EPISODE 5: DE CHENEY NIL BONUM

EPISODE 5: DE CHENEY NIL BONUM

From Quality Lit Game by Quality Lit Game

November 12, 2025 · 1h 33m · Season 1 · Episode 37

About this episode

The episode discusses the life and controversial actions of Richard B. Cheney, exploring various political and historical themes.

On this episode of a new ideologically idiosyncratic podcast, Maureen Tkacik of the American Prospect joins co-hosts Clementine Ford, Vincenzo Barney , and Christian Lorentzen to discuss the life and crimes of the late Richard B. Cheney. Topics discussed include Joan Didion’s 2006 essay on Cheney and his status as her final and perhaps most sinister muse (beyond even Manson); the fleeting and febrile ‘innocence’ of America and its elected officials; 9/11; Al Qaeda; the Iraq War; lying; the Iran-Contra scandal; the problem with laws being their enactment and thus the inconvenience for high-ranking officials who must violate them; torture; surveillance; Cheney as hero of Benjamin Netanyahu; Stephen Miller as heir of Cheney; President Ford’s habit of kissing coed beauty contestants; the war on terror as model for the Trump administration’s domestic policy; plenary power; apprenticeship to power and the sublime fantasy of its limitlessness; fathers and daughters; Liz Cheney’s split from Trump after January 6; Mary Cheney’s Caribbean vacation at the time of 9/11; neoconservatives as chameleons in the slipstream between the Republican and Democratic parties; Bob Dole’s 93rd birthday…

People in this episode

Hosts: Clementine Ford, Vincenzo Barney, Christian Lorentzen

Guest: Maureen Tkacik

Topics covered

  • Richard B. Cheney
  • Joan Didion
  • 9/11
  • Al Qaeda
  • Iraq War
  • Iran-Contra scandal
  • torture
  • surveillance
  • Trump administration
  • domestic policy

Keywords

  • politics
  • power
  • American history
  • media

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: Vice, Dick

Places: America, Caribbean, Cleveland, New York City, Iraq, China

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