Make It Make Sense with Grant Hermes

Grant is joined again by Dr. Scott Greer from the University of Michigan to get a check-up on the Make America Healthy Again movement. They talk about how people like RFK Jr, Dr. Mehmet Oz and others have turned what were some of our most trusted government agencies inside out and upside down.  Plus, what not to do when it comes to trying to "do your own research" and why Scott thinks th...

The government officially shut down this week as Democrats refused to vote with Republicans, saying they want certain access to Medicaid and ACA insurance restored.  Republicans and Donald Trump are going scorched earth. First, they've been spreading the lie that Democrats want to give healthcare to undocumented immigrants. Grant does a little debunking. Second, the administration is planning...

President Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth address hundreds of military generals and admirals at an extraordinary assembly to talk about the future of the US Military. Almost all of it from Pete Hegseth was about waging a culture war on members of the military, dragging it back to the end of the Cold War.  In his speech, Trump talked about using the military against his political enemies a...

American education is in crisis. Test scores are dropping. Whole classrooms are falling through the cracks. The federal Department of Education is being dismantled.  But what does that mean for our local schools, and where should they go next?  Grant talks with Jorge Elorza, former Providence, RI mayor and current CEO of Democrats for Education Reform. Elorza wants to embrace an idea that normally...

The federal government shuts down in less than a week, and it seems like neither side wants the blame but might stand to gain from it. Democrats want a chance to stand up to Trump while promising to fight for healthcare.  Republicans want to keep things the way they are, while also maybe hoping they can fire thousands of federal workers and keep the Epstein Files from seeing the light of day for a...

After the death of Charlie Kirk, the Trump administration is trying to amp up the pressure on political opponents. The FCC made explicit threats and gave explicit instructions to media companies to suspend Jimmy Kimmel. Trump got caught publishing a private message to AG Pam Bondi to go after his political enemies. He's trying to establish a new catchall domestic terror organization. All of i...

There are clearer and clearer signs that the Trump Administration is pulling the US into what scholars call "competative authoritarianism."  Grant it joined by Colorado State Professor of political communication Karrin Anderson to talk about who these governments work, how journalists should be approaching our current administration, and how we can all work together to pull ourselves out...

Vocal leaders on the right, members of the Trump Administration and even the President himself are calling for the government to target not just violent political opponents, but people who share their views without acting on them.  Grant breaks down how the admin is using Charlie Kirk's death to go after people they don't like, starting with trying to go after free speech.  PROMO CODE: T...

With the next Supreme Court term just around the corner, it's time to talk about the Court's "shadow docket" of emergency rulings that have been happening over the summer.  Grant is joined again by Liz Dye from Law and Chaos and Legal Eagle (links below) to talk about how the administration has been using the shadow docket to go around the law and normal legal process, what low...

The right-wing commentator, youth leader, and political power broker Charlie Kirk was shot and killed during an event in Utah on Wednesday. It's an event that is going to rock the political world and by extension, the country. In the hours after he was shot, far-right voices, Republican leaders, and the President have been blaming "the left" and Democrats with some calling to make j...

House Oversight Democrats release THAT birthday book with Trump's message to Jeffrey Epstein, and it sends the White House scrambling to try and tamp down the story that Trump hasn't been able to shake.  Grant breaks down what's in the book, what we expect more of, how Trump and the GOP are reacting, and what it could mean for what Trump's administration does next to divert att...

Today's episode is something different. Grant is the one being interviewed on the Let's Pod This podcast, discussing how Make It Make Sense is created, his news-reading process, and which stories he thinks are overhyped or underreported in today's news.  LINKS: Let's Fix This   Let's Pod This National Association of Nonpartisan Reformers Support the show Follow along on so...

Dozens of survivors of Jeffrey Epstein, their families, lawyers, and a bipartisan trio of lawmakers came to the Capitol to demand that leaders sign off on just voting to release the Epstein Files. While that's been happening, House Republicans tried to pull a bait and switch with the files, Trump called the women a hoax and "irrelevant," and has started attacking people who think ab...

After nearly a week of not being on video, rumors swirled over Labor Day weekend that Donald Trump might have had some kind of emergency. On Tuesday, the president held an Oval Office press conference about moving Space Command, but really, the world was watching for his health.  Grant breaks down what we learned in the press conference, why you should care about Space Command and that Trump said...

After another deadly mass shooting in a school in the US, Americans are looking for answers among the horror.  The White House and Conservatives are using the shooter's gender identity as a trans person to further try and criminalize being transgender, are offering "thoughts and prayers" to the victims while working to expand access to guns, and RFK Jr is using it to go after life-s...

Donald Trump floats the idea of being a dictator as he threatens to send National Guard troops into Chicago and other cities. He also uses the DOJ to go after a high-level former advisor while giving himself a title he doesn't have under the Constitution.  Grant breaks down what that all means, how Trump could dispatch troops to American cities, and what it would cost in dollars... and our fr...

Extreme gerrymandering is ruining American democracy and right now, the country is in the middle of a redistricting arms race. Essentially, it's politicians choosing voters instead of voters choosing politicians.  Grant talks to author and redistricting expert David Daley about just how extreme things are about to get after Texas and California vowed to change their maps, how and why Republic...

The DOJ sent out dozens of subpoenas to hospitals and doctors demanding private information about their patients. social security numbers. Diagnoses. Prescriptions. Addresses. Even info about their parents and when treatment started.  All of these kids are trans.  Grant talks about what's in the subpoenas, how it's part of a bigger goal from the Trump Admin to go after people who need mo...

Grant breaks down what happened at the Alaska Summit between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin, how it looks like Trump got bowled over by the Russian president, and didn't stand his ground on a ceasefire.  Then, Grant talks about hosting the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky, at the White House and whether or not Trump has the ability to bring together a peace summit before it's too...

As the second Trump administration has been firing ethics officials and accountability officers, the whistleblower has become more important than ever.  But who protects the people who take the risk to tell the truth? Grant talks to David Kligerman, Senior VP at Whistlebloweraid.org. The non-profit organization helps whistleblowers come forward to sound the alarm about unethical and illegal things...

Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin are set to meet in Anchorage, Alaska, on Friday to start another round of peace talks to end the war in Ukraine. It's the first time Putin will meet with a US president on US soil in a decade.  But why is it in Alaska? Sure, it's technically the closest state to Russia, but there's more to it.  Grant breaks down why meeting in Alaska...

Donald Trump has federalized the DC Metro police and called in hundreds of DC National Guard troops to fight crime and homelessness in the nation's capital.  The problem? There isn't a crime wave in DC, and arresting homeless people isn't going to make them not homeless.  Grant explains Trump's unprecedented decision, what is actually happening on DC streets and why, more than...

As the Trump administration continues to more aggressively target immigrants to boost arrests and deportations, there has been a growing fear among a group of Americans that they could be targeted or used as a test group for attacks on citizenship. Adoptees.  In this episode, Grant talks to Greg Luce. Luce is the founder of the Adoptee Rights Law Center, the Executive Director of Adoptees United,...

It's been a week of big news in two things Trump has called hoaxes: Russian election meddling and the Epstein files.  First, Grant breaks down what's going on with the new DOJ investigation into "Russiagate," the "hoax" that multiple investigations proved wasn't a hoax. But, Dir. of National Security Tulsi Gabbard is now trying to say it wasn't just a hoax b...

A fight over the landscape of the 2026 midterms has been playing out in Texas, and this week it crossed state lines.  Grant breaks down what's happening with the new election maps in Texas, why more than 50 TX Democrats aren't living in the state right now, and why this fight could affect you no matter where you live or which party controls your state.  PROMO CODES: This episode's s...