Podcasts about Woodrow Wilson

Victor Davis Hanson—fifth-generation rancher in California's San Joaquin Valley, classicist, military historian, Hoover Institution senior fellow, and author of more than two dozen books, including The Case For Trump, The Second World Wars, and The Dying Citizen—joins Peter Robinson to discuss the American founding and its critics.   Drawing on ancient Greece and Rome, Magna Carta, the French Revolution, the Civil War, Woodrow Wilson's administrative state, and the Trump era, Hanson argues that the genius of the American system lies in its difficult but durable structure: checks and balances, ordered liberty, and a Constitution built for flawed human beings. Subscribe to Uncommon Knowledge at hoover.org/uk

A mysterious gentleman who never aged, never ate, and never seemed to die charmed the high society of two centuries — until police found his wine bottles filled with blood.EPISODE BLOG PAGE (includes sources): https://weirddarkness.com/stgermainREAD or DOWNLOAD the full transcript of this episode: https://weirddarkness.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/WD20260625-StGermain.txtFEATURED STORIES IN THIS EPISODE: The mystery surrounding Count St. Germain is more than a little strange. Some think him to be a centuries old vampire. Others believe him to be a time traveler. And still others believe the whole thing to be a complete fraud. (The Vampire Time-Traveler) *** Escaping jail isn't easy, but we'll look at some who did the impossible – escaping the most secure prisons, in the most daring of ways. (History's Most Daring Prison Breaks) *** What would you do if you discovered that the church you attend every Sunday has a dark past that involves hauntings and supernatural phenomena? We'll look at some of the most haunted churches in the United States – perhaps you attend one of them and don't even realize it! (Most Haunted Churches in America) *** Benny Binion was one of the friendliest mobsters in Las Vegas… unless, of course, you made him mad. (Benny Binion, The Nice Guy Brute)CHAPTERS & TIME STAMPS (All Times Approximate)…00:00:00.000 = The Foreboding00:01:46.615 = Show Open00:03:35.546 = St. Germain: The Vampire Time Traveler00:15:55.827 = Daring Prison Breaks ***00:35:47.335 = Benny Binion, The Nice Guy Brute ***00:52:51.426 = Most Haunted Churches in America ***01:00:52.327 = Show Close*** = Begins immediately after inserted ad breakLISTEN ON PODCAST APPS: Look for this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeart Radio, Amazon Music, Pandora, TuneIn Radio, and other podcast apps. Get a list of free listening apps here: https://weirddarkness.com/wdapps*No AI Voices Are Used In The Narration Of This Podcast*SOURCES and RESOURCES:“The Vampire Time-Traveler” by Marcus Lowth for UFO Insight: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/2f2psdnm“History's Most Daring Prison Breaks” by Mike Rothschild for Ranker's Unspeakable Times:https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/2p948z5e“Most Haunted Churches in America” by Rain-Screaming-For-Horror, posted at Vocal.Media:https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/2p8we2se“Benny Binion, The Nice Guy Brute” by Melissa Sartore for Weird History: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/4rczaf27(Over time links may become invalid, disappear, or have different content. I always make sure to give authors credit for the material I use whenever possible. If I somehow overlooked doing so for a story, or if a credit is incorrect, please let me know and I will rectify it in these show notes immediately. Some links included above may benefit me financially through qualifying purchases.)WeirdDarkness® is a registered trademark. Copyright ©2026, Weird Darkness.Originally aired: December, 2021This episode of Weird Darkness moves from an immortal vampire said to haunt two centuries of high society, through history's most audacious prison escapes, into the bloody rise of a Las Vegas gambling kingpin, and ends among the haunted pews of America's churches.It opens in London in the early 1740s, where a man known as the Count of St. Germain charmed the upper classes with flawless violin playing, fluency in several languages, and a habit of handing out diamonds, prompting Horace Walpole — son of Prime Minister Robert Walpole — to describe him in a letter as odd and mad before the Count was arrested on suspicion of spying and released without charge. He surfaced next in Paris as a regular guest of Louis XV, working in a commissioned laboratory on fabric dyes and carrying out discreet missions, while gossip held that he could turn ordinary stones into jewels and had lived for hundreds or thousands of years, even claiming presence at the Council of Nicaea in 325 AD. After reported appearances aiding Catherine the Great in Russia and a friendship with Prince Charles of Hesse-Cassel in Germany, where he was said to die in 1784, the story jumps to early-1900s New Orleans and a wealthy newcomer named Jacques St. Germain, who threw lavish parties yet never ate or drank, claimed descent from the Count, and bore an uncanny resemblance to him. The account turns dark when a woman leapt from his balcony into the street, telling police he had bitten her neck; St. Germain vanished overnight, leaving his belongings behind and several open bottles that proved to hold a mixture of wine and blood.From there the episode trades immortality for ingenuity, walking through the boldest jailbreaks on record. It runs from the 2016 Orange County escape, where Jonathan Tieu, Bac Duong, and Hossein Nayeri cut through walls and rappelled to a sixteen-hour head start, to Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán slipping out of Altiplano through a mile-long lighted tunnel in 2015, and Clinton Correctional inmates David Sweat and Richard Matt crawling through a steam pipe with tools handed over by prison worker Joyce Mitchell. Ted Bundy jumped from a Colorado courthouse library window, John Dillinger bluffed his way out of an Indiana jail with a wooden pistol painted in shoe polish, and yoga master Choi Gap Bok greased himself and squeezed through a six-by-eighteen-inch food slot in thirty-four seconds. The larger breakouts carry heavier counts: three men vanished from Alcatraz in 1962 on a raft of raincoats, more than 480 Taliban prisoners filed out of Kandahar's Sarpoza Prison through a thousand-foot tunnel in 2011, over a thousand Japanese prisoners stormed the wire at Australia's Cowra camp in 1944, and inmates at the Nazi death camp Sobibor killed eleven SS guards with homemade knives before running for the treeline.Next the episode settles in Dallas and then Las Vegas with Lester Ben "Benny" Binion, the cowboy-hatted racketeer who founded the World Series of Poker and shot rival bootlegger Frank Bolding in the neck in 1931, walking away with a two-year suspended sentence and the nickname the Cowboy. He killed gambling competitor Ben Frieden in 1936 and beat the charge after witnesses vanished, ran dice games and bookies out of Dallas hotels for high rollers like Howard Hughes and H.L. Hunt, then moved to Las Vegas in 1946 and turned the Eldorado into the no-limit Horseshoe, laying down the first carpet in a Vegas casino. His feud with Dallas gambler Herbert "the Cat" Noble ran through eleven attempts on Noble's life and killed Noble's wife Mildred with a car bomb before a mailbox blast ended Noble in 1951. Binion died on Christmas Day 1989 and was carried to the cemetery behind six black horses, while his son Ted was found dead in 1998 in a case that convicted Sandy Murphy and Rick Tabish of burglary but acquitted them of the slaying, with the missing silver bullion never recovered.The episode closes inside America's churches, where worship shares the building with the dead. At Most Holy Trinity in Brooklyn, built over a former cemetery, parishioners report the spirit of clerk George Stelz, murdered in 1897, alongside bells that ring on their own and a bloody handprint in the bell tower stairway. The Washington National Cathedral carries the echo of Woodrow Wilson's cane and charred figures from a 1946 fire, while New Orleans' St. Louis Cathedral is tied to voodoo queen Marie Laveau, socialite Delphine Lalaurie, and six men executed on its grounds. At St. Mark's Episcopal in Cheyenne, a Swedish immigrant is said to have sealed his dead coworker inside the unfinished bell tower wall to avoid deportation, and at St. Paul's Chapel in New York — where George Washington prayed on his inauguration day — the spirit of actor George Frederick Cooke is said to wander still, his actual skull having traveled from a Philadelphia medical library and, by lore, onto the stage as a prop in Hamlet.

H.W. Brands explains how, following the massacre in Poland, Roosevelt sought to modify the Neutrality Acts—laws passed in the mid-1930s specifically to prevent the types of economic and travel entanglements that had drawn the U.S.into World War I. Roosevelt argued that providing weapons to Britain and France would allow them to defend themselves, thereby keeping American troops out of the conflict. Lindbergh and anti-interventionist Senators like Burton Wheeler and Robert Borah remained deeply skeptical, believing Roosevelt was being "transactional" and dishonest about his true intent to lead the U.S. into a new European order. Roosevelt countered by attacking his critics early, using the word "isolation" like a "plague" and characterizing their views as well-meaning but ignorant. While some suggested Lindbergh as a potential 1940 Republican presidential candidate, he refused to enter politics, preferring to challenge the president through the airwaves. Roosevelt carefully shaped public opinion, fearing the type of backlash Woodrow Wilson faced for getting too far ahead of the populace. When France fell in just six weeks to the German Blitzkrieg in 1940, Lindbergh felt vindicated, arguing that American troops would have merely been trapped on the beaches. Meanwhile, Winston Churchill manipulated Roosevelt with warnings that a falling British government might surrender its fleet to Germany, successfully pressuring the president to send American destroyers to Britain. (3)1927

Isaiah 30:17 uses the imagery of a banner on a hill to describe visibility, identity, and the reality that what is lifted up becomes a symbol others recognize and respond to. In this devotional, Lynette Kittle reflects on the meaning of the American flag as a national symbol and explores how honoring it connects to gratitude for freedom, sacrifice, and heritage. She emphasizes the flag not just as fabric, but as a representation of unity, history, and the values a nation seeks to uphold. Highlights Isaiah 30:17 uses “banner” imagery to represent identity and visibility. The American flag is presented as a symbol of freedom and national unity. Flags historically represent leadership, belonging, and shared values. The U.S. flag reflects the history and sacrifices tied to national freedom. Symbols can serve as reminders of heritage and collective responsibility. Gratitude for freedom can lead to reflection on God’s providence. National symbols often carry emotional and cultural significance. Honoring heritage can encourage unity and respect within a nation. Join the Conversation Have you experienced a time when God reminded you that He saw your pain, needs, or circumstances? How does knowing that God is El Roi—the God who sees you—change the way you approach difficult seasons? Continue the conversation with the Crosswalk community here: https://forums.crosswalk.com/ Do you want to listen ad-free? When you join Crosswalk Plus, you gain access to exclusive, in-depth Bible study guides, devotionals, sound biblical advice, and daily encouragement from trusted pastors and authors—resources designed to strengthen your faith and equip you to live it out boldly. PLUS ad free podcasts! Sign Up Today! Full Transcript Below: Why Honoring Our Flag Pleases God By Lynette Kittle Bible Reading: “A thousand will flee at the threat of one; at the threat of five you will all flee away, till you are left like a flagstaff on a mountaintop, like a banner on a hill.” - Isaiah 30:17 Individuals and groups have stomped on it, carried it upside down, cut it up, and burned it, yet our nation’s flag keeps on flying and representing to many around the world, even if not to some in the United States, a sign of hope and true freedom. On this 250th Anniversary of the birth of our nation, our American flag is a worldwide symbol of freedom on this earth. Hands down, it is considered the most recognizable flag in the world as a symbol of freedom. When we honor our flag, remembering its history of how God led Christians to establish it, we honor God, because He is accredited with the birth of our nation. “Of course, it’s just a symbol,” notes Dr. Jerry Newcombe, Executive Director of Providence Forum, “but it’s a powerful one. To me, it represents the American story - self-rule under God.” Many who disrespect and spit on our flag do so because they hate the history ascribed to it and our nation’s long-held slogan of being “one nation under God.” Newcombe believes we should honor our flag because it honors God and our country. “A lot of blood was shed defending that flag,” he explains, “and it represents the freedom we enjoy.” Flag Day, celebrated each June 14th, commemorates the day our Continental Congress adopted the original American flag in 1777, made official in 1916 by President Woodrow Wilson. Growing up, many of us in the United States memorized and recited The Pledge of Allegiance, a pledge “written by a Baptist minister in the 1890s, with the ‘under God’ phrase added in the 1950s,” notes Newcombe. The Purpose of Flags Used primarily throughout history in warfare to announce battles and identify troops, national flags still play a role in distinguishing friend from foe. Culturally, the flag symbolizes power and leadership, carried during military processions and announcing dignitaries. They represent the people and beliefs behind them, of the hands that hold and carry them, and the buildings where they are flown. Flags also serve to draw together and rally people for unified causes, flown to signal, decorate, and display in parades and at events. As well, flags declare ownership, borders, and jurisdiction in homelands and foreign lands. Nations around the globe use them to communicate to the masses the loss of leaders and the mourning of national tragedies and disasters. The United States flag drapes the caskets of our fallen military heroes and veterans when they are being transported from the combat zones to home and at their funerals. The Meaning Displayed in America’s Flag America’s flag has 13 red and white stripes, each representing the original 13 colonies that began our nation, along with 50 white stars set on a blue background representing our current 50 states. There is significant meaning within the American flag’s design, as the Founder of Providence Forum, Dr. Peter Lillback notes. Each color displayed on the American flag has a definite meaning, with red standing for hardiness and valor; white for purity and innocence, and blue for perseverance, justice, and vigilance. Unlike some believe, even though Betsy Ross sewed the first American flag, the design is accredited to one of the original signers of the Declaration of Independence, Francis Hopkinson. Our American Flag Stirs Hearts Our American flag is a vital piece of America’s history, representing freedom for all, known to stir the hearts of its patriotic citizens. It’s a symbol that has inspired our nation through many troubles and conflicts, standing for life, liberty, justice, and freedom for all. In honoring it, we please God by recognizing the godly heritage it represents throughout the history of our nation and the world. Intersecting Faith & Life:Did you grow up reciting The Pledge of Allegiance before school each morning? If so, has it impacted your life? In what ways? If not, what are your thoughts on the American Flag? Further Reading:A Prayer to Honor What Our Nation’s Flag Represents Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

On June 14, 1777, the Continental Congress approved the design of a national flag for the newly created United States of America. In 1916, President Woodrow Wilson issued a presidential proclamation establishing a national Flag Day on June 14, with Congressional legislation designating that date as Flag Day — signed into law by President Harry Truman in 1949. Check out the YouTube version of this episode at https://youtu.be/64WqoHykcjc which has accompanying visuals including maps, charts, timelines, photos, illustrations, and diagrams. PragerU podcast available at https://amzn.to/3MRvsz0 PragerU books at https://amzn.to/3APDaWN Flag Day books available at https://amzn.to/4xzPEuT Books about Pledge of Allegiance at https://amzn.to/4uA5Ucu 9/11 books at https://amzn.to/4vGP8cy ENJOY Ad-Free content, Bonus episodes, and Extra materials when joining our growing community on https://patreon.com/markvinet SUPPORT this channel by purchasing any product on Amazon using this FREE entry LINK https://amzn.to/3POlrUD (Amazon gives us credit at NO extra charge to you). Mark Vinet's TIMELINE video channel: https://youtube.com/c/TIMELINE_MarkVinet Mark's HISTORICAL JESUS podcast: https://parthenonpodcast.com/historical-jesus Mark's History of North America podcast: www.parthenonpodcast.com/history-of-north-america Website: https://markvinet.com/podcast Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mark.vinet.9 X (twitter): https://twitter.com/MarkVinet_HNA & https://twitter.com/HistoricalJesu Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/denarynovels Mark's books: https://amzn.to/3k8qrGM Audio credits: PragerU - American Flag Cork Board (Craftory, 14june2022). All audio excerpts reproduced under the Fair Use (Fair Dealings) Legal Doctrine for purposes such as criticism, comment, teaching, education, scholarship, research and news reporting.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Drop us a note about the podcast. You can quote John 14 all day, but the words get real when life turns confusing and painful. We start with Jesus' promise that we can ask for anything in his name, then slow down and ask what most people skip: are we praying for our will or God's will? I talk through why “not my will, but thy will be done” is not a throwaway line, but the only way prayer stays rooted in trust instead of entitlement.From there, we move into Titus 2 and the gritty, everyday side of sound doctrine: self-control, respect, reverence, integrity, and speech that holds up under pressure. I wrestle with a conviction my pastor says often, that one of the biggest problems for the church is the church, because hypocrisy doesn't just hurt our own souls, it teaches our kids the wrong lesson and gives outsiders a reason to scoff. Then we go to John 13 where Jesus makes it plain: love for one another is supposed to prove we're his disciples, starting in our own homes.We also read from Psalm 119 and Proverbs 15 on teachability, correction, and growing in understanding, then shift into the moral argument I make about illegal and mass immigration after discussing real crimes and victims. To end on courage and duty, I share the Medal of Honor story of Navy SEAL Edward C. Byers Jr., and close with a brief heritage reflection on Woodrow Wilson taking the oath on Psalm 46 and what that says about America's foundations as a Christian republic. If you're looking for a Christian podcast that ties Scripture, discipleship, and national life together, listen, subscribe, share it with someone who needs it, and leave a review so more people can find the show.#AmericanPatriot#WoodrowWilson#ChristianNationSupport the showThe American Soul Podcasthttps://www.buzzsprout.com/1791934/subscribeCountryside Book Serieshttps://www.amazon.com/Countryside-Book-J-T-Cope-IV-ebook/dp/B00MPIXOB2 

Cultural critic Chuck Klosterman — author of But What If We're Wrong?, The Nineties, and now a new book simply titled Football — joins the Chuck Toddcast for a fascinating, genre-bending conversation that's part memoir, part sports analysis, and part thought experiment about how a singular American obsession will be remembered centuries from now. Klosterman frames the book as a "living obituary" for football, working from his signature premise that over enough time, almost everything fades until a single simplified narrative is all that survives — and that football, despite being the one true common denominator of the modern American experience (it overtook baseball as the most popular sport by the 1970s, even though people at the time didn't realize it), will almost certainly not remain central to the culture a few decades from now. He and Chuck explore how perception dramatically changes over time , how the internet has fundamentally altered our relationship with time itself, and why arguments against the internet today sound exactly like the arguments people once made against television. Klosterman, who only half-jokingly says his "beat" these days is simply reality, argues that we now consume social media on the working assumption that what we're seeing isn't real — a profound shift in how humans relate to information. The conversation winds through some genuinely original territory about why football works the way it does and what its eventual decline might look like. Klosterman argues football is a fundamentally cerebral sport with intense but widely dispersed moments of action (the Wall Street Journal famously found only 11 minutes of actual action in a three-hour broadcast), that its sheer complexity and total absence of free-flowing movement is exactly why it's never exported well, and that it nearly became a literal embodiment of American exceptionalism. He and Todd dig into whether the NFL can over-expand into a 12-month product, why football is the one American sport that could plausibly survive on pay-per-view, and how the league walks a razor's edge between the maximum physicality fans crave and the safety changes that are slowly, quietly trying to remove hitting from the game — even as the ever-present risk of injury is precisely what raises the stakes and makes it so engaging. There's a wonderful tangent on COVID and 9/11 as the two great timeline-dividing events of the modern era (one slow and shared globally, one sudden and strange), including Chuck's own reflection that the pandemic was unexpectedly a bonding experience with his kids. Klosterman closes by previewing his next book — an alternate history of rock and roll — and delivering a characteristically provocative argument that rock effectively ended as a meaningful art form in the 1990s, that having access to all the music ever recorded has paradoxically led people to listen to the same 600 songs, and that he genuinely regrets ever getting rid of his CD collection, because the day may come when streaming services are broken up and no longer contain all the music in the world. Link in bio or go to https://getsoul.com & enter code TODDCAST for 30% off your first order. Protect your family with life insurance from Ethos. Get up to $3 million in coverage in as little as 10 minutes at https://ethos.com/chuck. Application times may vary. Rates may vary. Timeline: (Timestamps may vary based on advertisements) 00:00 Chuck Klosterman joins the Chuck ToddCast 01:00 Football is partially memoir, part description of football 03:30 The process of writing the book 05:00 It was like Chuck was “trying to build his brain in public” 07:15 The thought exercise of how football will be remembered in 200 years 08:00 Over time, some things stick and others fade away until one thing is left 08:45 It’s easier to understand a singular narrative 09:30 If something remains in the zeitgeist after 60 years, it has true staying power 12:00 Arguments against the internet sound like arguments against TV 13:45 What do you consider “your beat” these days? Reality. 15:00 Consuming social media with assumption what you’re seeing isn’t real 16:15 Book is a living obituary for football. Eventually, it won’t be central to culture 17:00 By the 1970’s football was the most popular sport, people thought it was baseball 18:15 Football is the one common denominator of the American experience 19:15 In a few decades, football will likely no longer be central to our society 20:30 The perception of Woodrow Wilson changed well after his death 22:00 Perception can dramatically change over time 22:45 How much time should pass before writing about a historical event? 24:15 The internet has changed our relationship with time 25:30 Diving the timeline into pre and post 9/11 and pre/post Covid 26:45 The COVID experience was slow, 9/11 happened suddenly 28:00 People forget how weird the two weeks after 9/11 were 29:30 Covid was a bizarre experience, everyone focused on same thing 30:15 Covid truly the first global event, shared by everyone 31:30 Covid was actually a bonding experience for Chuck Todd with his kids 33:30 History may look back at Covid very differently than we do now 38:15 Will football end as the cultural glue when television ends? 38:45 Cost of TV advertising is not worth the ROI for many companies 39:30 NFL + college football are of the mindset that they can only expand 40:30 Football is our only sport that could survive on a PPV basis 42:15 The majority of people who love football didn’t play it 43:00 Sports show how capitalism operates in a way that’s dangerous 45:45 Complexity has made American football hard to export 46:45 There’s no freedom of movement in football. It’s all planned 48:00 Why hasn’t Rugby caught on in America? 48:45 Football almost became an embodiment of American exceptionalism 49:45 WSJ studied football and found there’s only 11 mins of action in 3 hours 51:45 Football is a mostly cerebral sport with intense, dispersed moments of action 52:45 How important is it that football is in fall and winter? 53:30 People can now escape nature, but nature is very determinative in football 56:30 Most people don’t experience physicality and football demands it 57:30 Is it possible for the NFL to overexpand? Could it become a 12 month experience? 59:30 Owners want to host a Super Bowl, all stadiums will likely have a roof in 20 years 1:01:45 Football will have value as a distraction, but it needs meaning to stay powerful 1:03:00 Attending football games has gotten increasingly expensive 1:04:30 Safety changes have changed the nature of the game 1:05:00 The dream may be to slowly remove the hitting from the game 1:05:30 Fans used to revel in the hard hits, now they’re turning away 1:06:15 The risk of injury raises the stakes, makes it more engaging 1:08:15 NFL walks the line between max physicality and not turning fans off 1:11:00 What is your next book? Alternate history of Rock n Roll 1:13:45 Rock as a meaningful artform ended in the 90s 1:16:00 People have access to all the music in the world, listen to same 600 songs 1:18:30 Regret getting rid of the CD collection 1:19:15 Eventually streaming services could get broken up, not have all musicSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Chuck Todd opens with the grim news that the Iran conflict is hot again as both sides resume exchanging strikes — and his blunt assessment is that nothing has actually changed since Trump was begging for a deal a month ago. He argues Trump has mismanaged this war from the very beginning with no clear goal, that he and Israel started it with vastly different objectives, and that he stubbornly refuses to accept a deal that looks like the one Obama got even though that's the only realistic off-ramp available. The brutal truth, Chuck says, is that Trump can't airstrike his way to victory, and if he was never willing to commit ground troops, he never should have started the war in the first place — the Iranians now hold more leverage than the United States, and it's entirely Trump's fault that they do. He delivers one of his sharpest character indictments yet, arguing Trump "failed upwards" to the most powerful job on earth and is now half-assing his way through the presidency the same way he half-assed his way through life, while Vance and Rubio scramble to avoid any ownership of the war.With inflation rising for a third straight month, Chuck sees no path for any of this to improve before the midterms. But the heart of the episode is a deep, genuinely illuminating dive into a new Pew survey that Chuck calls possibly the best available tool for understanding the actual American electorate — one that shatters the illusion created by social media. The data reveals nine distinct political archetypes (three on the left, three in the middle, three on the right), that the ideological extremes make up only about 15% of the country and are the whitest segments, and that the loud, combative bases dominating online discourse aren't remotely close to a majority. The middle, he notes, is a full 38% of the electorate, with the center-left as the single largest group; the Reagan Republican coalition is measurably gone, reduced to just 11%; the civil war inside the American left is already underway with skeptical progressives who'll never vote Republican but may simply not vote at all; and the MAGA-religious right remains a fortress of reliable voters, with erosion showing up in exactly one place — younger voters. His takeaway is the one that should reshape how both parties think: the persuadable middle is repulsed most by the far left and far right, the party bases are precisely what cause the parties to struggle electorally, and the opportunity for independents has genuinely never been better — because what happens online simply is not reflective of who actually shows up to vote. Then, cultural critic Chuck Klosterman — author of But What If We're Wrong?, The Nineties, and now a new book simply titled Football — joins the Chuck Toddcast for a fascinating, genre-bending conversation that's part memoir, part sports analysis, and part thought experiment about how a singular American obsession will be remembered centuries from now. Klosterman frames the book as a "living obituary" for football, working from his signature premise that over enough time, almost everything fades until a single simplified narrative is all that survives — and that football, despite being the one true common denominator of the modern American experience (it overtook baseball as the most popular sport by the 1970s, even though people at the time didn't realize it), will almost certainly not remain central to the culture a few decades from now. He and Chuck explore how perception dramatically changes over time , how the internet has fundamentally altered our relationship with time itself, and why arguments against the internet today sound exactly like the arguments people once made against television. Klosterman, who only half-jokingly says his "beat" these days is simply reality, argues that we now consume social media on the working assumption that what we're seeing isn't real — a profound shift in how humans relate to information. The conversation winds through some genuinely original territory about why football works the way it does and what its eventual decline might look like. Klosterman argues football is a fundamentally cerebral sport with intense but widely dispersed moments of action (the Wall Street Journal famously found only 11 minutes of actual action in a three-hour broadcast), that its sheer complexity and total absence of free-flowing movement is exactly why it's never exported well, and that it nearly became a literal embodiment of American exceptionalism. He and Todd dig into whether the NFL can over-expand into a 12-month product, why football is the one American sport that could plausibly survive on pay-per-view, and how the league walks a razor's edge between the maximum physicality fans crave and the safety changes that are slowly, quietly trying to remove hitting from the game — even as the ever-present risk of injury is precisely what raises the stakes and makes it so engaging. There's a wonderful tangent on COVID and 9/11 as the two great timeline-dividing events of the modern era (one slow and shared globally, one sudden and strange), including Chuck's own reflection that the pandemic was unexpectedly a bonding experience with his kids. Klosterman closes by previewing his next book — an alternate history of rock and roll — and delivering a characteristically provocative argument that rock effectively ended as a meaningful art form in the 1990s, that having access to all the music ever recorded has paradoxically led people to listen to the same 600 songs, and that he genuinely regrets ever getting rid of his CD collection, because the day may come when streaming services are broken up and no longer contain all the music in the world. Finally, he answers listeners’ questions in the “Ask Chuck” segment. Link in bio or go to https://getsoul.com & enter code TODDCAST for 30% off your first order. Protect your family with life insurance from Ethos. Get up to $3 million in coverage in as little as 10 minutes at https://ethos.com/chuck. Application times may vary. Rates may vary. Timeline: (Timestamps may vary based on advertisements) 00:00 Chuck Todd’s introduction 03:00 The conflict in Iran is active again as sides exchange strikes 04:00 Situation hasn’t changed since Trump begged for deal a month ago 04:45 Trump has mismanaged this war from the beginning, no clear goal 05:30 Trump refuses to accept a deal similar to the one Obama got 06:45 Trump + Israel started the war, but had vastly different objectives 08:45 New report shows inflation is going up for third straight month 09:45 Trump can’t airstrike his way into victory 11:00 If he wasn’t willing to commit ground troops, he shouldn’t have started war 11:45 Trump failed upwards to the most powerful job on earth 12:45 Trump half-assed his way through life, thinks he can do that as president 13:30 Vance & Rubio want no ownership of the Iran war 14:30 The Pentagon is instituting christian nationalist protocols 16:00 Trump is in a quagmire, Iranians know he needs a deal more than them 18:00 The Iranians have more leverage and it’s Trump’s fault that they do 19:30 There’s no way this gets better for the country by the midterms 21:15 New report categorizes Americans political views, most people in the middle 22:00 The extremes are only about 15% of the elecorate & are the whitest 22:45 The loudest parts of the bases aren’t close to the majority 23:30 Democrats have to win more moderate to win than the right 25:00 This Pew survey is possibly the best tool to understand the electorate 26:15 How the survey was conducted 29:15 The Reagan Republican coalition is measurably gone 30:30 There 9 different American political archetypes, 3 on left, middle & right 31:15 Breakdown of American left, which is 30% of the country 33:45 Breakdown of American right, core MAGA voters most likely to vote 35:30 The young right is a bit checked out on politics, don’t always vote 36:30 The middle is 38% of the electorate, center left is largest group 37:45 Remnants of the Reagan coalition is only 11% of the electorate 39:30 The “tuned out middle” is 9% of the electorate, minority of them vote 40:30 The civil war inside the American left is already underway 41:30 Progressives are still skeptical of the Democratic party 43:00 Progressives will never vote Republican, but may not vote 44:15 The MAGA + religious right is a fortress of voters that show up 45:15 Support for Trump amongst younger voters is the one place showing erosion 46:00 The establishment right is politically homeless and persuadable 48:45 The “polite right” demographically best reflects America, but is oldest 50:00 The “checked out middle” isn’t reachable or persuadable 50:30 The far left and right are most repulsive to the persuadable middle 51:15 The bases are what cause the parties to struggle electorally 53:00 The opportunity for independents has never been better 54:15 What happens online is not reflective of the majority of the electorate 1:04:00 Chuck Klosterman joins the Chuck ToddCast 1:05:00 Football is partially memoir, part description of football 1:07:30 The process of writing the book 1:09:00 It was like Chuck was “trying to build his brain in public” 1:11:15 The thought exercise of how football will be remembered in 200 years 1:12:00 Over time, some things stick and others fade away until one thing is left 1:12:45 It’s easier to understand a singular narrative 1:13:30 If something remains in the zeitgeist after 60 years, it has true staying power 1:16:00 Arguments against the internet sound like arguments against TV 1:17:45 What do you consider “your beat” these days? Reality. 1:19:00 Consuming social media with assumption what you’re seeing isn’t real 1:20:15 Book is a living obituary for football. Eventually, it won’t be central to culture 1:21:00 By the 1970’s football was the most popular sport, people thought it was baseball 1:22:15 Football is the one common denominator of the American experience 1:23:15 In a few decades, football will likely no longer be central to our society 1:24:30 The perception of Woodrow Wilson changed well after his death 1:26:00 Perception can dramatically change over time 1:26:45 How much time should pass before writing about a historical event? 1:28:15 The internet has changed our relationship with time 1:29:30 Diving the timeline into pre and post 9/11 and pre/post Covid 1:30:45 The COVID experience was slow, 9/11 happened suddenly 1:32:00 People forget how weird the two weeks after 9/11 were 1:33:30 Covid was a bizarre experience, everyone focused on same thing 1:34:15 Covid truly the first global event, shared by everyone 1:35:30 Covid was actually a bonding experience for Chuck Todd with his kids 1:37:30 History may look back at Covid very differently than we do now 1:42:15 Will football end as the cultural glue when television ends? 1:42:45 Cost of TV advertising is not worth the ROI for many companies 1:43:30 NFL + college football are of the mindset that they can only expand 1:44:30 Football is our only sport that could survive on a PPV basis 1:46:15 The majority of people who love football didn’t play it 1:47:00 Sports show how capitalism operates in a way that’s dangerous 1:49:45 Complexity has made American football hard to export 1:50:45 There’s no freedom of movement in football. It’s all planned 1:52:00 Why hasn’t Rugby caught on in America? 1:52:45 Football almost became an embodiment of American exceptionalism 1:53:45 WSJ studied football and found there’s only 11 mins of action in 3 hours 1:55:45 Football is a mostly cerebral sport with intense, dispersed moments of action 1:56:45 How important is it that football is in fall and winter? 1:57:30 People can now escape nature, but nature is very determinative in football 2:00:30 Most people don’t experience physicality and football demands it 2:01:30 Is it possible for the NFL to overexpand? Could it become a 12 month experience? 2:03:30 Owners want to host a Super Bowl, all stadiums will likely have a roof in 20 years 2:05:45 Football will have value as a distraction, but it needs meaning to stay powerful 2:07:00 Attending football games has gotten increasingly expensive 2:08:30 Safety changes have changed the nature of the game 2:09:00 The dream may be to slowly remove the hitting from the game 2:09:30 Fans used to revel in the hard hits, now they’re turning away 2:10:15 The risk of injury raises the stakes, makes it more engaging 2:12:15 NFL walks the line between max physicality and not turning fans off 2:15:00 What is your next book? Alternate history of Rock n Roll 2:17:45 Rock as a meaningful artform ended in the 90s 2:20:00 People have access to all the music in the world, listen to same 600 songs 2:22:30 Regret getting rid of the CD collection 2:23:15 Eventually streaming services could get broken up, not have all music 2:26:00 Chuck’s thoughts on interview with Chuck Klosterman 2:27:00 Ask Chuck 2:27:15 Thoughts on private equity getting involved in college sports? 2:36:00 Why does ballot counting get overcovered by the media? 2:38:45 Will the incoming shortfall for social security affect the election? 2:42:15 How do you reconcile candidates with character shortfalls & their policies? 2:48:30 Should voters assess media narratives & bias in reporting about Platner? 2:54:00 Does the media need to do a better job explaining how votes come in? 2:59:30 How should presidents approach attending big sports events?See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

How did “disinformation” become the all-purpose explanation for American politics? In this eye-opening conversation, journalist Jacob Siegel reveals how a century-old progressive vision of expert rule evolved into today's censorship-industrial complex — from Woodrow Wilson's propaganda machine to the Hunter Biden laptop suppression and beyond. Siegel, author of the new book The Information State, traces the hidden history of information control and explains how governments and tech platforms now shape what we see, say, and believe.CHAPTERS:(00:00 Introduction)(00:48 Discovering Disinformation Everywhere in 2016)(04:00 Misinformation, Disinformation & Malinformation Explained)(08:23 The Hamilton 68 Censorship Scandal)(12:15 The Hunter Biden Laptop Suppression)(18:45 The Progressive Origins: Woodrow Wilson to the Creel Committee)(35:00 What Should Replace the Information State?)(41:10 Rebuilding Borders on the Internet)(45:59 Is the Censorship Apparatus Still a Threat?)JACOB SIEGEL LINKS:

Watch every episode ad-free & uncensored on Patreon: https://patreon.com/dannyjones Scott Horton (@scotthortonshow) is director of the Libertarian Institute, host of 'The Scott Horton Show', co-host of “Provoked” with Darryl Cooper, and author of several books. SPONSORS https://dupe.com - Check out their 100% free 'research for me' comparison shopping tool. https://shopify.com/dannyjones - Sign up for your one-dollar-per-month trial today. https://hexclad.com/dannyjones - Get 10% off your forever cookware today. https://quo.com/danny - Try QUO for free PLUS get 20% off your first 6 months. https://whiterabbitenergy.com/?ref=DJP - Use code DJP for 20% off EPISODE LINKS Scott's YouTube Show:  @scotthortonshow https://scotthortonacademy.com https://x.com/scotthortonshow FOLLOW DANNY JONES https://www.instagram.com/dannyjones https://twitter.com/jonesdanny OUTLINE 00:00 - What Scott learned from 6,000 interviews 06:10 - Bush Sr.'s "New World Order" 09:24 - Oklahoma City Bombing cover-up 17:08 - Who's really pulling the strings 23:32 - Skull & bones society 28:36 - U.S. interest payments on national debt 31:34 - What's Israel going to do without America? 39:00 - Israel's end time prophecy 41:19 - Wolfowitz Doctrine 50:08 - Iraqi exile Ahmed Chalabi's scheme 59:34 - The idiotic thinking behind the 2nd Iraq war 01:10:03 - Mossad agents dancing during 9/11 01:14:13 - What Netanyahu said on September 11th 01:18:25 - Bin Laden's manifesto 01:25:42 - The timeline of Middle East interventions 01:27:39 - The U.S. is still funding the Taliban 01:30:17 - Why Scott never believed in Trump 01:37:58 - How the Iran conflict will end 01:45:52 - Trump's path out of Iran conflict 01:46:51 - Iran's nuclear program 02:02:08 - Iran's top nuclear target 02:09:00 - Iran doesn't have a nuclear weapons program 02:15:47 - Iran's best military advantage 02:21:03 - Why Trump might be innocent in Epstein scandal 02:26:04 - Trump's loyalty problem 02:33:28 - Palestine 02:44:54 - Israel's army of Palestinian slaves 02:52:41 - Adolf Hitler vs. Winston Churchill 02:54:26 - WW2 was Woodrow Wilson's fault 03:03:31 - The pact Hitler & Stalin made 03:09:19 - Why Hitler declared war on the United States 03:10:47 - How Trump's Iran attack is like Pearl Harbor 03:14:26 - "Trump is enslaved to Netanyahu" 03:18:32 - The FBI's secret Epstein files Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Who had the dumbest political take of the week: Bernie, the war party, or libertarians themselves? Nate is solo for Dumb Bleep of the Week, and this one turns into a roast of everyone. Anna Paulina Luna's alleged "smack" gets the SmackGate treatment. Bernie Sanders wants the public to own 50% of major AI companies. Scott Bessent brings up Woodrow Wilson, which should immediately set off every liberty alarm in your brain. Then the episode shifts into Iran, war powers, Dave Rubin, Mark Levin, Trump's "moderate shooting" ceasefire line, Austin Peterson, and the final question: are some libertarians more loyal to the Libertarian Party than to libertarianism? Drop your vote in the comments: who deserved Dumb Bleep of the Week? Chapters: 00:00 Solo GML and Fed Haters Club 01:30 Anna Paulina Luna's SmackGate 09:00 Bernie Sanders Wants 50% of AI 19:00 Scott Bessent, Judy Chu, and Woodrow Wilson 25:30 More Ukraine Money and Radio Free Europe 30:45 Dave Rubin and Iran War Arguments 38:00 War Powers and "Betraying the Party" 43:15 Trump's "Moderate Shooting" Ceasefire 45:45 Austin Peterson and Libertarian Nationalism 01:07:00 Libertarian Party vs Libertarianism 01:14:00 Dumb Bleep Voting and Winner Watch All Episodes: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLi78svKlBr_8o0dDOX8DxO_Wwxu6WYhhA Watch Host Favorites: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLi78svKlBr__Zu40RL7mWxCuOOe54zgy2 Join the Fed Haters Club @ https://www.goodmorningliberty.us/fedhatersclub Martens Minute: https://martensminute.podbean.com/ All links @ gml.bio.link Subscribe, like, comment, share, and leave a rating or review on your podcast app.

How California's leading do-nothing gubernatorial candidate moved from dead last to first in just a few weeks. Leaders of the state's government unions say they'll refuse return-to-office orders because their daily commutes would raise global temperatures. More than a thousand University of California STEM professors called for the reinstatement of the SAT test. Los Angeles wants you to stop grilling hotdogs. Bonus! On June 5, 1917, Californians reacting to the Zimmerman Telegram answered Woodrow Wilson's call to arms. Music by Metalachi. Email Us dbahnsen@thebahnsengroup.com will@calpolicycenter.org Follow Us @DavidBahnsen @WillSwaim @TheRadioFreeCA Show Notes The mystery behind Becerra leapfrogging over his rivals in California's governor's race PPIC Statewide Survey: Californians and Their Government University of California Professors Are Begging Schools to Reinstate the SAT CalPERS Pays Million-Dollar Salaries for Below-Median Returns California Government Unions Will Try Anything To Keep Their Members From Returning To The Office No, California's Backyard BBQ Ban Proposal Is Not Justified Long Beach: This mayor wants to bring wind energy to an oil city Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

This Day in Legal History: The National Defense Act of 1916On this day in 1916, President Woodrow Wilson signed the National Defense Act, the law that quietly built the legal scaffolding for how the United States deploys soldiers, both abroad and at home, for the next century-plus. The Act roughly tripled the size of the regular Army, formally created the National Guard as a federalized reserve force out of the patchwork of state militias that had existed since the founding, and established the Reserve Officers' Training Corps at colleges and universities. The legal hook is the dual-status structure that the Act created and that we still use today: the National Guard belongs simultaneously to its state and to the federal government, normally takes orders from the governor, but can be “federalized” by the President under specific statutory authorities and pulled out of state command for federal missions. That structure has driven a long line of constitutional fights about the limits of presidential authority to call up the Guard, about whether and when the Insurrection Act applies, and about how the Posse Comitatus Act constrains the use of federal troops for domestic law enforcement. June 3 is not a day most people associate with American military law, but the 1916 statute is doing quiet work behind every modern headline about troops at a border, troops in a city, or troops in a hurricane.The Eleventh Circuit on Tuesday handed down a ruling that strips hip-hop group 2 Live Crew of the copyrights it thought it had successfully clawed back to five of its albums, including “As Nasty as They Wanna Be,” because one member's bankruptcy from the 1990s swept his future termination rights into the bankruptcy estate. Federal copyright law has a wonderfully democratic provision in Section 203: an author who signed away a copyright can, 35 years later, send a termination notice and take it back, regardless of what the original contract said. The catch the Eleventh Circuit identified is Section 541 of the Bankruptcy Code, which scoops up almost everything you own into the bankruptcy estate when you file — including, the court said, the right to send that termination notice years later, even though the right cannot be sold or contracted away in any other context. The practical consequence for 2 Live Crew is that member Mark Ross, who performed as Brother Marquis, had unwittingly transferred his future termination interests to his bankruptcy trustee when he filed Chapter 7 years earlier, so when the group's heirs and surviving members later tried to take the copyrights back from Lil' Joe Records in 2020, they were one vote short of the majority the statute requires. The case, Lil' Joe Records v. Christopher Won Jr. et al., No. 24-13978, is described in the opinion as “a question of first impression at the intersection of copyright and bankruptcy” — which is lawyer-speak for “we just made up the rule, and now it's the rule.” Expect every copyright-termination case where any author has ever filed for bankruptcy to cite this decision for the next decade.11th Circ. Reverses 2 Live Crew's Copyright Clawback Win | Law360President Trump on Tuesday quietly signed a finalized version of the AI cybersecurity executive order that he had abruptly scrapped during a planned signing ceremony on May 21, and the final version is notably narrower than the one that was on the table a month ago. The new order asks Treasury, the Department of Homeland Security's Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, and other federal agencies to design a voluntary framework under which developers of so-called frontier AI models — the largest and most general-purpose systems — would share their models with the federal government for up to 30 days before public release so the government can scan for security vulnerabilities. The legal posture is worth pausing on: this is a voluntary framework, not a regulation, which means it lives in the same constitutional space as a chamber-of-commerce best-practices document rather than as a binding rule subject to APA notice and comment. That structure is partly a workaround for the fact that there is no federal statute giving any agency authority to mandate pre-release safety testing of AI models, and partly a response to industry pressure: Trump explained on May 21 that he scrapped the earlier 90-day version because he thought it could be “a blocker” to U.S. leadership in AI. Whether developers actually opt in is the open question, and the order is structured so that participation will likely depend on a mix of national-security pressure, federal procurement leverage, and quiet diplomacy with the major labs. Expect the first real fight to be over what counts as a “frontier” model, and who decides.Finalized Trump Order Seeks Early Cyber Tests Of AI Models | Law360The U.S. Senate on Tuesday confirmed Katie Lane to be a federal district judge in Montana, making her the first judicial nominee of Trump's second term to be confirmed despite a “not qualified” rating from the American Bar Association's Standing Committee on the Federal Judiciary. The ABA's role here is informal but historically important: since 1953 the Standing Committee has rated federal judicial nominees as “well qualified,” “qualified,” or “not qualified” based on professional competence, integrity, and judicial temperament, and the rating has carried real weight with senators of both parties — until it didn't. The Trump administration formally cut ties with the ABA review process during the first term, on the theory that the ABA's ratings reflected an ideological bias against conservative nominees, and the second administration has been even more open about ignoring “not qualified” ratings as a matter of policy. The legal stakes of this are modest in any individual case — a “not qualified” judge serves the same lifetime appointment with the same constitutional power as a “well qualified” one — but cumulatively the practice changes the relationship between the bar and the bench in a way that is hard to undo, and it nudges the federal judiciary in a direction that depends almost entirely on the political branches' definitions of professional fitness. Lane, who is now confirmed, will join the District of Montana, a small but busy bench. Watch this space: there are several more nominees in the pipeline with similar ratings.US Senate confirms Trump judicial nominee deemed ‘not qualified' by ABA | Reuters This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.minimumcomp.com/subscribe

Getting slandered while you're still trying to love people is a special kind of pain and Psalm 109 doesn't sanitize it. We start with that exact tension: hateful words, false claims, and the choice to keep praying instead of turning your heart into a courtroom. From there we move into a straightforward prayer for listeners, families, and leaders, plus a reminder that gratitude and obedience are not “nice extras” in Christian faith, they're daily practices that reshape how we respond when life gets sharp. We also read Proverbs on marriage and talk plainly about conflict in the home, choosing wisely, and why biblical marriage advice has to be measured against God's Word rather than whatever our culture is selling. Then we sit with John 7, where the crowd debates Jesus and the leaders try to arrest Him, and we ask the uncomfortable question behind it all: do we resist Christ because we don't want to give up control? Jesus' offer of living water lands differently when you admit your thirst for attention, power, and being seen. The back half widens the lens to public life and memory: a report of church arson in Germany, a gripping Medal of Honor citation for Navy corpsman Robert Eugene Bush on Okinawa, and a Woodrow Wilson quote arguing that the Word of God must be foundational in schooling and national strength. If you care about Bible reading, Christian discipleship, spiritual resilience, and the future of faith in America, there's a lot here to wrestle with. Subscribe, share this with a friend, and leave a review telling us which Scripture line challenged you most.#DailyScripture#AmericanPatriot#WoodrowWilson Support the showThe American Soul Podcasthttps://www.buzzsprout.com/1791934/subscribeCountryside Book Serieshttps://www.amazon.com/Countryside-Book-J-T-Cope-IV-ebook/dp/B00MPIXOB2 

This is part two of my conversation with author and researcher Norman Sollie, and this is where the rubber meets the road. In our first episode together on Friday, Norman walked us through more than four decades of his own personal encounters with Sasquatch across Washington, Illinois, Massachusetts, Colorado, and Alaska. If you missed it, go back and listen to that one first. You're going to want the foundation. In part two, we leave Norman's personal experiences behind and we dig into the work he's spent the last several years building. His brand-new book, Before Patty, Volume One: Patrick, the Sasquatch-Human Hybrid and Our Genetic Inheritance, lays out a case unlike anything I've seen in this field in close to forty years of paying attention.Norman walks me through the chain that brought him to the story in the first place, starting with a self-published Russian hominology book he picked up at the twenty nineteen International Bigfoot Conference in Kennewick, Washington, that pointed him toward an obscure American anthropologist named Dr. Ed Fusch and a nineteen ninety-two paper most of the Bigfoot community had never heard of.He walks me through how genealogist Heather Moser of Small Town Monsters cracked the trail open in forty-eight hours, and how Norman then spent the next two years personally tracking Patrick across the entire historical record, eventually surfacing a hundred and sixty documents that all point to the same man.The case Norman lays out is built on hard evidence. Birth records placing Patrick's birth in June of eighteen ninety-two, three months earlier than the family officially declared, with the strong implication that his mother was moved off-reservation to Chelan, Washington, to give birth in privacy.A land patent on a hundred and four acres of Colville Reservation ranch land, signed by President Woodrow Wilson in nineteen seventeen. Court filings and arrest records from Patrick's later years documenting his slide into Prohibition-era bootlegging and alcoholism. Mugshots from the front and the side that show a man whose anatomy does not fit a clean Homo sapiens profile. And a careful ink signature in Patrick's own hand, consistent across roughly twenty-five years of documents, that now sits on the cover of Norman's book.Norman gets into the comparative anatomy in detail. The steeply sloped forehead without compensating brow ridges. The brain case that extends back behind the ears in a way no typical Homo sapiens skull extends. The ears themselves, sitting noticeably below the line between the pupils and rotated backward by roughly twenty-two degrees. The completely missing chin, the absence of the bony mentum projection, a feature that lines up cleanly with what we know about Neanderthal jaw structure.The short compressed neck that mirrors Neanderthal cervical vertebrae. Norman ran comparative tracings against a Colville Indian contemporary and an Alaskan Native control, scaled to the same dimensions, and Patrick falls outside the human range on virtually every measurement that matters.We get into the strangeness of Patrick the man. The farmhand Louie, who worked for him through the late nineteen twenties, described him as a quiet gentle boss who was nearly impossible to play cards against because he always knew what everybody else was holding. We get into his eight children, including the three surviving daughters Mary Louise, Madeline, and Stella, and the inheritance that shows up in their faces and bodies in varying degrees.We get into Patrick's slow decline through the nineteen twenties and thirties, the loss of the ranch, the bootlegging arrests, the hops-picking years, and the death in a Seattle morning in nineteen sixty-two on the same day Norman himself first arrived in the United States as a small child.And we get to the bottom line. Norman makes the case, plainly, that Patrick was real. That his father was not a human father. That the abduction described in the Sinixt family memory was a real event, with a real consequence, and that the consequence walked the earth for seventy years and left a paper trail any researcher with the time and the patience can now verify.Norman's view, which I share, is that if Patrick is real, then at least some of what we are seeing out there in the woods is biologically close enough to us to interbreed and produce viable offspring.The implications of that are not small.You can pick up Norman's book at beforepatty.com, or through Amazon in paperback, hardcover, and Kindle. Better yet, ask for it through your local independent bookseller or Barnes and Noble. Norman has volume two on the way, making the broader evolutionary case for Sasquatch, with volume three to follow on what he calls the weird stuff. I'll have him back when those drop.Get Norman's BookEmail BrianGet Our FREE NewsletterVisit Our WebsiteBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/sasquatch-odyssey--4839697/support.Have you had a Bigfoot encounter, Sasquatch sighting, Dogman experience, or other cryptid or paranormal encounter? We'd love to hear your story. Email brian@paranormalworldproductions.com to be featured on a future episode of Sasquatch Odyssey.Sasquatch Odyssey is a leading Bigfoot and cryptid podcast exploring real encounters, field research, and scientific analysis of the Sasquatch phenomenon.Follow the show and turn on automatic downloads so you never miss an episode.

Newt talks with Scott Rasmussen, President of RMG Research, about his new book, “Out of Touch: The Elite One Percent and the Battle for America’s Soul.” They discuss the “We the People” project that gathered 1.6 million words from over 2,000 voters across every congressional district to draft a modern Declaration of American Ideals. Rasmussen describes the country as a “10-10-80” nation: 10% on the left and 10% on the right locked in conflict, while 80% quietly embrace founding ideals and focus on everyday life. Rasmussen’s research on the “elite 1%” identifies a small, politically active group, disproportionately postgraduates, high-income earners, and dense-city residents, whose views diverge sharply from most voters, including strong trust in the federal government, support for sweeping climate policies, and belief that Americans have too much individual freedom. He contends this elite group rejects core ideals of freedom, equality, and self-governance, with about half believing only college graduates should be allowed to vote and traces its intellectual lineage to Woodrow Wilson’s vision of “government by the unelected” and the administrative state.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The end of this week finds the 3WHH crew in situ in Enna, up in the highlands of Sicily, visiting the University of Kore for a conference on, well, everything, though it is hard to tell since half the speakers are speaking in Italian and the rest of us arenspeaking in English. John Yoo's incoming plane was delayed—again—but it gave us the prompt we needed to have in John place R.J. Pestritto, the Dean of graduate education at Hillsdale College, but above all one of the most treachant critics of the Progressive revolution of the early 20th century, and the insidious administrative state it birthed. If ever you want to throw down on Woodrow Wilson—and what sensible person doesn't?—R.J. is your man.For this episode we consider R.J.'s recent short monograph for the Claremont Institute's "Provocations" series, Government by the Unelected: How It Happened, and How It Might Be Tamed. Settle in with your favorite chianti for this one, as "D.J.—R.J" as I like to call him when he gets rolling on this subject, really gets rolling on this subject with us.For this episode, recorded in a hotel lobby with some visitors wandering by our "field recording studio (which included Michael McConnell listening in for some of it), we decided to keep the "authentic feel" of the background noise, in case you get to wondering.

This episode comes out of a recent conversation I had with author and researcher Norman Sollie, and it stopped me cold. Norman is the author of a brand-new book called Before Patty, Volume One: Patrick, the Sasquatch-Human Hybrid and Our Genetic Inheritance, and when we sat down to talk, he walked me through one of the most remarkable stories I've come across in close to forty years on this subject.I knew I had to share it with you. This isn't the interview itself. This is me, sitting at the mic, telling you what I learned and why I think it matters.The story starts in the late summer of eighteen ninety-one, at a Sinixt fishing camp on the San Poil River in Eastern Washington. A young bride, newly married, went down to fetch water one evening and was taken from her own people by what the Lake Band called a Skanicum, their word for Sasquatch. She was held in the high country for two months. She escaped while her captor was sleeping in a wild potato patch. She came home pregnant. And nine months later she gave birth to a boy named Patrick.That's where most of us thought the story ended, because the original ethnographic record set down by Dr. Ed Fusch in nineteen ninety-two left Patrick dying young and most of the trail going cold.What Norman did, working alongside genealogist Heather Moser of Small Town Monsters, was reopen the case. He surfaced a hundred and sixty historical documents that all point to the same man. Birth records. A land patent on a hundred and four acres of Colville Reservation ranch land, signed by President Woodrow Wilson in nineteen seventeen. Arrest reports. Court filings. Mugshots from the front and the side. And a careful ink signature, in Patrick's own hand, that now sits on the cover of Norman's book. In this episode I take you through everything Norman shared with me. The Russian hominologist whose self-published book first pointed Norman toward Patrick. The forty-eight hours it took Heather to find him. The physical features that mark Patrick as something other than fully human, including a steeply sloped forehead, ears rotated more than twenty degrees below the human norm, a short compressed neck that mirrors Neanderthal anatomy, and a missing chin. The strange brilliance of a man who somehow always knew what was in everybody else's hand at the card table. The eight children Patrick fathered. The slow decline through alcohol and Prohibition-era bootlegging. The death in a Seattle morning in nineteen sixty-two, on the same day Norman himself arrived in the United States as a child. And the forty-some living descendants still walking around right now, carrying Patrick's bloodline forward without most of them having any idea what their great-grandfather actually was.This is the story the way Norman has reconstructed it, layered against the original Sinixt family memory that came down through Laura and Francis, two Lake Band women who knew Patrick personally and trusted Dr. Fusch enough to tell him the truth in nineteen eighty-five. It's the story of one young woman whose name has been lost, one boy who shouldn't have existed by any standard explanation of mammalian genetics, and one bloodline that's still moving forward in the Pacific Northwest while the rest of the world goes about its business none the wiser. I'll have Norman on the show in a future episode to go deeper with him directly. In the meantime, pick up his book. Before Patty, Volume One: Patrick, the Sasquatch-Human Hybrid and Our Genetic Inheritance is available at beforepatty.com, or through Amazon in paperback, hardcover, and Kindle. Better yet, ask for it through your local independent bookseller or Barnes and Noble. Norman has volume two on the way, making the evolutionary case for Sasquatch, with volume three to follow on what he calls the weird stuff.Have you experienced a Bigfoot sighting, Sasquatch encounter, Dogman experience, UFO sighting, or any unexplained cryptid or paranormal event deep in the woods? We want to hear your story.Email your encounter to brian@paranormalworldproductions.com for a chance to be featured on a future episode of Backwoods Bigfoot Stories.Backwoods Bigfoot Stories is a paranormal storytelling podcast featuring real Bigfoot encounters, Sasquatch sightings, Dogman reports, cryptid experiences, and true scary stories from the backwoods.Follow the show and turn on automatic downloads so you never miss a chilling encounter from the forest. Listen with the lights off… if you dare.

In this episode of The Winston Marshall Show, I sit down with journalist and author Richard Miniter for a sweeping conversation on the rise of the “unaccountable class,” the collapse of institutional trust, and the growing revolt against technocratic elites across the West.Miniter argues that modern society is increasingly dominated by people insulated from the consequences of failure: bureaucrats, managers, academics, media figures, and institutional elites whose power is no longer tied to results or public accountability. We explore how this “unaccountable class” has reshaped politics, culture, business, and even religion, from the managerial revolution of the 20th century to the rise of stakeholder capitalism and the decline of democratic responsiveness.The conversation examines Brexit, the COVID pandemic, and the collapse of public trust in experts and institutions. Miniter explains why so many voters turned against the political establishment, arguing that ordinary people increasingly feel ruled by elites who neither understand nor suffer the consequences of their own decisions.We also discuss the Church of England, progressivism, socialism, and the transformation of Western institutions into ideological vehicles detached from the people they were meant to serve. The discussion then turns to artificial intelligence, whether AI will empower ordinary people or further entrench elite power, and why the future of the West may depend on restoring accountability at every level of society.-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Our show is independently supported by you, consider signing up to our substack to get added benefits like ad-free and extended episodes here: https://www.winstonmarshall.co.uk/-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Chapters 00:00 Introduction 02:23 The Rise Of The “Unaccountable Class”05:32 How Experts Took Over Institutions09:00 The Church, Brexit & Political Ideology12:50 Christianity, Nationalism & The Modern Church18:45 The “Managerial Revolution” Explained24:53 Woodrow Wilson & Rule By Experts30:53 Socialism, Thatcher & Britain's Decline39:11 Brexit, Covid & The Failure Of Experts46:14 AI, Technocracy & The Future Of Power53:34 How To Make Institutions Accountable Again58:44 Can Accountability Save Western Civilization?

FDR seeks to modify the Neutrality Acts to provide aid to the Allies, sparking a fierce debate with Lindbergh and non-interventionist senators. These critics deeply distrust Roosevelt, believing he is incrementally leading the nation toward war through deceptive policy shifts. FDR counters by labeling his opponents "ignorant" and "isolationist," while carefully shaping public opinion to avoid the political backlash faced by Woodrow Wilson. The rapid fall of France in 1940 reinforces Lindbergh's warnings, yet it also prompts FDR to initiate the destroyers-for-bases deal with Winston Churchill. This transaction effectively signals the end of true American neutrality. (3/8)1936

Political Scientist Steve Knott has a new book that focuses on conspiracy theories within the American presidency and often promulgated by the president himself. This is not, per se, a book about conspiracy theories in general, but about the narratives that presidents have used—that constitutes a kind of conspiracy thinking—to engage voters and push for particular policy ideas and outcomes. Conspirator in Chief: The Long Tradition of Conspiracy Theories in the American Presidency (UP Kansas, 2025) spans the entire history of the United States, paying close attention to presidents Thomas Jefferson, Andrew Jackson, Andrew Johnson, Woodrow Wilson, Franklin Roosevelt and Harry Truman, Richard Nixon, and finally Donald Trump. These particular presidents, both during their administrations and after, made use of conspiracies and/or demagogic rhetoric to encourage their supporters and to appeal to public fears. As Knott notes, Alexander Hamilton warns against this in both Federalist #1 and Federalist #85, wrapping the discussion of the new Constitution in concerns with regard to demagoguery. So many of the conspiracies that are pushed by presidents have at their base racism and an effort to fan the flames of racial fear and resentment. Jefferson, Jackson, Johnson, and Wilson all made use of racism as a part of their conspiracies. Conspirator in Chief: The Long Tradition of Conspiracy Theories in the American Presidency also mines the deep vein of conspiracy theories around moneyed and elite interests, since many presidents cast these interests as predatory and “out to get” the average citizen. This is another constant approach among the presidents from the early days of the republic through to our contemporary “conspirator in chief” Donald Trump. Part of the way that presidents use these kinds of conspiracies is to set up a dichotomy of those who are with the president and those who are against the president, and this latter group is, inevitably, also opposed to the country as a whole and the way of life in the United States. Knott explains that this was the kind of rhetoric that both FDR and Truman used in their implementation of this kind of conspiratorial rhetoric. This also leans on national security as a point of contention, and that those in opposition to the president or the president's policies are also potential threats to the republic. This is another dimension that Trump builds on in his use of this kind of rhetoric and division. In the final part of Conspirator in Chief, Knott sketches out those presidents who go far in standing against this kind of language and these kinds of attacks. Included in this grouping are John Quincy Adams, Abraham Lincoln, William Howard Taft, and John F. Kennedy, among others. These individuals leaned into reason more than rumormongering, examining their own biases, and also pointing to the conspiracies that others were advocating. While we learn a great deal about demagogic presidents who stirred up conspiracies based in racism, fear, antisemitism, and classism, we also learn about those who operated differently, who tried to protect the country from such divisive rhetoric. Lilly J. Goren is a professor of political science at Carroll University in Waukesha, WI. She is co-host of the New Books in Political Science channel at the New Books Network. She is co-editor of The Politics of the Marvel Cinematic Universe Volume I: The Infinity Saga (University Press of Kansas, 2022), and of The Politics of the Marvel Cinematic Universe Volume II: Into the Multiverse (University Press of Kansas, 2025) as well as co-editor of the award winning book, Women and the White House: Gender, Popular Culture, and Presidential Politics (University Press of Kentucky, 2012). She can be reached @gorenlj.bsky.social Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Political Scientist Steve Knott has a new book that focuses on conspiracy theories within the American presidency and often promulgated by the president himself. This is not, per se, a book about conspiracy theories in general, but about the narratives that presidents have used—that constitutes a kind of conspiracy thinking—to engage voters and push for particular policy ideas and outcomes. Conspirator in Chief: The Long Tradition of Conspiracy Theories in the American Presidency (UP Kansas, 2025) spans the entire history of the United States, paying close attention to presidents Thomas Jefferson, Andrew Jackson, Andrew Johnson, Woodrow Wilson, Franklin Roosevelt and Harry Truman, Richard Nixon, and finally Donald Trump. These particular presidents, both during their administrations and after, made use of conspiracies and/or demagogic rhetoric to encourage their supporters and to appeal to public fears. As Knott notes, Alexander Hamilton warns against this in both Federalist #1 and Federalist #85, wrapping the discussion of the new Constitution in concerns with regard to demagoguery. So many of the conspiracies that are pushed by presidents have at their base racism and an effort to fan the flames of racial fear and resentment. Jefferson, Jackson, Johnson, and Wilson all made use of racism as a part of their conspiracies. Conspirator in Chief: The Long Tradition of Conspiracy Theories in the American Presidency also mines the deep vein of conspiracy theories around moneyed and elite interests, since many presidents cast these interests as predatory and “out to get” the average citizen. This is another constant approach among the presidents from the early days of the republic through to our contemporary “conspirator in chief” Donald Trump. Part of the way that presidents use these kinds of conspiracies is to set up a dichotomy of those who are with the president and those who are against the president, and this latter group is, inevitably, also opposed to the country as a whole and the way of life in the United States. Knott explains that this was the kind of rhetoric that both FDR and Truman used in their implementation of this kind of conspiratorial rhetoric. This also leans on national security as a point of contention, and that those in opposition to the president or the president's policies are also potential threats to the republic. This is another dimension that Trump builds on in his use of this kind of rhetoric and division. In the final part of Conspirator in Chief, Knott sketches out those presidents who go far in standing against this kind of language and these kinds of attacks. Included in this grouping are John Quincy Adams, Abraham Lincoln, William Howard Taft, and John F. Kennedy, among others. These individuals leaned into reason more than rumormongering, examining their own biases, and also pointing to the conspiracies that others were advocating. While we learn a great deal about demagogic presidents who stirred up conspiracies based in racism, fear, antisemitism, and classism, we also learn about those who operated differently, who tried to protect the country from such divisive rhetoric. Lilly J. Goren is a professor of political science at Carroll University in Waukesha, WI. She is co-host of the New Books in Political Science channel at the New Books Network. She is co-editor of The Politics of the Marvel Cinematic Universe Volume I: The Infinity Saga (University Press of Kansas, 2022), and of The Politics of the Marvel Cinematic Universe Volume II: Into the Multiverse (University Press of Kansas, 2025) as well as co-editor of the award winning book, Women and the White House: Gender, Popular Culture, and Presidential Politics (University Press of Kentucky, 2012). She can be reached @gorenlj.bsky.social 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

Political Scientist Steve Knott has a new book that focuses on conspiracy theories within the American presidency and often promulgated by the president himself. This is not, per se, a book about conspiracy theories in general, but about the narratives that presidents have used—that constitutes a kind of conspiracy thinking—to engage voters and push for particular policy ideas and outcomes. Conspirator in Chief: The Long Tradition of Conspiracy Theories in the American Presidency (UP Kansas, 2025) spans the entire history of the United States, paying close attention to presidents Thomas Jefferson, Andrew Jackson, Andrew Johnson, Woodrow Wilson, Franklin Roosevelt and Harry Truman, Richard Nixon, and finally Donald Trump. These particular presidents, both during their administrations and after, made use of conspiracies and/or demagogic rhetoric to encourage their supporters and to appeal to public fears. As Knott notes, Alexander Hamilton warns against this in both Federalist #1 and Federalist #85, wrapping the discussion of the new Constitution in concerns with regard to demagoguery. So many of the conspiracies that are pushed by presidents have at their base racism and an effort to fan the flames of racial fear and resentment. Jefferson, Jackson, Johnson, and Wilson all made use of racism as a part of their conspiracies. Conspirator in Chief: The Long Tradition of Conspiracy Theories in the American Presidency also mines the deep vein of conspiracy theories around moneyed and elite interests, since many presidents cast these interests as predatory and “out to get” the average citizen. This is another constant approach among the presidents from the early days of the republic through to our contemporary “conspirator in chief” Donald Trump. Part of the way that presidents use these kinds of conspiracies is to set up a dichotomy of those who are with the president and those who are against the president, and this latter group is, inevitably, also opposed to the country as a whole and the way of life in the United States. Knott explains that this was the kind of rhetoric that both FDR and Truman used in their implementation of this kind of conspiratorial rhetoric. This also leans on national security as a point of contention, and that those in opposition to the president or the president's policies are also potential threats to the republic. This is another dimension that Trump builds on in his use of this kind of rhetoric and division. In the final part of Conspirator in Chief, Knott sketches out those presidents who go far in standing against this kind of language and these kinds of attacks. Included in this grouping are John Quincy Adams, Abraham Lincoln, William Howard Taft, and John F. Kennedy, among others. These individuals leaned into reason more than rumormongering, examining their own biases, and also pointing to the conspiracies that others were advocating. While we learn a great deal about demagogic presidents who stirred up conspiracies based in racism, fear, antisemitism, and classism, we also learn about those who operated differently, who tried to protect the country from such divisive rhetoric. Lilly J. Goren is a professor of political science at Carroll University in Waukesha, WI. She is co-host of the New Books in Political Science channel at the New Books Network. She is co-editor of The Politics of the Marvel Cinematic Universe Volume I: The Infinity Saga (University Press of Kansas, 2022), and of The Politics of the Marvel Cinematic Universe Volume II: Into the Multiverse (University Press of Kansas, 2025) as well as co-editor of the award winning book, Women and the White House: Gender, Popular Culture, and Presidential Politics (University Press of Kentucky, 2012). She can be reached @gorenlj.bsky.social Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/history

Political Scientist Steve Knott has a new book that focuses on conspiracy theories within the American presidency and often promulgated by the president himself. This is not, per se, a book about conspiracy theories in general, but about the narratives that presidents have used—that constitutes a kind of conspiracy thinking—to engage voters and push for particular policy ideas and outcomes. Conspirator in Chief: The Long Tradition of Conspiracy Theories in the American Presidency (UP Kansas, 2025) spans the entire history of the United States, paying close attention to presidents Thomas Jefferson, Andrew Jackson, Andrew Johnson, Woodrow Wilson, Franklin Roosevelt and Harry Truman, Richard Nixon, and finally Donald Trump. These particular presidents, both during their administrations and after, made use of conspiracies and/or demagogic rhetoric to encourage their supporters and to appeal to public fears. As Knott notes, Alexander Hamilton warns against this in both Federalist #1 and Federalist #85, wrapping the discussion of the new Constitution in concerns with regard to demagoguery. So many of the conspiracies that are pushed by presidents have at their base racism and an effort to fan the flames of racial fear and resentment. Jefferson, Jackson, Johnson, and Wilson all made use of racism as a part of their conspiracies. Conspirator in Chief: The Long Tradition of Conspiracy Theories in the American Presidency also mines the deep vein of conspiracy theories around moneyed and elite interests, since many presidents cast these interests as predatory and “out to get” the average citizen. This is another constant approach among the presidents from the early days of the republic through to our contemporary “conspirator in chief” Donald Trump. Part of the way that presidents use these kinds of conspiracies is to set up a dichotomy of those who are with the president and those who are against the president, and this latter group is, inevitably, also opposed to the country as a whole and the way of life in the United States. Knott explains that this was the kind of rhetoric that both FDR and Truman used in their implementation of this kind of conspiratorial rhetoric. This also leans on national security as a point of contention, and that those in opposition to the president or the president's policies are also potential threats to the republic. This is another dimension that Trump builds on in his use of this kind of rhetoric and division. In the final part of Conspirator in Chief, Knott sketches out those presidents who go far in standing against this kind of language and these kinds of attacks. Included in this grouping are John Quincy Adams, Abraham Lincoln, William Howard Taft, and John F. Kennedy, among others. These individuals leaned into reason more than rumormongering, examining their own biases, and also pointing to the conspiracies that others were advocating. While we learn a great deal about demagogic presidents who stirred up conspiracies based in racism, fear, antisemitism, and classism, we also learn about those who operated differently, who tried to protect the country from such divisive rhetoric. Lilly J. Goren is a professor of political science at Carroll University in Waukesha, WI. She is co-host of the New Books in Political Science channel at the New Books Network. She is co-editor of The Politics of the Marvel Cinematic Universe Volume I: The Infinity Saga (University Press of Kansas, 2022), and of The Politics of the Marvel Cinematic Universe Volume II: Into the Multiverse (University Press of Kansas, 2025) as well as co-editor of the award winning book, Women and the White House: Gender, Popular Culture, and Presidential Politics (University Press of Kentucky, 2012). She can be reached @gorenlj.bsky.social Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/political-science

Political Scientist Steve Knott has a new book that focuses on conspiracy theories within the American presidency and often promulgated by the president himself. This is not, per se, a book about conspiracy theories in general, but about the narratives that presidents have used—that constitutes a kind of conspiracy thinking—to engage voters and push for particular policy ideas and outcomes. Conspirator in Chief: The Long Tradition of Conspiracy Theories in the American Presidency (UP Kansas, 2025) spans the entire history of the United States, paying close attention to presidents Thomas Jefferson, Andrew Jackson, Andrew Johnson, Woodrow Wilson, Franklin Roosevelt and Harry Truman, Richard Nixon, and finally Donald Trump. These particular presidents, both during their administrations and after, made use of conspiracies and/or demagogic rhetoric to encourage their supporters and to appeal to public fears. As Knott notes, Alexander Hamilton warns against this in both Federalist #1 and Federalist #85, wrapping the discussion of the new Constitution in concerns with regard to demagoguery. So many of the conspiracies that are pushed by presidents have at their base racism and an effort to fan the flames of racial fear and resentment. Jefferson, Jackson, Johnson, and Wilson all made use of racism as a part of their conspiracies. Conspirator in Chief: The Long Tradition of Conspiracy Theories in the American Presidency also mines the deep vein of conspiracy theories around moneyed and elite interests, since many presidents cast these interests as predatory and “out to get” the average citizen. This is another constant approach among the presidents from the early days of the republic through to our contemporary “conspirator in chief” Donald Trump. Part of the way that presidents use these kinds of conspiracies is to set up a dichotomy of those who are with the president and those who are against the president, and this latter group is, inevitably, also opposed to the country as a whole and the way of life in the United States. Knott explains that this was the kind of rhetoric that both FDR and Truman used in their implementation of this kind of conspiratorial rhetoric. This also leans on national security as a point of contention, and that those in opposition to the president or the president's policies are also potential threats to the republic. This is another dimension that Trump builds on in his use of this kind of rhetoric and division. In the final part of Conspirator in Chief, Knott sketches out those presidents who go far in standing against this kind of language and these kinds of attacks. Included in this grouping are John Quincy Adams, Abraham Lincoln, William Howard Taft, and John F. Kennedy, among others. These individuals leaned into reason more than rumormongering, examining their own biases, and also pointing to the conspiracies that others were advocating. While we learn a great deal about demagogic presidents who stirred up conspiracies based in racism, fear, antisemitism, and classism, we also learn about those who operated differently, who tried to protect the country from such divisive rhetoric. Lilly J. Goren is a professor of political science at Carroll University in Waukesha, WI. She is co-host of the New Books in Political Science channel at the New Books Network. She is co-editor of The Politics of the Marvel Cinematic Universe Volume I: The Infinity Saga (University Press of Kansas, 2022), and of The Politics of the Marvel Cinematic Universe Volume II: Into the Multiverse (University Press of Kansas, 2025) as well as co-editor of the award winning book, Women and the White House: Gender, Popular Culture, and Presidential Politics (University Press of Kentucky, 2012). She can be reached @gorenlj.bsky.social Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/american-studies

Political Scientist Steve Knott has a new book that focuses on conspiracy theories within the American presidency and often promulgated by the president himself. This is not, per se, a book about conspiracy theories in general, but about the narratives that presidents have used—that constitutes a kind of conspiracy thinking—to engage voters and push for particular policy ideas and outcomes. Conspirator in Chief: The Long Tradition of Conspiracy Theories in the American Presidency (UP Kansas, 2025) spans the entire history of the United States, paying close attention to presidents Thomas Jefferson, Andrew Jackson, Andrew Johnson, Woodrow Wilson, Franklin Roosevelt and Harry Truman, Richard Nixon, and finally Donald Trump. These particular presidents, both during their administrations and after, made use of conspiracies and/or demagogic rhetoric to encourage their supporters and to appeal to public fears. As Knott notes, Alexander Hamilton warns against this in both Federalist #1 and Federalist #85, wrapping the discussion of the new Constitution in concerns with regard to demagoguery. So many of the conspiracies that are pushed by presidents have at their base racism and an effort to fan the flames of racial fear and resentment. Jefferson, Jackson, Johnson, and Wilson all made use of racism as a part of their conspiracies. Conspirator in Chief: The Long Tradition of Conspiracy Theories in the American Presidency also mines the deep vein of conspiracy theories around moneyed and elite interests, since many presidents cast these interests as predatory and “out to get” the average citizen. This is another constant approach among the presidents from the early days of the republic through to our contemporary “conspirator in chief” Donald Trump. Part of the way that presidents use these kinds of conspiracies is to set up a dichotomy of those who are with the president and those who are against the president, and this latter group is, inevitably, also opposed to the country as a whole and the way of life in the United States. Knott explains that this was the kind of rhetoric that both FDR and Truman used in their implementation of this kind of conspiratorial rhetoric. This also leans on national security as a point of contention, and that those in opposition to the president or the president's policies are also potential threats to the republic. This is another dimension that Trump builds on in his use of this kind of rhetoric and division. In the final part of Conspirator in Chief, Knott sketches out those presidents who go far in standing against this kind of language and these kinds of attacks. Included in this grouping are John Quincy Adams, Abraham Lincoln, William Howard Taft, and John F. Kennedy, among others. These individuals leaned into reason more than rumormongering, examining their own biases, and also pointing to the conspiracies that others were advocating. While we learn a great deal about demagogic presidents who stirred up conspiracies based in racism, fear, antisemitism, and classism, we also learn about those who operated differently, who tried to protect the country from such divisive rhetoric. Lilly J. Goren is a professor of political science at Carroll University in Waukesha, WI. She is co-host of the New Books in Political Science channel at the New Books Network. She is co-editor of The Politics of the Marvel Cinematic Universe Volume I: The Infinity Saga (University Press of Kansas, 2022), and of The Politics of the Marvel Cinematic Universe Volume II: Into the Multiverse (University Press of Kansas, 2025) as well as co-editor of the award winning book, Women and the White House: Gender, Popular Culture, and Presidential Politics (University Press of Kentucky, 2012). She can be reached @gorenlj.bsky.social Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/popular-culture

VR31 - Is Justice Clarence Thomas the single most interesting person in American public life right now? Matt is here to argue that case upon the dismal milestone of Thomas officially becoming the second longest-serving justice in US Supreme Court history.  After a brief homage to Anita Hill's tenacity at Thomas's 1991 Senate confirmation hearing, we try to better understand the mind of this unusual man who has done uniquely massive amounts of damage to our legal system and our rights through a review of a speech he recently delivered at the University of Texas at Austin's Civitas Institute. Why did a former supporter of Malcolm X and the Black Panthers get fully behind the Reagan agenda, and why does he now believe that there is nothing wrong with Black Americans that harsher policing, the end of affirmative action, and lowering taxes on billionaires can't fix? Does he know that the intended audience of libertarian conservative Black nationalists he is trying to speak to is approximately the same size as the dedicated core of lefty capital-P Progressive devotees of Woodrow Wilson he is telling them to fear? Also, perhaps less importantly--where, exactly, is “Skanksville”? “Remarks on the 250th Anniversary of the Declaration of Independence,” Clarence Thomas (full text of address given April 20, 2026)(full video here) The Enigma of Clarence Thomas, Corey Robin (2019)  

In this Mother’s Day episode of Curry Café, hosts Ray Gary and Rick McNamer are joined by guests Billie Ruth Furuichi and Shirley Hyatt to explore the holiday’s origins, from Julia Ward Howe’s peace advocacy to Anna Jarvis’s campaign and Woodrow Wilson’s 1914 proclamation. The conversation examines motherhood’s self-sacrificing nature, evolving family structures, working mothers, cultural variations in parenting, diverse family models, and the “Hallmarkization” that has commercialized what was meant to be a heartfelt celebration. We encourage anyone with differing views to participate in future Curry Café discussions. If you would like to join the panel, email contact@kciw.org or call 541-661-4098. Host: Ray Gary; Producers: Ray Gary, Rick McNamer Intro and end music by Kat Liddell. Used with permission. Richard’s Story, composed and performed by Bobby Jue Holman. Used with Permission. The opinions expressed here are those of the individual participants. Curry Coast Community Radio takes no position on issues discussed in this program. If you enjoy this program and want to hear more like it, consider supporting Curry Coast Community Radio. Here’s How.

The success of WWII production highlights a fundamental tension between centralized government command and private sector innovation. During World War I, Woodrow Wilson's attempt to nationalize the economy resulted in a disaster where vast sums were spent without producing a single airplane or ship. Learning from this, FDR and Knudsen chose to let private industry determine how to execute the goals set by Washington. This partnership allowed businesses to unleash their expertise and innovation to solve public sector problems. Today, the American defense industrial base has shrunk significantly, lagging behind in critical areas like AI, semiconductors, and quantum technology. The sources argue that we have given too much control to bureaucrats rather than turning the private sector loose. The contrast is exemplified by the success of SpaceX versus NASA, suggesting that the secret to restoring national security lies in recreating the flexible, incentive-based industrial environment that won the Second World War. (4/4)1936

Tomorrow is Mother's Day. Did you know that it was President Woodrow Wilson that declared the second Sunday in May to be celebrated as Mother's Day?

The dangers of progressivism and its ties to Marxism and socialism. Seth explores the legacy of Woodrow Wilson, who he believes embodied the Progressive movement's desire to update democracy and discard the founding principles of the U.S. Seth also touches on the topic of violence and its increasing normalization in politics, referencing recent incidents and the rise of "violence chic." Political violence is ‘cool’ again on the Left. He critiques the Democratic Party's embracing of candidates with problematic views, including Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed and New Jersey congressional candidate Adam Hamawy, and questions the party's leadership for not speaking out against these issues. Seth takes on criticisms of the Iran war. We're joined by Johnny Estes, Vice President of Operations, and Shannon Estes, President of CMI Gold & Silver. Michael B. Mukasey’s piece “The ‘Blind Sheikh’ and the Candidate” in The Wall Street Journal. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

From the publisher:"Esteemed presidential historian Stephen F. Knott takes readers on a sobering tour of the lowlights in the American presidency, showing how presidents from Thomas Jefferson to Donald Trump have engaged in reckless conspiracy-mongering about their political opponents in an effort to increase their power and privilege.Today we are inundated with conspiracy theories—QAnon, the “Big Lie,” Pizzagate, the Epstein Files, and innumerable false claims about vaccines and other medicines. But the widespread proliferation of lies and misinformation can make it easy to forget that conspiracy theories have been part of American life from the beginning. The land of the free and the home of the brave has also been the den of false rumors and conspiratorial claims about one's political enemies—not merely by rank-and-file Americans but also by our most powerful and consequential elected leaders. As political historian Stephen F. Knott recounts in painful detail, the Commander in Chief of the United States has often acted as Conspirator in Chief.Part presidential history and part descent into a political Dante's Inferno, Conspirator in Chief is a tour through the Hall of Shame in American politics. Thomas Jefferson used surrogates to spread false claims about Alexander Hamilton in order to destroy his political influence, attacked newspaper editors who were critical of his party and policies, and used conspiracy theories about the Federalists to tarnish them in the eyes of the American people. This brand of demagoguery reached an apex in the presidency of Andrew Jackson, who publicly defamed abolitionists, manipulated newspapers to publish his conspiracies, and spread his own “Big Lie” about the 1824 election being stolen from him in a “corrupt bargain.” Andrew Johnson spread false accusations about the Radical Republicans, declared the need for “white emancipation,” and made spurious claims about the dangers of a coming Black supremacy as a result of Reconstruction. Woodrow Wilson, according to Knott, continued Johnson's racist and conspiratorial interpretation of American history.In addition to our most infamous presidents, Knott uncovers the surprising conspiratorial inclinations of our more esteemed leaders, including Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Harry S Truman. Knott shows how both presidents painted their opponents in an extreme light, casting aspersions on political rivals by calling them “betrayers of America,” “spies, saboteurs, and traitors,” and comparing them to Nazis, fascists, and communists. Less surprising are the presidencies of Richard Nixon and Donald J. Trump, both known for their propagation of racist and paranoid beliefs and their denigration of political opponents. As Knott demonstrates in excruciating detail, Trump epitomizes the worst of this long American tradition. While Trump is in a league of his own regarding the sheer output and outlandishness of his conspiracy-mongering, he did not begin this odious practice."Information on Dr. Knott's book can be found at https://kansaspress.ku.edu/9780700641284/His website can be found at https://www.stephenfknott.com/AxelbankHistory.com is designed by https://www.ellieclairedesigns.com/Axelbank Reports History and Today" can be found on social media at https://twitter.com/axelbankhistoryhttps://instagram.com/axelbankhistoryhttps://facebook.com/axelbankhistory

In Iran, America is using expensive weaponry against cheap local drones. Can upstart tech companies change the economics – and nature — of conflict? As part of our ongoing series on the US at 250, we examine the impact of the two world wars. And should you ever use an emoji at work?Listen to “Money Talks” on defence tech upstarts. Guests and host:Henry Tricks, US technology editorAnnie Crabill, a senior digital editorAndrew Palmer, host of “Boss Class” podcastRosie Blau, host of “The intelligence”Topics covered: Pentagon, Palantir, SpaceX, AndurilAmerica 250, Woodrow Wilson, FDREmojis, auberginesListen to what matters most, from global politics and business to science and technology—Subscribe to Economist Podcasts+For more information about how to access Economist Podcasts+, please visit our FAQs page or watch our video explaining how to link your account. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In Iran, America is using expensive weaponry against cheap local drones. Can upstart tech companies change the economics – and nature — of conflict? As part of our ongoing series on the US at 250, we examine the impact of the two world wars. And should you ever use an emoji at work?Listen to “Money Talks” on defence tech upstarts. Guests and host:Henry Tricks, US technology editorAnnie Crabill, a senior digital editorAndrew Palmer, host of “Boss Class” podcastRosie Blau, host of “The intelligence”Topics covered: Pentagon, Palantir, SpaceX, AndurilAmerica 250, Woodrow Wilson, FDREmojis, auberginesListen to what matters most, from global politics and business to science and technology—Subscribe to Economist Podcasts+For more information about how to access Economist Podcasts+, please visit our FAQs page or watch our video explaining how to link your account. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Alpha and Omega of 1920: Wilson's Health and the League of Nations Guest: David Pietrusza This segment explores Woodrow Wilson's debilitating stroke in October 1919 and how it paralyzed his presidency. Historian David Pietrusza discusses the central role of the League of Nations, detailing how Wilson's crusade split the Republican party and ultimately shaped American internationalism for decades to come.1. The Available Man from Ohio: Warren G. Harding's Rise Guest: David Pietrusza The discussion shifts to the Republican frontrunner Warren G. Harding, a small-town publisher and "available man" from the battleground state of Ohio. Despite personal scandals and being a low-tier choice initially, Harding's strategy of accommodation and avoiding alienation helped him navigate the crowded primary field. 11913 WILSON

Leviticus affecting our lives today; Christ's baptism; Fire?; "Euphrates" (fruitful); Flow of sacrifice; Charity alone; Ordering wood?; Information sources; Unhewn stone?; Metaphors; Burnt offerings; Goat?; Codification?; Strong delusion of modern Christianity; Interpretation of the Old Testament without Holy Spirit; Divine fire; Faith of Abraham; Withered tree; Life in the presence of God; Evolution?; Lev 9:16 Untranslated aleph-tav; Spirit-led decisions; Eighth day?; What was Moses teaching?; Lev 9:24 Day of completion?; Not to be that way with YOU!; Covetous practices; Obedience; No exercising authority; Image of the beast?; Making the word of God to effect; Prospering society; Moses' way; Living altars; Making Israel great; Turtledove goddess?; Lev 10:1 Nadab and Abiju; vav-yod?; Serving the Lord in earnest; Mourning?; Excuses; Tabernacle of the congregation?; Declaration of Independence; Where do rights come from?; Woodrow Wilson; Splitting the vote; Lev 10 what did they do wrong?: Opening the box; Towers of modern religion; Not seeing your covetousness; Drunk on mistaken understanding; Righteousness?; Trees without fruit; Strange/Divine fire - what's the difference?; Obeying the Lord; v9: Do not drink wine nor strong drink; Modern religion; Individual inspiration; Sharing light; Religion without snares; Repenting and seeking His kingdom and righteousness; Statutes? Chet-kuf-hey; Revelation; Freewill offerings alone; Obedience?; Red Heifer?; "Leaven"; Conceived in hell; Church welfare; Wilderness of unrighteousness; v16 Moses seeking the goat; Atonement; Practicing Pure Religion to draw near; Moses' disappointment; Taking back responsibility; Goat = strength; Eating in the holy place?; Sin offering - extra for atonement; Efficient social welfare; Lacking oversight; Focus on doing the right way; Right to use; Widows and orphans; Hospice; Altars; Loving our enemy; Laying down your life; Uniting Israel; Red Heifer?; Putting away your idols; Blind eye to covetousness; Social safety net based on love and charity; "Priests"; Burning incense?; Seek the Way of Christ.

Let me ask you something. What if the presidents your history textbook told you were the greatest ones, Lincoln, Wilson, Roosevelt, were ranked that high precisely because they were the most useful to the people who write the rankings? What if the scorched earth tactics American soldiers carried out across Mexico, the American South, the Philippines, Dresden, and Fallujah were never aberrations, never the fog of war, never isolated incidents, but standing orders that got passed down from one conflict to the next and never rescinded? What if the man history handed you as the father of the New Deal was simultaneously building the first modern censorship apparatus in American political history, pressuring radio stations, newspaper editors, and magazine publishers to remove anyone who dared criticize his administration? Donald Jeffries has been asking those questions since he was a teenager sitting in Mark Lane's townhouse, lobbying Congress to reopen the Kennedy assassination investigation. That was the mid-1970s. He never stopped. In the 50 years since, he has built a body of work that no establishment institution will acknowledge and that hundreds of thousands of people have sought out anyway. Ten books. Hidden History. Survival of the Richest. Crimes and Cover-Ups in American Politics with a foreword by Ron Paul. Bullyocracy. On Borrowed Fame. Pipe the Bimbo in Red, his deep investigation into the New Orleans network at the center of the Kennedy assassination, co-written with the foremost expert on the medical evidence in the case. And now American Memory Hole: How the Court Historians Promote Disinformation, published by Skyhorse in 2024, the most comprehensive reckoning with what the official historical record actually is and who it actually serves. Tonight we go to the U.S.-Mexican War, where American troops first turned civilian targeting into official doctrine. We go to the Civil War, where primary source letters from Union officers brag about the gold and silver they stole from Southern women on the march to the sea. We go to Woodrow Wilson, the first public eugenicist in American political history, whose physician in charge of forced sterilization programs later appeared inside a Nazi concentration camp. We go to World War I, reframed not as a response to the death of Archduke Ferdinand but as a currency war that elevated the dollar above the British pound and killed millions of men to do it. We go to Joseph McCarthy, the man history handed you as a villain, stripped tonight of the Hollywood blacklisting he had nothing to do with, restored as a decorated combat veteran, as the first public figure to say Roosevelt knew Pearl Harbor was coming, as a man who died at 48 in a naval hospital with no autopsy and no explanation that holds up. We go to James Forrestal, the first prominent critic of Israel, pushed out of a window at Bethesda Naval Hospital, with McCarthy publicly naming it as murder, before McCarthy checked into that same hospital and never came back out. And we go to Dallas. To the document McGeorge Bundy drafted on the day of the assassination, before the president was dead, reversing Kennedy's Vietnam withdrawal order. To the 9:39 PM phone call in the JFK Jr. case, confirmed on unedited Coast Guard footage and then scrubbed from the official record. To the New Orleans network of Dean Andrews and Clay Shaw and David Ferrie, and the ground-level conspiracy that Jim Garrison spent his career and reputation trying to expose.

Send us Fan MailThe American POTUS podcast is a 501c3 non-profit show, supported by listener patriots like you. To help us keep the program going, please join others around the nation by considering a tax-deductible donation. You can make your contribution and see what exciting plans we have for new podcasts and other outreach programs, at AmericanPOTUS.org. Thank You for your support and we hope you enjoy this episode. Support the showPlease consider a tax-deductible donation to support this podcast by visiting AmericanPOTUS.org.  Thank You!

You are less informed and infinitely more misinformed if you spend your time on Podcastistan than if you listen to the mainstream media. Plus, modern progressivism was born out of Woodrow Wilson's deep racism.

What if the most powerful weapon in American politics isn't money… but accusation?Today's Throwback Thursday pulls the thread on something bigger than a headline—a pattern.From Woodrow Wilson's federal segregation…to eugenics backed by elite universities…to Jim Crow laws, redlining, and Civil Rights filibusters…This episode lays out one question:

In 1947, Bernard Baruch was a multimillionaire financier who advised presidents from Woodrow Wilson to Harry S. Truman. On this date in 1947, he gave a speech to the South Carolina House of Representatives. During that speech, Baruch introduced a new term into the American consciousness when he said, “Let us not be deceived. We are today in the midst of a Cold War.”

—Jacob Siegel, the Information State, excerpts from audiobook, which can be found here.Totalitarianism came to America slowly at first and then all at once. It began as a utopia, one I helped build. It seemed like a perfect new America and gave all of us godless creatures, who'd been chewed up and spit out by the Boomers' counterculture revolution, a collective sense of purpose. It was all going so great until it wasn't.A Virtual UtopiaI got online 30 years ago. I never planned on living half of my life on the internet. It just turned out that way. I had motive, means, and opportunity to kill off my real-life self and be reborn in the virtual world. Why wouldn't I escape a life that had become a full-spectrum failure at everything I tried to do? A relationship that blew up when the man I thought loved me went back to his wife, the Graduate Film Program at Columbia I'd targeted as my life's dream ended in one semester as I chased that loser guy back to LA. There are things about that moment that are too painful to write about, at least for now, but I will someday. The result was me staring at the wall with nothing achieved and nowhere to go. I had just turned 30.The internet allowed me to remake myself as someone else. I could be strong. I could be confident. I could be beautiful because who knew what you looked like? I could just use words, and I was good at words. So I dove into a life online full of excitement and wonder, a dreamscape of endless possibilities. There was no Amazon, no eBay, no Google. There was barely a web browser.I fell in love with an Italian I met online and came back from Italy pregnant. He didn't want to be a father, but I wanted to be a mother, so I had my baby, and then I built a website so I could stay home with her and support us. I was the success story for every progressive female: a single mom and a business owner. A daughter of feminism en route to helping launch the Great Feminization and the Great Awokening.I was in Italy when I sent my first Tweet from my Treo. When Barack Obama signed on, I followed him, and he followed me. Then I became part of his army of clicktivists, shaping the new rules and building our desired narratives. We felt omnipotent. This was the internet, after all, and you could be anything you wanted to be - an activist for moral good? Check. An outspoken exhibitist? Check. West Wing-like politicos acting like experts in politics? Check. Remaking a new America one social media post at a time? Check. Virtue signaling with images blasted out to followers displaying our goodness? Check.For all the ways we used the internet, it shouldn't be that surprising that we built a virtual America - a fantasy utopia - that we forgot wasn't real. We were riding high with our media stars like Jon Stewart and Rachel Maddow. We were the new, the progressive, the forward thinkers, the early adopters. We colonized the internet in our image. Utopias only have two paths forward. They either collapse or they must become more totalitarian out of necessity, to quote Milan Kundera in The Book of Laughter and Forgetting.Our utopia was opt-in at first, and who wouldn't want to be a part of it? For a time, it felt like the best thing ever, all of our problems solved. It was everything, everywhere, all at once. A “whole of society” effort. It was # OscarsSoWhite. It was Critical Race Theory. It was every institution, corporation, legacy media outlet, and movie studio. But it was also dull. Movies became infused with dogma. The rules became stifling. Sooner or later, people like me were going to shake the tree.Says Siegel:Maintaining utopia, let alone defining it, meant that there would eventually be people like me who asked too many questions, who would be hurled before the almighty panopticon — an army of puritanical scolds policing thought and speech — and eventually destroyed and purged as the mob cheered. The BreakdownI'd been a good liberal, a loyal and devoted Democrat all of my adult life. I'd never thought about conspiracy theories. I didn't really challenge the system. I never doubted the intent of our government. I was all in for Obama, Hillary Clinton, and Joe Biden. I was so loyal a supporter that I was invited to an early Biden fundraiser in May of 2019. I watched him speak with tears in my eyes. He will save us, I thought. One year later, however, COVID hit. My daughter had to leave her senior year of college and have her graduation on my balcony. We were sewing our own masks and making our own hand sanitizer. It was a whole-of-society effort to deal with this once-in-a-generation pandemic. But by the end of May, the George Floyd video whipped around the world, and before long, the whole of society's effort had to shift to racial injustice as millions poured into the streets. What I saw unfold that year, the lies that were told, the gaslighting, the lurching from one narrative to the other, and all of the obedient robots going along with it, in full mass formation, was too much, even for me. We watched them lie - the experts, the journalists, the celebrities, the Democrats. I kept trying to scream from the rooftops that we would lose the 2020 election if the violent protests didn't stop. What I didn't know, what I would find out by the end of the election, was that it didn't matter. They would bend the media narrative to pretend there were no violent protests. It all worked cleanly and smoothly. No one was even allowed to question it. Trump was campaigning hard, doing multiple rallies a day, and it seemed to me he was making headway and changing minds. We know this because he won Florida, Ohio, and Iowa. Only once in history has anyone won those three states and still lost: The 1960 election.The difference in votes between Kennedy and Nixon proves how close the election was. But it never made sense to me that Biden would win by such a large margin and also lose Ohio, Iowa, and Florida. Unless, of course, they'd built a system that was too big to fail and had collected enough ballots long before Election Day.The FBI, still working under Trump, had helped the Democrats by suppressing the Hunter Biden laptop via social media. COVID gave Biden the excuse to hide in the basement and not campaign. A “whole of society” effort to purge a once-in-a-generation threat seemed to justify everything they did, as we know from the confession in TIME Magazine. Our elections, it seemed, were too risky to leave up to the people. This system, this utopia we built, believed itself to be more powerful than our democracy, more powerful than our elections. I couldn't go along with that, just as I couldn't go along with everything that came after, as our utopia devolved into a totalitarian dystopia. The Information StateSometimes, during those dark nights of the soul, I wonder, did I do the right thing? Did what I thought happened really happen? No one in the mainstream media or culture has ever acknowledged any of it. They don't want to admit it or talk about it. Their war on Trump simply rages on, and they hope all of us will one day get with the program.But for me, there is still that untold story, a story I need to be told so that everyone on the Left - my friends and family and all of Hollywood and much of our legacy media understands what happened in the last ten years. Why are we living like this, with one half of the country marching by the millions to protest a president who defeated them not once but twice? Their hatred and shunning of half the country is still justified and accepted. Why?Now, thanks to Jacob Siegel, we don't have to wonder. He's written it all down, the whole ugly tale, in this essential text, The Information State: Politics in the Age of Total Control. There is nothing they can do about it now. It will set the record straight, at long last. The Information State starts with Woodrow Wilson's Great War crackdown on speech, and moves through World War II, Harry Truman and the Cold War, up to 9/11 and the expansion of the surveillance state. But it was the Obama administration that took it much further, beyond mere surveillance. He used information to change hearts and minds and to create a utopian society, not unlike those of the Soviet Union or China. As Siegel writes:How the protests and riots over the Summer in 2020, versus those on January 6th, were treated so differently by our government remains one of the clearest examples of the kind of two-tiered society we were living under before Elon Musk bought Twitter and Donald Trump won again. The BLM riots attacked working-class people, so they didn't matter, but January 6th attacked the powerful, and that, to them, meant war. Siegel writes:“Truth Held Forth and Maintained.”The scandal of how 20 people were hanged as witches in Salem would have been long forgotten, were it not for a cantankerous Quaker named Thomas Maule, who made the brave choice to expose the scandal in a pamphlet he called Truth Held Forth and Maintained. In cool and cutting sarcasm, he wrote that God would condemn the witch trial judges. He famously stated, “[F]or it were better that one hundred Witches should live, than that one person be put to death for a Witch, which is not a Witch.”Maule's pamphlet was banned, and he was thrown in jail for “blasphemy and slander.” He would eventually get a trial, and the jury, exhausted and demoralized by the events of that winter, ruled in his favor, handing him a landmark win that would be among the cases that inspired the First Amendment. Jacob Siegel won't be jailed for blasphemy. Those named in the book will either ignore it outright or attempt to discredit it. As of today, there are no reviews in the New York Times or the Washington Post. As if out of a chapter in his own book, Renée DiResta objected to how she was portrayed and wrote a letter of complaint to the website Baffler, which then pulled the review. Siegel and DiResta publicly debated whether it counted as censorship. But who needs censorship when you have total societal control? At least among the university-educated ruling class. DiResta's bio on Twitter reads:DiResta and the machine she works for have rigged the game in their favor. No major media outlets will ever call them out. Hollywood won't write any controversial screenplays about them. Late night comediens will never mock them, and they will always be treated gently, with soft cotton gloves, lest anyone leave a mark.Into the UnknownJacob Siegel's The Information State does not paint an optimistic vision for the future. It ends with a question mark. Who will control this vast leviathan of data and human behavior, that now includes unstoppable AI? And how will we survive it?What will these same people who took complete control of society, of thought and speech, do if they take back power? I think we can probably guess. If they've never admitted it, never atoned for any of it, then we can expect it will come roaring back, and this time, they won't bother trying to hide it. My advice? Log off. Migrate back to the real world. Look at the sky at twilight. Dig your toes into the sand. Build a fire in the woods. Look people in the eye. Attend a poetry reading. Go to a coffee shop. Meet people in the real world and leave the internet and the Information State far behind.It's probably too late for me. I'm a lifer. I know that. But I'm also a cautionary tale. This is what happens when you spend 30 years of your life in the virtual world. But if I can find my way out, then anyone can. // This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.sashastone.com/subscribe

America’s desire to expand its borders has existed since its first colonies – from attempts to settle beyond the Appalachian Mountains in the 18th century to Manifest Destiny in the 19th century down to talks today to purchase Greenland. But the United States spent two centuries eyeing acquisitions far stranger than California or Oregon—from Canada to the Kamchatka Peninsula of Russia and even Syria after World War I. These weren't fever dreams of fringe politicians; they were serious diplomatic efforts involving presidents, congressional debates, and appeals from foreign leaders themselves who saw American annexation as preferable to rule by Mexico, France, or Britain. The difference between success and failure often came down to whether Washington offered full statehood and constitutional protections (like Alaska and Hawaii) or imposed colonial supervision without citizenship (like Cuba and the Philippines), creating either assimilation or nationalist resentment that echoes today. Today's guest is Mark Kawar, author of America, but Bigger: Near-Annexations from Greenland to the Galápagos. We discuss how Woodrow Wilson was the last president to successfully buy land from Denmark (the U.S. Virgin Islands in 1917), why El Salvadoran leaders and Polynesian chiefs actively lobbied for American annexation to escape worse colonial masters, and how the 1919 King-Crane Commission discovered that Syria overwhelmingly requested U.S. oversight because Wilson promised self-determination while European powers reeked of imperial exploitation. Kawar also explains the Guano Islands Act of 1856, which let America claim dozens of Pacific islands for fertilizer deposits, and why American Samoans today are U.S. nationals but not automatically citizens—a legacy of the "unincorporated territory" loophole that still defines places like Guam.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode, Sean and James trace America’s complex journey from neutrality to full-fledged participation in World War I. They explore Woodrow Wilson’s background and early reluctance to enter the conflict, the diplomatic and military crises that shifted American public opinion, and the nation’s rapid mobilization once war was declared. The hosts also examine how propaganda, industrial expansion, and the buildup of the American Expeditionary Force reshaped both the home front and the battlefield. Finally, they outline the major engagements involving U.S. troops and assess the decisive impact American entry had on the war’s outcome.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

**We've got new merch! Check it out.**For the thirteenth episode of “50 Weeks That Shaped America” we go to 1917 and the growing pressure on Woodrow Wilson to send American troops to Europe and enter WWI. We discuss the various factions, from warhawks to "America First" and peace activists. Teddy Roosevelt emerges as Wilson's main antagonist, and Germany keeps bombing US boats. By the spring of 1917, Wilson is prepared to make a brutal decision.Join our America250 newsletter community! Subscribe for free to get the latest news and analysis of how America250 is playing out. Paying subscribers get access to early, ad-free versions of the show. Plus bonus features throughout the year. To support our work and get access to everything, subscribe now.This Day is a proud member of Radiotopia from PRX.Your support helps foster independent, artist-owned podcasts and award-winning stories.If you want to support the show directly, you can do so on our website: ThisDayPod.comGet in touch if you have any ideas for future topics, or just want to say hello. Follow us on social @thisdaypodOur team: Jacob Feldman, Researcher/Producer; Khawla Nakua, Transcripts; music by Teen Daze and Blue Dot Sessions; Audrey Mardavich is our Executive Producer at Radiotopia. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Washington, D.C.March 3, 1913. The day before Woodrow Wilson's inauguration, a twenty-six-year-old lawyer named Inez Milholland climbed onto a white horse and led more than five thousand women down Pennsylvania Avenue in the largest suffrage demonstration the nation had ever seen. They never made it four blocks before a mob of a quarter million men surged into the street. Women were grabbed, shoved, spat upon, and pelted with bottles while D.C. police laughed along with the crowd. Over a hundred marchers were hospitalized. Helen Keller was so shaken she couldn't speak. The cavalry had to be called from Fort Myer to restore order. Meanwhile, Ida B. Wells-Barnett defied orders to march in the back of the parade and took her rightful place with the Illinois delegation. The resulting scandal cost the police superintendent his career — and gave the suffrage movement the momentum that would carry it to the Nineteenth Amendment.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-historian--2909311/support.You can pay more if you want to, but rent at the Safe House is still just a buck a week, and you can get access to over 400 ad-free episodes from the dusty vault, Safe House Exclusives, direct access to the Boss, and whatever personal services you require.We invite you to our other PULPULAR MEDIA podcasts:If disaster is more your jam, check out CATASTROPHIC CALAMITIES, telling the stories of famous and forgotten tragedies of the 19th and 20th centuries. What could go wrong? Everything!For brand-new tales in the old clothes from the golden era of popular literature, give your ears a treat with PULP MAGAZINES with two new stories every week.This episode includes AI-generated content.

Rum-brained and sunburned, Jonah Goldberg posts up poolside to ruminate on the Caribbean's cruise economy, Woodrow Wilson, how we think about history, Trump's condo-salesman vanity, the ongoing war in Ukraine, J.D. Vance as the “fraud czar,” and the journalistic ethics of Polymarket. Show Notes:—Wednesday's G-File—AO pod wherein David French acknowledges his intellectual debt to Jonah—Remnant - The Great Cancellation of Woodrow Wilson—Jonah's book Liberal Fascism— Dan McLaughlin - “The Hater's Guide to Woodrow Wilson”—Washington Post - “Trump, seeking executive power over elections, is urged to declare emergency”—Last week's Remnant—Dr. Oz - “Best State of the Union ever”—Ukraine: The Latest on the four-year anniversary of the war—Friday's Dispatch Podcast—In Living Color- Hey Mon The Remnant is a production of ⁠The Dispatch⁠, a digital media company covering politics, policy, and culture from a non-partisan, conservative perspective. To access all of The Dispatch's offerings—including access to all of Jonah's G-File newsletters—⁠click here⁠. If you'd like to remove all ads from your podcast experience, consider becoming a premium Dispatch member ⁠by clicking here⁠. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The State of the Union Address is one of the most anticipated political events of the year. Of course, it's surrounded by tradition and ceremony. All three branches of the federal government gather in the House Chamber, the galleries pack with guests from every walk of life, the pundits gather their audiences, and the cameras all focus on one carefully crafted message from the leader of the free world.  But it's not just custom or tradition that gives rise to this historic event every year. It actually goes all the way back to the American founding, to the Constitution itself. Article II, Section 3, Clause 1 of the constitution reads as follows:  The President “shall from time to time give to the Congress Information of the State of the Union, and recommend to their Consideration such measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient.” George Washington, then, was the first to give an address to congress. His eventual successor, Thomas Jefferson, submitted his remarks in writing, which set a precendent of written States of the Union. Over a century later, in 1913, Woodrow Wilson restored the practice of giving the speech in person. And that custom has stood to this day.  Last night, we heard President Donald Trump give the first State of the Union address of his second term. The speech covered many of his accomplishments over the first year of this administration. Here to walk us through it is Dan West, Government Relations Director at Heritage Action for America.  --- Thoughts? Questions? Email us at: heritageexplains@heritage.org.  --- More from Heritage Action for America: https://heritageaction.com/ Dan West on X: https://x.com/Dan_J_West 

Neil Lanctot introduces Jane Addams, Theodore Roosevelt, and Woodrow Wilson in 1912, examining their distinct intellectual backgrounds and competing visions for America's reformist future during the Progressive era. 1