Unf*cking The Republic

UNFTR Media
  • 4.8 (748)
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Unf*cking The Republic® (UNFTR) is dedicated to progressive politics, leftist economic theories, and social justice in the United States. Join us for deep dives into socialism, labor rights, climate justice, and the fight against inequality. Whether you're curious about Marxist ideas, modern social movements, or progressive policies, UNFTR delivers thoroughly sourced critiques, analyses, and interviews with the historical context mainstream media won't provide. Subscribe for informative and unabashedly progressive coverage of the leftist political and economic landscape.

  1. 12h ago

    Slow Moving Disasters: Climate Change, Artificial Intelligence and The Democratic Party.

    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/memberships See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

  2. 13h ago

    On The Record (08-04-26).

    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/accessibility Support the show: https://www.unftr.com/memberships See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

  3. 1d ago

    Omnibus (08-03-26).

    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 B******t: 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/accessibility Support the show: https://www.unftr.com/memberships See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

  4. 6d ago

    On The Record (07-28-26).

    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/accessibility Support the show: https://www.unftr.com/memberships See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

  5. Jul 24

    Trump and the Black Jelly Bean Theory: CLOs Echo the MBS Fiasco from the GFC.

    The New York Fed released a troubling report detailing the risk of Collateralized Loan Obligation (CLO) exposure in the insurance industry. Over the past several years, private equity has taken larger and larger stakes in insurers who are historically risk averse. But now they’re acting more like hedge funds in their investment strategies and have more than $2 trillion in corporate debt exposure and nearly $300 billion of it is in mezzanine financing packaged much in the way mortgage backed securities (MBS) were in the run up to the Global Financial Crisis (GFC). Against the backdrop of persistent inflation, a renewed round of tariffs, elevated oil prices, the war in Iran and historic consumer debt, the economy is like a tinderbox. The jelly bean theory holds that you can only reach into the jar so many times before you eventually pick the black jelly bean. Apologies in advance to all those who like black licorice flavored jelly beans. Resources Bloomberg: Oil Takes Out $100 to Hit Two-Month High as Iran War Expands Reuters: Trump to impose ‘forced labor’ duties on Friday as temporary 10% US tariffs expire The New York Times: What to Know About Trump’s Tariffs on Canada, and What’s Next Brookings: Macroeconomic implications of immigration flows in 2025 and 2026: January 2026 update Bloomberg: The US Is Flirting With Its First-Ever Population Decline The New York Times: Alphabet Quadruples Profit to $112 Billion, Fueled by A.I. Investments CNBC: See how much prices have increased since 2020 — in one chart Bloomberg: Long Bonds Are Ringing a 2008 Alarm Bell New York Fed: Insurance Companies and the Growth of Corporate Loans’ Securitization Investopedia: Nationally Recognized Statistical Ratings Organization (NRSRO) Definition The DESK: Rules & Ratings: Ratings agencies spar in private ratings legitimacy debacle UNFTR Resources Video: Trump is Running Us Off a Cliff | CLOs Echo the Global Financial Crisis. Episode: Is Private Credit the Pin That Pops the Bubble? Essay: Trump and the Black Jelly Bean Theory. -- 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.

  6. Jul 23

    Omnibus (07-23-26).

    Max and 99 are back for another round of Omnibus. They hit headlines on the Trump administration restricting visas for foreign journalists, tribes suing to block the gutting of the Endangered Species Act, SpaceX’s massive share unlock, and a defense of reading books in an era of mass literary abandonment. Then they tackle listener emails on coordinating progressive media against AIPAC, whether MMT is 1920s Germany, and some episode clarifications. Chapters Intro: 00:00:18 Headlines: 00:15:14 Emails: 00:44:38 Beyond the B******t: 00:59:42 Memberships: 01:16:15 Outro: 01:17:08 Resources The New York Times: The Maduro Case May Be About to Take a Hairpin Turn Politico: Taylor Farms still tied to cyclospora outbreak despite ‘false positive,’ FDA says Mother Jones: Tribes and Environmental Groups Sue to Block Trump’s Gutting of the Endangered Species Act Reporters without Borders: US imposes sweeping visa restrictions on foreign journalists, hindering global coverage of American affairs TIME: In Defense of Reading Books Bloomberg: SpaceX’s Great Unlocking Begins With $116 Billion Share Release Book Love David Peter Stroh: Systems Thinking For Social Change: A Practical Guide to Solving Complex Problems, Avoiding Unintended Consequences, and Achieving Lasting Results Marie Arana: Bolivar: American Liberator UNFTR Resources Video: Trump Is a Useful Idiot for the People Behind the Scenes -- 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.

  7. Jul 22

    S****y: The Quest to Make Everything Terrible.

    Everything is getting worse, but the country hasn’t collapsed. This is all by design. Donald Trump is a useful idiot for the people behind the scenes and Project 2025, most notably Russell Vought. The Trump administration is using the nation’s finances like a personal piggy bank for themselves and large corporations while gutting agencies that provide critical services. The misconception is that Trump is driving things into the ground. He’s not. He’s just making things so s****y that the corporate state looks good in comparison. Resources ProPublica: “Their Entire Apparatus Is Exposed to Our Strategy” ProPublica: “We Want the Bureaucrats to Be Traumatically Affected” Yahoo: This Trump Official Promised To Traumatize Federal Workers — Watch His Words Come Back To Haunt Him The New York Times: Two Dead and Scores Rescued as Flooding Engulfs Central Texas IMF: World Economic Outlook Update, July 2026: Global Economy in Crosscurrents of War and Technology ProPublica: “Put Them in Trauma”: Inside a Key MAGA Leader’s Plans for a New Trump Agenda The New York Times: Why Silicon Valley’s Most Powerful People Are So Obsessed With Hobbits U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: Consumer Price Index Summary - 2026 M06 Results U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: Producer Price Index News Release summary - 2026 M06 Results U.S. News: Trump Administration’s Changes to the CFPB Cost Americans $19B, a New Report Says KFF: In Preliminary Rate Filings, ACA Marketplace Insurers Largely Propose Double-Digit Premium Increase For 2027, Following a Steep Climb This Year National Association of Realtors: NAR Pending Home Sales Report Shows 5.4% Decrease in June The New York Times: Cyclospora Cases Rise Rapidly, With No Source Yet Confirmed The New Yorker: The Human Cost of DOGE’s War on U.S.A.I.D. The Washington Post: The gaps in CDC’s public health data are creating dangerous blind spots Axios: Measurement tweaks will make inflation data look better UNFTR Resources Episode: “Russputin” and the Tsar. Episode: Project 2025. Video: U.S. Financials in Free Fall | Graham, McConnell, and the Strait of Hormuz Video: Trump Is a Useful Idiot for the People Behind the Scenes. -- 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.

  8. Jul 21

    On The Record (07-21-26).

    This week we went to see The Odyssey and came out thinking about Bronze Age collapse, because Nolan’s Odysseus is haunted by the wreckage of a civilization that mistook conquest for strength—and the parallels basically write themselves. Then we checked in on the Leading Economic Index, which has been declining for years while the coincident index keeps climbing, and the gap between those two lines is the gap between Wall Street and everyone else: the market’s fine, the C-suite’s fine, but the person trying to build or buy a house is living in a completely different economy. Chapters Intro: 00:00:38 Quick Takes: 00:01:37 Max Notes: 00:07:53 Killer Left Take of the Week: 00:14:26 Chart of the Week: 00:17:16 Headlines: 00:19:48 Outro: 00:20:53 Resources Guardian News: Britain’s new prime minister Andy Burnham makes address NBC News: Trump imposes 50% tariffs on dairy, alcohol, and cars from Canada Reuters: Doctors question evidence behind Pentagon plan for testosterone screening Fox Business: Bessent delivers remarks on far-left political terrorism Netflix: Bill Maher Mark Twain Prize Middle East Eye: US influencer Clavicular’s ‘Israelmaxxing’ propaganda trip ends in national scandal Forbes: Here’s The Odyssey’s Budget And Break-Even Point At The Box Office Africa Is a Country: Odyssey to Africa’s last colony Drop Site News: Jeremy Scahill and Ro Khanna CLASH Over Palestinian Armed Resistance and Iron Dome The Conference Board: Leading Economic Index® (LEI) for the US Declined in June and Partially Reversed Gains from Prior Two Months ACLU: Defending Our Vote: The ACLU’s election safeguarding program Grist: New York governor orders first statewide data center moratorium The Lever: Repeat Food Contaminator Gave $2.2 Million to GOP. Now Thousands Are Sick UNFTR Resources Video: On The Record 7-21-26 (The Odyssey | Pete Hegseth Loves Buff Dudes | Clavicular in Israel.) Essay: Quite the Odyssey. -- 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.

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Unf*cking The Republic® (UNFTR) is dedicated to progressive politics, leftist economic theories, and social justice in the United States. Join us for deep dives into socialism, labor rights, climate justice, and the fight against inequality. Whether you're curious about Marxist ideas, modern social movements, or progressive policies, UNFTR delivers thoroughly sourced critiques, analyses, and interviews with the historical context mainstream media won't provide. Subscribe for informative and unabashedly progressive coverage of the leftist political and economic landscape.

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