Pod Save America - Empire State of Mind

Trump kicks off 2026 with a return to imperialism, launching a military assault in Venezuela and abducting President Nicolás Maduro. Jon, Lovett, and Tommy react to the news, the administration's open acknowledgement that they want Venezuela's oil, and Trump's hint that military action may be coming to more places in the Western Hemisphere—including Colombia, Mexico, and Greenland. Then, the guys discuss Minnesota Governor Tim Walz's decision to end his reelection campaign in response to a fraud scandal that has captured the attention of right wing media, what we've learned (and not learned) from the Epstein files that were released before Christmas, and the most online stories that you may have missed over the holidays. Then, Lovett talks to Senator Mark Kelly about Secretary Hegseth's move to censure him in response to his reminder to service members that they need not follow "illegal orders."


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The Indicator from Planet Money - How cocaine smuggling through Latin America really works

Former Venezuelan leader, Nicolás Maduro, appeared in a New York court yesterday. He’s facing drug-trafficking and weapons charges after the U.S. abducted him and his wife in an explosive operation over the weekend. But is there any credibility to the drug-trafficking accusations? And what does the cocaine supply chain look like in 2026?

Today on the show, tracing cocaine’s journey from the Andes to the streets of U.S. cities.

Further reading: 
Ioan Grillo – El Narco

Related episodes: 
Venezuela’s economic descent (Updated)
Why Are Venezuelans Starving?
Lessons from a former drug dealer

For sponsor-free episodes of The Indicator from Planet Money, subscribe to Planet Money+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org. Fact-checking by Cooper Katz McKim and Sierra Juarez. Music by Drop Electric. Find us: TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Newsletter.

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Read Me a Poem - “i thank You God for most this amazing day” by E. E. Cummings

Amanda Holmes reads E. E. Cummings’s “i thank You God for most this amazing day.” Have a suggestion for a poem by a (dead) writer? Email us: podcast@theamericanscholar.org. If we select your entry, you’ll win a copy of a poetry collection edited by David Lehman.


This episode was produced by Stephanie Bastek and features the song “Canvasback” by Chad Crouch.


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Chapo Trap House - 999 – Nazis, Pedophiles, Drunks, Rapists & Thieves (1/5/26)

We return from break to talk about the horrific kidnapping of Nicolás Maduro and the continuing moral depravity of the gangster state called America. We speculate on what this act of imperial aggression means for the rest of the world, the hilarious snubbing of the Venezuelan opposition, the predictably inept response from the Democratic party, and the hope that someone, somewhere, can stop the Fourth Reich’s plans. Finally, we read a recent Wall Street Journal piece on Trump’s aging and addiction to aspirin. Subscribe to patreon.com/chapotraphouse to hear our 1000th episode on Thursday! Just a few more days to buy the 2nd printing of ¡No Pasarán!: Matt Christman's Spanish Civil War over at chapotraphouse.store Year Zero: A Chapo Trap House Comics Anthology is also 15% off at badegg.co. Through end of year purchases of the book also include a free digital version of the comic. The digital version is also available through GlobalComix. Follow the new Chapo Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chapotraphousereal/ And Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/chapotraphousereal.bsky.social

Audio Mises Wire - Socialist Mamdani Inadvertently Pays Tribute to Capitalism

Zohran Mamdani held his mayoral swearing in ceremony at the now-abandoned City Hall Station that was a feature of the first New York Subway built in 1904. Unfortunately, city officials deliberately drove the subway company into insolvency and then took over.

Original article: https://mises.org/mises-wire/socialist-mamdani-inadvertently-pays-tribute-capitalism