Support the show by signing up to our Patreon and get access to the full Weekender episode each Friday as well as special Live Shows and access to our community discord: http://patreon.com/muckrakepodcast

With Jared Yates Sexton out, Coach Nick hosts a two-guest Weekender unpacking how “absolute immunity” is morphing into absolute impunity. Criminal defense attorney Greg Rosenfeld joins from Palm Beach County to break down Ninth Circuit skirmishes, shadow-docket shenanigans, and why judicial deference is gutting real checks on an increasingly imperial presidency. Then Professor Jason Niedleman (University of La Verne) digs into the political strategy behind National Guard deployments, the shutdown blame game, and the long war over rules, filibusters, and gerrymanders. Along the way: DC crime stats spin, immigration theatrics, a Santos commutation sidebar, and why expanding the electorate is the actual endgame.

Jared Yates Sexton and Nick Hauselman unpack a wild weekend where millions protested authoritarianism under the banner of “No Kings,” and Trump responded by posting an AI video of himself as a crowned fighter pilot literally defecating on Americans. They break down what that grotesque image says about power, humiliation, and a party that calls it “satire.” Plus: the GOP’s shutdown strategy, live artillery fired over I-5, and how all this adds up to a monarchy in everything but name.

Support the show by signing up to our Patreon and get access to the full Weekender episode each Friday as well as special Live Shows and access to our community discord: http://patreon.com/muckrakepodcast

Support the show by signing up to our Patreon and get access to the full Weekender episode each Friday as well as special Live Shows and access to our community discord: ⁠http://patreon.com/muckrakepodcast⁠

On this Weekender, hosts Jared Yates Sexton and Nick Hauselman break down the leaked Telegram messages from young GOP leaders that read less like edgy jokes and more like a neo-Nazi starter kit,followed by JD Vance’s “they’re just kids” defense. The guys connect the dots to the broader fascist pipeline (hi, Stephen Miller), preview the nationwide No Kings protests with a sober look at what real next steps require, and side-eye the missile-flyover spectacle in California while assessing reports of CIA black ops ramping up in Venezuela. Plus: what they’re watching, from gritty hospital drama to gleefully unhinged sketch comedy, and one very gnarly horror pick for the sickos in the Discord.

Jared Yates Sexton and Nick Hauselman divie straight into the week’s whiplash: the Israel/Hamas ceasefire and prisoner exchanges, Netanyahu’s corruption baggage, and Donald Trump’s jaw-dropper about “pardoning” Bibi. From there, the hosts trace the politics behind the pause, Biden’s misreads and missed leverage, and the grim playbook for Gaza’s future dressed up as “reeducation." Then it’s on to the stateside corruption: semantic games over a Qatari facility at Mountain Home AFB, JD Vance’s TV gaslighting, and the brazen crypto windfall that hit minutes before Trump's Taco Tariffs.

Support the show by signing up to our Patreon and get access to the full Weekender episode each Friday as well as special Live Shows and access to our community discord: http://patreon.com/muckrakepodcast

Support the show by signing up to our Patreon and get access to the full Weekender episode each Friday as well as special Live Shows and access to our community discord: http://patreon.com/muckrakepodcast.

In this searing episode, Jared Yates Sexton and Nick Hauselman break down the shocking ICE raids in Chicago, complete with Blackhawks, power cutoffs, and mass detentions. They explore how these actions reveal the rise of a domestic military force and the breakdown between state and federal power. The hosts also examine Stephen Miller’s latest propaganda, GOP claims about Jack Smith’s “surveillance,” and the disturbing corporate capture of media as Barry Weiss takes over CBS News.

Support the show by signing up to our Patreon and get access to the full Weekender episode each Friday as well as special Live Shows and access to our community discord: http://patreon.com/muckrakepodcast

Hear the full Weekender every Friday, plus Live Shows and our community Discord. Support us at http://patreon.com/muckrakepodcast.

Co-hosts Jared Yates Sexton and Nick Hauselman break down the bizarre Trump–Hegseth meeting with America’s top generals. Instead of commanding respect, Trump rambled through grievances and half-baked ideas while Hegseth postured and pandered, leaving serious military leaders unimpressed. We explore the dangerous implications of a president alienating his own brass, how authoritarian rhetoric collides with sheer incompetence, and why this moment opens up a host of unsettling outcomes. Along the way we look at the government shutdown, a self-defeating Argentina bailout, and the larger picture of American decline before closing with some culture picks.

Co-hosts Jared Yates Sexton and Nick Hauselman unpack a jaw-dropping Trump admission—governing off TV images and staff spin—and how that fantasy politics becomes policy: talk of sending “full force” into blue cities, a rebranding of domestic terror to target dissent, and an FBI focus that ignores the deadliest threats. They contrast right-wing violence with the media’s left-is-rising narrative, dig into how grifters launder fear into power, and roast Democratic leadership for meeting authoritarian tactics with mushy pressers as a shutdown looms. Plus: Portland reality vs. propaganda, why “security” is the fig leaf for crackdowns, and what real pushback should look like.

Support the show by signing up to our Patreon and get access to the full Weekender episode each Friday as well as special Live Shows and access to our community discord: http://patreon.com/muckrakepodcast

Support the show on Patreon to hear the full Weekender and get access to special live shows, our community Discord, and more: http://patreon.com/muckrakepodcast

Co-hosts Jared Yates Sexton and Nick Hauselman dig into a grim week of authoritarian chest-thumping and reality-warping. They start with the Dallas ICE detention-center shooting—three immigrants shot, one killed—and the head-spinning “evidence” rollout amplified by Kash Patel. From there it’s J.D. Vance’s sanctimony about “violent rhetoric,” the broader strategy of blaming critics while expanding state power, and why this phase feels less like politics and more like a permission structure for repression.

They break down the reported moves to indict James Comey, the DOJ’s Soros-as-crime-boss fishing expedition, and open talk of targeting Letitia James—not “accountability,” just payback. Then: Trump’s UN ramble (renewables are a “joke,” Christianity “most persecuted,” escalator conspiracies) and his whiplash turn on Ukraine/Russia, plus NATO stress tests, Pete Hegseth’s generals’ confab, and why World War III talk is suddenly louder.

Jared Yates Sexton and Nick Hauselman break down how Charlie Kirk’s Glendale “memorial” morphed into a full-blown Authoritarian Christian Nationalist pep rally: Stephen Miller’s “I am the storm” theatrics, Tucker Carlson’s martyr-making dog whistles, and Donald Trump turning grief into a campaign stump behind bulletproof glass. They unpack Trump’s bizarre (and impeachable) direct message to Attorney General Pam Bondi, and discuss reporting that Tom Homan accepted $50,000 in a restaurant to-go bag during an FBI sting because of course he did.

Support the show by signing up to our Patreon and get access to the full Weekender episode each Friday as well as special Live Shows and our community discord: http://patreon.com/muckrakepodcast