US of Ed

"This is a breach of the law and if nothing's done about it, it says a whole lot about the United States." In the latest stunning show of incompetence, a journalist for The Atlantic has come forward this week to reveal he was accidentally added to a Trump administration group chat discussing top secret war plans on an unsecure app. In the scattered response, The Atlantic has already proven that to...

"[Trump] would have used this crisis to declare martial law or something." Leader of the Senate Democrats Chuck Schumer has handed Trump an easy victory on government spending with zero concessions leading to widespread condemnation, but was he so wrong? Meanwhile, Trump is testing his power by defying the court on deportations with little apparent consequences. Also discussing DOGE's latest setba...

"This is a doomed policy, as the markets are showing." Trump's trade war engulfs markets this week, as tariffs on Canada and Mexico as well as steel and aluminium imports, and the communication surrounding them, create absolute chaos for investors. Meanwhile, the bloodbath for federal workers continues with the Education Department set to cut almost half its workforce with an aim toward vanishing...

"Donald Trump is a Russian agent." Trump has addressed Congress for the first time in his second presidency, fresh off a week targeting the likes of Ukraine and Canada as well as dismantling federal agencies. Europe and other nations continue to come to grips with a world in which the US is not a reliable ally but instead closely aligned with Russia and a potential aggressor in its own right. Also...

"This is beginning to hit the very people who voted for Trump." House Republicans have passed Trump's big bill which aims to cut $4.5 trillion in taxes and reduce spending by $2 trillion, a task that will in part fall to Elon Musk's DOGE. Meanwhile, the United States is siding with Russia over the Ukrainian conflict as Europe wrestles with a world without the US as a reliable ally. Also discussing...

"What's happening is a pure takedown of democracy." Donald Trump has made moves to further consolidate his power this week with executive orders claiming ownership over the law and independent agencies. With the law powerless, federal agencies hollowed out by freezes and firings, opposition barely existent, and those in charge of the levers of power complicit, it seems nothing will stop this nasce...

"Clearly, if we had a congress, he'd be out. That's what impeachment is about." Team Trump continues to test the limits of their power, this week defying a court order and arguing that a president's executive order overrules the power of the courts. Hamas have suspended hostage releases as they claim Israel is failing to abide by the terms of the ceasefire, leading to Trump threatening to unleash...

"An inability to have thoughtful people running the show is going to lead to even more disasters." 67 people have died in an aircraft collision over Washington D.C. and another seven dead in a crash in Philadelphia as questions arise as to just how much Trump's crusade against the FAA and other federal agencies had to do with the incidents. Meanwhile, Trump has doubled down on his proposal about r...

"This chaos, some of it is on purpose, a lot of it accidental, and all of it has to line Trump's pockets." Trump has sown chaos in the economy, federal agencies, international relationships, and the lives of the American people in his first ten days in office, some through carelessness, some it would appear as a deliberate smokescreen. Discussing the crackdown on illegal immigrants and its effects...

"This is the beginning of a total authoritarian government." Donald Trump has hit the ground running, as expected, with day one executive orders targeting immigration, climate action, federal workers, trans individuals, and much more. Elon Musk is drawing fire away from the commander-in-chief, however, after the performance of a blatant Nazi salute in front of adoring crowds of billionaires and po...

"The United States is a fragile, big, important entity." Ed and Sean are back for 2025 ahead of the inauguration which will see Donald Trump installed as President of the United States for a second term. We discuss some of the things we've missed over the new year break, such as Trump's new fixations on Canada, Greenland, and Panama, the Trump nothingburger sentencing and January 6th report, Gaza...

"This is pre-Civil War-like, I think the nation is changed forever." As 2024 draws to a close, we stand at the precipice of what could prove to be one of the most consequential periods in human history. On the hunt to make some sense out of it all, Ed and Sean have a final word on the election campaign and Biden's stewardship, as well as the battle over reproductive rights, gun control, and the un...

"[Trump] wants to go to war with Iran, they don't want to give him that opportunity." Israel and Lebanese militant group Hezbollah have acceded to a 60-day ceasefire agreement backed by the United States, with the Lebanese military to act as a mediator in the coming days. But with Hezbollah bloodied but not broken, what are the chances for a longer peace? And what does it mean for Gaza? Also touch...

"It is so scary, and so unAmerican." Trump's dream team continues to take shape, but dogged by accusations of sexual misconduct and unfitness for their roles it remains to be seen if the Republican-led Senate will take a stand on appointments or simply let Trump have his way. Meanwhile, ominous plans begin to be put into motion for Trump's promised ouster of illegal immigrants. Also discussing bus...

"A lot of good, strong, smart people will be leaving the United States." A week on from the shock re-election of former president Donald Trump and a great deal of people and institutions are still reeling as plans are cemented for his second term. Unable to stay away, Ed and Sean look at where it went wrong for Democrats and the rule of law, and how some are planning on fighting back, plus controv...

"We lost the election but we are not defeated." Defying a late surge in the polls for Harris, American voters have returned Donald Trump to the White House with a historical win that has made him only the second president to be voted to two non-consecutive terms and the first Republican to win the popular vote in twenty years. So, what happens now? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy informati...

"We're voting for Kamala to keep the democracy." In the final days of the election campaign, polls continue to run on a razor's edge and the United States appears more divided than the days of the Civil War when the two sides were literally shooting at one another. Are there any closing arguments to be made that really matter? Also discussing the fallout from Trump's Madison Square Garden rally, t...

"I think you ought to get your divining stick out." The November election is only a couple of weeks away and polls continue to show a result too close to call with nothing having a real impact on the Trump campaign in spite of his many, many, many scandals, slips, and absences. Meanwhile, Russia and China, very possibly the real winners from this US election cycle, have touted their blossoming fri...

"They thought they could take her down but she stood up and fired right back." Kamala Harris steams ahead with interviews and new policies this week while Donald Trump dances and amps up his fascist rhetoric, so how the hell does this election still look so close? Meanwhile, the US is getting itself more involved with Israel, not less, apart from threats over humanitarian aid that conveniently pus...

"Florida is no longer habitable." At time of recording, Hurricane Milton is closing in on Florida shores with devastating winds and storm surges predicted. How did it go so wrong so fast, and how has partisan politics derailed the response? Kamala Harris has been on a media blitz this week, appealing to those less engaged in politics as well as tried-and-true audiences, but does she risk turning o...

"If delivery counts, Vance wins. If honesty counts, Walz wins." The VP presidential debate this week appeared more substantive, and certainly more civil, than anything we've seen lately, but does it really matter? And do new polls reflect the performances. Meanwhile, Hurricane Helene has carved a swathe through southern states, leaving at least 120 dead and billions of dollars of damage in her wak...

"We're not going to spread it around with handouts, we're going to spread it around with opportunity." Kamala Harris has laid out her economic plans on the campaign trail this week, looking toward investment and manufacturing, as Donald Trump lurches from crisis to crisis. But first, the leaders of Japan, India, and Australia have met with Joe Biden in Washington to discuss tensions with China in...

"What do they say in the Bible? You reap as you sow?" A second alleged assassination attempt on Donald Trump barely raises eyebrows this week but not everything surrounding Trump is so harmless. Residents of Springfield, Ohio, have found themselves under siege by bomb threats and neo-Nazis following Trump's claims of Haitian immigrants in the town taking and eating people's pets. Meanwhile, in a m...

"She acted more like a president than anyone I've seen since Obama." Baby executions, pets being eaten, a failing nation, Donald Trump's vision of America contrasted sharply with Kamala Harris' sense of optimism and forethought in this week's presidential debate. Ed and Sean break down some of the issues discussed, as well as a big time endorsement for Harris, sentencing in Donald Trump's fraud ca...

"She's like the little bird flying under mother's wing, and she's just outside mother's wing, she's flying on her own, and gaining wind." The Harris campaign has swung into policy announcement mode, with a sweep of new measures for encouraging small business. But with suggestions Harris needs to do more to distinguish herself from the Biden administration, how does she showcase her differences whi...