Badlands Media

Newly clean-shaven host Matt Trump (yes, he shaved the beard) delivers part four of his summer abroad walking tour, back in London as the self-described Rick Steves of Badlands. After brief detours on odd Wisconsin election results and AI watermarking, he cues up the 1953 Ivanhoe trailer and walks you upstream along the Thames, past Blackfriars, to the round Temple Church at the heart of the medieval Inns of Court. The main event is the Knights Templar. Framed archaeologically rather than as pure conspiracy fodder, he traces their origins as pilgrim-protecting warrior monks headquartered at the Temple Mount, their surprising role as the inventors of international banking and letters of credit, and their later life as lawyers. The through line ties this fusion of military, finance, and intelligence to modern parallels, from the CIA to globalist power. Expect crusades history, a promised pub stop, and plenty of tongue-in-cheek asides.

Jordan and Nate break down a genuinely massive news week starting with Trump's executive order slashing the recommended childhood vaccine schedule and splitting up the MMR shot, plus the predictably unhinged media freakout that followed. From there they dig into HHS's new "Wolves in White Coats" report, which refers hospitals accused of profiting off pediatric gender medicine to the DOJ, and cover Medicaid's decision to stop funding transition procedures for minors. Lighter but still eye opening topics include a viral study finding most big box "avocado oil" products are secretly cut with cheaper seed oils, the Navy quietly reinstating mandatory flu shots just months after dropping them, and a new mRNA flu vaccine approval for seniors. The show closes with a genuinely informative interview about home water filtration, mineralization, and why bottled and reverse osmosis water might be doing less for your body than you think.

Jon Herold spends Friday explaining why he refuses to watch the much hyped Candace Owens versus Andrew Wilson debate, arguing that a debate can never settle a controlled opposition dynamic and that whoever "wins" has nothing to do with who is actually right. He responds to some chat pushback on his stance, then shifts into a genuinely quiet news day covering an appeals court dismissing an Alien Enemies Act challenge, a trade court upholding Trump's de minimis tariff closure, and a report on federal agencies routing funds to terror linked charities. There is also a look at falling DC and Memphis crime stats tied to National Guard deployment, Trump's Supreme Court push on ballroom construction, and some personal baseball and birthday stories. Sponsor reads, meetup ticket reminders, and an extended chat hangout round out a lighter Friday show.

Ashe in America and Ghost dive into Season 5, Episode 2 of The Chosen, "House of Cards," and they do not undersell it, calling it one of the best episodes of the entire series so far. This is the one everyone has been waiting for, the moment Jesus makes his stand in his father's house, and the hosts break down why the scene lands with so much weight. Expect a close read of the temple confrontation, the exchange rate schemes and money changing corruption behind it, and what it means that righteous anger has a place even in a story built around grace. They also connect the moment to bigger themes about power, spiritual leadership, and how easily good intentions curdle into self glorification, with some pointed real world comparisons along the way. As always there is sponsor banter, some late night recording chaos, and a healthy dose of humor mixed in with the heavier material. It is a big episode, and the hosts clearly had a great time talking through it.

Chris Paul and Burning Bright dust off this 90s political comedy about two rival ex presidents forced to team up against a corrupt sitting president, and yes, they clock exactly how hokey it is right out of the gate. There's a running bit about how often James Rebhorn keeps showing up in their movie picks lately, some genuine affection for the cast even when the material is on the nose, and a solid conversation about whether Hollywood satire like this counts as intentional propaganda or just the culture accidentally telling on itself. The back half wanders into current events, including a wild multi country dispute over which plane certain officials were actually on, and why nobody seems to agree on the basic facts of anything anymore. Stick around for the next pick, a politically charged oil industry drama from the mid 2000s neither host has seen yet.

CannCon and Chris Paul go deeper into the SPLC indictment, walking through the eye popping funding numbers behind the organization's growth over the past decade and the specific ways prosecutors say donor money was funneled to informants inside extremist groups. They connect it to a broader pattern of unaccountable NGO grant money and speculate on how far the fallout could spread. From there they dig into fresh CBS reporting confirming President Trump secretly swapped planes while a real missile threat loomed, with the actual Air Force One carrying top cabinet officials who did not even know the president was not aboard. The back half covers a viral immigration clip out of Houston and a closing John Brennan clip on what he expects from the midterms. Plenty of banter and a Friday wrap up energy throughout.

CannCon and Alpha Warrior open with a bit of family life, some Rumble platform gripes, and a hearty debate on why the infantry misses the chaos more than they will admit. Then it is straight into the news. Suppressors are now free of the old NFA Form 4 paperwork after a court win, and the guys walk through what that actually means for gun owners while roasting a viral demonstration video for its questionable tactical choices. From there they dig into the very strange story of Trump's apparent Air Force One switcheroo before a credible Iranian missile threat, including who was and was not on the real plane. The back half is dedicated to the newly unsealed SPLC indictment, breaking down decades of alleged paid informants inside extremist groups. It is guns, geopolitics, and government watchdogs behaving badly, with the usual dark banter mixed in.

A Windows update wiped Frankie Val's intro, outro, and sound clips, so ep 62 runs raw and improvised, which suits a night this scattered. Frankie opens with an emergency room story about his mom, then dives into the news oddities: a man dressed as the Grim Reaper taunting patients from a Welsh hospital roof, a rare European solar eclipse, and, yes, the very real World Cup of window cleaning (a Californian took the title).
That last one launches the night's call-in theme: what could you win a World Cup at? Callers deliver, from a man who rehoused hundreds of homeless veterans to heavier, unresolved childhood stories about narrowly dodging a local predator.
The back half sharpens up with a caller-driven breakdown of Matt Walsh's new Civil War video, where Frankie pushes past the slavery framing to argue the war ultimately destroyed rather than preserved the union. Raffle night rounds it out.

CannCon and Ashe in America leave the world of pure banking history behind for a moment and step into Chapter 11 of The Creature from Jekyll Island by G. Edward Griffin, opening a new section the book calls The New Alchemy. The theme this week is grim but fascinating: how the same fiat money mechanism used to fund banks has also quietly funded wars, and how the profits of war have historically flowed to a very specific set of financiers rather than to nations or causes. The hosts dig into the rise of the House of Rothschild in Europe, the long tradition of financing both sides of a conflict, and the uncomfortable formula connecting debt to war and war back to debt. Expect history that hits differently once you see the pattern, plus the usual sponsor breaks and some behind the scenes audio troubleshooting along the way.

Jon Herold leans on the chat for a lighter Thursday, opening with Karoline Leavitt's announced departure as White House Press Secretary and a fun debate over whether the role should even exist in the Trump era. He digs into a Washington Post report tying a covert CIA program to mysterious strikes on Ecuadorian fishing boats near the Galapagos, plus a separate leak questioning the CIA's confidence in the Iranian assassination threat that prompted Trump's secret plane switch in Turkey. Other topics include a new executive order on transnational cybercrime, a Natalie Winters report on USDA funded halal meal programs in public schools, the national debt closing in on 40 trillion, and Trump's push for permanent Daylight Saving Time. Jon also gives a sneak peek at his own AI powered news aggregator project. Sponsor reads, market updates, and a lively chat session round out a slower but fun Thursday show.