Deep State Radio

This week, Dr. Anthony Fauci’s new book comes out, and it contains a disturbing chapter about Donald Trump’s ignorance, explosive rage and megalomania during the coronavirus pandemic. We think this should be covered as a loud, clanging alarm bell about the dangers of a second Trump term. So we talked to New York Times columnist Paul Krugman, who has written a series of columns on voter amnesia about Trump’s 2020 performance, about the horrors unleashed on the country by his unfitness for the presidency—and why recent events suggest he’s gotten much worse.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Original Air Date: July 3, 2023 On this week's episode of the DSR, co-host Marc Polymeropoulos is joined by guest James Lawler, a former CIA operations officer for 25 years and former member of the CIA's Senior Intelligence Service where he specialized in the recruitment of foreign spies. Don’t miss their discussion on the Iranian nuclear program and the qualities that make an effective CIA recruiter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Original Air Date: June 22, 2023 Few people have offered the kind of insight into Donald Trump than has his niece, psychologist Mary Trump. On this special episode of DSR, we speak to Mary about how she thinks the former president is responding to the legal walls closing in on him, how he would react were he sentenced to prison and how his very first years growing up in Queens may have scarred him and put the country at risk. Don't miss this fascinating, wide-ranging conversation. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Much of our discussions about nuclear weapons focus on Oppenheimer, the Manhattan Project, or the Cold War. But what does the current nuclear age really look like? Sarah Scoles joins Heather Williams to discuss her book “Countdown” and share first hand reporting on the scientists who work within the nuclear apparatus of the United States. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

AI affects us all, for better or for worse. But AI has long been used to harass and exploit women in particular. Disinformation expert Nina Jankowicz joins David Rothkopf to share how and why AI has an adversarial relationship with gender and women, and how officials can be doing more to protect us from its malign uses.  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 June 14, we discuss the latest news from the G7 summit, Putin’s laughable ceasefire demands, the arrival of a US submarine in Cuba, and more.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

New reports are emerging about Donald Trump’s tightening grip on the GOP, and the upshot is this: It’s crazier and more dangerous than you thought. First we learned that Trump and House Speaker Mike Johnson privately schemed over how to sabotage ongoing prosecutions of Trump. Then Trump met with Republicans and reportedly unleashed numerous strange rants, calling the Justice Department “dirty no good bastards” and spinning out a wild tale about Nancy Pelosi’s daughter. We talked with A.B. Stoddard, a columnist at The Bulwark and shrewd observer of GOP politics, and she trenchantly explained why this moment is very much not a drill.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It’s go time for the Biden campaign. With only five months to go until Election Day, polls suggest that Biden and Trump are neck and neck. Tara McGowan and Simon Rosenberg join David Rothkopf to share what the Democrats need to do to secure victory in November, and why this month is critical for the future of the race. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On the DSR daily for Thursday, we cover the US and Ukraine’s expected security agreement, attempts to overturn President Biden’s asylum restrictions, President Miley’s radical overhauls in Argentina, and more.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

An influential group called the True Texas Project is hosting a conference in July that will actively promote Christian Nationalism and the racist great replacement theory, the Texas Tribune reports. The group, which subscribes to the idea of a “war on white America,” has ties to many Texas GOP officials, the report says, including Senator Ted Cruz and Attorney General Ken Paxton, a major supporter of Donald Trump. We talked to Sarah Posner, author of several books on the religious right, who sheds much-needed light on this ugly tangle far right ideologies—and how they’re being mainstreamed at the highest levels of Republican power.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The western world hailed President Zelenskyy as a protector of democracy at the 80th anniversary of Normandy. But will we give Ukraine the support it needs to defend itself? Ivo Daalder, Nate Mook, and Kori Schake join David Rothkopf to illustrate why were are at a critical moment in Ukraine and what the US and the West need to do to win.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The US can’t seem to figure out the Middle East. Decades of involvement in the region has had mixed results to say the least. So where did we go wrong? Steven Cook, author of the new book “The End of Ambition” joins David Rothkopf to explain America’s past, present, and future in the Middle East. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On the DSR daily for Wednesday, we discuss Hamas seeking a ‘complete halt’ in the war in Gaza, Hunter Biden’s guilty verdict, impending announcements from the G7 summit, and more.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Donald Trump is now leveling his authoritarian threats right out in the open. He appears supremely confident that none of it will alienate swing voters. Now NBC News reports that the Biden campaign hopes to draw out this side of Trump at their upcoming debate—but if Trump doesn’t see these things as liabilities, he may advertise them all over again when voters are paying attention. We talked to Slate legal writer Dahlia Lithwick, author of an excellent new piece outlining how Trump is running on an overt promise of authoritarianism, about whether voters will awaken to the threat he poses—and how this could cause his confidence to blow up in his face.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Money can’t buy happiness. But it seems like it can buy you a Supreme Court justice. The corruption of certain justices continues to be laid bare for all to see, but the question remains: what can we do about it? Norm and Kavita break it all down. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On the Tuesday edition of the DSR daily, we cover the UN Security Council’s adoption of a resolution on a permanent Gaza ceasefire, the US lifting a ban on the Azov Brigade using American weapons, Modi’s retention of key cabinet ministers, and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the wake of Donald Trump’s criminal conviction, House Speaker Mike Johnson and Republicans are ramping up with sordid new efforts to use their congressional powers to protect Trump from other ongoing prosecutions. This gives Democrats an opening to hammer Republicans for aiding and abetting Trump’s nonstop quest to place himself above the law. Yet some Democrats seem reluctant to engage this fight. We talked to California Representative Eric Swalwell, who breaks down the absurdity of the GOP’s various tactics—and how Democrats can go on offense against them.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Russian warships are arriving in Cuba. Another US senior official sentenced for spying for the Cubans. Sound familiar? Retired FBI counterintelligence expert Pete Lapp joins Marc to shed light on Cuba’s tense history with the US and why this persistent thorn in the side of US national security has been underestimated for too long. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On the DSR daily for Monday, we discuss the announcement of snap parliamentary elections in France, Antony Blinken’s visit to the Middle East, Republican plans for 2025, and more.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Some Republicans are reportedly worried that Donald Trump’s ongoing public attacks on his criminal conviction show that he’s overly focused on lathering up his base, and refuses to grasp that the verdict will likely alienate swing voters. We think this highlights a deeper truth about Trump and the MAGA movement itself: They cannot acknowledge that such Trump-centrict obsessions might be unpopular with the broader electorate, as this would constitute showing weakness. We talked to Washington Post reporter Isaac Arnsdorf, author of an excellent new book called Finish What We Started: The MAGA Movement’s Ground War to End Democracy, who helped us unravel this tangle of MAGA pathologies. Listen to this episode here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices