Unf*cking The Republic

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• 
  InDeFLATION: F*cked Sideways Either Way. 13.09.2026 23мин

  The Producer Price Index (PPI) dropped and it was worse than expected. PPI is the measure of inflation building in the system and economists use it to forecast what consumer inflation will look like three to four months down the road. If these figures are any indication, inflation is about to hit the global economy like a tsunami and no amount of hand wringing and interest rate tweaking at the Federal Reserve is going to slow this train. In this episode, Max explains how this was all predictable based on Trump’s economic plan and the design of Project 2025. He talks about what comes next in best and worst case scenarios before addressing why in the world someone like Russell Vought would engineer such a catastrophic outcome. Because it was so clear from the start that this is where we were headed. Hint: Keep your eye on JD Vance. Resources U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: Producer Price Indexes Marketplace: The Fed’s preferred measure of inflation is changing Council on Foreign Relations: Hunger Warfare and a Fertilizer Crisis Are Straining Global Food Supplies The New York Times: Behind the Scenes, Vance Gathered Unvarnished Views of the Iran War Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis: Market Yield on U.S. Treasury Securities at 2-Year Constant Maturity, Quoted on an Investment Basis Investopedia: Cost-Push vs. Demand-Pull Inflation: Key Differences Explained Bloomberg Television: US Producer Price Index Rises Most in Three Months on Energy Costs ProPublica: “We Want the Bureaucrats to Be Traumatically Affected” UNFTR Resources Video: Terrible Inflation Report Warns of Economic Tsunami. Episode: The End of the American Experiment. Essay: InDeFLATION. -- If you like #UNFTR, please leave us a rating and review on Apple Podcasts and Spotify: unftr.com/rate and follow us on Facebook, Bluesky, and Instagram at @UNFTRpod. Visit us online at unftr.com. Become a member at unftr.com/memberships. Buy yourself some Unf*cking Coffee at shop.unftr.com. Visit our bookshop.org page at bookshop.org/shop/UNFTRpod to find the full UNFTR book list, and find book recommendations from our Unf*ckers at bookshop.org/lists/unf-cker-book-recommendations. Access the UNFTR Musicless feed by following the instructions at unftr.com/accessibilitySupport the show: https://www.unftr.com/membershipsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
• 
  Omnibus (09-12-26). 12.09.2026 1ч 24мин

  Max and 99 are back for another episode of Omnibus. They cover headlines on Israel killing a family of 12 in Lebanon including six children, and a new Elon Musk documentary alongside a fall movie season tackling Big Tech and its leaders. Then they tackle listener emails on childcare costs and the dependent care tax cap, Pete Buttigieg criticism, expanding Medicare versus a VA-style system, and whether Trump’s BLS numbers are even worth analyzing. Chapters Intro: 00:00:37 Headlines: 00:17:09 Emails: 00:35:13 Memberships: 01:23:44 Outro: 01:24:03 Resources The Decemberists: Everything Is Awful Subscribe to Current Affairs Magazine. Vanity Fair: X Marks the Spot: To Musk Filmmaker Alex Gibney, Elon Musk and Elizabeth Holmes Are Two Sides of the Same Coin The Hollywood Reporter: Hollywood Puts Four Tech Moguls on Trial in October Movie Pileup Drop Site: Israeli Strike in Lebanon Kills 12 People From a Single Family, Including 6 Children UNFTR Resources Video: On The Record 9-8-26 (JD Vance Latest Stunt is DISGUSTING | Nathan Robinson Interview.) Episode: Merchants of Death. Episode: Labor Daze. Episode: Scott Bessent Can’t Stop Failing. Video: Terrible Inflation Report Warns of Economic Tsunami. -- If you like #UNFTR, please leave us a rating and review on Apple Podcasts and Spotify: unftr.com/rate and follow us on Facebook, Bluesky, and Instagram at @UNFTRpod. Visit us online at unftr.com. Become a member at unftr.com/memberships. Buy yourself some Unf*cking Coffee at shop.unftr.com. Visit our bookshop.org page at bookshop.org/shop/UNFTRpod to find the full UNFTR book list, and find book recommendations from our Unf*ckers at bookshop.org/lists/unf-cker-book-recommendations. Access the UNFTR Musicless feed by following the instructions at unftr.com/accessibilitySupport the show: https://www.unftr.com/membershipsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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  Scott Bessent Can’t Stop Failing: The Most Arrogant Man in the Land. 11.09.2026 17мин

  Scott Bessent can’t do anything right. He just announced a paltry bond buyback that fell flat with the market responding by pushing rates higher. Bessent also proclaimed that he is “the house” and that people shouldn’t bet against him because he has inside information about what the Bank of Japan is going to do. Interesting. The guy doesn’t know what our central bank is going to do but he has the inside track on the BOJ? The market there is also telling him to get lost. And after he said he would cripple the Iranian regime in a matter of weeks or months with sanctions, the Iranians have been striking back and have now declared that they’re going to cripple our economy. Bessent is going to go down in history as the worst Treasury Secretary we’ve ever had. Resources Bloomberg Television: Bessent Tells Yen Traders ‘I Am the House Now’ CNBC International Live: ‘I am the house’: Scott Bessent’s challenge to traders Bloomberg Television: Commodities Bull Market Is Underpriced: 3-Minutes MLIV ABC News: Oil Prices Climb Over $100 per Barrel as War in Iran Continues Bloomberg Television: US Treasury to Buy Up to $6 Billion in Long-Dated Debt Fox Business Clips: ‘SLINGSHOT’: Treasury’s rate move gets BRUTAL reality check IMF: Did the Plaza Accord Cause Japan’s Lost Decades? U.S. Department of the Treasury: Treasury Launches Unprecedented Campaign Against Iranian Regime on Economic D-Day The Hill: Iran reignites Strait of Hormuz fight as US tightens squeeze NBC News: Diesel hits all-time high of $6 per gallon, and just about everything will cost more Brookings: What is yield curve control? npr: Trump’s controversial nominee drops bid to head vital data-gathering agency U.S. Department of the Treasury: Henry Morgenthau, Jr. (1934 - 1945) United States Holocaust Memorial Museum: Henry Morgenthau Jr. npr: The IRS slashed its staff. One result? More taxes going uncollected UNFTR Resources Video: The Treasury Secretary Who Can’t Get It Right Essay: Scott Bessent Can’t Stop Failing. -- If you like #UNFTR, please leave us a rating and review on Apple Podcasts and Spotify: unftr.com/rate and follow us on Facebook, Bluesky, and Instagram at @UNFTRpod. Visit us online at unftr.com. Become a member at unftr.com/memberships. Buy yourself some Unf*cking Coffee at shop.unftr.com. Visit our bookshop.org page at bookshop.org/shop/UNFTRpod to find the full UNFTR book list, and find book recommendations from our Unf*ckers at bookshop.org/lists/unf-cker-book-recommendations. Access the UNFTR Musicless feed by following the instructions at unftr.com/accessibilitySupport the show: https://www.unftr.com/membershipsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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  On The Record (09-08-26). 08.09.2026 42мин

  This week we dissected JD Vance’s child care rule change: A Heritage Foundation tradwife policy dressed up as family values, funded by gutting support for the single working parents who actually need it. Then Nathan Robinson joined us to talk about why the socialist moment is real and the DSA keeps winning where it’s not supposed to. And in honor of Labor Day, we put the wage-price spiral myth to rest: real wages flat for 50 years, corporate earnings through the roof, and the Fed looking the other way the whole time. Chapters Intro: 00:00:38 Quick Takes: 00:01:33 Max Notes: 00:05:43 Phone A Friend: 00:14:04 Killer Left Take of the Week: 00:37:19 Chart of the Week: 00:39:19 Outro: 00:42:26 Resources The Ghoul Pool wgaltv: Democrats criticize Fetterman after WSJ report claims he avoids meeting with constituents Steven A. Smith: Abdul El-Sayed on Israel, Hasan Piker, ICE and JD Vance A24: You Can See Everything Al Jazeera English: Far-right AFD wins vote in Germany’s Saxony-Anhalt state: Exit polls Mother Jones: Ashley Hinson Fought to Save Private Equity’s Favorite Loophole The New York Times: Trump Officials Draft Plan to Pay At-Home Parents, Using Funds for Working Ones The Heritage Foundation: Saving America by Saving the Family: A Foundation for the Next 250 Years Politico: Heritage Foundation calls on US to prioritize marriage and family in new report Congress: The Child Care and Development Block Grant: In Brief National Women’s Law Center: Re-Envisioning CCDF Emerald Book: How the 68% Black Single Motherhood Myth Harms Black Women and Families Center for American Progress: The Economic Status of Single Mothers Financial Planning Association: Leveraging Divorce to Maximize College Financial Aid Nathan J. Robinson: Why You Should Be a Socialist Nathan J. Robinson: Hillbilly Hypocrisy: ND Vance and the Dark Future of MAGA Politics Subscribe to Current Affairs Magazine. Jacobin: Capitalism makes “everyone feels a little insane” Investopedia: Wage-Price Spiral: What It Is and How It’s Controlled Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis: Average Hourly Earnings of Production and Nonsupervisory Employees, Total Private Union Stats: Union Membership, Coverage, Density and Employment by Sector and Demographic Group: 1973-2025 Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis: Corporate Profits After Tax (without IVA and CCAdj) Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis: Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers: All Items in U.S. City Average Federal Reserve Bank of New York: Center for Microeconomic Data UNFTR Resources Video: On The Record 9-08-26 (JD Vance’s Disgusting Stunt | Trump is Melting | Nathan Robinson.) Essay: Hillbilly Hypocrite. Episode: Did Ronald Reagan Destroy the American Dream? Episode: Merchants of Death. Episode: Labor Daze. Episode: Economics of Racism. -- If you like #UNFTR, please leave us a rating and review on Apple Podcasts and Spotify: unftr.com/rate and follow us on Facebook, Bluesky, and Instagram at @UNFTRpod. Visit us online at unftr.com. Become a member at unftr.com/memberships. Buy yourself some Unf*cking Coffee at shop.unftr.com. Visit our bookshop.org page at bookshop.org/shop/UNFTRpod to find the full UNFTR book list, and find book recommendations from our Unf*ckers at bookshop.org/lists/unf-cker-book-recommendations. Access the UNFTR Musicless feed by following the instructions at unftr.com/accessibilitySupport the show: https://www.unftr.com/membershipsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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  Labor Daze: Trump’s Resident Idiot Says the Economy is a Gift. 06.09.2026 19мин

  Trump administration official Kevin Hassett declared the latest jobs report as a “present to the American people” for Labor Day. Really, Kevin? Let’s dig into this claim by looking closely at the labor data. What you’ll find is that more Americans than ever are dislocated from the full-time employment picture in this country, and that this administration has zero idea how to fix it. And they’re not even trying. But, sure. Happy Labor Day, America. Enjoy the weekend worrying about how to pay your bills. Resources Bloomberg Television: NEC’s Hassett Says Inflation Is Under Control Vox: The Trump administration’s “cubic model” of coronavirus deaths, explained Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis: Labor Force Participation Rate NBC News: Trump’s new Fed chair walks fine line on inflation in key speech Bureau of Labor Statistics: The Employment Situation — August 2026 ADP Research: National Employment Report Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis: All Employees, Manufacturing Peterson-KFF Health Systems Tracker: What are the recent trends in employer-based health coverage? KFF: Employer-Sponsored Health Insurance 101 Bureau of Labor Statistics: Labor Force Statistics from the Current Population Survey Bureau of Labor Statistics: Frequently asked questions about data on contingent and alternative employment arrangements (May 2017) Bloomberg: Fewer Americans are Working or Looking for a Job. Experts Can’t Agree on Why PBS News: What the July jobs report reveals about the strength of the economy United States Census Bureau: Monthly Construction Spending, July 2026 UNFTR Resources Video: The Jobs Report Is A Scam: Here’s Why Episode: Merchants of Death. Essay: Labor Daze. -- If you like #UNFTR, please leave us a rating and review on Apple Podcasts and Spotify: unftr.com/rate and follow us on Facebook, Bluesky, and Instagram at @UNFTRpod. Visit us online at unftr.com. Become a member at unftr.com/memberships. Buy yourself some Unf*cking Coffee at shop.unftr.com. Visit our bookshop.org page at bookshop.org/shop/UNFTRpod to find the full UNFTR book list, and find book recommendations from our Unf*ckers at bookshop.org/lists/unf-cker-book-recommendations. Access the UNFTR Musicless feed by following the instructions at unftr.com/accessibilitySupport the show: https://www.unftr.com/membershipsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
• 
  Omnibus (09-05-26). 05.09.2026 44мин

  Max and 99 are back for another round of Omnibus. They hit headlines on the White House’s Venezuelan oil deal and the money launderer at its center, the Pentagon rolling out its own versions of ChatGPT and Grok, and a Gloria Steinem mantra. Then they tackle listener emails on what drives career politicians to serve billionaires, taxpayer exposure on the Venezuela oil deal, and Reagan’s popularity as a byproduct of mass media monoculture. Enjoy, Unf*ckers. Chapters Intro: 00:00:22 Headlines: 00:04:38 Emails: 00:18:54 Fake Outro: 00:38:12 Memberships: 00:43:14 Outro: 00:44:01 Resources Subscribe to the UNFTR Newsletter TechCrunch: The Pentagon now has its own version of ChatGPT and Grok ICIJ: White House pick to run Venezuela oil deal under investigation in two countries The New Yorker: Road Warrior Hold Fast UNFTR Resources Episode: F*ck Milton Friedman. Episode: Merchants of Death. Episode: Did Ronald Regan Destroy the American Dream? Video: The Jobs Report Is A Scam: Here’s Why -- If you like #UNFTR, please leave us a rating and review on Apple Podcasts and Spotify: unftr.com/rate and follow us on Facebook, Bluesky, and Instagram at @UNFTRpod. Visit us online at unftr.com. Become a member at unftr.com/memberships. Buy yourself some Unf*cking Coffee at shop.unftr.com. Visit our bookshop.org page at bookshop.org/shop/UNFTRpod to find the full UNFTR book list, and find book recommendations from our Unf*ckers at bookshop.org/lists/unf-cker-book-recommendations. Access the UNFTR Musicless feed by following the instructions at unftr.com/accessibilitySupport the show: https://www.unftr.com/membershipsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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  Merchants of Death: The Men Who Killed Healthcare in America. 05.09.2026 18мин

  The United States doesn’t have a comprehensive healthcare “system.” It has a patchwork of coverage options that come with heavy price tags and complicated processes. Consistent GOP attacks have made the entire framework untenable, and the results speak for themselves. Healthcare coverage is deteriorating rapidly under Trump and there’s no going back at this point. This might be the opening we need to finally have a real conversation about Medicare for All. But there’s going to be a lot of pain between now and then. Resources KFF: ACA Marketplace Enrollment Is Down By 3 Million After Big Jump in Premium Payments The New York Times: Uninsured Patients Rise Sharply, Hospitals Report, Citing Obamacare Cuts Peterson-KFF Health System Tracker: How much and why ACA Marketplace premiums are going up in 2027 Peterson-KFF Health System Tracker: How much and why premiums are going up for small businesses in 2027 American Medical Association: Changes to Medicaid, the ACA and other key provisions of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act Common Dreams: Nearly 2.5 Million Children Have Lost Medicaid and CHIP—So Far—During Trump’s Second Term STAT: The Trump administration is burying science and health care in paperwork Book Love Abdul El-Sayed + Micah Johnson: Medicare for All: A Citizen’s Guide Steven Brill: America’s Bitter Pill: Money, Politics, Backroom Deals, and the Fight to Fix Our Broken Healthcare System Paul Starr: The Social Transformation of American Medicine: The Rise of a Sovereign Profession and the Making of a Vast Industry UNFTR Resources Video: Healthcare Is Broken—And It’s Not Getting Better. Essay: Merchants of Death. Series: Healthcare. Episode: Medicare for All. Episode: Pharmacy Benefit Managers. 5 Non-Negotiables. -- If you like #UNFTR, please leave us a rating and review on Apple Podcasts and Spotify: unftr.com/rate and follow us on Facebook, Bluesky, and Instagram at @UNFTRpod. Visit us online at unftr.com. Become a member at unftr.com/memberships. Buy yourself some Unf*cking Coffee at shop.unftr.com. Visit our bookshop.org page at bookshop.org/shop/UNFTRpod to find the full UNFTR book list, and find book recommendations from our Unf*ckers at bookshop.org/lists/unf-cker-book-recommendations. Access the UNFTR Musicless feed by following the instructions at unftr.com/accessibilitySupport the show: https://www.unftr.com/membershipsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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  Did Ronald Reagan Destroy the American Dream? 02.09.2026 30мин

  Ronald Reagan. Champion of neoliberalism. To some, the man who lifted the spirits of a nation and restored a sense of pride and optimism after a period of despair. To others, the Reagan years marked the death of liberalism. A dark turn toward unfettered capitalist exploitation and the decapitation of working class movements and civil rights. So, which is it? Was Ronald Reagan responsible for ushering in an era of prosperity and restoring national pride as his boosters maintain? Or was he indeed the harbinger of doom and the reason we have Donald Trump today? Like most things, it’s complicated. But there are three ways in which Reagan fundamentally altered the trajectory of the United States to the detriment of most American families. Max walks through each of them before offering a bit of context for the era and ends with an example of a modern political figure that borrows from Reagan’s political playbook but with a twist: this time it’s to do good in the world. Resources Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute: Americans Still Believe in Strong U.S. Global Leadership and Engagement, Including Young MAGA Republicans The New York Times: Javits Sees G.O.P. Hurt By Reagan NPR: 1976: The Last Time Republicans Duked It Out To The Last, Heated Minute : NPR 270ToWin: 1980 Presidential Election Interactive Map Center for Public Integrity: How four decades of tax cuts fueled inequality Roosevelt Institute: To Put Trickle-down Economics to Rest, We Need a New Tax Code Wikipedia: Americans for Tax Reform Brennan Center for Justice: Citizens United, Explained Heritage Foundation: Reagan And Heritage: A Unique Partnership The Nation: The Mandate for Leadership, Then and Now The New York Times: The Strike That Busted Unions Jacobin: The Legacy of the Crushed 1981 PATCO Strike NPR + Code Switch: The Truth Behind The Lies Of The Original ‘Welfare Queen’ History: Just Say No History of Cannabis Project: Reagan Drug Policy — Just Say No & the 1986 Act Wikipedia: Dark Alliance U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the Inspector General: CIA-Contra-Crack Cocaine Controversy PBS: The Iran-Contra Affair National Archives: President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s Farewell Address (1961) Peter G. Peterson Foundation: The United States Spends More on Defense than the Next 6 Countries Combined Frederic Lemieux: Militarization of Law Enforcement in America ProPublica: The Best Reporting on Federal Push to Militarize Local Police CounterPunch: The Hidden Cost of the U.S. Military: The Real Budget is Far Larger Than Reported UNFTR Resources Video: Did Reagan Destroy the American Dream? Essay: Did Ronald Reagan Destroy the American Dream? The Carter Series. -- If you like #UNFTR, please leave us a rating and review on Apple Podcasts and Spotify: unftr.com/rate and follow us on Facebook, Bluesky, and Instagram at @UNFTRpod. Visit us online at unftr.com. Become a member at unftr.com/memberships. Buy yourself some Unf*cking Coffee at shop.unftr.com. Visit our bookshop.org page at bookshop.org/shop/UNFTRpod to find the full UNFTR book list, and find book recommendations from our Unf*ckers at bookshop.org/lists/unf-cker-book-recommendations. Access the UNFTR Musicless feed by following the instructions at unftr.com/accessibilitySupport the show: https://www.unftr.com/membershipsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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  On The Record (09-01-26). 01.09.2026 24мин

  This week we tore apart The Heritage Foundation’s spin on the Venezuela oil deal—the “world’s gas station” line slogan, the math on what Venezuela gets back is embarrassing, and what’s really happening is a century-old colonial playbook dressed up in PR language. Then we looked at a Pew chart: global favorability of the U.S. just dropped below China’s for the first time. That’s where dollar dominance eventually ends—not in the bond market, but in reputation. And we’re burning through ours fast. Chapters Intro: 00:00:38 Quick Takes: 00:01:43 Max Notes: 00:06:13 Killer Left Take of the Week: 00:20:47 Chart of the Week: 00:22:17 Outro: 00:24:20 Resources NBC News: Far-right commentator Milo Yiannopoulos detained by ICE at New Orleans airport The New York Times: Milo Yiannopoulos, Right-Wing Agitator, Deported Home to U.K. U.S. Democratic Socialists: Angie Nixon DESTROYS Laura Loomer After Disgusting Comments! The Omission: 78 Days NBC News: Kalshi permanently bans George Santos after he secretly bet on himself WGRZ-TV: Seneca nation President reacts to Lake Ontario name change The Progressive: The Long Con of John Roberts CNN: Google Maps changes Lake Ontario to ‘Lake America’ in US searches Bloomberg Podcasts: Venezuela Oil Deal Raises Questions Over US Role PBS News: What we know about Trump’s deal giving U.S. access to vast oil reserves in Venezuela The Heritage Foundation: Why American Energy Dominance Is a Strategic Imperative Reuters: Venezuela PDVSA’s 2011 net profit rises 42 pct El País: Venezuela’s economic crisis fueled by looting of its state-owned oil company The Heritage Foundation: Fighting a Just War in Iraq ConocoPhillips: International Arbitration Tribunal Orders Venezuela to Pay ConocoPhillips $8.7 Billion for Unlawful Expropriation of Company’s Oil Investments Al Jazeera: ‘Profoundly pro-American’: Machado outlines a vision for Venezuela’s future CNBC: Venezuela’s interim president says U.S. energy deal will last 25 years Marketplace: Earnings show why big oil isn’t eager to go all-in on Venezuela Council on Foreign Relations: The U.S. Took Over Venezuela’s Oil Industry. Where Has All the Money Gone? Vox: How success in Venezuela set Trump up for disaster in Iran Brittany Page: The Exact Moment Darline Graham Fumbled Her Campaign Pew Research Center: Views of China have turned more positive – and views of the U.S. more negative – across 20 countries UNFTR Resources Video: On The Record 09-01-26 (The Real Story Behind the ‘Great’ Venezuela Oil Deal.) Essay: Iraqezuela. Video: Did Reagan Destroy the American Dream? -- If you like #UNFTR, please leave us a rating and review on Apple Podcasts and Spotify: unftr.com/rate and follow us on Facebook, Bluesky, and Instagram at @UNFTRpod. Visit us online at unftr.com. Become a member at unftr.com/memberships. Buy yourself some Unf*cking Coffee at shop.unftr.com. Visit our bookshop.org page at bookshop.org/shop/UNFTRpod to find the full UNFTR book list, and find book recommendations from our Unf*ckers at bookshop.org/lists/unf-cker-book-recommendations. Access the UNFTR Musicless feed by following the instructions at unftr.com/accessibilitySupport the show: https://www.unftr.com/membershipsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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  Omnibus (08-29-26). 29.08.2026 1ч 5мин

  Max and 99 are back for another round of Omnibus. They hit headlines on John Roberts’ 40-year project to kill the Voting Rights Act and Spirit Airlines selling decades of flight attendant data to Google to train AI. Then they tackle listener emails on wage labor as a central issue, whether UNFTR is a GRU op (lol), and tech bros engineering technocratic feudalism. Enjoy! Chapters Intro: 00:00:40 Headlines: 00:07:38 Emails: 00:31:04 Memberships: 00:59:34 Outro: 01:00:33 Resources Frazier Chorus: Dream Kitchen Wired: Spirit Airlines Wants to Sell Its Data to Google. Former Flight Attendants Are Freaked Out The Progressive: The Long Con of John Roberts FiftyPlusOne: We tracked every candidate in the 2026 primaries. Here’s who voters are nominating. UNFTR Resources Video: On The Record 08-25-26 (Scott Bessent is a Loser Who Wants to be President.) -- If you like #UNFTR, please leave us a rating and review on Apple Podcasts and Spotify: unftr.com/rate and follow us on Facebook, Bluesky, and Instagram at @UNFTRpod. Visit us online at unftr.com. Become a member at unftr.com/memberships. Buy yourself some Unf*cking Coffee at shop.unftr.com. Visit our bookshop.org page at bookshop.org/shop/UNFTRpod to find the full UNFTR book list, and find book recommendations from our Unf*ckers at bookshop.org/lists/unf-cker-book-recommendations. Access the UNFTR Musicless feed by following the instructions at unftr.com/accessibilitySupport the show: https://www.unftr.com/membershipsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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  On The Record (08-25-26). 25.08.2026 24мин

  This week we staged an intervention for Scott Bessent—the failed hedge fund manager who lost 90% of his assets during the greatest bull run in history and is now the most interventionist Treasury Secretary in decades, scoring own goals in the bond market, undermining the new Fed chair, and threatening Iran with sanctions while refusing to answer a single question about China. Then we checked in on the Trump family stablecoin, which has quietly doubled in market cap. It’s a reminder that the most corrupt president in American history is building the most powerful personal wealth machine in the world, and Congress is about to hand him the legislation to run it. Chapters Intro: 00:00:38 Quick Takes: 00:01:28 Max Notes: 00:10:28 Killer Left Take of the Week: 00:21:28 Chart of the Week: 00:23:05 Outro: 00:24:19 Resources Jimmy Carter Presidential Library: Economic Sanctions of Iran Associated Press: Bush Prods Allies for Tougher Stance on Iran American Rhetoric: Barack Obama - On United Nations Sanctions Against Iran C-SPAN: President Trump announces sanctions on Iranian National Bank Bloomberg Podcasts: US to End Dollar Access to Those Laundering Iran Money Says Bessent The New York Times: Jeffries and Kushner Meet Privately as Midterm Attacks Fly The New York Times: Court Allows Trump to Pursue Mail Voting Limits, for Now Politico: Trump votes by mail again in his home state of Florida Financial Times: Natalie Harp, the devoted ‘human printer’ in Trump’s entourage PBS NewsHour: The potential economic fallout of Trump’s trade war with Canada Charles Booker for U.S. Senate Daily Kos: Sean Duffy afraid Harvard will ‘corrupt’ daughter’s brain Mother Jones: It Just Got Way Easier to Sue Fossil Fuel Companies Over Climate Change Bloomberg: Bessent Becomes Most Interventionist Treasury Chief in Decades Fortune: Scott Bessent is using moves from his hedge fund days to prop up Japan’s yen—and America’s $40 trillion national debt The New York Times: He Helped ‘Break’ the Bank of England. Now He May Run the U.S. Treasury. The Bulwark: How Trump’s Treasury Secretary Crashed His Own Hedge Fund (w/ Marshall Brandt) Bloomberg: Will Bessent’s Old Trump Jokes Make His Treasury Job Tricky? Bloomberg: Bessent Is Stealing a Playbook He Didn’t Even Like AlterNet: Trump Treasury secretary torn apart for leaving out ‘to-do’ list ‘on-purpose’ Reuters: US will do ‘whatever it takes’ to support Japan after yen intervention, Bessent says CNBC: Bessent’s efforts in the Treasury market so far haven’t worked. Here’s what else he can try The Hill: Federal Reserve shifts away from forward guidance under new chief Kevin Warsh Politico: Bessent’s ‘economic D-Day’ against Iran begins with a ‘warning shot’ Straight White American Jesus: Christian Nationalists and Tech Lords: Derek Chauvin Should Go Free & George Floyd Wasn’t Murdered Reuters: Trump’s stablecoin chosen for $2 billion Abu Dhabi investment in Binance, co-founder says CoinGecko: USD1 UNFTR Resources Video: On The Record 08-25-26 (Scott Bessent is a Loser Who Wants to be President.) Essay: President Scott Bessent. -- If you like #UNFTR, please leave us a rating and review on Apple Podcasts and Spotify: unftr.com/rate and follow us on Facebook, Bluesky, and Instagram at @UNFTRpod. Visit us online at unftr.com. Become a member at unftr.com/memberships. Buy yourself some Unf*cking Coffee at shop.unftr.com. Visit our bookshop.org page at bookshop.org/shop/UNFTRpod to find the full UNFTR book list, and find book recommendations from our Unf*ckers at bookshop.org/lists/unf-cker-book-recommendations. Access the UNFTR Musicless feed by following the instructions at unftr.com/accessibilitySupport the show: https://www.unftr.com/membershipsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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  Don’t Tax the Rich. Cut Them Off. 24.08.2026 24мин

  Billionaires are easy to hate. And there are several efforts underway to get them to pay their “fair share.” In this episode, Max argues that focusing on taxing billionaires is the wrong discussion and distracts from attaining the tax policy we truly need. Instead of focusing on the individual billionaires, focus on preventing individuals from becoming billionaires. The real story is corporate taxes. Resources Legal Information Institute: Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 (TCJA) Center on Budget and Policy Priorities: The 2017 Trump Tax Law Was Skewed to the Rich, Expensive, and Failed to Deliver on Its Promises Tax Policy Center: What is the TCJA repatriation tax and how does it work? Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System: U.S. Corporations’ Repatriation of Offshore Profits: Evidence from 2018 The White House: White House Office of Management and Budget’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs Releases End of Year Deregulatory Stats: Showing the Trump Administration Has Best Deregulation Year in History The Washington Times: Impact of Trump’s 646 deregulatory actions diluted by tariffs, executive orders Federal Reserve Bank of New York: Who Is Paying for the 2025 U.S. Tariffs? Elizabeth Warren: Warren Pushes Giant Corporations to Give Billions in Tariff Refunds Back to Consumers npr: Companies are getting tariff refunds of up to $2 billion from the Trump administration CNN: Corporate America got billions of dollars in tariff refunds. Where’s your cut? Congressional Budget Office: Monthly Budget Review: February 2026 Wall Street Journal: Tariff Revenue Exceeded Corporate Taxes as 2025 Ended npr: Proposed California wealth tax sparks debate: Will billionaires leave the state? The New York Times: Founders Wade Into the Wealth Tax Debate Democratic Socialists of America Democracy: A Journal of Ideas: Why Corporations Must Pay More UNFTR Resources Video: Why Taxing Billionaires Won’t Save Us. Essay: Don’t Tax the Rich. Cut Them Off. Episode: Updated Tax Evasion Figures. Video: On The Record 8-17-26 (The AI Bubble is About to Burst | Corporate Control of Trump.) 5 Non-Negotiables -- If you like #UNFTR, please leave us a rating and review on Apple Podcasts and Spotify: unftr.com/rate and follow us on Facebook, Bluesky, and Instagram at @UNFTRpod. Visit us online at unftr.com. Become a member at unftr.com/memberships. Buy yourself some Unf*cking Coffee at shop.unftr.com. Visit our bookshop.org page at bookshop.org/shop/UNFTRpod to find the full UNFTR book list, and find book recommendations from our Unf*ckers at bookshop.org/lists/unf-cker-book-recommendations. Access the UNFTR Musicless feed by following the instructions at unftr.com/accessibilitySupport the show: https://www.unftr.com/membershipsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
• 
  Omnibus (08-22-26). 23.08.2026 1ч 15мин

  Max and 99 are back for another Omnibus. They hit headlines on Tether, the $200 billion crypto company nobody can see inside, and a food safety traceability rule that’s stalled for 15 years. Then they tackle listener emails on Flock cameras doing far more than license plate reading, whether the broligarchy can dump the economic damage on the next Democratic president, and what happens to the dollar if it loses reserve currency status. Enjoy! Chapters Intro: 00:00:19 Headlines: 00:16:07 Emails: 00:36:11 Beyond the Bullshit: 01:10:54 Memberships: 01:13:51 Outro: 01:14:13 Resources Arizona Sky: China Crisis The Guardian: US law to investigate foodborne illness outbreaks has been delayed for 15 years ICIJ: The $200 billion company you can’t look inside Scientific American: Major COVID study that fueled vaccine skepticism retracted over ‘misinformation’ Book Love Michael Grunwald: The New New Deal: The Hidden Story of Change in the Obama Era Michael Grunwald: We Are Eating the Earth: The Race to Fix Our Food System and Save Our Climate -- If you like #UNFTR, please leave us a rating and review on Apple Podcasts and Spotify: unftr.com/rate and follow us on Facebook, Bluesky, and Instagram at @UNFTRpod. Visit us online at unftr.com. Become a member at unftr.com/memberships. Buy yourself some Unf*cking Coffee at shop.unftr.com. Visit our bookshop.org page at bookshop.org/shop/UNFTRpod to find the full UNFTR book list, and find book recommendations from our Unf*ckers at bookshop.org/lists/unf-cker-book-recommendations. Access the UNFTR Musicless feed by following the instructions at unftr.com/accessibilitySupport the show: https://www.unftr.com/membershipsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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  On The Record (08-18-26). 18.08.2026 24мин

  This week we named what’s actually happening to the American economy—Corporate Colonialism, the full realization of the Powell Memo’s 50-year project to hand the keys of democracy to the boardroom—and made the case that the real fight isn’t Trump, it’s the day after Trump. Then we got into the AI financing structures that are starting to look uncomfortably familiar: shell companies, off-balance-sheet guarantees, and phantom liabilities that only become real when everything goes wrong at once. If you get 2007 vibes, you’re paying attention. Chapters Intro: 00:00:38 Housekeeping: 00:01:28 Quick Takes: 00:02:31 Max Notes: 00:06:33 Killer Left Take of the Week: 00:15:17 Chart of the Week: 00:16:57 Outro: 00:22:47 Resources Reuters: US retail sales slump unexpectedly and sharply after a summer tax-refund boost fades AARP: July 2026 Employment Data Digest The Guardian: US navy veterans and military health experts express concern over USS Abraham Lincoln sailors CNBC: AOC says she’s been saving up to freeze her eggs. Here’s how much the procedure can cost npr: ICE plans to outfit officers with electric shock gloves Truthout: Jeffries Says He Opposes Medicare for All — Which Would Save 114k Lives Yearly Great Memos: The Powell Memorandum More Perfect Union: We Tracked the Private Jets Your Insurance Premium Paid For Bloomberg: Bond Traders Are Agonizing Over $70 Billion of Shadow Credit Backstops For AI Companies UNFTR Resources Video: On The Record 08-18-26 (The AI Bubble is About to Burst | Corporate Control of Trump.) Essay: Trump’s Corporate Masters. -- If you like #UNFTR, please leave us a rating and review on Apple Podcasts and Spotify: unftr.com/rate and follow us on Facebook, Bluesky, and Instagram at @UNFTRpod. Visit us online at unftr.com. Become a member at unftr.com/memberships. Buy yourself some Unf*cking Coffee at shop.unftr.com. Visit our bookshop.org page at bookshop.org/shop/UNFTRpod to find the full UNFTR book list, and find book recommendations from our Unf*ckers at bookshop.org/lists/unf-cker-book-recommendations. Access the UNFTR Musicless feed by following the instructions at unftr.com/accessibilitySupport the show: https://www.unftr.com/membershipsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
• 
  Omnibus (08-11-26). 11.08.2026 1ч 36мин

  Max and 99 are back in action, (though IRL, Max is still on vacay!). They hit headlines on MAHA’s fault lines, Flock cameras tracking cars, the world’s most prolific Wikipedia editor, and OpenAI flying influencers to a luxury nature retreat. Then they tackle listener emails on the difference between socialism/communism/and fascism, and an Elon musk sycophant. Enjoy! Chapters Intro: 00:00:33 Headlines: 00:18:18 Emails: 01:07:48 Feature: 01:26:43 Memberships: 01:35:32 Outro: 01:36:30 Resources Mark Curry: Sorry About The Weather The Independent: Women’s historic pro baseball game anthem goes viral for all the wrong reasons The Baffler: Overmedicalization and Its Discontents Business Insider: Flock cameras are everywhere. Here’s how they track cars. 404 Media: Cops Used Flock to Track a Man Across State Lines to Create Pretext to Search His Car for Weed 404 Media: LAPD Regularly Pulled Over Innocent People Because License Plate Readers Flagged Their Cars As Stolen 404 Media: Cops Keep Getting Arrested for Using Flock to Stalk People 404 Media: Wildlife Conservation Police Are Searching Thousands of Flock Cameras for ICE 404 Media: Cop Used Flock to Wrongfully Accuse a Woman Then Refused to Look at Evidence That Exonerated Her, Body Camera Shows 404 Media: Cops Used Flock to Monitor No Kings Protests Around the Country New Yorker: The Accidental Architect of the Internet’s Brain Fast Company: Influencers are being dragged for indulging in a luxury New York nature retreat on OpenAI’s dime The Wall Street Journal: Google Was a Lifeline for Publishers. Now Some Are Thinking of Cutting It Off. Social Media Today: Meta still has widest social media reach Inc.: 55 Percent of Leaders Regret AI Layoffs—and a Major Hiring Reversal Has Begun Book Love Cory Doctorow: Enshittification: Why Everything Suddenly Got Worse and What to Do About It -- If you like #UNFTR, please leave us a rating and review on Apple Podcasts and Spotify: unftr.com/rate and follow us on Facebook, Bluesky, and Instagram at @UNFTRpod. Visit us online at unftr.com. Become a member at unftr.com/memberships. Buy yourself some Unf*cking Coffee at shop.unftr.com. Visit our bookshop.org page at bookshop.org/shop/UNFTRpod to find the full UNFTR book list, and find book recommendations from our Unf*ckers at bookshop.org/lists/unf-cker-book-recommendations. Access the UNFTR Musicless feed by following the instructions at unftr.com/accessibilitySupport the show: https://www.unftr.com/membershipsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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  The Great Unwind. 07.08.2026 18мин

  The AI trade might have found its canary in the coal mine. Leopold Aschenbrenner—a 25-year-old former OpenAI researcher built Situational Awareness into one of the hottest funds on Wall Street by betting long on the construction and infrastructure side of AI (Micron, CoreWeave) and short on the chips and software everyone else was chasing (Nvidia, Broadcom, Oracle). Then July happened, prime brokers made margin calls, and his entire public stock book got liquidated overnight in a single block trade. This episode uses that blowup as the lens for a much bigger story: how a three-quarters-of-a-trillion-dollar hyperscaler spending pledge is propping up U.S. GDP growth, why OpenAI just quietly cut prices as “tokenmaxxing” dies and Chinese labs undercut on cost, why Mark Zuckerberg picked a fight with OpenAI and Anthropic, how overleveraged Oracle has become, how the most profitable companies in the world are posting negative free cash flow, why hyperscaler bonds are going undersubscribed, and why the length of this year’s tech bond issuance is starting to crowd out the rest of the corporate debt market. It closes with the 2008 parallel: mortgage-backed securities stacked into CDOs stacked into synthetic swaps, and how today’s version runs through corporate bonds, CLOs, hedge fund leverage, and private credit—with Treasuries as the eventual exit ramp when the unwind accelerates. Resources Analysis Atlas: Hyperscaler AI Capex 2026: The $710 Billion Year Inside the Four Spenders J.P. Morgan Asset Management: How AI demand and capex shape investing in tech stocks New York Times: U.S. Economy Slows as Inflation Bites U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA): GDP (Advance Estimate), 2nd Quarter 2026 CNBC: OpenAI cuts prices for two of its GPT-5.6 AI models as companies grow sensitive to costs Business Insider: The All-You-Can-Eat AI Era Is Over. It’s Time to Count Calories CNBC: Chinese AI models are gaining ground with U.S. companies as OpenAI, Anthropic costs surge The New York Times: Even China’s A.I. Powerhouses Can’t Figure Out How to Profit Off A.I. CNBC: Meta’s flurry of AI initiatives this month hasn’t helped lift the stock. What will? The Hill: Zuckerberg knocks AI development centralization, control Buttondown: D.A.D.: Zuckerberg Blasts Anthropic and OpenAI for “Centralizing” AI Power Reuters: AI investment boom puts Big Tech’s free cash flow under pressure CNBC: Bets against SpaceX grow to 32% of float as Elon Musk warns short sellers won’t survive Yahoo! Finance: NVIDIA’s rising CDS the talk of Wall Street amid circular financing fears Bloomberg: Big Tech Debt Flood Is Taking Over Risk In Market: Credit Weekly CNBC: Fed meeting recap: Warsh says Fed won’t hesitate to stop inflation, but bond market has doubts CNN: AI investor Leopold Aschenbrenner forced to unwind all public stock positions after steep losses, sources say Yahoo! Finance: Hyperscalers Hit $700 Billion in 2026 AI Spending Plans - 24/7 Wall St. Global Finance Magazine: AI’s Financial Circle Game Reuters: Hyperscaler debt binge pushes yields up as investor demand cools UNFTR Resources Video: Situational Awareness: How a 25-Year-Old's Hedge Fund Exposed the Entire AI Bubble. Essay: The Great Unwind. -- If you like #UNFTR, please leave us a rating and review on Apple Podcasts and Spotify: unftr.com/rate and follow us on Facebook, Bluesky, and Instagram at @UNFTRpod. Visit us online at unftr.com. Become a member at unftr.com/memberships. Buy yourself some Unf*cking Coffee at shop.unftr.com. Visit our bookshop.org page at bookshop.org/shop/UNFTRpod to find the full UNFTR book list, and find book recommendations from our Unf*ckers at bookshop.org/lists/unf-cker-book-recommendations. Access the UNFTR Musicless feed by following the instructions at unftr.com/accessibility.Support the show: https://www.unftr.com/membershipsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
• 
  Slow Moving Disasters: Climate Change, Artificial Intelligence and The Democratic Party. 04.08.2026 19мин

  This is one of those, get it off the chest episodes. A straightforward conversation about three slow moving disasters that threaten our way of life. Climate change, artificial intelligence and the Democratic Party. Obviously, that last one requires a bit of an explanation. This is that explanation. Resources United States Courts: Bankruptcies Rise 12.2 Percent Book Love Abdul El-Sayed + Micah Johnson: Medicare for All: A Citizen's Guide UNFTR Resources Video: Climate Change, AI and The DNC | Man-Made Disasters. Essay: Slow Moving Disasters. Episode: Climate Action. Episode: The Montreal Protocol. Progressive Spotlight: Abdul El-Sayed. Episode: Medicare for All. Series: The Clinton Years. -- If you like #UNFTR, please leave us a rating and review on Apple Podcasts and Spotify: unftr.com/rate and follow us on Facebook, Bluesky, and Instagram at @UNFTRpod. Visit us online at unftr.com. Become a member at unftr.com/memberships. Buy yourself some Unf*cking Coffee at shop.unftr.com. Visit our bookshop.org page at bookshop.org/shop/UNFTRpod to find the full UNFTR book list, and find book recommendations from our Unf*ckers at bookshop.org/lists/unf-cker-book-recommendations. Access the UNFTR Musicless feed by following the instructions at unftr.com/accessibility.Support the show: https://www.unftr.com/membershipsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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  On The Record (08-04-26). 04.08.2026 32мин

  This week we went deep on debt—all $72 trillion of it—and made the case that the bond market is the real economy, that the Fed has already lost control of the entire curve, and that when the AI trade unwinds, the flood into Treasuries won’t save anyone the way the textbook says it should. Then we watched Japan demonstrate in real time what happens when you don’t have the exorbitant privilege of issuing the world’s reserve currency. A 40-year low for the yen, Japan spending $87 billion in two days trying to hold it together, and the U.S. quietly intervening not out of friendship, but because Japan’s dumping Treasuries would torch our bond market at the worst possible moment. Chapters Intro: 00:00:38 Quick Takes: 00:01:33 Max Notes: 00:07:34 Killer Left Take of the Week: 00:24:44 Chart of the Week: 00:27:02 Headlines: 00:30:56 Outro: 00:32:23 Resources Fox News: Carville vows to FLEE Dem Party over Hasan Piker: ‘Out of here’ Forbes Breaking News: Trump Gives Update On Talks With Iran Forbes Breaking News: Sparks Fly When RFK Jr. Is Pressed On Vaccines, Pandemic Prevention During CNN Interview NBC News: Trump: Jeanine Pirro ‘made a mistake’ dropping Reflecting Pool vandalism case The Thomas Crown Affair CNBC: AI investor Leopold Aschenbrenner forced to unwind all public stock positions after steep losses, sources say Federal Reserve Bank of New York: Household Debt and Credit Report (Q1 2026) Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System: Financial Accounts of the United States - Z.1 FiscalData: What is the national debt? SIFMA: US Treasury Securities Statistics Fortune: U.S. national debt officially hits $39 trillion—adding approximately $5 billion a day since October Nippon: Japan Govt Worsens Debt-to-GDP Ratio Estimate for FY 2026 Financial Stability Board: Report on Vulnerabilities in Private Credit Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System: Implementation Note issued June 17, 2026 U.S. Department of the Treasury: Daily Treasury Rates TFTC: Treasury Sells $139B in Polar-Opposite Auctions: 2Y Soars, 5Y Craters MS Now: ‘Don’t be surprised when this gets kind of ugly’: El-Sayed on hotly contested MI Senate primary Bloomberg Television: Trump Revives Hopes for Iran Deal, Oil Sinks | Insight with Haslinda Amin 8/03/2026 Bloomberg: Why Japan Is Propping Up the Yen With US Help Bloomberg: BOJ Data Point to $34 Billion Japan FX Intervention Friday MacroMicro: World - Major Economies’ Holdings of US Debt The Japan Times: Yen carry trade is a ‘ticking time bomb,’ warns BCA research Forever Wars: The Markets Matter For War—You Don’t The American Prospect: The AI Bailout Could Be Baked Into the AI Bubble Jacobin: Centrist Democrats Keep Making Awful Health Reform Proposals UNFTR Resources Video: On The Record 08-04-26 (The Yen Bailout, RFK Jr. Fail, and the $72 Trillion Debt.) Essay: The $72 Trillion Debt Problem. Video: Situational Awareness: How a 25-Year-Old’s Hedge Fund Exposed the Entire AI Bubble. -- If you like #UNFTR, please leave us a rating and review on Apple Podcasts and Spotify: unftr.com/rate and follow us on Facebook, Bluesky, and Instagram at @UNFTRpod. Visit us online at unftr.com. Become a member at unftr.com/memberships. Buy yourself some Unf*cking Coffee at shop.unftr.com. Visit our bookshop.org page at bookshop.org/shop/UNFTRpod to find the full UNFTR book list, and find book recommendations from our Unf*ckers at bookshop.org/lists/unf-cker-book-recommendations. Access the UNFTR Musicless feed by following the instructions at unftr.com/accessibilitySupport the show: https://www.unftr.com/membershipsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
• 
  Omnibus (08-03-26). 03.08.2026 1ч 15мин

  Max and 99 are back again! They dive into headlines on school choice draining public education, a for-profit hospital disaster, young adults moving back home in record numbers, and nonprofits positioning themselves for the IPO windfall. Then they tackle listener emails on teaching the New Deal, the royal “we” of collective blame, and how not to hate Republicans. Enjoy! Chapters Intro: 00:00:31 Headlines: 00:05:14 Emails: 00:46:02 Beyond the Bullshit: 01:13:07 Memberships: 01:15:02 Outro: 01:15:14 Resources Robyn Hitchcock & The Egyptians: Balloon Man The Progressive: ‘School Choice’ Does Not Provide Better Education for All Families Mother Jones: A For-Profit Hospital Slashed Costs. Then a Patient Froze to Death on Its Roof. New Yorker: The Kids Are Kind of All Right Wired: Silicon Valley’s Next IPO Billionaires Are Coming. Nonprofits Are Ready for Them UNFTR Resources Series: Education. Video: Climate Change, AI and The DNC | Man-Made Disasters. Read: How Private Equity Is Hollowing Out America’s Hospitals Series: The Clinton Years. -- If you like #UNFTR, please leave us a rating and review on Apple Podcasts and Spotify: unftr.com/rate and follow us on Facebook, Bluesky, and Instagram at @UNFTRpod. Visit us online at unftr.com. Become a member at unftr.com/memberships. Buy yourself some Unf*cking Coffee at shop.unftr.com. Visit our bookshop.org page at bookshop.org/shop/UNFTRpod to find the full UNFTR book list, and find book recommendations from our Unf*ckers at bookshop.org/lists/unf-cker-book-recommendations. Access the UNFTR Musicless feed by following the instructions at unftr.com/accessibilitySupport the show: https://www.unftr.com/membershipsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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  On The Record (07-28-26). 29.07.2026 35мин

  This week we dug into the Maduro kidnapping as the entry point for something much bigger—the Cold War racism and corporate vengeance that has driven U.S. Policy toward Venezuela for decades, why there has never actually been a socialist government anywhere on earth, and why the American left needs to get its definitions straight before the right keeps winning that argument by default. Then we checked back in on AI concentration risk, where the hyperscalers are now issuing long-dated debt at spreads approaching junk bond territory, which tells you what the market actually thinks about pinning the entire economy on a technology nobody has fully defined yet. Chapters Intro: 00:00:38 Quick Takes: 00:01:49 Max Notes: 00:09:36 Killer Left Take of the Week: 00:28:31 Chart of the Week: 00:31:25 Headlines: 00:33:28 Resources The Economist: An interview with Elon Musk The Economist: Elon Musk on AI: humans will no longer be in control in ten years LastWeekTonight: Trump & Crypto Molly White Diario AS: Trump’s Top 10 Jokes at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner CNBC Television: ‘Big Short’ investor Steve Eisman: Market will have ‘a big correction’ if AI doesn’t succeed Amnesty International: Facts and figures: Regularization and protection of Venezuelan nationals in Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Chile Migration Policy Institute: Venezuelan Immigrants in the United States USA Today: Harris’ border work was on ‘root causes’ of migration; she wasn’t in charge | Fact check GDN Online: Venezuela to sell up to 10% of shares in some state companies - Maduro Reuters: Exxon awarded $908 million in Venezuela dispute The New York Times: How Marco Rubio Is Running Venezuela From Afar The Real News Network: US provides $300 million in earthquake recovery money to Venezuela while sitting on $8 billion in stolen oil wealth The New York Times: With $8 Billion in Venezuelan Oil Money, U.S. Gives $300 Million in Quake Aid Euro News: Venezuela calls for release of frozen assets to help earthquake recovery efforts Current Affairs: Socialists Humiliate Clueless NewsNation Host Bloomberg: Big Tech Debt Flood Is Taking Over Risk In Market: Credit Weekly Jacobin: The Cockroach Protests Are Reviving India’s Ailing Democracy The Progressive: Heat Waves Show Climate Change Is Here Truthdig: The Monty Python Election: Binface vs. Mr. Brexit Book Love Anderson M Bean: Venezuela in Crisis: Socialist Perspectives UNFTR Resources Video: On The Record 7-28-26 (Crushing Venezuela | Trump Bombs | Elon Blows | Socialism.) Essay: Socialism. -- If you like #UNFTR, please leave us a rating and review on Apple Podcasts and Spotify: unftr.com/rate and follow us on Facebook, Bluesky, and Instagram at @UNFTRpod. Visit us online at unftr.com. Become a member at unftr.com/memberships. Buy yourself some Unf*cking Coffee at shop.unftr.com. Visit our bookshop.org page at bookshop.org/shop/UNFTRpod to find the full UNFTR book list, and find book recommendations from our Unf*ckers at bookshop.org/lists/unf-cker-book-recommendations. Access the UNFTR Musicless feed by following the instructions at unftr.com/accessibilitySupport the show: https://www.unftr.com/membershipsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.