Krystal Kyle & Friends

Our guest this week, Dr. Wilson of Debunk the Funk, joins us to address a topic of much debate: Are RFK Jr.’s vaccine claims totally false? As we point out in our discussion this week, while the presidential candidate hasn’t explicitly placed his anti-vaccine rhetoric at the core of his campaign, these ideas have driven his career — and are now front and center in the political discourse surroundi...

Welcome to Episode 130 of KK&F: a can’t-miss debate between your KK&F hosts and libertarian presidential candidate Mike ter Maat. We’ve got an episode that we hope will challenge and interest you with its lively, contrasting opinions on central social and economic issues: on the table are minimum wage, crypto, regulating Wall St and a lot more. On our minds this week is the strikingly awful suite...

This week, we are joined by Federalist writer and Counterpoints host Emily Jashinsky to debate the topics of recent anti-trans laws, drag queen story hours, Bud Light boycotts, and more. We also turn to Trump’s indictments and the right’s sudden concern for two-tier systems of justice. We’re grateful to have Emily on as an interlocutor, and we think you’ll find the conversation lively and challeng...

With the insight of our guest, Brad Moss, we dig into the thirty-seven charges of mishandling of classified documents brought against the former president. What particular instances do these charges refer to? What kind of sentence could Trump face, if he is found guilty — and how could this disrupt both the Republican primary and the election itself? We’ve talked in recent weeks about the match-up...

Our guest Touré gives us a compelling, fascinating, and insightful account of who made the hip-hop of the 1980s that changed the way we listen to music, who listened to it, who got the profit, and what anti-establishment political speech came out of this music. We think you’ll appreciate Touré’s analysis of capitalism’s role in the production of hip-hop music, a role that fits into a narrative of...

Our guest this week, FD Signifier, has done incredible deep dives on black conservatism — the media narrative around it, leading figures in this “niche group,” and the reality of political leanings within the black community. According to FD, while every election cycle since Obama’s second term has seen news stories on whether black voters will break away from the Democratic Party and vote Republi...

We’re releasing our convo early this week to give you the latest news as debt ceiling negotiations reach the eleventh hour on Memorial Day weekend. With David Dayen as our guest, we dig into the political scene unfolding in the debt ceiling negotiations, from key figures (Biden and McCarthy) to what’s on the docket for spending cuts thanks to Republican austerity — and no thanks to Democrats’ nego...

Media fawns and humiliates themselves over Secretary Pete, Ron DeSantis sinks to new lows in his war on trans people, and Kyle reveals that time he almost had to debate Alex Jones. We have a lot to talk about on this week’s episode of KK&F. And we’re thrilled to be joined by Jason Nichols a leftist who frequently appears on Newsmax. Jason discusses his strategy and goals for appearances, his views...

Acting as the attorney for the families of those killed in the Sandy Hook shooting, Mark Bankston played a central role in the crucial defamation cases against Alex Jones for his dangerous, highly public denial of the shooting. Now, he explains what constitutes defamation — and why that label can get so controversial. It’s tied in, of course, to an analysis of current events. Just a few weeks ago,...

News of Clarence Thomas’s expensive gifts from a billionaire GOP donor has sharpened our sense that the rich and and powerful play by different rules — and benefit accordingly. Other Supreme Court justices are benefiting, too. Reporting out of Business Insider just today shows that Jane Roberts, wife of Chief Justice John Roberts, took in $10.3 million over the course of eight years for connecting...

With this week’s guest, Daniel Nichanian, we dive into the recent trend of GOP “culture warriors” failing to make successful bids for school board seats in recent Midwestern elections. Krystal points out that given the relatively large pool of resources these candidates often have to draw upon for smaller local elections, many expected the far-right strategy to win these elections through virulent...

We've got a wide-ranging and thought-provoking conversation with author and political commentator Norman Finkelstein, covering everything from the 2020 Sanders campaign's strategy and messaging, the current state of American politics, political appeals to the working class, and more. Norm joins us to talk about "hyper-wokeness," both its manifestations in the 2020 presidential election and beyond....

In Episode 119 of KK&F, we’re joined by lawyer and journalist Bradley Moss to learn the ins and outs of Trump’s developing criminal case. Now, as Trump actually heads to court, we’ll see how his base mobilizes around their perception of the former president as wrongfully accused or persecuted, and how Trump himself continues to refute the charges he’s facing. The case will, we expect, be a major p...

What is Steven Donziger up against? In our extensive conversation with him this week, we ask him to walk us through the charges he faced as a result of targeting from Chevron, how he appealed those charges, and why it’s significant that this appeal won’t be considered by the Supreme Court. Steven explains that he was charged with contempt of court and sentenced to 6 months in jail back in 2021 for...

Welcome back to KK&F, where the great Matthew Zeitlin gives us a primer on the conditions that led to the March 10 fall of SVB (Silicon Valley Bank), which had been involved with nearly half of tech companies backed by venture capital. He also helps us understand the significance (and the truth) behind Biden’s claim that what the Fed did for SVB following its failure was not a bailout. How should...

April 11 marks the four-year anniversary of Julian Assange’s incarceration in a maximum-security prison. Back in October, he appealed the decision to extradite him to the US, where he faces life in prison; his health is suffering as he waits to hear the decision on the appeal. Since the beginning of his incarceration, Gabriel and John Shipton, Julian’s brother and father, have worked tirelessly to...

This week, we’re welcoming Marshall Kosloff to Episode 115 of KK&F. Marshall’s pod The Realignment , co-hosted with Saagar Enjeti, covers issues of the country’s political shift relating to mainstream media, national security, economic policy, and much more. We’re thrilled to have Marshall on Krystal Kyle & Friends this week to discuss the latest stories that have interested him and Saagar on The...

This week it’s our pleasure to bring you an exclusive conversation with 2024 presidential candidate Marianne Williamson. Like you, we’re interested in hearing about Marianne’s plans to address class warfare and social injustice in the United States, how her political journey led her to become an advocate for key progressive policies and against rampant economic inequality, and how she plans to tak...

Why would the FBI pay a “violent felon” — who actually managed to fly under the radar because his appearance as a potential fed was so strikingly obvious — to work secretly and internally against racial justice organizers in Denver? With Trevor Aaronson of the Alphabet Boys podcast joining us to lay out the details of this harrowing story, we learn how and why Mickey Windecker got onto the FBI pay...

David Sirota joins us on the show this week to discuss what has become a horrific environmental disaster for East Palestine, Ohio, where residents have reported serious health issues and animals dying from the pollution. Add to that the struggle that those affected by the toxic chemical release will face as they grapple with the United States’ punishingly cost-prohibitive healthcare system for the...

We know we can’t flip a switch and institute socialism. But how long that process will take and what its end result will be is a debate that often polarizes the American left. Matt Bruenig and others have spoken and written in favor of adopting something like the Nordic model, which centers on a strong welfare state. He also sees value in the example of Alaska’s social wealth fund and in worker co...

This week on KK&F, Corin joins Kyle for a “politics and chill” session on gun policy, the Austin food scene, and DeSantis’s politics of conservative outrage. What we note about DeSantis’ militarization of conservatives around this issue is his ability to plug into the “outrage of the day” — harnessing the energy of right-wing opposition to Biden’s perceived attack on their way of life. Kyle makes...

Ken Roth is joining the show this week to discuss how he lost a fellowship at Harvard Kennedy School for reporting on human rights abuses. What Ken, the “godfather of human rights,” experienced when the Kennedy School found out about his criticism of Israel is a powerful lesson in the repression of dissent at elite institutions. Larry Summers, Alan Dershowitz, Steven Pinker: Harvard refuses to rem...

Right-wing radicalization, especially on social media, is a huge focus on the podcast this week. We’re joined by YouTuber Lonerbox as he takes us through the history of right-wing censorship and the arguments for and against free speech, Trump’s engagement with and mobilization of a far-right fringe via social media, and much more. When should the left call for censorship? When do hateful words be...

This week’s guest, YouTuber Philion, traces the roots of today’s online misogyny to the pick-up artists of the 2000s and beyond, looking at how alpha male culture has made its way into almost every corner of the internet, from finance to fitness. Movements like #MeToo have changed public discourse so that today’s equivalents of the pick-up artist can’t get away with expressing themselves the way t...