identities,
- can inhabit roles without over-identifying with a fixed self,
- and are less inhibited than average.
- They contrast European/French actresses with contemporary American performers, whom they criticize as over-socialized, image-managed, and lacking personality.
They also note that Seydoux’s comments feel especially resonant because she is promoting films dealing with identity, dissociation, and embodiment.
Femininity, Vanity, and the Performance of Effortlessness
The hosts repeatedly return to the idea that women are expected to appear natural while putting significant effort into their appearance.
- They describe this as a kind of “ruse”:
- looking effortless,
- while carefully managing beauty and image.
- Seydoux is admired because she seems:
- calm,
- private,
- aristocratic,
- and not overly calculated.
- They contrast that with social media culture, where too much self-exposure destroys mystique.
This section ties into a larger theme of the episode: the tension between wanting to be seen and wanting to remain mysterious.
Alex Cooper, “Call Her Daddy,” and Sex-Positive Branding
The episode title is a reference to a discussion of Alex Cooper, who is pregnant and married.
Their view of the backlash
- They note that some people were angry because Cooper’s public persona has long centered on hookup culture and casual sex.
- Their take is mostly dismissive:
- women can be sexually open in their 20s and settle down later,
- having a “slutty” public image does not disqualify someone from marriage or motherhood.
Larger critique
- They suggest that Cooper is more of a cultural reflector than an extremist:
- not a radical,
- not a kink niche host,
- just a mid-market interviewer serving her audience.
- They also criticize a trend they call the “frigid whore”:
- someone who performs sexual openness but is actually mechanical, resentful, or performative about it.
The hosts distinguish between:
- blunt, sensual sexual openness, which they say men like,
- and vulgar, boy-ish bragging about sex, which they find unattractive.
Female Comedians, Vulgarity, and the Limits of “Blue Humor”
The conversation broadens into a critique of women in comedy.
- They argue that female comedians often rely too heavily on sexual material, shock, and bodily anecdotes.
- They see this as a cheap way to seize attention on stage.
- Some examples mentioned or implied:
- Sarah Silverman is treated more favorably,
- Maria Bamford is praised,
- Whitney Cummings is mocked,
- Lisa Lampanelli is remembered for crude but sometimes funny material.
Their broader point is that women in comedy often get pushed toward vulgar self-exposure because the medium rewards instant attention, but that it frequently feels forced.
Dating, Status, and the Problem of High-Achieving Women
Another recurring theme is how success changes the dating market.
- They argue that women with money, fame, or status often have a harder time finding good partners.
- The risk is attracting:
- users,
- gigolos,
- career opportunists,
- or people interested in image rather than substance.
- They also discuss how male and female lottery winners behave differently:
- men tend to marry and have children more readily,
- women do not, which they interpret as evidence that empowering women economically can reduce family formation.
They use literature and social theory to support this, referencing Moravia’s Time of Indifference as an example of wealthy women, jealousy, and social power.
UFO Disclosures, Government Transparency, and Spiritual Interpretation
The back half of the episode turns to UFO disclosures and Trump’s release of more files.
Their skepticism
- They are broadly uninterested in the government’s “disclosure” theater.
- They doubt that the public is being told anything meaningful.
- They see the released files as:
- mostly recycled material,
- heavily redacted,
- and politically convenient.
Broader perspective
- They discuss the idea that UFO lore functions like:
- a folk religion,
- a modern mythology,
- or a substitute for spiritual meaning in a secular age.
- They note that religious thinkers, especially in Christian tradition, often interpret strange aerial phenomena as potentially demonic rather than extraterrestrial.
They ultimately land on a middle position:
- extraterrestrial life may well exist,
- but the government is unlikely to tell the truth,
- and the whole subject is as much about belief and projection as it is about evidence.
Notable Takeaways
- Structure can be liberating: both hosts treat discipline, schooling, and adult commitments as ways to escape drift and boredom.
- Performance is central to modern life: whether in acting, fashion, sex positivity, or social media, the episode keeps returning to the idea that identity is curated.
- Women’s visibility comes with tradeoffs: fame, beauty, and success are empowering, but they also complicate privacy, dating, and selfhood.
- Culture is read through psychology: films, interviews, and internet discourse are treated less as content than as windows into desire, vanity, fear, and status.
- They trust style over sincerity: they consistently prefer people who seem graceful, understated, and self-possessed over those who overexplain themselves.
Side Notes and Running Jokes
- Mango and ThredUp become unlikely symbols of smart shopping and low-grade luxury.
- The hosts joke about “law firm branding” and “canceled celebrity attorneys.”
- They repeatedly mock overly earnest media discourse.
- The phrase “call her pregnant” becomes a playful title for the episode’s larger conversation about female image management and life transitions.