The DSR Network

On the DSR Daily for Thursday, we break down Israel’s new settlement plans, Trump’s intentions to extend federal control over DC, a ruling allowing the administration to continue withholding foreign aid, and more.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

14 Aug 17min

Original air date: July 23, 2025 In the last few days, we seem to have crossed a threshold. President Trump is ratcheting up the authoritarianism and threatening to prosecute his enemies in a new kind of way. In a series of angry new rants, Trump accused Barack Obama and other members of Obama’s administration of serious crimes. He’s also calling for Senator Adam Schiff to be put in “prison.” Critically, all this has been accompanied by unabashedly corrupt manipulation of the bureaucracy that’s designed to manufacture pretexts for the prosecutions of those enemies. Ryan Enos, a professor of government at Harvard, put it very starkly on Bluesky, saying that authoritarianism is “right here in front of us.” So we invited Enos on the show. He explains why “we’re in real trouble in the short term,” how Trump compares to other authoritarians around the globe, and why our only choices now are to fight the takeover or “accept that this is our future.” Looking for More from the DSR Network? Click Here: https://linktr.ee/deepstateradio Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

14 Aug 29min

President Trump and President Putin’s Alaska summit is on the horizon and we couldn’t be less excited. Without a spot for Ukraine at the table and a 1-on-1 meeting between the two presidents on the docket, there’s not really much to be hopeful for. Amb. Ivo Daalder, Professor Rosa Brooks, and Professor Angela Stent join David Rothkopf to forecast the storm clouds ahead for the meeting and why we shouldn’t count on a blockbuster peace deal any time soon.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

13 Aug 40min

On the DSR Daily for Wednesday, we cover the upcoming Trump-Putin summit, Israel’s potential resettlement of Palestinians to South Sudan, the White House calls for a review of Smithsonian museums, and more.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

13 Aug 20min

Original air date: July 15, 2025 The MAGA movement has been in full meltdown ever since President Trump’s Department of Justice concluded they have no evidence that sex offender Jeffrey Epstein kept a client list or was murdered in jail. This contradicted a major MAGA conspiracy theory, and MAGA influencers are screaming cover-up. Tucker Carlson just ratcheted this all up by attacking Trump: He faulted Trump’s government for failing to take questions about the matter seriously. In another heresy, Carlson even criticized Trump himself for brushing off MAGA’s anger over it. Carlson’s broadside has some Republicans quietly grappling with why he is so successfully capturing MAGA anger about the Epstein fiasco. We talked to historian Nicole Hemmer, author of several major books about the right and its media networks. She expertly decodes the MAGA pathologies animating the Epstein drama, digs into their deeper sources on the right, and explains what it all says about today’s Trumpified political world. Looking for More from the DSR Network? Click Here: https://linktr.ee/deepstateradio Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

13 Aug 25min

On the DSR Daily for Tuesday, we break down Trump’s takeover of Washington, the US and China extending their tariff truce another 90 days, Trump’s new conservative Bureau of Labor Statistics nominee, and more.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

12 Aug 23min

Original air date: July 11, 2025 Stephen Miller recently berated ICE officials in a private meeting, demanding that they hit supercharged new arrest quotas and steamrolling anyone who balked, reports The Atlantic. Yet in a surprise twist, the report also details that Miller’s demands for maximum arrests are driving morale at ICE into the crapper. Importantly, what’s irking ICE agents is precisely that the mission of arresting as many low-level offenders as possible is pulling them away from pursuing serious criminals. This brutally unmasks one of Trump’s biggest scams: It demonstrates clearly that his mass deportations are not at all about public safety and are only about getting as many peaceful and noncriminal immigrants out of the country as possible. We talked to one of our favorite observers on this issue, FWD.us president Todd Schulte. He explains how all this reveals the soft underbelly of Trump’s political strength, why MAGA is now addicted vile memes about shackling immigrants, and what ordinary people can do to effectively resist the coming horrors. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

12 Aug 22min

Original air date: July 10, 2025 It appears to be dawning on President Trump that he will not be ending the Russia-Ukraine war in one day as he promised during the campaign. Trump’s frustration at Vladimir Putin is rising: This week he accused Putin of hitting him with “bullshit” and even admitted Putin’s word to him is “meaningless.” This comes as it’s now being reported that Putin is escalating the war against Ukraine and that he’s brushing aside Trump’s anger about it. Add it all up, and Trump is plainly humiliated, realizing that Putin is laughing off his demand for “peace.” We talked to Mona Charen, policy editor at The Bulwark, who writes well about the Trumpified GOP’s embrace of Putin. She explains how Putin has long played Trump, why Putin feels free to humiliate him, and what the various scenarios ahead look like. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

11 Aug 27min