The DSR Network

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On the DSR Daily for Friday, we break down the Supreme Court denying Trump’s appeal to halt his sentencing, false narratives spreading around the L.A. fires, a federal judge blocking the Biden admin’s new Title IX rule, and more. 

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This week, we learned that Supreme Court justice Samuel Alito spoke privately with Donald Trump to recommend a former clerk for a job. Jamie Raskin just tore into this news, urging Alito to recuse himself from Trump-related matters. This comes as Trump asked the high court to block a New York judge from sentencing him for his hush money conviction. What Raskin got right is to zero in on the corruption embedded in Trump’s relationship with the Supreme Court. After all, between this and Judge Aileen Cannon ordering Special Counsel Jack Smith not to release his report on the evidence he’s collected against Trump, the courts face a legitimacy crisis. We talked to Politico’s Kyle Cheney, who untangles all these stories and explains what’s coming next. Listen to this episode here.

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Mark Zuckerberg announced major changes in Meta’s policies on fact-checking, hate speech, and more. Are these sweeping changes an indication of Zuck bending the knee to Trump and the MAGA movement, or is there more to it? Renee DiResta joins David Rothkopf to break down these changes, consider the challenges of content moderation, and discuss the crisis of trust in information platforms. 

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On the DSR Daily for Thursday, we discuss the ongoing fires in Los Angeles, Lebanon electing a new president after years of political paralysis, Trump-induced turmoil in Europe, and more. 

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With wildfires raging in Los Angeles, Donald Trump unleashed some ugly and hateful tirades on Truth Social. He attacked California Governor Gavin Newsom with a vile slur, blamed the fires on him and President Biden, and even scapegoated environmental protections, which Newsom’s office dismissed as pure fiction. We think this is best seen as another example of how the MAGA right wing seeks to thoroughly degrade public life at every conceivable opportunity. We talked to Nicole Hemmer, a leading historian of the conservative movement and the right wing media. She explains how today’s MAGA derangement traces its lineage back many decades, and discusses how we should respond. Listen to this episode here.

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If Donald Trump’s recent statements are anything to go by, we’re about to enter a new age of American imperialism. But how much stock should we really put into Trump’s desires to acquire the Panama Canal, Greenland, and even Canada? Rosa Brooks, Kori Schake, and Ed Luce join David Rothkopf to break it all down. 

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On the DSR Daily for Wednesday, we discuss Donald Trump requesting the Supreme Court block sentencing in his hush money case, a spreading wildfire in Los Angeles, France’s response to Trump’s Greenland threats, and more. 

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At a press conference on Tuesday, Donald Trump signaled that things are about to get very, very ugly. He wouldn’t rule out using military force to annex Greenland and the Panama Canal. He celebrated the idea that his threats to jail Mark Zuckerberg might have caused Zuckerberg to surrender to him. And Trump vowed to rename the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America. We talked to Jennifer Mercieca, a professor of rhetoric who writes about fascist tropes. She explains how Trump is attempting to acclimate Americans to expansionist nationalism and naked threats to jail people without cause to force them into line, and why that bodes so badly about what’s coming. Listen to this episode here.

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If Donald Trump’s press conference at Mar-a-Lago was any indication, we’re in for a wild 2025. From threatening military action against US allies to fueling FBI Jan 6 conspiracies the conference ran the gamut of bad news. Norm and Kavita are back in the new year to break it all down, discuss the rising influence of Elon Musk, the need for robust counter-media networks, and more. 

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On the DSR Daily for Tuesday, we cover a New York judge denying Donald Trump's request to delay his sentencing on January 10, the U.S. Congress officially certifying Donald Trump’s election victory, and more.

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With a few big moves in recent days, Donald Trump is already showing how he’ll make life miserable for Republicans in Congress, particularly Mike Johnson. He’s signaling that his demands of the House Speaker will be borderline impossible to meet. He continues to declare that he wants virtually his entire agenda pass in one big bill, which will put Republicans in a deep bind. And he’s empowered Elon Musk to propose huge spending cuts that will create major political problems for Johnson and the GOP. With Republicans already battling over all of it, we talked to congressional scholar Norman Ornstein, who decodes Trump’s latest gambits and the GOP infighting over them—and explains what it all signals about the travails Trump will inflict on Johnson and Republicans, not to mention his own voters. Listen to this episode here.

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As President Biden prepares to leave office, one of the most consequential foreign policy challenges of his administration remains unresolved: the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Professor of Strategic Studies and historian Dr. Philips O’Brien joins Marc Polymeropoulos to discuss the successes and failures of Biden’s policy in Ukraine, the challenges that remain, and more. 

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On the DSR Daily for Monday, we cover Justin Trudeau's increasing likeliness to step down, Mike Johnson's announcement to pass President-elect Trump's agenda through a large reconciliation package before Memorial Day, and more.

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Over the weekend, Donald Trump unleashed an angry new rant over the news that his sentencing for his hush money conviction will proceed this week. Buried in Trump’s rage was a key tell: He’s signaling that he’ll use his conviction as a pretext to carry out his own autocratic second-term designs. There are also indications that he hopes to milk his sentencing toward other ugly ends. We talked to Adam Gurri, the editor of Liberal Currents magazine, who’s been making good arguments lately about Trump’s pursuit of “personalist” rule, which shapes everything around the personality at the center of his movement. Gurri explains how Trump is already signaling that this is where his presidency will go—and why that’s so ominous. Listen to this episode here.

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On the DSR Daily for Friday, we discuss Mike Johnson’s first test in the new congress, Biden’s rejection of Nippon Steel’s acquisition of US Steel, South Korean authorities attempts to arrest President Yoon, and more. 

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New year, new congress. As Republicans take control of both houses, what can we expect over the next few months? Norm Ornstein joins David Rothkopf to break down the biggest challenges that await this new congress, including the search for a new speaker and more. 

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On the DSR Daily for Thursday, we cover the false narratives around the attack in New Orleans, a Tesla truck explosion outside of Trump’s hotel in Vegas, new punitive trade measures from China, and more. 

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Original Air Date: November 14

Trump’s cabinet picks reach new heights of awfulness. From Matt Gaetz to Elise Stefanik, it’s a veritable who’s who of MAGA sycophants. In a special episode, Rosa Brooks, David Sanger, and EJ Dionne join David Rothkopf to break down these awful choices and what they tell us about the upcoming Trump administration. 

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Original Air Date: November 7, 2024

The election is over, and we lost. Now it’s time to get up off the mat and get back to work. Simon Rosenberg and Tara McGowan join David Rothkopf to break down what went wrong this time, and share the key lessons that Democrats have to learn in order to bounce back and keep up the fight.

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Original air date: December 6, 2024

Points for candor to Senator Tommy Tuberville. On Thursday, he admitted he thinks Trump should vet his own nominees, suggesting the Senate GOP should forget about playing its advice and consent role. That’s a stark admission about what MAGA actually expects from Senate Republicans. Yet revelations about Trump’s pick for Defense Secretary, Pete Hegseth, are so damning that Republicans are finding him impossible to rubber-stamp, and he’s hanging in the balance. We chatted with Salon’s Amanda Marcotte, author of a new piece about Trump, Hegseth and the GOP. She explains how Tuberville said the quiet part out loud, how Trump is expressly trying to build a cabinet of misogynists, and how that’s backfiring, perhaps forcing Republicans to thwart his worst excesses.

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Original Air Date: September 20, 2024

Donald Trump is a crummy candidate, but he’s certainly not the only example of rot in the Republican Party. With so much of the Trump campaign focused on hate and division, we have to ask: how low can the Republican Party really go? The Washington Post’s Jen Rubin and Words Matter host Norm Ornstein join David Rothkopf for an examination of how far the Republican Party has fallen.

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Original air date: October 7, 2024

On Sunday, The New York Times published an extraordinary piece detailing Donald Trump’s deteriorating mental state, singling out his deranged fabrications and outright fabulism as central to its expose. Meanwhile, Trump held a weekend rally in Pennsylvania where he lied angrily in ugly new ways about the federal response to Hurricane Helene. Can Democrats capitalize on all this in the home stretch? We talked to Democratic strategist Maria Cardona, who suggests new ways to close out this race by highlighting Trump’s profound mental unfitness for the presidency—and depicting his lying about disaster response as fundamentally disqualifying. Listen to this episode here.

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Original Air Date: September 12, 2024

We’re on a Hopium high after Kamala Harris’s stellar debate performance. With a deluge of new polls on the horizon, political gurus Tara McGowan, Simon Rosenberg, and Tom Bonier join David Rothkopf to explain how to cut through the bad data and misleading stats to determine who’s really ahead. Spoiler: the news is so good, it has us dancing. 

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Original air date: September 23, 2024

In two bizarre rants over the weekend, Donald Trump openly fumed about female voters, lecturing them about why they should be supporting him and dismissing concerns about GOP abortion bans and all they’ve wrought. Meanwhile, a new NBC News poll shows Kamala Harris leading Trump by 21 points among women. Is Trump even trying to speak to them effectively anymore? We talked to Joan Walsh, national affairs correspondent at The Nation who writes well about the politics of abortion. She explains how Harris’s appeals to female voters really work—and why Trump is alienating them so badly. 

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Original Air Date: August 8, 2024

We’re on a hopium high we haven’t felt in a long time. The Harris/Walz campaign has enjoyed success after success, with so sign of slowing down. US political gurus Simon Rosenberg and Tara McGowan are back with David Rothkopf to share why they’re so optimistic about the Harris campaign and how to keep the pressure on to crush the MAGA cult in November. 

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Original air date: August 2, 2024

With Republicans running from Donald Trump’s ugly attack on Kamala Harris’ blackness, new reports paint a picture of a party that is deeply worried about Trump’s chances. Meanwhile, Trump is raging about another piece of bad news for him: that reporter Evan Gershkovich is getting released from Russian captivity. We talked to Stuart Stevens, an operative with extensive experience in Republican politics who has forcefully renounced his former party, about why the GOP is suddenly hitting the panic button, and what has really happened to his former party as it fully embraces Trump.

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Original Air Date: July 22, 2024

After weeks of speculation, the unprecedented has finally happened. With Joe Biden officially stepping aside to endorse Kamala Harris for President, an entirely new campaign is now underway. In a special two-part episode, Tara McGowan and Simon Rosenberg join David Rothkopf to break down the dynamics of this new race, while members gain access to more insight from Rosa Brooks, Ed Luce, and David. You won’t want to miss it.

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Original air date: July 8, 2024

On Sunday, Donald Trump erupted at The New York Times, slamming it in crazed and bizarre terms for its supposed unfair treatment of him. Yet if anything, in recent days the Times has crusaded relentlessly against his opponent, President Biden. Which is why this moment helps explain how Trump games the media—and how the media lets Trump game them. We talked with Will Stancil, an active social media presence who has prominently skewered the press for an immense double standard toward Trump and Biden. He explains why the Times and the media often seem to crusade more aggressively against Biden’s age than against Trump’s obvious mental unfitness for the presidency. 

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Original Air Date: June 28, 2024

Thursday’s debate was certainly something. Much of the Democratic camp is sounding the alarm after President Biden’s less than stellar performance, and discussions are swirling on whether or not it’s time for a new candidate. Norm Ornstein and Kavita Patel join David Rothkopf on this special episode to discuss what happened and where we go from here.

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Original air date: June 2, 2024

The other day on CNN, prominent Never Trump lawyer George Conway did something you rarely see in Washington. He dressed down a GOP commentator for lying his ass off about Donald Trump—and then, right on the air, he asked why CNN was paying this Republican to spread lies on Trump’s behalf. We think this episode illustrates a deep problem with the media’s handling of pro-Trump propaganda. So we chatted with Conway about why he unloaded—and in the process, he revealed some interesting things about the network. Listen to this episode here.

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Original Air Date: March 14, 2024

To the surprise of no one, Donald Trump and Joe Biden have officially secured their party's nomination for president. But while President Biden’s campaign is on a roll, Donald Trump’s is self-destructing. Veteran political strategists Simon Rosenberg and Tara McGowan join David Rothkopf to bring us the latest news from the 2024 campaigns.

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Original air date: May 14, 2024

This week, The New York Times released new polls that sent shock waves through the Democratic establishment, finding Donald Trump leading in all six key swing states, in some cases by startling margins. While President Biden has fared better in other recent polls, the bottom line is that he is trailing in all the swing-state polling averages. So we talked to Jefrey Pollack, a top pollster for the Biden campaign, who laid out why he thinks it’s premature to read too much into these polls, and why the current data set, in his view, actually shows a hidden path to reelection for the president.

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Original Air Date: February 15, 2024

The Democrats’ win in the New York special election is yet another example of over performing the polls. So why does this keep happening, and what does it mean for November? Expert Simon Rosenberg is back with David Rothkopf to give us another dose of Hopium and discuss the path forward for a Biden victory.

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Original air date: April 17, 2024

Here on the podcast we’ve repeatedly argued that Mike Johnson might ultimately allow a vote on military aid to Ukraine, even if it might get him ousted as speaker by MAGA forces in the House. Thankfully, this now looks real: The House GOP leadership is preparing to move forward with Ukraine aid as part of a broader set of bills—and Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene is furious. We talked to Democratic Representative Mikie Sherrill of New Jersey, a former U.S. Navy Pilot and member of the Armed Services Committee, who helped us unravel why Johnson is doing this now, its prospects for success, and the true extent of Russian influence over MAGA.

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Original Air Date: January 5, 2024

Election year is finally here. 2024 will be pivotal, but how can we do our part to ensure the Democrats win big? Election strategists Tara McGowan, Simon Rosenberg, and Tom Bonier join David to shine a light on the role we can all play heading into campaign season.

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Original air date: March 25, 2024

In recent days, Donald Trump opened the door to cutting Social Security, and he’s also threatened to repeal the Affordable Care Act, which would throw millions off health insurance. All this comes as President Biden’s economy is doing quite well by many metrics. Yet Trump is favored on the economy, and his MAGA support remains solid, even though his policies would badly sell out his base. We talked to New York Times columnist Paul Krugman, author of a series of columns about the economies under Trump and Biden, who helps us make sense of all these disconnects.

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Original air date: February 27, 2024

Donald Trump’s victory over Nikki Haley in the South Carolina GOP primary has sparked another round of punditry about his supposed political dominance. Yet the primaries have revealed his weaknesses with independents, and he clearly fears his legal travails are a major liability that will get worse. So what if Trump is weaker than he appears? We chatted about this with political scientist Julia Azari, co-author of a new piece arguing that the long shadow of his 2016 victory is still badly distorting our understanding of the present and the majority coalition that continues handing him and the MAGA movement defeat after defeat.

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Original air date: January 29, 2024

Three former Republican governors—Marc Racicot of Montana, Christine Todd Whitman of New Jersey, and Bill Weld of Massachusetts—have signed on to a legal brief to the Supreme Court arguing that Donald Trump is disqualified from running for president under Section 3 of the 14th amendment to the Constitution. Greg Sargent talks to Racicot about what he hopes this will achieve, whether the GOP is to blame for the rise of Trump and the MAGA movement, and why principled anti-Trump Republican elites are a disappearing species.

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With a new administration just around the corner, now is the time for the US to strengthen its position as a global leader in AI. Even with changing leadership, there remain numerous areas of agreement across party lines. CNAS’s Paul Scharre joins David Rothkopf to discuss the bipartisan consensus on AI, diverging views on safety and regulation, the future of competition with China, and more. 

This material is distributed by TRG Advisory Services, LLC on behalf of the Embassy of the United Arab Emirates in the U.S.. Additional information is available at the Department of Justice, Washington, DC.

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On the DSR Daily for Friday, we cover US deportations being the highest in 10 years, Elon Musk endorsing a far right party in Germany, the House voting down a Republican bill to avoid a government shutdown, and more.

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As of this recording, lawmakers are still chaotically rushing to avoid a government shutdown. And one thing is already clear from this fiasco: Donald Trump will betray his voters very, very badly. Trump and Elon Musk killed a compromise bill, demanding deep spending cuts that would inflict real harm on Trump country, portending a lot more like this to come. (After we recorded, the House voted down the second government funding bill House Republicans advanced.) We chatted with Paul Waldman, the co-author of White Rural Rage. He explains why all this is happening, the tensions it reveals among Republicans, and how the Trump-Musk alliance looks poised to sell out MAGA voters.

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In the second of our two-part holiday special, David Rothkopf, Kori Schake, Rosa Brooks, and David Sanger look at what we can expect in the new year. What’s on the table for the new administration? How much of a role will foreign policy play in Trump’s first year? How resilient will our democracy be? Discover all this and more in our final episode of the year!

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On the DSR Daily for Thursday, we cover Elon Musk’s opposition to the stopgap spending bill, Newsom declaring a state of emergency in California, Putin’s annual news conference, and more. 

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Senator Chris Murphy, Democrat of Connecticut, sounded an extraordinary warning this week. After a House GOP report recommended that the FBI prosecute Liz Cheney, Murphy argued in a social media thread that Donald Trump is clearly putting in place a plan to cripple our democracy, one we might never recover from. In an interview with the podcast, Murphy expands on his alarm, arguing that within a few months, some of Trump’s enemies might be in jail, the media might be cowed into submission, and that Democrats need to sound the alarm before it’s too late, lest Trump’s attacks on democracy prove “fatal.” 

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It’s the holiday season, and that means it’s time for the DSR end of the year special! In part one, David Sanger, Kori Schake, and Rosa Brooks join David Rothkopf for a look back at 2024 to rate the performance of president Biden’s foreign policy, and name the biggest winners and losers of world leaders. 

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On the DSR Daily for Wednesday, we discuss Congress introducing a bill to avert a partial government shutdown, France raising the flag at its Damascus embassy, Trump suing The Des Moines Register, and more. 

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On Tuesday, Donald Trump exploded with fury at Judge Juan Merchan after he refused to dismiss the hush-money conviction of Trump in Manhattan. Trump also filed a frivolous lawsuit against pollster Ann Selzer for getting her pre-election survey wrong, suggesting more bullying of the media is coming. Meanwhile, Donald’s daughter-in-law Lara Trump just brazenly suggested that Kash Patel is being installed as FBI director precisely to carry out revenge against Trump’s enemies. We chatted with Talking Points Memo’s Josh Marshall about his interesting new piece arguing that these targets need to band together in the face of what’s coming. 

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While we head into the holiday season and the final days of 2024, the second-term coming of Donald Trump gives us little optimism for 2025 and the years to come. Trump’s outrageous lawsuits, the takedown of the Al-Assad regime in Syria, and, of course, TikTok… What comes next? Norm and Kavita are back to tackle all these issues and more.

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On the DSR Daily for Tuesday, we cover the assassination of a high-ranking Russian official, Bashar Al Assad’s first official statement since being toppled, Trump losing his bid to toss his hush money case, and more. 

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