This is a special joint episode of The Chauncey DeVega Show and The Truth Report.

Steve Cash is Executive Director of The Steady State, a non-profit advocacy organization whose members are former senior national security officials.

He previously served as Senior Advisor to the Under Secretary for Intelligence & Analysis at the Department of Homeland Security, and as Chief of Staff to the Director of Intelligence at the Department of Energy.

Cash was deeply involved in drafting much of the legislation that followed the 9/11 attacks, including the USA-Patriot Act, the Department of Homeland Security Act, and the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act (which created the position of Director of National Intelligence).

Steve Cash also served as an intelligence officer with the CIA.

On this July 4th — the 250th anniversary of American independence — Cash reflects on a shared sense of mourning and sadness over the state of the country's democracy.

He talks about what patriotism and civic virtue mean to him and his peers, and makes the case that every American will need to weigh how much sacrifice and commitment they're willing to bear to help the country survive the Age of Trump and authoritarianism.

For those feeling tired or wavering, Cash offers a gut check: America is in a genuinely bad place right now, but if we rise to meet the moment, we can become the next Greatest Generation, building a much stronger democracy and society from the rubble that can last another 250 years.

Chauncey DeVega continues his July 4th tradition of sharing the wisdom of Frederick Douglass. For this 250th anniversary, he reads from historian David Blight's account of Douglass's clobbering of the slave master Edward Covey, and reflects on what that story means for the Black Freedom Struggle.

WHERE CAN YOU FIND ME?

On Twitter:

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Nell Irvin Painter is Edwards Professor of American History, Emerita, Princeton University. She also holds degrees in painting from Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers and the Rhode Island School of Design.

Painter is the author of many books including Sojourner Truth, A Life, A Symbol; Old in Art School: A Memoir of Starting Over; I Just Keep Talking: A Life in Essays; and the New York Times bestseller The History of White People.

She reflects on the origins of A History of White People and her career exploring how race is manufactured and lived along the color line.

She also cautions that the race concept structures societies, but that we should always avoid the temptations of race essentialism.

Painter counsels that we need to balance hope and pessimism. The Age of Trump is a calamity but this dark time will not last forever. We need to think nationally but work locally to create immediate change in our communities.

And Nell Irvin Painter offers some hard-earned advice about being creative for a living, and balancing our personal and familial obligations and material realities such as paying the bills.

*This conversation took place in 2024. Given Juneteenth and Trump's escalating assaults on multiracial democracy and the Black Freedom Struggle, I decided that now was the right time to share it with all of you.

Dr. Michael Valdovinos is a board-certified clinical psychologist and U.S. Air Force veteran. His new book is Moral Injuries: When Good Conscience Suffers in a World of Hurt. His writing has appeared in The Guardian and Time Magazine.

Valdovinos argues that the Age of Trump has inflicted a collective moral injury on millions of Americans — the psychological wound that comes from witnessing or being powerless to stop something that violates your deepest sense of right and wrong. He warns that a reckoning will soon be upon us all. Our collective exhaustion, confusion, and dread are normal responses to a profoundly abnormal social and political environment.

Drawing on hard-earned experience as an instructor in the military's SERE program (survival, evasion, resistance, and escape) and work with the special operations community, Valdovinos offers wisdom many of us desperately need right now: Keep moving. Do not betray your values. Surrender is not an option.

Chauncey DeVega reconvenes the secular church family, "marks out" over WrestleMania 42, and honors some of his favorite actors who have recently left this dimension of space and time and transitioned to the next Patrick Muldoon, Valerie Perrine, Matt DeCaro, and TV legend Sid Krofft.

Knowing is half the battle. He explains how authoritarians use "hypernormalization" to disorient the public, drain their emotions, and ultimately create a state of learned helplessness among a targeted population.

And Chauncey reflects on the failed assassination attempt at the White House Correspondents' dinner, the dangerous allure of conspiracism, and how too many people are lost in the surreal in this increasingly sick society.

WHERE CAN YOU FIND ME?

On Twitter:

https://twitter.com/chaunceydevega

On Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/chauncey.devega

My email:

[email protected]

HOW CAN YOU SUPPORT THE CHAUNCEY DEVEGA SHOW?

Via Paypal at ChaunceyDeVega.com:

Patreon:

https://www.patreon.com/thechaunceydevegashow

https://www.patreon.com/TheTruthReportPodcast

Rev. Paul Brandeis Raushenbush is President and CEO of Interfaith Alliance, an ordained Baptist minister, and a leading voice on religion, civil rights, and religious freedom. He is a frequent commentator on CNN, NPR, The New York Times, and the BBC.

What does it mean to be a person of faith in the Age of Trump? Rev. Raushenbush argues we must speak boldly and directly and with great moral clarity about evil, neofascism, and the idolatry of Christian Nationalism.

He shares what he witnessed on the ground in the Battle for Minneapolis, where everyday people showed extraordinary moral courage defending their neighbors against mass deportation. He reflects on the exhaustion so many of us feel — and how to keep going anyway.

Rev. Raushenbush shares what he would tell ICE and other immigration agents if they came to him for spiritual and moral guidance.

WHERE CAN YOU FIND ME?

On Twitter:

https://twitter.com/chaunceydevega

On Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/chauncey.devega

My email:

[email protected]

HOW CAN YOU SUPPORT THE CHAUNCEY DEVEGA SHOW?

Via Paypal at ChaunceyDeVega.com:

Patreon:

https://www.patreon.com/thechaunceydevegashow

Fatima Bhutto is an acclaimed journalist and novelist.

She is the author of the novels The Runaways and The Shadow of the Crescent Moon. Her nonfiction works include New Kings of the World and Songs of Blood and Sword.

Fatima Bhutto's new book is The Hour of the Wolf: A Memoir.

Her essays and other work have been featured in New Statesman, The Daily Beast, The Guardian, and The Nation.

Fatima's life has been shaped by political violence. She is the granddaughter of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, the Pakistani prime minister arrested and executed in the 1970s. She is the niece of Benazir Bhutto, twice prime minister of Pakistan before being assassinated in 2007. Her father, Murtaza Bhutto, was killed when Fatima was just 14 years old.

Fatima counsels that yes, this dystopic world is profoundly broken — but we need to find solace, community and strength from one another to make it a better place. She warns that ignoring injustice and evil only provides the illusion of temporary safety and that we must confront such dark forces even if it is terrifying and comes at a great cost.

Fatima reflects on the ethics of bringing new life into such a broken world and the importance of healthy relationships, love, and community.

Chauncey does some public thinking about why everything feels so much harder right now. The Age of Trump. The war and destruction in the Middle East. The Orwellian assault on reality and truth. And why we have no choice but to endure and soldier on.

He ponders whether we are lost and spinning in the Twilight Zone and draws on Rod Serling's wisdom to find his way out. And he shares Fintan O'Toole's essential new essay on Donald Trump as the Mad King and his war against Iran.

WHERE CAN YOU FIND ME?

On Twitter:

https://twitter.com/chaunceydevega

On Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/chauncey.devega

My email:

[email protected]

HOW CAN YOU SUPPORT THE CHAUNCEY DEVEGA SHOW?

Via Paypal at ChaunceyDeVega.com:

Patreon:

https://www.patreon.com/thechaunceydevegashow

https://www.patreon.com/TheTruthReportPodcast

Jeffrey Stern is an award-winning journalist and the author of five books, including his latest, The Warhead: The Quest to Build the Perfect Weapon in the Age of Modern Warfare. His reporting has appeared in The New York Times Magazine, Vanity Fair, and The Atlantic.

Stern shares his anger at how President Trump and Pete Hegseth are treating America's war with Iran as though it were a videogame or an action movie, rather than a matter of life and death.

He reflects on his New York Times feature "From Arizona to Yemen: The Journey of an American Bomb," and what it means to know the real human beings who are killed and maimed when such weapons are used.

Stern also explains why the engineers behind America's so-called "smart weapons" — the Paveway, the Tomahawk cruise missile, and other lethal technology — are not so easily caricatured as monsters. They see their work as saving lives and making the world safer.

And Stern draws on his years as a war correspondent to offer hard-earned advice on maintaining our emotional health as we navigate the Age of Trump and this era of global tumult and dread.

WHERE CAN YOU FIND ME?

On Twitter:

https://twitter.com/chaunceydevega

On Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/chauncey.devega

My email:

[email protected]

HOW CAN YOU SUPPORT THE CHAUNCEY DEVEGA SHOW?

Via Paypal at ChaunceyDeVega.com:

Patreon:

https://www.patreon.com/thechaunceydevegashow

https://www.patreon.com/TheTruthReportPodcast

This special episode of The Chauncey DeVega Show honors the life and legacy of Robert Duvall, who recently transitioned to the next plane of existence at the age of 95.

Duvall's extraordinary career includes unforgettable performances in The Godfather, Apocalypse Now, To Kill a Mockingbird, and Tender Mercies.

His cult film classics include THX 1138, The Killer Elite, Colors, and Falling Down.

Yet it was The Apostle — Duvall's passion project — that may stand as his most intimate and fearless work. In the film, he portrays Euliss F. "Sonny" Dewey, a Pentecostal preacher battling inner demons who, after committing murder, flees to Louisiana and reinvents himself as "The Apostle E.F.," and builds a multiracial church.

Longtime listeners know the very special place "Bobby D" and The Apostle hold in the history of this show and in Chauncey's own life journey.

For this celebration of life and remembrance, Chauncey is joined by the Rev. Paul Brandeis Raushenbush, President and CEO of Interfaith Alliance. A leading advocate for civil rights and religious freedom, they reflect on Duvall's embodiment of The Apostle E.F., the film's portrayal of charismatic Christian traditions, the power of faith, and its meditation(s) on the color line and our shared humanity and life journeys.

Together, they consider the meaning of Chauncey DeVega's and The Apostle E.F.'s "holy ghost walks" — and how our bodies can become sites of freedom, resistance, and power in dark and oppressive times.

On this episode of the podcast, Chauncey also shares his thoughts about Trump's war of choice against Iran, our political vertigo and the worsening disaster.

WHERE CAN YOU FIND ME?

On Twitter:

https://twitter.com/chaunceydevega

On Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/chauncey.devega

My email:

[email protected]

HOW CAN YOU SUPPORT THE CHAUNCEY DEVEGA SHOW?

Via Paypal at ChaunceyDeVega.com:

Patreon:

https://www.patreon.com/thechaunceydevegashow

Steve Cash is Executive Director of The Steady State, a non-profit advocacy organization whose members are former senior national security officials.

He explains the findings of the organization's new report, Accelerating Authoritarian Dynamics: Assessment of Democratic Decline. Its conclusion is dire: with Donald Trump's return to power, the country is rapidly sliding toward authoritarian rule.

According to Steve Cash, the United States now faces its most serious internal threat since the Civil War, with at least a 50–50 chance that "free and fair" elections may not continue in the foreseeable future.

Steve Cash also reflects on his long career navigating literal life-and-death situations, and shares some hard-earned wisdom about managing extreme stress, fear, and anxiety.

WHERE CAN YOU FIND ME?

On Twitter:

https://twitter.com/chaunceydevega

On Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/chauncey.devega

My email:

[email protected]

HOW CAN YOU SUPPORT THE CHAUNCEY DEVEGA SHOW?

Via Paypal at ChaunceyDeVega.com:

Patreon:

https://www.patreon.com/thechaunceydevegashow

Heather McGhee is a leading expert in economic and social policy and the New York Times–bestselling author of The Sum of Us: What Racism Costs Everyone and How We Can Prosper Together. A former president of the think tank Demos, McGhee is a frequent commentator on national affairs and now serves as chair of the board of Color of Change, the nation's largest online racial justice organization.

McGhee explores one of the central tragedies of American life: how a majority of white Americans have historically chosen to "drain the public pool," both literally and metaphorically, rather than share it with Black and brown Americans. This zero-sum, winner-take-all politics has left the nation less prosperous, less safe, less humane, and concentrated extraordinary wealth and power in the hands of plutocrats while undermining the American Dream for everyone else.

She also reflects on the enduring lessons of the Black Freedom Struggle for resisting authoritarianism and building a more inclusive and democratic future in the Age of Trump and beyond.

In this special Martin Luther King Jr. Day episode, Chauncey shares Dr. King's sermon on navigating fear in dark and dangerous times.

WHERE CAN YOU FIND ME?

On Twitter:

https://twitter.com/chaunceydevega

On Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/chauncey.devega

My email:

[email protected]

HOW CAN YOU SUPPORT THE CHAUNCEY DEVEGA SHOW?

Via Paypal at ChaunceyDeVega.com:

Patreon:

https://www.patreon.com/thechaunceydevegashow

Thom Hartmann is the nation's #1 progressive talk radio host and a New York Times bestselling author. His new book is The Last American President: A Broken Man, a Corrupt Party, and a World on the Brink.

Hartmann reflects on the first year of Trump 2.0 and the destruction and chaos it has unleashed on American democracy, society, and the world. Yet he insists that despair and surrender are not options as we enter 2026. Drawing on history and the cycles of great social change, Hartmann points to signs of a growing people's movement pushing back against Trumpism, as more Americans wake up to the damage inflicted by the oligarchs, gangster capitalism, and other anti-democratic forces. Ultimately, he believes the American people will prevail and push toward a real social democracy modeled on President Franklin Roosevelt's FAIR Deal.

On this special New Year's episode, Chauncey DeVega reflects on how we must keep riding the wave out of the great troubles of 2025 — balancing pessimism and optimism, fear and hope. He urges us not to pretend everything is fine or suppress anger and grief, but to acknowledge those feelings and ask the essential question: "Okay — now what are you going to do?" in 2026. And for those fortunate enough to have had a good year amid so much collective pain, Chauncey emphasizes the obligation to share that energy and to uplift others.

By learning from the long Black Freedom Struggle and other pro-democracy movements, the American people can better navigate what promises to be a perilous year ahead.

In that spirit, Chauncey shares an essay on the tradition of Watch Night, when enslaved and free African Americans — often in secret and at great risk — gathered on New Year's Eve to count down the minutes until the Emancipation Proclamation took effect on January 1, 1863.

WHERE CAN YOU FIND ME?

On Twitter:

https://twitter.com/chaunceydevega

On Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/chauncey.devega

My email:

[email protected]

HOW CAN YOU SUPPORT THE CHAUNCEY DEVEGA SHOW?

Via Paypal at ChaunceyDeVega.com:

Patreon:

https://www.patreon.com/thechaunceydevegashow