Today we’re bringing you the latest episode of “Breaking History,” the podcast where I go back in time, in order to make sense of the present. The last episode told the story of how North Korea got the nuke. This week, we’re looking at the godfather of American lewdness, Lenny Bruce. Listen to the episode, which features voices from both the past and present, here:
And, if you’re a paying subscriber, scroll down to read the companion essay, which begins with the ultimate recent example of lewdness, Kanye West’s new song. If you enjoy Eli’s essay, make sure to follow “Breaking History” on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts—and you’ll never miss an episode.
On May 8, Kanye West released his latest single. It’s called “Heil Hitler.” In the music video, men in pelts dance as the troubled performer complains about his custody battles for his children and how no one understands him on Twitter, and literally sings “heil Hitler!”
Even in our post-woke 2025, a song in praise of the führer violated one of our culture’s remaining taboos. No major streaming platform offers Ye’s song to its customers. But it didn’t matter: As of May 16, West’s X post introducing the “Heil Hitler” video had 9.7 million views. Certain users on the platform, such as former mixed martial arts fighter Jake Shields, took a victory lap. “This summer we will have Whites, Blacks, Mexicans, Asain[sic], Muslims, and even anti-zionist jews all singing,” Shields posted on X. “Ye might be the man to heal the nation and bring us all back together as Americans first.”
All of which demonstrates, in very extreme terms, the recent vibe shift in the culture. Since Donald Trump won the 2024 election, Meta (a.k.a. Facebook) canceled its DEI programs, Columbia is now expelling students who tried to take over the library last week. Pronouns are no longer mandatory. People whose accounts were throttled or frozen only a few years ago are now running important government agencies. Once forbidden words are once again tolerated.
Consider retard. In 2021, then New York Times correspondent Taylor Lorenz publicly accused Silicon Valley investor Marc Andreessen of using the word retard in a discussion on the Clubhouse app, which was enough for Andreessen to furiously deny he had said it (which turned out to be true). Now? It’s no longer close to being a cancelable offense. Joe Rogan summed it up best on a recent podcast: “The word retarded is back, and it’s one of the great cultural victories.”
Even David Hogg—the Parkland, Florida, school-shooting survivor, who once led advertiser boycotts against InfoWars and compared the National Rifle Association to child murderers—is acknowledging that the cancellations have gone too far. Last week he explained in detail to Bill Maher on his HBO show how no one likes Democrats when they run around looking for reasons to cancel the wrong-thinkers.