Virginia Roberts Giuffre’s memoir NOBODY’S GIRL: A Memoir of Surviving Abuse and Fighting for Justice -- is more than a book — it’s a final act of truth-telling from a woman who refused to be silenced. In this episode, Rick Wilson honors her story by sitting down with co-author Amy Wallace and Virginia's brother, Sky Roberts, and his wife, Amanda, to examine how Virginia's courage blew the lid off of Epstein’s network of abuse, power, and complicity. Through her own words, Virginia's voice conti...
Oct 28, 2025•1 hr 27 min
The White House East Wing didn’t fall—it got vibed out of existence. Trump’s building a ballroom fit for his ego, bulldozing history for a disco ball. In this week’s Elephant in the Room, Rick drags the Trump ballroom demolition 2025 mess like it’s an HGTV fever dream gone fascist. We’re talking $300 million in private “donations,” government accountability in shambles, and a former president who treats democracy like a side hustle. It’s giving Marie Antoinette-core, dripping in gold, and built ...
Oct 24, 2025•33 min
Arizona’s Adelita Grijalva won her election fair and square, but Speaker Mike Johnson’s government shutdown has become a hostage crisis. Grijalva would have been the 218th vote to release the Epstein Files. Instead of being sworn in, Grijalva’s locked out while Johnson clings to power and uses the House swearing-in delay to feed his MAGA base. Rick Wilson tears into this clown show—how GOP power politics turned a duly elected congresswoman into a political pawn, how the shutdown in Congress hurt...
Oct 21, 2025•41 min
Trump’s newest fiction comes with a price tag: $40 billion to Argentina. It’s not aid, it’s a favor — a payoff to Wall Street insiders and political loyalists who bankrolled his second term. While American farmers drown under tariffs and export bans, Trump’s cronies are cashing foreign checks. And right on cue, he approves a Qatari airbase in Idaho, conveniently following his Doha golf course deal. Rick Wilson calls it what it is: a presidential pay-to-play scheme on a global scale. But Trump’s ...
Oct 17, 2025•36 min
Imagine the Roaring Twenties, but with cable news, Bitcoin, and orange hair. Andrew Ross Sorkin joins Rick to discuss his new book '1929: Inside the Greatest Crash in Wall Street History--and How It Shattered a Nation' (out 10/14/25), which shows the collision course between Wall Street excess and regulatory failure that sparked the Great Depression. Today, Trump’s tariff tantrums are gutting supply chains, midwestern farmers are losing land, inflation is gobbling up paychecks, and the rich are ...
Oct 14, 2025•41 min
Trump is flirting with invoking the Insurrection Act, and when he says he “can do something,” he usually means he's GOING to do it. This week, Stephen Miller encouraged the fantasy of Trump’s so-called “plenary authority” to deploy the National Guard in Chicago and Portland. At the same time, Kristi Noem floated an ICE expansion to “restore order.” Rick Wilson breaks down how Trump’s martial law threats, Miller’s authoritarian fetish, and MAGA’s open calls for arrests are all part of the same an...
Oct 10, 2025•35 min
He said she was “not his type.” The jury said he was lying. In this can’t-miss episode, Rick Wilson talks with E. Jean Carroll about her jaw-dropping victory in the Trump defamation and sexual assault civil case. They discuss the courtroom madness, the appeals court ruling that upheld her $83.3 million judgment, and the surreal moment she realized Trump’s mouth had finally cost him real money. Her new book, Not My Type: One Woman vs. a President, is equal parts courtroom thriller, survivor’s man...
Oct 08, 2025•33 min
In Trump’s America, the enemy isn’t abroad—it’s you. His latest military speech made it clear: he sees the U.S. Army as his domestic police force, his red hat shock troops, his tool for shutting down dissent. Meanwhile, the Supreme Court keeps handing him authoritarian cheat codes, the government shutdown grinds on, tariffs crush farmers, and Democrats keep pretending they’ll “find their message” someday. • • • • Follow Rick Wilson at @TheRickWilson on X and @therickwilson.bsky.social on Bluesky...
Oct 03, 2025•29 min
Welcome back to America’s Groundhog Day: where Reconstruction never really ended, Jim Crow 2.0 is trending, and Trump authoritarianism feels like a bad sequel. Antonia Hylton (MSNBC) walks us through how the post-Reconstruction era is colliding with today’s civil rights crisis. Then Charlie Sykes breaks down how the Trump crackdown on the media, the DOJ's weaponization, and a supine Supreme Court that keeps empowering the executive branch make Nixon look like a community theater tyrant. Spoiler:...
Sep 30, 2025•58 min
Ukraine is hitting back harder than ever, as its military pushes Russia out of key regions and puts Moscow’s most significant targets in range—all while Russian gas prices skyrocket to a staggering $25 a gallon, deepening Putin’s crisis. At the same time in the U.S., late-night TV is on fire: ABC’s controversial decision to reorder Jimmy Kimmel Live! sparked massive backlash, wiping $4 billion off Disney’s market cap before Kimmel triumphantly returned to air. From Ukraine’s fight for freedom to...
Sep 26, 2025•32 min
Elie Honig joins Rick Wilson to discuss When You Come at the King, exploring the intersection of presidential power and the law. Nixon's Watergate scandal, Reagan's Iran-Contra affair, and Clinton's Monica Lewinsky scandal all tested the limits of executive power in their own ways. However, Trump has altered the game when it comes to executive power and has zero shame about it. Trump's presidential immunity ruling was the most significant expansion of presidential power in the last 100 years. Wi...
Sep 23, 2025•43 min
Donald Trump and his handpicked FCC chair, Brendan Carr, just made satire a crime. After punishing ABC and Jimmy Kimmel’s late-night show getting pulled off-air, America is staring down the barrel of state-run media where free speech is no longer protected, jokes are illegal, and satire is treated as sedition. This episode dives into Trump’s FCC censorship crackdown, the chilling rise of state-controlled news, and what it means when a president can silence critics with the stroke of a pen. From ...
Sep 19, 2025•31 min
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, ger...
Sep 16, 2025•49 min
America is bleeding out from within. In just the past few years, the U.S. has been rocked by political violence, extremist attacks, and assassinations that have pushed democracy to the brink. From right-wing radicals to left-wing extremists, the rhetoric of hate has turned deadly, fueling a surge in domestic terrorism and political assassinations. The killing of Charlie Kirk in Utah and the shocking assassination of Minnesota Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband are the latest wake-up calls, and...
Sep 12, 2025•35 min
Donald Trump’s New York story isn’t just about gold-plated towers—it’s about shady deals, mob ties, bankruptcies, and the grift that built his so-called empire. In this episode, host Rick Wilson sits down with Jonathan Mahler of The New York Times Magazine to dig into Trump’s corruption in New York real estate , his mob connections , and how those dirty deals shaped the man who would later seize the presidency. Together, they expose the Trump Tower backstory , the bankruptcy bailouts , and the p...
Sep 09, 2025•44 min
The free market just flatlined—and Donald Trump pulled the plug. While pretending to be the defender of capitalism, Trump has become its greatest enemy. His new 10% stake in Intel, combined with a push for Soviet-style business control, exposes the breathtaking hypocrisy of MAGA’s so-called “free enterprise” movement. Just like his idol Vladimir Putin—who used the exact same strategy to crush rivals and consolidate power—Trump is turning America into his own oligarch’s playground. In this episod...
Sep 05, 2025•45 min
**Content Warning: The following episode features the story of a survivor of Jeffrey Epstein, references sexual assault, and may be triggering. Please take care.** This week, Rick sits down with Jess Michaels, who is a survivor of Jeffrey Epstein’s abuse, to expose not just the predator himself, but the powerful system that enabled him. As Jess tells her story of surviving the billionaire’s web of wealth, rot, and silence, the shadows of Epstein’s empire loom larger than ever. Ghislaine Maxwell ...
Sep 02, 2025•41 min
Forget ballot stuffing — the real con is happening at the drafting table. Rick Wilson and redistricting assassin Dave Daley rip into the 2025 gerrymander scam that’s turning democracy into a rigged casino. The lines are drawn, the fix is in, and voters are the suckers at the table. From Texas to New York, Republicans are carving maps like mobsters carving turf — locking in power before a single vote is cast. Rick and Dave break down the cartographic crime scene, torch the Democrats sleepwalking ...
Aug 26, 2025•28 min
Former UN Ambassador, attorney, and foreign affairs expert Mr. John Bolton stops by the studio to talk with Rick about America's status on the global stage. Bolton articulates all of the complicated moving pieces of how America impacts the world and sheds light on threats toward the U.S., the effect of tariffs on our U.S. allies, Russia and Ukraine, and local security. ・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・ You can check out Rick Wilson at @TheRickWilson on X and @therickwilson.bsky.social on Bluesky, and subscribe ...
Aug 22, 2025•22 min
This week, Rick's Elephant in the Room is fighting the fight where it's at. And, not to go too hard on Dems, but they *could* stop hating the game and instead take a page out of Gavin Newsom's playbook. When Newsom logs on, Donald Trump takes the L. This past week has been one nonstop stream of viral trolls, clapbacks, and dunks, with Newsom torching Trump across social media. We’re breaking down how the Governor of California has become Trump’s worst online nightmare—and why the internet can’t ...
Aug 22, 2025•12 min
Texas just went full throttle and dropped the wildest political heist of 2025 — a mid-decade redistricting blitz where Republicans rigged the map, Democrats fled the state, and cops chased lawmakers like it was a Netflix drama. Add in nationwide “Fight the Trump Takeover” protests and blue states plotting revenge, and you’ve got the biggest battle for Congress before 2026. Rick sits down with Texas Senators Carol Alvarado and Ronald Gutierrez to unpack what they are doing to resist this insanity...
Aug 19, 2025•18 min
This week, Rick's Elephant in the Room is the redistricting gunfight in Texas. Ahead of the 2026 midterms and to mitigate Trump's terrible polling numbers, Governor Abbott and the Texas GOP just “remixed” democracy — and not in the fun, dancefloor kind of way. They’re locking in their power with lines so crooked they make Watergate look like a paperwork error. Meanwhile, Democrats in California and New York are quietly plotting their revenge, armed with their own gerrymandering strategies and a ...
Aug 15, 2025•11 min
Most of us have heard by now that the US is experiencing an ongoing disinformation war online, taking on damage from our global adversaries, various capitalistic social media platforms, and, worst of all, Trump, MAGA, and the far-right. Dr. Caroline Orr Bueno -- a PhD in Disinformation and Social Networks who's built a resistance against political propaganda -- sits down with Rick to shed light on algorithmic tyranny and how the Trump admin is trying to seize control of algorithms, social media,...
Aug 12, 2025•33 min
This week, Rick's Elephant in the Room is Trump and Putin's desperate, evil, and megalomaniacal love affair as a diversion tactic. Trump, perilously seeking a distraction from the Epstein files, has a meeting with Putin soon, and Rick has a hunch of what Trump is willing to do to change the headlines to ANYTHING ELSE...even if that means some sort of deal with the Russian devil. Currently, 80% of Americans believe that Trump has something to do with the Epstein files, and it's breaking Trump and...
Aug 08, 2025•15 min
Journalist Julie K. Brown -- whose Miami Herald reporting in 2017 and 2018 led to additional charges for Epstein and identified nearly 80 of his victims -- sits down with Rick to unravel all of the significant details that the public might not know yet, or might not be paying attention to. Blowing the lid off of an already UNBELIEVABLE story (again), Julie sheds light on the victims' stories, Epstein and Maxwell's extensive child trafficking network, the colossal names woven into the network, wh...
Aug 05, 2025•39 min
This week, Rick's Elephant in the Room is that America has spoken, and we're not letting the Epstein cover-up go. America is locked on target, and justice for the sexual assault victims matters. Exposing the truth about Donald Trump matters. Maybe we're growing up as a country? After ten years of distraction whack-a-mole, maybe we've matured and are no longer taking his bait. Facts are louder than the lies, and Trump can't rewrite or reframe his involvement in the Epstein/Maxwell narrative. A po...
Aug 01, 2025•14 min
Russian expats, anti-authoritarian journalists, and co-authors Andrei Soldatov and Irina Borogan join Rick this week to share their heroic story of fleeing Russia in order to give the rest of the world a picture of how people within the country reacted to the war in Chechnya (and now the invasion of Ukraine), how the death of journalism paved a path for state-run misinformation channels, and what the future looks like, structurally, once Putin eventually dies in the future. The militaristic syst...
Jul 29, 2025•30 min
This week, Rick's Elephant in the Room is the foul odor of the Epstein files -- and now Todd Blanche meeting with Ghislaine Maxwell in Florida. Blanche, who was Trump's personal attorney throughout cases brought from 2020 through 2024 is now serving as the Deputy Attorney General under the Trump Administration. Backed up by numerous photos and previously released court documents that can be found online, Maxwell, a convicted child sex trafficker who is currently serving a 20-year sentence in Tal...
Jul 25, 2025•14 min
Calling all AI prompstitutes/askholes, crypto whales, and everyone who grew up nerding out on Science Fiction...this episode is for you! Special guest Adam Becker, an astrophysicist, author, tech journalist, and scientific philosopher, joins Rick to dissect Silicon Valley's beating heart: techno-futurism and the Silicon Valley bros. Inspired by all of the weird stories he's heard at parties in the Bay, Adam decided he wasn't wearing enough hats already and wrote two books on the subject matter: ...
Jul 22, 2025•40 min
This week, Rick's Elephant in the Room is -- is Trump dying? From his bruised hands to his swollen cankles, Donald Trump is taking on water like a pregnant woman with pre-eclampsia. As of yesterday, Trump was diagnosed with chronic venous insufficiency (or as we joked internally, "venus deficiency" or "a lack of love from the ladies" -- which totally tracks). According to a quick Google search, Trump's veins are having a problem circulating the blood back to his heart (probably because it's ten ...
Jul 18, 2025•15 min
