JWSP

Alex Midway and Eric Halsey
  • 5.0 (5)
  • Politics
  • Updated Weekly

John Wayne's Surge Protector podcast is two guys discussing the world around us on a twice weekly basis. We try to look at things that we think are huge deals and sometimes those items are also flying under the radar for a lot of other media channels. Having known each other for many years some of the jokes you hear may not come off as jokes. Keep listening and you will get in the loop soon enough as well. We have a link to leave any feedback in most of the episodes so don't hesitate to reach out. 

  1. 1d ago

    They Noticed

    This week's "Who Said It" is a preview of a presidential speech — and whoever wrote that description has either never met this president or knows him better than anyone. Bonus quote involves a very specific roadkill request that got vetoed at the last minute. Tesla just broke through the floor it wasn't supposed to break through, and the reason involves an interview with a woman named Zanny that went so badly even Greg Gutfeld had to admit it. Elon's response on Twitter was entirely predictable and entirely on brand. SpaceX keeps drifting back toward earth and the lockup clock is ticking — we'll be watching that number very closely. Ukraine has essentially declared war on one specific Russian retailer and at this point it's personal. We're now at multiple cities, multiple warehouses, and an 8-hour ASMR fireplace video that the Ukrainian Armed Forces published as a public service. The sellers trying to get their money out are hitting a new wall, Pavel Durov just got hit with a charge that has nothing to do with what it claims to be about, and a machine gun just did something to a cruise missile that we need you to hear described out loud. The Flamingo made a return appearance — deep inside Russia, during a work shift, with a warhead that took its time getting to the point. Russia's Navy Day celebrations went ahead as planned, which is to say they did not go ahead at all — but there was a submarine. Sort of. The White House Correspondents' Dinner happened, Trump showed up with a hat, and the best moment of the night involved a journalism award, a birthday album, and a name that made the room go very quiet. Meanwhile the Pentagon quietly did something to its casualty numbers that somebody noticed — and the explanation they gave when caught deserves a full breakdown, because the math they're using to describe this war has gotten very creative. P.S. The album art for this week is not AI it came from the Dept of War account and although they have since deleted it (for obvious reasons) this was posted by whoever runs the account. Real life sometimes is more hilarious than anything AI could create.  Got feedback? We want to hear it.

    They Noticed

  2. Jul 24

    Don't Blame Taco Bell

    This week's "Who Said It" comes from a group of millionaires with a message for their new Prime Minister — and once you hear who they are and what they're asking for, it reframes every financial story in the rest of the episode in a very satisfying way. Tesla had a rough earnings week and the stock is feeling it — but don't worry, the robot is coming. SpaceX keeps sliding toward a reckoning that a certain lockup period is about to accelerate, and the world's first trillionaire is no longer the world's first trillionaire. We have a moment of silence ready. Ukraine went back to the same shopping mall twice this week — different locations, same results — and the response from the founder has us revisiting a very specific Star Wars analogy. The sellers trying to get their stuff back are running into a message that tells the whole story in four words. The new Commander in Chief has made his intentions clear, and with a very familiar face back in his old role, the forecast for Russian logistics is not improving. The House took a swing at banning lawmakers from trading stocks — and the vote breakdown, the poison pill tucked inside, and the follow-up from a bipartisan group tells you everything about how seriously anyone in DC actually wants this to happen. Meanwhile Trump just signed a nuclear cooperation deal with Saudi Arabia, and once you map out the Kushner payments, the Trump Organization contract, the Abraham Accords conditions, and what "domestic uranium enrichment" has meant in every other recent news cycle — we'll let you connect those dots yourself. And then there's the Taco Bell story. We will not spoil the Taco Bell story. Just know that Eric has strong feelings, the FDA changed their mind, and there is a billionaire involved. Live Más. Got feedback? We want to hear it.

    Don't Blame Taco Bell

  3. Jul 22

    Leading Edge of Lethality

    This week's "Who Said It" is a dollar figure — and once you find out what it's describing and who said it, the rest of the financial news in this episode is going to land very differently. Tesla and SpaceX are both sliding and Wall Street has a very creative explanation for why that's actually fine — we found a fund manager who wants you to stop paying attention to measurables, and we have some thoughts on that philosophy. Elon also tweeted something during a scrubbed launch that briefly sent the stock up, and we genuinely cannot tell if that's inspiring or terrifying. Ukraine's leadership shakeup this week raised some eyebrows — a popular and highly effective minister is out, protests broke out in Kyiv, and the reason behind the split tells you a lot about the fault lines forming between the old guard and the new way of fighting this war. Ukraine then went ahead and made its feelings known by hitting something in Russia so large and so economically significant that the timing — given a very recent change to the fine print — is almost too perfect. Pete Hegseth has a new military readiness initiative and it involves testosterone. Mandatory testosterone screening, to be precise, with optional treatment for anyone who needs a little help on the "leading edge of lethality." We are a veteran and we have a lot to say about this — including some thoughts on what actual battlefield readiness smells like, and it's not what Pete thinks. The Take Care of America's Veterans Act has a name that sets expectations and a Section 108 that destroys them. Multiple major veterans organizations are furious, a cartoon has been published, and two Republican members responded by trying to investigate the VFW. We walk through exactly what's at stake for the people who actually earned the benefits being negotiated away. And then there was the speech — 25 minutes on the 2020 election, a document dump that turns out to be mostly nothing, evidence of something the legacy media conspicuously forgot to mention, and a Fox News correspondent who interrupted his own recap approximately every nine words for legal reasons. John Solomon's post-speech interview with a reporter is something you need to hear to believe. Got feedback? We want to hear it.

    Leading Edge of Lethality

  4. Jul 15

    Guardian of the Toll Booth

    This week's "Who Said It" is a Truth Social post about the Strait of Hormuz that reads like it was written by a medieval toll booth operator who just discovered all caps — and it sets up everything that follows perfectly. Tesla keeps sliding and SpaceX just got humbled by something China landed on a platform, which tells you everything about where the hype-to-reality ratio currently sits. We also have a war portfolio update that involves Greta Thunberg showing up somewhere she maybe didn't fully research before chaining herself to the fence. Ukraine is doing things with maritime drones that have genuinely never been done before in the history of warfare — and the reason the Kerch Bridge is still standing turns out to be a masterclass in strategy that's worth understanding. Russia meanwhile is hearing sounds at home that Ukrainians have been living with for four years, and the tugboat situation has taken a turn that DMX would have appreciated. Nine EU nations just threw down a serious challenge to the IOC over Russia's readmission to international sport — and we have some thoughts about the countries conspicuously absent from that list. A US Olympic athlete is facing a felony charge over the reflecting pool, Jeanine Pirro has declared it one of the most offensive things she's ever seen, and we're going to need a moment to process that statement given everything else that's happened in the last four years. Trump has declared America the Guardian of the Strait of Hormuz and is charging a 20% toll on all cargo — which raises some fascinating questions about the definition of piracy, international maritime law, and what exactly differentiates us from the Iranians we spent months bombing for doing something similar. Mike Johnson explained why we need $350 billion more for the Pentagon and the reason involves a boogeyman that retired sometime around 1991. And then Lindsay Graham died. We have a lot to say about that — including what the internet decided to do with the news approximately four minutes after it broke, the NDA situation, and the very DEI-flavored replacement process that followed. Link to the Russian soldier video Is this footage supposedly from a Russian military training AI? Me and my friend disagree : r/isthisAI Got feedback? We want to hear it.

    Guardian of the Toll Booth

  5. Jul 11

    Read the 14th Again

    This week's "Who Said It" comes from someone who apparently didn't get the memo that the Supreme Court is supposed to be the final word — and their response to losing a 6-3 decision is going to tell you a lot about where this episode is headed. Tesla's getting a boost from Wall Street optimism that seems blissfully unaware of what's happening in New Jersey, and SpaceX keeps quietly sliding in ways the hype hasn't caught up with yet. We also have a theory about why Trump suddenly wants Ukraine making its own Patriot missiles — and it has a lot more to do with protecting a defense contractor's bottom line than it does with helping Ukraine win a war. Ukraine had one of its most productive stretches of the entire conflict — we're talking a number of Russian ships in the Black and Azov seas that's going to make you do a double take, plus a drone strike that reached somewhere so far inside Russia that the distance alone changes the conversation entirely. Russia is now rationing fuel in over half the country and the guy in charge is calling it temporary. Sure. The birthright citizenship fight got a new chapter this week — a fresh-faced congressman is ready to impress the boss, Brett Kavanaugh inadvertently handed them a roadmap, and the odds of the Supreme Court granting a rehearing haven't been this low since roughly 1965. We run the numbers and let you decide what that means. Trump is removing Syria from the state sponsor of terrorism list — and once we walk you through the current Syrian president's resume, the move becomes one of the more interesting judgment calls of the administration. We also chart what's happened to America's terrorism list over the last decade and the pattern is something else. The NATO summit went fine, which by current standards qualifies as a triumph. Grift Force One made its debut on the way out and then quietly didn't make the return trip. Microsoft laid off thousands the same week they got approved for thousands of H-1B visas. And a data center in Wyoming contaminated the local water supply in a way that makes the Terminator 2 anniversary feel a little too on the nose. Got feedback? We want to hear it.

    Read the 14th Again

  6. Jul 8

    I'll Say It Was Rigged

    This week's "Who Said It" comes straight from the world of competitive sports — and the person who said it somehow manages to make winning sound just as unhinged as losing. Tesla and SpaceX are moving in very different directions this week, and the Wall Street reasoning behind one of those moves involves a comparison that tells you everything about how disconnected the analysis has gotten. We have thoughts, and they involve Robert Downey Jr. Putin made a very dramatic trip to the "front lines" this week — and once you hear the production details involved, you'll understand why we put that in quotes. Trump also made some very confident promises about ending the war during a lengthy phone call with Russia, which lands a little differently when you remember what he said the timeline would be. Ukraine meanwhile is sending something new over the border that starts with a balloon and ends with a missile, and over a thousand of them are already in the air before it's even been officially named. The Mitch McConnell situation has gone from "resting comfortably" to something considerably murkier — nobody has seen or heard from him directly in weeks, his wife left the country, and the chain of people vouching for his health is raising more eyebrows than it's lowering. We walk through the Kentucky succession laws and let you connect the dots. The Fourth of July in DC had some uninvited guests who went to great lengths to claim they weren't who they obviously were — and the rebuttal from certain Fox News personalities raises questions about whether they've ever actually met an antifa member. The reflecting pool has a new contractor. The White House is getting a helicopter pad. And we close with a running tally of everything being built, renamed, paved over, or gold-plated while a bipartisan housing bill sits in the trash — and we're the villains in our own story. Got feedback? We want to hear it.

    I'll Say It Was Rigged

  7. Jul 1

    Champagne's Already On Ice

    This week's "Who Said It" involves some unemployment math that is either very creative or very confused — we'll let you decide which. Tesla's making moves for reasons that sound better than they actually are, SpaceX keeps climbing in ways that have nothing to do with rockets, and the White House just launched a new financial product for kids that raises some very interesting questions about who actually gets to pick the winners. Ukraine had arguably its most productive week of the war — multiple high value targets, some very satisfying footage, and a development near a very famous bridge that has us reaching for the good glasses. Russia meanwhile is having serious supply problems that are showing up at the pump in ways that would make even the most patient driver lose their mind. Steven Seagal is also moving, if you're in the market. Back home, Trump vetoed a bill so bipartisan the numbers will make your head spin — and once you hear what was actually in it, the veto becomes one of the harder things to explain to his own base. There's a new piece of décor on the White House that's giving us very specific historical flashbacks. Ken Paxton was caught on camera doing something that requires some context about his personal life. And the Freedom 250 State Fair happened — sort of. The full story involves generators, a sunny day cancellation, a very telling reflection in a pair of mirrored sunglasses, and a MAGA influencer who is going to have a very bad few months. Oh, and Mitch McConnell might be dead. Happy Tuesday. Got feedback? We want to hear it.

    Champagne's Already On Ice

  8. Jun 24

    F John Fetterman Forever

    This week's "Who Said It" comes courtesy of some very enthusiastic Australians at a very public event — and once you hear it, you'll understand why we led with it. Tesla briefly popped on merger rumors before a federal probe into a fatal FSD crash in Texas brought it right back down. Turns out murder is still bad for stock prices, even in the golden age. SpaceX meanwhile continues its post-IPO slide and the numbers are starting to tell a story about the gap between hype and gravity. Ukraine had a complicated week — Zelensky made a baffling unit naming decision that cost him a major diplomatic award from one of Ukraine's most loyal allies, and we genuinely cannot figure out the logic. ChatGPT was right there, man. On the brighter side, Ukraine is systematically dismantling Russia's oil infrastructure across Crimea and the Krasnodar region — gas sales in Crimea are currently suspended — and a Russian war blogger named Fighterbomber accidentally became Ukraine's most valuable drone spotter. The Michael Scott meme that followed is chef's kiss. Washington DC is about to get a new mayor and Trump is already threatening to federalize the city if she wins — which tells you everything about how that race is going. Her potential victory connects to a growing political movement that's starting to look like the new currency of progressive endorsements. The reflecting pool saga reaches a new low — vandals, apparently. Definitely vandals. Nothing to do with driving golf carts on fresh paint or hiring a contractor who looked like he was cast for a mob film. The Senate passed a war powers resolution on Iran that was bipartisan, historic, and ultimately completely irrelevant — but we'll tell you exactly which lone Democrat crossed the aisle in the wrong direction and why that matters. And we close with the most morally conflicting story of the year: a US official pushing to annex Greenland just made the strongest argument we've ever heard — and it involves all-you-can-eat shrimp at Red Lobster. We're not proud of our reaction. In case you wanted to see the Michael Scott meme the Ukrainians put up here's the link below  https://xcancel.com/1usc_army/status/2068633721301856485 Got feedback? We want to hear it.

    F John Fetterman Forever
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Ratings & Reviews

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out of 5
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About

John Wayne's Surge Protector podcast is two guys discussing the world around us on a twice weekly basis. We try to look at things that we think are huge deals and sometimes those items are also flying under the radar for a lot of other media channels. Having known each other for many years some of the jokes you hear may not come off as jokes. Keep listening and you will get in the loop soon enough as well. We have a link to leave any feedback in most of the episodes so don't hesitate to reach out. 

Information

  • Creator
    Alex Midway and Eric Halsey
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    127
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2026 John Wayne's Surge Protector
  • Show Website
    JWSP