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Of the Pete Hegseth confirmation hearing, Amee writes, "We should be calling it the 'Kavanaugh: The Redux' considering how well Hegseth is able to lie through his smirks, and distract from the real questions at hand with his boisterous Fox News Narratives."

Prepare to be inspired! The MAGA response to the California fires reinforces a really hard truth - we're going to have to save ourselves. They want to argue about bathrooms and genders and debate how many rounds can fit in a standard issue magazine. But they are not here to solve real problems. Tonight, Maya welcomed Alfredo Morales - and we are all better for it. Alfredo fought fires in California for two years while incarcerated. His work - and the work of some 3,000 other inmates involved in California fire suppression each year - saves countless lives and huge swaths of land and property. In a world where the powerful spend their time placing blame and sucking up as much wealth as possible, it’s Americans like us - and Alfredo - who are going to have to step into the breach and solve problems.

Last week on Fox the network used the tragedy of unprecedented wildfires in Southern California as a cudgel to attack Governor Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass. In stark contrast the “PBS News Hour” covered the fires as if they were a natural disaster not a failure of leadership. Jesse Watters seems to think he’s the emperor of the universe and Janice Dean, the weather lady on Fox & Friends, went rouge!

To start, special guest host Stuart Stevens weighs in on day one of the confirmation hearings and the abomination that is the slate of nominees Trump has put forward for some of the most important positions in the Executive Branch. In Chapter 3, the fact-based fictional story of Dr. Yvette Hardman and JJ Newsom depicts the dismantling of expertise and science-based decision making in the federal government under a possible second Trump administration guided by Project 2025. Dr. Hardman, an experienced infectious disease expert, is removed from her position at the CDC and replaced by JJ Newsom, an unqualified political loyalist with no relevant experience. This reflects Project 2025's plan to fill government positions with partisan appointees rather than nonpartisan experts. The new administration rejects science-based pandemic response recommendations from Dr. Hardman instead prioritizing political and economic considerations over public health. This aligns with Project 2025's directives to limit the CDC's ability to make public health recommendations. The story highlights the Trump administration's hostility towards science and the displacement of experienced civil servants, which Project 2025 seeks to accelerate through measures like the "Schedule F" executive order to reclassify and fire federal employees. Overall, the narrative illustrates how a second Trump term guided by Project 2025 would undermine the role of expertise and independent scientific advice in government, with potentially disastrous consequences for public health and safety. Trump’s Project 2025: Up Close and Personal is available on all the podcast apps and at 2025pod.com. We'd also like to thank all the artists who volunteered their time to make this episode: CCH Pounder, Richard Schiff and Jason Kravits who read the chapters and Omid Abtahi, Tom Nichols, Laurie Burke and Joanne Carducci who did the voices. Sound design by Marilys Ernst and Jon Moser. Trump's Project 2025: Up Close and Personal was written by David Pepper and produced by Pepper, Melissa Jo Peltier and Jay Feldman and is a production of Ovington Avenue Productions and The Bill Press Pod. This special series is a joint production by David Pepper and Resolute Square. The book, “Trump’s Project 2025: Up Close And Personal” by David Pepper, is available for purchase at https://a.co/d/adWcJ4S.

Simon Rosenberg joined Stuart Stevens for a fascinating, inspiring discussion of how we fight back and win against the MAGA Administration and its buffoons, grifters, disinformation spewers, sycophants, and all those who just generally want to dismantle America and separate us from our Western allies. Not so fast, Donald - we know you're the wannabe emperor with no clothes and we're pulling back the curtain.

Brian Daitzman of The Intellectualist writes, "And unless we recognize the signs, unless we see what is happening now, we risk seeing the same fate repeat itself."

Amee Vanderpool writes, "With several important Congressional Hearings to test the viability of Trump's Cabinet nominees on the horizon, there are still some things that the electorate can do to make their voices heard."

So you think you've heard it all about JFK? Think again. In this episode Rick is joined by bestselling author Brad Meltzer to discuss his new book, The JFK Conspiracy: The Secret Plot to Kill Kennedy and Why It Failed. Brad uncovers the little-known story of a 1960 assassination attempt on JFK's life by disgruntled postal worker Richard Pavlik and explores its historical implications. Together, Rick and Brad dive into the parallels between the political climate of the 1960s and today, JFK's transformation of American politics, and the pivotal role of Jackie Kennedy in shaping the Kennedy legacy.

This might be the scariest fact we've ever seen about social media. You know it's bad, but this bad? And it explains a lot about how crazy political discussions have gotten online. 0.1% of users? No really. The amount of disinformation is staggering. And what does it do to our brains? Plus: What people miss when Trump lies. When we roll our eyes, we miss the point. And - despite the challenges in front of us - why is Joe optimistic about how we can break out of the funhouse? Read "Inside the funhouse mirror factory" here: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S2352250X24001313 Read the Atlantic article here: https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2025/01/january-6-justification-machine/681215/?gift=bcL26f46jRxbKrUp1kTCRFgu6En8nVf7xwPsSYEqCiU&utm_source=copy-link&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=share And visit getrealnews.org.

It’s January, so it’s time for everyone’s annual commitment to become healthier and more fit in the new year…and then be radicalized and become a Christian Nationalist? It’s 2025, so yes, that’s a thing. Tonight, Maya May and her guest Judah Elias (werewolffbarmitzvah) are talking about the health and fitness to far-right radical pipeline.

This special series is a joint production by David Pepper and Resolute Square. Chapter Two of Trump’s Project 2025: Up Close and Personal depicts the personal story of Eve, a nurse struggling with infertility, whose treatment is threatened by the new president's executive order banning certain fertility treatments. The episode explores how the president's policies would impact everyday Americans, particularly women and families, by interfering with reproductive freedom and the right to self-determination. The author of the serialized novel “2025,” upon which this podcast series is based, David Pepper, highlights how the fictional story is directly based on the policies outlined in the Trump’s Project 2025 and the president's own words, underscoring the very real and devastating consequences a second Trump term and the implementation of Project 2025 could have. You can read Chapter Two of David Pepper’s “2025: A Novel” at davidpepper.substack.com/p/2025-a-novel-chapter-2 The book, “Trump’s Project 2025: Up Close And Personal” by David Pepper, is available for purchase at https://a.co/d/adWcJ4S. Trump’s Project 2025: Up Close and Personal is available on all the podcast apps and at 2025pod.com. We'd also like to thank all the artists who volunteered their time to make this episode. Heather Thomas, J. Smith Cameron, Omid Abtahi, Kirk Acevedo and Bayo Akinfemi. Audio finishing by Marilyn Ernst. This series is produced by David Pepper, Melissa Jo Peltier and Jay Feldman. Trump’s Project 2025: Up Close and Personal is a production of Ovington Avenue Productions.

January 6th came and went without much fanfare...this time. Millions of people hold their breath, waiting for the next administration to take power. We are not waiting, and you shouldn't either. Tuesday, Stuart and Rick were joined by former Senator Doug Jones to talk about how democrats - and all of us - can fight back starting right now.

In our first episode of 2025, Rick takes a hard look back at January 6th, 2021—a day he calls a stain on American democracy. He reflects on the failures of leadership, the lack of accountability, and the enduring dangers posed by Trump and his movement. With unflinching honesty, Rick explores the authoritarian vision of MAGA, the moral compromises of its enablers, and the need to remember and confront the truth of that infamous day.

Fox News promoted a false narrative about the terrorist attack in New Orleans on New Year’s Day. Even after the network issued a retraction hosts and guests alike kept insinuating that immigration played a role in the attack. The decades suspect was an American citizens and Army veteran not a foreign born extremist. I break everything down in a detailed timeline to show exactly how Fox wouldn’t let truth get in the way of its agenda.

Joe starts the show by remembering Jimmy Carter with a story you've got to hear to believe. Of all the interactions with presidents Joe has had - why this one with President Carter has stuck with him. And our first look ahead to 2025 - what has Joe and Alex feeling optimistic going into the New Year? Hint: It's people like you listening to this... Subscribe to Dan Gilmor's newsletter, "Cornerstone of Democracy" here: https://cornerstone.ghost.io/ Read Dan Froomkin's post on Trump and the press here: https://presswatchers.org/2024/12/trump-coverage-needs-to-change-and-heres-how/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the last show of 2024, Joe and Alex discuss a possible war with... checks notes... Greenland? Panama? It's just another day in the world of Trump. Why Joe thinks it's all governing by rally - and why it shows that the Trump coalition is still more fragile than many understand. Is Joe Manchin right? Is the Democratic brand toxic? Finally: What are Joe and Alex's bold predictions for 2025 and 2026 (and beyond?) Happy New Year everyone - see you in 2025!

Timothy Naftali, presidential historian for the Nixon Presidential Library, Columbia Scholar, and prolific writer/author, sits down with host Rick Wilson to discuss the possibility of an imperial presidency and what that means for the US on the world stage. Follow Timothy Naftali on X at @TimNaftali and read the article Rick mentions in this episode here: https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2021/01/trump-worst-president-history/617730/ Follow Rick Wilson at @TheRickWilson on X or at https://bsky.app/profile/therickwilson.bsky.social at Bluesky, and subscribe to his Substack at therickwilson.substack.com. Join the fight with Lincoln Project at www.lincolnproject.us and follow us on X at @ProjectLincoln.

Fellow straight-shooter Ron Filipkowski – the Editor-in-Chief of MeidasTouch – and host Rick Wilson huddle up to speak some hard truths to the Democrats. Instead of their typical infighting, bickering, and turning on one another, the Democrats need to take a page from the old-school Republican playbook: hold the line, stand united as one, and channel all of that wasted energy toward the real enemy. Be sure to check out Ron’s latest article on Substack here: https://www.meidasplus.com/p/the-one-big-reason-why-dems-are-losing?utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web Follow Ron Filipkowski on X at @RonFilipkowski and subscribe to his Substack at https://substack.com/@ronfilipkowski. Follow Rick Wilson at @TheRickWilson on X or at https://bsky.app/profile/therickwilson.bsky.social at Bluesky, and subscribe to his Substack at therickwilson.substack.com.

This special series is a joint production by David Pepper and Resolute Square. Introducing this first chapter on mass deportation, Rick Wilson sets the stakes of what Trump has promised to do once he is sworn in: A paramilitary force in our communities rounding up law-abiding, hard working people, and caught up in the round-ups, families and people in the wrong place at the wrong time who happen to be non-white. Trump’s Project 2025: Up Close and Personal is available on all the podcast apps and at 2025pod.com. We'd also like to thank all the artists who volunteered their time to make this episode. Heather Thomas, J. Smith Cameron, Omid Abtahi, Kirk Acevedo and Bayo Akinfemi. Audio finishing by Marilyn Ernst. This series is produced by David Pepper, Melissa Jo Peltier and Jay Feldman. Trump’s Project 2025: Up Close and Personal is a production of Ovington Avenue Productions.