Make It Make Sense with Grant Hermes

Grant Hermes
  • 4.9 (29)
  • Politics
  • Updated Weekly

Politics has never been more chaotic, and most podcasts just add to the noise. Make It Make Sense with Grant Hermes cuts through it. Grant is an AP Award-winning journalist with over a decade of on-the-ground reporting on the biggest political stories, scandals, and elections in America. Twice a week, he takes the stories dominating the headlines and breaks them down in plain English — no jargon, no spin, no shouting. If you care about what’s happening in this country but you’re exhausted by how it’s being covered, this is the show for you. Real reporting. Clear explanations. Actual context. Make It Make Sense drops three times a week. Subscribe so you never miss it.

  1. 12h ago

    Trump Is Entering His Escalation Era

    Last weekend was the deadliest stretch of the Iran war in months. Three US service members were killed and one is still missing after strikes on US bases in Iraq and Jordan. The total US death toll is now 17, higher than the Afghanistan evacuation that nearly derailed the Biden presidency. The New York Times reported that the Pentagon had withheld nearly 100 casualties for weeks. The Wall Street Journal found that service members on the Jordan base were being housed in sheet metal prefabricated containers. Goldman Sachs now says oil could hit $120 a barrel. Trump, when asked about a peace plan, said the plan is to keep bombing. On the home front: DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin announced the department would go after alleged non-citizens on voter rolls using public voter data, then threatened state election officials who refuse to comply with federal election takeover efforts with prison time. The clock is August 4th, when the 90-day pre-election quiet period kicks in and states can no longer alter voter rolls. Grant also breaks down the New Jersey non-citizen voting story that broke today, what it actually shows (a vendor error affecting 6,600 people out of 4.2 million votes), and why Tom Homan said this week that ICE shooting unarmed immigrants who were not subjects of their investigations was intentional and that more are coming. This is the two-year anniversary episode of Make It Make Sense. In two years: three episodes a week, weekly original reporting, a civics project, culture essays, and interviews with the people actually shaping the stories. Go to MIMSNEWSPOD.SUBSTACK.COM to lock in your $5/mo price before the deal runs out!  CHAPTERS: 0:00 Two years of Make It Make Sense: what it took, and why the price is going up August 21st 3:00 The deadliest weekend of the Iran war: three US service members killed, one still missing 4:30 17 US soldiers dead: more than the Afghanistan evacuation that nearly ended Biden's presidency 5:30 The Pentagon hid nearly 100 casualties for weeks. The Wall Street Journal found why the Jordan base was so vulnerable. 7:00 Goldman Sachs: oil could hit $120 a barrel. The Strait of Hormuz is still closed. 8:00 Trump's peace plan: keep bombing 9:00 Hegseth in the Oval Office: Iran's military is 100% destroyed. So why are they still killing our soldiers? 10:30 SAYSO NEWS APP 12:00 DHS threatens to jail state election officials who refuse to hand over voter data 13:30 The August 4th deadline: why the clock is running out on the administration's election interference options 15:00 The SAVE system: how DOGE turned an immigration benefits database into a private data repository a federal judge banned 17:00 The New Jersey non-citizen voting story: what actually happened, what it means, and what it doesn't 19:00 400 votes out of 4.2 million: the math on whether a vendor error changes an election outcome 20:30 ICE arrests at record levels: 1,474 per day, and Tom Homan says the shootings of unarmed immigrants were on purpose 22:00 Sprint or marathon: is this escalation a news cycle or a strategy through November? Support the show Follow along on social media  SaySo: @GrantHermes  X: @GrantHermes Insta: @Grant__Hermes Tiktok: Grant_Hermes

  2. 4d ago

    How John Roberts Broke the Supreme Court This Term

    Andrew Torrez is a lawyer and co-host of the legal podcast Law And Chaos who has spent his career watching the Roberts Court systematically reshape American law. His verdict after this term: John Roberts broke the Supreme Court from the inside, and the court is now best understood as a right-wing policy-making institution rather than a judicial one. Grant and Andrew go case by case through the most consequential term in a generation. Birthright citizenship: a five to four decision on a question that should have been nine to nothing, since the 14th Amendment says what it says. The VRA gerrymandering ruling: you can now draw a million computer-simulated maps of North Carolina and only one comes out 10-4 Republican by chance, but the Roberts Court said that's fine and then eliminated the legal mechanism for challenging it. The tariff case: Kavanaugh ruled against Trump but included a roadmap in his dissent for how to achieve the same tariffs through a different statute. They also get into the shadow docket, which went from a rare emergency tool to a routine practice under Roberts. Grant reads from an internal New York Times-obtained memo in which Roberts explicitly cajoled his colleagues to issue an emergency injunction against Obama-era clean power regulations because solar power plants, in Roberts' own words, are not built in a day. And they talk about what Congress could actually do about all of it: court expansion, term limits, and a constitutional provision called jurisdiction stripping that would let Congress tell the Supreme Court it cannot hear certain categories of cases at all. It has never been used. It is in the Constitution. CHAPTERS: 0:00 Hot dogs, snowballs, and the Supreme Court 2:45 This term in one sentence: the Roberts Court is a right-wing policy-making institution 4:00 Birthright citizenship: a 5-4 decision on a question that should have been 9-0. 6:00 How John Roberts broke the court from the inside, starting with the Michigan union dues case 8:30 Scalia vs. Alito and Thomas: why originalism gave way to bad faith arguments and Charlie Kirk logic 12:00 Kavanaugh's tariff opinion: ruled against Trump, then included a roadmap for getting the same result 16:00 The Slaughter case: Trump fires independent agency heads, the Fed exception, and what Russ Vought gets now 20:00 Louisiana v. Callais: the VRA is dead and Democrats have to overperform by 4 to 6 points just to win the House 24:00 One million computer-simulated maps: the math that proved gerrymandering and the Roberts Court ignored it 28:00 Grant reveals he almost became a political mapmaker. This is why he walked out of the room. 30:00 Minority rule is the goal: how an unpopular party stays in power permanently 33:00 Kavanaugh's "wrong statutory box" logic: it applies to shipping humans to torture camps but not Trump tariffs 36:00 Senator Kavanaugh: why he keeps writing roadmaps for Trump from the bench 40:00 The Roberts Court's shadow docket: from emergency tool to routine practice 44:00 The leaked memo: Roberts writes "solar power plants are not built in a day" to block clean energy rules for coal 46:00 Drawing a legal quarantine zone around the Roberts Court: why its precedents shouldn't count  48:00 How Congress can actually fix this: court expansion, term limits, and jurisdiction stripping 50:00 Jurisdiction stripping explained: Congress can tell the Supreme Court it cannot hear certain cases at all 53:00 The shadow docket and a national emergency over elections: could this go to the Supreme Court this summer? 57:00 Why district court judges — including Trump appointees — are still doing the hard work 59:00 Kilmar Garcia, Guatemalan children, voter rolls in 13 states: what district courts are actually stopping LAW AND CHAOS PODCAST PROMO CODES:  This episode is sponsored by SaySo. SaySo is a brand new news app built for people who actually want to be informed, not just keep scrolling. No outrage-chasing algorithm, no AI slop, just vetted creators delivering fact-driven coverage you can get through in a few minutes a day. I'm one of the early creators on the platform, posting there alongside others I trust. Check it out and download SaySo Support the show Follow along on social media  SaySo: @GrantHermes  X: @GrantHermes Insta: @Grant__Hermes Tiktok: Grant_Hermes

  3. 5d ago

    Trump Is About to Lie to You About 2020. Here's What's Actually True.

    Tonight Trump is giving a national address about foreign interference in the 2020 election. Grant recorded this episode to get ahead of the lies before they air. Here's what is actually proven: In April 2021, the US Office of National Intelligence, compiled by intel officers Trump himself appointed,  found with a high degree of confidence that China did not attempt to influence the outcome of the 2020 election. The joint report from Trump's own Department of Justice and Homeland Security said they had no evidence of any foreign government compromising election infrastructure to manipulate results. John Ratcliffe, Trump's own Director of National Intelligence at the time, was briefed on that report and signed off on it. He will be standing next to Trump tonight. Trump is expected to claim China hacked voter rolls to manufacture mail-in ballots. For that to be true, the operation would have had to bypass the DHS, the FBI, the Pentagon, the CIA, the Cybersecurity Infrastructure and Security Agency Trump himself created in 2018, every state-level election safeguard, every local election safeguard, and every audit, including 60-plus court cases, not one of which was decided in Trump's favor. Grant also breaks down the real reason for the speech: the Save America Act, the August 4th voter roll deadline, the "People's Executive Order" that has been circulating in the White House since February, and what declaring a national emergency over the 2026 election would actually allow Trump to do. 0:00 Trump is giving a national address tonight. Grant is getting ahead of the lies. 2:00 What we know is coming: China, voter rolls, manufactured mail-in ballots, and Ratcliffe 3:30 What Trump's own intelligence community actually found about China and the 2020 election 5:00 The DOJ and DHS report: "We have no evidence" — written by Trump's own appointees 6:30 Ratcliffe signed off on that report. Tonight he stands next to Trump claiming the opposite. 7:30 Election Day is a symphony, not a guitar solo: why a China hack at scale is practically impossible 9:00 Every layer the hack would have had to bypass — including the agency Trump created to stop exactly this 10:30 60 court cases. Zero wins. Attorneys banned from practicing law for making these claims. 12:00 Non-citizens on voter rolls: what the data actually shows vs. what Trump will claim 13:30 Thomas Massie's question: if the fraud is that sophisticated, how did Republicans win everything? 14:30 Sponsor: SaySo News 16:00 The real reason for the speech: the Save America Act, the August 4th deadline, and the Senate 17:30 The People's Executive Order: what declaring a national emergency over the 2026 election would actually do 19:30 130 executive powers, military deployment, election seizure: the full scope of what's on the table 21:00 Why it probably won't work: courts, logistics, and the fact that 95% of Americans want to vote 22:30 Why Republicans told Politico they are "scared shitless" of what Trump is about to say 23:30 Ruth Ben-Ghiat on what this is really about: a psychological need to prove 2020 never happened 25:00 The real irony: tonight Trump will do the work of America's adversaries for them 2021 National Intelligence Council Election Report 2021 DOJ/DHS Joint Election Report Support the show Follow along on social media  SaySo: @GrantHermes  X: @GrantHermes Insta: @Grant__Hermes Tiktok: Grant_Hermes

  4. Jul 15

    Lindsey Graham Died. Trump Wants to Blow Up a Mountain.

    Senator Lindsey Graham died Sunday morning from an aortic dissection. He was 71. Grant's assessment of his legacy is honest: a foreign policy expert who never met a war he wouldn't support, a politician who publicly and privately knew what kind of man Trump was and chose loyalty anyway. Trump's eulogy was mostly about getting a bill passed. Grant plays it. With Graham gone, South Carolina's governor needed to appoint a replacement. Trump wanted Graham's sister, who has spent her career on the South Carolina Commission for the Blind and the state workforce development board. She was sworn in today. Republicans now have to find someone to run for Graham's seat in less than 120 days in a race that was already only three points ahead of the Democratic challenger. On Iran: Trump has formally rebranded the war as Operation Guardian of Hormuz and notified Congress of new hostilities. Legal experts Grant spoke with say this doesn't work. The war powers clock doesn't reset because you rename the operation. We are 106 days past the 30-day war Trump promised would never happen and well past the 90-day war powers deadline with no Congressional authorization. Trump also threatened a 20% toll on Strait of Hormuz shipping, which his own Secretary of State said three weeks ago would end 80 years of the world order and trigger a global economic collapse. He reversed it in 24 hours after his Middle Eastern allies talked him down. He is still threatening to blow up Pickaxe Mountain, an Iranian nuclear stronghold buried under 300 to 2,000 feet of solid granite. The US does not currently have a non-nuclear weapon capable of reaching it. And Grant ran the McConnell proof-of-life photo through reverse image search, AI detection software, error level analysis, and compression mapping. His conclusion: the photo is real. Mitch McConnell is alive. CHAPTERS 0:00 Trump renamed the Iran war, wants to blow up a mountain, and Lindsey Graham is dead 2:00 Operation Guardian of Hormuz: why renaming the war doesn't reset the war powers clock 4:30 106 days in: the only legal path forward is Congress, which leaves for summer in 6 days 6:00 The 20% Strait of Hormuz toll: what it would actually do to the global economy 8:30 Rubio said this was a bad idea three weeks ago. Trump did it anyway. Then reversed it in 24 hours. 10:00 Pickaxe Mountain: why Trump's threat to blow it up is either a nuclear threat or a bluff 12:00 The math: leveling Pickaxe Mountain would require 1,600 times the force of the Hiroshima bomb 13:30 Sponsor: SaySo News 15:00 Lindsey Graham dies at 71: his legacy, his reversals, and what Trump said at his eulogy 18:00 Graham's sister gets his Senate seat. The political world expected the lieutenant governor. 20:00 Who runs for Graham's seat in South Carolina with 120 days to go 22:00 Mitch McConnell is alive. Grant ran the photo through every detector he has. Here's what he found. 26:00 Why the McConnell conspiracy doesn't work: the number of people who would have to stay quiet 28:00 Grant's journalism rule: don't believe a conspiracy when entropy is just as likely This episode is sponsored by SaySo. SaySo is a brand new news app built for people who actually want to be informed, not just keep scrolling. No outrage-chasing algorithm, no AI slop, just vetted creators delivering fact-driven coverage you can get through in a few minutes a day. I'm one of the early creators on the platform, posting there alongside others I trust. Check it out and download SaySo Support the show Follow along on social media  SaySo: @GrantHermes  X: @GrantHermes Insta: @Grant__Hermes Tiktok: Grant_Hermes

  5. Jul 10

    The Feds Are Erasing History. America's Top Historian Has Receipts.

    On July 4th, America's 250th birthday, the White House published a report on its own website calling the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History "un-American." The report, authored by the Domestic Policy Council, said the museum focuses too much on Black and Brown communities, immigrants, women, and LGBTQ Americans, and accused it of dividing the country. Marc Stein is the president of the Organization of American Historians, the nation's largest and most prestigious group of professional historians. He visited the museum in March. He also wrote the piece in Time Magazine about the federal assault on history that Grant's been covering on Substack all week. Grant and Marc go through what's actually in the Smithsonian report, including 1,200 words devoted to attacking land acknowledgements at museums, which the White House labels "anti-white and anti-American." They talk about what it means when a government decides to take history out of the hands of people who study it and replace it with what Marc calls "a singular triumphant mythology." They get into the bicentennial parallel, the last time America tried to rewrite itself at a milestone anniversary, and the specific, concrete work historians are doing right now to save what's being erased before it disappears permanently. CHAPTERS 0:00 The White House called the Smithsonian un-American. On the 4th of July. 3:43 Meet Marc Stein: president of the Organization of American Historians and author of Bicentennial 4:09 What the "Saving America's History" report actually is: a hit piece published on the White House website 5:15 The ideological agenda: erasing workers, immigrants, women, people of color, and LGBTQ history in favor of "great presidents and military victories" 6:42 1,200 words on land acknowledgements: why the White House calls them "anti-white and anti-American" 9:29 What Marc actually saw when he visited the museum in March: lowriders, Filipino immigrants, the All in the Family set 9:41 "Bizarrely obsessed and delusionally paranoid": what's wrong with the report's methodology 14:00 What's being lost right now: the specific historical materials disappearing from federal archives 18:00 How the administration is using history to decide who belongs in America and who doesn't 22:00 The accountability problem: what we lose when we can't understand where we've been 27:00 What it means to erase LGBTQ history specifically — and what Out History is doing to preserve it 30:43 The bicentennial parallel: Nixon called for open borders, Ford naturalized citizens at Monticello. Now compare that to US 250. 33:38 How we fight back: the "We Want More History" campaign launching September 2026 36:25 Do Americans know this is happening? What Marc's inbox looks like this week. Organization of American Historians The Federal Assault On History Report Bicentennial: A Revolutionary History of the 1970s OutHistory PROMO CODES:  This episode is sponsored by SaySo. SaySo is a brand new news app built for people who actually want to be informed, not just keep scrolling. No outrage-chasing algorithm, no AI slop, just vetted creators delivering fact-driven coverage you can get through in a few minutes a day. I'm one of the early creators on the platform, posting there alongside others I trust. Check it out and download SaySo Support the show Follow along on social media  SaySo: @GrantHermes  X: @GrantHermes Insta: @Grant__Hermes Tiktok: Grant_Hermes

  6. Jul 9

    "I Have Bread That Lasted Longer Than Trump's Iran Ceasefire."

    The ceasefire Trump called a once-in-a-generation peace deal is over. It lasted three weeks. Grant has bread on his counter that lasted longer. Trump declared the ceasefire officially over while at a NATO summit in Turkey, a meeting that did not go well for the United States by any measure. He threatened to cut off trade with Spain over NATO spending. He claimed the US once owned Greenland and gave it back, which is not how that happened. He called Ukrainian President Zelensky "Putin" on camera. Then, minutes later, he accused Japan of firing missiles at US troops... he meant Iran. He also left Turkey on the old Air Force One instead of the Qatari-gifted plane, which the Associated Press reports is not equipped with the same missile detection and countermeasure systems as the older jets. The transponder on Air Force One was also shut off near the Turkey-Iran border on the way in. On Iran: the ceasefire ended after the US launched airstrikes inside Iran during the 10-day funeral of the Ayatollah, breaking a specific promise made to Iranian negotiators. Iran responded by firing missiles into Bahrain, Kuwait, and Qatar. Israel used it as a green light to resume bombing in Lebanon. The Strait of Hormuz is closed again with 300-plus ships waiting. The US missile stockpile is still severely depleted and will take years to replenish. Trump announced all of this on a Wednesday, not a Friday, so the markets couldn't recover before the weekend. Oil shot up. The stock market tanked. Grant explains why that was uncharacteristic and what it might mean. CHAPTERS: 0:00 The Iran ceasefire is over. It lasted three weeks. 1:30 NATO explained: what it is, what the US pays, and why Trump thinks we're getting ripped off 4:00 Trump threatens to cut off Spain over NATO spending — a country we have a trade surplus with and two military bases in 6:30 Trump claims the US once owned Greenland and gave it back. That's not what happened. 8:00 Trump calls Zelensky "Putin" on camera at NATO 9:00 Trump accuses Japan of firing missiles at US troops. He meant Iran. They rhyme. 10:30 Air Force One: why Trump flew home on the old plane and what the AP found about the Qatari jet's missing safety systems 12:00 The transponder was shut off near the Turkey-Iran border. What that means. 13:00 Sponsor break 14:30 Why the ceasefire actually ended: airstrikes during the Ayatollah's funeral, a broken promise to Iranian negotiators 16:00 Iran fires on Bahrain, Kuwait, and Qatar. Israel resumes bombing Lebanon. The domino effect. 17:30 The Strait of Hormuz is closed again: 300+ ships waiting, US missile stockpile still depleted 19:00 Why announcing this on a Wednesday — not a Friday — was a strategic mistake that cost Trump money 20:30 The two unanswered questions: has Trump been secretly meeting with Iran, and was he even part of the negotiations? 22:00 $1.2 billion in White House renovations and crews starting on the columns today PROMO CODE: This episode is sponsored by SaySo. SaySo is a brand new news app built for people who actually want to be informed, not just keep scrolling. No outrage-chasing algorithm, no AI slop, just vetted creators delivering fact-driven coverage you can get through in a few minutes a day. I'm one of the early creators on the platform, posting there alongside others I trust. Check it out and download SaySo Support the show Follow along on social media  SaySo: @GrantHermes  X: @GrantHermes Insta: @Grant__Hermes Tiktok: Grant_Hermes

  7. Jul 7

    The Senate Is About to Explode. Here's Every Race That Could Make It Happen.

    A New York Times/Sienna poll just found that for the first time, the key states needed to flip the Senate from Republican to Democrat are either Democratic leads or within the margin of error. North Carolina, Maine, Texas, Alaska, Iowa, and Ohio. If Democrats flip those seats and win the House as expected, the math for impeachment starts to work. Then everything started falling apart at once. The Democratic candidate in Maine was credibly accused of sexual assault, with corroborating text messages and therapist notes. He hadn't dropped out as of recording, but Grant explains why his video response was what you say when you're giving your party time to find a replacement, and they only have until July 13th. The Republican running in Texas, Ken Paxton, who was nearly impeached by his own party on 20 counts, spent the Fourth of July weekend in London with his mistress... while running a Christian conservative campaign... in Texas. In Michigan, Mallory McMorrow dropped out, leaving Abdul El-Sayed and Haley Stevens in a race that is now entirely about Israel and Gaza, and a lot of outside money is about to flood in. In Arizona, the DOJ opened a campaign finance investigation into Senator Ruben Gallego, that looks an awful lot like Trump's DOJ trying to force out a 2028 contender. And Mitch McConnell was found unconscious at his home on June 14th, required CPR, hasn't been seen since, and is being reported as brain dead. His staff says he's fine and having 20-minute policy conversations. So far, there's no real proof.  On top of all of that, Trump is demanding $350 billion more for defense and trying to jam the Save America Act, the mail-in voting ban, into the bill through a budget process that most experts say is illegal. 0:00 Trump fell asleep during his own fireworks show. Also the fireworks caused a Code Red air quality alert. 2:00 The NYT/Sienna poll: for the first time the Senate is actually up for grabs 3:30 What flipping the Senate would actually mean: confirmations, investigations, impeachment math 4:30 Maine implodes: Graham Platner credibly accused of rape, text messages, therapist notes, and what his video response actually means 7:30 Texas: Ken Paxton spent the Fourth of July in London with his mistress while running a Christian conservative Senate campaign 10:00 Michigan: McMorrow drops out, El-Sayed vs. Stevens, and why this race is now entirely about Israel and Gaza 13:00 SaySo News A p 14:30 Arizona: the DOJ opens a campaign finance investigation into Ruben Gallego, and why the timing matters 17:00 Where in the world is Mitch McConnell?: CPR, brain-dead reports, and 20-minute policy calls with no video proof 20:00 Trump demands $350 billion more for defense and tries to jam the Save America Act in through reconciliation 22:30 Why this is illegal, why senators are furious, and why the Senate is a political Mount Vesuvius right now PROMO CODES:  This episode is sponsored by SaySo. SaySo is a brand new news app built for people who actually want to be informed, not just keep scrolling. No outrage-chasing algorithm, no AI slop, just vetted creators delivering fact-driven coverage you can get through in a few minutes a day. I'm one of the early creators on the platform, posting there alongside others I trust. Check it out and download SaySo Support the show Follow along on social media  SaySo: @GrantHermes  X: @GrantHermes Insta: @Grant__Hermes Tiktok: Grant_Hermes

  8. Jun 26

    America Turns 250. Trump Is Hijacking It For Himself.

    One week before America turns 250, Congress set aside money to celebrate the country. Trump's private organization, Freedom 250, is siphoning that money into a celebration that is increasingly about him. The Great American State Fair on the National Mall was supposed to open with a concert celebrating America. Musicians pulled out. It became a Trump rally. Trump said 45,000 people attended. The actual count was about 1,000, and many left early. There are now 50 to 100 foot banners of Trump's face next to the founding fathers across Washington DC. The Supreme Court is deciding whether Americans born on American soil are actually Americans. And the question Grant and his guest sit with for most of this conversation is: what does it mean when a president cannot separate himself from the country he leads? Karrin Anderson is a professor of political rhetoric at Colorado State University and an expert in authoritarian communication. She and Grant talk through what the centering of Trump in America's 250th celebration tells us about where we are, how democratic backsliding actually works in the 21st century (not through military coups, but through the slow institutional capture of universities, courts, and the press), why Watergate would be a minor footnote today, and what the founding actually has to teach us about this moment. This is a conversation for everyone who is holding complicated feelings about July 4th this year. Which is a lot of people. Karrin Anderson  MAKE IT MAKE SENSE SUBSTACK CHAPTERS: 0:00 Trump's 250th: a concert that became a rally, 1,000 people, and his face on 100-foot banners 2:18 Meet Karen Anderson: professor of political rhetoric and expert in authoritarian communication 2:52 Authoritarianism as a cult of personality: why Trump can't separate himself from the country he leads 4:10 Freedom 250 vs. America 250: how a private organization is siphoning the congressional celebration 5:09 What the Fourth of July has always meant — and why Trump's centering is a departure from 250 years of it 7:23 Does authoritarian overreach get worse as a president gets weaker heading into midterms? 7:54 The Republican Party is now the problem, not just Trump: why Congress could stop this and won't 9:13 What happens to the Republican Party after Trump? JD Vance, the moderates who got driven out, and 2028 11:10 The most dangerous thing Trump did: not the authoritarianism, but proving how weak our norms were 12:52 Why Watergate wouldn't matter today — and what that tells us about where we are 14:36 Should Democrats impeach if they win the House? Karen's answer. 20:28 Trump's legacy project: building structures, capturing universities, controlling what people learn 23:33 The stuff you can undo vs. the stuff you can't: why the policy damage outlasts the statues 24:37 How democratic backsliding actually works in the 21st century — not coups, but institutional capture 26:21 The death of the American university: which colleges close first and what that does to their towns 30:48 Were our institutions always this fragile, or was this administration just that aggressive? 31:38 Red state universities flush with federal money, blue state universities hollowed out: the coming split 35:49 How do we hold the line? What the founding actually teaches us about this moment. 36:22 Karen's closing: Citizens working together is still what this experiment is built on PROMO CODES:  This episode is sponsored by SaySo. SaySo is a brand new news app built for people who actually want to be informed, not just keep scrolling. No outrage-chasing algorithm, no AI slop, just vetted creators delivering fact-driven coverage you can get through in a few minutes a day. I'm one of the early creators on the platform, posting there alongside others I trust. Check it out and download SaySo Support the show Follow along on social media  SaySo: @GrantHermes  X: @GrantHermes Insta: @Grant__Hermes Tiktok: Grant_Hermes

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Politics has never been more chaotic, and most podcasts just add to the noise. Make It Make Sense with Grant Hermes cuts through it. Grant is an AP Award-winning journalist with over a decade of on-the-ground reporting on the biggest political stories, scandals, and elections in America. Twice a week, he takes the stories dominating the headlines and breaks them down in plain English — no jargon, no spin, no shouting. If you care about what’s happening in this country but you’re exhausted by how it’s being covered, this is the show for you. Real reporting. Clear explanations. Actual context. Make It Make Sense drops three times a week. Subscribe so you never miss it.

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