Unf*cking The Republic

UNFTR Media
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Unf*cking The Republic

Unf*cking The Republic® (UNFTR) is a series of audio essays on the grand American experiment lovingly curated and presented by a quasi-anonymous political writer.  Each essay reflects on a singular topic that is generally misunderstood or purposely obfuscated by the so-called “powers that be.” As we know, history is written by the victors and can be perilously manufactured to favor destructive world views. These views become intractably ingrained in the public consciousness and pervert public policy, oftentimes with horrific results.  As of this podcast’s founding, we find ourselves living in a true kakistocracy. The disconnect between what we believe and what is actually happening below the surface or in plain sight is where this podcast lives.  Together we’ll upend conventional wisdom, blow up narratives on the left, right and center and use magical devices like facts, logic and reason to explain how exactly we arrived in bizarro America, the funhouse mirror version of what was originally intended. #UNFTR

  1. MAR 22

    Show Notes [The Climate Trust.]

    Fresh off the heels of our fifth and final Non-Negotiables of the Left series, 99 and I spent some time in the studio reviewing feedback from the UNFTR audience. While I stomped my feet like a toddler, 99 was able to finally get me under control and a productive conversation ensued.  The upshot is that the feedback was fairly muted, with most of you signaling that the Climate Trust is out of step with the other four Non-Negotiables. While I stand by the concept of Social Security for the planet and the funding mechanism behind the idea, I hear you. In the consolidated episode that will serve as the baseline for our curriculum moving forward, I’m making notes and adjustments to improve this perspective.  Chapters Intro: 00:00:20 Emails + Comments: 00:16:25 Memberships: 01:23:13 Outro: 01:25:42 Resources Spring Fund, Friend, and Hell Raiser: Become a UNFTR Member or donate today, and subscribe to us on YouTube The Ezra Klein Show: Democrats Need to Face Why Trump Won UNFTR Episode Resources The Climate Trust: Non-Negotiable #5. UNFTR Non-Negotiables. A (Mostly) Vegan World. -- 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, TikTok 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.

    1h 28m

  2. MAR 15

    The Climate Trust: Non-Negotiable #5.

    This is the final installment of our 5 Non-Negotiables of the Left series where we detail three short-term goals to take back the country and two long-term fights that must be waged for the sake of our democracy and the planet. This fifth entry speaks to the now back-burnered but ever-present threat to life on this planet: Climate change. This is the most difficult case we’ll make to you. We expect pushback and disappointment at first but if we do our job, we’ll shift you to acknowledgement and resolve. This fifth Non-Negotiable isn’t for us. It’s for someone you might know, but more than likely it’s for someone you’ll never meet. We present the establishment of The Climate Trust: Social Security for the Planet. Chapters Intro: 00:00:57 Chapter One: Diet, Exercise and Nuclear Power. 00:01:25 Chapter Two: The Social Cost of Carbon. 00:06:21 Chapter Three: Settling into Reality. 00:10:37 Chapter Four: We’ve Known It All Along. 00:17:55 Non-Negotiable #5: The Climate Trust. 00:26:36 Post Show Musings: 00:30:30 Outro: 01:23:22 Resources IPCC: Summary for Policymakers — Special Report on Climate Change and Land Institute for Policy Integrity: Gauging Economic Consensus on Climate Change The Center for Climate & Security: Chronology of Military and Intelligence Concerns About Climate Change World Economic Forum: This is How Climate Change Could Impact The Global Economy Swiss Re: World economy set to lose up to 18% GDP from climate change if no action taken, reveals Swiss Re Institute's stress-test analysis The New York Times: 40 Million People Rely on the Colorado River. It’s Drying Up Fast. The Black Vault: Global Climate Change Implications for the U.S. Navy Thomas Malthus: On the Principle of Population United Nations: Food Systems Summit United Nations: Secretary-General’s Chair Summary and Statement of Action on the UN Food Systems Summit US EPA: Global Greenhouse Gas Overview Penn State: Plant-Based Diet Rodale Institute: Farming Systems Trial Coller FAIRR Protein Producer Index The EAT-Lancet Commission on Food, Planet, Health Energy Education: Discovery of the greenhouse effect APS: August 1856: Eunice Foote Concludes That Carbon Dioxide Could Warm the Atmosphere, Three Years Before John Tyndall Did DQYDJ: Income Percentile Calculator for the United States Eunice Foote: Circumstances Affecting the Heat of the Sun’s Rays CNA: National Security and the Threat of Climate Change GovInfo: National Security Implications of Global Climate Change to 2030 U.S. Department of Defense: Department of Defense 2014 Climate Change Adaptation Roadmap Global Monitoring Laboratory: Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) UNIDO: HCFC Phase-Out PBS NewsHour: Antarctic ozone hole believed to be shrinking Book Love James Howard Kunstler: The Long Emergency: Surviving the End of Oil, Climate Change, and Other Converging Catastrophes of the Twenty-First Cent Cass R. Sunstein: Climate Justice: What Rich Nations Owe the World—and the Future Tad Delay: Future of Denial: The Ideologies of Climate Change Nicoletta Batini: The Economics of Sustainable Food: Smart Policies for Health and the Planet Mark Bittman: Animal, Vegetable, Junk: A History of Food, from Sustainable to Suicidal: A Food Science Nutrition History Book Michael T. Klare: All Hell Breaking Loose: The Pentagon's Perspective on Climate Change Lester R. Brown: Plan B 3.0: Mobilizing to Save Civilization John Tyndall: Heat Considered as a Mode of Motion William Stanley Jevons: The Coal Question UNFTR Resources Building the Climate Industrial Complex. The Montreal Protocol. Phone A Friend: Tad Delay. A (Mostly) Vegan World. UNFTR Non-Negotiables. -- 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, TikTok 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.

    1h 27m

  3. MAR 8

    Trump Unhinged and Third Parties.

    This week is an attempt to organize disparate content pieces from the past few weeks. Thoughts on third parties, Trump’s address to the joint session of Congress (which we mistakenly referred to as the State of the Union, oops!), notes on the final non-negotiables and random thoughts Max is working through. We’ve got a mashup of sorts on our hands so prepare for a bit of rambling. Resources UNFTR Non-Negotiables Associated Press: Elissa Slotkin delivers Democratic response to Trump’s speech Britannica: United States presidential election of 1912 Time: How Ross Perot Changed Political Campaigns LWV: The League's History Sponsoring Presidential Debates The Commission on Presidential Debates Tampa Bay Times: Nader, Buchanan kept out of debate -- 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, TikTok 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.

    43 min

  4. FEB 22

    Election Integrity: Getting Money Out of Politics. Non-Negotiable #4.

    The movement to get money out of politics will take a very long time. I know people don’t want to hear that. My guess is, in the best case scenario, we’re looking at 20 years. Best case. If it makes you feel any better, the movement to get money into politics took 181 years so by that measure, two decades to unravel what took 181 to build isn’t all that bad. Either we’re committed to playing the long game or not. The assholes that got us here were. Chapters Intro: 00:00:33 Chapter One: Non-Negotiable #4. 00:01:11 Chapter Two: The Long and Winding Road to Citizens United. 00:07:05 Chapter Three: Media Complicity. The Revolution Was Already Televised. 00:16:46 Chapter Four: Defying Its Creator. The Tale of Mitch McGolem. 00:20:43 Bring it Home, Max: 00:28:47 Post Show Musings: 00:37:13 Outro: 01:11:09 Resources OpenSecrets: Money-in-Politics Timeline Brennan Center for Justice: Since Citizens United, a Decade of Super PACs Cambridge University: Dark Parties: Unveiling Nonparty Communities in American Political Campaigns De Gruyter: Television Advertising in the 2022 Midterms De Gruyter: Digital Advertising in the 2022 Midterms Bowdoin College: Government Scholar Michael Franz on Impact of Ads during the 2024 Election Cycle Brennan Center for Justice: Life Tenure for U.S. Supreme Court Justices Is a Global Oddity with Clear Costs Ballotpedia News: Looking ahead at 2025 ranked-choice voting legislation Justia: Citizens United v. FEC | 558 U.S. 310 (2010) Senate: Saving American Democracy Amendment  Constitution Center: Interpretation: The Twenty-Seventh Amendment American Promise CampaignFinanceReform.org Book Love Adam Jentleson: Kill Switch: The Rise of the Modern Senate and the Crippling of American Democracy Kermit L. Hall: The Oxford Companion to the Supreme Court of the United States UNFTR Episode Resources Housing First. Building a Civilian Labor Corps: Bracing for the AI Job Apocalypse. Medicare for All. Project 2025. What’s the Deal with Peter Thiel? “Russputin” and the Tsar. Convention of States. -- 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, TikTok 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.

    1h 12m

  5. FEB 16

    Show Notes [Misc.]

    Max and 99 are back for Show Notes! They catch up with some movie talk and dive deep into the Non-Negotiables and hives. Enjoy! Chapters Intro: 00:00:20 Housekeeping: 00:19:47 Emails: 00:32:20 Memberships: 01:23:32 Outro: 01:24:59 Resources Join us on Bluesky and Discord Ken Lefkowitz: Medicare For All: An Economic Rationale Abdul El-Sayed and Micah Johnson: Medicare For All: A Citizen’s Guide Unf*cker Recommendations Michael Bazzell: Extreme Privacy: What It Takes to Disappear Electronic Frontier Foundation Kevin Mitnick: The Art of Invisibility + The Art of Deception The Guardian: US immigration is gaming Google to create a mirage of mass deportations UNFTR Episode Resources Housing First. A Civilian Labor Corps. Medicare For 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, TikTok 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.

    1h 27m

  6. FEB 15

    It Ends With Him: Trump Is the End of Neoliberalism.

    Regardless of what happens next in the United States, the American experiment ends with Donald Trump. But Trump is a Trojan Horse. The real dismantling of our systems and norms is embodied by the man he ceded power to, the wealthiest person in the world. Elon Musk is the living avatar of the new corporate colonial era and there’s no going back to the way it was. This administration serves as the capstone to the neoliberal era, which itself was the professional culmination of previous social and political movements such as the John Birch Society and the Know Nothing Party. The only way to stave off economic, social and political collapse is for the left to mount a coordinated counteroffensive to the tech oligarchs who seek to consolidate all of the wealth and power in the world. Resources The Globe and Mail: Opinion: Trump’s election is a crisis like no other, not only for the U.S. but the world Washington Times: Elon Musk: Judge Paul Engelmayer should be impeached for thwarting his DOGE squad - Washington Times  Propublica: Elon Musk’s Boring Company Is Tunneling Beneath Las Vegas With Little Oversight Planalto: Brazil announces Indonesia as full member of BRICS -- 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, TikTok 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.

    39 min

  7. FEB 8

    Medicare For All: Non-Negotiable #3.

    America’s healthcare system isn’t broken—it’s working exactly as designed. The problem is that it was designed to generate profits, not health outcomes. We spend roughly 20% of our GDP on healthcare, about double what other developed nations spend per capita, yet we have shorter life expectancy, higher infant mortality rates, and leave tens of millions uninsured or underinsured. Medicare for All is the obvious and attainable solution but it has fallen out of mainstream conversation since Biden bested Bernie for the 2020 nomination. Rekindling this spark is vital and should be one of the primary non-negotiables of the Left movement. Chapters Intro: 00:00:40 Chapter One: Changing the Intent. 00:03:09 Chapter Two: Building the Narrative. 00:07:51 Chapter Three: A System Designed to Fail. 00:11:44 Chapter Four: Understanding Medicare for All. 00:16:34 Bring it Home, Max: 00:24:20 Post Show Musings: 00:28:41 Outro: 00:38:57 Book Love Ken Lefkowitz: Medicare For All: An Economic Rationale Abdul El-Sayed and Micah Johnson: Medicare For All: A Citizen’s Guide Steven Brill: America’s Bitter Pill Paul Starr: The Social Transformation of American Medicine -- 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, TikTok 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.

    39 min

  8. FEB 1

    Extraordinary Cruelty, Ordinary Policy: Immigration and Deportation Under Trump 2.0.

    Given the turmoil and disgust surrounding Trump’s shock and awe deportation campaign, we thought it a good time to dig back into the immigration issue and update some of our findings from prior episodes. There’s no question Trump’s ICE is more brutal and seemingly indiscriminate, so we tried to put these efforts in context with prior administrations. Then we zoom out to look at root causes of immigration and the failure of U.S. foreign policy toward the LAC. Chapters Intro: 00:01:01 Post Show Musings: 00:26:03 Outro: 01:05:29 Resources Texas Tribune: Trump promised mass deportations. Here’s one way they could quietly happen. Vox: Removals vs returns: how to think about Obama’s deportation record Migration Policy Institute: The Biden Administration Is on Pace to Match Trump Deportation Numbers—Focusing on the Border, Not the U.S. Interior Migration Policy Institute: The Obama Record on Deportations: Deporter in Chief or Not? Migration Policy Institute: Net Number of Migrants by Country, 1950-2020 (by Five-Year Intervals) U.S. Department of Justice: Executive Office for Immigration Review Adjudication Statistics Washington Post: Deportation at ‘light speed’: How Trump’s crackdown could unfold House of Representatives: Laken Riley Act U.S. Department of Agriculture: Child Nutrition Programs - National School Lunch Program Center for Immigration Studies: Mapping the Impact of Immigration on Public Schools UNFTR Episode Resources Fox in the Outhouse: Invasion, Immigration & Inflation Over The Borderline: Introduction Part One Part Two Part Three Housing First: Non-Negotiable #1. -- 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, TikTok 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.

    1h 6m
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Unf*cking The Republic® (UNFTR) is a series of audio essays on the grand American experiment lovingly curated and presented by a quasi-anonymous political writer.  Each essay reflects on a singular topic that is generally misunderstood or purposely obfuscated by the so-called “powers that be.” As we know, history is written by the victors and can be perilously manufactured to favor destructive world views. These views become intractably ingrained in the public consciousness and pervert public policy, oftentimes with horrific results.  As of this podcast’s founding, we find ourselves living in a true kakistocracy. The disconnect between what we believe and what is actually happening below the surface or in plain sight is where this podcast lives.  Together we’ll upend conventional wisdom, blow up narratives on the left, right and center and use magical devices like facts, logic and reason to explain how exactly we arrived in bizarro America, the funhouse mirror version of what was originally intended. #UNFTR

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