Mission Implausible

Journalist Tom Nichols (The Atlantic) explains how discrediting expertise is used as a weapon in order to control (mis)information.

Comedian and all-around expert Adam Conover (Adam Ruins Everything,  Factually!) made a series about the government with Barack Obama called “T G Word.” How does he feel about its reliabilty? Why are people suspicious of it?

Forbes journalist Zach Everson spent much of Trump's previous presidency embedded in Trump Hotel in DC. John and Jerry learn more about The Emoluments Clause and all the ways that foreign power brokers were able to channel payments to Trump through his hotels... and could again.

Adam and John and Jerry do what everyone else in America is doing... try to game out what the election will mean. In this case, for the intelligence agencies, international cooperation and overall national security. So, like, not one of the super-light episodes. But still worth listening to!

How are the Russians getting Trump to do what they want? There are many theories, but we've reached our own conclusion.

The Lincoln Project is an American political action committee (PAC) founded in December 2019 by moderate conservatives and former Republican Party members who oppose U.S. President Donald Trump and Trumpism. In the midst of the 2024 election, having run over 700 different ads, co-founder Rick Wilson offers one-of-a-kind insight into the American electorate.

37 years ago, Trump returned from a trip to Moscow obsessed that America wasn’t getting paid enough for protecting its allies, that our leaders weren’t tough enough, and that America’s economy was destined to self-destruct within the next four years. And he never stopped. Why would a self-obsessed New York real estate developer suddenly care about America’s international politics?

Documentary filmmaker Nick Quested called up the leader of The Proud Boys and got an invite to tag along to The Insurrection with his cameras. Quested’s eye-witness footage was part of the Congressional January 6th Committee evidence and now part of Jack Smith’s case against Trump. Quested shares his insights and his predictions about what will go down this November.

Jerry and John -- and Adam! -- think about the current hurricanes and the dangerous conspiracy theories that weaponize them. As always, they view the larger context of false weather beliefs.

Certain American are repeating Russian propaganda and might not even realize where it came from. Russia is pushing the narrative that America is a disaster, and Trump has picked up the thread. How does Russia feed their message into U.S. conversations and how do they benefit from it? It's the end of our trilogy of Michael Weiss' illuminating interview.

Would you take $100,000 per week to parrot Russian propaganda on your podcast? Well, some guys did, and are now indicted.

How did the Russians get so good at the disinformation game, how do they do it, and who's doing it for them?

Adam’s wife has a lot of personal CIA questions for John & Jerry.

If not the CIA, then maybe the FBI? How about both? Philip Mudd worked for both agencies and then resigned and he has the answers. Including whether RFK Jr.'s suspicions about Operation Mockingbird are valid.

Jerry and John reflect on how intelligence services employ honey traps — snaring assets using sex.

Are our brains wired to believe in conspiracy theories? Brain expert David Eagleman (“Inner Cosmos”) tells John & Jerry how, and how to break through.

Former Republican National Committee spokesman Tim Miller tells John & Jerry what it's like trying to meet the requirements of membership of today's Republican party.

The 1985 NBA Draft was one of the most controversial in NBA history. How did The New York Knicks land first pick and get Patrick Ewing? Was it rigged? Sports Illustrated writer Chris Ballard might know the answer. 

Two Simpsons legends explore the theory that The Simpsons either predicts the future or causes the future, perhaps in cahoots with the CIA. Then they ask John & Jerry inside-CIA questions they always wanted to know.