People are waking up to the profiteering at the heart of the administration. We can use the resulting fury to build a movement.

Support Next Comes What + Get Andrea's posts FIRST: https://degenerateart.beehiiv.com/subscribe

Read the post: https://degenerateart.beehiiv.com/p/the-corruption-umbrella

LISTEN

Everywhere: https://pod.link/1779885475

WATCH

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@degenerateartnews

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@DegenerateArtNewsletter

This week's episode looks at the many ways that corruption underpins every part of Trump administration policies. Andrea Pitzer considers the deliberate choice to inflict suffering in the U.S. and abroad, which has been done across the board for direct personal or political gain. She notes that the catastrophic shifts in U.S. policy that set the stage for much of what is happening today took place in response to the 9/11 attacks, but that Trump 2.0 does not even have that flimsy fig leaf of a justification, given that the president has intentionally created the crises now engulfing the country. All this has led to illness, hunger, war, and death.

Andrea explores the realms of immigration, citizenship, voting, democracy, law, wars, and international alliances, showing how the current administration's corruption is the common element underpinning every disaster. She also assesses the ways that oligarchs' expanding control over media has likewise corrupted democracy and our access to information--all in favor of expanding authoritarian rule in the U.S. Yet this corruption, she suggests, is now being recognized by voters across the board, as the profound harms Trump has unleashed are affecting everyone directly in highly visible ways. Using corruption as the battle cry for regaining control of government and cleaning house, Andrea believes, is a path to building a coalition of voters without throwing anyone under the bus. The episode closes with a look at how an anti-corruption coalition could work in defeating the expanding police state here at home.

0:00 The Anatomy of Trump 2.0 Corruption
2:15 Weaponizing Democracy, Law & the DOJ
5:40 ICE Contracts & The $2.8B Detention Grift
9:20 The Maduro Deal & Untracked Oil Revenue
12:35 Putin, Sanctions, & The Diesel Trade Betrayal
16:10 Oligarchs Buying the News & Information Ecosystem
19:45 Smears, Bigotry, & Manufactured Election Threats
23:30 Forcing AI and Toxic Data Centers on Communities
27:10 SNAP Benefits, Food Scarcity, & Hurting Families
31:00 Building an Anti-Corruption Movement to Fight Back

We can send the people pushing fascism on us back into their holes without buying into hate.

Support Next Comes What + Get Andrea's posts FIRST: https://degenerateart.beehiiv.com/subscribe

Read the post: https://degenerateart.beehiiv.com/p/the-clampdown-continues

LISTEN

Everywhere: https://pod.link/1779885475

WATCH

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@DegenerateArtNewsletter

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@degenerateartnews

The latest episode of Next Comes What opens with a reminder to get to a No Kings event this weekend. Andrea Pitzer then considers how some authoritarian element is always bubbling away in any society and will crawl out given the opportunity. But sometimes you have to pay attention to see it. She notes how easy it is for millions of Americans to not notice ICE operations now that senior officers aren't making a big national spectacle of everything they do. Nonetheless, arrests and detentions have never stopped--and in many places have gotten worse. On a global scale, Andrea notes the moment she realized the same rhetoric and ideas used to defend the 2003 war in Iraq had come from the Vietnam war decades before—and are now being used to support Trump's war in Iran.

When trying to defeat the fascist impulse seizing so much of the country right now, we do have to think strategically. But being heartless isn't the same as being strategic. Noting the increasing number of Democratic politicians supporting anti-trans bigotry, Andrea argues for learning how to talk to voters who have bought into propaganda without further entrenching the bigotry inherent in that propaganda. The episode closes with thoughts on how to buckle up for the long haul in changing our institutions, while recognizing that the November 3rd election holds the possibility of a tidal shift. Andrea encourages everyone to get out and vote.

00:00 Mass Deportations & ICE Arrest Surges
03:10 USAID Cuts & Global Food Security Crises
05:30 Authoritarianism, Protests & the Midterm Threat
09:20 Russia Dealings, Putin, & Zelensky Tensions
13:10 Parallels to Vietnam & The Costly Invasion of Iraq
15:45 U.S. Aggression vs. Iran's 92-Million-Person Civilization
19:15 Elon Musk's DOGE, Starlink Shutdowns & Political Spending
22:30 The Transgender Rights Battleground & Political Retrenchment
26:15 Building Pro-Democracy Movements & Distinguishing Cowards from Enemies
28:00 Closing Thoughts & Call to Action

The roots of everything that ails the country go deeper than Trump, so we need to think beyond November 3rd.

Support Next Comes What + Get Andrea's posts FIRST: https://degenerateart.beehiiv.com/subscribe

Read the post: https://degenerateart.beehiiv.com/p/killing-zombie-trumpism

LISTEN

Everywhere: https://pod.link/1779885475

WATCH

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@DegenerateArtNewsletter

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@degenerateartnews

This week's episode considers three recent news events and how they reveal the larger challenges facing the county. But first, Andrea Pitzer turns toward the November 3rd elections and the No Kings march coming up October 17. She encourages listeners to plan for both and so as much as possible to help defeat Trumpism at the ballot box. Victory there is critical, she suggests, but not sufficient. Andrea then looks at the botched execution of Christa Pike last week, the horrors of the Cornell Seven assault case, and the revelation that U.S. Senator Dr. Roger Marshall, an obstetrician, sued hundreds of his own patients and had them arrested. The instigating events of all these instances of deep animosity toward women in our country happened when Trump was not president.

Andrea then turns to the recent elections in Brazil, which in recent years saw its institutions hold against the rise of authoritarianism. The judicial system acted against president Jair Bolsonaro, barring him from running for office until 2030, due to his attempts to subvert elections and foment a coup. Last weekend, his son ran in his place, and won the first round of voting. The runoff will take place later this month. Andrea discusses the ways that the authoritarian-industrial complex is hard to eradicate, in part because the real movers behind the politicians are those with money and power. And they want more of both. The episode closes by looking beyond November 3rd to the greater changes we'll need to make, and a nod toward the value of performative actions in long-term success.

0:00 Keep Your Hands Off Our Vote
3:15 The Lame Duck Reality in DC
5:40 Roots of the Crisis: The Reagan Precedent
7:20 Botched Executions and State Cruelty
13:10 Women as the Social Safety Net
16:45 The Breakdown at Cornell
20:30 Predatory Medical Debt and Systemic Inequality
23:15 The Orange Wave and Brazil's Global Far Right
28:00 Why Ending Trump Isn't Enough
31:30 The Authoritarian Industrial Complex