American Friction
Podmasters
Want to understand what's happening in the 2024 US election? Join us on American Friction
- 51 minutes 26 secondsPirate of the Caribbean – Is Trump waging war with Venezuela?
Donald Trump has ramped up the pressure on his Venezuelan counterpart, Nicolas Maduro. Not only did he issue him an ultimatum to leave the country, but on Wednesday, US forces seized a Venezuelan oil tanker, raising oil prices and tension within the region. Could all-out war be on the horizon? Plus, Miami now has its first Democratic mayor in 30 years. Is a blue wave in the midterm election looking more realistic, or is that just a case of rose-tinted glasses syndrome? Listen to our latest episode with Rolling Stone’s Nikki McCann Ramirez and Chris Jones.
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Written and presented by Chris Jones with Nikki McCann Ramirez. Audio/ Video editor: Simon Williams. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. Executive producer: Martin Bojtos. Artwork by James Parrett. Music: Orange Factory Music. AMERICAN FRICTION is a Podmasters Production. www.podmasters.co.uk
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12 December 2025, 1:57 pm - 53 minutes 6 secondsAmerican History Special! – What if the Cuban Missile Crisis happened today?
The Cuban Missile Crisis is the closest we’ve been to nuclear war. What are the lessons we should learn from it being averted? Who were the key characters? And could Trump handle such a situation in the present day? Mark J. White, professor of history at QMUL and author of The Cuban Missile Crisis, joins Jarv to discuss.
Back us on Patreon – we need your help to keep going. Get ad free episodes, extra bits and merch: https://www.patreon.com/c/americanfriction
We’re now on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@AmericanFrictionPod
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BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/americanfric.bsky.social
Written and presented by Chris Jones and Jacob Jarvis. Video and audio editor: Chris Jones. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. Managing Editor: Jacob Jarvis Executive producer: Martin Bojtos. Artwork by James Parrett. Music: Orange Factory Music. AMERICAN FRICTION is a Podmasters Production. www.podmasters.co.uk
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8 December 2025, 4:00 am - 1 hour 1 minuteDonald Trump: The world’s sleepiest war criminal!
Donald Trump and Pete Hegseth appear to have at least allowed a war crime to happen on their watch – will they face any punishment? Plus, Trump is ranting in a new, weirder way and he can’t keep his eyes open during high-profile meetings anymore. This is fine. Casey Burgat, author of We Hold These Truths, joins Jarv and Chris to discuss this and much more.
Back us on Patreon – we need your help to keep going. Get ad free episodes, extra bits and merch: https://www.patreon.com/c/americanfriction
We’re now on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@AmericanFrictionPod
Follow us on social media:
BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/americanfric.bsky.social
Written and presented by Chris Jones and Jacob Jarvis. Video and audio editor: Chris Jones. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. Managing Editor: Jacob Jarvis Executive producer: Martin Bojtos. Artwork by James Parrett. Music: Orange Factory Music. AMERICAN FRICTION is a Podmasters Production. www.podmasters.co.uk
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5 December 2025, 3:10 pm - 55 minutes 10 secondsAmerican History Special! – Why Trump 2.0 is just like the Wild West
The Wild West continues to fascinate people to this day – and still shapes America’s society. The video game Red Dead Redemption depicts the frontier era, and our guest today Tore Olsson has written extensively about the era in his book Red Dead's History: A Video Game, an Obsession, and America's Violent Past. He joins Jarv and Chris to discuss the Wild West.
Back us on Patreon – we need your help to keep going. Get ad free episodes, extra bits and merch: https://www.patreon.com/c/americanfriction
We’re now on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@AmericanFrictionPod
Follow us on social media:
BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/americanfric.bsky.social
Written and presented by Chris Jones and Jacob Jarvis. Video and audio editor: Chris Jones. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. Managing Editor: Jacob Jarvis Executive producer: Martin Bojtos. Artwork by James Parrett. Music: Orange Factory Music. AMERICAN FRICTION is a Podmasters Production. www.podmasters.co.uk
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1 December 2025, 4:00 am - 59 minutes 33 secondsTrump, MAGA and Moscow – What's going on with the President and Russia?
Trump and his admin are once again showing their weird love for Russia. Why are they all so keen on Moscow? We discuss this, Trump’s latest outbursts, his weird love for Mamdani and more!
Back us on Patreon – we need your help to keep going. Get ad free episodes, extra bits and merch: https://www.patreon.com/c/americanfriction
We’re now on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@AmericanFrictionPod
Follow us on social media:
BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/americanfric.bsky.social
Written and presented by Chris Jones, Nikki McCann Ramirez and Jacob Jarvis. Video and audio editor: Simon Williams. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. Managing Editor: Jacob Jarvis Executive producer: Martin Bojtos. Artwork by James Parrett. Music: Orange Factory Music. AMERICAN FRICTION is a Podmasters Production. www.podmasters.co.uk
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28 November 2025, 2:25 pm - 40 minutes 28 secondsAmerican History Special! – Has the United States always been crazy?!
The United States of America is strange. It’s easy to blame it on Trump, but has it ever been normal? Author and journalist Kurt Andersen wrote How America Went Haywire: A 500-Year History to track how the nation became so weird.
Buy Fantasyland through our affiliate bookshop and you’ll be helping the podcast by earning us a small commission for every sale. Bookshop.org’s fees help support independent bookshops too.
Back us on Patreon – we need your help to keep going. Get ad free episodes, extra bits and merch: https://www.patreon.com/c/americanfriction
We’re now on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@AmericanFrictionPod
Follow us on social media:
BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/americanfric.bsky.social
Written and presented by Chris Jones and Jacob Jarvis. Video and audio editor: Chris Jones. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. Managing Editor: Jacob Jarvis Executive producer: Martin Bojtos. Artwork by James Parrett. Music: Orange Factory Music. AMERICAN FRICTION is a Podmasters Production. www.podmasters.co.uk
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24 November 2025, 4:00 am - 44 minutes 47 secondsHow Epstein is driving Trump mad and breaking MAGA
Trump has been forced into letting the Epstein files be released and of course he’s totally chill about it. We’re due to get them in less than 30 days, though what we get is still unclear – and the fallout they’ll cause even less so. Chris, Nikki and Jarv discuss another very weird week.
Back us on Patreon – we need your help to keep going. Get ad free episodes, extra bits and merch: https://www.patreon.com/c/americanfriction
We’re now on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@AmericanFrictionPod
Follow us on social media:
BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/americanfric.bsky.social
Written and presented by Nikki McCann Ramirez, Chris Jones and Jacob Jarvis. Video and audio editor: Simon Williams. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. Managing Editor: Jacob Jarvis Executive producer: Martin Bojtos. Artwork by James Parrett. Music: Orange Factory Music. AMERICAN FRICTION is a Podmasters Production. www.podmasters.co.uk
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21 November 2025, 3:31 pm - 38 minutes 24 secondsDo the Democrats just hate winning?
The Democratic Party is totally rudderless and once again handed Trump whatever he wants to end the shutdown. What the hell are they doing? Jarv and Chris ask Politico’s national politics reporter Elena Schneider.
Back us on Patreon – we need your help to keep going. Get ad free episodes, extra bits and merch: https://www.patreon.com/c/americanfriction
We’re now on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@AmericanFrictionPod
Follow us on social media:
BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/americanfric.bsky.social
Written and presented by Chris Jones and Jacob Jarvis. Video and audio editor: Simon Williams. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. Managing Editor: Jacob Jarvis Executive producer: Martin Bojtos. Artwork by James Parrett. Music: Orange Factory Music. AMERICAN FRICTION is a Podmasters Production. www.podmasters.co.uk
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17 November 2025, 4:00 am - 52 minutes 42 secondsEpstein and Trump – What did they know?
Trump’s links to Jeffrey Epstein are back in the spotlight. What did Epstein know about Trump? What did Trump know about Epstein? And how much does Russia know?! It’s all kinds of weird, worrying and gross… Nikki and Jarv discuss the latest.
Back us on Patreon – we need your help to keep going. Get ad free episodes, extra bits and merch: https://www.patreon.com/c/americanfriction
We’re now on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@AmericanFrictionPod
Follow us on social media:
BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/americanfric.bsky.social
Written and presented by Nikki McCann Ramirez and Jacob Jarvis. Video and audio editor: Simon Williams. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. Managing Editor: Jacob Jarvis Executive producer: Martin Bojtos. Artwork by James Parrett. Music: Orange Factory Music. AMERICAN FRICTION is a Podmasters Production. www.podmasters.co.uk
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14 November 2025, 4:12 pm - 43 minutes 17 secondsEverything Trump has broken in his second term!
It’s a year since Trump won the election so we thought we’d recap a big old list of things he’s screwed up. There’s more than what we discussed, but we tried! Casey Burgat, author of We Hold These "Truths": How to Spot the Myths that are Holding America Back and director of the Legislative Affairs program at the Graduate School of Political Management at George Washington University,
Buy We Hold These Truths: How to Spot the Myths That Are Holding America Back through our affiliate bookshop and you’ll help fund American Friction by earning us a small commission for every sale. Bookshop.org’s fees help support independent bookshops too.
Back us on Patreon – we need your help to keep going. Get ad free episodes, extra bits and merch: https://www.patreon.com/c/americanfriction
We’re now on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@AmericanFrictionPod
Follow us on social media:
BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/americanfric.bsky.social
Written and presented by Chris Jones and Jacob Jarvis. Video and audio editor: Simon Williams. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. Managing Editor: Jacob Jarvis Executive producer: Martin Bojtos. Artwork by James Parrett. Music: Orange Factory Music. AMERICAN FRICTION is a Podmasters Production. www.podmasters.co.uk
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10 November 2025, 4:00 am - 1 hour 6 minutesMamdani vs. Trump – How New York sent MAGA more insane
Zohran Mamdani’s election victory has got the left wing excited but made MAGA really scared about the made up rise of communism. To discuss his victory and the reaction to it, Chris and Jarv are joined by Brigid Bergin, senior politics reporter at WNYC.
Back us on Patreon – we need your help to keep going. Get ad free episodes, extra bits and merch: https://www.patreon.com/c/americanfriction
We’re now on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@AmericanFrictionPod
Follow us on social media:
BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/americanfric.bsky.social
Written and presented by Chris Jones and Jacob Jarvis. Video and audio editor: Simon Williams. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. Managing Editor: Jacob Jarvis Executive producer: Martin Bojtos. Artwork by James Parrett. Music: Orange Factory Music. AMERICAN FRICTION is a Podmasters Production. www.podmasters.co.uk
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7 November 2025, 2:03 pm - More Episodes? Get the App