Deconstructed

On this week's Deconstructed, the Drop Site News team gathered to discuss what we know about how Donald Trump might handle Israel and what that will mean for war with Iran; who might lead the State Department; and the broader dynamics of the Middle East.

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We're sharing a special bonus episode of The Lever's flagship podcast, Lever Time, founder David Sirota and award-winning screenwriter and director Adam McKay discuss Democrats’ bid to win over GOP voters by repeatedly touting endorsements from former Vice President Dick Cheney and his daughter, former Rep. Liz Cheney. 

Critics say the move could alienate swing-state voters, but others say it’s a shrewd gambit to attract disaffected Republicans. McKay’s Oscar-nominated film Vice is widely considered the definitive biopic of Dick Cheney.

Subscribe to Lever Time wherever you listen to podcast or visit LeverTimePod.com to hear more episodes.

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This week we’re sharing an excerpt of the first episode of The Lever's new investigative series Master Plan, which was recently named a must-listen by The Guardian and Apple Podcasts.

In each episode of Master Plan, The Lever’s David Sirota and his team of journalists expose the secret scheme that legalized corruption for the wealthy. With the help of never-before-reported documents, they look back at where this plot began, how it is accelerating in the 2024 election - and how it can be stopped. 

In this epic tale, you’ll learn things you never knew about icons like President Richard Nixon, Senator Mitch McConnell, Fox News founder Roger Ailes, and Supreme Court justices John Roberts and Samuel Alito. You’ll learn how their master plan to legalize corruption affects you and your family - and undermines American democracy today. 

Listen now to the full first episodes of Master Plan and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.

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More than 50 years ago, lawyer Lewis Powell penned a letter to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce arguing that the American business community must take political power and must use it "aggressively and with determination — without embarrassment and without the reluctance." President Richard Nixon would go on to appoint Powell to the U.S. Supreme Court. This week on Deconstructed, Ryan Grim speaks to David Sirota about his new investigative podcast series, Master Plan, that examines how corporate corruption took root in American politics.

Transcript coming soon.

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On Friday, Vice President Kamala Harris delivered a speech in North Carolina outlining her economic platform, including a federal ban on price gouging, expanded tax credits, and more. The proposal to tackle corporate price gouging has sparked significant pushback from both the establishment wing of the Democratic Party and various factions within the Republican Party. About a year ago, we spoke with economist James Galbraith on the back porch of his Vermont childhood home, where he was raised by John Kenneth Galbraith—one of the 20th century's leading policymakers and thinkers on government regulation of prices. Today, we’re revisiting that conversation, which originally aired on July 7, 2023.

James K. Galbraith is a professor of government and business relations at the University of Texas at Austin. Galbraith has an extensive history of working in government, including as executive director of the Joint Economic Committee of the U.S. Congress and an economist for the House Banking Committee. Galbraith joins Ryan Grim to discuss the implementation of price controls by the U.S. government, how it brings down prices, how the Biden administration has used it and could use it more, and how Galbraith’s father — economist and politician John Kenneth Galbraith — was instrumental in setting price controls during World War II.

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On June 28, 2009, democratically elected Honduran President Manuel Zelaya was ousted by a military coup. In response to Zelaya's push for a poll to gauge public interest in constitutional changes, the Honduran Supreme Court ordered the military to arrest him. He was then sent to Costa Rica in his pajamas.

The coup led to nearly 13 years of right-wing rule, marked by collusion with drug trafficking organizations, widespread privatization, violence, repression, and a significant migrant exodus. During this period, the Honduran left organized a strong resistance movement. In 2022, Xiomara Castro, Zelaya’s wife and a leader of the anti-coup resistance, was elected president, signaling a major shift in the country's history.

In this episode of Deconstructed, Zelaya sits down for an exclusive interview with journalist José Olivares to discuss the 15th anniversary of the coup, the ensuing resistance movement, the right-wing and drug trafficking organizations' control, and the U.S. government's role and influence. Host Ryan Grim and Olivares delve into Zelaya's interview, recent developments in Honduran history, and present the full Spanish-language interview with Zelaya.

Deconstructed is a production of Drop Site News. This program was brought to you by a grant from The Intercept.

To read the full English-language transcript of Zelaya's interview, visit DropSiteNews.com or TheIntercept.com.

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On Thursday evening, Donald Trump formally accepted the Republican Party’s nomination for president of the United States. As he accepted the nomination, the crowd erupted in chants of “Trump, Trump, Trump!” This week on Deconstructed, Ryan Grim speaks to Emily Jashinsky, his co-host on “Counter Points,” on Thursday afternoon, before Trump’s acceptance speech. Jashinsky joins from the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. They discuss Trump’s vice presidential pick, J.D. Vance; the “New Right” taking hold of the Republican Party; and what the New Right’s vision is for the country, from tariffs to immigration, and LGBTQ+ rights, foreign policy, and education policy.

Full transcript at The Intercept.

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Dmitri Mehlhorn is among the most powerful Democratic funders and operatives working inside what can roughly be called the party’s establishment. He’s also been one of the most ardent defenders of Joe Biden as the best Democratic nominee to beat Donald Trump in November. This week on Deconstructed, Ryan Grim speaks to Mehlhorn about why he’s committed to Biden at a moment when more are calling for him to abandon his candidacy.

Find full transcript at The Intercept.

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At the end of July, Venezuelans head to the polls to elect a new president, with Nicolás Maduro seeking another six-year term. This week on Deconstructed, Ryan Grim speaks with Venezuelan Foreign Minister Yván Gil Pinto, who was in New York for a U.N. debate on unilateral sanctions. Fresh from visits to China and Russia, where he engaged with BRICS alliance leaders, Pinto discusses Venezuela's bid to join this coalition aimed at countering Western economic dominance. They delve into the impacts of sanctions from the Trump and Biden administrations on Venezuela's economy and migration crisis, and the battle over Citgo, a U.S.-based oil company acquired by the country in 1990. Grim also questions Venezuela's human rights record.

Find full transcript at The Intercept.

If you’d like to support our work, go to theintercept.com/give, where your donation, no matter what the amount, makes a real difference.

And if you haven’t already, please subscribe to the show so you can hear it every week. And please go and leave us a rating or a review — it helps people find the show. If you want to give us additional feedback, email us at [email protected].

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In a conversation he didn’t know was being recorded, embattled Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito shared his private belief that his movement’s battle with secular forces in the country was a zero-sum contest of irreconcilable values. 

“One side or the other is going to win,” Alito says in secretly recorded audio. Alito was speaking at a reception for the Supreme Court Historical Society last Monday evening. "I mean, there can be a way of working — a way of living together peacefully, but it's difficult, you know, because there are differences on fundamental things that really can't be compromised. It's not like you can split the difference.”

Alito was responding to a question from Lauren Windsor, a progressive advocacy journalist and activist who regularly records conversations with Republicans and conservative movement leaders. 

Windsor is my guest on Deconstructed this week. We’re publishing the secret audio in partnership with Rolling Stone.

Windsor, who is making a documentary called “Gonzo for Democracy,” which will be out in the fall, reminded Alito that she had spoken with him a year earlier at the same event and wanted to ask him the same question. “What I asked you about was about the polarization in this country, about, like, how do we repair that rift?” she asked.

“Asking questions of judges, these are the most discreet people in public life. There’s a huge amount of secrecy around the Supreme Court decisions around justices,” Windsor tells Grim. “I’m asking the questions to try to expose true intent. And given that none of the justices will go to Congress, will make their views more publicly known, I feel that it’s of intense public interest to find out whether their decisions are guided by personal religious convictions that really have no place in our public life.”

Find full transcript at The Intercept.

If you’d like to support our work, go to theintercept.com/give, where your donation, no matter what the amount, makes a real difference.

And if you haven’t already, please subscribe to the show so you can hear it every week. And please go and leave us a rating or a review — it helps people find the show. If you want to give us additional feedback, email us at [email protected].

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