The Lincoln Project

Rick Wilson sits down with country singer STELLA PARTON, who has been loudly speaking out against Trump since 2016. Despite years of online backlash and fears it could cost her a 56-year career, Stella explains why standing up for your beliefs is more important than ever. Stella makes the case that the political climate is finally shifting, talks about evangelical leaders and the gap between what churches preached and who they backed, Christian nationalism's damage to both the church and the country, and women denied life-saving care. One of twelve kids from Appalachia, she explains the lifelong instinct to stand up for the bullied that now has her calling out congressional "grifters," pushing for term limits, and defending Joe Biden's legacy. She's still writing, recording, and touring, and she calls it less show business than ministry. IT'S ELECTION DAY. If you haven't voted yet, go vote today, and check your state's official elections website for polling locations and hours.
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Stella Parton is on X @StellaParton, and on her website: stellaparton.com. 

Rick Wilson is on X @TheRickWilson, Bluesky @TheRickWilson.bsky.social, and Substack at therickwilson.substack.com. 

More from LP at www.lincolnproject.us and on X @ProjectLincoln.

It’s a doubleheader for the last episode of the Lincoln Project Podcast before the 2026 midterm election. Rick is joined by two Democrats running in deep-red territory: Stephanie Arne (D-SD) and Justin Pearson (D-TN). Stephanie Arne, a former host of “Wild Kingdom,” is running for the South Dakota House in Sioux Falls with a grassroots, door-knocking campaign that has reached thousands of her neighbors. Justin Pearson is the Democratic nominee in Tennessee’s 9th District, whom Trump called a “radical” and whose state legislature redrew the maps to try to beat him. Two candidates, two red states, one message: We are more alike than we think! One week until Election Day. GO VOTE!
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You can find more information about Stephanie Arne's campaign at stephanieforsd.com. 

You can find more information about Justin J. Pearson's campaign at votejustinj.com.

Rick Wilson is on X @TheRickWilson, Bluesky @TheRickWilson.bsky.social, and Substack at therickwilson.substack.com. 
More from LP at www.lincolnproject.us and on X @ProjectLincoln.

This week’s EITR is an ad from Vivek Ramaswamy's campaign that features the estranged birth mother of Democratic nominee Amy Acton. Rick has made hard-hitting negative ads for decades, and he explains why he sees a firm line between tough contrast ads and attacks on a family member who isn't a participant in the race, and why he believes this ad denies Acton's documented history of childhood abuse. He takes on JD Vance's response, the Republican leaders who offered only mild criticism, and the consultants behind political attacks like this one. His message to Ohio voters: turn your anger into a vote.
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Rick Wilson is on X @TheRickWilson, Bluesky @TheRickWilson.bsky.social, and Substack at therickwilson.substack.com. 

More from LP at www.lincolnproject.us and on X @ProjectLincoln.

This week, it’s a Florida DOUBLE-HEADER on the Lincoln Project Podcast. First up: retired Army Brigadier General Leela Gray, the Democratic nominee running against Rep. Anna Paulina Luna in Florida's 13th District. Gray breaks down the cost-of-living crisis squeezing Pinellas County, Luna's refusal to hold town halls or debate, and the anti-corruption agenda she wants to take to Congress, including a REAL ban on congressional stock trading. Then, Florida Democratic Party Chair Nikki Fried explains how the party rebuilt from a 19-point statewide loss into a year-round organizing machine called Pendulum, going toe-to-toe with a Republican money advantage fueled by billionaires and no-bid contracts like ALLIGATOR ALCATRAZ. Fried digs into the Hope Florida scandal, the insurance industry's shell-game finances, Byron Donalds' campaign for governor, and the congressional seats Democrats are targeting in November.
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You can find Leela Gray and all of her socials on her website, https://LeelaGray.com

The Florida Democratic Party's website is https://FloridaDems.org.
Nikki Fried is on X @NikkiFried & Blusky @NikkiFried.bsky.social.

Rick Wilson is on X @TheRickWilson, Bluesky @TheRickWilson.bsky.social, and Substack at therickwilson.substack.com. 
More from LP at www.lincolnproject.us and on X @ProjectLincoln.

With 18 DAYS to Election Day, reality is finally setting in. Republicans are watching the House slip away. Trump's supporters are staring at a visibly declining leader. And MAGA voters are learning that $5-plus diesel, lost health insurance, and data centers in their backyard WERE the deal all along. Rick's warning: don't get complacent, VOTE EARLY. Then he looks past November to a long, patient accountability process, modeled on France's postwar purge rather than a tidy Nuremberg fantasy, led by state attorneys general. And his challenge to incoming Democrats: don't chase normalcy, stay on the economy and corruption, and on day one, TAKE THE TARIFF POWER AWAY. The real fight is just beginning.
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Rick Wilson is on X @TheRickWilson, Bluesky @TheRickWilson.bsky.social, and Substack at therickwilson.substack.com. 

More from LP at www.lincolnproject.us and on X @ProjectLincoln.

Rick sits down with Oscar-winning documentarian Alex Gibney about MUSK, his four-hour film that started as a business profile and turned into something much bigger once Elon hitched his wagon to Trump. Gibney says Musk's fortune was built less on engineering genius than on MYTH-MAKING, a confidence-man playbook of gaslighting and bravado that let him buy his way into American politics. They trace the whole arc: the COVID-era fury, the move to Texas, the Twitter takeover, DOGE, the Epstein-files blowup, and the quick patch-up with Trump. Gibney even built an uncanny AI of  Elon Musk from his own recorded words to interrogate him in a way no real interview ever could. They close on the legal threats, the rejected ad buys, and just how dangerous Musk is now that he controls a megaphone AND the future of AI.
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Alex Gibney is on X @alexgibneyfilm and on Bluesky @alexgibneyfilm.bsky.social. His new film ‘MUSK’ is out now in select theaters, and nationwide on October 16th. 

Rick Wilson is on X @TheRickWilson, Bluesky @TheRickWilson.bsky.social, and Substack at therickwilson.substack.com. 

More from LP at www.lincolnproject.us and on X @ProjectLincoln.

Democrats are winning, and RICK WILSON says they have NO IDEA why. It isn't because the party's brand got better. It's because voters, including a LOT of Republicans, are done with TRUMP over tariffs, the Iran war, and corruption. Rick's warning: don't let the consultants talk you into a "big optimistic vision." Stay on affordability. Stay on corruption. Keep PUNCHING, the way Ossoff and El-Sayed are. Then he lays out the day-one agenda: unwind the tariffs, BAN congressional stock trading, and hold Trump officials accountable instead of repeating the "move on" mistake after January 6th. He also breaks down why data centers are the new symbol of voter anxiety about AI and jobs, and closes with a hard warning on election interference: VOTE EARLY, vote by mail, and show up in force.
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Rick Wilson is on X @TheRickWilson, Bluesky @TheRickWilson.bsky.social, and Substack at therickwilson.substack.com. 

More from LP at www.lincolnproject.us and on X @ProjectLincoln.

#EITR #RickWilson #LincolnProject #Midterms2026 #Ossoff #ElSayed #BanStockTrading #VoteEarly #DataCenters #Democrats

Rick sits down with TIMOTHY SNYDER, the historian who literally wrote the book on tyranny, two of them, in fact: ON TYRANNY and ON FREEDOM. Snyder says that Trump isn't a real strongman. Compared to actual dictators like Putin, he's WEAK — and  the right response isn't fear, it's MOCKERY, organizing, and showing up in overwhelming numbers this November. They dig into what Snyder calls a "crisis of dignity" inside the GOP — grown men abasing themselves in front of Trump — and trace that same rot straight to the posthuman, AI-worshipping ideology now sitting inside the White House, courtesy of thinkers like Curtis Yarvin and Steve Bannon pushing America toward a post-democratic future. This is a historian's warning AND a battle plan.
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Timothy Snyder is on X @TimothyDSnyder & on YouTube @proftimothysnyder. Check out his Substack, at snyder.substack.com/

Rick Wilson is on X @TheRickWilson, Bluesky @TheRickWilson.bsky.social, and Substack at therickwilson.substack.com. 

More from LP at www.lincolnproject.us and on X @ProjectLincoln.

#TimothySnyder #OnTyranny #OnFreedom #RickWilson #LincolnProject #CurtisYarvin #SteveBannon #Ukraine #Authoritarianism #VoteEarly

Rick is calling this the WORST WEEK the GOP has had in years, and the proof is in the polling. The map is getting uglier for Republicans by the day. Texas and Ohio are tightening, and David Jolly's got the edge on a flailing Byron Donalds in Florida. Meanwhile, Republicans just can’t stop making it worse for themselves. MAGA Senator Eric Schmitt tried to trap Jack Smith in a perjury gotcha and it BLEW UP in real time, live on camera. Trump sat down with TIME and came out swinging, unhinged as ever, while his own White House keeps running TAXPAYER-FUNDED campaign ads that are drawing serious legal scrutiny. Add in embarrassingly small crowds and a “superintelligence” summit that's turning AI into a symbol of everything voters are scared about economically. MAGA is in real trouble. Democrats, PLEASE stay on message, and everyone else… VOTE EARLY!
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Rick Wilson is on X @TheRickWilson, Bluesky @TheRickWilson.bsky.social, and Substack at therickwilson.substack.com. 

More from LP at www.lincolnproject.us and on X @ProjectLincoln.

#EITR #RickWilson #LincolnProject #EricSchmitt #JackSmith #Talarico #DavidJolly #HatchAct #Midterms2026 #VoteEarly