The 'Enemy Within' and License for Violence

On this last show, your favorite psychologists, John Gartner and Harry Segal, review Trump’s bizarre speech in Quantico while explaining their decision to end the series. They are joined by Really American’s Justin Horwitz, as well as two very good friends of the show, Laurie Winer (author and theatre critic) and Ahmed Babba, political commentator (ahmedbaba.news).

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This feels like the last page in a long, intense book we never wanted to end, and here we are: Shrinking Trump has reached its final chapter. Dr. John Gartner and Dr. Harry Siegel sit together one last time, looking back on more than seventy episodes spent untangling the psychological knots in Donald Trump’s presidency. What began as a clinical exercise soon revealed itself as an urgent civic project—mapping the anatomy of malignant narcissism, tracing the reckless impulses that drove one man to breach institutions again and again, and warning listeners that unchecked power corrodes the very heart of democracy.  

Throughout this journey, Gartner and Siegel watched what started as performative chaos harden into a systematic assault on norms. They watched pathological lying give cover to authoritarian ambitions, charisma morph into control, and theatrical stunt after stunt erode the barriers meant to protect free speech and rule of law. They sat with experts like Dr. Vince Greenwood to peer under the hood of psychopathy, describing how impulsivity and a lack of remorse propel bold grabs for power—and leave gaping vulnerabilities in their wake. They examined the bitter aftershocks of tragedies manipulated for political gain, from the exploitation of Charlie Kirk’s assassination to the steady drip of fear tactics aimed at silencing dissent.  

They chronicled the stealthy rise of a media empire built on consolidation and influence, where once-independent newsrooms bent beneath the weight of billionaire agendas. They warned that as echo chambers spread and fact-based reporting shrank, the story of our country risked being rewritten by those who profit from confusion. Every week, Shrinking Trump gave listeners a pair of psychological glasses through which to see behind the spectacle: each emergency proclamation, each incendiary tweet, each courtroom drama wasn’t just a headline—it was a symptom.  

In this final conversation, Gartner and Siegel remind us that naming these symptoms remains our best defense against manipulation. Recognizing cognitive warning signs isn’t armchair diagnosis; it’s an act of democratic self-defense. They urge us to stay critical of the media we consume, to question the narratives packaged as truth, and to refuse the numbing allure of constant crisis. Even as they close this chapter, they make it clear that the work continues—because authoritarian tactics do not retire with a single series finale.  

So let this be more than a goodbye. Let it be a call to carry forward every insight and warning, to keep alive the conversations that protect our shared values. Shrinking Trump may be signing off, but the fight for a better America goes on. Thank you for listening.

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