Podcasts about Republic

What if Julius Caesar had survived the Ides of March? This episode explores his last known plans — vast eastern campaigns, sweeping reforms, and his visions for Rome's future. Could he have rivalled Alexander the Great, crowned himself king, or reshaped the Republic forever? Discover history's greatest “what if.”MOREThe Rise of Julius CaesarListen on AppleListen on SpotifyCleopatraListen on AppleListen on SpotifyPresented by Tristan Hughes. Audio editor is Tim Arstall. The producer is Joseph Knight. The senior producer is Anne-Marie Luff.All music courtesy of Epidemic SoundsThe Ancients is a History Hit podcast. Sign up to History Hit to watch the new documentary RISE OF CAESAR; and see Adrian Goldsworthy, Dr. Simon Elliott, and Dr. Hannah Cornwell, Tristan Hughes, peel back the layers of the man, the myth, and the massive political ego that transformed the Western world forever.As well as hundreds of hours of original documentaries, with a new release every week. Sign up at https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

96 MinutesSafe for WorkGeorge Bagby is a content creator and publisher of long-forgotten books. George joins Pete to continue a series detailing the long lead up to America's Civil War.George's Twitter AccountGeorge's Pinned Tweet w/ Links George's YouTube ChannelPete and Thomas777 'At the Movies'Support Pete on His WebsitePete's PatreonPete's Substack Pete's SubscribestarPete's GUMROADPete's VenmoPete's Buy Me a CoffeePete on FacebookPete on TwitterBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-pete-quinones-show--6071361/support.

Jeff & Shannon expose Joe Kent as potential Fake MAGA leaker in FBI probe—plus intel chiefs' House testimony shredding Iran threat denial. Unmasking controlled opposition live. Tune in at Rumble, YouTube, X and Red State Talk Radio now! Patriots, gear up for the unfiltered takedown—Season 8 Episode 051, "Was Joe Kent FAKE MAGA's Leaker?; Intel Chiefs Testify House Hearing," rips the mask off the chaos dividing America First! @intheMatrixxx and @shadygrooove, relentless truth warriors with insider experience from embedding deep in the Flynn network, lay out the explosive timeline: Joe Kent, former National Counterterrorism Center Director, resigned amid the Iran conflict claiming no imminent threat—yet fresh reports confirm he's under FBI investigation for allegedly leaking classified info, predating his exit, with scrutiny on disclosures tied to the Charlie Kirk assassination probe. They connect the dots on how private group chat details surfaced publicly via Candace Owens—info only accessible to select government insiders—while Kent's sudden narrative flip on Iran (despite his wife's tragic death from Iranian munitions) raises red flags, especially as Flynn network allies rushed to defend him post-resignation. Applying Occam's Razor, the simplest explanation points to internal leaks fracturing the base, rejecting mainstream spin that ignores these contradictions. Shifting gears, they dive into the House hearing where intel chiefs testified on global threats, confirming Iran's possession of over 440 kilograms of 60% enriched uranium—weapons-grade material with no civilian justification—directly countering "no threat" claims pushed by certain influencers, backed by official assessments and Iran's documented assassination plots on U.S. soil, including against President Trump. No wild ops speculation—just sharp breakdowns exposing dishonest narratives from legacy media and controlled opposition alike. The truth is learned, never told. The constitution is your weapon. Tune in at noon-0-five Eastern LIVE to stand with Trump! MG Show: America First MAGA Podcast & Conservative Talk Show Launched in 2019 and now in Season 8, the MG Show is your go-to source for unfiltered truth on Trump policies, border security, economic nationalism, and exposing globalist psyops. Hosted by Jeffrey Pedersen (@InTheMatrixxx) and Shannon Townsend (@ShadyGrooove), it champions sovereignty, traditional values, and critiques of establishment politics. Tune in weekdays at 12pm ET / 9am PT for patriotic insights strengthening the Republic under President Trump's America First agenda. Correspond: MG SHOW POST OFFICE BOX 299 PMB #19215 Tangent, Oregon 97389 Talent - Jeffrey Pedersen (@InTheMatrixxx): Expert in political analysis and exposing hidden agendas, with a focus on Trump's diplomatic wins and media bias. - Shannon Townsend (@ShadyGrooove): Delivers sharp insights on intelligence operations, Constitutional rights, and defenses of Trump's strategies against mainstream critiques. Where to Watch & Listen Catch live episodes or on-demand replays packed with MAGA victories like inflation drops, border awards, Trump pardons, and psyop exposures: - Live Streams: https://rumble.com/mgshow for premium America First content. - Radio: https://mgshow.link/redstate on Red State Talk Radio. - X Live: https://x.com/inthematrixxx for real-time pro-Trump discussions. - Podcasts: Search "MG Show" on PodBean, Apple Podcasts, Pandora, and Amazon Music. - YouTube: Full episodes at https://youtube.com/c/inthematrixxx and https://www.youtube.com/c/TruthForFreedom. Follow for daily pro-Trump alerts: - X: @InTheMatrixxx (https://x.com/inthematrixxx) and @ShadyGrooove (https://x.com/shadygrooove). Support the MG Show Fuel the MAGA movement against establishment lies: - Donate: https://mg.show/support or contribute at https://givesendgo.com/helpmgshow. - Merch: https://merch.mg.show for official gear. - MyPillow Special: Use code MGSHOW at https://mypillow.com/mgshow. - Crypto: https://mgshow.link/rumblewallet. All Links Everything MG Show Related: https://linktr.ee/mgshow. MG Show Anthem Get chills with the patriotic track: https://youtu.be/SyfI8_fnCAs

Our own Ben Symes sat down with Republic of Ireland manager Heimir Hallgrímsson as he announced his squad for the upcoming World Cup playoff vs Czechia and potentially Denmark/North Macedonia. The Green Scene on Off The Ball with Cadbury, a proud sponsor of the Republic of Ireland football teams. Paint March Green With Cadbury.

On Thursday's Football Daily, Phil Egan brings you news from the Republic of Ireland squad, Champions League and the Europa League.Heimir Hallgrimsson names his Republic of Ireland squad ahead of a crucial World Cup playoff showdown with Czechia in Prague.Squad update from Abbottstown includes returning faces and a potential new addition.Liverpool cruise into the Champions League quarter-finals with a dominant 4-0 win over Galatasaray at Anfield.Goals from Szoboszlai, Ekitike, Gravenberch and Salah highlight one of Liverpool's standout performances of the season.Barcelona dismantle Newcastle in a dramatic 7-2 win on the night, sealing an 8-3 aggregate victory.Reaction from Hansi Flick and Eddie Howe after a chaotic and high-scoring European clash.Tottenham win under Igor Tudor but still exit the Champions League after a narrow aggregate defeat to Atletico Madrid.Harry Kane hits a historic milestone, becoming the first English player to score 50 Champions League goals as Bayern advance.Quarter-final ties confirmed, including Liverpool vs PSG and Real Madrid vs Bayern Munich.Manchester United talking points: Michael Carrick backs his players for England recalls, while Gary Neville weighs in on the club's managerial future.Europa League drama as Ferencvaros collapse against Braga, while Aston Villa and Nottingham Forest face decisive second legs.Wider football updates including Troy Parrott's European hopes, Championship and WSL results, and FIFA discussions over Iran's World Cup participation.Become a member and sign up at offtheball.com/join

Join Matthew Brennan, Ben Symes and David Wilson as they delve into the biggest stories this week in the world of Irish football. On this week's episode, there is a slight change as the official sponsor comes on board ahead of a big couple weeks of action. The trio chat about Heimir Hallgrimsson's mic drop moment where he announces he will be sticking around until the European Championships in 2028. There is the midfield conundrum, but the return of a familiar face in Bosun Lawal, but no room for Conor Coventry or Will Smallbone. And there are plans for Prague with The Green Scene trio set to be involved. The Green Scene on Off The Ball with Cadbury, a proud sponsor of the Republic of Ireland football teams. Paint March Green With Cadbury And as ever, we are looking for your inspiration to help us, fancy getting in touch? You can do so by emailing outsidetheboxotb2026@gmail.com Contact us on socials @offtheball across all our platforms. Or if you want to contact us directly message the @offtheball.football account on Instagram. And as ever, we are on WhatsApp on 087 9 180 180. Become a member and sign up at offtheball.com/join

Martha C. Nussbaum, distinguished service professor of law and philosophy at the University of Chicago and the author of The Republic of Love: Opera & Political Freedom (Oxford University Press, 2026), offers her analysis of opera as an arm of the Enlightenment, from Mozart to today.   cover image courtesy of the publisher

What does it mean to be American? Most Americans can no longer answer that question. In this episode, Professor Nick Giordano examines the growing civic knowledge crisis and why the inability to define American identity is the greatest internal threat to the Republic. Across the country, civic understanding is collapsing. Students are graduating without understanding the structure of government, the principles of the Constitution, or the philosophy of the American founding. But it's not just students. This is a problem that plagues all generations and represents the greatest threat to the Republic. When citizens cannot explain the system they live under, they cannot defend it, preserve it, or hold it accountable. This episode explores how civic ignorance fuels political division, government expansion, and a dangerous loss of national identity. What You'll Learn: The Identity Vacuum: Why the silence in classrooms exposes a deeper civilizational crisis. The Data of Decline: A look at the alarming national statistics showing the collapse of civic knowledge. The Dependency Trap: How civic ignorance fuels ideological extremism and a growing reliance on the state. The Normalcy Myth: Why political apathy in a self-governing republic is a recipe for disaster. The Roadmap to Renewal: Practical solutions to rebuild civic literacy and restore American civic culture.  

Is it by accident certain nations are ruled in different ways? We will show you how forms of government may not be natural, but an orchestrated process by which an Elite group control.Is there a difference between Democracy, Republic, Dictatorship, or Oligarchy? Politically maybe, but not actually.

It was a busy weekend as Chelsea claimed the League Cup, both Merseyside teams got big wins and (most importantly we might say in COYGIG Towers) the league returned here.Kathleen McNamee was joined by Karen Duggan to reflect on the bumper weekend.The COYGIG Pod with Cadbury, a proud sponsor of the Republic of Ireland football teams. Paint March Green with Cadbury.

“I don't like the idea of losing out to a machine because I feel like I'm losing a part of myself in the process.” — Nelson Dellis, six-time USA Memory ChampionMost of us can't remember our spouse's phone number. We barely know our own. We haven't read a physical map in years. Some of us don't even know what a map is. Such is the impoverishment of mental life in our digital age.Nelson Dellis, unlike most of us, is a rich man — at least mentally. He can memorise a shuffled deck of 52 cards in under a minute. He stores every stranger's phone number in his head for 24 hours before putting it in his phone — on principle. He's a six-time USA Memory Champion, a computer science professor at Skidmore, and the author of a new book, Everyday Genius, which suggests we can all be a lot smarter than our smart phones.Dellis got into memory after watching his grandmother get lost in the fog of Alzheimer's. And as a computer science professor, he's equally terrified by what he now sees in the classroom. His students can't craft an email without ChatGPT. They can't focus. They can't solve a problem without asking a machine. He warns that we're outsourcing our cognitive agency to devices and mislabelling it as human productivity.For Dellis, it's the same mental atrophy that destroyed his grandmother. AI-generated mnemonics, he warns, feel “dead inside.” Our brains, like our language, are degenerating into slop. Thus the value of his hacks to restore our focus and boost our memories. Five Takeaways•       I Can't Remember My Wife's Phone Number: Neither can you. Neither can anyone under 50. We've outsourced our memories to devices and the consequences are only beginning to show. Nelson Dellis memorises every new phone number for 24 hours before putting it in his phone. Not because he needs to — because his brain needs him to.•       His Grandmother Disappeared into Alzheimer's and It Changed His Life: Dellis watched the woman who raised him become a shell of herself — unable to recognise her own grandson. He went down a rabbit hole into memory science, discovered a former champion's audiobook, tried the techniques, and was hooked. He won his first US Memory Championship within two years. He's won six.•       If Everyone's a Genius, Nobody Is: I pushed back on the book's premise. Dellis conceded the point but held his ground: the techniques are learnable, the results are real, and the distinction between “genius” and “trained” matters less than the distinction between a brain that's exercised and one that's atrophying. The London cab driver study is his best evidence — hippocampi that grow with use and shrink without it.•       AI Slop Is by Definition Forgettable: Dellis teaches computer science, so he's no Luddite. But AI-generated mnemonics, he says, feel “dead inside.” The vivid, absurd, grotesque images that make memory techniques work are products of individual human imagination. A machine can't generate weirdness. Not yet. Maybe not ever. His students can't write an email without ChatGPT. That should terrify us more than it does.•       Eat Your Blueberries: Four pillars of brain health: mental exercise, physical fitness, diet, and — the one that surprises people — social interaction. Dellis trains a 90-year-old and a five-year-old using the same techniques. Both can do things their peers cannot. The brain doesn't expire at 70. But it does atrophy if you let your iPhone do the thinking. About the GuestNelson Dellis is a six-time USA Memory Champion (2011, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2021, 2024), certified mountaineer and Everest summiteer, and Assistant Professor of Computer Science at Skidmore College. His new book is Everyday Genius: Hacks to Boost Your Memory, Focus, Problem-Solving, and Much More. He has taught memory techniques to audiences ranging from five-year-olds to nonagenarians.References:•       Everyday Genius by Nelson Dellis — the book under discussion, currently the number one new release in memory improvement on Amazon.•       Moonwalking with Einstein by Joshua Foer — the bestselling account of competitive memory that Dellis discusses and Foer, a friend of his, promoted at the same event where Dellis won his first title.•       Episode 2835: Why Dario Amodei Might Be the 21st Century's First Real Leader — this week's TWTW, where Keith Teare covered AI disruption from the tech side.•       USA Memory Championship — the annual competition Dellis has won six times.About Keen On AmericaNobody asks more awkward questions than the Anglo-American writer and filmmaker Andrew Keen. In Keen On America, Andrew brings his pointed Transatlantic wit to making sense of the United States — hosting daily interviews about the history and future of this now venerable Republic. With nearly 2,800 episodes since the show launched on TechCrunch in 2010, Keen On America is the most prolific intellectual interview show in the history of podcasting.WebsiteSubstackYouTubeApple PodcastsSpotify Chapters:(00:00) - Introduction: we've never had a memory champion (01:23) - Is everyone a genius? The soccer medal problem (03:25) - Controlling the thing inside our skull (05:07) - The brain as the most complicated object in the universe (06:40) - Grandmother's Alzheimer's: the origin story (08:26) - Can brain training delay Alzheimer's? (11:53) - Mental longevity vs. the iPhone warranty (13:46) - Inside the USA Memory Championship (15:52) - Numbers, cards, names, poems: the events (18:13) - Joshua Foer and Moonwalking with Einstein (21:28) - Social genius: loneliness as cognitive decline (24:43) - Blueberries, omega-3s, and pre-competition doping (27:24) - Freaks or trained humans? (31:01) - Your iPhone is atrophying your brain (37:51) - AI slop: why machines can't make memories (39:23) - Hack: how to remember any name you hear

Jeff & Shannon expose Trump's ironclad demand for the SAVE America Act plus Merkel's blatant migrant vote bloc against AfD, while dissecting Joe Kent's Iran resignation, St. Patrick's Day bloodlines talk, and NATO freeloading. High-energy truth-seeking on Rumble, YouTube, X and Red State Talk Radio—tune in now! Buckle up, patriots—@intheMatrixxx and @shadygrooove storm into Season 8, Episode 49, “TRUMP DEMANDS SAVE AMERICA ACT; Merkel Weaponizes Migrants vs AfD” with relentless America-First analysis, cutting through the globalist fog on both sides of the Atlantic and beyond. President Trump is hammering the Senate to pass the SAVE America Act immediately—no watered-down version—demanding strict voter ID, proof of citizenship to register, an end to widespread mail-in voting fraud, plus bans on men in women's sports and transgender procedures for minors, declaring he won't sign other bills until it's done and warning it will “guarantee the midterms” for real Americans. Meanwhile, Angela Merkel is openly urging “people with a migration background” to form a voting bloc and stand together against the surging AfD, the party fighting for mass deportations and Germany First—validating the long-predicted playbook of importing permanent left-wing voters to reshape nations. Jeff and Shannon deliver sharp, documented breakdowns: Trump's St. Patrick's Day Oval Office meeting with Irish Taoiseach Micheál Martin highlighting 23 U.S. presidents with Irish bloodlines and questioning Obama-era cash pallets flown to Iran; Joe Kent's sudden resignation from National Counterterrorism Center claiming no Iranian threat despite his own history, met with Caroline Leavitt's firm rebuttal citing compelling evidence of first-strike plans, ballistic missiles, and nuclear ambitions; Trump's strategic precision in Iran operations that wiped out regime military assets while preserving civilian infrastructure and oil facilities for the Iranian people's future; and the embarrassing NATO allies who cheered from the sidelines but refused real support like minesweepers or carriers after years of U.S. trillions spent. They also spotlight patterns around certain media and “dissident” figures pushing coordinated narratives that crumble under scrutiny. The truth is learned, never told. The Constitution is your weapon. Tune in at noon-0-five Eastern LIVE to stand with Trump! MG Show: America First MAGA Podcast & Conservative Talk Show Launched in 2019 and now in Season 8, the MG Show is your go-to source for unfiltered truth on Trump policies, border security, economic nationalism, and exposing globalist psyops. Hosted by Jeffrey Pedersen (@InTheMatrixxx) and Shannon Townsend (@ShadyGrooove), it champions sovereignty, traditional values, and critiques of establishment politics. Tune in weekdays at 12pm ET / 9am PT for patriotic insights strengthening the Republic under President Trump's America First agenda. Correspond: MG SHOW POST OFFICE BOX 299 PMB #19215 Tangent, Oregon 97389 Talent - Jeffrey Pedersen (@InTheMatrixxx): Expert in political analysis and exposing hidden agendas, with a focus on Trump's diplomatic wins and media bias. - Shannon Townsend (@ShadyGrooove): Delivers sharp insights on intelligence operations, Constitutional rights, and defenses of Trump's strategies against mainstream critiques. Where to Watch & Listen Catch live episodes or on-demand replays packed with MAGA victories like inflation drops, border awards, Trump pardons, and psyop exposures: - Live Streams: https://rumble.com/mgshow for premium America First content. - Radio: https://mgshow.link/redstate on Red State Talk Radio. - X Live: https://x.com/inthematrixxx for real-time pro-Trump discussions. - Podcasts: Search "MG Show" on PodBean, Apple Podcasts, Pandora, and Amazon Music. - YouTube: Full episodes at https://youtube.com/c/inthematrixxx and https://www.youtube.com/c/TruthForFreedom. Follow for daily pro-Trump alerts: - X: @InTheMatrixxx (https://x.com/inthematrixxx) and @ShadyGrooove (https://x.com/shadygrooove). Support the MG Show Fuel the MAGA movement against establishment lies: - Donate: https://mg.show/support or contribute at https://givesendgo.com/helpmgshow. - Merch: https://merch.mg.show for official gear. - MyPillow Special: Use code MGSHOW at https://mypillow.com/mgshow. - Crypto: https://mgshow.link/rumblewallet. All Links Everything MG Show Related: https://linktr.ee/mgshow. MG Show Anthem Get chills with the patriotic track: https://youtu.be/SyfI8_fnCAs

The Texas Longhorns men's basketball team managed to find its way into the NCAA Tournament, but they still need to win a game to find its way into the field of 64. They will face off against the NC State Wolfpack, a team they beat at the start of the season in the Maui Invitational. Can they depend on the offense they had early in the season, or will they crash out in the First Four? Conversely, the Texas women locked up a No. 1 seed and actually await the winner of a First Four matchup. They have an opportunity to play the first two weeks of the tournament in the state of Texas, hosting the first weekend and then travelling to Fort Worth for the second set of games. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“If we don't fight, then what are we doing?” — Jeff BoydHow do you write fiction about contemporary America when reality itself is stranger than fiction? A country in which “alternative facts” is policy rather than satire. Where “truth” has been nationalized.Jeff Boyd, an acclaimed young American novelist, sees fiction as refuge. For both writer and reader, it gets us inside the heads of people who both inflict and endure pain. And it enables the senseless to make sense. The news cycle can't do that. A novel can.Boyd's second novel, Hard Times, out today, is his latest attempt to make sense of the senseless. No, the title isn't Dickensian — it's from Curtis Mayfield. The song on the 1975 “There's No Place Like America Today” album, with its cover juxtaposing some happy Americans in a car with others waiting miserably in the unemployment line. America might be great — but for whom, exactly? That dichotomy shapes Hard Times, which is set in a school on the South Side of Chicago where an innocent student gets shot and nobody can agree on what happened or why.Is the American Dream over? Boyd isn't quite sure. “As much as it feels impossible,” he says, “some part of me always wants to believe.” His characters fight — backs against the wall, cards stacked against them, but they don't give in. That's what Curtis Mayfield was singing about in 1975 and it's what Jeff Boyd is writing about in 2026. The times are hard. A time, once again, for novelists to seize back reality. Five Takeaways•       How Do You Make Stuff Up When Reality Is Already Unbelievable? Boyd admits he sometimes wonders what the point of being a novelist is when the headlines are stranger than fiction. His answer: fiction is a refuge. It lets you get inside the heads of people who inflict pain or endure it, and try to make sense of what in reality remains senseless. The novelist can provide an answer. The news cycle can't.•       Not Dickens — Curtis Mayfield: The title comes not from the 1854 novel but from the 1975 song on There's No Place Like America Today. The album cover says it all: happy people in the car, desperate people in the unemployment line. America is great — but great for whom? That dichotomy drives the book.•       A Policeman's Son on George Floyd: One of the officers who stood by while George Floyd died was black — a man whose family had been proud of him for getting the job, who went in wanting to do good. Boyd can't write off an entire category of people. His black cop character in Hard Times exists to show the complexity of wanting to do right and getting caught up in wrong.•       Fate vs. Agency on the South Side: Boyd's grad school friend — not religious but deterministic — argued you could draw a line from where someone starts to where they'll end up. Boyd's characters fight against that line. A kid from a broken home on food stamps doesn't have to end where you think. The novel asks whether the line holds or breaks.•       The Fight Goes On: Is the American Dream over? Boyd isn't quite sure. His characters have their backs against the wall and the cards stacked against them, but they don't give in. That's what Curtis Mayfield was singing about in 1975. It's what Boyd is writing about in 2026. The times are hard. The fight goes on. About the GuestJeff Boyd is the author of The Weight (Simon & Schuster, 2023) and Hard Times (Flatiron Books, 2026). A former Chicago public school teacher and graduate of the Iowa Writers' Workshop, where he received the Deena Davidson Friedman Prize for Fiction, he lives in Brooklyn with his family.References:•       Hard Times: A Novel by Jeff Boyd (Flatiron Books, 2026) — the book under discussion, out today. Starred review from Publishers Weekly.•       The Weight by Jeff Boyd (Simon & Schuster, 2023) — Boyd's acclaimed debut novel, set in Portland.•       Curtis Mayfield, “Hard Times” from There's No Place Like America Today (1975) — the song that gives the novel its title.•       Charles Dickens, Hard Times (1854) — the Dickensian social realist tradition Boyd consciously works within.•       Studs Terkel, Hard Times: An Oral History of the Great Depression (1970) — referenced in the conversation.About Keen On AmericaNobody asks more awkward questions than the Anglo-American writer and filmmaker Andrew Keen. In Keen On America, Andrew brings his pointed Transatlantic wit to making sense of the United States — hosting daily interviews about the history and future of this now venerable Republic. With nearly 2,800 episodes since the show launched on TechCrunch in 2010, Keen On America is the most prolific intellectual interview show in the history of podcasting.WebsiteSubstackYouTubeApple PodcastsSpotify Chapters:(00:00) - Introduction: Hard Times from Dickens to today (01:19) - Not Dickens — Curtis Mayfield (02:44) - The Obama era and the fall back into hard times (05:32) - How do you fictionalize a reality stranger than fiction? (08:44) - Autobiography: teaching in a Chicago school (10:18) - Fate, predestination, and fighting the line (12:49) - The novelist as God — do your characters surprise you? (15:02) - A student is shot: the journalist-novelist (15:33) - Social realism in the Dickensian tradition (18:45) - Chicago stereotypes and the beauty between blocks (22:19) - A policeman's son on George Floyd and the black cop who stood by (25:27) - Teaching as the most underappreciated job in America (27:57) - Money, class, and Black Chicago beyond the stereotype (29:43) - Trump, alternative facts, and who controls the truth (32:19) - The American Dream: is it over?

1. Author: Victor Davis Hanson. Title: *The Dying Citizen: How Progressive Elites, Tribalism, and Globalization Are Destroying the Idea of America*. Hanson explores the classical importance of the middle class as the bedrock of a stable republic, drawing from Aristotle's view of self-reliant citizens. He argues that the historical strength of the American middle class—rooted in property ownership and autonomy—is being undermined by a "hollowing out" into two classes: the fabulously wealthy and a dependent "peasant" class. Hanson cites the Obama administration's figures "Pajama Boy" and "Julia" as symbols of a new state dependency that replaces Jeffersonian independence. This shift is particularly visible in California, where high taxes and regulations drive out the middle class. (1)1940 LA

In the fourth century B.C., Plato famously posited a philosopher-king as the ideal ruler for his imagined Republic. Five hundred years later, the Roman Empire was led by Marcus Aurelius, the man often viewed as the best example of this Platonic ideal. In this episode, Jacke talks to William O. Stephens about his book Marcus Aurelius: Philosopher-King, which guides readers through the fascinating life, writings, and legacy of Rome's great emperor philosopher. The music in this episode is by Gabriel Ruiz-Bernal. Learn more at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠gabrielruizbernal.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Help support the show at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠patreon.com/literature⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠or ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠historyofliterature.com/donate⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. The History of Literature Podcast is a member of Lit Hub Radio and the Podglomerate Network. Learn more at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠thepodglomerate.com/historyofliterature⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.⁠⁠⁠⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Last time we spoke about the Soviet-Japanese neutrality pact. In the summer of 1939, the Nomonhan Incident escalated into a major clash along the Halha River, where Soviet-Mongolian forces under Georgy Zhukov decisively defeated Japan's Kwantung Army. Zhukov's offensive, launched on August 20, involved intense artillery, bombers, and encirclement tactics, annihilating the Japanese 23rd Division and exposing weaknesses in Japanese mechanized warfare. The defeat, coinciding with the Hitler-Stalin Nonaggression Pact, forced Japan to negotiate a ceasefire on September 15-16, redrawing borders and deterring further northern expansion. Stalin navigated negotiations with Britain, France, and Germany to avoid a two-front war, ultimately signing the German-Soviet pact on August 23, which secured Soviet neutrality in Europe while addressing eastern threats. Post-Nomonhan, Soviet-Japanese relations warmed rapidly: fishing disputes were resolved, ambassadors exchanged, and the Chinese Eastern Railway sale finalized. By 1941, a neutrality pact was concluded, allowing Japan to pivot southward toward China and Southeast Asia.   #193 The Chiang-Wang Divide Welcome to the Fall and Rise of China Podcast, I am your dutiful host Craig Watson. But, before we start I want to also remind you this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Perhaps you want to learn more about the history of Asia? Kings and Generals have an assortment of episodes on history of asia and much more  so go give them a look over on Youtube. So please subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry for some more history related content, over on my channel, the Pacific War Channel where I cover the history of China and Japan from the 19th century until the end of the Pacific War. After that lengthy mini series covering the battle of Khalkin Gol, we need to venture back into the second sino-japanese war, however like many other colossal events….well a lot was going on simultaneously. I wanted to take an episode to talk about the beginning of something known as the Reorganized National Government of the Republic of China, or much shorter, the Wang Jingwei Regime. It's been quite some time since we spoke about this character and he is a large part of the second sino-japanese war.    After the fall of Tianjin and Beiping, the government offices in Nanjing entered their annual summer recess. All of GMD's senior leadership, from Chiang Kai-shek down to Wang Jingwei, gathered on Mount Lu, a picturesque resort in northern Jiangxi, south of the Yangtze, famed for cliffs, clouds, and summer villas. Although Chiang had visited Mount Lu every summer, this was the first occasion that nearly the entire central government assembled there. Analysts suspected the gathering was a deliberate move to relocate government functions inland in the event of total war. Dozens of the nation's leading intellectuals were invited to Mount Lu to discuss strategies for countering Japan's ambitions. The forum was scheduled to begin on July 15 and to last twenty-seven days in three phases. The bridge incident caught them off guard. Unlike Manchuria, Beiping had long been the nation's capital, and the shock added urgency to the proceedings. When the forum, chaired by Wang, finally opened on July 16, speculation ran as to whether this signaled another regional conflict or the onset of full-scale war. The media pressed for a resolute stance of resistance from the government. To dispel the mounting confusion and perhaps his own indecision, Chiang delivered a solemn speech on July 17, declaring that if the incident could not be resolved peacefully, China would face the "crucial juncture" of national survival and would consider military action; if war began, every Chinese person, from every corner of the country and from every walk of life, would have to sacrifice all to defend the nation.   Chiang's Mount Lu Speech was now commonly regarded as the moment when China publicly proclaimed its firm commitment to resistance. Contemporary observers, however, did not take Chiang's stance at face value. Tao Xisheng, a Peking University law professor who had been invited, recalled that after the speech, people gathered in Hu Shi's room to discuss whether a peace option remained. Chiang left the mountain on July 20, leaving Wang to chair the conference. The discussions continued upon their return to Nanjing, where a National Defense Conference was organized in mid-August. It was also Tao's first encounter with Wang Jingwei. A "peace faction," largely composed of civil officials and intellectuals, began to take shape around Wang, favoring diplomatic solutions over costly and potentially ineffective military action.   During this period, both Chiang and Wang publicly called for resistance, while both harbored hopes for a peaceful solution. Yet their emphases differed. On July 29, Wang Jingwei delivered a radio address from Nanjing titled "The Critical Juncture," echoing Chiang's slogan. He likewise asserted that after repeated concessions and retreats, the critical juncture had come for China to rise against Japan. It would be a harsh form of resistance, since a weak nation had no alternative but to sacrifice every citizen's life and scorch every inch of land. Yet toward the end, Wang's speech took on an ironic turn. He stated, "The so-called resistance demands sacrificing the whole land and the whole nation to resist the invader. If there is no weakness in the world, then there is also no strength. Once we have completed the sacrifice, we also realize the purpose of resistance. We hail 'the critical juncture'! We hail 'sacrifice'!" The sentiment sounded almost satirical, revealing his doubt about the meaning of total sacrifice.   The hope for containment was crushed by Japan's ongoing advances. On November 12, Shanghai fell. Chiang's gamble produced about 187,200 Chinese casualties, including roughly 30,000 officers trained to German standards. Japanese casualties were estimated at a third to a half of the Chinese losses, still making it their deadliest single battle to date. The battered Japanese Imperial Army and Navy, long convinced of their invincibility, were consumed by vengeful bloodlust. The army swept from Shanghai toward Nanjing, leaving a trail of murder, rape, arson, and plunder across China's heartland.   With the fall of Nanjing looming, the central government announced on November 20 that it would relocate to Chongqing, a city upriver on the Yangtze protected by sheer cliffs. Plans for Chongqing as a reserve capital had already begun in 1935, with Hankou as the midway station. To preserve elite troops for the future while saving face, Nanjing was entrusted to General Tang Shengzhi and his roughly one hundred thousand largely inexperienced soldiers. Nanjing fell on December 13. Despite this victory, Japan's hopes of ending the China Incident within three months were dashed. The carnage produced by the war, especially the Rape of Nanjing, left a profound moral stain on humanity. A mass exodus from the coastal provinces toward the hinterland began. People fled by boats, trains, buses, rickshaws, and wheelbarrows. Universities, factories, and ordinary households were moved halfway across China, step by step. The nation resolved to persevere, even in distant mountains and deserts if necessary. In Sichuan alone, government relief agencies officially registered about 9.2 million refugees during the war years.   Chiang Kai-shek, after paying respects at Sun Yat-sen's mausoleum, flew to Mount Lu with Song Meiling. The so-called Second Couple chose a more modest path: like most refugees, the Wang family traveled upriver along the Yangtze. On November 21, they left Nanjing, abandoning a recently renovated suburban home and thirty years of collected books. Coincidentally, the ship carrying Wang Jingwei from Nanjing to Wuhan was SS Yongsui, the former SS Zhongshan that had escorted Sun Yat-sen to safety and witnessed Wang's ascent and subsequent downfall from power. Ironically renamed "Yong-sui," the ship's new title meant "peace," while the compound term suijing denoted a policy of appeasement. This symbolism—Wang being carried away from Nanjing by a ship named "Eternal Peace"—foreshadowed his eventual return to the city as a champion of a "peace movement."   After the Mount Lu Forum, Hu Shi and Tao Xisheng could not return to Beiping, now under Japanese occupation. They joined the government in Nanjing. Beginning in mid-August, Japanese bombers began attacking Nanjing. Air power—an unprecedented weapon of mass destruction—humbled and awed a Chinese public largely unfamiliar with airborne warfare. By striking a target that did not serve its immediate interests, Japan demonstrated its world-class military might and employed psychological warfare against the Chinese government and people. Because Zhou Fohai's villa at Xiliuwan had a fortified cellar suitable as an air-raid shelter, a group of like-minded intellectuals and civil servants sought refuge there. They preferred a peaceful approach to the conflict, subscribing to the idea of trading space for time—building China's industrial and military capabilities before confronting Japan. Tao Xisheng and Mei Siping, old allies of Zhou Fohai, lived in his house. Another frequent guest was Luo Junqiang, an ex-communist. The former CCP leader Chen Duxiu, recently released from prison, joined their gatherings a few times. Gao Zongwu hosted another meeting site. Hu Shi, as a guest himself, jokingly called this circle the "Low-Key Club" (Didiao julebu), a label that underscored their pragmatic defiance of the government's high-flown rhetoric urging all-out resistance. Many members of this group would later become central figures in a conspiracy known as the "peace movement," with Wang Jingwei as its leader and emblem.   As Gerald Bunker noted, the peace scheme did not originate with Wang but with certain associates of Chiang, elements in Japanese military intelligence, and members of liberal-minded Japanese political circles who were linked to Konoe. Zhou Fohai belonged to the Chiang-loyalist CC faction, named for Chen Guofu and Chen Lifu. Zhou believed that resistance under current conditions was suicidal. He sought to influence Chiang through people around him, including Wang Jingwei, whom he found impressionable and began visiting at Wang's salon. Gao Zongwu, head of the Foreign Ministry's Asian Department, felt sidelined by Chiang's uncompromising stance. They shared the sense that Chiang might be willing to talk but feared the price, perhaps his own leadership. They were dismayed by the lack of a long-range war plan beyond capitulation. Their view was that China's battlefield losses would worsen the terms of any settlement, and that the war's outcome seemed to benefit Soviet Russia and undermine the GMD more than China itself. The rapid collapses of Shanghai and then Nanjing vindicated their pessimism. Chiang's autocratic decision-making only deepened their dissatisfaction. They feared China was again at risk of foreign conquest from which it might not recover.   Wang Jingwei became the focal point for these disaffected individuals, drawn by his pacifist leanings, intellectual temperament, and preference for consensus-building. After the government relocated to Hankou, he lent guidance to the Literature and Art Research Society (Yiwen yanjiu hui), a propagandist body led by Zhou Fohai and Tao Xisheng. Its purpose was to steer public opinion on issues like the war of resistance and anticommunism, and to advocate a stance that the government must preserve both peace and war as options. Many believed it to be Wang's private organization; in truth, Chiang supported its activities. For much of 1938, Chiang's belligerent anti-Japanese rhetoric and Wang's conciliatory push were two sides of the GMD's broader strategy.   Among the society's regional branches, the Hong Kong chapter flourished under Mei Siping and Lin Baisheng. In addition to editing South China Daily News, Lin established Azure Books and the International Compilation and Translation Society (Guoji bianyishe) as primary propaganda organs. Ironically, Mei Siping had himself been a radical during the 1919 student protests, when he helped set fire to the deputy foreign minister's house in protest of perceived capitulation to Japan.   Wang Jingwei also actively engaged in international efforts to broker peace between Japan and China, including Trautmann's mediation by the German ambassador. Since the outbreak of war, various Western powers had contemplated serving as mediators, but none succeeded. Nazi Germany, aligned with Japan in an anti-Soviet partnership, emerged as China's most likely ally because it did not want Japan to squander its strength in China or compel China to seek Soviet help. Conversely, Japan's interest lay in prolonging the war or achieving a swift settlement. Ambassador Trautmann met with Wang Jingwei multiple times from October 31 to early November 1937 to confirm China's preference for peace before negotiating with Japan. The proposal Trautmann carried to Chiang Kai-shek on November 5 proposed terms including autonomy for Inner Mongolia, a larger demilitarized zone in North China, an expanded cease-fire around Shanghai, a halt to anti-Japanese movements, an anti-communist alliance, reduced tariffs on Japanese goods, and protection of foreign interests in China. Although Japan did not specify territorial gains, these terms deviated significantly from Chiang's demand to restore pre–Marco Polo Bridge status. After Shanghai fell, Chiang's rigidity softened.   On December 5, at Hankou, the National Defense Conference agreed to begin peace negotiations based on Trautmann's terms, a decision Chiang approved. But it was too late: Nanjing fell on December 13, and a provisional Beiping government led by Wang Kemin was established, signaling Japan's growing support for regional separatism. On December 24, Japan issued an ultimatum for a harsher deal to be accepted by January 10. In response, Chiang resigned as chairman of the Executive Yuan on January 1, 1938, and was succeeded by his brother-in-law Kong Xiangxi. Chiang declared that death in defeat was preferable to death in disgrace and refused to yield under coercion. The Konoe Cabinet announced on January 16 that Japan would not negotiate with Chiang Kai-shek. Trautmann's mediation had failed.   After Konoe's announcement, mediation became even more precarious, as it placed the already deadly, no-win situation between the two nations in deeper jeopardy. Secret contacts between the two governments persisted through multiple channels—sometimes at the direction of their own leaders, other times at the initiative of a cadre of officials and quasi-official figures of dubious legitimacy. Many of these covert efforts were steered by Chiang himself. In late 1937, Wang Jingwei even sent Chen Gongbo to Rome to explore the possibility of Italian mediation between China and Japan. After meetings with Mussolini and Foreign Minister Ciano, Chen concluded that Italy had no genuine goodwill toward China and favored Japan. His conversations with other Western leaders (Belgium, France, Britain, and the United States) proved equally fruitless. In diaries, Zhou Fohai and Chen Kewen recorded a pervasive mood of pessimism among Hankou and Chongqing's national government factions. Although direct champions of negotiating with Japan were few, many voices insisted that China was on the brink of collapse while secretly hoping peace talks would begin soon. Gao Zongwu's mission emerged from this tense atmosphere.   With Konoe's cabinet refusing to negotiate with Chiang Kai-shek, many regarded Wang as the best candidate to carry forward a diplomatic solution. Yet Wang remained convinced of his loyalty to Chiang and to Chiang's policy. The Italian ambassador visited Wuhan to offer mediation between Wang and the Japanese government, an invitation Wang declined. Tang Shaoyi's daughter traveled to Wuhan to convey Tokyo's negotiation intent, but was similarly turned away. Even Chen Bijun, then in Hong Kong, urged Wang to join her and start peace negotiations; he again declined. Tao Xisheng remembered a quiet night when Wang confided in him: "This time I will cooperate with Mr. Chiang until the very end, regardless of how the war unfolds." His stance did not change when Gao Zongwu reported that the Imperial Japanese Army General Staff Office wanted him to head the peace talks.   Gao Zongwu's bid was brokered by Dong Daoning, head of the Japan Affairs Section in the Foreign Ministry. Shortly after Konoe's statement, Dong traveled to Shanghai to meet Nishi Yoshiaki, representative of Mantetsu, and Matsumoto Shigeharu, a Dōmei News Agency journalist. Nishi and Matsumoto then introduced Dong to Kagesa Sadaaki, head of the Strategy and Tactics Department in the General Staff Office. Kagesa introduced Dong to Deputy Director Tada Hayao and colleagues Ishiwara Kanji and Imai Takeo, who agreed that a peaceful resolution to the China crisis aligned with Japan's interests. It would be inaccurate to paint these figures as pacifists: Ishiwara, who helped build Manchukuo, also recognized that further incursions into China could jeopardize Japan's hard-won gains. They proposed a temporary resignation by Chiang to spare Konoe from having to retract his refusal to negotiate, thereby allowing Wang to lead the talks. In short, the scheme aimed to save face for Konoe.   Dong returned to Hong Kong and delivered the proposal to Gao Zongwu, who had been stationed there since February under Chiang's orders to oversee intelligence and liaison with Japan. Luo Junqiang, Gao's contact, testified that Gao was paid monthly from Chiang's secret military fund. Gao went back to Hankou twice, on April 2 and May 30. On the second trip, he personally conveyed Japan's terms to Chiang. Gao later admitted that Chiang never gave him explicit instructions, but rather cultivated an impression of tacit approval. At no point did Gao view the deal as Chiang's betrayal. As long as Chiang retained control of the military, Wang's leadership could only be nominal and temporary. Unbeknownst to Wang, Gao's personal ties to Chiang remained hidden from him; he learned of them only through Zhou Fohai. Startled, he handed the information to Chiang Kai-shek and told Tao Xisheng: "I cannot broker peace with Japan alone. I will not deceive Mr. Chiang." Given Tao's later departure from Wang's circle to rejoin Chiang, Tao's recollection could be trusted.   Two months later, Wang left Chongqing to pursue a peace settlement. A key factor may have been persistent lobbying by Zhou, Gao, Mei, Tao, and especially his wife Chen Bijun. Luo Junqiang recalled that Kong Xiangxi objected that Gao acted without him, prompting Chiang to order Gao to halt his covert efforts, an order Gao ignored. Gao and Mei Siping continued to press for a deal. Gao even spent three weeks in Japan in July, holding extensive talks with Kagesa Sadaaki and Imai Takeo. Their discussions produced the first substantive articulation of the Wang peace movement as a Sino-Japanese plot to end the "China incident." On November 26, Mei flew from Hong Kong to Chongqing with a draft of Japan's terms and Konoe's planned announcement. The proposal stated that the Japanese army would withdraw completely within two years once peace was reached, but it demanded that China formally recognize Manchukuo. Wang was to leave Chongqing for Kunming by December 5, then proceed to Hanoi. Upon Japan receiving news of his arrival in Hanoi, the telegram would reveal the peace terms. This pivotal moment threw Wang into intense inner turmoil. Zhou Fohai visited Wang daily, and Wang delayed decisively each time, much to Zhou's frustration. Ultimately, it seemed that Chen Bijun rendered the final judgment on Wang's behalf. As in earlier episodes, Wang found himself trapped by an idealized image of himself held by family, followers, and loyalists, seen by them as a larger-than-life figure who must undertake a mission too grand to fail.   Yet Wang's stance was not purely involuntary. As Imai Takeo noted, he fundamentally disagreed with Chiang's strategy of resistance. The so-called scorched-earth approach caused immense suffering. Three episodes stood out: the 1938 Yellow River flood, ordered by Chiang to impede Japan's advance, which destroyed dikes and displaced millions, yielding devastating agricultural and humanitarian consequences; the subsequent epidemics and famine that followed, producing about two million refugees and up to nine hundred thousand deaths, while failing to stop the Japanese advance toward Wuhan (which fell in October); and the Changsha fire, ignited in the early hours of November 13, which killed nearly thirty thousand people and devastated most of the city. These events sharpened Wang's doubts about Chiang's defense strategy, especially its reckless execution and cruelty. By late November, Wang began to openly challenge Chiang's approach, delivering a series of speeches advocating his own war-weariness and preference for limiting resistance to preserve national strength for future counterstrikes. He argued that guerrilla warfare burdened the people and wasted national resources that could be saved for a later, more effective defense. He urged soldiers to exercise judgment and listen to their consciences, and he attributed much of the civilian suffering to the Communists; nonetheless, with General von Falkenhausen, Chiang's German adviser, now urging a shift toward smaller-unit mobile warfare, Wang's critique of Chiang's strategy took on a more pointed, risksome tone. If resistance equaled total sacrifice, Wang was not prepared to endorse it. As Margherita Zanasi noted, Wang Jingwei and Chen Gongbo had long shared a vision of a self-consciously anti-imperial "national economy", the belief that China's economy had not yet achieved genuine nation-power and that compromising with the foe might be necessary to save the national economy.   Wang and Zhou also worried that continuing resistance would strengthen the Communists and that genuine international aid would not arrive, at least not soon. After Nazi Germany occupied Czechoslovakia, Wang briefly hoped for the formation of an antifascist democratic alliance. Yet the Munich Agreement disappointed him. Viewing Western democracies as culturally imperialist, he doubted they would jeopardize their relations with Japan, another imperial power, on China's behalf. This view was reinforced by Zhou Fohai and other China specialists who had recently joined Wang's circle; they argued that China would fall unless the international situation shifted dramatically. Their forecast would prove accurate only after Pearl Harbor.   In the end, Wang longed for decisive action. He had been sidelined since the government's move to Wuhan. At the GMD Provisional National Congress in Hankou (March 29–April 1), the party resolved to restore Chiang Kai-shek to near-total control by reasserting the authoritarian zongcai system. The Congress also established the People's Political Council as a nominal nod to democracy, but it remained largely consultative. Wang was elected deputy director and chairman of the council, yet he clearly resented the position. Jiang Tingfu described Wang's Hankou mood as "somewhat resentful," recognizing the role as largely ceremonial. More optimistic observers attributed his dismay to the return of dictatorship, and he likely felt increasingly useless. Since the Mukden Incident, Wang had prioritized party unity and been content to play a secondary role to Chiang, but inaction did not fit his sense of historical purpose. It was Zhou Fohai who urged Wang to risk his reputation for a greater cause, presenting a calculated nudge to someone susceptible to idealism. A longing to find meaning through action may have finally pushed him toward a fateful decision. As Chen Bijun bluntly told Long Yun, her husband "was merely an empty shell in Chongqing and could contribute nothing to the country; thus he wanted to change his surroundings."   Wang considered staying abroad as a serious option amid the Hanoi uncertainty. Gao Zongwu had previously told Japanese negotiators that if Konoe's stance did not satisfy Wang, he might head to France. Chongqing echoed this possibility. On December 29, Ambassador Guo Taiqi, acting on Chiang's orders, telegraphed Wang suggesting he go to Europe "to take a break." It would have offered a graceful exit. Kagesa recommended Hanoi as Wang Jingwei's midway station because, as a French colony, it offered a relatively safe environment. Only the French were armed there, and several members of the extended Wang family had grown up in France, enabling them to communicate with the colonial authorities.   After Wang departed for Hanoi, Long Yun hesitated for weeks. On December 20, he telegraphed Chiang, saying Wang had paused in Kunming on the way to Hanoi to seek medical treatment. Knowing this was untrue, Chiang replied on December 27 with a stern warning about Japan's unreliability, a message that appeared to have persuaded Long. A day later, Long urged leniency for Wang. Following Wang's publication of the "yan telegram," public anger likely pushed Long toward a final decision. On January 6, he informed Chiang of a letter from Wang delivered by Chen Changzu, and he noted that the Wangs were considering the French option, but recommended allowing Wang to return to Chongqing to show leniency and to enable surveillance.   Chiang replied two days later that Wang would be better off going to Europe. The extended Wang family resided in two Western-style mansions at 25 and 27 Rue Riz Marché, surrounded by high walls. On February 15, Chongqing's envoy Gu Zhengding brought their passports to Hanoi. Accounts differed on what happened next. One version had Wang offering to travel abroad if Chongqing accepted his proposal to start peace talks; if Chongqing remained indecisive, he would return to voice his dissent. Another version claimed Gu's primary task was to bring Wang back to Chongqing, which Wang declined, preferring France.   Although the French option was gaining favor, the Wang circle continued to explore other avenues. In early 1939, secret contacts with the Japanese government persisted, though not always in a coordinated way. Chiang's intelligence advised that the Wang group was forming networks in Shanghai and especially Hong Kong, with Gao Zongwu playing a central role. On February 1, Gao returned from Hong Kong and stayed for five days, finding Wang in a despondent mood. Wang asked Gao to pass along a few letters to Japanese leaders urging the creation of a unified Chinese government to earn the Chinese people's understanding and trust. Wang believed his actions would serve the best interests of both China and Japan. On March 18, the Japanese consulate in Hong Kong informed Gao that funding for the Wang group would come from China's customs revenues that Japan had seized.   Meanwhile, Chiang Kai-shek sensed a shift in the war's direction. On February 10, Japan seized Hainan, China's southernmost major island. The next day, Chiang held a press conference describing the development as "the Mukden Incident of the Pacific." He warned that Japan's ambitions could threaten British and French colonial interests and U.S. maritime supremacy. Gao Zongwu read the speech and concluded that Chiang's outlook had brightened.   For three months, the Wang circle met frequently to weigh options. The prominent writer and scholar Zhou Zuoren, who had already accepted a collaborationist post as head of the Beiping library, warned Tao Xisheng, saying "Don't do it," signaling his misgivings about collaborating with Japan based on his reading of Japanese politics. As Zhou observed, many young Japanese militarists did not even respect General Ugaki, let alone a foreign leader.   Then the assassination of Zeng Zhongming, Wang's secretary and protégé, abruptly altered the meaning of Wang's mission. The Wang group was deeply unsettled by Zeng Zhongming's assassination. The event came as a shock. On March 20, Gu Zhengding's second Hanoi visit concluded. Allegedly Gu delivered passports and funds for a European excursion. On a bright spring day, the entire Wang family enjoyed a lighthearted outing to Three Peaches Beach, only to be halted by a French officer who warned they were being followed. During their afternoon rest, a man posing as a painter, sent by the landlord to measure rooms for payment, appeared at the door and was turned away when he insisted on entering every room. More than twenty people in the household, none were armed.   Since January, Hanoi had been a hive of BIS activity. The ringleader was Chen Gongshu, a veteran operative under spymaster Dai Li, though Chen's recollections clashed with those of other witnesses, leaving the exact sequence unclear. Chen claimed their role was intelligence and surveillance until March 19, when an unsigned telegram from Dai Li ordered, "Severest punishment to the traitor Wang Jingwei, immediately!" The mission supposedly shifted. The Wang family was followed the next day but evaded capture in traffic, prompting a raid on the house. Reports varied: some said Wang resided on the second floor of No. 27; others suggested he lived in No. 25, with No. 27 used for day guests. The force entered the courtyard, forced open the door to Wang's room, and a getaway car waited outside. Chen, in the car, heard gunshots: initial shots toward a downstairs figure, then three shots through a bedroom door hacked open with an axe, aimed at a figure beneath the bed, believed to be Wang Jingwei. The team drove off after four to five minutes. Vietnamese police soon detained three killers who lingered in the courtyard and even listened in on a hospital call. Chen didn't realize the target had been misidentified until the next afternoon. Some BIS records suggested Wang and Zeng Zhongming had swapped bedrooms that night, a detail Chen doubted. Chen did not mention a painter's earlier visit.   There were competing accounts of the event with their numerous inconsistencies that fueled conspiracy theories. Jin Xiongbai outlined three possibilities: (1) the killers killed the "wrong person" as a warning to Wang Jingwei; (2) they killed Zeng to provoke Wang toward collaboration; or (3) the episode was always part of a broader Chiang-Wang collaboration plan.   In any case, Dai Li showed unusual leniency toward Chen Gongshu, who was never punished and later led the Shanghai station. After Dai Li's agent Li Shiqun was captured in 1941, Li not only spared Chen's life but recruited him on a double-agent basis for the remainder of the war, with Chen retiring to Taiwan. Chiang Kai-shek never discussed the case publicly or in his diary, and his silence was perhaps the strongest indication that he ordered the killing.   I would like to take this time to remind you all that this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Please go subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry after that, give my personal channel a look over at The Pacific War Channel at Youtube, it would mean a lot to me. Wang Jingwei, once a key figure in China's resistance against Japan, grew disillusioned with Chiang Kai-shek's scorched-earth tactics during the Second Sino-Japanese War. Amid devastating events like the Yellow River flood and Changsha fire, which caused immense civilian suffering, Wang joined a peace faction advocating negotiation. Secret talks with Japanese officials led to his defection in 1938. He fled Chongqing to Hanoi, where an assassination attempt, likely ordered by Chiang, killed his secretary Zeng Zhongming instead.   

People are often shocked when you tell them that Phoenix is the 5th largest city in America. You can pick nits about metropolitan statistical areas, but it's clear that Arizona is not the Old West outpost people thought it was back in the day. So how many people actually live in Phoenix?  This week on Valley 101, a podcast about metro Phoenix and beyond, we talk with the Republic's development reporter about some of the reasons that growth, while still happening in Arizona, may be slowing down.  ⁠Submit your question⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ about Phoenix! Subscribe to ⁠The Watchlist⁠, our Friday media newsletter. Follow us on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠X⁠⁠⁠,⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Guests: Corina Vanek Host: ⁠Bill Goodykoontz⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Producer: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Tori Weiss Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jeff & Shannon expose FAKE NEWS & FAKE MAGA on Notice; President Trump Press Conference live, dismantling MSM distortions and poser tactics while Trump delivers massive Iran wins—95% drone drop, navy sunk, Strait reopening push. Tune in at Rumble, YouTube, X and Red State Talk Radio now! Patriots, lock and load—@intheMatrixxx and @shadygrooove tear into Season 8 Episode 48: "FAKE NEWS & FAKE MAGA on Notice; President Trump Press Conference", calling out the relentless mainstream media spin and fake MAGA voices spreading defeatism or division right as President Trump drops undeniable truth from his high-stakes press conference ahead of the Trump-Kennedy Center board meeting. Trump lays out crushing military successes against Iran: ballistic missile launches slashed by 90%, drone attacks down 95%, over 100 naval vessels destroyed, Iran's air force and navy obliterated, turning their threats into a paper tiger while pushing allies to help reopen the vital Strait of Hormuz for global energy security. Amid AI-fueled disinformation hoaxes and buried victories, Jeff and Shannon deliver unfiltered breakdowns, exposing infiltrators posing as patriots and highlighting how real America First momentum forces the posers into the open. The truth is learned, never told. The constitution is your weapon. Tune in at noon-0-five Eastern LIVE to stand with Trump MG Show: America First MAGA Podcast & Conservative Talk Show Launched in 2019 and now in Season 8, the MG Show is your go-to source for unfiltered truth on Trump policies, border security, economic nationalism, and exposing globalist psyops. Hosted by Jeffrey Pedersen (@InTheMatrixxx) and Shannon Townsend (@ShadyGrooove), it champions sovereignty, traditional values, and critiques of establishment politics. Tune in weekdays at 12pm ET / 9am PT for patriotic insights strengthening the Republic under President Trump's America First agenda. Correspond: MG SHOW POST OFFICE BOX 299 PMB #19215 Tangent, Oregon 97389 Talent - Jeffrey Pedersen (@InTheMatrixxx): Expert in political analysis and exposing hidden agendas, with a focus on Trump's diplomatic wins and media bias. - Shannon Townsend (@ShadyGrooove): Delivers sharp insights on intelligence operations, Constitutional rights, and defenses of Trump's strategies against mainstream critiques. Where to Watch & Listen Catch live episodes or on-demand replays packed with MAGA victories like inflation drops, border awards, Trump pardons, and psyop exposures: - Live Streams: https://rumble.com/mgshow for premium America First content. - Radio: https://mgshow.link/redstate on Red State Talk Radio. - X Live: https://x.com/inthematrixxx for real-time pro-Trump discussions. - Podcasts: Search "MG Show" on PodBean, Apple Podcasts, Pandora, and Amazon Music. - YouTube: Full episodes at https://youtube.com/c/inthematrixxx and https://www.youtube.com/c/TruthForFreedom. Follow for daily pro-Trump alerts: - X: @InTheMatrixxx (https://x.com/inthematrixxx) and @ShadyGrooove (https://x.com/shadygrooove). Support the MG Show Fuel the MAGA movement against establishment lies: - Donate: https://mg.show/support or contribute at https://givesendgo.com/helpmgshow. - Merch: https://merch.mg.show for official gear. - MyPillow Special: Use code MGSHOW at https://mypillow.com/mgshow. - Crypto: https://mgshow.link/rumblewallet. All Links Everything MG Show Related: https://linktr.ee/mgshow. MG Show Anthem Get chills with the patriotic track: https://youtu.be/SyfI8_fnCAs

On Monday's Football Daily, David Wilson brings you news from the League of Ireland, Premier League and the international game.Preview of Monday's League of Ireland Premier Division fixtures as the St. Patrick's weekend double-header continues.St. Patrick's Athletic host Derry City at Richmond Park with the hosts chasing a fifth straight win.Pressure mounting on Derry boss Tiernan Lynch after Friday's 2–1 defeat to Shelbourne.St. Pats head coach Stephen Kenny urges his in-form side to stay grounded despite their winning run.Northside Dublin derby at Tolka Park as Shelbourne face Bohemians, with Bohs looking to hold top spot.Drogheda United attempt to halt a three-game losing streak when Shamrock Rovers visit Sullivan and Lambe Park.Dundalk carry momentum from their 5–0 win over Waterford into a clash with struggling Sligo Rovers.Galway United welcome bottom side Waterford to Eamonn Deacy Park in the night's late kick-off.Waterford strengthen their defence by signing former Republic of Ireland international Kevin Long.Troy Parrott shines for AZ Alkmaar with a goal and two assists ahead of this week's Ireland squad announcement.Manchester United beat Aston Villa 3–1, boosting their push for Champions League qualification under Michael Carrick.Tottenham Hotspur grab a late point at Liverpool, with Richarlison cancelling out Dominik Szoboszlai's opener.Real Madrid welcome back Kylian Mbappé and Jude Bellingham ahead of their Champions League clash with Manchester City.Plus updates from the Premier League, Scotland, international squads and the latest World Cup controversy involving IranBecome a member and sign up at offtheball.com/join

2. Lucretia and the Birth of the Republic (3)Southon explains that while most women can be removed from Roman history without much change, Lucretia is essential to the story of the Republic. During a "best wife" competition, Lucretia was found weaving wool, a sign of extreme domestic virtue, while other elite women were drinking wine. After being assaulted by the king's son, Sextus, she committed suicide to ensure her name would never be used to excuse unvirtuous behavior. Her family, led by Brutus, used her body to incite a revolution that overthrew the monarchy and established the Roman Republic. (4)

. Cicero's Rhetorical Attack on Clodia (7)In the late Republic, the orator Ciceroengaged in a bitter feud with the wealthy and influential Clodia. During the trial of Caelius, Cicero launched a devastating character assassination, branding Clodia the "Palatine Medea" and accusing her of prostitution and murder. Southon emphasizes that because women were barred from speaking in court, Clodia was defenseless against these public insinuations. Cicero even edited his own speeches before passing them to history to ensure his version of events remained the dominant narrative, regardless of the truth of his claims. (8)

Eric and Eliot continue to wrestle with the ongoing Iran war, examining the media coverage surrounding it, the tactical successes the joint forces have had, the inexplicable failure to provide counter-drone defense to US forces, the baffling inattention to mine storage facilities that may have led to mines being seeded in the Gulf, and the enormous expenditure of munitions that may leave the US vulnerable if military operations were required in other theaters. They also discuss how the war might be concluded, likely downstream consequences, and the prospect that President Trump may shift his focus to Cuba, where President Diaz-Canel has confirmed that quiet negotiations with the US have been going on for some time.Eliot's Latest in The Atlantic on Air Campaigns (Gift Link):https://www.theatlantic.com/national-security/2026/03/air-campaign-military-primer/686294/?gift=KGDC3VdV8jaCufvP3bRsPqEbYdfKy52g6Ojp5VlDiRo&utm_source=copy-link&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=shareShield of the Republic is a Bulwark podcast co-sponsored by the Miller Center of Public Affairs at the University of Virginia.

“You would not want to be me.” — Elon MuskYesterday I argued that Dario Amodei is the most interesting man in America because he's doing something nobody else has the balls to do: acting like a human being in public. Elon Musk is the opposite. He has the balls — nobody would deny that — but what's missing is the human-being. Or perhaps Elon is all-too-human, which explains why so many of us — including myself — loathe him.Charles Steel, a London investor, doesn't loathe Elon. In fact, he's self-published a book about him: The Curious Mind of Elon Musk: Nine Ways He Thinks Differently. Rather than an Elon hagiography, Steel insists, it's an attempt to explain why Musk admirers don't fully understand him, and the Hate-Elon crowd would probably loathe him for different reasons even if they had full navigation rights to his mind.As I said, I'm in the second camp. My dislike of Musk is political — the cosying up to Trump, the DOGE fiasco, the embrace of far-right groups, the transformation of Twitter into a safe space for misanthropes. But Steel makes a case that, in our therapeutic culture, might be harder for some to dismiss: Musk's “curious mind” is the product of childhood bullying, high-functioning autism, an abusive father, and an existential crisis resolved not by philosophy but by The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Apparently Elon read Nietzsche and that, of course, only compounded his existential crisis. Probably because Nietzsche was warning us about a future dominated by philistines like Elon Musk.In navigating the Musk mind, Steel discovers three traits: hyper-rationality, existential angst, and belligerence. Lots of Silicon Valley founders have the first. Some have the second. Almost none have the third. The combination produces a man who genuinely believes that the scientific method — the right of anyone to criticize anything — is a secular religion, and that “wokeness” is a competing religion that must be destroyed. Whether or not you buy this self-serving argument, Steel might be right to stress a Musk worldview — even if that worldview is often childishly indefensible.I suggested to Steel that Musk is trapped in a Hobbesian state of nature — frozen alone, unable to read other people, incapable of separating himself from himself. A kind of naturally narcissistic state. This is what I most dislike about Elon. That he's normalizing this state of nature. Nietzsche might (like his contemporary disciple Peter Thiel) have called him the Anti-Christ. He's certainly the anti-Dario. Five Takeaways•       Musk Is the Anti-Dario: Amodei acts like a human being in public. Musk has the balls but what's missing is the human-being. Or perhaps he's all-too-human, which explains why so many of us loathe him. The contrast between them is the story of Silicon Valley in 2026.•       Steel's Case Is Harder to Dismiss Than You'd Think: Musk's “curious mind” is the product of childhood bullying, high-functioning autism, an abusive father, and an existential crisis resolved not by philosophy but by The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. He read Nietzsche and it made things worse. Probably because Nietzsche was warning us about philistines like Musk.•       Three Traits: Hyper-Rationality, Angst, and Belligerence: Lots of Silicon Valley founders have the first. Some have the second. Almost none have the third. The combination produces a man who believes the scientific method is a secular religion and wokeness is a competing one that must be destroyed. Whether or not you buy this self-serving argument, Steel might be right to stress a Musk worldview — even if it's often childishly indefensible.•       Trapped in a Hobbesian State of Nature: Musk is frozen alone, unable to read other people, incapable of separating himself from himself. A kind of naturally narcissistic state. What's most dangerous about Elon is that he's normalising this state of nature for the rest of us.•       The Anti-Christ and the Anti-Dario: Nietzsche might, like his contemporary disciple Peter Thiel, have called Musk the Anti-Christ. He's certainly the anti-Dario. The contrast between Amodei and Musk is the story of Silicon Valley — and perhaps America — in 2026. About the GuestCharles Steel is a London-based investor and writer. He has worked with Tony Blair and Save the Children. His book The Curious Mind of Elon Musk: Nine Ways He Thinks Differently is self-published and out now. His next project is on Albert Camus.References:•       The Curious Mind of Elon Musk: Nine Ways He Thinks Differently by Charles Steel — the book under discussion.•       Episode 2835: Why Dario Amodei Might Be the 21st Century's First Real Leader — yesterday's TWTW, the direct counterpoint.•       Zero to One by Peter Thiel — referenced by Steel on Asperger-like traits and Silicon Valley success.•       The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams — the book Musk credits with resolving his existential crisis.•       The Myth of Sisyphus by Albert Camus — Steel's next project, and the question he'd most like to discuss with Musk.About Keen On AmericaNobody asks more awkward questions than the Anglo-American writer and filmmaker Andrew Keen. In Keen On America, Andrew brings his pointed Transatlantic wit to making sense of the United States — hosting daily interviews about the history and future of this now venerable Republic. With nearly 2,800 episodes since the show launched on TechCrunch in 2010, Keen On America is the most prolific intellectual interview show in the history of podcasting.WebsiteSubstackYouTubeApple PodcastsSpotify Chapters:(00:00) - Introduction: I'm not a great fan of Elon Musk (02:05) - Is Musk on the spectrum? (03:56) - The meaning of life and the philosophy of curiosity (05:58) - Childhood bullying, an abusive father, and Musk as casualty (06:53) - “You would not want to be me” (08:38) - Hobbes, the state of nature, and Musk as pre-social man (10:29) - Should we try to be less normal? (12:15) - Racism, empathy, and the missing human attributes (14:14) - Goebbels comparison: when does curiosity become offensive? (15:52) - Why is it always the right? Musk and wokeness (17:18) - The curious mind as mirror of ou...

Newt talks with Professor Steve Tsang, Director of the SOAS China Institute, about the global impact of the ongoing conflict involving the United States, Israel, and Iran, with a focus on China's perspective. Tsang discusses China's strategic interests in the Middle East, highlighting the region's importance for energy security and its role in China's global strategy under Xi Jinping's leadership. Xi Jinping's ambitions for China are highlighted, including his vision for Chinese global preeminence by 2049, which aligns with the 100th anniversary of the People's Republic of China. The strategic dynamics in the Middle East, particularly regarding Iran's role and the potential consequences of U.S. actions in the region are evaluated. They discuss the U.S. military focus on Iran and the Persian Gulf and whether the U.S. engagement will tip the balance of power around Taiwan, considering China's military readiness and strategic calculations.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Join Eric, @AndrewLongoria, @GeorgeStein, @TimAndrewsHere, @Autopritts, @JaredYamamoto, Greg, and George LIVE on 95.5 WSB from 3pm-7pm as they chat about Hegseth's nonsense, lap dance theft, Arizona rednecks, and so much more! *New episodes of our sister shows: The Popcast with Tim Andrews and The Nightcap with Jared Yamamoto are available as well!

i On our radar this week… © Clay Jones – claytoonz.substack.com In the last week, the list of Donald Trump's broken campaign promises was seemingly endless: beginning with starting a Middle East War and increasing gas prices to go up 60-cents-a-gallon (with the prospect of Four Dollar per gallons looming … maybe even more). The “I will end inflation” guy is now looking at inflation headed in the wrong direction. The man who promised to create manufacturing jobs has given way to the reality of manufacturing job losses. Promises of draining the swamp have taken a multi-billion-dollar detour into the Trump family bank accounts. The long-ago pledge to balance the budget and pay off the national debt have been transformed into record-setting deficits in order to cut taxes for the yachts-and-private-jets crowd. And the promise to release the Epstein Files … well, we all know how that's going. Also this week: We have the tenth special election flip from Republican to Democrat – this time in New Hampshire … as the Trump Train Wreck barrels down the tracks with his polling numbers hitting a new all-time low. His latest political Hail Mary is the SAVE Act which would take away the right to vote from untold hundreds-of-thousands. But his demands are falling on deaf ears on Capitol Hill, with Senate Majority Leader John Thune telling him it ain't gonna happen.  The Trump family has, of course, figured out how to make money from the war. Sonny and Fredo, a.k.a. Don Jr. and Eric, are backing a new drone company that is vying to meet fresh demand from the Pentagon and fill a hole left by the administration's ban on new Chinese drones in the U.S.   Clay Jones – claytoonz.substack.com Trump says the U.S. won the war in the first hour. But they still managed to spend 11-billion dollars after we supposedly had won…and the bombing continues.  It looks like the Gordie Howe Bridge will be putting the Maroun Family into the penalty box. Tolls to cross the not-yet-open bridge will be less than half the fees at the competing Ambassador Bridge for both passenger vehicles and commercial trucks, setting in motion a forthcoming toll war between the two Detroit River crossings. Michigan Democrats are using the Bridge controversy to highlight the financial ties between the Maroun family and GOP Senate candidate Mike Rogers.  In Michigan, Republican candidates for Governor are all calling for pretty much closing most of state government by repealing the income tax, property taxes, or both. Apparently they think things like State Police, prisons, public health, public parks, food safety inspections, mental health and our universities can all be funded with the sales tax, sin taxes, unclaimed bottle deposits, the lottery and the tooth fairy.The state Senate has passed bipartisan legislation to help people deal with medical debt. But its fate is uncertain in the House, where Speaker Matt Hall has very different ideas for addressing medical debt through more transparency in pricing. Petitions have been filed with the state to force a vote in November on a deceptive proposal which, on its face, prohibits non-citizens from voting in Michigan … something that is already a part of state law. Left unstated by the backers are the proposal's impact on voting rights. A longtime chronicler of state government has taken a look behind the proposal of “Americans for Citizens Only Voting.” John Lindstrom has covered state government over the last four decades. Since retiring as publisher of the highly regarded Gongwer Michigan report, he's been a columnist for the Detroit Free Press. John is the newest inductee into the Michigan Journalism Hall of Fame – the ceremony formalizing his induction is a month from now in East Lansing. We’re now on YouTube every week! Click here to subscribe. A Republic, If You Can Keep It is sponsored by ©Clay Jones:claytoonz.substack.com  

At the crisis of his Republic, Plato asks us to imagine what could possibly motivate a philosopher to return to the Cave voluntarily for the benefit of others and at the expense of her own personal happiness. This book shows how Plato has prepared us, his students, to recognize that the sun-like Idea of the Good is an infinitely greater object of serious philosophical concern than what is merely good for me, and thus why neither Plato nor his Socrates are eudaemonists, as Aristotle unquestionably was. With the transcendent Idea of Beauty having been made manifest through Socrates and Diotima, the dialogues between Symposium and Republic—Lysis, Euthydemus, Laches, Charmides, Gorgias, Theages, Meno, and Cleitophon— prepare the reader to make the final leap into Platonism, a soul-stirring idealism that presupposes the student's inborn awareness that there is nothing just, noble, or beautiful about maximizing one's own good. While perfectly capable of making the majority of his readers believe that he endorses the harmless claim that it is advantageous to be just and thus that we will always fare well by doing well, Plato trains his best students to recognize the deliberate fallacies and shortcuts that underwrite these claims, and thus to look beyond their own happiness by the time they reach the Allegory of the Cave, the culmination of a carefully prepared Ascent to the Good. William H. F. Altman, having been persuaded by Plato's Republic that Justice requires the philosopher to go back down into the Cave, has devoted his professional life to the cause of public education. Since retiring in 2013, he has been working as an independent scholar on the continuation of Plato the Teacher (2012). Joseph Liss is an independent scholar based in the Puget Sound region of Washington State. He can be reached at Joseph.Nathaniel.Liss@gmail.com. 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

Stalinism on Trial: Communism and Republican Justice in the Spanish Civil War (Liverpool University Press, 2025) is a history of Communism and anti-Communism in the Spanish Civil War. It uses newly available archival material to reassess Soviet intervention in Spain and reappraise the role of Premier Juan Negrín. How did the Soviet operation affect attempts to rebuild the Republican justice system that the war had shattered? How did Negrín use the courts to combat wartime espionage and treason in the era of the Soviet mass repressions? How did wartime trials communicate politics, both domestic and international? Finally, how have Cold War politics distorted our understanding of Communism in the Spanish Civil War? Stalinism on Trial traces the Republic's tribunals through revolution and war, focusing in particular on the prosecution and "show trial" of the anti-Stalin Marxist party, POUM (Partido Obrero de Unificación Marxista), in whose militia George Orwell served. This small party was thrown onto centre stage when police arrested its leadership on suspicion of espionage and its leader, Andreu Nin, disappeared while in police custody. The ensuing prosecution and dramatic courtroom trial highlighted the contradictions of Soviet intervention in Spain. It also illustrated the disastrous impact that western anti-Communism and appeasement had on Spain's war effort. The book is at once a penetrating microhistory of the POUM's prosecution and an expansive transnational history of antifascism in interwar Europe. Jonathan Sherry is a historian and writer who holds a PhD from the University of Pittsburgh. 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

At the crisis of his Republic, Plato asks us to imagine what could possibly motivate a philosopher to return to the Cave voluntarily for the benefit of others and at the expense of her own personal happiness. This book shows how Plato has prepared us, his students, to recognize that the sun-like Idea of the Good is an infinitely greater object of serious philosophical concern than what is merely good for me, and thus why neither Plato nor his Socrates are eudaemonists, as Aristotle unquestionably was. With the transcendent Idea of Beauty having been made manifest through Socrates and Diotima, the dialogues between Symposium and Republic—Lysis, Euthydemus, Laches, Charmides, Gorgias, Theages, Meno, and Cleitophon— prepare the reader to make the final leap into Platonism, a soul-stirring idealism that presupposes the student's inborn awareness that there is nothing just, noble, or beautiful about maximizing one's own good. While perfectly capable of making the majority of his readers believe that he endorses the harmless claim that it is advantageous to be just and thus that we will always fare well by doing well, Plato trains his best students to recognize the deliberate fallacies and shortcuts that underwrite these claims, and thus to look beyond their own happiness by the time they reach the Allegory of the Cave, the culmination of a carefully prepared Ascent to the Good. William H. F. Altman, having been persuaded by Plato's Republic that Justice requires the philosopher to go back down into the Cave, has devoted his professional life to the cause of public education. Since retiring in 2013, he has been working as an independent scholar on the continuation of Plato the Teacher (2012). Joseph Liss is an independent scholar based in the Puget Sound region of Washington State. He can be reached at Joseph.Nathaniel.Liss@gmail.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/literary-studies

“Whether you like Amodei or not, at least he's a leader.” — Andrew KeenDario Amodei is the most interesting man in America right now. Not because he runs a $500 billion company or because he's suing the Trump administration or because Anthropic's Claude topped the iPhone charts. But because he's doing something nobody else in Silicon Valley has the balls to do: he's acting like a human being in public. He has principles, he states them, and he accepts the consequences. That's leadership. It shouldn't be remarkable. In 2026, it is.This week's That Was The Week is about how America both loves and hates AI. An NBC poll found 60–70% of Americans are concerned about AI — making it even less popular than the Democratic Party (quite an achievement). A hundred planned data centers have been cancelled because of local protests. 10,000 authors published an anti AI manifesto at the London Book Fair this week. Each week, in contrast, a billion people used ChatGPT, but these users often seem oblivious to its weaknesses. So Keith's AI-generated video for the show was, by universal agreement (including his own), not going to win an Oscar tomorrow. Except for Most Sloppy AI generated video.Every road this week led back to Amodei who is anything but sloppy. He's become a Rorschach test for the entire industry. Tech progressives Kara Swisher and Scott Galloway are lauding him. The MAGA crowd — including David Sacks, Trump's AI czar — on the All In podcast are doing the opposite. Keith thinks Dario is a naive CEO making bad business decisions — comparing him to his own doomed battle in the late Nineties against Microsoft's Steve Ballmer. It's a fair point. Should a tech CEO really be setting AI policy? Keith's answer is no — that's for people like David Sacks appointed by executive, legislative, and judicial branches. I'm not so sure. In an America defined by its dysfunctional political system, we need leaders like Amodei to take ethical stands. If not, then who?The IPO race this year between Anthropic, OpenAI and xAI makes this particularly interesting. I wonder whether Amodei might use the IPO itself to force a public debate that nobody in government is willing to have. Not just about guardrails or weapons — but about what kind of society AI is building and who gets to decide what does and doesn't get used. Musk, by publicly embracing white racists and other groups of hate, is making his politics clear. Sam Altman, as always, is wearing every hat simultaneously. Amodei, in contrast, knows his hat. Rather than MAGA, it should say: The Most Interesting Man in America. He's got my vote. Even if he's not running for office. Five Takeaways•       AI Is Less Popular Than the Democrats: An NBC poll found 60–70% of Americans are concerned about AI. A hundred data centres have been cancelled due to local protests. 10,000 authors published an anti-AI manifesto at the London Book Fair. Close to a billion people use ChatGPT each week — but the haters are the non-users, and they outnumber the lovers by a wide margin.•       Amodei Is the 21st Century's First Real Leader: He's suing the Trump administration. He's refusing to let Claude be used for autonomous weapons. He's accepting the business consequences. Keith thinks he's naive. I think he's the only person in Silicon Valley acting like a human being in public. The debate between us is the show.•       Keith Compares Amodei to His Own Doomed Battle Against Ballmer: In the late Nineties, Keith fought Microsoft with RealNames and lost. He sees Amodei on the same trajectory — noble, principled, already finished. I compared Keith to Pete Hegseth declaring the Iranian regime defeated. The MAGA crowd on All In, including Trump's AI czar David Sacks, agree with Keith. That alone should give him pause.•       The IPO Race Will Force the Debate: Anthropic, OpenAI and xAI are all expected to go public this year. Amodei could use the IPO to force a conversation about what kind of society AI is building — a conversation nobody in government is willing to have. Musk is making his politics clear by embracing white racists. Altman is wearing every hat. Amodei knows his.•       In the Absence of Leadership, Fear Thrives: Keith's best point of the week. Nobody is setting AI policy. The politicians are clowns. The tech CEOs are children. In the vacuum, fear wins. Amodei is trying to fill it. Whether he succeeds or not, at least he's trying. That's more than anyone else can say. About the GuestKeith Teare is the publisher of That Was The Week and co-founder of SignalRank. He is a serial entrepreneur, former CEO of RealNames, and a regular sparring partner on Keen On America.References:•       That Was The Week: AI Loved and Hated — Keith Teare's editorial.•       Rex Woodbury, “Why Does Everybody Hate AI?” — Digital Native.•       Josh Dzieza, The Verge — on lawyers, PhDs, and scientists in the AI gig economy.•       Noah Smith — “Something Feels Weird About This Economy.”•       Meta's acquisition of Moltbook — the AI agent social network.About Keen On AmericaNobody asks more awkward questions than the Anglo-American writer and filmmaker Andrew Keen. In Keen On America, Andrew brings his pointed Transatlantic wit to making sense of the United States — hosting daily interviews about the history and future of this now venerable Republic. With nearly 2,800 episodes since the show launched on TechCrunch in 2010, Keen On America is the most prolific intellectual interview show in the history of podcasting.WebsiteSubstackYouTubeApple PodcastsSpotify Chapters:(00:00) - Introduction: AI loved and hated (01:17) - NBC poll: AI less popular than the Democrats (03:10) - Rex Woodbury and the haters: is it really AI people hate? (04:21) - AI slop and Keith's terrible video (07:28) - The adoption curve: AI companies are isolated from mainstream opinion (07:51) - Dario Amodei as the answer to both lovers and haters (10:14) - Keith vs Ballmer redux: why Amodei has already lost (12:09) - OpenAI and Google employees rush to Anthropic's defense (14:24) - Woodbury, The Verge, and AI taking jobs (16:51) - Keith's Apple TV app: vibe coded in a weekend (19:29) - AI will destroy universities: cheating at apocalyptic levels (21:41) - Noah Smith: something feels weird about this economy (27:00) - The IPO race: Anthropic, OpenAI, SpaceX (30:42) - Could Amodei blow up the IPO proce...

Stalinism on Trial: Communism and Republican Justice in the Spanish Civil War (Liverpool University Press, 2025) is a history of Communism and anti-Communism in the Spanish Civil War. It uses newly available archival material to reassess Soviet intervention in Spain and reappraise the role of Premier Juan Negrín. How did the Soviet operation affect attempts to rebuild the Republican justice system that the war had shattered? How did Negrín use the courts to combat wartime espionage and treason in the era of the Soviet mass repressions? How did wartime trials communicate politics, both domestic and international? Finally, how have Cold War politics distorted our understanding of Communism in the Spanish Civil War? Stalinism on Trial traces the Republic's tribunals through revolution and war, focusing in particular on the prosecution and "show trial" of the anti-Stalin Marxist party, POUM (Partido Obrero de Unificación Marxista), in whose militia George Orwell served. This small party was thrown onto centre stage when police arrested its leadership on suspicion of espionage and its leader, Andreu Nin, disappeared while in police custody. The ensuing prosecution and dramatic courtroom trial highlighted the contradictions of Soviet intervention in Spain. It also illustrated the disastrous impact that western anti-Communism and appeasement had on Spain's war effort. The book is at once a penetrating microhistory of the POUM's prosecution and an expansive transnational history of antifascism in interwar Europe. Jonathan Sherry is a historian and writer who holds a PhD from the University of Pittsburgh. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/russian-studies

At the crisis of his Republic, Plato asks us to imagine what could possibly motivate a philosopher to return to the Cave voluntarily for the benefit of others and at the expense of her own personal happiness. This book shows how Plato has prepared us, his students, to recognize that the sun-like Idea of the Good is an infinitely greater object of serious philosophical concern than what is merely good for me, and thus why neither Plato nor his Socrates are eudaemonists, as Aristotle unquestionably was. With the transcendent Idea of Beauty having been made manifest through Socrates and Diotima, the dialogues between Symposium and Republic—Lysis, Euthydemus, Laches, Charmides, Gorgias, Theages, Meno, and Cleitophon— prepare the reader to make the final leap into Platonism, a soul-stirring idealism that presupposes the student's inborn awareness that there is nothing just, noble, or beautiful about maximizing one's own good. While perfectly capable of making the majority of his readers believe that he endorses the harmless claim that it is advantageous to be just and thus that we will always fare well by doing well, Plato trains his best students to recognize the deliberate fallacies and shortcuts that underwrite these claims, and thus to look beyond their own happiness by the time they reach the Allegory of the Cave, the culmination of a carefully prepared Ascent to the Good. William H. F. Altman, having been persuaded by Plato's Republic that Justice requires the philosopher to go back down into the Cave, has devoted his professional life to the cause of public education. Since retiring in 2013, he has been working as an independent scholar on the continuation of Plato the Teacher (2012). Joseph Liss is an independent scholar based in the Puget Sound region of Washington State. He can be reached at Joseph.Nathaniel.Liss@gmail.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/intellectual-history

At the crisis of his Republic, Plato asks us to imagine what could possibly motivate a philosopher to return to the Cave voluntarily for the benefit of others and at the expense of her own personal happiness. This book shows how Plato has prepared us, his students, to recognize that the sun-like Idea of the Good is an infinitely greater object of serious philosophical concern than what is merely good for me, and thus why neither Plato nor his Socrates are eudaemonists, as Aristotle unquestionably was. With the transcendent Idea of Beauty having been made manifest through Socrates and Diotima, the dialogues between Symposium and Republic—Lysis, Euthydemus, Laches, Charmides, Gorgias, Theages, Meno, and Cleitophon— prepare the reader to make the final leap into Platonism, a soul-stirring idealism that presupposes the student's inborn awareness that there is nothing just, noble, or beautiful about maximizing one's own good. While perfectly capable of making the majority of his readers believe that he endorses the harmless claim that it is advantageous to be just and thus that we will always fare well by doing well, Plato trains his best students to recognize the deliberate fallacies and shortcuts that underwrite these claims, and thus to look beyond their own happiness by the time they reach the Allegory of the Cave, the culmination of a carefully prepared Ascent to the Good. William H. F. Altman, having been persuaded by Plato's Republic that Justice requires the philosopher to go back down into the Cave, has devoted his professional life to the cause of public education. Since retiring in 2013, he has been working as an independent scholar on the continuation of Plato the Teacher (2012). Joseph Liss is an independent scholar based in the Puget Sound region of Washington State. He can be reached at Joseph.Nathaniel.Liss@gmail.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Americans had established schools, hospitals, and businesses in China prior to the 1949 triumph of the Communists under Mao. What would be the fate of these institutions and their staff under the new dispensation? In his latest research, Dr. Sanjiao Tang, fellow at the National Library of Australia, explores the actions and reactions of Americans facing the advent of the People's Republic of China. Using the DuPont firm as a representative American business of the period, Sanjiao finds that most Americans had a “wait and see” attitude toward Mao's initial triumph. DuPont China only shut down its Shanghai headquarters a year after the Communist victory, doing so shortly before a wave of Anti-American sentiment expropriated the remaining American institutions in China. In support of his research, Dr. Sanjiao received funding from the Center for the History of Business, Technology, and Society at the Hagley Museum and Library. For more information, and more Hagley History Hangouts, visit us online at hagley.org. To make a donation underwriting this program and others like it please visit our Eventbrite page: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/underwriting-donation-tickets-1470779985529?aff=oddtdtcreator

Dylan is back to cap off another busy week, and he wastes no time getting into the must-watch Bravo episodes from this week. To start, he dives deep on the newly-revived Ladies of London, with a huge cast of personalities that are already getting quite messy. Is this Bravo's next big hit? Speaking of premieres, he also unpacks the start of Southern Hospitality's fourth season, which finds the Republic crew in the middle of more drama than ever in the wake of last season's epic reunion. Later, he recaps the season finale of Southern Charm, and questions whether Charley and Salley's so-called friendship is really worth saving at this point. After some quick thoughts on Summer House (team Bailey!), Dylan wraps things up in Tuscany with the RHOBH cast. Now that Amanda and Dorit have hashed it out once again, will things improve? Go to the BravoByBetches YouTube page to watch full length episodes every Tuesday & Friday: Youtube.com/@BravoByBetches Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this week's edition of the Football Interview, Kelly Somers speaks to Brentford and Republic of Ireland captain Nathan Collins. They discuss his journey into football coming from a footballing family and moving to England at the age of 15 to join Stoke City's academy. He talks about being the first in his family to play for Republic of Ireland and their chances of making the World Cup this summer. He also speaks about life at Brentford under Keith Andrews. 0'30 - First memories of playing football and always being around football 1'30 - Could he have ended up in Gaelic football and first football team 2'40 - His first big break and coming over to England at 15 3'53 - What game would he relive? 5'00 - Has he allowed himself to think about making the play off with Ireland? 5'30 - Keith Andrews coming in and his relationship with him 6'45 - What was he like as a youngster and family 8'36 - How he spends his spare time 9'40 - What do people get wrong about him? 10'49 - What would he be if he wasn't a footballer? 11'00 - Post football 12'00 - Proudest moment and what else he wants to achieve

Southern Hospitality season 4 episode 2 Joe Bradley has a delusional level of importance and it's very Michael Scott coded JOIN THE SHE'S SPEAKING PATREON! https://www.patreon.com/shesspeaking SUBSCRIBE TO MY YOUTUBE CHANNEL -  https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCxspMsBruMQjN265ZGNoV1A BUY ME A COFFEE - https://www.buymeacoffee.com/shesspeaking FOLLOW ME ON SOCIAL: @shesspeakingwithemilyhanks Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/shesspeakingwithemilyhanks Threads - https://www.threads.net/@shesspeakingwithemilyhanks Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Are Brett and Eric Weinstein principled outsiders — or architects of a technocratic reboot of America? Investigative journalist Johnny Vedmore joins Courtenay Turner for a deep-dive into the documented trail of connections, papers, and associations that reveal what the Weinstein brothers are actually building — and who they are building it for. In this episode:

Jeff & Shannon expose escalating Iran strikes under "NO MERCY," rising Islamist terror threats in the USA, and deep dives into bloodlines. Shredding MSM lies live—tune in at Rumble, YouTube, X and Red State Talk Radio now! Patriots, strap in—today's firestorm hits hard as @intheMatrixxx and @shadygrooove power through Season 8 Episode 047: “‘NO MERCY' Iran Strikes Continue, Islamist Terror in USA; Part 10: Follow the Bloodlines.” With relentless U.S.-Israeli airstrikes pounding Iranian military sites, airbases, and infrastructure under Secretary Hegseth's "no mercy" vow, the regime reels while retaliating against Gulf states and shipping lanes—question the official spin as oil prices surge and global tensions explode. At home, fresh reports of Islamist-inspired incidents, from attempted bombings to potential lone-wolf threats tied to overseas chaos, raise alarms about domestic security and open-border vulnerabilities. Jeff and Shannon cut through the noise, connecting dots on these escalating threats and tracing deeper patterns in Part 10's bloodlines focus, delivering unfiltered analysis that challenges every mainstream narrative. The truth is learned, never told—the constitution is your weapon. Tune in at noon-0-five Eastern LIVE to stand with Trump! MG Show: America First MAGA Podcast & Conservative Talk Show Launched in 2019 and now in Season 8, the MG Show is your go-to source for unfiltered truth on Trump policies, border security, economic nationalism, and exposing globalist psyops. Hosted by Jeffrey Pedersen (@InTheMatrixxx) and Shannon Townsend (@ShadyGrooove), it champions sovereignty, traditional values, and critiques of establishment politics. Tune in weekdays at 12pm ET / 9am PT for patriotic insights strengthening the Republic under President Trump's America First agenda. Correspond: MG SHOW POST OFFICE BOX 299 PMB #19215 Tangent, Oregon 97389 Talent - Jeffrey Pedersen (@InTheMatrixxx): Expert in political analysis and exposing hidden agendas, with a focus on Trump's diplomatic wins and media bias. - Shannon Townsend (@ShadyGrooove): Delivers sharp insights on intelligence operations, Constitutional rights, and defenses of Trump's strategies against mainstream critiques. Where to Watch & Listen Catch live episodes or on-demand replays packed with MAGA victories like inflation drops, border awards, Trump pardons, and psyop exposures: - Live Streams: https://rumble.com/mgshow for premium America First content. - Radio: https://mgshow.link/redstate on Red State Talk Radio. - X Live: https://x.com/inthematrixxx for real-time pro-Trump discussions. - Podcasts: Search "MG Show" on PodBean, Apple Podcasts, Pandora, and Amazon Music. - YouTube: Full episodes at https://youtube.com/c/inthematrixxx and https://www.youtube.com/c/TruthForFreedom. Follow for daily pro-Trump alerts: - X: @InTheMatrixxx (https://x.com/inthematrixxx) and @ShadyGrooove (https://x.com/shadygrooove). Support the MG Show Fuel the MAGA movement against establishment lies: - Donate: https://mg.show/support or contribute at https://givesendgo.com/helpmgshow. - Merch: https://merch.mg.show for official gear. - MyPillow Special: Use code MGSHOW at https://mypillow.com/mgshow. - Crypto: https://mgshow.link/rumblewallet. All Links Everything MG Show Related: https://linktr.ee/mgshow. MG Show Anthem Get chills with the patriotic track: https://youtu.be/SyfI8_fnCAs

On Friday's Football Daily, David Wilson brings you news from the League of Ireland, the Irish international side and the Premier League.Preview of tonight's League of Ireland Premier Division action, including the live commentary game between St Patrick's Athletic and Drogheda United.Stephen Kenny's St Pat's look to continue their strong start after last week's late win away to Shelbourne FC.Midfielder Barry Baggley discusses his recent form and his partnership with Jamie Lennon in the Pats midfield.Drogheda United attempt to end a difficult run and break their recent scoring drought against St Pat's under manager Kevin Doherty.Live commentary details from Richmond Park with Phil Egan and Richie Towell.Derry City and Shelbourne FC both aim to improve inconsistent starts to the season.Tiernan Lynch reacts to criticism following Derry's defeat to champions Shamrock Rovers.Tactical debate on the LOI Pod as former midfielder Gareth McGlynn questions Derry's defensive setup.League leaders Bohemian FC look to continue their winning run against Galway United at Dalymount Park.John Caulfield's Galway side continue their battle for points, with Patrick Hickey set to face his former club.Winless sides Dundalk FC and Waterford FC meet at Oriel Park in search of their first victory of the season.Troy Parrott scores twice for AZ Alkmaar against Sparta Prague in the UEFA Europa Conference League.European round-up including a win for Robbie Keane's Ferencvárosi TC and Aston Villa's advantage over Lille OSC.Reece James signs a new long-term contract with Chelsea FC.David McGoldrick discusses the possibility of a return to the Republic of Ireland national football team ahead of the upcoming international break.Become a member and sign up at offtheball.com/join

“They all did it. They're all guilty.” — Amy LittlefieldWho killed Roe? Amy Littlefield, the abortion access correspondent at The Nation and big time Agatha Christie fan, has written a true crime book about it. Literally. Killers of Roe treats the death of the constitutional right to abortion as a murder mystery in the Poirot or Miss Marple tradition, complete with suspects, motives, and a forensic reconstruction of the 50-year crime scene. The suspects have Christie-style names: the Racist (Jesse Helms), the Little Brother (James Buckley), the Devout Bureaucrat (Paul Herring), the Closeted Congressman (Bob Bauman), and of course Mr Hyde Amendment himself, Henry Hyde — six foot three, helmet of white hair, serial groper of women who ensured poor women lost access first.The Hyde Amendment is where the crime begins: 1976, a ban on federal funding of abortion. If you're poor, the Supreme Court ruled, that's your problem. The constitutional right exists, but don't expect anyone to pay for it. Surprise surprise. Black women, low-income women, women on Medicaid understood immediately. Democrats and mainstream pro-choice groups took longer to notice. By which time the damage was done — and the playbook established: chip away at access rather than try to ban it outright.Littlefield is more Miss Marple than Poirot — unassuming, persistent, sitting with her suspects for hours until they tell her why they did it. The devout bureaucrat, Paul Herring, spent their interviews trying to convert her to Catholicism. Henry Hyde made a pass at the president of Planned Parenthood during a commercial break on the Phil Donahue show. Bob Bauman — closeted, adopted, alcoholic — confessed to her that his anti-abortion politics may have come from identifying with the unwanted fetus, because that could have been him. These are complicated people doing terrible things for reasons they believe are righteous.And the ending? Littlefield steals it from Murder on the Orient Express. They all did it. Every suspect is guilty — including the Democrats who failed to defend poor women, and the pro-choice movement that didn't fight hard enough for the most vulnerable. Since the Dobbs decision in 2022: 59 excess pregnancy-associated deaths, 500 additional infant deaths, 22,000 additional births. The numbers aren't a Miss Marple mystery. The crime is ongoing. And Trump, who declared himself “very pro-choice” before he appointed the justices who drove the final nail in, is the ultimate opportunist — a fat, orange haired version of Hyde. Murder on the Abortion Express. They all did it. All the men, at least. Five Takeaways•       The Hyde Amendment Is Where the Crime Begins: 1976. A ban on federal funding of abortion. Poor women lost access first. Black women, women on Medicaid understood immediately. Democrats and mainstream pro-choice groups took longer to notice. By which time the playbook was established.•       The Anti-Abortion Movement Stole the Language of Civil Rights: White conservatives who didn't want to think about the harms of white supremacy found an escape valve: their own civil rights movement, with the fetus — almost always imagined as white — as the victim.•       The Suspects Are Complicated. The Crime Is Not: Henry Hyde groped women during commercial breaks. Bob Bauman — closeted, adopted, alcoholic — identified with the unwanted fetus. Paul Herring tried to convert Littlefield to Catholicism. Complicated people, terrible consequences.•       The Numbers Are Real: Since the Dobbs decision in 2022: 59 excess pregnancy-associated deaths. 500 additional infant deaths. 22,000 additional births. The crime is ongoing.•       They All Did It: Littlefield steals her ending from Murder on the Orient Express. Every suspect is guilty — including the Democrats who failed to defend poor women, and the pro-choice movement that didn't fight hard enough for the most vulnerable. All the men, at least. About the GuestAmy Littlefield is the abortion access correspondent at The Nation. Her new book is Killers of Roe: My Investigation into the Mysterious Death of Abortion Rights. She is based in Boston.References:•       Killers of Roe by Amy Littlefield — the book under discussion.•       The Hyde Amendment (1976) — the ban on federal funding of abortion that first stripped access from poor women on Medicaid.•       The Helms Amendment — Jesse Helms' restriction on abortion funding abroad through USAID, leading to thousands of preventable deaths worldwide.•       Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization (2022) — the Supreme Court decision that overturned Roe v. Wade.•       Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie — the structural model for Littlefield's conclusion: they all did it.About Keen On AmericaNobody asks more awkward questions than the Anglo-American writer and filmmaker Andrew Keen. In Keen On America, Andrew brings his pointed Transatlantic wit to making sense of the United States — hosting daily interviews about the history and future of this now venerable Republic. With nearly 2,800 episodes since the show launched on TechCrunch in 2010, Keen On America is the most prolific intellectual interview show in the history of podcasting.WebsiteSubstackYouTubeApple PodcastsSpotify Chapters:

“I can point to things. But is that a systemic explanation? I think there the answer is a little less clear. I mean, surely people need love and all of that, but then there's this risk of just devolving into platitude.” — David SussilloDavid Sussillo is a big time neural reverse engineer. The Stanford brain scientist worked at Google Brain with Geoffrey Hinton, and now is at Meta Reality Labs. What distinguishes Sussillo, however, is not his Silicon Valley good luck, but the bad luck of his origins. In his memoir, Emergent: A Memoir of Boyhood, Computation, and the Mysteries of the Mind, Sussillo begins at the Albuquerque Christian Children's Home — a modern-day orphanage — and the Milton Hershey School, the boarding school endowed by the chocolate magnate for kids with nowhere else to go. Both his parents were addicts. His mom died young. His dad spent his life as an untrained preacher ministering to homeless people on the streets of Albuquerque while managing a lifelong heroin habit.The book's thesis borrows from the science he studies: “emergence” — simple things interacting to produce complex behaviour that none of them could produce alone. His life is both proof of and a challenge to this concept. He made it out. Most of the kids he grew up with didn't. He can point to moments — a gifted-and-talented test in third grade, an aunt and uncle's intervention at nine, a first love in college — but he can't build an explanatory system from these haphazard events. The Sussillo quilt doesn't have an innate pattern. It just has patches.What makes Sussillo unusual as a memoirist is his refusal to sentimentalise. Twenty years of psychotherapy, he confesses, has taught him something most authors never learn: that understanding your own story doesn't mean you've explained it. His science can't explain his childhood either. “The big dirty secret of neuroscience,” he says, “is that we don't really understand much in the ways that people would love us to understand.” The man who reverse-engineers neural networks can't reverse-engineer himself.I asked him whether having children would have been harder than writing the book. Yes, he said. With the book, you can take a break. With kids, you relive things through a very specific way of relating. He and his wife chose not to. His mentors all told him he'd have been great at it. He's not so sure. That honesty — the willingness to say “I don't know” and mean it — runs through everything Sussillo does. He says he's happy, claiming to have found peace with his past. But he still carries the baggage. Who wouldn't? He's just learned to manage it. Emergent, not emerged. Five Takeaways•       From Orphanage to Google Brain: Both parents were heroin addicts. Sussillo grew up in a modern-day orphanage in Albuquerque and then the Milton Hershey School. He went on to work at Google Brain with Geoffrey Hinton, now works at Meta Reality Labs, teaches at Stanford. Most of the kids he grew up with didn't make it.•       Emergence as Autobiography: The book's thesis borrows from the science he studies: simple pieces combining into complicated outcomes. His life is the proof of concept and the counter-example simultaneously. The quilt doesn't have a pattern. It just has patches.•       The Dirty Secret of Neuroscience: The man who reverse-engineers neural networks can't reverse-engineer himself. “We don't really understand much in the ways that people would love us to understand.” Twenty years of therapy taught him more than the science.•       Would Kids Have Been Harder Than the Book? Yes. With the book, you can take a break. With kids, you relive trauma through a very specific way of relating. He and his wife chose not to have children. His mentors told him he'd have been great at it. He's not so sure.•       Emergent, Not Emerged: Sussillo has found peace with his past. He's happy. He still carries the baggage from his childhood. He's just learned how to manage it. The emergence is ongoing. About the GuestDavid Sussillo is a research scientist at Meta Reality Labs and a consulting professor at Stanford University. He previously worked at Google Brain. His memoir is Emergent: A Memoir of Boyhood, Computation, and the Mysteries of the Mind. He grew up in the Albuquerque Christian Children's Home and the Milton Hershey School. He lives in New Mexico.References:•       Emergent: A Memoir of Boyhood, Computation, and the Mysteries of the Mind by David Sussillo — the book under discussion.•       The Albuquerque Christian Children's Home — the group home where Sussillo spent five years of his childhood.•       The Milton Hershey School — founded in 1906 by the Hershey chocolate magnate for children with nowhere else to go. Sussillo spent four years there.•       Google Brain — the lab where Sussillo worked alongside Geoffrey Hinton on the neural network research that became the foundation of modern AI.•       John Conway's Game of Life — the cellular automaton simulation Sussillo cites as an early example of emergence: complicated outcomes from simple rules.About Keen On AmericaNobody asks more awkward questions than the Anglo-American writer and filmmaker Andrew Keen. In Keen On America, Andrew brings his pointed Transatlantic wit to making sense of the United States — hosting daily interviews about the history and future of this now venerable Republic. With nearly 2,800 episodes since the show launched on TechCrunch in 2010, Keen On America is the most prolific intellectual interview show in the history of podcasting.WebsiteSubstackYouTubeApple PodcastsSpotify Chapters:(00:00) - Introduction (01:30) - The Albuquerque Christian Children's Home and Milton Hershey School (03:30) - Why write a memoir? Five years and twenty years of therapy (05:00) - Heroin-addicted parents: the origin story (08:00) - A father as untrained preacher on the streets of Albuquerque (10:00) - Which parent had more impact? (12:00) - The gifted-and-talented test that changed everything (15:00) - From Milton Hershey to Carnegie Mellon: the jump (18:00) - Life falls apart at 23: panic attacks and psychotherapy (21:00) - Neural networks, Google Brain, and the dirty secret of neuroscience (25:00) - Would having kids have been harder than writing the book? (28:00) - The Albanian friend and the beach: what America gets right (31:00) - Silicon...

Substack's Christopher Armitage joins Thom- is there anything more powerful than action- or will the despair win out? Also- veteran war correspondent Phil Ittner joins Thom from Kiev, Ukraine.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Jeff & Shannon expose massive wins in Operation Epic Fury as Iran crumbles, Russia begs for talks, Trump holds firm—plus explosive FBI surveillance revelations, Epstein-Rothschild ties confirmed, ODU shooting timing, and MSM fake news shredded. Tune in at Rumble, YouTube, X and Red State Talk Radio now! Patriots, wake up and lock in—this is war on the deep state and foreign threats! @intheMatrixxx and @shadygrooove rip through the chaos in **S8E46 “Iran on Fire: Russia Begs for Mercy Trump Holds the Line”**, spotlighting Operation Epic Fury's devastating precision strikes that have hammered over 5,000–6,000 targets in Iran, obliterating 90+ vessels including 60+ ships and 30+ mine layers, dismantling IRGC command centers, ballistic missile sites, drone factories, and more with overwhelming U.S. airpower superiority—B-1s, B-2s, F-35s, and beyond—delivering clean, efficient results far from past Middle East quagmires. Russia's frantic calls for the U.S. and Israel to halt operations and negotiate reveal their desperation as Iran's regime reels, leadership possibly compromised, and proxies neutralized—Trump refuses to back down, demanding total resolution on America's terms. The duo slams establishment media's spin, from ABC News peddling unverified Iranian threats to California that Karoline Leavitt swiftly called out as false alarmism, to historical CNN staging tactics designed to manufacture fear. Explosive updates hit hard: FBI whistleblower revelations expose four counterintelligence ops—Crossfire Hurricane, Round River, Plasmic Echo, Arctic Frost—surveilling over 1,200 Trump associates from 2016-2025, treating patriots like foreign spies and violating rights under color of law, with Kash Patel building cases and prepping declassifications. Epstein's accountant confirms Rothschilds among key elite clients paying the financier, validating long-documented financial networks with no Trump ties. Breaking news interrupts with the Old Dominion University shooting—gunman dead, two injured—eerily timed amid these damning FBI drops, raising questions about distraction patterns. From voter roll cleanups removing non-citizens to Britain's ejection of hereditary nobles after centuries, the old guard crumbles. Fear is their weapon—reject it, think independently—the truth is learned, never told; the constitution is your weapon. Tune in at noon-0-five Eastern LIVE to stand with Trump! MG Show: America First MAGA Podcast & Conservative Talk Show Launched in 2019 and now in Season 8, the MG Show is your go-to source for unfiltered truth on Trump policies, border security, economic nationalism, and exposing globalist psyops. Hosted by Jeffrey Pedersen (@InTheMatrixxx) and Shannon Townsend (@ShadyGrooove), it champions sovereignty, traditional values, and critiques of establishment politics. Tune in weekdays at 12pm ET / 9am PT for patriotic insights strengthening the Republic under President Trump's America First agenda. Correspond: MG SHOW POST OFFICE BOX 299 PMB #19215 Tangent, Oregon 97389 Talent - Jeffrey Pedersen (@InTheMatrixxx): Expert in political analysis and exposing hidden agendas, with a focus on Trump's diplomatic wins and media bias. - Shannon Townsend (@ShadyGrooove): Delivers sharp insights on intelligence operations, Constitutional rights, and defenses of Trump's strategies against mainstream critiques. Where to Watch & Listen Catch live episodes or on-demand replays packed with MAGA victories like inflation drops, border awards, Trump pardons, and psyop exposures: - Live Streams: https://rumble.com/mgshow for premium America First content. - Radio: https://mgshow.link/redstate on Red State Talk Radio. - X Live: https://x.com/inthematrixxx for real-time pro-Trump discussions. - Podcasts: Search "MG Show" on PodBean, Apple Podcasts, Pandora, and Amazon Music. - YouTube: Full episodes at https://youtube.com/c/inthematrixxx and https://www.youtube.com/c/TruthForFreedom. Follow for daily pro-Trump alerts: - X: @InTheMatrixxx (https://x.com/inthematrixxx) and @ShadyGrooove (https://x.com/shadygrooove). Support the MG Show Fuel the MAGA movement against establishment lies: - Donate: https://mg.show/support or contribute at https://givesendgo.com/helpmgshow. - Merch: https://merch.mg.show for official gear. - MyPillow Special: Use code MGSHOW at https://mypillow.com/mgshow. - Crypto: https://mgshow.link/rumblewallet. All Links Everything MG Show Related: https://linktr.ee/mgshow. MG Show Anthem Get chills with the patriotic track: https://youtu.be/SyfI8_fnCAs

This is it—the final episode of our season reading Star Wars: The High Republic – Temptation of the Force. Throughout this journey, we've explored the ideals of the Jedi Order, the reach of the Galactic Republic, and the ever-present mystery of the Force. From the Core Worlds to the Outer Rim, the High Republic era reminds us what the galaxy looks like when hope is still shining brightly. In this finale, we complete the reading of the novel together and reflect on the themes that define this era of Star Wars storytelling. The Jedi continue their mission to protect peace and justice across the stars. The Republic continues its quest to unite the galaxy. And the Force continues to guide those who listen. Thank you for joining us for this entire season of Star Wars Audio Archives. May the Force be with you… always.We hope you enjoy today's show. If you liked the show, please give it a five-star rating on whatever platform you use to consume your content. It really does help. If possible, share it with your friends and family. It would be greatly appreciated. And don't forget to favorite the show. That way, you will be notified every time we release a new episode. As always, thank you for taking the time to listen to this podcast. For people with any questions about the show. Please do not hesitate to email us ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@swaa.audio@gmail.com.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ We would love to hear from you. Follow us on our Social Media for more great content.For Merch, Extra Content, and uninterrupted episodes, visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.swaapodcast.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠The story, art, and characters therein are the property of whoever holds the copyright to this material. We do not claim ownership of the source material. This podcast was produced for noncommercial use, to be enjoyed by ourselves, fellow fans, and the original creators as a tribute to Star Wars. Please support the official release.⁠⁠⁠⁠#⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠StarWars ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠#⁠⁠⁠StarWarsPodcast ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠HighRepublic, JediTalk, GalacticJourney, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠TemptationoftheForce,⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ StarWarsUniverse, TheForceIsStrong, SWAAcast, StarWarsAudiobooks, StarWarsFan, StarWarsCommunity, StarWarsLore, GalaxyFarFarAway, StarWarsStories, StarWarsLegends, JediLife, StarWarsLove, StarWarsSaga, StarWarsGeek, ExploreSta⁠⁠⁠⁠rWars⁠⁠⁠,⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

On Thursday's Football Daily, Phil Egan brings you all the fallout from last night's Champions League action, a look ahead to the Irish involvement tonight in Europe, and who could be in with a shout of making the Ireland squad next week.Champions League shock in Madrid – Manchester City suffer a heavy 3–0 defeat away to Real Madrid as Federico Valverde scores a stunning first career hat-trick at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium.Pep Guardiola admits his side face an “uphill battle” to stay in the tie despite Madrid missing stars like Jude Bellingham and Kylian Mbappé.Holders Paris Saint‑Germain punish Chelsea 5–2 in Paris with goals from Ousmane Dembélé and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia despite a spirited fightback from the visitors.Chelsea boss Liam Rosenior takes responsibility for his side's late collapse but insists there were positives against the reigning European champions.Arsenal rescue a 1–1 draw against Bayer Leverkusen thanks to a dramatic late penalty from Kai Havertz.Mikel Arteta says Arsenal must be more clinical in the second leg as the Champions League knockout stage shows its difficulty.Norwegian side Bodø/Glimt make the most of their Arctic home advantage with a dominant 3–0 win over Sporting CP.Europa League action tonight: Aston Villa host Lille OSC as boss Unai Emery demands a return to their usual structure.Relegation-threatened Nottingham Forest juggle domestic survival with Europe as they face FC Midtjylland at the City Ground.Robbie Keane leads Ferencvárosi TC into a tough Europa League tie against SC Braga in Budapest.Conference League spotlight: Troy Parrott and AZ Alkmaar take on SK Slavia Prague while Crystal Palace face AEK Larnaca.Championship roundup: Coventry City edge closer to promotion with a 3–0 win over Preston North End as the Sky Blues go eight points clear at the top.Ireland striker crisis deepens: veteran forward David McGoldrick could make a shock return to the Republic of Ireland national football team squad ahead of the World Cup play-off with Czech Republic national football team.Become a member and sign up at offtheball.com/join

Jeff & Shannon celebrate Trump's energy wins with new Texas refinery slashing costs at the pump, while Operation Epic Fury dismantles Iran's terror machine—no endless quagmire! Shredding globalist spin live. Tune in at Rumble, YouTube, X and Red State Talk Radio now! Patriots, gear up—@intheMatrixxx and @shadygrooove unleash fury in **Season 8 Episode 45: "No Boots, No Quagmire: Trump Saves Families at the Pump While Ending Endless Wars"**, spotlighting how President Trump delivers massive relief for American families hammered by high costs, pushing energy dominance through the historic first new U.S. oil refinery in 50 years opening in Brownsville, Texas—a $300 billion powerhouse deal with Reliance Industries fueling abundance, competition, and lower pump prices amid global chaos. They break down Operation Epic Fury's unstoppable momentum, with over 5,500 targets crushed, Iran's navy, air force, missiles, and terror proxies decimated—no boots on the ground, no drawn-out quagmire draining American blood and treasure—while rejecting MSM narratives spinning temporary market pressures from decisive strikes as failures, instead highlighting smart America-First strategy that protects families, ends endless wars, and returns power to the Iranian people after decades of regime aggression. The duo ties it all to broader wins: inflation holding at 2.4% and trending down under Trump's momentum, economic abundance reprogramming minds from scarcity lies, financial sovereignty via crypto and alternatives like Rumble Wallet breaking big bank control, plus the urgent push for the Save America Act's popular provisions on voter ID, citizenship proof, election integrity, women's sports protection, and safeguarding children. The Constitution is your weapon as they expose historical manipulations and champion real prosperity for hardworking Americans. The truth is learned, never told—tune in at noon-0-five Eastern LIVE to stand with Trump! MG Show: America First MAGA Podcast & Conservative Talk Show Launched in 2019 and now in Season 8, the MG Show is your go-to source for unfiltered truth on Trump policies, border security, economic nationalism, and exposing globalist psyops. Hosted by Jeffrey Pedersen (@InTheMatrixxx) and Shannon Townsend (@ShadyGrooove), it champions sovereignty, traditional values, and critiques of establishment politics. Tune in weekdays at 12pm ET / 9am PT for patriotic insights strengthening the Republic under President Trump's America First agenda. Correspond: MG SHOW POST OFFICE BOX 299 PMB #19215 Tangent, Oregon 97389 Talent - Jeffrey Pedersen (@InTheMatrixxx): Expert in political analysis and exposing hidden agendas, with a focus on Trump's diplomatic wins and media bias. - Shannon Townsend (@ShadyGrooove): Delivers sharp insights on intelligence operations, Constitutional rights, and defenses of Trump's strategies against mainstream critiques. Where to Watch & Listen Catch live episodes or on-demand replays packed with MAGA victories like inflation drops, border awards, Trump pardons, and psyop exposures: - Live Streams: https://rumble.com/mgshow for premium America First content. - Radio: https://mgshow.link/redstate on Red State Talk Radio. - X Live: https://x.com/inthematrixxx for real-time pro-Trump discussions. - Podcasts: Search "MG Show" on PodBean, Apple Podcasts, Pandora, and Amazon Music. - YouTube: Full episodes at https://youtube.com/c/inthematrixxx and https://www.youtube.com/c/TruthForFreedom. Follow for daily pro-Trump alerts: - X: @InTheMatrixxx (https://x.com/inthematrixxx) and @ShadyGrooove (https://x.com/shadygrooove). Support the MG Show Fuel the MAGA movement against establishment lies: - Donate: https://mg.show/support or contribute at https://givesendgo.com/helpmgshow. - Merch: https://merch.mg.show for official gear. - MyPillow Special: Use code MGSHOW at https://mypillow.com/mgshow. - Crypto: https://mgshow.link/rumblewallet. All Links Everything MG Show Related: https://linktr.ee/mgshow. MG Show Anthem Get chills with the patriotic track: https://youtu.be/SyfI8_fnCAs

On Tuesday's Mark Levin Show, Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff calls in to break down his stunning negotiations with the Iranian regime before President Trump made his decision to attack. These meetings were to explore whether a verifiable, enforceable nuclear deal was possible under Trump.  From the outset, the Iranians asserted that uranium enrichment was Iran's inalienable right and declared their large stockpile of enriched material—approximately 22,000 pounds—was off the table for negotiation. This could yield about 11 nuclear bombs if further enriched. Witkoff and Jared Kushner quickly became skeptical of Iran's willingness to make acceptable concessions. These meetings convinced Witkoff and Kushner that Iran had no genuine interest in a civilian nuclear program. Instead, Iran sought to disguise an ongoing research and development effort to maintain enrichment flexibility and breakout capability.  Rejecting the no-enrichment deal revealed their true motivations were not civilian but weapons-oriented, allowing rapid production of enough material for dozens of bombs if unchecked. Witkoff reported these deceptions and unassailable facts to President Trump, who then made a tough, consequential decision in response. Later, our Framers of the Constitution were so brilliant and prescient.  What you see, right now, occurring in Congress, is precisely why the delegates at the Constitutional Convention did not confer war powers on Congress. In fact, the delegates specifically changed the original draft of the Constitution from Congress having the power to make war to the power to declare war. That is, Congress was granted the authority to declare its support for war, not declare war as a condition of making war or going to war.  And it is precisely why declarations of war have never been determinative in whether war is made or not -- since the beginning of our Republic.  It is also why Congress cannot force the commander-in-chief to go to war by the act of declaring war.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

WarRoom Battleground EP 960: Polls Close In Texas For The Future Of Our Republic