Category: Satire

I’m honored to host Dr. Imani Okonkwo’s powerful analysis of Where the Wild Things Are today. What generations have celebrated as imaginative children’s literature, Dr. Okonkwo reveals as “a primer in colonial logic” that normalizes white supremacy and imperial violence. From Max’s appropriative wolf suit to his assumption of kingship over racialized “monsters,” from the erasure of indigenous perspectives to his consequence-free return home, this beloved classic teaches children that distant lands exist for conquest and that white dominance is natural. Drawing on critical race theory and postcolonial studies, Dr. Okonkwo delivers an unflinching examination of how seemingly innocent stories encode and transmit colonial ideology. This is essential, uncomfortable reading.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

Today I’m thrilled to host Chad Pemberton from The Pemberton Principle podcast for his devastating takedown of The Lorax. What most people see as a charming environmental tale, Chad reveals as “the most successful piece of anti-capitalist propaganda ever produced.” From the demonization of the Once-ler’s entrepreneurship to the Lorax’s elitist activism, Chad systematically exposes how Dr. Seuss taught generations of children that business is evil, profit is dirty, and economic growth destroys the planet. Drawing on Austrian economics and his own experience building (and losing) a sustainable business, Chad offers the free-market perspective The Lorax desperately needs. Essential reading for anyone tired of eco-Marxist indoctrination in children’s literature.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

This weekend, I’m honored to host Dr. K. N. Rosenberg-Chen (Evergreen State College, Gender Studies) for a searing takedown of The Little Engine That Could. What you thought was an innocent story about perseverance? Dr. Rosenberg-Chen reveals it as “bootstrap pedagogy for toddlers”—a masterclass in teaching children that disability is moral failure, that saying “I cannot” is shameful, and that masculine worth requires self-destruction. Packed with citations from Butler, hooks, McRuer, and Kafer, this review exposes how we’ve been training two-year-olds in toxic masculinity and ableist ideology for nearly a century. Buckle up—this locomotive is going off the rails.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

In 1947, Margaret Wise Brown published what would become the most successful piece of Marxist propaganda ever smuggled into American homes. Goodnight Moon has sold 48 million copies, conditioning generations of children to accept central planning, reject property rights, and submit to authority without question. The great green room is a command economy in miniature. The quiet old lady is a bureaucratic enforcer. The ritual teaches learned helplessness. As someone who’s endured this book nightly for eighteen months, my good friend Scott finally decoded its insidious message. Fair warning: once you see it, you can’t unsee it.