The DSR Network

With the second Trump administration just around the corner, how is the business community reacting? What are the perceptions of Trump’s policies and promises of crushing tariffs? Yale professor Jeffrey Sonnenfeld joins David Rothkopf to give the inside scoop into how the business world really feels about Trump 2.0 and what our economic future may hold. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On today’s podcast, CIA veteran Ed Bogan joins @mpolymer to ponder the US intelligence community in a Trump 2.0. How do we separate signal vs noise on the national security cabinet picks, and a potential bloodletting in the US IC? Will GOP national security-minded Senators drill down on DNI nominee Tulsi Gabbard’s controversial past? Will the Senate insist on FBI background checks? Will the CIA have trouble if Gabbard is confirmed to run both unilateral and liaison operations against tough targets like Russia and Syria? Does the IC need reform? Lots of questions, no answers just yet, but a plea from Ed to keep calm and carry as we see how the chips fall. A must-listen to episode with a true hero in the US intelligence community. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On the DSR Daily for Tuesday, we discuss Trump’s promises of a 25% tariff on Canada and Mexico, Jack Smith dropping all federal charges against Donald Trump, Israel and Hezbollah nearing a ceasefire deal, and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As Democrats sift through the wreckage left behind by Donald Trump’s victory, it’s become clear the party needs a major rebuilding effort with the working class. A new analysis from The New York Times finds unnervingly large swings among working class voters during the Trump era, including among nonwhites. We talked to veteran strategist James Carville, who offers a deceptively simple diagnosis: The Democratic Party is simply “in the dark” about how many Americans, especially working class, young, and nonwhite voters, are getting their information right now, and getting to the bottom of this conundrum is urgent. Carville also unveils a new project he’s pursuing that he hopes will begin to solve the problem. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On the DSR Daily for Monday, November 25th, we break down Hezbollah’s missile attack on Israel, shocking results from Romania’s presidential election, a vice-presidential threat of violence in the Philippines, and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Donald Trump’s top allies are already at war with each other over the transition, according to The Washington Post. Meanwhile, Trump just tapped anti-Islam extremist Sebastian Gorka for a big national security role, and that’s unnerving even some in MAGA. Trump is so certain he won a massive mandate that he doesn’t feel obliged to run a smooth transition or refrain from appointing wildly extreme people. We chatted with political scientist Julia Azari, author of a great new piece on presidential delusions about mandates. Azari explains why mandates are usually illusory, how Trump is grotesquely overreading his victory, and why it all bodes badly for what’s to come. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Original air date: November 14, 2023 While men have historically dominated the intelligence community, women have gained a significant presence in top organizations in recent years. Despite this, scandals and lack of parity in top positions have made progress uneven. Former CIA intelligence officer Christina Hillsberg joins Marc Polymeropoulos and David Rothkopf to share her expertise on women in espionage, intelligence spycraft, and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Original air date: December 21, 2023 If you felt inundated by legal news in 2023, prepare for a deluge in 2024. Many of the cases involving Donald Trump will reach their conclusions in the new year - with profound consequences for the country and the potential for a second Trump term. Barb McQuade joins David to help us look ahead at what will undoubtedly be another stress-inducing year. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On today’s episode of We’re All Going to Die Radio, Jon is joined by National Security Correspondent and Pulitzer-Price finalist author Fred Kaplan. Fred discusses his foray into the fiction world with his debut novel Capital Calamity, an electric doomsday story about a Washington DC consultant who accidentally triggers a war with China. Fred and Jon also discuss US-China relations, the national security dangers of a second Trump term, and all things nuclear policy and deterrence. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Is the future of education artificial intelligence? What if students used AI not to write their papers for them, but as a genuine extension of their education? Chief Learning Officer at Khan Academy Kristen DiCerbo joins David Rothkopf to answer these questions and give insight into how AI should be used to expand opportunities for students. This material is distributed by TRG Advisory Services, LLC on behalf of the Embassy of the United Arab Emirates in the U.S.. Additional information is available at the Department of Justice, Washington, DC. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On the Friday edition of the DSR Daily, we cover Trump’s new AG pick, Senator Bob Casey’s defeat in Pennsylvania, the latest proposal from COP29, and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After Matt Gaetz abruptly withdrew from consideration as Donald Trump’s pick for attorney general, Trump seemed uncharacteristically muted. Intriguingly, he accepted this outcome without once trying to crack the whip on the Senate Republicans who apparently blocked Gaetz’s nomination—which is doubly strange, as MAGA personalities were furiously urging Trump to use recess appointments to put the Senate GOP in its place. What really happened among Republicans here? We talked to Congressional scholar Norman Ornstein, who brilliantly explains what’s really driving the key GOP senators to watch going forward—and whether we’ll see real resistance among them to Trump’s future authoritarian excesses. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Corporate security consultant Jeremy Hurewitz (@Selllikeaspy) joins Marc Polymeropoulos (@mpolymer) to discuss his new book "Sell Like a Spy: the Art of Persuasion from the World of Espionage.” Jeremy discusses the power of relationships, his journey in writing the book, how active listening is a key skill - plus some very important predictions on where Juan Soto ends up (his beloved Yankees or Marc’s Red Sox?). A wonderful and positive chat that listeners will enjoy. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It’s no secret that the economy was one of the top issues for voters this election cycle. So now that we’re passing the reins of the world’s largest economy back to Trump, what should we expect? President and CEO of the Roosevelt Institute Felicia Wong joins David Rothkopf to break down the promises and policies of the president-elect and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On the DSR Daily for Thursday, we cover the ICC’s warrants for key leaders of Israel and Hamas, Russia’s use of an ICBM in Ukraine, Democrat efforts to force the release of the Gaetz investigation, and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week, Donald Trump confirmed that he will use the military to carry out mass deportations. This prompted a surprisingly sharp response from GOP Senator Rand Paul, who denounced the idea as a “huge mistake” that will send a “terrible image” to the world and likely be “illegal” to boot. But why is it left to a fringe figure in the GOP to denounce Trump’s vile threats? Where are the rest of Republicans on this? We talked to Tom Nichols, a writer for The Atlantic and a sharp observer of the MAGA-fication of the GOP, about what will really happen within the military and beyond once these threats get put into action—and why it poses such a menace to the country. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Trump’s Cabinet picks are nearly complete, and our reactions range from scratching our heads to throwing up our hands in despair. But what do these selections really mean for US politics and foreign policy? Ed Luce, David Sanger, and Kori Schake join Rosa Brooks to break down the latest developments surrounding the upcoming Trump presidency. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On the DSR Daily for Wednesday, we discuss Trump’s choice of Dr. Oz for his cabinet, Biden approving anti-personnel mines for Ukraine, Republicans targeting Congress’s first transgender member, and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In a blow to Donald Trump, Politico reports that GOP Senators are privately telling him that Matt Gaetz has little chance of getting confirmed as attorney general. Yet these Republicans hope Trump doesn’t make them “walk the plank,” meaning they remain reluctant to publicly challenge him, even to sink the profoundly unfit Gaetz. In short, it’s now clear that one of our only bulwarks against an authoritarian Trump will be the GOP Senate. We talked to writer Jill Lawrence, who has a new piece for The Bulwark arguing that Trump is assembling a “team of outlaws” to run the country. She explains what it means that Republicans are drawing a line against Gaetz—and why the pressure on them will be intense to challenge him when it really counts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On the DSR Daily for Tuesday, we cover former Rep. Matt Gaetz faces allegations of paying women for sex and travel, the ACLU files a lawsuit against ICE, seeking information about its deportation flights, forty-five pro-democracy activists in Hong Kong are sentenced to up to 10 years in prison under a Beijing-imposed national security law for their involvement in a 2021 unofficial primary election, and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Donald Trump has angrily put Republicans on notice: He may bypass them with recess appointments to get his personnel picks through in a hurry. In a scary turn in this saga, a top conservative lawyer is warning that Trump may well resort to a nuclear option that threatens devastating consequences: House Speaker Mike Johnson can trigger a complicated scenario clearing the way for those appointments, wrecking the Senate’s advice-and-consent role. With GOP opposition brewing to Matt Gaetz and Robert F. Kennedy Jr., MAGA is raging at any signs of opposition. We talked to the Brookings Institution’s Sarah Binder, a leading expert in congressional rules, who explains how this would all unfold, why it plausibly could happen, and how it would threaten our constitutional system. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On the DSR Daily for Monday, we cover President Biden allowing Ukrainian strikes on Kursk, Biden’s visit to the Amazon, controversy surrounding Trump’s Defense Secretary pick, and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

First came Matt Gaetz. Now The Washington Post is reporting that Donald Trump’s pick for Defense Secretary, Fox News personality Pete Hegseth, paid a woman who accused him of sexually assaulted her as part of a nondisclosure agreement (he insists the encounter was consensual). One Trumpworld source is even describing internal frustration over the failure to vet Hegseth in advance. We talked to leading Never Trump strategist Rick Wilson, who’s launching a new effort to conduct opposition research on Trump and his most prominent allies. He explains why Trump’s initial personnel moves are putting Republicans in a terrible spot—and how they betray his intent to destroy our institutions. Listen to this episode here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Democrats have their work cut out for them moving into the new year. With monumental elections on the horizon, Norm has plenty of ways the Democrats can press the advantage. In this insightful episode, David Rothkopf fills in for Kavita to discuss the House, Senate, and presidential elections. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Original air date: November 2, 2023 Governments worldwide are working to adapt to AI, including Biden’s executive order and a UK summit bringing together officials from 28 countries. Freedom House’s Allie Funk and Kian Vesteinsson join David Rothkopf to explain the repressive power of AI and the clear and pressing need for action to curb its harmful effects. Don’t miss it. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As the United States is entering a new nuclear age and a new global arms race, what does a second Trump term mean for our national security? What do the plans of Project 2025 mean for the American nuclear weapons force? How will such modernization and weapon buildup affect America’s relationships with both its allies and enemies? Joe Cirincione joins Jon to help navigate the lunacy of this new administration and the very real and very serious dangers we are now facing…. And how they might get worse. Listen here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On the DSR Daily for Friday, we discuss Trump choosing RFK Jr. for Heath and Human Services, Rand Paul’s plan to kneecap the CISA, the Onion’s hilarious takeover of Infowars, and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We’re now in Day Two of an extraordinary GOP meltdown over Donald Trump’s pick of Matt Gaetz for attorney general. Numerous Republican Senators are strongly opposing the move. But on Thursday, Trump’s appointments got even worse with his choice of anti-vax conspiracy theorist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as the secretary of Health and Human Services. It’s hard to say which of these will be more of a disaster. We talked to Nina Burleigh, author of a great new cover story for The New Republic called “Trump 2.0: Here Comes the Night,” about how deeply worrisome these developments truly are—and whether GOP senators will hold the line against them. The prognosis is not good. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Trump’s cabinet picks reach new heights of awfulness. From Matt Gaetz to Elise Stefanik, it’s a veritable who’s who of MAGA sycophants. In a special episode, Rosa Brooks, David Sanger, and EJ Dionne join David Rothkopf to break down these awful choices and what they tell us about the upcoming Trump administration. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Since winning the election, Donald Trump has been quick to cement his new administration and lay the groundwork for his frightening and ludicrous political agenda. As news of his appointees comes out, we are forced to ask ourselves - where do we go from here? Norm and Kavita are back to take stock of this unfortunate situation and analyze what our future holds… as well as talk about puppies and the humanity in dogs. Listen here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On the DSR Daily for Thursday, we discuss Trump tapping Matt Gaetz for Attorney General, John Thune’s selection as the next Majority Leader, Republicans officially taking control of the House, and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On Wednesday, Donald Trump unleashed a rambling announcement explaining his choice of Representative Matt Gaetz as attorney general, lying manically about Gaetz’s supposed work revealing how the Justice Department had been weaponized against him. Translation: Trump wants Gaetz to use DOJ to carry out his personal vendettas. This comes as Trump has picked the Putin-friendly Tulsi Gabbard for Director of National Intelligence. We talked to Ben Meiselas, co-founder of the Meidas Touch Network. He explains why these choices signal chaos ahead, and why the Gaetz pick in particular shows he’s fully determined to subvert the rule of law to punish his enemies, just as he advertised in his rant. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On the DSR Daily for Wednesday, we cover Trump’s ever-worsening roster of cabinet picks, Elon and Vivek’s ‘Department of Government Efficiency’, Newsom’s efforts to shield California from the next administration, and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Donald Trump has picked three anti-immigrant hard-liners for his administration: Stephen Miller will be deputy chief of staff for policy; Tom Homan, his former head of ICE, will be “border czar”; and South Dakota governor Kristi Noem will be Homeland Security secretary. Which means Trump will act on his threat to carry out mass deportations. We talked to New York Times columnist Paul Krugman, who has a great new column arguing that mass deportations will cause a large spike in inflation. He explains why Trump’s policies will likely backfire; how he’ll corrupt government information to cover it up; and why Trump voters may soon be shocked at how badly he misled them. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On the DSR Daily for Tuesday, we discuss Trump’s newest cabinet picks, Ruben Gallego defeating Kari Lake in Arizona, Israel missing humanitarian aid deadline in Gaza, and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

During the campaign, Donald Trump openly advertised that as president, he’ll use the state to retaliate against his enemies in every way he can. Now The New York Times reports that some of his advisers are urging him to absolutely make good on that threat. And right on cue, Trump erupted on social media, calling for investigations into people supposedly spreading false rumors about his intention to sell shares of his Truth Social—a revealing indicator of the types of abuses of power that we can expect from a second Trump term. We talked to New Yorker staff writer Susan Glasser, author of a great new piece on what’s coming. She explains in alarming detail how Trump will be far more liberated—less constrained by the law, by the Republican Party, and by guardrails of any kind—than ever before. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Original air date: December 15, 2023 As if there weren’t enough reasons to worry about a second Trump term, Jon has reminded us of another reason to be afraid. Jeffrey Lewis joins David Rothkopf and Jon Wolfsthal to discuss the nuclear chain of command in the United States and other nuclear powers and what safeguards stand between us and the fallout. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Original air date: January 19, 2023 The right's hate-filled, authoritarian media machine is loud. It's time for pro-democracy media tech to GET LOUDER! Watch this superstar panel of Joe Trippi, Tara McGowan, Ben Meiselas, and David Rothkopf, moderated by Simon Rosenberg, talk turning up the volume. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Norm and Kavita are back to share their raw emotions after the election, discuss the grim realities facing the country, and break down the meaning and horrors of a second Trump presidential term. What will be different this time around? How can President Biden best serve his final days in office? Where do both parties stand and where do we go from here? DSR Network members will also get to listen to Norm and Kavita analyze Trump’s healthcare plans and the dangers of RFK Jr. and medical disinformation. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

AI policy needs to be a focus of the Trump administration. But will the President-elect be able to rise to the challenge? What does the inclusion of figures like Elon Musk in Trump’s inner circle tell us about what the future of regulation looks like? Cyber policy expert Marietje Schaake joins David Rothkopf to answer these questions and more. This material is distributed by TRG Advisory Services, LLC on behalf of the Embassy of the United Arab Emirates in the U.S.. Additional information is available at the Department of Justice, Washington, DC. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On the DSR Daily for Friday, we break down Trump’s choice for Chief of Staff, Biden’s speech following the election, the first engagement with North Korean troops in Ukraine, and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week, after Donald Trump won the election, Jeff Bezos issued an extraordinary tweet: He didn’t just congratulate Trump; he also bent over backwards to hail his extraordinary political comeback. We think this is a bad sign of what’s coming: People in key institutional positions going out of their way to curry favor with Trump in advance. How bad will this get? We talked to Philadelphia Inquirer national columnist Will Bunch, author of a good column about Bezos’s bended knee to Trump. Bunch explains what all this portends about the surrender of key institutions in the face of Trump’s coming strongman rule—and what we can do about it. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The election is over, and we lost. Now it’s time to get up off the mat and get back to work. Simon Rosenberg and Tara McGowan join David Rothkopf to break down what went wrong this time, and share the key lessons that Democrats have to learn in order to bounce back and keep up the fight. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On the DSR Daily for Thursday, we cover Kamala Harris’s concession speech, the biggest results from the 2024 election, Jack Smith winding down federal cases against Trump, and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After Donald Trump won the election, Trump spokesperson Karoline Leavitt, who is becoming a senior figure in MAGA-world, declared on Fox News that he has a big mandate to govern exactly as he campaigned, while specifically listing what’s coming. This is alarming, since Trump campaigned relentlessly on a platform of explicit threats of authoritarian retribution and violence. We talked to David Kurtz, executive editor of Talking Points Memo and author of a good new piece on the election results. He reflects on how sobering it is that voters chose Trump in full awareness of the cruelties he’s planning to unleash—and discusses the immense task that lies ahead in containing the damage. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Donald Trump is officially returning to the White House. With the worst case scenario coming to pass, Rosa Brooks, Ed Luce, David Sanger, and David Rothkopf take a look at what the hell happened and discuss what we can expect from a second Trump term. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On the DSR Daily for Wednesday, we react to Donald Trump and the Republicans’ stunning victory over Kamala Harris and the Democrats. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this special election night episode of Deep State Radio, Minnah Stein talks to voters outside the Harris event last night in DC. As they wait for Kamala Harris to take the stage, they talk about why this event is important to them, what issues are concerning them, and how they're feeling about the results of the election. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It’s finally here. On the DSR Daily for Election Day 2024, we cover the main headlines heading into this critical election. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

If Donald Trump is going to be defeated, it will probably come down to this: Female voters look poised to vote for Kamala Harris in numbers that we can only guess at. And on Monday, Liz Cheney went on “The View” and flatly predicted that women will save us from Trump, laying out why she believes right leaning and conservative women should—and will—reject Trump and his increasingly unstable hatreds. We talked to Stella Sexton, the vice chair of the Democratic Party in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, about what she’s seeing on the ground, how women are turning on Trump in the home stretch, and why it will be in places like Lancaster that women may decide this election against him. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices