Situation Report for January 16, 2025. Rep. Crenshaw breaks down the week’s top stories from the U.S. and around the world. Your one stop shop for real news and clear analysis of the latest congressional legislation and how it impacts your life. Pete Hegseth has his Senate confirmation hearing The House passes the Protecting Women and Girls in Sports Act The Los Angeles wildfires The Israel-Hamas ceasefire and hostage deal Biden Administration removes Cuba from the State Sponsors of Terrorism li...
Jan 17, 2025•14 min
American Petroleum Institute’s Mike Sommers returns to Hold These Truths to survey the past four years of the Biden-Harris Administration’s most devastating anti-fossil fuel energy policies and how the incoming Trump Administration might reverse them. They look at what the future of energy looks like for Texas and the rest of America. And they fact check the tv series Landman’s portrayal of the oil and gas industry. Mike Sommers is the President and CEO of the American Petroleum Institute, the l...
Jan 10, 2025•39 min
On the latest SITREP (Situation Report), Congressman Crenshaw explains how the Republican House strategy at the start of the 119th Congress and gives us the Civics 101 on how the legislative process works. He covers the possibility of overturning Biden’s sweeping ban on offshore oil and gas leases, U.S. investors making a bid for TikTok, and the possibility of turning Greenland into a U.S. territory. And he examines the shifting political dynamics in Syria and Lebanon as Iran’s influence in the ...
Jan 08, 2025•29 min
For episode 3 of the SITREP (Situation Report), Rep. Crenshaw gives his insights into the most important news that happened over the holidays. · Speaker Johnson wins on the first ballot · What we know about the NOLA and Las Vegas attacks · The Debate Over H1B Visas · The Nippon Steel Deal · Latest on the TikTok Chinese Ownership Ban · Caution and Optimism in Syria · South Korean Constitutional Drama...
Jan 04, 2025•27 min
Entrepreneur, rocket engineer, and nuclear expert Doug Bernauer joined Rep. Crenshaw to discuss the future of portable nuclear energy, colonies on Mars, and the bureaucratic inertia standing in their way. A fascinating conversation with lots of insights into the science and the regulatory environment of space exploration and nuclear power. Doug Bernauer is the CEO of Radiant Nuclear, a startup developing mass produced portable nuclear reactors. Before that, Doug spent 12 years working on a varie...
Jan 03, 2025•36 min
Rep. Erin Houchin and Rep. Mike Flood join the show to discuss crypto policy in Congress and under the next Trump Administration. They give Rep. Crenshaw the 101 on how crypto works and how U.S. dollar-backed stable coins could change the financial system. And they look at the implications of Web 3.0 on censorship, content creators, financial fraud, and China’s global power moves. · The beginning of the crypto movement · NFTs: the beanie babies of the internet · The Canadian Trucker Strike · Gar...
Dec 23, 2024•45 min
On episode 2 of the SITREP (Situation Report), Rep. Crenshaw drops the facts – not the Influencer Industrial Complex spin - on the Continuing Resolution that passed the House late Friday evening. He explains what was in the original CR that failed earlier this week and why it was so controversial. And he walks us through the reality of how budgets are negotiated in Congress. · Explanation of what a Continuing Resolution (CR) is · The federal budget process: appropriations vs. authorizations · Ch...
Dec 21, 2024•26 min
We’re trying something new here on Hold These Truths: a weekly SITREP (Situation Report) on news of the day with real time insights into what’s happening in Congress, the country, and the world. This will now be your one stop shop for real news. Matt Gaetz ethics report AOC loses ranking member of Oversight Committee The Continuing Resolution Rethinking the budget process Unknowns in Syria Corruption in China’s military Assassinations in Moscow Salt Typhoon (not a James Bond movie) DOE’s ban on ...
Dec 18, 2024•15 min
John Spencer is the Chair of Urban Warfare Studies at the Modern War Institute at West Point. He joined Rep. Crenshaw to explore the historical evolution of urban combat and analyze modern strategies for conquering and defending cities. John discusses how urban warfare is playing out in Syria, Lebanon, Gaza, and Ukraine. And he envisions the most likely scenarios for a Chinese invasion of Taiwan, along with potential U.S.-Mexico counterinsurgency efforts against the cartels. • The evolution of u...
Dec 16, 2024•1 hr 2 min
American Foreign Policy Council’s Ilan Berman gives us the 101 on the past, present, and possible future of the Iranian regime, Middle East geopolitics, and the potential for Starlink as a tool to topple authoritarian regimes. · What do the Iranian dissidents want from the United States? · Is the Iranian regime at a tipping point? · The changing demographics in Iran · How 1979 changed everything · The CIA boogeyman · Recapping U.S. – Iran historical relations · “They’ve had a gun to Israel’s hea...
Dec 04, 2024•44 min
David Harsanyi returns to discuss his new book “The Rise of BlueAnon: How the Democrats Became a Party of Conspiracy Theorists.” David reveals how the Left has been consumed by a uniquely dangerous and delusional brand of conspiracy theories. And unlike those on the Right, the Left’s conspiracy theories are rarely kept in check by mainstream institutions. Fun and insightful conversation with one of America’s smartest conservative writers. • How do we define a conspiracy theory? • The psychology ...
Nov 20, 2024•1 hr 7 min
Paul Scharre is an artificial intelligence expert who led the Department of Defense’s working group to establish policies on autonomous weapons systems. He joined Rep. Crenshaw to cover the latest (unclassified) capabilities of AI on the battlefield, the AI arms race with China, and the fine line between utopia and apocalypse which emerging AI tech has to offer us. • Equipping Congress to deal with Artificial Intelligence • How software has changed since the 1990s • No rules: the machine is lear...
Nov 08, 2024•1 hr 5 min
Shaun Maguire is a venture capitalist, tech entrepreneur, and Caltech physics PhD. He joined Rep. Crenshaw to talk about his journey from Never Trumper in 2016 to supporting President Trump in 2024. Shaun makes the analytical case for why Trump’s method for foreign policy makes sense. Namely, Trump’s ability to flex American power in a language that Russia, Iran, Venezuela, and China understand. Shaun also explains why parts of Silicon Valley are moving right, why our defense industrial base is ...
Oct 30, 2024•1 hr 27 min
*SPECIAL CROSSPOST EPISODE* Rep. Crenshaw joined Michael Moynihan and Matt Welch for their weekly podcast series The Fifth Column . Really fun conversation covering a lot of ground. Topics include: · How to be a Navy SEAL · Losing an eye in Afghanistan · Dan can’t find his glasses / “I can’t see shit” · Lessons from Iraq and Afghanistan · A case study in intelligence failure and confirmation bias · On leaving the Taliban in power · Has Trump been good on foreign policy? · The Republican Party po...
Oct 25, 2024•1 hr 16 min
In honor of Columbus Day, we’re reposting a Hold These Truths classic from 2020 with historian Dr. Mary Grabar: You may have never heard of him, but no historian has had a greater influence on modern America than Howard Zinn. His most popular work, A Peoples History of the United States, was brought into the cultural mainstream with Matt Damon's Oscar winning 1997 film Good Will Hunting. The book is a precursor to the 1619 Project - tracing the roots of America's sins and inequities to Christoph...
Oct 14, 2024•45 min
Sixty years ago, Americans could easily envision a not-too-distant future of vacations on Mars, miracle cures, clean and infinite energy, and, of course, flying cars. But the dream collapsed, we entered an era of technological and economic stagnation, and pop culture became fixated on catastrophizing the outcomes of scientific innovations. AEI’s James Pethokoukis traces the origins of this “Great Downshift” in optimism and progress – largely due to 1970s regulatory decisions and changes in risk ...
Oct 04, 2024•37 min
Dr. Todd Rose joins Rep. Crenshaw to discuss his latest research into Americans’ views on the most controversial issues, including abortion, immigration, the defund the police movement, and antisemitism. The conclusion? It turns out Americans are a lot less divided than you might think. Dr. Rose identifies the root causes of this false polarization and calls attention to a far greater concern for the future of the country: the overwhelming majority of Americans who believe society is inherently ...
Sep 26, 2024•50 min
Jack Posobiec returns for a fascinating conversation about the history of communist revolutions and the role that information warfare plays in the shaping modern political ideologies. Jack gives us case studies in the revolutions of Russia, China, and France - along with the key differences between them and the American Revolution. He explains how Marxist and far-left movements “unhumanize” their political opponents to gain control of nations. And he dives into the tactics of information warfare...
Sep 20, 2024•1 hr 4 min
Dr. Robert Kadlec returns to the podcast to share the latest evidence for why COVID-19 likely originated from a lab in Wuhan, China. He gives us a layman’s understanding of the differences between lab-created viruses and those of zoological origins. He debunks all the Fauci/CCP arguments that the Wuhan lab origin is a “conspiracy theory.” And he discusses the growing concerns of a possible H5N1 bird flu pandemic – what would it take for this to become the next global pandemic and how prepared ar...
Sep 16, 2024•48 min
Congressman Jake Auchincloss was a Marine Corps officer, and is a member of Rep. Crenshaw’s Task Force to Combat Mexican Drug Cartels and a member of the Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party. He joined Rep. Crenshaw to discuss what they’ve learned about China’s partnership with the cartels to push fentanyl in the United States. They discuss the challenges and possibilities of collaborating with the Mexican government to destroy the drug cartels. And they have a friendly debate over Tr...
Aug 30, 2024•26 min
In this special cross-post episode of The Winston Marshall Show, the former Mumford & Sons musician engages Rep. Crenshaw in a wide-ranging discussion on U.S. foreign policy, including populist arguments for isolationism. The conversation covers America’s involvement in the Ukraine War, the Israel-Hamas conflict, and compares President Biden’s most significant foreign policy failures with President Trump’s record. They also delve into the realities of the ‘deep state’ and the internal divisi...
Aug 20, 2024•43 min
Foreign policy analyst Dr. Hal Brands joined Rep. Crenshaw to discuss why America abandoned pre-WWII isolationism to become the global superpower and the unprecedented prosperity that came from it. They examine the growing threats posed by Russia and China to that prosperity and the international order. And they look at the potential consequences for America if it retreats again to an isolationist foreign policy. Dr. Hal Brands is a Senior Fellow at American Enterprise Institute and the Henry A....
Aug 14, 2024•48 min
Meteorologist Dan Reilly answers all your burning questions about weather, hurricanes, and how forecasting works. What does a 50% chance of rain actually mean? How do weather patterns in the Pacific, like El Niño and La Niña, affect hurricane formation in the Atlantic? Can a butterfly’s wings cause a tornado? Where do storms get their names? All that and much more in just 30 minutes. Dan Reilly is the Warning Coordination Meteorologist for the National Weather Service/National Oceanic and Atmosp...
Aug 09, 2024•31 min
Healthcare and economic policy expert Brian Blase, Ph.D. joined Rep. Crenshaw for a deep dive into the complexities of healthcare policy. They discuss the current problems with Obamacare and its impact on the healthcare market, the ongoing debate over healthcare as a right versus a need, the effectiveness of subsidies, and the role of high risk pools. They also discuss various policy proposals, including reforming subsidies, expanding healthcare options, and addressing Medicaid challenges. Brian...
Aug 06, 2024•54 min
Clean burning natural gas is almost single-handedly responsible for the global reduction in carbon emissions. Every good thing we have in modern society – technology, housing, medicine, infrastructure, the list goes on – is dependent on natural gas to exist. So why is the Biden-Harris Administration so hell-bent on destroying it? Toby Rice, energy expert and president of America’s largest natural gas producer, returns to the podcast to examine the impact that recent natural gas rules have had on...
Jul 31, 2024•34 min
Conservative pollsters Dr. Frank Luntz and Kristen Soltis Anderson return to discuss how the election dynamics have shifted since the assassination attempt on President Trump and the coronation of Kamala Harris. What’s the state of the race since Biden dropped out? Who is the most dangerous (for Republicans) VP that Kamala could choose? What does JD Vance bring to the table for Trump? What are the prospects for Republicans in the House and Senate? As good as the polling looks now, Frank and Kris...
Jul 26, 2024•1 hr 1 min
Three key things I want to address, based on my own experiences planning and executing operations and also my conversations with law enforcement and Secret Service. This is a must watch. 1. What’s up with that building? Why wasn’t it secure? 2. Did the Secret Service counter sniper really just watch the assassin and refuse to shoot him? 3. Was the Secret Service ordered NOT to shoot the assassin??
Jul 16, 2024•8 min
Rice University’s Michelle Foss, Ph.D. gives us a crash course in critical minerals: what they are, where they come from, why we need them, and their geostrategic implications. We look at the future of deep-sea mining to harvest the vast resources laying on the sea floor. And we talk about the rapidly developing tech of carbon nanotubes, which are on the verge of revolutionizing everything from battery capacity to airplanes (and, of course, make the Batman suit a reality). Michelle Foss, Ph.D., ...
Jun 28, 2024•49 min
Human trafficking and modern slavery are very much a reality – but it’s nothing like how you see it depicted in movies. Austin Shamlin joined Rep. Crenshaw to debunk the common misconceptions and describe how human trafficking networks really operate. Austin breaks down the new approaches, using data intelligence, to dismantle global networks and rescue trafficked children. They end with a thorough analysis of the downfall of Haiti. Austin Shamlin is the CEO and founder of Traverse Project, a no...
Jun 14, 2024•1 hr 12 min
The Coddling of the American Mind co-author Greg Lukianoff joins Rep. Crenshaw for a fun, wide-ranging conversation about cancel culture, the limits of free speech, and social psychology. Do some people deserve to be canceled? Should children be banned from using social media? When do political protestors cross the line? What rhetorical devices do the left and right use to derail honest debates? And how can we all use the checklist of cognitive distortions to save our own sanity? All of this and...
Jun 07, 2024•1 hr 22 min
