Deep State Radio

On the DSR daily for Wednesday, we cover Israel’s pager attack in Lebanon, suspicious packages being sent to election workers across the country, the Federal Reserve preparing to cut interest rates, and more.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For the first time, Kamala Harris’ favorability rating has crossed into positive territory in FiveThirtyEight’s latest polling averages. That’s a crucial threshold, as Harris is introducing herself to votes within a highly compressed timetable. But there’s still work to do: Harris has not yet fully rebuilt the coalition that ousted Donald Trump in 2020. We talked to Nick Ahamed, deputy executive director of the Democratic Super PAC Priorities USA, who walks us through the group’s own interesting new polling in the swing states—and explains what now must be done for Harris to finish the job.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The core ideals of America are in peril, and the problem goes beyond just this election cycle. Despite all the doom and gloom, there is a path forward to get the country back on track. PoliticsGirl Leigh McGowan joins David Rothkopf to discuss her new book, A Return to Common Sense, and outline the ways to fix America before we really blow it.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

From Charlottesville to Springfield, Donald Trump has been spewing language and misinformation that has incited real world violence. How have the candidates been using or abusing language in their campaigns? Norm and Kavita are back to break down this flurry of language in the media and show that words really do matter. Bonus content for members also includes a conversation on the recent assassination attempt and gun violence. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On the DSR daily for Tuesday, we cover a Russian order to expand the military, a potential major shift in the Israeli government, the unfolding humanitarian disaster in Sudan, and more.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In a reference to the apparent assassination attempt against Donald Trump over the weekend, the former president unleashed a long rant on social media blaming it all on Democrats. He insisted that because of Democratic rhetoric about Trump, the “bullets are flying, and it will only get worse.” Trump is systematically recasting any and all criticism of his attacks on democracy as incitement to violence—and in this, he’s fully backed up by other Republicans. We talked to Corey Brettschneider, a political scientist and author of The Presidents and the People, about how Trump is echoing Richard Nixon—and why we can’t let him get away with it. Listen to this episode here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On the DSR daily for September 16, we cover the FBI’s investigation into a possible assassination attempt on Donald Trump and threats in Springfield, a key Biden adviser’s trip to Israel, TikTok’s upcoming court defense, and more.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Over the weekend, Donald Trump’s rage over his debate fiasco appeared to get darker. In one splenetic social media post after another, he fumed he actually won the debate, while erupting repeatedly at ABC News’ moderation of it. All this comes as a whole bunch of new polling shows that Kamala Harris has made some surprising post-debate gains against Trump. We talked to veteran Democratic pollster Celinda Lake about the deeper causes for optimism inside the new data, what Harris still needs to do to win, and the deeper theory of the case driving all the successful baiting of Trump. Listen to this episode here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Veteran national security analyst and nuclear policy expert Joe Cirincione joins Jon to discuss the changing global nuclear landscape. Is there still arms control in this new and modernizing nuclear age? What do these large investments into nuclear weapons systems mean for our national security? And where are Russia and China in this conversation? Find out more here: Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On the Friday edition of the DSR daily, we break down the dismissal of two charges against Donald Trump, the possibility of lifting restrictions on Ukraine, blatant racism in MAGA, and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

At this week’s debate, Donald Trump spread the deranged lie that immigrants are eating cats and dogs in Springfield, Ohio. Tensions are escalating and terror is spreading: Haitian immigrants living there say they fear for their safety, and on Thursday, Springfield’s City Hall was evacuated due to a bomb threat. What if these searing tensions are exactly what Trump and his MAGA allies want? Not that they want violence, but rather that they see supercharged social rifts as desirable? We talked to Andrew Egger, a writer for The Bulwark who has a good new piece on Springfield, about how this saga opens a window on the darkness and malevolence of the MAGA movement. Listen to this episode here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We’re on a Hopium high after Kamala Harris’s stellar debate performance. With a deluge of new polls on the horizon, political gurus Tara McGowan, Simon Rosenberg, and Tom Bonier join David Rothkopf to explain how to cut through the bad data and misleading stats to determine who’s really ahead. Spoiler: the news is so good, it has us dancing.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Election misinformation reached a new low with Donald Trump peddling a fake story that immigrants are eating pets in Ohio on the debate stage. But how does this kind of fake news come about? How much can we attribute to foreign interference, and how much is homegrown bullshit? Social media disinformation expert Renée DiResta joins David Rothkopf and Rosa Brooks to discuss where these lies come from, how they spread, and what you can do to separate fact from fiction.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On the DSR Daily for September 12, we cover the fallout from the presidential debate and Taylor Swift’s endorsement of Kamala Harris, a Ground Zero ceremony to commemorate 9/11, hawkish rhetoric from a prominent Russian foreign policy figure, and more.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After Kamala Harris’s shellacking of Donald Trump at the debate, Trump ventured on to Fox News, where he attacked the moderators as deeply biased against him. Incredibly, he even said their network, ABC News, should have its broadcasting license revoked. This is really a show of weakness: what enraged him is that real scrutiny was applied to the lies he can air unchallenged on right wing media. We talked to Media Matters senior fellow Matt Gertz—author of a new piece on Trump’s debate struggles—about Trump’s retreat into the MAGA media bubble, why that’s so politically perilous for him, and what it all says about today’s GOP. Listen to this episode here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On the DSR Daily for September 11 we discuss the biggest takeaways from the first debate between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump share our reactions to Harris’s dominant performance.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In recent days, the Trump campaign, J.D. Vance and other prominent MAGA figures have pushed a repulsive falsehood: That Haitian immigrants are eating people’s pets. Though this was decisively debunked, Vance issued a long, twisted rant on social media calling on supprters to keep pushing versions of the lie. This saga exposes something disturbing about MAGA dehumanization campaigns. We talked to Matthew Sheffield, a writer and podcaster at Flux and former member of the conservative movement who is now an illuminating critic of the right. He explains how this vile trope illustrates how MAGA propaganda really functions. Listen to this episode here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ronald Reagan is a near mythological figure in American politics — so how do we separate fact from fiction and reckon with his controversial legacy? Max Boot joins David Rothkopf to discuss his new book, Reagan: His Life and Legend, and how the 40th president’s journey from New Deal Democrat to conservative avatar paved the way for Donald Trump.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

With the presidential debate between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump looming, Norm and Kavita are back to break down the campaign and analyze each of their strategies, as well as discuss the Trump ticket’s ever-increasing craziness. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On the DSR Daily for September 10, we break down the impending presidential debate, Ukraine’s large-scale drone attack on Russia, the latest scandal surrounding Justice Clarence Thomas, and more.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices