Joe, with degrees in engineering and economics, raced motorcycles, founded 3 software companies, and launched one of the first computer store chains. Now he writes novels and Ghost essays while traveling with his wife, Lanying, and their cat, Cat.
Summary: ICE has become Trump's parallel police force—25 dead in custody in 2025, the deadliest year since tracking began. Nearly 579,000 arrested since January 20th. Seventy-four percent never convicted of any crime. They've detained U.S. citizens, ignored federal court orders, and operated with
Vaccines Are Your Choice Summary: Robert F. Kennedy Jr. may not be evil—just a former heroin addict with a literal brain parasite who believes he's on a hero's quest. The distinction doesn't matter. As HHS Secretary, he controls a quarter of the federal
Bootstrap Country Audio0:00/277.38221× The counties most dedicated to "bootstraps" are the ones living on the federal dime. The red counties—where 25% or more of personal income comes from government transfers—paint a vivid picture of self-reliance: Kentucky, West Virginia, Mississippi, Alabama, Arkansas, rural Missouri.
Joe Zeigler Summary: The United States isn't drifting into stagflation—it's being shoved. Market concentration lets a handful of giants set prices without competition. Fifty years of tax policy shifted the burden from billionaires to nurses. Healthcare devours a fifth of GDP while delivering worse outcomes
We Are All Criminals Now That's the first question. Not whether it feels justified. Not whether we're angry. Not whether the other side is awful. Is it legal. Because if it isn't, then this isn't policy. It's a crime. International
What Trump Gave Away Summary: Trump’s rise wasn’t chaos. It was pattern. What looked like incompetence aligned too cleanly with Russian interests to be accidental. From weakening NATO to discrediting U.S. intelligence, from amplifying disinformation to hollowing institutions, his presidency advanced Moscow’s goals with uncanny efficiency.
Climate Environment Conservation Climate Solutions Public Policy
Here's the thing about doom-scrolling through another year: you miss the moments when something actually worked. Amid cascading crises and political theater, 2025 delivered a handful of real victories. None erased the damage of the last decade. None redeemed the system. But they proved something harder to deny—
Reiner's Death—Trump's Narcissism I don't go to funerals. I don't go to weddings. I have experienced enough of both to know that ceremony rarely captures the truth of the thing it claims to honor. But this moment demands something more than
Joe Zeigler Summary: After World War II, the United States built an international system—Bretton Woods, the Marshall Plan, NATO—that made America rich and kept the peace for eighty years. We didn't do it as charity; we did it because stability served our interests. Now PrumpTutin is
and What It Cost Us Audio0:00/388.817371× We didn't lose it in a war, and we didn't misplace it by accident. We surrendered it in exchange for ease. That's the part no one wants carved into stone. We gave up friction first.
Audio0:00/222.9532651× The economy throws off a ridiculous number of signals—GDP, bond yields, consumer sentiment, interest rates, trade flows. You can drown in it. But as a rule of thumb, I watch two things: inflation and unemployment. They don't tell you everything, but they give