The Moynihan Report The 'Cheney-to-Trump' pipeline: how the VP paved the way for MAGA | The Moynihan Report
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Nov 7, 2025 
Josh Szeps, an Australian journalist and host of Uncomfortable Conversations, joins the discussion to argue that Dick Cheney is the most influential architect of modern political polarization. He delves into Cheney's 'eat or be eaten' mentality post-9/11, which normalized norm-breaking in U.S. politics. The conversation shifts to faith and atheism, contrasting Nick Cave's profound reflections on loss with Richard Dawkins' dismissiveness, while also exploring the cultural landscape for writers and the ongoing complexity of America's global perception.
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Eugene Debs vs. Bill Kristol
- Michael Moynihan reads Eugene Debs to mock Bill Kristol's
Swedish Rent Control Story
- Moynihan recounts owning an apartment in Stockholm and struggling with rent-control waitlists.
- He cites 10–20 year waits in desirable neighborhoods as proof Sweden isn't socialist utopia.
Cheney's Security-First Worldview
- Dick Cheney's worldview normalized extreme executive power as necessary for security after 9/11.
- That mindset paved the way for later norm-breaking and polarization in US politics.
