The Insurgents

Ben Terris, author of “The Big Break: The Gamblers, Party Animals, and True Believers Trying to Win in Washington While America Loses Its Mind,” joins Jordan for a fun chat about the characters, stories and insights in his new book. The conversation ranges from an oil tycoon’s granddaughter funding progressive politics to a right wing lobbyist faking it until he makes it. We also talk about disgraced face of CPAC Matt Schlapp’s role in DC and how Sean McElwee’s gambling habit, in part, got him pushed out of Data for Progress.Before Jordan’s conversation with Ben, Rob and Jordan discuss the wildfires in Canada and how Americans’ dismissive attitudes about it (that it’s either some grand conspiracy or “just arson” ultimately miss the point). And Donald Trump gets indicted again. Will anything happen this time?The Big Break is available here.To become a subscriber (paid intern!) to the Insurgents and gain access to an additional episode every week, you can subscribe at InsurgentsPod.com or, if you’re on Substack, simply click this button:Our most recent premium episode with Ken Klippenstein on the RFK Jr. and Cornel West presidential campaigns, third parties, the DHS cribbing Andy Ngo’s reporting, the debt ceiling and more is available here:You can find The Insurgents elsewhere on…YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TheInsurgents/ | Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theinsurgentspod/ | Twitter: https://twitter.com/insurgentspod | TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@insurgentspod | This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.insurgentspod.com/subscribe

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.insurgentspod.comKen Klippenstein is back and joins us this time to break down the theatrics and spectacle of the debt ceiling negotiations. Despite politicians bemoaning the colossal amount of debt, the military budget remained unscathed and, in fact, even grew. Food stamps and other social safety net programs, however, took a cut. We also take a look at the presidenti…

Kylie Cheung, writer at Jezebel and NBA twitter extraordinaire, joins us for a fun conversation about Ron DeSantis’ first week running for president. The extremely unlikable Florida politician has already made waves with his cringey behavior but what’s worse is his attacks on the LGBTQIA+ community and abortion rights. We look at the right’s war on abortion rights and how its fared in other red states. We also make our picks for the NBA Finals, discuss “Heat Culture” and why we love a bunch of sickos in the NBA.You can follow Kylie here: https://twitter.com/kylietcheungTo become a subscriber (paid intern!) to the Insurgents and gain access to an additional episode every week, you can subscribe at TheInsurgents.Substack.com/subscribe or simply click this button:Our most recent premium episode for paid interns with Brett Erlich about the right-wing meltdown over Target, Bud Light, Chick-fil-A and more, is available here: You can find The Insurgents elsewhere on…YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TheInsurgents/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theinsurgentspod/Twitter: https://twitter.com/insurgentspodTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@insurgentspod This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.insurgentspod.com/subscribe

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.insurgentspod.comBrett Erlich of The Young Turks joins us to dissect the right-wing outrage campaign over very tepid acknowledgements that the LGBTQIA+ community exists. From the freak-out over Target offering Pride themed clothes, to Chick-fil-A hiring a diversity officer, to Milk-Bone slapping a pride flag on a tub of dog treats, new fronts in the culture war are bein…

Gaby Del Valle and Felipe De La Hoz of Border/Lines join us to discuss the latest news on the immigration front. With the expiration of Title 42, many Conservatives are trying to now gin up fears over a “surge” of immigrants at the southern border. Felipe and Gaby explain what Title 42 is, why it’s not so much gone as it is replaced and the moves the Biden administration have made recently to respond to processing challenges for asylum seekers at the border.You can subscribe to Border/Lines here: To become a subscriber (paid intern!) to the Insurgents and gain access to an additional episode every week, you can subscribe at TheInsurgents.Substack.com/subscribe or simply click this button:Our most recent premium episode featured Ben Smith (Semafor, former BuzzFeed News editor-in-chief) to discuss the state of digital news and his new book “Traffic”: https://theinsurgents.substack.com/p/ep-178-the-rise-and-fall-of-digital#detailsYou can find The Insurgents elsewhere on…YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TheInsurgents/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theinsurgentspod/Twitter: https://twitter.com/insurgentspod This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.insurgentspod.com/subscribe

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.insurgentspod.comBen Smith, co-founder of Semafor and former editor-in-chief of BuzzFeed News, joins Jordan to discuss his new book Traffic: Genius, Rivalry and Delusion In The Billion-Dollar Race To Go Viral. The two discuss how the rivalry between Jonah Peretti, BuzzFeed’s co-founder and CEO, and Nick Denton, founder of Gawker, shaped the digital news landscape, how p…

Annie Wu Henry, digital strategist for progressive campaigns, joins us to break down the election results in Pennsylvania, highlighted by Sara Innamorato’s primary win for Alleghany County Executive. We also discuss Helen Gym’s great campaign for Philadelphia mayor and the challenges she faced from within the Democratic establishment and GOP megadonors working to stop her. Annie explains how progressive candidates in other purple states can learn from these races.We also discuss Wired magazine’s strange and fawning piece on Pete Buttigieg.You can follow Annie here: https://twitter.com/Annie_Wu_22To become a subscriber (paid intern!) to the Insurgents and gain access to an additional episode every week, you can subscribe at TheInsurgents.Substack.com/subscribe or simply click this button.Our most recent premium episode for paid interns about Dianne Feinstein’s return to the Senate, Elon Musk’s weird CNBC interview, Rob’s new king and Jordan’s trip to Japan where he slept through an earthquake is available here: https://theinsurgents.substack.com/p/ep-176-weekend-at-difis#detailsYou can find The Insurgents elsewhere on…YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TheInsurgents/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theinsurgentspod/Twitter: https://twitter.com/insurgentspod This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.insurgentspod.com/subscribe

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.insurgentspod.comSenator Dianne Feinstein returned to the Senate this week and gave some incredible quotes to Slate about how she never actually was gone. Impressive! We discuss the ongoing push for her resignation, Rob’s new king, Elon Musk’s interview with CNBC in which he claimed there was no evidence a Nazi mass shooter with Nazi tattoos was actually an extremist, a…

After Rob takes our brand new AI co-host for a spin while Jordan is away in Japan, to mixed results, Alex Peter joins the show to talk about the Jordan Neely case, defunding the police, how his experiences as a public defender in NYC informed his views on criminal justice and prison abolition, and much more.Follow Alex on twitter here and on Tik Tok here.Check out Mutual Aid Hub here to get involved in your community.To become a subscriber (paid intern!) to the Insurgents and gain access to an additional episode every week, you can subscribe at TheInsurgents.Substack.com/subscribe or simply click this button.You can find The Insurgents elsewhere on…YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TheInsurgents/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theinsurgentspod/Twitter: https://twitter.com/insurgentspod This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.insurgentspod.com/subscribe

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.insurgentspod.comIn this episode, recorded before Jordan’s extravagant and unsanctioned Japan vacation, he and our friend Jack Crosbie of Discourse Blog have a conversation about ChatGPT and the future of AI automation, Twitter’s Elon Musk era, the Barstool to Tucker Carlson pipeline and more. There’s also some unfortunate comments about Canadians and Australians that t…