Extra Evil

Extra Evil - The Hypnotic Wheel

Today's Fortune: Tell your reflection to chill.

Dennard Dayle

16 Apr 2025 — 4 min read

Newsreel

Harvard beat Columbia again.

China's "exist" strategy may be invincible.

Deportations expanded to foreign-sounding names.

Stock tickers went open casket.

Darfur experienced the worst civilian casualties since Darfur.

Nations agreed to imagine net-zero shipping.

You Need This

What can I say, I like talking. The mock ad reads continue:

Help me out: give this the five star/glowing review treatment on Spotify/Apple/etc. Oh, and try listening to it I guess.

Spotify | Apple | Home Site

A Photo

Good question. Maybe? I'd like to be.

War Journal

I'm rethinking decades of cynical output after getting one compliment on a hat.

The universe demands balance: while You Need This begins, Weeaboo Hell's in limbo. Long story short, my co-host's out. I'd say more, but I'm biased. Wholly in the Dayle lobby's pocket. Kind of like your rep and Vlad, but less loyal.

So it goes.

Overheard outside a bar, deep into Monday night.

Wasted: Why won’t he leave her?

Tipsy: He loves talking about his backbone…having a backbone…where’s his? He’s all about being a man, but he won’t leave his girlfriend. He hates her. HATES her. I’ve never heard him say a positive thing about her. When I ask, he’s always like ‘She’s a good cook.’ LEAVE HER. Fuck.

Wasted: Yeah, but why won’t he?

Tense silence.

You know, I pick on The Secret knockoffs a lot in the 1900HOTDOG column. And I'm right to: they suck, and they make our dumb species dumber. But one arena that approach kind-of, sort-of works in is mood. Over time, I babbled a more patient version of myself into being. I am not, in a vacuum, the calmest person in any room. After marrying my reputation to this zen monk bit, my behavior improved.

From here, there's a major and a petty takeaway.

Major: against all odds, anyone going on about hope has a practical point—you can give yourself a little more/less juice. Questionable analysis, but great advice. Life's complicated like that. I wouldn't toss free psychic armor.

Petty: Self-mind tricks aren't perfect, or even permanent. I need a zen refill. I've felt strained at the edges this month, and I don't mean current events. Maybe I should try reading some knockoffs of The Alchemist next. At worst, I'll just stay annoyed.

Food, how I missed thee. Even if my debit card didn’t.

A Screenshot

The Present

The Past

Since Bill Maher’s voiding himself onscreen again.

The Future

I'm starting research into an exercise machine brand war, but I think it's going to take way more time than I projected. I might also clean up You Need This scripts/transcripts as a fancy subscriber feature.

Not Brought to You By

Half of you called our next theme. There's only one place to go from vintage booze: death sticks. The product may be worse, but the ads should be a little saner.