A bill to reopen the government has at last passed the Senate. It includes major concessions from Democrats on health care subsidies, earning moderate Democrats the ire of progressives. As the shutdown reaches its forty-second day, hosts Spencer and Mike sit down with guest Matthew Peterson to discuss the government’s perennial inability to form a budget. Elsewhere, election tallies are in: Zohran Mamdani won the NYC mayoral race, the election for Virginia AG went to Jay Jones, and California voters approved Gavin Newsom’s redistricting plan. The tide of political battle remains yet uncertain as midterms loom. Plus: who planted the January 6 pipe bombs? And more cultural recommendations!

Recommended Reading:

Former Capitol Police Officer a Forensic Match for Jan. 6 Pipe Bomber, Sources Say

2025’s Message to the GOP: Get Back to Basics

A Brief History of the Samurai, by Jonathan Clements

Status and Culture, by W. David Marx

Tucker Carlson hosted Nick Fuentes, an antisemitic broadcaster, for a friendly interview, causing divisions to erupt on the Right. This week, as socialist Zohran Mamdani is forecast to take New York City’s mayorship, the guys appraise the influence of Fuentes on the mainstream and discuss the Right’s alternatives to curry favor with the middle. Plus: details have emerged about an FBI operation, “Arctic Frost,” aimed at targeting GOP officials’ comms to delegitimize Trump and his supporters post-2020 election. And more cultural recommendations!

Recommended media:

True Detective

Slow Horses

What We Can Know

Brothers

As Trump’s campaign to curb illegal immigration presses on, half of ICE’s top officers have been reassigned in what may be a significant policy shift ahead of the midterms. Meanwhile, Biden’s former press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre sat down for an interview with The New Yorker’s Isaac Chotiner in which she nearly self-identifies as a DEI hire and tries lamely to defend her old boss. The secretary...goes down with the ship? The guys lay into these topics before bravely excavating the goon-cave so you don’t have to. Plus: for the first time ever, we’re on video!

Recommended media:

Why Biden’s White House Press Secretary Is Leaving the Democratic Party

The Goon Squad

The latest round of “No Kings!” rallies, reportedly attended by 7 million—average attendee, per Axios, mid-40s and female—took to the streets this weekend in protest of…what monarchy, exactly? This week, three kings—Ryan, Matt, and Spencer—discuss progressive populism, John Bolton’s indictment for alleged mishandling of classified intelligence, and Zohran Mamdani’s likely victory despite a weak performance in New York’s mayoral debate. Plus: more cultural recommendations!

Recommended media:

The Claremont Institute Standing Athwart History

Hasan Piker Is Flirting With the Revolution

Behind the Curtain: The Most Unprecedented Presidency in 250 Years

The Camp of the Saints

In a stirring climax to Trump’s middle east negotiations, 20 Israeli hostages were released back to their families after 738 days in brutal captivity. This week, hosts Spencer and Mike discuss the success of Trump’s plan thus far, the failure of previous efforts in the region, and the likelihood of lasting peace. Meanwhile, unguarded messages from a Young Republican group chat have leaked to the media. Is this more evidence of political hatred on the level of Jay Jones’s texts, or just edgy kids doing what edgy kids do? Plus: The Supreme Court takes up oral arguments again, and more cultural recommendations!

Recommended reading:

Leaked messages expose Young Republicans’ racist chat

Gorgias: Encomium of Helen

Trump has a twenty-point plan to end the war in Gaza, emphasizing demilitarization and the release of hostages. On the two-year anniversary of the October 7 attack, the guys contemplate the plan’s prospects for success, Netanyahu’s political future, and domestic reactions. Meanwhile back home, leaked texts from Virginia Democrat Jay Jones express hair-raisingly violent fantasies about “fascist” conservative opponents and their families, epitomizing the Left’s bloodlust problem. Plus: Gen Z’s devolution of marriage structures, and more cultural recommendations!

Cultural recommendations:

Vibe Shift: Quantum Supremacy Guy Wins Physics Nobel

Jay Jones’s Texts Are a Frightening Peek into a Bleak Moral Worldview

What Does Gen Z Divorce Look Like?

Annihilation: A Novel

Aristophanes: Four Plays: Clouds, Birds, Lysistrata, Women of the Assembly

This week, Matthew Peterson of The Blaze jumps in to discuss Pete Hegseth’s forceful declaration of war on DEI initiatives, including separate PT standards for women. Then the guys crack open Kamala Harris’s apologia for her campaign in 107 Days, comprising a list of all the people responsible for the election loss who are not named Kamala Harris. Late candidacy? Biden’s fault. Bad interviews? The host’s fault. Not elected? The people’s fault. Meanwhile, the AI firm Friend publicizes its attempt to supplant real human interaction, raising concerns about Big Tech fueling—and preying on—the mentally unwell. Plus: more cultural recommendations!

Reading recommendations:

Identity in the Trenches, by Will Thibeau

The Constant Battle, by Kamala Harris

Fighting Enemies Foreign and Domestic, edited by Ryan P. Williams

Informing Statecraft, by Angelo Codevilla

I Hate My Friend

Special guest Ryder Selmi, longtime friend of Charlie Kirk and Strategy Director at Beck & Stone, joins the hosts this week to recount his experience attending Charlie Kirk’s memorial service on Monday. There, Erika Kirk forgave her husband’s assassin in a moment of prayer, joined by Trump and more than 200,000 attendees at an Arizona stadium—a moment emblematic of Charlie’s faith and his movement. Reactions from the Left elite have ranged from bewilderment to spite, epitomized by Jimmy Kimmel’s distasteful attempt to pin the assassination on MAGA. The late-night host was then briefly pulled from air, now made a “martyr” by Hollywood to distract from their offenses. Plus: media recommendations!

Recommended reading:

Religious News Veteran: Why the Mainstream Media Doesn’t Understand Erika Kirk

Land’s End

Arming the People Against Revolution