Topic: F Scott Fitzgerald

The host connects the "Corona Ash Dumps" of the 1920s to F. Scott Fitzgerald’s "The Great Gatsby," where the site was famously depicted as the "Valley of Ashes." The naming of the Arthur Ashe Stadium is viewed as a linguistic pun on these literal ashes, symbolizing the death and rebirth of the "Phoenix." This literary and historical landscape is framed as a representation of the "lower 33" or the underbelly of New York affluence.

Carlwood responds to negative feedback regarding a previous guest who suggested moving out of the U.S. to escape a "collapsing empire." He cites the East Palestine train derailment and the threat of World War III as reasons to consider relocation to places like Central America. He concludes by quoting a Reddit user on the importance of holding "two opposing ideas in the mind" while remaining functional.