Alligator Alcatraz, Florida; Fort Bliss, Texas; Speedway Slammer, Indiana; Cornhusker Clink, Nebraska; Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. From the Trail of Tears to ICE Camps this is the story of how America developed the largest civil concentration camp system in the world, and is now expanding the migrant detention system at a pace unseen since the second world war.

In part two Rich and Adam expose how every administration since 1980 transformed immigration from an administrative process to militarized mass incarceration. Starting with Reagan's reversal on 30 years of bonded release, to Clinton's mandatory detention laws, to Obama's family separation facilities, to Trump's zero tolerance policy. Learn how private prison corporations like CoreCivic and GEO Group profit from detaining 86% of immigrants in conditions that Rudy Giuliani's own immigration task force warned would look like "concentration camps."

[00:00] Introduction and Disclosure

[04:15] 1893-1924: How Open Borders Became Closed

[12:40] WWII: Japanese Internment and Latin American Deportations

[22:18] The McCarran Act: America's "Concentration Camp Law"

[28:45] Reagan Revolution: The Groundwork for Mass Detention

[38:20] Clinton's Mandatory Detention Explosion

[45:50] Bush & The Patriot Act: Blurring Civil and Criminal Law

[52:30] Obama's Family Detention: "Deportation Mills"

[01:02:15] Trump's Zero Tolerance and Family Separations

[01:15:40] 2025: Tripling Capacity to 116,000 Beds

[01:25:10] The Private Prison Profit Machine

[01:32:45] Why This Is a Choice, Not a Necessity

Alligator Alcatraz, Florida; Fort Bliss, Texas; Speedway Slammer, Indiana; Cornhusker Clink, Nebraska; Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. From the Trail of Tears to ICE Camps this is the story of how America developed the largest civil concentration camp system in the world, and is now expanding the migrant detention system at a pace unseen since the second world war.

In part one Rich and Adam trace the forgotten origins of concentration camps from the Trail of Tears and Civil War detention to Spanish colonial camps in Cuba, British camps in South Africa, and America's brutal Philippine occupation. They expose how "protective custody" rhetoric has justified mass civilian detention for nearly 200 years - and why today's facilities fit the classic concentration camp model: mass detention without trials, targeting vulnerable groups based on ethnicity rather than crimes committed. Part one covers the 1830s-1920s and how competing colonial powers learned from each other’s responses to civil strife to build our modern understanding of concentration camps.

[01:32] Introducing the Episode

[02:52] Portland Protests and Absurdity

[05:45] Mass Incarceration and Detention

[06:27] Historical Context of Concentration Camps

[13:47] Native American Displacement

[18:25] Civil War POW Camps

[21:33] Freedmen's Camps Post-Civil War

[26:10] Spanish Reconcentrados Policy

[30:41] The Puppy Bowl and US Imperialism

[31:28] The Philippine-American War: Brutal Tactics

[35:30] British Concentration Camps in the Boer War

[38:19] German Atrocities in Namibia

[50:05] The Soviet Gulag System

[58:17] Conclusion and Reflection

Veni, Vidi, Vuvuzela..? The US has launched multiple military volleys at Venezuela. Hegseth and Trump claim it's about narco-terrorism, but Venezuela barely produces drugs. Rich and Adam expose the real agenda: seizing oil reserves larger than Saudi Arabia's and forcing Russia and China out of America's backyard as part of Trump's neo-imperialist Monroe Doctrine revival. They trace America's 150-year addiction crisis from Civil War morphine to fentanyl, revealing how the "War on Drugs" has always been cover for political repression and resource extraction.

[00:00] Podcast Introduction and Banter

[04:26] Trump's Venezuela Ambitions and America's Drug Culture

[07:24] The History of Morphine and Its Impact

[15:32] The Rise of Heroin and Its Consequences

[28:02] The War on Drugs and Its Racial Implications

[36:13] Modern Drug Issues and International Relations

[40:57] Legalizing Marijuana and Drug Policies

[41:22] Geopolitical Aspirations in Latin America

[42:00] Venezuela's Political Landscape

[42:21] Mexico's Role in Drug Trade

[45:25] US Military Actions Against Venezuela

[51:53] Economic and Political Implications

[54:24] Comparisons to Historical US Interventions

[56:31] Potential Consequences and Future Predictions

[01:19:56] Final Thoughts and Conclusions

We break down Trump's new National Security Directive that goes beyond the Executive Order that designates Antifa as a terrorist organization and gives the FBI, IRS and Treasury sweeping powers to investigate anyone even vaguely connected to "anti-fascist" activities - mirroring the FBI's COINTELPRO and CIA's Project CHAOS programs that once illegally spied on MLK and civil rights activists, anti-war protesters, and the "New Left".

Rich and Adam say WTF to Stephen Miller’s plagiarized Nazi speech in Arizona, break down the "unitary executive" theory and Silicon Valley's "Dark Enlightenment" philosophy, and how martyrs, manufactured crises, and constitutional loopholes led to the seizure of power after the Reichstag Fire and how that might play out here and now.

Rich and Adam dive into some of the most spectacularly unhinged nuclear powered ideas - from the Air Force's 1958 proposal to nuke the moon for a PR stunt, to the Davy Crockett, the Army's portable nuclear bazooka that would cook their own crews, to the variety of proposals to use atomic bombs as construction equipment, engines, and as hurricane defense.

Are we already living through a Cold Civil War? We examine the current and historical parallels of scattered political violence, institutional breakdown, and cultural polarization tearing America apart. Then we take a look at Italy's "Years of Lead" to better understand what might happen in America and whether democracy can survive when compromise becomes betrayal.

Rich and Adam explore the psychology of fascism through Dorothy Thompson's 1941 essay "Who Goes Nazi" and the shocking 1967 Third Wave experiment where a high school teacher accidentally created a fascist movement in just five days. They discuss how ordinary people get drawn into authoritarian movements and what this means for America today.

Rich and Adam discuss how President Trump is deploying National Guard troops in DC, explore how this fits a years-long pattern of militarizing domestic law enforcement, and break down the legal mechanisms being used to bypass traditional restrictions on Posse Comitatus and why this should concern everyone.

Rich and Adam explore the Texas redistricting fight and dive into the history of redistricting, representation and gerrymandering in the US.