This week, Bill and Phil reflect on the second week of the military operation in Iran, introduce the new Politics Lab Political Absurdity Index to evaluate the administration’s rhetoric about the war, and close with a look at the Texas primary.

This week, Bill and Phil examine the United States' preemptive invasion of Iran and discuss the fallout and implications of the operation.

This week, Bill and Phil sort through the longest State of the Union in American history, then discuss the largest buildup of American troops in the Middle East since the invasion of Iraq in 2003 and whether or not it means war with Iran is likely.

This week, Bill and Phil breakdown Marco Rubio‘s big week of diplomacy, ponder whether George W. Bush was trolling Donald Trump in a recent essay about George Washington, and discuss whether Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito may soon retire. 

This week, Bill and Phil are heading into a speed round — quick hits on big topics: the 2026 midterms and election legitimacy, Trump’s latest social media controversy, the expiration of the last U.S.–Russia nuclear arms treaty, the pace of democratic backsliding, America’s declining soft power, tensions with Canada over a new border bridge, and yes… even a little Bad Bunny. 

This week, Bill and Phil react to the escalation of political violence in Minneapolis and then discuss the rupture of the liberal international order in the aftermath of the World Economic Forum.

This week, Bill and Phil discuss Trump’s return to Great Power politics - threats to Greenland, intervention in Venezuela, and potential regime change in Iran - then turn to the unrest in Minneapolis in response to ICE’s lethal tactics.

This week, Bill and Phil look back at the significance of 2025 and discuss the many ways that it broke precedents - both good and bad, and then make some predictions for 2026.

This week, Bill and Phil discuss the release of the Trump administration’s new National Security Strategy and it’s claim that Europe is facing a civilization erasure and then play a new game we’re calling “This Week in Political Cringe”. 

This week, Bill and Phil explore the legality and political fallout from the Venezuelan boat strikes and then reflect on the state of Donald Trump’s agenda and what that means for the future of the Republican Party.

On this week’s episode, Bill and Phil celebrate Thanksgiving by handing out the highly coveted Turkey of the Year awards.

This week, Bill and Phil ponder whether political scandals matter anymore and then discuss George Orwell and whether Trump has created his own Orwellian version of 1984.

This week, Bill and Phil sort through the results of the 2025 midterms and discuss whether they tell us anything useful about American democracy, consider the legacy of Dick Cheney, and play another round of “What’s More Stupid?”.

This week, Bill and Phil ponder the metaphor of Trump tearing down part of the White House, return to the question propaganda and fascist politics in America, and then close with a new game we’re calling, “You’ve Got Hate Mail.”

This week, Bill and Phil share and reflect on their interview with Political Scientist and Author of How Democracies Die, Steven Levitsky. 

This week, Bill and Phil reflect on the deployment of the National Guard to blue cities across the country and then explore the difference between war and crime as it relates to Trump’s campaign against Venezuela.

This week, Bill and Phil look at the indictment of James Comey, Trump‘s speech to gathered military leaders, and the government shut down, and breakdown the ways that each represents the erosion of democratic norms.

This week, Bill and Phil discuss the growing embrace of Christian nationalism in the aftermath of Charlie Kirk’s death and then introduce a new game we’re calling, The Elephant in the Newsroom. 

This week, Bill and Phil talk through the aftermath and implications of the murder of Charlie Kirk.  

This week, Bill and Phil explore the growing divide between the federal district courts, which have been ruling against Trump, and the Supreme Court, which has largely ruled in Trump‘s favor. Then we introduce a new game that we’re calling “What’s More Authoritarian?”