2427 - Musk Running The Government Gamut; Tech Bro Siren Song w/ David Dayen; Eoin Higgins

It's Hump Day! Sam and Emma speak with David Dayen, executive editor at The American Prospect and co-host of the Organized Money podcast, to discuss the recent legal action taken by a group of unions and organizations against Elon Musk's efforts to gain access to sensitive information at the U.S. Treasury. Then, they speak with independent journalist Eoin Higgins, , to discuss his newly released book Owned: How Tech Billionaires on the Right Bought the Loudest Voices on the Left. First, Sam and Emma run through updates on Trump’s call for the ethnic cleansing of Gaza, Saudi Arabia’s rejection of Israeli normalization without a Palestinian state, the Trump-Musk gutting of the administrative state, Trump’s Executive Order to stop recognizing trans athletes under Title IX, the first (likely illegal) deportations to Guantanamo, the confirmation of Pam Bondi, the confirmation hearings for RFK and Russ Vought, and Mike Johnson’s budget, before diving into Musk’s enshittification of the government and expanding on Donald Trump’s recent declaration of intent to fully ethnically cleanse Gaza alongside Bibi Netanyahu. David Dayen then joins, briefly touching on the relatively rapid rise of Elon Musk to the top of Trump’s advisor team, not even endorsing him for President until mid-July yet spearheading his assault on the administrative state beginning on Day 1 of his Presidency, also touching on the lack of a true antecedent for his role in US politics before expanding on his first major project for Trump, the complete shutdown of USAID. Next, Dayen walks Sam and Emma through the ongoing “five-alarm fire” of Trump’s total freeze on federal funds, despite multiple restraining orders, alongside a more targeted freeze on Green New Deal- and foreign aid-related funds, unpacking the devastating impact of the initial disruption to thousands of agencies across the country, with many being forced to fully gut themselves to make it through, while the backup it created still drags down the entire the funding system of the US government. After expanding on the Trump Administration’s particular tact of autonomously naming people to heads of agencies – from USAID to the CFPB – they wrap up with Trump’s attacks on the NLRB, and why he and Elon’s early days are all about how far they can push the illegality of their actions. Eoin Higgins then jumps right into his recent work unpacking the role the media – and Big Tech’s investment in alternatives – played in bolstering Tech Bros’ evolution into a Tech Br-oligarchy, looking particularly into the transitions into right-wing grifterdom made by supposedly idealistic, liberal-minded journalists Glenn Greenwald and Matt Taibbi. Higgins explores how both of these journalists got their start as heavy critics of the Bush Administration, with Glenn playing a particularly important role in exposing their major abuses of the national security state, before the arrival of Obama in office seemingly began a slow shift away from the liberal media institutions they had been working hand-in-hand with – be they independent or mainstream – with Higgins importantly noting how their rhetorical disposition to the mainstream organizations (be they MSNBC or Fox News) was seemingly deeply tied to… how often they were invited on the show. After walking Sam and Emma through the ultimate departure of these two from the left with the mainstream liberal embrace of Russiagate and #MeToo, Eoin dives into their ultimate arrival in the media niche among the growing independent social media outlets, like Substack and Patreon, where they could publish work and cultivate a following outside of the mediasphere they’d felt so rejected by, with Big Tech backers like Marc Andreessen playing an important role in helping them thrive there, while also actively disrupting the mainstream media industry that was so keen on critiquing them. Wrapping up the interview, Eoin touches on the role Taibbi played in Elon Musk’s Twitter files, and what Big Tech’s successful media disruption can tell us about their ultimate goals for the US government.

And in the Fun Half: Sam and Emma unpack the evolution of the NLRB’s ability to bolster labor, from its founding with the Wagner Act of 1935 through its major restrictions under the 1947 Taft-Hartley Act, and the major danger an already unbalanced American labor ecosystem faces as Trump takes hold of the Country. They also let themselves enjoy the newest episode of “The Deposition of Stephen Crowder,” watch Ilhan Omar nail the anti-Trump/Musk, pro-administrative state messaging, and talk with Kelsey from Austin about Elon Musk’s alleged failed Baby Mama Compound. They wrap up by expanding on Trump’s move to fully ethnically cleanse Gaza, and the lasting devastation of the Biden/Harris campaigns’ failure to meaningfully message a distinction from Trump on Israel’s slaughter of Gaza, plus, your calls and IMs!

Follow David on Twitter here: https://x.com/ddayen

Check out David's work at the Prospect here: https://prospect.org/topics/david-dayen/

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Follow Eoin on Twitter here: https://x.com/eoinhiggins_

Check out more of Eoin's work here: https://eoinhiggins.substack.com

Check out Eoin's newly released book here!: https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/eoin-higgins/owned/9781645030461/

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