• Hollywood: America’s “Big Steal” Industry

    David Cole - May 23rd 2023 5:10am EDT

    It sounded like a manatee dropped from a skyscraper; a wet, squishy, yet earth-shaking thud. The commotion scared the hell out of me as I was at my desk, in my comfy chair, expecting anything but the sound a manatee landing outside my front door…which I ran to, no thought given to the potential dangers […]

  • Writers Gulled

    David Cole - May 23rd 2023 4:51am EDT

    My friends (and one or two foes) have informed me that my past few columns have been downers. “Can’t you do something a little lighter?” they ask. “Also, what’s your take on the WGA strike?” Happy to oblige, friends and foes who for once are not an imaginary opening-paragraph device to assist in justifying a […]

  • Tijuana Bris: A Jew Stirs the Beans

    David Cole - May 19th 2023 4:25pm EDT

    As many of you know, a few months ago Media Matters pressured YouTube into banning me from the site. 6,600 subscribers, 3.5 million views. All gone! I have no idea if Substack is a good venue for video rants; I just know that my old YT base wants me to start doing them again, and […]

  • Brown Shirts ’n’ Skins

    David Cole - May 16th 2023 2:09am EDT

    Last week a clip from something called “Timcast” went viral. Some round-faced, beady-eyed stoner (I think that’s “Tim”) was debating a manic Robert Downey Jr. look-alike (I guess that’s “cast”) about trannies. Robert Downeysyndrome was telling Tiny-eyed Tim that the massive uptick in young people declaring themselves tranny isn’t due to some “fad” or the […]

  • Pessimistic River

    David Cole - May 9th 2023 4:38am EDT

    Call it prescience…or bad timing. The moment I finished last week’s column, Pew released a poll proving my point about the difference between 1970s urban blight and that of the present; how it comes down to optimism back then (the belief that “the powers that be” opposed the rot) vs. pessimism today (a belief that […]

  • Shirkling the Drain

    David Cole - May 2nd 2023 5:52am EDT

    “Circling the drain.” It’s a phrase I first heard in a non-plumbing context when a doctor said it in reference to my elderly father’s condition. It basically means dying, but not yet dead. The end seems certain, but the patient clings to life. It’s a terribly brutal phrase to use regarding a person. Or a […]

  • Third Reicher’s Island

    David Cole - Apr 25th 2023 12:29am EDT

    Continuing with last week’s theme—the decennial of my “outing”—let’s talk about the Holocaust. Because I’m never going to be allowed to not talk about it. Lord knows I’ve tried. I stopped speaking about it publicly after 1995. Returning from a monthlong gig at Waseda University in February ’95, where I’d lectured Jap kids who had […]

  • Counter-Currents Calls Me Out for Denying Denial

    David Cole - Apr 24th 2023 9:01am EDT

    This is supposed to be a supplemental piece that this week’s Takimag column links to, but I’m new to Substack and I don’t think you can do an “unlisted” column that doesn’t get blasted to your subscribers immediately upon link generation, so in order to get the link for my column, I gotta publish this […]

  • Notes on the Ten-Year Anniversary of My Cancellation

    David Cole - Apr 20th 2023 8:15pm EDT

    (This week’s post is purely anecdotal, just ol’ Dave observing a milestone. I’ll try to make the next one more substantive) Hard to believe it was ten years ago. See, back then we didn’t use the term “canceled.” Indeed, by and large, there was little censorship on Facebook or Twitter (the latter, at the time, […]

  • Thank You for Your Disservice

    David Cole - Apr 18th 2023 12:30am EDT

    Christians and Jews have had their Holy Week; now it’s my turn. Ten years ago, April 20, 2013, I was “outed” as David Cole. April 20, as you likely know, is a loaded date—the birthday of a terrible, terrible man. But enough about George Takei. The outing’s the reason you’re reading me right now. Love […]