Unf*cking The Republic

It’s week two of the Spring Fund, Friend and Hell Raiser (become a yearly member by 4/30/26 and get an exclusive UNFTR hat)! Max and 99 dive into the Iran crisis, breaking down the impossible logistics of war and the absurdity of competing peace plans. They hit headlines on the MAHA pipeline, record military spending, and crypto-backed mortgages, tackle listener emails on rallies and wealth concentration, then rank their Top 5 podcasts that radicalized them. Enjoy! Chapters Intro: 00:00:08 Headlines: 00:21:32 Emails: 00:47:24 Top 5: 01:13:17 Beyond the Bullshit: 01:24:12 Memberships: 01:35:38 Outro: 01:37:12 Resources Polygraph: Trump proposes largest military budget ever The Kinks: Apeman New York Times: You Might Have Already Fallen for MAHA’s Conspiracy Theories The New Yorker: Sam Altman May Control Our Future—Can He Be Trusted? Wall Street Journal: The Decadelong Feud Shaping the Future of AI New York Times: My Quest to Solve Bitcoin’s Great Mystery CNBC: Fannie Mae accepts first crypto-backed mortgage product Mon Rovîa: Heavy Foot UNFTR Resources Episode: Housing in America. Become a Member. UNFTR’s 5 Non-Negotiables. Book Love Abdul El-Sayed + Micah Johnson: Medicare for All: A Citizen’s Guide Top 5 Conspirituality The Dream Last Podcast on the Left American Scandal Best of the Left Media Roots Chapo Trap House Economic Update with Richard D. Wolff Intercepted -- 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/memberships See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Leaders far smarter and more capable than Donald Trump and Pete Hegseth have started foreign wars that turned to quagmires. So in this regard they are not special. What’s different this time around is that incompetence prevails in every corner of this administration and the economic levers that are usually pulled to mitigate the domestic economic impact are no longer available to us. In every way, this administration is wholly unfit to lead the nation and certainly incapable of prosecuting a war. Resources The Chris Hedges Report: Will There be a Ground Invasion of Iran? (w/ Col. Larry Wilkerson) UNFTR Resources Become a Member. UNFTR’s 5 Non-Negotiables. Video: Pete Hegseth and Donald Trump Are Not Ready for War Essay: Trump and Hegseth. -- 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/memberships See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The No Kings rallies fanned out across the United States in protest of Donald Trump’s increasingly dangerous, erratic and autocratic regime. Cuba remains in darkness, the war in Iran has already turned into a quagmire, the economy is cratering and Americans are feeling powerless in the face of Trump’s rule. In this episode Max ruminates on the liberation of “America” from a different era as told by the life and times of Simon Bolívar, one of the great military commanders and political leaders of the post-Enlightenment era. His was truly a revolution of “no kings.” In Bolívar’s approach we can learn about combating despotism. UNFTR Resources Become a Member. UNFTR’s 5 Non-Negotiables. Video: Trump will leave | It's Trumpism we're now fighting Essay: No King. Book Love Marie Arana: Bolívar: American Liberator -- 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/memberships See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Max and 99 are back from vacation and kicking off their Spring Fund, Friend and Hell Raiser. They hit headlines on Olympic testing, Israel's Lebanon plans, and ChatGPT in cars, then tackle listener emails on U.S. solvency narratives and economic warning signs. They rank their Top 5 local issues, and they close with some lighthearted beyond the bullshit. Chapters Intro: 00:00:08 Housekeeping: 00:04:06 Headlines: 00:13:03 Emails: 00:28:23 Top 5: 00:49:28 Beyond the Bullshit: 01:14:07 Memberships: 01:21:00 Outro: 01:21:38 Resources Become a Member. UNFTR’s 5 Non-Negotiables. Mother Jones: The Ugly History Behind the Olympics’ New Gender Test CFR: Israel Announces Plan to Occupy Southern Lebanon 9To5Mac: ChatGPT app launches for CarPlay on iOS 26.4 Bloomberg: Virgin Galactic Is Booking Space Trips at $750,000 Apiece Yahoo Finance: The Treasury just declared the U.S. insolvent. The media missed it David Korowicz: Trade Off: Financial system supply-chain cross contagion: a study in global systemic collapse -- 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/memberships See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The United States is in a full-blown housing crisis — and Congress just passed the most significant bipartisan housing legislation in a generation: The 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act cleared the Senate 89-10, co-sponsored by Elizabeth Warren and Tim Scott. So why won’t it fix the problem? In this episode, we break down exactly what the bill does, what it deliberately leaves out, and why the structural forces driving housing unaffordability in America—rising mortgage rates, institutional investors, zoning failures, generational wealth inequality, and decades of racial exclusion—are largely untouched by any legislation currently on the table. From the redlining of Levittown and Stuyvesant Town to the 2008 financial crisis and the asset inflation chasm it created, we trace how homeownership became both the engine of the American Dream and the mechanism of its denial. We also look at what actually works, like how Vienna’s social housing model has kept half a city affordably housed for over a century, and ask the question no one in Washington wants to answer: short of a depression, what does it actually take to make housing affordable again? Resources National Mortgage Professional: What’s The Rookie Home Buying Age? Not 40, New Analysis Shows HUD: The 2024 Annual Homelessness Assessment Report (AHAR) to Congress National Low Income Housing Coalition Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies: The State of the Nation's Housing 2025 Congress: H.R.6644 - 119th Congress (2025-2026): 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act The White House: Stopping Wall Street from Competing with Main Street Homebuyers U.S. Census Bureau: Housing Vacancies and Homeownership (HVS) Q4 2025 Enterprise Community Partners: Four Key Findings from the 2025 State of the Nation's Housing Report National Low Income Housing Coalition: The Gap: A Shortage of Affordable Homes 2025 U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development: FHA Loan Production Report June 2025 Bipartisan Policy Center: What's in the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act NPR: Senate Passes Bipartisan Housing Bill Targeting Large Investors National Mortgage Professional: What's the Rookie Home Buying Age? Not 40, New Analysis Shows National Association of Realtors: 2024 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers Gravel Institute: How Socialists Solved the Housing Crisis Book Love Richard Rothstein: The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America Mehrsa Baradaran: The Color of Money: Black Banks and the Racial Wealth Gap UNFTR Resources Episode: The Economics of Racism. Video: The Economics of Racism. Episode: Housing in America. Video: Congress Just Passed a Housing Bill That Changes Nothing. -- 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/memberships See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Why the Democratic Party’s promise of “restoration” misses the mark; how decades of economic crises reshaped American politics, and why returning to center means chasing a target that keeps moving right. One side built a durable monument to white nationalist capitalism while the other became its world-class pit crew. The fight isn’t about competence or committee chairs. It’s about whether Democrats can offer an actual vision for the future instead of just patching up the damage Republicans leave behind. Book Love Kurt Andersen: Evil Geniuses: The Unmaking of America: A Recent History Jane Mayer: Dark Money: The Hidden History of the Billionaires Behind the Rise of the Radical Right Chris Hedges: Death of the Liberal Class Naomi Klein: The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism Mehrsa Baradaran: The Quiet Coup: Neoliberalism and the Looting of America Jeff Sharlet: The Family: The Secret Fundamentalism at the Heart of American Power Nancy MacLean: Democracy in Chains: The Deep History of the Radical Right’s Stealth Plan for America Michelle Alexander: The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness Professor Thomas Piketty: Capital in the Twenty-First Century Karl Marx: Capital: A Critique of Political Economy, Volume 1 UNFTR Resources Video: Democrats are FAILING | Losing the Iran War | Hasan Piker Rules Essay: Why I’m So Mad at the Democratic Party. -- 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/memberships See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Max and 99 are running hot this week. They break down catastrophic inflation data and what it means for stagflation ahead, hit headlines on animal welfare legislation and foreign policy chaos, and tackle listener emails on Democratic failures and economic warning signs. Off-topic covers toxic RFK Jr. and standout character actors. They rank their Top 5 comfort movies and close with spring training optimism. Enjoy! Chapters Intro: 00:00:08 Headlines: 00:06:12 Emails: 00:19:17 Top 5: 00:36:22 Beyond the Bullshit: 00:53:23 Outro: 00:59:24 Resources 99’s Hat ASPCA: Farm Bill Moves Forward with Mixed Results for Animals Animal Legal Defense Fund: Petition: Stop Horses from Suffering for NYC’s Carriage Industry Forever Wars: None of These People I Insulted Want To Die For Me in The Strait of Hormuz? The Independent: Chelsea Handler claims she bought ‘the most toxic’ $6 million house from RFK Jr and Cheryl Hines The Ringer: ‘The Pitt,’ as Told by Its Patients: If you think it’s hectic to watch, just imagine what it’s like to be on the operating table UNFTR Resources Video: Iran War, Energy Spike, and the Inflation Perfect Storm Episode: The Art of Trumpflation. Video: On The Record 3-16-26 (Democrats are FAILING | Losing the Iran War | Hasan Piker Rules). -- 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/memberships See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The February Producer Price Index (PPI) data release came in way hotter than expected, exceeding consensus expectations by nearly double. This is on top of an already hot January report, which signifies that goods and services inflation in the pipeline is very much a trend and not an isolated event. PPI typically foreshadows consumer inflation—where the public really begins to feel the pain—by about two to three months. And these numbers don’t include the impact of the war in Iran and the unbelievable spike in energy costs. Today we break down the nature of inflation shocks, why this differs from the dual oil shocks of the 1970s, but how it has already produced the same stagflationary result. Resources U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: Producer Price Index News Release summary Trading Economics: United States Producer Price Inflation MoM Wolf Street: Core PCE Inflation Hits 3.1%, Worst in 2 Years, in Unique Twist Blows way past CPI Inflation. Driven by Core Services Morningstar: Inflation Set to Rise in 2026 as Tariff Costs Hit Consumers KPMG: Headline masks lingering inflation CNBC: $100 oil? Prolonged Hormuz closure could spark a 1970s-style energy shock Yahoo Finance: Oil at the Edge: Markets brace for the largest supply shock in decades: Oil & Gas 360 Investopedia: Understanding Hubbert's Peak Theory and Global Oil Production Bloomberg Law: Morgan Stanley Sees Private Credit Default Rates Reaching 8% (2) Business Insider: Morgan Stanley says AI disruption of software will send private credit defaults surging UNFTR Resources Video: Iran War, Energy Spike, and the Inflation Perfect Storm -- 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/memberships See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Max and 99 kick things off revisiting old predictions and check how they're holding up. They hit the headlines: billionaires breaking records, geopolitical conflict threatening economic stability, and monopoly concerns in the music industry. Listener emails cover politics, financial industry backdoors, and navigating complicity. They rank their Top 5 historical figures to reclaim, do some movie talk, and member shoutouts round it out. Enjoy! Chapters Intro: 00:00:18 Housekeeping: 00:00:34 Headlines: 00:21:13 Emails: 00:48:54 Top 5: 01:00:23 Beyond the Bullshit: 01:19:35 Outro: 01:43:27 Resources Acquired: Epic Systems (MyChart) Bloomberg: Europe Rushes to Contain Price Fallout From War in Middle East Foreign Policy: The Iran War Is Jeopardizing the Entire Global Economy Forbes: World’s Billionaires List The Cut: ‘My Friends Live in a Bubble. Should I Dump Them?’ NPR: Live Nation and Justice Department reach settlement in antitrust case Reuters: Judge tells Live Nation, state AGs to negotiate potential deal Straight White American Jesus Podcast John Fugelsang: Separation of Church and Hate: A Sane Person's Guide to Taking Back the Bible from Fundamentalists Margin Call Inside Job Forbes: AI Minted More Than 50 New Billionaires In 2025 Matt Taibbi: Griftopia: A Story of Bankers, Politicians, and the Most Audacious Power Grab in American History Kanopy UNFTR Resources The End of the American Experiment. The Clinton Series. Phone A Friend: Zohran Mamdani. -- 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/memberships See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Not a soul on this planet knows what comes next in the war theater. Because that’s war. But we can anticipate what comes next for the U.S. and global economy, or at least game out certain scenarios. This isn’t just another discretionary “police action” on the other side of the world or a simple regime change. This war is wired directly into the global energy, food, and financial systems. But a proper analysis must acknowledge how the circumstances of the U.S. economy and our monetary and fiscal policies have changed. There is no direct antecedent to the situation in which we find ourselves, which makes the folly of this war all the more absurd. We didn’t just launch a war. We may have just pulled the fire alarm on the entire world economy. Resources John J. Mearsheimer: Big Trouble Ahead in Iran U.S. Energy Information Administration: Amid regional conflict, the Strait of Hormuz remains critical oil chokepoint EnergyNow: CHARTED: Oil Trade Through the Strait of Hormuz by Country Reuters: Asia’s oil and LNG dependence on the Middle East Institute for Economics & Peace: Economic Consequences of War on the U.S. Economy Global Institute for Sustainable Prosperity: Modern Money and the War Treasury Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland: Fiscal Dominance and US Monetary: 1940–1975 UNFTR Resources Video: Iran War Could Wreck the Entire World Economy Essay: The Iran War Could Wreck the Global Economy. -- 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/memberships See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Markwayne Mullin fails his first test. Lindsey Graham wants to blow the Iranian people. The markets are getting Blackrocked. OpenAI and Oracle have a bit of a cash crunch. Dario Amodei is full of shit. What Crude markets tell us about the war. Truth bombs from the House of El. Actual journalism on Iran from American Prestige and Dissent Magazine. ProPublica doin’ the lord’s work and Persopolis. Chapters Quick Takes: 00:00:36 Max Notes: 00:06:44 KLTW: 00:15:02 Headlines: 00:17:04 Pod Love: 00:18:26 Book Love: 00:19:27 Outro: 00:20:04 Resources Bloomberg: BlackRock $26 Billion Private Credit Fund Limits Withdrawals House of El: DOLLAR COLLAPSE: Japan to DUMP $1.2T in US Treasuries After Trump Cuts 95% Oil Supply Dissent Magazine: War, Revolt, and Iran's Unfinished Struggle Grist: Kristi Noem all but killed FEMA. Will her departure save it? ProPublica: Explore Financial Disclosures From President Trump and 1,500 of His Appointees ProPublica: Event: How to Use Our News App of Disclosures From Political Appointees Pod Love American Prestige: War in the Gulf and the Global Economy w/ Esfandyar Batmanghelidj Book Love Marjane Satrapi: Persepolis UNFTR Resources Video: On The Record (3-9-26). Video: MTN Macro Take (3-7-26). Episode: Trump Accounts. -- 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/memberships See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Welcome to the first-ever Omnibus—the show finally has a name! Max and 99 open with the weight of the moment, addressing the U.S.-backed strikes on Iran before diving into the AI-military pipeline. Off-topic headlines hit on small business closures in NYC and fighter pay in the streaming era. Listener emails cover everything from financial anxiety to the mechanics of shadow banking, and Trump finding time to pump crypto mid-war. They rank their Top 5 everyday products they can’t live without, plus fit in some movie talk and member shoutouts to close it out. Enjoy! Chapters Intro: 00:00:19 Housekeeping: 00:10:06 Headlines: 00:14:33 Top 5: 00:58:28 Beyond the Bullshit: 01:12:18 Memberships: 01:23:32 Outro: 01:24:07 Resources Fast Company: Bitcoin, XRP, and other crypto prices are rising today. What Trump said on Truth Social to boost digital assets The Verge: How OpenAI caved to the Pentagon on AI surveillance The Hill: OpenAI goes on defense as Anthropic surges after Pentagon fallout The Baffler: A Fighting Chance: Going up against the UFC Brooklyn Vegan: Long-running NYC vegan restaurant Red Bamboo is closing Acquired: Google Part III: The AI Company UNFTR Resources Video: Iran War, US Empire and What The Media is Hiding Episode: War in Iran and the Decline of the U.S. Empire. -- 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/memberships See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Senator John Kennedy is a bad caricature of a southern gentleman and he masquerades around Capitol Hill as a folksy “just asking questions” kind of fella. In reality, he’s a wealthy, elite, fraud with a $20 million net worth who attended Oxford. Despite representing the poorest state in America, this Louisiana senator took his allotted time at a hearing with the Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to review how poverty is calculated and take issue with it. So this is our response. Resources Senator John Kennedy: Kennedy questions Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on poverty data in Senate Banking Committee USAFacts: What is the poverty rate in Louisiana? World Population Review: Poorest U.S. States 2026 The Data Center: Health as resilience capacity in New Orleans: The critical role of community-based collaborations Prison Gerrymandering Project: Federal Census policy harms Louisiana’s democracy — but state lawmakers can fix it Wikipedia: John Kennedy (Louisiana politician) Buzzfeed News: John Kennedy Is America’s Folksiest Senator. Some People Who Know Him Say It’s An Act. Quiver Quantitative: Senator John Kennedy has filed a new financial disclosure - here’s what we see UNFTR Resources Video: Senator Questions Poverty Calculations | Here's Why That's INSANE Essay: John Goober Kennedy: The Louisiana Senator Thinks Poor People Are Faking 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/accessibility. Support the show: https://www.unftr.com/memberships See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The U.S. and Israel have declared war on the Islamic Republic of Iran, despite indications from Omani negotiators that the parties were close to agreement as late as the night before the bombing of Tehran and other Iranian cities began. Mainstream media have already cranked up the propaganda machine to frame this as everything from a necessary and just maneuver to an unfortunate turn of events. The anglo-centric framing is undeniable and we risk losing the plot. There’s also a stunning lack of historical perspective in any current analyses. Make no mistake, this is an illegal move conducted by a waning empire that put a madman in charge. And it threatens us all. Apologies for any mispronunciations! -Max Resources Drop Site American Prestige Al Jazeera English UNFTR Resources Video: Iran War, US Empire and What The Media is Hiding Essay: War in Iran and the Decline of the U.S. Empire. -- 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/memberships See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Attorney General Pam Bondi took to Capitol Hill with her burn book in hand and a message to Congress, the victims of Jeffrey Epstein and the American people: Shut up, the Dow hit 50,000. She was right about the Dow Jones Industrial performance until the next day, when stocks dumped out on news that AI might be real and that the economy added 400,000 fewer jobs last year than we originally thought. That’s the thing about building an entire narrative around the stock market. The stock market is not the economy. And the victims of Epstein’s crimes deserve better. Resources MS Now: FULL HOUSE HEARING: AG Pam Bondi testifies over handling of release of Epstein files Business Insider: Anthropic and OpenAI release dueling AI models on the same day in an escalating rivalry Fortune: Anthropic’s Claude triggered a trillion-dollar selloff. A new upgrade could make things worse Matt Shumer: Something Big Is Happening Matt Shumer on X U.S. Department of the Treasury: Monthly Treasury Statement: Receipts and Outlays of the United States Government For Fiscal Year 2026 Through January 31, 2026, and Other Periods UNFTR Resources Video: Epstein Victims Deserve Better Than Bondi's Economic Theater -- 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/memberships See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Noam Chomsky’s superpower is his intellect and ability to communicate complicated subjects with clarity. He made politics accessible for multiple generations. Chomsky is the gateway drug to leftist ideology. He’s also close friends with the most prolific child abuser and sex trafficker of the modern era. It’s okay to acknowledge Chomsky’s contributions and even more okay to let them go and bury his legacy. Resources Wall Street Journal: Epstein’s Private Calendar Reveals Prominent Names, Including CIA Chief, Goldman’s Top Lawyer The Harvard Crimson: Jeffrey Epstein Met With Harvard Professor Martin Nowak and Noam Chomsky in 2015 in Harvard Office Manufacturing Intellect: Noam Chomsky interview on Dissent (1988) UNFTR Resources Video: Genius Doesn’t Excuse What Chomsky Did. Goodbye, Noam. -- 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/memberships See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It’s the last episode of To Be Determined (next time the show gets an actual name)! Max and 99 run through headlines on Bill Gates’s Epstein apology and the humanitarian crisis in Cuba. The listener emails include an econ 101 starter pack, a great idea for a “remember this” segment, and more. They rank their Top 5 TV show finales, sound the alarm on private credit, and give takes on the Democratic Party’s obsession with empty centrist candidates over actual policy. Enjoy! Chapters Intro: 00:00:31 Housekeeping: 00:03:38 Headlines: 00:04:47 Emails: 00:17:57 Top 5: 00:38:37 Beyond the Bullshit: 00:56:39 Memberships 01:11:27 Outro: 01:11:46 Resources Wall Street Journal: Bill Gates Apologizes to Foundation Staff Over Epstein Ties WSWS: Cuban worker describes hellish conditions, appeals to US workers to force an end to embargo Rolling Stone Magazine: Bob Weir’s Beautiful Second Act New York Times: The Anguish of a Tourette’s Outburst Economic Update with Richard D. Wolff Econoclasts (Yanis Varoufakis + Wolfgang Munchau) Gary’s Economics Professor Steve Keen Justin Wolfers Instagram: @showtoolsai The Atlantic: ‘I Genuinely Am Upset That Your Kids Are Vaccinated’ Unf*cker Recommendations Moose on the Loose -- 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. Unf*cking the Republic is produced by 99. The show is hosted by Max and distributed by 99. Support the show: https://www.unftr.com/memberships See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Max and 99 kick off another episode of their still-unnamed weekly show, diving into everything from grocery inflation and RFK’s bizarre workout videos to the future of progressive organizing through the Working Families Party and DSA. They workshop show name suggestions from listeners, tackle emails on how to influence the Democratic Party, and debate their Top Five movie villains. Chapters Intro: 00:00:15 Housekeeping: 00:02:30 Headlines: 00:16:14 Emails: 00:36:35 Top 5: 01:03:59 Beyond the Bullshit: 01:20:33 Memberships: 01:22:53 Outro: 01:23:26 Resources Vengaboys: Boom, Boom, Boom, Boom!! devilleforcongress.com In These Times: Read This If You're New and Trying to Find Your Way RFK Jr. Instagram Video Business Insider: I followed an RFK-approved, $15-a-day diet Philosophy for the People w/Ben Burgis: Losing Lucy The Block: Polymarket investor Vitalik Buterin says prediction markets need to stop catering to 'dumb opinions' Bruce Springsteen: Streets Of Minneapolis Working Families Party Democratic Socialists of America UNFTR Resources Chester A. Arthur and Julia Sand: Strange Bedfellows. Video: On The Record (Cuba Libre | AOC Stumbles Abroad | Racist Caught at Senate Hearing) UNFTR's 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/accessibility. Unf*cking the Republic is produced by 99 and engineered by Manny Faces Media (mannyfacesmedia.com). The show is hosted by Max and distributed by 99. Support the show: https://www.unftr.com/memberships See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Trump’s economic policies overseen by Scott Bessent are torching the U.S. dollar and tanking the economy. In this episode, Max does a deep dive into the decline of the dollar, U.S. fiscal mismanagement, and bizarre monetary policy that has many questioning whether we’re witnessing the decline of U.S. economic hegemony in real time. The episode examines U.S. policy through the actions of Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent whose erratic behavior belies his moderate past. Access the corresponding graphs. Resources Conference Board: US Consumer Confidence Fell Sharply in January Money Maze Podcast: Who is Scott Bessent? Meet Trump's New US Treasury Secretary Census Bureau: Monthly Construction Spending MacroMicro: U.S. Dollar Index MacroMicro: Japan - US/Japan 10Y Bond Yield Spread vs. USD/JPY MacroMicro: Gold / US Dollar / 10Y Yield UNFTR Resources Video: Scott Bessent's DERANGED plan to destroy the dollar and economy -- 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/memberships See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Max and 99 are back this week to debut an experimental new format for the podcast—that is yet to be named—which mixes Show Notes vibes with a little more structure. The two dive into a mix of on-topic and off-topic headlines before heading into listener feedback and emails. They wrap up the episode with their Top 5 lists focused on formative protest songs, and of course some member shout outs. Enjoy! Chapters Intro: 00:00:34 Headlines: 00:13:35 Emails: 00:42:47 "Carve Outs": 01:16:31 Top 5: 01:24:32 Memberships: 01:44:15 Outro: 01:46:00 Resources The Verge: Discord says ‘vast majority’ of users won’t see its new age verification setup BIG by Matt Stoller: The Beginning of the End for Big Corporate Medicine Politico: MAHA and Mike Tyson want you to ‘eat real food’ during the Super Bowl Super Bowl Ad: Processed Food Kills, Eat Real Food The Ringer: How Hannibal Lecter Made His Film Debut in ‘Manhunter’ Yahoo News: JD Vance says U.S. Olympic athletes are 'not there to pop off about politics.' Here's what they've said. Democratic Socialists of America Working Families Party Top 5s (And Beyond) Nina Simone: Mississippi Goddam John Lennon: Working Class Hero Sting: Russians XTC: Dear God Simple Minds: Belfast Child Green Day: American Idiot Joni Mitchell: Big Yellow Taxi Marvin Gaye: What's Going On Sly & The Family Stone: Everyday People Childish Gambino: This Is America Creedence Clearwater Revival: Fortunate Son Johnny Paycheck: Take This Job And Shove It Buffalo Springfield: For What It's Worth 4 Non Blondes: What's Up Brandi Carlile: The Joke The Chicks: Travelin' Soldier The Chicks: Not Ready To Make Nice Bob Dylan: Masters of War T-Pain: War Pigs Gil Scott-Heron: Revolution Will Not Be Televised Kendrick Lamar: Alright NWA: Fuck Tha Police Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five: The Message Public Enemy: Fight The Power Sam Cooke: A Change Is Gonna Come UNFTR Resources Pharmacy Benefit Managers: The American Drug Cartel. UNFTR Resources Page -- 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. Unf*cking the Republic is produced by 99 and engineered by Manny Faces Media (mannyfacesmedia.com). The show is hosted by Max and distributed by 99. Support the show: https://www.unftr.com/memberships See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.