Transcript- America This Week, Dec 5, 2025: "Murder, War, or What? The Venezuela Conundrum"
Deep Dives
Explore related topics with these Wikipedia articles, rewritten for enjoyable reading:
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Lou Gehrig
14 min read
The hosts make extensive reference to Lou Gehrig as a symbol of perseverance and 'never quitting,' with Walter Kirn invoking Gehrig's famous farewell speech. Understanding Gehrig's career, his consecutive games streak, and his tragic ALS diagnosis provides essential context for this cultural metaphor.
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High Noon
16 min read
Walter Kirn describes how the Gary Cooper film High Noon became an iconic symbol of freedom and defiance in post-Soviet Poland, with the image appearing on buttons and cups during Solidarity. This 1952 Western's themes of moral courage and standing alone against threats resonated globally during the Cold War.
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Law of war
13 min read
The central controversy discussed involves whether firing on shipwreck survivors constitutes a war crime. The article references the Pentagon's Law of Armed Conflict manual and specific prohibitions like shooting at parachuting pilots or the wounded. Understanding the Geneva Conventions and laws of armed conflict is essential context for this debate.
Matt Taibbi: All right. Welcome to America This Week. I’m Matt Taibbi.
Walter Kirn: I’m Walter Kirn.
Matt Taibbi: Who still is sick, but he’s Lou Gehrig-ing it.
Walter Kirn: I decided to Lou Gehrig it for my own ego because my dad raised me on the pride of the Yankees. He knew I wasn’t very good at sports, but he could at least inculcate stubbornness in me and make sure that I showed up for every game. And so now, even though I’m as really ill as I’ve been I think in 20 years, both my wife and I have not been up off the ground really for four days now, fevers that won’t go away, body aches that make your clothes feel like they’re hurting you, every place where your skin touches, even soft cloth just drives you nuts, and I made the perverse decision last night that I’m going to do a show in that condition and everyone’s going to see what it’s like. They’re going to see me at my worst, and maybe one little kid out there, one little kid way out at the edge of the field is going to say, “Yeah, but that guy never quits.”
Matt Taibbi: That’s right.
Walter Kirn: And that’s what I want to be, I want to be the guy who never quits.
Matt Taibbi: Goddammit, that’s right.
Walter Kirn: Dammit, dammit. And then maybe, let’s hope this doesn’t happen, but at some future America This Week show years from now, I can come out on the field and give a big speech-
Matt Taibbi: That’s right.
Walter Kirn: ... having never missed a show. But the thing about, Matt, is you are like my father, a catcher in baseball and a center in football. Was that true?
Matt Taibbi: No, no, no, I never played football.
Walter Kirn: You never played football. My dad-
Matt Taibbi: Well, I mean... Mm-hmm.
Walter Kirn: My dad was a center in football which is like a catcher in baseball. You’re in on every play offensively. They’re both positions which are supposed to be secretly running everybody else. From their hard-knock brutality and just getting in there, they’re also thinking up and generaling the whole thing, right?
Matt Taibbi: Mm-hmm.
Walter Kirn: So let’s say that to the catcher.
Matt Taibbi: 53’s the Mike, yeah, although you
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