Unf*cking The Republic

This episode of UNFTR is an exclusive deep dive into the SpaceX IPO prospectus. It reveals what might be the biggest fraud and money grab in the public markets ever. The baseless $1.77 trillion dollar valuation at a list price of $135 at auction stands to add hundreds of billions of dollars to Elon Musk’s net worth, and that’s not the most outrageous part about this. The company currently loses billions of dollars every year, admits freely that most of the anticipated revenue streams are either currently illegal, highly unethical or perhaps non-existent. But hey, it’s Elon. What’s the worst that can happen? Believe it or not, there’s a lot more at risk here than just one company tanking after an outrageously overhyped IPO. And the average American investor with a 401(k) or IRA is very much an unwitting participant in the scam. Resources Bloomberg: SpaceX IPO Is Well Oversubscribed With Orders Closing Wednesday New York Times: How Banks Are Using SpaceX to Woo the Superrich SEC: SpaceX Form S-1 CNBC: SpaceX’s market-moving potential: Here’s what to know More Perfect Union: We Uncovered a Hidden Wealth Transfer in the SpaceX IPO. You’re Holding the Bag. UNFTR Resources Video: SpaceX IPO: What They're Not Telling Retail Investors Essay: The SpaceX IPO Fraud. -- If you like #UNFTR, please leave us a rating and review on Apple Podcasts and Spotify: unftr.com/rate and follow us on Facebook, Bluesky, and Instagram at @UNFTRpod. Visit us online at unftr.com. Become a member at unftr.com/memberships. Buy yourself some Unf*cking Coffee at shop.unftr.com. Visit our bookshop.org page at bookshop.org/shop/UNFTRpod to find the full UNFTR book list, and find book recommendations from our Unf*ckers at bookshop.org/lists/unf-cker-book-recommendations. Access the UNFTR Musicless feed by following the instructions at unftr.com/accessibility.Support the show: https://www.unftr.com/membershipsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Max and 99 are back after a week of colds, poison ivy, and Knicks supremacy. They hit headlines on the left’s idea problem, Google’s water pledges and data center backlash, Meta embedding face recognition into its smart glasses app, and Phoebe Bridgers playing MSG. Then they tackle listener emails on Democratic double standards, Israel and the hypocrisy talking point, and keeping Gaza woven into every story. Plus, they rank their Top 5 unhinged things they’d do with billionaire money. Enjoy! Chapters Intro: 00:00:05 Headlines: 00:14:28 Emails: 00:36:22 Top 5: 00:53:33 Memberships: 01:03:21 Outro: 01:05:57 Resources The Verge: AI has a water problem. Google thinks it has a fix Dissent Magazine: The Left Needs Ideas TechCrunch: Erin Brockovich takes aim at data center secrecy The Verge: Republicans want the FBI to probe whether foreign adversaries are stoking US data center backlash. Wired: Meta Silently Added Face-Recognition Code for Its Smart Glasses to Millions of Phones Pitchfork: Phoebe Bridgers to Play Surprise Madison Square Garden Show UNFTR Resources Read: The Donroe Doctrine. -- If you like #UNFTR, please leave us a rating and review on Apple Podcasts and Spotify: unftr.com/rate and follow us on Facebook, Bluesky, and Instagram at @UNFTRpod. Visit us online at unftr.com. Become a member at unftr.com/memberships. Buy yourself some Unf*cking Coffee at shop.unftr.com. Visit our bookshop.org page at bookshop.org/shop/UNFTRpod to find the full UNFTR book list, and find book recommendations from our Unf*ckers at bookshop.org/lists/unf-cker-book-recommendations. Access the UNFTR Musicless feed by following the instructions at unftr.com/accessibility.Support the show: https://www.unftr.com/membershipsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week we made the case that AI breaks a fundamental economic law: the bigger it gets, the more expensive it is to run, which is the exact opposite of how transformative technologies are supposed to work. The IPO trio of OpenAI, Anthropic, and SpaceX looks less like the next internet and more like the last big exit for early investors before the whole thing deflates. Then we looked at the manufacturing uptick, which sounds like good news until you realize a lot of it may just be companies stockpiling inventory before prices get even worse. Chapters Intro: 00:00:36 Quick Takes: 00:01:34 Max Notes: 00:09:02 Killer Left Take of the Week: 00:18:03 Chart of the Week: 00:19:27 Headlines: 00:21:11 Outro: 00:23:05 Resources CSPAN’s Book TV: Robert Caro Reveals Details of His Final Lyndon Johnson Biography Forbes Breaking News: Bessent Asked If Data Showing Americans Dipping Into Savings To Pay For Gas, Groceries Concerns Him CBS Mornings: Graham Platner’s sexting controversy rocks his campaign New York Times: Platner’s Texts With Women Concerned Campaign as Senate Race Took Off Yahoo! Finance: OpenAI CEO Altman denies company is looking into government bailout More Perfect Union: We Uncovered a Hidden Wealth Transfer in the SpaceX IPO. You’re Holding the Bag. ISM World: ISM® Manufacturing PMI® Report May 2026 Bloomberg: US Manufacturing Activity Expands by Most in Four Years Bloomberg: US Manufacturing Expands Most in Four Years on Stockpiling Rush CNN: Artists are bailing on a Trump-backed concert series for America’s 250th. Now he’s hosting his own ceremony Time: Sam Altman Says AI ‘Jobs Apocalypse’ He Once Predicted Probably Won’t Happen. Bloomberg: Canada Dips Into Technical Recession for First Time Since 2020 UNFTR Resources Watch: On The Record 6/2/26 (When the AI Bubble Will Burst | Ben Shapiro | Graham Platner). Essay: When the AI Bubble Will Pop. Read: The Donroe Doctrine. -- If you like #UNFTR, please leave us a rating and review on Apple Podcasts and Spotify: unftr.com/rate and follow us on Facebook, Bluesky, and Instagram at @UNFTRpod. Visit us online at unftr.com. Become a member at unftr.com/memberships. Buy yourself some Unf*cking Coffee at shop.unftr.com. Visit our bookshop.org page at bookshop.org/shop/UNFTRpod to find the full UNFTR book list, and find book recommendations from our Unf*ckers at bookshop.org/lists/unf-cker-book-recommendations. Access the UNFTR Musicless feed by following the instructions at unftr.com/accessibility.Support the show: https://www.unftr.com/membershipsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Max and 99 return to close out the month with another Omnibus. They hit headlines on the Jacobin AI debate, U.S. complicity in the flotilla torture, and USDA plans, then tackle listener emails on financial repression, mortgage rates, and a stablecoin question from the crypto heist episode. They rank their Top 5 fictional characters you'd want on your side in a crisis, and close out with some movie talk. Enjoy, Unf*ckers! Chapters Intro: 00:00:08 Headlines: 00:02:36 Emails: 00:42:29 Top 5: 01:02:01 Beyond the Bullshit: 01:12:46 Memberships: 01:24:25 Outro: 01:25:00 Resources Common Dreams: Global Sumud Flotilla Urges Probe of US Complicity in Members’ Abduction and Torture by Israel Jacobin: Democratic Governance of AI Is the Real Solution Jacobin: Stop the AI Build-Out, Start the Fight Bad Faith: Breaking Down Jacobin's MIND BOGGLING Pro AI Article (W/ Levine, Ongweso & Regunberg) Mother Jones: USDA Plan to Jack Up Line Speeds at Meatpacking Plants Seems Like a Terrible Idea UNFTR Resources Episode: A (Mostly) Vegan World: Plantf*ckers Can Save Us All -- If you like #UNFTR, please leave us a rating and review on Apple Podcasts and Spotify: unftr.com/rate and follow us on Facebook, Bluesky, and Instagram at @UNFTRpod. Visit us online at unftr.com. Become a member at unftr.com/memberships. Buy yourself some Unf*cking Coffee at shop.unftr.com. Visit our bookshop.org page at bookshop.org/shop/UNFTRpod to find the full UNFTR book list, and find book recommendations from our Unf*ckers at bookshop.org/lists/unf-cker-book-recommendations. Access the UNFTR Musicless feed by following the instructions at unftr.com/accessibility.Support the show: https://www.unftr.com/membershipsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week we looked at the AI capital black hole—three companies with a combined $3 trillion in prospective market cap preparing to go public while public R&D budgets get gutted and the rest of the economy gets starved of investment. Then we checked in on consumer sentiment, which has basically fallen off a cliff, because when gas hits $5 a gallon and inflation keeps eating your paycheck, reality has a way of setting in. Chapters Intro: 00:00:38 Quick Takes: 00:01:33 Max Notes: 00:04:47 Killer Left Take of the Week: 00:18:17 Chart of the Week: 00:20:03 Headlines: 00:21:38 Outro: 00:22:57 Resources Remarkably Bright Creatures The Vanguard: Jillian Michaels ROASTED by Her OWN AUDIENCE After Sam Seder SMACKDOWN (Plus She Calls US Out???) CNBC International Live: Jeff Currie on potential U.S.-Iran peace deal: Sell the tweet, buy the molecule National Science Foundation: Trends in U.S. R&D Performance and Funding Goldman Sachs: Tracking Trillions: The Assumptions Shaping the Scale of the AI Build-Out CNBC: Tech AI spending may approach $700 billion this year, but the blow to cash raises red flags McKinsey: The cost of compute: A $7 trillion race to scale data centers IG: SpaceX, OpenAI, Anthropic: upcoming IPOs to watch in 2026 New York Times: OpenAI Prepares to File to Go Public in Coming Weeks Reuters: OpenAI lays groundwork for juggernaut IPO at up to $1 trillion valuation Bankrate: The 10 Largest American IPOs Of All Time WIPO: Global Innovation Index 2025 - Global Innovation Tracker Nature: US science after a year of Trump: what has been lost and what remains Scroll Deep: Why are they people-shaped? ITIF: How Reducing Federal R&D Reduces GDP Growth University of Michigan: Final Results for May 2026 WSWS: The Ebola epidemic, imperialism and the political economy of social murder Truthout: The Justice Department Just Shut Disabled People Out of Essential Online Services for Another Year The Lever: The Pro-Israel Lobby’s Quiet Cash Shuffle UNFTR Resources Video: On The Record 5/26/26 (Will SpaceX and OpenAI Starve the Market?) Essay: The AI Black Hole. -- If you like #UNFTR, please leave us a rating and review on Apple Podcasts and Spotify: unftr.com/rate and follow us on Facebook, Bluesky, and Instagram at @UNFTRpod. Visit us online at unftr.com. Become a member at unftr.com/memberships. Buy yourself some Unf*cking Coffee at shop.unftr.com. Visit our bookshop.org page at bookshop.org/shop/UNFTRpod to find the full UNFTR book list, and find book recommendations from our Unf*ckers at bookshop.org/lists/unf-cker-book-recommendations. Access the UNFTR Musicless feed by following the instructions at unftr.com/accessibility.Support the show: https://www.unftr.com/membershipsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.