Mike Rowe: Make America Stand for Something Again
The Dirty Jobs host talks about patriotism, history, and his new movie for Independence Day 2024.
Military
The National Debt Is Now So High That Every American Essentially Owes $100,000
We could grow our way out of our debt burden if politicians would limit spending increases to just below America's average yearly economic growth. But they won't even do that.
Abortion, Guns, and Hunter Biden.
Plus: A listener asks the editors about the Selective Service.
A Real-Life Psyop: How the U.S. Military Spread Anti-Vax Conspiracy Theories
Washington keeps getting caught pushing the kind of disinformation it claims to oppose.
House Passes Bill To Automatically Register Young Men for the Draft
The Selective Service should be abolished, not made more efficient and equitable.
Mandatory National Military Service Is a Bad Idea
Donald Trump's acting Secretary of Defense Christopher Miller advocated the plan this week, which Trump later called a "ridiculous idea."
When a North Carolina Colonel Shot This Utility Worker, Journalists Suggested His Victim Was a Spy
The reaction to Ramzan Daraev’s death is an extreme example of anti-immigrant panic and national security paranoia.
Democrats Surprised To Learn Bombs Are Used To Bomb People
Sen. Elizabeth Warren condemned Israel for killing Palestinian civilians with bombs that she had voted to send Israel.
AI Warfare Is Boring but Deadly
Bureaucrats in cubicles will kill more people than Terminator robots will.
Glenn Greenwald and Alan Dershowitz Debate Bombing Iran
The Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist Glenn Greenwald takes on famed lawyer and author Alan Dershowitz.
Floating Failure
Plus: Taiwan heats up, Robert Moses and Rockaway Beach, CBDCs, and more...
World War War III May Already Have Started—in the Shadows
Cyber intrusions, arson, bombings, and other mayhem feature in the conflict between West and East.
Trump Promised To 'Drain the Swamp.' He Did the Opposite.
Total spending under Trump nearly doubled. New programs filled Washington with more bureaucrats.
Elica Le Bon: Is War with Iran Coming?
Elica Le Bon, an attorney and Iranian-American activist, talks about Iran's recent strike on Israel on the latest episode of Just Asking Questions.
They Said They Didn't Want War With Iran. Now They're Cheering on War With Iran.
Many of the Washington hawks calling for war with Iran had sworn up and down that more pressure was not a path to war.
U.S. Defense Spending Continues To Spiral Out of Control
Increased spending does not automatically equate to higher quality—something that is often lost in this debate.
Will American Troops Be Sucked Into an Israeli-Iranian War?
President Biden said that we will “do all we can to protect Israel’s security” after Israel killed an Iranian general.
The White House Lied About Its IRS Funding Only Targeting the Rich
Plus: A listener asks the editors for examples of left-leaning thinkers who also hold libertarian ideas.
The Best of Reason: What if America Runs Out of Bombs?
The U.S. is dispensing munitions to Ukraine and Israel faster than they can be replaced.
What if America Runs Out of Bombs?
The U.S. is dispensing munitions to Ukraine and Israel faster than they can be replaced.
Opposition to U.S. Steel Sale Shows How Similar Biden and Trump Are on Trade
Economic nationalists are claiming the deal endangers "national security" to convince Americans that a good deal for investors, employees, and the U.S. economy will somehow make America less secure. That's nonsense.
America's $280 Million Military Mission in Niger Ends in Failure
The new Nigerien military government has ordered U.S. forces out of their expensive air base.
The Government Doesn't Want You To See the Unused Space Force Logos
It took the Air Force four years to release redacted records of its quest to create spiffy new uniforms for the newest branch of the military.
National Guardsman Gets 16 Years for Leaking Pentagon Docs Over Discord
Jack Teixeira shared documents on the war in Ukraine to a gamer group on Discord.
Airdropping Aid to Gaza Is an Expensive Gimmick
The airlift avoids the real problems causing starvation.
The Air Force's New Nuclear Missile System Will Now Cost $131.5 Billion
It's just one reason the program should likely be terminated altogether.
Dispatch From Israel: The Symphony at Sderot
Listening to the sounds of war at the site of the October 7 Hamas attack.
David Stockman: Trump's War on Capitalism and Freedom
Reagan's former budget director says Donald Trump killed prosperity—and the GOP's core beliefs in capitalism and freedom.
Errors and Escalations
Plus: Trump vows a costlier trade war, Elon Musk's brain implant, and more...
The Killing of 3 American Troops Was an Avoidable Tragedy
The U.S. base on the Jordanian-Syrian border has long been "strategic baggage."
Escalation in the Red Sea
Plus: Inheritance taxes, lady gadgets, a stabbing in South Korea, and more...
All I Want for Christmas Is for Congress To Exercise Fiscal Restraint
Lawmakers can take small steps that are uncontroversial and bipartisan to jumpstart the fiscal stability process.
Congress Renews Warrantless Digital Spying Program as Part of $886 Billion Spending Bill
Section 702 will continue until April, when Congress will have another shot at seriously reforming a program that desperately needs it.
Congress Prepares To Reauthorize a Warrantless Domestic Spying Program the FBI Abused
Competing FISA Section 702 reauthorization bills will reach the House floor next week, Speaker Johnson says.
Goodbye to George Santos and Henry Kissinger
Plus: an unexpected digression into the world of Little Debbie dessert snack cakes.
Henry Kissinger's Deadly Career Gives the Lie to the Myth of the Disinterested Statesman
But his cynical brand of realism did at least lead him to caution against some of America's ideological military adventures.
Pentagon Fails Sixth Audit in a Row
Though federal law has required annual financial reports, the Department of Defense simply did not complete them until 2018. It has since failed each year.
Humanitarian Pauses
Plus: Congressional battles, Gen Z dudes and ladies, mocking Hamas, and more...
Why Are American Troops Still in Iraq and Syria?
Our troops are just sitting there with targets on their backs. Why?
The U.S. Needs a Fiscal Commission Because Congress Won't Do Its Job
In the last 50 years, when the budget process has been in place, Congress has managed only four times to pass a budget on time.
Don't Believe Janet Yellen's Shoddy Wartime 'Girl Math'
Plus: President Joe Biden’s weird economy and Rep. Mike Johnson as the unlikely new speaker of the House of Representatives.
What Joe Biden Got Right—and Wrong—Last Week in the Middle East
Plus: A listener asks the editors about mandatory maternity leave.
Trita Parsi: Is De-escalation Feasible in the Middle East?
Parsi, from the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, talks with Zach and Liz about the Israel-Hamas war.
