How Trump Made 2025 Worse Than 2020

How Trump Made 2025 Worse Than 2020

Author: CLNS Media Network December 30, 2025 Duration: 59:55
Co-hots Jared Yates Sexton and Nick Hauselman return for the final Muckrake episode of 2025, and the vibes are… kinda emotionally stable. They look back on a year that somehow felt darker than 2020, then pivot straight into the current circus: Trump raging at the media, posturing about the Epstein files, hosting Zelensky at Mar-a-Lago, and then parroting Putin’s lines like the Oval Office has a Kremlin teleprompter. From there, the conversation goes where 2025 always seems to go: Into the flashing dashboard lights of institutional collapse, Trump’s visible decline, and the unnerving signals that J.D. Vance is already laying 2028 groundwork with Turning Point backing. And if that wasn’t bleak enough, they close with an absolutely cursed focus group of Gen Z Republicans that reads like a “content brain” case study, complete with casual extremism, conspiracy marination, and the kind of political illiteracy that would be funny if it wasn’t actively setting things on fire. Support the show by signing up to our Patreon and get access to the full Weekender episode each Friday as well as special Live Shows and access to our community discord: http://patreon.com/muckrakepodcast

Hosted by political analysts Jared Yates Sexton and Nick Hauselman, The Muckrake Political Podcast operates on a simple premise: the daily headlines are just the surface layer. Produced by the CLNS Media Network, this podcast actively resists the repetitive spin cycle that defines so much political coverage. Instead, each episode is an exercise in excavation, where Sexton and Hauselman pick apart a current event to uncover its roots and ramifications. They consistently reach for historical parallels and viewpoints often sidelined by mainstream discourse, arguing that understanding the past is crucial for navigating the present. The goal isn't just to inform, but to impose a framework for thinking critically about power, rhetoric, and policy as they unfold in real time. For listeners fatigued by shallow takes, this show offers a substantive alternative, replacing noise with nuance. The conversation you'll hear is analytical yet accessible, designed for anyone who feels the news moves too fast to comprehend. It’s a deliberate attempt to find signal in the noise, providing context that makes chaotic political developments feel more intelligible. Tune in for a discussion that treats politics as the complex, consequential force it is, beyond the day's predictable talking points.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 100

The Muckrake Political Podcast
Podcast Episodes
Troops in the Streets, No Balance on the Sheets [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 12:45
Support the show by signing up to our Patreon and get access to the full Weekender episode each Friday as well as special Live Shows and access to our community discord: http://patreon.com/muckrakepodcast With Jared Yate…
No Kings And I Think This Time We Mean It [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 46:50
Jared Yates Sexton and Nick Hauselman unpack a wild weekend where millions protested authoritarianism under the banner of “No Kings,” and Trump responded by posting an AI video of himself as a crowned fighter pilot liter…
Can I Get a Nazi in Da Chat? [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 9:44
Support the show by signing up to our Patreon and get access to the full Weekender episode each Friday as well as special Live Shows and access to our community discord: ⁠http://patreon.com/muckrakepodcast⁠ On this Weeke…
What The Cease Fire In Gaza Really Means [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 51:56
Jared Yates Sexton and Nick Hauselman divie straight into the week’s whiplash: the Israel/Hamas ceasefire and prisoner exchanges, Netanyahu’s corruption baggage, and Donald Trump’s jaw-dropper about “pardoning” Bibi. Fro…
Insurrection Or Dementia? [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 14:22
Support the show by signing up to our Patreon and get access to the full Weekender episode each Friday as well as special Live Shows and access to our community discord: http://patreon.com/muckrakepodcast. It’s a Birthda…
They Came From The Sky and Crossed The Line [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 44:26
In this searing episode, Jared Yates Sexton and Nick Hauselman break down the shocking ICE raids in Chicago, complete with Blackhawks, power cutoffs, and mass detentions. They explore how these actions reveal the rise of…
When The Commander In Chief Loses The Military [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 14:47
Hear the full Weekender every Friday, plus Live Shows and our community Discord. Support us at http://patreon.com/muckrakepodcast. Co-hosts Jared Yates Sexton and Nick Hauselman break down the bizarre Trump–Hegseth meeti…
Yeah, This Ain’t Workin’: Dems Keep Folding to Authoritarians [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 47:53
Co-hosts Jared Yates Sexton and Nick Hauselman unpack a jaw-dropping Trump admission—governing off TV images and staff spin—and how that fantasy politics becomes policy: talk of sending “full force” into blue cities, a r…
The FBI's Kash-tration Of The Truth [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 18:04
Support the show on Patreon to hear the full Weekender and get access to special live shows, our community Discord, and more: http://patreon.com/muckrakepodcast Co-hosts Jared Yates Sexton and Nick Hauselman dig into a g…
Charlie Kirk's Memorial Would've Been Better In The Original German [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 41:54
Jared Yates Sexton and Nick Hauselman break down how Charlie Kirk’s Glendale “memorial” morphed into a full-blown Authoritarian Christian Nationalist pep rally: Stephen Miller’s “I am the storm” theatrics, Tucker Carlson…