The DSR Network

On the DSR Daily for Wednesday, we give our thoughts on the VP debate including the highlights, lowlights, and everything in-between. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

With five weeks until Election Day, Donald Trump has decided to win over swing voters by rhapsodizing about police violence, threatening to prosecute anyone who displeases him, and unleashing disgusting insults toward his opponents. His latest? Raging that Tim Walz is a “moron” and “sick.” We talked to A.B. Stoddard, columnist at The Bulwark and author of a new piece suggesting a closing strategy for Kamala Harris, about how Democrats can use Trump’s angry, unhinged eruptions to fashion a winning endgame against him. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On the DSR Daily for Tuesday, we cover Israel’s ground operations in Lebanon, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum taking office, Jimmy Carter’s 100th birthday, and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Western North Carolina is enduring full-blown catastrophe. In the wake of Hurricane Helene, towns have been destroyed, roads have been washed out, people are frantically trying to locate loved ones, and dozens have died. Enter Donald Trump, who just declared that the federal government—and Democratic governor Roy Cooper—are deliberately neglecting MAGA parts of the state, and charged that the Biden administration is consciously letting Americans drown. We talked to state Democratic Party chair Anderson Clayton about the horrors that the state is suffering, and about Trump’s ugly reaction to them. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On today’s episode of Above Average Intelligence, Marc is joined by longtime friend, award-winning national security journalist, and current justice and intelligence correspondent for NBC News Ken Dilanian. Ken offers insight into both his former roles on the intelligence beat as well as his current experiences covering the DOJ, in addition to his analysis of navigating the fine lines between the media, the government, and foreign interference. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On the DSR Daily for Monday, we discuss Israel’s latest strikes in Yemen, the devastation and political implications of Hurricane Helene, the far-right’s victory in Austria, and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

At a rally in Wisconsin over the weekend, Donald Trump really cranked up the rage and hate speech about immigrants, and viciously savaged Kamala Harris as “mentally impaired.” But this deserves special attention: Trump also attacked Fox News for the mere act of carrying a recent Harris speech about immigration on the network, seething that Fox shouldn’t be “allowed” to do that. We talked to Salon columnist Amanda Marcotte, a skillful interpreter of Trump’s violent threats, about the clear signals that this and other recent Trump utterances are sending about his intention to suppress dissent and persecute MAGA’s enemies during a second term. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Original air date: August 21, 2023 Maintaining alliances isn’t easy; they must be nurtured on a regular basis, which takes skill and acumen. Yet even with challenges both domestically and internationally, the US’s allies are some of its greatest assets. Since World War 2, the true brilliance of US strategy is to build genuine and sturdy alliances, politically, militarily, and in intelligence, with partners across the globe. Marc is joined by former senior CIA operations officer Jerry O’Shea, a four time station chief, to discuss why alliances are so critically important. Don’t miss it. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Original air date: August 16, 2023 With yet another indictment against Donald Trump, his 2024 chances have taken another serious blow. David is joined by the host of the Amicus podcast Dahlia Lithwick and political strategist Simon Rosenberg to analyze how the deluge of legal drama will impact the 2024 race and why the Republicans' problems go beyond Trump. Join us. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Media coverage of the election hasn’t been the best. Time and time again, the traditional news outlets have failed to provide the necessary information to voters, resulting in a race that seems to be too close for comfort. Journalists and media critics Jeff Jarvis and Dan Froomkin join David Rothkopf to explain where the mainstream media has gone wrong, and what it can do to get back on track. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On the DSR Daily for Friday, we cover Netanyahu’s flip-flopping on a Lebanon ceasefire, the details of the Eric Adams indictment, Melania Trump’s new interview, and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Donald Trump has been quiet about January 6th lately. But this week, he suddenly unleashed an epic rant on social media about Special Counsel Jack Smith, raging about false new claims on the right that the “deep state” deliberately allowed the insurrection to go forward—against Trump’s will. The real cause of Trump’s fury? Smith is set to submit a court filing detailing his evidence of Trump’s alleged January 6th related crimes—some of which may become public. We talked to Politico reporter Kyle Cheney, author of a new report on these machinations, who helps illuminate what new revelations we may soon learn about—and why Trump should worry about them. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On the DSR daily for Thursday, we cover the indictment of New York mayor Eric Adams, Israel rejecting calls for a ceasefire in Lebanon, Congress passing a funding bill, and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

If Kamala Harris can defeat Donald Trump in Pennsylvania, she almost certainly will win the presidency. It’s must-win for him. Yet the state remains a coin-flip—which is why both candidates campaigned in the state this week. So what is Harris’s path to victory? We talked to Governor Josh Shapiro, who explained why the race is so close—and why he thinks she’s “on her way” to winning there, in part due to concerted communications with non-college voters. Shapiro also responded at length to Trump’s lies about Haitian immigrants living in Pennsylvania, pronouncing them “utter bullshit.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Escalating to de-escalate might not be Israel’s goal in Lebanon after all. But as strikes between Israel and Hezbollah continue to intensify, we have to wonder — what is Israel’s goal? Rosa Brooks, Kori Schake, and Ed Luce join David Rothkopf to examine the situation in the Middle East, discuss the results from UNGA, predict the outcome of the Vice Presidential debate, and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The UN’s advisory body on AI released their comprehensive report detailing recommendations to address AI-related risks. Dr. Alondra Nelson, a member of the body, joins David Rothkopf to detail the key takeaways from the report, why international action on artificial intelligence is so critical, and what needs to happen next. 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 Wednesday, we cover the Senate report on the Secret Service, escalating attacks between Hezbollah and Israel, the controversial execution in Missouri, and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Donald Trump and his allies have been pushing Nebraska’s GOP-controlled State legislature to change how the state’s electoral votes are allotted, to prevent Kamala Harris from winning the election with just the blue wall states. But Nebraska’s GOP governor just announced that he will not hold a special session to change the rules, dashing Trump’s hopes. How did this happen? We talked to Joe Perticone, who has been covering all this as national political reporter at The Bulwark. He unpacks why Trump couldn’t get this done, what the impact of this will be, and what it all says about the GOP in the age of MAGA. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Norm and Kavita are back to discuss the past week of events in each presidential campaign. Kamala Harris continues to outpace the GOP and previous Democratic candidates in fundraising, while the Trump campaign continues to make outrageous statements about women and abortion rights. What are the polls telling us about the state of these campaigns as we inch closer to Election Day? And, in the members-only section, what the hell is going on with Mark Robinson? Listen to all this and more here: Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On the DSR daily for Tuesday, we cover the latest deadly strikes in Lebanon, the new funding bill in the House, a CrowdStrike hearing in Congress, and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The scandals are getting worse for Mark Robinson, the GOP candidate for governor in North Carolina. After CNN broke the news of his incendiary comments on a pornography message board—including describing himself as a “black Nazi”—much of his staff quit. Now the national GOP has stopped funding his ads. You’ve heard talk about how Robinson’s collapse could help doom Trump in must-win North Carolina. But how exactly would that happen? What would it look like? We talked to Morgan Jackson—chief strategist for Attorney General Josh Stein, the Democratic gubernatorial candidate—about the state’s deeply interesting demographics, how Kamala Harris can win there, and what could still go wrong. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On today’s episode of Above Average Intelligence, David Gioe @GioeINT, former CIA officer and current British Academy Global Professor of Intelligence and International Security at King’s College London, joins Marc to discuss the field of intelligence studies and the importance of passing the torch to the next generation. Additionally, David and Marc dive into the growing Russian spy hub in Mexico, the behind-the-scenes of the Anglo-American special intelligence relationship, and how to heal the growing and unfortunate US public distrust of the intelligence community. Listen to all this, and more, here: Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On the DSR Daily for Monday, we discuss the resignations of several key Mark Robinson campaign staffers, the DeSantis administration’s efforts to curb abortion access, Trump stating that he would not run again in 2028, and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In two bizarre rants over the weekend, Donald Trump openly fumed about female voters, lecturing them about why they should be supporting him and dismissing concerns about GOP abortion bans and all they’ve wrought. Meanwhile, a new NBC News poll shows Kamala Harris leading Trump by 21 points among women. Is Trump even trying to speak to them effectively anymore? We talked to Joan Walsh, national affairs correspondent at The Nation who writes well about the politics of abortion. She explains how Harris’s appeals to female voters really work—and why Trump is alienating them so badly. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Original air date: September 25, 2023 As technology rapidly evolves, America’s intelligence community needs to get smarter. David and Marc are joined by the former deputy director of the CIA Michael Morell to break down the shortcomings of our intelligence services and what must be done to meet the security challenges of both today and tomorrow. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Original air date: October 13, 2023 The escalation in Israel’s war with Hamas would have profound effects on the region and the global community. Kim Ghattas joins Jon and David to predict what could come next in the conflict, what role the rest of the region will play, and how the rest of the world will feel the effects. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Madelyn Creedon joins Jon to talk about the global nuclear landscape and her role as chairperson of the 2023 the Strategic Posture Commission. How will America’s security be affected in this new age of nuclear uncertainty and global competition. What steps and systems are China and Russia building and what are they trying to do. And most importantly, what combination of capabilities and national policy are needed to ensure American security. We consider all of these below: Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On the Friday edition of the DSR daily, we discuss the bonkers Mark Robinson story, Zelensky’s upcoming meeting with Biden and Harris, Trump’s bizarre statements about Jews, and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Donald Trump is a crummy candidate, but he’s certainly not the only example of rot in the Republican Party. With so much of the Trump campaign focused on hate and division, we have to ask: how low can the Republican Party really go? The Washington Post’s Jen Rubin and Words Matter host Norm Ornstein join David Rothkopf for an examination of how far the Republican Party has fallen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

If Donald Trump loses Pennsylvania, he almost certainly will lose the presidential election. Now, all of a sudden, we have four new high-quality polls showing Kamala Harris ahead, though some others show it tied. Why the heck is Pennsylvania so close? What is really going on there? Should we believe the polls? Or not? We chatted with Democratic strategist Rebecca Katz, who is from Pennsylvania herself, worked on Senator John Fetterman’s victorious 2022 campaign, and knows something about winning there. Katz explained what Harris’s path to victory in the state looks like—and the looming obstacles that still keep her awake at night. Listen to this episode here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As Israel conducts one of the most impressive kinetic intelligence operations of our time, former DoD official Alex Plitsas joins Marc to discuss the technical aspects of the operation, and what may come next as Israel “escalate to de-escalate." Also, Alex and Marc review a recent CT conference that discussed the threat landscape, both from external and internal groups. And great bonus content on Alex and his team's incredible story of saving an American life in Gaza. Listen here: Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On the DSR daily for Thursday, we cover the latest developments from Lebanon, the uncovering of a Chinese-run tech spying network, House Republicans killing their own funding bill, and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

At a rally in Michigan this week, Donald Trump unleashed a strange monologue about how we should only build gas-powered cars in the future, because we have lots of gasoline and China doesn’t. Translation: China has a huge lead in electric vehicles, so we shouldn’t even try to compete. Why isn’t all this more central in the presidential race? We chatted with Princeton professor Jesse Jenkins, a sharp observer of the energy transition and host of the weekly Shift Key podcast. He explained how Trump’s bizarre comments are essentially an admission that he’d surrender the future to China. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The pager explosions throughout Lebanon shocked the region and the world. As more details come to light, it’s clear that the attack was the result of an extensive and unprecedented Israeli intelligence operation. So how did they do it, and what comes next? Former CIA officer Marc Polymeropoulos and regional expert Kim Ghattas join Kori Schake, Ed Luce, and David Rothkopf to answer these questions and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On the DSR daily for Wednesday, we cover Israel’s pager attack in Lebanon, suspicious packages being sent to election workers across the country, the Federal Reserve preparing to cut interest rates, and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For the first time, Kamala Harris’ favorability rating has crossed into positive territory in FiveThirtyEight’s latest polling averages. That’s a crucial threshold, as Harris is introducing herself to votes within a highly compressed timetable. But there’s still work to do: Harris has not yet fully rebuilt the coalition that ousted Donald Trump in 2020. We talked to Nick Ahamed, deputy executive director of the Democratic Super PAC Priorities USA, who walks us through the group’s own interesting new polling in the swing states—and explains what now must be done for Harris to finish the job. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The core ideals of America are in peril, and the problem goes beyond just this election cycle. Despite all the doom and gloom, there is a path forward to get the country back on track. PoliticsGirl Leigh McGowan joins David Rothkopf to discuss her new book, A Return to Common Sense, and outline the ways to fix America before we really blow it. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

From Charlottesville to Springfield, Donald Trump has been spewing language and misinformation that has incited real world violence. How have the candidates been using or abusing language in their campaigns? Norm and Kavita are back to break down this flurry of language in the media and show that words really do matter. Bonus content for members also includes a conversation on the recent assassination attempt and gun violence. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On the DSR daily for Tuesday, we cover a Russian order to expand the military, a potential major shift in the Israeli government, the unfolding humanitarian disaster in Sudan, and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In a reference to the apparent assassination attempt against Donald Trump over the weekend, the former president unleashed a long rant on social media blaming it all on Democrats. He insisted that because of Democratic rhetoric about Trump, the “bullets are flying, and it will only get worse.” Trump is systematically recasting any and all criticism of his attacks on democracy as incitement to violence—and in this, he’s fully backed up by other Republicans. We talked to Corey Brettschneider, a political scientist and author of The Presidents and the People, about how Trump is echoing Richard Nixon—and why we can’t let him get away with it. Listen to this episode here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On the DSR daily for September 16, we cover the FBI’s investigation into a possible assassination attempt on Donald Trump and threats in Springfield, a key Biden adviser’s trip to Israel, TikTok’s upcoming court defense, and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Over the weekend, Donald Trump’s rage over his debate fiasco appeared to get darker. In one splenetic social media post after another, he fumed he actually won the debate, while erupting repeatedly at ABC News’ moderation of it. All this comes as a whole bunch of new polling shows that Kamala Harris has made some surprising post-debate gains against Trump. We talked to veteran Democratic pollster Celinda Lake about the deeper causes for optimism inside the new data, what Harris still needs to do to win, and the deeper theory of the case driving all the successful baiting of Trump. Listen to this episode here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Veteran national security analyst and nuclear policy expert Joe Cirincione joins Jon to discuss the changing global nuclear landscape. Is there still arms control in this new and modernizing nuclear age? What do these large investments into nuclear weapons systems mean for our national security? And where are Russia and China in this conversation? Find out more here: Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On the Friday edition of the DSR daily, we break down the dismissal of two charges against Donald Trump, the possibility of lifting restrictions on Ukraine, blatant racism in MAGA, and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

At this week’s debate, Donald Trump spread the deranged lie that immigrants are eating cats and dogs in Springfield, Ohio. Tensions are escalating and terror is spreading: Haitian immigrants living there say they fear for their safety, and on Thursday, Springfield’s City Hall was evacuated due to a bomb threat. What if these searing tensions are exactly what Trump and his MAGA allies want? Not that they want violence, but rather that they see supercharged social rifts as desirable? We talked to Andrew Egger, a writer for The Bulwark who has a good new piece on Springfield, about how this saga opens a window on the darkness and malevolence of the MAGA movement. Listen to this episode here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We’re on a Hopium high after Kamala Harris’s stellar debate performance. With a deluge of new polls on the horizon, political gurus Tara McGowan, Simon Rosenberg, and Tom Bonier join David Rothkopf to explain how to cut through the bad data and misleading stats to determine who’s really ahead. Spoiler: the news is so good, it has us dancing. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Election misinformation reached a new low with Donald Trump peddling a fake story that immigrants are eating pets in Ohio on the debate stage. But how does this kind of fake news come about? How much can we attribute to foreign interference, and how much is homegrown bullshit? Social media disinformation expert Renée DiResta joins David Rothkopf and Rosa Brooks to discuss where these lies come from, how they spread, and what you can do to separate fact from fiction. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On the DSR Daily for September 12, we cover the fallout from the presidential debate and Taylor Swift’s endorsement of Kamala Harris, a Ground Zero ceremony to commemorate 9/11, hawkish rhetoric from a prominent Russian foreign policy figure, and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After Kamala Harris’s shellacking of Donald Trump at the debate, Trump ventured on to Fox News, where he attacked the moderators as deeply biased against him. Incredibly, he even said their network, ABC News, should have its broadcasting license revoked. This is really a show of weakness: what enraged him is that real scrutiny was applied to the lies he can air unchallenged on right wing media. We talked to Media Matters senior fellow Matt Gertz—author of a new piece on Trump’s debate struggles—about Trump’s retreat into the MAGA media bubble, why that’s so politically perilous for him, and what it all says about today’s GOP. Listen to this episode here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On the DSR Daily for September 11 we discuss the biggest takeaways from the first debate between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump share our reactions to Harris’s dominant performance. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices