Politix

The government shutdown just crossed the two-week mark. If you take Donald Trump and his people at their word, it doesn’t seem like it’s about to reopen. But they are also huge bluffers. In this episode, Matt and Brian discuss:

* Has Trump hit upon a (legally dubious) way to keep the government “shut down” indefinitely?

* Which signs suggest he’s d...

As anticipated in last week’s episode, the government did indeed shut down, and as of this recording Congress remains at an impasse. At the same time Donald Trump and Stephen Miller are trying harder than ever to foment street violence in blue cities and maybe even martial law. In this episode, Brian and Matt discuss:

* How the GOP’s ongoing Epste...

Donald Trump has crossed an important redline: He ordered his administration to prosecute former FBI Director James Comey, fired the prosecutor who told him he had no case, and installed a lackey who did as ordered. In this episode:

* What distinguishes the (weak, losing) Comey indictment from past abuses of prosecutorial power?

* Why Comey shouldn...

With the firing (and then unfiring) of Jimmy Kimmel, the right-wing crackdown in the name of Charlie Kirk seems to have bumped up against real limits.

In light of the week’s developments, we discuss:

* The schisms within MAGA that were on display at the Kirk memorial;

* How those schisms fused with resistance backlash, forcing ABC and Disney to reth...

Donald Trump and several of his top officials have promised to unleash a partisan crackdown in Charlie Kirk’s honor, even as the notion that Kirk’s assassin was in league with the institutional left becomes more far fetched.

In light of the week’s developments, we discuss:

* Our personal reactions to the Kirk murder, and the contours of the overall...

Another government shutdown looms, and, thus, so do more angsty struggle sessions over what Democrats should do, and what effective opposition looks like. In this episode, we discuss:

* How does mounting bad news for Donald Trump—bad jobs numbers, defeats in court, and revelations about his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein—affect the politics of a...

This week, we indulge all the speculation and look ahead to politics if and after Donald Trump dies in office. For instance:

* Is a movement that claims the mantle of making America “healthy” sustainable in a world where the obese 79 year old president croaks after his health secretary takes vaccines off the shelf?

* Does JD Vance have the juice req...

This week, a close look at two troubling authoritarian provocations from the Trump administration: Friday’s dawn FBI raid of John Bolton’s house in Maryland, and Monday’s purported firing of Lisa Cook, a member of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors. We discuss:

* How Matt managed to leave his microphone in Maine.

* What Trump seemingly hopes to ...

Donald Trump’s federal occupation of the capital continues, but the context has worsened. It now unfolds alongside Trump’s seemingly related efforts to: 1) gerrymander as many red states as possible; 2) unconstitutionally void and rerun the Census in a manner that would benefit Republicans; and 3) assert unconstitutional control over the time, pla...

Donald Trump has commandeered Washington DC’s police force and deployed federal agents and national guardsmen to patrol DC streets, on plainly pretextual grounds.

In this episode we’ll discuss:

* What makes this affront to DC sovereignty unusually offensive;

* Trump’s stated reasons for seizing power, and how to see through them;

* What, if anything,...

This week, we’re reassessing both the resiliency of the economy, and the health of U.S. democracy.

Why? Because recent data suggests Donald Trump’s reactionary policy blitz (global tariffs, mass deportation) has caused the economy to seize up; and Trump has responded by trying to kill the messengers.

In this episode you’ll hear all about:

* What the...

Donald Trump is trying desperately to bury the Jeffrey Epstein scandal.

In this episode, Matt and Brian explore all the distractions Trump has attempted—implicitly and explicitly—to knock the Epstein files out of the news, why Trump is so desperate and why are his usual tactics failing.

* Should we at this point suspect this is a coverup of damning...

The new Superman is a critical hit and box-office smash—despite conspicuous Republican efforts to discourage people from seeing it. It’s the GOP vs. truth, justice, and the American way!

In this episode, Matt and Brian explore all the reasons the modern right might have been put off by this movie, and Superman’s longer-running themes:

* To what exte...

The race is on between Donald Trump, who’s desperately trying to put down the raging scandal surrounding his Jeffrey Epstein lies (whatever they happen to be) and Democrats who are finally engaged, and trying to pry the truth loose. Who’s gonna win?

In this episode, Matt and Brian discuss:

* How has the Epstein scandal developed over the past week?

*...

The Trump administration suddenly wants you to stop asking questions about Jeffrey Epstein. Case closed. Nothing to see here. That client list we promised to release? It doesn’t exist.

In this episode, Matt and Brian discuss:

* What is the Jeffrey Epstein conspiracy theory, and why has it persisted so long?

* Why are Epstein’s old, wide-ranging asso...

Minutes after recording this episode, Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) provided the decisive vote for GOP legislation to kick 15-20 million people off their health insurance and give rich people a trillion dollar tax cut, along with many other horrors.

Now it’s back to the House, where hope, which springs eternal, goes to die!

In this episode, Matt and Br...

Welcome to hell, because we’ve reached the hot war phase of the second Trump presidency. Or have we?

In this episode, Matt and Brian discuss:

* What has actually happened, both since 2018, and just in the past couple weeks, and why it’s so unlikely to have left the U.S. and the world better off.

* Is there any upside to Donald Trump and Benjamin Net...

Donald Trump may not always chicken out, but his on again/off again, advance-retreat dance does seem to insulate him from lasting blowback. It seems the only way to drag Trump’s popularity down low enough to really hem him in is for his supporters to find out the hard way.

In this episode, Matt and Brian tackle the questions:

* Does the hyperbolic c...

Since last week’s episode, Donald Trump and Elon Musk had a bitter falling out, Republicans encountered new obstacles to enacting their top priorities (cutting rich people’s taxes and poor people’s Medicaid) and Trump ordered a federal siege of Los Angeles.

Also, Brian got his first taste of sweet, sweet European health care.

What do these things h...