Ron Perlman Unloads On Trump, Venezuela, Robber Barons, ICE and Broken Hollywood.

Independent Americans with Paul Rieckhoff

Righteous Media | Bleav

Daily News, Veteran, News, Politics, News Commentary, National Security

4.6 • 907 Ratings

🗓️ 9 January 2026

⏱️ 69 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Ron Perlman is back. The man, the myth, the legend joins Independent Americans host Paul Rieckhoff on Paul’s birthday for a wild, unfiltered and deeply hopeful conversation that only these two could have, from Venezuela to Hollywood, Trump to Teamsters, the Nuremberg trials to the magic of movies. They dig into why Ron thinks “the cockroaches’ days are numbered,” how authoritarianism spreads, the loss of empathy in our leadership, and why—despite the rage and the urge to burn it all down—there are still far more “beautiful people who just want to love each other and get a fair shot.”

Transcript

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0:00.0	You know, I mean, our commander-in-chief doesn't even have a feeling for empathy or compassion
0:12.6	or allowing himself to look into somebody's eyes and see their pain, allowing himself to look
0:20.3	into somebody's eyes and see their things that allowing himself to look into somebody's eyes and see their
0:21.9	things that they love that are bigger than themselves. He's not capable of that. There's a lot of
0:28.8	those motherfuckers. Welcome to Independent Americans.
0:47.5	Welcome to Episode 410410.
0:51.2	I am your host, Paul Reikoff, and it is Friday, January 6th. That means it's Friday, so football Friday, Friday, buddy, buddy, Friday. It is football Friday, and it's my birthday. And I'm coming to you from New York City, USA, where the weather has been sunny and warm and then cold and dark, and then sunny and warm, and then cold and dark, which is kind of what America feels like right now.
1:19.0	But it is my birthday.
1:20.8	I can't believe I'm 40.
1:23.0	It's gone by so fast.
1:24.4	It's also the birthday of the great Dave Matthews, of the notorious Richard Nixon,
1:29.4	the lovely Kate Middleton, and the dynamic A.J. McLean from the Backstreet Boys, maybe most notably.
1:35.2	Jimmy Page. I share a birthday with Jimmy Page, the founder and legendary guitarist for Led Zeppelin.
1:40.9	We're going to need some Zeppelin vibes today, folks, because what a fucking week it has been.
1:46.5	I'm going to try to share the light and the energy of Zeppelin and of this movement and of goodness on this day.
1:53.1	Maybe chat a little bit of my mom and my dad and all the folks who made me exist on this day and give you perspective and inspiration and community and toughness and our guest
2:03.0	is bringing all of that. The great Ron Perlman is back, the man, the myth, the legend. He is
2:09.1	coming up next. You know him from stage and screen. And if you listen to this show, you know him
2:14.1	from the very beginning. He is a guy who speaks truth to power, who is an awesome human. And I think my favorite person I've ever had conversations with
2:21.8	on the show coming up in just a minute. But there is a ton happening. America is, of course,
2:26.4	very tense. And I'm going to try to bring light to contrast the heat. We're going to bring
2:29.9	you information, independence, and call out bullshit where we need. All eyes are still on Minneapolis,
	...

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