The Truth Report with Chauncey DeVega
The Truth Report with Chauncey DeVega
Chauncey DeVega
The truth will set you free. Each week on "The Truth Report", Salon politics and culture writer Chauncey DeVega searches for personal, philosophical, empirical, and moral truth with New York Times best-selling authors, leading opinion makers and other experts on politics, history, social justice, the creative arts, human rights, the economy, technology, and the Age of Trump.
Ep. 128: What do Donald Trump’s Reactions to Being Indicted for the Crimes of Jan. 6 and Beyond Reveal About His Mental and Emotional Health?
Dr. Justin Frank is a former clinical professor of psychiatry at the George Washington University Medical Center and the author of Trump on the Couch: Inside the Mind of the President. Dr. Frank shares his expert insights about Donald Trump’s mind and how the ex-president’s mental pathologies and other unwell behavior are shaping his response to being criminally indicted for his many alleged crimes including Jan. 6 and his attempted coup attempt to end American democracy.  In the end, Dr. Frank warns Trump will become increasingly detached from reality as he exercises even more violent control and power over his MAGA cult followers who view the ex-president as a type of father figure and personal god. WHERE CAN YOU FIND ME? On Twitter: https://twitter.com/chaunceydevega On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/chauncey.devega My email: chaunceydevega@gmail.com HOW CAN YOU SUPPORT THE TRUTH REPORT? Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/TheTruthReportPodcast Via Paypal at ChaunceyDeVega.com
Nov 17, 2023
38 min
Ep. 127: Rich Logis Escaped the Trump - MAGA Cult -- Heed His Warnings About Its Power and Extreme Danger to America
Rich Logis is a former high ranking Trump MAGA World operative and propagandist who describes himself as "a remorseful ex-Trump, DeSantis and GOP voter." Logis is the founder of Perfect Our Union, an organization dedicated to healing political traumatization; building diverse, pro-democracy alliances; and perfecting our Union. He reflects on how he was radicalized by the Trump MAGA fascist movement, how it functions as an alternate reality that provides emotional, intellectual, spiritual, social, familial, and other types of meaning and belonging for its members, and how he escaped it. Rich Logis also shares how being a member of the MAGA movement and worshipping the Great Leader Donald Trump made him feel like he was a soldier in a revolutionary struggle to defeat the Democrats, “the liberals” and other enemies of “the movement”. WHERE CAN YOU FIND ME? On Twitter: https://twitter.com/chaunceydevega On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/chauncey.devega My email: chaunceydevega@gmail.com HOW CAN YOU SUPPORT THE TRUTH REPORT? Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/TheTruthReportPodcast Via Paypal at ChaunceyDeVega.com
Nov 17, 2023
52 min
Ep. 126: Mark Jacob Explains How America's Mainstream News Media Surrendered to Donald Trump and The Republican Fascist Movement
Mark Jacob is a media critic and a former Metro Editor at the Chicago Tribune and Sunday Editor at the Chicago Sun-Times. He reflects on his decades-long career in the news media and what he learned about that institution’s failings and how it helped to birth the Age of Trump and American neofascism. Mark Jacob warns that obsolete habits and cultural norms such as “fairness”, “objectivity”, “bothsidesism”, “access journalism”, and “horse race coverage” by the mainstream corporate news media are acts of cowardice and surrender to the Republican fascists and other malign actors. WHERE CAN YOU FIND ME? On Twitter: https://twitter.com/chaunceydevega On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/chauncey.devega My email: chaunceydevega@gmail.com HOW CAN YOU SUPPORT THE TRUTH REPORT? Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/TheTruthReportPodcast Via Paypal at ChaunceyDeVega.com
May 24, 2023
34 min
Ep. 125: Jason Van Tatenhove Reflects on the Perils of Right-Wing Radicalization and How He Found Himself a Leading Member of the Oath Keepers
Jason Van Tatenhove is the former national media director of the right-wing militia group the Oath Keepers. Mr. Tatenhove testified about the escalating dangers of right-wing radicalization and neofascism before the House Jan. 6 Committee. His new book is The Perils of Extremism: How I Left the Oath Keepers and Why We Should be Concerned about a Future Civil War. In this wide-ranging conversation Jason reflects on his life decisions and mistakes and how he found himself radicalized by the Oath Keepers. He also explains why the Republican-fascists and the larger right-wing media propaganda machine is so effective, and how economic precarity and loneliness are powerful forces that suck too many white people into right-wing paramilitary and other fascist organizations.  WHERE CAN YOU FIND ME? On Twitter: https://twitter.com/chaunceydevega On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/chauncey.devega My email: chaunceydevega@gmail.com HOW CAN YOU SUPPORT THE TRUTH REPORT? Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/TheTruthReportPodcast Via Paypal at ChaunceyDeVega.com
May 3, 2023
50 min
Ep. 124: Chris Hedges Warns That "The News" and "The Truth" are Not The Same Thing
Chris Hedges is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, bestselling author, and social critic. His two most recent books are Our Class: Trauma and Transformation in an American Prison and The Greatest Evil is War. Chris Hedges reflects on the lessons he learned during his long career as a journalist about the “business” that is the news business, how the “truth” is manufactured, why it pays very well to be a careerist who does not care about confronting Power, and the ways that the limits of the approved public discourse are shaped to serve the interests of the rich and the powerful. He also offers counsel and advice about enduring difficult times and navigating the personal cost to one’s physical, mental, and emotional health that comes from being a serious journalist who is committed to telling uncomfortable and unpopular truths in dangerous times. Chris Hedges shares his worries about how Russia’s war against Ukraine, and America and NATO’s response to it, could potentially spiral out of control into a wider war and even worse disaster.
Feb 19, 2023
44 min
Ep. 123: Reflecting on Gratitude and Thankfulness on This Thanksgiving Day 2022
***This is a special combined episode of The Truth Report and The Chauncey DeVega Show*** On this special Thanksgiving Day installment of the podcast, Chauncey DeVega reflects on the deeper meaning of gratitude and thankfulness during these challenging and troubling times. Chauncey also shares his recent essay on using gratitude and thankfulness as a type of energy and fuel in what will be a long struggle against neofascism and to create a true we the people democracy here in the United States. WHERE CAN YOU FIND ME? On Twitter: https://twitter.com/chaunceydevega On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/chauncey.devega My email: chaunceydevega@gmail.com HOW CAN YOU SUPPORT THE CHAUNCEY DEVEGA SHOW? Via Paypal at ChaunceyDeVega.com Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thechaunceydevegashow
Nov 24, 2022
37 min
Ep. 122: The Republican Party's "Red Tide" of Fascist Sewage Didn't Fully Drown the American People
*** This is a special combined episode of The Truth Report and The Chauncey DeVega Show*** Jeff Sharlet is a journalist and bestselling author of The Family: The Secret Fundamentalism at the Heart of American Power and C Street: The Fundamentalist Threat to American Democracy. His forthcoming book is The Undertow: Scenes from a Slow Civil War. Sharlet reflects on the meaning of the 2022 midterms and how the American people voted to slow down the Republican fascist assault on their democracy and by doing so won an important reprieve in what will be a very long struggle. He also counsels that hope is very important and a source of strength and fuel in the long war for American democracy. Sharlet also highlights how writing and community and other forms of creating social capital will be a bulwark and source of resistance and fuel against the Republican fascists, the larger white right, and other forms of civic evil. Chauncey shares his insights on the 2022 midterms, what the polling data and other evidence really shows about how the American people voted to support “democracy” (or not), and counsels that many countervailing forces were at work on election day. Ultimately, Chauncey warns that the final story about the 2022 midterms is far from being written and that the conventional wisdom will likely be proven wrong again. WHERE CAN YOU FIND ME? On Twitter: https://twitter.com/chaunceydevega On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/chauncey.devega My email: chaunceydevega@gmail.com HOW CAN YOU SUPPORT THE CHAUNCEY DEVEGA SHOW? Via Paypal at ChaunceyDeVega.com Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thechaunceydevegashow
Nov 17, 2022
1 hr 26 min
Ep. 121: American Democracy and Freedom are on the Ballot in the 2022 Midterm Elections
*** This is a special combined episode of The Truth Report and The Chauncey DeVega Show*** David Neiwert is an investigative journalist. He is the author of numerous books including Alt-America: The Rise of the Radical Right in the Age of Trump, The Eliminationists: How Hate Talk Radicalized the American Right, and Red Pill, Blue Pill: How to Counteract the Conspiracy Theories That Are Killing Us. His forthcoming book is The Age of Insurrection: The Radical Right's Assault on American Democracy. Neiwert warns that there is a high potential for right-wing violence in response to the midterms and beyond. He also explains how the Republican fascists and larger white right have been planning their attempt to end American democracy in plain sight for decades – and that the Age of Trump and this escalating democracy crisis should not be a surprise. And he reflects on what it feels like to have been sounding the alarm about American neofascism and the violent extremism of the American right-wing for decades and to not have been listened to. David Rothkopf is the CEO of The Rothkopf group. He was also a senior official in the Clinton Administration and CEO and editor-in-chief of Foreign Policy Magazine. He is the author of many books and articles including the new book American Resistance: The Inside Story of How the Deep State Saved the Nation. Rothkopf is a frequent contributor to such leading news media outlets as The Washington Post, The New York Times, Financial Times, Time, CNN, and Newsweek. Rothkopf is also the host of the podcast Deep State Radio. David Rothkopf explains why being calm and focused is necessary to defeat the Republican fascists and the larger white right’s attempt to end American democracy. In the end, panic is a recipe for disaster – and is exactly what the Republican fascists and their forces want to create among the American people. He warns that voter turnout and mobilization are one of the few ways to stop the Republican fascists and their campaign against American democracy during the 2022 midterms and beyond. And Rothkopf reflects on what he learned from his time in the Clinton administration and why there can be no compromise with today’s Republican fascists and why doing so is to surrender and betray American democracy and freedom. WHERE CAN YOU FIND ME? On Twitter: https://twitter.com/chaunceydevega On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/chauncey.devega My email: chaunceydevega@gmail.com HOW CAN YOU SUPPORT THE CHAUNCEY DEVEGA SHOW? Via Paypal at ChaunceyDeVega.com Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thechaunceydevegashow
Nov 7, 2022
47 min
Ep. 120: Who is Really Responsible for America's (and the World's) Democracy Crisis and the Rising Tide of Neofascism and Fake Right-Wing Populism?
Shawn Rosenberg is a professor of political science and psychology at UC Irvine and one of the world’s foremost experts in political psychology. He warns that the average American and other people who live in countries governed by Western-style democracies may be fundamentally unable to follow through on the basic responsibilities of being responsible citizens. Such a deficiency helps to explain why right-wing fake populism and other forms of authoritarianism and fascism are compelling to so many people – and that saving American and Western-style democracy from the rising fascist tide will require fundamental reforms of the educational system and democratic institutions. In this wide-ranging conversation Shawn Rosenberg also explains why Trump’s followers and those of other right-wing populists and demagogues are so attracted to violence, conspiracism, nationalism, racism, bigotry, the cult of ignorance, dark charisma and the other anti-social values and beliefs that animate such movements. WHERE CAN YOU FIND ME? On Twitter: https://twitter.com/chaunceydevega On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/chauncey.devega My email: chaunceydevega@gmail.com HOW CAN YOU SUPPORT THE TRUTH REPORT? Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/TheTruthReportPodcast Via Paypal at ChaunceyDeVega.com
Sep 18, 2022
33 min
Ep. 119: The South Side of Chicago is Not a Problem to be Solved, It is a Home for the American Spirit
Sudhir Venkatesh is the William B Ransford Professor of Sociology and African-American Studies at Columbia University. His books include Floating City and Gang Leader for a Day. Sudhir Venkatesh’s new book is The Tomorrow Game: Rival Teenagers, Their Race for a Gun, and a Community United to Save Them. He reflects upon his 30-year relationship with the South Side of Chicago and how racism and classism distort the complex truth about that community and the people who live there. Sudhir Venkatesh also explains the importance of listening, respect, and allowing people to tell their own life stories and how sociologists – and people more generally in this moment of democracy crisis and other troubles – can benefit from learning that lesson. In this wide-ranging conversation, he also grapples with how American higher education and its most elite institutions have failed to rise to the challenge in this moment of ascendant fascism, the coronavirus pandemic, gangster capitalism, and other great crises. Sudhir Venkatesh also shares his thoughts on the critically acclaimed HBO TV series The Wire, and how contrary to the wishes of many white liberals and others who want easy answers while being entertained, it is not some type of definitive text and the authoritative final word about “urban poverty” and crime in America. WHERE CAN YOU FIND ME? On Twitter: https://twitter.com/chaunceydevega On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/chauncey.devega My email: chaunceydevega@gmail.com HOW CAN YOU SUPPORT THE TRUTH REPORT? Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/TheTruthReportPodcast Via Paypal at ChaunceyDeVega.com
Sep 1, 2022
48 min
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