In the wake of a catastrophic and nationally demoralizing presidential debate last week, and in advance of July 4th, Independent Veterans of America (IVA) announced its formation with an urgent mission to organize and elect independent veterans

Errol Louis (Replay). The First Presidential Debate: Ugh. Kennedy’s Disqualifying 9/11 Comments. Trump’s Ridiculous Plan For Ukraine to Surrender to Putin. Radical Democrat Jamaal Bowman Goes Down. Assange Gets Off Easy. Step Aside. School’s Out!

10 days ago 1h 2m

School is finally out in schools nationwide. The NBA Finals and Stanley Cup are over. Summer is heating up. The war in Ukraine continues. The 2024 election is about to hit a whole new level.And the first presidential debate is here. Strap in,

Wes Moore (Replay). The Summer of Chaos. Kennedy Out of CNN Debate. But He Could Cost Biden Michigan. Trump Loses Steam with Independents After Conviction—Duh. Putin Visits North Korea. Juneteenth and Flag Day Reflections. It All Started at a Urinal.

17 days ago 1h 50m

Five years ago, almost to the exact day, Wes Moore came on a new upstart podcast and talked about what made him angry. Specifically, he talked about marijuana laws and how they disproportionately impacted communities of color. These laws ruined

Willie Geist. Father’s Day Special. America’s Cool Dad Returns to Talk Parenting, Baseball, Covering Trump and Biden, Patriotism, How to be Respectful and Fair. Our Kids Are Watching. Bad Dads. Wes Moore is Jasson Dominguez. The D-Day Challenge.

24 days ago 1h 6m

Willie Geist (@WillieGeist) is America’s cool dad. Hosting Morning Joe on MSNBC all week and hosting his own hugely popular Sunday TODAY show on NBC on the weekends. He’s also a devoted husband and dad. He joins us for a Father’s Day special to

Marcus Carter. Independent Veteran for Congress in Florida’s 9th. Trump is Guilty. Menendez Says He’s Independent—But He’s Not. Neither is Manchin. Zelensky and Biden at Normandy. D-Day 80 Years Later. Poop Balloons, Sesame Street and Pride 2024.

Jun 6th, 2024 1h 2m

Summer is here. And it’s getting hot. In America, around the world, and in our politics. And we’re not afraid of some heat. From the Trump verdict to Menendez and Manchin claiming independence to poop balloons. Yes, poop balloons. It’s already

LIVE EVENT: The Launch Of American Veterans for Ukraine. The Heroic Founders and Ukrainian Heroes. Celebrating Bill Walton. Role Models and Coach Wooden’s Two Sets of Three. Nikki Haley Folds. RFK Jr Complains About Debate. Biden Blows it on Weed.

May 30th, 2024 1h 6m

Last week you heard from Bonnie Carroll about her work with host Paul Rieckhoff to create the American Veterans for Ukraine organization. Immediately after recording that show, in advance of Memorial Day, at a historic event at Ukraine House in

Bonnie Carroll. Introducing American Veterans For Ukraine. A Powerful New Effort From Five Veteran Powerhouses You’ve Met On The Show. Memorial Day 2024. Usyk Defeats Tyson Fury To Become Heavyweight Champ. Don’t Call It a Comeback.

May 23rd, 2024 49m 30s

Another Memorial Day is upon us. A reminder of all those we’ve lost. And, a reminder that no matter how high the stakes, no matter how challenging the odds, as the allied forces showed us on D-Day and throughout WW2, and as generations of Ameri

Kodi Sawin. Independent Candidate for Texas State House. Let’s Get VERY Local. Zombie Candidates and Jack’s Smirking Revenge. The Biden vs Trump Debates are Set. And RFK. Jr Won’t Be Part of ‘Em.

May 16th, 2024 1h 8m

This episode we’re headed down south to Texas. America, meet Kodi Sawin (@KodiforTexas). She’s running for the Texas House of Representatives in the 19th district and is up against some stiff competition. But her common sense, no nonsense appro

Dan Osborn. Independent Navy Veteran For Senate From Nebraska. From Steamfitter to Senate Candidate. Keeping It Real As A Winning Strategy. RFK Jr’s 9/11 Conspiracy Theories and Brain Worms. DeSantising. Little League Life Lessons.

May 9th, 2024 1h 2m

Welcome back to our groundbreaking “Meet The 2024 Independent Candidates” series—highlighting independent candidates of all kinds, for all levels of office, from all across America. In our second episode in the series we met Shelane Etchison, o

Shelane Etchison. Special Operations Combat Veteran Running As An Independent For Congress From North Carolina. Can She Beat An Extreme GOP Incumbent and a Dem Who’s Not From There? Will Ft Bragg/Liberty Rally for One of Their Own? Chaos on Campuses.

May 2nd, 2024 55m 31s

Jared Young. Independent Candidate for US Senate From Missouri. Can He Beat Josh Hawley & Lucas Kunce? Who Is He, What Does He Stand For, How Does He Define Independent? Congress Finally Delivers for Ukraine. Kennedy’s Whole Family Endorses Biden.

Apr 25th, 2024 58m 40s

Welcome to the first installment of our groundbreaking “Meet The 2024 Independent Candidates” series—highlighting independent candidates of all kinds, for all levels of office, from all across America. America, meet Jared Young (@VoteJaredYoun

Mayor Yemi Mobolade. America’s Independent Mayor is Back. Who Will He Endorse for President? The Advantages of Being An Independent Politician. Who the Hell is Melina Abdullah? Trump on Trial. Ukraine’s 1 to 10 Problem. Tee Ball is Life.

Apr 18th, 2024 1h 1m

The spring offensive is here. The spring offensive of news, chaos, war and misinformation. The spring offensive, attacking democracy foreign and domestic. A spring offensive before the summer storm. A storm of the century. It’s a storm that’s

Trump and Biden Jockey to Weaponize Kennedy. No Labels is No More. Arizona Abortion Bombshell Is Not Popular with Independents. Senator Redneck is Back—and Carrying Water for Putin. Cornel West Picks a VP You’ve Never Heard Of.

Apr 11th, 2024 31m 2s

April is here. March Madness is over. UConn are champions. South Carolina are champions. But the madness isn’t stopping. The madness is just getting started. And now, it’s REALLY getting interesting. As long predicted and examined on #Independ

Bill Hillsman. The Godfather of Independent Politics. Lessons from Jesse Ventura’s Win 25 Years Later. No Labels = No Candidate. Dems Ramp up Attacks on Kennedy, But Maybe They Shouldn’t. Presidential Primaries Are Broken. Hell to the Naw Season.

Apr 4th, 2024 59m 34s

Independent Political Strategist Bill Hillsman has masterminded some of the most effective and innovative election campaigns in the modern era. Hillsman first rocked the political world when he helped elect the late Minnesota Senator Paul Wells

274. Ken Burns. How Sick is America? Who is He Voting For and Why? Is HE Fearful of a Civil War? Transactional vs Transformational. Social Media, Cable News and the State of our National Conversation. The Heroes of Today.

Mar 28th, 2024 45m 13s

Few people have studied America and what it means to be an American more and at a deeper level than our guest in this one. He has dedicated his life to documenting the stories of the people, the history and the cultures that have shaped us all.

A Week Of Real Talk and Reckonings. Afghanistan. Trump. Ukraine. Netanyahu. Crime In America. RFK Jr’s Latest Ridiculous VP Name. March Madness in Our Politics.

Mar 21st, 2024 28m 3s

This week, it’s time for real talk. Overdue real talk. On America’s terrible withdrawal from Afghanistan. On accountability for those failures that resulted in the 13 American servicemembers dying at Abbey Gate. On the fragile independent brand

Breaking Down Kennedy, Aaron Rodgers, Jesse “The Body” Ventura, South By Southwest and All The Other Recent Independent Drama.

Mar 14th, 2024 25m 40s

In case you missed it, newly-self-proclaimed independent RFK Jr. floated some VP names. Aaron Rodgers and Jesse Ventura. Exactly what the independent movement does NOT need. And our Paul Rieckhoff is going to dig into why. He’ll also share the

State of the Union Special Edition. How Did Biden Do? Did He Move Independents? Dissecting The Big Night From Cannabis to Ukraine to Veterans to Forgotistan.

Mar 8th, 2024 15m 4s

Welcome to a special State of the Union recap special edition episode of Independent Americans. Normally, the State of the Union address is a civics lesson, pageantry and performance. Normally, it doesn’t move the needle. But last night was d

Tim Mak. Ukraine at a Crossroads. Has Ukraine Given Up on America? The Battle of Antonov Airfield. Haley is Out. Sinema is Out Too. Super Tuesday Was Not Super for 6M Independents. America Says Biden is Too Old. SecDef Austin’s Rough Time.

Mar 7th, 2024 54m 57s

Welcome to Independent Americans. And welcome to March. The weather is changing. It’s warming up and spring is so close you can almost smell it. But instead you’re probably smelling something different in the air. Something a lot less pleasant

Michael Steele. Michigan & South Carolina Primary Insights. Where Will Haley Voters Go? Being the only Republican Host on MSNBC. Does Biden Have a Harris Problem? More Congressional Chaos. Will RFK Jr & No Labels Spoil Everything?

Feb 29th, 2024 1h 5m

The story that remains underreported is how much Trump ISN’T getting. He’s a freight train as nominee—but still NOT getting 30%. AND, he’s continuing to struggle with moderates in his own party and especially with independents (as revealed most

Will Anyone Listen to Independents in 2024? A Special Short Episode with Paul Rieckhoff.

Feb 22nd, 2024 9m 14s

This episode is a little different. It’s a quick hit episode from host Paul Rieckhoff (@PaulRieckhoff)--with a reading of his recent op-ed that appeared on Smerconish.com (co-authored with John Opdycke(@jbopdycke, the President of Open Primarie

Asha Rangappa. Is Trump Going to Jail or Not? What Did The Hur Report Really Say About Biden? MAGA vs NATO, Ukraine and More. Russia’s Secret Space Nukes. Long Island’s Special Election Takeaways. Best Super Bowl Ever. The Tragic Parade Shooting.

Feb 15th, 2024 41m 45s

The Super Bowl is over and the Chiefs are the champs. MAGA is sad about that for some reason, but don’t worry they’ll have something new to be upset about soon enough. From mysterious new Russian space nukes, to Biden’s old age to another loomi

Matt Gallagher. Super Bowl Politics. How F#cked Up is America Right Now? Speaker Johnson is a Terrible Quarterback. Border Bill Fumble. Haley is QB2. Is the US Soft? SC and NV Primaries. Civil War or World War? Daybreak: Matt’s Powerful New Novel.

Feb 8th, 2024 1h 14m

It’s Super Bowl week in America. And it’s a Super Bowl year of politics and national security. And as the world focuses on America’s big game, it’s also focused on America’s dysfunction. And so are we. The border deal has collapsed, funding for

Alex Vindman. Three US Troops Killed in Jordan. Ukraine is Running Out of Ammo—as America Runs Out of Heart. Is War with Iran Imminent? Vindman vs Marco Rubio? The Taylor Swift Super Bowl is Set.

Feb 1st, 2024 55m 40s

It’s Super Bowl time in America. And 2024 is a year-long Super Bowl FOR America. Stakes have never been higher. And just like for a Super Bowl team, leaders will be the difference. And Alex Vindman (@AVindman) has been a QB for America steppin

Michael Smerconish. New Hampshire Post-Mortem. Jason Kelce for President!? Haley’s Independent Appeal & Playing for QB2. Who Trump Might Pick for VP. Dean Phillips: Blah. The 2024 Wild Cards: RFK Jr, No Labels & Independents. Super Bowl Predictions!

Jan 25th, 2024 40m 44s

The New Hampshire primary is over–and independents were a huge factor. Just as they will be in the general election in November. Who did they vote for? What do they care about? And who can appeal to them now—and in the future? And what’s next f