Author: LaMonica McIver, Dan Pfeiffer, Jon Favreau

Posted on

Pod Save America - Trump’s Epstein Doodle Grosser than Expected

House Democrats get ahold of the infamous birthday letter Trump sent to Jeffrey Epstein and release it to the public. Turns out it's more disturbing than we imagined. Jon, Lovett, and Tommy react to the doodle and talk through the week's latest, including the administration renaming the Department of Defense the Department of War, a massive ICE raid on a Hyundai plant in Georgia, and the emerging debate over whether Democrats should shut the government down when funding expires at the end of the month. Then, Rep. Mikie Sherrill, the Democratic candidate for governor in New Jersey, stops by the studio to talk to Tommy about reversing the inroads Trump made in the state in 2024—and why New Jerseyans are weird about pumping their own gas.

Get tickets to CROOKED CON November 6-7 in Washington, D.C at http://crookedcon.com

Posted on

Strict Scrutiny - The Lower Courts Punch Up

Kate, Leah, and Melissa break down how the lower courts are challenging the Trump administration and expressing their frustration with SCOTUS. Then, they check in with two members of the supermajority: Brett Kavanaugh, who’s touting a shiny new shadow docket rebrand, and Amy Coney Barrett as she commences her cursèd book tour. Finally, the hosts speak with Yale Law professor Justin Driver about his book, The Fall of Affirmative Action: Race, the Supreme Court, and the Future of Higher Education.

Hosts’ and guests’ favorite things:

Get tickets for STRICT SCRUTINY LIVE – The Bad Decisions Tour 2025! 

  • 10/4 – Chicago

Learn more: http://crooked.com/events

Order your copy of Leah's book, Lawless: How the Supreme Court Runs on Conservative Grievance, Fringe Theories, and Bad Vibes

Get tickets to CROOKED CON November 6-7 in Washington, D.C at http://crookedcon.com

Follow us on Instagram, Threads, and Bluesky

Posted on

What A Day - Georgia To Vote On Energy Costs

A crucial race for Georgia's Public Service Commission is coming up in November. And though the name sounds boring, it's a race that really matters. That's because the commission is in charge of regulating public utilities in the state, including electric, gas, and telecommunications. Right now, all five commissioners are Republicans…but two of them are up for election this fall. And the Democratic challengers are strong. To learn more about the importance of this race, we spoke with John Taylor, Executive Director of the Black Male Initiative, a nonprofit focused on civic engagement in Georgia.

And in headlines, President Donald Trump continues to threaten Chicago…but this time with war, Russia attacks Ukraine in its latest aerial strike, and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent says the U.S. might have to refund some money it's collected from Trump's infamous tariffs.

Show Notes:

Posted on

Pod Save America - Heather Cox Richardson on Donald Trump, MAGA and How We Fight Back

It can feel like all is lost under Trump 2.0, but America has faced extremely dark chapters before and come out on the other side. Heather Cox Richardson—professor, historian and author of the most-read newsletter on Substack, Letters from an American—joins the show to share her long-view approach for this shortsighted era. She walks Dan through the biggest challenges to American democracy throughout history, how she believes we got to this MAGA moment, and what fuels her optimism about the future of the country.

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.

Get tickets to CROOKED CON November 6-7 in Washington, D.C at http://crookedcon.com

Posted on

What A Day - How Trump’s Hatred For Windmills Is Hurting All Of Us

President Donald Trump really, really, really hates wind and solar power. He made sure to make that point very clear during a Cabinet meeting last week, where he ranted about windmills for…way too long. At the end of August, the Trump team ordered construction be stopped on a 4-billion-dollar wind farm project off the coast of Rhode Island that was nearly finished. The administration alluded vaguely to national security threats, suggesting, among other things, that wind farms could be used to launch drone attacks on the U.S. None of this is good. Not just for, you know, preventing the very worst outcomes of climate change that could put billions of lives at risk and alter the very nature of human existence. But also for Americans dealing with spiraling energy bills. So we spoke to Bill McKibben, environmentalist and author of a new book, Here Comes The Sun: A Last Chance for the Climate and a Fresh Chance for Civilization, about climate change, to help us feel more optimistic about the future of the Earth.

And in headlines, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. vs. the Senate Finance Committee, and former Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has some thoughts on how we got here.

Show Notes:

Posted on

Pod Save America - Trump’s Very Convincing Body Double

The internet enjoys a brief freakout about the possibility that Trump might be dead. (He isn't.) Senators from both parties press RFK Jr. on his dismantling of the CDC and his accelerating war on vaccines. Survivors of Jeffrey Epstein hold a press conference on Capitol Hill to announce that they plan to release a list of Epstein's clients. Jon and Dan discuss the latest news and trace the through-line of Trump's authoritarian impulse from his attack on a Venezuelan speedboat to his renewed threats to strip Rosie O'Donnell of her citizenship. Then, Strict Scrutiny's Leah Litman joins Jon to talk about how the Trump administration might respond to a recent string of defeats in federal court.

Get tickets to CROOKED CON November 6-7 in Washington, D.C at http://crookedcon.com

Posted on

What A Day - Senator Van Hollen On Epstein: Release The Damn Files!

Congress is back. It’s back and it has a lot of work to do. If Congress doesn’t fund the government by the end of September, the government will close up shop. And while Democrats have demanded meetings with President Donald Trump and his loyal GOP to drum up a bipartisan spending bill, Republicans don’t seem too inclined to work with their colleagues across the aisle. But preventing a shutdown is just one bullet point on Congress’ agenda. On Wednesday, survivors of convicted sexual abuser Jeffrey Epstein spoke on Capitol Hill in an effort to get answers and more information on his crimes. It came a day after the House Oversight Committee released more than 33,000 documents related to the Epstein investigation. So, for more on Epstein, and a potential government shutdown, we spoke with Maryland Democratic Senator Chris Van Hollen.

And in headlines: Florida’s Surgeon General tries to connect vaccine mandates to slavery, Democratic Congresswoman LaMonica McIver of New Jersey tells the Washington Post she's going to keep working after the House rejected a resolution to censure her, and rumors are floating around that the Trump administration might offer New York City Mayor Eric Adams a new gig.

Show Notes:

Posted on

What A Day - Putin Cozies Up To Modi And Xi

Russian President Vladimir Putin met with Chinese leader Xi Jinping and held hands with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Beijing this weekend. Their talks came during the annual Shanghai Cooperation Organization meeting, an event that marked the first time in seven years that Presidents Modi and Xi met in person. It also comes as the US navigates a rocky relationship with China, combats India’s frustration over President Donald Trump’s tariffs, and tries to broker peace between Russia and Ukraine. To discuss further what Putin’s latest bromance with Xi and Modi means for his on-again, off-again relationship with Trump, we spoke with Tommy Vietor. He’s the co-host of Crooked Media’s Pod Save the World.

And in headlines: The Trump family amasses billions after launching a new cryptocurrency, Americans are losing faith in hard work, and a postwar plan to turn Gaza into an AI-powered smart city is floating around the Trump administration.

Show Notes:

Posted on

What A Day - Chicago Caught In The Trump Administration’s Crosshairs

The Trump administration is preparing a major Immigration and Customs Enforcement operation in Chicago, and it may come as soon as this week. The details have been few and far between, but it would likely increase the number of ICE and Border Patrol agents in the city significantly. According to “border czar” Tom Homan, the White House is even considering taking over a Naval base north of Chicago to hold the “large contingent” of federal agents. Chicago, unsurprisingly, has long been in the crosshairs of President Donald Trump’s threats to federally invade cities as part of his so-called crackdown on crime. And Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson is not having it. On Saturday, he signed an executive order instructing local police not to cooperate with troops or federal agents if the President’s threats come to fruition. For more on the impact that federal arrests have on federal courts, we spoke with Jessica Brand, a lawyer and Executive Director of Wren Collective, a non-profit aimed at criminal justice reform and prosecutorial power.

And in headlines: Congress is back in session, a federal judge blocks the Trump administration from deporting hundreds of migrant children to Guatemala, and more than 800 demonstrations take place across the country on Labor Day to protest billionaires taking over the government.

Show Notes:

Posted on

Pod Save America - Why is JD Vance so Annoying?

Pod Save America hits 1,000 episodes, and to celebrate, Favreau, Lovett, Tommy, and Dan sit down in studio to answer your questions. Among them: Why is JD Vance so grating? Should more Democrats take Newsom's lead on social media? And who would you rather be trapped in an under-sea habitat with—Don Jr., Stephen Miller, or Marjorie Taylor Greene? Plus, ranking the media platforms that matter in a preview of our subscription-only show: Inside 2025.

Get tickets to CROOKED CON November 6-7 in Washington, D.C at http://crookedcon.com