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GD POLITICS

GD POLITICS

By: Galen Druke
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 Making sense of politics and the world with curiosity, rigor, and a sense of humor.

www.gdpolitics.comGalen Druke Politics & Government
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  • Rick Perry on the Texas Primary, Psychedelics, and His Debate 'Oops'

    Rick Perry on the Texas Primary, Psychedelics, and His Debate 'Oops'
    Feb 19 2026
    Subscribe to GD POLITICS wherever you listen to podcasts. The video version of this interview is available here.My favorite interviews with politicians happen when they’ve run their last race and can reflect candidly on their time in office and the complexities of politics and the world. Today you’re going to hear such an interview with former governor of Texas and former secretary of energy Rick Perry.We begin by talking about the heated Senate primary in Texas. The former governor has thrown his support behind incumbent Sen. John Cornyn and doesn’t shy away from criticisms of Attorney General Ken Paxton or the Democratic side.We then turn to a more personal topic: Perry’s experience with the psychoactive drug ibogaine and his advocacy for its use in treating things like addiction, PTSD, brain trauma, and cognitive decline. It may seem like a counterintuitive position for a social conservative, and we get into that.We end by talking about the moment during the 2012 GOP primary debate when Perry forgot the name of one of the agencies he intended to shutter as president — the Department of Energy. It became something of a viral moment at the time, but in this interview we talk about what was going on in his personal life, which he describes as the most difficult six months of his life.Below are some excerpts, edited for clarity, from our conversation, which took place on Wednesday, February 18.Perry’s Opposition To Ken Paxton In Texas’s Senate RaceGov. Rick Perry: I tell people the Bible’s kind of like a checklist that a pilot would use. I was a pilot in the United States Air Force. So they pounded into us: use the checklist, use the checklist. That will save your life, that will save the people’s lives who are in your airplane. The point is, the Bible is that checklist.So if the Republican Party is gonna be the party of Judeo-Christian values, then having someone who basically has flaunted those rules and regulations, whether it’s standing up in front of God and saying, I will be faithful to you until death do us part, which he obviously failed at, whether it’s eight senior members of his staff, I’m talking about Paxton here, who stood up and said, this guy has broken the laws of the state of Texas and the federal government and we can’t work for you anymore. I mean, that is a damning indictment. Eight of the people, eight of the people who you hired at your senior level.…Perry: I think this is about Texas and what is the Republican primary voter going to decide about the direction that they want the Republican party to be and a reflection of what they want the Republican party to be.Galen Druke: And if Paxton does win in that case, what message does that send? Like, if this is about the future of the Texas Republican Party and Paxton wins, what does that tell you?Perry: Well, from my perspective, I don’t think it’s a good message. I think the idea that the character doesn’t count, I mean, if you want that to be your bumper sticker, good luck.Whether A Paxton Win Could Imperil Republicans’ Hold On TexasPerry: This has been going on for 25 years, since my first run for a full term for governor in 2002. The media was all frothing at the mouth of, you know, ‘We’re going to get the state back into Democrat hands, because they had this little dalliance with this Bush guy. Now he’s gone. And, you know, Perry’s kind of an accidental governor anyway. He just kind of slipped in there as lieutenant governor and then Bush went on to be the president. And so we got Tony Sanchez who’s running, who’s a multi-billionaire or multi-millionaire business guy, oil and gas guy, and he’s going to self-fund, put 80 to a hundred million dollars in it. And we’ll get the state back. We’ve historically been a Democrat state and we’re going to get back to it.’Every election cycle. We hear that every election cycle. That’s true for this one. I’d be very surprised, stunned, even a better word, if the Democrats were able to win a statewide elected position, unless we pick a massively flawed candidate, which potentially could happen here. But my instinct is that it’s not going to happen. John Cornyn will be our nominee and whether they pick a flawed individual as Jasmine Crockett or a flawed individual like Talarico, the Republicans will win.On James Talarico’s Christian FaithDruke: You talked about your Bible study and the importance of the Judeo-Christian faith guiding you in politics as well. Talarico has leaned pretty heavily into his Christian faith in his political appeals. He’s a pastor in training. Do you think there’s anything admirable about Talarico’s approach in that regard?Perry: I would say that he needs to walk into that room where that mirror is and really ask whether or not he can profess a faith in Christianity and support abortions.Druke: And is that really the main sort of sticking point for you?Perry: You asked me, you asked me what my ...
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    1 hr and 1 min
  • Is It Time To Freak Out About AI?

    Is It Time To Freak Out About AI?
    Feb 16 2026

    Heads up: We have a live show scheduled for Wednesday, March 4 at the Comedy Cellar in New York City! After a rowdy live 2028 Democratic primary draft last month, Nate Silver, Clare Malone, and I will tackle the Republican side of the ledger. Grab tickets here!

    If you’ve been enjoying your long weekend, I apologize for the potentially panic-inducing content of today’s episode.

    We seem to be in something of freakout moment over artificial intelligence. In particular, several viral posts have been making the rounds on social media from people who work in AI warning about what’s coming.

    Mrinank Sharma, an AI safety researcher at Anthropic, quit last week and published a letter saying the “world is in peril” and that we need to wise up.

    Zoe Hitzig, an economist at OpenAI, also quit and wrote a New York Times op-ed criticizing how ChatGPT is implementing ads, suggesting the company could use people’s private motivations to manipulate them.

    Matt Shumer, the CEO of an AI startup, wrote a viral post on Twitter called “Something Big Is Happening,” comparing this moment in AI to what February 2020 felt like for COVID.

    As far as markets are concerned, software stocks have fallen 15 to 30 percent over the past month in reaction to new AI developments in coding.

    On today’s episode, I talk to John Burn-Murdoch, a columnist and chief data reporter at the Financial Times. He’s been using data to track AI’s effects on the world so far, particularly when it comes to work.

    Also, in case AI panic isn’t enough for one episode, John’s been doing a lot of work tracking democratic backsliding in the U.S. and around the world. So, fittingly for Presidents’ Day, we get into his research on that, and ask whether these two sources of anxiety — AI and democratic backsliding — might be connected in some way.



    This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.gdpolitics.com/subscribe
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    56 mins
  • Epstein Fallout, The Shutdown Fight, And Gallup's Goodbye

    Epstein Fallout, The Shutdown Fight, And Gallup's Goodbye
    Feb 12 2026
    This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.gdpolitics.com

    The full episode is available to paid subscribers. Once you become a paid subscriber, you can connect your account to your preferred podcast player here.

    Also, heads up: We have a live show scheduled for Wednesday, March 4 at the Comedy Cellar in New York City! After a rowdy live 2028 Democratic presidential primary draft last month, Nate Silver, Clare Malone, and I will tackle the Republican side of the ledger. You can get tickets here.

    We’ve got a lot to talk about! In fact, I think this is our first-ever emergency edition of “Good Data, Bad Data, or Not Data.” Gallup announced this week that, after 88 years in the field, it will stop tracking Americans’ approval and disapproval of presidents. Its final approval rating for President Trump was just 36 percent.

    Gallup may no longer be asking how Americans feel about the president, but plenty of pollsters still are and that will be useful for two topics we’re discussing today: the showdown over Department of Homeland Security funding and the political fallout from the Epstein files.

    We’ve also got election news to check in on. The Democratic primary in New Jersey’s 11th District has become a microcosm of Democratic Party drama. A little-known progressive organizer won the primary after an AIPAC-backed group spent $2 million attacking a moderate, pro-Israel former congressman. Yes, you read that correctly.

    Susan Collins also formalized her bid for a sixth term in the Senate this week, which means another chance for us to talk about the 2026 race for control of the chamber. Plus, friend of the pod Mary Radcliffe did a deep dive into whether support for Trump is crashing among young men. She’s with me to discuss it all, along with Washington Post senior data scientist Lenny Bronner.
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    21 mins
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