Independent Americans with Paul Rieckhoff

It’s time for our Annual Festivus episode with the great, powerful, and wise Jason Alexander! Jason returns again to Independent Americans to help us air our grievances, navigate a truly turbulent holiday season and find some joy worth spreading. From the tragic origins of the Festivus holiday to the "despicable" and "amoral" nature of the Seinfeld characters that the world still loves, Jason and Paul Riec...

It’s Episode 400. A milestone. And while the rest of the world is checking out for the holidays, the machinery of war is heating up.

Host Paul Rieckhoff breaks down a chaotic weekend where the "Peace President" launched strikes in Syria, threatened Venezuela with a new "Golden Fleet," and suspended offshore wind farms—all while Congress has left town. This isn't a silent night; it’s a loud, po...

Independent Veteran candidate, retired Army Lieutenant Colonel, PhD, ultra-marathon champion, and living kidney donor Matt Cavanaugh is a damn impressive leader. And he joins Independent Americans host Paul Rieckhoff from Colorado’s 5th district for an unfiltered, high-energy conversation on why “America is not okay” and why he believes voters are trapped in another “Alien vs. Predator” election where, if either major party wins, t...

Paul welcomes back CBS News national security coordinating producer (and Marine infantry veteran) James LaPorta, one of the most tenacious and respected reporters in the national security and veterans’ space. From the CBS bureau in Washington, LaPorta brings exclusive reporting, deep sourcing and hard-won combat perspective as Paul rips through a wild 48 hours: Trump’s lie-filled prime-time address and new “warrior dividend” checks...

In this moving and important episode, Paul Rieckhoff sits down with his old friend, acclaimed and courageous director Craig Renaud to discuss his HBO documentary, Armed Only with a Camera: The Life and Death of Brent Renaud, which honors his brother Brent, a brave and renowned journalist killed in Ukraine in 2022. Reflecting on two decades of shared history covering global conflicts, they explore the soaring cost of war and the inc...

This is a huge and news-making show. Recorded just before Kelly’s pivotal meeting with Hegseth in Washington. When Donald Trump used the power of the presidency to call for Senator Mark Kelly’s execution, he crossed a dangerous new line—and sent a chilling message to millions of veterans and every American who dares to speak out. In this all–new episode, Independent Americans host and Army veteran Paul Rieckhoff sits down with the ...

After a weekend of atrocities from the Hanukkah massacre in Sydney to another campus shooting at Brown University, new American combat deaths in Syria, Trump’s escalating boat strikes, looming conflict with Venezuela and brutal VA job cuts, Independent Americans host Paul Rieckhoff turns to someone who can help us breathe, process and fight forward: democracy and respect advocate, Baratunde Thurston.​

Baratunde is an Emmy-nominated...

CBS Justice Correspondent Scott MacFarlane joins Independent Americans for a hard-hitting breakdown of Trump’s risky Venezuelan tanker seizure, the secret DOJ legal memos behind recent strikes, and the unprecedented blanket pardons that wiped out the largest criminal investigation in American history. Host Paul Rieckhoff also unpacks a near-trillion-dollar defense bill, Trump’s blocked federalization of the California National Guar...

MS Now’s Stephanie Ruhle is back on Independent Americans for the first time since March 2020, joining host Paul Rieckhoff to let it fly. She’s candid, uninterrupted and going deep on Trump’s unchecked power over the U.S. military, the runaway big business of youth sports, the affordability crisis, and why “kind is the new cool.” Paul opens with a rapid-fire rundown of Trump’s Pennsylvania “affordability” speech, looming Fed rate c...

Governor Wes Moore is back—and this time, the stakes are even higher. As Trump tests the limits of presidential power, perhaps the most exciting and inspiring Governor in America joins Paul Rieckhoff to explain how far the White House can really go in deploying the National Guard into American cities, what is and is not a “lawful order,” and how governors can (and must) hold the line. From war-crime allegations to loose talk about ...

This episode goes straight to the heart of Trump’s chaotic Pentagon with one of the most respected national security reporters in America, Barbara Starr. In this all–new Manosphere Monday, Paul and Barbara dig into the debate around the boat strikes off Venezuela, war crime allegations, “Signalgate,” Trump’s new defense strategy and what happens when the guardrails that protect U.S. troops start coming off.​

Independent U.S. Senate candidate from Idaho, Army veteran and telecom leader Todd Achilles returns to Independent Americans for a hard-charging Football Friday that cuts through the chaos. Todd and host Paul Rieckhoff break down Trump’s unauthorized boat strikes and the unfolding Signalgate scandal, why Secretary Hegseth is “fundamentally unfit,” and how Congress has surrendered its War Powers as America edges toward a conflict wi...

Retired Brigadier General Shawn A. Harris is back on the front lines—this time in politics. From his grass-fed cattle farm in Rockmart, Georgia to the halls of the Pentagon, Harris joins Independent Americans host Paul Rieckhoff (@PaulRieckhoff) to break down SignalGate, the deadly US boat strikes, the War Powers fight and the growing danger of sloppy, politicized military leadership.​

In this urgent episode ripped from the top political and national security headlines, host Paul Rieckhoff talks with the only truly Independent Senator and member of the Senate Armed Services Committee: Maine’s Angus King. King returns to the show to answer tough questions, share the latest from inside the Senate, and break down Hegseth's "kill everybody" directive amid shifting stories on the strikes that killed dozens, including ...

Paul Rieckhoff catches up with scholar-warrior Dr. Jason Dempsey, a veteran whose career spans deployments in Afghanistan, work inside the White House, and now powerful advocacy and research on the state of America’s military. The two dive into headline events—recent attacks, controversial military decisions, and the dangerous rise of performative “tough guy” politics. Dempsey unpacks why the rules of war must stand, why leadership...

In this must-hear breaking news episode, host Paul Rieckhoff and Washington Post Pentagon reporter and returning guest Dan Lamothe dig into the shocking September 2 “drug boat” strike that allegedly included a second “double tap” hit on survivors in the water—and why this may become the first real legal and political test of Trump’s controversial boat strike campaign. They unpack who gave which orders, what Congress can demand, how...

In this classic April 2021 conversation, Independent Americans host Paul Rieckhoff sits down with actor Jon Bernthal for a raw, unfiltered look at America at a breaking point—through the eyes of a storyteller who has spent years playing warriors, cops and complicated men on the edge. They dig into service, violence, fatherhood, justice and what it really means to “have someone’s back” when the cameras are off and the country is in ...

This special Thanksgiving edition brings you part two of a dynamic Independent Veterans of America Winners Circle Town Hall featuring IVA 2026 Senate candidates Ty Pinkins of Mississippi and Dan Osborn of Nebraska—two independent veterans who are taking on entrenched incumbents, big money, and a broken two-party system.​

As we head into Thanksgiving we've got a special Veterans Day “Winners Circle” town hall that brings together Independent Veterans of America (IVA) candidates who are changing American politics from the ground up. Independent Americans host and IVA founder Paul Rieckhoff moderates a powerful, unfiltered conversation with two newly‑elected independent veterans—Mike Procuk (Frederick County, VA School Board) and Toby Proctor (...