Yesterday Kash Patel triumphantly announced the arrest of a Special Forces Master Sergeant who had bet on the fall of Maduro and made upwards of $400,000. But, oddly, no investigations have been announced into the series of oil futures trades and others just minutes before major announcements by Trump on Iran. Someone with the ability to spend $760 million is acting on insider information but the curiosity to find out who doesn’t seem to have struck the Trump Administration, DOJ, or the Republican Congress. Is this unplanned and disastrous war with Iran to make us safer or just another profit vehicle for Donald Trump, his kids, and friends? Fred sits down with Washington Post writer Josh Rogin to discuss the suspicious market manipulations, the war in Iran, and much more. Rogin is lead industry analyst for Global Security for WP Intelligence. Since 2016, Josh has served as a columnist for the Global Opinions section of the Post, where his columns have broken news, provided insight and driven the Washington conversation around national security and foreign policy. With a particular focus on Asia, Josh has interviewed top world leaders, officials and decision makers including the Prime Minister of Japan, the Prime Minister of Pakistan, President-elect Donald Trump, Vice President Kamala Harris, Indo-Pacific Commander Admiral Samuel Paparo, and many more. He holds a BA from George Washington University in International Affairs and attended Sophia University, Tokyo. He is a recipient of the Livingston Award for Young Journalist and a 2011 finalist for the Interaction Award for Excellence in International Reporting. He also spends time reviewing ramen and fine watches at his Instagram @wastchtheramen in his limited free time.
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Between the Iran war and the upcoming midterms the United States is locked in both an international and domestic battle for power, a situation we have only faced a few times in our over 250 years of history. Iran has figured out that it doesn't actually have to win the shooting war to wield vast world influence by surviving and holding world trade hostage at its doorstep. At the same time Donald Trump and his MAGA movement face a reckoning this November like they have not faced since January 6, 2021. Trump knows that a sweeping Democratic victory in the midterms will all but end his power, financial windfalls, and influence for the remainder of his time in the White House. One thing that Fred's guest, Professor Robert Pape, knows is that no one gives up power willingly once they have a taste for it. They discuss both issues in depth and outline the danger we face. Robert A. Pape is Professor of Political Science at the University of Chicago specializing in international security affairs. His humble bio bullet doesn't encompass his massive library of achievements and studies on both international affairs and political movements. He has published dozens of articles and regularly appears for his thoughtful analysis of the world and domestic situations.Learn more about Dr. Pape at https://political-science.uchicago.edu/directory/Robert-Pape

It’s a war. We all know it’s a war and while Trump prepares to ask for another $200 billion to fight it and an astonishing $1.5 Trillion defense budget he is also saying he doesn’t want to pay for daycare, Medicare, or Medicaid. We are sending our sons and daughters to war under the leadership of the worst Secretary of Defense in history and creating veterans that will be made homeless by the actual Department of Veterans Affairs that’s supposed to help them. Once again we are fighting for our service members and veterans against the most anti-veteran Administration in history. This week Fred sits down with Naveed Shah, political director for Common Defense, to discuss all of this insanity and why we must fight back. Naveed is a veteran of the U.S. Army and Operation Iraqi Freedom, from Virginia. After serving on active duty for four years, including a 12-month tour in Iraq, Naveed returned to his hometown for undergraduate studies and began volunteering with veterans' groups. This led to a legislative and advocacy fellowship with the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America in 2012, followed by political campaigns. In 2016, the First Lady invited Naveed to attend Pres. Obama’s final State of the Union address, in recognition of his years of work on veterans Issues. In 2018, Naveed worked with the Virginia Democratic Party’s Mission First initiative to get veterans and military families involved in the political process. For the past 14 years, Naveed has been involved with veterans and military families across the nation in a movement to build progressive political power with Common Defense for several years. Common Defense is a grassroots, veteran-led political organization founded in 2016. It empowers veterans to stand against racism, violence, and economic inequality, while supporting candidates who share their values of democracy and justice. It acts as a political home for veterans to organize, focusing on advocacy and civic engagement. Naveed holds a B.S. from the University of Virginia where he studied Political Science.
Follow his work at Common Defense at https://commondefense.us
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They are desperately trying to steal the midterms as we speak. From the outrageously stupid SAVE Act being jammed through Congress to the threats to deploy ICE and troops to polls this fall and, of course, the illegal mid-decade redistricting in Texas and Missouri. The Republicans are saying openly they know they are going to lose unless they steal this election and we must fight back. California and Virginia showed that Democrats can play the same game just as well and do it legally while Missourians are fighting with their iniative petition Process. This week Fred sits down with Richard von Glahn the Executive Director of People not Politicians in Missouri who is leading the fight to use Missouri’s over hundred year old Constitutional process to stop the latest gerrymandering. They have gathered thousands of signatures and are fighting across the courts and Capitol to put this effort to the people on the November ballot and stop this effort to stay in power by what is clearly a minority party clinging to power.

We are three weeks into a war with no foreseeable end, and meanwhile the economy is in freefall all because of the chaos of Donald Trump and the Republican Doormat Congress. All they can do is lie but working Americans know the truth as they face impossible healthcare bills, skyrocketing prices, and nearly unaffordable gas.

The incompetence and lies never stop. This week, Fred sits down with former Capitol Police officer Harry Dunn to discuss the moment, why he is running for Congress, and the difficulty so many working Americans face because he is one too. Harry Dunn was a Capitol police officer for over 16 years who defended the United States Capitol on January 6th with his fellow Capitol and District Police officers. In the aftermath he has taken it on as his mission to tell the truth about that day, understand those who came that day, and make sure it never happens again. His book ‘Standing My Ground’ was a New York Times bestseller and is available wherever you get your favorite books. He’s now running for Congress in Maryland’s 5th District to fight for working class people in the Capitol again.

Follow his campaign at https://HarryDunnforMD.com

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We have lost at least 14 service members since the war in Iran began. Six more were killed in the crash of a KC-135 tanker in Iraq. Pete Hegseth couldn’t even begin is press conference the next day with condolences for the families. He spent his time attacking the media and smearing the people who led the military before. All of this after one of the most disgusting acts we’ve witnessed in war when Donald Trump used photos from the dignified transfer of our fallen soldiers at Dover Air Force Base in a fundraising email to his followers. The outrage never stops and this week Fred sits down with fellow Iraq veteran and pro-democracy activist Kris Goldsmith to discuss the war and much more. Kristofer Goldsmith is an Iraq War veteran, antifascist content creator, and investigator whose work focuses on exposing extremism, defending democratic institutions, and teaching everyday Americans how they can take proactive actions to counter authoritarian movements. He is the founder of the nonprofit organizations Task Force Butler Institute and Veterans Fighting Fascism, which engage veterans in defending democracy and holding extremist individuals and organizations accountable. Goldsmith’s research into how foreign adversaries targeted U.S. troops and veterans online was published by Vietnam Veterans of America and later served as the focus of congressional hearings. He is the host of On Offense, a podcast that examines the tactics used by authoritarian movements and the strategies people can use to defend democratic society. Through interviews with journalists, historians, investigators, and organizers, the show explores how fascism operates—and what it takes to confront it. Across platforms, his reporting and commentary reach a large online audience, including more than 280,000 followers on TikTok and tens of thousands more across Substack, Instagram, YouTube, Threads, Bluesky, X, and Facebook. Goldsmith lives in New York with his family.
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We are at war. The Republicans and Trump Administration are hell-bent on twisting that word to avoid oversight and accountability but we are bringing home American service members in caskets and having F-15s shot out of the air while dropping thousands of weapons on Iran. It’s a war. That means it is Congress's Constitutional duty to ask questions and conduct oversight. They refuse to do their duty. Meanwhile our sons and daughters are being sent into modern combat without any clear reasons or end goals. What we are getting is a smirking Secretary of Defense, talk about long-term economic payoffs, and dismissal of our casualties by Trump. We must demand they follow our laws. This week Fred is joined by the CEO of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, Ky Hunter, who was testifying on Capitol Hill just this week. They discuss the latest war, the impact on veterans, and what we must prioritize for our service members and their families.  Dr. Kyleanne Hunter is CEO of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, and a dedicated and lifelong servant leader. A Marine Corps veteran of the wars in both Iraq and Afghanistan. Prior to coming to IAVA, Ky was the lead of the Women, Peace, and Security Initiative, part of the RAND National Security Research Division and a senior political scientist at RAND. She also holds faculty affiliations as a professor of policy analysis at the RAND School of Public Policy and an affiliated professor of political science at Oregon State University. She is a non-resident fellow at the Center for a New American Security. Prior to RAND, Ky was at the United States Air Force Academy where she was director of the Strategy and Warfare Center, associate director of the Institute for Future Conflict, and a professor of military and strategic studies. She is a Marine Corps combat veteran with several deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan as an AH-1W Super Cobra attack pilot, and worked in the Office of Legislative Affairs. She is co-author of Invisible Veterans: What Happens when Military Women Become Civilians Again with Dr. Kate Hendricks Thomas. Learn more about IAVA at IAVA.org.

Donald Trump promised to get rid of the Department of Education. The far right conservative movement has seen it as an enemy for decades against their mission to dismantle public schools and transfer more money to their private and religious schools. There hasn’t been a despot in history that hasn’t targeted education of their nations youth as the place to start to create lasting power. From Mussolini to Mao, authoritarians want to shape the youth for their own malign ends. This moment is no different from relentless attacks on so-called “DEI” to increasing Christian Nationalism, our public education system is under constant attack. Derek Black is an expert in Constitutional and education who is documenting the attacks on public education and the efforts by Trump and others to undermine this foundation of our nation. He and Fred sit down to discuss Trump’s efforts to eliminate DOE, the limits to which he can go, and how Congress can stop this increasing assault on our future. Derek is an expert on education law and director of the University of South Carolina’s Constitutional Law Center. His most recent book is called DANGEROUS LEARNING (Yale University Press, January 2025) and is available everywhere you get your favorite books. 

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Scarcely a day goes by when it doesn’t seem like the U.S. is sliding further into authoritarianism. At home we see ICE agents killing innocent civilians and terrorizing immigrant communities, unelected corporate titans dismantling public infrastructure, and unprecedented attacks on academic freedom and the press; abroad we see a disastrous tariff policy, saber rattling, and the targeting of Venezuela, Iran, and other countries that pose no danger to the US. Trump has been doing whatever he wants for a year and only today was finally checked by the Supreme Court. For Charles Derber, an acclaimed author and sociologist, there has never been a more urgent time to build a broad leftwing populist movement to repel the authoritarian juggernaut menacing Americans and the world. In his new book, FIGHTING OLIGARCHY: HOW POSITIVE POPULISM CAN RECLAIM AMERICA (Routledge, paperback, January 2026), he lays out a comprehensive plan for building such a movement, offers a compelling history of both right and left populism in the US, and provides a persuasive analysis of how rightwing populism culminated in a second Trump victory. He and Fred sit down to discuss his book, vision, and view on the unfolding events we face and how progressives can fight back. Charles Derber, Professor of Sociology at Boston College, has written 30 books on politics, democracy, fascism, corporations, capitalism, climate change, war, the culture wars, and social change. His most recent books include Who Owns Democracy, Dying for Capitalism, Welcome to the Revolution, Moving Beyond Fear, Sociopathic Society, and Capitalism: Should You Buy It? Find them all online and in your favorite bookseller.
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It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know the media is struggling to meet this moment in our nation and world’s history. Time and time again we see them follow unimportant stories, fail to explain complex issues, and shrink in the face of financial and government pressure. It’s not new. As long as we have had a nation, we have had a battle between the free press and the powers that are fighting to preserve their power and wealth. Today we are watching the collapse of media institutions like the Washington Post and CBS News as billionaires decide what we will see and watch with algorithms and massive amounts of money. Back in 1976 Project Censored was founded in the wake of the Watergate scandal and they are now celebrating 50 years of speaking truth to power and highlighting the organizations and people leading that charge. Fred is joined this week by MICKEY HUFF, the third director of Project Censored and the president of the nonprofit Media Freedom Foundation to discuss this dangerous moment for our democracy as the media struggles to maintain their freedom. Huff joined Ithaca College in New York in the fall of 2024, where he now also serves as the Distinguished Director of the Park Center for Independent Media and Professor of Journalism. Since 2009, he has co-edited the annual volume of the Censored book series. His most recent books include Project Censored’s State of the Free Press 2025, co-edited with Shealeigh Voitl and Andy Lee Roth); The Media and Me: A Guide to Critical Media Literacy for Young People , as well as Let’s Agree to Disagree: A Critical Thinking Guide to Communication, Conflict Management, and Critical Media Literacy and United States of Distraction: Media Manipulation in Post-Truth America (and what we can do about it), both co-authored with Nolan Higdon. Huff is co-editor of the recently released STATE OF THE FREE PRESS 2026 (The Censored Press, November 11, 2025, paperback).
Learn more about Project Censored at projectcensored.org

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