Certain Sips: The Weekend Brew
Five Hot Minutes ☕ February 7, 2025
A new weekly cultural and political brief—Certain Sips: the Weekend Brew
And so we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past. Or in other words, I’m turning into my father.
Good Drinking
The old man, whom I adore (and thank for supporting this Substack!) was a legendary coffee drinker in his heyday. In time, he scaled his daily consumption back and now typically drinks a small but potent potion of high-quality pour over java. I love a rich double espresso, but lately have begun following in my father’s footsteps starting each morning with my own pour over coffee and soymilk. In honor of these habits, I present a new weekly cultural and political brief—Certain Sips: the Weekend Brew.
After I’m wide eyed and fully caffeinated, it’s time to crack open social media—where the trending term dark woke has surfaced lately with increasing regularity. What even is dark woke? It’s not clear where the term originated, and even less clear what exactly it means. As far as I can tell, dark woke amounts to a take-no-prisoners reclamation of woke from the mainstream that co-opted the term and inverted it into a slur. It is unironically edgy, often manifesting as radical cruelty toward bigots that mirrors the right wing impulse to own the libs. Consider Thursday’s savage twitter takedown of notorious transphobe J.K. Rowling from Azealia Banks:
Still there is no single definitive expression of dark woke. The term only crossed my feed recently, but back in June Canadian activist Janaya Future Khan began releasing the DARK WOKE podcast: “a daily, poli-comedy show for dirtbags, lefties, fàgs, feminists, hoes and bros against bigots, DEI Gestapos and billionaire beta cucks. Death to PC culture,” declares the intersectional founder of Black Lives Matter Toronto, “Cool normies allowed. Organize to actualize. Let me corrupt u.”
Good Listening
The DARK WOKE podcast may only represent one strain of this organic, burgeoning leftwing reactionary culture, but it’s an exceptionally insightful, heartfelt and deeply humanistic one. I implore you to add it to your feed.
Khan is under no illusions respecting the liberal establishment’s ability to advance radical change, a cold hard truth resonating with growing numbers of concerned Americans (and Canadians) in the wake of Trump 2.0. Perhaps the quintessential example of Democratic impotence in the face of Trump and Musk’s bulldozing autocracy, last week Senate Democrats lauded a Mark Warner tuna melt video from 2020 as the key to saving our democracy.
Even if ham-handed (or tuna-handed) social media virality were a suitable response to fascism, a party leadership with its finger anywhere near the pulse of its terrified constituents would have highlighted one of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s posts. At least they earnestly address the problems, provide practical advice, and rally the base to fight back. Know your rights, AOC teaches us. Know that we will win. Call your representatives. Care for your loved ones and nourish yourself.
In honor of Mark Warner, may I present Evan’s Viral Tuna Melt:
3 parts mayo, 1 part dijon mustard
celery salt
garlic puree
fresh dill
fresh chives
fresh ground black pepper
Havarti cheese
whole wheat english muffin, sliced
As satisfying as a tuna melt can be (very), a richly developed and beautifully written book can be even more fulfilling. Cue John Ganz. I first heard about Ganz from the fantastic Know Your Enemy podcast, itself highly recommended for anyone interested in deconstructing the American conservative movement. Ganz has been a regularly mentioned and frequent guest on the podcast, and late last year released When The Clock Broke: Con Men, Conspiracists, and How America Cracked Up in the Early 1990s. The book is brilliant, as is Ganz’s Unpopular Front Substack. I strongly encourage you to subscibe.
My earliest subscribers will note the development of a short-lived Daily Dose of Certainty series into this new weekly cultural and political brief. Thank you for following along in my creative evolution, longtime readers, and if this is your first week here welcome to Certain Thoughts. I am so grateful for your support. Have a fantastic weekend!
ICYMI, check out these related essays:
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