This week’s double-header episode confronts America’s moral crisis from two sides of the same coin: what happens when leadership becomes corrupt and power-hungry—and what it looks like when leaders choose decency instead. First, journalist Mary Clare Jalonick joins Rick to break down her urgent new book Storm at the Capitol, a chilling account of how ambition, radicalization, and moral cowardice led to January 6 and exposed what happens when power is severed from principle. Then, veteran political voice Chris Matthews offers a stark counterpoint with Letters from Bobby, drawing on Robert F. Kennedy’s words to remind us that leadership is a moral act rooted in restraint, empathy, and responsibility. This conversation couldn’t be more timely as ICE violence and aggressive enforcement tactics come to a head across the country, putting into sharp relief the real-world consequences of unchecked power and moral collapse. One episode. Two books. One unavoidable truth: democracy doesn’t fail all at once—it fails when leaders abandon decency first.
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You can find Mary Clare Jalonick @MCJalonick on X, and you can stay up to date with her congressional reporting at the AP. Also, her new book, 'Storm at the Capitol: An Oral History of January 6th,' is available now, wherever fine books are sold. 

Chris Matthews is on X @HardballChris, and you can check out his Substack at thechrismatthews.substack.com. His new book, 'Lessons from Bobby: Ten Reasons Robert F. Kennedy Still Matters,' is available now, wherever fine books are sold. 

Rick Wilson is on X at @TheRickWilson, on Bluesky at @TheRickWilson.bsky.social, and you can check out Rick's Substack at therickwilson.substack.com. You can check out more of LP's work at www.lincolnproject.us and on X at @ProjectLincoln. 

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Texas is breaking at the seams—divided, bitter, and locked in a political cage match that’s left ordinary Texans stuck in the middle. For decades, the state has been painted bright red, but now the cracks are showing, and a fresh wave of underdog organizers and voters is daring to repaint the map purple. From the San Antonio Spurs to street culture, from BBQ pits to the Capitol floor, Texas' fresh politics is colliding with an old guard terrified of losing power—on fights over voting rights, gerrymandering, abortion bans, gun violence, border and immigration, book bans, school vouchers, property taxes, and the ERCOT power grid. In this episode, James Talarico joins Rick Wilson for a hard look at a changing Purple Texas—how Gen Z, Latino voters, suburban women, and independents are shifting the map; why MAGA extremism and corrupt politicians (like Ken Paxton) keep stoking culture wars; and how fresh leadership can take power back for the people and revive democracy in the Lone Star State.
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You can find James Talarico @jamestalarico on social media, and keep up with his campaign at jamestalarico.com.

Follow Rick Wilson at @TheRickWilson on X and @therickwilson.bsky.social on Bluesky, and subscribe to his Substack at therickwilson.substack.com.

Join the fight with the Lincoln Project at www.lincolnproject.us and follow LP on X at @ProjectLincoln. If you'd like to help us continue our critical work, visit https://action.lincolnproject.us/helplp to make a difference.

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Coming off last week’s examination of the killing of Renee Nicole Good, Rick lays out how the United States is sliding into an American police state—one powered by ICE intimidation, fear-based propaganda, and a rapidly expanding government surveillance apparatus. Rick breaks down how ICE relies on spectacle, misinformation, and selective enforcement to force citizen compliance, while the Trump-era state deploys AI surveillance and facial recognition, license plate readers, and Flock Safety cameras to monitor Americans in ways that openly undermine the Constitution, the Fourth Amendment, and basic civil liberties. This isn’t about public safety—it’s about control. This isn't a flaw, it's a feature. It's no longer about equal protection under the law, but about protecting power, punishing dissent, and enforcing political obedience. When agencies like ICE are shielded from accountability while technology is used to surveil citizens instead of defend their rights, justice stops being blind and starts taking orders.

For best practices on dealing with ICE, this week's episode of The Breakdown features our legal counsel, Mario Nicolais, and is also worth a watch. 
https://youtube.com/live/eRihj_qXUYw
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Rick Wilson is on X at @TheRickWilson, on Bluesky at @TheRickWilson.bsky.social, and you can check out Rick's Substack at therickwilson.substack.com. You can check out more of LP's work at www.lincolnproject.us and on X at @ProjectLincoln. 

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Donald Trump didn’t speak for the working class—he played it. In this episode, Rick Wilson sits down with Dropkick Murphys frontman Ken Casey to unpack how Trump’s brand of fake populism conned millions of working Americans while delivering power, tax cuts, and protection to billionaires and authoritarians. Rick and Ken break down how grievance replaced policy, how MAGA culture turned resentment into a loyalty test, and why the people waving the biggest flags ended up getting sold out first. Then they flip the script: punk rock as an early warning system, a working-class truth teller, and a loud, unapologetic form of resistance to fascism, cult politics, and manufactured outrage. This isn’t about music nostalgia—it’s about class consciousness, propaganda, and why real resistance has never come from strongmen at the top, but from people willing to call bullsh*t, turn up the volume, and refuse to be fooled again.
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You can find Ken Casey at dropkickmurphys.com. Check out their website for tour information and details on their upcoming album! Their updated song "Citizen ICE" is out now.

Rick Wilson is on X at @TheRickWilson, on Bluesky at @TheRickWilson.bsky.social, and you can check out Rick's Substack at therickwilson.substack.com. You can check out more of LP's work at www.lincolnproject.us and on X at @ProjectLincoln. 

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This week, we confront MAGA’s escalating performative cruelty following the killing of Renee Good in Minneapolis — a woman shot and killed by an ICE officer and then posthumously smeared as a “domestic terrorist” to justify the violence. As facts emerged, the Trump movement did what it always does: lied, dehumanized, and closed ranks around power. JD Vance went even further, effectively arguing for blanket immunity for federal agents, treating U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement as an untouchable arm of the state — Trump’s modern secret police. This episode breaks down how authoritarian movements manufacture enemies, why disinformation follows state violence every time, and how Donald Trump’s political culture rewards cruelty over truth. This isn’t about law and order — it’s about power without accountability, the erosion of civil liberties, and what it means when a political movement decides some lives are disposable. Say her name: Renee Good.
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If you'd like to support Renee Good’s wife and son, below is a link to their publicly accessible GoFundMe:
https://www.gofundme.com/f/support-for-renee-goods-wife-and-son

Rick Wilson is on X at @TheRickWilson, on Bluesky at @TheRickWilson.bsky.social, and you can check out Rick's Substack at therickwilson.substack.com. You can check out more of LP's work at www.lincolnproject.us and on X at @ProjectLincoln. 

This weekend, the capture of Nicolás Maduro didn’t close a chapter in Venezuela — it ripped one open. History tells us exactly where this movie goes: swagger first, strategy never. Venezuela isn’t just another “bad guy taken off the board”; it’s an oil-soaked, politically fractured, economically shattered country where outside powers think force can substitute for understanding. That’s how Iraq started. That’s how Vietnam metastasized. And now, under Donald Trump, America is once again flirting with the delusion that you can arrest a dictator, flip a switch, pump the oil, and call it victory. You can’t. You get insurgencies, regional blowback, endless commitments, and a war that exists not because it protects Americans — but because oil, ego, and imperial muscle memory demand it. Welcome to the next forever war, this time in our own hemisphere, where the lessons of the past are ignored, the bill always comes due, and the exit strategy is once again a shrug.
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Rick Wilson is on X at @TheRickWilson, on Bluesky at @TheRickWilson.bsky.social, and you can check out Rick's Substack at therickwilson.substack.com. You can check out more of LP's work at www.lincolnproject.us and on X at @ProjectLincoln. 

Giving you an extra special bonus episode of The Lincoln Project podcast, Rick Wilson is joined by special guest Chris Whipple of Vanity Fair, the reporter who just detonated Trumpworld with his explosive reporting on Susie Wiles. Whipple doesn’t just recap the headlines—he reveals new secrets, pulls back the curtain on how power actually operates inside Trump’s inner circle, and explains why Wiles may be the most important—and least understood—figure in modern MAGA politics. As more breaking news unfolds, Rick and Whipple connect the dots between loyalty, control, fear, and the machinery driving Trump’s 2025 operation. If you want to understand who really runs Trumpworld—and why this story keeps getting darker—this is the episode you can’t miss.
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You can find Chris Whipple on X @ccwhip, and on his website https://chriswhipple.com/. 

VANITY FAIR PIECE PART 1: https://www.vanityfair.com/news/story/trump-susie-wiles-interview-exclusive-part-1
VANITY FAIR PIECE PART 2: https://www.vanityfair.com/news/story/trump-susie-wiles-interview-exclusive-part-2

Rick Wilson is on X at @TheRickWilson, on Bluesky at @TheRickWilson.bsky.social, and you can check out Rick's Substack at therickwilson.substack.com. You can check out more of LP's work at www.lincolnproject.us and on X at @ProjectLincoln. 

As the holiday season hits full throttle and millions of Americans flood airports during record-breaking Christmas travel week, this episode takes a clear-eyed look at what real holiday cheer means in a year dominated by nonstop headlines. From winter storms snarling flights and causing massive travel delays to violence interrupting festive gatherings and global tensions refusing to pause for Christmas, this week's news cycle offered little comfort—or quiet. Breaking down the biggest stories -- from Susie Wiles' Vanity Fair expose to Trump's deranged, coke-fueled speech while he gripped the podium to the close-up photos of Trump's admin -- it's been a week...and Rick will guide you through it all. 

Rick Wilson cuts through the noise with sharp humor and grounded perspective, breaking down the biggest stories of the week while reminding us that optimism doesn’t require denial. This is holiday cheer with a backbone—fact-based, reality-tested, and stubbornly alive in the middle of headline fatigue, end-of-year chaos, and a world that refuses to slow down just because it’s Christmas.
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Rick Wilson is on X at @TheRickWilson, on Bluesky at @TheRickWilson.bsky.social, and you can check out Rick's Substack at therickwilson.substack.com. You can check out more of LP's work at www.lincolnproject.us and on X at @ProjectLincoln. 

#HolidaySeason #ChristmasCheer #YearEndNews #TopHeadlines #HolidayTravel #WinterStorms #BreakingNews #PoliticalPodcast #RickWilson #LincolnProject

Rick Wilson is joined by Scott Galloway—NYU professor, bestselling author, and unapologetic truth-teller—to talk about lonely young men, collapsing purpose, and a culture pretending the crisis isn’t real. Drawing from Scott’s newest book, ‘Notes on Being a Man,’ they cut through culture-war bullsh*t to explain how isolation, economic pressure, and algorithm-fed rage are pushing men toward the worst possible answers. This isn’t grievance politics—it’s a blunt conversation about reality, responsibility, different strengths, and what happens when society ignores the meteor until impact.
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You can find Scott Galloway @profgalloway.com on Bluesky and @profgalloway on Instagram. His new book, ‘Notes on Being a Man,’ is available now, wherever fine books are sold. 

Rick Wilson is on X at @TheRickWilson, on Bluesky at @TheRickWilson.bsky.social, and you can check out Rick's Substack at therickwilson.substack.com. You can check out more of LP's work at www.lincolnproject.us and on X at @ProjectLincoln. 

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In this blistering episode, Rick Wilson breaks down why MAGA absolutely sees the future coming — and is reacting like a herd of political dinosaurs staring straight at the meteor and insisting it’s a hoax. With Trump's historically unpopular presidency (at a 36% approval rating), the desperate need for "affordability" (hitting the MAGA base the hardest), the movement shrinking, and GOP leaders screaming into the void, MAGA is pretending the shaking ground and the bright light in the sky are just “deep state weather balloons.” Rick lays out how the economic reality, unmistakable corruption, shifting demographics, and sheer exhaustion among voters are accelerating MAGA’s extinction — and why their refusal to adapt only speeds up the impact. This is a sharp, snark-filled autopsy of a movement so trapped in denial that they’re actively choosing meteor impact over evolution. Buckle up: the asteroid is coming, and Rick brought the popcorn.
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Rick Wilson is on X at @TheRickWilson, on Bluesky at @TheRickWilson.bsky.social, and you can check out Rick's Substack at therickwilson.substack.com. You can check out more of LP's work at www.lincolnproject.us and on X at @ProjectLincoln.

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Strap in: Rick Wilson is joined by Carol Leonnig and Aaron Davis, who just detonated the political world with their blockbuster book Injustice. It’s the ultimate tell-all on DOJ dysfunction, politically motivated indictments, the Trump-era push to weaponize federal law enforcement, and the internal rebellion of career DOJ officials trying to stop an authoritarian slide. Rick, Carol, and Aaron break down everything from the classified documents scandal to the war on independent prosecutors, the assault on election integrity, and the rise of unchecked executive power. If you care about the future of American democracy, the rule of law, and the escalating 2025 political crisis, this episode brings the receipts—loudly.
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You can find Carol Leonnig @CarolLeonnig on X, and Aaron Davis @byaaroncdavis on X. Their bestselling book ‘INJUSTICE: How Politics and Fear Vanquished America’s Justice Department’ is out now, wherever fine books are sold. 

Rick Wilson is on X at @TheRickWilson, on Bluesky at @TheRickWilson.bsky.social, and you can check out Rick's Substack at therickwilson.substack.com. You can check out more of LP's work at www.lincolnproject.us and on X at @ProjectLincoln. 

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