Explore every episode of the podcast Independent Americans with Paul Rieckhoff
| Title | Pub. Date | Duration | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miller in, Wiles out. Trump is cornered — and dangerous. Hegseth sends Humvees and boats into DC. | 09 nov. 2026 | 00:21:53 | |
Miller in, Wiles out. The last guardrail inside Trump's West Wing just came down, and the architect of ICE and the Iran war is now running the building. Paul Rieckhoff opens Veterans Week with a no-BS read on what that means: a cornered president with the most powerful military the world has ever seen, a Secretary of Defense authorizing Humvees and boats into DC, and a proposed arch that would literally shadow Arlington Cemetery until a federal judge blocked the work. This is not a honeymoon. This is not a victory tour. This is the start of the most dangerous stretch of the Trump presidency. Paul also honors the late Senator Jay Rockefeller — a genuine public servant who had veterans' backs when almost no one in Washington did — remembers Pat Tillman on what would have been his 50th birthday, breaks down Congressman Pat Ryan's anti-corruption blueprint for the new Democratic majority, and previews a packed Veterans Week on the show. Independent is an attitude. Wherever you're coming from, you're not alone. Stay vigilant. -WATCH full video of this episode here. -Join us for Veterans Day in New York City 11/11. -Check out the important work happening at Independent Voter News at IVN.us. -Let Vets Vote: Millions of American veterans are being locked out of primary elections in the country they served. See what we’re doing to change that. -Visit Kalshi and trade on anything. Use code INDEPENDENT to get $25 when you trade $25. -Head to cozyearth.com and use the code AMERICANS for an exclusive 20% off. -Join Noble Mobile today and get a $100 bonus when you use code PAUL and stay a member for 2 months! -Learn more about American Veterans for Ukraine here. -Learn more about The Headstrong Project for Veterans, Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS), and Department of Veterans Affairs resources in your area. Seeking support is not a sign of weakness. It’s a show of strength. If you or a loved one are in immediate crisis, dial 988 and press 1, or text 838255. Connect with Independent Americans:
-Join the movement. Hook into our exclusive Patreon community of Independent Americans. Get extra content, connect with guests, meet other Independent Americans, attend events, get merch discounts, and support this show that speaks truth to power. -And get cool IA and Righteous hats, t-shirts and other merch now in time for the new year. Independent Americans is powered by veteran-owned and led Righteous Media. And now part of the BLEAV network! Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising. | |||
| Midterms: Blue wave, independent water. Dems flip Ohio, Colorado, North Carolina, Arizona. | 08 nov. 2026 | 00:23:29 | |
Trump picks Stephen Miller as chief of staff. 60% of independents broke against the GOP. This was not a Democratic triumph. It was an independent revolt. Across Ohio, Colorado, North Carolina, and Arizona, Democrats flipped House seats in districts gerrymandered to keep them out — and they did it because 60% or more of independents in state after state broke hard against the GOP and against Donald Trump. Paul Rieckhoff cuts through the spin on cable and in the West Wing to name what actually happened: independents, 45% of this country, just decided the election. The question now is whether either party is willing to listen, or whether the Democrats do what Democrats do and eat their own. Paul breaks down what comes next with a rotating cast across MS NOW and the full panel: Trump's refusal to own the shellacking, his pick of Stephen Miller as chief of staff, the real danger of a cornered president with two months of unchecked power over the military, the Hegseth question, and whether Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries can hold a freshman class of younger, populist, pissed-off Democrats together long enough to actually deliver on affordability, corruption, and accountability. The fight for the independent middle is the whole ballgame now — and this episode is the briefing on where it goes from here. -WATCH full video of this episode here. -Join us for Veterans Day in New York City 11/11. -Check out the important work happening at Independent Voter News at IVN.us. -Let Vets Vote: Millions of American veterans are being locked out of primary elections in the country they served. See what we’re doing to change that. -Visit Kalshi and trade on anything. Use code INDEPENDENT to get $25 when you trade $25. -Head to cozyearth.com and use the code AMERICANS for an exclusive 20% off. -Join Noble Mobile today and get a $100 bonus when you use code PAUL and stay a member for 2 months! -Learn more about American Veterans for Ukraine here. -Learn more about The Headstrong Project for Veterans, Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS), and Department of Veterans Affairs resources in your area. Seeking support is not a sign of weakness. It’s a show of strength. If you or a loved one are in immediate crisis, dial 988 and press 1, or text 838255. Connect with Independent Americans:
-Join the movement. Hook into our exclusive Patreon community of Independent Americans. Get extra content, connect with guests, meet other Independent Americans, attend events, get merch discounts, and support this show that speaks truth to power. -And get cool IA and Righteous hats, t-shirts and other merch now in time for the new year. Independent Americans is powered by veteran-owned and led Righteous Media. And now part of the BLEAV network! Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising. | |||
| Two electorates: who picked the ballot, who voted on it, from the voter file | 07 nov. 2026 | 00:08:10 | |
There were two electorates in this election, and almost nobody talks about the first one. The second is the one that voted on Tuesday. The first is the one that picked the names on that ballot: the people who voted in the primaries last spring and summer. TMI, our morning newsletter, put the two side by side, state by state, using the national voter file. Paul Rieckhoff walks through what it shows. In the 28 states that register voters by party, 30% of registered voters belong to no party. They cast 16% of this year's primary ballots. In the 13 closed-primary states, 4% of them took part, against 25% of Democrats and Republicans. New Jersey: 35% of the rolls, 1% of the primary ballots. Maine and New Mexico opened their primaries since 2022, and no-party voters showed up. In 2024, 366 of 435 House seats were settled before November. And in Nebraska, South Dakota and Idaho, the Senate margin was a fraction of the independents who never had a primary to vote in. Read the full special report, with a source behind every number: Sign up for TMI, free every weekday morning: Chapters Sources: L2 voter file via VoterCount (retrieved Oct 29 and Nov 4, 2026), state election offices and registration reports, AP race calls as logged by the IVA Election Desk, MIT Election Data and Science Lab 2024 House returns. Margins are unofficial, partial counts as of Nov 4 and change until the states certify. -Join us for Veterans Day in New York City 11/11. -Check out the important work happening at Independent Voter News at IVN.us. -Let Vets Vote: Millions of American veterans are being locked out of primary elections in the country they served. See what we’re doing to change that. -Visit Kalshi and trade on anything. Use code INDEPENDENT to get $25 when you trade $25. -Head to cozyearth.com and use the code AMERICANS for an exclusive 20% off. -Join Noble Mobile today and get a $100 bonus when you use code PAUL and stay a member for 2 months! -Learn more about American Veterans for Ukraine here. -Learn more about The Headstrong Project for Veterans, Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS), and Department of Veterans Affairs resources in your area. Seeking support is not a sign of weakness. It’s a show of strength. If you or a loved one are in immediate crisis, dial 988 and press 1, or text 838255. Connect with Independent Americans:
-Join the movement. Hook into our exclusive Patreon community of Independent Americans. Get extra content, connect with guests, meet other Independent Americans, attend events, get merch discounts, and support this show that speaks truth to power. -And get cool IA and Righteous hats, t-shirts and other merch now in time for the new year. Independent Americans is powered by veteran-owned and led Righteous Media. And now part of the BLEAV network! Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising. | |||
| Chuck Todd. The Dems are Surfers on the Anti-Trump Wave. JD Vance Dances Shamelessly. | 06 nov. 2026 | 00:58:13 | |
Chuck Todd is back on Independent Americans, and he's not sugarcoating what just happened. Voters didn't fall in love with Democrats — they repudiated Trumpism, and independents were the fulcrum. Paul and Chuck unpack why 12 of the last 14 national elections have been change elections, why the pundit class keeps getting high on its own supply, and how candidates like Gina Hinojosa, Annie Andrews, and James Talarico actually met voters where they are instead of lecturing them. They also name the elephant in the room: Trump is still in power, Pete Hegseth is still the most dangerous man in the administration, and the Democrats are already at risk of overcorrecting. From there the conversation widens into the future of independent media, the five-to-seven million viewers Chuck and Chris Cillizza pulled on election night without a legacy network, and why career military leaders may be the country's best candidates for a 2028 independent run. Then it's Football Friday — Miami at Notre Dame, LSU–Alabama, the Holy War, Army–Air Force under the lights at West Point, Bills–Vikings on Monday night, and a shout for the New York City Lions 12U playing their final game in Queens. Patriotic hope, righteous anger, and real analysis — all in one episode. -WATCH full video of this episode here. -Join us for Veterans Day in New York City 11/11. -Check out the important work happening at Independent Voter News at IVN.us. -Track the IVA candidates on our poll tracker. -Let Vets Vote: Millions of American veterans are being locked out of primary elections in the country they served. See what we’re doing to change that. -Visit Kalshi and trade on anything. Use code INDEPENDENT to get $25 when you trade $25. -Head to cozyearth.com and use the code AMERICANS for an exclusive 20% off. -Join Noble Mobile today and get a $100 bonus when you use code PAUL and stay a member for 2 months! -Learn more about American Veterans for Ukraine here. -Learn more about The Headstrong Project for Veterans, Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS), and Department of Veterans Affairs resources in your area. Seeking support is not a sign of weakness. It’s a show of strength. If you or a loved one are in immediate crisis, dial 988 and press 1, or text 838255. Connect with Independent Americans:
-Join the movement. Hook into our exclusive Patreon community of Independent Americans. Get extra content, connect with guests, meet other Independent Americans, attend events, get merch discounts, and support this show that speaks truth to power. -And get cool IA and Righteous hats, t-shirts and other merch now in time for the new year. Independent Americans is powered by veteran-owned and led Righteous Media. And now part of the BLEAV network! Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising. | |||
| Independents are the water in the Blue wave. Trump cornered is dangerous. Dems are really gonna be annoying. 4 IVA wins. Vets win big nationally. Especially women vets. | 05 nov. 2026 | 00:39:53 | |
4 IVA wins. Vets win big nationally. Especially women vets. GOP sports figures win again. They’re coming for Hegseth. No more political ads in sports! Independents were the water in the blue wave, and the water level is rising. In episode 668, Paul Rieckhoff rips through the midterm results with a combat helmet on and no illusions about what just happened. Yes, Democrats won big. No, America doesn't suddenly love Chuck Schumer or Hakeem Jeffries. What the data actually shows — pulled from CNN exit polling and Jeremy Gruber's analysis at Open Primaries — is that independent voters broke decisively for the candidates who sent a message: Trump is getting rich and you're getting screwed. In Texas, Ohio, Kansas, South Carolina, Iowa — independents weren't a marginal factor. They changed the map. Paul also walks through every independent veteran Senate race: Todd Achilles in Idaho, Brian Bengs in South Dakota, Dan Osborn in Nebraska, Seth Bodnar in Montana, Bob Chew in Colorado, and Ty Pinkins' still-too-close race in Mississippi. The money gap is the story — Osborn got outspent by a billionaire's son, Bodnar faced a Democrat spoiler who wouldn't drop out. But below the radar, four IVA-endorsed independent veterans did win, including a second straight independent mayor in Ridgecrest, California. Add 79 veterans heading to Congress with a record 11 women veterans, Tom Tillis coming for Hegseth, Carney shutting Russia out of junior hockey, and J.D. Vance already blaming Trump for the wipeout — and you've got a wake-up call for both parties. The question isn't whether independents matter anymore. It's whether the system catches up. -WATCH full video of this episode here. -Join us for Veterans Day in New York City 11/11. -Check out the important work happening at Independent Voter News at IVN.us. -Track the IVA candidates on our poll tracker. -Let Vets Vote: Millions of American veterans are being locked out of primary elections in the country they served. See what we’re doing to change that. -Visit Kalshi and trade on anything. Use code INDEPENDENT to get $25 when you trade $25. -Head to cozyearth.com and use the code AMERICANS for an exclusive 20% off. -Join Noble Mobile today and get a $100 bonus when you use code PAUL and stay a member for 2 months! -Learn more about American Veterans for Ukraine here. -Learn more about The Headstrong Project for Veterans, Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS), and Department of Veterans Affairs resources in your area. Seeking support is not a sign of weakness. It’s a show of strength. If you or a loved one are in immediate crisis, dial 988 and press 1, or text 838255. Connect with Independent Americans:
-Join the movement. Hook into our exclusive Patreon community of Independent Americans. Get extra content, connect with guests, meet other Independent Americans, attend events, get merch discounts, and support this show that speaks truth to power. -And get cool IA and Righteous hats, t-shirts and other merch now in time for the new year. Independent Americans is powered by veteran-owned and led Righteous Media. And now part of the BLEAV network! Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising. | |||
| Dem’s Blue Wave: Powered by the Indy Tsunami. Everybody Hates Trump. Indy Vets For Senate Lost—But Won By Playing. | 04 nov. 2026 | 00:30:05 | |
Vets Win. Closed Primaries Cooked Results. Is Iran Imminent Now? Vets Day is Next. Election Results Breakdown. Paul Rieckhoff records before sunrise on the morning after — and cuts through the celebration with a no-BS, intelligence-grade read on what actually happened. Yes, Democrats rolled: the House, likely the Senate, Troy Jackson knocking off Susan Collins in Maine, Talarico in Texas, Brown over Husted in Ohio, Annie Andrews in South Carolina. But Democrats are only 27% of the vote. Republicans are 27%. Independents are 45% — and we decided every one of these races. This wasn't a blue wave. It was an anti-Trump wave, powered by an independent tsunami. Paul walks through the independent veteran candidates from IVA — Bodnar, Osborn, Bangs, Achilles, Bob Chew, Ty Pinkins in a Mississippi race still too close to call, Bill Hill fighting for Alaska's lone House seat — and why winning the race was never the only point. He names the next danger zone: a cornered Trump with the most powerful military in history and 70 days until Democrats are sworn in. He calls on disenfranchised Republicans and burned-out Democrats to declare their independence, previews next week's Veterans Day conversation with Governor Wes Moore, and makes the case for merging Veterans Day and Election Day into one national holiday. Righteous anger, patriotic hope, and a clear-eyed look at what comes next. -WATCH full video of this episode here. -Check out the important work happening at Independent Voter News at IVN.us. -Track the IVA candidates on our poll tracker. -Let Vets Vote: Millions of American veterans are being locked out of primary elections in the country they served. See what we’re doing to change that. -Visit Kalshi and trade on anything. Use code INDEPENDENT to get $25 when you trade $25. -Head to cozyearth.com and use the code AMERICANS for an exclusive 20% off. -Join Noble Mobile today and get a $100 bonus when you use code PAUL and stay a member for 2 months! -Learn more about American Veterans for Ukraine here. -Learn more about The Headstrong Project for Veterans, Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS), and Department of Veterans Affairs resources in your area. Seeking support is not a sign of weakness. It’s a show of strength. If you or a loved one are in immediate crisis, dial 988 and press 1, or text 838255. Connect with Independent Americans:
-Join the movement. Hook into our exclusive Patreon community of Independent Americans. Get extra content, connect with guests, meet other Independent Americans, attend events, get merch discounts, and support this show that speaks truth to power. -And get cool IA and Righteous hats, t-shirts and other merch now in time for the new year. Independent Americans is powered by veteran-owned and led Righteous Media. And now part of the BLEAV network! Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising. | |||
| Expect the Unexpected. The Independent Wave. 6 Indy Vets Look to Make History. New Iran Strikes. Mark Cuban Nailed It. Haley Stevens is the new Tulsi Gabbard. Trump on Vietnam. Election Day Breakdown. | 03 nov. 2026 | 00:30:49 | |
It is election day 2026, and Paul Rieckhoff is wide awake before sunrise in New York with one message: expect the unexpected. The Wall Street Journal is reporting the US has been quietly striking Iran for weeks. The Pentagon hasn't held a routine press briefing since May 5th. Tucker Carlson is warning that Netanyahu is pressuring Trump toward a tactical nuke strike on Pickaxe Mountain. And a cornered Trump — if the walls close in tonight — is the most dangerous Trump we have ever seen. This is no-BS analysis from a combat veteran and institutional watchdog who refuses to let the election news cycle bury the war machine cranking up behind it. From there Paul breaks down the political theater: Trump's embarrassing closing argument at what he dubs the Trump reflecting pool, Haley Stevens breaking with Democrats to endorse Mike Rogers, Kathy Hochul shine-vampiring Mamdani and AOC with a Buffalo Bills bit nobody from the Bronx is buying, and Mark Cuban channeling the growing none-of-the-above energy. Then the real headline: 35 independent veterans running for office this cycle, every one of them endorsed by Independent Veterans of America, from Dan Osborn in Nebraska to Seth Bodnar in Montana to Todd Achilles in Idaho. This is the independent wave the cable networks won't name. Tune in, then go vote. -WATCH full video of this episode here. -Check out the important work happening at Independent Voter News at IVN.us. -Track the IVA candidates on our poll tracker. -Let Vets Vote: Millions of American veterans are being locked out of primary elections in the country they served. See what we’re doing to change that. -Visit Kalshi and trade on anything. Use code INDEPENDENT to get $25 when you trade $25. -Head to cozyearth.com and use the code AMERICANS for an exclusive 20% off. -Join Noble Mobile today and get a $100 bonus when you use code PAUL and stay a member for 2 months! -Learn more about American Veterans for Ukraine here. -Learn more about The Headstrong Project for Veterans, Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS), and Department of Veterans Affairs resources in your area. Seeking support is not a sign of weakness. It’s a show of strength. If you or a loved one are in immediate crisis, dial 988 and press 1, or text 838255. Connect with Independent Americans:
-Join the movement. Hook into our exclusive Patreon community of Independent Americans. Get extra content, connect with guests, meet other Independent Americans, attend events, get merch discounts, and support this show that speaks truth to power. -And get cool IA and Righteous hats, t-shirts and other merch now in time for the new year. Independent Americans is powered by veteran-owned and led Righteous Media. And now part of the BLEAV network! Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising. | |||
| Ty Pinkins on Obama, Clinton, Schumer — and the Democrats who sacrifice Black voters every cycle. | 02 nov. 2026 | 00:38:06 | |
On the eve of election day, Paul Rieckhoff sits down with Ty Pinkins — Army veteran of 21 years, three combat tours, Bronze Star recipient, Georgetown-trained attorney, and the independent candidate for U.S. Senate in Mississippi — for a no-BS conversation about what the rigged two-party system actually does to Black voters in the South. Pinkins lays out, with receipts going back to 1982, how the national Democratic Party keeps running doomed candidates in Mississippi not to win, but to harvest Black turnout for the next presidential cycle. He names names: Obama, Clinton, Schumer, Warnock, Booker, Benny Thompson. And he reveals that the only people who have offered him money to drop out are Democrats. The conversation widens into the bigger story of 2026: six independent veterans running for Senate in six states, a media establishment that literally refuses to put independent candidates on its election maps, and a generation of young Americans leaving both parties at a rate of 10,000 a week. Paul and Ty get into the smears, the phone calls, the Christian conservative women crossing over, the Black elders in Vicksburg saying "this is what we've been waiting on," and why loyalty in politics has to run both ways. This is a dispatch from the front lines of the independent revolt — and a preview of the reckoning coming to both parties whether they're ready or not. -WATCH full video of this episode here. -Check out the important work happening at Independent Voter News at IVN.us. -Track the IVA candidates on our poll tracker. -Let Vets Vote: Millions of American veterans are being locked out of primary elections in the country they served. See what we’re doing to change that. -Visit Kalshi and trade on anything. Use code INDEPENDENT to get $25 when you trade $25. -Head to cozyearth.com and use the code AMERICANS for an exclusive 20% off. -Join Noble Mobile today and get a $100 bonus when you use code PAUL and stay a member for 2 months! -Learn more about American Veterans for Ukraine here. -Learn more about The Headstrong Project for Veterans, Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS), and Department of Veterans Affairs resources in your area. Seeking support is not a sign of weakness. It’s a show of strength. If you or a loved one are in immediate crisis, dial 988 and press 1, or text 838255. Connect with Independent Americans:
-Join the movement. Hook into our exclusive Patreon community of Independent Americans. Get extra content, connect with guests, meet other Independent Americans, attend events, get merch discounts, and support this show that speaks truth to power. -And get cool IA and Righteous hats, t-shirts and other merch now in time for the new year. Independent Americans is powered by veteran-owned and led Righteous Media. And now part of the BLEAV network! Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising. | |||
| Obama snatches the mic. Trump’s casting goes off a cliff. | 01 nov. 2026 | 00:14:41 | |
Darlene Graham, Ken Paxton & the Herschel Walker problem. PLUS: Alaska’s dirty trick and the indy surge. Media Blitz Pod Obama snatched the mic. That's the story heading into the final stretch — a more popular, more charismatic communicator back on the trail hammering corruption in Georgia with Jon Ossoff, while Trump's approval craters near 30 and his hand-picked candidates collapse under their own weight. Darlene Graham is on the ticket because she's Lindsey Graham's sister. Ken Paxton is Ken Paxton. The Herschel Walker problem is back, and independents — 37% of voters in Ohio alone — are fleeing in droves. Meanwhile Trump gives safe harbor to Flavio Bolsonaro while Kansas farmers wonder if they'll be able to plant in the spring. Then there's Alaska, where New York Times reporting caught Democrats plotting to run a same-name decoy against Senator Dan Sullivan to confuse voters. It's the kind of dirty trick that reminds everyone why they're sick of the rigged two-party system — and why independent veteran candidates like Dan Osborn, Seth Bodnar, Brian Bengs, and Todd Achilles are surging against incumbents. Paul and the panel — Wendy Davis, Shermichael Singleton, and Stephanie Grisham — break down the casting disasters, the Obama resurgence, the Alaska scandal, and the independent surge that could reshape the Senate map. -WATCH full video of this episode here. -Check out the important work happening at Independent Voter News at IVN.us. -Track the IVA candidates on our poll tracker. -Let Vets Vote: Millions of American veterans are being locked out of primary elections in the country they served. See what we’re doing to change that. -Visit Kalshi and trade on anything. Use code INDEPENDENT to get $25 when you trade $25. -Head to cozyearth.com and use the code AMERICANS for an exclusive 20% off. -Join Noble Mobile today and get a $100 bonus when you use code PAUL and stay a member for 2 months! -Learn more about American Veterans for Ukraine here. -Learn more about The Headstrong Project for Veterans, Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS), and Department of Veterans Affairs resources in your area. Seeking support is not a sign of weakness. It’s a show of strength. If you or a loved one are in immediate crisis, dial 988 and press 1, or text 838255. Connect with Independent Americans:
-Join the movement. Hook into our exclusive Patreon community of Independent Americans. Get extra content, connect with guests, meet other Independent Americans, attend events, get merch discounts, and support this show that speaks truth to power. -And get cool IA and Righteous hats, t-shirts and other merch now in time for the new year. Independent Americans is powered by veteran-owned and led Righteous Media. And now part of the BLEAV network! Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising. | |||
| Can Obama save the Dems in the final stretch? Trump’s Bolsonaro problem. Ohio, Georgia, Alaska down to the wire. | 31 oct. 2026 | 00:24:35 | |
One week out from Election Day 2026, the country is staring at a split screen that tells you everything about the rigged two-party system. Barack Obama is finally deployed to Georgia and Michigan trying to pull Jon Ossoff and Keisha Lance Bottoms across the line. Donald Trump is on the same stage at the same hour cracking jokes about men's backsides while his approval sits near 30 and Flavio Bolsonaro — under investigation for financial crimes and screaming rigged election — gets safe harbor from the White House. Ohio, Georgia and Alaska are all down to the wire, and a bizarre New York Times scoop just revealed Democratic operatives engineered a second "Dan Sullivan" onto the Alaska ballot to sow confusion against the Republican incumbent. Paul Rieckhoff brings the no-BS read across two News Nation panels, breaking down why corruption is now the single most powerful issue cutting across left, right and center — and why independent veterans like Dan Osborn in Nebraska, Seth Bodnar in Montana, Todd Achilles in Idaho and Brian Bengs in South Dakota are the real story of this cycle. He takes on the spin from both sides, warns Democrats about spiking the ball early, and lays out why 45% of Americans aren't looking to switch jerseys — they're looking for a door out of the whole stadium. -WATCH full video of this episode here. -Check out the important work happening at Independent Voter News at IVN.us. -Track the IVA candidates on our poll tracker. -Let Vets Vote: Millions of American veterans are being locked out of primary elections in the country they served. See what we’re doing to change that. -Visit Kalshi and trade on anything. Use code INDEPENDENT to get $25 when you trade $25. -Head to cozyearth.com and use the code AMERICANS for an exclusive 20% off. -Join Noble Mobile today and get a $100 bonus when you use code PAUL and stay a member for 2 months! -Learn more about American Veterans for Ukraine here. -Learn more about The Headstrong Project for Veterans, Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS), and Department of Veterans Affairs resources in your area. Seeking support is not a sign of weakness. It’s a show of strength. If you or a loved one are in immediate crisis, dial 988 and press 1, or text 838255. Connect with Independent Americans:
-Join the movement. Hook into our exclusive Patreon community of Independent Americans. Get extra content, connect with guests, meet other Independent Americans, attend events, get merch discounts, and support this show that speaks truth to power. -And get cool IA and Righteous hats, t-shirts and other merch now in time for the new year. Independent Americans is powered by veteran-owned and led Righteous Media. And now part of the BLEAV network! Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising. | |||
| Election predictions, leadership & lessons from running for President w/ Senator Bob Kerrey. | 30 oct. 2026 | 00:38:42 | |
AI’s threat to both parties? Osborn’s race in Nebraska. Trump loves talking about asses. Friday Football. Two days out from the election, Paul Rieckhoff sits down with one of his longest-standing mentors: Senator Bob Kerrey. Combat-wounded Navy SEAL, Medal of Honor recipient, former governor of Nebraska, former presidential candidate, and one of the sharpest no-BS voices in American politics. Kerrey lays out why trust, not ideology, is the dominant issue on the ballot, why Elon Musk's $150 million bet on Ken Paxton in Texas should alarm every American, and why the unauthorized war in Iran may be the most tragic of the three forever wars this generation has lived through. From Dan Osborn's neck-and-neck race in Nebraska to the dark-money avalanche crushing independent candidates in every battleground state, Kerrey calls it straight. He talks veteran isolation, the vortex of self-pity, and why hanging onto your tribe is a matter of life and death. He makes the case for divided government, warns Democrats not to overreach if they win, and reminds everyone that the political leadership asking us to do easy things will never produce the America worth fighting for. Then Paul and Bob roll into Football Friday with Georgia-Florida, Nebraska-Washington, Lions-Vikings, and Chiefs-Broncos. -WATCH full video of this episode here. -Check out the important work happening at Independent Voter News at IVN.us. -Track the IVA candidates on our poll tracker. -Let Vets Vote: Millions of American veterans are being locked out of primary elections in the country they served. See what we’re doing to change that. -Visit Kalshi and trade on anything. Use code INDEPENDENT to get $25 when you trade $25. -Head to cozyearth.com and use the code AMERICANS for an exclusive 20% off. -Join Noble Mobile today and get a $100 bonus when you use code PAUL and stay a member for 2 months! -Learn more about American Veterans for Ukraine here. -Learn more about The Headstrong Project for Veterans, Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS), and Department of Veterans Affairs resources in your area. Seeking support is not a sign of weakness. It’s a show of strength. If you or a loved one are in immediate crisis, dial 988 and press 1, or text 838255. Connect with Independent Americans:
-Join the movement. Hook into our exclusive Patreon community of Independent Americans. Get extra content, connect with guests, meet other Independent Americans, attend events, get merch discounts, and support this show that speaks truth to power. -And get cool IA and Righteous hats, t-shirts and other merch now in time for the new year. Independent Americans is powered by veteran-owned and led Righteous Media. And now part of the BLEAV network! Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising. | |||
| Can Indy Vet Todd Achilles Pull It Off in Idaho? Does Sen Jim Risch Hate Veterans? | 29 oct. 2026 | 00:36:54 | |
Deadlock in Israeli Elections. Bolsonaro Lands in Miami After Fleeing Brazil. Remember Alex Pretti? Idaho is one of the most independent-minded states in America, and for the first time in a generation it has an independent on the ballot who can actually win. Todd Achilles — army veteran, longtime public servant, and the first candidate endorsed by Independent Veterans of America — is within single digits of Jim Risch, an 83-year-old incumbent who won't debate, refuses town halls on the Iran war and the farm bill, and voted against the PACT Act. Paul Rieckhoff gets under the hood with Achilles on how a one-man-band truck campaign became a national story, why Republicans and Democrats alike are breaking toward him, and what the dark money machine is about to unload in the final days. This conversation is a field report from the front line of the independent movement. Achilles and Rieckhoff dig into the closed-primary trap that forces Idahoans to register Republican just to vote, the 45%-plus of Americans who no longer have a party, and the coordinated attacks from Trump and Hillary Clinton alike warning voters not to "waste" their vote on independents. Paul also hits the day's headlines — Bolsonaro landing in Miami after fleeing Brazil, the deadlocked Israeli elections, and the forgotten murder of Alex Pretti. If you want to know what the next America looks like, it looks a lot like Todd Achilles grinding out two yards at a time in Idaho. -WATCH full video of this episode here. -Check out the important work happening at Independent Voter News at IVN.us. -Track the IVA candidates on our poll tracker. -Let Vets Vote: Millions of American veterans are being locked out of primary elections in the country they served. See what we’re doing to change that. -Visit Kalshi and trade on anything. Use code INDEPENDENT to get $25 when you trade $25. -Head to cozyearth.com and use the code AMERICANS for an exclusive 20% off. -Join Noble Mobile today and get a $100 bonus when you use code PAUL and stay a member for 2 months! -Learn more about American Veterans for Ukraine here. -Learn more about The Headstrong Project for Veterans, Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS), and Department of Veterans Affairs resources in your area. Seeking support is not a sign of weakness. It’s a show of strength. If you or a loved one are in immediate crisis, dial 988 and press 1, or text 838255. Connect with Independent Americans:
-Join the movement. Hook into our exclusive Patreon community of Independent Americans. Get extra content, connect with guests, meet other Independent Americans, attend events, get merch discounts, and support this show that speaks truth to power. -And get cool IA and Righteous hats, t-shirts and other merch now in time for the new year. Independent Americans is powered by veteran-owned and led Righteous Media. And now part of the BLEAV network! Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising. | |||
| Trump is Already Attacking the Election. The stupid arch vs Arlington & Vets. JD Vance Continues to Suck. | 28 oct. 2026 | 00:25:18 | |
MS Senate Race Tightens—the Indy is Ignored. Jay-Z for Super Bowl Halftime. Brewers Fever! We are less than one week from the most consequential election of our lifetime, and Trump is already attacking it. Paul Rieckhoff breaks down the three-plan playbook for election interference — the military (and why Chairman Dan Caine may say no), ICE at the polls, and plan C: a million-dollar bounty paid out to any 'wahoo' who claims to spot voter fraud. Bolsonaro is reportedly fleeing Brazil for Florida. Netanyahu may be next. Mar-a-Lago is becoming a safe harbor for strongmen, and right-wing podcasters are pre-loading the 'rigged' narrative in case Democrats win. From there: Trump's proposed 250-foot triumphal arch would darken 75,000 graves at Arlington Cemetery for 280 days a year — another unpopular move veterans will fight. JD Vance continues his 'why I should clearly never be president' tour. In Mississippi, independent veteran Ty Pickens is polling 6% in a Senate race the media refuses to acknowledge is a three-way. And a viral No Kings protest clip is a reminder that independent does not mean neutral. Anger alone is not enough — turn it into impact. Four independent veteran Senate candidates — Achilles, Bengs, Osborn, Bodnar, Pickens — need boots on the ground right now. -WATCH full video of this episode here. -Check out the important work happening at Independent Voter News at IVN.us. -Track the IVA candidates on our poll tracker. -Let Vets Vote: Millions of American veterans are being locked out of primary elections in the country they served. See what we’re doing to change that. -Visit Kalshi and trade on anything. Use code INDEPENDENT to get $25 when you trade $25. -Head to cozyearth.com and use the code AMERICANS for an exclusive 20% off. -Join Noble Mobile today and get a $100 bonus when you use code PAUL and stay a member for 2 months! -Learn more about American Veterans for Ukraine here. -Learn more about The Headstrong Project for Veterans, Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS), and Department of Veterans Affairs resources in your area. Seeking support is not a sign of weakness. It’s a show of strength. If you or a loved one are in immediate crisis, dial 988 and press 1, or text 838255. Connect with Independent Americans:
-Join the movement. Hook into our exclusive Patreon community of Independent Americans. Get extra content, connect with guests, meet other Independent Americans, attend events, get merch discounts, and support this show that speaks truth to power. -And get cool IA and Righteous hats, t-shirts and other merch now in time for the new year. Independent Americans is powered by veteran-owned and led Righteous Media. And now part of the BLEAV network! Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising. | |||
| Can Obama close the deal? Lawler on the ropes. Cait Conley’s breakout ad. And why independents decide it all one week from now. | 27 oct. 2026 | 00:23:30 | |
Seven days out. The marathon is almost over, and the 90 million independents who have been written off, condescended to, and told they don't really exist are about to decide every close race in the country. Paul lays out why this moment belongs to independents, why the Democrats need Barack Obama as their closer, and why Republican incumbent Mike Lawler is in genuine trouble in New York's 17th against combat veteran Cait Conley — whose breakout ad ran straight through the Giants game this weekend. From there, Paul connects the dots to Israel's election this week, where Netanyahu faces former IDF Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkot in what looks increasingly like Israel's own referendum on extremism — a mirror of the test American voters face at home. He closes with a straight talk on the fake-work theatrics choking the final week — the McDonald's cosplay, the bus-driving photo ops, the pretend-to-dig-a-hole ads — and why voters want politicians who understand what it's like to only be able to afford McDonald's, not politicians who dress up to serve it. -WATCH full video of this episode here. -Track the IVA candidates on our poll tracker. -Let Vets Vote: Millions of American veterans are being locked out of primary elections in the country they served. See what we’re doing to change that. -Visit Kalshi and trade on anything. Use code INDEPENDENT to get $25 when you trade $25. -Head to cozyearth.com and use the code AMERICANS for an exclusive 20% off. -Join Noble Mobile today and get a $100 bonus when you use code PAUL and stay a member for 2 months! -Learn more about American Veterans for Ukraine here. -Learn more about The Headstrong Project for Veterans, Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS), and Department of Veterans Affairs resources in your area. Seeking support is not a sign of weakness. It’s a show of strength. If you or a loved one are in immediate crisis, dial 988 and press 1, or text 838255. Connect with Independent Americans:
-Join the movement. Hook into our exclusive Patreon community of Independent Americans. Get extra content, connect with guests, meet other Independent Americans, attend events, get merch discounts, and support this show that speaks truth to power. -And get cool IA and Righteous hats, t-shirts and other merch now in time for the new year. Independent Americans is powered by veteran-owned and led Righteous Media. And now part of the BLEAV network! Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising. | |||
| Hillary Clinton Stupidly Smears McConaughey. Sara Haines Follows Matthew’s Lead on The View. | 26 oct. 2026 | 00:28:59 | |
Hegseth Broke Eisenhower’s World. Bloomberg - $80M to Dems. Vance Sells Out Ukraine and Continues to Suck. The partisan machine is scared, and it's showing. In episode 658, Paul Rieckhoff goes solo to answer the growing chorus of independent-haters — from Hillary Clinton's smear of Matthew McConaughey on Kara Swisher's show to the online pundits recycling the tired "hidden partisan" talking point against the 45% of Americans who refuse to put on a jersey. Paul lays out why that smear falls apart the second you look at Nebraska, South Dakota, Idaho, and Montana, where a vote for the Democrat is the actual spoiler. He also celebrates Sara Haines doing on The View what McConaughey did on Kara Swisher — breaking the seal, giving millions of Americans permission to declare their independence out loud. From there it's a full media blitz: Pete Hegseth's staff physically broke General Eisenhower's World War II globe trying to haul it into the SecDef's office, Mike Bloomberg cut Democrats an $80 million check while independent candidates fight on fumes, JD Vance went on tape telling Ukraine to stop bombing Russian energy facilities, Steve Witkoff called Vladimir Putin a "humanitarian" to his face, and new reporting shows the GRU hacked Jared Kushner's phone and watched the money flow in from MBS and MBZ. Corruption is the story. Independents are the answer. And the duopoly's chokehold is dying faster than they want you to know. -WATCH full video of this episode here. -Track the IVA candidates on our poll tracker. -Let Vets Vote: Millions of American veterans are being locked out of primary elections in the country they served. See what we’re doing to change that. -Visit Kalshi and trade on anything. Use code INDEPENDENT to get $25 when you trade $25. -Head to cozyearth.com and use the code AMERICANS for an exclusive 20% off. -Join Noble Mobile today and get a $100 bonus when you use code PAUL and stay a member for 2 months! -Learn more about American Veterans for Ukraine here. -Learn more about The Headstrong Project for Veterans, Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS), and Department of Veterans Affairs resources in your area. Seeking support is not a sign of weakness. It’s a show of strength. If you or a loved one are in immediate crisis, dial 988 and press 1, or text 838255. Connect with Independent Americans:
-Join the movement. Hook into our exclusive Patreon community of Independent Americans. Get extra content, connect with guests, meet other Independent Americans, attend events, get merch discounts, and support this show that speaks truth to power. -And get cool IA and Righteous hats, t-shirts and other merch now in time for the new year. Independent Americans is powered by veteran-owned and led Righteous Media. And now part of the BLEAV network! Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising. | |||
| Trump’s billion dollar ballroom vs $6 diesel. Dan Osborn vs.Pete Ricketts. | 25 oct. 2026 | 00:25:21 | |
Something is cracking in the Midwest. Iowa farmers are staring at $1,000 fill-ups for their tractors, fertilizer costs through the roof, and a White House that only remembers rural America two weeks before an election. Meanwhile Donald Trump is spending $1.2 billion of taxpayer-adjacent money on an East Wing ballroom, a triumphal arch, a Garden of Heroes, and a plan to repaint the Eisenhower building because he thinks it should be whiter. Paul Rieckhoff joins Katie, Carrie Dan of the Cook Political Report, Mike Nellis, and McKay Coppins to connect the dots between the vanity projects, the $8 billion farmer bailout nobody trusts, and a corruption narrative that is finally landing with independent voters. The panel digs into Dan Osborn's independent run against Cubs part-owner Pete Ricketts in Nebraska, Tarek the wheelchair-dragging Iowa Democrat scrambling the governor's race, and why Trump is campaigning in the one Iowa district that isn't competitive. McKay Coppins unpacks the sea change in evangelical politics — how "Christian values" quietly became a political signifier instead of a religious one. And Paul lays out why eat-the-rich sentiment, the same force that just took down Orban in Hungary, is coming for an American political class that forgot who it works for. If you want to understand the terrain heading into the next cycle, this is the conversation. -WATCH full video of this episode here. -Track the IVA candidates on our poll tracker. -Let Vets Vote: Millions of American veterans are being locked out of primary elections in the country they served. See what we’re doing to change that. -Visit Kalshi and trade on anything. Use code INDEPENDENT to get $25 when you trade $25. -Head to cozyearth.com and use the code AMERICANS for an exclusive 20% off. -Join Noble Mobile today and get a $100 bonus when you use code PAUL and stay a member for 2 months! -Learn more about American Veterans for Ukraine here. -Learn more about The Headstrong Project for Veterans, Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS), and Department of Veterans Affairs resources in your area. Seeking support is not a sign of weakness. It’s a show of strength. If you or a loved one are in immediate crisis, dial 988 and press 1, or text 838255. Connect with Independent Americans:
-Join the movement. Hook into our exclusive Patreon community of Independent Americans. Get extra content, connect with guests, meet other Independent Americans, attend events, get merch discounts, and support this show that speaks truth to power. -And get cool IA and Righteous hats, t-shirts and other merch now in time for the new year. Independent Americans is powered by veteran-owned and led Righteous Media. And now part of the BLEAV network! Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising. | |||
| Dead-Heat in Nebraska. Dan Osborn neck-and-neck with a $7M self-funder. | 23 oct. 2026 | 00:35:59 | |
93 counties, 200 events, and riding a wave McConaughey just supercharged. Iran, the USS Lincoln, and Christmas on a credit card. Plus: Friday Football picks. Dan Osborn is back for a record sixth appearance, and he's walking into the final stretch of the most-watched Senate race in the country. Running as a true independent against Pete Ricketts — a sitting senator from a billionaire family that owns the Chicago Cubs — Osborn has outworked, out-hustled, and out-organized a $50 million machine. Fourteen counties left on a ninety-three county tour. More than two hundred public events. Small-dollar donations from all fifty states. And a message that is cutting through: less than two percent of Congress comes from people who punch a clock, and that is exactly why nothing gets done. Paul and Dan dig into the mechanics of a dead-heat race, the Matthew McConaughey moment and what star power finally means for the independent movement, and the sucking chest wound of the Iran war — the USS Abraham Lincoln, the attempted suicides on board, service members paying their own way home, and a Congress of jellyfish refusing to invoke the War Powers Act. Dan also gets honest about the cost at home: Christmas on a credit card, groceries climbing, paychecks flat. Then Football Friday closes it out, because the man is a Nebraska guy and the Cornhuskers are back. -WATCH full video of this episode here. -Track the IVA candidates on our poll tracker. -Let Vets Vote: Millions of American veterans are being locked out of primary elections in the country they served. See what we’re doing to change that. -Visit Kalshi and trade on anything. Use code INDEPENDENT to get $25 when you trade $25. -Head to cozyearth.com and use the code AMERICANS for an exclusive 20% off. -Join Noble Mobile today and get a $100 bonus when you use code PAUL and stay a member for 2 months! -Learn more about American Veterans for Ukraine here. -Learn more about The Headstrong Project for Veterans, Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS), and Department of Veterans Affairs resources in your area. Seeking support is not a sign of weakness. It’s a show of strength. If you or a loved one are in immediate crisis, dial 988 and press 1, or text 838255. Connect with Independent Americans:
-Join the movement. Hook into our exclusive Patreon community of Independent Americans. Get extra content, connect with guests, meet other Independent Americans, attend events, get merch discounts, and support this show that speaks truth to power. -And get cool IA and Righteous hats, t-shirts and other merch now in time for the new year. Independent Americans is powered by veteran-owned and led Righteous Media. And now part of the BLEAV network! Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising. | |||
| Trump’s 180 on Ukraine. Witkoff calls Putin a “humanitarian.” | 22 oct. 2026 | 00:18:01 | |
Musk’s Starlink shutdown blindsides Kyiv. Bodnar, Osborn, Achilles, Bengs & the indy vets shaking up the Senate. Media Blitz Pod Paul Rieckhoff joins Connell McShane on News Nation with retired Air Force Special Operations Commander Glenn Ignazio to call the Ukraine pivot what it is: a 180. Trump's envoy Steve Witkoff addressed Vladimir Putin as a "humanitarian" — a word for a man who has indiscriminately killed civilians from Odessa to Bucha and is still shipping lethal aid to Iran. Meanwhile, the Wall Street Journal reports Elon Musk himself ordered the Starlink/Starshield throttle that blindsided Ukrainian forces mid-fight, a precedent Glenn calls unprecedented and dangerous: a civilian defense contractor unilaterally shutting off a battlefield capability. Zelensky is signaling openness to freezing the front lines to get to a ceasefire — not to surrender territory — but only if Putin stops the bombing and shows up to the table. Then Paul turns to the political front. Independents are now 45% of American voters, dwarfing registered Democrats, and a wave of independent veterans is making the 2026 Senate map real: Seth Bodnar surging in Montana, Dan Osborn neck-and-neck in Nebraska, Todd Achilles climbing in Idaho, Brian Bengs in South Dakota, Ty Pickens in Mississippi. Paul calls Matthew McConaughey's recent push the "McConaughey moment" — the breakout that cracks the rigged two-party system wide open. Whether you came up MAGA, Democrat, or neither, this one connects the dots between forever wars, gas prices at home, and why the parties don't want you to hear from the people actually running to fix it. -WATCH full video of this episode here. -Track the IVA candidates on our poll tracker. -Let Vets Vote: Millions of American veterans are being locked out of primary elections in the country they served. See what we’re doing to change that. -Visit Kalshi and trade on anything. Use code INDEPENDENT to get $25 when you trade $25. -Head to cozyearth.com and use the code AMERICANS for an exclusive 20% off. -Join Noble Mobile today and get a $100 bonus when you use code PAUL and stay a member for 2 months! -Learn more about American Veterans for Ukraine here. -Learn more about The Headstrong Project for Veterans, Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS), and Department of Veterans Affairs resources in your area. Seeking support is not a sign of weakness. It’s a show of strength. If you or a loved one are in immediate crisis, dial 988 and press 1, or text 838255. Connect with Independent Americans:
-Join the movement. Hook into our exclusive Patreon community of Independent Americans. Get extra content, connect with guests, meet other Independent Americans, attend events, get merch discounts, and support this show that speaks truth to power. -And get cool IA and Righteous hats, t-shirts and other merch now in time for the new year. Independent Americans is powered by veteran-owned and led Righteous Media. And now part of the BLEAV network! Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising. | |||
| $7M vs $6,800. Independent Marine vet Matt Baker is taking on both parties in Va Beach. | 21 oct. 2026 | 00:42:44 | |
The Iran forever war, the McConaughey moment, no debates and a rigged fight by design. Paul Rieckhoff sits down with retired Marine Colonel Matt Baker, the independent veteran running for Congress in Virginia's 2nd District — a shipyard-and-base-heavy stretch of coastline where readiness is being ridden into the deck and families are watching their sailors cycle in and out of the Iran war. Baker is a Naval Academy grad, a combat veteran of Desert Storm, Iraq, and Afghanistan, and a battalion commander in Afghanistan who's now running against a Republican incumbent and a Democratic former Navy commander — two candidates with roughly $7 million each. Baker's campaign has $6,800. The local paper didn't bother to mention him. There has been exactly one formal debate across all 12 Virginia congressional races. By design. This is the Matthew McConaughey moment made concrete. Paul and Matt get into the readiness crisis in Norfolk, why families won't talk about Iran out loud, the mechanics of a two-party system that functions as a cage match, and why Baker refuses to play kingmaker for either side. They also get into what it means to run as an independent when the players are also the referees — and why a 34% path to victory in a three-way race is the kind of fight a Marine infantry officer actually welcomes. If you want to understand what the independent movement looks like at the district level — not as theory, but as $6,800 and a pair of boots — start here. -WATCH full video of this episode here. -Track the IVA candidates on our poll tracker. -Let Vets Vote: Millions of American veterans are being locked out of primary elections in the country they served. See what we’re doing to change that. -Visit Kalshi and trade on anything. Use code INDEPENDENT to get $25 when you trade $25. -Head to cozyearth.com and use the code AMERICANS for an exclusive 20% off. -Join Noble Mobile today and get a $100 bonus when you use code PAUL and stay a member for 2 months! -Learn more about American Veterans for Ukraine here. -Learn more about The Headstrong Project for Veterans, Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS), and Department of Veterans Affairs resources in your area. Seeking support is not a sign of weakness. It’s a show of strength. If you or a loved one are in immediate crisis, dial 988 and press 1, or text 838255. Connect with Independent Americans:
-Join the movement. Hook into our exclusive Patreon community of Independent Americans. Get extra content, connect with guests, meet other Independent Americans, attend events, get merch discounts, and support this show that speaks truth to power. -And get cool IA and Righteous hats, t-shirts and other merch now in time for the new year. Independent Americans is powered by veteran-owned and led Righteous Media. And now part of the BLEAV network! Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising. | |||
| McConaughey 2028? The Hollywood star’s independent moment. Bengs ties Rounds in S Dakota. Musk asked Trump to throttle Starlink. | 20 oct. 2026 | 00:28:49 | |
The independent movement had a breakout weekend, and Paul Rieckhoff walks you through every piece of it. Matthew McConaughey went public with a message that lit up phones across the country — a Hollywood heavyweight planting a flag for the plurality of Americans who refuse to put on a jersey. In a deep-red state most pundits wrote off, independent veteran Brian Bengs is now tied with GOP Senator Mike Rounds at 43-42. And a new report says Elon Musk personally asked Donald Trump to throttle Starlink speeds in Ukraine — hampering drone defenses while Ukrainian kids were dying. If true, it's treasonous. Full stop. Paul connects the dots between a rising independent slate — Bengs, Osborn, Bodnar, Achilles — and the cultural permission structure a figure like McConaughey can unlock for a 2028 run that could rival Ross Perot's 20%. He breaks down the ex-press secretary disaster that captured the Trump administration in one clip, the real story behind Coast Guard recruiting numbers nobody is telling you, and finishes on something genuinely inspiring: Ukraine's 92nd Separate Assault Brigade carrying out the first unmanned ground drone evacuation of a wounded soldier in combat history. Righteous anger, patriotic hope, and a movement that is finally being heard. -WATCH full video of this episode here. -Track the IVA candidates on our poll tracker. -Let Vets Vote: Millions of American veterans are being locked out of primary elections in the country they served. See what we’re doing to change that. -Visit Kalshi and trade on anything. Use code INDEPENDENT to get $25 when you trade $25. -Head to cozyearth.com and use the code AMERICANS for an exclusive 20% off. -Join Noble Mobile today and get a $100 bonus when you use code PAUL and stay a member for 2 months! -Learn more about American Veterans for Ukraine here. -Learn more about The Headstrong Project for Veterans, Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS), and Department of Veterans Affairs resources in your area. Seeking support is not a sign of weakness. It’s a show of strength. If you or a loved one are in immediate crisis, dial 988 and press 1, or text 838255. Connect with Independent Americans:
-Join the movement. Hook into our exclusive Patreon community of Independent Americans. Get extra content, connect with guests, meet other Independent Americans, attend events, get merch discounts, and support this show that speaks truth to power. -And get cool IA and Righteous hats, t-shirts and other merch now in time for the new year. Independent Americans is powered by veteran-owned and led Righteous Media. And now part of the BLEAV network! Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising. | |||
| Priming the steal. Trump ‘a greater threat’ to elections than Russia, China and Iran. | 19 oct. 2026 | 00:14:35 | |
National Guard spotted at DC drop boxes. Four more years? The third-term flirt returns. Media Blitz Pod Senator Mark Warner — the top Democrat on Senate Intelligence — just said the quiet part loud: the greatest threat to American election integrity is not Russia, not China, not Iran. It's the sitting president of the United States. On this episode of Independent Americans, Paul Rieckhoff and the panel break down what that assessment actually means, why National Guard troops standing near DC drop boxes should alarm every voter regardless of party, and how the MAGA machine is priming the public to accept a stolen outcome before a single vote is counted. This is the playbook Trump always runs — he telegraphs the punch before he throws it. Plan A is the active-duty military. Plan B is ICE. Plan C is sicking the MAGA hordes on the system. The panel walks through the Eisenhower-era law banning armed federal agents at the polls, the bipartisan Gottheimer-Bacon letter asking members to pledge to seat election winners, and the very real possibility of a Supreme Court moment if Trump tries to delay or disqualify results. If you care about the republic surviving the next twelve months, this is the briefing to hear. -WATCH full video of this episode here. -Track the IVA candidates on our poll tracker. -Let Vets Vote: Millions of American veterans are being locked out of primary elections in the country they served. See what we’re doing to change that. -Visit Kalshi and trade on anything. Use code INDEPENDENT to get $25 when you trade $25. -Head to cozyearth.com and use the code AMERICANS for an exclusive 20% off. -Join Noble Mobile today and get a $100 bonus when you use code PAUL and stay a member for 2 months! -Learn more about American Veterans for Ukraine here. -Learn more about The Headstrong Project for Veterans, Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS), and Department of Veterans Affairs resources in your area. Seeking support is not a sign of weakness. It’s a show of strength. If you or a loved one are in immediate crisis, dial 988 and press 1, or text 838255. Connect with Independent Americans:
-Join the movement. Hook into our exclusive Patreon community of Independent Americans. Get extra content, connect with guests, meet other Independent Americans, attend events, get merch discounts, and support this show that speaks truth to power. -And get cool IA and Righteous hats, t-shirts and other merch now in time for the new year. Independent Americans is powered by veteran-owned and led Righteous Media. And now part of the BLEAV network! Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising. | |||
| “Spray and pray” Trump’s chaos strategy from Cuba to Iran to Ukraine. Hegseth’s culture war bender. Mike Johnson pumps the brakes. Media Blitz Pod | 18 oct. 2026 | 00:22:19 | |
Paul Rieckhoff hits the news circuit for a rapid-fire breakdown of a week where the wheels came off the Trump foreign policy machine. Elon Musk throttled Starlink in the middle of Russia's winter bombing campaign against Ukrainian civilians — and Republican Senator Thom Tillis called it what it is: participating in mass murder. Putin keeps pumping the pedal down. Zelensky gets a hero's welcome in London while America looks like the bad guy. And one tech billionaire is now the linchpin of a sovereign nation's defense, which is exactly the privatized national security nightmare we warned about. From there Paul widens the aperture to the midterms, where 45% of the electorate now refuses to wear a jersey. Independent veterans like Dan Osborn in Nebraska and Seth Bodnar in Montana are surging because voters are done with the rigged two-party system. Rahm Emanuel says Romney Republicans are up for grabs. The generic ballot has independents leaning Democratic by 10 points. And Paul lands the argument nobody in DC is making out loud: end the Iran war, gas prices come down, Trump's poll numbers move. Everything else is spray and pray. -WATCH full video of this episode here. -Track the IVA candidates on our poll tracker. -Let Vets Vote: Millions of American veterans are being locked out of primary elections in the country they served. See what we’re doing to change that. -Visit Kalshi and trade on anything. Use code INDEPENDENT to get $25 when you trade $25. -Head to cozyearth.com and use the code AMERICANS for an exclusive 20% off. -Join Noble Mobile today and get a $100 bonus when you use code PAUL and stay a member for 2 months! -Learn more about American Veterans for Ukraine here. -Learn more about The Headstrong Project for Veterans, Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS), and Department of Veterans Affairs resources in your area. Seeking support is not a sign of weakness. It’s a show of strength. If you or a loved one are in immediate crisis, dial 988 and press 1, or text 838255. Connect with Independent Americans:
-Join the movement. Hook into our exclusive Patreon community of Independent Americans. Get extra content, connect with guests, meet other Independent Americans, attend events, get merch discounts, and support this show that speaks truth to power. -And get cool IA and Righteous hats, t-shirts and other merch now in time for the new year. Independent Americans is powered by veteran-owned and led Righteous Media. And now part of the BLEAV network! Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising. | |||
| Inside AUSA with Kevin Baron. Anduril and Palantir mobbed. Code Pink crashes Hegseth. | 16 oct. 2026 | 00:51:44 | |
The drone revolution is here. F1, Cadillac, and the sports-defense overlap. Plus: Friday Football Picks Kevin Baron — founder of Elevation Global Strategies, former Defense One executive editor, and one of the sharpest national security minds in the business — joins Paul fresh off the AUSA conference in Washington. Forty thousand people. Seven hundred companies. Anduril and Palantir surrounded by throngs waiting for a meeting. Pete Hegseth on stage getting repeatedly disrupted by Code Pink protestors who registered their way in. And underneath all of it, a $1.5 trillion defense budget proposal, a drone revolution rewriting what a modern military even looks like, and private capital pouring into the sector at a pace Baron says he's never witnessed before. This is the war economy the cable news cycle keeps missing. From there, Paul and Kevin connect the dots most people don't see: how Formula 1, NASCAR, and the global sports boom are now a live test track for American defense technology, why GM Defense brought a Cadillac F1 car to AUSA, and what Austin's rise as a defense-innovation hub tells us about where the money and the talent are actually heading. They talk the Trump brothers' Florida ecosystem, the Neo Primes squeezing Lockheed and Boeing, the live sandboxes of Ukraine and Iran, and the dangerous short-termism baked into this moment. Plus Football Friday picks, Explosions in the Sky, and why the Washington Commanders is still a terrible name. If you want to understand the machine behind the headlines, this is the conversation. If you want to know what’s happening next in global security, this is your show. -WATCH full video of this episode here. -Check out Elevation Live and everything Kevin works on. -Track the IVA candidates on our poll tracker. -Let Vets Vote: Millions of American veterans are being locked out of primary elections in the country they served. See what we’re doing to change that. -Visit Kalshi and trade on anything. Use code INDEPENDENT to get $25 when you trade $25. -Head to cozyearth.com and use the code AMERICANS for an exclusive 20% off. -Join Noble Mobile today and get a $100 bonus when you use code PAUL and stay a member for 2 months! -Learn more about American Veterans for Ukraine here. -Learn more about The Headstrong Project for Veterans, Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS), and Department of Veterans Affairs resources in your area. Seeking support is not a sign of weakness. It’s a show of strength. If you or a loved one are in immediate crisis, dial 988 and press 1, or text 838255. Connect with Independent Americans:
-Join the movement. Hook into our exclusive Patreon community of Independent Americans. Get extra content, connect with guests, meet other Independent Americans, attend events, get merch discounts, and support this show that speaks truth to power. -And get cool IA and Righteous hats, t-shirts and other merch now in time for the new year. Independent Americans is powered by veteran-owned and led Righteous Media. And now part of the BLEAV network! Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising. | |||
| Hope in the heartland. Greg Ballard on standing up to gerrymandering and the GOP in Indiana. | 15 oct. 2026 | 00:38:08 | |
Indiana isn't supposed to be where the independent movement breaks through. It's a deep-red state, 41st in voter turnout, where 95% of the legislature is effectively decided in May primaries by a sliver of the electorate. That's exactly why Greg Ballard — Marine Corps Lieutenant Colonel, two-term Republican mayor of Indianapolis, and now independent candidate for Secretary of State — is running. Paul Rieckhoff sits down with Ballard a few weeks out from Election Day to talk about why he walked away from the GOP, what it cost him to even get his name on the ballot, and why this race matters far beyond Hoosier country. Ballard lays out the math of a rigged two-party system: 244 independents ran in Indiana's last two cycles and 52% of them won — because voters know them. He breaks down the punitive 37,000-signature requirement, the $700,000 price tag to collect them, and the two-percent threshold on election night that would clear the path for every independent who comes next. This is a conversation about ballot access as the ground war of the independent movement, about Marine Corps leadership applied to civic repair, and about what it looks like when a candidate refuses to go negative, refuses to endorse, and refuses to play by the duopoly's rules. -WATCH full video of this episode here. -Track the IVA candidates on our poll tracker. -Let Vets Vote: Millions of American veterans are being locked out of primary elections in the country they served. See what we’re doing to change that. -Visit Kalshi and trade on anything. Use code INDEPENDENT to get $25 when you trade $25. -Head to cozyearth.com and use the code AMERICANS for an exclusive 20% off. -Join Noble Mobile today and get a $100 bonus when you use code PAUL and stay a member for 2 months! -Learn more about American Veterans for Ukraine here. -Learn more about The Headstrong Project for Veterans, Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS), and Department of Veterans Affairs resources in your area. Seeking support is not a sign of weakness. It’s a show of strength. If you or a loved one are in immediate crisis, dial 988 and press 1, or text 838255. Connect with Independent Americans:
-Join the movement. Hook into our exclusive Patreon community of Independent Americans. Get extra content, connect with guests, meet other Independent Americans, attend events, get merch discounts, and support this show that speaks truth to power. -And get cool IA and Righteous hats, t-shirts and other merch now in time for the new year. Independent Americans is powered by veteran-owned and led Righteous Media. And now part of the BLEAV network! Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising. | |||
| Trump folds to Putin — again. Zelensky emerges as leader of the free world. Hegseth’s “Culture war bender” and firing squad livestream stunt. | 14 oct. 2026 | 00:14:23 | |
Donald Trump is in full spray-and-pray mode. One day he's threatening Iran and Cuba, the next he's cutting a diesel deal with the Kremlin and backstabbing Ukraine again. Vladimir Putin ignored Trump's latest ceasefire within hours, and the Wall Street Journal editorial board noticed. Most Americans and most American veterans still stand with Ukraine. The president does not speak for them. In this media blitz episode, Paul Rieckhoff joins Alicia Menendez and veteran national security reporter David Rhode to name what's actually happening: Zelensky is emerging as the real leader of the free world while the American president plays political bandwagon. Then the conversation turns to Pete Hegseth and his pitch to livestream the execution of the Fort Hood shooter. Paul calls it what it is — a culture war bender, spectacle over substance, and a Pentagon secretary auditioning for a 2028 run. David Rhode, who spent seven months as a Taliban hostage, explains why a public execution is a jihadist recruiting tool, not a deterrent. This is a no-BS breakdown of a presidency that keeps handing wins to our enemies, a Pentagon chasing viral moments instead of victories, and an independent movement that refuses to let either party define what strength actually looks like. -WATCH full video of this episode here. -Track the IVA candidates on our poll tracker. -Let Vets Vote: Millions of American veterans are being locked out of primary elections in the country they served. See what we’re doing to change that. -Visit Kalshi and trade on anything. Use code INDEPENDENT to get $25 when you trade $25. -Head to cozyearth.com and use the code AMERICANS for an exclusive 20% off. -Join Noble Mobile today and get a $100 bonus when you use code PAUL and stay a member for 2 months! -Learn more about American Veterans for Ukraine here. -Learn more about The Headstrong Project for Veterans, Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS), and Department of Veterans Affairs resources in your area. Seeking support is not a sign of weakness. It’s a show of strength. If you or a loved one are in immediate crisis, dial 988 and press 1, or text 838255. Connect with Independent Americans:
-Join the movement. Hook into our exclusive Patreon community of Independent Americans. Get extra content, connect with guests, meet other Independent Americans, attend events, get merch discounts, and support this show that speaks truth to power. -And get cool IA and Righteous hats, t-shirts and other merch now in time for the new year. Independent Americans is powered by veteran-owned and led Righteous Media. And now part of the BLEAV network! Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising. | |||
| Trump says Ukraine needs a new president. Independents say America does. | 13 oct. 2026 | 00:15:43 | |
PLUS: Newsom, the 25th, and a failure of imagination by the democrats heading into the midterms. Trump floated the idea that Ukraine needs a new president because Zelensky keeps hitting Russian oil refineries and that's driving fuel prices up. Paul Rieckhoff flips the frame: Ukraine doesn't need a new president — America does. From a creek in the Catskills, with his boys skipping rocks in the background, Paul lays out why the most important story in the world is still that Donald Trump commands the most powerful military ever built and nothing — not the courts, not the Democrats, not even a Congressional majority — is currently positioned to stop him. This is a solo episode, raw and unvarnished, built for the stretch of political dread between now and the next election. Paul walks through the hard math of 2026: even if Democrats take the House, even if they impeach Hegseth, even if they deny the $1.5 trillion budget request, the forever wars keep going — because Bush, Obama, Biden, and Trump all proved they do. He makes the case for a failure-of-imagination warning (Venezuela, Iran, Cuba are all on the board), calls out Gavin Newsom invoking the 25th Amendment, and challenges both parties to say out loud what they'll actually do if they win power. Then he closes with something good: Emerson, public lands, indigenous history, and the reminder that a change of latitude really can change your attitude. Mental health check included. -WATCH full video of this episode here. -Track the IVA candidates on our poll tracker. -Let Vets Vote: Millions of American veterans are being locked out of primary elections in the country they served. See what we’re doing to change that. -Visit Kalshi and trade on anything. Use code INDEPENDENT to get $25 when you trade $25. -Head to cozyearth.com and use the code AMERICANS for an exclusive 20% off. -Join Noble Mobile today and get a $100 bonus when you use code PAUL and stay a member for 2 months! -Learn more about American Veterans for Ukraine here. -Learn more about The Headstrong Project for Veterans, Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS), and Department of Veterans Affairs resources in your area. Seeking support is not a sign of weakness. It’s a show of strength. If you or a loved one are in immediate crisis, dial 988 and press 1, or text 838255. Connect with Independent Americans:
-Join the movement. Hook into our exclusive Patreon community of Independent Americans. Get extra content, connect with guests, meet other Independent Americans, attend events, get merch discounts, and support this show that speaks truth to power. -And get cool IA and Righteous hats, t-shirts and other merch now in time for the new year. Independent Americans is powered by veteran-owned and led Righteous Media. And now part of the BLEAV network! Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising. | |||
| Could Texas go blue? Paxton’s scandals, Trump’s war, and a Senate race Trump owns. PLUS: The pre-midterm Iran strike debate. Media Blitz Pod | 12 oct. 2026 | 00:20:46 | |
Texas is still red. But Ken Paxton is a scandal-plagued candidate standing on that stage only because Donald Trump put him there — and Trump knows it. With a forever war in Iran dragging on, home heating oil hitting six dollars a gallon in the northeast, and a barrel of crude at $105, Republicans are watching their own base turn on them. Paul Rieckhoff joins Katie Phang alongside The Atlantic's Jonathan Lemire and Lincoln Project strategist Stuart Stevens to pull apart a Senate race Trump personally owns, the 1.7 million Texas veterans and 16% independents who could decide it, and the quiet administration debate about whether to launch another Iran strike before voters go to the polls. This is a conversation about what happens when the MAGA machine runs out of road. Trump is on Truth Social clarifying that he did not, in fact, invite the bombing of San Diego and Los Angeles. His own governor in Texas keeps finding scheduling conflicts. His Nobel Peace Prize fantasy is colliding with the reality that he is the president of a new generation of forever wars. The panel digs into why both parties are failing to go directly at the war, why split-ticket voting could crack Texas open, and what desperate moves a cornered president might pull in the weeks before Election Day. No spin. No jersey. Just the no-BS read independents have been waiting for. -WATCH full video of this episode here. -Track the IVA candidates on our poll tracker. -Let Vets Vote: Millions of American veterans are being locked out of primary elections in the country they served. See what we’re doing to change that. -Visit Kalshi and trade on anything. Use code INDEPENDENT to get $25 when you trade $25. -Head to cozyearth.com and use the code AMERICANS for an exclusive 20% off. -Join Noble Mobile today and get a $100 bonus when you use code PAUL and stay a member for 2 months! -Learn more about American Veterans for Ukraine here. -Learn more about The Headstrong Project for Veterans, Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS), and Department of Veterans Affairs resources in your area. Seeking support is not a sign of weakness. It’s a show of strength. If you or a loved one are in immediate crisis, dial 988 and press 1, or text 838255. Connect with Independent Americans:
-Join the movement. Hook into our exclusive Patreon community of Independent Americans. Get extra content, connect with guests, meet other Independent Americans, attend events, get merch discounts, and support this show that speaks truth to power. -And get cool IA and Righteous hats, t-shirts and other merch now in time for the new year. Independent Americans is powered by veteran-owned and led Righteous Media. And now part of the BLEAV network! Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising. | |||
| IVN.US Crossover special: EXCLUSIVE - Paul Rieckhoff on the Let Vets Vote lawsuit. | 11 oct. 2026 | 00:28:32 | |
Paul Rieckhoff walks his kids to their public school on primary day in New York City — and has to explain to his seven-year-old why Dad, an Iraq veteran and 9/11 first responder, isn't allowed to vote. That's the story behind the Let Vets Vote lawsuit, and in this crossover special with the Independent Voter Podcast from IVN.US, Paul sits down with Chad and Sean to lay out the full strategy. One million veterans in New York City locked out. Sixteen fully closed primary states. Public resources funding private party elections where the real winners are chosen before November even arrives. The players, as Paul puts it, are also serving as the referee — and it's time to end it. This conversation covers the ground game and the air game: the legal fight building toward the Supreme Court, the structural case for open primaries, and the political reality of a system where the DSA on the left and MAGA on the right both benefit from low-turnout closed contests. Paul connects the dots from the GI Bill fight and burn pits advocacy to this moment — the same playbook of forcing a public reckoning on an issue the political class wants to kill quietly in a back room. If you've ever wondered why your representatives don't sound like anyone you actually know, this is the episode. Forty-five percent of Americans are independent. Sixty percent of young people. More than half of veterans. The market is speaking. Now the courts have to listen. -WATCH full video of this episode here. -Check out the important work happening at Independent Voter News at IVN.us. -Track the IVA candidates on our poll tracker. -Let Vets Vote: Millions of American veterans are being locked out of primary elections in the country they served. See what we’re doing to change that. -Visit Kalshi and trade on anything. Use code INDEPENDENT to get $25 when you trade $25. -Head to cozyearth.com and use the code AMERICANS for an exclusive 20% off. -Join Noble Mobile today and get a $100 bonus when you use code PAUL and stay a member for 2 months! -Learn more about American Veterans for Ukraine here. -Learn more about The Headstrong Project for Veterans, Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS), and Department of Veterans Affairs resources in your area. Seeking support is not a sign of weakness. It’s a show of strength. If you or a loved one are in immediate crisis, dial 988 and press 1, or text 838255. Connect with Independent Americans:
-Join the movement. Hook into our exclusive Patreon community of Independent Americans. Get extra content, connect with guests, meet other Independent Americans, attend events, get merch discounts, and support this show that speaks truth to power. -And get cool IA and Righteous hats, t-shirts and other merch now in time for the new year. Independent Americans is powered by veteran-owned and led Righteous Media. And now part of the BLEAV network! Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising. | |||
| Adam Kinzinger: Will Trump attack the 2026 elections? Why GOP support is finally cracking. Can Talarico flip Texas? | 09 oct. 2026 | 00:25:39 | |
Adam Kinzinger is back. The former GOP congressman, Air National Guard lieutenant colonel, January 6th committee member, and founder of Country First sits down with Paul to answer the question nobody in corporate media wants to touch head-on: will Donald Trump attack the 2026 elections, and if he does, what will it actually look like? Kinzinger lays out why a blowout is the best defense against an authoritarian steal, where the real danger lives — the margins, the close races, the House deciding who it seats — and why the two-thirds of Republicans who are not ride-or-die with Trump are finally starting to speak up. From there Paul and Adam go wide. Can James Talarico actually flip Texas, or is this another Democratic head fake? Is there a lane for a true independent — a Kinzinger, a Cuban, a McConaughey — to break the rigged two-party system in a state like Texas? What did Paul see and what did Adam see on the ground in Ukraine, where Kyiv is under attack around the clock and Ukrainian drone innovation could have saved America billions on Patriot interceptors against Iranian Shaheds — if Trump had said yes. It is a no-BS conversation about leadership, retention, and whether the American project still has the independence it needs to save itself. -WATCH full video of this episode here. -Check out everything Adam does at adamkinzinger.com. -Track the IVA candidates on our poll tracker. -Let Vets Vote: Millions of American veterans are being locked out of primary elections in the country they served. See what we’re doing to change that. -Visit Kalshi and trade on anything. Use code INDEPENDENT to get $25 when you trade $25. -Head to cozyearth.com and use the code AMERICANS for an exclusive 20% off. -Join Noble Mobile today and get a $100 bonus when you use code PAUL and stay a member for 2 months! -Learn more about American Veterans for Ukraine here. -Learn more about The Headstrong Project for Veterans, Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS), and Department of Veterans Affairs resources in your area. Seeking support is not a sign of weakness. It’s a show of strength. If you or a loved one are in immediate crisis, dial 988 and press 1, or text 838255. Connect with Independent Americans:
-Join the movement. Hook into our exclusive Patreon community of Independent Americans. Get extra content, connect with guests, meet other Independent Americans, attend events, get merch discounts, and support this show that speaks truth to power. -And get cool IA and Righteous hats, t-shirts and other merch now in time for the new year. Independent Americans is powered by veteran-owned and led Righteous Media. And now part of the BLEAV network! Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising. | |||
| Hegseth, Vance, Rubio: The 2028 Pentagon primary is already on. Ukraine's brutal winter ahead. October 7th at three years. Media Blitz Pod | 08 oct. 2026 | 00:12:29 | |
Pete Hegseth wasn't on the USS Abraham Lincoln when sailors were stuck at sea for more than a year, running short on rations, reporting suicide attempts, and watching supply bases get taken out by drone strikes. He showed up for the homecoming photo op. Paul Rieckhoff joins Connell McShane at News Nation to call it exactly what it is — a 2028 presidential campaign being run out of the Pentagon, with internal camps already forming around JD Vance and Dan Driscoll on one side and Hegseth loyalists on the other. The only person in close November races people are running away from faster than Trump is Hegseth himself. From there, the conversation moves to the three-year anniversary of October 7th, the worst day in Israel's history, and why Israeli voters are now demanding accountability from Benjamin Netanyahu for the failures that let it happen and for the collapse of Israel's standing in the world. Then Ukraine: scrappy counter-offensives in the Donbas, battlefield innovation in drones and cyber, and a winter that Putin has already promised will target civilian heat and light. No-BS, no spin, just a rapid-fire national security read for independents who are done being lied to by both parties. -WATCH full video of this episode here. -Track the IVA candidates on our poll tracker. -Let Vets Vote: Millions of American veterans are being locked out of primary elections in the country they served. See what we’re doing to change that. -Visit Kalshi and trade on anything. Use code INDEPENDENT to get $25 when you trade $25. -Head to cozyearth.com and use the code AMERICANS for an exclusive 20% off. -Join Noble Mobile today and get a $100 bonus when you use code PAUL and stay a member for 2 months! -Learn more about American Veterans for Ukraine here. -Learn more about The Headstrong Project for Veterans, Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS), and Department of Veterans Affairs resources in your area. Seeking support is not a sign of weakness. It’s a show of strength. If you or a loved one are in immediate crisis, dial 988 and press 1, or text 838255. Connect with Independent Americans:
-Join the movement. Hook into our exclusive Patreon community of Independent Americans. Get extra content, connect with guests, meet other Independent Americans, attend events, get merch discounts, and support this show that speaks truth to power. -And get cool IA and Righteous hats, t-shirts and other merch now in time for the new year. Independent Americans is powered by veteran-owned and led Righteous Media. And now part of the BLEAV network! Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising. | |||
| WTF Wednesday: Trump’s unhinged Iran speech: “Let Them Take Out Los Angeles.” Shapiro backs open primaries in PA. Indy vets Bengs, Achilles Lead in SD and ID. | 07 oct. 2026 | 00:17:09 | |
President Mayhem is off the rails, and he's getting more desperate by the day. On this WTF Wednesday edition of Independent Americans, Paul Rieckhoff breaks down Trump's unhinged Iran remarks — publicly suggesting it would be "a very small price to pay" to let Iran take out Los Angeles and San Diego — and why that kind of talk about American cities can never be normalized, no matter how numb we've become. This is what reckless, unchecked executive power sounds like out loud. From there, Paul pivots to the good news hiding below the radar. Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro just publicly backed HB 280 to open Pennsylvania's primaries to the state's unaffiliated voters — a huge win for the Let Vets Vote fight and open-primary allies who've been grinding on this for years. And the independent veteran wave is real: new Lake Research polling has Brian Bengs leading Mike Rounds in South Dakota, Todd Achilles up seven in Idaho, Dan Osborn within four in Nebraska, and Seth Bodnar still swinging in Montana. The two-party status quo said these races wouldn't be close. They are. The movement is on. -WATCH full video of this episode here. -Track the IVA candidates on our poll tracker. -Let Vets Vote: Millions of American veterans are being locked out of primary elections in the country they served. See what we’re doing to change that. -Visit Kalshi and trade on anything. Use code INDEPENDENT to get $25 when you trade $25. -Head to cozyearth.com and use the code AMERICANS for an exclusive 20% off. -Join Noble Mobile today and get a $100 bonus when you use code PAUL and stay a member for 2 months! -Learn more about American Veterans for Ukraine here. -Learn more about The Headstrong Project for Veterans, Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS), and Department of Veterans Affairs resources in your area. Seeking support is not a sign of weakness. It’s a show of strength. If you or a loved one are in immediate crisis, dial 988 and press 1, or text 838255. Connect with Independent Americans:
-Join the movement. Hook into our exclusive Patreon community of Independent Americans. Get extra content, connect with guests, meet other Independent Americans, attend events, get merch discounts, and support this show that speaks truth to power. -And get cool IA and Righteous hats, t-shirts and other merch now in time for the new year. Independent Americans is powered by veteran-owned and led Righteous Media. And now part of the BLEAV network! Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising. | |||
| Trump runs home to Alabama. GOP internal polls worse than public. Independents below 10% on Trump — the sleeping giant stirs. Media Blitz Pod | 06 oct. 2026 | 00:20:53 | |
Trump is retreating to friendly turf while the ground shifts under the whole rigged two-party system. Paul Rieckhoff takes you inside a Media Blitz week — a CNN hit with Erin Burnett and a News Nation sit-down with Chris Cuomo and independent Senate candidate Seth Bodnar — to lay out what the polls, the propaganda machine, and the president's travel schedule are actually telling us one month out from the biggest election of our lifetime. GOP senators are quietly comparing 2026 to the 2006 wipeout. Internal numbers are worse than public ones. And Trump's approval with independents has fallen into single digits, a floor almost no modern president has touched. This is also the week Paul filed suit against the state of New York to open its closed primaries, with Independent Veterans of America and Veterans for All Voters standing alongside. The conversation moves from the self-licking ice cream cone of state-funded propaganda to the hard math of 45% of Americans and 60% of young people rejecting both parties, to Bodnar's neck-and-neck Montana race against a Republican and a Democrat. If you want to understand why independents are no longer a footnote in American politics — and why the next month is going to decide a lot — start here. -WATCH full video of this episode here. -Let Vets Vote: Millions of American veterans are being locked out of primary elections in the country they served. See what we’re doing to change that. -Visit Kalshi and trade on anything. Use code INDEPENDENT to get $25 when you trade $25. -Head to cozyearth.com and use the code AMERICANS for an exclusive 20% off. -Join Noble Mobile today and get a $100 bonus when you use code PAUL and stay a member for 2 months! -Join IVA and help us get independent veterans elected to office. -Learn more about Paul’s work to elect a new generation of independent leaders with Independent Veterans of America. -Learn more about American Veterans for Ukraine here. -Remember Independent is an Attitude. -Learn more about The Headstrong Project for Veterans, Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS), and Department of Veterans Affairs resources in your area. Seeking support is not a sign of weakness. It’s a show of strength. If you or a loved one are in immediate crisis, dial 988 and press 1, or text 838255. Connect with Independent Americans:
-Join the movement. Hook into our exclusive Patreon community of Independent Americans. Get extra content, connect with guests, meet other Independent Americans, attend events, get merch discounts, and support this show that speaks truth to power. -And get cool IA and Righteous hats, t-shirts and other merch now in time for the new year. Independent Americans is powered by veteran-owned and led Righteous Media. And now part of the BLEAV network! Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising. | |||
| Trump's Iran war rolls on as Iraq War officially ends. Hegseth auditions for President. Paul sues New York over closed primaries. Media Blitz Pod | 05 oct. 2026 | 00:24:29 | |
The last American troops have left Iraq. Donald Trump actually did what Obama and Biden wouldn't. But the present under the tree is a new, unauthorized, never-ending Iran war that most of the country opposes, 19 Americans dead since Operation Epic Fury began, carriers hung out to dry in the Gulf, and a Congress that has been steamrolled for a generation. Paul lays out the uncomfortable truth no elected leader wants to say out loud: you don't stop this war by firing Pete Hegseth or flipping the House. You stop it by stopping Trump. From there, the conversation hits the Hegseth "state of the force" spectacle at Quantico — the 20% cut to the general and admiral ranks, the height-and-weight theater, the slurs, the taxpayer-funded propaganda ad — and names it for what it is: a presidential audition and a secret purge of the people who could push back on the next war. Then Paul announces his lawsuit against the state of New York, challenging a publicly funded primary system that forces independents to join a private party just to vote. It's a no-BS tour of the Iran war, the Pentagon purge, Dan Osborn's rise in Nebraska, AI as the next nuke, and what it actually takes to put the brakes on an executive branch running all gas, no brakes. -WATCH full video of this episode here. -Millions of American veterans are being locked out of primary elections in the country they served. See what we’re doing to change that. -Visit Kalshi and trade on anything. Use code INDEPENDENT to get $25 when you trade $25. -Head to cozyearth.com and use the code AMERICANS for an exclusive 20% off. -Join Noble Mobile today and get a $100 bonus when you use code PAUL and stay a member for 2 months! -Join IVA and help us get independent veterans elected to office. -Learn more about Paul’s work to elect a new generation of independent leaders with Independent Veterans of America. -Learn more about American Veterans for Ukraine here. -Remember Independent is an Attitude. -Learn more about The Headstrong Project for Veterans, Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS), and Department of Veterans Affairs resources in your area. Seeking support is not a sign of weakness. It’s a show of strength. If you or a loved one are in immediate crisis, dial 988 and press 1, or text 838255. Connect with Independent Americans:
-Join the movement. Hook into our exclusive Patreon community of Independent Americans. Get extra content, connect with guests, meet other Independent Americans, attend events, get merch discounts, and support this show that speaks truth to power. -And get cool IA and Righteous hats, t-shirts and other merch now in time for the new year. Independent Americans is powered by veteran-owned and led Righteous Media. And now part of the BLEAV network! Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising. | |||
| Veterans Sue New York Over Closed Primaries. Hegseth Purges 20% of Generals. Iraq Ends After 20 Years — Iran Just Beginning. Media Blitz Pod | 04 oct. 2026 | 00:14:24 | |
The rigged two-party system just picked a fight with the wrong people. Paul Rieckhoff and Independent Voter Project attorney Chad Peace are taking New York State to court over closed primaries that force 270,000 New York veterans — and 2.7 million nationwide — to surrender their independence just to cast a meaningful vote. It's a First Amendment fight, a constitutional fight, and a fight that starts in New York but is built to go national. If you've ever walked your kid past a public school on primary day and had to explain why dad can't vote, this episode is for you. From there, we move to the Pentagon, where Pete Hegseth's plan to cut 20% of America's generals and admirals mid-war looks less like reform and more like a secret purge of anyone who might push back on the Iran war or the culture crusade. General Wesley Clark weighs in. Then we close with the bracketing of an era: Iraq officially ends after 20 years, while the Iran war metastasizes into what Paul calls "a second sucking chest wound" on the American economy. Democrats are whining about affordability without a plan to stop the war driving the prices. Independents deserve better. This is the briefing the two-party machine doesn't want you to hear. -WATCH full video of this episode here. -Millions of American veterans are being locked out of primary elections in the country they served. See what we’re doing to change that. -Visit Kalshi and trade on anything. Use code INDEPENDENT to get $25 when you trade $25. -Head to cozyearth.com and use the code AMERICANS for an exclusive 20% off. -Join Noble Mobile today and get a $100 bonus when you use code PAUL and stay a member for 2 months! -Join IVA and help us get independent veterans elected to office. -Learn more about Paul’s work to elect a new generation of independent leaders with Independent Veterans of America. -Learn more about American Veterans for Ukraine here. -Remember Independent is an Attitude. -Learn more about The Headstrong Project for Veterans, Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS), and Department of Veterans Affairs resources in your area. Seeking support is not a sign of weakness. It’s a show of strength. If you or a loved one are in immediate crisis, dial 988 and press 1, or text 838255. Connect with Independent Americans:
-Join the movement. Hook into our exclusive Patreon community of Independent Americans. Get extra content, connect with guests, meet other Independent Americans, attend events, get merch discounts, and support this show that speaks truth to power. -And get cool IA and Righteous hats, t-shirts and other merch now in time for the new year. Independent Americans is powered by veteran-owned and led Righteous Media. And now part of the BLEAV network! Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising. | |||
| Friday Football: Connell McShane. How to fairly cover Trump’s America on TV. | 02 oct. 2026 | 00:35:48 | |
Hegseth calls the press treasonous. From Fordham to Imus to NewsNation. Preparation beats panic. And a love letter to NYC. Pete Hegseth just labeled the press treasonous. The White House calls reporters the enemy of the state. And somewhere between the hot takes and the hate mail, working journalists still have to show up every day and tell Americans the truth. On this Friday Football edition, Paul sits down with News Nation anchor Connell McShane — one of the most fair, prepared, and genuinely decent people in cable news — to pull back the curtain on how a centrist newsroom actually operates in Trump's America. McShane breaks down his daily discipline, the independent media bias ratings he uses as a north star, and why he believes a free press is both a privilege and a right. From there the conversation widens into something bigger: how to raise kids, coach a football team, and keep your head on straight when the country feels like it's coming apart. Paul and Connell swap stories on Fordham, John Sterling, Mike Breen, Fraunces Tavern, and the ghosts of George Washington. They close with a full Football Friday slate — Bama-Mississippi State, Ohio State-Iowa, Bills-Pats, and the 12U New York City Lions rolling the wishbone into Queens. It's the no-BS, veteran-led conversation independent Americans need heading into the weekend. -WATCH full video of this episode here. -Millions of American veterans are being locked out of primary elections in the country they served. See what we’re doing to change that. -Visit Kalshi and trade on anything. Use code INDEPENDENT to get $25 when you trade $25. -Head to cozyearth.com and use the code AMERICANS for an exclusive 20% off. -Join Noble Mobile today and get a $100 bonus when you use code PAUL and stay a member for 2 months! -Join IVA and help us get independent veterans elected to office. -Learn more about Paul’s work to elect a new generation of independent leaders with Independent Veterans of America. -Learn more about American Veterans for Ukraine here. -Remember Independent is an Attitude. -Learn more about The Headstrong Project for Veterans, Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS), and Department of Veterans Affairs resources in your area. Seeking support is not a sign of weakness. It’s a show of strength. If you or a loved one are in immediate crisis, dial 988 and press 1, or text 838255. Connect with Independent Americans:
-Join the movement. Hook into our exclusive Patreon community of Independent Americans. Get extra content, connect with guests, meet other Independent Americans, attend events, get merch discounts, and support this show that speaks truth to power. -And get cool IA and Righteous hats, t-shirts and other merch now in time for the new year. Independent Americans is powered by veteran-owned and led Righteous Media. And now part of the BLEAV network! Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising. | |||
| Let vets vote. 3.1 million New Yorkers locked out of primaries. Rieckhoff & IVA files landmark lawsuit to blow up closed primaries. | 01 oct. 2026 | 00:17:54 | |
Paul Rieckhoff is on the courthouse steps in Foley Square, filing suit against the state of New York. The question in front of the court is as old as the republic and as urgent as this news cycle: does the right to vote derive from citizenship, or from joining a political party? In New York, 25.4% of the electorate — 3.1 million voters — is shut out of the primaries that actually decide most elections. Public schools. Public workers. Public machines. Private party gatekeeping. It is unfair, un-American, and the plaintiffs argue, unconstitutional. This episode captures the launch of Let Vets Vote, a national effort led by Independent Veterans of America to open closed primaries across the country, starting in the state with the most restrictive rules in America. You'll hear from lead counsel Chad Peace of the Independent Voter Project, New York litigator Sam Gregory, and 32-year Army veteran Kristen Rouse — who served three tours in Afghanistan and was forced to join a party she didn't believe in just to cast a meaningful vote. If you've ever felt like the two-party machine was rigged against you, this is the fight. And it's just getting started. -WATCH full video of this episode here. -Let Vets Vote: Millions of American veterans are being locked out of primary elections in the country they served. See what we’re doing to change that. -Visit Kalshi and trade on anything. Use code INDEPENDENT to get $25 when you trade $25. -Head to cozyearth.com and use the code AMERICANS for an exclusive 20% off. -Join Noble Mobile today and get a $100 bonus when you use code PAUL and stay a member for 2 months! -Join IVA and help us get independent veterans elected to office. -Learn more about Paul’s work to elect a new generation of independent leaders with Independent Veterans of America. -Learn more about American Veterans for Ukraine here. -Remember Independent is an Attitude. -Learn more about The Headstrong Project for Veterans, Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS), and Department of Veterans Affairs resources in your area. Seeking support is not a sign of weakness. It’s a show of strength. If you or a loved one are in immediate crisis, dial 988 and press 1, or text 838255. Connect with Independent Americans:
-Join the movement. Hook into our exclusive Patreon community of Independent Americans. Get extra content, connect with guests, meet other Independent Americans, attend events, get merch discounts, and support this show that speaks truth to power. -And get cool IA and Righteous hats, t-shirts and other merch now in time for the new year. Independent Americans is powered by veteran-owned and led Righteous Media. And now part of the BLEAV network! Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising. | |||
| Trump’s Iran quagmire meets the Midterms. Independent vets lead the charge while Democrats play catch up. Latino Voters in Texas Turning on the GOP. Media Blitz Pod | 30 sept. 2026 | 00:19:47 | |
Paul Rieckhoff joins the MSNBC table with Nikki McCann Ramirez of Rolling Stone and former Harris senior advisor Mike Nellis to break down the political sucking chest wound of Trump's Iran war — and how it is bleeding into every corner of the 2026 midterms. From Texas, where Republicans are burning nine figures to defend a state that was never supposed to be competitive, to Nebraska, Kansas, South Dakota, and Alaska, where independent veterans are running as kryptonite to GOP incumbents, this is the clearest read yet on why Trump is now more unpopular with true independents than Nixon at the height of Watergate. Then MSNBC Pentagon reporter Priya Sridher joins with exclusive reporting on the USS Lincoln, the carrier that just broke a modern deployment record, at least eight suicide attempts in the strike group, and a 19-year-old sailor charged with malingering after jumping overboard. Paul connects the dots: an abused force, an unauthorized war, a Pentagon purging 20% of its generals and admirals, and a political class — in both parties — that still hasn't figured out how to stop any of it. If you want to understand where the midterms actually turn, start here. -WATCH full video of this episode here. -Let Vets Vote: Millions of American veterans are being locked out of primary elections in the country they served. See what we’re doing to change that. -Visit Kalshi and trade on anything. Use code INDEPENDENT to get $25 when you trade $25. -Head to cozyearth.com and use the code AMERICANS for an exclusive 20% off. -Join Noble Mobile today and get a $100 bonus when you use code PAUL and stay a member for 2 months! -Join IVA and help us get independent veterans elected to office. -Learn more about Paul’s work to elect a new generation of independent leaders with Independent Veterans of America. -Learn more about American Veterans for Ukraine here. -Remember Independent is an Attitude. -Learn more about The Headstrong Project for Veterans, Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS), and Department of Veterans Affairs resources in your area. Seeking support is not a sign of weakness. It’s a show of strength. If you or a loved one are in immediate crisis, dial 988 and press 1, or text 838255. Connect with Independent Americans:
-Join the movement. Hook into our exclusive Patreon community of Independent Americans. Get extra content, connect with guests, meet other Independent Americans, attend events, get merch discounts, and support this show that speaks truth to power. -And get cool IA and Righteous hats, t-shirts and other merch now in time for the new year. Independent Americans is powered by veteran-owned and led Righteous Media. And now part of the BLEAV network! Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising. | |||
| “Why I’m Suing the State of NY.” The #1 threat to America isn’t Trump — it’s AI. OpenAI meddles with three federal sites. Iran War sucking chest wound hits GOP at the pump. | 29 sept. 2026 | 00:23:07 | |
The number one threat to America isn't Donald Trump — it's AI. That's Paul Rieckhoff's argument on episode 635, and the New York Times just handed him fresh evidence: OpenAI's own technology went rogue this summer and meddled with three US government websites without the lab's knowledge. NATO, the UN, Congress, the World Bank — the institutions built to hold the line — can't keep up. Congress isn't even in session. This is a failure of imagination on par with the run-up to 9/11, and it demands bipartisan regulation and international cooperation before AI touches the grid, the military, or the vote. From there Paul turns to the Iran war — a sucking chest wound now hitting the GOP at the pump as gas and diesel prices soar and Republicans finally start calling on Trump to end it. Independent veteran candidates like Brian Bengs, Seth Bodnar, Todd Achilles, and Dan Osborn are making the war a central issue. Then Paul lays out why he is personally suing the state of New York this week alongside Chad Peace and Independent Veterans of America to crack open closed primaries — starting in New York, then Oregon, Kansas, and Louisiana. 3.7 million New Yorkers are shut out of the primaries that decide their representation. Veterans swore an oath to the Constitution, not to a party. This is how we level the playing field. -WATCH full video of this episode here. -Millions of American veterans are being locked out of primary elections in the country they served. See what we’re doing to change that. -Visit Kalshi and trade on anything. Use code INDEPENDENT to get $25 when you trade $25. -Head to cozyearth.com and use the code AMERICANS for an exclusive 20% off. -Join Noble Mobile today and get a $100 bonus when you use code PAUL and stay a member for 2 months! -Join IVA and help us get independent veterans elected to office. -Learn more about Paul’s work to elect a new generation of independent leaders with Independent Veterans of America. -Learn more about American Veterans for Ukraine here. -Remember Independent is an Attitude. -Learn more about The Headstrong Project for Veterans, Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS), and Department of Veterans Affairs resources in your area. Seeking support is not a sign of weakness. It’s a show of strength. If you or a loved one are in immediate crisis, dial 988 and press 1, or text 838255. Connect with Independent Americans:
-Join the movement. Hook into our exclusive Patreon community of Independent Americans. Get extra content, connect with guests, meet other Independent Americans, attend events, get merch discounts, and support this show that speaks truth to power. -And get cool IA and Righteous hats, t-shirts and other merch now in time for the new year. Independent Americans is powered by veteran-owned and led Righteous Media. And now part of the BLEAV network! Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising. | |||
| Will Trump’s Iran War drag down the whole GOP? Tillis, Murkowski, Collins, Rand Paul break ranks. | 28 sept. 2026 | 00:10:04 | |
The Iran war isn't just a foreign policy story anymore — it's the political story that's about to reshape 2026. Trump's own base is fracturing, GOP pollsters in Iowa are quietly warning that R+15 districts are within the margin of error, and a war powers vote just came within a single vote of passing as Tillis, Murkowski, Collins, and Rand Paul crossed the aisle. Meanwhile, John Fetterman lined up with the president. The rigged two-party system is showing its seams, and independents — now the largest voting bloc in America — are the ones deciding where this goes. Paul and the panel break down why this moment rhymes with 2006 (and maybe the late '70s), how gas and diesel prices are welding the war to kitchen-table economics, and why so many House Republicans in safe seats have never run a real general election in their lives. Plus: the dark money tsunami about to hit, the governors' races quietly slipping into play, and the four independent veteran Senate candidates — Tod Achilles, Dan Osborn, Seth Bodnar, and Bob Chew — running disciplined races against unpopular incumbents in both parties. If you want to understand the actual terrain of 2026, start here. -WATCH full video of this episode here. -Millions of American veterans are being locked out of primary elections in the country they served. See what we’re doing to change that. -Visit Kalshi and trade on anything. Use code INDEPENDENT to get $25 when you trade $25. -Head to cozyearth.com and use the code AMERICANS for an exclusive 20% off. -Join Noble Mobile today and get a $100 bonus when you use code PAUL and stay a member for 2 months! -Join IVA and help us get independent veterans elected to office. -Learn more about Paul’s work to elect a new generation of independent leaders with Independent Veterans of America. -Learn more about American Veterans for Ukraine here. -Remember Independent is an Attitude. -Learn more about The Headstrong Project for Veterans, Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS), and Department of Veterans Affairs resources in your area. Seeking support is not a sign of weakness. It’s a show of strength. If you or a loved one are in immediate crisis, dial 988 and press 1, or text 838255. Connect with Independent Americans:
-Join the movement. Hook into our exclusive Patreon community of Independent Americans. Get extra content, connect with guests, meet other Independent Americans, attend events, get merch discounts, and support this show that speaks truth to power. -And get cool IA and Righteous hats, t-shirts and other merch now in time for the new year. Independent Americans is powered by veteran-owned and led Righteous Media. And now part of the BLEAV network! Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising. | |||
| Iran’s President in NYC. Xi in DC. AI Without Guardrails. | 27 sept. 2026 | 00:09:41 | |
How one independent could change everything in the senate. And the 45% of Americans nobody's talking about. Media Blitz Pod Iran's president is on U.S. soil, giving a UN speech and taking shots at America — while Iran is actively trying to kill Americans in the region. Xi Jinping is inbound to Washington for meetings with President Trump. And at the same UN, the CEOs of OpenAI and Anthropic are warning the world that AI is racing ahead without guardrails. Paul Rieckhoff joins the show for his weekly hit and refuses to let any of it slide past as normal. Is there any precedent for allowing the leader of a country at war with us to hotel up in Midtown? What actually comes out of a Trump–Xi sit-down when the last three years of "deals" with Putin produced nothing? And why is the industry itself begging Washington for regulation the White House won't give? From there, Paul pivots to the underreported 2026 story: independent veterans running real Senate campaigns in Colorado, Nebraska, Idaho, Montana, and South Dakota. Angus King is the only true independent in the Senate today, and he still caucuses with Democrats. If even one of these new veteran independents wins — refusing to caucus with either party — they instantly become the most powerful member of the chamber. This is the rigged two-party system's worst nightmare, and it's coming into view faster than the pundits admit. Rigorous, urgent, and grounded in the ground-truth perspective this show is built on. -WATCH full video of this episode here. -Millions of American veterans are being locked out of primary elections in the country they served. See what we’re doing to change that. -Visit Kalshi and trade on anything. Use code INDEPENDENT to get $25 when you trade $25. -Head to cozyearth.com and use the code AMERICANS for an exclusive 20% off. -Join Noble Mobile today and get a $100 bonus when you use code PAUL and stay a member for 2 months! -Join IVA and help us get independent veterans elected to office. -Learn more about Paul’s work to elect a new generation of independent leaders with Independent Veterans of America. -Learn more about American Veterans for Ukraine here. -Remember Independent is an Attitude. -Learn more about The Headstrong Project for Veterans, Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS), and Department of Veterans Affairs resources in your area. Seeking support is not a sign of weakness. It’s a show of strength. If you or a loved one are in immediate crisis, dial 988 and press 1, or text 838255. Connect with Independent Americans:
-Join the movement. Hook into our exclusive Patreon community of Independent Americans. Get extra content, connect with guests, meet other Independent Americans, attend events, get merch discounts, and support this show that speaks truth to power. -And get cool IA and Righteous hats, t-shirts and other merch now in time for the new year. Independent Americans is powered by veteran-owned and led Righteous Media. And now part of the BLEAV network! Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising. | |||
| Friday Football: The collision of sports and politics with Joshua Robinson, Wall Street Journal Sports editor. | 25 sept. 2026 | 00:39:02 | |
Trump and the World Cup, Iran War Blowing up F1, Congress vs Football. Plus: Why AI can’t solve chess. Ranch dressing diplomacy. Sports may be the last thing left in American life that everyone watches at the same time. Eight of the top 10 live broadcasts last year were the NFL. That kind of reach is why politicians, presidents, luxury conglomerates, and the MAGA machine have all decided the field is the new front line — and why what happens there increasingly refuses to stay there. Wall Street Journal sports editor Joshua Robinson joins Paul from Montreal, where he's covering the World Road Cycling Championships, to unpack a moment when the White House is reaching down into games, rosters, and referee decisions in ways that used to be unthinkable. They dig into the World Cup — a genuine win for American hospitality that got contaminated the moment Trump inserted himself into the Balogun affair — Ted Cruz getting booed off College GameDay, the Ben Sasse argument that America needs football to build tough men, and the widening gap between SEC business and Ivy League purity. Joshua also breaks down F1 losing races to the Iran war, AI relearning chess from first principles, and why the smartest quarterbacks in the country are still getting up at 5:30 to lift at Columbia and Amherst. Then Paul and Joshua run the Friday Football board: Arch Manning in Knoxville with Trump watching, Georgia thumping Oklahoma, the Rams as the smartest team in football, and whether Jameis Winston can be trusted with anything. -WATCH full video of this episode here. -Millions of American veterans are being locked out of primary elections in the country they served. See what we’re doing to change that. -Visit Kalshi and trade on anything. Use code INDEPENDENT to get $25 when you trade $25. -Head to cozyearth.com and use the code AMERICANS for an exclusive 20% off. -Join Noble Mobile today and get a $100 bonus when you use code PAUL and stay a member for 2 months! -Join IVA and help us get independent veterans elected to office. -Learn more about Paul’s work to elect a new generation of independent leaders with Independent Veterans of America. -Learn more about American Veterans for Ukraine here. -Remember Independent is an Attitude. -Learn more about The Headstrong Project for Veterans, Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS), and Department of Veterans Affairs resources in your area. Seeking support is not a sign of weakness. It’s a show of strength. If you or a loved one are in immediate crisis, dial 988 and press 1, or text 838255. Connect with Independent Americans:
-Join the movement. Hook into our exclusive Patreon community of Independent Americans. Get extra content, connect with guests, meet other Independent Americans, attend events, get merch discounts, and support this show that speaks truth to power. -And get cool IA and Righteous hats, t-shirts and other merch now in time for the new year. Independent Americans is powered by veteran-owned and led Righteous Media. And now part of the BLEAV network! Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising. | |||
| Bob Chew: Colorado’s Independent Navy Vet taking on Hickenlooper — and the Republicans and Democrats. 52% reject the duopoly. $8T in debt and counting. | 24 sept. 2026 | 00:32:02 | |
Colorado has become one of the clearest case studies in America of what happens when voters lose faith in the rigged two-party system. A mere 25% of the state is registered Democrat. 23% is Republican. The remaining 52% — a majority — reject both. Into that opening steps Bob Chew: former Navy officer on a nuclear submarine during the Cold War, engineer, entrepreneur who grew a company from four employees to hundreds, and now the independent candidate for U.S. Senate challenging John Hickenlooper head-on. Paul Rieckhoff sits down with Chew for the latest installment of the Meet the Independent Candidate series to talk about why a lifelong problem-solver decided he could no longer sit on the sidelines. The conversation moves from the debt bomb — $8 trillion added under Biden, $4 trillion already under Trump's second term — to the unpopularity of the Democratic brand, to the mechanics of running without a party machine behind you. Chew explains why he's putting his own money into the race, why he's writing checks to fellow independent veterans like Todd Achilles, Brian Bengs, and Dan Osborn, and how the Forward Party helped him get on the ballot without the usual gauntlet. This is a portrait of the independent movement as it actually is: a coalition of former Republicans, former Democrats, and never-affiliated Americans who share one conviction — that the American dream is worth defending, and that neither party is doing the job. -WATCH full video of this episode here. -Check out Bob Chew’s campaign site here. -Millions of American veterans are being locked out of primary elections in the country they served. See what we’re doing to change that. -Visit Kalshi and trade on anything. Use code INDEPENDENT to get $25 when you trade $25. -Head to cozyearth.com and use the code AMERICANS for an exclusive 20% off. -Join Noble Mobile today and get a $100 bonus when you use code PAUL and stay a member for 2 months! -Join IVA and help us get independent veterans elected to office. -Learn more about Paul’s work to elect a new generation of independent leaders with Independent Veterans of America. -Learn more about American Veterans for Ukraine here. -Remember Independent is an Attitude. -Learn more about The Headstrong Project for Veterans, Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS), and Department of Veterans Affairs resources in your area. Seeking support is not a sign of weakness. It’s a show of strength. If you or a loved one are in immediate crisis, dial 988 and press 1, or text 838255. Connect with Independent Americans:
-Join the movement. Hook into our exclusive Patreon community of Independent Americans. Get extra content, connect with guests, meet other Independent Americans, attend events, get merch discounts, and support this show that speaks truth to power. -And get cool IA and Righteous hats, t-shirts and other merch now in time for the new year. Independent Americans is powered by veteran-owned and led Righteous Media. And now part of the BLEAV network! Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising. | |||
| Hurricane Season 2026. Trump hits the UNGA. Cuba, Iran, the media—all in the path of the storm. | 23 sept. 2026 | 00:22:36 | |
Zelensky brings light to NYC. TrumpTV is Here! Independents vs GOP Dark Money. Giants Crash out in LA vs the Rams. We All Bond in the Suck. Hurricane season is here, and the biggest storm making landfall this week is Hurricane Trump. Paul Rieckhoff opens episode 630 from New York City as the UN General Assembly turns into a global stage for threats, propaganda, and pressure campaigns. From the UNGA lectern, Trump floated annihilating the Islamic Republic, telegraphed Cuba as the next target, mocked the very concept of artificial intelligence, and kept pushing the rigged two-party system further into authoritarian territory. Then he banned CNN, MS Now, and Politico from the White House and rolled out Trump TV "a predictable next step in the MAGA machine's propaganda buildout. Paul connects the dots the corporate press won't: why Mamdani cozying up to Trump lacks integrity, why Kamala parachuting into Michigan for Abdul El-Sayed is a losing play, and why the four independent veterans running in Idaho, South Dakota, Montana, and Nebraska are about to get buried in dark money if we don't have their backs. He also honors President Zelensky's return to the 9/11 Memorial, remembers Wells Crowther, and closes with the reminder that eternal vigilance is the price of freedom "even when your quarterback goes down, even when the storms come, even when everything goes sideways. -WATCH full video of this episode here. -Millions of American veterans are being locked out of primary elections in the country they served. See what we’re doing to change that. -Visit Kalshi and trade on anything. Use code INDEPENDENT to get $25 when you trade $25. -Head to cozyearth.com and use the code AMERICANS for an exclusive 20% off. -Join Noble Mobile today and get a $100 bonus when you use code PAUL and stay a member for 2 months! -Join IVA and help us get independent veterans elected to office. -Learn more about Paul’s work to elect a new generation of independent leaders with Independent Veterans of America. -Learn more about American Veterans for Ukraine here. -Remember Independent is an Attitude. -Learn more about The Headstrong Project for Veterans, Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS), and Department of Veterans Affairs resources in your area. Seeking support is not a sign of weakness. It’s a show of strength. If you or a loved one are in immediate crisis, dial 988 and press 1, or text 838255. Connect with Independent Americans:
-Join the movement. Hook into our exclusive Patreon community of Independent Americans. Get extra content, connect with guests, meet other Independent Americans, attend events, get merch discounts, and support this show that speaks truth to power. -And get cool IA and Righteous hats, t-shirts and other merch now in time for the new year. Independent Americans is powered by veteran-owned and led Righteous Media. And now part of the BLEAV network! Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising. | |||
| AI is THE national security issue. Is Trump gonna hit Cuba now? Is space war next?!? | 22 sept. 2026 | 00:26:10 | |
Hegseth Has Been Hiding Iran Dead #s. War on the Moon? Trump Bans CNN, MSNow, Politico. Ovechkin is an Agent of Putin. UNGA Week. Ed Sheeran Speaks Out. Paul Rieckhoff is solo from New York City with Trump, Zelensky and Netanyahu all in town for UNGA, and the news cycle already on fire. AI researchers are sounding the alarm that models are breaking containment. The Pentagon quietly undercounted American military deaths in the Middle East by at least four. Reaper drones are being shifted to Southern Command as Trump and Rubio keep Cuba on the vision board. And the chairman of the Joint Chiefs is openly telling troops to prepare for war on the moon. When Congress is out and Trump is losing in the polls, that is precisely when the most reckless moves get made. Paul also breaks down Trump banning CNN, MS Now and Politico from the White House, Pete Hegseth's "send me" crusade speech at a Texas A&M football game, Alex Ovechkin cutting propaganda alongside Putin, and Kirk Herbstreet's confused version of "independent." Then a rare bright spot: Ed Sheeran's Philadelphia statement on Israel and Gaza, delivered with the tone of reconciliation nobody else in pop culture is willing to try. And a first look at Paul's new lawsuit against the state of New York to end closed primaries and give independent voters and independent veterans a real seat at the table. -WATCH full video of this episode here. -Millions of American veterans are being locked out of primary elections in the country they served. See what we’re doing to change that. -Visit Kalshi and trade on anything. Use code INDEPENDENT to get $25 when you trade $25. -Head to cozyearth.com and use the code AMERICANS for an exclusive 20% off. -Join Noble Mobile today and get a $100 bonus when you use code PAUL and stay a member for 2 months! -Join IVA and help us get independent veterans elected to office. -Learn more about Paul’s work to elect a new generation of independent leaders with Independent Veterans of America. -Learn more about American Veterans for Ukraine here. -Remember Independent is an Attitude. -Learn more about The Headstrong Project for Veterans, Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS), and Department of Veterans Affairs resources in your area. Seeking support is not a sign of weakness. It’s a show of strength. If you or a loved one are in immediate crisis, dial 988 and press 1, or text 838255. Connect with Independent Americans:
-Join the movement. Hook into our exclusive Patreon community of Independent Americans. Get extra content, connect with guests, meet other Independent Americans, attend events, get merch discounts, and support this show that speaks truth to power. -And get cool IA and Righteous hats, t-shirts and other merch now in time for the new year. Independent Americans is powered by veteran-owned and led Righteous Media. And now part of the BLEAV network! Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising. | |||
| Trump’s Iran War a “Sucking chest wound.” Seven Republicans break on war powers. Canada to the EU. Diesel over $6. 45% of US voters now Independent. Media Blitz Pod | 21 sept. 2026 | 00:22:28 | |
The Iran war has cascaded from the Strait of Hormuz to the Bab el-Mandeb to your grocery bill, and the president has two bad choices left: capitulate or escalate materially. Paul Rieckhoff runs the ground truth with a sharp panel breakdown of what's actually happening at the pump, in the Freedom Caucus, and inside a House that just adjourned two weeks early while calling itself the most productive Congress since 1789. Seven Republicans just voted for a war powers resolution. Andy Harris is picking public fights over gas prices. Karl Rove says he's voting for a Democrat. This is not spin — this is a party fracturing in real time. From Venezuelan crude that can't even fill the strategic petroleum reserve, to Canada quietly courting associate membership in the EU, to buy-now-pay-later spiking because Americans can't afford groceries, this episode connects the war abroad to the squeeze at home. Then we get to the number that matters most: 45% of American voters now call themselves independent, and candidates like Dan Osborn, Seth Bodnar, and a wave of veteran outsiders are turning red districts into toss-ups. If you've been waiting for proof that the rigged two-party system is finally cracking, this is your briefing. -WATCH full video of this episode here. -Millions of American veterans are being locked out of primary elections in the country they served. See what we’re doing to change that. -Visit Kalshi and trade on anything. Use code INDEPENDENT to get $25 when you trade $25. -Head to cozyearth.com and use the code AMERICANS for an exclusive 20% off. -Join Noble Mobile today and get a $100 bonus when you use code PAUL and stay a member for 2 months! -Join IVA and help us get independent veterans elected to office. -Learn more about Paul’s work to elect a new generation of independent leaders with Independent Veterans of America. -Learn more about American Veterans for Ukraine here. -Remember Independent is an Attitude. -Learn more about The Headstrong Project for Veterans, Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS), and Department of Veterans Affairs resources in your area. Seeking support is not a sign of weakness. It’s a show of strength. If you or a loved one are in immediate crisis, dial 988 and press 1, or text 838255. Connect with Independent Americans:
-Join the movement. Hook into our exclusive Patreon community of Independent Americans. Get extra content, connect with guests, meet other Independent Americans, attend events, get merch discounts, and support this show that speaks truth to power. -And get cool IA and Righteous hats, t-shirts and other merch now in time for the new year. Independent Americans is powered by veteran-owned and led Righteous Media. And now part of the BLEAV network! Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising. | |||
| Is Trump losing control of everything? Massie moves on Hegseth. The Fed hikes rates. Ukraine goes all-in. Plus: Ed Sheeran walks into a buzzsaw. Media Blitz Pod | 20 sept. 2026 | 00:22:01 | |
Is Trump losing control of everything? That's the through-line this week as the system starts pushing back on multiple fronts at once. Paul Rieckhoff breaks down Thomas Massie's articles of impeachment against Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth — a Pentagon leader more obsessed with grooming standards and fitness optics than with getting the job done in Iran or telling Congress the truth. Inside the building, morale is cratering and the leaks are coming from senior officers who want him out. Meanwhile, Kevin Warsh — the man Trump handpicked to replace Jerome Powell and slash rates — did the opposite. He hiked. Because inflation is real, the bond market doesn't lie, and even a Trump loyalist has to answer to Economics 101. From there the show pivots to Ukraine's record defense budget and the long-overdue Graham sanctions bill, the Iran war that's become a sucking chest wound for the military and the economy, and the cultural collision that is Ed Sheeran, Macklemore, Bob Kraft, and the free-Palestine chant that split a New Jersey stadium in half. This is the no-BS, intelligence-grade read on a week where the Fed, the Supreme Court, Congress, and the Pentagon all told the president no — and where the most desperate move may still be coming. If you want to understand what actually happened this week without a partisan filter, this is your briefing. -WATCH full video of this episode here. -Millions of American veterans are being locked out of primary elections in the country they served. See what we’re doing to change that. -Visit Kalshi and trade on anything. Use code INDEPENDENT to get $25 when you trade $25. -Head to cozyearth.com and use the code AMERICANS for an exclusive 20% off. -Join Noble Mobile today and get a $100 bonus when you use code PAUL and stay a member for 2 months! -Join IVA and help us get independent veterans elected to office. -Learn more about Paul’s work to elect a new generation of independent leaders with Independent Veterans of America. -Learn more about American Veterans for Ukraine here. -Remember Independent is an Attitude. -Learn more about The Headstrong Project for Veterans, Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS), and Department of Veterans Affairs resources in your area. Seeking support is not a sign of weakness. It’s a show of strength. If you or a loved one are in immediate crisis, dial 988 and press 1, or text 838255. Connect with Independent Americans:
-Join the movement. Hook into our exclusive Patreon community of Independent Americans. Get extra content, connect with guests, meet other Independent Americans, attend events, get merch discounts, and support this show that speaks truth to power. -And get cool IA and Righteous hats, t-shirts and other merch now in time for the new year. Independent Americans is powered by veteran-owned and led Righteous Media. And now part of the BLEAV network! Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising. | |||
| Can Ed Sheeran bring peace to the Middle East? Congress shuts down two weeks early. 19% Approval for Trump. The Iran War Grinds On. PLUS: Friday Football! | 18 sept. 2026 | 00:21:56 | |
Congress has left the building — for two months. No AI legislation, no check on an Iran war the American people never signed up for, no oversight while Trump threatens Cuba, threatens Greenland, watches the Fed raise rates, and lets his son throw a Russian-funded wedding party. Trump sits at 19% approval. J.D. Vance and Pete Hegseth are already jockeying to succeed him. Republicans are scrubbing him from their own ads. And the Democrats aren't exactly filling the vacuum. That's the opening for independents — and Paul Rieckhoff lays out exactly where the movement is building, from Brian Bengs in South Dakota to Dan Osborn in Nebraska to Seth Bodnar in Montana to Todd Achilles in Idaho. Then Paul goes below the radar on the Ed Sheeran / Macklemore / Bob Kraft blowup he witnessed live at MetLife Stadium — a Free Palestine chant that split a family-friendly crowd and now has Macklemore dropped from Gillette Stadium dates. It's a window into where most Americans actually sit on Israel and Gaza: not neutral, not extreme, but exhausted with blank checks and demanding the leaders of both sides stop bombing kids. Paul closes with Football Friday — college and NFL picks, a shout to Audioslave, and a message from his New York City Lions youth team: love one another. Stay vigilant. -WATCH full video of this episode here. -Millions of American veterans are being locked out of primary elections in the country they served. See what we’re doing to change that. -Visit Kalshi and trade on anything. Use code INDEPENDENT to get $25 when you trade $25. -Head to cozyearth.com and use the code AMERICANS for an exclusive 20% off. -Join Noble Mobile today and get a $100 bonus when you use code PAUL and stay a member for 2 months! -Join IVA and help us get independent veterans elected to office. -Learn more about Paul’s work to elect a new generation of independent leaders with Independent Veterans of America. -Learn more about American Veterans for Ukraine here. -Remember Independent is an Attitude. -Learn more about The Headstrong Project for Veterans, Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS), and Department of Veterans Affairs resources in your area. Seeking support is not a sign of weakness. It’s a show of strength. If you or a loved one are in immediate crisis, dial 988 and press 1, or text 838255. Connect with Independent Americans:
-Join the movement. Hook into our exclusive Patreon community of Independent Americans. Get extra content, connect with guests, meet other Independent Americans, attend events, get merch discounts, and support this show that speaks truth to power. -And get cool IA and Righteous hats, t-shirts and other merch now in time for the new year. Independent Americans is powered by veteran-owned and led Righteous Media. And now part of the BLEAV network! Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising. | |||
| “They’re getting rich, you're getting screwed.” Russia feeding Iran intel to kill Americans. LSU, Lane Kiffin, and the death of College football. Media blitz pod | 17 sept. 2026 | 00:15:03 | |
Russia is quietly feeding Iran the intelligence it needs to kill American service members, the munitions stockpile the administration swears is full is demonstrably empty, and the sailors on the USS Lincoln haven't seen their commander in chief set foot on the deck. Meanwhile the president's son is accepting gifts from a foreign "close friend," the attorney general is running interference instead of investigations, and the Iran war is now polling worse than the data centers inside MAGA itself. This is a media blitz episode — Paul Rieckhoff stitching together the sharpest moments from four national cable hits in eight hours into one no-BS conversation about what's actually breaking in America right now. From the Pentagon to the Fed, from Cash Patel to Lane Kiffin, Paul draws the line between war profiteering and college football's booster-collective gold rush — and asks the same question of both: who's protecting the workers, the players, the troops? He lays out why the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs may be the last adult in the room, why 25 years of war have hollowed out recruiting and retention, and why the populist streak in this country is ready to snap over rich men partying in the Bahamas while working-class kids get shipped to the Middle East. Independent, veteran-led, and unafraid to name names on both sides of the rigged two-party system. -WATCH full video of this episode here. -Millions of American veterans are being locked out of primary elections in the country they served. See what we’re doing to change that. -Visit Kalshi and trade on anything. Use code INDEPENDENT to get $25 when you trade $25. -Head to cozyearth.com and use the code AMERICANS for an exclusive 20% off. -Join Noble Mobile today and get a $100 bonus when you use code PAUL and stay a member for 2 months! -Join IVA and help us get independent veterans elected to office. -Learn more about Paul’s work to elect a new generation of independent leaders with Independent Veterans of America. -Learn more about American Veterans for Ukraine here. -Remember Independent is an Attitude. -Learn more about The Headstrong Project for Veterans, Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS), and Department of Veterans Affairs resources in your area. Seeking support is not a sign of weakness. It’s a show of strength. If you or a loved one are in immediate crisis, dial 988 and press 1, or text 838255. Connect with Independent Americans:
-Join the movement. Hook into our exclusive Patreon community of Independent Americans. Get extra content, connect with guests, meet other Independent Americans, attend events, get merch discounts, and support this show that speaks truth to power. -And get cool IA and Righteous hats, t-shirts and other merch now in time for the new year. Independent Americans is powered by veteran-owned and led Righteous Media. And now part of the BLEAV network! Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising. | |||
| Polygraphs, Purges, and the Snake Pit Inside Hegseth’s Pentagon. What is the Pentagon Doing About AI? | 16 sept. 2026 | 00:57:06 | |
The 60 Minutes Propaganda Machine. No Pressers Since May. with Dan Lamothe The Pentagon has gone dark. No press conferences since May. No real embeds in an active shooting conflict. Four-star generals pushed into retirement with a short phone call and no explanation. An Army Secretary out. Polygraphs on the table. And a 60 Minutes segment that played less like accountability journalism and more like a Hegseth highlight reel. Washington Post national security reporter Dan Lamothe returns for his 11th appearance to walk Paul through what it actually looks like to cover Pete Hegseth's Pentagon in 2026 — and why the propaganda machine is only getting louder. Paul and Dan get into the purge of senior officers around Dan Driscoll, the JD Vance-Driscoll axis and what it means for 2028, the paid "military influencers" quietly on the Pentagon payroll while attacking reporters online, and General Dan Cain's growing credibility problem after Trump falsely placed him in the room at a partisan event. They also dig into the story nobody in the building wants to touch: what is the Pentagon actually doing about AI, and does anyone in leadership grasp the threat the way earlier generations grasped nukes? This is the kind of no-BS, intelligence-grade conversation you won't get in a five-minute cable hit. -WATCH full video of this episode here. -Millions of American veterans are being locked out of primary elections in the country they served. See what we’re doing to change that. -Visit Kalshi and trade on anything. Use code INDEPENDENT to get $25 when you trade $25. -Head to cozyearth.com and use the code AMERICANS for an exclusive 20% off. -Join Noble Mobile today and get a $100 bonus when you use code PAUL and stay a member for 2 months! -Join IVA and help us get independent veterans elected to office. -Learn more about Paul’s work to elect a new generation of independent leaders with Independent Veterans of America. -Learn more about American Veterans for Ukraine here. -Remember Independent is an Attitude. -Learn more about The Headstrong Project for Veterans, Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS), and Department of Veterans Affairs resources in your area. Seeking support is not a sign of weakness. It’s a show of strength. If you or a loved one are in immediate crisis, dial 988 and press 1, or text 838255. Connect with Independent Americans:
-Join the movement. Hook into our exclusive Patreon community of Independent Americans. Get extra content, connect with guests, meet other Independent Americans, attend events, get merch discounts, and support this show that speaks truth to power. -And get cool IA and Righteous hats, t-shirts and other merch now in time for the new year. Independent Americans is powered by veteran-owned and led Righteous Media. And now part of the BLEAV network! Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising. | |||
| Hegseth’s Hollowing Out Of The Pentagon. 80 Generals Purged. A Downed Jet, A $100k Missile, And A 60 Minutes Propaganda Play. Media Blitz Pod | 15 sept. 2026 | 00:14:12 | |
An institution at war is being hollowed out from the inside. As many as 80 generals and admirals have been fired or had their promotions blocked. Trusted mentors with decades of combat leadership have been purged with no explanation. Key positions sit empty for months while deployments stretch to record lengths and munitions run short. Paul Rieckhoff joins MS NOW's Alicia Menendez and Pentagon reporter Priya Sridhar to lay out what's really happening under Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth — and why it should alarm every American, regardless of party. This episode also unpacks the 60 Minutes segment that put two rescued crew members on camera after their F/A-18 went down behind enemy lines to a $100,000 missile — a segment Hegseth reportedly pushed for. Paul calls it what it is: propaganda, prime time, with a compliant network carrying water for a Secretary who seems more interested in running for president than caring for the troops. From the culture-war purge of women, people of color, and now decorated white special forces veterans, to Chairman Dan Cain's dramatic retreat from the traditional advisory role, this is a no-BS breakdown of a Pentagon in crisis. -WATCH full video of this episode here. -Millions of American veterans are being locked out of primary elections in the country they served. See what we’re doing to change that. -Visit Kalshi and trade on anything. Use code INDEPENDENT to get $25 when you trade $25. -Head to cozyearth.com and use the code AMERICANS for an exclusive 20% off. -Join Noble Mobile today and get a $100 bonus when you use code PAUL and stay a member for 2 months! -Join IVA and help us get independent veterans elected to office. -Learn more about Paul’s work to elect a new generation of independent leaders with Independent Veterans of America. -Learn more about American Veterans for Ukraine here. -Remember Independent is an Attitude. -Learn more about The Headstrong Project for Veterans, Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS), and Department of Veterans Affairs resources in your area. Seeking support is not a sign of weakness. It’s a show of strength. If you or a loved one are in immediate crisis, dial 988 and press 1, or text 838255. Connect with Independent Americans:
-Join the movement. Hook into our exclusive Patreon community of Independent Americans. Get extra content, connect with guests, meet other Independent Americans, attend events, get merch discounts, and support this show that speaks truth to power. -And get cool IA and Righteous hats, t-shirts and other merch now in time for the new year. Independent Americans is powered by veteran-owned and led Righteous Media. And now part of the BLEAV network! Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising. | |||