A podcast by Birch Smith and Dan Visnovsky on political epistomology, filtered through this week’s political news. Join us every Thursday as we ask ”what’s wrong with the American information space?”
Formerly The Old Gods Pod.
This week, we conduct a crash course on El Salvador, its strongman Nayib Bukele, and how the Trump administration is using him to achieve its immigration goals.
For now, the U.S. appears to have covertly defied a court order in its ongoing endeavor to send alleged gang members to El Salvador for forced labor. It's as insane as it sounds, but can tell us a lot about where this administration is going, and whether it will openly defy a court order.
Show notes:
Zeke Faux’s very good book on crypto, which includes a chapter on El Salvador: https://zekefaux.com/
The UnPopulist on El Salvador: https://www.theunpopulist.net/p/el-salvador-is-a-terrorized-state
Resource on harassment of journalists in El Salvador: https://cpj.org/2024/10/a-culture-of-silence-threatens-press-freedom-under-el-salvador-president-bukele/
BBC reporting on Venezuelans sent to El Salvador: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cz032xjyyzyo
Bulwark interview with lawyer for Venezuelan detainee: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ly6YEkHHcX0
Trump admin refuses to turn planes around: https://abcnews.go.com/US/trump-admin-ignores-judges-order-bring-deportation-planes/story?id=119857181
Bukele taunts American judge: https://prospect.org/blogs-and-newsletters/tap/2025-03-17-oopsie-too-late-trump-defies-courts/
Op-ed by Canadian citizen detained by ICE: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/mar/19/canadian-detained-us-immigration-jasmine-mooney
13 Mar 2025
They're Disappearing People
Mahmoud Khalil, a green card holder, has been disappeared for exercising his First Amendment Rights. Regardless of his ideology or behavior, this is a bright red line. Either First Amendment activity is protected, or it isn't.
Plus, how Democrats can approach the looming government shutdown.
NOTE: The audio on this one's is a bit scuffed - we'll get it sorted next week!
Show Notes:
Latest on the Mahmoud Khalil case: https://apnews.com/article/columbia-university-protests-mahmoud-khalil-ice-arrests-751fa0b4637f5600a8af061ba4ddf97b
Khalil’s post-arrest Wikipedia page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Detention_of_Mahmoud_Khalil
Tom Homan says free speech has limits: https://bsky.app/profile/kenklippenstein.bsky.social/post/3lk7enks6sk2z
6 Mar 2025
Doing it Hard and Strong
What can we learn from Trump's speech, the Democratc response, and the ongoing tariff and Ukraine meltdown? If you ignore Trump yelling about volleyball and transgender mice (they're not, check the show notes) a few things are clear.
First, the tariffs may be a week spot. Second, Senator Slotkin is right that Trump would have lost us the Cold War, and this may be effective messaging. Third, the Discourse Machine running joke about "West Russia" gets more true by the day.
Show Notes:
1. Trump and Slotkin speech transcripts: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/transcript-slotkin-democratic-response-trump-2025/
2. Trump mistakes a study of transgenic mice for something else: https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/trump-transgender-mice-medical-research-1235289439/
3. BBC writeup of the Trump-Zelensky feud: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c62k9rr2wgvo
Podcast Authority Score: 6 / 100
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