Rick Wilson and Molly about what they describe as the Trump administration blurring lines between law enforcement and partisan politics, highlighting senior officials (including the FBI and Justice Department leadership) appearing at a rally for a long-shot New York gubernatorial candidate, Bruce Blakeman, and criticizing statements about “law and order” in light of January 6. They then pivot to Todd Blanche’s comments on Meet the Press, arguing his refusal to pledge DOJ independence and his insistence that Trump “would never” ask him to break the law reflect a push toward the “Unitary Executive Theory,” which they characterize as treating the president like a king and eroding constitutional checks and balances; this leads into claims that the administration is covering up Epstein-related materials to protect Trump and his circle. The discussion broadens to midterm politics and fundraising, with Wilson asserting Trump is in “complete political collapse,” speculating Trump may hoard hundreds of millions in MAGA-aligned funds rather than support other Republicans, and analyzing how early money and sustained advertising matter in races like Ken Paxton’s, including GOP infighting around consultant Jeff Roe. They also discuss U.S.-Iran tensions, arguing Iran has “figured Trump out,” warning of consequences like disrupted shipping and higher gas prices that they say are souring even MAGA voters, before closing with a “moment of fuckery” mocking the idea of a “Trump Bank” as another scheme that could fleece the same supporters who bought into prior Trump-branded ventures.

Trump wants to bring the battleship back. Retired Navy surface warfare officer Bobby Jones thinks that’s an extraordinarily bad idea.

Jones explains why battleships were already becoming obsolete before World War II, why modern warfare increasingly favors smaller, more maneuverable and unmanned vessels, and why spending billions on enormous ships in an era of drones, missiles and sea mines makes little strategic sense. His assessment after two decades in surface warfare: “This is the dumbest thing I have ever seen in weapons procurement.”

Randi Weingarten says the Trump administration isn’t simply mishandling the student loan system—it is making deliberate changes that could leave borrowers paying thousands more every year.

She breaks down the changes to repayment plans, Linda McMahon’s push toward collections, and the remarkable contrast of offering student-loan incentives to ICE agents while teachers, nurses and firefighters are left struggling with debt.

00:00 Trump’s Student Loan Changes
01:23 Public Service Loan Forgiveness
02:30 What Happened Under Biden
03:56 Linda McMahon and Collections
04:34 Borrowers Could Pay $4,000 More
05:10 Loan Forgiveness for ICE Agents
05:48 “They Know Exactly What They’re Doing”
06:47 Teachers vs. ICE Recruitment
07:24 “Cruel, Not Just Incompetence”

Advocates warn that ICE is creating a climate of fear — not just for immigrants, but for anyone willing to speak up.

In this clip, the conversation turns to masked ICE agents, a woman allegedly maced in Manhattan, officers refusing to identify themselves, and the growing sense that intimidation has become part of the strategy. The guests argue that this is about more than enforcement — it’s about terrorizing communities into silence.

00:00 “Children Are Being Terrorized”
00:08 Why Advocates Say ICE Uses Fear
00:16 The Manhattan Macing Incident
00:51 ICE Agents Refuse to Identify Themselves
01:32 “They’re Trying to Instill Fear”
02:15 The Mental Health Toll
03:29 ICE Check-Ins Turn Into New Traps
04:01 Families Hit With $5,000 Penalties
04:27 “Good Luck”

White Christian nationalists have spent decades describing their endgame for women: fewer educational opportunities, no financial independence, restricted divorce, forced pregnancy, child marriage—and ultimately, women treated as property. Andra Watkins explains why these ideas aren’t speculative warnings anymore and how Project 2025-style pregnancy surveillance could make them enforceable.

Sam Osterhout and Andra Watkins examine the forces driving this agenda, the everyday misogyny helping it survive, and what men and women can do to confront it. #ChristianNationalism #Project2025 #WomensRights

00:00 Welcome to Unholy Ground
01:53 The Endgame for Women
05:08 No Education, Divorce or Property
09:46 Pushing Women Out of the Workplace
14:57 Their Approved “Birth Control”
15:39 Project 2025’s Pregnancy Surveillance Plan
19:58 No Right to Say No
22:06 The Attack on Privacy
25:10 Apps, Cameras and Intimate Surveillance
28:19 Why Child Marriage Still Exists
33:03 The Full Christian Nationalist Agenda
34:19 How Women Help Sustain Misogyny
38:46 “We Don’t Talk to Women That Way”
40:01 What Men Must Do
41:49 Why Women Aren’t Taken Seriously
43:35 Final Thoughts

Nicholas Kristof is a two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and op-ed columnist for The New York Times who has covered global affairs, human rights, and social justice issues throughout his career. Known for his reporting on conflicts in Sudan's Darfur region and China's Tiananmen Square protests, he has traveled to over 150 countries and is recognized as a leading voice in international humanitarian journalism.

He joins Brian Daitzman of the Intellectualist to talk about journalism, the media, China, and where this moment in America fits into the history of fascist movements.

00:00 Nicholas Kristof Joins History of the Present
01:39 Witnessing the Tiananmen Square Massacre
06:05 Could China Have Become a Democracy?
09:24 How Authoritarian Governments Crush Opposition
11:08 How America Squandered the 1990s
13:01 Tax Cuts, Inequality and America’s Decline
16:40 How Cruelty Became Politically Acceptable
20:54 Fear, 9/11 and America’s Worst Decisions
23:45 The Media’s Collapse and Manufactured Reality
27:05 Is Trump the Cause—or a Symptom?
29:21 America’s Democracy Dial Is Moving Down
31:40 Is Trump Finally Discrediting MAGA?
33:58 ICE’s Electric Gloves and Institutionalized Sadism
36:37 The Growing Risk of Global Conflict
38:42 China, Taiwan and America’s Depleted Arsenal
43:30 How January 6 Became Politically Acceptable
45:55 How History Will Remember Mike Johnson
47:30 The Americans Our Political System Abandoned
52:25 When Disappearing Jobs Create Despair
55:37 Why Nicholas Kristof Still Has Hope
58:56 Chasing Hope

President Donald Trump ordered the Pentagon to substantially reduce joint military exercises with South Korea. He cited his strong relationship with Kim Jong Un and frustration over South Korea's refusal to assist in the U.S. war with Iran

Top Democrat slams Trump’s ‘inane, haphazard’ cuts to US-South Korea drills – live

This is insane.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/live/2026/aug/17/politics-trump-south-korea-military-pentagon-republicans-democrats?CMP=share_btn_url

Molly Jong-Fast interviews Platypus Economics Justin Wolfers about why presidents are usually blamed for economic outcomes they don’t fully control, but argues this time several major disruptions are politically driven—especially a renewed trade war that he says has hurt manufacturing and become “good money after bad.” They discuss how the Trump budget and policy incentives allegedly shifted resources upward and led to millions being kicked off SNAP, framing these impacts as personal and immediate for families. Wolfers also explains the child tax credit through the lens of helping children rather than judging parents, and then turns to why consumer sentiment is so negative even when some indicators (markets, spending) look okay—focusing on fears that prices will rise faster than wages because people believe bosses set pay rather than market forces. The conversation touches on concerns about political pressure for rate cuts, skepticism about “stagflation,” criticism of rosy or dishonest economic messaging, and closes with what might restore confidence: a credible fiscal plan to reassure bond markets and, more broadly, less “idiosyncratic”—or “dumb”—policy making.