Make It Make Sense with Grant Hermes

As protests, violent clashes, and some property destruction break out in Los Angeles over federal raids of workplaces, schools, and courthouses, the White House seems bent on pressing the boundaries on whether Trump can send in US troops.  In today's episode, Grant breaks down what happened in L.A., why you should care that officers aren't showing badges, names, or faces, and what to wat...

As Elon Musk exits the White House and has a  very  public falling out with Donald Trump, the consequences of his time there won't be fully realized for a while.  But, there is one place to start where, when history looks back, may be the most talked about thing—the death toll from diseases spread around the world by Musk ending USAID.  Grant breaks down what we know about the cost of shuttin...

Back from a short hiatus!  Grant talks all about how we're seeing the White House, which has been moving as fast as it can to break things, start to come apart by picking fights with prominent groups, its own agencies, and its insiders.  He breaks down the White House fight with the influential conservative group the Federalist Society and why it matters for the future of the more than 120 co...

The idea that manufacturing jobs were shipped overseas or across borders to other countries is a frequent explanation from both Republicans and Democrats about why the American middle class has been hollowed out.  But it's a convenient half-truth. The other side we don't talk about is the other kind of offshoring, from the shores of the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico.   Grant talks to...

The Trump administration ramps up its attacks on higher education, specifically Harvard and foreign students.  But what does it mean to lose the tens of thousands of foreign students who attend American universities every year? Grant breaks down how we got here, what the White House is doing, and how it will affect all of us.  Support the show Follow along on social media  SaySo: @GrantHermes   X:...

The 2024 election report card, or autopsy, depending on how you want to talk about it, for Democrats is out, and it is a failing grade almost across the board.  Democrats lost with practically every kind of voter from almost every walk of life except young, college-educated women. Grant breaks down what this new report tells us about where voters are and where the Democratic party is heading if no...

Two weeks after Donald Trump announced he was going to lower drug prices from anywhere from 30% to 90%, there still haven't been any deals made.  But more than that, what he wants to do, something called Most Favored Nation status, is bad policy, especially when it comes to drug prices.  Grant is joined by Yale Economist Jason Abaluck to talk about why Trump's plan to lower drug prices w...

House Republicans pass Trump's "One Big Beautiful Bill," and there are some serious consequences hurtling toward Americans.  Hundreds of billions of dollars in cuts to Medicaid and food stamps, while giving multi-millionaires huge tax breaks, sending the national debt and deficit skyrocketing.  Grant breaks it all down and talks about why the timeline of the vote, which literally pu...

The US Supreme Court hands the Trump Administration a big win by allowing it to end Temporary Protected status for 350,000 Venezuelans in the US.  It's a crucial part of more than a dozen immigrant communities across the country, impacting more than 800,000 people with TPS and their families.  The thing is, Venezuelan Americans voted for Trump in large numbers, campaigned for him, and support...

Former President Joe Biden announces he has advanced and aggressive prostate cancer. It's a devastating diagnosis, though one doctors say is treatable, despite his age.  The diagnosis is raising new questions about Biden's health during the end of his presidency and during his abandoned presidential campaign, especially as the Democratic party is in the middle of a brewing civil war over...

Since the beginning of the second Trump administration, the Department of Justice has been equal parts reviled and remade by the White House. Much, if not most, of that damage has been done to the FBI and the department's civil rights initiatives that for the last half century have made sure schools are safe for kids, our workplaces were free from discrimination, that our votes mattered and w...

Donald Trump takes his first state visit in his second term. Just like his first, the trip is to the Middle East.  During the trip, the president is supposed to be making deals (a weird thing for a president to be doing in the first place), and as the White House has been announcing them, the numbers don't make sense.  The Administration keeps inflating deals and investments while asking the...

The White House makes an agreement with China on trade and tariffs that is essentially having its bluff called on the cornerstone of Trump's economic agenda. In return, the US doesn't get all that much except higher prices and a promise to keep negotiating. Not exactly expert deal-making.  Then, Trump tries to ram through negotiating prescription drug prices with pharma companies from th...

The White House says it's looking into suspending a bedrock legal principle that would mean speeding up its mass arrests and deportations of immigrants across the country, called the Writ of Habeas Corpus.  It means, "have the body," and says that a person needs to be brought before a judge when they're accused of a crime. Right now, the Trump Administration thinks it's ge...

President Trump hosts newly elected Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney in the Oval Office. The two men haven't had the coziest relationship since Trump began putting tariffs on Canada, raising prices, and calling for Canada to become the 51st US state, which Carney said was like a Harry Potter villain.  Trump also mentioned he would like people to stop asking about the tariffs and deals beca...

Over the last few months Donald Trump, his family and his administration have set out to make Trump wealthier.  Grant talks about the crypto empire Trump is trying to build and why it's a flashing sign to the rest of the world that his influence is for sale.  Then, a brand new Senate report is out about Elon Musk and what DOGE is really all about. Spoilers, it's not really about saving m...

President Trump sits down for a one-on-one interview with ABC's Terry Moran for an Oval Office interview about his second, first 100 days.  It comes as Trump has hit a record level of unpopularity and voters across the country have already soured on his policies.  The interview was equally insightful and combative, neither of which seems to make Trump's case that his first 100 days have...

The Democratic Party is fighting.  Since the election, the party hasn't had a clear leader. Grant breaks down the biggest fights right now, including party members calling for Sen. Chuck Schumer to step down from his leadership job and his defiance of that.  He also talks about the controversy between David Hogg and the rest of the DNC after Hogg announced a plan to oust sitting Democrats fro...

 Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is in the middle of another scandal over using Signal, again , for the same sensitive or classified information he exposed last time. Just like last time, he's fighting back, but is more out of control than he was before. Grant talks about this latest scandal and what's been happening behind the scenes at the White House.  Then, Trump calls his own bluff ...

It's been a busy week for the US Courts starting with the high profile case of Kilmar Abrego-Garcia, the man mistakenly sent to El Salvador and who the Trump Administration refuses to return. Grant breaks down a scathing new ruling in that case and talks about Sen. Chris Van Hollen's visit to the Central American country to find Abrego-Garcia.  Plus, the US Supreme Court says it's g...

It's been a whirlwind way to start the week in the world of immigration. A huge ruling was made by a judge in the case to stop deportations to El Salvador. The judge says he's ready to charge the Trump Administration with contempt of court for disobeying his orders. Grant has some breaking news in that story.  Then, he talks about the Kilmar Abrego-Garcia case and how the government is d...

A triple-decker episode this week!  Grant takes a look at what the fallout has been from President Donald Trump's tariff turnabout earlier this week because it turns out the effects are going to be felt for a long, long time.  Then there were three big things from this week's cabinet meeting. RFK Jr makes a big promise about autism diagnoses, Elon Musk massively downgrades DOGE "sav...

President Trump sends markets reeling as he increases tariffs on China again while also reversing his stance on his punishing new tariff plan for the rest of the world, confusing pretty much everyone.  Plus, Congress is rewriting what makes up a calendar day and it turns out days might be 5 months long so Trump can keep his new tariffs.  Grant breaks down all the dizzying economics.  Support the s...

On the show this week, Donald Trump lays out his "liberation day" tariff plan to put tariffs on pretty much everything coming into the US. Grant breaks down why these tariffs have sent the economy into a nose dive, why they mean the US is shrinking from the world, and whether Trump is doing it on purpose.  Plus! The US is shrinking from global public health too. The CDC, FDA, NIH, and pr...

Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) sets the record for the longest floor speech or filibuster in US history in a 25-hour-long protest of the Trump Administration.  Grant talks about what Booker talked about, what he was doing, and what it means for the future of how Democrats approach the next four years under Donald Trump after 10 weeks of being unable to find their footing.  Support the show Follow alon...