American Friction

Donald Trump is talking about US cities being blown up as if it’s not that big a deal. Well, why not? According to him he can do anything he wants… Nikki, Chris and Jarv breakdown the latest breakdown from the president. 

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Written and presented by Nikki McCann Ra...

Trump has cranked his media attacks up to eleven as he accuses journalists of committing treason for saying mean things about him. How worrying is this? And does he even know what he’s saying? Matt Gertz, senior fellow at Media Matters, joins Jarv to discuss. 

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Trump and his cronies know they’re facing trouble in the midterms. Their plan? Replay the 2018 tactics and hope for the best… Nikki, Jarv and Chris discuss. 

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Donald Trump does not know what’s going on with artificial intelligence but he does know it might make him money. Jeff Jarvis, author of Hot Type and mega media expert, joins Jarv to discuss the White House’s wild approach to A.I. and what it means for the rest of us. 

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Trump used to bang on about free speech but clearly he doesn’t give a sh*t about it. Just how draconian has the president become? Jarv and Nikki discuss. 

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Written and presented by Jacob Jarvis and Nikki McCann Ramirez. Audio/ video editor: Simon Williams. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. Executive produce...

Canada’s Mark Carney is sticking it to Trump, what can we learn from him? Chris and Jarv ask Drew Fagan, professor at the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy. 

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Written and presented by Jacob Jarvis and Chris Jones. Audio/ video editor: Simon Williams. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. Executive producer: Martin Bojtos. Artwork by James Parrett. Music: Orange Fact...

Trump has been told no he can’t attack mail-in voting how he wants and he is predictably angry. Nikki, Chris and Jarv discuss. 

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Written and presented by Jacob Jarvis, Chris Jones and Nikki McCann Ramirez. Audio/ video editor: Chris Jones. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. Executive producer: Martin Bojtos. Artwork by James Parrett. Music: Orange Factory Music. AMERICAN FRIC...

Trump’s power didn’t come automatically, a lot of people had to roll over to let him have the control of America he has. Jacob Weisberg joins Jarv and Chris to discuss the pushovers who enabled the president, as outlined in his new book Profiles in Cowardice:  

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Donald Trump’s threatening everyone’s sovereignty by changing every map ever. Dr Casey Burgat joins Chris to discuss Trump’s strategy here (spoiler, there isn’t one) and loads more. Plus, Nikki joins Chris from the Republican National Convention where she’s still recovering from the revelation that Trump plans to bribe the electorate in the midterm elections.

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Listen to The Bunker’s mini-series, TERROR CENTURY, reflecting on the devastation and aftermath of the 9/11 attacks 25 years ago

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Dr Casey Burgat’s Substack CrashCourse​

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Hate crimes carried out by Neo-Nazi Americans are on the rise. Why? And do white supremacist groups feel like they now have an ally in the White House? Eric Lichtblau is aPulitzer Prize winning journalist and author of the book American Reich: A Murder in Orange County, Neo-Nazis, and a New Age of Hate. He joins Chris and Jarv to discuss his extensive research on Neo-Nazi America. 

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Trump and his cronies are trying to target their opponents in the best way they know how – racism! Nikki and Jarv discuss the fallout around Abdul El-Sayed and how weird the right are being. 

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Written and presented by Jacob Jarvis and Nikki McCann Ramirez. Audio/ video editor: Simon Williams. Group Editor...

America’s Supreme Court has been taken over by conservatives, and Samuel Alito is one of the most powerful of all. As a member of The Federalist Society, how did he rise to this position and how did this group seize such a vice grip of America’s legal system? Peter Canellos, author of Revenge for the Sixties Sam Alito and the Triumph of the Conservative Legal Movement, joins Jarv to discuss. 

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Trump is running out of mates everywhere as he goes on tariff tirades and has his offers of help in the midterms rejected. Nikki joins Jarv and Chris to discuss how his power is fading. 

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Written and presented byJacob Jarvis ,Chris Jones and Nikki McCann Ramirez. Audio/ video editor: Simon Willi...

Trump is working out new and inventive ways to grift, charging traders huge amounts of cash to get his Truth Social posts milliseconds early. What’s the point? How is it legal? Where will the cash get made? David Uberti from the Wall Street Journal joins Jarv and Chris to discuss.  

Read David Uberti’s work here: https://www.wsj.com/news/author/david-uberti 

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Trump’s aide Natalie Harp has been thrust into the spotlight and he’s really mad even though absolutely nothing weird is going on… Nikki, Chris and Jarv unpack the latest predictable Trump scandal and try to work out what is going on. 

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Written and presented by Jacob Jarvis, Nikki McCann Ramirez, Chris Jones. Video and audio editor: Chris Jones. Group Editor...

The US feels increasingly controlled by oligarchs. But who controls them? Casey Michel joins Chris and Jarv to discuss his new book United States of Oligarchy: How America's Wealthiest Ally with Dictators, Weaken the U.S., and Destroy Democracy, 

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Dr Anthony Fauci has come under intense fire from the GOP over his role during the Covid-19 pandemic. Chris and Nikki discuss the evidence Rand Paul and Ron Johnson have (and don’t have) in their crusade to jail Fauci, and whether this is all just part of Donald Trump’s revenge tour.

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Larry Ellison is one of the most prominent tech billionaires of the moment. Jeff Jarvis, author of the BuzzMachine blog, joins Jarv to discuss how he built his business in the first place and why his influence on the media is so concerning. 

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Donald Trump is embarrassing everyone and Republicans are trying to make themselves look even more stupid than him! Jarv and Nikki discuss the latest scandals and fallouts making everyone look ridiculous. 

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Donald Trump won’t stop calling his enemies communists – but is it too old a reference for anyone to care? Jarv and Chris are joined by Maurice Isserman, author of Reds: The Tragedy of American Communism, to discuss the history of communism in America and why it might struggle to work as an attack line for MAGA to use on the left. 

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Donald Trump is angry at RFK Jr. for not being enough of a conspiracy theorist. Yeah, you read that right. What’s going on? Plus, why was the president so weird at Lindsey Graham’s funeral? Nikki, Chris and Jarv discuss. 

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Trump’s still spreading lie after lie about elections and he’s got an army of media lackeys helping him. Media Matters president Angelo Carusone joins Chris and Jarv to talk them through how these falsehoods are being amplified and who’s responsible. 

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Donald Trump and Pete Hegseth are desperate for more money for the Iran war. The defence secretary has been sweating away as he’s grilled in Congress – does anything they stay stand up to scrutiny? Nikki, Chris and Jarv discuss.

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The host of Fast Politics Molly Jong-Fast joins Jarv for a discussion on why celebrities need to speak out more politically. Plus, they discuss some of the broader issues for America, and what matters to voters in the US right now. 

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ICE has carried out yet more public killings in America. Donald Trump, true to form, has stood by his not so secret police force. When will enough be enough and is the Democratic Party doing enough to bring about change? Nikki joins Chris to get into that and more! 

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Written and presented by Chris Jones and Nikki McCann Ramirez. Video and Audio editor: Chris Jones. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. Executive pr...

The Republicans and the Democrats are both in a weird place right now. How did they get to where they are? What were they like when they first started? And did they really “switch”? Paul Heideman, the author of Rogue Elephant: How Republicans Went from the Party of Business to the Party of Chaos,  joins Jarv to discuss. 

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Trump’s been at NATO losing his head and lashing out at Iran in a spectacle which was mostly shocking because of how unsurprising it was. Nikki, Chris and Jarv discuss another bumpy week. 

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Donald Trump’s America has often been accused of laying siege to American freedoms and institutions - because, well it has. But more broadly, is America today a reflection of the nation the founding fathers sought to create? Prof Robert Parkinson has studied the Declaration of Independence for 25 years and has authored a new book: Tyrants and Rogues: Understanding the Declaration of Independence. He joins Chris to get into it on America’s 250th birthday.

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Happy Birthday America! The US turns 250 this weekend and it’s been quite the ride. But has Donald Trump 2.0 turned that ride into a nightmare? Chris and Nikki discuss the American freedoms and institutions this administration has diminished over the past 2 years and loads more!

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America has been a tumultuous place in recent years. Justin Glawe has been at the frontline of much of that chaos, covering carnage and unrest across the United States. He joins Chris to discuss what he’s learned from reporting on turmoil across America, as outlined in his book If I Am Coming to Your Town, Something Terrible Has Happened: The Life and Times of a Domestic War Correspondent,

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Trump is at odds with the Senate and tearing apart members of his own party. How will this temper tantrum play out? Nikki and Jarv discuss. 

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Written and presented by Jacob Jarvis and Nikki McCann Ramirez. Video an...

The UFC spectacle at the White House showed a new level of trashy corruption from Trump. Why did he do it and why does he love the man behind the UFC, Dana White, so much? Jack Crosbie, senior writer at Rolling Stone, joins Chris and Jarv to discuss. 

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Trump has signed a deal agreeing to get a deal to end the war in Iran. He’s claiming a major victory, but it’s clearly a capitulation. Nikki, Chris and Jarv discuss. 

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Donald Trump says he alone can fix Washington — but is one unelected official actually running the show? Chris and Jarv are joined by journalist Andy Kroll to discuss the rise of Russell Vought, the budget chief using the Office of Management and Budget to quietly expand Trump’s power from inside the White House.

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Donald Trump insists he never said he would end any wars and denies being booed at a recent Knicks game — despite footage suggesting otherwise. Nikki, Chris and Jarv discuss whether the president is becoming increasingly detached from reality, or simply doubling down on his own version of events.

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Donald Trump has posted thousands of times on his social media platform Truth Social in just a few months, usually cranking out double figures of posts a day. Danielle Kurtzleben from NPR has analysed a massive stack of these to see what Trump’s obsessions are. 

Read Danielle’s piece on NPR: https://www.npr.org/2026/05/08/nx-s1-5749358/trump-truth-social-online-posts-iran-white-house-ballroom 

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Donald Trump keeps insisting he “doesn’t care” — about Iran, Americans’ finances, or even the midterms. Nikki, Chris and Jarv discuss whether the president is growing tired of the job he fought so hard to win, and why Trump is suddenly talking up potential successors…

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America is in a crisis, but that doesn’t mean it’s beyond saving. Reverend Professor Keith Magee, chair of The Guardian Foundation, joins Jarv to discuss how empathy could help to reset the United States.

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Trump says he’s perfectly healthy — but does anyone believe him? And will we ever know the truth? Chris and Jarv are joined by podcast favourite Casey Burgat to unpack Trump’s latest medical report, the details it left out, and the growing obsession in Washington over the President’s health.

Check out Casey’s work: https://www.caseyburgat.com/

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Donald Trump has diminished America on the world stage and the nation seems to have fewer and fewer allies. Adam Serwer of the Atlantic joins Chris and Jarv to discuss why the US needs friends even if Trump doesn’t think so. 

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