MagMen

The Trump/Biden debate disaster

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Hosted by J. Grant Addison, Jay Caruso, Park MacDougald, Seth Mandel

President Trump and former Vice-President Biden held their first of three debates in Cleveland with Fox News’ Chris Wallace playing the role of moderator. It was a mess to be sure. How bad was it and what’s the state of the debates after, especially when so many Biden supporters are telling him not to bother with anymore? Seth, Park, Jay, and Grant discuss.

Also, they briefly discuss the sports playoff scene as LeBron James goes for an NBA title with his third team and the Yankees beat up on Indians making it a tough night for Cleveland all around.

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MagMen

Trump’s foreign policy win and the vaccine wars

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Hosted by J. Grant Addison, Jay Caruso, Park MacDougald, Seth Mandel

Donald Trump, whether people want to admit it or not, scored a pretty big foreign policy win as Israel normalized relations with UAE and Bahrain. Seth, Park, Jay, and Grant discuss the political implications for Trump and why people are so afraid (on either side) to credit anyone, not in their party for policy success.

Also, the guys discuss the coronavirus vaccine and the effects of both Trump over-promising and some Democrats flirting with anti-vax rhetoric because they don’t like Trump and argue the wrong point (that it won’t be ready by election day instead of assuming it will and saying they don’t trust the president).

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MagMen

It’s Bob Woodward’s book v President Trump

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Hosted by J. Grant Addison, Jay Caruso, Park MacDougald, Seth Mandel

Bob Woodward’s book, Rage, comes out next week. With the release of some snippets come the revelation of Trump admitting to Woodward he played down the coronavirus to stave off a panic. Does that excuse fly? And what of the criticisms of Woodward that if he knew about all of this, why not release it sooner instead of waiting for the book to come out?

Grant, Jay, Park, and Seth discuss all of that in addition to the continued Phase 2 “reopening” of Washington D.C., the return of the NFL, and the weekly picks from the latest issue of the Washington Examiner magazine!

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MagMen

Biden speech on protest violence and Bill de Blasio hates NYC

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Hosted by J. Grant Addison, Jay Caruso, Park MacDougald, Seth Mandel

Back to the regularly scheduled broadcast!

On this show, Seth, Park, Grant, and Jay discuss Joe Biden’s speech addressing protest violence, how the media narrative shifted to cover the protests, and whether or not Biden’s speech is more effective for quelling violence or for his campaign.

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MagMen

Trump’s speech and the not peaceful protests

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Hosted by J. Grant Addison, Jay Caruso, Park MacDougald, Seth Mandel

The Republican National Convention is over, Trump made his case for a second term and the country is in the middle of shootings, riots, lootings and not to mention, a pandemic.

Did Trump make the case for a second term? And how does the violence playing out across the country factor into the campaign and who does it hurt more? Biden? Trump?

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MagMen

The Kamala Harris and Joe Biden convention acceptance speeches

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Hosted by J. Grant Addison, Jay Caruso, Park MacDougald, Seth Mandel

Slim topic on this podcast. Seth, Park, Grant, and Jay mostly discuss the speeches given by Kamala Harris and Joe Biden as well as what their campaign will look like coming out of the convention and if Biden will maintain his center-left posture or fall to the very online mindset.

The guys also offer up a preview of what they think Trump will talk about in his speech next week.

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MagMen

It’s a Kamala Harris world in the Biden campaign

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Hosted by J. Grant Addison, Jay Caruso, Park MacDougald, Seth Mandel

Joe Biden made his choice for a running mate and it’s Kamala Harris. There wasn’t much surprise behind the pick as Biden said he’d choose a woman and after the George Floyd protests, Biden had pressure to choose a woman of color. Seth, Jay, Park, and Grant discuss the following:

  • What does it do for Biden’s campaign?
  • How will Trump go after them and since he can’t control his worst impulses, will it screw things up?
  • How will Biden and Harris deflect away from the move the Democratic Party made to the left in the last 5-6 years?
  • What will the focus of the Democratic national convention be?

Finally, the guys offer up their picks of the week from the latest issue of the magazine!

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MagMen

The current state of the 2020 election

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Hosted by J. Grant Addison, Jay Caruso, Park MacDougald, Seth Mandel

The gang is all back. This week, Jay, Seth, Grant, and Park talk about the 2020 election. Specifically:

  • The current polling
  • The latest on Biden’s potential running mate
  • How the press will treat Biden once it gets into crunch time
  • The problems with mail-in voting and the warnings of election malfeasance by Trump and the Democrats

Also, baseball season started and the guys talk about what they think and if any of them like the digitized crowds that Fox is inserting into stadiums that are actually empty.

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MagMen

The public school reopening wars

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Hosted by J. Grant Addison, Jay Caruso, Park MacDougald, Seth Mandel

No magazine this week but there is still plenty to talk about!

The guys first dive headfirst into the debate about reopening public schools. As is typical of our culture, it turned into a political battle with President Trump wanting schools across the nation to open up and unions decrying the idea of doing so (with the help of Democratic politicians who do what the unions want) unless it is “safe.”

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MagMen

The Bari Weiss Effect

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Hosted by J. Grant Addison, Jay Caruso, Park MacDougald, Seth Mandel

In this episode, the guys keep it simple, discussing Bari Weiss’s departure from the New York Times. She quit and wrote a scathing open letter, detailing the reasons for her resignation. Also discussed is Andrew Sullivan’s departure from New York Magazine, with both stemming from what looks like intolerance from not only readers but staff members who increasingly are hostile to points of view that do not align with their own.

It has implications for those publications but the business of journalism overall. Will the guardians of these institutions stand up and say, “That’s enough!” or will they allow a bunch of Jacobins to control the editorial content?

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MagMen

Mt. Rushmore and cancel culture

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Hosted by J. Grant Addison, Jay Caruso, Park MacDougald, Seth Mandel

After a week off, the crew is back and have an in-depth conversation about:

  • Trump’s Mt. Rushmore speech and the media’s awful portrayal of it
  • Sen. Tammy Duckworth’s characterization of the speech is a total lie
  • Cancel culture and the goofy claim it doesn’t exist and what the future holds

There is no magazine this week, so the guys will talk about their top picks in the next issue!

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MagMen

Josh Hawley slams Bostock decision and it’s Google vs. The Federalist

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Hosted by J. Grant Addison, Jay Caruso, Park MacDougald, Seth Mandel

There is an in-depth discussion this week covering three issues that broke just this week

First, the guys talk about the SCOTUS Bostock decision regarding Title VII of The Civil Rights Act, Neil Gorsuch’s majority opinion, and whether or not it was the court writing legislation instead of interpreting the law.

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MagMen

Defund The Police and the New York Times Caves

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Hosted by J. Grant Addison, Jay Caruso, Park MacDougald, Seth Mandel

** Note that at the 10:33 mark we had some technical difficulties noted with a record scratch and we began recording again as best we could where we left off

In the wake of the protests over the death of George Floyd, a “Defund The Police” movement has emerged. Some argue it doesn’t really mean to defund but others are buying into the idea of getting rid of police departments as if it will be a net positive. The guys discuss issues surrounding it.

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MagMen

America In Turmoil

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Hosted by J. Grant Addison, Jay Caruso, Park MacDougald, Seth Mandel

It’s something when there is worse news than over 100K people dying of a virus and 40 million people filing for unemployment in the last several months. Add protests, both peaceful and violent to the mix resulting in millions of dollars in property damage, injuries, and death. The guys take a 50,000 view of the protests and also discuss what stands out the most and good, if any, will come of it.

They also discuss news items that aren’t getting covered due to the protests.

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MagMen

Mask culture wars and Twitter goes fact-checker

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Hosted by J. Grant Addison, Jay Caruso, Park MacDougald, Seth Mandel

It was one thing when people argued over ventilators and lockdowns. But naturally, a culture war had to arise out of the coronavirus, and wearing masks is it. Who should wear them and when? Should the government mandate it and for how long? Also, is it right to shame people who choose not to wear one?

Links to the stories Park mentions:

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MagMen

Reopening absurdities and Ronan Farrow under the lamp

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Hosted by J. Grant Addison, Jay Caruso, Park MacDougald, Seth Mandel

There’s no magazine for the Memorial Day weekend but the guys from Mag Men are still around. In this episode, the group discusses the sometimes absurd and makes-no-sense reopenings and how its confusing. There’s also the criticism of keeping parks, tennis courts, soccer fields and hiking trails closed.

Also up for discussion is Ben Smith’s piece in the New York Times about Ronan Farrow and how resistance journalism gets a pass when the writers are misleading or get something wrong.

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MagMen

The Flynn repercussions, SCOTUS and more stimulus

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Hosted by J. Grant Addison, Jay Caruso, Park MacDougald, Seth Mandel

Everyone is here and the guys have a long discussion about the Michael Flynn case and the dropping of charges by the Justice Department. It’s a mess and even those critical of Trump and Flynn are not thrilled with how this played out, including the co-hosts.

The Democrats want to see Trump’s financial documents. Trump refused and now the Supreme Court will make the decision. Is it legitimate or nothing but a means to embarrass Trump?

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MagMen

Political happenings outside of the coronavirus

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Hosted by J. Grant Addison, Jay Caruso, Park MacDougald, Seth Mandel

With all the news still going on about the coronavirus, the guys decided to discuss several issues that aren’t directly related to the pandemic.

First up is the contraceptive mandate in Obamacare. The Trump administration relaxed the rules for having to provide them for employees and appeals court stopped it. The Supreme Court took up the issue. Also, the Super PAC called The Lincoln Project released an ad called, “Mourning in America,” a take on Ronald Reagan’s famous reelection ad from 1984, except this one is a direct shot at President Trump, who didn’t take it very well. The guys also discuss Josh Hawley’s op-ed in the New York Times calling for the abolishment of the World Trade Organization.

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MagMen

Biden assault allegations; Justin Amash for president?

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Hosted by Jay Caruso, Park MacDougald, Seth Mandel

It’s a coronavirus free episode! I mean, it’s mentioned but only in the context of other discussions. Grant was MIA for this episode, it was just the Three Amigos.

Joe Biden finally dealt directly with the sexual assault allegations made against him by Tara Reade. He appeared on Morning Joe and likely was not expecting such a tough interview. He didn’t look good, but it also wasn’t terrible and now the rest of the press can leave it alone.

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MagMen

Re-opening the economy

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Hosted by J. Grant Addison, Jay Caruso, Park MacDougald, Seth Mandel

It’s been several weeks and so much has changed. Instead of discussion continued lockdown, states are beginning to talk about getting people back to work. The guys discuss the pros and cons and what people will choose to do, outside of whatever permission they’re getting from Governors and state legislatures.

There’s also a long discussion about the press and its treatment of the Tara Reade sexual assault allegations against Joe Biden and how it differs from the coverage of Brett Kavanaugh.

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