Unf*cking The Republic

UNFTR Media
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  • POLITICS
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Unf*cking The Republic

Unf*cking The Republic® (UNFTR) is a series of audio essays on the grand American experiment lovingly curated and presented by a quasi-anonymous political writer.  Each essay reflects on a singular topic that is generally misunderstood or purposely obfuscated by the so-called “powers that be.” As we know, history is written by the victors and can be perilously manufactured to favor destructive world views. These views become intractably ingrained in the public consciousness and pervert public policy, oftentimes with horrific results.  As of this podcast’s founding, we find ourselves living in a true kakistocracy. The disconnect between what we believe and what is actually happening below the surface or in plain sight is where this podcast lives.  Together we’ll upend conventional wisdom, blow up narratives on the left, right and center and use magical devices like facts, logic and reason to explain how exactly we arrived in bizarro America, the funhouse mirror version of what was originally intended. #UNFTR

  1. 17 HR. AGO

    Election Integrity: Getting Money Out of Politics. Non-Negotiable #4.

    The movement to get money out of politics will take a very long time. I know people don’t want to hear that. My guess is, in the best case scenario, we’re looking at 20 years. Best case. If it makes you feel any better, the movement to get money into politics took 181 years so by that measure, two decades to unravel what took 181 to build isn’t all that bad. Either we’re committed to playing the long game or not. The assholes that got us here were. Chapters Intro: 00:00:33 Chapter One: Non-Negotiable #4. 00:01:11 Chapter Two: The Long and Winding Road to Citizens United. 00:07:05 Chapter Three: Media Complicity. The Revolution Was Already Televised. 00:16:46 Chapter Four: Defying Its Creator. The Tale of Mitch McGolem. 00:20:43 Bring it Home, Max: 00:28:47 Post Show Musings: 00:37:13 Outro: 01:11:09 Resources OpenSecrets: Money-in-Politics Timeline Brennan Center for Justice: Since Citizens United, a Decade of Super PACs Cambridge University: Dark Parties: Unveiling Nonparty Communities in American Political Campaigns De Gruyter: Television Advertising in the 2022 Midterms De Gruyter: Digital Advertising in the 2022 Midterms Bowdoin College: Government Scholar Michael Franz on Impact of Ads during the 2024 Election Cycle Brennan Center for Justice: Life Tenure for U.S. Supreme Court Justices Is a Global Oddity with Clear Costs Ballotpedia News: Looking ahead at 2025 ranked-choice voting legislation Justia: Citizens United v. FEC | 558 U.S. 310 (2010) Senate: Saving American Democracy Amendment  Constitution Center: Interpretation: The Twenty-Seventh Amendment American Promise CampaignFinanceReform.org Book Love Adam Jentleson: Kill Switch: The Rise of the Modern Senate and the Crippling of American Democracy Kermit L. Hall: The Oxford Companion to the Supreme Court of the United States UNFTR Episode Resources Housing First. Building a Civilian Labor Corps: Bracing for the AI Job Apocalypse. Medicare for All. Project 2025. What’s the Deal with Peter Thiel? “Russputin” and the Tsar. -- 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, TikTok and Instagram at @UNFTRpod. Visit us online at unftr.com. Buy yourself some Unf*cking Coffee at shop.unftr.com. Check out the UNFTR Pod Love playlist on Spotify: spoti.fi/3yzIlUP. 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). Original music is by Tom McGovern (tommcgovern.com). The show is hosted by Max and distributed by 99. Podcast art description: Image of the US Constitution ripped in the middle revealing white text on a blue background that says, "Unf*cking the Republic." Support the show: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/unftr See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    1h 12m

  2. 6 DAYS AGO

    Show Notes [Misc.]

    Max and 99 are back for Show Notes! They catch up with some movie talk and dive deep into the Non-Negotiables and hives. Enjoy! Chapters Intro: 00:00:20 Housekeeping: 00:19:47 Emails: 00:32:20 Memberships: 01:23:32 Outro: 01:24:59 Resources Join us on Bluesky and Discord Ken Lefkowitz: Medicare For All: An Economic Rationale Abdul El-Sayed and Micah Johnson: Medicare For All: A Citizen’s Guide Unf*cker Recommendations Michael Bazzell: Extreme Privacy: What It Takes to Disappear Electronic Frontier Foundation Kevin Mitnick: The Art of Invisibility + The Art of Deception The Guardian: US immigration is gaming Google to create a mirage of mass deportations UNFTR Episode Resources Housing First. A Civilian Labor Corps. Medicare For All. -- 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, TikTok and Instagram at @UNFTRpod. Visit us online at unftr.com. Buy yourself some Unf*cking Coffee at shop.unftr.com. Check out the UNFTR Pod Love playlist on Spotify: spoti.fi/3yzIlUP. 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). Original music is by Tom McGovern (tommcgovern.com). The show is hosted by Max and distributed by 99. Podcast art description: Image of the US Constitution ripped in the middle revealing white text on a blue background that says, "Unf*cking the Republic." Support the show: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/unftr See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    1h 27m

  3. FEB 15

    It Ends With Him: Trump Is the End of Neoliberalism.

    Regardless of what happens next in the United States, the American experiment ends with Donald Trump. But Trump is a Trojan Horse. The real dismantling of our systems and norms is embodied by the man he ceded power to, the wealthiest person in the world. Elon Musk is the living avatar of the new corporate colonial era and there’s no going back to the way it was. This administration serves as the capstone to the neoliberal era, which itself was the professional culmination of previous social and political movements such as the John Birch Society and the Know Nothing Party. The only way to stave off economic, social and political collapse is for the left to mount a coordinated counteroffensive to the tech oligarchs who seek to consolidate all of the wealth and power in the world. Resources The Globe and Mail: Opinion: Trump’s election is a crisis like no other, not only for the U.S. but the world Washington Times: Elon Musk: Judge Paul Engelmayer should be impeached for thwarting his DOGE squad - Washington Times  Propublica: Elon Musk’s Boring Company Is Tunneling Beneath Las Vegas With Little Oversight Planalto: Brazil announces Indonesia as full member of BRICS -- 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, TikTok and Instagram at @UNFTRpod. Visit us online at unftr.com. Buy yourself some Unf*cking Coffee at shop.unftr.com. Check out the UNFTR Pod Love playlist on Spotify: spoti.fi/3yzIlUP. 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). Original music is by Tom McGovern (tommcgovern.com). The show is hosted by Max and distributed by 99. Podcast art description: Image of the US Constitution ripped in the middle revealing white text on a blue background that says, "Unf*cking the Republic." Support the show: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/unftr See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    39 min

  4. FEB 8

    Medicare For All: Non-Negotiable #3.

    America’s healthcare system isn’t broken—it’s working exactly as designed. The problem is that it was designed to generate profits, not health outcomes. We spend roughly 20% of our GDP on healthcare, about double what other developed nations spend per capita, yet we have shorter life expectancy, higher infant mortality rates, and leave tens of millions uninsured or underinsured. Medicare for All is the obvious and attainable solution but it has fallen out of mainstream conversation since Biden bested Bernie for the 2020 nomination. Rekindling this spark is vital and should be one of the primary non-negotiables of the Left movement. Chapters Intro: 00:00:40 Chapter One: Changing the Intent. 00:03:09 Chapter Two: Building the Narrative. 00:07:51 Chapter Three: A System Designed to Fail. 00:11:44 Chapter Four: Understanding Medicare for All. 00:16:34 Bring it Home, Max: 00:24:20 Post Show Musings: 00:28:41 Outro: 00:38:57 Book Love Ken Lefkowitz: Medicare For All: An Economic Rationale Abdul El-Sayed and Micah Johnson: Medicare For All: A Citizen’s Guide Steven Brill: America’s Bitter Pill Paul Starr: The Social Transformation of American Medicine -- 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, TikTok and Instagram at @UNFTRpod. Visit us online at unftr.com. Buy yourself some Unf*cking Coffee at shop.unftr.com. Check out the UNFTR Pod Love playlist on Spotify: spoti.fi/3yzIlUP. 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). Original music is by Tom McGovern (tommcgovern.com). The show is hosted by Max and distributed by 99. Podcast art description: Image of the US Constitution ripped in the middle revealing white text on a blue background that says, "Unf*cking the Republic." Support the show: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/unftr See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    39 min

  5. FEB 1

    Extraordinary Cruelty, Ordinary Policy: Immigration and Deportation Under Trump 2.0.

    Given the turmoil and disgust surrounding Trump’s shock and awe deportation campaign, we thought it a good time to dig back into the immigration issue and update some of our findings from prior episodes. There’s no question Trump’s ICE is more brutal and seemingly indiscriminate, so we tried to put these efforts in context with prior administrations. Then we zoom out to look at root causes of immigration and the failure of U.S. foreign policy toward the LAC. Chapters Intro: 00:01:01 Post Show Musings: 00:26:03 Outro: 01:05:29 Resources Texas Tribune: Trump promised mass deportations. Here’s one way they could quietly happen. Vox: Removals vs returns: how to think about Obama’s deportation record Migration Policy Institute: The Biden Administration Is on Pace to Match Trump Deportation Numbers—Focusing on the Border, Not the U.S. Interior Migration Policy Institute: The Obama Record on Deportations: Deporter in Chief or Not? Migration Policy Institute: Net Number of Migrants by Country, 1950-2020 (by Five-Year Intervals) U.S. Department of Justice: Executive Office for Immigration Review Adjudication Statistics Washington Post: Deportation at ‘light speed’: How Trump’s crackdown could unfold House of Representatives: Laken Riley Act U.S. Department of Agriculture: Child Nutrition Programs - National School Lunch Program Center for Immigration Studies: Mapping the Impact of Immigration on Public Schools UNFTR Episode Resources Fox in the Outhouse: Invasion, Immigration & Inflation Over The Borderline: Introduction Part One Part Two Part Three Housing First: Non-Negotiable #1. -- 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, TikTok and Instagram at @UNFTRpod. Visit us online at unftr.com. Buy yourself some Unf*cking Coffee at shop.unftr.com. Check out the UNFTR Pod Love playlist on Spotify: spoti.fi/3yzIlUP. 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). Original music is by Tom McGovern (tommcgovern.com). The show is hosted by Max and distributed by 99. Podcast art description: Image of the US Constitution ripped in the middle revealing white text on a blue background that says, "Unf*cking the Republic." Support the show: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/unftr See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    1h 6m

  6. JAN 25

    Day One: Max Unfiltered.

    We’re through the first two “non-negotiables” of the Left (Housing First and a Civilian Labor Corps) and I’m taking my sweet ass time with the third: Medicare for All. In the meantime, this week’s pod is a compilation of thoughts and writing I’ve done since the inauguration; officially another Max Unfiltered entry into our canon. Chapters Intro: 00:00:51 Post Show Musings: 00:23:20 UNFTR Episode Resources Housing First. Building a Civilian Labor Corps: Bracing for the AI Job Apocalypse. YouTube: Day One: A Progressive Reaction to Trump's Inauguration -- 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, TikTok and Instagram at @UNFTRpod. Visit us online at unftr.com. Buy yourself some Unf*cking Coffee at shop.unftr.com. Check out the UNFTR Pod Love playlist on Spotify: spoti.fi/3yzIlUP. 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). Original music is by Tom McGovern (tommcgovern.com). The show is hosted by Max and distributed by 99. Podcast art description: Image of the US Constitution ripped in the middle revealing white text on a blue background that says, "Unf*cking the Republic." Support the show: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/unftr See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    27 min

  7. JAN 18

    Building a Civilian Labor Corps: Bracing for the AI Job Apocalypse. Non-Negotiable #2.

    Today we’re tackling our second non-negotiable pillar of establishing a Civilian Labor Corps, and the timing couldn’t be more critical. You may have picked up on chatter in the wind about the impending job apocalypse at the hands of artificial intelligence (AI). I’m here to tell you that this is real. It is coming faster and more furiously than you realize, and we are wholly unprepared. This episode breaks down the speed and totality of what’s coming in the AI revolution and speaks to how prominent economists from history through today would manage the impending employment crisis. Chapters Prologue: 00:00:43 Introduction: Storm Clouds. 00:03:52 Chapter One: The Coming AI Job Apocalypse. 00:06:52 Chapter Two: Full Employment. 00:20:55 Chapter Three: Breaking from Neoliberal Thinking. 00:28:34 Bring It Home, Max. 00:37:26 Post Show Musings: 00:42:23 Outro: 01:10:58 Watch YouTube Video: Unpacking the Ceasefire Agreement: Shades of the Iran Hostage Deal. https://youtu.be/Bnfzl1xWumc Resources Goldman Sachs: What to expect from AI in 2025: hybrid workers, robotics, expert models Levy Institute: Working Paper No. 542 Keynes’s Approach to Full Employment: Aggregate or Targeted Demand?  Fisher Phillips: U.S. House Delivers Sweeping AI Report: 10 Biggest Takeaways for Employers 118th Congress: Bipartisan House Task Force on Artificial Intelligence Congressional Budget Office: Artificial Intelligence and Its Potential Effects on the Economy and the Federal Budget Congressional Research Service: The Macroeconomic Effects of Artificial Intelligence Convin: Is AI a Threat to the BPO Industry? AI in BPO Industry Explained UNFTR Episode Resources Housing First: Non-Negotiable #1. The U.S. Economy: Have we reached a boiling point? Has “Creative Destruction” Reached Silicon Valley? The Capitalism Trap. Modern Monetary Theory. Can we afford it? Yes. Yes, we can. F*ck Milton Friedman. The Chicago school of economics. Book Love Abhijit V. Banerjee and Esther Duflo: Good Economics for Hard Times Kurt Vonnegut: Player Piano -- 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, TikTok and Instagram at @UNFTRpod. Visit us online at unftr.com. Buy yourself some Unf*cking Coffee at shop.unftr.com. Check out the UNFTR Pod Love playlist on Spotify: spoti.fi/3yzIlUP. 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). Original music is by Tom McGovern (tommcgovern.com). The show is hosted by Max and distributed by 99. Podcast art description: Image of the US Constitution ripped in the middle revealing white text on a blue background that says, "Unf*cking the Republic." Support the show: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/unftr See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    1h 12m

  8. JAN 11

    Housing First: Non-Negotiable #1.

    As is customary, HUD released its annual report on homelessness at the end of 2024. It revealed a startling year-over-year increase in homelessness among individuals and families in the United States. Among the devastating data, there were bright spots such as a decrease in homeless veterans. But the reporting and punditry surrounding the report was less than stellar, and the news was buried in a matter of days. Crucially, some of the worst reporting on HUD’s findings came from left wing media sources who pointed to immigration as one of the drivers of the increase, conveniently and uncritically parroting conservative talking points while ignoring the more pertinent narratives. Chapters Intro: 00:00:37 Chapter One: A Point in Time. 00:03:12 Chapter Two: Whether Building a Home or a Narrative, Framing Matters. 00:07:39 Chapter Three: Housing First: When Evidence Meets Ideology. 00:17:03 Bring it Home, Max. 00:26:20 Post Show Musings: 00:30:55 Outro: 00:58:21 Resources HUD: The 2024 Annual Homelessness Assessment Report (AHAR) to Congress  Tsemberis, S., & Eisenberg, R. F. (2000). Pathways to Housing: Supported Housing for Street-Dwelling Homeless Individuals with Psychiatric Disabilities National Alliance to End Homelessness. (2000). A Plan, Not a Dream: How to End Homelessness in Ten Years. Washington, DC U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness. (2010). *Opening Doors: Federal Strategic Plan to Prevent and End Homelessness. Washington, DC Department of Housing and Urban Development. (2014). Housing First in Permanent Supportive Housing Brief Gillespie, S., et al. (2021). Denver Supportive Housing Social Impact Bond Initiative: Final Outcome Report. Urban Institute Los Angeles County Department of Health Services. (2019). Housing for Health Year Four Evaluation Report Wright, B. J., et al. (2016). Health in Housing: Exploring the Intersection between Housing and Health Care. Center for Outcomes Research and Education National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. (2018). Permanent Supportive Housing: Evaluating the Evidence for Improving Health Outcomes Among People Experiencing Chronic Homelessness Gubits, D., et al. (2016). Family Options Study: 3-Year Impacts of Housing and Services Interventions for Homeless Families. U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Y-Foundation. (2020). A Home of Your Own: Housing First and Ending Homelessness in Finland National Alliance to End Homelessness. (2020). Rapid Re-Housing Works: What the Evidence Says Padgett, D. K., et al. (2016). Housing First: Ending Homelessness, Transforming Systems, and Changing Lives. Oxford University Press UNFTR Episode Resources Over The Borderline Series: Introduction. Part One. Part Two. Part Three. -- 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, TikTok and Instagram at @UNFTRpod. Visit us online at unftr.com. Buy yourself some Unf*cking Coffee at shop.unftr.com. Check out the UNFTR Pod Love playlist on Spotify: spoti.fi/3yzIlUP. 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). Original music is by Tom McGovern (tommcgovern.com). The show is hosted by Max and distributed by 99. Podcast art description: Image of the US Constitution ripped in the middle revealing white text on a blue background that says, "Unf*cking the Republic." Support the show: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/unftr See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    59 min
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Unf*cking The Republic® (UNFTR) is a series of audio essays on the grand American experiment lovingly curated and presented by a quasi-anonymous political writer.  Each essay reflects on a singular topic that is generally misunderstood or purposely obfuscated by the so-called “powers that be.” As we know, history is written by the victors and can be perilously manufactured to favor destructive world views. These views become intractably ingrained in the public consciousness and pervert public policy, oftentimes with horrific results.  As of this podcast’s founding, we find ourselves living in a true kakistocracy. The disconnect between what we believe and what is actually happening below the surface or in plain sight is where this podcast lives.  Together we’ll upend conventional wisdom, blow up narratives on the left, right and center and use magical devices like facts, logic and reason to explain how exactly we arrived in bizarro America, the funhouse mirror version of what was originally intended. #UNFTR

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