Deep State Radio

In recent days, Donald Trump’s spinners have worked hard to build up images of his supposed political invincibility. But what if it’s all smoke and mirrors? In an important new piece, Politico reports that behind the scenes, many Republicans are suddenly feeling quite uncertain about Trump’s chances. We talked to Never Trump conservative Mona Charen, an editor and columnist at The Bulwark who has written shrewdly about the GOP tendency to overestimate Biden’s weaknesses, about what’s really driving these sudden new doubts—and whether the race is really turning in Biden’s favor. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Former CIA senior intelligence service officer Daniel Hoffman joins Marc Polymeropoulos to reveal the intersection of an amazing spy story, a heartwarming love story, a family’s resilience in overcoming tragedy, and what ultimately matters most in life. Don’t miss this special episode. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On the DSR daily for Monday, we cover Netanyahu’s seeming rejection of any total ceasefire, an apparent terror attack in Russia’s Dagestan region, US prosecutors recommended action against Boeing, and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

At two speeches over the weekend, Donald Trump ramped up the dangerous language about migrants, floating the idea of Ultimate Fighting Championship matches between migrants and native born Americans. This comes as Trump and MAGA are escalating their propaganda tactic of highlighting isolated murders to smear migrants as dangerous criminals. We talked to Brian Beutler, who argues regularly on his Substack that this sort of shameless, degenerate politics is itself a big story, about how the press should cover the Trump-MAGA demonization of migrants as a major scandal in its own right.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Original Air Date: July 10, 2023 This week, Michael sits down with Estonia’s Ambassador to Ukraine, Kaimo Kuusk, who has been in the post since 2019. Ambassador Kuusk will soon become the Ambassador to Lithuania, but before he takes his new post, he discusses the Ukrainian counteroffensive, the US decision to send cluster munitions to Ukraine and his thoughts on Russia and Putin after the Wagner Group’s mutiny.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Original Air Date: July 19, 2023 The US-Israel relationship is in a very difficult place and things may be getting worse. To discuss where we are and where we are going a former senior Israeli diplomat turned highly regarded commentator, Alon Pinkas, joins Marc Polymeropoulos and David Rothkopf for a discussion that tries to separate spin and facts from outright lies. Join us.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Effective AI legislation requires a revolutionary change in how government officials think. Several members of congress have risen to the challenge, but more is needed. Representative Don Beyer, joins David to share his work to comprehensively address AI in congress and the importance of being informed.  This material is distributed by TRG Advisory Services, LLC on behalf of the Embassy of the United Arab Emirates in the U.S.. Additional information is available at the Department of Justice, Washington, DC. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On the DSR daily for Friday, we cover an Israeli official’s statement that Hamas can’t be destroyed, Justice Gorsuch’s dissenting opinion, the dropped charges against Columbia protesters, and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week, Donald Trump raged at a Fox News poll finding behind, and lashed out at Fox for featuring a guest who dared criticize him. Trump regularly unloads on Fox when it doesn’t follow his script, which is remarkable, given that Fox is usually committed to deceiving its viewers on his behalf. Both Trump and Fox draw on a long history, in which grift and scams have been deeply intertwined with the American right for over a half century. We talked to journalist Joe Conason, author of a new book called: “The Longest Con: How Grifters, Swindlers and Frauds Hijacked American Conservatism,” about the place of the tortured Trump-Fox relationship in that long, ugly story.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It’s past time for some real oversight of the Supreme Court. The lack of accountability at the highest court in the land has come into focus, and it’s high time for action. CREW President Noah Bookbinder joins David Rothkopf to talk about this pressing issue, and what can actually be done to fix it. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On the Thursday edition of the DSR daily, we discuss Hezbollah’s leader threatening Israel and Cyprus, the EU’s first sanctions on Russian gas, Louisiana requiring the Ten Commandments to be displayed in classrooms, and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Any day now, the Supreme Court will rule on Donald Trump’s demand for immunity from prosecution for alleged insurrection-related crimes. Depending on how the court rules, it’s still possible Trump’s trial will begin before the election. But what if the damage is already done? Veteran labor strategist Michael Podhorzer has an important new piece on his Substack arguing that the MAGA-friendy justices and the court have already interfered in the election by delaying the trial to the degree it has—and that this is about to get worse. We talked to Podhorzer about why he thinks the court is pushing our country into a deep crisis.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

With consequential elections coming up in Britain, France, and the US, monumental change is on the horizon . In a special two-part episode, Clive Priddle and Ed Luce join David Rothkopf to forecast the upcoming elections while members will hear from Kori Schake and Rosa Brooks on the most impactful headlines from around the world. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On the DSR daily for Wednesday, we break down Russia and North Korea’s new strategic partnership, new tensions in the South China Sea, the Boeing CEO’s Senate testimony, and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

MAGA deception seems to have gone nuclear. Fox News’s Sean Hannity is floating strange new theories about President Biden’s upcoming debate with Donald Trump. Republicans dishonestly doctored numerous videos to make Biden look befuddled and senile. And we learned that the Sinclair media apparatus is blaring out all that deception to huge audiences. We talked to well-known writer and podcaster Thom Hartmann, author of a New Republic piece, “From the Border to Bump Stocks, the MAGA Lie Machine Is Heating Up,” about whether we’re approaching a point of no return that will make this election like no other.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The relationship between the Israeli and US intelligence services is longstanding. Yet the October 7th Hamas attack and subsequent Israeli invasion of Gaza has presented unique challenges and opportunities on both sides. National Security reporter Shane Harris, just back from Israel, joins Marc to discuss why the US remains Israel’s key intelligence partner. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The media and journalists are pillars of a healthy democracy, but they’re not infallible. So how do we hold errant media personalities and companies accountable? Norm and Kavita break down this unique issue and pay tribute to one of the greats, Howard Fineman. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On the Tuesday edition of the DSR daily, we discuss President Biden’s new executive action to protect immigrants, increased spending among NATO allies, a severe heatwave in the US, and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week, Politico released a new poll with some pretty big surprises: A larger-than-expected percentage of Americans say Donald Trump’s criminal conviction in Manhattan makes them less likely to vote for him. The finding is even more striking among independents. The poll also took the innovative step of trying to gauge how important Trump’s conviction is to voters. And the answer is: Pretty important! We talked to Ankush Khardori, a senior writer for Politico Magazine who oversaw this poll, who walked us through its findings, what they mean, and whether Trump’s pressure on Republicans to protect him from the law will backfire on the GOP in November.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On the Monday edition of the DSR daily, we cover Netanyahu disbanding his war cabinet, Putin’s planned trip to North Korea, polling troubles for Donald Trump, and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices