American Friction

Vanity Fair’s profiling of the Trump administration has caused a real headache for the President. Amongst the drama, electoral mastermind Susie Wiles really let loose, saying Trump had an “alcoholic’s personality” and Vance a “conspiracy theorist”. What has this look behind the curtain taught us? Chris and Nikki dive into all of that, plus the BBC lawsuit and more! Back us on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/AmericanFriction Follow us on social media:  Bluesky Instagram  TikTok Written and presented by Chris Jones with Nikki McCann Ramirez. Audio/ Video editor: Simon Williams. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. Executive producer: Martin Bojtos. Artwork by James Parrett. Music: Orange Factory Music. AMERICAN FRICTION is a Podmasters Production. www.podmasters.co.uk  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Watergate scandal might be one of the biggest political scandals of all time - but do we really know the full truth of it? Garrett M. Graff is a Pulitzer Prize finalist and author of Watergate: A New History and joins Chris and Nikki to discuss exactly what led to the epic downfall of President Richard Nixon. Buy Watergate: A New History through our affiliate bookshop and you’ll help fund American Friction by earning us a small commission for every sale. Bookshop.org’s fees help support independent bookshops too. Buy UFO: The Inside Story of the US Government's Search for Alien Life Here—and Out There through our affiliate bookshop and you’ll help fund American Friction by earning us a small commission for every sale. Bookshop.org’s fees help support independent bookshops too. Back us on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/AmericanFriction Follow us on social media:  Bluesky Instagram  TikTok Written and presented by Chris Jones with Nikki McCann Ramirez. Audio/ Video editor: Simon Williams. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. Executive producer: Martin Bojtos. Artwork by James Parrett. Music: Orange Factory Music. AMERICAN FRICTION is a Podmasters Production. www.podmasters.co.uk Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Donald Trump has ramped up the pressure on his Venezuelan counterpart, Nicolas Maduro. Not only did he issue him an ultimatum to leave the country, but on Wednesday, US forces seized a Venezuelan oil tanker, raising oil prices and tension within the region. Could all-out war be on the horizon? Plus, Miami now has its first Democratic mayor in 30 years. Is a blue wave in the midterm election looking more realistic, or is that just a case of rose-tinted glasses syndrome? Listen to our latest episode with Rolling Stone’s Nikki McCann Ramirez and Chris Jones. Back us on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/AmericanFriction Follow us on social media:  Bluesky Instagram  TikTok Written and presented by Chris Jones with Nikki McCann Ramirez. Audio/ Video editor: Simon Williams. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. Executive producer: Martin Bojtos. Artwork by James Parrett. Music: Orange Factory Music. AMERICAN FRICTION is a Podmasters Production. www.podmasters.co.uk  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Cuban Missile Crisis is the closest we’ve been to nuclear war. What are the lessons we should learn from it being averted? Who were the key characters? And could Trump handle such a situation in the present day? Mark J. White, professor of history at QMUL and author of The Cuban Missile Crisis, joins Jarv to discuss.  Back us on Patreon – we need your help to keep going. Get ad free episodes, extra bits and merch: https://www.patreon.com/c/americanfriction  We’re now on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@AmericanFrictionPod  Follow us on social media:  BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/americanfric.bsky.social  Instagram  TikTok Written and presented by Chris Jones and Jacob Jarvis. Video and audio editor: Chris Jones. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. Managing Editor: Jacob Jarvis Executive producer: Martin Bojtos. Artwork by James Parrett. Music: Orange Factory Music. AMERICAN FRICTION is a Podmasters Production. www.podmasters.co.uk  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Donald Trump and Pete Hegseth appear to have at least allowed a war crime to happen on their watch – will they face any punishment? Plus, Trump is ranting in a new, weirder way and he can’t keep his eyes open during high-profile meetings anymore. This is fine. Casey Burgat, author of We Hold These Truths, joins Jarv and Chris to discuss this and much more.  Back us on Patreon – we need your help to keep going. Get ad free episodes, extra bits and merch: https://www.patreon.com/c/americanfriction  We’re now on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@AmericanFrictionPod  Follow us on social media:  BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/americanfric.bsky.social  Instagram  TikTok Written and presented by Chris Jones and Jacob Jarvis. Video and audio editor: Chris Jones. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. Managing Editor: Jacob Jarvis Executive producer: Martin Bojtos. Artwork by James Parrett. Music: Orange Factory Music. AMERICAN FRICTION is a Podmasters Production. www.podmasters.co.uk  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Wild West continues to fascinate people to this day – and still shapes America’s society. The video game Red Dead Redemption depicts the frontier era, and our guest today Tore Olsson has written extensively about the era in his book Red Dead's History: A Video Game, an Obsession, and America's Violent Past. He joins Jarv and Chris to discuss the Wild West.  Back us on Patreon – we need your help to keep going. Get ad free episodes, extra bits and merch: https://www.patreon.com/c/americanfriction  We’re now on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@AmericanFrictionPod  Follow us on social media:  BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/americanfric.bsky.social  Instagram  TikTok Written and presented by Chris Jones and Jacob Jarvis. Video and audio editor: Chris Jones. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. Managing Editor: Jacob Jarvis Executive producer: Martin Bojtos. Artwork by James Parrett. Music: Orange Factory Music. AMERICAN FRICTION is a Podmasters Production. www.podmasters.co.uk  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Trump and his admin are once again showing their weird love for Russia. Why are they all so keen on Moscow? We discuss this, Trump’s latest outbursts, his weird love for Mamdani and more!  Back us on Patreon – we need your help to keep going. Get ad free episodes, extra bits and merch: https://www.patreon.com/c/americanfriction  We’re now on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@AmericanFrictionPod  Follow us on social media:  BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/americanfric.bsky.social  Instagram  TikTok Written and presented by Chris Jones, Nikki McCann Ramirez and Jacob Jarvis. Video and audio editor: Simon Williams. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. Managing Editor: Jacob Jarvis Executive producer: Martin Bojtos. Artwork by James Parrett. Music: Orange Factory Music. AMERICAN FRICTION is a Podmasters Production. www.podmasters.co.uk  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The United States of America is strange. It’s easy to blame it on Trump, but has it ever been normal? Author and journalist Kurt Andersen wrote How America Went Haywire: A 500-Year History to track how the nation became so weird.  Buy Fantasyland through our affiliate bookshop and you’ll be helping the podcast by earning us a small commission for every sale. Bookshop.org’s fees help support independent bookshops too.  Back us on Patreon – we need your help to keep going. Get ad free episodes, extra bits and merch: https://www.patreon.com/c/americanfriction  We’re now on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@AmericanFrictionPod  Follow us on social media:  BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/americanfric.bsky.social  Instagram  TikTok Written and presented by Chris Jones and Jacob Jarvis. Video and audio editor: Chris Jones. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. Managing Editor: Jacob Jarvis Executive producer: Martin Bojtos. Artwork by James Parrett. Music: Orange Factory Music. AMERICAN FRICTION is a Podmasters Production. www.podmasters.co.uk  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Trump has been forced into letting the Epstein files be released and of course he’s totally chill about it. We’re due to get them in less than 30 days, though what we get is still unclear – and the fallout they’ll cause even less so. Chris, Nikki and Jarv discuss another very weird week. Back us on Patreon – we need your help to keep going. Get ad free episodes, extra bits and merch: https://www.patreon.com/c/americanfriction  We’re now on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@AmericanFrictionPod  Follow us on social media:  BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/americanfric.bsky.social  Instagram  TikTok Written and presented by Nikki McCann Ramirez, Chris Jones and Jacob Jarvis. Video and audio editor: Simon Williams. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. Managing Editor: Jacob Jarvis Executive producer: Martin Bojtos. Artwork by James Parrett. Music: Orange Factory Music. AMERICAN FRICTION is a Podmasters Production. www.podmasters.co.uk  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Democratic Party is totally rudderless and once again handed Trump whatever he wants to end the shutdown. What the hell are they doing? Jarv and Chris ask Politico’s national politics reporter Elena Schneider.  Back us on Patreon – we need your help to keep going. Get ad free episodes, extra bits and merch: https://www.patreon.com/c/americanfriction  We’re now on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@AmericanFrictionPod  Follow us on social media:  BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/americanfric.bsky.social  Instagram  TikTok Written and presented by Chris Jones and Jacob Jarvis. Video and audio editor: Simon Williams. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. Managing Editor: Jacob Jarvis Executive producer: Martin Bojtos. Artwork by James Parrett. Music: Orange Factory Music. AMERICAN FRICTION is a Podmasters Production. www.podmasters.co.uk  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices