On this episode of the Muckrake Podcast, Jared Yates Sexton and Nick Hauselman confront what may be one of the most audacious and disturbing moments of the Trump era, which is saying something. The United States uses special forces to abduct Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro while bombing Caracas, then casually announces it will run Venezuela and seize its oil. No congressional authorization. No real pushback. No consequences. They break down how this operation could have happened, why it almost certainly required months of planning, and what it means when the most powerful military in human history is fully under the control of an authoritarian regime. The conversation explores the legality, or lack thereof, of the abduction, the hollow narco trafficking charges, and the chilling precedent being set for global politics. Jared and Nick also examine the implications for international law, NATO, and the postwar liberal order, drawing lines from the war on terror to Ukraine, Venezuela, and the emerging world of authoritarian spheres of influence. They discuss Mark Kelly’s warning to the military, the targeting of dissent, the role of oil companies, and why this feels fundamentally different from Trump’s first term. This is a bleak, furious, and deeply unsettling conversation about state power, fascism, and the collapse of norms that once pretended to restrain empire. If you are asking how far this can go, the answer may already be unfolding. Support the show by signing up to our Patreon and get access to the full Weekender episode each Friday as well as special Live Shows and access to our community discord: ⁠http://patreon.com/muckrakepodcast⁠

This is a preview of our regular Weekender show released in full every Friday on our Patreon at patreon.com/muckrakepodcast Please support the show by subscribing and unlocking special content as well as access to our discord and live shows. Co-hosts Jared Yates Sexton and Nick Hauselman ring in 2026 with resolutions, sugar hangovers, and a hard look at how a viral YouTube stunt and JD Vance’s megaphone spiraled into a federal freeze on Minnesota child-care funds. They break down the racist scapegoating of Somali communities, which plays right into the right’s conspiracy theories, and why this is political retribution dressed up as oversight. Then it’s the latest Epstein revelations implicating Mar-a-Lago’s spa pipeline and how it connects to Trump even more deeply before focuing on the Supreme Court's refusal to bless federal troop deployments that might turn into a roadmap for even more law-breaking. "What We're Watching" looks at the Stranger Things finale and why nostalgia is starting to feel like content slurry.

Co-hots Jared Yates Sexton and Nick Hauselman return for the final Muckrake episode of 2025, and the vibes are… kinda emotionally stable. They look back on a year that somehow felt darker than 2020, then pivot straight into the current circus: Trump raging at the media, posturing about the Epstein files, hosting Zelensky at Mar-a-Lago, and then parroting Putin’s lines like the Oval Office has a Kremlin teleprompter. From there, the conversation goes where 2025 always seems to go: Into the flashing dashboard lights of institutional collapse, Trump’s visible decline, and the unnerving signals that J.D. Vance is already laying 2028 groundwork with Turning Point backing. And if that wasn’t bleak enough, they close with an absolutely cursed focus group of Gen Z Republicans that reads like a “content brain” case study, complete with casual extremism, conspiracy marination, and the kind of political illiteracy that would be funny if it wasn’t actively setting things on fire. Support the show by signing up to our Patreon and get access to the full Weekender episode each Friday as well as special Live Shows and access to our community discord: http://patreon.com/muckrakepodcast

Co-hosts Jared Yates Sexton and Nick Hauselman open with brisket talk, then carve into a darker holiday menu. First up, CBS pulls a reported 60 Minutes segment on El Salvador’s CECOT prison after Barry Weiss rides in to “center” the narrative. Then it’s over to TPUSA’s AmericaFest, where Vice President J.D. Vance serves up a white grievance stocking stuffer as conservative influencers snipe at each other for clicks and control. Finally, they wade through the latest Epstein document dump, where the redactions are doing more heavy lifting than the DOJ, and close on why Democratic incumbents already fear 2026 primaries. No Weekender this Friday for the holiday, the year-end show returns next week. Support the show by signing up to our Patreon and get access to the full Weekender episode each Friday as well as special Live Shows and access to our community discord: http://patreon.com/muckrakepodcast

Support the show by signing up to our Patreon and get access to the full Weekender episode each Friday as well as special Live Shows and access to our community discord: ⁠http://patreon.com/muckrakepodcast⁠ Jared Yates Sexton and Nick Hauselman break down Donald Trump’s primetime White House address, a rambling, xenophobic meltdown delivered with approval ratings stuck in the mid-30s and no plan to fix anything. They unpack the familiar routine, blame immigrants, lie about affordability, pretend a war crime is leadership, and hope yelling louder somehow changes reality. From the $1,776 military stunt and growing unrest inside the ranks, to Susie Wiles torching her own boss in Vanity Fair, Bongino bailing on the FBI, Democrats burying their 2024 autopsy, and CBS debasing itself for Bari Weiss, it’s a portrait of institutions collapsing in real time while everyone involved pretends this is normal.

A brutal weekend, and a brutal reminder of how broken this moment is. Co-hosts Jared Yates Sexton and Nick Hauselman unpack the shocking killing of Rob Reiner and Michelle Reiner, then get into Trump’s grotesque response and what it reveals about the rot at the top. They also hit the GOP cracks in Indiana redistricting, another U.S. campus shooting, and the grim drumbeat of violence and paranoia that never seems to stop. Support the show by signing up to our Patreon and get access to the full Weekender episode each Friday as well as special Live Shows and access to our community discord: http://patreon.com/muckrakepodcast

Support the show by signing up to our Patreon and get access to the full Weekender episode each Friday as well as special Live Shows and access to our community discord: http://patreon.com/muckrakepodcast Co-hosts Jared Yates Sexton and Nick Hauselman kick off the Weekender talking about the bad vibes in the air, which somehow leads to aliens because, honestly, it makes as much sense as anything else right now. From there they dive straight into the Venezuela mess: the US seizing an oil tanker, Pam Bondi’s incoherent spin, Trump rattling sabers at half the hemisphere, and a political class treating potential war like content creation. They break down why nobody in power seems serious, why the Supreme Court is rubber-stamping authoritarianism, why measles is suddenly back, and why visitors to the United States may soon have to hand over five years of social media posts. It is all connected by the same theme: these people have no idea what they’re doing, and we’re the ones living with the consequences.

Co-hosts Jared Yates Sexton and Nick Hauselman dig into Trump’s 2025 National Security Strategy, a 33 page blueprint that reads less like a sober policy document and more like a crypto fascist love letter to white nationalist demographics, spheres of influence, and an American retreat from the postwar liberal order. They break down what it means for NATO, Europe, Russia, China, and why no one in their right mind should ever again trust the United States as a “steady partner” when policy swings on whatever enriches one deeply corrupt old man and his oligarch friends. From there, the guys wade into the Netflix grab for Warner Bros and the rival Ellison–Kushner–Saudi play, talking about how tech money, oil money, and propaganda ambitions are fusing into one giant content machine that cares a lot about control and very little about art. Then it is on to FIFA inventing a fake “Peace Prize” to flatter Trump, the Queller pardon that turned into an open air quid pro quo tantrum, and Marjorie Taylor Greene’s sad little image rehab tour on 60 Minutes. Support the show by signing up to our Patreon and get access to the full Weekender episode each Friday as well as special Live Shows and access to our community discord: http://patreon.com/muckrakepodcast

Jared Yates Sexton and Nick Hauselman break down the rapidly spiraling Pete Hegseth scandal, the September strike on Venezuelan fishermen, and why the second “rescue” mission amounts to a tacit admission of wrongdoing. They dig into how a non-war became a war crime, the crumbling veneer of U.S. legitimacy, and the political panic now radiating through Trump’s cabinet. From there, the guys turn to the FBI’s suddenly convenient arrest in the January 6th pipe-bomb case, the paper-thin evidence behind it, and why incompetence has become the defining feature of every institution now claiming to restore order. Then it’s on to the right wing’s newest manufactured martyr, a Bible-citing psychology student whose zero-point assignment has been weaponized into yet another grift about free speech. They wrap with a dive into Stranger Things, trauma allegories, Ken Burns’s America, and what it means to watch childhood, democracy, and reality all get bent out of shape by the same forces. Support the show by signing up to our Patreon and get access to the full Weekender episode each Friday as well as special Live Shows and access to our community discord: http://patreon.com/muckrakepodcast

Jared Yates Sexton and Nick Hauselman dig into the reported double-tap strike on fishermen ordered under Pete Hegseth, why both the first and second hits are war crimes, and how Trump somehow manages to both deny and admit responsibility in the same breath. From there they track the widening fallout, from a possible Venezuela strike and resource grab to corrupt pardons for drug traffickers and oligarchs, all wrapped in the familiar language of “security” and “freedom.” The conversation turns to the DC National Guard shooting by a former CIA-linked Afghan asset, the long shadow of blowback, and how decades of unaccountable covert operations have shredded public trust and reality itself. Then it is on to the Olivia Nuzzi and Ryan Lizza mess, the alleged secret Butler, Pennsylvania Trump recording, and how access journalism plus capitalism keeps turning vital evidence into premium content. They close with a sharp look at the real history and purpose of Thanksgiving, and why JD Vance’s war on turkey is perfectly on-brand for a ruling class that hates joy almost as much as it loves power. Support the show by signing up to our Patreon and get access to the full Weekender episode each Friday as well as special Live Shows and access to our community discord: http://patreon.com/muckrakepodcast

Support the show by signing up to our Patreon and get access to the full Weekender episode each Friday as well as special Live Shows and access to our community discord: ⁠http://patreon.com/muckrakepodcast⁠ On this Black Friday Weekender, Jared Yates Sexton and Nick Hauselman pour a post-Thanksgiving drink and dive headfirst into Paul Thomas Anderson’s new film One Battle After Another, a loose adaptation of Pynchon’s Vineland that somehow nails our political moment a little too well. The two break down the French 75 as a failed revolutionary underground, Sean Penn’s Lockjaw as a walking case study in self-loathing authoritarian masculinity, and the Christmas Adventurers Club as a country club for Nazis who also run everything. They get into how the movie stitches together 60s and 70s radicalism, modern fascism, secret societies, ICE raids, false flags, and Benicio del Toro’s quietly perfect sensei, then ask what it all says about living through America’s own near future right now. If you care about politics and movies, this one is basically a Muckrake text.

Co-hosts Jared Yates Sexton and Nick Hauselman break down Donald Trump’s demanded “Thanksgiving peace plan” for Ukraine, a proposal that hands Vladimir Putin everything he wants while threatening to cut off all U.S. aid if Zelensky refuses. They dig into the geopolitical fallout, the long history of American foreign policy blunders that led here, and why this deal rewards invasion, kidnapping, and aggression. From there, the guys unpack Marjorie Taylor Greene’s surprise resignation, what her dramatic letter really reveals about the state of MAGA, and why the movement is fracturing just as Trump’s grip tightens. Then it is on to Zahra Mamdani’s surreal visit to the White House, where Trump immediately melted under flattery and exposed just how easily he can be manipulated. Finally, they examine the collapse of DOGE, the catastrophic damage done to federal agencies, global aid, and U.S. data systems, and why the fallout will haunt the country for years. Support the show by signing up to our Patreon and get access to the full Weekender episode each Friday as well as special Live Shows and access to our community discord: http://patreon.com/muckrakepodcast Thanksgiving Politics & Family Minefields 00:00:01 – 00:03:30 Trump’s “Peace Plan” And Ukraine’s Betrayal 00:03:30 – 00:17:20 Marjorie Taylor Greene Quits… And What It Really Means 00:17:20 – 00:27:08 Mamdani Rolls Trump In The Oval Office 00:27:08 – 00:43:06 The Fall of DOGE And The Damage It Leaves Behind 00:43:06 – End

Support the show by signing up to our Patreon and get access to the full Weekender episode each Friday as well as special Live Shows and access to our community discord: ⁠http://patreon.com/muckrakepodcast⁠ Jared Yates Sexton and Nick Hauselman dig into the so-called “Epstein files” vote, why Trump suddenly wants everything released, and why everyone should expect a Mueller-style scrub instead of real accountability. They talk Larry Summers slinking off “from public life,” the national security state’s role in hiding the full story, and why this scandal is really about a ruling class that treats organized crime like a business model. From there, they break down a new Democratic video urging the military and intel community to refuse illegal orders, Trump’s response calling it “seditious” and punishable by death, and what that says about a cornered fascist who openly envies the power of Mohammed bin Salman. Then it is on to Nvidia, Peter Thiel dumping stock, the AI bubble sitting under the entire economy, and the familiar feeling of a roaring market heading toward a crash. They close with some cultural brain bleach, from the new Running Man to Hallmark Christmas movies and Robert Johnson on repeat.

Co-hosts Jared Yates Sexton and Nick Hauselman dive into the new Epstein email tranche, from Trump’s scramble to sic “his” DOJ on Clinton and Summers to the media’s polite amnesia about who looked the other way. They connect the dots on fixers, blackmail, and a culture of impunity, then pivot to what the fallout means for MAGA’s coalition and why shame no longer moves the needle. Plus, Marjorie Taylor Greene’s sudden “civility” turn, Jamie Raskin’s ridiculous big-tent pitch, and Ted Cruz telegraphing a 2028 run. Support the show by signing up to our Patreon and get access to the full Weekender episode each Friday as well as special Live Shows and access to our community discord: http://patreon.com/muckrakepodcast The Epstein Tranche Blows Open 02:00 – 06:00 Why This Story Has Real Legs 06:00 – 12:30 Power Protects Power 12:30 – 18:45 MTG’s Sudden Pivot 18:45 – 26:30 Cruz 2028 and the Post-Trump GOP 26:30 – End

Support the show on Patreon and unlock special content like our Weekender show every Friday. As a bonus, today's show is released in full in order to hear co-hosts Jared Yates Sexton and Nick Hauselman's analysis on the newly released Epstein emails and what they might, and we stress might, mean for Trump. Then, Nick interviews John Cavanaugh, who is running for Congress in Nebraska. Topics include banning congressional stock trades, repealing the diaper tax, ICE raids hitting Nebraska’s meatpacking towns, the costs of tariff chaos, redistricting reform, judicial term ideas, cannabis access, and how to actually rebuild public trust.

Nick Hauselman hosts while Jared Yates Sexton joins from the road to break down a “deal” that looks a lot like capitulation, the promised-but-pointless ACA vote, and a wave of fake-elector pardons that clears the board for the authoritarian project. They talk weaponized investigations into Adam Schiff, the media’s selective silence on Trump’s health, and a Gilded Age cosplay at Mar-a-Lago while SNAP recipients twist in the wind. Also on the docket: 50-year mortgages that turn homeownership into a lifetime sentence and the trillion-dollar vibes coming from Musk’s payday. It’s shutdown brinkmanship, reality distortion, and class-war optics, all wrapped in one grim spectacle. Support the show by signing up to our Patreon and get access to the full Weekender episode each Friday as well as special Live Shows and access to our community discord: http://patreon.com/muckrakepodcast

This is a preview of our full Weekender. Support the show by signing up to our Patreon and get access to the full Weekender episode each Friday as well as special Live Shows and access to our community discord: http://patreon.com/muckrakepodcast In a live Weekender taping, Jared Yates Sexton holds down the fort while Nick Hauselman battles the “Socialist Republic of New York,” then tags in for a fast, sharp Q&A. The guys break down what Zoran Mamdani’s win actually signals, whether AOC just gained real 2028 juice, and why Gavin Newsom looks like yesterday’s model in a changing market. They torch the Heritage crowd’s flirtation with Nick Fuentes, talk shutdown brinkmanship and mutual-aid politics, and lay out practical protest security in a surveillance state. There’s a quick detour through JFK/FDR alt-history, a brutal review of that Springsteen movie, and a courtside reality check on a foul-fest Lakers–Spurs game featuring a very mortal Wemby. It’s smart, a little spicy, and deeply unsentimental—just how Muckrake listeners like it.

Jared Yates Sexton and Nick Hauselman kick things off by announcing a live Patreon Q&A this Thursday, November 6 at 5 p.m. ET, then dive into New York City’s mayoral shockwave. They break down Zoran Mamdani’s surge, Andrew Cuomo’s Trump-backed Islamophobic ad blitz, and why the Democratic establishment looks allergic to enthusiasm. From there, they game out what a Mamdani win could mean for AOC, party power brokers, and a whole lot of donor panic. Plus, Trump’s itchy trigger finger toward Nigeria, Venezuela, and Mexico gets the full reality check, and the guys unpack reports of ICE showing up near polling places alongside talk of bounty-style enforcement that sounds less like policy and more like state racketeering. Come for the outrage therapy, stay for the receipts. Support the show by signing up to our Patreon and get access to the full Weekender episode each Friday as well as special Live Shows and access to our community discord: http://patreon.com/muckrakepodcast

Support the show by signing up to our Patreon and get access to the full Weekender episode each Friday as well as special Live Shows and access to our community discord: http://patreon.com/muckrakepodcast It’s a Halloween Weekender so co-hosts Jared Yates Sexton and Nick Hauselman start with candy talk, then dive into the Pentagon’s plan for a 23,500-troop National Guard “reaction force” slated to spin up Jan 1 and be fully operational by Apr 1, and what that signals about ballot boxes, civil unrest, and creeping authoritarianism. They hit Trump’s chest-thumping about reviving nuclear testing, the tech-military money pipeline, and why eugenics-flavored rhetoric keeps popping up. Then it’s SNAP benefits triage, emergency funds that won’t cover the full need, and the cruelty baked into the politics. For dessert, Nick’s West Wing binge meets Jared’s analog-horror picks, plus a quick Nightmare on Elm Street rewatch pitch.

Donald Trump just demolished the entire East Wing of the White House so he can build a $300 million gilded “Presidential Ballroom,” even after promising there would be “no structural damage.” At the exact same time, because of the shutdown, the USDA says SNAP will stop paying out on November 1 and more than 40 million Americans (about 1 in 8 people in this country) are about to lose their food benefits while states scramble to set up emergency food banks. This is what “Eat The Rich” actually looks like in real time. Jared Yates Sexton and Nick Hauselman break down how this ballroom stunt became the perfect symbol of American rot: looting the state, starving the public, daring anyone to stop it. They connect it to the shutdown, the coming food crisis, and the GOP strategy of holding basic survival hostage while blaming “Democrats who won’t negotiate.” They also get into what happens next — desperation, crime, crackdown, and why the right actually wants that cycle. Plus: what’s really happening in Venezuela. The administration is openly talking about oil, U.S.-backed operators are getting grabbed on the ground, and we’re moving assets toward Caracas like it’s 1983 all over again. Why regime change never went away, it just stopped pretending to be subtle. And yeah, we talk about rage, mutual aid, and what it looks like when people finally decide they’re done letting billionaires build palaces while kids don’t eat. Support the show by signing up to our Patreon and get access to the full Weekender episode each Friday as well as special Live Shows and access to our community discord: http://patreon.com/muckrakepodcast