The Muckrake Political Podcast

Support the show by signing up to our Patreon and get access to the full Weekender episode each Friday as well as special Live Shows and access to our community discord: http://patreon.com/muckrakepodcast. It’s a Birthday Boys Weekender as Jared Yates Sexton and Nick Hauselman go from sugar highs to authoritarian lows, unpacking reports that Trump world is gaming out the Insurrection Act, the normalization of troops on American streets, and why the guardrails failed from Cheney’s unitary executive to the Supreme Court’s immunity blessing. They break down Gov. JB Pritzker’s blunt talk about Trump’s cognitive decline, the Senate’s oversight-as-reality-TV spectacle starring Pam Bondi, and the long arc of American strongman temptations from Adams to Nixon. Plus a quick detour into PTA’s latest thriller, spooky-season horror logic, and Nick’s looming travel apocalypse. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this searing episode, Jared Yates Sexton and Nick Hauselman break down the shocking ICE raids in Chicago, complete with Blackhawks, power cutoffs, and mass detentions. They explore how these actions reveal the rise of a domestic military force and the breakdown between state and federal power. The hosts also examine Stephen Miller’s latest propaganda, GOP claims about Jack Smith’s “surveillance,” and the disturbing corporate capture of media as Barry Weiss takes over CBS News. Support the show by signing up to our Patreon and get access to the full Weekender episode each Friday as well as special Live Shows and access to our community discord: http://patreon.com/muckrakepodcast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hear the full Weekender every Friday, plus Live Shows and our community Discord. Support us at http://patreon.com/muckrakepodcast. Co-hosts Jared Yates Sexton and Nick Hauselman break down the bizarre Trump–Hegseth meeting with America’s top generals. Instead of commanding respect, Trump rambled through grievances and half-baked ideas while Hegseth postured and pandered, leaving serious military leaders unimpressed. We explore the dangerous implications of a president alienating his own brass, how authoritarian rhetoric collides with sheer incompetence, and why this moment opens up a host of unsettling outcomes. Along the way we look at the government shutdown, a self-defeating Argentina bailout, and the larger picture of American decline before closing with some culture picks. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Co-hosts Jared Yates Sexton and Nick Hauselman unpack a jaw-dropping Trump admission—governing off TV images and staff spin—and how that fantasy politics becomes policy: talk of sending “full force” into blue cities, a rebranding of domestic terror to target dissent, and an FBI focus that ignores the deadliest threats. They contrast right-wing violence with the media’s left-is-rising narrative, dig into how grifters launder fear into power, and roast Democratic leadership for meeting authoritarian tactics with mushy pressers as a shutdown looms. Plus: Portland reality vs. propaganda, why “security” is the fig leaf for crackdowns, and what real pushback should look like. Support the show by signing up to our Patreon and get access to the full Weekender episode each Friday as well as special Live Shows and access to our community discord: http://patreon.com/muckrakepodcast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Support the show on Patreon to hear the full Weekender and get access to special live shows, our community Discord, and more: http://patreon.com/muckrakepodcast Co-hosts Jared Yates Sexton and Nick Hauselman dig into a grim week of authoritarian chest-thumping and reality-warping. They start with the Dallas ICE detention-center shooting—three immigrants shot, one killed—and the head-spinning “evidence” rollout amplified by Kash Patel. From there it’s J.D. Vance’s sanctimony about “violent rhetoric,” the broader strategy of blaming critics while expanding state power, and why this phase feels less like politics and more like a permission structure for repression. They break down the reported moves to indict James Comey, the DOJ’s Soros-as-crime-boss fishing expedition, and open talk of targeting Letitia James—not “accountability,” just payback. Then: Trump’s UN ramble (renewables are a “joke,” Christianity “most persecuted,” escalator conspiracies) and his whiplash turn on Ukraine/Russia, plus NATO stress tests, Pete Hegseth’s generals’ confab, and why World War III talk is suddenly louder. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jared Yates Sexton and Nick Hauselman break down how Charlie Kirk’s Glendale “memorial” morphed into a full-blown Authoritarian Christian Nationalist pep rally: Stephen Miller’s “I am the storm” theatrics, Tucker Carlson’s martyr-making dog whistles, and Donald Trump turning grief into a campaign stump behind bulletproof glass. They unpack Trump’s bizarre (and impeachable) direct message to Attorney General Pam Bondi, and discuss reporting that Tom Homan accepted $50,000 in a restaurant to-go bag during an FBI sting because of course he did. Support the show by signing up to our Patreon and get access to the full Weekender episode each Friday as well as special Live Shows and our community discord: http://patreon.com/muckrakepodcast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Nick Hauselman has scheduling issues, so Jared Yates Sexton dives into ABC censoring Jimmy Kimmel on behalf of the Trump Administration and the Right, detailing how past authoritarian regimes wrote the playbook and where all of this is likely heading. This is a preview of the Weekender episode, which is a patron-exclusive. To hear the entire episode and support The Muckrake Podcast, head over to http://patreon.com/muckrakepodcast to become a patron. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Co-hosts Jared Yates Sexton and Nick Hauselman break down the chaotic aftermath of Charlie Kirk’s assassination and how the right is exploiting it. They unpack the instant anti-trans scapegoating, JD Vance’s open calls to wield state power against political opponents, Stephen Miller’s “domestic terrorism” dragnet fantasy, and a media ecosystem already capitulating. They trace the Overton window lurching right, the surveillance machine waiting to be flipped on, and why even an ICE killing barely registers amid the frenzy. It’s the pretext for repression, and the gate is closing unless we act. Support the show by signing up to our Patreon and get access to the full Weekender episode each Friday as well as special Live Shows and access to our community discord: http://patreon.com/muckrakepodcast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is a free preview of our Weekender. Get the full episode, every Weekender, special live shows, and our community Discord by supporting us here: http://patreon.com/muckrakepodcast. Co-hosts Jared Yates Sexton and Nick Hauselman pick up after their emergency pod on the assassination of Charlie Kirk, sorting what’s real from what’s useful to the people in power. Jared digs into accelerationist chatter, the leaky “shells with slogans” narrative, and how a soft target + a gutted FBI creates perfect conditions for chaos. Nick pushes back on the “pro hit” talk (and why a neck shot doesn’t scream sniper), while they break down Trump’s response—an uncanny video wrapped around a ready-made storyline that instantly deputizes repression against political enemies. They also call out the liberal media’s rush to launder Kirk’s record, talk Groypers vs. Kirk, and why “thoughts and prayers” gave way to weaponized certainty in minutes. If it feels like reality is being edited in real time… that’s the point. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In an emergency broadcast, Jared Yates Sexton and Nick Hauselman break down the shocking assassination of Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk at Utah Valley University. Beyond the tragedy itself, they explore the dangerous ways this moment could be weaponized by the Right, the potential for escalating sectarian violence, and how America’s culture of guns, fascism, and grievance politics has led us here. Support the show by signing up to our Patreon and get access to the full Weekender episode each Friday as well as special Live Shows and access to our community discord: http://patreon.com/muckrakepodcast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices