Make It Make Sense with Grant Hermes
Politics has never been more chaotic, and most podcasts just add to the noise. Make It Make Sense with Grant Hermes cuts through it.
Grant is an AP Award-winning journalist with over a decade of on-the-ground reporting on the biggest political stories, scandals, and elections in America. Twice a week, he takes the stories dominating the headlines and breaks them down in plain English — no jargon, no spin, no shouting.
If you care about what’s happening in this country but you’re exhausted by how it’s being covered, this is the show for you. Real reporting. Clear explanations. Actual context.
Make It Make Sense drops three times a week. Subscribe so you never miss it.
Episodes
275 episodes
The Iran Peace Deal Is Just Obama's Deal (But Worse?)
The White House is claiming a peace deal with Iran is close, but The deal on the table looks almost identical to the Obama-era agreement Trump tore up in 2018. Meanwhile, Secretary of State Marco Rubio openly told the press that the...
Is the Iran War Actually Over? The White House Can't Get Its Story Straight
The president told Congress the Iran war was "terminated." The Secretary of Defense says there's still a ceasefire. Then Trump called it a "mini-war" on camera. So... which is it?Today, Grant breaks down the War Powers Act deadline that...
Forget Gerrymandering, The Supreme Court Legalized Gerrymaxxing w/ Dave Daley
It's like Looksmaxxing but for gerrymandering. GERRYMAXXINGThe Supreme Court just finished what John Roberts started 45 years ago, gutting the Voting Rights Act. And the political earthquake it's about to cause will be felt in eve...
The Supreme Court Just Killed the Voting Rights Act
The Supreme Court just gutted the Voting Rights Act. Grant explains what that means for your vote, your district, and the next election. Plus: four massive government deadlines expire TONIGHT, Congress goes on recess, and we learn the truth abo...
The Shooting, The Ballroom, and The Fallout
Someone tried to assassinate the President at the White House Correspondents' Dinner — and the political fallout may be almost as dangerous than the attack itself.On Saturday night, 31-year-old Cole Thomas Allen traveled from California ...
They Can Take Your Citizenship Away — And the Trump Administration Is Trying
Can the U.S. government take away your citizenship? Increasingly, the answer is: they're trying.This week, Grant sits down with Irina Manta, professor of immigration and national security law at Hofstra University, author, podcaster, and...
Trump Blinked Again and Gas Prices Won't Drop Until 2027
Trump extended the Iran ceasefire indefinitely, which is another way of saying he blinked. Again. Meanwhile, a new Pentagon assessment says the Strait of Hormuz won't reopen for six months AFTER the war ends, meaning high gas prices...
Trump Lied About Iran, The US Broke the Ceasefire & The FBI Director Is Allegedly Wasted
Trump got caught lying about Iran agreeing to US demands. The Wall Street Journal published a bombshell account of his erratic behavior behind closed doors. The US broke the ceasefire in the Strait of Hormuz days before peace talks. The Secreta...
America Already Crossed the Line in Iran. What Happens Now? w/ Oona Hathaway
The war in Iran may be ending, maybe, but the legal and moral reckoning is just beginning. Grant sits down with Oona Hathaway, Yale Law School professor and one of the country's foremost international law experts, to confront the qu...
4 Scandals, 2 Resignations, 1 Week. Welcome Back, Congress
Congress came back from spring break, and in under 6 hours, two members resigned, two more could be next, and the balance of power in the House just got a lot less certain. In this episode, Eric Swalwell resigns amid sexual assault ...
The Blockade Backfired and the Iran Crisis Is Worse Than Ever
The US tried to end the war in one day. It collapsed. Then things got significantly worse...and weirder.After 21 hours of failed peace talks in Pakistan, the Trump administration announced the US Navy would blockade the Strait of Hormuz....
We Made It Worse: How the US Handed Iran a Nuclear Argument w/ Eric Czuleger
How Close Did We Actually Come? — Iran, The Peace Talks, and What Happens NextThe VP is on a plane to Pakistan. Peace talks are scheduled for Saturday in Islamabad as Iran comes in with better cards than it had before the war.&nbs...
Is This Even A Ceasefire?
The Iran "ceasefire" lasted roughly three hours. The Strait of Hormuz is technically a toll road now. America might get a cut. And nobody can agree on what either side is even negotiating for. Grant breaks down everything that happe...
Trump Threatens to Wipe Out Iran's Entire Civilization And The Nuclear Option on the Table?
Trump's deadline for Iran expires at 8PM ET tonight — and hours before it hits, he threatened to wipe out an entire civilization in a single night. Is the nuclear option actually on the table?Grant breaks down Trump's escalating t...
The 1% Election: How Primaries Are Rigged Against Everyone ft. Chad Peace
45% of Americans now call themselves independent — more than either party. So why does Congress look nothing like the country?Today Grant talks with Chad Peace of the Independent Voter Project about the hidden math behind our elections:...
Trump Said Nothing For 20 Minutes
Trump gave a primetime national address about the Iran war — and the most important parts were what he didn't say. We break down the three things that got cut from the speech, why the markets tanked anyway, and why $7/gallon gas might ...
The Shutdown Is Still Here, The War Has No Plan, And Lindsey Graham Is At Disney World
The longest government shutdown in US history drags on as Republicans in the House and Senate square off against each other before leaving for Spring Break without a deal to fund the Department of Homeland Security. Trump orders TSA...
Congress Is Giving Away Your Power w/ Michael Thorning from Bipartisan Policy Center
Grant is joined by the Bipartisan Policy Center's Michael Thorning. Thorning is the director of structural democracy at the nonpartisan think tank and the lead writer of a brand new series called Congress at a Crossroads. He and Gra...
Pam Bondi Wants To Save The Lawyers Judges Hate w/ Liz Dye from the Law and Chaos Podcast
Grant is joined by Liz Dye from the Law and Chaos Podcast to talk about the shenanigans coming from the Attorney General's office. AG Pam Bondi is trying to meddle with state bar associations so DOJ attorneys can't face discipline for doing thi...
Why Is The FBI Digging Through Arizona's Election Trash?
Grant gives an update on the war in Iran after a new report shows the US did in fact bomb a girls' school, Iran chooses to start deploying mines in the Strait of Hormuz, new US intel finds Trump has been lying about the Iraninan regime being we...
Trump Says The War In Iran Is "Complete," Is It?
After struggling to explain the objectives for entering the war in Iran, the Trump administration is struggling to define whether the mission is close to completion. The president said it was "very complete," while Secretary of Defense Pete Heg...
How Big Spending Is Breaking Democracy w/ Tiffany Muller from End Citizens United
The 2026 midterm election is shaping up to be the most expensive in American history, with the combined races for Senate already reaching the $5 billion. Ad spending is expected to break $10 billion as billionaires, corporations, and dark money...
Kristi Noem Gets Fired, What's Next For Immigration?
In a bombshell piece of news, Donald Trump announced that Kristi Noem would no longer be the Secretary of Homeland Security. After several big scandals, some really bad hearings on Capitol Hill and a major mistake of saying the pr...
The Whys And How The US And Israel Went To War With Iran
After three days of the Iran War, the reason the US struck first is still shifting target for the Trump administration as it tries to make its case to the American people about how and why the US is at war again in the Middle East. ...
Should Democrats Make A Nuremberg Caucus? W/ Cory Doctorow
Grant talks to the author, journalist, activist Cory Doctorow, about his recent article calling for Democrats to create a Nuremberg Caucus to hold federal agents, administration officials, and elected leaders accountable after the Trump era is ...