American Friction

Trump has been on a pardoning spree and an executive order bender in his first days as president. How crazy has this been, what will actually happen — and how bad is it for America? Nikki, Chris and Jarv review the first week and rope in support from Tim Dickinson, senior politics writer at Rolling Stone. Back us on Patreon – we need your help to keep going. Get ad free episodes, extra bits and me...

Donald Trump officially became president on Monday – delivering a speech which was predictably full of lies, exaggerations and right-wing nonsense. Nikki and Jarv unpack the madness, and add the context that Trump certainly didn’t. Oh and they talk about Elon Musk doing a hand gesture which looked pretty suspect…  Back us on Patreon – we need your help to keep going. Get ad free episodes, extra bi...

Donald Trump is about to officially become president and he’s been bragging about everything he’ll do right away. But, what can he really get done on day one? Our friend Casey Burgat, host of the Mastering the Room podcast and author of the upcoming book We Hold These "Truths": How to Spot the Myths that are Holding America Back, joins us to discuss. And, just what is America’s place in the world?...

Trump is refusing to deny that he could invade Greenland and elsewhere, while he’s also set on renaming a few places to make ‘em more American. What the hell is he on about? And, Mark Zuckerberg has been zuck-ing up to Trump lately – is he just as bad as Musk? Plus, independent investigative journalist Jacqueline Sweet was banned from X for digging into a conspiracy theory about the Twitter owner...

Donald Trump is backing Elon Musk in a major clash with MAGA loyalists. So why is the president-to-be siding with the Tesla boss? Plus – we all know what happened on January 6th 2021. Should we be worried about any chaos this time out?  Back us on Patreon – we need your help to keep going. Get ad free episodes, extra bits and merch: patreon.com/americanfriction  Follow us on Bluesky – https://bsky...

American politics has been a real treat this year, hasn’t it? Lol. Well, it’s been interesting at least so the gang unpacks the key moments and lessons from a year that saw Trump elected President again.  Follow us on social media:  Twitter Instagram  TikTok Support us on Patreon: patreon.com/americanfriction Written and presented by Chris Jones and Nikki McCann Ramírez. Audio editor: Simon Willia...

Donald Trump might yet get punished over his hush money shenanigans — what’s going on with this never-ending legal saga? Plus — drones, stars and planes have made America’s right-wing angry and confused. Why have they dived into conspiracies and what’s the truth? As far as we know it anyway…  Follow us on social media:  Twitter Instagram  TikTok Support us on Patreon: patreon.com/americanfriction...

• Get 20% off a year’s Patreon support in our Black Friday sale. Why not ask for it for Christmas? Donald Trump’s first TV interview since winning the election didn’t disappoint, or did, depending on your point of view. Joining Kristen Welker on NBC News’s Meet the Press, he outlined his plan for the economy, immigration, and his “concepts of a plan” for healthcare. Did any of it make sense and is...

•Get 20% off a year’s Patreon support in our Black Friday sale. Why not ask for it for Christmas? Everyone’s in a flap about Joe Biden pardoning his son, Hunter. Is it as huge a deal as it’s made out to be? Will it really matter all that much politically? Plus, we look at Trump’s pardon records and the dodgy people set to be in his cabinet – like the Fox News host whose mum is now involved in the...

Get 20% off a year’s Patreon support in our Black Friday sale. Why not ask for it for Christmas? Donald Trump has swerved legal trouble once again — we unpack the latest as cases against him are dropped or postponed. Plus, Kat Abughazaleh from Mother Jones joins us to discuss the power of Fox News and the right-wing infosphere.  Back us on Patreon – we need your help to keep going. Get ad free epi...

Well, Matt Gaetz has decided to bow out of trying to become attorney general after it became clear everybody hates him. We wonder why? We discuss the cabinet latest and ask how much Musk is annoying Trump – does anyone fancy a sweepstake on how long until he’s booted? Plus, Casey Burgat, director of the Legislative Affairs program at George Washington University’s Graduate School of Political Mana...

Well, Trump has truly surpassed himself making his cabinet even more MAGA than we expected. From Matt Gaetz to Musk to Kristi Noem, we discuss the key picks – and how Trump might get them through with no scrutiny. (we recorded before RFK Jr. was confirmed, so we’ve got plenty to discuss next show)  And Congressman Ro Khanna, a Democrat representing California’s 17th district, becomes our first rea...

The Trump victory and the collapse of the Democratic Party vote completely shocked political onlookers. But how did it take the Dems so badly by surprise? And are they ready to reckon with their loss properly — and address the broader issues the party faces? Andrew Perez, senior politics editor at Rolling Stone, joins Nikki, Chris and Jarv to discuss.  Back us on Patreon – we need your help to kee...

Trump is president elect. F*ck’s sake, Chris and Jarv were right and Nikki’s fears were realised. There’s no beating around the bush, this looks like a terrible night for Democrats and democracy at large. In an early hours record, we pick over what we know so far as Trump declares victory and TV stations call it. The Senate has gone GOP too, who knows how the House will go.  Back us on Patreon – w...

The election is nearly here. So, who’s going to win? We look at the state of play with a few days to go, and Jarv forces Chris and Nikki to talk about their gut feelings.  And friend of the podcast Molly Jong-Fast, of Fast Politics, joins to describe what she’s going to be focusing on on election night and discuss the latest issues.  Back us on Patreon – we need your help to keep going. Get ad fre...

• Back us on Patreon – we need your help to keep going. Get ad free episodes, extra bits and merch: patreon.com/americanfriction  While we’re all focussed on the horse race, the question people are focussing on less is what will the aftermath to November’s vote be like? We discuss how the fallout will look, and just how ugly it might get. Plus, Chris Cooper, political science professor at Western...

Try the new science and psychology podcast Why? –  from the makers of American Friction. Why? is the podcast for curious minds. Every Thursday, presenter Emma Kennedy talks to experts and theorists to discover the science and psychology of why we are the way we are.  In the first episode: Why do people join cults? And how do they get out? Emma Kennedy talks to world-leading cult deprogrammer Rick...

Trump is cancelling interviews, refusing to answer questions and acting like a cursed wedding DJ at the moment. Has his campaign lost all direction? Plus, we discuss what it means to call him a fascist with Dorian Lynskey, co-author of Fascism: The Story of an Idea. And in a guest double whammy, journalist and author Justin Glawe joins to discuss Georgia and how events there will impact the electi...

Harris went on a media frenzy this week – how did it go? What did we learn and what’s missing? And why has it made Trump lose it? Plus, we speak to Ashley Spillane, from social impact firm Impactual, about the power of celeb endorsements.  And, we announce we’re on Patreon! We want to keep going, but we need your support. Visit www.patreon.com/americanfriction to sign up for ad free episodes, extr...

The Trump campaign has been a little bit “sane washed” after JD Vance’s polished debate performance. Sorry to tell you, Trump is still saying and doing crazy sh*t – and there’s more evidence from Jan 6 to unpack too. Plus, we look at issues for Harris with natural disasters at home and conflict abroad. And, Jessie Opoien from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel joins us to discuss how key Wisconsin wil...

JD Vance and Tim Walz went head-to-head in what looks likely to be the final debate between candidates ahead of the presidential election. And they were surprisingly… nice to each other? What’s that all about? Recorded in the small hours of Wednesday, Nikki and Jacob discuss the VP debate and what it means for the race.  We’re now on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@AmericanFrictionPod  Follow us...

The amount of scandals in US politics right now is hard to keep up with. But, fear not – we’re here to catch you up. And, we discuss what the latest Trump, Robinson, Adams and RFK Jr. stories mean for the election.  Plus, Peter Baker, chief White House Correspondent for the New York Times, joins Nikki and Jacob to discuss the feeling around the White House, how Biden fits into the race, and give h...

It’s less than 50 days until the US presidential election and polls are on a knife edge. As Harris and Trump race to the finish — what could change things? Nikki McCann Ramírez of Rolling Stone magazine, Jacob Jarvis, and Chris Jones discuss the numbers, key issues and how the candidates are trying to gain the upper hand. Plus, Jon Ralston, editor of The Nevada Independent joins us to talk about w...

In our latest US presidential election deep dive, we discuss the recent Trump assassination attempt. What do we know so far and how it will impact the election? As the Republicans look to pin the incident on Harris and Biden, we ask whether that will work – and just how cynical a ploy it is. Nikki McCann Ramírez of Rolling Stone magazine, Jacob Jarvis, and Chris Jones discuss the fallout in this l...

In this week's US presidential election deep dive, we analyse Donald’s Trump pledge of revenge against election workers – and discuss why we should take it seriously. Plus, Brandon Tensley of Capital B joins to discuss the issues that matter to Black voters in this election. Aaand, of course, we talk about Taylor Swift – and the right-wing creeps making themselves look really weird talking about h...