Half the Answer

Trent and Caitlin talk with journalist Walker Bragman about the various crises in public health and climate change, the people who helped bring us here, and the dark money that funded it. They discuss the ways disinformation is packaged and spread to discourage the public from being able to access the services and tools they need to live.

Resources

https://www.accountabilityjournalism.org/

https://www.importantcontext.news/

https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2025/10/its-time-for-soft-secession/

https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/215462/dark-money-by-jane-mayer/

https://www.city-journal.org/article/harvard-tramples-the-truth

https://cli.stanford.edu/events/conference-symposium/academic-freedom-conference

https://psr.org/event/911-march-for-health-science/

Caitlin and Trent catch up with historian and former journalist John Ghazvinian to discuss the state of Iran, its past, present and future, how that has historically intersected with the United States dating back nearly 300 years, why trust is so important in international relations, the JCPOA, the Trump era, and his book, "America and Iran."

John's book: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/59417/america-and-iran-by-john-ghazvinian/

Caitlin and Trent speak with Jared Holt and Michael Edison Hayden about the infamous right-wing "busybody journalist" Andy Ngo, his work demonizing Muslim immigrants in grad school, and his transition to online political influencer and professional victim with "The Post Millennial" as its editor-at-large.

Resources

Posting Through It https://www.patreon.com/cw/PostingThroughIt

White House Antifa Round Table https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=874KP4M4yg0

Fallout from Andy distributing personal information https://www.wweek.com/news/2020/09/16/portland-protesters-say-their-lives-were-upended-by-the-posting-of-their-mug-shots-on-a-conservative-twitter-account/

The Making of Andy Ngo https://jewishcurrents.org/the-making-of-andy-ngo

Andy's Portland State snafu https://www.wweek.com/news/schools/2017/05/23/a-dispute-over-a-muslim-students-remarks-costs-a-college-journalist-his-job-and-brings-national-controversy-to-portland-state-university/

"

Fired for Reporting the Truth" https://www.nationalreview.com/2017/05/free-speech-islam-portland-state-vanguard-editor-fired-tweets/

Andy's weird "Islamic London" piece https://www.wsj.com/articles/a-visit-to-islamic-england-1535581583

The Milkshaking https://www.oregonlive.com/news/2019/06/portland-mayor-police-come-under-fire-after-right-wing-writer-attacked-at-protest.html

Popular Mobilization post https://x.com/MrAndyNgo/status/1143339525151719424

Buzzfeed News version https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/josephbernstein/andy-ngo-portland-antifa

Federalist version https://thefederalist.com/2019/07/02/andy-ngo-antifa-attack-happened-pictures/

Andy's injuries https://x.com/MrAndyNgo/status/1145116276605329408

Ted Wheeler is antifa? https://www.vice.com/en/article/ted-cruz-thinks-the-portland-mayor-let-antifa-take-over-his-city-heres-what-really-happened/

Andy on Fox https://www.foxnews.com/media/andy-ngo-attacked-trump-should-designate-antifa-terror-organization

Patriot Prayer expose https://www.portlandmercury.com/news/2019/08/26/27039560/undercover-in-patriot-prayer-insights-from-a-vancouver-democrat-whos-been-working-against-the-far-right-group-from-the-inside

Andy's answer in the Spectator https://archive.ph/Q81As

May 2021 incident https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/independent-journalist-assaulted-while-covering-portland-protest/

Andy's lawsuit https://www.portlandmercury.com/news/2023/08/09/46651345/jury-rules-against-andy-ngo-in-activist-lawsuit

What's up with Katie Daviscourt? https://www.oregonlive.com/crime/2025/10/conservative-media-personality-reports-assault-at-portland-protest-slams-police-as-antifa.html

Trent and Caitlin are joined by Layla al-Sheikh to discuss that Israel deal and the history of past proposals and solutions.

Resources:

Current updates https://www.nytimes.com/live/2025/10/09/world/israel-hamas-gaza-ceasefire

Doha attack https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/netanyahu-killed-any-hope-of-hostage-release-with-strike-on-doha-qatars-prime-minister-says

Patrick Wintour in the Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/oct/07/diplomacy-lowest-point-how-the-israel-gaza-conflict-was-mishandled

Tomorrow Is Yesterday https://us.macmillan.com/books/9780374617134/tomorrowisyesterday/

James Ryan's research https://www.fpri.org/contributor/james-ryan/

NY Declaration https://news.un.org/en/story/2025/09/1165835

The One State Reality https://www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/book/9781501768408/the-one-state-reality/

Christopher Mathias, author of "To Catch a Fascist," speaks to Caitlin and Trent about the events of 2020, clashes between violent fascist clubs and "community defense" groups. They discuss misconceptions about what "antifa" is and what kinds of activities they are engaged in, the difference between doxxing a teacher who practices inclusivity and doxxing one who is bragging on far right message boards about their mission to convert students into Nazi soldiers, and the Trump administration's demonization of community defenders and antifascists in 2025.

Resources:

Pre-order Christopher's book: https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/To-Catch-a-Fascist/Christopher-Mathias/9781668034767

Follow Christopher on Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/letsgomathias.bsky.social

Mathias on anti-antifa order: https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-opinion/trump-antifa-executive-order-terrorist-organization-rcna233011

Clay Jackson on outlawing opposition: https://clayjak.substack.com/p/all-opposition-is-now-extremism?r=9qphz&utm_medium=ios&triedRedirect=true

Natasha Lennard on the need to mount an organized opposition: https://theintercept.com/2025/09/19/trump-charlie-kirk-george-soros-antifa/

Natasha Lennard on unmasking ICE agents: https://theintercept.com/2025/07/01/masked-ice-agents-victimization-accountability/

Chicago under siege: https://inthesetimes.com/article/ice-broadview-chicago-tear-gas-trump-blitz-immigration

Trump: am I watching things on television https://presswatchers.org/2025/09/trump-am-i-watching-things-on-television-that-are-different-from-whats-happening/

ICE throws woman: https://www.propublica.org/article/ice-officer-shoves-woman-till-eckert

ICE assaults journalist: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/federal-agents-grab-shove-journalists-nyc-immigration-court-sending-on-rcna234884

Rose City Antifa: https://rosecityantifa.org/

Unicorn Riot's Data: https://unicornriot.ninja/far-right-investigations-desk/

Patriot Prayer: https://www.splcenter.org/resources/hatewatch/what-we-know-about-patriot-prayer/

Stewart Rhodes: https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/stewart-rhodes-convicted-of-seditious-conspiracy-and-released-by-trump-visits-capitol-hill

NSC-131 https://www.splcenter.org/resources/extremist-files/nationalist-social-club-nsc-131/

Blood Tribe: https://www.lawfaremedia.org/article/the--new-look--same-racism--of-blood-tribe

Rise Above Movement: https://www.splcenter.org/resources/extremist-files/rise-above-movement/

Patriot Front have strong presence in military https://www.npr.org/2022/02/09/1079700404/1-in-5-patriot-front-applicants-say-they-have-ties-to-the-military

Neo-nazi homeschooling program: https://www.edweek.org/policy-politics/what-to-know-about-a-neo-nazi-home-school-scandal/2023/02

Book on campus misinformation: https://global.oup.com/academic/product/campus-misinformation-9780197531273?cc=us&lang=en&

Tom Homan spoke at Fuentes event: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/thomas-homan-rnc-white-supremacist-conference_n_669856f6e4b05a9a604f80d9

Trent and Caitlin talk with journalist Jacqueline Sweet about how violence is framed in media as political, the rush to score points for one side or the other, inconsistent standards for free speech and freedom of the press, and the scammy nature of our president and his public statements.

Resources:

Jacqueline's social media: https://bsky.app/profile/jsweetli.bsky.social

Mass shooting info: https://www.gunviolencearchive.org/reports/mass-shooting

Late September shootings: https://www.witn.com/2025/09/29/weekend-shooting-suspects-both-served-camp-lejeune/?outputType=amp

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/sep/29/weekend-mass-shootings-this-year

Michigan LDS church shooting: https://www.cnn.com/2025/09/30/us/what-we-know-michigan-church-shooting

Celebrating journalist injury: https://bsky.app/profile/jsweetli.bsky.social/post/3m23qadft4k2x

QAA medbed episode: https://soundcloud.com/qanonanonymous/med-beds-skye-prince-e274

Swalwell Trump post: https://factcheck.afp.com/doc.afp.com.77AW4KF

Trent and Caitlin speak with Jennifer Berkshire and Jack Schneider about their recent book "The Education Wars: A Citizen’s Guide and Defense Manual." They discuss the faulty beliefs and logics that lead us to think about education as a tool for achievement and competition rather than a service provided by communities to their members. They ask what rhetorical strategies have been employed to convince us to allow the public school system to be degraded and dismantled, and the methods that have been working to arrest this degradation today.

Resources:

https://www.educationwarsbook.com/

Jack and Jennifer's podcast: https://www.haveyouheardpodcast.com/

Jack and Jennifer’s previous book: https://thenewpress.org/books/a-wolf-at-the-schoolhouse-door/?v=eb65bcceaa5f

The Death of Public School: How Conservatives Won the War Over Education in America: https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/cara-fitzpatrick/the-death-of-public-school/9781541646773/?lens=basic-books

Mahmoud v. Taylor: https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/24pdf/24-297_4f14.pdf

Free-market logic for education: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.3102/0013189X231216953

Trent and Caitlin talk with political science professor Matt McManus about far-right thinkers and their journey through the past two decades. He regales the HTA audience with nuggets of wisdom from Charlie Kirk's books and other pieces of right-wing political theory he has reviewed.

Resources

Matt's book: https://www.routledge.com/The-Political-Theory-of-Liberal-Socialism/McManus/p/book/9781032647234?srsltid=AfmBOorDA_LDtzo9xkaeEYkvNV-ZW95DeZZ_aOw4GF_kRVQM4sozwd5p

Matt's work with Liberal Currents: https://www.liberalcurrents.com/author/mattmcmanus/

Matt's work with Jacobin: https://jacobin.com/author/matt-mcmanus

Matt on Unlearning Economics Live: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jgefM1AipFs

Trent and Caitlin talk with politics blogger and podcaster Ed Burmila about the centrist arm of the Democratic Party and its zombie-like shuffle through our dark era of authoritarian overreach. We ask what exactly went wrong over the last half-century that led our ostensible protectors to be so ill-equipped for this moment? Who is failing us, who is trying something else, and what tactics seem promising?

Note: This episode was recorded before the assassination of Charlie Kirk.

Resources:

Chaotic Neutral: How Democrats Lost Their Soul In The Center https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/ed-burmila/chaotic-neutral/9781645030041/?lens=bold-type-books

Gin and Tacos blog http://www.ginandtacos.com

Mass for Shut-Ins podcast https://www.iheart.com/podcast/263-mass-for-shut-ins-the-gin-29747244/

Trent and Caitlin check in with independent journalist Marisa Kabas about media and public figures’ reactions to the assassination of Charlie Kirk, their impulse to valorize and whitewash his legacy, and the mass harassment and firing campaigns against anyone who is insufficient in their praise of him.

Resources:

https://www.thehandbasket.co

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/11/opinion/charlie-kirk-assassination-fear-politics.html

https://www.vanityfair.com/news/story/charlie-kirk-ezra-klein-tanehisi-coates?_sp=b72cfa75-76e2-4289-9bf0-14eb90c6993b.1758044662907

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/13/opinion/charlie-kirk-assassination.html