Podcasts about lyndon johnson

Italy is increasingly pushing back against Europe's approach to illegal immigration, including a growing dispute with Germany over who should take responsibility for migrants rescued in the Mediterranean. On this week's episode of the Center for Immigration Studies' Parsing Immigration Policy podcast, Italian journalist Francesca Ronchin offers an Italian perspective on the migration pressures facing Europe and the growing frustration with uncontrolled flows.Ronchin, a journalist with RAI-Radiotelevisione Italiana, Italy's national public broadcaster, focuses on immigration in Europe. She explains the Italian government view that when German NGOs rescue migrants in the Mediterranean, Germany should take responsibility for them, rather than bringing them to Italy and subsequently asking Italy to take them back.Among the topics discussed:Italy and Germany: The dispute over Mediterranean rescues, asylum responsibility, and whether NGO rescue operations create an incentive for additional migration.Ceuta and weaponized migration: The large-scale arrival in Spain's North African exclave of Ceuta at the end of July, including the role of social media and traffickers and the view that Morocco used migration as a political tool.Immigration and Italy's demographics: Whether immigration can solve Italy's exceptionally low birth rate and what large-scale immigration means for wages, employment, taxes, and the welfare state.Integration and assimilation: The challenges of absorbing large numbers of newcomers and the difficulty of discussing assimilation openly in Italy.The migration route from Africa to Europe: Ronchin's documentary, La Grande Bugia – Eritrea Andata e Ritorno (The Great Lie – Eritrea There and Back), which examines migration from northeastern Africa and questions surrounding claims of Eritrean nationality and asylum. An English-language version is forthcoming.HostMark Krikorian is the Executive Director of the Center for Immigration Studies.GuestFrancesca Ronchin is a journalist with RAI-Radiotelevisione Italiana.LinksFrancesca Ronchin's X Account“La Grande Bugia – Eritrea Andata e Ritorno” (“The Great Lie – Eritrea There and Back”)Francesca Ronchin's author page at LaVeritaIntro MontageVoices in the opening montage:Sen. Barack Obama at a 2005 press conference.Sen. John McCain in a 2010 election ad.President Lyndon Johnson, upon signing the 1965 Immigration Act.Booker T. Washington, reading in 1908 from his 1895 Atlanta Exposition speech.Laraine Newman as a "Conehead" on SNL in 1977.Hillary Clinton in a 2003 radio interview.Cesar Chavez in a 1974 interview.House Speaker Nancy Pelosi speaking to reporters in 2019.Prof. George Borjas in a 2016 C-SPAN appearance.Sen. Jeff Sessions in 2008 comments on the Senate floor.Candidate Trump in 2015 campaign speech.Charlton Heston in "Planet of the Apes".

The connection between immigration and housing costs is the subject of this week's episode of the Center for Immigration Studies' Parsing Immigration Policy podcast. Jason Richwine, a resident scholar at the Center, discusses his forthcoming study, scheduled for publication this fall in the peer-reviewed journal Cityscape.The large majority of academic studies find a positive relationship between immigration and housing prices, with relatively little debate over the basic nexus. Richwine's research updates the evidence using 2014 and 2023 data and examines the effects of increased immigration on rents across nearly 1,700 public-use microdata areas (PUMAs).Among the findings:A 1 percentage-point increase in the foreign-born share is associated with approximately a 1.5 percent increase in rents paid by natives, when direct and spillover effects are included.Immigration in one area also raises rents in surrounding areas, creating a ripple effect beyond the community experiencing the initial increase.Housing construction cannot necessarily respond quickly enough to accommodate large, sudden increases in population, while restrictions on new construction and opposition to higher-density housing further constrain supply.Richwine also discusses research linking higher housing costs to lower fertility and increases in the sheltered homeless population, arguing that the difficulty of rapidly expanding housing supply is another reason to favor "lower and slower" immigration.In the episode's commentary, CIS Executive Director Mark Krikorian discusses a NYT article reporting a private meeting between Jared Kushner and House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries about potential areas of immigration policy agreement. Krikorian considers what the administration can do to reassure immigration restriction supporters that it will not compromise on its agenda, including more aggressive workplace enforcement and further measures to tighten legal immigration.HostMark Krikorian is the Executive Director of the Center for Immigration Studies.GuestJason Richwine is a Resident Scholar at the Center for Immigration StudiesLinksAbstract: “Immigration and Rent: PUMA-Based Spatial Analysis”Intro MontageVoices in the opening montage:Sen. Barack Obama at a 2005 press conference.Sen. John McCain in a 2010 election ad.President Lyndon Johnson, upon signing the 1965 Immigration Act.Booker T. Washington, reading in 1908 from his 1895 Atlanta Exposition speech.Laraine Newman as a "Conehead" on SNL in 1977.Hillary Clinton in a 2003 radio interview.Cesar Chavez in a 1974 interview.House Speaker Nancy Pelosi speaking to reporters in 2019.Prof. George Borjas in a 2016 C-SPAN appearance.Sen. Jeff Sessions in 2008 comments on the Senate floor.Candidate Trump in 2015 campaign speech.Charlton Heston in "Planet of the Apes".

A string of bizarre deaths, a secret defense program, and whispers of alien black goo — coincidence or cover-up? Is this mind-controlling, horrifying substance behind one of the strangest unsolved conspiracies in modern history?EPISODE BLOG PAGE (includes sources): https://weirddarkness.com/blackgooREAD or DOWNLOAD the full transcript of this episode: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/2p95hnc5FEATURED STORIES IN THIS EPISODE: The Freemasons. The Knights Templar. The Skull and Bones. Secret societies are already ripe for conspiracy theories – but what about the theory that they are also tied to extraterrestrials? (Secret Societies And Ancient Aliens) *** We have our own opinions about aliens and what their intentions might be – but what do the aliens think about us and what do they think our intentions are? If one scientist is to be believed, it isn't flattering. (Aliens Consider Us a Threat To The Galaxy) *** Is an alien liquid invading our planet? We'll look at covert operations, suspicious deaths, and what appear to be intelligent substances – all of which are being kept a secret from us. (The Alien Black Goo Invading Earth)CHAPTERS & TIME STAMPS (All Times Approximate)…00:00.00.000 = The Foreboding00:01:17.068 = Show Open00:02:51.423 = The Alien Black Goo (Part 1)00:15:02.584 = The Alien Black Good (Part 2) ***00:26:53.447 = Secret Societies And Ancient Aliens ***00:48:45.781 = Aliens Consider Us a Threat To The Galaxy ***00:59:53.498 = Show Close*** = Begins immediately after inserted ad breakLISTEN ON PODCAST APPS: Look for this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeart Radio, Amazon Music, Pandora, TuneIn Radio, and other podcast apps. Get a list of free listening apps here: https://weirddarkness.com/wdapps*No AI Voices Are Used In The Narration Of This Podcast*SOURCES and RESOURCES:“The Alien Black Goo Invading Earth” by Marcus Lowth for UFO Insight: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/yckuzjxbVIDEO: David Griffin Interview About Black Goo, Marconi, etc: https://weirddarkness.com/david-griffin-interviewed-about-black-goo/“Secret Societies And Ancient Aliens” by Marcus Lowth for UFO Insight: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/bdb9xzn2BOOK: “Ancient Aliens and Secret Societies” by Mike Bara: https://amzn.to/3v2YSRHBOOK: “Ancient Aliens and JFK” by Mike Bara: https://amzn.to/3PnJQ0PPHOTO: Does this photo show Albert Thomas winking at President Lyndon Johnson? https://bit.ly/3PpMpzI“Aliens Consider Us a Threat To The Galaxy” from Anomalien: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/my48zf3(Over time links may become invalid, disappear, or have different content. I always make sure to give authors credit for the material I use whenever possible. If I somehow overlooked doing so for a story, or if a credit is incorrect, please let me know and I will rectify it in these show notes immediately. Some links included above may benefit me financially through qualifying purchases.)WeirdDarkness® is a registered trademark. Copyright ©2026, Weird Darkness.Originally aired: July, 2022

Americans visiting beaches, neighborhood pools, summer camps, and resorts this summer are likely to encounter foreign workers filling jobs as lifeguards, ice-cream scoopers, housekeepers, counselors, and restaurant workers. Many may not realize that these workers are in the United States on J-1 exchange visas—a program the State Department promotes as an instrument of cultural exchange and public diplomacy.A new episode of the Center for Immigration Studies podcast Parsing Immigration Policy examines the findings of the recently published CIS report, Exchange Visa Programs Operate Mainly For Cheap Labor, Not Cultural Exchange, with Jessica Vaughan, the Center's director of policy studies.The report finds that the J-1 program has evolved into a major temporary foreign-worker program:About 75 percent of the 275,000 J-1 visas issued in 2025 went to workers, while only about 25 percent went to more traditional exchange programs.Summer Work Travel alone accounted for 105,000 visas, making it the largest J-1 category. Another 32,000 went to foreign camp counselors.The State Department has approved more than 1,500 third-party organizations to administer J-1 programs, effectively outsourcing much of the program's oversight to organizations that can benefit financially from placing foreign workers with U.S. employers.J-1 summer exchange workers are supposed to head home soon, but thousands will ignore the rules and overstay, joining the illegal population. The J-1 category has one of the highest overstay rates among U.S. entry categories, according to DHS overstay data.The episode also examines potential reforms, including stronger penalties for sponsors, greater scrutiny of countries with high overstay rates, the termination of the subcategories that have no meaningful public diplomacy value, and transferring work-based J-1 programs to the Department of Labor for appropriate labor-market oversight.HostMark Krikorian is the Executive Director of the Center for Immigration Studies.GuestJessica Vaughan is the Director of Policy Studies at the Center for Immigration StudiesLinksExchange Visa Programs Operate Mainly For Cheap Labor, Not Cultural ExchangeJ-1 Visas: Cheap Labor as Cultural ExchangeIntro MontageVoices in the opening montage:Sen. Barack Obama at a 2005 press conference.Sen. John McCain in a 2010 election ad.President Lyndon Johnson, upon signing the 1965 Immigration Act.Booker T. Washington, reading in 1908 from his 1895 Atlanta Exposition speech.Laraine Newman as a "Conehead" on SNL in 1977.Hillary Clinton in a 2003 radio interview.Cesar Chavez in a 1974 interview.House Speaker Nancy Pelosi speaking to reporters in 2019.Prof. George Borjas in a 2016 C-SPAN appearance.Sen. Jeff Sessions in 2008 comments on the Senate floor.Candidate Trump in 2015 campaign speech.Charlton Heston in "Planet of the Apes".

This week on Q&A, it's a rare interview with one of America's leading historians. We tour the New York City office and home library of Pulitzer Prize-winning bestselling biographer Robert Caro, who is currently working on the final volume of his 5-volume biography of Lyndon Johnson. During the tour, Mr. Caro talks about his research and writing process on the LBJ series, and the impact of "The Power Broker," his bestselling 1974 biography of NYC Parks Commissioner Robert Moses. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week on Q&A, it's a rare interview with one of America's leading historians. We tour the New York City office and home library of Pulitzer Prize-winning bestselling biographer Robert Caro, who is currently working on the final volume of his 5-volume biography of Lyndon Johnson. During the tour, Mr. Caro talks about his research and writing process on the LBJ series, and the impact of "The Power Broker," his bestselling 1974 biography of NYC Parks Commissioner Robert Moses. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A recent U.S. Supreme Court decision addressing birthright citizenship has renewed debate over one of the most consequential questions in immigration policy for any nation: Who should be entitled to citizenship?To examine the current state of citizenship policy, especially as it relates to immigration, the International Network for Immigration Research (INIR) held a panel discussion featuring policy experts from the United States, France, Israel, and Hungary, hosted by the Center for Immigration Studies. The panel explored how different democracies define citizenship, the historical development of their laws, and the policy choices that shape them today.While the United States has long interpreted the 14th Amendment to confer citizenship broadly on nearly all children born on U.S. soil, many countries have adopted different approaches. Some place greater emphasis on parental citizenship, while others have modified their laws over time; France, for example, revised its citizenship laws in the 1990s to move away from automatic citizenship at birth.HostMark Krikorian is the Executive Director of the Center for Immigration StudiesGuestsPawel Styrna is the Director of International Relations at the Federation for American Immigration Reform, Washington, D.C.Nicolas Pouvreau-Monti is the Executive Director of the Immigration and Demography Observatory (OID), Paris.Yonatan Jakubowicz is the Executive Director of the Israeli Immigration Policy Center, Jerusalem.Viktor Marsai is the Executive Director of the Migration Research Institute, Budapest.LinksPress ReleaseVideoTranscriptLive StreamIntro MontageVoices in the opening montage:Sen. Barack Obama at a 2005 press conference.Sen. John McCain in a 2010 election ad.President Lyndon Johnson, upon signing the 1965 Immigration Act.Booker T. Washington, reading in 1908 from his 1895 Atlanta Exposition speech.Laraine Newman as a "Conehead" on SNL in 1977.Hillary Clinton in a 2003 radio interview.Cesar Chavez in a 1974 interview.House Speaker Nancy Pelosi speaking to reporters in 2019.Prof. George Borjas in a 2016 C-SPAN appearance.Sen. Jeff Sessions in 2008 comments on the Senate floor.Candidate Trump in 2015 campaign speech.Charlton Heston in "Planet of the Apes".

The second one borrows from 1964. The original Daisy ad ran exactly once, cast Barry Goldwater as a threat to American children, and closed with Lyndon Johnson's line about loving each other or dying. Johnson won in a landslide and the spot became the most famous attack ad in American political history. In the remake, the girl picking daisies is regenerated with AI and placed on an operating table in front of a synthetic Talarico while a narrator lists procedures. Talarico's campaign says he has never supported gender reassignment surgery for minors and calls the ad a lie. The reported buy is 10 million dollars. Hawk's point is that none of this is a policy argument. It is a bet on whether voters can tell a fabricated video from a real one. SUPPORT & CONNECT WITH HAWK- Support on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/mdg650hawk - Hawk's Merch Store: https://hawkmerchstore.com - Connect on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@mdg650hawk7thacct - Connect on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@hawkeyewhackamole - Connect on BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/mdg650hawk.bsky.social - Connect on Substack: https://mdg650hawk.substack.com - Connect on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hawkpodcasts - Connect on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mdg650hawk - Connect on Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/mdg650hawk ALL HAWK PODCASTS INFO- Additional Content Available Here: https://www.hawkpodcasts.comhttps://www.youtube.com/@hawkpodcasts- Listen to Hawk Podcasts On Your Favorite Platform:Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3RWeJfyApple Podcasts: https://apple.co/422GDuLYouTube: https://youtube.com/@hawkpodcastsiHeartRadio: https://ihr.fm/47vVBdPPandora: https://bit.ly/48COaTB

In August of 1965, President Lyndon Johnson sighed the Voting Rights Act. President Trump wants a change. One step forward, or two steps back?  

William Taubman, author of McNamara at War: A New History, Part One: Taubman discusses Robert McNamara's early career and rise to power, beginning with his role as a World War II statistician on Guam. McNamara advised General Curtis LeMay on low-altitude bombing tactics that led to the devastating Tokyo firebombing, a success he later considered a moral "stain." Taubman explores his psychological need to serve "strong men," a trait tracing back to his childhood with a cold father and a mother who relentlessly pushed him to excel. After becoming one of the "Whiz Kids" who modernized Ford Motor Company, McNamara was recruited by John F. Kennedy as Secretary of Defense. He quickly became the "star" of the cabinet, guiding the administration through the Bay of Pigs and the Cuban Missile Crisis. Following JFK's assassination, McNamara immediately committed his loyalty to Lyndon Johnson, despite the friction between the Kennedy inner circle and the new president. (1)

William Taubman, Part Two: Taubman examines McNamara's "double life" during the Vietnam War under Lyndon Johnson. While acting as the public architect of escalation, including his role in securing the 1964 Gulf of Tonkin Resolution through omitted facts, McNamara privately harbored deep doubts. By 1966, he secretly confessed to aides a desperate desire to bring troops home. His personal life was marked by a close, "opaque" friendship with Jackie Kennedy, who repeatedly begged him to "end the slaughter." Facing increasing pressure from anti-war protests and a fracturing relationship with Johnson, McNamara left the Pentagon to lead the World Bank. He redirected the bank's mission toward helping "the poorest of the poor," which Taubman characterizes as a form of "repentance" for Vietnam. In his later years, McNamara issued serial confessions regarding his mistakes, Agent Orange, and the war's devastating human cost. (2)

This Day in Legal History: The Gulf of Tonkin ResolutionOn August 7, 1964, Congress passed the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, one of the most consequential—and most cautionary—delegations of power in American history. The vote was overwhelming: unanimous in the House, and 88 to 2 in the Senate. The resolution authorized President Lyndon Johnson “to take all necessary measures to repel any armed attack against the forces of the United States and to prevent further aggression” in Southeast Asia—and it became the legal foundation for the escalation of the Vietnam War, all without a formal declaration of war.The resolution passed after Johnson told the public that North Vietnamese torpedo boats had made unprovoked attacks on two U.S. destroyers in the Gulf of Tonkin. In the years that followed, serious doubts emerged about what had actually happened—particularly regarding the second reported attack, which may never have occurred at all. Congress, acting on the president's account and in a moment of Cold War urgency, handed the executive branch what amounted to a blank check for war. At the time there were only about 25,000 U.S. troops in Vietnam; that number would eventually exceed half a million.The significance of August 7, 1964 is that it became the defining lesson in the dangers of Congress ceding its war powers to the president. The Constitution gives Congress the power to declare war precisely because the founders feared executive war-making, and the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution showed what happens when the legislature abdicates that role. The backlash shaped a generation of law: Congress rescinded the resolution in 1970, and in 1973 passed the War Powers Resolution over President Nixon's veto, trying to claw back some control over the commitment of American forces. It's a permanent reminder—resonant on a day full of stories about the reach of executive power—that authority handed over in a crisis is very hard to take back.The Trump administration's campaign to force states to hand over their voter registration data has now lost twenty-one court cases in a row—an unbroken streak of defeats as the November midterms approach. According to a Reuters analysis, the Justice Department has sued 30 states and the District of Columbia seeking their voter rolls, and it has gone zero for twenty-one, with federal courts from Pennsylvania to California to Michigan, plus the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, all rejecting the effort. Here's the detail that really tells the story: seven of the fifteen district judges who ruled against the administration were appointed by Trump himself, and some Republican state officials—in Idaho, Kentucky, Utah, and West Virginia—have resisted the requests too. This isn't a partisan split; it's a near-consensus rejection. The legal problem is structural. Under the Constitution, the administration of elections is primarily the job of the states, and courts have repeatedly found the federal government lacks the authority to simply demand statewide voter data. We've tracked the pieces of this all summer—the SAVE database fights, the threats to prosecute election officials, the mail-in voting order—and this is the throughline: a coordinated push for federal control over election machinery running headlong into a judiciary, staffed partly by the president's own appointees, that keeps saying no. The significance is that the courts are holding a hard line on the decentralized structure of American elections, and doing it unanimously enough that it's hard to dismiss as politics. It's a fitting counterpoint to yesterday's Voting Rights Act anniversary: sixty years apart, the fights over who controls the ballot continue. Analysis: Trump loses 21 straight court battles for state voter rolls as midterms near | ReutersCBS News · Brennan CenterPresident Trump has signed two new executive orders attempting to narrow birthright citizenship—despite the fact that the Supreme Court rejected his last attempt just over a month ago. Recall that on June 30, the Court held that the Fourteenth Amendment guarantees citizenship to nearly everyone born on U.S. soil, striking down his earlier order. These new orders are narrower. The White House is taking aim at “birth tourism”—foreigners traveling to the U.S. specifically to give birth—and at denying birthright citizenship to children of some foreign diplomatic staff, with the possibility of extending limits to U.S. territories later. It's worth being precise here, because the two pieces are legally very different. The diplomatic-staff piece actually sits on firmer ground: the Fourteenth Amendment grants citizenship to those “subject to the jurisdiction” of the United States, and children of accredited foreign diplomats have long been recognized as a genuine exception. But the birth-tourism piece runs straight into the June ruling, which held that a child's citizenship doesn't depend on the immigration status or purpose of the parents. And crucially, these are executive orders—they set executive-branch policy, but they don't carry the force of a statute or override a constitutional holding. After his June loss, Trump had called on Congress to act; instead he's gone back to the executive-order well. The significance is a real test of what a president can do after the Supreme Court has ruled against him on constitutional grounds. Legal experts say it's unclear what practical effect these orders can even have, and fresh legal challenges are all but certain. It's an attempt to chip at the edges of a ruling the administration couldn't overturn head-on. Trump to sign orders on birthright citizenship, Axios reports | ReutersCBS News · Al JazeeraAnd finally, a New Mexico judge has ordered Meta to pay $567 million into a teen mental-health fund and to substantially overhaul how its platforms work for young users—one of the most significant rulings yet in the wave of litigation over social media and children. Judge Bryan Biedscheid in Santa Fe found that Meta created a “public nuisance” in New Mexico, siding with Attorney General Raúl Torrez—the same AG who, as we noted yesterday, is suing the Justice Department over the Epstein files. Torrez had accused Meta of designing its products to addict young users and failing to protect children from sexual exploitation on its platforms. The “public nuisance” theory is worth flagging, because it's the same legal tool that drove the big opioid settlements: the idea that a company's conduct created a widespread harm to the public that it can be forced to help abate. And the money is only part of it. The judge imposed a five-year decree requiring concrete design changes—monthly limits on teens' time on Facebook and Instagram, restrictions on notifications, tighter controls on adult contact with minors, safeguards around AI chatbots, and enhanced review of child sexual abuse reports. This lands amid everything we've tracked: the Tennessee trial that just opened, the multistate penalty fight, the bellwether cases. Meta says it will appeal and that it's been working to remove harmful content. The significance is that a court hasn't just put a price on Meta's conduct—it has ordered the company to redesign its products for kids, backed by the public-nuisance theory. If that approach holds up on appeal, it's a template other states will follow, and it moves the social-media reckoning from damages into the far more consequential territory of forced design change. New Mexico court orders Meta to pay $567 mln teen mental health fund | ReutersWashington Post · Yahoo Finance This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.minimumcomp.com/subscribe

The surge of more than 60,000 migrants into Spain's North African exclave of Ceuta has reignited debate over border security, immigration policy, and the growing use of migration as a geopolitical weapon. In the latest episode of the Parsing Immigration Policy podcast, Fellow in Law and Policy Andrew Arthur, filling in for host Mark Krikorian, welcomes European immigration expert Juan Soto to examine the causes of the crisis and the lessons it holds for the United States.Soto argues that the July 30 mass crossing was more than a spontaneous migration event. Instead, he contends it was a coordinated effort intended to send a political message to Spain, given Morocco's continued claims to sovereignty over Ceuta, Melilla, and the Canary Islands. He explains how recent Spanish government policies, including a broad legalization program for illegal immigrants, a citizenship expansion law, and a Spanish Supreme Court ruling limiting the immediate return of migrants arriving by sea, contributed to the crisis.Arthur and Soto also examine the broader geopolitical context of the surge, the muted and often critical response from the European Union and the United States, and how Spain's recent foreign policy positions may have shaped international reactions to the crisis.The episode concludes with Soto's recommendations for responding to instances where migration is used as a geopolitical weapon. He argues that governments must "fix the facts" by accurately describing coordinated mass crossings as hybrid attacks rather than ordinary immigration crises and establish clear consequences in advance—from diplomatic measures to economic sanctions—to deter foreign actors' use of migration to advance political and strategic objectives.HostAndrew Arthur is a Fellow in Law and Policy at the Center for Immigration Studies.GuestJuan Soto is a European immigration expert and co-founder and CEO of Fortius Consulting.LinksJuan Soto's X AccountJuan Soto's Author Page at the Hungarian ConservativeJuan Soto's INIR Article: Battlefield, CeutaIntro MontageVoices in the opening montage:Sen. Barack Obama at a 2005 press conference.Sen. John McCain in a 2010 election ad.President Lyndon Johnson, upon signing the 1965 Immigration Act.Booker T. Washington, reading in 1908 from his 1895 Atlanta Exposition speech.Laraine Newman as a "Conehead" on SNL in 1977.Hillary Clinton in a 2003 radio interview.Cesar Chavez in a 1974 interview.House Speaker Nancy Pelosi speaking to reporters in 2019.Prof. George Borjas in a 2016 C-SPAN appearance.Sen. Jeff Sessions in 2008 comments on the Senate floor.Candidate Trump in 2015 campaign speech.Charlton Heston in "Planet of the Apes".

In Episode 14 of the Noss Gold Treasure, the investigation shifts to the early 1970s as President Richard Nixon positions himself to gain access to the vast fortune hidden inside Victorio Peak. The episode explores a pivotal July 6, 1970 meeting at Nixon's Western White House in San Clemente, California, where geologist Keith Alexander—representing a coalition of treasure hunters known as the "Filthy 50"—met with Nixon and Domestic Affairs Advisor John Ehrlichman. Alexander revealed secret knowledge of 742 gold bars weighing 40 to 50 pounds each (totaling over 3 million troy ounces) stockpiled at White Sands, seeking executive immunity and an official agreement to monetize the gold through the U.S. Mint.Three days after the San Clemente meeting, Ehrlichman dispatched a personal memorandum to Treasury Secretary David M. Kennedy inquiring how the group could legally recover and sell the treasure. On July 17, 1970, Secretary Kennedy responded with an accommodating roadmap, noting that no federal license was required to search for or possess buried treasure, while proposing a 50/50 split with the government based on the prior Fort Huachuca precedent. However, when Kennedy proved too rigid regarding strict regulatory compliance, Nixon replaced him on February 11, 1971, with former Texas Governor John Connally—a close associate of Lyndon B. Johnson and an alleged co-incorporator of the LaRue Corporation, an entity formed in 1967 to manage and launder Victorio Peak gold proceeds.The episode then unpacks one of the most consequential economic maneuvers in modern American history: Nixon's live televised address on Sunday, August 15, 1971, closing the gold window and ending the direct convertibility of U.S. dollars into gold. By dismantling the Bretton Woods monetary system, Nixon eliminated international audits and physical reserve accountability, effectively creating a systemic blind spot where missing national reserves or illicitly extracted military gold could no longer be tracked or audited.Connecting internal White House memorandums, Treasury Department correspondence, corporate records, and Watergate-era disclosures, Episode 14 details how Nixon installed key gatekeepers and altered global monetary policy to set the stage for the massive thefts that followed. From San Clemente to the Oval Office, this episode exposes how presidential authority and monetary policy intersected with the covert plundering of America's most controversial treasure. Join us for this latest episode as we tell the story so well documented by  author John Clarence.

In 1958, Air Force Captain Leonard Fiege, Airman Tom Berlett, and civilian Bill Schriever entered a cave at Victoria Peak, discovering massive, pyramid-shaped stacks of gold bars stamped with Spanish double crosses alongside the remains of 29 human skeletons. Choosing to act honorably and follow proper legal procedures rather than stealing the gold, Fiege and Berlett left the cave untouched. They subsequently hired senior Judge Advocate General (JAG) Corps colonels to form "The Seven Heirs" corporation to legally assert their rights as the discoverers of the treasure.Seeking official permission to complete their recovery, the airmen presented their findings in Washington, D.C., leading the U.S. Secret Service to administer federal polygraph examinations to both Fiege and Berlett on September 5, 1961. Both officers passed without any indication of deception, providing official, government-verified proof that the massive gold cache inside Victoria Peak was real. However, instead of granting legal access, Secret Service Agent Lilburn "Pat" Boggs issued a chilling warning directly to Captain Fiji: "The government will never let you get to the gold".Behind the scenes, federal authorities were already executing a covert extraction. Transcribed phone calls from July 31, 1961, between White Sands Commander Major General John Shinkle, Leland Howard of the U.S. Mint, and Agent Boggs reveal a top-secret military operation set for August 1, 1961, to excavate and seize the gold while strictly barring Fiji and Berlett from the base. Shortly after, a special Pentagon team led by Captain William Orby Swanner inspected, photographed, and inventoried the gold, allegedly shipping portions to Fort Knox without any official public accounting or receiving records.The aftermath exposed a ruthless cover-up designed to erase the discovery and silence all witnesses. Base photographer Charles Abston later recalled seeing General Shinkle personally using a forklift to load heavy, sealed containers into a moving van prior to transferring commands, while Captain Fiji and his family endured decades of relentless death threats whenever he attempted to go public. Episode 12 lays bare how federal agencies used lie detector technology to confirm the reality of the Victoria Peak treasure—only to secretly steal it and threaten the service members who found it.

This week's episode of the Center for Immigration Studies' “Parsing Immigration Policy” podcast features Nicolas Pouvreau-Monti, co-founder and executive director of the French immigration think tank L'Observatoire de l'Immigration et de la Démographie (OID), discussing how record immigration, failed assimilation, and growing public frustration have made immigration the dominant political issue in France ahead of next year's presidential election.The discussion examines immigration's demographic, economic, and cultural impacts on France, as well as the emergence of OID as one of the country's leading sources of non-partisan immigration research at a time when immigration has become the central issue in French politics.Founded just three years ago by six co-founders concerned about France's migration crisis, OID was established to fill what Monti describes as a void in public debate by providing reliable data, research, and analysis on immigration.Among the topics discussed:France's foreign-born population has reached a historic high, with immigration increasingly originating from outside Europe.Why most French citizens support lower immigration levels, yet government policy has largely failed to respond.The economic effects of large-scale immigration, including workforce participation, welfare spending, and pressure on public services.France's retreat from assimilation and the challenges of integrating immigrants from culturally distinct regions.Why immigration is expected to be the defining issue in France's 2027 presidential election.Monti is the author of the award-winning book Immigration, Mythes et Réalités, which challenges common claims about immigration using demographic and economic data. OID is a member of the International Network for Immigration Research (INIR), joining the Center for Immigration Studies and other partner organizations in the United States, Israel, and Hungary.In his commentary, Krikorian, the Center's executive director, introduces new CIS Fellow Mahvash Siddiqui, a former U.S. Foreign Service Officer. Siddiqui's first analyses for the Center examine industrialized fraud in the H-1B visa program, based on her experience as a consular officer, and a recent federal court decision striking down the Trump administration's $100,000 entry fee for H-1B visa holders .HostMark Krikorian is the Executive Director of the Center for Immigration Studies.GuestNicolas Pouvreau-Monti is the co-founder and executive director of the French immigration think tank L'Observatoire de l'Immigration et de la Démographie (OID).LinksL'Observatoire de l'Immigration et de la DémographieImmigration, Mythes et RéalitésMahvash SiddiquiIntro Voices in the opening montage:Sen. John McCain in a 2010 election ad.President Lyndon Johnson, upon signing the 1965 Immigration Act.Booker T. Washington, reading in 1908 from his 1895 Atlanta Exposition speech.Laraine Newman as a "Conehead" on SNL in 1977.Hillary Clinton in a 2003 radio interview.Cesar Chavez in a 1974 interview.House Speaker Nancy Pelosi speaking to reporters in 2019.Prof. George Borjas in a 2016 C-SPAN appearance.Sen. Jeff Sessions in 2008 comments on the Senate floor.Candidate Trump in 2015 campaign speech.Charlton Heston in "Planet of the Apes".

SCHEDULE FOR THE JBS, 7-23-20261950 ONTARIO WILDFIREEvan Ellis examines Mexico's economy, increasingly integrated into the American market and moving beyond oil into diverse manufacturing sectors. Despite Trump administration objections to the USMCA, the treaty includes provisions requiring a ten-year exit process. Current negotiations reflect tensions over Chinese inputs, automotive tariffs, and labor standards. President Claudia Sheinbaum manages these diplomatic challenges while cooperating with the US on extradition, drug lab seizures, and stemming illegal immigration through Mexican territory. (1)Evan Ellis reports Cuba faces a severe humanitarian crisis with failing electricity, yet the communist regime maintains tight control. A recent State Department report labels Cuba the "capital of 21st-century communism," citing its subversion of Latin American democracies and involvement in left-wing political terrorism. Meanwhile, in Nicaragua, Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo have officially abolished future elections, claiming the opposition seeks to "capture power" through voting. This moves the country toward becoming a "hermit kingdom." (2)Evan Ellis notes former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández returned to Honduras following a pardon by President Trump, despite previous US convictions for cocaine trafficking. In Venezuela, the US has collected over $13 billion in oil revenue, yet economic recovery remains muted following recent earthquakes. The lack of transparency regarding these funds raises concerns about their management under the Rodríguez regime. Simultaneously, Colombia's new leader faces the challenge of dismantling entrenched cocaine cartels. (3)Evan Ellis surveys Brazil's high-stakes election, with Lula da Silva currently leading Flavio Bolsonaro in polling. New 25% US tariffs threaten nearly 26% of Brazil's exports, totaling $15 billion in goods. Tensions rise as the Supreme Courtblocks high-profile visitors like Argentina's Javier Milei from meeting the elder Bolsonaro. Many Brazilians believe the elder Bolsonaro's influence triggered these punitive trade measures, while the military remains the largest force in South America. (4)Kaitlyn Tiffany recounts how, following JFK's assassination, Lyndon Johnson convened the Warren Commission to consolidate intelligence from the FBI, CIA, and Dallas police. The commission included controversial figures like Allen Dulles and Gerald Ford, the latter of whom clandestinely back-channeled with the FBI. Chief Justice Earl Warren was reluctant to serve, fearing the political nature of the committee and its impact on the American image. Critically, the commission lacked its own independent investigative staff. (5)Kaitlyn Tiffany describes how FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover quickly established the "lone gunman" theory, asserting Lee Harvey Oswald fired three shots from the Texas School Book Depository. However, Shirley Martin, a grieving Oklahoma housewife, began independently investigating the case and badgering the FBI with tips. Her relentless correspondence frustrated Hoover, who viewed her as a nuisance to the bureau's formal investigation. Martin interviewed overlooked witnesses in Dallas and became a key critic of the official narrative. (6)Kaitlyn Tiffany profiles Sylvia Meagher, a World Health Organization secretary who became obsessed with the disorganization of the Warren Commission's evidence. Drawing on professional experience, she created a comprehensive index for the commission's twenty-six volumes of supplementary materials. Meagher was particularly suspicious of Dallas security lapses, having witnessed heads of state protected at the UN. She joined other women, including wealthy soprano Maggie Field, in scrutinizing photographic evidence and government claims. (7)Kaitlyn Tiffany describes the 1965 gathering of independent researchers known as "warologists" at Sylvia Meagher's apartment to discuss missing pieces of the JFK investigation. While they allied with lawyer Mark Lane, they grew frustrated with his territorial and inaccurate behavior. The group was also wary of Marguerite Oswald, who insisted on her son's innocence but was demanding and unpredictable. They focused on inconsistencies in eyewitness testimony and the implausible "magic bullet" theory. (8)Kaitlyn Tiffany notes that by 1966, the media labeled these researchers as "housewives" to dismiss their work, describing them as a "keening pack of speculators." Central to their dissent was the "magic bullet" theory, which claimed a single pristine projectile caused multiple wounds in both JFK and Governor Connally. Dissenters highlighted the bullet's lack of deformation and the FBI's initial reports of a non-exiting back wound. They also investigated the Grassy Knoll for additional shooters. (9)Kaitlyn Tiffany recounts District Attorney Jim Garrison's 1967 high-profile investigation into a New Orleans-based conspiracy to kill the president. He targeted Clay Shaw, alleging a mysterious, powerful figure orchestrated the plot. While some researchers supported Garrison for his willingness to investigate, others like Sylvia Meagher felt he was reckless with facts and self-serving. The investigation ultimately failed with a not-guilty verdict, causing a permanent rift within the community of critics. (10)Kaitlyn Tiffany relates how personal tragedy struck Shirley Martin when her daughter died in a car accident, effectively ending her research. In 1977, the House Select Committee on Assassinations reopened the case, initially concluding a fourth shot from the Grassy Knoll indicated a "probable conspiracy." This finding was based on a police motorcycle radio recording analyzed by scientists. However, later analysis revealed the recording was made after the shooting, causing the conspiracy evidence to crumble. (11)Kaitlyn Tiffany tours modern-day Dallas, a strange mix of somber memorials and pop-culture commercialization of the assassination. Visitors can tour Ruth Paine's house or the rooming house where Oswald lived, which plays As the World Turns on a loop. While some local businesses sell "magic bullet coffee," the Sixth Floor Museum provides a staged look at the sniper's perch. Extensive archives of the critics' work are preserved at Hood College and the Mary Ferrell Foundation. (12)Anatol Lieven warns the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East are converging into a global energy crisis, with refined oil products like diesel in short supply. Ukrainian drone attacks have severely damaged Russia's refining capacity, while US refineries struggle to keep pace. Leadership instability in Kyiv, including the dismissal of the defense minister, further complicates the war effort. Meanwhile, Houthi threats against Saudi tankers jeopardize the world's ability to secure reliable oil exports. (13)Anatol Lieven assesses new British Prime Minister Andy Burnham, who faces a country demanding increased spending on health, prisons, and defense despite rising debt costs. While popular for his management of Manchester's transport system, he must navigate radical tax proposals targeting millionaires to raise revenue. Burnham is under pressure to resolve the "net zero" debate and potentially expand North Sea fracking to lower energy prices. He remains wary of reopening the divisive Brexit debate. (14)Anatoly Zak recounts the July 1976 Soviet launch of the Salyut 5 mission, a secret military reconnaissance project camouflaged as civilian research. The mission, dubbed the "Keystone Cosmonauts," was plagued by accidents, including a truck blocking a fuel train and a failed automated docking system. Onboard, the crew faced extreme stress, power failures, and a mysterious illness that incapacitated one cosmonaut. These failures forced an emergency landing and a premature end to the expedition. (15)Anatoly Zak reports Roscosmos is currently developing the Russian Orbital Station (ROS) to replace its segment of the International Space Station after retirement. This modular station is intended to test hardware for future lunar exploration, including a habitat module similar to the American Gateway project. Russia still hopes for potential international cooperation with NASA and the ESA in lunar orbit. The ROS will typically host two to three cosmonauts for long-term deep space validation missions. (16)Corrections applied, pending your confirmation for the log: Kaitlyn Tiffany (transcribed as "Caitlin" — the Atlanticwriter), Anatoly Zak (transcribed as "Anatoli" — his own byline spelling at RussianSpaceWeb), and Allen Dulles in segment 5 (transcribed as "Alan").

Kaitlyn Tiffany recounts how, following JFK's assassination, Lyndon Johnson convened the Warren Commission to consolidate intelligence from the FBI, CIA, and Dallas police. The commission included controversial figures like Allen Dulles and Gerald Ford, the latter of whom clandestinely back-channeled with the FBI. Chief Justice Earl Warren was reluctant to serve, fearing the political nature of the committee and its impact on the American image. Critically, the commission lacked its own independent investigative staff. (5)1961

Julia Azari, Professor of Political Science at Marquette University, has a new, award-winning[*] book centering on the connection between race and the American presidency, specifically in the reaction to presidents who made progress on the issue of race in the United States. Backlash Presidents: From Transformative to Reactionary Leaders in American History focuses on four different periods in American political history and a number of different presidential administrations including: Abraham Lincoln, Andrew Johnson, Lyndon B. Johnson, Richard M. Nixon, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, Barack Obama and Donald J. Trump. Race and the American presidency are not usually topics that are looped together, and this is also part of the point that Azari is making in the book, since presidents often try to elide racial politics and policy issues. Race is also not usually connected to presidential impeachments, but this is yet another key point that Azari raises, connecting racial progress, the backlash responses, and the subsequent impeachments. In noting these connections, Azari threads examples over time where presidents directly confronted race in American politics, working towards more racial equality, and how these efforts also prompt a backlash response. The key case studies in Backlash Presidents are Abraham Lincoln, the Emancipation Proclamation and the Civil War in the 1860s, Lyndon Johnson's efforts in the 1960s in regard to the Voting Rights Act and the Civil Rights Act, as well as anti-poverty legislation, and finally Barack Obama as the first Black president of the United States, which was both symbolic and structural. Backlash Presidents traces not only the progress made during these administrations, but also the responses that followed in the subsequent administrations. It is these next administrations, of Andrew Johnson, Richard Nixon, and Donald Trump, where each of these presidents were either impeached or were about to be impeached, and how this dynamic pulls together a variety of different threads to help us to understand presidential politics, institutional development, and American political history all in context of the question of race. Azari's research is connected to the idea of political time, but with the important addition of pulling out the problem of race in the United States. Backlash Presidents contributes to our thinking about not only the time and context of presidents and their administrations, but also to thinking about what it is that presidents do to politics itself. Part of this analysis also interrogates populism, positioning these movements within the context of racial backlash, while also building out the understanding of the president's position within his own party, especially during these fraught periods. In each of the key examples, Azari highlights the ways in which Johnson, Nixon, and Trump were outsiders to what was going on inside their parties—in each case the Republican Party at the time—and how these shifting partisan foundations opened up different kinds of vulnerabilities for these presidents. In each of the case studies, there is also the discussion of the role that the U.S. Congress plays, since they are the actors who move towards impeaching and trying the president. Members of the House of Representatives need to move beyond constraints in order to impeach a president, and in these instances, they have concluded that the president is not correct in some basic and meaningful way, that the president is not upholding his oath of office, and is also undermining the forward movement on race and racial equality. Backlash Presidents: From Transformation to Reactionary Leaders in American History is a deeply researched analysis, with important historical context and details to help flesh out the particular time period under consideration. The examination is further complicated and built out with important understandings of party politics in the United States, and how president fits into their political party, or may be seen as an outsider. Racial dynamics in the United States undergirds the entire theory, and helps us see the tensions within partisan politics, presidential politics, and American democracy. Lilly J. Goren is a professor of political science at Carroll University in Waukesha, WI. She is co-host of the New Books in Political Science channel at the New Books Network. She is co-editor of The Politics of the Marvel Cinematic Universe Volume I: The Infinity Saga (University Press of Kansas, 2022), and of The Politics of the Marvel Cinematic Universe Volume II: Into the Multiverse (University Press of Kansas, 2025) as well as co-editor of the award winning book, Women and the White House: Gender, Popular Culture, and Presidential Politics (University Press of Kentucky, 2012). She can be reached @gorenlj.bsky.social [*] The Presidents and Executive Politics Section of the American Political Science Association awarded Backlash Presidents the 2025 Richard E. Neustadt Best Book Award, given for the best book on executive politics published during the year. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

Julia Azari, Professor of Political Science at Marquette University, has a new, award-winning[*] book centering on the connection between race and the American presidency, specifically in the reaction to presidents who made progress on the issue of race in the United States. Backlash Presidents: From Transformative to Reactionary Leaders in American History focuses on four different periods in American political history and a number of different presidential administrations including: Abraham Lincoln, Andrew Johnson, Lyndon B. Johnson, Richard M. Nixon, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, Barack Obama and Donald J. Trump. Race and the American presidency are not usually topics that are looped together, and this is also part of the point that Azari is making in the book, since presidents often try to elide racial politics and policy issues. Race is also not usually connected to presidential impeachments, but this is yet another key point that Azari raises, connecting racial progress, the backlash responses, and the subsequent impeachments. In noting these connections, Azari threads examples over time where presidents directly confronted race in American politics, working towards more racial equality, and how these efforts also prompt a backlash response. The key case studies in Backlash Presidents are Abraham Lincoln, the Emancipation Proclamation and the Civil War in the 1860s, Lyndon Johnson's efforts in the 1960s in regard to the Voting Rights Act and the Civil Rights Act, as well as anti-poverty legislation, and finally Barack Obama as the first Black president of the United States, which was both symbolic and structural. Backlash Presidents traces not only the progress made during these administrations, but also the responses that followed in the subsequent administrations. It is these next administrations, of Andrew Johnson, Richard Nixon, and Donald Trump, where each of these presidents were either impeached or were about to be impeached, and how this dynamic pulls together a variety of different threads to help us to understand presidential politics, institutional development, and American political history all in context of the question of race. Azari's research is connected to the idea of political time, but with the important addition of pulling out the problem of race in the United States. Backlash Presidents contributes to our thinking about not only the time and context of presidents and their administrations, but also to thinking about what it is that presidents do to politics itself. Part of this analysis also interrogates populism, positioning these movements within the context of racial backlash, while also building out the understanding of the president's position within his own party, especially during these fraught periods. In each of the key examples, Azari highlights the ways in which Johnson, Nixon, and Trump were outsiders to what was going on inside their parties—in each case the Republican Party at the time—and how these shifting partisan foundations opened up different kinds of vulnerabilities for these presidents. In each of the case studies, there is also the discussion of the role that the U.S. Congress plays, since they are the actors who move towards impeaching and trying the president. Members of the House of Representatives need to move beyond constraints in order to impeach a president, and in these instances, they have concluded that the president is not correct in some basic and meaningful way, that the president is not upholding his oath of office, and is also undermining the forward movement on race and racial equality. Backlash Presidents: From Transformation to Reactionary Leaders in American History is a deeply researched analysis, with important historical context and details to help flesh out the particular time period under consideration. The examination is further complicated and built out with important understandings of party politics in the United States, and how president fits into their political party, or may be seen as an outsider. Racial dynamics in the United States undergirds the entire theory, and helps us see the tensions within partisan politics, presidential politics, and American democracy. Lilly J. Goren is a professor of political science at Carroll University in Waukesha, WI. She is co-host of the New Books in Political Science channel at the New Books Network. She is co-editor of The Politics of the Marvel Cinematic Universe Volume I: The Infinity Saga (University Press of Kansas, 2022), and of The Politics of the Marvel Cinematic Universe Volume II: Into the Multiverse (University Press of Kansas, 2025) as well as co-editor of the award winning book, Women and the White House: Gender, Popular Culture, and Presidential Politics (University Press of Kentucky, 2012). She can be reached @gorenlj.bsky.social [*] The Presidents and Executive Politics Section of the American Political Science Association awarded Backlash Presidents the 2025 Richard E. Neustadt Best Book Award, given for the best book on executive politics published during the year. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/political-science

This week's episode of Parsing Immigration Policy is a rebroadcast of a recent installment of the Center's Immigration Newsmaker series featuring the White House Border Czar Tom Homan.In the interview hosted by Center Executive Director Mark Krikorian, Homan discusses the recent pause in traffic stops, the administration's enforcement priorities, recent record-setting ICE arrests, sanctuary jurisdictions, and the future of mass deportations.A highlight of the conversation is Homan's proposal to dramatically expand I-9 inspections by creating a centralized operation staffed by contractors to conduct large-scale audits. Rather than relying exclusively on armed Homeland Security Investigations agents to review employment records, Homan argues that contractors could identify criminal and administrative violations and refer those cases to investigators — freeing agents to focus on criminal investigations and enforcement operations.In his closing commentary, Mark Krikorian discusses a regulatory change that will end the Department of Homeland Security's “duration of status” policy for F, J, and I nonimmigrant classifications.HostMark Krikorian is the Executive Director of the Center for Immigration Studies.GuestTom Homan is the White House Border Czar.LinksImmigration Newsmaker Press ReleaseImmigration Newsmaker Videommigration Newsmaker TranscriptImmigration Newsmaker SeriesDHS Ends ‘Duration of Status' for Students, Exchange Visitors, and Foreign MediaIntro MontageVoices in the opening montage:Sen. Barack Obama at a 2005 press conference.Sen. John McCain in a 2010 election ad.President Lyndon Johnson, upon signing the 1965 Immigration Act.Booker T. Washington, reading in 1908 from his 1895 Atlanta Exposition speech.Laraine Newman as a "Conehead" on SNL in 1977.Hillary Clinton in a 2003 radio interview.Cesar Chavez in a 1974 interview.House Speaker Nancy Pelosi speaking to reporters in 2019.Prof. George Borjas in a 2016 C-SPAN appearance.Sen. Jeff Sessions in 2008 comments on the Senate floor.Candidate Trump in 2015 campaign speech.Charlton Heston in "Planet of the Apes".

Julia Azari, Professor of Political Science at Marquette University, has a new, award-winning[*] book centering on the connection between race and the American presidency, specifically in the reaction to presidents who made progress on the issue of race in the United States. Backlash Presidents: From Transformative to Reactionary Leaders in American History focuses on four different periods in American political history and a number of different presidential administrations including: Abraham Lincoln, Andrew Johnson, Lyndon B. Johnson, Richard M. Nixon, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, Barack Obama and Donald J. Trump. Race and the American presidency are not usually topics that are looped together, and this is also part of the point that Azari is making in the book, since presidents often try to elide racial politics and policy issues. Race is also not usually connected to presidential impeachments, but this is yet another key point that Azari raises, connecting racial progress, the backlash responses, and the subsequent impeachments. In noting these connections, Azari threads examples over time where presidents directly confronted race in American politics, working towards more racial equality, and how these efforts also prompt a backlash response. The key case studies in Backlash Presidents are Abraham Lincoln, the Emancipation Proclamation and the Civil War in the 1860s, Lyndon Johnson's efforts in the 1960s in regard to the Voting Rights Act and the Civil Rights Act, as well as anti-poverty legislation, and finally Barack Obama as the first Black president of the United States, which was both symbolic and structural. Backlash Presidents traces not only the progress made during these administrations, but also the responses that followed in the subsequent administrations. It is these next administrations, of Andrew Johnson, Richard Nixon, and Donald Trump, where each of these presidents were either impeached or were about to be impeached, and how this dynamic pulls together a variety of different threads to help us to understand presidential politics, institutional development, and American political history all in context of the question of race. Azari's research is connected to the idea of political time, but with the important addition of pulling out the problem of race in the United States. Backlash Presidents contributes to our thinking about not only the time and context of presidents and their administrations, but also to thinking about what it is that presidents do to politics itself. Part of this analysis also interrogates populism, positioning these movements within the context of racial backlash, while also building out the understanding of the president's position within his own party, especially during these fraught periods. In each of the key examples, Azari highlights the ways in which Johnson, Nixon, and Trump were outsiders to what was going on inside their parties—in each case the Republican Party at the time—and how these shifting partisan foundations opened up different kinds of vulnerabilities for these presidents. In each of the case studies, there is also the discussion of the role that the U.S. Congress plays, since they are the actors who move towards impeaching and trying the president. Members of the House of Representatives need to move beyond constraints in order to impeach a president, and in these instances, they have concluded that the president is not correct in some basic and meaningful way, that the president is not upholding his oath of office, and is also undermining the forward movement on race and racial equality. Backlash Presidents: From Transformation to Reactionary Leaders in American History is a deeply researched analysis, with important historical context and details to help flesh out the particular time period under consideration. The examination is further complicated and built out with important understandings of party politics in the United States, and how president fits into their political party, or may be seen as an outsider. Racial dynamics in the United States undergirds the entire theory, and helps us see the tensions within partisan politics, presidential politics, and American democracy. Lilly J. Goren is a professor of political science at Carroll University in Waukesha, WI. She is co-host of the New Books in Political Science channel at the New Books Network. She is co-editor of The Politics of the Marvel Cinematic Universe Volume I: The Infinity Saga (University Press of Kansas, 2022), and of The Politics of the Marvel Cinematic Universe Volume II: Into the Multiverse (University Press of Kansas, 2025) as well as co-editor of the award winning book, Women and the White House: Gender, Popular Culture, and Presidential Politics (University Press of Kentucky, 2012). She can be reached @gorenlj.bsky.social [*] The Presidents and Executive Politics Section of the American Political Science Association awarded Backlash Presidents the 2025 Richard E. Neustadt Best Book Award, given for the best book on executive politics published during the year. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/american-studies

Julia Azari, Professor of Political Science at Marquette University, has a new, award-winning[*] book centering on the connection between race and the American presidency, specifically in the reaction to presidents who made progress on the issue of race in the United States. Backlash Presidents: From Transformative to Reactionary Leaders in American History focuses on four different periods in American political history and a number of different presidential administrations including: Abraham Lincoln, Andrew Johnson, Lyndon B. Johnson, Richard M. Nixon, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, Barack Obama and Donald J. Trump. Race and the American presidency are not usually topics that are looped together, and this is also part of the point that Azari is making in the book, since presidents often try to elide racial politics and policy issues. Race is also not usually connected to presidential impeachments, but this is yet another key point that Azari raises, connecting racial progress, the backlash responses, and the subsequent impeachments. In noting these connections, Azari threads examples over time where presidents directly confronted race in American politics, working towards more racial equality, and how these efforts also prompt a backlash response. The key case studies in Backlash Presidents are Abraham Lincoln, the Emancipation Proclamation and the Civil War in the 1860s, Lyndon Johnson's efforts in the 1960s in regard to the Voting Rights Act and the Civil Rights Act, as well as anti-poverty legislation, and finally Barack Obama as the first Black president of the United States, which was both symbolic and structural. Backlash Presidents traces not only the progress made during these administrations, but also the responses that followed in the subsequent administrations. It is these next administrations, of Andrew Johnson, Richard Nixon, and Donald Trump, where each of these presidents were either impeached or were about to be impeached, and how this dynamic pulls together a variety of different threads to help us to understand presidential politics, institutional development, and American political history all in context of the question of race. Azari's research is connected to the idea of political time, but with the important addition of pulling out the problem of race in the United States. Backlash Presidents contributes to our thinking about not only the time and context of presidents and their administrations, but also to thinking about what it is that presidents do to politics itself. Part of this analysis also interrogates populism, positioning these movements within the context of racial backlash, while also building out the understanding of the president's position within his own party, especially during these fraught periods. In each of the key examples, Azari highlights the ways in which Johnson, Nixon, and Trump were outsiders to what was going on inside their parties—in each case the Republican Party at the time—and how these shifting partisan foundations opened up different kinds of vulnerabilities for these presidents. In each of the case studies, there is also the discussion of the role that the U.S. Congress plays, since they are the actors who move towards impeaching and trying the president. Members of the House of Representatives need to move beyond constraints in order to impeach a president, and in these instances, they have concluded that the president is not correct in some basic and meaningful way, that the president is not upholding his oath of office, and is also undermining the forward movement on race and racial equality. Backlash Presidents: From Transformation to Reactionary Leaders in American History is a deeply researched analysis, with important historical context and details to help flesh out the particular time period under consideration. The examination is further complicated and built out with important understandings of party politics in the United States, and how president fits into their political party, or may be seen as an outsider. Racial dynamics in the United States undergirds the entire theory, and helps us see the tensions within partisan politics, presidential politics, and American democracy. Lilly J. Goren is a professor of political science at Carroll University in Waukesha, WI. She is co-host of the New Books in Political Science channel at the New Books Network. She is co-editor of The Politics of the Marvel Cinematic Universe Volume I: The Infinity Saga (University Press of Kansas, 2022), and of The Politics of the Marvel Cinematic Universe Volume II: Into the Multiverse (University Press of Kansas, 2025) as well as co-editor of the award winning book, Women and the White House: Gender, Popular Culture, and Presidential Politics (University Press of Kentucky, 2012). She can be reached @gorenlj.bsky.social [*] The Presidents and Executive Politics Section of the American Political Science Association awarded Backlash Presidents the 2025 Richard E. Neustadt Best Book Award, given for the best book on executive politics published during the year.

Julia Azari, Professor of Political Science at Marquette University, has a new, award-winning[*] book centering on the connection between race and the American presidency, specifically in the reaction to presidents who made progress on the issue of race in the United States. Backlash Presidents: From Transformative to Reactionary Leaders in American History focuses on four different periods in American political history and a number of different presidential administrations including: Abraham Lincoln, Andrew Johnson, Lyndon B. Johnson, Richard M. Nixon, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, Barack Obama and Donald J. Trump. Race and the American presidency are not usually topics that are looped together, and this is also part of the point that Azari is making in the book, since presidents often try to elide racial politics and policy issues. Race is also not usually connected to presidential impeachments, but this is yet another key point that Azari raises, connecting racial progress, the backlash responses, and the subsequent impeachments. In noting these connections, Azari threads examples over time where presidents directly confronted race in American politics, working towards more racial equality, and how these efforts also prompt a backlash response. The key case studies in Backlash Presidents are Abraham Lincoln, the Emancipation Proclamation and the Civil War in the 1860s, Lyndon Johnson's efforts in the 1960s in regard to the Voting Rights Act and the Civil Rights Act, as well as anti-poverty legislation, and finally Barack Obama as the first Black president of the United States, which was both symbolic and structural. Backlash Presidents traces not only the progress made during these administrations, but also the responses that followed in the subsequent administrations. It is these next administrations, of Andrew Johnson, Richard Nixon, and Donald Trump, where each of these presidents were either impeached or were about to be impeached, and how this dynamic pulls together a variety of different threads to help us to understand presidential politics, institutional development, and American political history all in context of the question of race. Azari's research is connected to the idea of political time, but with the important addition of pulling out the problem of race in the United States. Backlash Presidents contributes to our thinking about not only the time and context of presidents and their administrations, but also to thinking about what it is that presidents do to politics itself. Part of this analysis also interrogates populism, positioning these movements within the context of racial backlash, while also building out the understanding of the president's position within his own party, especially during these fraught periods. In each of the key examples, Azari highlights the ways in which Johnson, Nixon, and Trump were outsiders to what was going on inside their parties—in each case the Republican Party at the time—and how these shifting partisan foundations opened up different kinds of vulnerabilities for these presidents. In each of the case studies, there is also the discussion of the role that the U.S. Congress plays, since they are the actors who move towards impeaching and trying the president. Members of the House of Representatives need to move beyond constraints in order to impeach a president, and in these instances, they have concluded that the president is not correct in some basic and meaningful way, that the president is not upholding his oath of office, and is also undermining the forward movement on race and racial equality. Backlash Presidents: From Transformation to Reactionary Leaders in American History is a deeply researched analysis, with important historical context and details to help flesh out the particular time period under consideration. The examination is further complicated and built out with important understandings of party politics in the United States, and how president fits into their political party, or may be seen as an outsider. Racial dynamics in the United States undergirds the entire theory, and helps us see the tensions within partisan politics, presidential politics, and American democracy. Lilly J. Goren is a professor of political science at Carroll University in Waukesha, WI. She is co-host of the New Books in Political Science channel at the New Books Network. She is co-editor of The Politics of the Marvel Cinematic Universe Volume I: The Infinity Saga (University Press of Kansas, 2022), and of The Politics of the Marvel Cinematic Universe Volume II: Into the Multiverse (University Press of Kansas, 2025) as well as co-editor of the award winning book, Women and the White House: Gender, Popular Culture, and Presidential Politics (University Press of Kentucky, 2012). She can be reached @gorenlj.bsky.social [*] The Presidents and Executive Politics Section of the American Political Science Association awarded Backlash Presidents the 2025 Richard E. Neustadt Best Book Award, given for the best book on executive politics published during the year. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On June 5, 1963, President John F. Kennedy and Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson made a highly orchestrated visit to White Sands Missile Range. While the official itinerary claimed the 139-minute stop was merely to witness a missile demonstration and inspect an unpaved desert runway known as the Northrup Strip, the reality was far more secretive. The trip—which required nine months of meticulous preparation—was actually an elaborate cover allowing the President and Vice President to personally inspect the Noss treasure at Victoria Peak, located just a five-minute helicopter ride away.Following this secret inspection, a plan was set in motion to settle the decades-long treasure dispute. By November 1963, Ova Noss was waiting at the prestigious Brown Palace Hotel in Denver for a direct meeting with President Kennedy, arranged by Attorney General Robert Kennedy. The plan was for the President to take control of the treasure and finally ensure the Noss family received a fair share. However, on November 22, the tragic news of JFK's assassination in Dallas shattered those hopes. Watching the fateful broadcast, Ova devastatingly realized that once again, getting close to a settlement had been derailed by murder.Even more chilling than the canceled meeting is the military cover-up that concluded just 24 hours before the assassination. During the summer of 1963, the Museum of New Mexico conducted an authorized excavation at Victoria Peak under strict military control. When the museum's archaeologist drafted a truthful report documenting previous military excavations, secret polygraph tests, and Treasury Department involvement, army officials ordered it to be heavily censored. All incriminating evidence was scrubbed from the record, and the falsified report was finalized on November 21, 1963—exactly one day before Kennedy was killed.This episode unravels the haunting six-month timeline leading up to the JFK assassination and explores the dark questions surrounding the military's actions. The censored scientific report didn't just hide past military thefts; it created the plausible deniability that protected Lyndon B. Johnson's upcoming operations. Tune in to discover how the tragedy in Dallas effectively handed the most powerful office in the world to LBJ, paving the way for him to systematically loot the Victoria Peak treasure using military aircraft over the next decade.

Pat Oliphant, one of the most influential political cartoonists of the 20th and 21st centuries, has died. Considering his legacy on DMZ are editorial cartoonists Ted Rall (from the Left), Scott Stantis (from the Right) and Mike Thompson, a Pulitzer Prize-winning American editorial cartoonist known for his sharp wit and bold, expressive style. Born in 1964, he is widely syndicated. Thompson's work frequently appears in USA Today and other major outlets. Born Patrick Bruce Oliphant on July 24, 1935, in Adelaide, Australia, he began his career as a news illustrator for The Adelaide Advertiser before moving to the United States in 1964.Hired by The Denver Post, Oliphant quickly gained national attention for his bold, fluid line work and savage wit. In 1974 he won the Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Cartooning. His cartoons appeared in over 500 newspapers through universal syndication, making him a daily fixture in American political discourse for more than five decades.Oliphant's signature creation was “Punk,” a small, irreverent, tufted bird who often appeared in the corner of panels delivering a final dry or biting comment. His style blended elegant draftsmanship with ferocious satire, skewering presidents from Lyndon Johnson to Barack Obama with equal glee. He famously said he drew “not to change minds, but to make people angry enough to think.”Later in life he expanded into sculpture and fine-art painting while continuing to produce cartoons. Oliphant's work is held in major collections including the Library of Congress. He died in 2026 at age 90, leaving behind a legacy as a defining voice of modern American editorial cartooning.Support the showThe DMZ America Podcast is recorded weekly by political cartoonists Ted Rall and Scott Stantis. Twitter/X: @scottstantis and @tedrallWeb: Rall.com

Pat Oliphant, one of the most influential political cartoonists of the 20th and 21st centuries, has died. Considering his legacy on DMZ are editorial cartoonists Ted Rall (from the Left), Scott Stantis (from the Right) and Mike Thompson, a Pulitzer Prize-winning American editorial cartoonist known for his sharp wit and bold, expressive style. Born in 1964, he is widely syndicated. Thompson's work frequently appears in USA Today and other major outlets. Born Patrick Bruce Oliphant on July 24, 1935, in Adelaide, Australia, he began his career as a news illustrator for The Adelaide Advertiser before moving to the United States in 1964.Hired by The Denver Post, Oliphant quickly gained national attention for his bold, fluid line work and savage wit. In 1974 he won the Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Cartooning. His cartoons appeared in over 500 newspapers through universal syndication, making him a daily fixture in American political discourse for more than five decades.Oliphant's signature creation was “Punk,” a small, irreverent, tufted bird who often appeared in the corner of panels delivering a final dry or biting comment. His style blended elegant draftsmanship with ferocious satire, skewering presidents from Lyndon Johnson to Barack Obama with equal glee. He famously said he drew “not to change minds, but to make people angry enough to think.”Later in life he expanded into sculpture and fine-art painting while continuing to produce cartoons. Oliphant's work is held in major collections including the Library of Congress. He died in 2026 at age 90, leaving behind a legacy as a defining voice of modern American editorial cartooning.Support the showThe DMZ America Podcast is recorded weekly by political cartoonists Ted Rall and Scott Stantis. Twitter/X: @scottstantis and @tedrallWeb: Rall.com

Immigration courts are frequently in the headlines, with stories about massive backlogs, judicial turnover, and widely varying asylum approval rates. But how does the immigration court system actually work, and why has it become one of the biggest bottlenecks in immigration enforcement?In the latest episode of the Center for Immigration Studies' Parsing Immigration Policy podcast, Fellow in Law and Policy Andrew Arthur, a former immigration judge, provides a comprehensive tutorial on the immigration court system, explaining its history, structure, and the challenges it faces.Arthur discusses:Why immigration judges are Department of Justice attorneys—not life-tenured Article III judges—and how the immigration courts and Board of Immigration Appeals are organized.How removal proceedings work and why a final removal order is required before most aliens in the interior can be deported.How the surge in immigration cases during the Biden administration drove the court backlog to historic levels.Why the Biden-driven backlog is beginning to decline as the border and ports become more secure and immigration court case completions reach record levels.Whether hiring more immigration judges alone can solve the problem.Why asylum grant rates differ among judges and courts, and what those statistics do—and do not—show.Pending Supreme Court cases that could reshape immigration detention and court procedures.In closing, Mark Krikorian acknowledges the contributions to immigration policy of two recently deceased: Senator Lindsey Graham and Norm Matloff, professor at the University of California, Davis.HostMark Krikorian is the Executive Director of the Center for Immigration Studies.GuestAndrew Arthur is the Fellow in Law and Policy at the Center for Immigration Studies.LinksSen. Lindsey Graham's Unique Immigration LegacyDOJ: Immigration Court Asylum Grants PlummetFederal Judge Vacates Biden Administration ‘Quiet Amnesty' RuleDOJ Tweets About Decline in Immigration Court Backlog — but Where Are the Stats? Norm Matloff's Publications for CISIntro MontageVoices in the opening montage:Sen. Barack Obama at a 2005 press conference.Sen. John McCain in a 2010 election ad.President Lyndon Johnson, upon signing the 1965 Immigration Act.Booker T. Washington, reading in 1908 from his 1895 Atlanta Exposition speech.Laraine Newman as a "Conehead" on SNL in 1977.Hillary Clinton in a 2003 radio interview.Cesar Chavez in a 1974 interview.House Speaker Nancy Pelosi speaking to reporters in 2019.Prof. George Borjas in a 2016 C-SPAN appearance.Sen. Jeff Sessions in 2008 comments on the Senate floor.Candidate Trump in 2015 campaign speech.Charlton Heston in "Planet of the Apes".

It's Monday, July 13th, A.D. 2026. This is The Worldview in 5 Minutes heard on 140 radio stations and at www.TheWorldview.com.  I'm Adam McManus. (Adam@TheWorldview.com) By Adam McManus Texas police officers vs. Christian preachers at “pride” event Today, our persecution of Christians story comes surprisingly from Texas. On June 27th, Rich Penkoski and like-minded believers spoke the truth and preached the Gospel of Jesus Christ with a bullhorn at the Trinity Homosexual Pride Fest in Fort Worth, Texas.  Not surprisingly, homosexual activists and nearby business owners complained to police about both his message and the amplification. When police responded, the officers threatened to arrest and cite the preachers, telling them that phrases like “homosexuality is a sin” were offensive. Listen to a portion of one video posted by preacher Penkoski of his interaction with a female officer. POLICE OFFICER: “If someone is offended by your talking, then we have a problem.” PREACHER: “That's a constitutional violation of our rights. If you shut us down for talking or speech …” (crosstalk) POLICE OFFICER: “No. If they are offended by speech, …” PREACHER: “I don't care if they're offended.” POLICE OFFICER:  “Okay, then I'll write you a ticket, and we'll go from there.” PREACHER: “Wait, you're going to ticket us for offensive speech?” POLICE OFFICER: “Yes, absolutely.” PREACHER: “Are you serious? You're going to cite us for offensive speech.” POLICE OFFICER: “It's called disorderly conduct.” Plus, according to another video, a male police officer also said if the preacher used biologically accurate pronouns for someone pretending to be the opposite gender that also could be considered an offense. The preacher was warned that continued use of the bullhorn would violate the city's noise ordinance before ultimately receiving a disorderly conduct citation after continuing to use the device. Subsequently, the Fort Worth Police Department acknowledged that an officer made "certain statements that were not accurate," reports Fox News. In last Thursday post on X, Penkoski wrote, "Police officers have been violating preachers' 1st amendment rights for years. This isn't new, we just got it on video, and they can't walk it back or deny it.” He added, “As a street preacher, it is not my job to coddle anyone or go soft on sin. People are dying and going to hell every day and we have to warn them. ​… Christians need to wake up. We have got to stop sitting in the safety and comfort of our church pews and start taking the Gospel back to the streets. If we refuse to exercise our constitutional rights, we are going to lose them." In Matthew 5:13, Jesus said, “You are the salt of the Earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.” Homosexual couple sues surrogate who refused to abort baby with cleft lip A homosexual male couple in Canada has sued a surrogate mother who believes she is being punished because she refused a request to abort the baby after doctors detected a cleft lip and a possible heart defect, reports The Christian Post. They used a donor egg and sperm from each of the intended fathers. In a suit filed in Ontario Superior Court in May, the homosexuals allege the surrogate mother failed to keep them informed about the baby's health, caused them emotional distress, and violated their confidentiality, reports The National Post. The lawsuit came two years after the perverted couple asked her to abort the baby at 22 weeks — a request she refused. Specialists at Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto later determined that the baby was otherwise healthy, except for the cosmetically fixable cleft lip. The couple accepted this assessment, agreed to continue the pregnancy, and took the baby boy home after birth. The surrogate unsuccessfully sought repayment of about $10,000 in out-of-pocket costs. Ironically, the couple filed a lawsuit for $600,000 in damages against the single mother for her failure to abort their now living son. More than 50 countries prohibit both commercial and altruistic surrogacy. And here in the United States, surrogacy laws vary by state. New video: Senator Mitch McConnell loaded into ambulance New video posted on July 10th shows Republican Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky being loaded into an ambulance after suffering an apparent cardiac arrest at his Capitol Hill home last month, reports the New York Post. McConnell has been absent from the Senate for nearly a month as he continues to recover in the hospital. The 84-year-old lawmaker is not seeking re-election this November and will retire when his term ends in January. California puts abortion pill reversal on trial Heartbeat International, a pro-life group, is on trial in a California court for daring to inform women that the effects of the Abortion Kill Pill can sometimes be reversed, reports The Washington Stand. Their attorney, Danielle White, said, “Women deserve to know all of their options. They don't lose that right after beginning a chemical abortion.” In 2023, Democratic California Attorney General Rob Bonta  sued Heartbeat and a pro-life pregnancy center for “advertising Abortion Pill Reversal as safe and effective.”  Factually speaking, the abortion pill reversal protocol simply requires the use of the natural hormone progesterone which is both safe and helps save 65% of the babies. Bonta asked the court to impose a penalty of more than $20 million against Heartbeat and $600,000 against the pregnancy center. That would amount to a financial death sentence for the pro-life non-profits. The case went to a bench trial on June 24, 2026, and the trial may continue for another three weeks. Thomas More Society's Paul Jonna said, “A ruling in California's favor would hand attorneys general across the country a roadmap to penalize any non-profit organization that provides women with information the state disagrees with. If the [California] Attorney General prevails and our clients cannot deliver free, truthful, and lifesaving information to women who request it, then countless babies that could survive may not — and countless women may never meet the children that they wanted to carry to term.” Marriage advocate Mike McManus entered Heaven On a personal note, my father, Mike McManus, entered the gates of Heaven on July 5th at the age of 85 in Nashville, Tennessee.  Standing at 6'8” tall, he might have had to duck to walk through. To be sure, Dad had a God-sized vision to make a difference. After graduating from Duke University, he was employed at Time Magazine where he was stationed in Bueno Aires, Argentina and later covered President Lyndon Johnson at the White House, writing two cover stories. In 1973, my Dad organized a public participation campaign, “Choices for ‘76” to engage 10 percent of the 20 million people of the New York Metropolitan region in policy issues as the U.S. approached its Bicentennial. The project aimed to spark public debate through a series of television town meetings on issues like housing, transportation, the environment, poverty and urban growth. After becoming informed, citizens were invited to express their opinion on possible public policy tradeoffs, using ballots available in newspapers, banks and libraries. Then, he wrote two self-syndicated weekly newspaper columns which appeared in 100 newspapers.  The first, called “Solutions,” was politically focused and offered practical public policy suggestions. The second, “Ethics & Religion,” was inspired by the preaching of Pastor Terry Fullam of St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Darien, Connecticut. It grappled with church news and moral issues like abortion, pornography, and the homosexual agenda. I remember helping him copy, collate, stuff, stamp, address, and seal the envelopes to send out his weekly columns to newspaper editors across the country before the advent of the internet and email. We were always racing to the post office to get there before the deadline at 11pm at night. In 1993, he published his first book Marriage Savers: Helping Your Friends and Family Stay Married. Other books included 50 Practical Ways to Take Our Kids Back from the World and Living Together: Myths, Risks and  Answers. In a 2013 phone interview on American Family Radio, Dad talked about the major myth that women believe about living together. MIKE McMANUS: “One of the myths, believed widely by women, is that ‘'If I live with him, he's going to see how wonderful I am, and he'll ask me to marry him.' But he knows that this woman would marry him if he asked her. He's living together with her because he doesn't want to get married. He wants the sex, he wants the companionship, and the shared rent. But he doesn't want to get married. “She believes this myth until about a year and a half, two years into the relationship, when she realizes he's not going to ask her to marry him, and she sadly walks away. Unfortunately, by that time they may have already had a child. The unwed birth rate has risen right along with cohabitation. “This is an unbiblical position, of course. I mean, the church has been silent on the problem, and it's part of the problem.” Cognizant of the clarity of Malachi 2:16 in which God says He “hates divorce,” my father's passion on the issue led to his founding of the non-profit Marriage Savers with my mother, Harriet, to whom he was married for 61 years and whom he simply adored.  He said, “Most divorces are filed by one person who alleges incompatibility, while the other spouse wants to save the marriage. Sadly, divorce is always granted. When adultery or abuse is not alleged, divorce should only be granted if there is 'mutual consent' by husband and wife. What was entered into by two people, should not be ended, unless both people agree." They organized 10,000 pastors in 229 cities in 43 states to sign a Community Marriage Policy agreement that established rigorous premarital preparation for engaged couples and trained volunteer mentor couples to help people in troubled marriages. The Baptist Press reported that the divorce rate in those cities dropped by 17.5%. Think about the heartache that saved untold families and children! Their work led to appearances on ABC World News Tonight, CBS Evening News, NBC Nightly News, CBN News, The O'Reilly Factor, The Ricki Lake Show, Breakpoint with Chuck Colson, Focus on the Family with Dr. James Dobson, Truths that Transform with D. James Kennedy, and Moody Radio's Janet Parshall. I treasure the books that Dr. Dobson personally inscribed to my father as a fellow warrior for the family that are now in my library. And Chuck Colson, President Richard Nixon's former hatchet man who was gloriously saved on his way to prison over Watergate and founded Prison Fellowship, wrote the forward to one of Dad's books after their friendship blossomed. Having always aspired to live on the water, he eventually moved into his dream home with his bride in Kilmarnock, Virginia, just 50 feet from Indian Creek that fed into the Chesapeake Bay.  A great day for him was enjoying the view from his leather chair, reading the paper, listening to classical music, and talking with my mother, who was his great joy. My father taught me how to write clearly and think Biblically. I remember him quizzing us three boys at the dining room table about current events. And he was a faithful husband who pointed the family to faith in Jesus Christ, His legacy lives on in my two younger brothers, John and Tim, and in me, as I strive, with my bride Amy, to disciple Honor, Mercy, and Valor in the ways of the Lord, urging them not to be conformed to this world, but to be transformed by the renewing of their minds in the Word of God, as Romans 12:2 articulates. 9 Worldview listeners gave $2,055 And finally, toward our $30,875 goal during the first full week of our month-long fundraiser, 9 listeners stepped up to the plate by 10:30pm Central on Saturday and invested their treasure to fund the six-member team behind The Worldview for another 365 days. Our thanks to 12-year-old Halen in Blum, Texas who gave $5 as well as Mark in Newark, Ohio and Brigitte in Brookings, South Dakota – both of whom gave $25. We're grateful to God for Julie in Victoria, Texas who gave $50, Dirk in Englewood, Colorado who gave $100, and Twyla in Ellensburg, Washington who gave $150. And we were touched by the generosity of Jason in Calhoun, Georgia who gave $200, Elaine here in San Antonio, Texas who gave $500, and Stephen in California, Maryland who gave $1,000. Those 9 gifts add up to $2,055. Ready for our new grand total? Drum roll please. (drum roll sound effect) $23,098 (sound effect of people cheering) That means, in all candor, we missed last Friday's goal by $7,777. Please, do not wait until the last minute.  Every gift gets us closer to our $123,500 goal by July 31st.  So far, out of our tens of thousands of listeners, the most people who have donated in a single day is 15 people. Help us double that.  Will you be one of 30 to step up? Make a donation today to help us hit our $56,565 goal by this Friday, July 17th.  We need to find 7 Worldview listeners who will pledge $100/month for 12 months or give a one-time gift of $1,200, 20 folks who will pledge $50/month or give a one-time gift of $600 and 40 listeners who will pledge $25/month or give a one-time gift of $300. Go to TheWorldview.com, click on Give, select the dollar amount, and make sure to click on the “recurring” button if that's your wish.  What has the Lord placed on your heart to give? Close And that's The Worldview on this Monday, July 13th, in the year of our Lord 2026. Subscribe for free by Spotify, Amazon Music, or by iTunes or email to our unique Christian newscast at www.TheWorldview.com.  Plus, you can get the Generations app through Google Play or The App Store. I'm Adam McManus (Adam@TheWorldview.com). Seize the day for Jesus Christ.

The Peter Boyles Show - July 11, 2026 HR 4: The final hour of The Peter Boyles Show brings another lively Saturday conversation as listeners tackle some of the biggest questions in history, politics, and current events. Peter explores the historical roots of Iran, the influence of socialism, the role of faith in public life, Colorado politics, and why understanding the past is essential to making sense of today's headlines. Along the way, callers weigh in on Victor Marx's gubernatorial campaign, education, church involvement in politics, the USS Liberty, Lyndon Johnson, Texas political history, and the enduring lessons that continue to shape America and the world. If you enjoy thoughtful historical context, spirited listener calls, and conversations that connect today's news with yesterday's events, this hour is classic Peter Boyles. -- The opinions expressed by the hosts and guests on this program are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of Salem Media Group, its management, employees, affiliates, or advertisers. This content is intended for commentary and discussion purposes only, and the perspectives shared during the broadcast belong solely to the individuals expressing them.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Neal Boortz returns to The Kimmer Show for a wide-ranging conversation covering the Charleston attacks, media coverage, Charlie Kirk's alleged assassin, frivolous lawsuits, illegal immigration, the long-term impact of Lyndon Johnson and Joe Biden, the future of Iran, and why Boortz believes the U.S. must finish the job with the Iranian regime. Plus, a few laughs about elk, moose, country music, and the strange world of "trans furries."See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In the latest episode of the Parsing Immigration Policy podcast, Executive Director Mark Krikorian speaks with Jordan Knight, founder of Migration Watch Australia, about how record immigration levels are reshaping Australia's politics and public debate.After experiencing net negative migration during the COVID-19 pandemic, Australia saw housing costs stabilize and pressure on public services ease. But in 2023, the government admitted an unprecedented 737,000 migrants into a nation of just 27 million people. Knight explains how the resulting strain on housing affordability, homelessness, infrastructure, and public services has transformed immigration into one of Australia's defining political issues.The discussion explores the rapid rise of Pauline Hanson's One Nation party, which has gained momentum by advocating for significantly lower immigration levels and questioning Australia's decades-long embrace of multiculturalism over assimilation. Knight also examines the changing positions of Australia's major political parties, growing public skepticism toward historically high legal immigration (skilled and unskilled), the expansion of foreign student programs, and the cultural impact of high immigration levels.As Australia prepares for its next federal election in two years, Knight discusses whether mounting public concern over immigration will translate into electoral gains for One Nation and reshape the country's political landscape.In closing, Krikorian discusses the Trump administration's expanding interior enforcement efforts. As Border Czar Tom Homan has noted in recent media appearances, ICE is now making more than 2,000 arrests a day. While large numbers of those arrested have criminal convictions or pending criminal charges, increasing numbers of ordinary illegal aliens are also being taken into custody. Krikorian argues that sustained worksite enforcement will be essential if the president's promise of dramatic reduction of the illegal population is to be met.HostMark Krikorian is the Executive Director of the Center for Immigration Studies.GuestJordan Knight is the founder of Migration Watch Australia.LinksJordan Knight's Sky News ArticlesSenator Pauline Hanson Addresses the National Press Club of AustraliaJordan Knight X AccountIntro MontageVoices in the opening montage:Sen. Barack Obama at a 2005 press conference.Sen. John McCain in a 2010 election ad.President Lyndon Johnson, upon signing the 1965 Immigration Act.Booker T. Washington, reading in 1908 from his 1895 Atlanta Exposition speech.Laraine Newman as a "Conehead" on SNL in 1977.Hillary Clinton in a 2003 radio interview.Cesar Chavez in a 1974 interview.House Speaker Nancy Pelosi speaking to reporters in 2019.Prof. George Borjas in a 2016 C-SPAN appearance.Sen. Jeff Sessions in 2008 comments on the Senate floor.Candidate Trump in 2015 campaign speech.Charlton Heston in "Planet of the Apes".

Professor William Taubman, guest author, recounts how the assassination of JFK forged a deep, "opaque" bond between McNamara and Jackie Kennedy, as he spent the night following the murder sitting at her feet while she recounted the tragedy. Despite his grief, he immediately transitioned to serving Lyndon Johnson, who relied on McNamara's "tone for action" to justify the escalation of the Vietnam War. McNamara became the fiercest public advocate for the war, often suppressing his own growing doubts to please a commander who, unlike Kennedy, did not tolerate dissent. McNamara at War: A New History (4)

Geoffrey Wawro, guest author, explores the Gulf of Tonkin incident in August 1964, which served as a political catalyst for the Vietnam War. Lyndon Johnson and Robert McNamara sought an incident to galvanize domestic support against conservative critics accusing them of a "no-win" policy. Though the attack was largely concocted or provoked by covert CIA operations, it provided the "blank check" needed from Congress to escalate the conflict. President Johnson initially moved cautiously to avoid Chinese intervention, a fear rooted in the Korean War experience. The shift from an advisory role to direct combat troop commitment began in early 1965, with General Westmoreland taking command as bases were increasingly targeted by the Viet Cong. Ultimately, the war is characterized as a political war of choice driven by high-level politicians rather than existential necessity. The Vietnam War: A Military History (1)

In the latest episode of the Parsing Immigration Policy podcast, Fellow in Law and Policy Andrew Arthur and Senior Legal Fellow George Fishman examine three landmark Supreme Court immigration decisions issued over the past two weeks and discuss their implications."Two of these decisions went in the administration's favor, but the birthright citizenship was a big loss. Anyone who calls this a politicized Court should review all three and see for themselves."Temporary Protected Status (TPS): Why the Court ruled that Congress meant what it put into statute—no judicial review of TPS designations—and what the decision means for the Trump administration, and why Congress—not the courts—must ultimately reform a program that has evolved beyond its original "temporary" purpose.Asylum at the Border: How the Court confirmed that a foreign national only becomes an "alien" eligible to apply for asylum once they have entered the United States. The Court found that one has not arrived in the United States while still on foreign soil, regardless of whether they want to make an asylum claim.Birthright Citizenship: Why the Court rejected President Trump's executive order limiting birthright citizenship, why Justice Kavanaugh's opinion leaves open the possibility of congressional action, and what policy options remain to address birth tourism and other incentives created by current law.The discussion also explores how these rulings could shape future litigation, immigration enforcement, and legislative action.HostMark Krikorian is the Executive Director of the Center for Immigration Studies.GuestsGeorge Fishman is a Senior Legal Fellow at the Center for Immigration StudiesAndrew Arthur is a Fellow in Law and Policy at the Center for Immigration StudiesLinksThe ‘Birthright Opinion' Is In — and Trump Won't Like ItDOJ Vows to Crack Down on Birth Tourism in Response to ‘Birthright' OpinionCitizenship FolliesIntro MontageVoices in the opening montage:Sen. Barack Obama at a 2005 press conference.Sen. John McCain in a 2010 election ad.President Lyndon Johnson, upon signing the 1965 Immigration Act.Booker T. Washington, reading in 1908 from his 1895 Atlanta Exposition speech.Laraine Newman as a "Conehead" on SNL in 1977.Hillary Clinton in a 2003 radio interview.Cesar Chavez in a 1974 interview.House Speaker Nancy Pelosi speaking to reporters in 2019.Prof. George Borjas in a 2016 C-SPAN appearance.Sen. Jeff Sessions in 2008 comments on the Senate floor.Candidate Trump in 2015 campaign speech.Charlton Heston in "Planet of the Apes".

The latest episode of the Center for Immigration Studies' Parsing Immigration Policy podcast features Dan Vara, a veteran of both the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), discussing how immigration enforcement evolved into a critical component of national security, counterterrorism, and criminal investigations and enforcement.Drawing on more than two decades of service as a lawyer with INS and ICE, Vara, a Center board member, recounts pivotal cases that demonstrated the growing value of immigration authorities in combating drug trafficking, organized crime, espionage, terrorism, and human rights violators. The conversation highlights numerous real-world examples in which immigration authorities proved essential to broader public safety and national security missions, illustrating how the role of immigration enforcement expanded dramatically over the course of Vara's career.Through first-hand accounts spanning the Cold War, the drug wars of the 1980s and 1990s, and the post-9/11 era, Vara illustrates how immigration authorities often provided investigative and enforcement tools unavailable to other agencies – making immigration enforcement a true force-multiplier for law enforcement.Among the topics discussed:How immigration authorities became integrated into major drug-trafficking and organized crime investigations.The role immigration law played in dismantling terrorist networks after the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.The use of immigration enforcement to pursue criminals and national security threats when other charges were unavailable.The role immigration enforcement played in seizing boats during the Cuban migrant crisis in 1993.How immigration law became an increasingly important tool in counterintelligence, counterespionage, and national security investigations.The evolution of INS into ICE following the September 11 attacks.Commentary from Mark Krikorian, the Center's executive director and podcast host, highlights recent high-profile welfare fraud investigations. While arguing that aggressive enforcement and prosecution are essential, he cautions against allowing headline-grabbing fraud cases to distract policymakers from the larger issue. Lasting reform requires changes to immigration statutes and regulations that reduce overall immigration levels and eliminate the environment that allows fraud to grow.HostMark Krikorian is the Executive Director of the Center for Immigration Studies.GuestDaniel N. Vara, Jr. is a Board Member of the Center for Immigration StudiesLinksImmigration — Rules and RealityIntro MontageVoices in the opening montage:Sen. Barack Obama at a 2005 press conference.Sen. John McCain in a 2010 election ad.President Lyndon Johnson, upon signing the 1965 Immigration Act.Booker T. Washington, reading in 1908 from his 1895 Atlanta Exposition speech.Laraine Newman as a "Conehead" on SNL in 1977.Hillary Clinton in a 2003 radio interview.Cesar Chavez in a 1974 interview.House Speaker Nancy Pelosi speaking to reporters in 2019.Prof. George Borjas in a 2016 C-SPAN appearance.Sen. Jeff Sessions in 2008 comments on the Senate floor.Candidate Trump in 2015 campaign speech.Charlton Heston in "Planet of the Apes".

Episode 9 plunges into the darkest chapter of the Victoria Peak saga, a chilling period between 1955 and 1963 when the United States military transformed from guardian to thief. Based entirely on the exhaustive, decades-long research of investigative author John Clarence (the pen name of Jack Staley), this episode details the heartbreaking aftermath of Ova Noss's forcible eviction from the Hembrillo Basin. With the claim site now officially a restricted military zone, the Army's actions turned vicious—Ova's beloved horses were left to die in their corral, and her rock house camp was shot to pieces. The family was effectively exiled, but the mountain's secrets could not be contained.The narrative takes a staggering turn in February 1958 when active-duty Air Force personnel, Captain Leonard Fiege and Airman Thomas Berlette, accidentally rediscovered the exact treasure chambers Doc Noss had found 20 years prior. Crawling into a hidden cavern, they were met with stacks of crude gold bars piled like cordwood, ancient artifacts, and the remains of numerous human skeletons. Their astonishing find was later validated when both men easily passed formal military polygraph examinations. However, their attempts to secure a legal claim through official channels only alerted corrupt military brass to the exact location of the unimaginable fortune.With the treasure exposed, the vault guards officially became the robbers. Under the command of Major General John G. Shinkle, the military orchestrated massive, top-secret extractions in the early 1960s, pulling bullion out under the cover of night using chain-gang style operations. To conceal these brazen thefts, the Army sponsored a sham, tightly controlled civilian excavation in 1963, only to deliberately censor the archaeologists' final report. Military officials wiped out all seismic evidence of the caverns and eyewitness accounts of prior military digs, creating a fraudulent public document to support their narrative that the gold was entirely a myth.The episode concludes with a chilling cascade of violence and a heartbreaking missed opportunity. On November 22, 1963, Ova Noss was waiting in a Denver hotel for a scheduled meeting with President John F. Kennedy, who intended to finally resolve her legal ownership of the gold—a meeting that was tragically canceled by his assassination in Dallas. What followed was a grim era of relentless surveillance, death threats, and a string of brutal murders linked to the stolen gold. Tune in to hear how patriotism became a cover for unchecked greed. And remember, if you want to read the definitive account of this incredible saga, you can secure a rare, signed copy of John Clarence's Gold House trilogy by contacting Jeff Crudele directly at podcastjfk@gmail.com

Episode 8 escalates the bitter war between Ova Noss and the United States military from bureaucratic red tape into outright hostility. Based entirely on the exhaustive, decades-long research of investigative author John Clarence (the pen name of Jack Staley), this episode details how the U.S. Army systematically dismantled Ova's physical access to Victoria Peak. Under the command of Brigadier General George Eddy—who openly displayed a map of the treasure site in his office and explicitly threatened that Ova and her daughter would be "shot on sight" if they returned—the military transformed from a neighboring installation into a hostile occupying force.The climax of this David versus Goliath struggle arrives on July 23, 1955. Despite holding valid state prospecting permits that were not set to expire for another three months, Ova and her excavation crew were forcibly ejected from the Hembrillo Basin without any due process of law. The timing was agonizing, as Ova's crew had just uncovered a diagnostic sign carved into the lower shaft and believed they were only feet away from the treasure. Upon a brief, permitted return to the site shortly after the eviction, the family discovered a heartbreaking and gruesome scene: the military had padlocked their excavated shafts, shot their rock house camp full of bullet holes, and left Ova's beloved horses dead and bloated inside their corral.To survive this onslaught, Ova relied on a complex legal loophole and a dedicated group of allies. While the federal government had condemned the surface of the land to expand the White Sands Proving Ground, the state of New Mexico legally retained the subsurface mineral rights. With the help of loyal contractors, proxy filers, supportive U.S. Senators, and New Mexico Land Commissioner Guy Shepard, Ova managed to keep her legal claim alive on paper. Yet, she found herself fighting a multi-front war, battling not only the Army's brute force and corrupt local politicians, but also facing devastating allegations that her own sons had secretly sold her out for million-dollar payoffs.Tune in to hear how the tragic 1955 eviction officially transitioned Victoria Peak from a private family mining claim into a restricted military vault, perfectly setting the stage for the massive, top-secret government thefts to come. And remember, if you want to read the definitive account of this incredible saga, you can secure a rare, signed copy of John Clarence's Gold House trilogy by contacting Jeff Crudele directly at podcastjfk@gmail.com.

Episode 7 picks up in the immediate, chaotic aftermath of Milton "Doc" Noss's tragic murder on March 5, 1949. Based entirely on the exhaustive, decades-long research of investigative author John Clarence (the pen name of Jack Staley), this episode shifts the focus to his steadfast wife, Ova Noss, who is left to face a bitter, multi-front war for the Victoria Peak treasure. While Doc's double-crossing killer managed to walk free despite the testimony of five eyewitnesses, Ova soon found herself staring down an even more formidable nemesis: the United States government.Before she could even properly grieve, Ova was plunged into a vicious probate battle. The legal proceedings revealed a shocking secret: Doc had covertly annulled their marriage in an Arkansas court in 1945 and married another woman named Violet. Navigating this heartbreaking personal betrayal, Ova made a brilliant legal pivot on the advice of her attorneys, asserting her rights not merely as a widow, but as the legal co-discoverer of the 1937 treasure. Meanwhile, the probate inventory exposed the terrifying reach of federal authorities, listing seized maps, documents, and dozens of gold bars that had already been confiscated by the Secret Service and the Denver Mint.Refusing to surrender her claim, Ova doubled down on the physical extraction of the gold. She hired contractors to carve a drivable road up the rugged mountain and engineered a new "lower Noss shaft" to bypass the catastrophic 1939 cave-in. But as she inched closer to regaining access to the fabled treasure rooms, the U.S. Army's presence at the White Sands Proving Ground morphed into a hostile occupation. Under the command of Brigadier General George Eddy, the military initiated condemnation proceedings, dismissed Ova's valid state permits, and explicitly threatened Ova and her daughter that they would be "shot on sight" if they returned to the peak.Surrounded by treacherous former partners conspiring to steal her lease and a military apparatus determined to lock her out of her own fortune, Ova stood as a lone David against an impossible Goliath. Tune in to hear how this resilient woman fought to keep her family's massive discovery alive in the face of insurmountable corruption. And remember, if you want to read the definitive account of this incredible saga, you can secure a rare, signed copy of John Clarence's Gold House trilogy by contacting Jeff Crudele directly at podcastjfk@gmail.com.

In Episode 6, the simmering tensions between Milton "Doc" Noss and his double-crossing partner, Charlie Ryan, finally boil over into a deadly 48-hour window. Based on the exhaustive, decades-long research of investigative author John Clarence (the pen name of Jack Staley), this gripping episode breaks down the frantic, minute-by-minute events of March 4th and 5th, 1949. The chaos begins with a tragic airplane crash at Victoria Peak involving Doc's stepson, Marvin Beckwith, which provides Doc with the perfect cover to slip away from Ryan's watchful eyes without raising suspicion.Knowing that Ryan was planning to steal 110 gold bars and fly them to Mexico without him, Doc seized this momentary distraction to act. Under the cover of a freezing desert night, he enlisted the help of a rodeo cowboy named Tony Jolly. Together, they embarked on a frantic midnight operation, digging up roughly 4,000 pounds of crude gold bullion and scrambling to re-bury the 110 bars across several new, secret caches. By dawn, the gold was safely hidden from Ryan, but Doc had unknowingly set the stage for his own demise.The climax of the episode arrives at noon on March 5th in Hatch, New Mexico. Furious that the gold was missing, Ryan marched Doc into a rented house at gunpoint. Following a chaotic scuffle where Doc shoved a table into Ryan and attempted to flee toward his truck, Ryan shot the unarmed Doc Noss just below his right eye, killing him instantly against his front bumper. With that single gunshot, the man who held the keys to the greatest treasure in North American history was silenced forever.Adding insult to fatal injury, the episode concludes with the staggering mockery of justice that followed. Listeners will be stunned to learn that both the presiding judge and the defense attorney in Ryan's murder trial were actually secret investors in Doc's mining company—a glaring conflict of interest that ultimately allowed Ryan to walk away a free man, despite the testimony of five eyewitnesses who watched him shoot a fleeing man. Tune in to hear the tragic final hours of Doc Noss. And remember, if you want to read the definitive account of this incredible saga, you can secure a rare, signed copy of John Clarence's Gold House trilogy by contacting Jeff Crudele directly at podcastjfk@gmail.com

Episode 5 takes us deeper into the post-WWII era, where personal betrayal and unprecedented military expansion collide to choke the Noss family's access to the gold. Based entirely on the exhaustive, decades-long research of investigative author John Clarence (the pen name of Jack Staley), this episode explores Milton "Doc" Noss's spiraling paranoia and his prolonged absences from Victoria Peak. In a shocking maneuver, Doc secretly annulled his marriage to Ova in an Arkansas court in October 1945 and later married another woman, a decision that plunged the Cheyenne Mining Company—and the legal rights to the treasure itself—into a chaotic battle for control.While the Noss family fractured from within, the U.S. Army transformed from a neighboring presence into an occupying force. In a truly surreal twist of history, the military utilized the newly formed White Sands Proving Ground to host Operation Paperclip, a top-secret initiative that brought 350 Nazi scientists and captured V-2 rocket components to the New Mexico desert. Even more astonishing are the allegations that stolen Holocaust loot and Nazi gold were covertly brought to the United States under this classified cover and hidden within the very same cave systems as the Noss treasure.As the military initiated condemnation proceedings to seize exclusive possession of the land, a defiant Ova Noss stepped up to legally secure the family's claim, successfully reorganizing the company and filing renewals in her own name. Meanwhile, a drifting and financially desperate Doc formed a fateful partnership with a Texas businessman named Charlie Ryan in late 1948. What began as a front for a lead and silver mining operation was actually an elaborate scheme to smuggle the Victoria Peak gold into Old Mexico using a surplus DC-3 aircraft. However, this volatile alliance quickly soured as Doc's erratic behavior, heavy drinking, and history of swindling pushed Ryan to his breaking point.Tune in to hear how this intricate web of secret marriages, military takeovers, and dangerous smuggling plots set the perfect stage for Doc's tragic demise. And remember, if you want to read the definitive account of this incredible saga, you can secure a rare, signed copy of John Clarence's Gold House trilogy by contacting Jeff Crudele directly at podcastjfk@gmail.com.

Episode 4 propels us into a chaotic twelve-year period from 1937 to 1949, where the Noss family's dream of extracting the Victoria Peak treasure begins to violently unravel. Based entirely on the exhaustive, decades-long research of investigative author John Clarence (the pen name of Jack Staley), this episode details how the formidable obstacles of World War II, a sprawling military expansion, and Milton "Doc" Noss's own personal demons collided to seal the mountain's riches tighter than a government vault.Desperate for capital following the devastating 1939 shaft collapse, Doc formed the Cheyenne Mining Company, unknowingly appointing a venomous Secret Service informant named Merl Horesman to his inner circle. Matters worsened in November 1940 when a second reckless dynamite charge triggered a massive landslide, completely entombing the gold. As the Noss workforce marched off to fight in WWII, the U.S. Army swallowed up the desolate Hembrillo Basin to create the White Sands Proving Ground. In a truly surreal moment of history, Doc and Ova Noss found themselves barred from their own claim by soldiers just in time to witness the Trinity atomic blast on July 16, 1945—literally standing as spectators at the dawn of the nuclear age while their treasure slipped into military hands.Fearing imminent government confiscation, a deeply paranoid Doc scattered 110 gold bars—weighing roughly 4,000 pounds—across over a dozen secret desert caches. Drifting and desperate, he partnered with a Texas businessman named Charlie Ryan in late 1948. Together, they concocted an elaborate scheme to smuggle the bullion into Old Mexico aboard a surplus DC-3 aircraft, even clearing a secret runway under the guise of a lead and silver mining operation. But the joint venture quickly turned lethal when Doc overheard Ryan plotting to double-cross him and fly the fortune out alone.Tune in to hear how this treacherous web of betrayal set the stage for a frantic, midnight race to dig up and re-hide the gold, leading Doc directly toward a deadly confrontation. And remember, if you want to read the definitive account of this incredible saga, you can secure a rare, signed copy of John Clarence's Gold House trilogy by contacting Jeff Crudele directly at podcastjfk@gmail.com.

Following the monumental discovery detailed in our last episode, Episode 3 plunges deep into the treacherous caverns of Victoria Peak. Based entirely on the exhaustive, decades-long research of investigative author John Clarence (the pen name of Jack Staley), this episode chronicles the perilous efforts of Milton "Doc" and Ova Noss to extract their newfound fortune—and the intense paranoia that soon consumed them.Navigating broken ancient ladders and toxic, blistering bat guano, Doc slowly retrieved the first pieces of the horde in the spring of 1938. What he found was staggering: crude gold "cactus" bars piled like cordwood, a gold crown, ancient artifacts, and the chilling remains of chained human skeletons. But with unimaginable wealth came immediate danger. Rumors of the discovery triggered kidnapping threats that forced the family to temporarily flee to Gallup, New Mexico. Doc's extreme caution reached a fever pitch, fueled by the trauma of a prior kidnapping where his captors had savagely burned the bottoms of his feet attempting to extract the location of another gold cache.The situation turned catastrophic in 1939 with two devastating blows. In August, a hired engineer set off an excessive dynamite charge, causing a massive landslide that sealed the main treasure shaft under tons of rock. Desperate for capital to clear the debris, Doc took a massive gamble in the fall of 1939 by taking four or five gold bars to the Denver Mint. Though the bars were officially assayed at $97,000, the Mint confiscated the bullion and issued a "hold certificate," refusing to pay Doc unless he revealed the exact location of the remaining treasure.This brazen confiscation confirmed Doc's deepest fears that the federal government intended to seize his entire fortune. It thrust the Noss family into a perilous legal war against the Gold Reserve Act of 1934 and drew relentless, around-the-clock surveillance from both the Secret Service and the FBI. Tune in to hear how the dream of Victoria Peak quickly devolved into a nightmare of dynamite, deception, and government overreach. And remember, if you want to read the definitive account of this incredible saga, you can secure a rare, signed copy of John Clarence's Gold House trilogy by contacting Jeff Crudele directly at podcastjfk@gmail.com

Following our prelude, Episode 2 steps back into the dust bowl era to explore the origins of our protagonists, Milton "Doc" Noss and his steadfast wife, Ova "Babe" Noss. Based on the exhaustively documented, decades-long research of investigative author John Clarence (the pen name of Jack Staley), this episode delves into Doc's complex past as a part-Cheyenne foot doctor whose lifelong obsession with treasure was sparked by a childhood encounter with the Apache chief Geronimo and a crude, ancient map received from a patient.Before the monumental find at Victoria Peak, Doc and Ova successfully unearthed a sizable cache of gold and artifacts in the Caballo Mountains in early 1937. However, their early pursuits were overshadowed by Doc's struggles with alcohol and his proximity to the chilling "Caballo Gold Vanishing"—a 1935 unsolved double murder of two Illinois couples. Though Doc was cleared, the tragedy ensnared him in a relentless web of false accusations fueled by a bitter adversary, eventually forcing the couple to pivot their search to the desolate Hembrillo Basin.The climax of this episode arrives on November 7, 1937, when a routine deer hunting trip changed history forever. Seeking a better vantage point, Doc stumbled upon a hidden ventilation shaft matching his crude map, plunging deep into Victoria Peak. Descending into the treacherous, ancient caverns, Doc and Ova discovered a "forgotten warehouse of history" containing an estimated $22 million in crude gold bars piled like cordwood, conquistador artifacts, a gold crown, and the macabre remains of chained human skeletons.However, this unimaginable wealth instantly thrust the Noss family into a perilous legal minefield against the federal government, clashing with the Gold Reserve Act of 1934 and drawing the intense scrutiny of federal authorities. Tune in to experience the breathless moment of discovery that ignited a decades-long war for the gold. And remember, if you want to read the definitive account of this incredible saga, you can secure a rare, signed copy of John Clarence's Gold House trilogy by contacting Jeff Crudele directly at podcastjfk@gmail.com. 

Welcome to the Prelude episode of our explosive investigation into the Victoria Peak treasure—the site of one of the most shocking and massive crimes in American history. Based entirely on the exhaustive, decades-long research of investigative author John Clarence (the pen name of Jack Staley), this series uncovers a conspiracy of unchecked greed and military overreach that stretches far beyond the deserts of New Mexico. It is a story where the very government sworn to protect its citizens became modern-day tomb raiders, ultimately implicating U.S. Presidents Lyndon B. Johnson and Richard Nixon in the theft of billions of dollars in gold bullion.To understand the scale of this monumental heist, we must begin with the original discoverers. In early 1937, Milton "Doc" Noss and his wife Ova unearthed a staggering fortune hidden deep inside Victoria Peak. This forgotten warehouse of history contained crude gold bars piled like cordwood, ancient artifacts, and human skeletons chained to the cavern walls. But as Ova ominously warned, "where gold goes, blood flows". Doc was tragically murdered by his business partner in 1949, and by 1955, the U.S. military forcibly evicted Ova from her legal mining claim, absorbing the land into the highly secure White Sands Missile Range.With the Noss family locked out, the vault guards became the robbers. This prelude outlines the staggering scale of the ensuing government thefts. You'll hear how Major General John G. Shinkle orchestrated covert military extractions in the early 1960s, how Lyndon Johnson allegedly masterminded an international money-laundering operation to steal 257 tons of gold using a remote Mexican ranch and B-24 bombers, and how Richard Nixon sanctioned the theft of another 36.5 tons to manage the unfolding Watergate crisis.Tune in to discover how this breathtaking conspiracy was hidden through falsified reports, political whitewashing, and sheer violence, leaving the Noss family to fight for their rightful claim for generations. And remember, if you want to read the definitive account of this incredible saga, you can secure a rare, signed copy of John Clarence's Gold House trilogy by contacting Jeff Crudele directly at podcastjfk@gmail.com.

Join me in the greatest wander yet on JFK The Enduring Secret. In one of the most unlikely of story tells, we explore an extraordinary event  that crosses a path with President Kennedy and more importantly, with Lyndon Johnson too.  To understand it's meaning, you must understand it's context. And so, I'm pleased to announce that our  explosive new mini-series uncovering the greatest treasure discovery—and the greatest theft—in North American history will begin tonight. Be patient on this wander, and you will discover an equally  extraordinary story that will both entertain and challenge your thinking related and especially as it relates to President Lyndon Johnson.  This entire series is based on the extensive, decades-long research done by John Clarence (the pen name of Jack Staley), who compiled the definitive and most exhaustively documented account of the Victorio Peak treasure ever assembled. Hidden in plain sight since the 1930s, this saga evolves from a humble family's desert treasure hunt into a dark, true story of unchecked greed, military overreach, and presidential corruption. We bring it to life in podcast form. In early 1937, Milton "Doc" and Ova Noss stumbled upon an unimaginable fortune hidden inside a New Mexico mountain, discovering a cavern filled with stacks of crude gold bars, ancient artifacts, and chilling secrets. But as Ova once warned, "where gold goes, blood flows". The first nine episodes of this series chronicle the Noss family's triumphs and tragedies, culminating in a freezing March night in 1949 when a desperate Doc Noss scrambled to rebury 110 gold bars across the desert. That desperate gamble ultimately resulted in his murder the very next morning at the hands of his double-crossing partner.However, Doc's murder was just the beginning of the conspiracy. After World War II, the U.S. military swallowed the land to build the White Sands Missile Range, forcibly evicting Ova Noss and orchestrating top-secret extractions of the gold under the guise of national security. Uniquely intersecting with our ongoing podcast focus, this saga will eventually reveal how this massive theft reached the highest office in the land, heavily implicating Presidents Lyndon Johnson and Richard Nixon, while casting JFK as a surprising ally to the Noss family. Step inside Victoria Peak before we release the first nine episodes TONIGHT, and be sure to listen to find out how you can secure a rare, signed copy of John Clarence's Gold House trilogy by contacting Jeff Crudele directly at podcastjfk@gmail.com. 

The official story has Lee Harvey Oswald firing three shots from a sixth-floor window, yet the witnesses on the stairs never saw him flee, the paraffin test on his cheek came back clean, and J. Edgar Hoover himself admitted the voice on the Oswald tape from Mexico City belonged to another man.EPISODE BLOG PAGE (includes sources): https://weirddarkness.com/ConspiracyInDallasREAD or DOWNLOAD the full transcript of this episode: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/2p8hjttrFEATURED STORIES IN THIS EPISODE: Was there a conspiracy to murder President John F. Kennedy in Dealey Plaza in 1963? (Conspiracy In Dallas) *** A Weirdo family member tells of his own personal experience with what might've been a hell hound. (The Dog That Wasn't There) *** One island, one couple, one murder. We'll look at the strange life and death of Rolf Neslund. (The Rolf Neslund Murder) *** She was murdered in November of 1901. Her lover spent more than a dozen years in prison, proclaiming his innocence, before being pardoned by the governor. So why did he commit suicide soon after getting out of prison? We'll look at the strange murder of – and eventual haunting by - Nell Cropsey. (The Lingering Ghost of Nell Cropsey)CHAPTERS & TIME STAMPS (All Times Approximate)…00:00:00.000 = The Foreboding00:01:09.039 = Show Open00:02:46.404 = Conspiracy In Dallas00:20:59.391 = The Dog That Wasn't There ***00:22:36.375 = The Rolf Neslund Murder 00:31:41.043 = Lingering Ghost of Nell Cropsey ***00:40:08.752 = Show Close*** = Begins immediately after inserted ad breakLISTEN ON PODCAST APPS: Look for this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeart Radio, Amazon Music, Pandora, TuneIn Radio, and other podcast apps. Get a list of free listening apps here: https://weirddarkness.com/wdapps*No AI Voices Are Used In The Narration Of This Podcast*SOURCES and RESOURCES:
“Conspiracy In Dallas” posted at The Unredacted: http://bit.ly/weirddarkness2YVxMdq“The Dog That Wasn't There” by Weirdo family member Daniel Mulberry“The Rolf Neslund Murder” by Elizabeth Tilsa: http://bit.ly/weirddarkness2KywOAX“The Lingering Ghost of Nell Cropsey” by Troy Taylor: http://bit.ly/weirddarkness2UnJ2Rb(Over time links may become invalid, disappear, or have different content. I always make sure to give authors credit for the material I use whenever possible. If I somehow overlooked doing so for a story, or if a credit is incorrect, please let me know and I will rectify it in these show notes immediately. Some links included above may benefit me financially through qualifying purchases.)WeirdDarkness® is a registered trademark. Copyright ©2026, Weird Darkness.Originally aired: November 28, 2021Weird Darkness host Darren Marlar moves from the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in Dallas to a phantom black dog in the English county of Dorset, the murder and dismemberment of a retired sea captain on a quiet island in Washington's San Juan archipelago, and the 1901 killing of a young woman in Elizabeth City, North Carolina, whose spirit is said to still walk her family home.It opens in Dealey Plaza on November 22, 1963, where President John F. Kennedy was shot and the Warren Commission, headed by Judge Earl Warren, concluded in 1964 that ex-Marine Lee Harvey Oswald fired three shots alone from the sixth floor of the Texas School Book Depository. Eyewitnesses undercut that account from the start: Arnold Rowland saw two men at the window minutes earlier, one holding a rifle and neither matching Oswald, while secretaries Victoria Adams and Sandra Styles and caretaker Jack Dougherty never saw Oswald flee down the only staircase he could have used. The episode dismantles Arlen Specter's single-bullet theory — the claim that Commission Exhibit 399 passed through Kennedy's neck and inflicted five separate wounds on Governor John Connally before turning up nearly pristine on a Parkland Hospital stretcher — a conclusion Connally and his wife Nellie both rejected and Abraham Zapruder's home film contradicts on timing. Oswald's negative paraffin test, his suspicious 1959 defection to the Soviet Union and fluent Russian, his leafleting against the Fair Play for Cuba Committee alongside FBI-linked investigator Guy Banister, and a Mexico City impersonation so plain that J. Edgar Hoover told President Lyndon Johnson the recorded voice and surveillance photograph did not match the man in custody all steer the evidence away from a lone gunman. The thread ends with Dallas nightclub owner Jack Ruby, whose out-of-state mob contacts spiked twenty-fivefold before he shot Oswald on live television and whose 1965 hint that the truth would never surface still shadows the Mannlicher-Carcano rifle that remains the strongest piece against the accused.From there the tone turns to folklore and a listener's firsthand sighting of Black Shuck, the spectral black dog reported for centuries across Suffolk, Cambridgeshire, and East Anglia and long treated as an omen of coming disaster. Camping alone beside a medieval moat near Raoul Castle in East Dorset, he watched the dark shape of a large dog settle on the far embankment and stare back at him, then rise and dissolve into nothing as every nearby sound of wildlife cut out, leaving him zipped inside his tent until morning.Next comes the disappearance of Rolf Neslund, an 83-year-old retired sea captain who in 1978 drove a 550-foot freighter into the West Seattle Bridge before retreating into a drink-soaked marriage on Lopez Island in Washington's San Juan Islands. When Rolf vanished in August 1980, his wife Ruth insisted he had flown home to Norway, yet his prescriptions went unfilled, his American and Norwegian bank accounts went untouched, and no Christmas card reached his relatives that December. In 1982 Ruth's brother told police she had confessed that on August 8, 1980, a second brother held Rolf down while she shot him twice in the head, after which the body was dismembered in the bathtub, burned in a backyard barrel, and scattered on the manure pile. A search turned up replaced carpet over bloodstains, spatter on the ceiling, and a bloodstained .38-caliber Smith & Wesson hidden in Ruth's dresser, tying her to a killing that began as a fight over the roughly $80,000 she had quietly moved into an account bearing only her name; convicted in 1985 and sentenced to twenty years, she maintained her innocence until her death at seventy-three.The episode closes with nineteen-year-old Nell Cropsey, who walked onto the front porch of her family's Elizabeth City, North Carolina home with her suitor Jim Wilcox on the night of November 20, 1901, and was never seen alive again. Her body surfaced in the Pasquotank River on December 27, her death caused by a violent blow to the left temple, and Wilcox — the son of the local sheriff, known for a fierce temper — was convicted of second-degree murder and sentenced to thirty years before Governor Thomas Walter Bickett pardoned him in 1918. Once freed, Wilcox sought out newspaper editor W.O. Saunders to reveal something so startling that Saunders began planning a book, but Wilcox killed himself with a shotgun before he could tell it, Saunders died soon afterward in a car wreck, and whatever he knew went with them. More than a century on, the former Cropsey home still answers with lights that switch on and off, doors that open by themselves, faucets that run with no hand on the tap, and a pale young woman glimpsed crossing empty rooms and gazing from an upstairs window — recognized by more than one resident as Nell, her killing never truly solved.

Faithful listeners of the podcast know it has been several months since our last regular episode, but this hiatus was for a very good reason. Behind the scenes, I have  been collaborating with John Clarence, the premier researcher on the Noss/Victorio Peak Gold Story, to develop an expansive new podcast series on that topic. You might be wondering why a JFK podcast is pivoting to a story about buried treasure. The truth is, the Victorio Peak gold story directly intersects with the lives of JFK and RFK, exposing hidden sides of Lyndon Johnson and Richard Nixon that will give you serious pause and fundamentally change how you evaluate those presidencies…and perhaps for at least one of those men, how you evaluate his potential involvement in the JFK assassination.However, before we can understand Victorio Peak, we need a prelude. That prelude starts this weekend with a multi-episode deep dive into a well-documented, yet often overlooked, World War II event: the discovery of the Merkers salt mine. In April 1945, advancing American forces uncovered the staggering wealth of the Third Reich, mostly stolen from neighboring countries during the war.  At this late stage of the war, it was now hidden deep underground, including 8,198 gold bars and a horrifying quantity of SS loot stripped from concentration camp victims. This well documented historical event is crucial because it goes directly to understanding how the U.S. government and  our military at the time looked upon massive treasures of stolen gold, and how they may have ultimately handled portions of it. It sets the foundational stage for the Victorio Peak story that follows.If the idea of the government secretly moving and hoarding massive caches of gold sounds like a fictional tie-together, a chilling coincidence from this past week proves otherwise. In this 7-minute teaser, I weave our upcoming historical narrative covering the Merkers mine  with the shocking, breaking news of David Rush. Rush, a former senior CIA officer with top-secret clearance, was arrested after an FBI raid on his home uncovered 303 one-kilogram gold bars—valued at roughly $40 million—sitting in a basement safe. Prosecutors allege that Rush created a fake, highly classified "black box" Special Access Program to request this incredible wealth directly from the CIA for supposed "work-related expenses".This modern-day scandal takes the historical rumors of hidden government gold and makes them very real in the modern realm. It forces us to pause and rethink what is possible as we begin to stitch this massive web together. The hiatus is over. Listen in to this teaser as we prepare to journey into the Merkers Mine, with four episodes due out this weekend, telling this chilling World War II  story. And from there... we go to Victorio Peak, and beyond.

The New York Times‘ obituary (5/18/26) for former LAPD detective Mark Fuhrman quotes him saying that “policemen never get the benefit of the doubt.” The racism of Mark Fuhrman, the Los Angeles police detective whose involvement in the O.J. Simpson murder investigation helped sink the prosecution's case, was so well-known comedian Dana Carvey once mocked him with a Nazi salute, calling him “Mark the Fuhrer-man.” Fuhrman's death this month (New York Times, 5/18/26) took middle-aged and older Americans back to 1995, when the televised trial of Simpson, accused of murdering his ex-wife and her friend, dominated media for much of the year. During the trial, audio recordings and witness testimony revealed Fuhrman's use of the n-word and other racist views, sinking his credibility as the cop responsible for recovering the “bloody glove,” the key piece of evidence tying Simpson to the killings. Because he had previously testified that he never used the word, it opened an opportunity for the defense to suggest he wasn't honest about other things—and had a motivation to frame a Black celebrity. Unrelenting racism In July 2017, CNN‘s Kyra Phillips played new excerpts from the Fuhrman tapes. The tapes portrayed hours of unrelenting racism. “All these n*****s in L.A. city government…all of them should be lined up against a wall and fucking shot,” he said. And often sexism as well: “What if I’ve just been raped by two buck n*****s, and a female shows up?” During the trial, witness Kathleen Bell testified that Fuhrman had said, “If I had my way, all the n*****s would be gathered together and burned.” Bell told the court, “When he sees a Black man with a white woman driving in a car, he pulls them over,” with no traffic violation needed (Washington Post, 9/5/95). Fuhrman became the national representation of the American racist cop. He invoked the Fifth Amendment when questioned about his handling of evidence (LA Times, 9/7/95), offering the shadow of a doubt the jury needed to acquit the former football and movie star. In his fiery closing argument, defense attorney Johnnie Cochran characterized Fuhrman as “this perjurer, this racist, this genocidal racist.” Fuhrman pleaded no contest to a perjury charge a year later (CNN, 10/2/96). But there was something bigger about Fuhrman, and it's something we can deeply feel in the media environment today. ‘Unwitting catalyst’ Mark Fuhrman interviewed in ESPN‘s OJ: Made in America (2016). The legal “dream team” Simpson assembled certainly focused on pushing the jury for an acquittal—that's a defense lawyer's job. But as outlined in both the dramatized The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story on FX and ESPN's OJ: Made in America, defense lead Cochran also built a larger case for a larger audience. (Side note: FAIR's Janine Jackson briefly appears in the ESPN documentary in a segment about media coverage of the trial.) Nicole Brown Simpson was killed at her Los Angeles home, along with Ron Goldman, on June 12, 1994, just two years after the city was engulfed in racial rioting as a result of an acquittal of police officers who had been videotaped brutally beating a Black man, Rodney King. For much of America, the rioting was a dividing moment. Civil rights activists saw it as the explosion of a powder keg under pressure of decades of tension between LA's Black community and the cops. A great deal of white America saw the rioting as an inexplicable overreaction. Press voices had their doubts too. Newsweek (5/10/92) called the looting “a manic fiesta, a TV game show with every looter a winner.” Cochran set out to change the narrative, to demonstrate to the white public that Black Los Angeles has systemically suffered from racist policing. Ben Ehrenreich (Guardian, 4/22/20): “The thousands of African Americans who migrated to Los Angeles from the Jim Crow south had found similar cruel realities awaiting them.” In Set the Night on Fire, Mike Davis and Jon Weiner outline the ongoing war against the Black community by LA cops in the 1960s, erupting in the 1965 Watts riots. From the Guardian‘s review (4/22/20): LA's police make dramatic appearances in almost every chapter, clubbing peaceful protesters, brutalizing activists and killing so many Black men, and with such absolute impunity, that Davis and Wiener's claim that “the Manson gang were bit players compared to the forces of law and order” ends up feeling more than fair. In the authors' telling, the wanton violence of the police acted as a consistent if unwitting catalyst to historical change: It was the chaos that followed a ferocious LAPD assault on anti-war protesters that added to Lyndon Johnson's decision not to run for re-election in 1968, and the LAPD's murder of a Black Muslim named Ronald Stokes—seven other Muslims were shot in the same incident—that pushed Malcolm X towards a broader vision of Black liberation. The shared experience of LAPD violence, Davis and Wiener write, forged a “common culture of resistance” among Black and Chicano youth, white hipsters and anti-war activists, and the city's gay community. This situation hardly improved with the economic turmoil of the 1970s, or the reactionary retreat of the 1980s. For many Black Angelenos, the 1992 riots weren't about one videotape, but about this entire history. Cochran had an opportunity to reveal the situation in the early ’90s to America. And with Fuhrman, who was called by the prosecution to bring the bloody glove into evidence, Cochran was able to show a feverishly racist man at the center of this investigation. ‘Kill somebody and go have some chicken’ Sean Hannity (Hannity, 1/10/23) interviewing Pam Bondi (then a former Florida attorney general) and Mark Fuhrman. In the end, Simpson was acquitted, and Fuhrman became a symbol of a divided America. It’s quite telling that the disgraced cop later found a landing place on Fox News. The Murdoch media empire created the news network the year after the Simpson trial as the antithesis to what it claimed was a liberal slant in corporate television news. Bringing on Fuhrman as a recurring guest—and, later, giving him his own show on Fox Nation—didn’t just promote his own public rehabilitation, it foretold a shift in “acceptable” discourse on right-wing TV. Fox‘s Greta van Susteren (5/19/05) defended having him on as a frequent guest: Mark happens to be a very, very, very smart detective—one of the best I have ever worked with and I have worked with many. He really thinks about the investigations we book him on the show to discuss. But Fox was attracted to Fuhrman not by his smarts, but by his hate. The racism that spilled out in the Simpson trial—Fuhrman's animosity toward the people who he was sworn to protect and serve—catered directly to the Fox audience. Another Fox star that routinely showcased Fuhrman was Sean Hannity (Extra!, 9/13). On Hannity & Colmes (11/16/06; cited by Media Matters, 11/20/06), Fuhrman asserted that the the type of “people” he “dealt with … for 20 years” will kill somebody and go have some chicken at KFC. You will catch them eating chicken and drinking a beer after they just murdered three people. He added that “these people are out there. They’re all over the place.” In another appearance, Hannity (Hannity, 7/16/13) brought the ex-cop on to speculate on whether Black people would riot if George Zimmerman were found not guilty of murdering an unarmed Trayvon Martin in Florida. “Mark, it seems to me like it's going to be a dangerous scenario for the cities where this is going to occur,” said Hannity. Fuhrman replied, “I think you're right, Sean,” and proceeded to fantasize about protesters “assaulting people, assaulting officers, so when you cross that line, it's pretty obvious, and, you know, this is completely drawn on racial lines now.” ‘They just take more and more’ “You can always find something that doesn’t look like justice was served one way or another,” Mark Fuhrman tells Megyn Kelly (and right-wing novelist Brad Thor) on Fox‘s Kelly File (7/8/16). Fuhrman had nothing but contempt for the Black Lives Matter movement erupting in Ferguson, Missouri. He told Fox News' Megyn Kelly (8/10/15): Stopping traffic is not a lawful demonstration. Stopping pedestrians is not a lawful demonstration.  Stopping regular traffic on sidewalks in front of buildings. That is not lawful demonstrations. And they should enforce it. And you know, when you allow some kind of, you know, leeway, they just take more and more. And now we have people that are not on the city council and they’re not on the police department, no matter how represented the Black community is. They are not there. You’re dealing with gang members and street drug dealers that are just hanging out. They’re armed and they’re taking advantage of a hesitant police department. How did Fuhrman respond to a video of “a white school police officer in a Columbia [South Carolina] classroom grabbing an African-American student by the neck, flipping her backward as she sat at her desk, then dragging and throwing her across the floor” (New York Times, 10/26/15)? He made the officer a saint on Fox. Media Matters (10/27/15) quoted Fuhrman: He requested her. He verbally did that. The next level is he put a hand on her. She escalated it from there. He used soft control. He threw her on the ground, he handcuffed her. He didn’t use mace. He didn’t use a Taser. He didn’t use a stick. He didn’t kick her. He didn’t hit her. He didn’t choke her. He used a minimal amount of force necessary to effect an arrest. In 2019, he attacked Democratic presidential hopefuls for their police reform rhetoric on the Ingraham Angle (8/2/19), saying those politicians were looking to win “that 18-to-25-year-old base that is involved in all these movements—these anti-government, anti-establishment, anti-republic, anti-Trump” movements. He eventually was given his own show on Fox News spinoff Fox Nation, the Fuhrman Diaries, which ran from 2018 to 2022. (Fox promoted him as “America's most controversial detective”—LA Times, 11/29/18.) ‘Total reputational annihilation’ Just because someone lied under oath about using racial slurs dozens of times doesn’t mean they should be canceled (Wall Street Journal, 5/20/26)—and by “canceled,” we mean given their own TV show. People can and do change over time. Fuhrman gave a somewhat nuanced view on Fox News (Ingraham Angle, 5/29/20) about the police killing of George Floyd, which resulted in widespread political unrest. He called Floyd's killing “a slow-motion homicide,” and said the video footage was “a slow and really painful thing to watch of somebody grinding somebody’s face into the pavement until they’re dead.” At the Murdoch-owned Wall Street Journal, columnist Matthew Hennessey (5/20/26) christened Fuhrman a victim of cancel culture, admitting that he was a “bad cop,” but that he was among the first to suffer the total reputational annihilation that has become a hallmark of life in the digital era, where everything you say—or have ever said—will one day be used against you in the court of public opinion. It’s a strange sort of “reputational annihilation” that gets you regularly showcased on a national cable TV network, and then gives you your own show. Fuhrman’s afterlife as a commentator foretold a media conservatism that flips the narrative about racist policing on its head, where prejudice becomes a sign of expertise. It’s a legacy we live with today in MAGA America, even with Fuhrman having departed this world. Research assistance: Priyanka Bansal

May 22, 2026In a graduation speech at the University of Michigan in 1964, President Lyndon Johnson laid out his vision for “the Great Society,” It was a forward looking vision of a country that used its post-World War II prosperity to look toward greater things, and to advance civil rights and end poverty, Congress would pass the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964, and the Food Stamp Act, Democrats were able to pass 84 new laws to put the Great Society into place, Congress took on voting rights, access to education, health insurance, and the rights of consumers, It enacted laws protecting the environment and supporting the arts, In his speech at the University of Michigan, Johnson charged the graduates to lead America toward a new age, reminding them that Americans have the power to shape the civilization that we want.Watch today's recording here: https://www.youtube.com/live/g9TUa1Rwd6U?si=T8_KKcHQZElhpnZ-Get full, free access to Letters from an American here: https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/subscribeYou can also find me:Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/hcrichardson.bsky.socialInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/heathercoxrichardson/?hl=enFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/heathercoxrichardson/YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@heathercoxrichardson Get full access to Letters from an American at heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/subscribe