Episode Details

It's Wednesday and Driftglass is in the house. We start with a satirical "betting app" ad about Ken Paxton that made both of us laugh out loud, then dig into the Texas Senate race and James Talarico's campaign.

Then: the bribes. Trump is promising $5,000 checks if Republicans win, $500 for some ACA exchange enrollees in red states, and $90 for Medicare beneficiaries who meet a long list of conditions. Driftglass explains how he sees the fear-and-greed playbook, and why he thinks fear has stopped working. We also play rally audio of Trump basically suggesting that Iran take out Los Angeles and San Diego, and that it would be "a small price to pay! The Lincoln Project made a great ad out off it

From there, Dr. Strangelove, Fail Safe, and a conversation about AI agents acting without permission. On the third anniversary of October 7th, I talk about the attack, my frustration with how some on the left are responding, and the question I still can't answer: what should Israel's response be? Driftglass shares where he lands, and we talk about what ordinary people can actually do in a world like this one.

Plus Illinois politics, my Denny Hastert mix-up (corrected!), Edgar Allan Poe, the Alan Parsons Project, and what it's like to look at rental houses when rents have jumped about $500 a month in a year.

Coming up: Lisa Graves returns tomorrow for the first week of the Supreme Court term, and Marcy Wheeler is here Friday.

Find Driftglass at driftglass.blogspot.com and on The Professional Left Podcast (proleftpod.com).