The worst-case scenario has officially come to fruition. In this episode of the Muckrake Podcast, co-hosts Jared Yates Sexton and Nick Hauselman unpack the devastating fallout from the recent U.S. presidential trip to China. They break down how a historic summit led to total capitulation, with a public agreement that America is a nation in decline and the functional handover of global leadership. The Iran Bloodbath Plan: Deconstructing leaked military intelligence reports detailing an insane, hi...
May 19, 2026•57 min
This is a preview of our Weekender episode. Visit http://patreon.com/muckrakrpodcast to unlock this and every full Friday episode. The boys are back for a humdinger of a weekend edition. We open with a historic and massive moment: Donald Trump has landed in China for a summit with Xi Jinping. The corporate media will not tell you the truth, but the reality is that the United States is there to beg for an exit strategy in Iran. We discuss why this moment feels like the fall of the Berlin Wall or ...
May 15, 2026•8 min
This week, co-hosts Jared Yates Sexton and Nick Hauselman examine the crumbling facade of the Trump administration as their one page peace proposal is sent back by Iran. With the Middle East slipping further out of control, Donald Trump is heading to China to prostrate himself before Xi Jinping. But he is not going alone. He is bringing the actual bosses of the United States Elon Musk and Tim Cook, to help beg for an exit strategy (but really to enrich themselves). They also breakdown: The Econo...
May 12, 2026•52 min
This is a free preview of our Weekender episode. Unlock the whole podcast and get access to our Discord and Live Show by visiting: http://patreon.com/muckrakepodcast The Boys are back in town and the world is moving faster than ever. This week, we dive into the "Groundhog Day" nightmare of U.S. foreign policy as the administration begs China to help broker a deal with Iran. Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia is pushing back against U.S. hegemony, and economic "zero hour" is fast approaching with a potentia...
May 08, 2026•10 min
Our boy Nick Hauselman is out and about, leaving Jared Yates Sexton to man the Muckrake desk. In this episode he breaks down the worsening energy crisis, escalations In the Strait of Hormuz, as well Right Wing personalities losing backing and a Neo-Neoliberal plot to seize the machinery of the Democratic Party. To support the show and also gain access to The Weekender episodes on Friday, head over to http://patreon.com/muckrakepodcast and become a patron....
May 05, 2026•43 min
Jared Yates Sexton and Nick Hauselman break down a series of national and global collapses in this Weekender edition of the Muckrake Podcast. They analyze the Supreme Court’s 6-3 decision regarding Louisiana's voting maps, arguing that the ruling effectively dismantles the Voting Rights Act and signals a return to an era of disenfranchisement. The conversation shifts to the intensifying energy crisis and the indefinite stalemate in Iran. With the UAE withdrawing from OPEC and Saudi Arabia’s sove...
May 01, 2026•10 min
The surreal nature of Saturday night at the Washington Hilton has left the country in a state of collective dismay. In this episode, co-hosts Jared Yates Sexton and Nick Hauselman analyze the intersection of political violence, the erosion of load-bearing institutions, and the ethical crossroads facing people of conscience. The conversation centers on the manifesto of the thirty-one year old alleged assailant. The hosts explore the rational or extreme moral arguments used to justify such actions...
Apr 28, 2026•47 min
This is a free preview of the Weekender Episode. To listen to the whole episode and unlock more features like exclusive live shows and access to our discord, visit http://patreon.com/muckrakepodcast and become a patron. Jared Yates Sexton and Nick Hauselman break down the alarming institutional reaction to the Democratic victory in Virginia, where a circuit court judge barred the passage of redistricting despite a clear majority vote. They discuss how this bright spot for democracy was immediate...
Apr 24, 2026•8 min
Jared Yates Sexton and Nick Hauselman dive into the "psychosexual disaster" of the current administration, starting with the total meltdown at the FBI. They break down the bombshell reports regarding Director Kash Patel, whose alleged bouts of excessive drinking have left his security detail unable to wake him—once even prompting a request for "breaching equipment" to reach the director. The guys discuss if Patel’s incompetence is actually a weird form of luck, keeping him from making even more ...
Apr 21, 2026•54 min
Nick Hauselman is joined by Jason Neidleman, a political science professor at the University of La Verne, to dissect a bizarre week in global diplomacy. While ceasefire negotiations between the U.S. and Iran stall out in Pakistan after 21 hours, President Trump and his Secretary of State are nowhere near the table, opting instead to attend a UFC match. The duo discusses the "derangement theory" of Trump’s foreign policy, the strategic sidelining of J.D. Vance, and whether Jared Kushner is using ...
Apr 14, 2026•57 min
Nick Hauselman is out of pocket, so Jared Yates Sexton recorded a Professor Jared episode that's also a joint episode with his series A udio From A Collapsing State getting into Tuesday's apocalypse scare, the "ceasefire" that is secretly a surrender, and what to expect moving forward - spoiler, the fighting likely isn't over. This is a free preview of the Weekender. To hear the whole episode, and to also support the show, head over to http://patreon.com/muckrakepodcast and become a patron....
Apr 10, 2026•10 min
Jared Yates Sexton and Nick Hauselman break down a chaotic weekend in American foreign policy as the official narrative of a dramatic military rescue in Iran begins to unravel. While the government claims a heroic recovery of a missing weapons officer, the details point toward a massive cover-up of a failed special operations ambush near a nuclear site. The duo explores the staggering loss of military hardware and the purge of knowledgeable experts like General Randy George that has left the U.S...
Apr 07, 2026•52 min
This is a free preview of the Weekender edition of the podcast. In order to unlock the full episode, as well as live shows, the mailbag, and exclusive access to our Discord server, head over to Patreon.com/MuckrakePodcast . Your support keeps this project going and keeps us editorially independent. Co-hosts Jared Yates Sexton and Nick Hauselman break down a national address from Donald Trump that played out like a second-grader trying to fake his way through a book report. Between the threats to...
Apr 03, 2026•10 min
Co-hosts Jared Yates Sexton and Nick Hauselman analyze a flurry of conflicting signals regarding potential boots-on-the-ground operations in Iran. While the Pentagon floats plans for "weeks-long" missions, Donald Trump’s recent interviews suggest a far more indefinite and chaotic strategy involving oil seizures and uranium. The duo explores the disconnect between military reality and the "professional" regime change narratives being fed to a leader who seems increasingly lost in the tides of his...
Mar 31, 2026•50 min
Co-hosts Jared Yates Sexton and Nick Hauselman break down a week of absolute cognitive dissonance: a President receiving military briefings via two-minute "action" reels, an economy that seems to be running on Wile E. Coyote physics, and a landmark legal reckoning for the tech giants who built our fractured reality. From charging electric cars at gas stations that sell steak to the "suicide mission" plans for Kharg Island, it’s a deep dive into the crumbling facade of the American empire. The Mi...
Mar 27, 2026•11 min
Jared Yates Sexton and Nick Hauselman take stock of a government too broke to staff its own airports and an administration whose solution is to flood them with ICE agents. An idea that originated, no joke, with a caller to the Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show. From there, the guys trace the authoritarian logic of filling institutional vacuums with paramilitary loyalists, and what that means for the next time you try to catch a flight. They also dig into Trump's Iran ultimatum that expired withou...
Mar 24, 2026•46 min
This is a preview of our Weekender show. To listen to the whole show and unlock lots of extras like access to our Discord discussion and Live Shows, become a patron at http://patreon.com/muckrakepodcast Co-hosts Jared Yates Sexton and Nick Hauselman dive into the escalating strikes on Iranian oil refineries and the potential death of the petrodollar to the "Two Pricks Protocol" on display during the Markwayne Mullin confirmation hearings, the guys break down the evolutionary progress toward "stu...
Mar 20, 2026•10 min
Co-hosts Nick Hauselman and Jared Yates Sexton analyze a world barreling toward escalation as the Trump administration stares down a closed Strait of Hormuz. While the American economy teeters, European allies have begun navigating their own paths, negotiating directly with Iran and signaling a massive fracture in the Western alliance. The duo examines the disconnect between military reality and the hubris of an administration that seems to have ignored the tactical nightmares of Persian topogra...
Mar 17, 2026•48 min
Support the show by signing up to our Patreon and get access to the full Weekender episode each Friday as well as special Live Shows and access to our community discord at patreon.com/muckrakepodcast Nick Hauselman returns to join Jared Yates Sexton just in time to survey a global landscape that grows more barren by the second. This week, the pair dives deep into the worsening quagmire in the Strait of Hormuz. The Trump administration’s "mission accomplished" rhetoric has met the cold reality of...
Mar 13, 2026•10 min
Nick Hauselman is out, leaving Jared Yates Sexton to handle operations. In this episode, Jared gets into the weeds regarding the quagmire in Iran, where the U.S. has no plan and things keep trending in the direction of chaos and destruction. With each passing day, off-ramps continue to disappear, so what are we to make of this crisis? To support the show, head over to http://patreon.com/muckrakepodcast and become a patron. You'll gain access to the Friday Weekender episode and future live shows,...
Mar 10, 2026•42 min
The humiliation of Kristi Noem is finally complete as co-hosts Jared Yates Sexton and Nick Hauselman discuss Donald Trump shipping her off to a fake "envoy" role to make room for Senator Mark Wayne Mullen. It is a transition from calculated propaganda to pure, unadulterated incompetence at the head of the DHS. While the administration celebrates the end of "woke" military restraint, the actual war in Iran is turning into a localized catastrophe. A recent strike on an Iranian school has claimed t...
Mar 06, 2026•10 min
The U.S. and Israel have officially decapitated the Iranian leadership. Co-hosts Jared Yates Sexton and Nick Hauselman break down the first 48 hours of a conflict that is rapidly spiraling out of control. While the administration claims a swift victory, the reality suggests a massive regional war is only just beginning. Donald Trump is already shifting his timeline for the conflict in every media appearance. The hosts examine his rambling press availability where he discussed military projection...
Mar 03, 2026•45 min
Is this the start of a wider war, or just the opening punch of something worse? In this emergency episode, Jared Yates Sexton and Nick Hauselman react to the U.S. and Israel launching a joint attack on Iran. They talk through the removal of the Ayatollah, the immediate retaliation across the region, and what it means when the Strait of Hormuz effectively closes. They dig into Trump popping up at Mar-a-Lago looking wrecked, floating regime change fantasies, and shrugging at the idea that American...
Mar 01, 2026•30 min
Is the 2020 “stolen election” story really a setup to seize control of future elections? Co-hosts Jared Yates Sexton and Nick Hauselman react to a Washington Post report that lays out an executive order blueprint to blame China for 2020 and trigger emergency powers that could reshape how Americans vote. They argue this is what happens when a bloated presidency meets a party that treats democracy like an optional accessory, and they talk about what actually stops it when Congress will not. Then t...
Feb 27, 2026•12 min
Support the show by signing up to our Patreon and get access to the full Weekender episode each Friday as well as special Live Shows and access to our community discord: patreon.com/muckrakepodcast Co-hosts Jared Yates Sexton and Nick Hauselman dig into the Supreme Court slapping down Trump's massive tariff scheme, only for him to lose his shit, call them disloyal, and crank it right back up to 15% global like nothing happened. That $133 billion that's supposedly been collected? Nobody's got a c...
Feb 24, 2026•1 hr 4 min
Support the show by signing up to our Patreon and get access to the full Weekender episode each Friday as well as special Live Shows and access to our community discord: http://patreon.com/muckrakepodcast Co-hosts Jared Yates Sexton and Nick Hauselman open this Weekender by asking the ugliest question out loud: Are we drifting toward a strike on Iran with no clear end game? They dig into why the silence feels like the point, how Russia and China fit onto the board, and why a wider conflict alw...
Feb 20, 2026•12 min
Co-hosts Nick Hauselman and Jared Yates Sexton open with a rare California Corner that’s more flood warning than sunshine report. Then they dig into the New York Times reporting on DHS and ICE subpoenas sent to Google, Meta, Discord, and Reddit, aimed at unmasking accounts tracking ICE and criticizing the crackdown. They talk through what that means in practice, why “anonymous” is a fantasy once the state wants names, and how pressure gets applied through watchlists, travel pain, and fear. From ...
Feb 17, 2026•46 min
Support the show by signing up to our Patreon and get access to the full Weekender episode each Friday as well as special Live Shows and access to our community discord: http://patreon.com/muckrakepodcast. It’s a full mailbag Weekender and it starts with Jared Yates Sexton hitting the wall after another long day on the road and Nick Hauselman catching heat for being too friendly with the devil machines. A listener asks whether the Democratic Party can be rebuilt or if it has to be replaced and t...
Feb 13, 2026•11 min
Jared Yates Sexton and Nick Hauselman rip into Ring's Super Bowl ad, which manipulates the raw emotion of reuniting with a lost dog to sell a feature that quietly turns neighborhood doorbell cameras into a shared surveillance network. They move on to the Super Bowl's cultural divide: Bad Bunny's triumphant halftime show that sparked racist outrage, contrasted with the joyless Turning Point USA alternative that exposed the right's inability to create real energy or fun. The discussion hits Epstei...
Feb 10, 2026•53 min
It is Super Bowl weekend and neither the co-hosts Jared Yates Sexton or Nick Hauselman can pretend to care about the game. Jared is in full " They Live " mode and he is not being polite about it. The conversation quickly turns to the Washington Post gutting itself under Jeff Bezos, and what it means when a billionaire can buy a load bearing newsroom with pocket change. They argue that this is not a business mistake, it is the point, and they connect it to the bigger pattern of institutions being...
Feb 06, 2026•11 min
