Would the Real Ron Vara Please Stand Up?

Episode Description:

In this episode, we unpack the bizarre origin story of Trump’s tariff crusade—and the imaginary economist who helped sell it. Meet Ron Vara, a fictional expert invented by Trump adviser Peter Navarro, cited in books, memos, and even trade policy discussions. How did a fake name become the intellectual backbone of a real trade war? Why did Jared Kushner pick an economic advisor by browsing Amazon book covers? And what does it say about the machinery of Trump-era policy?

I break it all down—as a strategist, a cultural anthropologist, and a retired Army lieutenant colonel who has seen enough absurdity to spot a psy-op when it's happening in plain sight. This isn’t just a story about bad economics. It’s a story about belief, fiction, and what happens when cult thinking makes it into the White House.

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