V.314: Happy Mother's Day, Albini + the Fights Last Night On The Eugene S. Robinson Show Stomper!

·20 min·2 clips

Eugene Robinson reveals he attended his first-ever graduation ceremony for daughter number three.

The episode begins with Eugene Robinson admitting discombobulation after attending daughter number three's graduation ceremony, marking his first-ever graduation attendance. He immediately segues into a humorous yet graphic story about eating gas station cheeseburgers that made him violently ill for days, causing significant weight loss. Despite this, he attended jujitsu training where he warned a training partner about potential gastrointestinal issues, resulting in an unexpected victory when flatulence cleared the mat. Robinson then reflects on his own lack of graduation ceremonies, sharing an anecdote about borrowing a friend's Stanford gown to take a photo for his mother instead of attending. The graduation story deepens as he observes students refusing to shake the college president's hand during the ceremony, initially perceiving it as pettiness. His daughter later explains the protest stems from the president's handling of sexual assault cases where offenders were moved to different dorms rather than expelled. She reveals her dorm floor housed three sex offenders who were sons of wealthy alumni, adding a class dimension to the controversy. The protest also involved dissatisfaction with the administration's response to the situation in Gaza. Robinson then shifts to addressing listener comments from his previous Substack piece about Steve Albini. Multiple comments criticized Albini for his association with Peter Sotos, who published a magazine called Pure about the rape and murder of children and prostitutes. Sotos was arrested and served jail time for this publication, with Albini writing liner notes for Sotos' book Total Abuse. Robinson distinguishes between writing about disturbing topics and committing crimes, noting he read Total Abuse but found it upsetting. He shares a story about guitarist Steve Ballinger's reaction to the book, questioning the volume of such material. Robinson recalls publishing work by writer Carl Alessi about murdering priests, realizing only two decades later the stories likely stemmed from childhood sexual abuse. He concludes by stating he won't delete critical comments about Albini, letting the community handle the discussion. The episode ends with a promotional message directing listeners to the Substack for full episodes.

As heard by us

A graduation story swerves into campus protest, class tension, and one more risky gas-station cheeseburger.

The episode begins in a comic fog, with the host thrown by daughter number three's graduation and by the simple fact that he has never sat through a ceremony like it before. Then the mood shifts.

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Why you'd press play

Press play when a graduation walk-by and a gas-station cheeseburger turn into one very long afternoon.

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