Us Of Ed

"National security's in a lot of trouble." National Security Advisor John Bolton has departed the White House, leaving some of America's enemies, and allies, breathing a sigh of relief. But did he jump or was he pushed? And Trump has blown up plans to meet the Taliban at presidential retreat Camp David, but just how bad of an idea was it in the first place? Also talking North Carolina, Republican primaries, Brexit and firebrand Democrat Kamala Harris.

"He's going to have to pay a big price for this, and US citizens will pay that same price." Although it may fall short of Alabama, Hurricane Dorian has hammered the Bahamas and continues to make its way up the East Coast. Hurricane Trump continues to wreak his unique form of chaos on the economy and the Pentagon budget, and in the UK Boris Johnson has seen his Parliamentary majority blow away. Also talking the Odessa shooting and Andrew Yang's 2020 aspirations.

"He's got no place to turn now with the economy softening." Hereby, Emperor Trump can try ordering American businesses to turn away from China but he seems to be running out of friends, except for a few Russian oligarchs and British PM Boris Johnson that is. And while the Amazon was burning this week, the president looking to quietly remove protections from Alaska's Tongass National Forest. Also, landmark news for the opioid crisis, the Jeffrey Epstein case, Brexit, and this week's spotlight on South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg.

"This sounds like something out of the 1930s in Germany. The Jews that you don't like are a liability, and something has to happen to them." ...and I did not speak out, because I was not a Mexican... This week, Trump's big real estate deal, looking to buy Greenland, its resources and 56,000 citizens at wholesale prices, and more worrying comments about ignorant and disloyal Jewish voters. Meanwhile, the global economy teeters on the brink of recession and hope is fading for China. Also talking Russia and the G7, indefinite detention for undocumented families, Brexit, and Beto O'Rourke in the 2020 spotlight this week.

"The most threatened species is this administration, every one of its birds has been shot, by the Congress, by the public, and so on." Conspiracies surround the death of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, just the thing to distract from a looming recession, retreat in the China trade war, and weakening of the Endangered Species Act. Looking at the Democrats' 2020 field, we take a butchers at Amy Klobutchar for a possible VP slot. Also talking Hong Kong, gun laws, and mass killings beget more death abroad.

"Their irrational actions are guided by a rational system of propaganda that they're being fed, and that's the real danger. Shootings in El Paso and Dayton, Ohio have renewed calls for tougher gun legislation and inflamed fears around white nationalists and domestic terror. Also looking at the Democratic field for presidential candidates in 2020, we profile New Jersey Senator Corey Booker. And talking Trump’s elusive tax returns, again, Venezuela, and ICE’s largest single-state crackdown on illegal immigrants.

"The move to the left is really on, nobody challenged the move to the left." While the democratic debates latest round didn't throw up any major curveballs, a leftward tilt seems to be in the cards for the party and their nominee. On the road to 2020 though, Moscow Mitch keeps knocking back proposals to keep Russian fingers out of the American pie. Also talking US-China Trade, North Korea, Kelly Craft, and continuing family separations at the Mexico border.

"If he wins the election the Democrats will go crazy, and they'll come after him, and probably throw the kitchen sink after him." We're back in time to catch Mueller's testimony in front of Congress, but aside from a potential press op for Democrats being mostly squandered was anything achieved? Trump's latest racist comments are practically business as usual, but could they be more than a slip but instead testing the waters on an even uglier 2020 campaign? Also talking skyrocketing deficit, Iran, Pakistan, and the UK's answer to Trump, Boris Johnson, taking over Number 10.

"We can't say we're going to lower the temperatures, we can't say we're going to improve the oceans. What we have to say is, how do we adapt to the new climate that's coming?" It is almost certainly too late to undo the havoc being wreaked by damage done to our climate. But is it possible for the United States and other nations to not only survive but thrive in the era of climate change? We talk climate change's impacts on national security, migration, food security and infrastructure, the economic benefits of accepting climate change as a reality, and why politics keeps hobbling potential momentum.

"The American Dream came fast and went fast, and now it's dead." For native Americans it was the the house and two car garage, 2.4 kids and white picket fence, all on a factory job wage. For migrants, it was the Land of Opportunity. But it seems the American Dream is dead and buried, leaving Americans economically, mentally and spiritually bereft. In this special we talk about failures in the economy, the education system and perception that led here, whether the America Dream's heyday was all it was cracked up to be, and a new dream for the future.

"Our cities have grown up exchanging goods, now we have to exchange knowledge." Something different this week while Ed and Sean are both away, celebrating the release of Ed's new book with Richard Hu Crafting Innovative Places for Australia's Knowledge Economy. With a more Australian focus, we discuss what the knowledge economy is and how towns and cities can best facilitate it. Why physical space is still important in the digital era, following American examples, and whether Australia is sacrificing innovation to prop up traditional areas of the economy.

"I think he did the right thing but, you know, sometimes a blind man can hit a target." Mueller to be grilled by Congress next month, but is there any point when the Mueller Report said all he's been willing to say? Trump pulling out of a strike on Iran at the penultimate moment seems to have been a wise and humane decision, but it was also a situation entirely of his own making. Also talking sexual assault accusations, Hope Hicks, kids in detention, and has Trump actually made a positive move on healthcare? Ed and Sean will be away for three weeks but in the meantime a series of specials have been scheduled, looking at the Knowledge Economy, The Death of the American Dream, and Climate Change.

"Trump knows this game better than anyone... Don't try to out-Trump Trump." Donald Trump has officially launched his reelection bid for 2020 this week, but has he got anything new or is it the same old bag of tricks? Sarah Sanders and Patrick Shanahan on their way out, we take a look at how many key roles in the Trump administration still remain unfilled by permanent personnel. Also talking Gulf of Oman tanker attacks, MH17, migrant roundups, and another viral confrontation between police and a black family.

"We have over 35% of the people wanting impeachment, that's more than wanted it for Nixon... Clinton had less numbers of that when he was in fact impeached." It's US of Ed's 100th episode! And it's also Donald Trump's 73rd birthday this week, so with subpoenas flying, Hope Hicks before the House Judiciary Committee, and appetite for impeachment ramping up, what will Trump wish for when he blow out the candles? Also talking spying on North Korea, Iran's nuclear capabilities, tariff warfare, and more.

"2050's right around the corner... if we can't curb it now, we can't curb it." Getting the big issues out of the way early this week, with a report claiming climate change will see human civilisation crumble by 2050, and potential food insecurity concerns happening in the States right now. Meanwhile, on the Mexico border, threats of tariffs from Trump that even Republicans don't want and claims detainee deaths in ICE custody resulted from lack of proper care. Also talking North Korea, disaster aid, Biden versus Warren, and anarchy in the UK. Read the report from The Young Turks referenced in this podcast here.

"He's put it back at the feet of the devil, as it were. The AG, the Attorney General, didn't tell the truth." Robert Mueller's surprise appearance to clear up misinterpretations of his completed report has given impeachment talks their strongest push yet, but will anything come of it? Meanwhile, Trump contradicts on Iran and North Korea, and is actively burying the science on climate change. Also talking, Syria, Nancy Pelosi, and the switch to Unleaded Freedom Molecules.

"We'll see where this new Supreme Court goes, and all bets are off here." A war on the right to choose as Alabama and Missouri become the latest states to pass draconian anti-choice legislation, could it mean the of Roe v. Wade? The Trump administration dancing around military action in Iran and on the offensive in the trade war against China. Also talking farm bailouts, Huawei, tax returns, and "The I Word" - Impeachment.

"We have some countries that are very near collapse... Let's see if we can prevent that by doing the right thing now. We really can't wait til 2020." Sick of talking about Trump, we gave ourselves a week off to travel south of the border and talk about issues plaguing Central and South America. Record numbers at the US-Mexico Border and Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrado. The latest on the Venezuelan Crisis and sanctions on Cuba, Brazil's rightward turn under Jair Bolsonaro and fears for the Amazon, Argentina's money troubles, Bolivia, and recovery for Puerto Rico.

"Showtime USA, the president has no policies, no programs, no directions, so more show, that's what we're going to get for a long time." Contempt seems commonplace in the current American political environment, but as William Barr is voted in contempt of Congress Trump has hit back by asserting executive privilege over the Mueller Report. Tough talk on Iran and China serving as a distraction from presidential woes. Also talking Sandra Bland, Trump taxes, and are Republicans trying to goad Democrats on impeachment?

"When Trump raises these spectres the unfortunate thing, no matter how big or deep a lie it is, there's some people who are going to repeat it." Fallout from the Mueller Report continues, with the official resignation of Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and William Barr grilled in the Senate. Trump took some time off fighting subpoenas to tell some truly outrageous and disturbing lies about late-stage abortion at a rally this week, does his mental state need to be taken more seriously? Also talking, the death of Justine Damond, Venezuela, NAFTA, and the false accusations levelled at Pete Buttigieg.