<p>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. </p> <p>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. </p> <p>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. </p> <p>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</p>
This edition of On The Record highlights Amy Goodman of Democracy Now and Mike Figueredo of the Humanist Report. Max Notes digs into the economic weeds to make sense of how the war in Iran is going to shake out. Plus: Chart of the Week and headlines from the Jacobin, Truthdig and Progressive Magazine.
Chapters
Intro: 00:01:35
Max Notes: 00:09:34
Killer Left Take of the Week: 00:19:15
Chart of the Week: 00:21:08
Headlines: 00:22:22
Outro: 00:23:33
Resources
Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco: The Effects of Tariffs on the Components of Inflation
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis: U.S. Import Price Dynamics Following the 2025 Tariffs
Jacobin: Viktor Orbán’s Hungarian Model Has Collapsed
Truthdig: The Democrats and Discontent
The Progressive: Israel Targets Civilians as Lebanon Operations Expand
Clips
PBS Hour: Sen. Kaine questions OMB chief Vought in Trump budget hearing
The Humanist Report: Trump’s Biggest Meatriders Finally Admit He’s as Bad as Everyone Said He Was
UNFTR Resources
Essay: Trump Is Ruining the U.S. Economy.
--
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/memberships
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Max and 99 are back for another episode of Omnibus. They break down why the 25th Amendment won’t work, hit headlines on climate math, vigilantes, and Trump’s Diet Coke cancer theory. Then they tackle listener emails on Trump’s successors and moving beyond No Kings. They rank their Top 5 celebrity dinner party guests and close with documentary recommendations. Enjoy!
Chapters
Intro: 00:00:13
Headlines: 00:08:10
Emails: 00:35:25
Top 5: 00:56:14
Beyond the Bullshit: 01:09:11
Memberships: 01:16:16
Outro: 01:16:51
Resources
The American Prospect: Who Wrote the 25th Amendment?
Grist: How the Trump administration’s climate math doesn’t add up
The Baffler: Vigilante Injustice
Wired: The Deepfake Nudes Crisis in Schools Is Much Worse Than You Thought
Independent: White House insists Trump was joking about Diet Coke killing cancer cells
UNFTR Resources
Subscribe to the UNFTR Weekly Newsletter
Subscribe to the YouTube Channel
Episode: No King.
Video: Tariff and Oil Shock | Iran War | Amy Goodman
--
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/memberships
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
It’s week two of the Spring Fund, Friend and Hell Raiser (become a yearly member by 4/30/26 and get an exclusive UNFTR hat)!
Max and 99 dive into the Iran crisis, breaking down the impossible logistics of war and the absurdity of competing peace plans. They hit headlines on the MAHA pipeline, record military spending, and crypto-backed mortgages, tackle listener emails on rallies and wealth concentration, then rank their Top 5 podcasts that radicalized them. Enjoy!
Chapters
Intro: 00:00:08
Headlines: 00:21:32
Emails: 00:47:24
Top 5: 01:13:17
Beyond the Bullshit: 01:24:12
Memberships: 01:35:38
Outro: 01:37:12
Resources
Polygraph: Trump proposes largest military budget ever
The Kinks: Apeman
New York Times: You Might Have Already Fallen for MAHA’s Conspiracy Theories
The New Yorker: Sam Altman May Control Our Future—Can He Be Trusted?
Wall Street Journal: The Decadelong Feud Shaping the Future of AI
New York Times: My Quest to Solve Bitcoin’s Great Mystery
CNBC: Fannie Mae accepts first crypto-backed mortgage product
Mon Rovîa: Heavy Foot
UNFTR Resources
Episode: Housing in America.
Book Love
Abdul El-Sayed + Micah Johnson: Medicare for All: A Citizen’s Guide
Top 5
Economic Update with Richard D. Wolff
--
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/memberships
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Leaders far smarter and more capable than Donald Trump and Pete Hegseth have started foreign wars that turned to quagmires. So in this regard they are not special. What’s different this time around is that incompetence prevails in every corner of this administration and the economic levers that are usually pulled to mitigate the domestic economic impact are no longer available to us. In every way, this administration is wholly unfit to lead the nation and certainly incapable of prosecuting a war.
Resources
The Chris Hedges Report: Will There be a Ground Invasion of Iran? (w/ Col. Larry Wilkerson)
UNFTR Resources
Video: Pete Hegseth and Donald Trump Are Not Ready for War
Essay: Trump and Hegseth.
--
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/memberships
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
The No Kings rallies fanned out across the United States in protest of Donald Trump’s increasingly dangerous, erratic and autocratic regime. Cuba remains in darkness, the war in Iran has already turned into a quagmire, the economy is cratering and Americans are feeling powerless in the face of Trump’s rule. In this episode Max ruminates on the liberation of “America” from a different era as told by the life and times of Simon Bolívar, one of the great military commanders and political leaders of the post-Enlightenment era. His was truly a revolution of “no kings.” In Bolívar’s approach we can learn about combating despotism.
UNFTR Resources
Video: Trump will leave | It's Trumpism we're now fighting
Essay: No King.
Book Love
Marie Arana: Bolívar: American Liberator
--
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/memberships
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Max and 99 are back from vacation and kicking off their Spring Fund, Friend and Hell Raiser. They hit headlines on Olympic testing, Israel's Lebanon plans, and ChatGPT in cars, then tackle listener emails on U.S. solvency narratives and economic warning signs. They rank their Top 5 local issues, and they close with some lighthearted beyond the bullshit.
Chapters
Intro: 00:00:08
Housekeeping: 00:04:06
Headlines: 00:13:03
Emails: 00:28:23
Top 5: 00:49:28
Beyond the Bullshit: 01:14:07
Memberships: 01:21:00
Outro: 01:21:38
Resources
Mother Jones: The Ugly History Behind the Olympics’ New Gender Test
CFR: Israel Announces Plan to Occupy Southern Lebanon
9To5Mac: ChatGPT app launches for CarPlay on iOS 26.4
Bloomberg: Virgin Galactic Is Booking Space Trips at $750,000 Apiece
Yahoo Finance: The Treasury just declared the U.S. insolvent. The media missed it
David Korowicz: Trade Off: Financial system supply-chain cross contagion: a study in global systemic collapse
--
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/memberships
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
The United States is in a full-blown housing crisis — and Congress just passed the most significant bipartisan housing legislation in a generation: The 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act cleared the Senate 89-10, co-sponsored by Elizabeth Warren and Tim Scott. So why won’t it fix the problem? In this episode, we break down exactly what the bill does, what it deliberately leaves out, and why the structural forces driving housing unaffordability in America—rising mortgage rates, institutional investors, zoning failures, generational wealth inequality, and decades of racial exclusion—are largely untouched by any legislation currently on the table. From the redlining of Levittown and Stuyvesant Town to the 2008 financial crisis and the asset inflation chasm it created, we trace how homeownership became both the engine of the American Dream and the mechanism of its denial. We also look at what actually works, like how Vienna’s social housing model has kept half a city affordably housed for over a century, and ask the question no one in Washington wants to answer: short of a depression, what does it actually take to make housing affordable again?
Resources
National Mortgage Professional: What’s The Rookie Home Buying Age? Not 40, New Analysis Shows
HUD: The 2024 Annual Homelessness Assessment Report (AHAR) to Congress
National Low Income Housing Coalition
Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies: The State of the Nation's Housing 2025
Congress: H.R.6644 - 119th Congress (2025-2026): 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act
The White House: Stopping Wall Street from Competing with Main Street Homebuyers
U.S. Census Bureau: Housing Vacancies and Homeownership (HVS) Q4 2025
Enterprise Community Partners: Four Key Findings from the 2025 State of the Nation's Housing Report
National Low Income Housing Coalition: The Gap: A Shortage of Affordable Homes 2025
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development: FHA Loan Production Report June 2025
Bipartisan Policy Center: What's in the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act
NPR: Senate Passes Bipartisan Housing Bill Targeting Large Investors
National Mortgage Professional: What's the Rookie Home Buying Age? Not 40, New Analysis Shows
National Association of Realtors: 2024 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers
Gravel Institute: How Socialists Solved the Housing Crisis
Book Love
Richard Rothstein: The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America
Mehrsa Baradaran: The Color of Money: Black Banks and the Racial Wealth Gap
UNFTR Resources
Episode: The Economics of Racism.
Video: The Economics of Racism.
Episode: Housing in America.
Video: Congress Just Passed a Housing Bill That Changes Nothing.
--
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/memberships
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Why the Democratic Party’s promise of “restoration” misses the mark; how decades of economic crises reshaped American politics, and why returning to center means chasing a target that keeps moving right. One side built a durable monument to white nationalist capitalism while the other became its world-class pit crew. The fight isn’t about competence or committee chairs. It’s about whether Democrats can offer an actual vision for the future instead of just patching up the damage Republicans leave behind.
Book Love
Kurt Andersen: Evil Geniuses: The Unmaking of America: A Recent History
Jane Mayer: Dark Money: The Hidden History of the Billionaires Behind the Rise of the Radical Right
Chris Hedges: Death of the Liberal Class
Naomi Klein: The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism
Mehrsa Baradaran: The Quiet Coup: Neoliberalism and the Looting of America
Jeff Sharlet: The Family: The Secret Fundamentalism at the Heart of American Power
Nancy MacLean: Democracy in Chains: The Deep History of the Radical Right’s Stealth Plan for America
Michelle Alexander: The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness
Professor Thomas Piketty: Capital in the Twenty-First Century
Karl Marx: Capital: A Critique of Political Economy, Volume 1
UNFTR Resources
Video: Democrats are FAILING | Losing the Iran War | Hasan Piker Rules
Essay: Why I’m So Mad at the Democratic Party.
--
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/memberships
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Max and 99 are running hot this week. They break down catastrophic inflation data and what it means for stagflation ahead, hit headlines on animal welfare legislation and foreign policy chaos, and tackle listener emails on Democratic failures and economic warning signs. Off-topic covers toxic RFK Jr. and standout character actors. They rank their Top 5 comfort movies and close with spring training optimism. Enjoy!
Chapters
Intro: 00:00:08
Headlines: 00:06:12
Emails: 00:19:17
Top 5: 00:36:22
Beyond the Bullshit: 00:53:23
Outro: 00:59:24
Resources
ASPCA: Farm Bill Moves Forward with Mixed Results for Animals
Animal Legal Defense Fund: Petition: Stop Horses from Suffering for NYC’s Carriage Industry
Forever Wars: None of These People I Insulted Want To Die For Me in The Strait of Hormuz?
The Independent: Chelsea Handler claims she bought ‘the most toxic’ $6 million house from RFK Jr and Cheryl Hines
UNFTR Resources
Video: Iran War, Energy Spike, and the Inflation Perfect Storm
Episode: The Art of Trumpflation.
Video: On The Record 3-16-26 (Democrats are FAILING | Losing the Iran War | Hasan Piker Rules).
--
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/memberships
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
The February Producer Price Index (PPI) data release came in way hotter than expected, exceeding consensus expectations by nearly double. This is on top of an already hot January report, which signifies that goods and services inflation in the pipeline is very much a trend and not an isolated event. PPI typically foreshadows consumer inflation—where the public really begins to feel the pain—by about two to three months. And these numbers don’t include the impact of the war in Iran and the unbelievable spike in energy costs. Today we break down the nature of inflation shocks, why this differs from the dual oil shocks of the 1970s, but how it has already produced the same stagflationary result.
Resources
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: Producer Price Index News Release summary
Trading Economics: United States Producer Price Inflation MoM
Wolf Street: Core PCE Inflation Hits 3.1%, Worst in 2 Years, in Unique Twist Blows way past CPI Inflation. Driven by Core Services
Morningstar: Inflation Set to Rise in 2026 as Tariff Costs Hit Consumers
KPMG: Headline masks lingering inflation
CNBC: $100 oil? Prolonged Hormuz closure could spark a 1970s-style energy shock
Yahoo Finance: Oil at the Edge: Markets brace for the largest supply shock in decades: Oil & Gas 360
Investopedia: Understanding Hubbert's Peak Theory and Global Oil Production
Bloomberg Law: Morgan Stanley Sees Private Credit Default Rates Reaching 8% (2)
Business Insider: Morgan Stanley says AI disruption of software will send private credit defaults surging
UNFTR Resources
Video: Iran War, Energy Spike, and the Inflation Perfect Storm
--
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/memberships
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Max and 99 kick things off revisiting old predictions and check how they're holding up. They hit the headlines: billionaires breaking records, geopolitical conflict threatening economic stability, and monopoly concerns in the music industry. Listener emails cover politics, financial industry backdoors, and navigating complicity. They rank their Top 5 historical figures to reclaim, do some movie talk, and member shoutouts round it out. Enjoy!
Chapters
Intro: 00:00:18
Housekeeping: 00:00:34
Headlines: 00:21:13
Emails: 00:48:54
Top 5: 01:00:23
Beyond the Bullshit: 01:19:35
Outro: 01:43:27
Resources
Acquired: Epic Systems (MyChart)
Bloomberg: Europe Rushes to Contain Price Fallout From War in Middle East
Foreign Policy: The Iran War Is Jeopardizing the Entire Global Economy
Forbes: World’s Billionaires List
The Cut: ‘My Friends Live in a Bubble. Should I Dump Them?’
NPR: Live Nation and Justice Department reach settlement in antitrust case
Reuters: Judge tells Live Nation, state AGs to negotiate potential deal
Straight White American Jesus Podcast
John Fugelsang: Separation of Church and Hate: A Sane Person's Guide to Taking Back the Bible from Fundamentalists
Forbes: AI Minted More Than 50 New Billionaires In 2025
Matt Taibbi: Griftopia: A Story of Bankers, Politicians, and the Most Audacious Power Grab in American History
UNFTR Resources
The End of the American Experiment.
Phone A Friend: Zohran Mamdani.
--
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/memberships
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.