Break Glass in Case of Emergency
Know Your Enemy3 Marras 2025

Break Glass in Case of Emergency

This is a different kind of episode than is typical; there's no book, no central text, not even a single, central event that guides the conversation. Instead, we begin with a few recent news items—speculation about Trump 2028, Speaker Mike Johnson's refusal to swear in a Democratic congresswoman, the stunning abdication of Congress as the shutdown continues, and, incredibly, a secretive billionaire and Mellon heir donates over a hundred million dollars to pay the military, among others—and then lay out our profound worries about Trump ruling by decree, and the coming of MAGA-style Caeserism. How and when might that occur? We discuss troubling signals the Trump administration is sending about upcoming elections, and especially the 2026 midterms; the ticking time bomb that is the Insurrection Act; how the right thinks about executive power (then and now), and more.

Sources:

Peter Rothpletz, "Trump's Third Term?" Zeteo/First Draft, Oct 24, 2025

Dana Milbank, "How Reactionary is MAGA? Try the First Century B.C.," Washington Post, Sept 7, 2022

Steve Bannon interview with The Economist, Oct 23, 2025 (YouTube)

Shawn Hubler & Laurel Rosenhall, "Justice Department Will Monitor Elections in California and New Jersey," New York Times, Oct 24, 2025

Steve Contorno & Ashley Killough, "Frustrated Arizonans Have Waited More Than a Month for Their New Congresswoman to be Seated," CNN, Oct 25, 2025

Yoni Applebaum, "America's Fragile Constitution," The Atlantic, Oct 2015

Abraham Lincoln, "Speech to the Young Men’s Lyceum of Springfield," Jan 27, 1838

Bob Bauer & Jack Goldsmith, "Here’s What Trump Could Unleash by Invoking the Insurrection Act," New York Times, Oct 18, 2025

Damon Linker, "The Surest Path to Dictatorship: A Quick Plug for a Short Primer about the Insurrection Act," Notes from the Middleground, Oct 18, 2025

"Discussing Caesarism," New Founding Podcast, Oct 21, 2022.

Harvey Mansfield, Taming the Prince: The Ambivalence of Modern Executive Power (1989)

James Burnham, Congress and the American Tradition (1959)

Garry Wills, Bomb Power: The Modern Presidency and the National Security State (2010)

...and don't forget to subscribe to Know Your Enemy on Patreon for access to all of our bonus episodes!

Jaksot(258)

An Officer and a Spy (w/ John Ganz) [Teaser]

An Officer and a Spy (w/ John Ganz) [Teaser]

Listen to the rest of this premium episode by subscribing at patreon.com/knowyourenemy.Roman Polanski's 2019 film about the Dreyfus affair, An Officer and a Spy, only recently made it's U.S. "premier,...

5 Syys 20253min

Frank Meyer, Inventor of Conservatism (w/ Daniel J. Flynn)

Frank Meyer, Inventor of Conservatism (w/ Daniel J. Flynn)

Devoted Know Your Enemy listeners will recall that, in November 2021, we released a fairly dense, theory-driven episode on Frank Meyer, the Communist from New Jersey whose exploits on behalf of the Pa...

28 Elo 20251h 45min

The Christian Right's "Wild Faith" (w/ Talia Lavin) [Unlocked]

The Christian Right's "Wild Faith" (w/ Talia Lavin) [Unlocked]

This episode was first published in October 2024, and has been un-paywalled following the death this week, on August 21, of Focus on the Family founder and influential figure on the religious right, J...

23 Elo 20251h

The Minority Voters Moving Right (w/ Daniel Martinez HoSang)

The Minority Voters Moving Right (w/ Daniel Martinez HoSang)

A major topic following Donald Trump's victory in the 2024 presidential election has been his gains with racial and ethnic minorities, a trend that's scrambled many people's assumptions about American...

18 Elo 20251h 27min

From Armageddon to Zionism — More Listener Questions [Teaser]

From Armageddon to Zionism — More Listener Questions [Teaser]

Listen to the rest of this premium episode by subscribing at patreon.com/knowyourenemy.Our mailbag runneth over! Unsurprisingly, we received so many excellent questions from subscribers for our most r...

11 Elo 20254min

Has Trump 2.0 Been a Success So Far? — And Other Questions

Has Trump 2.0 Been a Success So Far? — And Other Questions

It's been nearly a year since we asked our subscribers to send us questions for a mailbag episode—which they did, with remarkable thoughtfulness and intelligence, for our 100th episode back in Septemb...

4 Elo 20251h 10min

Trump's Epstein Problem [Teaser]

Trump's Epstein Problem [Teaser]

Listen to the rest of this premium episode by subscribing at patreon.com/knowyourenemy.Over July 4th weekend, the Department of Justice and FBI put out a memo essentially declaring "case closed" on th...

28 Heinä 20254min

How Republics End (w/ Mike Duncan) [Unlocked]

How Republics End (w/ Mike Duncan) [Unlocked]

This episode from January 2025 has been un-paywalled for your summer enjoyment...A stock rhetorical trope on the right is to invoke ancient Rome when talking about American decline—often making direct...

18 Heinä 20251h 15min

Suosittua kategoriassa Politiikka ja uutiset

uutiscast
aikalisa
ootsa-kuullut-tasta-2
rss-ootsa-kuullut-tasta
tervo-halme
politiikan-puskaradio
rss-vaalirankkurit-podcast
viisupodi
rss-podme-livebox
et-sa-noin-voi-sanoo-esittaa
rss-asiastudio
otetaan-yhdet
the-ulkopolitist
linda-maria
rikosmyytit
radio-antro
rss-sanna-ukkola-show-verkkouutiset
io-techin-tekniikkapodcast
rss-raha-talous-ja-politiikka
rss-tasta-on-kyse-ivan-puopolo-verkkouutiset