Unf*cking The Republic
Unf*cking The Republic® (UNFTR) is dedicated to progressive politics, leftist economic theories, and social justice in the United States. Join us for deep dives into socialism, labor rights, climate justice, and the fight against inequality. Whether you're curious about Marxist ideas, modern social movements, or progressive policies, UNFTR delivers thoroughly sourced critiques, analyses, and interviews with the historical context mainstream media won't provide. Subscribe for informative and unabashedly progressive coverage of the leftist political and economic landscape.
Episodes
Donald Trump stole the headlines once again by speaking ill of Rob Reiner after the tragic death of Reiner and his wife Michele. It was yet another vulgar display of Trump’s unbridled narcissism that takes away from the legitimate conversation we should be having about Reiner’s legacy, what his films meant to a generation that came of age before 9/11. In many ways, Reiner became the avatar of white establishment liberal...
Max and 99 are back for another round of Show Notes! They talk Mets news (RIP), The Fed, healthcare, and get to some Unf*cker feedback.
Chapters
Intro: 00:00:20
Headlines: 00:13:54
Email: 00:55:43
Memberships: 01:47:13
Outro: 01:50:41
Resources
Yahoo Finance: Live coverage: Federal Reserve cuts interest rates by 0.25%
NPR: Head Start centers told to avoid 'disability,' 'women' and more in funding requests
UNFTR Resources
Donald Trump is tearing the nation apart. To place his revenge-filled presidency in historical context we have to reach deep into the annals of history and revisit the tenure of famed Roman Emperor Commodus who historians perceive as the beginning of the end of the Roman Empire. With this second term Trump has entered rarified air that few U.S. presidents have breathed. He has fundamentally altered the culture, the country and its ...
The U.S. economy has already crashed. The stock market is just the last one to figure it out. In this essay, Max talks about what happens when hegemonic economies collapse and how the U.S. has been able to keep things afloat while the bottom falls out. He draws parallels to the crash of 1929 and the subsequent Depression and speaks to the differences. There is a path forward for Progressives but it won’t be a presidential run...
Max and 99 are back for another round of Show Notes. They (surprise) talk about the economy, the housing crisis, Venezuela and much more. Enjoy!
Chapters
Intro: 00:00:20
Emails: 00:26:21
Memberships: 00:41:24
Reviews: 01:37:16
Outro: 01:38:50
Resources
Video (UNFTR for MeidasTouch): Trump's Kitchen Sink Recession Response
Wall Street Journal: U.S. Likely Lost 50,000 Jobs in October, Goldman Sachs Says
Max reports on the growing cracks in the financial markets and the unprecedented lengths the Federal Reserve has already gone to in order to stabilize the global financial system. The U.S. is heading toward a full-blown liquidity crisis that threatens to seize up the financial markets. The situation is worsening daily at this point and Trump’s erratic policy decisions are contributing to the destabilization.
Stephen Miran isn’t auditioning to run the Federal Reserve. He’s auditioning to destroy it. Like so many in Trump’s sphere, Miran was selected for his ability to appear like he’s doing the right thing and making the tough choices. In reality, he exists to destroy the thing he’s spent his entire life trying to be a part of. Miran is a highly educated and competent analyst whose academic veneer and proje...
In this Phone a Friend, Max sits down with crypto entrepreneur and advisor Keith D. The pair discuss the history of Bitcoin, expansion of crypto markets and whether the public is in safe hands as the influence of cryptocurrency grows exponentially.
Resources
Video: You can't afford to ignore Crypto with Keith D.
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The U.S. economy is headed for financial collapse. Repo market stress. Private credit market liquidity crunch. Subprime lending crisis. Spiraling deficits. Basis trade exposure. Dollar debasement. U.S. states in recession. Oil market contango. Tariff and trade wars. Each of these are like explosive devices hiding in the corners of the economic edifice that is the U.S. economy. And the Federal Reserve just released a shocking paper ...
Max and 99 are back this week for Show Notes; they start with a little pop culture music/movie talk, and transition into Unf*cker emails where they cover why the 1% doesn’t care if the economy is gutted, what figures you can trust from the Trump administration, Technocracy in Silicon Valley and a host of other things. Enjoy!
Chapters
Intro: 00:00:20
Emails: 00:27:51
Memberships: 01:24:16
Outro: 01:30:08
Resources
Barack Obama was the greatest Republican president of my lifetime—a statement sure to fire up establishment liberals and conservatives alike. But for progressives in the United States, this is what the Obama years felt like. Today’s episode examines the seminal policy achievements of the Obama years from the Affordable Care Act and wars in Iraq and Afghanistan to DACA and the response to the Global Financial Crisis. We ...
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent recently pledged $20 billion of support to Argentina to prevent its currency from sliding further and to backstop Javier Milei’s Trump-like economic agenda. Then, Argentina turned around and lowered its export tariffs and dumped its soybean crop on the market. They found a willing buyer in China, who has ceased purchasing U.S. agriculture due to the Trump tariff war. The whole affair boiled ov...
Max and 99 are back to discuss headlines (AI, government shutdown, Hegseth speech + more) and recent Unf*cker feedback. Enjoy!
Chapters
Intro: 00:00:20
Emails: 00:46:56
Memberships: 01:40:10
Outro: 01:40:37
Resources
Wired: Palantir Wants to Be a Lifestyle Brand
Ed Zitron's Where's Your Ed At
Track Star: Pete Alonso
"Department of War:" Pete Hegseth FULL REMARKS at the WAR DEPARTMENT ADDRESS
New York Times: Text of the Email That P...
We continue to build on the idea that white Christian nationalism is, was and has always been the foundation of this country. To suggest otherwise is to be both ahistorical and absent in our politics today. The violent response to a concept so utterly innocuous such as “Black lives matter” should tell us everything. Before it was a movement (of sorts) it was a simple statement. But the reality is that they don’t. ...
It’s evident now that the alt-right figures in charge of this administration are quickly realizing the vision set forth in Project 2025. But it’s also clear that they are moving just as quickly to implement the vision of Project Esther, the Project 2025 companion and follow-up from the Heritage Foundation. The two visions work in tandem to destroy the institutions that barely held Donald Trump in check during his first ...
This week Max expands on his initial response to the murder of Charlie Kirk and reflects on the diseased state of the online American male. Gen Z gamers who came of age during “Gamergate” are still living more online than “IRL” and appear to be divorced from their consequences. From school shootings to the Kirk murder, the motivations of incels are becoming harder to divine and even more radicalized from the...
The “left” is a wide spectrum with ever deepening divides. This week’s essay highlights two newsworthy items that perfectly illustrate the fracture between leftists and liberals and how we’re willing to accept anything on the Democratic side that shows signs of life; even if those things are undemocratic in nature. Part one addresses the fallout from the Wired Magazine article uncovering the relationship bet...
Max and 99 jump in for another edition of Show Notes, covering headlines and some recent Unf*cker feedback. Enjoy!
Chapters
Intro: 00:00:20
Headlines: 00:26:07
Emails: 00:33:02
Memberships: 00:53:09
Outro: 00:53:25
Resources
Sign the Petition To Stop the Senate From Passing These Bills
Max for MTN: Trump makes FATAL MOVE that Instantly RUINS LABOR DAY
The Guardian: Florida to end vaccine mandates for children as state’s surge...
The U.S. is running out of options to service the national debt. Secretary Bessent announced that we will now use revenue from tariffs to pay down budget deficits, rather than reinvest them into the economy. Some are treating this as welcome news. At the same time, the GOP has formed a working group to draft up a “sequel” to the Big Beautiful Bill to deepen cuts to Medicaid and federal student aid. They’ll do anyt...
Hustle Culture relies on the toxic myth of rugged individualism. Four out of every ten Americans rely on “side-hustles” in the gig economy to make ends meet. For many these side hustles are the only source of income. For decades our political leaders have sold the myth of self-reliance rather than bolstering worker protections. The result is a population that lives in economic precarity and without the benefits and peac...
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