Beyond Politics

Imagine the leaders of America's right wing sitting down and writing a plan for a radical re-shaping of American government and society, a blueprint to put in place if they manage to elect Donald Trump again. It actually happened. Today, we go inside 'Project 2025' with Ben Olinsky from the Center for American Progress Action Fund, and find out what's in the plan, and why on Earth if they have such an alarming set of ideas designed to scare swing voters they would ever write it down.

00:51 The Shocking Contents of Project 2025

04:17 Schedule F: Trump's Plan to Politicize the Federal Bureaucracy

09:14 Weaponizing the Department of Justice Under Trump

13:20 Immigration Policies in Project 2025: Expanding Expedited Removal

15:55 The Achievability of Project 2025's Goals

20:29 Hidden Agendas: Labor Policies and Christian Nationalism

24:07 The Strategy Behind Publicizing Project 2025

31:24 Defending Democracy: Strategies Against Project 2025

There were two significant deaths in the news on Wednesday: one got all the headlines, but the other one changed the world. And that's the one thing to pay attention to: how Daniel Kahneman led a quiet revolution in understanding how people think that is still rippling through the world and will for decades to come. He's even likely influenced the things you say and do.

We really want to know what you think. You can answer the poll question (on Spotify), or email us at [email protected].

Donald Trump just made billions by taking his media company built on Truth Social public. Is that really going to change anything politically? Or in terms of the fact that he seemed to be nearly bankrupt at the beginning of the week? (01:09). Then the Ronna McDaniel saga at NBC where she got hired and promptly fired. Alicia Preston shuts down the Republican counter backlash in one line. (12:51) Also, which party should be more nervous about the rise of RFK Jr.(21:25) , the legacy of Joe Lieberman (24:46), AND, based on the news that Donald Trump is selling Trump-branded Bibles, we came up with our own list of Trump branded religious paraphernalia that he should try to sell next (28:45).

Today, we're testing a new concept: 10 minute daily episodes highlighting the things happening in the news that are worthy of your attention, but that don't make the headline skim. The kind of important number or idea that somehow slips down 8 paragraphs in the story, or onto the back pages. Something that might make you think about the world a little differently, or help connect some dots that put current events in a new light.

We really want to know what you think. You can answer the poll question (on Spotify), or email us at [email protected].

Today, the thing to notice is the number 35. Earlier this week, a cargo ship lost power and plowed into the Francis Scott Key bridge in the port of Baltimore killing six bridge workers. The effects will ripple across America for years to come. But it's the number 35, tucked into a New York Times op-ed, that makes one think about the bigger role of the federal government and what it quietly does in the shadows.

Joe Khan was the lawyer for a critical swing county in Pennsylvania in 2020 when he noticed something...odd. He joins us to tell the story of how he and a group of lawyers banded together to defend the Pennsylvania election outcome - and ultimately American democracy - from the Trump onslaught. And now that he's running for Attorney General of Pennsylvania, what lessons will he apply in 2024, when Pennsylvania appears to be under even greater threat of Trump election interference?

01:30 The Early Signs of Election Interference in Pennsylvania

04:29 Building a Legal Coalition to Defend the Vote

09:01 Frontline Strategies: Preparing for Every Scenario

15:41 The Fight Against Social Media Giants

21:49 The Critical Role of the Attorney General in Future Elections

There is a sneaky huge shift happening in American music right now right under our very noses (or ears). Private equity's takeover of the music business could have major consequences for what we hear and whether we hear anything new at all. Whitney Houston's catalog acquisition, Taylor Swift's battle over her masters, and the fight over Pink Floyd's music are just a handful of examples. Music industry writer Marc Hogan joins to explain his fascinating piece about this in the New York Times.

00:00 The Unseen Impact of Private Equity on Music

01:27 A Deep Dive into Music Rights and Private Equity

05:00 The Taylor Swift Case

10:50 Exploring the Financialization of Music and Its Effects

17:59 The Future of Music: Creativity vs. Commercialization

27:01 Exploring the Potential for Innovation in Music and Visual Media

30:28 The Future of Music: Opportunities and Challenges

A Chaotic Republican Hearing and Trump's Legal and Financial Woes: the round table runs through a tumultuous Republican hearing meant to highlight Republicans' fantasy of wrongdoing by President Biden, which backfired spectacularly on themselves and Donald Trump. Also, Judge Aileen Cannon's ham-handed slow-walking of the Trump documents case, and the incredible shrinking Trump fundraising base.

02:29 The Republican Hearing Debacle

14:15 The Media's Role and Public Perception in Political Narratives

21:48 Judge Cannon Tries to Bury The Case in Florida

28:27 Breaking News: The Government's New Lawsuit

38:50 Trump's Legal and Financial Troubles Are Deep

45:31 The RNC Takeover and Trump's Fundraising Woes

50:40 The Bizarre World of Political Fundraising Emails

How on earth is Trump beating Biden right now? It's the question that has baffled and enraged Democrats for months. And it's the question that Matt Robison tackled in his new article for Washington Monthly. Matt lays out one of the biggest reasons, something that analysts tend to overlook, and adds material that didn't make it into the article.

00:05 The Puzzling Popularity of Donald Trump

02:07 The Low Information Trap: Unpacking Voter Awareness

03:45 The Stark Contrast: Trump's Failures and Crimes

10:49 High vs. Low Information Voters: Bridging the Gap

17:48 The Impact of Information on Voter Perception

22:25 Looking Ahead: What Does this Mean for 2024?

Three charges were just dismissed against Donald Trump in Georgia. Will this make a major, lasting difference in his legal peril? Also, Never Trump Republicans fold bigly, is a MAGA takeover bid for TikTok a good thing, and is the AI apocalypse here?

00:46 Analyzing the Legal Implications and Prosecutorial Missteps

11:16 The Political and Legal Ramifications of the Case

12:46 Trump's New Never-Trump Republican Endorsements

19:21 The RNC Takeover: Trump's Personal Agenda

27:29 The TikTok Dilemma: National Security

33:09 AI Apocalypse: The End of Humanity as We Know It?

We look back today at the biggest, and probably most forgotten scandal in the whole Trump-Russia web of corruption. When Charles McGonigal, former head of counterintelligence at the FBI, was recently convicted for money laundering and working for Russia, the media barely took notice. In this interview recorded a year ago just after McGonigal's arrest, our expert guest Craig Unger laid out just how deep the Trump-Russia-FBI ties go, and how disturbing the implications are.

00:00 Introduction: The Unseen Scandal of American Intelligence

03:06 The Forgotten Ties: Trump, Russia, and the FBI's Compromised Investigation

09:59 The Historical Context: Trump's Long-standing Ties with Russia

20:37 The Media's Role and the Need for Counterintelligence Investigation

28:29 Confronting the Challenges: How to Combat Disinformation and Silence