Power Plays

When a telecommunications lobbyist becomes the FCC chairman who then becomes a telecom executive again, it's not corruption—it's Tuesday in Washington. We dissect how the revolving door between government and industry operates at hyperspeed, and why the 'cooling off' periods designed to prevent conflicts of interest have become elaborate theater. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https...

Government shutdowns look like chaos from the outside, but they're actually carefully choreographed theater with real winners and losers. We pull back the curtain on who decides what stays open, what closes, and how federal agencies game the system to protect their priorities when the money stops flowing. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about o...

While everyone watches Supreme Court hearings, thousands of other federal appointments happen in the shadows—from obscure board positions that control billions to agency heads who shape your daily life. We pull back the curtain on how these jobs really get filled, who's doing the picking, and why a mid-level appointment you've never heard of might matter more than a Cabinet secretary. Hosted by Si...

Every year, Congress passes a federal budget that gets all the headlines. But there's another budget—worth hundreds of billions—that operates in plain sight yet remains invisible to most Americans. It's controlled by a handful of agencies, requires no congressional approval, and has quietly reshaped entire industries. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for inform...

When companies need to know if their business plans will land them in legal trouble, they don't just guess—they buy certainty from government lawyers through a little-known system of 'comfort letters' and advisory opinions. We examine how this pay-to-play regulatory preview system creates two different justice systems: one for those who can afford advance rulings, and another for everyone else. Ho...

When government employees try to blow the whistle on wrongdoing, they enter a bureaucratic maze designed more to protect institutions than expose truth. We examine how the federal whistleblower system actually works—and why the people meant to be protected often end up destroyed while the problems they exposed remain untouched. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com...

Every outgoing administration races against the clock to cement their legacy through last-minute regulations—rules that can outlast presidencies by decades. We expose how bureaucrats work around the clock in transition periods to lock in everything from environmental standards to financial rules, and why these 11th-hour power grabs often matter more than campaign promises. Hosted by Simplecast, an...

When Congress can't or won't act, presidents create 'czars' — powerful coordinators with vague authority and no Senate confirmation. We trace how a desperate response to the 2014 Ebola crisis birthed a shadow governance system that now handles everything from supply chains to AI policy, operating in the spaces between Cabinet departments where accountability goes to die. Hosted by Simplecast, an A...

When Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen quietly rewrote the rules on who gets bailed out during a banking crisis, she didn't just save depositors—she fundamentally altered the social contract between government and capital. How one weekend phone call chain turned a mid-tier bank failure into a precedent that every future Treasury Secretary will have to live with. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz comp...

In 2013, a single federal judge in Texas discovered he could effectively rewrite national policy by issuing nationwide injunctions against federal agencies. What started as an obscure procedural tool became the weapon that let any district court judge halt presidents of both parties in their tracks—and why the Supreme Court still hasn't figured out how to put this genie back in the bottle. Hosted...

In March 2020, a handful of Treasury Department staffers had 72 hours to design the Paycheck Protection Program from scratch. Their hasty decisions about loan forgiveness rules and eligibility created the largest wealth transfer in American history—and barely anyone knows their names. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use...

In 2011, a mid-level FTC attorney named Seth Bloom made a decision that Silicon Valley executives are still cursing today. His little-known investigation into Google's business practices created the playbook that regulators now use to go after Amazon, Apple, and Facebook—despite his bosses killing his original case. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for informat...

Uncover the fascinating stories behind the political decisions that shape our world. Each episode takes you inside the rooms where power is wielded, revealing the human drama and strategic calculations that drive government action. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.