Risks of a Powerful Unitary Executive

Start with the trenches, not the slogans. We open with Daryl’s new MartyrMade series that tells World War II from the German perspective, beginning in World War I to show how ordinary men were swept by trauma, propaganda, and deprivation into choices that later hardened into catastrophe. The aim is clarity, not absolution—humanize even the “enemy,” and you gain the tools to see your own era more honestly.

From that lens, we shift to power now. Guest Ronald Dodson explains why a government shutdown can reveal a rare opportunity to cut through the administrative state. OMB’s role in classifying “non‑essential” positions and triggering reduction‑in‑force plans isn’t bean counting; it’s a constitutional lever. We explore Article II authority, what it should mean for presidential control of the executive branch, and how to draw a hard line against Bush‑era claims of boundless commander‑in‑chief power. Elections only matter if executives can direct and dismiss, and if Congress stops outsourcing lawmaking to regulators.

Foreign policy exposes the costs of an unaccountable machine. The Cold War built a global apparatus that never stood down: covert wars that try to conscript the Pentagon, a CIA culture that glorifies operating beyond rules, and procurement fantasies like the F‑35 that attempt to be everything and end up fragile. We weigh a bold corrective—moving CIA operations into DIA under military accountability—and trace how empires force universal solutions while rivals need only local answers. That asymmetry drains treasure and invites strategic overreach.

Can we return to an old republic? No—but we can recover representative control. That means narrowing delegations, demanding real budgets instead of endless CRs, restoring presidential direction over agencies, and designing reforms that face forward rather than worship nostalgia. Along the way, expect sharp debate, concrete mechanics, and a throughline: stories that humanize the past can help us govern the present.

If this episode challenged your assumptions or gave you a new frame to think with, follow the show, share it with a friend, and leave a review so more people can find it.