JD Vance has had an unorthodox rise to power. After a troubled childhood, he joined the Marines, graduated from Yale Law School, became a best-selling author, and then won a seat in the U.S. Senate. And now, at only 41, he is Vice President to Donald Trump, a man who Vance once described as "America's Hitler" and "cultural heroin."

In this Best Of episode, we revisit our June 2025 conversation with The Atlantic’s George Packer. His piece, “The Talented Mr. Vance,” explores Vance's political transformation and whether he genuinely evolved his political views or cynically abandoned his principles for ambition.

We also look at the Democrats' path forward. Packer shares how they can respond to Trump's appeal to disengaged voters.

Read Packer’s writing in The Atlantic: https://www.theatlantic.com/author/george-packer/

Trump can call it whatever he wants, but we are at war with Iran. Podcast host and YouTube star Brian Tyler Cohen joins us again to break down how Trump has dragged us into this wildly unpopular war. How long will we be there? What are our objectives? And who is behind the bombing of the Iranian girls' school that killed 175 people? Early investigations suggest America is responsible, but Trump blames... the Iranians?

And the GOP attack on democracy continues as voters become disillusioned with the Trump agenda. Will John Thune and the Republicans blow up the filibuster to pass the SAVE America Act?

Plus, the gutting of ACA subsidies, Medicaid cuts, food assistance slashed, and how Trump's trade war has made good on absolutely none of his cost-of-living promises.

SUBSCRIBE to Brian's YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/briantylercohen

LISTEN to Brian’s podcast, “No Lie with Brian Tyler Cohen”: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/no-lie-with-brian-tyler-cohen/id1515399733

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America is at war with Iran. It's the eighth time that Donald Trump has attacked another country since he began his second term (despite pledging "no new wars" during his campaign). To break it all down, we're joined by foreign affairs expert David Rothkopf and Paul Rieckhoff, Iraq War vet and CEO of the Independent Veterans of America.

We take a look at the difficult history between America and Iran along with the current military campaign Trump has started in the region. Trump and his administration have yet to outline exactly WHY we are fighting, and with Americans already dying, it's no surprise that this war is extremely unpopular. Not to mention, this is costing our country a billion dollars a day and will only become more expensive as the war expands.

David and Paul discuss the long term impact this might have for America and the Middle East and how it may escalate in the region and could signal a scary moment for the global nuclear arms race.

READ David Rothkopf in The Daily Beast: https://www.thedailybeast.com/author/david-rothkopf/

SUBSCRIBE to David's Substack "Need to Know": https://davidrothkopf.substack.com/

LISTEN to David’s podcast "Words Matter" with fellow friend of the show Norm Ornstein:
https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/dsrs-words-matter/id1420216970

LEARN more about Paul's organization, Independent Veterans of America: https://independentveteransofamerica.org/

LISTEN to Paul's podcast, Independent Americans: https://podcasts.apple.com/sg/podcast/independent-americans-with-paul-rieckhoff/id1457899667

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