Unf*cking The Republic

Leaders far smarter and more capable than Donald Trump and Pete Hegseth have started foreign wars that turned to quagmires. So in this regard they are not special. What’s different this time around is that incompetence prevails in every corner of this administration and the economic levers that are usually pulled to mitigate the domestic economic impact are no longer available to us. In every way, this administration is wholly unfit to lead the nation and certainly incapable of prosecuting a war. Resources The Chris Hedges Report: Will There be a Ground Invasion of Iran? (w/ Col. Larry Wilkerson) UNFTR Resources Become a Member. UNFTR’s 5 Non-Negotiables. Video: Pete Hegseth and Donald Trump Are Not Ready for War Essay: Trump and Hegseth. -- 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, and Instagram at @UNFTRpod. Visit us online at unftr.com. Become a member at unftr.com/memberships. Buy yourself some Unf*cking Coffee at shop.unftr.com. 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.Support the show: https://www.unftr.com/membershipsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The No Kings rallies fanned out across the United States in protest of Donald Trump’s increasingly dangerous, erratic and autocratic regime. Cuba remains in darkness, the war in Iran has already turned into a quagmire, the economy is cratering and Americans are feeling powerless in the face of Trump’s rule. In this episode Max ruminates on the liberation of “America” from a different era as told by the life and times of Simon Bolívar, one of the great military commanders and political leaders of the post-Enlightenment era. His was truly a revolution of “no kings.” In Bolívar’s approach we can learn about combating despotism. UNFTR Resources Become a Member. UNFTR’s 5 Non-Negotiables. Video: Trump will leave | It's Trumpism we're now fighting Essay: No King. Book Love Marie Arana: Bolívar: American Liberator -- 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, and Instagram at @UNFTRpod. Visit us online at unftr.com. Become a member at unftr.com/memberships. Buy yourself some Unf*cking Coffee at shop.unftr.com. 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.Support the show: https://www.unftr.com/membershipsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

They unpack headlines from Olympic gender-testing controversy to Israel’s plans in southern Lebanon. They debate ChatGPT integration in cars and the cost of commercial space travel. They answer listener emails on U.S. fiscal solvency and systemic economic risks. They list their top five local priorities and close with lighter cultural and sports chatter.

They unpack the new bipartisan 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act and why it may not solve the crisis. They map how redlining, post‑2008 asset inflation, zoning rules, and investor buying created today's affordability crunch. They compare Vienna’s century of social housing to U.S. policy and ask what large‑scale public interventions would really be required to make housing affordable.

Why the Democratic Party’s promise of “restoration” misses the mark; how decades of economic crises reshaped American politics, and why returning to center means chasing a target that keeps moving right. One side built a durable monument to white nationalist capitalism while the other became its world-class pit crew. The fight isn’t about competence or committee chairs. It’s about whether Democrats can offer an actual vision for the future instead of just patching up the damage Republicans leave behind. Book Love Kurt Andersen: Evil Geniuses: The Unmaking of America: A Recent History Jane Mayer: Dark Money: The Hidden History of the Billionaires Behind the Rise of the Radical Right Chris Hedges: Death of the Liberal Class Naomi Klein: The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism Mehrsa Baradaran: The Quiet Coup: Neoliberalism and the Looting of America Jeff Sharlet: The Family: The Secret Fundamentalism at the Heart of American Power Nancy MacLean: Democracy in Chains: The Deep History of the Radical Right’s Stealth Plan for America Michelle Alexander: The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness Professor Thomas Piketty: Capital in the Twenty-First Century Karl Marx: Capital: A Critique of Political Economy, Volume 1 UNFTR Resources Video: Democrats are FAILING | Losing the Iran War | Hasan Piker Rules Essay: Why I’m So Mad at the Democratic Party. -- 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, and Instagram at @UNFTRpod. Visit us online at unftr.com. Become a member at unftr.com/memberships. Buy yourself some Unf*cking Coffee at shop.unftr.com. 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.Support the show: https://www.unftr.com/membershipsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Max and 99 are running hot this week. They break down catastrophic inflation data and what it means for stagflation ahead, hit headlines on animal welfare legislation and foreign policy chaos, and tackle listener emails on Democratic failures and economic warning signs. Off-topic covers toxic RFK Jr. and standout character actors. They rank their Top 5 comfort movies and close with spring training optimism. Enjoy! Chapters Intro: 00:00:08 Headlines: 00:06:12 Emails: 00:19:17 Top 5: 00:36:22 Beyond the Bullshit: 00:53:23 Outro: 00:59:24 Resources 99’s Hat ASPCA: Farm Bill Moves Forward with Mixed Results for Animals Animal Legal Defense Fund: Petition: Stop Horses from Suffering for NYC’s Carriage Industry Forever Wars: None of These People I Insulted Want To Die For Me in The Strait of Hormuz? The Independent: Chelsea Handler claims she bought ‘the most toxic’ $6 million house from RFK Jr and Cheryl Hines The Ringer: ‘The Pitt,’ as Told by Its Patients: If you think it’s hectic to watch, just imagine what it’s like to be on the operating table UNFTR Resources Video: Iran War, Energy Spike, and the Inflation Perfect Storm Episode: The Art of Trumpflation. Video: On The Record 3-16-26 (Democrats are FAILING | Losing the Iran War | Hasan Piker Rules). -- 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, and Instagram at @UNFTRpod. Visit us online at unftr.com. Become a member at unftr.com/memberships. Buy yourself some Unf*cking Coffee at shop.unftr.com. 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.Support the show: https://www.unftr.com/membershipsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The February Producer Price Index (PPI) data release came in way hotter than expected, exceeding consensus expectations by nearly double. This is on top of an already hot January report, which signifies that goods and services inflation in the pipeline is very much a trend and not an isolated event. PPI typically foreshadows consumer inflation—where the public really begins to feel the pain—by about two to three months. And these numbers don’t include the impact of the war in Iran and the unbelievable spike in energy costs. Today we break down the nature of inflation shocks, why this differs from the dual oil shocks of the 1970s, but how it has already produced the same stagflationary result. Resources U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: Producer Price Index News Release summary Trading Economics: United States Producer Price Inflation MoM Wolf Street: Core PCE Inflation Hits 3.1%, Worst in 2 Years, in Unique Twist Blows way past CPI Inflation. Driven by Core Services Morningstar: Inflation Set to Rise in 2026 as Tariff Costs Hit Consumers KPMG: Headline masks lingering inflation CNBC: $100 oil? Prolonged Hormuz closure could spark a 1970s-style energy shock Yahoo Finance: Oil at the Edge: Markets brace for the largest supply shock in decades: Oil & Gas 360 Investopedia: Understanding Hubbert's Peak Theory and Global Oil Production Bloomberg Law: Morgan Stanley Sees Private Credit Default Rates Reaching 8% (2) Business Insider: Morgan Stanley says AI disruption of software will send private credit defaults surging UNFTR Resources Video: Iran War, Energy Spike, and the Inflation Perfect Storm -- 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, and Instagram at @UNFTRpod. Visit us online at unftr.com. Become a member at unftr.com/memberships. Buy yourself some Unf*cking Coffee at shop.unftr.com. 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.Support the show: https://www.unftr.com/membershipsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Max and 99 kick things off revisiting old predictions and check how they're holding up. They hit the headlines: billionaires breaking records, geopolitical conflict threatening economic stability, and monopoly concerns in the music industry. Listener emails cover politics, financial industry backdoors, and navigating complicity. They rank their Top 5 historical figures to reclaim, do some movie talk, and member shoutouts round it out. Enjoy! Chapters Intro: 00:00:18 Housekeeping: 00:00:34 Headlines: 00:21:13 Emails: 00:48:54 Top 5: 01:00:23 Beyond the Bullshit: 01:19:35 Outro: 01:43:27 Resources Acquired: Epic Systems (MyChart) Bloomberg: Europe Rushes to Contain Price Fallout From War in Middle East Foreign Policy: The Iran War Is Jeopardizing the Entire Global Economy Forbes: World’s Billionaires List The Cut: ‘My Friends Live in a Bubble. Should I Dump Them?’ NPR: Live Nation and Justice Department reach settlement in antitrust case Reuters: Judge tells Live Nation, state AGs to negotiate potential deal Straight White American Jesus Podcast John Fugelsang: Separation of Church and Hate: A Sane Person's Guide to Taking Back the Bible from Fundamentalists Margin Call Inside Job Forbes: AI Minted More Than 50 New Billionaires In 2025 Matt Taibbi: Griftopia: A Story of Bankers, Politicians, and the Most Audacious Power Grab in American History Kanopy UNFTR Resources The End of the American Experiment. The Clinton Series. Phone A Friend: Zohran Mamdani. -- 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, and Instagram at @UNFTRpod. Visit us online at unftr.com. Become a member at unftr.com/memberships. Buy yourself some Unf*cking Coffee at shop.unftr.com. 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.Support the show: https://www.unftr.com/membershipsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Not a soul on this planet knows what comes next in the war theater. Because that’s war. But we can anticipate what comes next for the U.S. and global economy, or at least game out certain scenarios. This isn’t just another discretionary “police action” on the other side of the world or a simple regime change. This war is wired directly into the global energy, food, and financial systems. But a proper analysis must acknowledge how the circumstances of the U.S. economy and our monetary and fiscal policies have changed. There is no direct antecedent to the situation in which we find ourselves, which makes the folly of this war all the more absurd. We didn’t just launch a war. We may have just pulled the fire alarm on the entire world economy. Resources John J. Mearsheimer: Big Trouble Ahead in Iran U.S. Energy Information Administration: Amid regional conflict, the Strait of Hormuz remains critical oil chokepoint EnergyNow: CHARTED: Oil Trade Through the Strait of Hormuz by Country Reuters: Asia’s oil and LNG dependence on the Middle East Institute for Economics & Peace: Economic Consequences of War on the U.S. Economy Global Institute for Sustainable Prosperity: Modern Money and the War Treasury Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland: Fiscal Dominance and US Monetary: 1940–1975 UNFTR Resources Video: Iran War Could Wreck the Entire World Economy Essay: The Iran War Could Wreck the Global Economy. -- 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, and Instagram at @UNFTRpod. Visit us online at unftr.com. Become a member at unftr.com/memberships. Buy yourself some Unf*cking Coffee at shop.unftr.com. 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.Support the show: https://www.unftr.com/membershipsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Markwayne Mullin fails his first test. Lindsey Graham wants to blow the Iranian people. The markets are getting Blackrocked. OpenAI and Oracle have a bit of a cash crunch. Dario Amodei is full of shit. What Crude markets tell us about the war. Truth bombs from the House of El. Actual journalism on Iran from American Prestige and Dissent Magazine. ProPublica doin’ the lord’s work and Persopolis. Chapters Quick Takes: 00:00:36 Max Notes: 00:06:44 KLTW: 00:15:02 Headlines: 00:17:04 Pod Love: 00:18:26 Book Love: 00:19:27 Outro: 00:20:04 Resources Bloomberg: BlackRock $26 Billion Private Credit Fund Limits Withdrawals Forbes Greatest Business Stories of All Time: Charles Merrill and the Democratization of Stock Ownership IRA Financial: Trump, Alternatives, and the Solo 401(k): The Retirement Plan That Paved the Way for Alts in 401(k)s Bloomberg: BlackRock’s Retail Private-Credit Hopes Run Into Market’s Angst House of El: DOLLAR COLLAPSE: Japan to DUMP $1.2T in US Treasuries After Trump Cuts 95% Oil Supply Dissent Magazine: War, Revolt, and Iran's Unfinished Struggle Grist: Kristi Noem all but killed FEMA. Will her departure save it? ProPublica: Explore Financial Disclosures From President Trump and 1,500 of His Appointees ProPublica: Event: How to Use Our News App of Disclosures From Political Appointees Pod Love American Prestige: War in the Gulf and the Global Economy w/ Esfandyar Batmanghelidj Book Love Marjane Satrapi: Persepolis UNFTR Resources Video: On The Record (3-9-26). Video: MTN Macro Take (3-7-26). Episode: Trump Accounts. -- 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, and Instagram at @UNFTRpod. Visit us online at unftr.com. Become a member at unftr.com/memberships. Buy yourself some Unf*cking Coffee at shop.unftr.com. 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.Support the show: https://www.unftr.com/membershipsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.