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Is the American Republic being dismantled from within? In this episode of Disinfo Detox, Nolan Higdon sits down with Peter Calfee and J. Kevin Dolan , authors of the provocative new book, Hijacked: Our Republic, Unless We Can Save It.

Together, they engage in a deep-dive debate over the moral, cultural, and institutional forces shifting the foundations of the United States. From the legacy of the Enlightenment to the modern media’s role in shaping narratives around Donald Trump and immigration, this conversation explores whether we are witnessing a slow-motion hijacking of the American experiment.

• The Enlightenment vs. Religion: A debate on whether a secular state can survive without a moral bedrock. Can the values of responsibility and character persist without a religious framework?

• The "Hijacked" Republic: Calfee and Dolan explain their thesis on how societies aren't lost in a single coup, but through the subtle exploitation of public complacency.

• Media Narratives & Authoritarianism: How the press frames the rise of figures like Donald Trump and the polarizing rhetoric surrounding immigration and border security.

• The Role of Government: Assessing the tension between individual liberty and the institutional guardrails meant to protect the republic.

• The Path to Recovery: Practical steps for reawakening foundational values and reclaiming critical thought in an era of disinformation.

About the Guests:Peter Calfee is a financial expert and retired CPA/CFP with degrees from Stanford and UChicago Booth.Kevin Dolan is a former airline pilot and Wharton MBA who co-founded a successful Registered Investment Advisory firm.

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Watch: https://youtu.be/qAbZLB2SLIU

Is the United States transitioning from a liberal democracy to a "dark, belligerent authoritarian state"? In this episode of Disinfo Detox, Nolan Higdon and resident philosopher Dickey dive into the escalating crisis in Minnesota and the nationwide debate over the "fascist" label.

A year into Donald Trump’s second term, the killing of Renee Good by ICE has sparked a national outcry. With viral footage showing ICE agents detaining children at Target, using flash-bangs on families, and the administration threatening to invoke the Insurrection Act, even traditionally sympathetic voices like Joe Rogan and Tim Dillon are drawing comparisons to the Nazi Gestapo.

In this episode, we break down:

• The Minnesota Crackdown: The tragic details of the ICE confrontation that left a 6-month-old baby unconscious and the false claims made by the administration.

• The "Fascist" Debate: Using Michelle Goldberg’s latest NYT reporting to analyze if the label is historically accurate or mere hyperbole.

• The 14 Characteristics of Fascism: We apply frameworks from Umberto Eco and Lawrence Britt to current events, including the "weaponization" of ICE and the pursuit of Greenland.

• The Historical Playbook: From Smedley Butler’s "Business Plot" to Langston Hughes’ warnings on Jim Crow, we explore why some scholars argue fascism isn't "coming" to America—it’s already here.

• The Yale Exit: Why top fascism scholars like Timothy Snyder and Jason Stanley are leaving the country.

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In this comprehensive and challenging episode of The Disinfo Detox, host Nolan Higdon, Sydney Sullivan, and resident philosopher Dickey take a deep dive into the legacy of Noam Chomsky—the "father of modern linguistics" and a titan of anti-imperialist thought—at a time when his reputation is facing unprecedented scrutiny.

For decades, Chomsky has been the gold standard for media criticism and anarchist philosophy. However, recent disclosures from the Jeffrey Epstein calendars and House Oversight Committee files have raised troubling questions about the intersection of intellectual power and elite blackmail networks.

The team breaks down the Chomsky story into five critical segments:

1. The Academic & The Anarchist: We revisit Syntactic Structures and the "Language Acquisition Device," while examining the modern critiques from linguists like Daniel Everett and the rise of AI that threaten to deconstruct Chomsky’s universal grammar.

2. Manufacturing Consent: We analyze the "Propaganda Model" and the five filters of media. We also revisit the legendary 1995 BBC interview with Andrew Marr, where Chomsky explained why the media self-censors without even knowing it.

3. The Controversy Files: From the Faurisson Affair and Holocaust denial free-speech debates to his controversial "whataboutism" regarding the Cambodian Genocide, we look at the cracks in the icon’s armor. We also discuss why he dismissed 9/11 truthers as a "distraction."

4. The Epstein Disclosures (2023–2025): We tackle the most unsettling recent revelations. We examine the 2025 release of photos showing Chomsky on Epstein’s private aircraft, the $270,000 financial transfer Epstein facilitated for him, and the recently surfaced "Letter of Support" where Chomsky praised Epstein’s "penetrating insights" into global finance. Why was a self-described anarchist dining with Woody Allen and Ehud Barak at Epstein’s Manhattan townhouse?

5. The Changing of the Guard: We revisit the heated "Bad Faith" podcast debate with Briahna Joy Gray. Was Chomsky’s "lesser of two evils" strategy a pragmatic necessity or a betrayal of the radical left?

This isn't just a biography; it's an investigation into how even the most brilliant critics of power can become entangled in its webs. Is it possible to separate the message from the man when the man is caught in the files of the world's most notorious fixer?

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In this deeply researched and unsettling episode of The Disinfo Detox, host Nolan Higdon helps newcomers, and reminds long-time researchers, of the scandals that predate Jeffrey Epstein and surround his case, scandals that continue to fuel public interest in the Epstein story.

Rather than chasing viral theories or list-driven speculation, Higdon takes listeners back through the forgotten scandals that taught the system how to survive exposure long before Epstein became a household name. Joined by Sydney Sullivan and resident philosopher Dickey, this episode maps the historical, psychological, and institutional patterns that explain why the Epstein case feels both unprecedented and eerily familiar.

The discussion begins by examining why the Department of Justice was quietly collecting news articles on decades-old sex scandals, including the 1983 Congressional Page Scandal, the Franklin Network, the Craig Spence–Vinson call-boy operation, the Jeff Gannon White House press-pass affair, and the D.C. Madam case. These are not random references. They function as case studies in how power insulates itself, disciplines whistleblowers, and reframes systemic abuse as isolated deviance.

From the Franklin Credit Union scandal and the haunting disappearance of Johnny Gosch, to Craig Spence’s midnight White House tours and his theatrical “resignation” in a Ritz-Carlton bathroom, the episode traces how sex, intelligence, money, and media converge into blackmail ecosystems that are rarely dismantled and more often buried.

The episode also explores how media framing operates as damage control, showing how scandals shift from national security crises into stories of “eccentric individuals,” “tragic suicides,” or “conspiracy culture,” precisely as investigations threaten to move up the power ladder. The conversation unpacks how documentaries like Conspiracy of Silence were suppressed, how names were filtered from public view, and how journalistic gatekeeping shaped what the public was allowed to know.

In the second half, the focus moves forward in time to the Jeff Gannon affair and the D.C. Madam case, exposing how escort networks, press credentials, and sealed client lists became tools of access and silence. The psychological legacy of these cases, including the repeated “suicides” of key witnesses, laid the groundwork for why the public instinctively rejected the official narrative when Epstein died in custody.

Finally, the episode explores how researchers have attempted to connect these patterns to the Brunel–Epstein pipeline, examining how modeling agencies, pageants, and “talent scouting” function as international recruitment fronts.

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In this powerful episode of The Disinfo Detox, host Nolan Higdon sits down with writer, educator, and activist Omar Zahzah, whose groundbreaking new book Terms of Servitude: Zionism, Silicon Valley, and Digital Settler Colonialism in the Palestinian Liberation Struggle exposes how U.S. tech companies shape, suppress, and weaponize information in service of a geopolitical project.

Together, we unpack Zahzah’s core argument: that Silicon Valley is not a neutral ecosystem but a political actor whose platforms reproduce, enforce, and normalize the Israeli settler-colonial narrative. Through algorithmic suppression, shadowbanning, content removal, and partnerships with state entities, Big Tech has helped police the boundaries of public discourse — especially when it comes to Palestine.

Zahzah traces how digital censorship is not incidental but structural, rooted in the political economy of U.S.-Israeli relations, the ideology of tech executives, and long-standing state efforts to control narratives around liberation movements. From Instagram suppression of Gaza content to Meta’s secret agreements with the Israeli government, Zahzah reveals a system in which the digital sphere becomes an extension of physical occupation.

We also explore what the corporate press still refuses to confront:

• the systematic erasure of Palestinian perspectives

• the coordinated surveillance and tracking of activists

• the merging of private platform power with state-aligned agendas

• the broader history of using technology as a tool of empire

Zahzah explains how these dynamics fit into a global pattern of “digital settler colonialism,” reshaping everything from online speech to political organizing — and why understanding this matrix is essential for any genuine movement toward liberation and justice.

If you value fearless analysis, critical media literacy, and conversations that reveal how power operates through algorithms, censorship, and technological systems, this is an episode you cannot afford to miss.

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In this urgent episode of The Disinfo Detox, host Nolan Higdon is joined by leading media scholars Bill Yousman (Sacred Heart University), Robin Andersen (Fordham University), and Mickey Huff (Ithaca College & Project Censored) to break down the escalating power struggle between Netflix, Paramount, and Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) — and why this latest wave of media consolidation poses a serious threat to democracy, journalism, and public knowledge.

Together, we place today’s streaming wars in historical context, tracing decades of media mergers, deregulation, and monopoly power that transformed the U.S. media system from a public-facing institution into a corporate-controlled political actor. What looks like a business dispute is actually a democratic crisis.

This conversation explores:

• the long history of media consolidation and deregulation
• how mergers shrink viewpoints, weaken journalism, and centralize narrative power
• why Netflix, Paramount, and WBD matter politically — not just economically
• how legacy media consolidation intersects with the current political climate
• the role of private equity, tech platforms, and Wall Street in shaping news
• what these battles signal heading into 2026 and the next election cycle
• why media concentration consistently benefits elites while undermining the public

Yousman, Andersen, and Huff bring decades of media literacy scholarship to expose how corporate media power distorts reality, manufactures consent, and narrows the boundaries of acceptable political debate — especially during moments of crisis, war, and elections.

This episode makes clear: media mergers are not neutral business decisions. They shape what we know, what we fear, what we debate, and ultimately how democracy functions — or fails.

If you care about press freedom, media literacy, democracy, and understanding the forces shaping the information ecosystem ahead of 2026, this is a must-watch conversation.

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In this eye-opening episode of The Disinfo Detox, host Nolan Higdon sits down with media literacy scholars Allison Butler (University of Massachusetts, Amherst) and Sydney Sullivan (SDSU) to examine one of the most viral, and most misunderstood digital revolutions of the 2020s: the rise of the tradwife movement and the reinvention of reactionary gender politics across TikTok, YouTube, and the broader manosphere.

Together, we unpack how the glossy #tradwife aesthetic — popularized by creators like Nara Smith and Hannah Neeleman of Ballerina Farm — evolved from retro homemaking content into a powerful cultural and political signal. Butler and Sullivan trace how these highly curated portrayals of domesticity tap into nostalgia, disaffection with fourth-wave feminism, algorithmic amplification, and a broader right-wing media ecosystem eager to repackage 1950s gender ideals as empowerment.

But that’s only the beginning.

We also dive into the manosphere pipeline, exploring how figures like Lauren Southern, Laurin Ponce, and self-styled male gurus attempt to reassert rigid gender roles through pseudo-psychology, “polarity” coaching, and thinly veiled reactionary ideology. From “feminine discipline” mantras to the “male awakening” grifts, we break down how influencers prey on loneliness, insecurity, economic precarity, and algorithmic echo chambers to sell both content and politics.

And we go even deeper — into the political ecosystem that enables it all.
We analyze:

• the gendered media narratives surrounding incidents like Trump attacking CNN’s Kaitlan Collins

• the myth of the so-called “man problem” on the political left

• viral debates about male loneliness and resentment

• the way media, platforms, and political actors strategically exploit gender polarization to maintain power

Butler and Sullivan bring sharp analysis grounded in decades of media literacy scholarship, revealing how today’s gender wars aren’t organic cultural clashes — they’re carefully constructed narratives circulating through influencers, platforms, political operatives, and legacy media outlets eager to manufacture outrage for profit.

If you value critical media literacy, feminist analysis, and clear explanations of how digital culture war narratives are engineered and monetized, this is an episode you don’t want to miss.

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In this explosive episode of The Disinfo Detox, host NolanHigdon sits down with historian and author Matthew Warshauer, whosegroundbreaking analysis of post-9/11 America reveals how a national tragedy wasweaponized to engineer an entire generation — and how we ultimately failedthem.

Together, we unpack Warshauer’s contention that theso-called “9/11 Generation” wasn’t born organically from the trauma ofthat day, but was constructed through political propaganda, militarizedpatriotism, and state-sanctioned narratives. From high school hallways toHollywood blockbusters, Warshauer traces how young Americans were groomed toaccept endless war, mass surveillance, and a foreign policy of perpetualretaliation as normal — even heroic.

Warshauer also confronts what the corporate press stillrefuses to confront:
the Saudi government’s involvement in 9/11, the intelligence failuresthat weren’t failures at all, and the bipartisan effort to conceal the truthfrom the public. He explains how the U.S. government lied about what happened,why it happened, and who benefited — and how those lies redirected the nationtoward Iraq, Afghanistan, and two decades of geopolitical chaos.

We examine the enduring consequences: a generation raised onfear and patriotism, deployed in conflicts without victory, and abandoned whenthey came home. The result is not just foreign policy failure — it is acivic, cultural, and moral failure that reshaped the fabric of Americandemocracy.

If you value fearless historical analysis, critical medialiteracy, and conversations that expose how power weaponizes national trauma, thisis an episode you cannot afford to miss.

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In this installment of The Disinfo Detox, NolanHigdon is joined by scholar and historian Aaron Good, whose workinterrogates the relationship between the U.S. national security apparatus,elite networks, and modern political power. In a conversation that bridgesdecades of hidden history, Good guides us through the significant — and widelymisunderstood — disclosures contained in the new JFK archive releasesand the Epstein files.

Rather than chasing sensationalism, Good traces how theserevelations illuminate a structural throughline: how intelligence agencies,private financiers, and media institutions collaborate to shape the historicalrecord. We discuss how the corporate press reduces complex statecraft and elitecrime into “conspiracy theory,” creating a civic culture where the public istrained to dismiss evidence in favor of comforting narratives.

The JFK story and the Epstein scandal are rarely discussedtogether — and for good reason:
they expose the continuity of American ruling-class power, theweaponization of secrecy, and the way journalism in the U.S. has beenrepurposed to manage perception rather than reveal truth.

This episode is essential for listeners interested in criticalmedia literacy, political history, and understanding how democratic realitiesare obscured by elite-driven news agendas.

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Together, we can build a journalism culture that remembers,resists, and refuses to look away.

In this explosive episode of The Disinfo Detox, host Nolan Higdon sits down with award-winning investigative journalist Peter Byrne, whose groundbreaking Project Censored series Military AI Watch has exposed the deepening relationship between Silicon Valley, artificial intelligence, and the Pentagon.

Together, they break down Byrne’s reporting on Representative Ro Khanna, examining how a politician branded as a “progressive reformer” has quietly aligned himself with military contractors, AI start-ups, and tech-driven weapons development. Byrne uncovers the pipeline connecting venture capital, elite universities, AI labs, and the U.S. military — revealing how “innovation” is increasingly synonymous with automated warfare, surveillance, and profit.

We also explore how bipartisan lawmakers, corporate media, and the national security establishment are selling AI militarization as inevitable — while burying concerns about ethics, accountability, civilian harm, and democratic oversight. Byrne’s reporting cuts through the political branding to reveal the material interests driving the next era of U.S. militarism.

If you value fearless investigative journalism, critical media literacy, and conversations that expose how power actually works behind the scenes, this is an episode you can’t afford to miss.

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