On this week’s episode of the RealClearInvestigations Podcast, RCI Editor J. Peder Zane and RCI Senior Reporter James Varney speak with Patrick Steel, the former CEO of Politico who is now a Senior Advisor to Antenna Group, about the changing landscape of the media business.

On the news round-up, Zane and Varney discuss articles published by Reuters and the Washington Post that detail Iran’s confounding stranglehold on the Strait of Hormuz as well as a piece in the Atlantic that raises questions about the US government’s official narrative regarding the deadly collision of two American refueling planes over Iraq. They also examine how two articles – the National Review’s analysis of the explosion in autism diagnoses and the City Journal’s report on the transplants driving Los Angeles’ homeless problems – illustrate how the wrong incentives can exacerbate social problems and social spending.

00:00 Introduction and Overview of the Podcast
08:21 Iran's Influence on International Shipping
16:07 The Evolving Media Landscape
31:14 The Future of Legacy Media
31:55 The Evolution of Regional Journalism
34:00 The Impact of Billionaire Backers on Media
37:31 The Tension Between Audience and Ownership
42:35 The Rise of Authenticity in Journalism
49:23 Transparency and Trust in Modern Media
56:45 Investing in the Future of Journalism

Articles Discussed in This Podcast:

• Patrick Steel Bio: Patrick Steel - NYU Stern
  
• Reuters: Iran Consolidating Control of Strait of Hormuz
  
• Washington Post: Ship’s Crew Risked the Strait, Met Hail of Bullets
  
• Atlantic: What the Pentagon Didn’t Say About a Deadly Crash
  
• National Review: Autism Overdiagnosis Is a National Scandal
  
• City Journal: LA a Magnet for Nation's Homeless
  
  

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On this week’s episode of the RealClearInvestigations Podcast, RCI Editor J. Peder Zane and RCI Senior Reporter James Varney speak with Gary Saul Morson, a professor of Arts and Humanities at Northwestern University and a scholar of Russian literature about what Dostoevsky can teach us about modern progressives.

In our round-up of the week’s best investigative reporting, Zane and Varney discuss a Wall Street Journal article about China’s stranglehold on drone production, Roger Pielke Jr.’s Substack piece on a dramatic change in climate change forecasts, and a Daily Wire story on the Los Angeles arsonists who drew inspiration from the assassin Luigi Mangione.

00:00 Introduction and Overview of Current Events
03:13 The Impact of Chinese Supply Chains on U.S. Defense
05:58 Climate Change Narratives and Scientific Realities
09:10 The Ideological Underpinnings of Violence in Society
12:07 Interview with Professor Gary Saul Morrison on Communism and Ideology
14:45 Dostoevsky's Insights on Modern Progressivism
17:53 The Role of the Intelligentsia in Revolutionary Movements
20:59 The Normalization of Violence in Political Discourse
24:09 Comparisons Between Historical and Modern Revolutionary Movements
32:44 The Role of Liberals in Political Change
34:00 The Dangers of Labeling Political Opponents
38:21 Lessons from History: The Power of the Majority
41:13 The Importance of Literature and Universal Values
47:16 The Psychology of Political Identity
51:32 The Challenge of Compromise in Democracy
55:22 The Role of Science in Political Ideology
01:01:04 The Transformative Power of Literature

Articles Discussed in This Podcast:

• Gary Saul Morson: Re-Possessed – Commentary Magazine
• Gary Saul Morson: Solzhenitsyn Warned Us – Commentary Magazine
• Gary Saul Morson: The Return of the ‘Useful Idiot’ – Commentary Magazine
• Gary Saul Morson: The Red Star Returns - The New Criterion
• Gary Saul Morson: Marxism Is a Gulag of the Mind - WSJ
• Wall Street Journal: U.S. Targets China's Stranglehold on Drone Production
• Roger Pielke Jr. Substack: New Climate Report Eliminates Most Extreme Scenarios
• Daily Wire: LA Arson Suspect Obsessed Over Luigi Mangione

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On this week’s episode of the RealClearInvestigations Podcast, RCI Editor J. Peder Zane and RCI Senior Reporter James Varney speak with Paul D. Thacker about his RCI article which details the central yet largely hidden role played University of North Carolina virologist Ralph Baric in both the risky scientific work that may have created the virus that causes COVID-19 and the subsequent campaign to suppress public debate about its origins.

In our round-up of the week’s best investigative reporting, Zane and Varney discuss a Wall Street Journal article about the sources of political violence, a Washington Post story on the Trump administration’s effort to bring a venture capital mindset to the Pentagon, and a wide range of reports from PJ Media, the Federalist, the National Review and Fox News on the Trump administration efforts to highlight alleged wrongdoing by the Biden administration.

00:00 Introduction and Podcast Overview
02:55 Political Violence and Media Responsibility
05:58 Pentagon's Venture into Silicon Valley
08:59 COVID Cover-Up and Indictments
12:00 Ralph Baric and the Origins of COVID
15:09 Gain of Function Research and Its Implications
25:38 The Personnel Matter and Media Response
26:30 The Start of the Cover-Up
27:41 Gain of Function Research Explained
29:39 The Role of Media in Scientific Discourse
31:15 Intel Briefings and Lab Accident Possibilities
33:00 The Science Community's Response to COVID
36:09 Financial Motivations Behind the Cover-Up
39:35 The Implications of Scientific Research Funding
42:10 The Future of Gain of Function Research
44:10 The Need for Accountability in Science and Politics

Articles Discussed in This Podcast:

Paul D. Thacker/RCI: COVID Cover-Up: Hiding Star Researcher Ralph Baric’s Ties to Global Pandemic

Wall Street Journal: Anti-Government Violence Hits 30-Year High

Washington Post: Turning the Pentagon into a Venture Capital Firm

New York Review of Books: Rebooting the Pentagon

PJ Media: Top Fauci Aide Indicted for Concealing COVID Records

Federalist: Did Politicized DOJ Scuttle Clinton Foundation Probe?

Federalist: Did Biden Agency Try To Hide Planned Parenthood Loans?

National Review: DOJ: Biden Admin Persecuted Conservative Christians

Fox News: Claim: 'Mother Lode' of Russiagate Files in FBI Burn Bags

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On this week’s episode of the RealClearInvestigations Podcast, RCI Editor J. Peder Zane and RCI Senior Reporter James Varney speak with RealClearPolitics reporter Susan Crabtree about her new book (co-authored with Jed McFatter) “Fool’s Gold: The Radicals, Con Artists, and Traitors Who Killed the California Dream and Now Threaten Us All.”

In our round-up of the week’s best investigative reporting, Zane and Varney discuss articles in the Washington Free Beacon and USA today on the federal indictment of the Southern Poverty Law Center stemming from its payment of some $3 million from 2014 to 2023 to members of the KKK, Aryan Nations, National Alliance, and other "violent extremist" groups who allegedly served as informants and a New York Times article about people who lost their jobs when the Trump administration shut down the U.S. Agency for International Development.

00:00 Introduction to the Podcast and Guest
01:07 Indictment of the Southern Poverty Law Center
06:08 Critique of USAID and Its Impact
11:11 Introduction to Susan Crabtree and Her Book
13:59 California's Failed Policies and Their Consequences
20:01 Media's Role in California's Issues
22:49 California's Infrastructure and Union Influence
24:30 Transforming Transportation in California
26:20 The Homelessness Crisis: A Deep Dive
29:10 The Role of NGOs and Nonprofits
32:33 Corruption and Accountability in California
36:26 Gavin Newsom's Ties to China
42:25 The Future of California Politics

Articles Discussed in This Podcast:

• Susan Crabtree & Jed McFatter: “Fool’s Gold: The Radicals, Con Artists, and Traitors Who Killed the California Dream and Now Threaten Us All.”
• Washington Free Beacon: Southern Poverty Law Center's Off-Shore Riches
• USA Today: FBI: SPLC Paid Informants Without Donors Knowing. Feds Pay Them Too
• Data Republican: How the Charlottesville Rally and SPLC Birthed Billion-Dollar-Plus ‘Democracy’ Ecosystem
• New York Times: A Year After U.S.A.I.D.’s Death, Fired Workers Find Few Jobs and Much Loss
  

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On this week’s episode of the RealClearInvestigations Podcast, RCI Editor J. Peder Zane and RCI Senior Reporter James Varney speak with Roger Pielke Jr., a fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, about his article detailing how Al Gore’s seminal 2006 book and film on climate change, “An Inconvenient Truth,” helped politicize science.

In our round-up of the week’s best investigative reporting, Zane and Varney discuss Paul Sperry’s article for RCI on newly declassified documents showing how a top government official fast-tracked a politically compromised whistleblower complaint in 2019 that ultimately triggered the first impeachment of President Trump. They also discuss the sexual accusation that forced Rep. Eric Swalwell to resign from Congress – and why this evidently widely-known questions about his conduct had not been reported until now.

00:00 Introduction to the Podcast and Guest
01:00 Impeachment Insights and Partisan Politics
07:05 The Eric Swalwell Controversy
16:05 Legacy of Al Gore's Climate Advocacy
17:01 The Evolution of Climate Change Discourse
22:08 Current Understanding of Climate Science
28:00 Global Perspectives on Climate Change
29:14 Decarbonization and Energy Sources
31:28 The Politicization of Science
38:35 Millenarianism in Climate Science
42:47 Finding Common Ground in Climate Policy
46:38 The Impact of COVID on Public Trust
50:39 The Future of Academia and Climate Policy

Articles Discussed in This Podcast:

• Roger Pielke Jr.: The Legacy of Al Gore's "An Inconvenient Truth" 20 Years Later
• Paul Sperry, CI: BREAKING: Newly Declassified Docs Reveal Bias of Impeachment 'Whistleblower'
• Paul Sperry, RCI: The Beltway's 'Whistleblower' Furor Obsesses Over One Name
• Washington Post: How Eric Swalwell Rose Despite Disturbing Reputation
• American Prospect: Eric Swalwell and the Death of Accountability
  

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On this week’s episode of the RealClearInvestigations Podcast, RCI Editor J. Peder Zane and RCI Senior Reporter James Varney speak with Jan Jekielek, a senior editor at The Epoch Times, about his bestselling new book, “Killed To Order: China’s Organ Harvesting Industry and the True Nature of America’s Biggest Adversary".

On the news roundup, Zane and Varney discuss a CBS News investigation of potential hospice care fraud in California, a Wired article on how a top ranking DOJ official misled a judge regarding voter rolls, a New York Times story reporting that federal prosecutors failed to watch the video connected to a high-profile shooting in Minneapolis before charging the wounded man, and Roger Pielke Jr. Substack piece on the legacy of Al Gore’s influential 2006 book (and film) on climate change, “An Inconvenient Truth.”

Articles & Books Discussed in this Episode

• Jan Jekielek Book Excerpt: Killed To Order: China’s Organ Harvesting Industry and the True Nature of America’s Biggest Adversary
• CBS News: The Most Connected Hospice Doctor in California
• Wired: DOJ Misled Judge About How It’s Using Voter Roll Data

• New York Times: Video of Minneapolis Shooting Undermines ICE Account

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/06/us/minnesota-ice-shooting-video.html

• Roger Piekle Jr. Substack: The Legacy of Al Gore's "An Inconvenient Truth" 20 Years Later
  https://rogerpielkejr.substack.com/p/the-legacy-of-al-gores-an-inconvenient

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On this week’s episode of the RealClearInvestigations Podcast, RCI Editor J. Peder Zane and RCI Senior Reporter James Varney speak with Walter Curt – a podcaster and investigative journalist who operates The W.C. Dispatch - about how the Trump administration's push to open source some government payment systems and the rise of artificial intelligence are empowering citizen sleuths to track down fraud, waste and abuse.

In our round-up of the week’s best investigative reporting, Zane and Varney discuss Peter Schweizer’s reporting from his new book, “The Invisible Coup,” about how China is exploiting America’s tradition of granting birthright citizenship, recent articles in the Washington Post, the New York Times and Wall Street Journal that indicate the legacy media is finally acknowledging some successes in the Iran War, and a ProPublica story and how Trump’s pardons of convicted swindlers throws into question his commitment to combatting fraud.

YOUTUBE: https://youtu.be/4Xh9mvq32D0

Articles discussed in this podcast:

The W.C. Dispatch, https://wcdispatch.com/

Peter Schweizer: The Invisible Coup
https://www.realclearinvestigations.com/articles/2026/03/31/book_excerpt_-_the_invisible_coup_how_american_elites_and_foreign_powers_use_immigration_as_a_weapon_1173586.html

Washington Post: Iran’s Missile Infrastructure Severely Strained
https://www.realclearinvestigations.com/2026/03/30/irans_missile_infrastructure_severely_strained_1173364.html

New York Times: Iran’s Fractured Leadership Is Struggling to Coordinate
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/30/us/politics/iran-leaders-trump-war.html

Wall Street Journal: Trump’s Foreign Policy Targets Rusia’s Allies
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/why-russia-is-stepping-up-its-support-for-an-embattled-iran/ar-AA1ZFsGW?ocid=BingNewsSerp

ProPublica: Trump’s War On Fraud Doesn’t Include Swindlers He’s Pardoned
https://www.propublica.org/article/joseph-schwartz-trump-pardon-skyline-nursing-home-patients

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