Mike Pesca on Eileen Gu and Patriotism Decline

Mike Pesca wrote a fine piece for the Free Press on how oddly not controversial the supposedly very controversial Eileen Gu is. She’s from the United States, but competes for China, and yet receives…mostly glowing mainstream American coverage? What’s with that? And beyond Gu, what’s the elite American consensus on China? But before the topics are introduced… Per the new Substack/Polymarket partnership , I’m posting an Eileen Gu involved competition. As someone incapable of accurately pricing Winter Olympics events, I’m interested in whether bettors reflect Gu’s true odds for winning the Ski Halfpipe. As of this writing, Polymarket has her favored to triumph. Fame halo effect, or accurate probability? And onto the Pesca pod topics… * Would we bet that Chuck Klosterman has a secret North Dakota accent? * Eileen Gu is certainly beautiful, but does she also look a little terrifying? * Is the lack of elite anger towards China rooted in corporate considerations? * America is less patriotic now, especially among the young. Bad thing? * Is the United States the best country? * Per the Jeremy Carl congressional dustup , is there such a thing as White American culture? * Stuffwhitepeoplelike was a great website * Is there such a thing as a “white guy basketball assist”? * Is it plausible that Spike Lee’s All-Star Game Palestine outfit had nothing to do with Deni Avdija? House of Strauss is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit

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Mike Pesca on Eileen Gu and Patriotism Decline is an episode from House of Strauss by Ethan Strauss.

This episode is 69:24 long.

This episode was published on Feb 19, 2026.

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