Resisting 2025: Strategies, Lessons, and the Fight for Democracy

Joe and Alex discuss how everything you've probably read about this week was a distraction from Trump's endgame. We all have to pay very, very close attention to what's happening behind the curtain. Why Trump's crypto capture scheme could be the biggest story in our lifetimes. And how social media is quickly becoming an arm of the state. TikTok, X, and now even Facebook... and why in the face of all Trump's distractions this week and beyond, Joe explains why we have to be more vigilant than ever.

How do we manage the non-stop real and manufactured political, social, and environmental crises we're living through? Maya May's guest crisis expert Juliette Kayyem says we need to break it all down into categories of "What? So What? and What Now?" She and Maya broke it down on tonights show - catch up now!

Special guest host Stuart Stevens starts by detailing the potential horrors to come from Trump's cabinet. From Kash Patel, Pam Bondi and the rest, this is a group specifically designed to carry out the President's unchecked retribution against his political enemies. In Chapter 5, Part one, the fictional characters Congresswoman Louise Getty and Senator Wade Stiller, former rivals, meet at the World War II Memorial in Washington D.C. They reflect on their pasts and express concern over a hostile political climate under Trump’s second term, feeling fear and paranoia about being surveilled and targeted by the government. Their conversation reveals a sense of vulnerability as they confront the reality that many of their colleagues have abandoned principles out of fear. Louise recalls the intense political maneuvering and betrayals leading up to and following the January 6 insurrection. In Part Two, Woody Nuxhall, the newly appointed head of the Treason and Political Crime Section of the DOJ, oversees his zealous young team of prosecutors, eager to pursue investigations and vendettas against political enemies. The group discusses tactics to surveil and undermine former colleagues and opposition figures, planning a strategy fueled by partisan loyalty and vengeance, while embracing a radical transformation of the DOJ's role in politics. The narrative emphasizes the deeply entrenched fear and moral compromise within Washington's political landscape, contrasting the idealistic memories of past sacrifices with the present-day weaponization of governmental power. Overall, the story highlights the erosion of democratic norms, and the personal toll this environment takes on the individuals involved. While these stories are fictional, they are based on Trump's own words and Project 2025. In fact, the New York Times, just last week reported just how Trump would use the Justice Department to go after his enemies. We’d like to thank the artists who contributed their time to make this episode: Richard Schiff and Morgan Fairchild read the chapters and others who contributed character voices. Sound Design by Marilys Ernst and Jon Moser. Trump’s Project 2025:Up Close and Personal is available on all the podcast apps and at 2025pod.com. We'd like to thank all the artists who volunteered their time to make this episode: Laurie Burke, Leigh McGowan who read the chapters & Audrey Hakes, Joe Walsh, & others who contributed character voices. Sound design by Marilys Ernst and Jonathan Moser. Trump's Project 2025: Up Close and Personal was written by David Pepper and produced by Pepper, Melissa Jo Peltier and Jay Feldman and is a production of Ovington Avenue Productions and The Bill Press Pod. This special series is a joint production by David Pepper and Resolute Square. The book, “Trump’s Project 2025: Up Close And Personal” by David Pepper, is available for purchase at https://a.co/d/adWcJ4S.

You can't look at Trump's first 36 hours and legitimately deny that there is a fascist administration in the White House. That is our reality, so what is the strategy for fighting back against his abhorrent agenda, unacceptable nominees, and to win in '26 and beyond? To break it all down and start charting a go-forward strategy, Sen. Doug Jones joined the Strategy Session - and it's an smart as you'd expect it to be.

Last week the folks on Fox were angrier than ever that Joe Biden lasted until the end of his term and that Vice President Kamala Harris declared it was not in her nature to go “quietly into the night.” Fox News personalities claimed that Trump negotiated the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. Sean Hannity and others declared that the FDA’s decision to ban a food dye. The network also bolstered Melania Trump’s false claim that the Obama administration impeded her move into the White House during her husband’s first term even though Mrs. Trump lived in Manhattan for the first five months of her husband’s presidency.