Krystal Kyle & Friends

We’re grateful to Wajahat Ali, writer of The Left Hook on Substack, for his keen insight as our special guest for post-Dem primary discussion! Waj is a fantastic chronicler and analyst of the most depraved and inhumane dimensions of the Trump presidency, helping us to understand the systems in place and the coalitions of right-wing goons that prop Trump up, even when they have their reservations about him. At the front are his “broligarch” lackeys, the robber-barons like Musk and Bezos, the white supremacists finding in Trump a vehicle for virulent racism, the religious fanatics whose attraction to Trump (as we point out) feels totally inexplicable. And while these groups expect to use Trump, despite his flaws, in different ways to pursue their political ends, we also see that they share the basic political analysis that white men, and white men alone, deserve to wield power over our society and consolidate all of its vast resources for their pleasure. This analysis sounds dire, but things are really that bad, and that urgent: as the American class continues to struggle just to make it day to day, living in fear of a medical emergency, it’s preyed upon and exploited by tyrants and tycoons who want to take every last penny from them in the workplace and leave them with nothing. So with these more sober reflections in mind, we also turn toward a bright light in the growing movement of popular support for democratic socialists running for government positions. We spend time with the recent victory of Angie Nixon in Florida’s Democratic primary for the Senate, looking at her as a bold fighter capable of providing a path forward to justice and hope as the conditions of life become ever more untenable.So, amidst the gloom of Trump’s ongoing war on the working class, we also have cause to celebrate when we find real fighters to show us the way. Thanks to Waj for joining us, and thank you for listening! This episode is available as a podcast on major streaming platforms and here on Substack. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit krystalkyleandfriends.substack.com/subscribe

We’re getting ready for a potential MAJOR win for democratic socialists by talking to candidate Oliver Larkin. He’s running in the Dem primary for FL-25 in a primary that will take place in just a few days, where he’s a bright spot in a larger movement of leftist candidates fearlessly championing Medicare for All. Oliver talks to us on this week’s episode about his campaign and the issues motivating it. He’s taking on an opponent funded by the working class’s enemies — Palantir, OpenAI, Wall Street banks (we’re not kidding). We want Oliver and his grassroots movement, not the dirty money of the biggest and most exploitative corporations to win. (You can donate to him here.) So we hope you’ll listen to this conversation about what will hopefully be another victory for the left, and for all of our future.Oliver is also willing to call out far-right hypocrisy in a way few people are. We discuss a major moment he had on Fox News, calling Trump a pedo as the host nervously tried to redirect the conversation. While he was given questions fearmongering about crimes caused by immigrants, Oliver went there and said what all electeds should have the courage to say: the man in the country’s highest office has actually made sure that the justice system doesn’t pursue justice for victims of child sex abuse — because Trump is himself implicated in the Epstein cabal. Republicans profess to own the issue of protecting children, but their leader is the real person children need protecting from.An absolute cornerstone of Oliver’s platform is Medicare for All. Of course, on KK&F, that’s a policy we regularly foreground as among the most important (if not THE most important) measures the American government must pass to keep its people alive and prevent them from drowning in debt. And as Abdul El-Sayed’s primary victory in Michigan reminds us, voters are having the exact opposite reaction to M4A than establishment Democrats and the entire right wing want them to: they’re voting in its champions because they recognize its central importance to the well-being of every resident of this country. When Oliver’s and Abdul’s opponents on both sides of the aisle hand-wring about “pie in the sky” ideas from out-of-touch lefties, remember that these policies are winning!!! Turns out people don’t want to struggle to have children and raise a family, get medical care, and make a living. Nor should they have to, and Oliver makes that very clear in our discussion of his campaign.Thanks for tuning in, and thanks for subscribing. This conversation is available as a podcast on major streaming platforms. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit krystalkyleandfriends.substack.com/subscribe

This week, we have the pleasure of discussing Abdul El-Sayed’s stunning victory in the Michigan Dem primary for senate, plus the role of independent left media — and we have the special pleasure of doing it with Nathan, who founded and is editor-in-chief of Current Affairs. He’s the perfect guest, and he’s joined us for a wide-ranging conversation this week that we very much hope you’ll enjoy. And, of course, it’s all about the actual hope for change that Abdul represents and has fought for in his community for a long time. We’re used to scolding from the Petes, Hillarys, and Schumers of the world, pointing out the ingratitude of daring to want more. So when a candidate like Michigan’s Abdul El-Sayed wins a Dem primary despite massive hurdles like slander campaigns and AIPAC-funded opponents, it’s a powerful message of hope that voters believe they can ask for more. El-Sayed’s victory this week reflects the success of a principled leftist running on addressing “kitchen-table issues,” as Nathan puts it. His win will fuel the battle for Medicare for All that he’s centered in his campaign. We also discuss the playbook of Islamophobic and red-scare messaging that El-Sayed’s opponents went for. Republican nominee Mike Rogers could not have been more clear when he called El-Sayed a terrorist and claimed his opponent supported 9/11. So a big conversation point for us is how El-Sayed can respond and fight back against these bigoted attacks. Looking at the bigger picture, El-Sayed is a leftist who can actually tap into the kind of public attention given to his political opposite, Trump: that is, smear campaigns that turn the camera on him only end up giving air time to his extremely compelling and well-articulated arguments for the policies working people actually want. AIPAC would rather have Mike Rogers in the seat we hope Abdul El-Sayed will clinch in November. But the more opportunities El-Sayed has to get his message out to the people, the better chance he has of winning.Thanks for your support of KK&F. Remember that this episode will be available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Substack, and more. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit krystalkyleandfriends.substack.com/subscribe

Rania Khalek is our special guest for Episode 288, in which we discuss her own experience facing a subpoena from Trump as a reporter at BreakThrough News. As we survey the sorry state of free speech and independent media in a country supposedly founded on those values, we’re also inclined to think about the Democratic Establishment’s lack of support for courageous left-wing independent outlets Trump is now trying to intimidate and silence. It would seem obvious that independent left journalism is the antidote to mainstream media outlets over which — regardless of their political affiliations! — Trump has increasingly asserted control. (Remember Jimmy Kimmel?) Yet Dems are sitting back and watching it happen while reporters like Rania have the courage to call out the b******t that Dems lack the spines to challenge.It’s part of a bigger picture in which Trump controls the political landscape, tampering (not strong enough a word) with free elections, funneling cash and institutional support from the highest office in the country to get his lackeys into office. We also see how these fascist attacks spread through the world in America’s vast network of imperialist projects, looking at the role our country has played in sustaining political instability in Latin America and the Middle East, supporting authoritarian regimes sympathetic to Trump’s agenda basically wherever it can. So it’s time for the Democrats to stand up! It’s long been time for the Democrats to stand up, but we’re coming pretty close to the actual last chance.Thanks for tuning in. Remember that you can also listen to this episode as a podcast on major streaming platforms like Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Pandora. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit krystalkyleandfriends.substack.com/subscribe

For Episode 287 with Kentucky Senate hopeful Charles Booker, we debate the possibility that Kentucky Senator Mitch McConnell is dead, both in terms of its implications for the future of American politics and in terms of what it reveals about the Republican Party’s true loathing of and lack of respect for the American people, especially working-class voters. The Party wants to brazenly put up a ruse to (unsuccessfully) convince McConnell’s constituents that an elderly man in the hospital, who’s totally disappeared from public life, isn’t already dead, because that’s better for them than the alternative: giving voters an actual say in their national representation.By contrast, Charles’ vision of “new and bold leaders to stand for Kentucky” reflects his understanding that his potential constituents need representatives they can trust. That’s why Booker was the first to call attention to the Republican Party’s see-through b******t with Mitch McConnell’s abandonment of his constituents. Through the example of this case, he’s made a platform that includes term limits — the importance of which we’re being confronted with right now — and rallied a big-tent organizing operation that has successfully converted Trump supporters into members of a coalition that will fight the oligarchy of the Republican Party and take that struggle all the way to the Senate.Thanks for listening to this episode of KK&F. You can listen in on major streaming platforms, including Spotify, Pandora, Apple Podcasts, and more. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit krystalkyleandfriends.substack.com/subscribe

Episode 286 of KK&F finds us talking with political commentator Joy Reid about her political journey and the dead ends present in the Democratic Party. Joy brings our attention to the powerful connections between the genocidal violence in Gaza and the boomerang that, as we know, leads to American police officers getting trained by the IDF. In her own powerful words, “These are not separate issues. Our moral imagination has to include not being for genocide, and not partnering with a country that trains our police to harm people like me.” And as she tells it, it’s more than disappointing and disheartening that the Democratic Party refuses to acknowledge this imperative and expand its moral imagination.We’re seeing contests for Democratic Party power — and for the progressive or conservative future of that party — play out right now, as in the Democrats’ race for the Michigan Senate. In this episode, we talk to Joy about what Abdul El-Sayed’s victory would mean and where the party is headed.Thanks for tuning in! You can listen in on major streaming platforms like Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Pandora. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit krystalkyleandfriends.substack.com/subscribe

Huge thanks to David Griscom, an expert and historian of left politics, for appearing on the show to help us see a future for Blue Texas. David shows us all the ways that our culture’s perception of Texas politics is deeply flawed, both in terms of Texan radical history (a proud tradition) and as far as the current political scene is concerned. We talk about the linkages between the political style and messaging of Beto O’Rourke and James Talarico. Talarico has made massively successive appeals to working-class people via his support of economic populism and extremely well-executed strategies to reach voters on the ground. He has the chance to bring together a genuine coalition that would tie into a proud history of left dissent in Texas politics, which David walked us through.On the other end, there’s the Republican Party’s alienation of Hispanic and Muslim voters, plus their constant strategy of sowing fear and despair across working- and middle-class communities. While candidates like Talarico can offer a comprehensive vision of a society that works for the working class, candidates like Paxton rely on a strategy of fearmongering and scapegoating. And while mainstream narratives about Texas project the idea that the Texas electorate —especially working-class people — are a MAGA stronghold, David discusses with us in this episode, a long history of left organizing in Texas. Thanks for listening to this episode of KK&F. This episode is available on major streaming platforms. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit krystalkyleandfriends.substack.com/subscribe

Thanks to our amazing special guest Gil Durán for a conversation about the tech overlords taking over American politics with influence on both sides of the aisle. Obviously, especially with the public trading of SpaceX, Elon Musk is our major point of reference in this discussion. Elon doesn’t think of efforts like SpaceX as big intellectual, cultural, and social steps for humanity, especially in an age in which that kind of technology could ultimately be a last resort from the planet that billionaires have destroyed. Rather, his view, and the views of other capitalists who see themselves as jumping off a sinking ship, is that it’s all going to be a pay-to-play system: only the wealthy and elite will have their passport to the galaxy.On to even brighter subjects, we talk about the anti-humanism of Peter Thiel and how it’s flown under the radar in mainstream media even as it seems more necessary and crucial than ever to call out the contempt billionaires feel toward other human beings — that the richest people in our society actually have no problem with, and may root for, the extinction of everyone but the hyper-wealthy. It’s a larger picture of what we think of as a single phenomenon — Elon Musk regularly using his political and financial power toward the erosion of human life. So we take an unsparing look at the source of these ideologies and address how they’ve infiltrated our society and changed our lives.Thanks for watching! This episode of KK&F is available to everyone on major streaming platforms, including Spotify, Pandora, Apple Podcasts, and more. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit krystalkyleandfriends.substack.com/subscribe

Welcome to Episode 283 of KK&F with reporter Murtaza Hussain, on the penalty of the deal for peace in Iran. After this week’s news of the brokered deal went public, Murtaza wrote a piece for Drop Site News documenting mixed reactions and protests in Iran. He attests to the fact that the deal was largely accepted, but delves into a case that dissenters are making: that the US cannot be trusted to abide by any agreement. Now, Trump has agreed to permit Iran to sell oil and to lift sanctions, provided that Iran cease the development of any nuclear weapons and open the Strait of Hormuz. (It’s a fourteen-point plan, but those points stand out to us.)Will it all go through? Will this deal be enough? It’s a question we’ve asked before, weeks and months ago on this podcast, when peace seemed right around the corner but the U.S. invariably reneged on a ceasefire or failed to abide in other ways by the terms of an agreement. We’ve also talked about the sabotage Israel could inflict here, striking at Iran by undermining the deal and especially by continuing its bombing of Lebanon. And we’ve certainly touched on the status of this conflict as an utter, messy loss for Trump’s government. So we return to topics like this with totally new and fresh information from this latest development, and Murtaza, who has been closely following and reporting on these questions for months, is the perfect person to lead any conversation on how our sense of what’s possible in this war and what it would take to end it.Thanks for tuning into this episode of KK&F. This episode is available on major streaming platforms, including Spotify, Pandora, Apple Podcasts, and more. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit krystalkyleandfriends.substack.com/subscribe

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit krystalkyleandfriends.substack.com/subscribe

For Episode 282, we talk to journalist Garrison Lovely about the SpaceX IPO and Elon’s new coup as the world’s first trillionaire, as well as the massive impact of that debut on the tech world and on the highest echelon of global wealth. From Starlink to the SpaceX AI project, the SpaceX with stocks currently getting snapped up like crazy is in some ways a mixed bag, and that’s an object lesson for a lot of Musk’s career as a tech innovator. Think of projects like the Hyperloop that never panned out, rockets that exploded, the Tesla sports car that never actually hit the market. Now this guy is a trillionaire? What does that tell us about the concentration of wealth in our society and what it says about the status of that society as a meritocracy?We also pick Garrison’s brain on the topic of AI’s rapidly improving capabilities and truly skyrocketing presence in our society. There are a lot of deeply bad actors involved in the world of AI and financially invested in it (your Elon Musks, etc), so it’s understandable, as we point out, that leftists come to AI discussions with a highly negative perception. So we have a thoughtful conversation about where AI is actually making some things easier where it matters, and of course, where it seems set to run society off the rails if we let it. Thank you for listening to KK&F! You can find this episode on major streaming platforms, including Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Pandora, and more. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit krystalkyleandfriends.substack.com/subscribe

We’re wading into the trenches of the right-wing influencer flame wars! And while it inspires anything but confidence in the future of American political discourse, it’s also a source of important insight into MAGA world and its craziest, dumbest drama. This week’s guest, Will Sommer, covers the right wing media and influencer ecosystem for The Bulwark’s False Flag Newsletter. Will has kept a close eye on alt-right media campaigns like the most recent one to label Harley Davidson as woke and gay. As Trump 2.0 comes unglued and MAGA grifters search for their next payday, Will has studied their online playbook and can walk us through it.The facts don’t care about Ben Shapiro’s feelings — The Daily Wire has fallen off sharply, its audience vanishing, and the company was forced to do an embarrassing round of layoffs. Now, Ben has been reduced to tactics such as running his videos as paid advertisements simply to juice the views. What are the factors behind this precipitous fall? We also discuss the failed effort to lionize Charlie Kirk, Laura Loomer’s latest bizarre allegations, and how the right’s virulent anti-semitism is ripping them apart. As Trump does his best to destroy the country and the world, at least we get to watch all of the worst people rip each other to shreds. And we hope you enjoy listening! This episode is available as a podcast on major streaming platforms like Apple Podcasts, Pandora, Spotify, and more. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit krystalkyleandfriends.substack.com/subscribe

Historical parallels between our autocrat-in-chief and the despots of the past abound. It’s hardly comfort to think that others have struggled under the many tyrants of history as we struggle now, but it is humbling and inspiring, of course, to see where mass anti-authoritarian and anti-fascist movements have prevailed and transformed their political circumstances. That’s why this week, our featured guest is NYU’s Professor Ruth Ben-Ghiat, and our topic is the psychology of fascist dictators we can connect directly to one of its newest representatives, Donald Trump. Part of telling the psychological story of an erratic, inhumane leader like Trump, Professor Ben-Ghiat shows, is by looking at a repeated pattern in similar leaders that went before him: Trump had a serious past (and an upbringing) in criminal activity well before he went into the White House. Putin, Berlusconi, Netanyahu, Hitler . . . all had pending investigations, criminal records, looked forward to using dictatorial power to clear their records and bend the system to excuse illegal activities.We have so much more to talk about in this episode, including the creep of data centers and their increasing encroachment on our communities and on nature, plus our observations about Trump’s downward spiral and where, if ever, it will end. Thanks for joining us. This episode is available on major streaming platforms. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit krystalkyleandfriends.substack.com/subscribe

Young Don is joining us for a special episode unpacking the midterms and analyzing the Roganverse’s shift away from Trump-world. The center of attention is the Trump campaign’s shameless struggle to run political opponents out of office. Bill Cassidy and Thomas Massie are Republicans who have largely voted along with Trump. But they’ve both recently been targeted by the President for insufficient loyalty. Cassidy earned Trump’s ire by voting for impeachment. Massie committed the unforgivable MAGA sin of shining light on Trump’s repulsive behavior by fighting for the release of the Epstein Files. As of this week, both Cassidy and Massie were ousted from office by Trump-associated primary opponents. We unpack what this means for the future of the Republican Party and for the future of essential bipartisan efforts to bring Trump to justice for the damning information contained in the Epstein files.Trump is also getting a $1.7 slush fund from the IRS after pushing a lawsuit against that agency. It’s opened up the floodgates to Trump’s January 6 insurrectionists asking for payouts from the settlement. Even some Republicans have balked at this shameless theft of tax dollars to reward criminals. It remains to be seen whether they will actually thwart the effort or as usual, bend the knee to Trump’s depraved wishes.Thanks for listening. You can also listen to this episode as a podcast on major streaming platforms. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit krystalkyleandfriends.substack.com/subscribe

Episode 278 finds us in a frankly unprecedentedly juicy convo with someone who’s been in the inner circle of the MAGA influencer ecosystem and has all the tea on their shady coordination systems: Ashley St. Clair. Through her ascendance to national attention as a major MAGA influencer, Ashley saw firsthand how comprehensively the top brass of Trump’s Republican Party controls every aspect, aesthetic and ideological, of MAGA’s public image. Trump’s Republican Party is obsessed with show, not substance, when it comes to its degraded idea of leadership, and an essential element of that show is an image of femininity that women in the right-wing influencer ecosystem must adhere to.The cornerstone of our conversation is an in-depth exploration of the major information Ashley spilled in recent weeks about the coordinated efforts of the Trump administration and its allies in media to dominate the narrative. We take a deep dive into the inside of the Trump machine, looking at its systems of communication (apparently a nest of group chats) and endless feedback loop of power between Trump and his influencer allies. That ultimately leads to the proliferation of dark money organizations routing around regulations as nonprofits, meanwhile giving Trump unprecedented financial support for his political agenda.Thank you for listening to this (especially juicy) episode. You can listen to the conversation as a podcast episode on major streaming platforms. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit krystalkyleandfriends.substack.com/subscribe

With the help of our special guest Ryan Grim, in our latest conversation about the ongoing mess of a war Trump is waging on Iran, we take a close look at the media narratives shielding Trump from ultimate responsibility for that conflict. In one of those narratives, Saudi Arabia becomes a main architect of the war in pursuit of its own economic and political interests. This line we’ve been fed on Saudi Arabia’s position in the conflict might have made sense at the most basic level — it has been a close ally for the U.S. in the Middle East — but the narrative pays no attention to the fallout that this conflict has had on Saudi Arabia’s own industry, not to mention on the industries of other Gulf Arab states. The region’s luxury tourism industry has been devastated, and while the conflict may not fully impair Saudi’s ability to deliver oil, that situation is far more grave for the other countries relying on the Strait of Hormuz. Hence the recent refusal of the Saudis to allow the U.S. into their airspace, forcing Trump to backpedal on Project Freedom.Unlike Saudi Arabia, though, Israel is actively fueling the flames of this war and likely will continue to do so as peace talks advance and a potential permanent end to the conflict comes into view. Hugh Hewitt was willing to say out loud what many others are thinking: that Israel should blow up the negotiations to pursue its own political interests. Israel’s massive strike on Beirut after last month’s ceasefire agreement is an object lesson in precisely this craven willingness to place civilians’ lives in danger in the name of regional dominance. Our conversation then turns to the future: what will make peace possible? And what might make Trump and Netanyahu want to undermine it?Thanks for tuning in. You can listen to this conversation as a podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and other major streaming platforms. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit krystalkyleandfriends.substack.com/subscribe

Through its coverage of Israel’s genocide of Palestinians in Gaza, the American media basically wrote the playbook for how to sell a genocide. Adam Johnson, our guest for this week, has just published an in-depth, scathing analysis of that playbook — his book is appropriately named How To Sell A Genocide. Our conversation with Adam goes into detail on the media strategies that gave us mass complicity and acceptance among the American public in the face of a despicable crime against humanity that depended upon support from Biden as it later would from Trump.While Fox News and other right wing media were proudly and openly genocidal, the strategies deployed by the traditionally liberal mainstream press were more subtle. They were also potentially more consequential given that it was a Democratic President who oversaw the bulk of the murder, starvation, and displacement. Biden has faded into the shadows of American politics now, but we can and must ensure that an inescapable and central part of his legacy is the role he played in enabling Netanyahu and his ghouls to end, destroy, and uproot so many lives. Adam’s book provides a comprehensive overview that should be studied by historians and taught to students for years to come in hopes that “Never Again” may one day mean something.Thanks for listening. This episode is now available on major streaming platforms. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit krystalkyleandfriends.substack.com/subscribe