Liberation Day is the most ridiculous and absurd name for a bloodbath that roiled the financial markets this week. Trump, no stranger to rash decisions, has been warning Wall Street since he was elected that he had every intention of "punishing" our allies by starting a completely unnecessary trade war. Tim and Rachel do their best to analyze the rationale behind the worst self-own in the history of the Office of the President (give or take). Rachel swears a lot. Tim has smart ideas about what to do before the midterms when we might be able to save ourselves

Tim has a new podcast that's...."blowing up" is the only real way to put it. Tim and Rachel take a bit of a detour this week to discuss the breakout (and truly surprising) success of his "sister wife" (Rachel's term, not his) podcast Find Out. They also talk about how it came to be, and that it's clearly finding an audience. Did we mention the downloads in week one??? You'll have to listen to Tim's OG podcast (we mean this one) to find out more.

As Trump authorizes Elon Musk and his bronies to continue their rampage through our Federal programs, we're starting to see serious cuts to our National Parks. Rangers and other crucial safety programs are getting laid off and slashed. Our guest for this episode, Jon Jarvis (Fmr. Director of the National Park Service) talks about the direct financial benefit of our Parks and the harms that could befall visitors and our national tourism economy. Tim and Rachel also ask Jon about how those financial impacts will negatively impact Trump districts and where and how those constituents can locate that critical economic data. And also: Jon's mustache's Twitter account. (Yes, that's a thing.)

While the world was busy burning, MeidasTouch, an independent, pro-Democracy and decidedly anti-Trump podcast network, dethroned Joe Rogan as the number-one most downloaded podcast in America. Meanwhile, Substack has slowly been tweaking its interface, and now presents its Notes feed as its home page (something that looks a bit like the Twitter of a bygone era). Tim and Rachel dig into what this could mean for independent news creators and discuss how and why this could be good news for people who are hopeful about a well-funded network of content creators on the left/pro-democracy side of the political spectrum.

Wired Magazine has been breaking some of the biggest and most valuable stories about Elon Musk's DOGE team. Rachel and Tim interview journalist Zoë Schiffer (Director, business and industry at Wired Magazine) to get insights into Elon's sometimes mercurial visions for Twitter (now X) and how those views could be shaping both his aims for streamlining our federal bureaucracy and the very nature of our federal funding systems. Extremely Hardcore: Inside Elon Musk’s Twitter https://www.amazon.com/Extremely-Hardcore-Inside-Musks-Twitter/dp/0593716604 @zoeschiffer.bsky.social https://www.wired.com/author/zoe-schiffer/ (edited)

Donald Trump seemingly has put the full faith and power of his office into the hands of Elon Musk. The stories about Musk's engineers roaming around federal agencies and potentially overriding Congressional authority is sending a chill throughout the nation, and for good reason. Rachel and Tim discuss the matter on an emergency pod with Josh Marshall, the editor-in-chief and founder of Talking Points Memo.

Trump has barely been in office for two weeks and he (and his new BFF Elon) are already sowing chaos and spreading disinformation. Tim and Rachel talk go deep about to stay informed without becoming completely demoralized, and why leaning into your areas of interest (and independent journalists who cover those areas) is critical.

Tim sits down with David J. Hayes (former Special Assistant to the President for Climate Policy and Deputy Secretary of the Interior) for an in depth discussion why and how President Biden did more for the climate than any president in history. They also discuss how President Trump's call to "drill baby drill" is likely to fail.

In 2024, we learned the hard way that the right's well-funded influencer network helped Trump capture the attention of traditional Republican and swing voters. Can the left build an equally well-funded and impactful influencer network that can sustain creators? Josh Cook President of Good Influence and Advisor at Chorus is doing just that. He chats with Tim and Rachel about where the money will come from and why it's not just possible, but vital, that Democratic funders (big and small) make this important investment in building out the infrastructure to carry progressive messaging across all media platforms.

While many of us on the more progressive side of things are (understatement warning) disappointed in how the year ended and equally concerned about what's in store for 2025, we wanted to highlight some of the very good things that did happen this year, as well as things we're looking forward to in 2025. Oh, and then Tim's internet dropped out.

Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine talks with Tim and Rachel about all things NYC - including several new laws primed to make the city America's beacon of hope as we begin the next Trump Administration.

Tim and Rachel do a deep dive into today's media landscape, what the future looks like , and how businesses, non-profits and politicians can benefit from its changing landscape.

The day after Vice President Kamala Harris's loss to President-Elect Donald Trump, PolitiGood hosts Rachel Parker and (fellow White Dude for Harris) Tim Fullerton talk to Brad Bauman, Sam Dryzmala and Mike Nellis; co-founders of White Dudes for Harris, on how we can rebuild and strengthen Democratic messaging and reaching out to increasingly disaffected male voters.