Krystal Kyle & Friends

Our expectations were low, but the first terrifying few days of Trump, round two have been worse than anyone could have imagined. Already we’re seeing the rollback of key civil rights legislation, attacks on immigrant communities, cutting immigration opportunities for refugees, and much more. After Elon Musk’s shenanigans on the Trump 2024 campaign trail, we expected oligarchs — Trump’s fellow eli...

Welcome to episode 208 of KK&F, where your hosts get into Biden’s final days for a special episode. As the sun sets on the Biden admin, it seems like until the last minute, Biden is asking, “Won’t somebody do something?” It’s a vibe that has haunted his whole presidency as for the last four years he’s performatively gestured toward shoring up essential policies like abortion rights, antitrust, and...

This week on Episode 207 of KK&F, British journalist Owen Jones joins us to help make sense of what Elon is up to in Britain, whether his boost of the far right Reform Party will prove successful, and what to make of his falling out with Nigel Farage. We’re so grateful to have Owen back on the pod to share his thoughts on everything from Elon’s British Invasion to the current state of the far-righ...

Welcome to the show, Pisco of Lib & Learn! We’re thrilled to have him on the pod with us to discuss the current civil war hitting MAGA’s ranks and the future of the bromance between Trump and Elon (is it built to last?). Like the Democrats, Republicans have their own big tent that brings a vast array of political tendencies into a single party. From the paleoconservatives to Wall Street libertaria...

With this week’s guest, Matt Bruenig, we debunk the biggest misconceptions and lies about single-payer healthcare. After the 2020 election, so many of us can mindlessly rattle off the most pernicious lines used among both conservatives and liberals to keep our healthcare system private. From zingers about wait times for care in Canada to (more than anything, it always comes down to this) the argum...

In our interview with Ken for KK&F Episode 204, we cover everything we know about Luigi Mangione so far and the media’s fascinating, highly telling reaction to every new revelation about the case. Ken published a separate article about how the Times , for example, has made a point of avoiding pictures of Mangione’s face — anyone on Twitter the last few days will understand why. Apparently he’s too...

We have Michael Tracey on this week to give us the lowdown on Trump’s Cabinet picks, from Pete Hegseth to Tulsi Gabbard. Michael addresses the perception of Pete Hegseth among some of Trump’s base as an anti-war figure, Trump’s leverage in getting his picks through the confirmation process, and much more. Who is the cast of characters currently taking shape as Trump’s next admin, and who do we nee...

We’re back with KK&F Episode 201, featuring MSNBC regular turned critic Steve Schmidt. The “Morning Joe” duo has gone from comparing Trump to Hitler to begging for a meeting in two weeks time to their audience’s utter disgust, a move Steve describes as cynical capitulation in a blistering rant. Add the network’s rating collapse to the news that Comcast is spinning MSNBC off into a new entity, and...

Episode 200 features Juan David Rojas talking to us about how AMLO, Mexico’s Bernie, won. From strategic alliances with billionaires to successful public works programs, AMLO followed what our guest calls a “politics of pragmatism.” By keeping the media at bay and ensuring the rich paid their fair share, he was able to pursue a left-wing political agenda without becoming, as Democratic candidates...

Welcome to Episode 199 of KK&F, with special guest Ettingermentum for election results analysis. Watching many voters shift away from Harris, whether toward Trump or rejecting voting entirely, reminded us that many groups — for example, the disaffected young bros that seem to have broke for Trump in surprisingly massive number — were moved by the message of Bernie Sanders but, now that the only ch...

Listen to our contentious debate with Will Chamberlain on this week’s episode of KK&F. A major point of contention comes up between us and our guest around analysis of the conflict in Israel-Palestine, which Will makes clear he’s unwilling to perceive as a genocide. As we see it, events and tactics like the current starvation strategy Israel’s using in north Gaza make it clear that this event shou...

In this week’s conversation with Sam Butler about how Elon Musk amassed the wealth and influence to make a play for political power, Sam gives us necessary context about why this plan seems feasible. In places like Texas, where Elon has moved both his personal residence and the headquarters of some of the companies he owns, corporations have far more political sway, far fewer financial constraints...

As the election looms, we’re debating a pair of fellow YouTubers, Hutch and Pondering Politics, on what the Harris-Walz campaign has shaped up to be. We’ve got an exciting debate for you on whether Kamala’s decision to pander to Republican voters instead of making meaningful concessions to the left is a necessary, sound piece of political strategy or a total miss. We’re nothing if not fair, of cou...

Welcome back to Krystal Kyle & Friends! This week’s conversation is on the escalating conflict in Lebanon and the ties we and our guest, Omar Baddar, see between this crisis and the ongoing genocide in Gaza. Omar provides insights into the “opportunities” for military escalation and struggle for dominance over Hezbollah that Israel sees in its current campaign in Lebanon. Because the U.S. plays su...

Welcome to Episode 194 of KK&F, where we’re sitting down with the Vanguard to discuss whether the Harris campaign is poised to win it all — or whether they’re wasting this crucial moment. We talk about Democrats snubbing their base by leaning right on immigration, Republicans leaning left on abortion, and why the name of the game right now is trying to expand the party coalitions, courting indepen...

This week on KK&F, we’re talking to conservative journalist Sohrab Ahmari in order to figure out what’s missing from the Trump campaign’s political calculations for 2024. To cut to the quick of what made Trump 2016 so compelling for millions of Americans it seems necessary to assess Trump’s relationship with the media — which isn’t as antagonistic as Trump has successfully made it out to be. While...

Adam Johnson of Citations Needed and Column blog is here for Episode 192, where we’re discussing his great new piece on Republican media strategy in the face of this latest Republican slander campaign. It gives us valuable insight into what Vance adds to the far-right playbook. As he points out, Trump doubles down when he’s called out for crazy stories like this! However, “slick former Yale law st...

This week’s episode features our analysis of the debate and our conversation with David about his exciting new podcast, “The Master Plan,” detailing how big money launched a successful coup to steal our democracy. Social media (especially X; we shudder to think about what’s making the rounds on Facebook) has been blowing up, since Tuesday’s debate, with both memes and rightful outrage about former...

Welcome back to another week of KK&F! This week’s guest, Jordan Chariton, is an independent reporter known for his coverage of left movements and protests like those at Standing Rock, the grassroots organizing around the Sanders campaign, and much more. Over repeated trips to Flint, Jordan has been on the ground, understanding how local government actively covered up its failure to protect the pub...

What is classical liberalism? We get into the weeds with Joshua Reed Eakle of Project Liberal. Hearing “Project Liberal,” you might anticipate something cooked up by the American Democratic Party. But this is different: Joshua is making the case for a political and economic system governed by principles of free trade and competition. As per his own admission, it’s not a system premised on equality...

Our guest this week, Jesse Ventura, former star wrestler, Governor of Minnesota, and Green Party presidential candidate, talks about the collusion between Dems and Republicans, his electoral history, the corruption of money in politics, and the shortcomings of third-party runs in the current presidential election cycle. He’s been on the show before to discuss these issues, and we’re excited to hav...

In Episode 187 of KK&F, we sit down with your favorite Twitter account Ettingermentum to talk about Kamala and the Democrats’ political fortunes for 2024. Back when Biden had just landed a real dud of a debate performance in late June, you’ll remember that his fellow Dems were quick to criticize, and a few started calling for his exit from the 2024 Democratic ticket. Kamala Harris, his successor t...

When we last convened for an episode of KK&F, Kamala was still looking to fill the VP slot on the Democratic ticket. Since then, VP pick Tim Walz has received an outpouring of enthusiasm from the left-of-center and relief from progressives, but at the same time, the right has looked for weak points to hit him on (and it must be said, Walz doesn’t make it as easy as Vance does). Now, after some com...

In her comments on the current state of the ‘24 race and on the current Biden presidency, this week’s guest, Green Party candidate Jill Stein, talks us through what would come after a ceasefire for her administration. To her, it’s vital that the U.S. joins negotiations with a strict adherence to international law, not clear and bloodthirsty favoritism for Israel, as is the current policy. It must...

The old Kamala is back. That’s our guest Cenk Uygur’s pronouncement as he glosses Kamala’s shifting fortunes over the course of her political career. Initially favored as a rising star in the Democratic Party, Kamala looked like an early favorite for the nomination in the 2020 cycle, sweeping the first debate, before things seemed to go wrong suddenly and without clear cause. As Krystal points out...