Badlands Media

Jon Herold and Chris Paul kick off with the usual banter (t-shirts, a broken ice maker) before getting into the mainstream media's sudden admission that election polls might be, in fact, fake, which segues nicely into growing chatter about a possible second Trump impeachment attempt. From there the conversation lands on the actual centerpiece of the episode: the new White House ballroom construction and what it might mean beyond just a fancy new event space.
The guys dig into the history of continuity of government planning, why underground infrastructure tied to presidential safety has been a recurring theme for decades, and whether the ballroom project fits into that pattern or if they're reading too much into a construction project. There's a tie in to the impeachment talk too, exploring what a Democrat controlled Congress pursuing impeachment might actually accomplish politically versus legally.

Cam Cooksey splits episode 64 into two halves: an hour of Trump Truth Social posts on YouTube, then an hour off platform digging into a Cam Newton and Steve Smith conversation about triggers and mental health (don't worry, he promises it's not sports talk).
The first hour is Trump in his bag. Cam covers the Supreme Court greenlighting the White House ballroom complex (which he suspects was quietly underway already), a savage post roasting Tucker Carlson, Thomas Massie, and Marjorie Taylor Greene, the official Trump Vance midterm rally news, and a reminder that America now escorts ships through a fully controlled Strait of Hormuz. His recurring theme: this is a fifth generation fight with only two endings, and God wins either way.
The second hour turns reflective, using the Newton and Smith clips to talk through triggers, rest, and recovery with viewers. Hold on for that sunrise.

The night opens with an honest to goodness live decoding session: a former CIA officer's cryptic social media post about a redacted book epilogue, worked out letter by letter on air (spoiler, it's a little anticlimactic but still fun to watch unfold). From there the crew geeks out on a chip that reportedly pulls usable power straight from quantum vacuum fluctuations, with a healthy dose of skepticism about how close "commercially viable by 2028" really is. Later on, there's a genuinely compelling theory about Michael Cohen's public break from Trump fitting an old Apprentice era pattern of controlled denunciations, plus some heartfelt shoutouts to fans, family, and sponsors who make the show possible. A little science, a little spycraft, and a little heart. Solid Saturday night.

Host Matt Trump wraps his London walking tour series and turns to a topic he calls preposterous, seductive, and genuinely fun: the Phantom Time Hypothesis, the claim that roughly 300 fabricated years were inserted into the Western calendar. He traces the idea back to his 1990s medieval-history hobby, credits the theory to Heribert Illig, and lays out its wild premise, that Holy Roman Emperor Otto III and Pope Sylvester II may have engineered the years AD 614 to 911, possibly conjuring Charlemagne himself out of thin air.
True to form, he leans against the belief rather than into it, walking through how one might disprove it. The centerpiece is a live, screen-shared attempt to pin Pliny the Elder's recorded solar eclipse to NASA's eclipse tables, with results that get murky fast. Expect archives, lost libraries, calendar skepticism, and a promise to revisit the topic (and maybe the Khazars) later.

Jordan and Nate pre record this one but still pack in plenty, starting with RFK's ongoing Real Food Show and a genuinely fascinating podcast episode with a very deaf Lou Ferrigno on ditching diet culture for good. From there they dig into Trump's pick for FDA commissioner, Dr. Heidi Overton, and why her ties to the recent childhood vaccine executive order have some old guard MAHA voices nervous. The big one this week is Fauci's longtime NIAID advisor pleading guilty to a federal conspiracy involving hidden COVID records, with ties back to Eco Health Alliance and the gain of function money trail. They also break down a new FDA rule closing a decades old food safety loophole, debate a splashy Moderna and Merck mRNA cancer vaccine, and wrap with a genuinely thoughtful conversation about the federal roadless rule and what it means for wildfire management out west. Equal parts hard news and honest back and forth between friends.

Ashe in America and Ghost dig into Season 5, Episode 3 of The Chosen, "Woes," an episode Ashe says she watched three times before recording. This is the second half of the now iconic temple confrontation, and it lands harder than the first, as Jesus turns his full attention to the Sanhedrin with some of the most direct language in the entire series. The hosts walk through his string of rebukes to the scribes and Pharisees, unpack why the show frames this as righteous anger rather than simple rage, and connect it to a beautiful closing sequence involving David and the Psalms that bookends the episode. Expect discussion of hypocrisy, spiritual pride, and what it means to truly orient your heart toward God rather than toward power. Along the way there is some real talk about Ashe's ongoing legal battle, a little venting about government corruption, and the usual sponsor banter to lighten the mood. It is a heavier episode, but the hosts call it one of the best of the season.

Jon Herold leans into a slow Friday with a mostly chat driven show, tackling former NSA Robert O'Brien's Fox News op ed arguing courts blocking White House ballroom construction endangers presidential security, and connecting it to his own theories about continuity of government bunkers. He plays a clip of Steve Bannon calling DOGE "fake and ghey" and questioning Bannon's push for a national emergency election declaration given his past comments urging people to vote despite believing elections are fraudulent. Other topics include Trump's deal to import cheap ground beef to lower prices, a new National Space Transportation policy memo, an ActBlue co founder pleading the Fifth before Congress, and some fun with AI business bots. Sponsor reads, meetup chatter, and a lively, laid back chat session round out a light Friday show ahead of tomorrow's Power Hour with Chris.

CannCon and Chris Paul kick off Friday with a jaw dropping Michael Cohen and President Trump interview that has to be heard to be believed, complete with polling talk, a recantation, and a level of chumminess that raises real questions about the entire Manhattan case. From there they cover growing frustration with the Senate over stalled appointments heading into the midterms, plus a Mike Lindell announcement about the largest privately funded recount audit in US history following alleged reporting anomalies in Minnesota's governor primary. They also unpack Scott Bessent's sharp exchange on tariff refunds and who the US Treasury actually belongs to, before turning to federal agents seizing Eric Swalwell's devices under a statute the hosts find genuinely puzzling. Expect the usual banter, some Jill Biden commentary, and a few detours you will not see coming.

Chris Paul and Burning Bright finally tackle this 2005 political thriller about oil, intelligence, and Middle East power games, and both admit they went in with basically no expectations. Turns out the title has nothing to do with Syria despite the timing lining up with plenty of real world headlines. Expect a real dig into the film's tangled web of characters, from an oil executive's family tragedy to a CIA operative getting pulled back into the game he claims he wants out of, plus a genuinely sharp read on the movie's father son throughline and what it says about men chasing control over things too big to actually control. There's also some sharp commentary on truther culture, branding, and the difference between actually chasing truth and just monetizing the chase. Stick around for listener boosts, a couple generous subs, and next week's pick, a 90s thriller starring Val Kilmer as a master thief.

CannCon and Alpha Warrior dig into a story that has them both rattled, a report on veterans' medical data reportedly flowing to Chinese research firms, and they walk through why that should worry anyone who has ever filed a VA claim. From there the conversation shifts into full debate mode over whether Americans should still bother voting given the state of the machines, with the guys taking opposite sides and dragging in everyone from Trump's endorsement posts to internet voices telling people to sit it out. They also pull up an old Michael Cohen clip resurfacing online and pick apart whether it actually says what people think it says. Expect plenty of back and forth, a little bit of hopium, and the kind of disagreement between friends that never quite turns into a fight. It is politics, distrust, and civic duty, argued the SITREP way.