Jonathan Alter on Trump’s Authoritarian Police State
The Al Franken Podcast
The Al Franken Podcast
4.6 • 7.7K Ratings
🗓️ 3 August 2025
⏱️ 51 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
We discuss Trump's authoritarianism, including the ongoing shake down of American universities and law firms. Plus, Texas Republicans are redistricting the state to add 5 new Republican seats to the House. How can Democrats fight back? Can California and New York do the same?
Amid all of the depressing news, Alter also brings a message of hope! He deeply believes in the importance of people power. Citizens are learning ways to resist and make their voices heard. And with the coming midterms, he's optimistic that Democrats CAN take back the House.
DONATE to World Central Kitchen and help feed the starving people of Gaza:
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READ Jonathan's piece on ICE in Washington Monthly: https://washingtonmonthly.com/2025/07/14/america-is-now-a-police-state/
CHECK OUT Jonathan’s Substack, Old Goats: https://oldgoats.substack.com/
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Transcript
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| 0:56.9 | Hey, everybody, we got a great one today. |
| 0:58.5 | You know, for a change. |
| 1:00.7 | Journalist Jonathan Alter joins me. |
| 1:04.8 | Bestselling author, a former columnist and editor of Newsweek. |
| 1:08.1 | And he has a terrific substack called Old Goats. |
| 1:11.9 | Jonathan wrote a great piece for the Washington Monthly. |
| 1:18.6 | America is now a police state on a horrible part of the Big Beautiful Bill that didn't get as much attention as the other terrible parts like, you know, the Medicaid and snap cuts. |
| 1:25.2 | But the $100 billion in new funding for ICE and customs and border protection is every bit as ugly. |
| 1:33.0 | And Americans are just beginning to get an idea of how much we hate it, because so much is going to rounding up and deporting undocumented immigrants who have done nothing illegal other than coming here illegally |
| 1:46.3 | or overstaying a visa and have lived here and worked and contributed to our our country. |
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