Systemic Error Podcast

(REUTERS) What happened AlterNet published commentary by Ben Palen, a fifth-generation farmer and agriculture consultant, who says several farmers he spoke with recently—including some who voted for Donald Trump in 2024 and as early as 2016—now believe they “had been conned.” Palen describes their change of heart as a response to what they see as national moral decline, damaged international trust...

Former Special Counsel Jack Smith raises his hand to swear in, before the House Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., U.S., January 22, 2026. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque What happened CNN legal analyst and former federal prosecutor Ankush Khardori said Rep. Jim Jordan’s attempt to build a criminal case against former special counsel Jack Smith “will fail miserably.” According to Alte...

US President Donald Trump attends National Design Studio launch event for America.gov, a new AI-powered government website, at the Mellon Auditorium in Washington, D.C., US, September 29, 2026. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst What happened AlterNet reports that Fox Business host Stuart Varney identified President Donald Trump’s central political liability five weeks before the midterms: the war with Iran w...

U.S. President Donald Trump boards Air Force One as he departs for a state visit to Britain, at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, U.S., September 16, 2025. REUTERS Kevin Lamarque What happened AlterNet reports that taxpayer money for President Donald Trump’s television advertisements came from U.S. Customs and Border Protection, using funds Congress provided to the Department of Homeland Security thro...

U.S. Senator Thom Tillis (R-NC) attends a Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee hearing on the Financial Stability Oversight Council’s annual report February 5, 2026. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst What happened AlterNet reports that Sen. Thom Tillis, a North Carolina Republican not seeking reelection, used part of a Tuesday Senate Judiciary Committee hearing with former special counsel Jack...

Donald Trump in taxpayer-funded ad (MS NOW screenshot) What happened RawStory reports that a U.S. government-funded advertisement featuring President Donald Trump declared, “This is the final battle,” promoted his record, and ended with the disclaimer “Paid for by the US Government.” On Monday, an MS NOW “Morning Joe” panel argued that the ad used public money for political self-promotion while in...

Alina Habba, Counselor to U.S. President Donald Trump, announces to reporters that Trump has appointed her to serve as interim U.S. attorney for the District of New Jersey, at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., March 24, 2025. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque What happened RawStory reports that former New Jersey U.S. Attorney Alina Habba married Turkish businessman Turhan Mildon at New York City’s W...

REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein What happened AlterNet reports that Republican pollster Frank Luntz called Donald Trump’s effort to make congressional elections a referendum on himself a “very dangerous strategy.” Luntz told CNN that Trump could energize loyal supporters who otherwise might stay home, but weaker support for Trump could instead reinforce the turnout advantage Luntz currently sees for Demo...

REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein What happened AlterNet, drawing on ProPublica’s reporting, says the Trump White House pursued mail-voting restrictions that could have disrupted the 2026 midterms before the Supreme Court blocked the final executive order on Sept. 14. An earlier proposal would have required ballots to travel exclusively by certified mail, forcing voters to be present and sign for delivery....

REUTERS/Daniel Heuer What happened AlterNet reports that the White House’s 24-hour “Trump TV” livestream lost nearly all of its launch audience, while former press secretary Karoline Leavitt accidentally drew far more viewers by starting an Instagram Live from bed. Citing The Daily Beast, AlterNet says the official stream fell as low as 187 concurrent viewers, compared with 1,157 for Leavitt’s bri...

U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin testifies during a U.S. House of Representatives panel hearing on immigration enforcement funding and other Homeland Security budget priorities, on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., U.S. June 3, 2026. REUTERS/Nathan Howard What happened The Department of Homeland Security used footage of former Philadelphia Eagles player Brian Dawkins in a charged...

FBI Director Kash Patel and country music artist Alexis Wilkins arrive for UFC Freedom 250 in Washington, D.C., U.S., June 14, 2026. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst What happened RawStory reports that FBI Director Kash Patel appeared in a photograph from a New York wedding alongside Ali Abdelaziz, an MMA manager whom the FBI reportedly stopped using as an informant in 2008 after suspecting he was acting as...

US President Donald Trump pats Wyndham Clark’s girlfriend Emily Tanner on the shoulder as he joins members of the US Team during the trophy ceremony at the Presidents Cup golf tournament at Medinah Country Club in Medinah, Illinois, US, September 27, 2026. REUTERS/Nathan Howard What happened RawStory reports that U.S. Presidents Cup captain Brandt Snedeker credited President Donald Trump after the...

US President Donald Trump talks to members of the US Team during the trophy ceremony after the US team won the Presidents Cup golf tournament at Medinah Country Club, in Medinah Illinois, US, September 27, 2026. REUTERS/Nathan Howard What happened RawStory reports that President Donald Trump was caught on a live microphone saying, “I’d like to go home,” after the U.S. team’s 17–13 Presidents Cup v...

FILE PHOTO: The demolition of the East Wing of the White House, the location of U.S. President Donald Trump’s proposed ballroom is seen from an elevated position on the North side of the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., October 23, 2025. REUTERS/ Andrew Leyden/File Photo What happened RawStory columnist Ray Richmond argues that Donald Trump’s presidencies have damaged a sweeping range of Ame...

U.S. President Donald Trump and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer arrive by helicopter at Trump International Golf Links, in Aberdeen, Scotland, Britain, July 28, 2025. Jane Barlow/Pool via REUTERS What happened RawStory reports that Donald Trump disclosed details about five men arrested near RAF Fairford before British authorities had publicly described their suspected intentions. Trump said th...

US President Donald Trump walks after exiting Air Force One at Chicago O’Hare International Airport, in Illinois, US, September 27, 2026. REUTERS/Nathan Howard What happened RawStory reports that President Donald Trump is again willing to consider sanctions relief and the unfreezing of Iranian funds in exchange for substantial limits on Iran’s nuclear program. Unnamed U.S. officials told Axios tha...

U.S. President Donald Trump speaks with Judge Amy Coney Barrett after she was sworn in as an associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, U.S. October 26, 2020. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst/File Photo What happened RawStory, citing ProPublica’s reporting, says the Trump White House considered requiring every mail ballot to travel by certified mail—a sys...

U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a press briefing at the White House, on the one-year mark into his second term in office, in Washington, D.C., U.S., January 20, 2026. REUTERS Nathan Howard What happened AlterNet, citing The Wall Street Journal, reports that key parts of President Donald Trump’s economic program produced the opposite of his promised result: inflation rose, the 10-year Tre...

Photo: The Lyda Hill Texas Collection of Photographs in Carol M. Highsmith’s America Project, Library of Congress What happened AlterNet reports that Bulwark publisher and pollster Sarah Longwell believes Republican turnout could weaken in November because some GOP voters in her focus groups are angry about “the war” and gasoline prices. Rather than vote Democratic, she said, these dissatisfied Re...

President Donald Trump with members of the military at Dover Air Force Base in Dover, Delaware, March 7, 2026. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque What happened AlterNet reports that Pace University law professor and former New York anti-corruption prosecutor Bennett L. Gershman argued in a Hill op-ed that President Donald Trump and members of his administration should face International Criminal Court prosecu...

U.S. first lady Melania Trump visits the Smithsonian’s National Museum Of Asian Art in Washington, D.C., US, September 24, 2026. Finn Gomez/Pool via REUTERS What happened AlterNet reports that Trump biographer Michael Wolff argues Melania Trump has turned her limited public presence as first lady into a lucrative media product. In a Monday column, he characterized her official work as largely perf...

REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque What happened The word is “corruption.” AlterNet argues that Donald Trump has helped unite Americans around it: cited polls found overwhelming majorities across party lines describing corruption as endemic or systemic, while separate surveys showed substantial concern about Trump’s use of presidential power for personal profit. The outlet cites an August Reuters/Ipsos poll i...

U.S. Senator John Fetterman (D-PA) looks on as U.S. Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Chairman Rand Paul (R-KY) presides over a vote whether to hold Anthony Fauci, the former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), in contempt for having invoked the Fifth Amendment in response to questions about the government’s COVID-19 pandemic res...

U.S. President Donald Trump and his executive assistant Natalie Harp exit Marine One at the Ellipse near the White House, in Washington, D.C., U.S., August 16, 2026. REUTERS/Annabelle Gordon What happened RawStory reports that President Donald Trump briefly looked away from the Tennessee–Texas football game at Neyland Stadium on Saturday to view a laptop held up by aide Natalie Harp. Photographs f...