Omnishambles

Omnishambles

Virginia Heffernan and Cy Canterel

Episodes 46
Avg. Duration 46m
Activity Highly Active
Apple Rating 4.8 (79)
Since Dec 2024
Latest Episode Mar 2026

Publishing Details

Schedule
Every 2 Weeks
Format
Episodic
Consistency
59%
Hosting
api.substack.com

Contact & Outreach

About This Podcast

What Rough Beast, hosted by Virginia Heffernan (Wired, Trumpcast) and Cy Canterel (Abstract Machines) is a podcast where we bear witness to America’s demise, and ask what might be built from the rubble. The sludge. The sparkly phosphorescent faerie dust of recombinant DNA. It is a spiritual successor to Trumpcast, but with a radical reimagining. Instead of focusing on opposing Trump or trusting institutions, this podcast explores imaginative, unexpected responses to our current political moment. The show takes inspiration from the '68ers' motto "all power to the imagination" and seeks unconventional solutions beyond traditional political frameworks.

virginiaheffernan.substack.com

Explore Statistics

Recent Episodes

Who pulled the trigger?

Mar 22, 2026 1h 8m

This is the final episode of What Rough Beast—and the first of something bigger. We’re becoming Omnishambles: same commitment to getting inside what’s huge, opaque, and frightening. Wider aperture.…

S2E2 We Found the Missing Epstein Documents

Mar 04, 2026 57m

Federal prosecutors alleged internally that the state attorney's office colluded with Epstein's defense team to engineer the 2007–08 plea deal — and we have the emails. When Congressman Thomas Massie…

S2E1 The Memes Made Us Do It

Feb 25, 2026 1h 3m

This week, Cy and I talk with Giorgio Angelini, award-winning filmmaker and architectural designer whose documentaries have a way of making you feel like you’ve been staring into the abyss, and then…

S1E40 She's in the Epstein Files

Feb 17, 2026 1h 3m

She’s in the Epstein files. It’s fine. She’s fine.This week, Virginia and Cy are back together to dig into Virginia’s latest piece for The Nerve—Carol Cadwalladr’s new media venture—and it drops some…

The Epstein Files: The FBI Interviewed an Underage Trump Accuser

Feb 17, 2026 1h 58m

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit virginiaheffernan.substack.com/subscribe

S1E39 Inside the System as It Falls Apart

Feb 13, 2026 59m

This week we talk to friend of What Rough Beast Cy Canterel—whose Substack Abstract Machines is essential reading right now—about why Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney just gave a eulogy for…

Dispatches from Minneapolis

Feb 06, 2026 31m

This week on What Rough Beast, we talk to Trevor Mitchell, a reporter on the ground in Minneapolis for the nonprofit publication MinnPost. We wanted to discuss with him what everyday life looks like…

The Paradox of Tolerance

Jan 19, 2026 1h 18m

This week we talk to “What Rough Beast” regular Cy Canterel about fractured realities, fascism’s fatal flaw, and why keeping a diary might be the most radical act you can do right now. She joined us…

On the 5th Anniversary of the Insurrection

Jan 08, 2026 50m

This week, on the occasion of the five-year anniversary of the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, I want to share a couple of conversations I had on the first anniversary of the insurrection with…

S1E35 Trump's Godfather foreign policy

Dec 18, 2025 50m

This week we talk to Fred Kaplan, the national security columnist for Slate and author of seven books, including The Bomb: Presidents, Generals, and the Secret History of Nuclear War (his most recent…

Alex Karp and the Masturbating Girl: Audio

Dec 11, 2025 9m

Alex Karp and the Masturbating Girl. Is squirming in your seat erotic, pathological, subversive, insane? Alex Karp and Palantir believe it's genius.…

S1E31 Why Smart People Keep Falling for Powerful Idiots

Nov 26, 2025 1h 9m

This week we talk to Cy Canterel (again!), about her recent video essay “Epstein, Elite Power Networks, and The Utility of Disgrace.” Cy is a New Orleans-based “feral scholar,” a media…

S1E33 Harvesting chaos with Kristianna Smith

Nov 11, 2025 36m

This week we talk to Kristianna Smith. Kristianna Smith (they/she) is a visionary curious about how we bring our collective imagination to life. They are a liberation cultural worker, published…

S1E32 What Mark Bray Knew in 2017

Oct 17, 2025 23m

This week we revisit a conversation from 2017 with Mark Bray, historian and author of Antifa: The Anti-Fascist Handbook.Since this interview, Bray has faced escalating death threats and was forced to…

S1E31 The Edgelord Apocalypse

Oct 02, 2025 57m

This week we talk to Cy Canterel, a scholar of media theory and systems theory in New Orleans and author of the Substack “Abstract Machines.” We discuss:* The chilling subcultures breeding the next…

S1E30 The Mitochondria Conspiracy

Sep 20, 2025 1h 8m

This week on “What Rough Beast,” we talk to Molly McKew, information warfare expert and author of the Great Power newsletter, about Russia's influence operations and the war in Ukraine. We discuss:*…

The Deportation Machine

Aug 27, 2025 45m

This week, we talk to the great Sarah Stillman, Pulitzer Prize-winning staff writer at The New Yorker and MacArthur Fellow who teaches investigative reporting at Yale. Her work focuses on…

S1E28 The Dictator Expert Who's Not Worried

Aug 20, 2025 50m

This week we sit down with Alastair Smith, author of The Dictator's Handbook, who thinks we might all need to take a deep breath about American democracy. We discuss:* How it's actually better to…

S1E27 Epstein and the Swanky Leftist Compromise

Jul 31, 2025 1h 6m

This week on What Rough Beast, Stephen and Virginia go deep on the Epstein conspiracy. Here's what we covered:* How Epstein represented a new class of ultra-wealthy who exempt themselves from…

S1E26 How America's Freaks Switched Sides

Jul 13, 2025 43m

In this episode of What Rough Beast, we talk to David Rees, host of Election Profit Makers and creator of the legendary post-9/11 comic strip "Get Your War On," which skewered the Bush…

Frequently Asked Questions

How many episodes does Omnishambles have?

Omnishambles has published 46 episodes since December 2024, covering topics in News, Philosophy.

Is Omnishambles still active?

Omnishambles is currently highly active with new episodes every 2 weeks. Average episode length is 46m.

How do I contact Omnishambles for sponsorship or guest appearances?

Sign up on Grep.FM to access contact details for Omnishambles, including email and social media links.

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