American Friction

Vanity Fair’s profiling of the Trump administration has caused a real headache for the President. Amongst the drama, electoral mastermind Susie Wiles really let loose, saying Trump had an “alcoholic’s personality” and...

The Watergate scandal might be one of the biggest political scandals of all time - but do we really know the full truth of it? Garrett M. Graff is a Pulitzer Prize finalist and author of Watergate: A New History and...

Donald Trump has ramped up the pressure on his Venezuelan counterpart, Nicolas Maduro. Not only did he issue him an ultimatum to leave the country, but on Wednesday, US forces seized a Venezuelan oil tanker, raising oil...

The Cuban Missile Crisis is the closest we’ve been to nuclear war. What are the lessons we should learn from it being averted? Who were the key characters? And could Trump handle such a situation in the present day?...

Donald Trump and Pete Hegseth appear to have at least allowed a war crime to happen on their watch – will they face any punishment? Plus, Trump is ranting in a new, weirder way and he can’t keep his eyes open during...

The Wild West continues to fascinate people to this day – and still shapes America’s society. The video game Red Dead Redemption depicts the frontier era, and our guest today Tore Olsson has written extensively about...

Trump and his admin are once again showing their weird love for Russia. Why are they all so keen on Moscow? We discuss this, Trump’s latest outbursts, his weird love for Mamdani and more! Back us on Patreon – we need...

The United States of America is strange. It’s easy to blame it on Trump, but has it ever been normal? Author and journalist Kurt Andersen wrote How America Went Haywire: A 500-Year History to track how the nation became...

Trump has been forced into letting the Epstein files be released and of course he’s totally chill about it. We’re due to get them in less than 30 days, though what we get is still unclear – and the fallout they’ll cause...

The Democratic Party is totally rudderless and once again handed Trump whatever he wants to end the shutdown. What the hell are they doing? Jarv and Chris ask Politico’s national politics reporter Elena Schneider. Back...

Trump’s links to Jeffrey Epstein are back in the spotlight. What did Epstein know about Trump? What did Trump know about Epstein? And how much does Russia know?! It’s all kinds of weird, worrying and gross… Nikki and...

It’s a year since Trump won the election so we thought we’d recap a big old list of things he’s screwed up. There’s more than what we discussed, but we tried! Casey Burgat, author of We Hold These "Truths": How to Spot...

Zohran Mamdani’s election victory has got the left wing excited but made MAGA really scared about the made up rise of communism. To discuss his victory and the reaction to it, Chris and Jarv are joined by Brigid Bergin...

Trump has been blowing up boats in the Pacific, killing all of those on board and insisting it’s because they’re cartel members – even though they could be fishermen. Why is he doing this? What real problems do cartels...

Trump is doing the hokey cokey when it comes to running in 2028. Is he in, is he out, does it matter what he says? We discuss the latest madness and round up the other stories you might have missed. Back us on Patreon...

The manosphere is a term used to describe a wide range of male-focussed influencers obsessed with money, status or physique. A lot of them are unfortunately right leaning and plenty supported Trump. So, what do they...

Trump is imagining himself pouring faeces on Americans and he’s literally ripping down part of the White House. Why is he so obsessed with destruction? Chris and Jarv are joined by Molly Jong-Fast of Fast Politics to...

The notorious Guantanamo Bay has long been a source of controversy for the United States. Yet, it remains open. How does this facility set up in the war of terror keep going? And how has it inspired the way Trump wants...

Trump has been posturing on the world stage after securing a deal between Israel and Hamas. But, does he really care? And should he get any credit? Or is this just all part of his attention seeking grift? Chris, Jarv...

Trump is dragging America’s democracy towards oblivion – could this be it for the US as we know it? Chris and Jarv discuss with Thom Hartmann, author of The Last American President: A Broken Man, a Corrupt Party, and a...

Trump is pushing forwards with deploying troops to America’s streets – despite opposition from politicians, the public and the courts. How far will he push this? Nikki and Jarv talk through the insurrection act...

Trump has been enabled by a Supreme Court that seems completely under his spell – and it feels like nothing legal is going to block him. Christian Farias, who writes about law and the courts for Vanity Fair, New York...

Hegseth and Trump decided to body shame their military top brass in a bizarre performance that baffled the world. Chris, Jarv and Nikki unpack how counterproductive this was, plus we talk about the shutdown and more...

‘Authentic’ is a regular political buzzword at the moment – and unfortunately, it might just be newspaper speak for ‘manly’. Danielle Kurtzleben from NPR recently wrote a piece called When "authenticity" means "dudes"...

Trump has been busy embarrassing America on the world stage this week with weird rants and conspiracy theories. Chris, Jarv and Nikki get into it all. Plus, friend of the podcast Eric Garcia, Washington bureau chief for...