The Indian Question | Ep 86

Republicans just got annihilated. The Iran war plus soaring costs crushed the party, and young voters fled in droves. Jeremy Carl joins Lomez to dissect the worst GOP beatdown since Watergate. 00:00 — GOP’s Election Disaster 01:13 — The Senate Firewall Falls 03:46 — Did Iran Doom the GOP? 08:41 — Young Voters Abandon Republicans 13:22 — The Economy Beats the Culture Wars 18:38 — Good GDP, Bad Reality 22:27 — Gas Prices, Voter Anger 28:10 — Is Immigration Still a GOP Winner? 33:02 — The Immigration Backlash 36:13 — Why Latino Voters Swung Back 41:17 — Can Vance or Rubio Win Over Swing Voters? 51:19 — Is Populism Losing Its Grip? 59:15 — The GOP’s Next Generation? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Can America still become one people? Noah Smith joins Lomez for an honest debate over immigration, assimilation, ethnogenesis, and the future of American identity. Sponsors: Patriot Mobile : Join the movement today. Go to PatriotMobile.com/PAT or call 972-PATRIOT. Use promo code PAT for a FREE MONTH of service. Real estate agents: Go to RealEstateAgentsITrust.com. That’s RealEstateAgentsITrust.com. BlazeTV: $40 off a BlazeTV+ annual subscription with code POLLWATCH40. ►Preroll Try Sage Teacher at https://www.sageteacher.ai/ One subscription covers your whole family. Use promo code RUFO at checkout for 20% off. 00:00 — Noah Smith on Politics, Economics & “No Opinion” 01:34 — Noah Smith vs. the DSA Left 05:05 — Is America Fundamentally Good? 07:07 — Abundance Politics: What Does “Abundance for Americans” Mean? 10:44 — Who Could Lead the Democrats in 2028? 14:52 — Israel, Palestine & the Challenge of a Jewish Candidate 18:43 — Immigration and the Politics of Ethnic Conflict 25:39 — Irish and German Immigration: How Assimilation Happened 31:57 — Is Today’s Immigration Wave Historically Unprecedented? 35:38 — “Replenished Ethnicity”: Does Immigration Slow Assimilation? 43:23 — Immigration, Ethnic Majorities & Political Balkanization 47:35 — Can “American” Become a Shared Ethnicity? 55:31 — Would an Immigration Pause Help or Hurt Assimilation? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

America is being robbed blind, over half a trillion dollars a year, and the politicians in charge are either too weak or too complicit to act. We lay out the scale of the fraud, the scams, and the political corruption, and why Washington can't seem to stop it. Sponsors: ►Preroll Try Sage Teacher at https://www.sageteacher.ai/ One subscription covers your whole family. Use promo code RUFO at checkout for 20% off. 00:00 — America's $500 Billion Fraud Problem 03:00 — Inside the $40 Million Medicaid Fraud Allegation 07:00 — Gavin Newsom's “Empire of Fraud” 11:00 — Why High-Profile Arrests Aren’t Enough 15:00 — The Politics Behind Medicare and Medicaid 19:00 — Can Washington Stop the Money? 23:00 — Reform, Collapse, or Opt Out? 27:00 — How AI Could Catch Fraud at Scale 31:00 — Blockchain, Transparency, and Fraud Bounties 35:00 — Why There’s No “Fix-It Room” in Washington 40:00 — The Talent Problem in Politics 45:00 — Public Service Without the Payoff 50:00 — Staying in the Fight Without Becoming a Martyr Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Is it about race, class, or something else entirely? We confront America's most uncomfortable immigration debate. 00:00 — The Bo French Tweet Sparks a Firestorm 03:20 — Why Indian Immigration Became a Flashpoint 07:45 — Indian American Success—and the Backlash 12:10 — H-1B Visas: Skilled Worker Pipeline or Wage Pressure? 17:30 — Immigration, Assimilation, and the Ellis Island Comparison 22:00 — Are Indian Americans Assimilating? 27:00 — Race, Class, and the “Indian Question” 32:20 — Homogeneity, Diversity, and American Identity 37:00 — Is Mass Immigration Changing American Culture? 42:20 — Indian Americans, Politics, and Blue-State Assimilation 47:30 — Grind Culture vs. the American Dream 53:00 — Vivek Ramaswamy and the Credential Arms Race 59:00 — Immigration Reform, H-1B Changes, and What Comes Next Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Investigative reporter Brian Chau reveals who is bankrolling the “AI will kill everyone” panic and buying influence in Congress. Sponsors: ►Preroll Try Sage Teacher at https://www.sageteacher.ai/ One subscription covers your whole family. Use promo code RUFO at checkout for 20% off. 00:00 – “AI Will Literally Kill Everyone” – Inside the Doomer Mindset 05:12 – The ‘AI God’ Theory: Recursive Self‑Improvement or Sci‑Fi Fantasy? 11:03 – Paperclip APOCALYPSE: How Doomers Think AI Turns Humans Into Office Supplies 16:44 – Reality Check: Superhuman at Math…But Still TERRIBLE at Writing 21:58 – Will AI Help Some Rando Build a Doomsday Bioweapon? 27:21 – State Bioweapons vs Lone Wolves: Who’s the REAL Threat? 33:09 – Inside Effective Altruism: From ‘Saving Africa’ to Saving Imaginary Future Billions 39:02 – When ‘Doing Good’ Means LYING: The Dark Logic of Effective Altruism 44:35 – Brian’s EA Conference Story: Intelligence, Narcissism, and Straight‑Up Deception 51:10 – The ‘Rogue AI’ HACKS Were STAGED? What Really Happened at OpenAI & Anthropic 57:48 – Hugging Face Incident: Cybersecurity Test or Manufactured AI Scare? 1:03:30 – Why AI Doomers Are Winning: Billions in PR, Media Plants, and DC Influence Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Bari Weiss and her 2018 New York Times article on the Intellectual Dark Web launched Jordan Peterson, Sam Harris, and the Weinstein brothers into the mainstream. Nearly a decade later, we dissect how that moment imploded into conspiracy rabbit holes, algorithm addiction, and the collapse of a would‑be heterodox revolution. Sponsors: ►Preroll Try Sage Teacher at https://www.sageteacher.ai/ One subscription covers your whole family. Use promo code RUFO at checkout for 20% off. 0:00 – Bari Weiss, the NYT, & the ‘Intellectual Dark Web’ 3:12 – Bari Weiss Predicts the Collapse 8:45 – From Free Speech Heroes to Cranks: The Fall of the IDW 14:20 – “Classical Liberal” Was Always Fake 19:05 – The Myth of Deplatforming Alex Jones & Milo 23:50 – How Peterson & the Weinsteins Went Off-Grid 29:30 – When Heterodoxy Became a Drug 34:10 – Charles Murray vs. the Weinsteins: Who Was Right All Along? 39:42 – Neocons Did It First (and Better) 45:15 – The Algorithm Fried Their Brains 51:00 – Was the IDW Just a Media Grift? 56:20 – NYT vs. IDW: Who Looks Sane Now? 1:01:40 – The IDW’s Kamikaze Mission Explained Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

One year after the assassination of Charlie Kirk, the Right remains without a clear leader. Its coalition unity is shattered, and its leadership vacuum is only deepening. 0:00 – Charlie Kirk Assassination: One Year Later 3:12 – “Hinge Event” After 9/11: How Kirk’s Death Changed Everything 8:45 – Right-Wing Meltdown: Why the Coalition Shattered After Kirk 13:27 – Inside Charlie Kirk’s Power: Charisma, Humility & Raw Influence 18:50 – How Kirk Made Changing Your Mind a Superpower 23:39 – One Man, Massive Power: The Truth About Political Capital 29:05 – Can Anyone Replace Charlie Kirk? 34:42 – JD Vance: The Only Man Who Can Rebuild the MAGA Coalition? 41:03 – Candace Owens, Conspiracies & Cash: Monetizing Charlie’s Death 47:18 – Checked-Out Conservatives: Has Idealism on the Right Died? 53:02 – Real Voters or Just Clicks? The Mirage of Online Right-Wing Clout 59:40 – From Opposition to Power: Why the Right Can’t Figure Out Governing 1:06:11 – Scott Adams & Charlie Kirk: The Lost Architects of Trumpism Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Col. Rob Maness was inside the Pentagon on 9/11. He provides an unfiltered, minute-by-minute account of the attack, the chaos, and the rescue efforts he witnessed firsthand. He connects that day to America's wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, and Ukraine, and he makes the case that America is back to a "September 10" mindset today. 0:00:00 25 Years After 9/11: Are We Back to ‘September 10th’ America? 0:02:45 Inside the Pentagon on 9/11: Colonel Maness's Account 0:06:10 Nuclear War Game on 9/11: Coincidence or Something More? 0:10:35 “We Are Under Attack”: The Moment It Became Clear 0:15:20 Chaos at the Pentagon: Fire, Asbestos, and Triage in the Hallways 0:20:40 Who Really Did 9/11? Inside the Future Operations Group 0:25:05 Afghanistan vs. Iraq: Why One War Was Justified and the Other a ‘Bad Idea’ 0:30:30 We Won the War in 2005 — Then We Lost the Strategy 0:36:15 Patriot Act & FISA 702: How 9/11 Still Haunts American Freedom 0:42:00 Iran Since 1979: Ending a 50‑Year War with Blockades and ‘Economic Fury’ 0:48:10 Can America Outlast Iran’s Fanatics? Political Will vs. Religious Zeal 0:54:25 Ukraine, NATO, and Russia’s Red Line: Did the West Push Too Far? 1:00:10 Can Trump End Two Wars at Once? Predictions on Iran & Ukraine Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

From The Pendragon Cycle to the future of the GOP, Jeremy Boreing lays out a long-term strategy for rebuilding conservative culture. Sponsors: ►Preroll Try Sage Teacher at https://www.sageteacher.ai/ One subscription covers your whole family. Use promo code RUFO at checkout for 20% off. 0:00 – The Fantasy Epic Owning Amazon Prime 3:15 – How Jeremy Boreing Beat Hollywood at Its Own Game 7:42 – Why Conservative Movies Keep Failing 12:30 – Will & Grace, Game of Thrones, and the Real Power of Story 18:05 – Rebuilding a 100‑Year Hollywood Machine from Scratch 23:40 – 300 Crew Members, 79 Shoot Days, and Everything Went Wrong 29:10 – Real Bulls, Real Blood: The Insane Pendragon Stunt Everyone Thinks Is Fake 34:25 – Why Conservative Money Won’t Build the Next Facebook or HBO 40:55 – Are Conservatives Doomed by a Failure of Imagination? 47:20 – Lady Ballers vs. Pendragon: Politics, Polemics, and Real Art 53:45 – Evangelicals: The GOP’s Most Powerful Bloc… and Its Weakest Link? 1:00:30 – Tucker Carlson, Israel, and the Coming Right‑Wing Realignment 1:08:10 – Can the Right Actually Build Institutions to Replace Hollywood? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

With the RNC convention landing in Dallas next week, the midterm math is starting to look ugly for Republicans. Rufo & Lomez ask the question nobody in the White House wants to answer: why is J.D. Vance the one holding the bag? ►Preroll Try Sage Teacher at https://www.sageteacher.ai/ One subscription covers your whole family. Use promo code RUFO at checkout for 20% off. 00:00:00 – JD Vance’s case for Republicans in the midterms 00:04:05 – Betting Markets FLIP: Why Democrats Are Favored to Win 00:08:30 – Is the GOP message on fraud and crime falling flat? 00:12:55 – How the Iran conflict is dragging down Republican support 00:17:40 – Is JD Vance Being Set Up to FAIL for 2028? 00:22:00 – SHOCK NUMBERS: 3 Million Fewer Illegal Immigrants 00:26:35 – Deportations, Cheaper Rent, More Jobs: Did Trump Actually Deliver? 00:31:20 – Do Trump’s tariffs actually help American workers? 00:35:55 – From Reagan to Trump: the right’s ideological transformation 00:40:35 – Obergefell, gay marriage, and the collapse of the religious right 00:45:10 – Has Trumpism Turned the Right Into a Nihilist Casino? 00:49:45 – Can the right hold together in the new media ecosystem? 00:54:25 – Final 2026 midterm predictions: House and Senate outlook Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices