Make It Make Sense with Grant Hermes
Politics has never been more chaotic, and most podcasts just add to the noise. Make It Make Sense with Grant Hermes cuts through it.
Grant is an AP Award-winning journalist with over a decade of on-the-ground reporting on the biggest political stories, scandals, and elections in America. Twice a week, he takes the stories dominating the headlines and breaks them down in plain English — no jargon, no spin, no shouting.
If you care about what’s happening in this country but you’re exhausted by how it’s being covered, this is the show for you. Real reporting. Clear explanations. Actual context.
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Make It Make Sense with Grant Hermes
Trump Is Entering His Escalation Era
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Last weekend was the deadliest stretch of the Iran war in months. Three US service members were killed and one is still missing after strikes on US bases in Iraq and Jordan. The total US death toll is now 17, higher than the Afghanistan evacuation that nearly derailed the Biden presidency. The New York Times reported that the Pentagon had withheld nearly 100 casualties for weeks. The Wall Street Journal found that service members on the Jordan base were being housed in sheet metal prefabricated containers. Goldman Sachs now says oil could hit $120 a barrel.
Trump, when asked about a peace plan, said the plan is to keep bombing.
On the home front: DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin announced the department would go after alleged non-citizens on voter rolls using public voter data, then threatened state election officials who refuse to comply with federal election takeover efforts with prison time. The clock is August 4th, when the 90-day pre-election quiet period kicks in and states can no longer alter voter rolls.
Grant also breaks down the New Jersey non-citizen voting story that broke today, what it actually shows (a vendor error affecting 6,600 people out of 4.2 million votes), and why Tom Homan said this week that ICE shooting unarmed immigrants who were not subjects of their investigations was intentional and that more are coming.
This is the two-year anniversary episode of Make It Make Sense. In two years: three episodes a week, weekly original reporting, a civics project, culture essays, and interviews with the people actually shaping the stories. Go to MIMSNEWSPOD.SUBSTACK.COM to lock in your $5/mo price before the deal runs out!
CHAPTERS:
0:00 Two years of Make It Make Sense: what it took, and why the price is going up August 21st
3:00 The deadliest weekend of the Iran war: three US service members killed, one still missing
4:30 17 US soldiers dead: more than the Afghanistan evacuation that nearly ended Biden's presidency
5:30 The Pentagon hid nearly 100 casualties for weeks. The Wall Street Journal found why the Jordan base was so vulnerable.
7:00 Goldman Sachs: oil could hit $120 a barrel. The Strait of Hormuz is still closed.
8:00 Trump's peace plan: keep bombing
9:00 Hegseth in the Oval Office: Iran's military is 100% destroyed. So why are they still killing our soldiers?
10:30 SAYSO NEWS APP
12:00 DHS threatens to jail state election officials who refuse to hand over voter data
13:30 The August 4th deadline: why the clock is running out on the administration's election interference options
15:00 The SAVE system: how DOGE turned an immigration benefits database into a private data repository a federal judge banned
17:00 The New Jersey non-citizen voting story: what actually happened, what it means, and what it doesn't
19:00 400 votes out of 4.2 million: the math on whether a vendor error changes an election outcome
20:30 ICE arrests at record levels: 1,474 per day, and Tom Homan says the shootings of unarmed immigrants were on purpose
22:00 Sprint or marathon: is this escalation a news cycle or a strategy through November?
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