Unf*cking The Republic
UNFTR Media
Recent Episodes
Are we heading into a recession? Did we ever really come out of the last one? Do market fundamentals matter anymore? How did Democrats miss so badly on the economy, leading to the re-election of Donald Trump? Is capitalism collapsing? It’s difficult to get a proper read of the U.S. economy. It’s a giant, complex juggernaut that both relies on global markets and holds them all together. There is no unifying economic or political theory to provide clarity as the biggest economy in world history continues to navigate uncharted territory. Let’s talk about it.
Chapters
Intro: 00:00:34
The Stock Market Is Not the Economy: 00:02:25
The U.S. Economy is the Global Economy: 00:04:24
Market Based Economies are Cyclical: 00:05:25
The Rate of Change in the Labor Market is Faster Today: 00:07:52
Inequality is a Condition of Capitalism: 00:11:26
Sentiment is Just as Powerful as Any Data Point: 00:13:32
The Single Biggest Economic Force is Greed: 00:14:02
Cycle Trends: 00:18:40
Enter Trump: 00:31:54
Post Show Musings: 00:36:47
Outro: 00:42:31
Resources
St. Louis Fed: Labor Force Participation Rate
St. Louis Fed: Labor Force Participation Rate - 25-54 Yrs.
Investopedia: Average Retirement Savings by Age: How Do You Compare?
Trading Economics: United States ISM Manufacturing PMI
Federal Reserve Bank Of New York: Household Debt and Credit Report
Education Data: Student Loan Debt Statistics [2024]: Average + Total Debt
Guru Focus: S&P 500 PE Ratio Charts, Data
Oil Price: OPEC+ May Be Facing Long-Term Production Cuts
Center for American Progress: Project 2025’s Tax Plan Would Raise Taxes on the Middle Class and Cut Taxes for the Wealthy
Book Love
John Kenneth Galbraith: The Affluent Society
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If you like #UNFTR, please leave us a rating and review on Apple Podcasts: unftr.com/rate and follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram at @UNFTRpod. Visit us online at unftr.com.
Buy yourself some Unf*cking Coffee at shop.unftr.com.
Check out the UNFTR Pod Love playlist on Spotify: spoti.fi/3yzIlUP.
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.
Unf*cking the Republic is produced by 99 and engineered by Manny Faces Media (mannyfacesmedia.com). Original music is by Tom McGovern (tommcgovern.com). The show is hosted by Max and distributed by 99.
Podcast art description: Image of the US Constitution ripped in the middle revealing white text on a blue background that says, "Unf*cking the Republic."
Support the show: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/unftr
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
In this week’s episode we identify the most dangerous man in America that no one is talking about, the tool he is going to use to dismantle government agencies, and what we can learn from three young Republicans who helped the GOP rise from the ashes of the Obama years. Get to know Russell “Russputin” Vought and how he believes he can override Nixon-era legislation to consolidate budget and spending authority within the executive branch.
Chapters
Sketch: 00:00:00
Intro: 00:05:52
Chapter One: 00:08:35
Chapter Two: 00:12:44
Chapter Three: 00:18:08
Post Show Musings: 00:29:06
Outro: 00:41:26
Resources
JSTOR: Democracy and the Welfare State
U.S. House: 2 USC Ch. 17B: Impoundment Control
Politico: Trump says Russell Vought will return as OMB director
Daily Mail: What is net worth of Trump's Cabinet? The staggering wealth of his nominees revealed
The Center for Renewing America: The President’s Constitutional Power of Impoundment
Protect Democracy: The impoundment threat, explained
ProPublica: How Trump Plans to Seize the Power of the Purse From Congress
Democracy Now!: Project 2025 Co-Author Lays Out "Radical Agenda" for Next Trump Term in Undercover Video
UNFTR Episode Resources
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If you like #UNFTR, please leave us a rating and review on Apple Podcasts: unftr.com/rate and follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram at @UNFTRpod. Visit us online at unftr.com.
Buy yourself some Unf*cking Coffee at shop.unftr.com.
Check out the UNFTR Pod Love playlist on Spotify: spoti.fi/3yzIlUP.
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.
Unf*cking the Republic is produced by 99 and engineered by Manny Faces Media (mannyfacesmedia.com). Original music is by Tom McGovern (tommcgovern.com). The show is hosted by Max and distributed by 99.
Podcast art description: Image of the US Constitution ripped in the middle revealing white text on a blue background that says, "Unf*cking the Republic."
Support the show: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/unftr
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Max and 99 have tons of Unf*cker feedback on the direction of the show and how to move forward as progressives. So much feedback that they had to split Show Notes into two parts! Stay tuned for next week's episode.
Resources
Reuters: Pro-Palestinian protesters arrested at New York Thanksgiving parade
Unf*cker Recommendations
Philip Mirowski: More Heat Than Light: Economics as Social Physics: Physics as Nature's Economics
Philip Mirowski: Machine Dreams: Economics Becomes a Cyborg Science
Philip Mirowski: Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste: How Neoliberalism Survived the Financial Meltdown
Melinda Cooper: Family Values: Between Neoliberalism and the New Social Conservatism
Gérard Duménil + Dominique Levy: Crisis of Neoliberalism
Gérard Duménil + Dominique Levy: Managerial Capitalism: Ownership, Management, and the Coming New Mode of Production
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If you like #UNFTR, please leave us a rating and review on Apple Podcasts: unftr.com/rate and follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram at @UNFTRpod. Visit us online at unftr.com.
Buy yourself some Unf*cking Coffee at shop.unftr.com.
Check out the UNFTR Pod Love playlist on Spotify: spoti.fi/3yzIlUP.
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.
Unf*cking the Republic is produced by 99 and engineered by Manny Faces Media (mannyfacesmedia.com). Original music is by Tom McGovern (tommcgovern.com). The show is hosted by Max and distributed by 99.
Podcast art description: Image of the US Constitution ripped in the middle revealing white text on a blue background that says, "Unf*cking the Republic."
Support the show: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/unftr
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
This week we go all the way back to the beginning to ruminate about what motivated us to start the podcast in the dark days of the pandemic. We open with a passage from Nancy MacLean’s Democracy in Chains that struck a chord with Max. In it MacLean talks about the early days of the nihilistic libertarian society built by Charles Koch who was himself building upon the work of his father in the John Birch Society. Turns out, Koch and the founders of the neoliberal movement were inspired by the organizing principles of Vladimir Lenin. Let that sink in.
Chapters
Intro: 00:00:00
Sketch: 00:01:29
Max’s Moment: 00:06:39
A Discussion: 00:41:19
Outro: 01:27:49
Resources
Nancy MacLean: Democracy in Chains: The Deep History of the Radical Right's Stealth Plan for America
The Family on Netflix
Jeff Sharlet: The Family: The Secret Fundamentalism at the Heart of American Power
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If you like #UNFTR, please leave us a rating and review on Apple Podcasts: unftr.com/rate and follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram at @UNFTRpod. Visit us online at unftr.com.
Buy yourself some Unf*cking Coffee at shop.unftr.com.
Check out the UNFTR Pod Love playlist on Spotify: spoti.fi/3yzIlUP.
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.
Unf*cking the Republic is produced by 99 and engineered by Manny Faces Media (mannyfacesmedia.com). Original music is by Tom McGovern (tommcgovern.com). The show is hosted by Max and distributed by 99.
Podcast art description: Image of the US Constitution ripped in the middle revealing white text on a blue background that says, "Unf*cking the Republic."
Support the show: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/unftr
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Today we offer a grim and final eulogy to the Democratic Party and the 2024 election. The results were foretold by countless DNC missteps and missed opportunities that the Party remains reluctant to admit to. The next stage in the American experiment is going to be dire and regressive, leaving progressives with two options to move forward: Succumb to the forces of authoritarian rule guided by the corporate class, or build a plan to take control of our democracy after they burn it to the ground. We’re exiting the neoliberal phase of our journey and entering what Stanley Deetz termed “corporate colonialism.” In order to build a strong coalition to jumpstart a new progressive movement, it’s imperative that we focus our efforts on decolonizing America.
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If you like #UNFTR, please leave us a rating and review on Apple Podcasts: unftr.com/rate and follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram at @UNFTRpod. Visit us online at unftr.com.
Buy yourself some Unf*cking Coffee at shop.unftr.com.
Subscribe to Unf*cking The Republic on Substack at unftr.substack.com to get the essays these episode are framed around sent to your inbox every week.
Check out the UNFTR Pod Love playlist on Spotify: spoti.fi/3yzIlUP.
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.
Unf*cking the Republic is produced by 99 and engineered by Manny Faces Media (mannyfacesmedia.com). Original music is by Tom McGovern (tommcgovern.com). The show is hosted by Max and distributed by 99.
Podcast art description: Image of the US Constitution ripped in the middle revealing white text on a blue background that says, "Unf*cking the Republic."
Support the show: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/unftr
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.