Make It Make Sense with Grant Hermes
The political world is fast paced, chaotic and often it's just too much to keep up with. That's where Grant Hermes comes in. Grant has been a journalist over a decade on the ground covering the biggest US political stories, scandals and elections. Twice a week, he'll break down the biggest political news you need to know. It's never been more important to stay informed and sometimes all it takes is a little help to Make It Make Sense.
Episodes
148 episodes
Disease and Death: Elon Musk's Real DOGE Legacy W/ Fmr. USAID Dep. Admin. Jim Kunder (Replay interview)
As Elon Musk exits the White House and has a very public falling out with Donald Trump, the consequences of his time there won't be fully realized for a while. But, there is one place to start where, when history ...
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37:43
A MAGA Meltdown
Back from a short hiatus! Grant talks all about how we're seeing the White House, which has been moving as fast as it can to break things, start to come apart by picking fights with prominent groups, its own agencies, and its inside...
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22:06
The Other Offshoring: Why Jobs Went South, Not Abroad w/ Prof. Gary Winslett
The idea that manufacturing jobs were shipped overseas or across borders to other countries is a frequent explanation from both Republicans and Democrats about why the American middle class has been hollowed out. But it's a convenie...
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49:24
The Kids Aren't Alright
The Trump administration ramps up its attacks on higher education, specifically Harvard and foreign students. But what does it mean to lose the tens of thousands of foreign students who attend American universities every year?
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19:08
Democrats FINALLY Get Their 2024 Report Card
The 2024 election report card, or autopsy, depending on how you want to talk about it, for Democrats is out, and it is a failing grade almost across the board. Democrats lost with practically every kind of voter from almost every wa...
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14:29
Prescription For Failure: Why Trump’s Drug Plan Is Bad w/ Yale Economist Jason Abaluck
Two weeks after Donald Trump announced he was going to lower drug prices from anywhere from 30% to 90%, there still haven't been any deals made. But more than that, what he wants to do, something called Most Favored Nation status, i...
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43:53
A Big Beautiful Breakdown
House Republicans pass Trump's "One Big Beautiful Bill," and there are some serious consequences hurtling toward Americans. Hundreds of billions of dollars in cuts to Medicaid and food stamps, while giving multi-millionaires huge ta...
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20:04
Un-Protected Status
The US Supreme Court hands the Trump Administration a big win by allowing it to end Temporary Protected status for 350,000 Venezuelans in the US. It's a crucial part of more than a dozen immigrant communities across the country, imp...
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15:01
Joe Biden Has Cancer
Former President Joe Biden announces he has advanced and aggressive prostate cancer. It's a devastating diagnosis, though one doctors say is treatable, despite his age. The diagnosis is raising new questions about Biden's health dur...
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16:12
Devastation at the DOJ w/ Stacey Young from The Justice Connection
Since the beginning of the second Trump administration, the Department of Justice has been equal parts reviled and remade by the White House. Much, if not most, of that damage has been done to the FBI and the department's civil rights initiativ...
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42:28
Don't Trust Your Lying Eyes
Donald Trump takes his first state visit in his second term. Just like his first, the trip is to the Middle East. During the trip, the president is supposed to be making deals (a weird thing for a president to be doing in the first ...
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17:07
Drugs and Deals
The White House makes an agreement with China on trade and tariffs that is essentially having its bluff called on the cornerstone of Trump's economic agenda. In return, the US doesn't get all that much except higher prices and a promise to keep...
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16:37
What Is Habeas Corpus?
The White House says it's looking into suspending a bedrock legal principle that would mean speeding up its mass arrests and deportations of immigrants across the country, called the Writ of Habeas Corpus. It means, "have the body,"...
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16:46
Oh, Canada
President Trump hosts newly elected Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney in the Oval Office. The two men haven't had the coziest relationship since Trump began putting tariffs on Canada, raising prices, and calling for Canada to become the 51st ...
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14:41
Make Corruption Great Again (W/ Public Citizen's Rick Claypool)
Over the last few months Donald Trump, his family and his administration have set out to make Trump wealthier. Grant talks about the crypto empire Trump is trying to build and why it's a flashing sign to the rest of the world that h...
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43:51
100 Days Down
President Trump sits down for a one-on-one interview with ABC's Terry Moran for an Oval Office interview about his second, first 100 days. It comes as Trump has hit a record level of unpopularity and voters across the country have a...
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34:45
A Democratic Decision (W/ Abdul El-Sayed)
The Democratic Party is fighting. Since the election, the party hasn't had a clear leader. Grant breaks down the biggest fights right now, including party members calling for Sen. Chuck Schumer to step down from his leade...
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36:47
"NO SCALPS"
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is in the middle of another scandal over using Signal, again, for the same sensitive or classified information he exposed last time. Just like last time, he's fighting back, but is more out of contr...
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22:41
Who Rules The Law Anyway? (W/ Andrew Torrez)
It's been a busy week for the US Courts starting with the high profile case of Kilmar Abrego-Garcia, the man mistakenly sent to El Salvador and who the Trump Administration refuses to return. Grant breaks down a scathing new ruling in that case...
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54:06
Are Americans Really That Special?
It's been a whirlwind way to start the week in the world of immigration. A huge ruling was made by a judge in the case to stop deportations to El Salvador. The judge says he's ready to charge the Trump Administration with contempt of court for ...
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24:54
Your Life Will Never Be The Same
A triple-decker episode this week! Grant takes a look at what the fallout has been from President Donald Trump's tariff turnabout earlier this week because it turns out the effects are going to be felt for a long, long time.
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33:26
Tariff On, Tariff Off
President Trump sends markets reeling as he increases tariffs on China again while also reversing his stance on his punishing new tariff plan for the rest of the world, confusing pretty much everyone. Plus, Congress is rewriting wha...
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20:33
The Great American Retreat (W/ Dr. Scott Greer)
On the show this week, Donald Trump lays out his "liberation day" tariff plan to put tariffs on pretty much everything coming into the US. Grant breaks down why these tariffs have sent the economy into a nose dive, why they mean the US is shrin...
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55:10
Cory Booker's Moral Moment For America
Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) sets the record for the longest floor speech or filibuster in US history in a 25-hour-long protest of the Trump Administration. Grant talks about what Booker talked about, what he was doing, and what it me...
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24:25
It's Bigger Than Signal w/ Fmr. National Archives Lawyer Jason R Baron
Grant talks with Prof. Jason R Baron from the University of Maryland. Baron was the former litigator for the National Archives and spent more than 20 years working with archivists and fighting for Americans' access to government records and inf...
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35:09