In this episode, Van explores Trump inadvertently brainwashing himself into believing conspiracy theories simply by repeating them. He gets into it over a piece by Mike Fuchs on the real price of corrupt foreign policy and why we should all be worried about Trump meeting with foreign leaders. Also, why cyber is the new go-to for policymakers who feel the need to "do something." What foreign policy has to do with professional wrestling. The one thing Eminem and Trump have in common (not whiteness). And more!

Notes and Sources:

Michael Fuchs piece in The Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/oct/02/trump-foreign-policy-impeachment

Mira Rapp-Hooper's piece in Foreign Affairs: https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/ukraine/2019-10-03/usurpation-us-foreign-policy

Adam Taylor's piece in the Washington Post: https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2019/10/03/foreign-allies-who-gambled-trump-face-big-losses/

Jeet Heer's tweet thread: https://twitter.com/HeerJeet/status/1179420012936912898

Senator John McCollister's tweet: https://twitter.com/SenMcCollister/status/1179390933391020033

Richard Hosftadter's "The Paranoid Style in American Politics": https://harpers.org/archive/1964/11/the-paranoid-style-in-american-politics/

Center for a New American Security Arms Control Report: https://www.cnas.org/publications/reports/risk-realism

Music: "Van is Meta" by Tre' Hester