Strategy Session: Special Guest David Pepper

Joe starts the show by remembering Jimmy Carter with a story you've got to hear to believe. Of all the interactions with presidents Joe has had - why this one with President Carter has stuck with him. And our first look ahead to 2025 - what has Joe and Alex feeling optimistic going into the New Year? Hint: It's people like you listening to this... Subscribe to Dan Gilmor's newsletter, "Cornerstone of Democracy" here: https://cornerstone.ghost.io/ Read Dan Froomkin's post on Trump and the press here: https://presswatchers.org/2024/12/trump-coverage-needs-to-change-and-heres-how/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Timothy Naftali, presidential historian for the Nixon Presidential Library, Columbia Scholar, and prolific writer/author, sits down with host Rick Wilson to discuss the possibility of an imperial presidency and what that means for the US on the world stage. Follow Timothy Naftali on X at @TimNaftali and read the article Rick mentions in this episode here: https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2021/01/trump-worst-president-history/617730/ Follow Rick Wilson at @TheRickWilson on X or at https://bsky.app/profile/therickwilson.bsky.social at Bluesky, and subscribe to his Substack at therickwilson.substack.com. Join the fight with Lincoln Project at www.lincolnproject.us and follow us on X at @ProjectLincoln.

Fellow straight-shooter Ron Filipkowski – the Editor-in-Chief of MeidasTouch – and host Rick Wilson huddle up to speak some hard truths to the Democrats. Instead of their typical infighting, bickering, and turning on one another, the Democrats need to take a page from the old-school Republican playbook: hold the line, stand united as one, and channel all of that wasted energy toward the real enemy. Be sure to check out Ron’s latest article on Substack here: https://www.meidasplus.com/p/the-one-big-reason-why-dems-are-losing?utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web Follow Ron Filipkowski on X at @RonFilipkowski and subscribe to his Substack at https://substack.com/@ronfilipkowski. Follow Rick Wilson at @TheRickWilson on X or at https://bsky.app/profile/therickwilson.bsky.social at Bluesky, and subscribe to his Substack at therickwilson.substack.com.

This special series is a joint production by David Pepper and Resolute Square. Introducing this first chapter on mass deportation, Rick Wilson sets the stakes of what Trump has promised to do once he is sworn in: A paramilitary force in our communities rounding up law-abiding, hard working people, and caught up in the round-ups, families and people in the wrong place at the wrong time who happen to be non-white. Trump’s Project 2025: Up Close and Personal is available on all the podcast apps and at 2025pod.com. We'd also like to thank all the artists who volunteered their time to make this episode. Heather Thomas, J. Smith Cameron, Omid Abtahi, Kirk Acevedo and Bayo Akinfemi. Audio finishing by Marilyn Ernst. This series is produced by David Pepper, Melissa Jo Peltier and Jay Feldman. Trump’s Project 2025: Up Close and Personal is a production of Ovington Avenue Productions.

We are entering a new chapter where the children are taking the wheel. In this episode Rick speaks with journalist and author David Corn to discuss the chaotic implications of a Trump administration return, the rise of figures like Elon Musk and RFK Jr., and the dangerous erosion of government institutions. They dive into concerns about unqualified leadership, the dismantling of public health systems, and the weaponization of agencies like the FBI under Trump loyalists.