Make It Make Sense with Grant Hermes

Vanity Fair drops two bombshell stories based on months of interviews with the White House Chief of Staff, Susie Wiles.

Wiles says Trump has an "alcoholic's personality," that JD Vance is a "conspiracy theorist," and that Pam Bondi "whiffed" on the Epstein files. She also admits to knowing about Elon Musk using drugs while working in the White House and that she's ok with retribution. 

But mayb...

Grant sits down with the CEO of the Zero Abuse Project, Jeff Dion, to talk about the Department of Education's new policy to downgrade degrees for jobs required to report child abuse, neglect, and maltreatment. 

Jeff talks about the worries that abuse prevention experts are having right now, why mandated reporters need more training right now, and what might happen next if the Department is at odds with bipartisan efforts to cu...

After weeks of fighting over what will happen to Affordable Care Act subsidies that help millions of Americans afford their health insurance, Republicans in the Senate shrugged and voted to let prices spike. 

Not just for people on the ACA but for everyone. 

Grant explains what's happening with Obamacare (the ACA), why this is happening without a plan to stop it and what happens next. 

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There's been a lot of talk about Trump getting fed up with certain members of his administration. Pete Hegseth, Kristi Noem, Kash Patel, and Pam Bondi have all made the wrong kind of headlines. 

Grant breaks down what those headlines are, who might replace those people, and what the odds are that they actually get fired despite Trump talking behind their backs. 

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Grant welcomes Amanda Litman from Run For Something and author of the book When We're In Charge (link below) back on the show to talk about the tipping point in American politics that was this last fall. 

They talk about the big elections that took place around the country, including Zohran Mamdani's win in NYC. But they also talk about the shift from older politicians and leaders to Millennial and Gen Z candidates, how th...

It has been a week for the books for Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth. 

First, there was new, corroborated reporting that he might have ordered a war crime in the Caribbean. 

Second, the Admiral that Hegseth has been blaming testified in classified briefings to members of Congress, who came out and said it was a disturbing ordeal. 

Third, more new reporting about how Pete ousted a 4-star Admiral over the legality of the Caribbean str...

A growing scandal rocked the White House over the Thanksgiving holiday. The Washington Post reported that Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth gave an order to kill two people who had survived an initial strike on their alleged drug boat. 

If true, it would clearly violate the language of the laws of war and treaties the US has signed. 

Grant breaks down what Hegseth and the White House are saying, the fact that they haven't been a...

This week’s interview is with Junelle Cavero, a State Representative from Arizona and head of political at the multicultural-focused media company My Code. 

She joined Grant to talk about the brand new polling that My Code just released about how multicultural Americans view the president, his administration and the state of the nation. Spoilers, it’s not good for Trump with some real buyer’s remorse showing as dissatisfaction with ...

Donald Trump signed the bill to release the Epstein files after being jammed by the Senate, which passed the bill in a matter of hours. 

Now it's in the hands of the DOJ to release the files which has spent months combing through and redacting the files. But, the FBI might have to start that over given what's in the bill that was just passed, and the DOJ will have to explain to Congress why things were redacted or withheld...

The House of Representatives overwhelmingly vote to release the Epstein files ( Grant reacts live) but it's only the beginning of the process. 

Grant explains Trump and Republican leaders' flip-flop on releasing the files, whether it's really an about-face, and whether the Senate might use the files as a political bargaining chip. 

Plus, Trump's weekend crash-out over the files. He lashes out at reporters and long...

Another crossover episode this week! 

Every Friday, Grant joins Ryan Welton at the Oklahoma Memo to talk national politics. 

The two talk all about the shutdown, the shocking details in the Epstein files and whether MAGA is starting to sour on Trump or if there's anything that could ever make that happen. 

LINKS:

Oklahoma Memo

PROMO CODE:

Today's episode is sponsored by Molly Bz’s Gourmet cookies!  Unforgettable artisan-cr...

The longest government shutdown in US history is officially over after 43 days. But the worst of the fighting in Washington might just be ramping up. 

Grant explains what's in the final government reopening deal, the blatant self-dealing grift GOP Senators tucked into the deal, and when you'll start seeing government money again. 

But with the shutdown out of the way, it means the fight over forcing the DOJ to release the E...

Eight Democratic caucus senators vote to end the government shutdown after 40 days, after brokering a deal with Republicans that doesn't include protecting healthcare subsidies for millions of Americans. It was the reason Democrats forced a shutdown, and now it looks like they get nothing. 

What was it all for? Did the Democrats really cave or were they playing the long game?

Grant explains the deal the Senate made, the divide w...

Grant is joined by fashion writer and the voice behind the great Substack, The Official Nancy Drew Newsletter, Lindsey Louise to talk about what the deal is with MAGA fashion and political fashion in general right now. 

Lindsey breaks down how fashion on the right is about power, who has it, who doesn't, and what value messages MAGA's different factions are sending each other and the rest of the world 

Plus, what the Left&a...

It was a mini-midterm appetizer sampler of elections this week across the country. At nearly every turn Democrats won in high profile races big and small. But what does it mean? Does it mean anything? 

Grant breaks down the races for governor in VA and NJ. The California vote to redistrict the state and the huge win for Zohran Mamdani to be the next mayor of New York. 

Those races were certainly rebukes of the Trump administration, b...

President Donald Trump went on 60 Minutes for the first time in 5 years and laid out how he sees the most pressing issues, like the government shutdown and high prices. 

Those answers were telling, but throughout the entire interview, Trump was mostly telling on himself. He admitted to pardoning a money launderer without knowing anything about the case. He said he didn't think ICE is going far enough in cities like Chicago and ...

Grant is joined by Pulitzer Prize-winning writer, co-founder and co-editor of The American Prospect, Princeton professor Paul Starr. 

Paul is the author of the new book American Contradiction: Revolution and Revenge from the 1950s to now (link below). He talks about how we got to this moment of retribution and revenge, how it's different from how political scores used to be settled, and why Americans have stricter rules for Dem...

The government shutdown is a month long now, just five days behind the longest ever. But it's not the record deadline that's the big one; it's the one happening this weekend. 

On Nov. 1, food stamp benefits and health insurance subsidies expire for tens of millions of Americans who rely on those programs to avoid starvation or get vital care. 

Grant explains whether a judge in Massachusetts can stop kids from going hun...

Donald Trump says again he's not ruling out a third term, even though there's no legal way for him to become president again after 2028. But that's not stopping MAGA from talking about and some Republican Senators not ruling it out either. 

But the new focus on a third term comes as Trump reveals new things about his health, namely, he underwent an MRI and more cognitive tests at a mystery second visit to Walter Reed ...