🎙️ We kick off our Christmas Day Q&A by answering the burning questions from the audience. We talk through how our careers actually started, how campaign instincts and comms muscle turn into real-world wins, and why the Progrum isn’t just “four guys with microphones,” but four guys who’ve lived the jobs we talk about.

⚡ Then, how the sausage gets made: how messages spread, why creativity beats policy-speak, and how the right phrase at the right moment can take over the conversation. We also talk about the early internet era in politics—how it worked, why it mattered, and what separated the serious operators from the scammy money-grab crowd.️

🥸 More of your questions in this proper holiday hang: Holmes’ on-again/off-again mustache situation, where ‘Progrum’ actually comes from, and whether we still have day jobs (we do). More Q&A in Part II - coming next week.

00:00 - Christmas Day Q&A - Our gift to you

04:16 - The backstory on the fellas

05:14 - How comms work actually gets learned in the Senate

11:12 - Selling stories to reporters and shaping the narrative

12:50 - Branding moments that stick in politics

17:30 - The road back to winning in 2014

24:58 - Building a real professional partnership

28:37 - Smug’s bio: finance to politics to operating in NYC

30:00 - Inside the financial crisis panic

35:52 - Where “Comfortably Smug” comes from and why it takes off

40:16 - Covid-era Zoom happy hours give birth to an idea

49:52 - Why does Holmes mustache come and go?

53:19 - Where “Grum/Progrum” comes from—dialects, sports, and Senate impressions

59:17 - Do we still have day jobs? What we actually do now

Our Sponsors:

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🎁 A happy Festivus to all those who celebrate. Today, the fellas have their a festivus celebration for the ages. Everyone shares their personal and political grievances, plus we review the best feats of strength from the year. ️

💥 Whether it’s a debate about nachos being a total scam or Donald Trump’s decisive bombing of Iran, you won’t want to miss a bit of our Festivus Celebration. Grab your aluminium pole and prepare for your own Festivus miracles!

00:00 - A Festivus for the rest of us

04:18 - Moving the chains on the NFL

08:06 - Immigration enforcement and prioritization

13:41 - Burgers that are too tall to eat

18:21 - Nachos and restaurant food scams

20:00 - Political ads and candidate disclaimers

24:49 - Speakerphone use in public spaces

28:44 - Democrats pretending to be TikTok Zoomers

33:25 - Walking on the wrong side of the sidewalk

36:03 - Conservatives complaining about Congress out of session

42:42 - The 2025 Feats of Strength

45:04 - American military action abroad

50:35 - Minnesota cheerleaders and cultural madness

53:18 - Border numbers and enforcement strength

56:14 - Fighting bears and unhinged bravery

Our Sponsors:

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🎙️ Another democrat political fairy tale collapses in real time. We start with Ilhan Omar’s claim that ICE pulled over her son, then walk through how DHS says it never happened, how the story keeps shifting, and why the media still gives it oxygen. We discuss why this keeps happening and why Minnesota keeps finding itself in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons.

⚡Eric Swalwell has painfully forced taco campaign content, just cringe at its worst. Then, Kamala Harris reappears on late night, and the Biden administration is suddenly pretending like it always respected the Department of Justice. We talk through why that story doesn’t hold up, how selective memory works in politics, and why Jimmy Kimmel asking “soft” questions still manages to expose a mess. Plus free booze to hobos in San Francisco.️

🐘 Then, former AG Bill Barr sits down for a wide-ranging interview on Venezuela, narco-terrorism, Hezbollah, climate lawfare, the Supreme Court, and the Epstein case. Barr lays out what actually happened, what matters, and why so much of the noise is just that. It’s a long run, a lot of laughs, and more than a few uncomfortable truths.

00:00 - Omar has entered the chat

07:03 - DHS says it never happened

09:16 - Omar responds and the story keeps changing

12:30 - Past immigration allegations resurface with Tom Homan

15:04 - Swalwell’s taco content and campaign cringe

23:36 - Kamala Harris on late-night and the DOJ excuse

29:18 - San Francisco’s free alcohol program for the homeless

41:45 - World Cup Pride match lands Iran vs Egypt in Seattle

49:47 - Bill Barr joins on Venezuela and narco-terrorism

59:12 - Bill Barr on climate lawfare and the courts breaking the system

1:07:38 - Barr on Epstein, the files, and what actually happened

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🎙️ We break down why “just asking questions” turns into an incentive structure for inventing madness. We discuss what this kind of content does to real people who are living through real grief, and the influencers online who are trying to cash in on Charlie Kirk, Erika Kirk and the fight with Candace Owens.

⚡ Then we pivot to a brutal week of terror news and the political responses that make our blood boil. We run through the headlines, the media gymnastics, and the hard pivots. Primarily, Debbie Wasserman Schultz wandering into Trump-land while the question is about jihad, Chris Murphy turning violence into a fundraising pitch, and the broader weakness that keeps showing up across Western politics. What will it take for liberals to get serious about radical Islamic terrorism?

🐘 Then, Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders joins the Progrum. We talk Arkansas momentum, National Guard troops in D.C. and what changes on the ground. Plus, her quick stop at the White House to address farmers' needs and the economy going into 2026. And, what does the Huckabee family Christmas look like?

👑 And our signature game, King of the Hill with Adam Kinzinger taking on champion Steve Schmidt.

00:00 - Why we refuse to commentate on commentating

04:24 - The Charlie Kirk tragedy should not be a content machine

10:09 - How conspiracies hijack the vacuum before court facts land

21:47 - Debbie Wasserman Schultz hard-pivots away from jihad

28:28 - Chris Murphy blames Trump for violence and gets roasted

31:52 - Australia clip: leaders stammer around radical clerics

43:45 - King of the Hill: Steve Schmidt vs. Adam Kinzinger

55:38 - Ja Rule’s golf shot goes sideways

56:54 - Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders joins The Progrum

59:04 - Arkansas Guard in D.C. and what the city feels like now

1:04:10 - Why food security is national security

1:09:41 - The economy, midterms, and selling the administration’s case

Our Sponsors:

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➢Unleash American energy to be bigger and better than ever before, because when America builds, America wins. https://permittingreformnow.org/

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🎙️ The fellas discuss how billions in COVID-era funding vanished through fraud in Minnesota. We walk through how the slush funds were set up, why there was almost no oversight, and how state leadership dodged responsibility while taxpayers got fleeced. We also break down the absurd defenses that Tim Walz continues to offer up. This was not some paperwork error—it was an invitation to steal.

💪 Secretary of Labor Lori Chavez-DeRemer is cleaning up unemployment insurance fraud, cracking down on abuse of worker programs, and restoring trust in systems that are supposed to help people. We also get into her work to create apprenticeships and trade skills for Americans. Plus her thoughts on why the American worker is being boxed out by policies that reward shortcuts instead of effort.

🐘 Another major announcement from the Office of Personnel Management on a new effort to bring early-career technical talent into government. We talk with Scott Kupor about merit-based hiring, ditching credential gatekeeping, and why rebuilding state capacity starts with trusting people who can actually do the work.

Our Sponsors:

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➢Unleash American energy to be bigger and better than ever before, because when America builds, America wins. https://permittingreformnow.org/

➢John Deere is investing billions in American factories and launching new tools to help customers repair their machines: https://www.deere.com/

➢We can create a space where girls can connect and thrive. Get involved today at https://empowerourfuturecoalition.com/

00:00 — Why emergency slush funds created a fraud playground

05:52 — Tim Walz refuses to protest his citizens

10:15 — What real oversight would have caught immediately

12:23 — US Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer

17:07 — Apprenticeships, trade skills, and rebuilding worker pride

22:46 — Protecting American labor

33:30 — AI, workforce training, and staying competitive

52:14 — FBI stops a far-left terror plot before New Year’s Eve

58:00 — Overseas attacks and the cost of ignoring extremism

1:08:01 — OPM Director Scott Kupor

1:25:23 — Variety

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🎙️ Gavin Newsom is spinning his Palisades Fire “hair on fire” story, so we go back to the actual clip and walk through how the hero tale falls apart. Then, Tim Walz now claims Republicans fear him because he can fix a truck. We revisit his shifting image from the campaign till now. Kamala is also declaring herself a “historic figure,” and talking about her future marble bust in the halls of Congress.

🫏 And the great hope of Texas Democrats, Jasmine Crockett, isn’t even allowed to speak in her own senate launch ad. The fellas dig down on what we can learn from Jazzy Crockett in Texas and we review the song and dance she’s choreographing. Plus, we review AOC and her Puerto Rico spending spree.

⚡️Then the return of Dem or Journo where the fellas see if they can detect the subtle difference given some blind statements from Ashbrook. Variety with Michigan football’s implosion and Ashbrook defends incoming strays all about Ohio.

00:00 - Gavin Newsom’s Palisades Fire “hair on fire” story

07:09 - Tim Walz on “toxic masculinity,” trucks, hunting, and what he says scares Republicans

10:03 - Kamala Harris calls herself a “historic figure.”

17:31 - Jasmine Crockett launches ad built on Trump

34:27 - Venezuela drug boats, tanker raid video, and the risk of regime projects

40:02 - AOC’s Puerto Rico spending

45:00 - We play Dem or Journo

59:00 - Michigan coaching scandal, flag world record jump, dirt-bike arrest, and the Big Boy statue graveyard

Our Sponsors:

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🎙️ The same people who pushed trillions in spending now act confused that prices climbed. We lay out how democrats got us here on inflation, and the size of the hole that Trump is trying to climb out of.

💵 Then, we look at the actual data — wage growth under Trump’s second term, the collapse of real wages under Biden, and the painful gap between rising prices and falling purchasing power. We talked through why the free-market fixes we’ve supported for years are still the right path, and why handing more control to Washington will only make families’ expenses worse.

🐘 Michigan hasn’t sent a Republican to this Senate seat in roughly three decades, but former congressman Mike Rogers thinks that streak is about to end. Rogers walks through what a real change election looks like in a 50–50, working-class state that actually builds things. ️

00:00 — Cold Open

01:41 — How Biden Broke the Economy

04:36 — Andy Beshear’s “economy of tomorrow” talking point loop

08:23 — Prices, wages, workers: the real affordability gap

14:16 — Why Obamacare was built to break the system

25:37 — Real wage growth explained

34:03 — Comparing conservative affordability to socialist “solutions”

42:06 — King of the Hill

54:37 — Mike Rogers on the future of Michigan

Our Sponsors:

➢Beverage America believes in the promise that makes this nation great. Learn more at http://wedeliverforamerica.org/

➢Unleash American energy to be bigger and better than ever before, because when America builds, America wins. https://permittingreformnow.org/

➢Insurance companies are threatening to raise your premiums and putting greed before patients. It's time to hold them accountable. https://www.americansforopengovernment.com/

➢Want to make a difference in your community? https://takeonesmallstep.org/ Join AFP's grass-roots efforts at https://afpvolunteer.com/

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🔥 Democratic Party CHAOS: The Radical Left Takes Over & Chuck Schumer’s Days Are NUMBERED! + Mary Katharine Ham joins for the lightning round ⚡

The Democratic establishment is COLLAPSING before our eyes.

From Jasmine Crockett scaring off “moderate” challengers in Texas to the progressive lunatics running in primaries nationwide, the party of AOC and “The Squad” is now fully in charge.

Chuck Schumer? Done. Finished. His grip on power is slipping faster than a drunk guy on a cruise ship with 33 beers… which, yes, we also cover in this absolute banger of an episode. 🤯🎯

What You’ll Hear:

Why Colin Allred bailed on the Texas Senate race the second Jasmine Crockett jumped in. 🔥

The radical left’s “win at all costs” strategy and how they’re purging anyone remotely normal.

Jasmine Crockett’s wild Jeffrey Epstein smear meltdown on the House floor.

😳The INSANE story of a cruise passenger who drank 33 beers, got pepper-sprayed twice, sedated… and it didn't end well. 🍻⚓

The greatest animal fight clip of all time: Chinese zookeepers vs. angry black bear armed with a basketball hoop, a chair, a stick, and… a PARROT?! 🐻🪑🦜 (You have to see this)

This is Democratic Fight Club — and the first rule is there are no rules left.

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🔔 SMASH the Subscribe button for the most chaotic, unfiltered political takes on YouTube!

💬 Comment your best Jasmine Crockett campaign slogan ideas!

🔔New episodes every Tuesday, Thursday & Friday!

Timestamps:

01:12 Democratic Party Civil War Begins

07:00 Jasmine Crockett Torches Texas Senate Race

11:28 Jasmine’s Jeffrey Epstein Meltdown Clip

1:09:50 The 33-Beer Cruise Ship Pepper Spray Incident 🍺🚢

1:17:28 Greatest Zoo Fight Ever Recorded 🐻🦜

Our Sponsors:

➢Beverage America believes in the promise that makes this nation great. Learn more at http://wedeliverforamerica.org/

➢Unleash American energy to be bigger and better than ever before, because when America builds, America wins. https://permittingreformnow.org/

➢Insurance companies are threatening to raise your premiums and putting greed before patients. It's time to hold them accountable. https://www.americansforopengovernment.com/

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🎙️ The latest democrat hoax has fallen apart. The drug boat ‘scandal’ seems to be a big nothingburger. Democrats instantly shifted into defending traffickers once the hoax fell apart. After that, we break down the even stranger week on MSNBC, where Morning Joe skipped town for so long that even their audience noticed. As we looked around for them, it felt like half the media went into witness-protection mode the second their earlier narratives started blowing up.

⚡Then, a Joe and Mika super cut and another Biden disaster. USPS was ordered to buy thousands of EVs no matter how unready the technology was. Plus, Olivia Nuzzi finally sits down with a podcast to break down on camera.️ It was VERY theatrical.

🐘 House Majority Leader Steve Scalise joins the Progrum to talk through the early days of the new congressional session, what Republicans are preparing in 2026, and why the Biden administration’s regulatory spree is already forcing Congress into crisis-mode oversight. We talk message discipline, the border, and spending fights. It’s a sharp conversation and a great preview of the midterms.

00:00 – The Media’s Drug-boat Hoax Collapses

06:40 – Democrats shift into defending smugglers again

09:15 – Morning Joe vanishes for almost a full week

12:58 – USPS forced EV disaster unfolds across the fleet

26:44 – Olivia Nuzzi returns and media blowback

31:58 – House Majority Leader Steve Scalise joins the Progrum

38:20 – Scalise on 2025 agenda, oversight, and early fights

Our Sponsors:

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🎙️ There is absolute rot at the core of the Democratic Party, especially their constant need to defend criminals. We start with Senator Reed's baffling attempt to defend narco-traffickers, trying to paint them as mere "delivery drivers" in a discussion about supply and demand. We followed that with the unbelievably unhinged rhetoric from Debbie Wasserman Schultz.

⚡The left's entire ideology is now centered on opposition to Donald Trump, which leads them to support the indefensible, whether it's drug runners, domestic terrorists, or even murderers like Luigi Mangione, who now has his own fan club—the "Cougars for Luigi." This kind of political insanity is what we're up against.

🐘 Then, we got into a deep-dive conversation with Senate Majority Leader @JohnThune, who provided incredible insight into the unprecedented amount of Senate votes this year, driven entirely by the Democrats' desire to obstruct every one of the President’s nominations. Thune also broke down the Republican Party’s strategic message for the 2026 midterms

👑 We finished the show with the King of the Hill, pitting Smokin' Joe Walsh against Ron Filipkowski. Last, a variety story about a drunk raccoon that broke into a liquor store on Black Friday, passed out next to a toilet, and sparked a serious discussion about the dangers of trash pandas.️

00:00 - Democrats Defending Criminals

03:22 - Senator Reed's Narco-Trafficker Defense

07:27 - Minneapolis Mayor Exploits Somali Clan Warfare

10:48 - Luigi Mangione's Expanding Fan Club

15:38 - Senator John Thune on Senate Obstruction, Record Votes, and Bipartisanship

24:08 - Thune Unveils the GOP's 2026 Midterm Election Message

46:39 - King of the Hill: Joe Walsh vs. Ron Filipkowski

58:48 - Drunk Raccoon Raids Liquor Store

Our Sponsors:

➢The future won't wait, and TC Energy is moving forward confidently: https://www.tcenergy.com/

➢John Deere is investing billions in American factories and launching new tools to help customers repair their machines: https://www.deere.com/

➢Unleash American energy to be bigger and better than ever before, because when America builds, America wins. https://permittingreformnow.org/

➢Insurance companies are threatening to raise your premiums and putting greed before patients. It's time to hold them accountable. https://www.americansforopengovernment.com/

➢Want to make a difference in your community? https://takeonesmallstep.org/ Join AFP's grass-roots efforts at https://afpvolunteer.com/

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🎙️ There is an absolute horror show going on in Holmes' home state of Minnesota. We looked into the explosive New York Times story revealing a $1 billion fraud scandal involving the state's social service system under Governor Tim Walz. This wasn't just typical government waste; we dissected how members of the Somali diaspora allegedly stole hundreds of millions of dollars meant to feed children during the pandemic.

💥 These Mafia-style tactics used to perpetuate the fraud are a common tool of the left. The fellas discussed how the nonprofit group, Feeding Our Future, threatened state agencies with accusations of racism and negative press to force them into approving fraudulent applicants, proving that the left has weaponized these accusations as a shakedown racket. We explain how the Democrats have outsourced these tactics to NGOs to pressure and capture institutions like corporate America.

🐻 In Variety, the fellas got into a hysterical segment about a viral video of a lineman saving a black bear from a power line and debated the merits of the new holiday gift, "Guido on a Ledge," a Staten Island-inspired Elf on the Shelf alternative.

🐘 Then, Congresswoman Ashley Hinson is running for Senate in Iowa. She discussed her experience as a "mama bear on a mission" and how her background is helping her relate to Iowans on kitchen-table issues like affordability and school curriculum problems

00:00 - Serious Democrat Corruption In Minnesota

03:38 - How State Leadership Failed MN

05:51 - The NYT Details Fraud and Tim Walz's Involvement

24:44 - How "Mafia-style" Tactics Perpetuated Fraud

37:43 - Could the Stolen Money Potentially Fund Terror

47:48 - Thanksgiving Comments

51:07 - Tennessee’s Special Election and Democrat Extremism

01:06:22 - Congresswoman Ashley Hinson on her Senate campaign, political issues, and musical talent

Our Sponsors:

➢Beverage America believes in the promise that makes this nation great. Learn more at http://wedeliverforamerica.org/

John Deere is investing billions in American factories and launching new tools to help customers repair their machines: https://www.deere.com/

➢Unleash American energy to be bigger and better than ever before, because when America builds, America wins. https://permittingreformnow.org/

➢Insurance companies are threatening to raise your premiums and putting greed before patients. It's time to hold them accountable. https://www.americansforopengovernment.com/

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices