The Karel Show

The Karel Show

The Karel Show delivers bold commentary from Karel, an openly gay entertainer, author, and nationally syndicated talk show host known for saying what others won’t. With humor, heart, and zero patience for nonsense, Karel takes listeners on a fast-paced, no-filter journey through politics, culture, and modern American life—hilarious, incisive, and always honest. Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-karel-show--1368295/support.

Episodes

October 15, 2026 • 62 mins
LGBTQ+ Rights: Hungary Advances, The World Retreats | The Karel Cast
LGBTQ+ rights are advancing in Hungary while crackdowns and threats elsewhere show how fragile equality remains. From harsher prison sentences in Senegal to a fight over LGBTQ+ youth protections in Washington state, Karel connects the headlines—and asks what real freedom requires.
This episode of The Karel Cast examines the gap between promises of acce...
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played
The Lost American Value: The Truth
We live in a country where the most controversial thing you can do is tell the pure, unvarnished truth. Why? Because many think the truth is relative, that the truth changes, and that the truth can be argued and debated.
Take the recent weather issues all across our country and our globe, from Long Beach to Long Island. The truth? We did it to ourselves, we were warned, we ignored it. All of...
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played
Kelly Clarkson’s “Pretty Woman” Store Clash: Who’s Telling the Truth? | The Karel Cast
Kelly Clarkson says a Brooklyn store gave her the “Pretty Woman” treatment—assuming she couldn’t afford an item and steering her toward something cheaper. The store denies her account. What happened, and why does this story strike such a nerve?
On this episode of The Karel Cast, Karel examines...
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played
California Floods: A Tragedy—or a Warning We Ignored? | The Karel Cast
Long Beach suffers coastal destruction. Newport Beach’s Balboa Island floods. Las Vegas faces heavy rain it wasn’t built to handle. When communities are warned about climate risks and fail to prepare, how should we react when disaster strikes?
Karel shares the response that drew backlash—and asks where sympathy, accountability and c...
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played
This Gay Week: LGBTQ Rights Under Pressure Worldwide
It’s This Gay Week, and Karel and Scott Jacobsen are taking a trip around the world to see where LGBTQ+ rights are advancing, where they’re retreating—and why the same political patterns keep appearing in very different countries.
This week, there’s some genuinely welcome news: specialized 988 crisis services for LGBTQ+ young people have returned in ...
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played
THE NEXT PANDEMIC IS COMING: Are We Ready—or Making the Same Mistakes Again?
Plague. Measles. Ebola. COVID taught us what a global outbreak can do—but did we actually learn anything from it?
In this episode of The Karel Cast, Karel looks at alarming infectious-disease headlines around the world, including reports involving plague, the resurgence of measles in the United States, and Ebola outbreaks in Africa. The b...
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played
October 6, 2026 • 62 mins
Occam's razor Is A Truth We Don't Want
The Supreme Court is weighing lawsuits from states that claim oil companies are responsible for climate change, and as such, must pay other help mitigate it. But it doesn't take any great thought...of course they caused it, of course they knew it was going to happen, and of course they profited for years off of it. That's a no-brainer. So why is it even a question?
Because that's too eas...
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played
The US Is Setting Records, And It's Not GoodYesterdayAmerica Is Breaking Records — And Not the Good KindRecord heat. Record gas prices. A potential $2 trillion AI IPO. A Hollywood superstar hitting a career low. And Donald Trump taking aim at… “vaygans”?America is setting records—but these aren't necessarily records worth celebrating.On today’s The Karel Cast, Karel takes on a weekend of extraor...
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played
Is America Losing Its Cool? Why the World Is Moving On
Is America still the country the rest of the world wants to imitate—or is something changing?
A recent New York Times discussion about America’s declining “cool factor” raises a bigger question: what happened to the country that once seemed to define global culture?
For decades, American influence was everywhere—Hollywood, blue jeans, jazz...
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played
September 30, 2026 • 62 mins
The Bigger Threat Than AI Is Already Here
Social Media has side effects, we know them. Here's just a list:
Depression and anxiety; Lower well-being and life satisfaction; Low self-esteem, envy, and feelings of inadequacy; Body dissatisfaction and disordered eating; sleep disruption; compulsive or problematic use; fear of missing out and pressure to remain available; distraction and interference with school or work; displaceme...
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played
Trump’s America Is Exhausting Us — And That May Be the Point
It feels like America barely has time to process one crisis before the next one arrives.
On today’s The Karel Cast, Karel takes on the relentless political and cultural news cycle—from the Trump administration’s latest moves affecting LGBTQ rights and Title IX, to rising prices, continuing war, climate threats and a country increasingly...
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played
What Do You Do When Trump Decides You're Not A Citizen?
My sister was born in Massachusetts in 1957 and has the birth certificate to prove it. But not according to Donald Trump's America.
She is in Arizona and receives state aid. She just received a letter she is being cut off. Why? It says the SAVE System, the system the Supreme Court said Trump can use to verify citizenship, a system that was never designed to do so, says s...
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played
"This Gay Week: Progress and Panic, All in 7 Days"
It's This Gay Week on The Karel Cast — and this week proves LGBTQ rights are moving in every direction at once, sometimes in the same breath. Turkey just arrested 241 people in an anti-trans sweep so severe that human rights groups are now demanding the EU freeze its accession bid entirely. Indonesia has officially classified "LGBTQ culture" as a national security threat, ...
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played
Your Health Is Your Most Valuable Asset — Are You Actually Protecting It?
Your health determines almost everything about the life you get to live — yet how much time do we actually spend protecting it?
Today on The Karel Cast, we look at what you can do every day to improve your odds of living a longer, healthier life: exercise, diet, daily habits, preventive care and the medical advances changing how doctors trea...
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played
Trump, Hollywood & Streaming: Is Entertainment Taking Over Politics?**
Politics has become entertainment — and entertainment has become political.
Donald Trump came to the presidency after decades as a celebrity and reality-TV star. His administration has included people with backgrounds in television, podcasting and other media. Meanwhile, Hollywood is facing another wave of consolidation, streaming has transformed...
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played
Why Hate Is the Only Thing Uniting America Right Now
America doesn't have one shared value left — except hate. Not division, not gun violence, not high prices. Just hate. And it's everywhere: from the Ed Sheeran pile-on after he simply called out the catastrophe in Gaza, to Trump banning CNN, MSNOW, and Politico from the White House for daring to tell the truth. We feel it at the gas pump, in line at the store, scrolling t...
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played
160 Arrested for Being Gay — Why Is the World Silent?
Over 160 people arrested in Turkey — for being LGBTQ. This is one of the most alarming crackdowns on gay rights in recent memory, and almost nobody's talking about it.
This Gay Week, after an Ukraine check-in, Scott Jacobsen joins Karel to break down what's happening in Turkey: why it's happening now, who's behind it, and how the rest of the world is responding...
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played
Why Can't We Criticize Israel? Ed Sheeran's Band Just QUIT
Ed Sheeran's band walked. Every opening act pulled out. AOC says she'd turn off the radio if he came on. And the thing nobody will name out loud is the reason why.
In today's world it seems there's exactly one country immune to criticism — Israel. Meanwhile Trump agrees to sell $2.8 billion in weapons we don't have to spare, for a war we shouldn't be in. Many ar...
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played
Do Award Shows Even Matter Anymore? Plus: Macklemore Dropped From Ed Sheeran’s Tour Over Palestine
The Emmys just happened. Did anyone outside Hollywood actually care?
Award shows have always caught flak for being elitist, out-of-touch spectacles — but they still move the needle: box office bumps, viewership spikes, higher asking prices for the winners. The real question is whether any of that still matters to the...
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played
AI Extinction Warnings vs. Trump’s AI Policy: What’s at Stake?
Could artificial intelligence threaten humanity—and how is Washington responding? The Karel Cast examines AI extinction warnings, Donald Trump’s approach to AI regulation, and the debate over how fast this technology should advance.
Leading AI researchers and industry executives have called for treating extinction risk as a global priority....
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played

Popular Podcasts

    If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.

    Dateline NBC

    Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com

    The Breakfast Club

    The World's Most Dangerous Morning Show, The Breakfast Club, With DJ Envy, Jess Hilarious, And Charlamagne Tha God!

    The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show

    The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show. Clay Travis and Buck Sexton tackle the biggest stories in news, politics and current events with intelligence and humor. From the border crisis, to the madness of cancel culture and far-left missteps, Clay and Buck guide listeners through the latest headlines and hot topics with fun and entertaining conversations and opinions.

    Crime Junkie

    Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by Audiochuck Media Company.

Advertise With Us
Music, radio and podcasts, all free. Listen online or download the iHeart App.

Connect

© 2026 iHeartMedia, Inc.

  • Help
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Use
  • AdChoicesAd Choices