The end of the war in Gaza follows the unprecedented two-year psychological war against Zionism, supporters of Israel, and the very idea that Jews need and deserve to defend themselves. This has been an open question for us since 1948, when even Hannah Arendt opposed the creation of a Jewish state in the pages of COMMENTARY. We explain why she was wrong then, is wrong now, and why Israel's survival is important even for turncoat Jews who attack it. Give a listen.
On Thursday, a potentially historic agreement between Israel and Hamas began to take shape. The deal, which was brokered by President Trump, secures the exchange of all remaining Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners.
Leaders on both sides, and Mr. Trump himself, signaled that this was a decisive step toward the end of the two-year war in Gaza.
Mark Mazzetti, who covers national security for The New York Times, discusses the deal making that got us to this point and whether it really will bring peace.
Guest: Mark Mazzetti, an investigative reporter for The New York Times in Washington, D.C., who focuses on national security.
Background reading:
Live updates: Israel approved a Gaza deal that would free hostages and prisoners.
Donald Trump ramps up his attacks on American citizens, fighting in court to be able to deploy national guard troops to Chicago, and declaring that Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson should be imprisoned. Jon and Dan react to Trump's threats, the deployments to Chicago and Portland, and the White House's "Antifa roundtable," where the president and his cabinet portrayed Antifa—which doesn't even really exist—as a shadowy, nationwide terrorist network that must be dismantled. Then, they discuss the politically-motivated indictment of New York Attorney General Letitia James, debate whether the Democrats are winning the shutdown message war, and react to some rare good news: the Gaza peace deal. Then, Gov. Pritzker sits down with Jon to discuss how he's fighting back against Trump's invasion of Chicago.
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.
On this week’s episode of ‘The Kylee Cast,’ Federalist Managing Editor Kylee Griswold and Staff Writer Brianna Lyman break down Virginia Democrat attorney general candidate Jay Jones’ murderous fantasies. Plus, a Biden-appointed judge gives a slap on the wrist to the would-be Supreme Court assassin — all because he suddenly decided he was trans. And Kylee gives her hot takes on Taylor Swift’s new album.
If you care about combating the corrupt media that continue to inflict devastating damage, please give a gift to help The Federalist do the real journalism America needs.
Today on the Gist, a tough conversation with Plestia Alaqad about what she saw in Gaza and how she frames it for a global audience. They dig into sympathy versus credence, terminology like IDF versus IOF, the Al-Ahli Hospital claim, and whether journalism requires shared vocabulary. Plus, a spiel on U Thant, transliteration, and the “clean” versus “stable” wings of politics.
ICE and other armed federal agents are doing their best to incite violence in blue cities so they can help Trump realize his unfulfilled dream from 2020 to impose a military crackdown. At the same time, Trump can only point to what happened in Portland five years ago during Black Lives Matter protests to try to bolster his case. Meanwhile, Comey has a pretty good shot to get his case dismissed—thanks in part to a Truth Social post that was supposed to be a DM to Bondi directing her to go after his enemies. Plus, doubts around the longterm sustainability of the Israel-Hamas ceasefire deal, the butch-up cosplay behind the blowing up of boats off of Venezuela, and the real power of conservative media influencers like Candace and Tucker. Sam Stein joins Tim Miller.
Grayzone Editor-In-Chief Max Blumenthal returns to Bad Faith to talk Trump's "peace deal" with Gaza, speculation that Charlie Kirk was killed by Israel, Zionist control of CBS & TikTok (and journalist Matt Taibbi's choice to exclude this issue from his 1st Amendment coverage), last week's Coates-Klein interview, Kamala's new book, and Max's predictions for 2028 -- including how the left should prepare. A ton of ground is covered in this episode, so you'll want to listen in full.
Van Lathan Jr., who went viral for confronting Kanye West over his "Black people chose slavery" remarks on TMZ, is a culture savant, podcaster, and political commentator whom you might have recently seen giving Scott Jennings the business on CNN. He joins Bad Faith to discuss Paul Thomas Anderson's One Battle After Another, which is being heralded as one of the best films of the year. But while it's being read as positive depiction of left revolutionaries, Brie has never felt a bigger urge to walk out of a theatre than she did in the first 30 minutes of this movie. Is the film a misogynoir-filled anti-left psyop? A fun action caper? Both? But first, Van and Brie discuss the spate of right-leaning podcasters expressing regret about boosting Trump, what it means to have "a politics," and how to contend with the establishment's commitment to "voting blue no matter who" and blaming third parties for the Democrats' failures.
We must not hope for the best while expecting the worst today; today is a day to celebrate while cautiously looking forward. Jonathan Schanzer joins us to talk about the terms of the deal that will bring the Israeli hostages home while ensuring Israel retains military options and territory in Gaza—a better deal for Israel than most of us ever expected would be the final case. How did it happen? What happens next? Give a listen.
Introducing the newest thing in higher (and we really mean higher — like look UP) education: The Flying Pig Academy. A dream of The Village Square (with support from Florida Humanities) for many years, it’s finally aloft. The division in American society is big and seems impossible at times to address.
This Flying Pig Episode: So how in the world do you build a community of people who look and think differently at a time when birds of a feather are not only flocking together, but not really caring too much for different kinds of birds? It’s easier than you thought if you begin with a small core of relationships across differences and grow it out in stages, like the rings of a tree as it grows.
Miss the first Flying Pig Academy Episode? Find it here.
The second in the series, after "Location, Location, Location" is an homage to our intellectual hero (and lucky for us, our friend and colleague) Dr. Jonathan Haidt who - literally - wrote the book for Pigs With Big Dreams. The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion.
