So That Happened

The government is on the verge of another shutdown, which is lots of fun for people who like political drama but less so for people who work in government, benefit from government services and think that Congress should be able to do its job. Then we travel to south america: Nicholas Casey from the NYT is here to tell us what the hunt for Venezuela’s most wanted man tells us about the political and economic crisis in the country. And the White House was employing a dude who couldn't get a full security clearance because he allegedly abused women, but the president is still there. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Republicans are helping President Donald Trump undermine an investigation into his campaign's collusion with the Russian government, revealing that Trump is now in full control of the GOP. Trump delivered his first State of the Union address, but I had a hard time hearing it because my dog kept barking at the TV for some reason. And you might have seen news stories about people getting thousand dollar bonuses because of the new tax law. These stories have been very misleading, and we can explain why. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The government's open, but where do we go from here? Democrats want legal status for 700,000 Dreamers, and they'll ultimately need President Donald Trump to make it happen. We talked to Michael Steel, a former aide to House Speaker John Boehner. American infrastructure is a mess, and in Orlando, it's hurting poor people of color. HuffPost's Julia Craven looked at the effect of unchecked highway construction on one neighborhood. And there have been major gerrymandering developments in Pennsylvania and voting rights developments in Florida. HuffPost's voting rights reporter Sam Levine will catch you up. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this special dispatch, So That Happened takes a look at the Schumer Shutdown. Or was it the Trump shutdown? Did Dems cave? Or was this the best they could have hoped for? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The government might shut down this week and this is the ONLY podcast that can tell you HOW, WHY and also WHO to blame. We interviewed Congressman Ted Yoho, a conservative House Republican who definitely blames the Democrats. Republicans in Congress say text messages between two FBI agents have totally compromised the special investigation into Trump's campaign. What's more likely is that Republicans compromised the agents' marriages by exposing the affair they were having. And this week, the question of Trump's mental and physical stability reached its savage climax. Is the president crazy? We're the ONLY podcast that has the answer. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The government might shut down next week partly because Donald Trump refuses to help Dreamers without getting his wall or other policy changes -- Elise Foley reports from the Capitol. The Trump administration wants work requirements for medicaid, so we talked to health policy reporter Jonathan Cohn about dog whistles. The federal government stood aside as states legalized marijuana under the Obama administration, but Attorney General Jeff Sessions is changing THAT. Nick Wing explains how the Justice Department is re-asserting its authority on weed. And Jessica Schulberg reports that some clever lawyers are using Donald Trump's foolish statements to try to spring people from GITMO. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, America gained new insight into the fraught relationship between Donald Trump and his erstwhile white house strategist, Steve Bannon. It's like a Shakespearean drama, but just the parts where people insult and stab each other. SV Date joins to discuss. Then, Huffpost's Luke O'brien breaks down his reporting on Andrew Anglin, one of the principal propagandists of the alt-right neo-nazi white-nationalist whatever-you-want-to-call-it movement. It's a story that sheds light on extremism in america, and it provoked an angry and very personal backlash. Finally, Trump stepped up his long-established habit of tweeting ill-advised threats at nuclear-powered foreign leaders. Mike Fuchs from the Center for American Progress tells us whether it's time to start stocking up on canned food and hazmat suits. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Tax reform is a big deal, but Donald Trump's reshaping of the judicial branch of government might be his biggest achievement of 2017. Republicans say the estate tax hurts farms and small businesses and that Congresswoman Kristi Noem's story shows it -- but it doesn't, and I'll explain why. And if you like Bitcoin, well you're not gonna like our third segment. Unless Bitcoin has already crashed by the time you hear it. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Republicans Pass Sweeping Tax Plan, Still Working On Basic Governance This week, Republicans succeeded in passing their tax bill. So what did Arthur have for lunch? Republicans won on taxes, but are looking shaky on children's health insurance, keeping the government open, and saving Dreamers from deportation. We talked to Adrian Reyna, a Dreamer who's been lobbying Congress about what might happen. And Zach Carter has a surprising amount of things to say about A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. Season's greetings! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

There are whispers that Paul Ryan might resign -- we asked Matt Fuller why and when this could happen and who could be the next speaker. Accused child molester Roy Moore lost the Alabama Senate race this week. Jen Bendery tells us what she learned when she went there to talk to voters. And the government could be about to crack down on a popular herbal supplement, even though some people are using it to cope with opioid addition. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Al Franken is resigning, which we boldly predicted would happen! But what does it mean for partisan politics? The Supreme Court took up the Masterpiece Cake Shop case. Sam Baker from Axios tells us about the oral arguments. And Donald Trump declared that Jerusalem is the capital of Israel -- why the hell did he do that? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, the U.S. Senate stumbled forward on tax reform with a government shutdown looming around the corner. North Korea launched a missile that could theoretically reach Washington. We talked to Mike Fuchs, a foreign policy expert with the Center for American Progress, about whether we're all going to die. And men continued to be bad. Why are bad men being thrown out of their media jobs, but not their political ones? Marina Fang explains. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Donald Trump pardoned some turkeys and endorsed Roy Moore. Then: long ago, legendary British economist John Maynard Keynes predicted that in the future, we would only work 15 hours a week. What happened to that? Former co-host and Keynes expert Zach Carter joins to discuss. Finally, what DOES one have to do to get hounded out of Washington in disgrace? According to Huffpost's Eliot Nelson, quite a lot. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Republicans are really moving their tax reform legislation -- does it have a chance of becoming law? We'll hear from Huffpost reporters Elise Foley, Arthur Delaney and SV Date. This week, men continued to be disgusting, especially a Republican Senate candidate in Alabama. Marina Fang and Jen Bendery help answer whether this is the beginning of the end of men. And there's going to be a new chairman of the Federal Reserve, which could dramatically affect your life -- Zach Carter and Daniel Marans explain. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Democrats crushed Republicans in off-year elections on Tuesday, delivering a resounding rebuke to President Donald Trump. Daniel Marans and Elise Foley join the show to talk about whether this is the beginning of the end of Trumpism. The crown prince of Saudi Arabia rounded up his political opponents -- Akbar Ahmed and Jessica Schulberg explain what it means for regional stability and what Jared Kushner might have had to do with it. And the latest mass shooting gave way to the latest frenzy of conspiracy theories -- Dana Liebelson and Paul Blumenthal break down the lies. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Republicans say their tax reform plan will massively benefit the middle class, but the most direct beneficiaries of their plan are corporations and wealthy individuals. The plan includes an expanded child tax credit, but the biggest changes to the credit actually benefit people with six figure incomes. Low-income tax payers get nothing. Also on the show this week: what comes next in a special prosecutor's probe of the Trump campaign -- maybe some obstruction of justice? And while most people aren't paying attention, Senate Republicans and the Trump administration are swiftly remaking the federal judiciary. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Two Senate Republicans denounced their party's leader this week, accusing President Donald Trump of "debasing" the United States and betraying its values. That doesn't mean the Republican agenda isn't going strong. The same day Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) denounced Trump on the Senate floor, he joined his Republican colleagues in overturning a new regulation that made it easier for consumers to join class action lawsuits over bank ripoffs. "Even the visual of it was plutocracy," Alexis Goldstein of Americans for Financial Reform told So That Happened. "Ben Sasse and Tom Cotton were actually dressed in tuxedos while the vote was going down." Former Rep. Reid Ribble (R-Wis.), who harshly criticized Trump all the way back in 2015, noted on the podcast that Republicans still agree with the president on policy. Ribble specifically cited Republican votes in favor of a tax overhaul that would add more than $1 trillion to the deficit. "When you look at the policy that Sen. Flake and Sen. [Bob] Corker are voting for, they're mostly in alignment with where the president is, but they feel that his rhetoric has gotten so divisive that they can't move forward with their agenda," Ribble said. "That's a tragedy." Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

During the campaign Donald Trump ridiculed Sen. John McCain for having been a prisoner of war in Vietnam and said he knew more than the generals about fighting terrorists. This week, he told a soldier's widow that her late husband, who'd been killed by ISIS militants, "knew what he was getting into." Trump hasn't shown a lot of respect for the military, and yet as President, he has surrounded himself with generals. It's all part of a pattern, says Richard Allen Smith, a former Army sergeant and Afghanistan war veteran. Trump views the military as something prestigious that he can co-opt. "It all comes back to submission," he says. "He wants everything and everyone to be under the purview of Trump." "Donald Trump doesn't consider himself a president the way we traditionally think about it... the way I think him and and his family consider the presidency is that this was a corporate takeover by the Trump Organization of the government of the United States." Also on the podcast: HuffPost reporters Igor Bobic and Jen Bendery explain what Congress is doing vis a vis Puerto Rico, while Jeffrey Young and Daniel Marans explain what's happening with Obamacare. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

President Donald Trump has been unhappy lately, according to his own tweets and reports that he "hates everyone in the White House" and is often "consumed by dark moods." HuffPost reporters S.V. Date and Jessica Schulberg join the show to talk about how Trump's whims could affect foreign policy -- especially the Iran deal he might undo. Facebook has gotten so powerful it could wind up getting regulated by the government, HuffPost's Paul Blumenthal reports in a segment with Julia Craven. And just what on earth was Trump talking about when he said the stock market is somehow reducing the debt? S.V. Date and Arthur Delaney try to figure it out. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson called a press conference this week to insist that he believes President Donald Trump is "smart," because it had come out that Tillerson once called Trump a "moron."Tillerson's presser appeared to be the latest in a series of attempts by senior White House officials to assuage the feelings of the president, a man who insists that his cabinet secretaries praise him. Reporters Jessica Schulberg and S.V. Date assess how much of his own dignity Tillerson shredded.Then: reporters Julia Craven and Nick Wing discuss the political fallout of the Las Vegas massacre, and S.V. Date disagrees with host Arthur Delaney's contention that Republicans won't pass tax reform. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.