What A Day - Trump v The Federal Reserve Chair

President Donald Trump spent Wednesday refuting reports he plans to imminently fire Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell. The president has been complaining about him for months, accusing Powell of unnecessarily keeping interest rates high. But Trump’s frustrations seemed to reach a new peak this week amid reports he had a letter drafted to oust the man he appointed to the job back in 2017, then asked a group of House Republicans whether he should do it. Firing Powell would undermine the Federal Reserve’s independence. It’s also potentially illegal. Bloomberg Senior Editor and friend of the pod Stacey Vanek Smith stops by to talk about interest rates, inflation risks, and Trump’s very focused campaign of loathing against Powell.

And in headlines: Vice President J.D. Vance hit the road to put some proverbial lipstick on Trump’s pig of a new tax and spending law, the Trump administration deported five migrants to the small African nation of Eswatini, and the senior vice president of PBS Kids says the network will have to scale back new programing if Congress lets Trump claw back funding.

Show Notes:

The Indicator from Planet Money - When is cosplay a crime?

Cosplay—or dressing up as your favorite character from pop culture—is fun! But it can fall into a legal gray area when it comes to companies' intellectual property.

Today on the show: a group of cosplayers, Lucasfilm(!), a lawyer, and finding economic symbiosis in order to express yourself.

Related episodes:
Before La La Land there was Fort Lee, New Jersey (Apple / Spotify)
Why aren't filmmakers shooting in LA? (Apple / Spotify)

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What Next | Daily News and Analysis - Can Trump Bully Russia?

For years, Donald Trump was often the only Western leader with anything nice to say about Vladimir Putin.But with Russia and Ukraine still fighting six months into his term, their friendship is on the rocks. Are we seeing a temporary spat – or a real policy shift? 

Guest:  Michael McFaul, U.S. ambassador to Russia 2012-2014, author of the upcoming book “Autocrats vs. Democrats: China, Russia, America, and the New Global Disorder.”

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Podcast production by Ethan Oberman, Elena Schwartz, Paige Osburn, Anna Phillips, Madeline Ducharme, and Rob Gunther.


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Audio Mises Wire - Democratic Socialism IS Totalitarianism

The word "democratic" is supposed to soften the blow of socialism, with Zohran Mamdani's campaign being the latest to fool the voters. In reality, there is no softening real socialism, as it depends upon coercion, violence, and ultimately becomes totalitarian.

Original article: https://mises.org/mises-wire/democratic-socialism-totalitarianism

Audio Mises Wire - Josh Hawley Proves That Republicans Still Don’t Understand Economics

By introducing legislation to raise the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour, Republican Sen. Josh Hawley is demonstrating that while Republicans like to talk about free markets, they are statists and interventionists like their Democratic colleagues across the aisle.

Original article: https://mises.org/mises-wire/josh-hawley-proves-republicans-still-dont-understand-economics

Audio Mises Wire - Thomas Paine Slaps Congress with His Résumé

Perhaps no publication contributed more to the Colonials' drive for independence from Great Britain than Thomas Paine's pamphlet "Common Sense." But what if he had tried to get the Continental Congress to publish it, instead? The following debate might have occurred.

Original article: https://mises.org/mises-wire/thomas-paine-slaps-congress-his-resume

What A Day - The Trump Putin Breakup Explained

On the 2024 campaign trail, then-candidate Donald Trump repeatedly claimed he could end Russia’s war in Ukraine ‘on day one.’ Roughly 180 days into his second presidential term, the war has only escalated. What has changed is Trump’s attitude toward Russian President Vladimir Putin. This week, Trump announced a new deal to send U.S. weapons to Ukraine, after weeks of complaining about Putin’s increasingly destructive attacks. Ben Rhodes, former Deputy National Security Advisor to President Barack Obama and co-host of Pod Save the World, discusses the significance of Trump’s pivot. He also weighs in on the latest fault lines in the ongoing ceasefire talks between Hamas and Israel, mass layoffs at the State Department, and looming cuts to foreign aid.

And in headlines: The House joined in on the Jeffrey Epstein discourse, the Supreme Court greenlights mass layoffs at the Department of Education, and former National Security Adviser Mike Waltz testifies at his Senate confirmation hearing to be US ambassador to the United Nations.

Show Notes: