Honestly with Bari Weiss - L.A. Fires, MAGA’s Schism, and Meta’s Big Pivot

Trump’s inauguration is right around the corner, and there is so much to cover about the new White House. In the coming weeks, we’ll have key figures in the Trump administration on Honestly to talk about what they are planning.


But, we all know that if Trump 2.0 is anything like Trump 1.0, there are going to be a lot of twists and turns here. And we want to analyze and break down each development that unfolds in Trump’s new administration.


Starting today and for the next few months, we’re going to bring you weekly episodes with two of my favorite guests: Batya Ungar-Sargon and Brianna Wu.


Batya Ungar-Sargon is a Free Press contributor and the opinion editor at Newsweek. Brianna Wu is a Democratic fundraiser and activist, and in her past life, a video game developer. If you’ve heard them together on Honestly before, you know that these two come from different sides of the political spectrum, but we really value hearing both of their perspectives, even—or especially—when they disagree. We think you will too.


Today, we’re going to cover the L.A. fires and their political implications, the civil war inside the MAGA movement between the nationalist populists and the free marketers over H-1B visas, and Mark Zuckerberg’s red pill moment and changes at Meta—and the pair give us their predictions for confirmation hearings beginning this week.


If you liked what you heard from Honestly, the best way to support us is to go to TheFP.com and become a Free Press subscriber today.


Go to groundnews.com/Honestly to get 50% off the unlimited access Vantage plan and unlock worldwide perspectives on today’s biggest news stories.

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NBN Book of the Day - Isaac Stanley-Becker, “Europe Without Borders: A History” (Princeton UP, 2025)

Forty years ago, Schengen - a wine-making village at the tripoint border of Luxembourg, France, and Germany - made European history when diplomats from these countries, Belgium, and the Netherlands struck a deal to scale back their mutual border checks.

"The event at Schengen went unnoticed by much of the European press," writes Isaac Stanley-Becker in Europe Without Borders: A History (Princeton University Press, 2025). Yet, as one of its signatories said much later, the Schengen agreement "changed everything" - accelerating the development of the European single market and currency area.

Today, however, Schengen is under threat as its now-29 members struggle to balance the free movement of people against the demands of cross-border policing, immigration control, and political consent. In September 2024, the German government - rattled by surging support for the nativist AFD in the run-up to a federal election - reinstated border controls with its four Schengen founders, prompting threats of retaliation. Could Schengen face, as Stanley-Becker warns, "death by a thousand cuts"?

Isaac Stanley-Becker is an investigative reporter at the Washington Post - part of the team that won a Pulitzer Prize in 2024 for a series exploring the role of the AR-15 semi-automatic rifle in American life. A graduate of Yale, he went on to complete a PhD in History at Oxford in 2019. Europe Without Borders is his first book.

*The author's book recommendations were East West Street: On The Origins of Genocide and Crimes Against Humanity by Philippe Sands (Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2016) and The Man Who Saw Everything by Deborah Levy (Hamish Hamilton, 2019).

Tim Gwynn Jones is an economic and political risk analyst at Medley Advisors, who also writes and podcasts on Substack at 242.news.

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What A Day - Let The Senate Confirmation Hearings Begin

Around a dozen of President-elect Donald Trump’s cabinet picks are headed to Capitol Hill this week to appear for their Senate confirmation hearings. The big one to watch today is the hearing for Trump’s pick to lead the Department of Defense, military veteran and former Fox News host Pete Hegseth, who’s facing allegations of excessive drinking, financial mismanagement, and sexual assault. Hegseth’s confirmation hearings could be a litmus test for some of Trump’s other problematic picks. Burgess Everett, Congressional bureau chief for Semafor, talks about what we can expect from the coming confirmation hearings.

And in headlines: House Speaker Mike Johnson said federal aid for wildfire recovery in Southern California could be tied to a debt limit increase, the Supreme Court ruled the city of Honolulu can move forward with a major lawsuit to hold oil companies accountable for climate change, and President Joe Biden said negotiators are “on the brink” of a ceasefire agreement to end the war between Israel and Hamas.

Show Notes:

The NewsWorthy - ‘Particularly Dangerous’ Fire Risk, DOJ’s Trump Report & NFL Star’s Inspiration- Tuesday, January 14, 2025

The news to know for Tuesday, January 14, 2025!

We're talking about the ominous forecast for the Los Angeles area today, making the wildfire risk even more extreme, and how the firestorm has ignited a new debate in Congress.

Also, we'll recap the final report from the special counsel that defends criminal charges against President-elect Trump.

Plus, we'll tell you how the nation's first congestion pricing is going one week in and why hanging out at a Starbucks will cost you.

And a self-help book is suddenly going viral after an NFL playoff game. We'll explain.

Those stories and even more news to know in about 10 minutes! 

 

Join us every Mon-Fri for more daily news roundups! 

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Pod Save America - Will the GOP Hold Disaster Relief Hostage?

Devastating wildfires in Los Angeles prompt a round of angry finger-pointing and disaster politics from the GOP. The most extreme reaction comes from Trump and a growing number of Republicans in Congress, who are already talking about placing conditions on disaster relief for California. Meanwhile, President Biden kicks off his final week in office with a farewell speech defending his foreign policy legacy. Jon, Lovett, and Tommy break down what he got right, and what’s at risk as Trump returns to D.C. On another front, MAGA’s messy relationship with Big Tech heats up. Zuckerberg sits down with Trump on Joe Rogan, while Steve Bannon takes aim at Elon Musk. Finally, Ken Martin, Chair the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party, drops by to talk about his campaign for Chair of the Democratic National Committee.

 

For a closed-captioned version of this episode, click here. For a transcript of this episode, please email transcripts@crooked.com and include the name of the podcast.

The Goods from the Woods - Episode #461 – “Whatacountry” with Jay Light

In this episode, the Goods from the Woods Boys are back at Disgraceland from their various winter sojourns! Today on the show, we're joined by the HILARIOUS comedian Jay Light. Jay has a brand new comedy special called "My Wife Hates These Jokes" available now on YouTube! We kick this one off by testing out an energy drink called F3 that promises to help you "Finish". Then, we talk about Jay's David Lynch-ass hometown of Colleyville, TX and some of its strange recent events and even stranger local politics. We also talk about a guy who jumped naked (obviously) into a fish tank at Bass Pro Shop in Alabama. Pantera's "I'm Broken" is our JAM OF THE WEEK. This one is a hoot-and-a-half, y'all. Listen today!  Follow Jay on all forms of social media @DietJay and watch his special now!  Follow the show on Blue Sky and Twitter @TheGoodsPod.  Rivers is @RiversLangley  Sam is @SlamHarter  Carter is @Carter_Glascock Subscribe on Patreon for the UNCUT video version of this episode as well as TONS of bonus content! http://patreon.com/TheGoodsPod   Pick up a Goods from the Woods t-shirt here: http://prowrestlingtees.com/TheGoodsPod

The Best One Yet - 📹 “The Next TikTok” — Whatnot’s $5B shop app. Nvidia’s uranium problem. Sonos’ CEO oopsie.

TikTok will be banned in 5 days… but its replacement is Whatnot: It’s Instagram + eBay + MTV.

Sonos is known for its fancy sounds systems… but the CEO just quit because of 1 big mistake.

Nvidia chips have export restrictions… because in the AI arms race, chips are the new uranium.

Plus, the #1 candy in America was invented by a frog salesman… It’s Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, and it’s the next episode of our weekly deepdive show The Best Idea Yet 🥜


$SONO $NVDA $META


To hear more on Reese’s PB cups, subscribe to The Best Idea Yet: Wondery.fm/TheBestIdeaYetLinks to listen.


“The Best Idea Yet”: The untold origin stories of the products you’re obsessed with — From the McDonald’s Happy Meal to Birkenstock’s sandal to Nintendo’s Super Mario Brothers to Sriracha. New 45-minute episodes drop weekly.


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The Indicator from Planet Money - How batteries are riding the free market rodeo in Texas

If you want to build a grid-scale battery project in Texas, be prepared to ride the free-market rodeo. On our second episode of this week's battery series, we visit the state that has the second-most battery storage capacity to understand whether large-scale batteries can help prevent blackouts.

Related episodes:
How batteries are already changing the grid (Apple / Spotify)
Texas' new power grid problem (Apple / Spotify)

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NPR's Book of the Day - ‘The Rest Is Memory’ is a novel inspired by photos taken at Auschwitz

About 10 years ago, author Lily Tuck was reading obituaries in The New York Times when she came across photos of Czesława Kwoka, a young prisoner at Auschwitz concentration camp. Tuck didn't know much about Kwoka besides her name and age, but decided to try to write about her. The result is her new novel, The Rest Is Memory, which imagines Kwoka's life at Auschwitz. In today's episode, Tuck speaks with NPR's Scott Simon about how she approaches narrating a story through Kwoka's eyes, the careful attention she pays to language, and the Polish people who lost their lives in the Holocaust.

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Short Wave - Bone Marrow Cells: Key To Vaccine Longevity?

The COVID-19 mRNA vaccine generates enough of an antibody response to protect against severe disease for six months. But other vaccines offer years-long — even lifelong — immunity, such as the measles or yellow fever vaccines. Is there a way for scientists to tell how long a person's immunity will last? A team at Stanford Medicine might have found a way to do just that — with the help of some of the cells found in our bone marrow.

Questions about vaccines or the respiratory season? Email us at shortwave@npr.org — we'd love to hear from you!

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