Unf*cking The Republic

By UNFTR Media

Unf*cking The Republic® (UNFTR) is dedicated to progressive politics, leftist economic theories, and social justice in the United States. Join us for deep dives into socialism, labor rights, climat

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The podcast currently has 456 episodes available.

Best of Unf*cking The Republic

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Number 1: Did Ronald Reagan Destroy the American Dream?
Ronald Reagan. Champion of neoliberalism. To some, the man who lifted the spirits of a nation and restored a sense of pride and optimism after a period of despair. To others, the Reagan years marked the death of liberalism. A dark turn toward unfettered capitalist exploitation and the decapitation of working class movements and civil rights. So, which is it? Was Ronald Reagan responsible for ushering in an era of prosperity and restoring national pride as his boosters maintain? Or was he indeed the harbinger of doom and the reason we have Donald Trump today? Like most things, it’s complicated. But there are three ways in which Reagan fundamentally altered the trajectory of the United States to the detriment of most American families. Max walks through each of them before offering a bit of context for the era and ends with an example of a modern political figure that borrows from Reagan’s political playbook but with a twist: this time it’s to do good in the world. Resources Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute: Americans Still Believe in Strong U.S. Global Leadership and Engagement, Including Young MAGA Republicans The New York Times: Javits Sees G.O.P. Hurt By Reagan NPR: 1976: The Last Time Republicans Duked It Out To The Last, Heated Minute : NPR 270ToWin: 1980 Presidential Election Interactive Map Center for Public Integrity: How four decades of tax cuts fueled inequality Roosevelt Institute: To Put Trickle-down Economics to Rest, We Need a New Tax Code Wikipedia: Americans for Tax Reform Brennan Center for Justice: Citizens United, Explained Heritage Foundation: Reagan And Heritage: A Unique Partnership The Nation: The Mandate for Leadership, Then and Now The New York Times: The Strike That Busted Unions Jacobin: The Legacy of the Crushed 1981 PATCO Strike NPR + Code Switch: The Truth Behind The Lies Of The Original ‘Welfare Queen’ History: Just Say No History of Cannabis Project: Reagan Drug Policy — Just Say No & the 1986 Act Wikipedia: Dark Alliance U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the Inspector General: CIA-Contra-Crack Cocaine Controversy PBS: The Iran-Contra Affair National Archives: President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s Farewell Address (1961) Peter G. Peterson Foundation: The United States Spends More on Defense than the Next 6 Countries Combined Frederic Lemieux: Militarization of Law Enforcement in America ProPublica: The Best Reporting on Federal Push to Militarize Local Police CounterPunch: The Hidden Cost of the U.S. Military: The Real Budget is Far Larger Than Reported UNFTR Resources Video: Did Reagan Destroy the American Dream? Essay: Did Ronald Reagan Destroy the American Dream? The Carter Series. -- If you like #UNFTR, please leave us a rating and review on Apple Podcasts and Spotify: unftr.com/rate and follow us on Facebook, Bluesky, and Instagram at @UNFTRpod. Visit us online at unftr.com. Become a member at unftr.com/memberships. Buy yourself some Unf*cking Coffee at shop.unftr.com. Visit our bookshop.org page at bookshop.org/shop/UNFTRpod to find the full UNFTR book list, and find book recommendations from our Unf*ckers at bookshop.org/lists/unf-cker-book-recommendations. Access the UNFTR Musicless feed by following the instructions at unftr.com/accessibility Support the show: https://www.unftr.com/memberships See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
September 02, 202631min
Number 2: On The Record (09-08-26).
This week we dissected JD Vance’s child care rule change: A Heritage Foundation tradwife policy dressed up as family values, funded by gutting support for the single working parents who actually need it. Then Nathan Robinson joined us to talk about why the socialist moment is real and the DSA keeps winning where it’s not supposed to. And in honor of Labor Day, we put the wage-price spiral myth to rest: real wages flat for 50 years, corporate earnings through the roof, and the Fed looking the other way the whole time. Chapters Intro: 00:00:38 Quick Takes: 00:01:33 Max Notes: 00:05:43 Phone A Friend: 00:14:04 Killer Left Take of the Week: 00:37:19 Chart of the Week: 00:39:19 Outro: 00:42:26 Resources The Ghoul Pool wgaltv: Democrats criticize Fetterman after WSJ report claims he avoids meeting with constituents Steven A. Smith: Abdul El-Sayed on Israel, Hasan Piker, ICE and JD Vance A24: You Can See Everything Al Jazeera English: Far-right AFD wins vote in Germany’s Saxony-Anhalt state: Exit polls Mother Jones: Ashley Hinson Fought to Save Private Equity’s Favorite Loophole The New York Times: Trump Officials Draft Plan to Pay At-Home Parents, Using Funds for Working Ones The Heritage Foundation: Saving America by Saving the Family: A Foundation for the Next 250 Years Politico: Heritage Foundation calls on US to prioritize marriage and family in new report Congress: The Child Care and Development Block Grant: In Brief National Women’s Law Center: Re-Envisioning CCDF Emerald Book: How the 68% Black Single Motherhood Myth Harms Black Women and Families Center for American Progress: The Economic Status of Single Mothers Financial Planning Association: Leveraging Divorce to Maximize College Financial Aid Nathan J. Robinson: Why You Should Be a Socialist Nathan J. Robinson: Hillbilly Hypocrisy: ND Vance and the Dark Future of MAGA Politics Subscribe to Current Affairs Magazine. Jacobin: Capitalism makes “everyone feels a little insane” Investopedia: Wage-Price Spiral: What It Is and How It’s Controlled Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis: Average Hourly Earnings of Production and Nonsupervisory Employees, Total Private Union Stats: Union Membership, Coverage, Density and Employment by Sector and Demographic Group: 1973-2025 Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis: Corporate Profits After Tax (without IVA and CCAdj) Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis: Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers: All Items in U.S. City Average Federal Reserve Bank of New York: Center for Microeconomic Data UNFTR Resources Video: On The Record 9-08-26 (JD Vance’s Disgusting Stunt | Trump is Melting | Nathan Robinson.) Essay: Hillbilly Hypocrite. Episode: Did Ronald Reagan Destroy the American Dream? Episode: Merchants of Death. Episode: Labor Daze. Episode: Economics of Racism. -- If you like #UNFTR, please leave us a rating and review on Apple Podcasts and Spotify: unftr.com/rate and follow us on Facebook, Bluesky, and Instagram at @UNFTRpod. Visit us online at unftr.com. Become a member at unftr.com/memberships. Buy yourself some Unf*cking Coffee at shop.unftr.com. Visit our bookshop.org page at bookshop.org/shop/UNFTRpod to find the full UNFTR book list, and find book recommendations from our Unf*ckers at bookshop.org/lists/unf-cker-book-recommendations. Access the UNFTR Musicless feed by following the instructions at unftr.com/accessibility Support the show: https://www.unftr.com/memberships See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
September 08, 202643min
Number 3: Labor Daze: Trump’s Resident Idiot Says the Economy is a Gift.
Trump administration official Kevin Hassett declared the latest jobs report as a “present to the American people” for Labor Day. Really, Kevin? Let’s dig into this claim by looking closely at the labor data. What you’ll find is that more Americans than ever are dislocated from the full-time employment picture in this country, and that this administration has zero idea how to fix it. And they’re not even trying. But, sure. Happy Labor Day, America. Enjoy the weekend worrying about how to pay your bills. Resources Bloomberg Television: NEC’s Hassett Says Inflation Is Under Control Vox: The Trump administration’s “cubic model” of coronavirus deaths, explained Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis: Labor Force Participation Rate NBC News: Trump’s new Fed chair walks fine line on inflation in key speech Bureau of Labor Statistics: The Employment Situation — August 2026 ADP Research: National Employment Report Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis: All Employees, Manufacturing Peterson-KFF Health Systems Tracker: What are the recent trends in employer-based health coverage? KFF: Employer-Sponsored Health Insurance 101 Bureau of Labor Statistics: Labor Force Statistics from the Current Population Survey Bureau of Labor Statistics: Frequently asked questions about data on contingent and alternative employment arrangements (May 2017) Bloomberg: Fewer Americans are Working or Looking for a Job. Experts Can’t Agree on Why PBS News: What the July jobs report reveals about the strength of the economy United States Census Bureau: Monthly Construction Spending, July 2026 UNFTR Resources Video: The Jobs Report Is A Scam: Here’s Why Episode: Merchants of Death. Essay: Labor Daze. -- If you like #UNFTR, please leave us a rating and review on Apple Podcasts and Spotify: unftr.com/rate and follow us on Facebook, Bluesky, and Instagram at @UNFTRpod. Visit us online at unftr.com. Become a member at unftr.com/memberships. Buy yourself some Unf*cking Coffee at shop.unftr.com. Visit our bookshop.org page at bookshop.org/shop/UNFTRpod to find the full UNFTR book list, and find book recommendations from our Unf*ckers at bookshop.org/lists/unf-cker-book-recommendations. Access the UNFTR Musicless feed by following the instructions at unftr.com/accessibility Support the show: https://www.unftr.com/memberships See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
September 06, 202620min
Number 4: Merchants of Death: The Men Who Killed Healthcare in America.
The United States doesn’t have a comprehensive healthcare “system.” It has a patchwork of coverage options that come with heavy price tags and complicated processes. Consistent GOP attacks have made the entire framework untenable, and the results speak for themselves. Healthcare coverage is deteriorating rapidly under Trump and there’s no going back at this point. This might be the opening we need to finally have a real conversation about Medicare for All. But there’s going to be a lot of pain between now and then. Resources KFF: ACA Marketplace Enrollment Is Down By 3 Million After Big Jump in Premium Payments The New York Times: Uninsured Patients Rise Sharply, Hospitals Report, Citing Obamacare Cuts Peterson-KFF Health System Tracker: How much and why ACA Marketplace premiums are going up in 2027 Peterson-KFF Health System Tracker: How much and why premiums are going up for small businesses in 2027 American Medical Association: Changes to Medicaid, the ACA and other key provisions of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act Common Dreams: Nearly 2.5 Million Children Have Lost Medicaid and CHIP—So Far—During Trump’s Second Term STAT: The Trump administration is burying science and health care in paperwork Book Love Abdul El-Sayed + Micah Johnson: Medicare for All: A Citizen’s Guide Steven Brill: America’s Bitter Pill: Money, Politics, Backroom Deals, and the Fight to Fix Our Broken Healthcare System Paul Starr: The Social Transformation of American Medicine: The Rise of a Sovereign Profession and the Making of a Vast Industry UNFTR Resources Video: Healthcare Is Broken—And It’s Not Getting Better. Essay: Merchants of Death. Series: Healthcare. Episode: Medicare for All. Episode: Pharmacy Benefit Managers. 5 Non-Negotiables. -- If you like #UNFTR, please leave us a rating and review on Apple Podcasts and Spotify: unftr.com/rate and follow us on Facebook, Bluesky, and Instagram at @UNFTRpod. Visit us online at unftr.com. Become a member at unftr.com/memberships. Buy yourself some Unf*cking Coffee at shop.unftr.com. Visit our bookshop.org page at bookshop.org/shop/UNFTRpod to find the full UNFTR book list, and find book recommendations from our Unf*ckers at bookshop.org/lists/unf-cker-book-recommendations. Access the UNFTR Musicless feed by following the instructions at unftr.com/accessibility Support the show: https://www.unftr.com/memberships See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
September 05, 202619min
Number 5: Omnibus (08-29-26).
Max and 99 are back for another round of Omnibus. They hit headlines on John Roberts’ 40-year project to kill the Voting Rights Act and Spirit Airlines selling decades of flight attendant data to Google to train AI. Then they tackle listener emails on wage labor as a central issue, whether UNFTR is a GRU op (lol), and tech bros engineering technocratic feudalism. Enjoy! Chapters Intro: 00:00:40 Headlines: 00:07:38 Emails: 00:31:04 Memberships: 00:59:34 Outro: 01:00:33 Resources Frazier Chorus: Dream Kitchen Wired: Spirit Airlines Wants to Sell Its Data to Google. Former Flight Attendants Are Freaked Out The Progressive: The Long Con of John Roberts FiftyPlusOne: We tracked every candidate in the 2026 primaries. Here’s who voters are nominating. UNFTR Resources Video: On The Record 08-25-26 (Scott Bessent is a Loser Who Wants to be President.) -- If you like #UNFTR, please leave us a rating and review on Apple Podcasts and Spotify: unftr.com/rate and follow us on Facebook, Bluesky, and Instagram at @UNFTRpod. Visit us online at unftr.com. Become a member at unftr.com/memberships. Buy yourself some Unf*cking Coffee at shop.unftr.com. Visit our bookshop.org page at bookshop.org/shop/UNFTRpod to find the full UNFTR book list, and find book recommendations from our Unf*ckers at bookshop.org/lists/unf-cker-book-recommendations. Access the UNFTR Musicless feed by following the instructions at unftr.com/accessibility Support the show: https://www.unftr.com/memberships See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
August 29, 20261h 6min