After rapper Nicki Minaj proclaimed she's Trump's "#1 fan" and Kid Rock headlined that sad TPUSA halftime show, it's worth asking: why do certain celebrities drift toward MAGA politics? Amanda breaks down the overlap between right-wing politics and celebrity culture, and why fading stars like Kid Rock and Nicki Minaj have become MAGA magnets. And the reputational fallout cannot be ignored. Artists are pulling out of Kid Rock's Rock the Country festival and Minaj's plans for fresh popularity are backfiring. This episode's guest is hip-hop commentator Jay Smooth.

For over 20 years, Tucker Carlson has persisted as one of the most influential conservative voices. He's a longtime culture-war provocateur, first on cable news and now on YouTube. But the real key to his success isn't longevity, it's his willingness to amplify the right's strangest and most extreme instincts. In this episode, Amanda breaks down why Tucker Carlson's conversations keep getting weirder and why liberals can't afford to ignore his growing political influence. Her guest is New Yorker writer Jason Zengerle, whose book "Hated By All the Right People" is all about Tucker.

Three women close to Donald Trump have recently announced their pregnancies. Is it a coincidence? Maybe. But it reflects something much bigger: MAGA's obsession with boosting birth rates, while doing little to actually support families and make raising kids easier. These three mothers, Karoline Leavitt, Katie Miller and Second Lady Usha Vance, are all cushioned by wealth, power and nannies, while everyday mothers are told to just deal. In this episode, Amanda unpacks the hypocrisy and shows why this is all a PR distraction strategy that is bound to fail with guest Andi Zeisler, senior writer at Salon.

MAGA's infighting just got worse. We've got all the dirty details from the latest right-wing civil war at TPUSA's AmericaFest. And no, invading Venezuela is not going to mend fences inside the conservative movement. In this episode, Amanda breaks down why Erika Kirk, Candace Owens, Ben Shapiro, Megyn Kelly and other major MAGA figures are openly at war, and why fringe influencers like Milo Yiannopoulos and Nick Fuentes still wield outsized influence over the direction of the Republican Party. The movement is fracturing in real time and panic is setting in across Trump world. The guest is SiriusXM host Dean Obeidallah.

Fox News is once again trying to make its annual war on Christmas happen. Surprising? Of course not. Hilarious? Always. In this episode, Amanda and Melanie McFarland, award-winning senior culture critic at Salon, break down some of their most painfully corny holiday segments—packed with forced cheer, smarmy Christian proselytizing and a sudden pivot into full-blown rage bait.

Follow Melanie on Bluesky: @McTelevision

Learn more about Scott Shoemaker's War on Christmas: https://theatreoffjackson.org

JD and Usha Vance can't escape the divorce rumors and JD certainly isn't helping. Amanda unpacks the couple's catastrophic public relations strategy, JD's latest "jokes" that land as demeaning moments for his wife, and what all of it reveals about gender dynamics in conservative movements, MAGA gender politics and the role political spouses are expected to play within Christian, right-wing family values narratives. Moira Donegan, Guardian US columnist and co-host of the podcast In Bed with the Right, is the guest.

Allie Beth Stuckey, the far-right commentator and host of Relatable, is weaponizing her gender to sell the twisted idea that we need less empathy in the world—not more. In this video, Amanda explains why her philosophy is actually about power and control. The guest this episode is Tim Whitaker, founder of The New Evangelicals media, who recently debated Allie Beth on Jubilee about the Bible.

The Whatever Podcast—also known as "Dating Talk"—isn't just edgy entertainment for young men. It's a pipeline into misogyny. In this episode, we examine how host Brian Atlas stages confrontational "debates" with women to push anti-feminist narratives disguised as discussion.

Progressive streamer Erin (Straighterade) joins to share what really happens on set, how conflict gets manufactured and what went down when she debated Charlie Kirk on the show. Together, we break down how red-pill media turns gender resentment into profit and why young men and parents should pay attention.

Full story at Salon.com.

An on-stage hug between the vice president and Charlie Kirk's widow sparked wild rumors about their relationship. But the real story isn't an affair, instead it's an image problem for the GOP. JD Vance's marriage to Usha Vance increasingly clashes with the ideals he's selling, built on white supremacy and rigid gender roles. In this episode, Amanda explains why that's becoming a serious liability for the Republican Party and what it reveals about the hypocrisy of MAGA politics and toxic masculinity. The guest this episode is Soraya Chemaly, author of "All We Want Is Everything: How We Dismantle Male Supremacy Hardcover." She warns that Vance's embrace of male supremacy has reached a troubling level.

Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani beat incredible odds to win in New York City. His campaign rejected old guard, establishment Democrats and leaned heavily into volunteers and a clear vision. In this episode, Amanda talks about why it worked and show how Mamdani is one of many young people helping usher in a new generation of courageous Democratic leadership. The guest is Amanda Litman, president and co-founder of Run for Something, an organization that recruits and supports young leaders to run for office around the United States.