Oops! All Talarico Talk

Autocratic Despair: The Podcast · Jun 11, 2026 · 53m · transcript

We had a whole episode planned. A Delaney Hall follow-up with court receipts. A cold open about a flesh-eating parasite crawling north through Texas. A thing about active clubs. And then, on Monday, James Talarico opened his mouth on a podcast — and broke our format in half.

So this week is exactly what it says on the box. No filler. All Talarico. The way they used to do it before they ruined the cereal.

The Number. Dr. Craig comes in at a 4.5 — and reminds us his scale is logarithmic, so that's worse than it sounds. The despair has a specific source this week, and by the end he's describing…