The Muckrake Political Podcast

New projections for the coronavirus pandemic show a country speeding toward mass tragedy, and yet Donald Trump and Republicans keep pushing for businesses to reopen. Co-hosts Jared Yates Sexton and Nick Hauselman discuss what can only be called economic genocide and the escalating attempt to push conspiracy theories that the virus was an attack from China.

Armed white nationalists are storming the capitol in Michigan, highlighting a growing problem with white terrorism engaging in paramilitary intimidation. Co-hosts Jared Yates Sexton and Nick Hauselman discuss the history of these movement and how they plan to use societal discord for their own purposes, as well as Trump's recent push to pardon Michael Flynn.

The Republican Party rolls out a strategy to blame the coronavirus pandemic on China and "Democratic traitors." Co-hosts Jared Yates Sexton and Nick Hauselman discuss the cravenness of it all, and the danger of rising fascism and the prospect of widespread, manufactured paranoia and racism.

The hits keep on coming as the Trump Administration continues to fail the American people while using the crisis to pad their own pockets. Co-hosts Jared Yates Sexton and Nick Hauselman sort through the chaos one insane item at a time on this week-end episode.

Unfortunately, the DeVos-funded Reopen America "Movement" is spreading like its own pandemic, helped along by Donald Trump, Fox News, and a mainstream media that should know better than treat it like a legitimate protest. Your co-hosts Jared Yates Sexton and Nick Hauselman talk about the strategy behind the propaganda, how Americans are uniquely vulnerable to these appeals, and welcome Professor Daniel Drezner on to talk about his new book The Toddler In Chief: What Donald Trump Teaches Us About The Modern Presidency.

An anti-quarantine rally in Michigan stole headlines, but was it real? Co-hosts Jared Yates Sexton and Nick Hauselman discuss a history of pseudo-events, psy-ops, and manipulation by American officials, politicians, and recently with Russian propagandists. It's a long, dark history, and helps explain just how we ended up in these odd, dangerous times.

Trump has named his "Committee to Reopen America" and, surprise!, it's full of his cronies and children. Co-hosts Jared Yates Sexton and Nick Hauselman digest this and another week full of crimes and scandals and address just how a criminally incompetent president can get away with it all

With a holy weekend looming, Jared Yates Sexton and Nick Hauselman discuss how the Cult of the Shining City, a nationalistic, Neo-Confederate, white-identity evangelical cult has taken over American politics and the Republican Party, and the danger they pose during the coronavirus pandemic.

The pandemic gets worse as British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is now in an ICU, but meanwhile Donald Trump and Republicans are pushing a miracle drug like they're set to profit from its sales. Co-hosts Nick Hauselman and Jared Yates Sexton dissect the history leading up to this pandemic and how the ceaseless need to profit has put all of our lives in danger.

The coronavirus pandemic spirals out of control while Donald Trump continues to lie and brag that damning a quarter of a million of Americans to a lonely, terrifying death is somehow an achievement worth bragging about. Co-hosts Jared Yates Sexton and Nick Hauselman discuss the tragic events of the week, the maddening strategy of lying until it breaks the will of the people, and welcome Sarah Kendzior, one of the foremost experts on authoritarianism, to the podcast to discuss the very real dangers to our freedom and our lives.