Show overview
Ball of Thread has been publishing since 2024, and across the 2 years since has built a catalogue of 56 episodes. That works out to roughly 30 hours of audio in total. Releases follow a fortnightly cadence.
Episodes typically run twenty to thirty-five minutes — most land between 15 min and 48 min — with run-times ranging widely across the catalogue. None of the episodes are flagged explicit by the publisher. It is catalogued as a EN-US-language Government show.
The show is actively publishing — the most recent episode landed 2 weeks ago, with 10 episodes already out so far this year. The busiest year was 2025, with 32 episodes published. Published by emptywheel.
From the publisher
Independent journalist Marcy Wheeler unwinds the true story of the attack on democracy that is bringing the United States to the brink of fascism.
Latest Episodes
View all 56 episodesTrump's Twin Intractable Psychological Dilemmas
Think of the Iran War as Global War
Trump Hoards the Money He Stole
By sending an invoice for the damages Trump's tariffs did to the American consumer, JB Pritzker will make it obvious that Trump is trying to hoard the money he stole from American consumers. Produced by LOLGOP Studios. Read more: https://emptywheel.net/trumps-tantrum-tariffs/ Support emptywheel: https://emptywheel.net/support/ Back these podcasts and more at LOLGOP Studios: https://www.patreon.com/cw/LOLGOPStudios
Marco Rubio Tries to Tell Europe He's Not the Grandson of an "Illegal" Immigrant
Marco Rubio went to Europe and invited them to remain allies of the US, but only if they adhere to a vision of Western culture and history that excises the contributions of Latinos like him, to say nothing of Black Americans. Support emptywheel: https://emptywheel.net/support/ Support these podcasts and help change brains: www.patreon.com/lolgopstudios
Behind the Masks
Behind the masks that Stephen Miller's goons are wearing lies a truth about America that destroys his claims of white supremacy. He cannot carry out his deeply racist project without relying on the labor of brown people. Read more: https://emptywheel.net/stephen-miller-paid-latino-thugs-to-murder-alex-pretti/ Support emptywheel: https://emptywheel.net/support/ Help change brains: https://www.patreon.com/lolgopstudios
Swapping VA Care for Dead VA Nurses
Republicans have made a choice: to dump billions of money that previously went into healthcare, including VA care, to pay goons who are shooting people dead in Minneapolis and elsewhere. They've literally taken money used to fund VA care to pay goons who shot VA nurse Alex Pretti in the back. Read more: https://emptywheel.net/marco-rubio-will-let-2-5-million-children-die-so-sarah-rogers-can-fund-far-right-extremists-in-europe/ Subscribe to emptywheel and support the cause: https://emptywheel.net/support/ Produced by LOLGOP Studios: https://www.patreon.com/lolgopstudios
UPDATE: Murder on Ice and Water
Two weeks ago we argued that Stephen Miller thinks of his invasions of Venezuela and Minneapolis the same. This week, after Alex Pretti's murder, Donald Trump confirmed that. Support emptywheel: https://emptywheel.net/support/ Back LOLGOP Studios: https://www.patreon.com/c/LOLGOPStudios
Feed the MAGAt Conspiracism
It may be easier to separate MAGAt from Trump by stoking their conspiracism than by explaining, factually, all the problems with Trump. Read the post: https://www.emptywheel.net/portfolio-item/where-we-go-from-here/ Support emptywheel: https://www.emptywheel.net/about/support/ Join LOLGOP Studios: https://www.patreon.com/cw/LOLGOPStudios
Murder on ICE and Water
Stephen Miller's plan to murderbomb boats in the Caribbean and invade Venezuela and Greenland has direct ties to the latest invasion of Minneapolis. Watch this: https://youtu.be/dIi6tA-DV_k?si=cLWePZcwI6gSZSzR Read more: https://www.emptywheel.net/2026/01/07/stephen-miller-has-similar-plans-for-colombia-and-columbia/ Support emptywheel: https://www.emptywheel.net/about/support/ Back LOLGOP Studios: https://www.patreon.com/lolgopstudios
RE-RELEASE: The Meaning of January 6th
Donald Trump will never accept losing anything – whether an election or a bet. But that wouldn't matter if he didn't convince millions of Americans to make his grievances their own. This Ball of Thread unwinds what made the pincer attack that overran the Capitol on January 6th possible. Donald Trump's grievance narratives gave disaffected Americans meaning, and in that meaning, he convinced thousands of people to throw their lives away in his name. The thing is, it's all the same con. That con defeated the Russia investigation and weaponized the Department of Justice against his opponent. And when he lost in 2020, he unleashed it to unite fringe right-wing groups and mainstream Republicans in a shared revenge fantasy. Thus, he was able to raise a ragtag army to sack the nation's Capitol briefly, and in the process, savagely battered hundreds of police officers and ended America's tradition of a peaceful transfer of power. Though the attack ultimately failed by only delaying the certification of Joe Biden's victory, the bets Trump and many of his biggest fans made on January 6, 2021 are now paying off in ways that were inconceivable on January 6, 2025.
Stephen Miller's Mayonnaise Days
Stephen Miller has had two notable failures in 2025. His initial success at deporting 200 mostly innocent men to a concentration camp has been backfiring ever since. And his demand that DHS attempt to snatch 3,000 people a day has led to backlash without making the US safe from dangerous immigrants. These failures must become part of making Stephen Miller the villain of Trump's failures in 2026. Read the post: https://www.emptywheel.net/2025/12/27/we-dont-know-how-when-stephen-miller-fails/ Watch this: https://youtu.be/-j2JfEzuqY8?si=_nt2eC5T5fjb93ry Support emptywheel: https://www.emptywheel.net/about/support/ Produced by https://www.patreon.com/lolgopstudios
Young Playboys Gone Wiles
Susie Wiles told Vanity Fair she didn't really know how bad the Epstein scandal would be, and so relied on her resident conspiracy theorists -- Dan Bongino, Kash Patel, and JD Vance -- instead. But she's still misjudging who cares about this. Support emptywheel: https://www.emptywheel.net/about/support/ Back LOLGOP Studios: https://www.patreon.com/c/LOLGOPStudios
Stephen Miller Lectures Europe about His Incompetence
Donald Trump's second term National Security Strategy was an attack on Europe. While boasting of its own competence, it lists a bunch of ways Donald Trump has made the US less safe -- starting with the way he sells out American sovereignty whenever anyone offers him a pile of cryptocurrency. Watch this: https://youtu.be/n-E-BU6OOfw?si=QLLy_AYSBU19_AzK Support emptywheel: https://www.emptywheel.net/about/support/ Support this podcast: https://www.patreon.com/cw/LOLGOPStudios
Marco Rubio in the Room
I've got bad news for you. Marco Rubio may be the main thing standing between us and the end of the Western Order and the dismemberment of Ukraine. He could be fired by noon. Or he could buy time for Congress to stand up to Trump on this. Read more: https://www.emptywheel.net/2025/11/26/the-dim-philby-leaks/ Support emptywheel: https://www.emptywheel.net/about/support/
Back to Bondi
Pam Bondi did some reckless things in the Epstein and Comey cases a week ago Friday. They're likely to backfire. Support emptywheel: https://www.emptywheel.net/about/support/ Support LOLGOP Studios: https://www.patreon.com/c/LOLGOPStudios
A General Warrant for Jim Comey
Jim Comey suspects that the FBI snuck into data they had not lawfully seized to get the indictment against him. Read more: https://www.emptywheel.net/2025/11/17/the-11-fuck-ups-pam-bondis-doj-made-in-indicting-jim-comey/ Support: https://www.emptywheel.net/about/support/
Bondi's recklessness
Pam Bondi did two totally reckless things yesterday: re-ratify the indictment Lindsey Halligan obtained against Jim Comey, and immediately agree to investigate Democrats' involvement with Jeffrey Epstein. Read the post: https://www.emptywheel.net/2025/11/16/might-pam-bondis-latest-prosecutorial-abuse-give-us-ponies-and-puppies/ Support emptywheel: https://www.emptywheel.net/about/support/
Declaring Victory over Serial Tariff Losses
Just about every aspect of Trump's tariffs are falling apart. And he's trying to convince credulous people that, instead, he's delivering them a win. Watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0zjd_SkvN9c Support emptywheel: https://www.emptywheel.net/about/support/
Trump's Fake and True Crimes
Marsha Blackburn and a bunch of other far right Republicans are whining that DOJ discovered they had ties to Donald Trump's criminal attempt to steal the 2020 election. Meanwhile, between ICE's kidnapping and hit-and-run and the Trump Administration's murder, torture, kidnapping, and bribery, we're seeing a crime wave from white nationalists. Support emptywheel: https://www.emptywheel.net/about/support/
Let them eat ballroom
"America's Hitler" is not just ripping down the public entrance of the White House, he must be building a big new bunker to replace the old one. Support emptywheel: https://www.emptywheel.net/about/support/