{"id":1068,"date":"2026-07-24T13:10:04","date_gmt":"2026-07-24T13:10:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cityrelocationnews.com\/?p=1068"},"modified":"2026-07-24T13:10:04","modified_gmt":"2026-07-24T13:10:04","slug":"the-golden-age-of-the-american-idiot","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cityrelocationnews.com\/?p=1068","title":{"rendered":"The Golden Age of the American Idiot"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<p><em>Download a transcript.<\/em><\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p><em>Listen and subscribe:<\/em> Apple | Spotify | Wherever You Listen<\/p>\n<p><em>Sign up to receive our weekly cultural-recommendations newsletter.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>The new game show \u201cNation\u2019s Dumbest,\u201d flips the classic \u201cJeopardy!\u201d script on its head. The format: twelve famous-ish contestants are peppered with basic logic and trivia questions. The twist is that those who perform <em>well<\/em> are sent home, with the last one standing receiving the title of \u201cNation\u2019s Dumbest.\u201d On this episode of Critics at Large, Vinson Cunningham, Naomi Fry, and Alexandra Schwartz consider how the figure of the idiot has evolved over time, from Shakespearean fools\u2014whose position of apparent ignorance allows them to speak difficult truths\u2014to more recent \u201chappy fools\u201d like Austin Powers and the goofy, stunt-obsessed heroes of the \u201cJackass\u201d franchise. Once a laughingstock, the idiot has reached new heights of influence in the era of A.I. summaries and the infinite scroll. Resisting stupidity can feel like an uphill battle. \u201cWhatever it is to be smart, I\u2019m doing this Sisyphean thing of continuing to push it up the hill, and the rock feels heavy,\u201d Cunningham says. \u201cThe question is: is society a wind at your back, or going in the opposite direction?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/cityrelocationnews.com\/?p=1067\">Julio Torres\u2019s Sea Wench,\u00a0Qween Jean at Little Island<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Read, watch, and listen with the critics:<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNation\u2019s Dumbest\u201d (2026-)<br \/>\u201cJeopardy!\u201d (1984-)<br \/>\u201cAustin Powers\u201d (1997)<br \/>\u201cSeinfeld\u201d (1989-98)<br \/>\u201cThe White Lotus\u201d (2021-)<br \/>\u201c30 Rock\u201d (2006-13)<br \/>\u201cTracy Morgan Turns the Drama of His Life Into Comedy,\u201d by Vinson Cunningham (<em>The New Yorker<\/em>)<br \/>\u201cAmerican Humor,\u201d by Constance Rourke<br \/>\u201cBorn Yesterday\u201d (1950)<br \/>\u201cLegally Blonde\u201d (2001)<br \/>Green Day\u2019s \u201cAmerican Idiot\u201d<br \/>\u201cJackass: Best and Last\u201d (2026)<br \/>Shakespeare\u2019s \u201cKing Lear\u201d<br \/>Shakespeare\u2019s \u201cHamlet\u201d<br \/>\u201cA Short History of Stupidity,\u201d by Stuart Jeffries<br \/>\u201cThe Year in Stupidity,\u201d by Naomi Fry (<em>The New Yorker<\/em>)<br \/>\u201cA Theory of Dumb,\u201d by Lane Brown (<em>New York<\/em>)<br \/>\u201cNaked Gun\u201d (2025)<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/cityrelocationnews.com\/?p=1065\">The White House Press Corps in the Second Trump Era<\/a><\/p>\n<p>New episodes drop every Thursday. Follow Critics at Large wherever you get your podcasts.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/cityrelocationnews.com\/?p=1063\">The Kinky Comedy of \u201cI Want Your Sex\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Critics at Large podcast, featuring Vinson Cunningham, Naomi Fry, and Alexandra Schwartz, talks about a new game show featuring celebrities who compete for the title of \u201cNation\u2019s Dumbest.\u201d How did stupidity become a badge of honor?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":160,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[48],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1068","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-critics-at-large"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>The Golden Age of the American Idiot - 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