Half the Answer

Trent and Caitlin talk with politics blogger and podcaster Ed Burmila about the centrist arm of the Democratic Party and its zombie-like shuffle through our dark era of authoritarian overreach. We ask what exactly went wrong over the last half-century that led our ostensible protectors to be so ill-equipped for this moment? Who is failing us, who is trying something else, and what tactics seem promising?Note: This episode was recorded before the assassination of Charlie Kirk.Resources:Chaotic Neutral: How Democrats Lost Their Soul In The Center https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/ed-burmila/chaotic-neutral/9781645030041/?lens=bold-type-booksGin and Tacos blog http://www.ginandtacos.comMass for Shut-Ins podcast https://www.iheart.com/podcast/263-mass-for-shut-ins-the-gin-29747244/

Trent and Caitlin check in with independent journalist Marisa Kabas about media and public figures’ reactions to the assassination of Charlie Kirk, their impulse to valorize and whitewash his legacy, and the mass harassment and firing campaigns against anyone who is insufficient in their praise of him.Resources:https://www.thehandbasket.cohttps://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/11/opinion/charlie-kirk-assassination-fear-politics.htmlhttps://www.vanityfair.com/news/story/charlie-kirk-ezra-klein-tanehisi-coates?_sp=b72cfa75-76e2-4289-9bf0-14eb90c6993b.1758044662907https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/13/opinion/charlie-kirk-assassination.html

Caitlin and Trent talk with independent journalist Amanda Moore about the groypers and their peers, the self-serving micro-celebrities who profit from them, and the media’s mad scramble to make the latest assassination fit into the left-right paradigm without consulting experts.Amanda’s work: https://www.clippings.me/users/noturtlesoup17 Pepe Jack-o-lantern image: https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=95654958

Trent and Caitlin speak with political science professor Lindsey Cormack about her analysis of the DCInbox database of political communications, focusing especially on the memo from Third Way advising Democrats to avoid certain words that make them sound out of touch, elitist, or insincere. Where did these words come from? And do Democratic politicians actually use words like “heteronormative” and “postmodernism”?Resources:DCInbox database: https://www.dcinbox.com/Lindsey’s analysis: https://dcinboxinsights.substack.com/p/was-it-something-the-democrats-said?r=53lhp&utm_campaign=post&triedRedirect=trueThird Way memo: https://www.thirdway.org/memo/was-it-something-i-saidPolitico coverage: https://www.politico.com/news/2025/08/22/democrats-woke-language-blacklist-00519421 Lindsey’s book: https://howtoraiseacitizen.com/Caitlin’s introduction resources: https://vpc.org/publications/cease-fire-a-comprehensive-strategy-to-reduce-firearms-violence/a-brief-history-of-firearms-law/ https://www.thirdway.org/memo/how-to-embrace-commonsense-gun-safety-legislation https://www.thirdway.org/about/staff/jonathan-cowan

Caitlin and Trent speak with Jacob T. Levy, Tomlinson Professor of Political Theory at McGill University, about the state of democracy in the U.S. How did we get here? What are the tools and motivations of the people working to dismantle the institutions that make us a democratic nation? Is there a way out of it?Resources:Jacob's website: https://jacobtlevy.com/Jacob's book: https://global.oup.com/academic/product/rationalism-pluralism-and-freedom-9780198717140Jacob's work with Niskanen Center: https://www.niskanencenter.org/author/jacob-t-levy/That GAP ad: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IwzF26o0AuUSubsequent Abercrombie ad: https://youtube.com/shorts/14sXRgWTfdk?si=CWT_dEqXzbE77H8C

Trent and Caitlin talk with author, journalist and historian Adam Hochschild about the historical periods that most inform his view of today's disturbing American politics. What tactics and goals does Trump 2.0 have in common with Woodrow Wilson's post-WWI administration? What is different? What inspiration and warnings can we take from that dark period to help us survive this one?Resources:https://journalism.berkeley.edu/person/adam_hochschild/https://www.harpercollins.com/products/american-midnight-adam-hochschild?variant=41003534123042https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2024/12/grip-there-are-many-programs-trying-to-reduce-recidivism-this-one-works/https://www.harpercollins.com/products/bury-the-chains-adam-hochschildhttps://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/000271627240300155"radicals awaiting deportation" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Radicals_awaiting_deportation.jpg

Trent and Caitlin ask Steven Monacelli about his recent work documenting the history and present of the American anti-vaccination movement. Who is drawn into it? How did we get here? What happens now that representatives of anti-vaccine beliefs now have the power to cut off the funds and regulatory processes that allow us to access immunization and disease management?Resources:Podcast: "Anti-Vax America" https://www.iheart.com/podcast/105-it-could-happen-here-30717896/episode/anti-vax-america-viral-texas-281085170/Steven Monacelli on Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/stevanzetti.bsky.socialPox by Michael Willrich https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/298913/pox-by-michael-willrich/RFK Jr. on experts, free speech https://www.scrippsnews.com/health/rfk-jr-in-interview-with-scripps-news-trusting-the-experts-is-not-science CDC shooting https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/09/us/gunman-cdc-shooting-vaccines.html mRNA research defunded https://www.npr.org/sections/shots-health-news/2025/08/06/nx-s1-5493544/rfk-defunding-mrna-vaccine-researchH1N1 research canceled https://www.npr.org/2025/05/28/nx-s1-5414642/trump-vaccine-bird-flu-mrnaRFK Jr. is executing Trump’s vision https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/8/9/how-rfk-jrs-vaccine-funding-cuts-fit-with-trumps-vision

Trent and Caitlin chat with James Palmer about China, the current state of America's relationship with China, and what it means for the U.S. to be constantly proposing wild tariff hikes, changing and pausing those hikes, and effectively withdrawing from international trade.

Caitlin and Trent check in with Hagen Blix about the ways we talk about AI, the most prominent angle its critics take, and the angle that’s often missing. When AI is advertised as a tool for generating journalism or research, what is the social and political order that use would entail? When the press hypes AI weapons dealers as the new vanguards of technology, what does it mean in terms of a vision for the world to come?Resources:Palmer Luckey speaks to Taiwan students https://www.thefp.com/p/palmer-luckey-i-saw-the-future-of-war-taiwanAnduril gets big US contracts https://www.reuters.com/business/aerospace-defense/startup-anduril-becomes-third-us-srm-supplier-amid-rising-defense-demand-2025-08-05/ Peter Thiel and tech fascism https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-interactive/2025/apr/13/end-times-fascism-far-right-trump-musk Grok makes nonconsensual nudes https://gizmodo.com/groks-spicy-mode-makes-nsfw-celebrity-deepfakes-of-women-but-not-men-2000639308 American Historical Association https://www.historians.org/resource/guiding-principles-for-artificial-intelligence-in-history-education/ British MP launches bot of himself https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cy5pr3q6lrpoAutomating Inequality https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250074317/automatinginequality/Mutually Assured AI Malfunction https://dev.ua/en/news/eksholova-google-zasterihaie-proty-agi

Trent and Caitlin talk with communications strategist Lexi Koren about the Democratic Party obsession with blaming wokeness and “the groups.” Should they be listened to? Why not? What should Democrats do instead?Resources:The Rhetoric of Reaction https://www.hup.harvard.edu/books/9780674768680 Bill Maher on Pod Save America https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JEKyn9NL46UTrans rights as “hard to defend” https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2024/11/transgender-rights-election-public-opinon/680813/NYT on immigration https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/06/us/politics/democrats-immigration-trump.htmlThird Way on immigration https://www.thirdway.org/memo/running-on-immigration-the-gallego-blueprint Briahna Joy Gray: Not the hill to die on https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wyIqL2Jh8xk