The China Syndrome

It’s a podcast about big things today! Our guest is Josh Rogin, author of Chaos Under Heaven: Trump, Xi, and the Battle for the Twenty-First Century. He takes us through our predicament with that big, menacing foe in the Far East; and warns against the current American tendency to allow the conflict with China to become another stage for political squabbling amongst ourselves. He and the hosts contemplate and debate the extent to which Cold War parallels are precise and our thinking ought be revised. The fellas also get into big spending and the progressive distaste for majorities, big or small.

Music from this week’s podcast: Everybody Wants To Rule The World by Weezer

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There are 55 comments.

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  1. BDB Inactive
    BDB
    @BDB

    […] Josh Rogin, author of Chaos Under Heaven: Trump, Xi, and the Battle for the Twenty-First Century.

    I suspect that I will not read the book.  Let’s see what happens in the podcast!

    • #1
  2. kedavis Coolidge
    kedavis
    @kedavis

    Tears For Fears > Weezer.

    Toto > Weezer.

    • #2
  3. BDB Inactive
    BDB
    @BDB

    kedavis (View Comment):

    Tears For Fears > Weezer.

    Toto > Weezer.

    Soft White Underbelly > Weezer.  
    But the sweater song is great.  

    • #3
  4. kedavis Coolidge
    kedavis
    @kedavis

    BDB (View Comment):

    kedavis (View Comment):

    Tears For Fears > Weezer.

    Toto > Weezer.

    Soft White Underbelly > Weezer.
    But the sweater song is great.

    Mostly I don’t get why people and radio stations play “Africa” by Weezer instead of Toto, or why anyone would want to hear “Everybody Wants To Rule The World” by Weezer instead of Tears For Fears.  (Maybe some people figure Tears For Fears got enough money already since Dennis Miller used it as the opening for his HBO show for years.  But Weezer seems to be doing okay too, without copying other bands.)

    Worst offender of all, though, is some idiot who goes by “P.M. Dawn” and ripped apart “True” by Spandau Ballet into something he claims is “his.”

    • #4
  5. BDB Inactive
    BDB
    @BDB

    Wow.  Didn’t even know Weezer had re-done these.  

    • #5
  6. kedavis Coolidge
    kedavis
    @kedavis

    BDB (View Comment):

    Wow. Didn’t even know Weezer had re-done these.

    If you’ve heard “Africa” recently especially on some kind of radio, it was probably Weezer not Toto.

    • #6
  7. Blue Yeti Admin
    Blue Yeti
    @BlueYeti

    BDB (View Comment):

    kedavis (View Comment):

    Tears For Fears > Weezer.

    Toto > Weezer.

    Soft White Underbelly > Weezer.
    But the sweater song is great.

    Everyone knows the original version, so no need for me to play it. And I like the heavier, guitar based Weezer cover. 

    • #7
  8. Blue Yeti Admin
    Blue Yeti
    @BlueYeti

    BDB (View Comment):

    Wow. Didn’t even know Weezer had re-done these.

    Case in point. ⬆️

    I think most of the covers on the Teal album are very good. I especially like their versions of Take On Me and Billie Jean. 

    • #8
  9. Blue Yeti Admin
    Blue Yeti
    @BlueYeti

    kedavis (View Comment):

    BDB (View Comment):

    kedavis (View Comment):

    Tears For Fears > Weezer.

    Toto > Weezer.

    Soft White Underbelly > Weezer.
    But the sweater song is great.

    Mostly I don’t get why people and radio stations play “Africa” by Weezer instead of Toto, or why anyone would want to hear “Everybody Wants To Rule The World” by Weezer instead of Tears For Fears. (Maybe some people figure Tears For Fears got enough money already since Dennis Miller used it as the opening for his HBO show for years. But Weezer seems to be doing okay too, without copying other bands.)

    Worst offender of all, though, is some idiot who goes by “P.M. Dawn” and ripped apart “True” by Spandau Ballet into something he claims is “his.”

    Because people like cover versions of songs. This is not a new phenomenon. And I can assure you that no one care how much money Tears For Fears got from allowing their song to be used as the theme of a long forgotten TV show. I can also assure that it wasn’t much. 

    • #9
  10. FredGoodhue Coolidge
    FredGoodhue
    @FredGoodhue

    BDB (View Comment):

    Wow. Didn’t even know Weezer had re-done these.

    I never heard of Weezer until now.  This just shows how little I know about current pop music.

    • #10
  11. EJHill Podcaster
    EJHill
    @EJHill

    Blue Yeti: Because people like cover versions of songs.

    Says the man who probably finds the cover of any Beatles song an anathema.

    • #11
  12. kedavis Coolidge
    kedavis
    @kedavis

    FredGoodhue (View Comment):

    BDB (View Comment):

    Wow. Didn’t even know Weezer had re-done these.

    I never heard of Weezer until now. This just shows how little I know about current pop music.

    They’ve been around for a while.  Not sure exactly how long, but this video was included on a lot of Windows 95 CDs:

     

    • #12
  13. Blue Yeti Admin
    Blue Yeti
    @BlueYeti

    EJHill (View Comment):

    Blue Yeti: Because people like cover versions of songs.

    Says the man who probably finds the cover of any Beatles song an anathema.

    Oh, you could not be more wrong about that. This is a completely separate topic and I do not want to hijack this thread, but I would recommend the entire album of Beatles covers put out by (the Minneapolis based, I believe) The Smithereens. It’s fantastic. Also, the soundtrack for a long forgotten movie called I Am Sam has some terrific Beatles covers on it (Vedder’s You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away is not to be missed).

    A few more off the top of my head:

    The Jam – And Your Bird Can Sing — Edgy and stripped down. Love it.

    Alison Krauss – I Will — a rare country version of a Beatles song. Gorgeous.

    U2’s version of Helter Skelter is a tribute to the power of the original and as Bono says at the top of it, steals the song back from Charles Manson.

    Richie Havens – Here Comes The Sun reinvents this Beatles standard from the ground up and Havens makes it his own. Really hard to do with the song that is the most streamed Beatles tune.

    Joe Cocker – With A Little Help From My Friends is iconic. Nothing else needs to be said. Of course, Cocker got a little help with becoming an icon from his friend John Belushi (kids, ask your dad).

    Johnny Cash – In My Life — John Lennon recorded this song in his twenties. It’s great, but the song carries a lot more resonance when sung by a guy in his 70’s near the end of his life.

     

    • #13
  14. Franco Member
    Franco
    @Franco

    No appetite in the media….LOL!

     

    • #14
  15. Miffed White Male Member
    Miffed White Male
    @MiffedWhiteMale

    EJHill (View Comment):

    Blue Yeti: Because people like cover versions of songs.

    Says the man who probably finds the cover of any Beatles song an anathema.

    I hate when bands cover Beatles songs like “Til There was You” or “Roll Over Beethoven”.

    • #15
  16. Blue Yeti Admin
    Blue Yeti
    @BlueYeti

    Miffed White Male (View Comment):

    EJHill (View Comment):

    Blue Yeti: Because people like cover versions of songs.

    Says the man who probably finds the cover of any Beatles song an anathema.

    I hate when bands cover Beatles songs like “Til There was You” or “Roll Over Beethoven”.

    If only that hack Chuck Berry would have written his own damn songs. 

    • #16
  17. EJHill Podcaster
    EJHill
    @EJHill

    Most people don’t use the term “cover” correctly. Before the rise of singer-songwriters, exclusive recording a song was unheard of. As a song became a hit in the 30’s and 40’s everyone would “cover” it.

    It certainly had a racial overtone to it at one time, too. Gee… Little Richard or… (WTH?) Pat Boone?

    It was not unheard of to have five or six (or more) versions of a song to purchase. One of the few times I remember it happening recently is Trish Yearwood and Leanne Rimes having dueling versions of How Do I Live (from the movie Con Air) in 1997.

    Now it just means to re-record an older song. 

    • #17
  18. Blue Yeti Admin
    Blue Yeti
    @BlueYeti

    EJHill (View Comment):
    Most people don’t use the term “cover” correctly. Before the rise of singer-songwriters, exclusive recording a song was unheard of. As a song became a hit in the 30’s and 40’s everyone would “cover” it.

    Yes, but this was before the singer/songwriter era when stand alone songwriters were incentivized to get as many people as possible to record their songs. 

    • #18
  19. EJHill Podcaster
    EJHill
    @EJHill

    Blue Yeti (View Comment): …songwriters were incentivized to get as many people as possible to record their songs.

    You mean it’s as much capitalism as it is art? (Like the guy who wrote, “imagine no possessions” and still kept all the royalties?)

    • #19
  20. James Lileks Contributor
    James Lileks
    @jameslileks

    Somewhere in a Reddit thread about Weezer they’re debating China

    • #20
  21. kedavis Coolidge
    kedavis
    @kedavis

    James Lileks (View Comment):

    Somewhere in a Reddit thread about Weezer they’re debating China

    Maybe because there’s not much we as individuals can do about China, but we can decide if we’d rather hear original artists, or the remakes/”covers” by Weezer?

    • #21
  22. EJHill Podcaster
    EJHill
    @EJHill

    Just for the record, I thought “Weezer” was a reference to me trying to go up and down the basement steps for the 45th time today…

    • #22
  23. BDB Inactive
    BDB
    @BDB

    EJHill (View Comment):

    Most people don’t use the term “cover” correctly. Before the rise of singer-songwriters, exclusive recording a song was unheard of. As a song became a hit in the 30’s and 40’s everyone would “cover” it.

    It certainly had a racial overtone to it at one time, too. Gee… Little Richard or… (WTH?) Pat Boone?

    It was not unheard of to have five or six (or more) versions of a song to purchase. One of the few times I remember it happening recently is Trish Yearwood and Leanne Rimes having dueling versions of How Do I Live (from the movie Con Air) in 1997.

    Now it just means to re-record an older song.

    Those of us in the Trance scene are spoiled for remixes.

    • #23
  24. BDB Inactive
    BDB
    @BDB

    James Lileks (View Comment):

    Somewhere in a Reddit thread about Weezer they’re debating China

    That’s the Reddit thread about Uighur.

    • #24
  25. kedavis Coolidge
    kedavis
    @kedavis

    BDB (View Comment):

    James Lileks (View Comment):

    Somewhere in a Reddit thread about Weezer they’re debating China

    That’s the Reddit thread about Uighur.

    Because people on Reddit can’t spell?

    • #25
  26. BDB Inactive
    BDB
    @BDB

    kedavis (View Comment):

    BDB (View Comment):

    James Lileks (View Comment):

    Somewhere in a Reddit thread about Weezer they’re debating China

    That’s the Reddit thread about Uighur.

    Because people on Reddit can’t spell?

    Chy-na.  CHY.  NA.

    Sad!

    • #26
  27. kedavis Coolidge
    kedavis
    @kedavis

    BDB (View Comment):

    kedavis (View Comment):

    BDB (View Comment):

    James Lileks (View Comment):

    Somewhere in a Reddit thread about Weezer they’re debating China

    That’s the Reddit thread about Uighur.

    Because people on Reddit can’t spell?

    Chy-na. CHY. NA.

    Sad!

    I was thinking Weezer.  Wee-zer.  Not Uighur.  Ui-ghur.

    • #27
  28. James Lileks Contributor
    James Lileks
    @jameslileks

    BDB (View Comment):
    Those of us in the Trance scene are spoiled for remixes

    There’s still a Trance scene? I remember the remix days.

    • #28
  29. RufusRJones Member
    RufusRJones
    @RufusRJones

    Who has told you over and over that the Chinese government was like mafia?

    ***Me***

    I love myself so much. lol

    • #29
  30. RufusRJones Member
    RufusRJones
    @RufusRJones

    We have integrated our economy too much with a mafia with an army. It’s extremely tricky to undo at this point.

    The ruling class in this country deserves nothing but scorn at this point.

    Jame’s story about the electric razor shows that they don’t add any value to the community of nations except wage deflation and job destruction for no net gain in the long run.

    • #30
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