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Forget It Jake, It's Shutdown Town Oct 08, 2025

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This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.politix.fm

As anticipated in last week’s episode, the government did indeed shut down, and as of this recording Congress remains at an impasse. At the same time Donald Trump and Stephen Miller are trying harder than ever to foment street violence in blue cities and maybe even martial law. In this episode, Brian and Matt discuss:

* How the GOP’s ongoing Epstein coverup is prolonging the shutdown and making it likelier that they “lose.”

* The esoteric Beltway metaphysics of who gets blamed for government shutdowns.

* Why Democrats are winning the battle of public opinion despite Beltway consensus that they are to blame.

Then, would it really be “winning” the shutdown to force Republicans to renew Affordable Care Act subsidies, without securing any new constraints on Trump’s abuses of power? Would Democrats shut down the government again to have another fight centered more closely on Trump’s authoritarian abuses? Is the dictatorial overreach bad enough now that Democrats should simply withhold their votes under any feasible set of concessions? And which prominent Democrats are doing resistance politics most effectively.

All that, plus the full Politix archive are available to paid subscribers—just upgrade your subscription and pipe full episodes directly to your favorite podcast app via your own private feed.

Further reading:

* Matt argues that “authentic” politicians are mostly just acting.

* Brian argues that “non-sequitur politics” are a bad basis for fighting fascism.

* Bharat Ramamurti imagines how Democrats could force Trump closer to compliance with constitutional rule.

Comey Don't Play That Oct 01, 2025

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This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.politix.fm

Donald Trump has crossed an important redline: He ordered his administration to prosecute former FBI Director James Comey, fired the prosecutor who told him he had no case, and installed a lackey who did as ordered. In this episode:

* What distinguishes the (weak, losing) Comey indictment from past abuses of prosecutorial power?

* Why Comey shouldn’t try to get the charges dismissed on selective prosecution grounds, and should instead demand a speedy trial.

* If Trump thinks his revenge tour was “litigated in the election, might a humiliating defeat at the Comey trial be the beginning of the DOJ’s new role as tip of the spear of Trump’s retribution campaign?

Then, on the eve of the government shutdown, Brian and Matt look ahead to likely end games. Has the Democrats’ confused posture in the standoff doomed them, or can they reorient everyone in the party to make arguments they can really commit to long-term? Will the public’s presumptive sense that Republicans are to blame for government shutdowns insulate Democrats from backlash? And, as long as they’re keeping the House shuttered to prevent votes on releasing the Epstein files, will Republicans be able to exploit their advantages in this fight?

All that, plus the full Politix archive are available to paid subscribers—just upgrade your subscription and pipe full episodes directly to your favorite podcast app via your own private feed.

Further reading:

* Brian argues that if Democrats want a big fight over health care, there are ways to engineer one without shoving it into a fight over the annual budget.

* Matt argues Hillary Clinton should have demanded here day in court during Trump 1.0 because the email scandal was bullshit.

* Brendan Nyhan on the Comey prosecution precedent.

* Josh Marshall on the power dynamics of the shutdown fight.

Jimmy Fuel, Jimmy Fire, Jimmy That Which I Desire Sep 24, 2025

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This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.politix.fm

With the firing (and then unfiring) of Jimmy Kimmel, the right-wing crackdown in the name of Charlie Kirk seems to have bumped up against real limits.

In light of the week’s developments, we discuss:

* The schisms within MAGA that were on display at the Kirk memorial;

* How those schisms fused with resistance backlash, forcing ABC and Disney to rethink their decision to take Kimmel off the air;

* Whether this is a sign that society as a whole has reached the limits of authoritarian abuses it’s willing to tolerate.

Then, Brian and Matt zoom out to ask whether public rejection of a free-speech crackdown can help form the basis of big-tent Democratic unity, from Zohran Mamdani in New York through (maybe!) Geoff Duncan in Georgia. Is Duncan the best candidate in the Georgia Dem gubernatorial primary? Should Democrats back him for the abstract value of proving the party welcomes heterodox voices? And what does progressive uneasiness with Duncan, like establishment Dem uneasiness with Mamdani, tell us about the meaning of solidarity?

All that, plus the full Politix archive are available to paid subscribers—just upgrade your subscription and pipe full episodes directly to your favorite podcast app via your own private feed.

Further reading:

* Brian thinks the Kirk crackdown moved Democrats closer to an appropriate fighting posture.

* Matt on the crackdown as classic overreach;

* Jessica Valenti on why abortion represents the least productive grounds on which Democrats might moderate.

* Geoff Duncan explains his conversion to Greg Sargent.

Charlie And The Conflict Factory Sep 17, 2025

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This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.politix.fm

Donald Trump and several of his top officials have promised to unleash a partisan crackdown in Charlie Kirk’s honor, even as the notion that Kirk’s assassin was in league with the institutional left becomes more far fetched.

In light of the week’s developments, we discuss:

* Our personal reactions to the Kirk murder, and the contours of the overall public response;

* What we know about the GOP plan to use it as a pretext to crack down on political dissent;

* The differences between using free speech and believing in free speech; the related differences between good-faith debate and propaganda.

Then, is MAGA’s seamless fusion of partisan propaganda with state functions actually a source of political power for the GOP? Between Trump’s sinking poll numbers on issue after issue, public rejection of his immigration crackdown, and spiraling, trollish foreign policy, is there any reason to believe Americans won’t reject a speech crackdown, too? And if the administration is embarking on a losing abuse of power (even if only to generate yet more propaganda) is there any good reason why Democrats shouldn’t fight them by seizing the mantle of free speech?

All that, plus the full Politix archive are available to paid subscribers—just upgrade your subscription and pipe full episodes directly to your favorite podcast app via your own private feed.

Further reading:

* Matt’s extremely conflicted take on the looming government shutdown.

* Brian on the GOP’s recursive cycle of abusing power to generate propaganda to justify further abuses of power, and how to respond;

* The extensive fallout of the propaganda-driven Hyundai factory raid.

Better Than Ezra Sep 10, 2025

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This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.politix.fm

Another government shutdown looms, and, thus, so do more angsty struggle sessions over what Democrats should do, and what effective opposition looks like. In this episode, we discuss:

* How does mounting bad news for Donald Trump—bad jobs numbers, defeats in court, and revelations about his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein—affect the politics of a shutdown?

* Who’s got the better bead on how Democrats should proceed, Matt, Brian, or Ezra Klein?

* Why there’s a hidden danger in Democrats’ inclination to demand extraneous concessions—like renewed funding for Obamacare.

Then, how might the lessons of a [knocks on wood] successful shutdown fight help ameliorate ongoing fight between different factions of the Democratic Party, including progressives and abundists? Can they find common ground over their shared interest in making the Democratic Party more responsive and faster moving? Or are progressives too suspicious of strange bedfellows to ever support policy-making coalitions with Republicans and business interests?

All that, plus the full Politix archive are available to paid subscribers—just upgrade your subscription and pipe full episodes directly to your favorite podcast app via your own private feed.

Further reading:

* Brian’s shutdown piece.

* Ezra’s shutdown piece

* Matt’s shutdown piece.

* Brian’s response to both.

* How to understand recent data revisions.

* Brian’s abundance flowchart for an intra-Democratic truce

Baby Die, Die, Die (Die! Die!) Sep 03, 2025

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This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.politix.fm

This week, we indulge all the speculation and look ahead to politics if and after Donald Trump dies in office. For instance:

* Is a movement that claims the mantle of making America “healthy” sustainable in a world where the obese 79 year old president croaks after his health secretary takes vaccines off the shelf?

* Does JD Vance have the juice required to consolidate all the pro-Trump factions (many of which hate each other)?

* What becomes of Democratic politics? Can the emerging anti-Trump politics of Democratic presidential hopefuls work against a post-Trump GOP?

Then, what’s all this got to do with Democratic propaganda? We discuss a recently unearthed progressive effort to subsidize Democrat-friendly viral content creators, which has already driven bitter recriminations across the online left. Is the problem here message or medium? Would anyone be complaining if the people involved had agreed to be open and transparent about their partnership? Or is subsidizing heavy-on-politics content an altogether mistaken concept?

All that, plus the full Politix archive are available to paid subscribers—just upgrade your subscription and pipe full episodes directly to your favorite podcast app via your own private feed.

Further reading:

* Brian on the cursed establishment effort to fend off Graham Platner.

* Matt also wants to let Graham Platner cook.

* Paige Cognetti will run against Rob Bresnahan in a key Pennsylvania bellwether.

Purple Man Bad Aug 27, 2025

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This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.politix.fm

This week, a close look at two troubling authoritarian provocations from the Trump administration: Friday’s dawn FBI raid of John Bolton’s house in Maryland, and Monday’s purported firing of Lisa Cook, a member of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors. We discuss:

* How Matt managed to leave his microphone in Maine.

* What Trump seemingly hopes to accomplish by making an example out of Bolton.

* Whether opposing the retributive prosecution of a crank like Bolton represents a good test of how to build a unified front against fascism.

* Also, what the fuck is going on with Trump’s bruises and cankles?

Then, do the Bolton and Cook abuses provide the broad left any openings to peel off Republicans who might see Trump’s consolidation of power as a threat to their own ambitions. If he’ll go after a stalwart Republican like Bolton, why wouldn’t he go after certain Republican presidential candidates? If overlook Trump’s harassment of Cook, what leg will they have to stand on when 2029 Democrats purge Republicans from government, mine their federal records, and have a big fat precedent to point to.

All that, plus the full Politix archive are available to paid subscribers—just upgrade your subscription and pipe full episodes directly to your favorite podcast app via your own private feed.

Further reading:

* Matt on the economic downside of personalist autocracies like the one Trump is building.

* Brian makes the case against liberal rectitude politics, which make it so hard for the whole, unified party to stand up for itself.

* HEADLINE: Trump, 79, Smears Right Hand in Makeup Amid Cankles Cover-Up.

Coup Among Us?! Aug 20, 2025

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This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.politix.fm

Donald Trump’s federal occupation of the capital continues, but the context has worsened. It now unfolds alongside Trump’s seemingly related efforts to: 1) gerrymander as many red states as possible; 2) unconstitutionally void and rerun the Census in a manner that would benefit Republicans; and 3) assert unconstitutional control over the time, place, and manner of elections.

In this episode we’ll discuss:

* To what extent is Trump’s desire to subjugate the residents of blue cities related to his long-established desire to cheat in elections.

* Are Democrats outmatched in the gerrymandering arms race?

* Have the opinion makers who discounted Trump’s threat to the 2020 election reverted to complacency once again?

Why is Trump acting so spooked about the midterms? And what is to be done? Should congressional Democrats resist these power grabs during the government shutdown fight? Should Democratic governors send their own national guard troops to DC to magnify the contradictions? What kinds of resistance tactics from DC residents would work best to either deescalate the situation, or make it blow back against Trump?

All that, plus the full Politix archive are available to paid subscribers—just upgrade your subscription and pipe full episodes directly to your favorite podcast app via your own private feed.

Further reading:

* Brian says it’s gut check time for Senate Democrats: Will they take Trump’s abuses of power head on when the government-funding deadline nears?

* Matt: Let’s fix the gerrymandering problem with proportional representation.

* Via National Security Counselors, Should Wes Moore (or someone) send blue state national guardsmen to DC?

* No comment….

Home Invasion Aug 13, 2025

Show notes

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.politix.fm

Donald Trump has commandeered Washington DC’s police force and deployed federal agents and national guardsmen to patrol DC streets, on plainly pretextual grounds.

In this episode we’ll discuss:

* What makes this affront to DC sovereignty unusually offensive;

* Trump’s stated reasons for seizing power, and how to see through them;

* What, if anything, elected Democrats should say and do to defend district residents

Then, behind the paywall, there’s good reason to suspect Trump hopes his DC invasion will distract us from less flattering news. So we’re not going to let him! We discuss the latest indications that Trump has damaged the economy, the steps that can be taken in the event Trump tries to fabricate economic data, and the most recent developments in the Jeffrey Epstein scandal.

All that, plus the full Politix archive are available to paid subscribers—just upgrade your subscription and pipe full episodes directly to your favorite podcast app via your own private feed.

Further reading:

* Matt on the actual policy obstacles to more effective policing in DC.

* Brian on why DC residents are perfectly right to be frustrated with national Democrats for leaving us vulnerable to this unwelcome takeover.

* Trump’s hackish nominee to oversee government economic data wants to stop releasing government economic data.

Falling Down On The Jobs Aug 06, 2025

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This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.politix.fm

This week, we’re reassessing both the resiliency of the economy, and the health of U.S. democracy.

Why? Because recent data suggests Donald Trump’s reactionary policy blitz (global tariffs, mass deportation) has caused the economy to seize up; and Trump has responded by trying to kill the messengers.

In this episode you’ll hear all about:

* What the recent jobs numbers actually say, and how do they gel with other recent data;

* Sydney Sweeney;

* Why data pointing to a slowdown, if not a contraction, fits the facts of Trump’s erratic agenda;

* The bull and the bear theories of the case: Could the economy somehow continue growing despite all this? Would Trump be freaking out like this if he thought the economy was firing on all cylinders?

Then, behind the paywall, is a recession the sort of thing Trump could even theoretically bullshit his way out of? Or would reality break through? What would a “recession coverup” attempt actually look like, given the complexity of the data? And what’s Trump likely to do if and when his excuses and lies stop selling?

All that, plus the full Politix archive are available to paid subscribers—just upgrade your subscription and pipe full episodes directly to your favorite podcast app via your own private feed.

Further reading:

* Brian on why Trump’s reaction to the jobs report is of a piece with broader signs that he and his administration are spiraling.

* Matt notes Argentina’s recent economic successes are attributable to Javier Milei’s decision to abandon an unworkable agenda.

* Dean Baker breaks down why the jobs news is so bad.

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