Hold These Truths with Dan Crenshaw

Rep. Crenshaw gives his take on the fight over the speaker vote, the rules package, his "terrorist" comment, the funeral controversy, the first bills to pass the 118th Congress, what to expect from the House moving forward, and some of the legislation he is prioritizing in the coming weeks.

Special Operations expert Daniel Elkins joins us to talk about his on the ground analysis of the Ukraine aid distribution: where it's going, how it's getting there, what's the ROI on American military equipment, and how corrupt is it really.  Daniel gives us a window into how Special Operations and unconventional warfare works. We talk about the Afghanistan withdrawal, moving military equipment into war zones, building logistical networks, and running safe houses. Daniel Elkins is a Green Beret and founder of Special Operations Association of America. Follow him on Twitter at @DanielTElkins.

Jake Olson completely lost his vision at the age of 12 after a long battle with eye cancer. He went on to become a Division 1 college football player, golf champion, author, and motivational speaker. We talk about what it's like to go blind at an early age, how he became an accomplished athlete, developing spatial awareness and "human sonar," one-eye culture in the military, and the real reason Dan Crenshaw wears an eyepatch. Along the way Jake teaches us how anyone can overcome the toughest setbacks in life with humor, perspective, and fortitude. Follow Jake on Instagram and Twitter at @jakeolson61.

From Howard Zinn to the 1619 Project, the progressive movement has made a concerted effort for decades to rewrite history and portray the United States as irredeemably flawed in order to justify their radical changes. It's easy enough to only look at the faults in our nation's history, but Brian Kilmeade wants us to get back to learning and cherishing the good lessons from American historical figures. He joins us to talk about the most complicated period, the Civil War and its lead up, and the alliance between Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass.  Brian Kilmeade is the bestselling author of "The President and the Freedom Fighter: Abraham Lincoln, Frederick Douglass, and Their Battle to Save America’s Soul." He is the cohost of Fox News Channel’s morning show Fox & Friends and hosts the daily national radio program “The Brian Kilmeade Show” and the Fox Nation series What Makes America Great. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram at @kilmeade.

Top Gun: Maverick is arguably the greatest action movie of all time — but how accurate is it? Dan sat down with a real Navy fighter pilot, Congressman Mike Garcia, to discuss what's true, false, and somewhere in-between about the movie's technical details, mission, and the portrayal of pilot culture. Hold These Truths podcast wishes everyone a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays. And remember: it's not about the plane, it's about the pilot. Mike Garcia is the U.S. Representative for California's 25th Congressional District (soon to be the 27th district). He was an F-18 fighter pilot with nearly 20 years of active and reserve military service, and participated in combat operations in Operation Iraqi Freedom. Follow him on Twitter at @RepMikeGarcia.

Everything you wanted to know about the dreaded 4,155 page Omnibus spending bill — but were too afraid to ask. The history of how we got here, how it's supposed to work versus how it's working now, the politics at play in Washington, appropriations and authorizations, and how the heck a congressional office even digests a 4,000+ page spending bill in just a few days. This podcast won’t go into details in what’s in it (unless you want to hear me talk for 862 hours straight), but more about the process and how appropriations even work.  Our guests today are two of Rep. Crenshaw's longest-serving legislative staffers. Matt Hodge is Rep. Crenshaw's Legislative Director and Hannah Anderson is the Legislative Director for his Energy & Commerce portfolio.

Classic episode originally published for Christmas 2021. Pastor James Emery White joins us to help answer the most common questions and criticisms of Christianity and the Bible that you would hear from skeptics. Pastor White is the author of "Christianity for People Who Aren't Christians". He is the founding and senior pastor of Mecklenburg Community Church. Follow him on Twitter at @JamesEmeryWhite.

Congressman Michael Turner shares everything you need to know about the NDAA (National Defense Authorization Act): what it is and why we need it, the House and Senate processes to pass the final version, how Democrats try to hijack it with non-defense projects, and addressing criticisms of the NDAA from the far right. Since the NDAA has broad implications for the war in Ukraine and another controversial topic — our Military Industrial Base — we get into a discussion about those too. Michael also talks about the changes we can expect on House Intel when Adam Schiff loses the chairmanship on January 3rd. Michael Turner has served as the U.S. Representative for Ohio's 10th Congressional District since 2002. He is the lead Republican on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and also serves on the House Armed Services Committee. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram at @repmiketurner.

Nationwide, half of the prisoners released are incarcerated again within three years. But participants in the Texas-based Prison Entrepreneurship Program are seeing a return-to-prison rate of less than 7%. Al Massey was a graduate of that program and went on to serve as its Executive Relations Manager, helping prisoners prepare for their release by developing values-based business skills and a support structure to pursue their entrepreneurial visions. He joins us to talk about the program, the hurdles prisoners face re-integrating into society, what prison life is really like, differences between private and public prisons, and criminal justice reform. Learn more about the Prison Entrepreneurship Program at pep.org.

FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr is on a mission to get TikTok banned from United States. He joins us to talk about how China is using the app to commit espionage, train the next generation of AI, and peddle "digital fentanyl" to America's youth. We also discuss how the CCP is essentially in a public-private partnership with Apple to crack down on Chinese protestors, Elon Musk's plans for Twitter and Starlink, and the ongoing debate over what to do about Section 230. Commissioner Brendan Carr is the senior Republican on the Federal Communications Commission. Follow him on Twitter at @BrendanCarrFCC.