Off The Record With Paul Hodes

As Israel spirals into street protests, strikes, and political chaos, former AP lead Middle East reporter Dan Perry joins us to explain why this is happening and to dive into the eerie parallels between Bibi Netanyahu and Donald Trump, and the political unraveling in Israel and what has been happening in the United States. And we ask what lessons we can learn about how to head off a similar crisis in America. Subscribe to Dan Perry's must-read Substack for more.

The 20th anniversary of the US invasion of Iraq has raised important and enduring questions: why did we do it? Why did the press get so fooled by false arguments for invading? How could we have failed in our military planning so badly that we sent our troops to war without the equipment they needed? Was there a "winnable" version of this -- or even are we better off for having done it than we think? And what are the lasting consequences here? Sean Carberry - Managing Editor of National Defense Magazine, Former NPR Kabul correspondent, and former member of the DoD Inspector General's oversight on Iraq - joins us.

How did right-wing MAGA Republicans dupe the media into parroting their undiluted propaganda to the public? Our Blue Amp YouTube Channel partner Cliff Schecter joins podcaster and journalist Greg Olear to trace the history and reasons why we landed here.

Desantis going hard after Trump, other Republicans going to the mat to defend him, and Democrats trying to play it cool. Could Trump come out of this stronger, or are Republicans tying themselves in knots as the world waits for Trump to make his perp walk? Also, a monumental ruling on abortion could come any day...what would a ban on the top medical abortion pill mean?

Will the increasingly likely indictment of Donald Trump somehow help him and the Republicans, or set them up for political misery? Matt Robison joins legendary radio broadcaster Howard Monroe to figure out the answer.  Also, what about Trump's call for protests--how dangerous is that? What about the other pending legal cases?

Today, an abusive Democratic politician, and an inside view as Joe Biden gears up for the re-election campaign. A bombshell story in Politico on Marianne Williamson and her abuse of staff and the people around her features a sole on-the-record quote from our own Paul Hodes. We wanted to understand more about what it's like to put a story together like that, and we also wanted to take the chance to bring our viewers and listeners one of the top White House reporters around as President Biden prepares to run again.  We ask her: is Biden...triangulating?!? Lauren Egan was previously a White House reporter for NBC News, and is now a lead reporter for the West Wing Playbook team for Politico.

No one likes to talk about banking...that is, until a couple of banks go down and everyone starts worrying that spreading panic might bring about another "Great Recession" style financial crisis. Paul Hodes was a member of Congress during that crisis and he takes us inside the differences between now and then.  Also, Republicans have put themselves in a box on cutting the budget, and now they've trapped all of us and the entire US economy inside with them. And, Trump...Stormy Daniels...indictments...sex...money...it's all about to happen, but is it politically going to finally undo the former President?

Disinformation, misinformation, and lies: how do we deal with a fire-hose of mind-warping bullshit in the age of social media? There's been a perfect storm on this topic in the past month: the Dominion lawsuit cast a bright light on Fox News' determination to lie; the House oversight committee’s Festivus airing of invented grievances about the persecution of the right wing by social media; and of course our own experience being mistakenly targeted by YouTube as we talked about exposing election misinformation. Two years ago, Paul Barret wrote a perhaps the definitive analysis on this question of whether there is anti-Republican bias on social media, and how to fix social media platforms. Paul M. Barrett is Deputy Director of the NYU Stern Center for Business and Human Rights.

Our own experience getting pulled down by the YouTube algorithm highlights some of the deep problems with social media, Fox News, disinformation, and the myth of right-wing persecution. A panel conversation featuring guest conservative analyst Michael Graham, former CBS NEws analyst and currently of the NH Journal and the Boston Herald.  Also, do you want to live in Trumpville?

So...we kinda got censored over at YouTube...

Today, the baffling rise and spectacular fall of one of the right wing's biggest stars. When the news broke that James O'Keefe had been forced out of Project Veritas,  the group he founded that conducted stunts, undercover stings, another deceptive tactics to inflict embarrassment on Democrats and media targets, there was one person I wanted to talk to more than anyone else.  She's Lauren Windsor, the executive director of American Family Voices and the executive producer of the grassroots political web Show, the Undercurrent. She's a contributor to HuffPost the Nation, LA Progressive prolific author, and a much quoted voice in media. And she has the wild inside story of being thye most high profile target of O'Keefe's, and how she's personally fought back against the right and won.

New documents in the defamation suit against Fox News for deliberately spreading Donald Trump's "Big Lie" about the election have opened a window on what it looks like when a media company sets out to deliberately mislead the American people, knowing they are lying. What does it mean for the first Amendment, for media coverage, and for the struggle against conspiracy theories?  Also, another monumental Supreme Court case, ands Idaho takes up Marjorie Taylor Greene's call for a national divorce.

How can we make Democrats kick ass again? We have better ideas, a stronger record of getting great stuff done, and we're not insane semi-fascists like some people we could mention. But we still barely eke out wins against a Republican Party led by nuts. This conversation is taken from a live YouTube show on the Blue Amp channel, where our expert guests explained exactly how Democrats can get more aggressive and stronger with their messaging and win more.  Our guests are former Biden ad writer and democratic communications guru Cliff Schecter, and celebrated political scientist, modeling expert, and messaging maven Dr. Rachel Bitecofer.

Possibly the greatest scandal in American intelligence history, and even political history, is unfolding right now. Our guest Craig Unger is the author of a recent article in the New Republic called "Did the FBI's Charles McGonigal help Throw the 2016 Election to Trump?"  It raises the very real possibility that Russia infiltrated the FBI and helped orchestrate a stunning swindle of the New York Times in ways that may have handed the Presidency to Donald Trump. And we're still learning more about it every day. Unger is the widely respected author of New York Times bestselling books like House of Trump, House of Putin, and American Kompromat. 

Biden's bold Ukraine fly-in was historic, but we ask the question that no one is: was it too great a risk? Also, Kevin McCarthy hands over raw insurrection footage exclusively to Tucker Carlson, a known insurrection denier and Russian propegandist.  And Marjorie Taylor Greene thinks America needs a Red-Blue divorce.  The panel wonders: could we just divorce ourselves from Marjorie Taylor Greene?

New revelations about George Santos, Marjorie Taylor Greene, Jim Jordan and the Freedom Caucus' demands provide a window into just how off-the-wall the Congress under Republican leadership has become. Matt appears on the radio show hosted by legendary broadcaster Howard Monroe to run down just how bad it's gotten, how Republicans are trying to reverse reality, and what the consequences would be for all of us if this group has their way. 

Bringing you a conversation today that Matt recorded with AJ Kierstead, a libertarian Republican radio host who finds common ground with people across the political spectrum. We put a bow on the state of the union address and what it meant and ask why we can't stand politicians, but still like politics.

We take you inside a classified military briefing like the kind members of Congress got last week about the UFOs we've been shooting down.  What happens? What can you believe? Also, Republicans have an impossible dilemma in front of them that they may not solve.  And, a linguistic analysis: is Donald Trump ACTUALLY a PAB???

Congressman Steve Cohen tells us what's going on inside the right-wing Freedom Caucus-infused Congress, including the dramatic moment that Marjorie Taylor Greene confirmed that she's nuts, what Jim Jordon is doing with his gaslighting investigations, and what does George Santos do with his day?

The military shot down it's fourth object flying over our skies in eight days yesterday.  This raises a ton of questions: what are these things, where do they come from, and why are there so many right now?  Underlying them all is the big one: could it actually be aliens?  That is why we wanted to share our earlier interview with Mick West, who is the preeminent explainer of UFO videos in the world. He's widely cited by journalists, highly respected, and highly respectful. He takes a rational, scientific approach to breaking down incidents like these and providing explanations, and there's a lot we can learn from him about how to approach these questions.