The Chuck ToddCast

Heather Ann Thompson, historian and author who digs into urban America and criminal justice, revisits the 1984 Bernie Goetz subway shooting. She traces how tabloid media, political austerity, and racial fear turned a violent act into a vigilante narrative. Conversations connect 1980s crime panic to policing changes, media spectacle, and the political playbook still shaping today.

A breakdown of federal immigration agents' controversial shootings in Minneapolis and how the White House scrambled to respond. Heated GOP infighting and rising calls for accountability around Kristi Noem. Analysis of Iowa's economic pain and why a blue shift there would reshape national politics. Updated list of governor races most likely to flip and concerns about major cuts at the Washington Post.

Heather Ann Thompson, historian and author of Fear and Fury, revisits the 1984 Bernie Goetz subway shooting and its wider cultural fallout. She unpacks how media coverage, absent video, created a vigilante narrative. She connects the case to 1980s austerity, tabloid politics, racialized fear, and how those forces shaped today’s media and political landscape.

Adam Bhala Lough, documentary filmmaker known for Deep Faking Sam Altman, brings a darkly funny and provocative take on AI culture. He explores Silicon Valley’s bunker-building and immortality obsession. He breaks down deepfakes, voice-cloning scams, and how coding may lose its value. He also examines tech elites’ PR control, the China-focused arms-race rhetoric, and why transparency and public literacy matter.

A fast, urgent look at a rising breakdown in trust and institutions. A tense recounting of two federal shootings in Minneapolis and video that challenges official accounts. A wider survey of fraying international alliances, politicized media and science, and the risks of wielding power through fear. A historical parallel to Bloody Sunday and a call for civic action to stop further unraveling.

Adam Bhala Lough, documentary filmmaker behind Deep Faking Sam Altman, explores AI’s cultural shock. He discusses deepfakes, Silicon Valley’s immortality and bunker obsessions, and the tech elite’s PR control. Short, sharp conversations cover AI-driven job displacement, ethical limits in filmmaking, and the race to regulate powerful, weaponizable tools.

A federal immigration operation in Minneapolis resulted in a controversial fatal shooting captured on video. The narrative around use of force, weapons laws, and why agents did not restrain the man is sharply questioned. Calls for an independent investigation and concerns about DHS credibility, recruitment culture, and politically driven enforcement dominate the conversation.

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey joins the discussion, offering a deep dive into his city's struggles with federal immigration enforcement as masked ICE and DHS agents invade. He outlines Minneapolis's strong-mayor powers and why local police focus on violent crime instead of immigration status. Frey highlights the challenges posed by staffing shortages and the dangers of federal raids disrupting families. He also shares insights on legal battles against these operations and the implications for community safety, emphasizing the need to protect residents amid escalating tensions.

Donald Trump gets flustered and backs off his Greenland threats, revealing how market pressures shape his decisions. The fallout on international relations with Canada and Europe is profound. Democrats face a tricky midterm landscape, especially in Minnesota, where policy credibility is key for candidates. Chuck also highlights the importance of early-state strategy for the 2028 elections and suggests rethinking how to engage rural America. He wraps up with a critique of the Baseball Hall of Fame's voting process.

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey discusses the current immigration enforcement crisis in his city, highlighting the aggressive tactics of ICE and DHS that appear more punitive than protective. He shares concerns over local police being racially profiled and harassed by federal agents, and how staffing shortages complicate the response to these incidents. Frey argues that many affected are legal residents, particularly within the Somali community, and warns of the erosion of trust in federal authorities, emphasizing the importance of maintaining the city's policies to ensure community safety.