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Capital Research Center

The Capital Research Center was established in 1984 to examine how foundations, charities, and other nonprofits spend money and get involved in politics and advocacy, often in ways that donors never intended and would find abhorrent.

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Series

Who Funds that?175 episodes

Recent Episodes

Who Funds that?
Who Funds that?

Who Funds That? EP 26: Xi’s Useful Green Idiots

If you listen to any number of left-of-center environmentalist activists, donors, and advocacy groups, the People’s Republic of China is the environmental champion among the great powers, with the United States a climate criminal that should be taking lessons from the totalitarian Communists. But is that true? And if it isn’t, why are American donors spending hundreds of millions of dollars to claim that it is? Ken Braun, our colleague and author of Capital Research Center’s Enemies of Energy joins us to discuss Xi Jinping’s useful green idiots. Links: https://capitalresearch.org/publication/enemies-of-energy-the-myths-the-movement-and-the-money/ https://capitalresearch.org/article/climate-ngos-are-xi-jinpings-useful-idiots-in-america/ https://www.influencewatch.org/non-profit/energy-foundation-china/
Who Funds that?
Who Funds that?

Who Funds That? EP 25: Patronage for the Left’s Geniuses

Cue the fanfare and Pomp and Circumstance March Number One: The MacArthur Foundation has revealed its latest class of “Genius Grant” recipients (officially styled MacArthur Fellows). But behind the marketing hype, this program—and the related program of the even-more-radical Marguerite Casey Foundation—are just an old form of ideological or political advancement: Patronage. Joining us to discuss the MacArthur “geniuses” and the Marguerite Casey Freedom Scholars is our colleague, Robert Stilson. Links: https://apnews.com/article/macarthur-foundation-fellows-genius-grant-list-bea43976f1d35d706b49dadfdc8ed8fd https://www.influencewatch.org/non-profit/john-d-and-catherine-t-macarthur-foundation/ https://capitalresearch.org/article/big-philanthropys-most-radical-scholars/ https://capitalresearch.org/article/meet-another-batch-of-big-philanthropy-funded-leftist-loons-the-health-policy-research-scholars/ https://capitalresearch.org/article/robert-l-woodson-sr-and-his-concern-for-the-plight-of-the-least-of-gods-children/ https://capitalresearch.org/article/featured-book-excerpt-how-great-philanthropists-failed-how-you-can-succeed-at-protecting-your-legacy/

September 2026

Who Funds that?
Who Funds that?

Who Funds That? EP 24: Randi Weingarten’s AI Slop

As we discussed last week, the robot apocalypse is maybe not coming, which means that we’re going to have to learn to live with artificial intelligence and related technologies. And now Randi Weingarten, one of the least helpful people in American public life, is here to help us. Joining us to discuss how teachers unions are trying to wriggle themselves into AI regulation is CRC Senior Fellow Kali Fontanilla. Links: https://capitalresearch.org/article/unions-and-school-districts-have-been-clumsy-ai-regulators/ https://capitalresearch.org/article/who-funds-that-episode-23-the-prophets-of-the-ai-apocalypse/
Who Funds that?
Who Funds that?

Who Funds That? EP 23: The Prophets of the AI Apocalypse

It’s not every day that the would be masters of the universe are going on television and proclaiming an imminent doomsday, as if they were street preachers or the people who used to walk around public parks with sandwich boards saying “The end is nigh!” But the heads of major artificial intelligence companies like Anthropic and OpenAI have spent the last couple of weeks doing just that, claiming that they themselves are bringing forth Armageddon and that only government bureaucracy can stop them. But are these “AI Doomers” a true, organic response to concerns best known by those building the god-machine, or is it a cynical media operation by a mega-business interested in using the regulatory state to lock out potential competitors? Our colleague Parker Thayer, who is skeptical of the motivations of the corporate titans, joins us to discuss. Links: https://capitalresearch.org/article/my-problem-with-effective-altruism/ https://capitalresearch.org/article/left-wing-billionaire-dustin-moskovitz/ https://www.influencewatch.org/for-profit/anthropic/ https://www.influencewatch.org/for-profit/openai/
Who Funds that?
Who Funds that?

Who Funds That? EP 22: The Commies’ Lawyers

They say that every son of a gun deserves a lawyer and his day in court; it’s a core principle of the American legal system. But certain lawyers informally focus on certain cases and certain clients, often for ideological reasons. That raises the question: Who do Communists—both foreign Communist regimes and Americans facing investigation for alleged Communist activities—call when they need counsel? The answer, often, is Rabinowitz, Boudin, Standard, Krinsky & Lieberman, P.C., which has made a name for itself as the preferred U.S. legal representatives of clients including Cuba’s Communist government, Vietnam War draft opponents and Communist-influenced labor unions, among others. Joining us today to discuss RBSKL is our CRC colleague Robert Stilson, who just conducted a major research project for our InfluenceWatch project on the law firm. Links: https://www.influencewatch.org/for-profit/rabinowitz-boudin-standard-krinsky-lieberman-p-c-rbskl/ https://www.influencewatch.org/non-profit/national-lawyers-guild/ https://www.influencewatch.org/non-profit/venceremos-brigade/ https://www.influencewatch.org/organization/weather-underground-weatherman-weathermen/
Who Funds that?
Who Funds that?

Who Funds That? EP 21: The Next 30 Years of Big Labor

On this podcast, we largely cover who funds the groups and people who are influencing public policy — and today we'll be diving into the abyss of labor unions with our regular host and CRC's research director, Mike Watson. Thirty years ago, a former teachers-union operative named Max Green wrote a book called Epitaph for American Labor. He came not to praise the American labor movement but to bury it. Mike went back to that book at the thirty-year mark to ask whether Green was right — and his answer is yes, and it's worse than Green thought. Links: https://capitalresearch.org/article/an-epitaph-for-a-distinctly-american-labor-movement-at-30/ https://www.aei.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/-epitaph-for-american-labor_125813738926.pdf?x91208 https://capitalresearch.org/article/the-thesis-that-drove-american-politics-crazy-part-1/ https://capitalresearch.org/article/a-republican-plan-to-resurrect-obamas-assault-on-labor-union-democracy/
Who Funds that?
Who Funds that?

Who Funds That? EP 20: How Charities Are Influencing Elections

Charities (like Capital Research Center) are formally prohibited from intervening in election campaigns. But for years, liberal Big Philanthropy has exploited non-enforcement and loopholes in the law to use charities for transparently electoral purposes. Joining Michael Watson and Tiffany Gabbay to discuss how the left uses charities to directly influence elections is our colleague Parker Thayer, who just released a report on the topic. Links: https://capitalresearch.org/article/the-charities-influencing-elections-2024-and-beyond/ https://capitalresearch.org/article/the-vote-machine-is-already-planning-for-the-2030-census-2/ https://capitalresearch.org/article/the-lefts-voter-registration-grift-thrived-in-2024/ https://capitalresearch.org/article/influencewatch-podcast-332-voter-participation-unless-you-like-nascar/ https://capitalresearch.org/article/testimony-on-the-nonprofit-voter-registration-industry/

August 2026

Who Funds that?
Who Funds that?

Who Funds That? EP 19: State of the Iran Conflict

Occasionally we step back from our usual focus on advocacy groups and take a broader look at the news and the world around us, with help from subject-matter experts. This week, we take a look at Iran, and the lessons the ongoing conflict and other contemporary conflicts have for the American defense industry. Joining me is Barak Seener, an associate research fellow at the Henry Jackson Society, a foreign- and military-affairs think tank in the United Kingdom. Links: https://henryjacksonsociety.org/publications/restoring-deterrence-destabilising-the-iranian-regime/ https://henryjacksonsociety.org/publications/regime-collapse-in-iran-a-necessity-for-regional-stability/ https://henryjacksonsociety.org/publications/policy-briefing-regional-influence-after-iran-preventing-a-vacuum-following-regime-collapse/ https://capitalresearch.org/article/influencewatch-podcast-398-the-mullahs-friends-in-america/
Who Funds that?
Who Funds that?

Who Funds That? EP 18: You Fund That

As always, we take time on today's episode to investigate who funds the groups and people who influence public policy—but what if you want to be one of those people? Well, you could always provide well-appreciated support to us if you like the sort of things we do—not just this podcast. Joining to discuss the work you could fund by supporting Capital Research Center is our organization president, Scott Walter. Links: Neville Roy Singham at InfluenceWatch.com Enemies of Energy: The Myths, the Movement, and the Money at Capital Research Center Arabella: The Dark Money Network of Leftist Billionaires Transforming America by Scott Walter Bill Gates to Stop Grantmaking via Arabella Advisors at Capital Research Center Communism and the Democratic Socialists of America at Capital Research Center Mamdani Wants to Deliver Amazon to the Teamsters at Wall Street Journal
Who Funds that?
Who Funds that?

Who Funds That? EP 17: Against Nuclear Energy, Against Humanity

Do environmentalists—and the rest of the progressive left that includes combating climate change as part of its “Omnicause”—care more about saving the planet or replacing market capitalism, private property, and pluralist living arrangements with socialist tower-blocks connected by overcrowded light rail (on which there will be no enforcement of fare payment, naturally)? There’s a tell—opposing nuclear-powered electric generation, which emits no point-source carbon emissions whatsoever. And my colleague Ken Braun, author of Capital Research Center’s comprehensive report on the environmentalist movement’s “Enemies of Energy,” has updated his extensive list of left-wing groups opposed to nuclear energy—the ones that clearly privilege making a New Soviet Man over making the Earth better for people. Links: https://capitalresearch.org/article/opponents-of-nuclear-power-now-hauling-in-400k-per-hour/ https://www.influencewatch.org/influence-networks/opposition-to-nuclear-energy/ https://capitalresearch.org/article/the-ideological-fuel-of-a-new-left-part-1/ https://capitalresearch.org/article/nrdc-adopts-nuclear-power-sanity-and-exits-list-of-nuclear-energy-enemies/’https://capitalresearch.org/article/the-odd-enemies-of-nuclear-energy/
Who Funds that?
Who Funds that?

Who Funds That? EP 16: Big Labor’s Leftist Investments

A faction of the political right, supported by the think tank American Compass that is funded by the leftist Hewlett Foundation, claims that organized labor has a “conservative heart” and should be empowered to dominate American life in a manner not seen since the 1940s or 1950s. But is that true? Just about all available evidence suggests not—Big Labor is, as it has been since at least the turn of the twentieth century, Everything Leftism. Adding more evidence to the pile today is Jarrett Skorup of the Mackinac Center, who joins me to discuss his report on Big Labor’s involvement in left-wing “environmental, social, and governance” — ESG — investing movements. Links: https://www.mackinac.org/archives/2026/s2026-04.pdf https://capitalresearch.org/article/2026-proxy-preview-reports-far-fewer-esg-resolutions/ https://www.influencewatch.org/influence-networks/esg-activism/

July 2026

Who Funds that?
Who Funds that?

Who Funds That? EP 15: Congress Considers Nonprofit Regulation

Many people are saying that Congress doesn’t do anything, and…yeah, they’re often correct. That’s sometimes a good thing. But on the subject of nonprofit and advocacy group regulation, the House Committee on Ways and Means—responsible for writing federal tax laws—is proving very active, advancing four bills to change how nonprofits and political advocacy groups operate. Joining us is our colleague Robert Stilson to discuss the legislation and the goals of nonprofit regulatory policies. Chairman Smith Opening Statement: Markup of Legislation Increasing Transparency & Accountability in … https://capitalresearch.org/article/who-funds-that-episode-14-the-foreign-funding-election-loophole/ https://capitalresearch.org/article/influencewatch-podcast-396-congress-tackles-foreign-nonprofit-funding/ https://capitalresearch.org/article/treasury-is-rightly-focused-on-nonprofit-transparency/
Who Funds that?
Who Funds that?

Who Funds That? EP14: The Foreign Funding Election Loophole

It is supposed to be the law that foreigners, people who do not have citizenship or permanent residency, cannot fund federal election campaigns. But our colleague Parker Thayer notes that there is a giant loophole in this prohibition—one that the government needs to take seriously—namely, the charitable election sector (which maybe also shouldn’t exist). He joins us today to discuss foreign nationals, charities, and elections. CRC: The Charitable Back Door CRC: The Left’s voter registration grift thrived in 2024 CRC: The Vote Machine is already planning for the 2030 Census InfluenceWatch: Wyss Foundation InfluenceWatch: Hansjorg Wyss
Who Funds that?
Who Funds that?

Who Funds That? EP13: Organizing the DSA Revolution

You’ve heard quite a lot about the Democratic Socialists of America, the left-wing faction that has surged to victories in Democratic Party primary elections across the country. But how did what was as recently as the early 2010s a marginal player on the radical-left of American politics become power brokers who can drive their candidates to major political offices? Joining us is Sean Speer of the Manhattan Institute joins us to analyze these dynamics. City Journal: How the Far Left Captured the Democratic Party CRC: Communism and the Democratic Socialists of America CRC: The Anti-American Left: Democratic Socialists of America
Who Funds that?
Who Funds that?

Who Funds That? EP12: Trump Can Say ‘You’re Fired’

The Supreme Court has issued its rulings, and with big decisions on citizenship, transgender athletes, and congressional redistricting, a major case with significant impacts on policy may fly under the radar. In Trump v. Slaughter, the Court ruled that the President has the power to dismiss members of multi-member federal boards like the Federal Trade Commission regardless of Congressional attempts to restrict the dismissal power to specific conditions. That will affect, among other things, labor-relations law, because the National Labor Relations Board is one of these multi-member boards almost certainly affected by the ruling. With President Trump also having nominated Kieth Sonderling as permanent Secretary of Labor, where will the Slaughter ruling and the new labor secretary take labor policy (and other economic policy, with other affected boards)? Joining us to discuss these questions is Akash Chougule of the Foundation for Research on Equal Opportunity. The Foundation for Research on Equal Opportunity FREOPP: Americans need opportunity abundance CRC: Leadership Change at the Labor Department SCOTUS Blog: Supreme Court allows Trump to fire FTC commissioner and overturns major restraint on presidential power

June 2026

Who Funds that?
Who Funds that?

Who Funds That? EP11: What to Make of AI Opposition

Artificial intelligence: what does it mean? Is it taking all the water? Is it taking all the jobs? Are foreign interests, radical socialists, and cynical AI companies misleading the public about what AI is doing to America? Our colleague Parker Thayer joins us to discuss. Parker Thayer on X Exclusive: Conservatives plan nationwide protest against AI data centers InfluenceWatch Podcast #385: Effective Altruism, AI, and Shrimp Welfare Dustin Moskovitz Anthropic OpenAI
Who Funds that?
Who Funds that?

Who Funds That? EP10: The Experts Weigh in on Fixing Higher Ed

Today’s higher education is not your grandfather’s higher education. Indeed, it’s not even the higher education of my first run through it in the 90s—before the pervasive embrace of DEI and critical race theory, before the extreme ideological disparities that led to a decrease in the study of traditional humanities and an increase in the study of social justice issues, and before the pernicious threats to independent thought and free speech that led to a recent wave of rampant antisemitism at some of the America’s most prestigious institutions. The threats facing higher education and, more broadly, civil society have arisen relatively quickly, and the question now is: can anything be done to fix what ails higher education in the same rapid timeframe? As universities grow richer and more administratively bloated and students become less educated and more ideologically indoctrinated, are there answers from inside the institutions, or is it going to take choices made by outside influences like governments, donors, and parents to get higher ed back to its mission of educating America’s young people to be productive American citizens? A new book of essays from The Heritage Foundation, written by preeminent education scholars, titled “Higher Education in America: It’s Worse Than You Think,” seeks to answer some of these questions. One of those scholars, Jonathan Butcher, Acting Director for Heritage’s Center for Education Policy, joins us today.
Who Funds that?
Who Funds that?

Who Funds That? EP9: Poisoned Ivies with Rep. Elise Stefanik

Since the Hamas attacks on Israel in October 2023, the Everything Leftist Omnicause has turned its Eye of Sauron toward aggressive support for Palestinian nationalism—support for Palestinian nationalism that all too frequently crosses the line from a political position to antipathy towards American Jews. Nowhere has the latter been more visible than on the most elite college campuses, where administrations that have been perfectly happy to suppress speech they didn’t like about mainstream political issues have allowed Palestinian nationalist demonstrators to impose their wills on campus. Today’s guest used her position to ask the presidents of three of America’s most prestigious universities how that came to be; the resulting incoherent responses started a firestorm that culminated in her new book, Poisoned Ivies: The Inside Account of the Academic and Moral Rot at America's Elite Universities. Joining us today to discuss higher education and the rot within it is U.S. Representative Elise Stefanik of New York. Poisoned Ivies: The Inside Account of the Academic and Moral Rot at America's Elite Universities Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) Questions University Presidents on Antisemitism The Universities That Don’t Understand Academic Freedom Elise Stefanik’s new book ‘Poisoned Ivies’ highlights the dangerous extremism in higher education
Who Funds that?
Who Funds that?

Who Funds That? EP8: Enemies of Energy

Without energy, we have nothing: The economy relies on it; our entertainments rely on it; our schools rely on it; our comfort and lives rely on it. But the energy on which we all rely has enemies, and our colleague Ken Braun has traced them in his new report Enemies of Energy. Ken joins us today to discuss his report. Enemies of Energy report What’s Behind American Energy NGOs Doing China’s Dirty Work
Who Funds that?
Who Funds that?

Who Funds That? EP7: Hasan Piker in the Doghouse?

Americans who know Cuba best—those who fled the Communist-ruled island and their descendants—loathe the country’s Communist regime, in power since Fidel Castro overthrew an American-backed strongman in 1959. Thanks to Cold War geopolitics and the political influence of those Cuban-American communities (especially those around Miami, home city of Secretary of State Marco Rubio), the United States has maintained strict restrictions on trade and travel to the island, largely on a bipartisan basis. But left-of-center activists often operate as if laws they don’t like don’t apply to them, and that any infractions will be dismissed with a wink and a nod by their “moderate” allies. And with an aggressive right-of-center government in power, that is increasingly a bad bet, as a number of radical-left activists including podcaster Hasan Piker and CodePink leader Medea Benjamin have reportedly been subpoenaed for information about their participation in the “Nuestra America Convoy” supporting the Communist regime. How much trouble are these leftist agitators potentially in? What are they doing, and who’s funding it? Stu Smith of the Manhattan Institute joins us to discuss. Feds subpoena Hasan Piker, Medea Benjamin over Cuba trips Hasan Piker Code Pink (CODEPINK) Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) The Cuban regime’s American sympathizers Stu Smith

May 2026

Who Funds that?
Who Funds that?

Who Funds That? EP6: Can Treasury Fix Nonprofit Tax Returns

Today we’ve got a very important and exciting topic to cover: The nonprofit tax return (Form 990)! Now please don’t turn your podcast dial—this actually matters way more than you think, even if you aren’t a nonprofit accountant, because 990 disclosures are so very important to discovering “Who Funds That” in nonprofit advocacy. The Trump administration has proposed major changes to the “990” that “are intended to detect misconduct and hold wrongdoers accountable.” We’ve invited our colleague Robert Stilson, who has written extensively on fixing the nonprofit tax return, to offer his ideas on what the Trump administration should do. Treasury Announces Form 990 Transparency Initiative to Expose Hidden Funding and Strengthen Oversight Some Suggestions for Improving the Form 990 Thinking About Fiscal Sponsorship: The Form 990 Black Hole Thinking About Fiscal Sponsorship: Potential Reforms Tides Center
Who Funds that?
Who Funds that?

‘Who Funds That?’ EP5: Ohio’s Medicaid Millions

Seven buildings with 288 companies. Empty offices with unopened government notices in the mail slots. Convicted fraudsters vaguely warning that they know who journalists’ families are. It’s all real, and it’s all been uncovered in Columbus, Ohio, where millions of taxpayer dollars are disappearing into questionable home healthcare businesses, and the state government and the businesses have few answers to many, many questions. Joining us to discuss their Ohio Medicaid investigation are Luke Rosiak, an investigative reporter for the Daily Wire, and Capital Research Center’s investigative researcher Parker Thayer. Medicaid Millionaires He Was Convicted For Defrauding The Government. Now Medicaid Pays His Wife Millions. Ohio Restores Medicaid Anti-Fraud Measures After Daily Wire Investigation Inside Ohio’s Home Health Empire: 7 Buildings, 288 Medicaid Companies, $250 Million No One Is Safe: Homecare Fraud Schemes Are Ripping Off Americans In Every State
Who Funds that?
Who Funds that?

Who funds That? EP4 Democrat Union Bosses, Republican Workers

As working-class Americans demonstrate increasing willingness to support conservative political candidates, some ostensible conservatives—some perhaps in service to their think tank’s funders in left-wing Big Philanthropy and others perhaps in the delusion that Big Labor will lead them to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue—have argued that the path to working-class support is through union bosses’ marble and stone palaces in Washington, D.C. and other big blue cities. Today’s guest brings warnings that that way lies madness—or at least self-inflicted defeat, because those palaces still serve the Left as they have for (at least) almost a century. Today Tom Jones of the American Accountability Foundation brings the receipts, with documentation on how private-sector unions that have Republican members have been using their (often forced) dues to fund the Institutional Left.see less Scathing report claims nation's oldest labor union 'betrayed' MAGA members through 'shocking' spending DUKE: A Shaky Ceasefire And A Union Betrayal Making the AFL-CIO great again: labor policy in 2026 Some local Teamsters groups announce Harris endorsements after national union declines to do so Does Big Labor truly represent the American worker? Big Labor sees pensions as a “weapon”
Who Funds that?
Who Funds that?

Who Funds That? EP 3: Justice Samuel Alito (with Mollie Hemingway)

When conservatives wax poetic about their favorite Supreme Court justices from what one might call the “Federalist Society era” of Republican appointments, Clarence Thomas and the late Antonin Scalia take precedence. The oldest may prefer the late William Rehnquist, for a time the lone “originalist” on the court; the youngest may prefer Neil Gorsuch, the libertarian radical appointed by President Donald Trump in 2017. But today’s guest argues for Samuel Alito, appointed as George W. Bush’s second choice for the vacancy created by the retirement of Sandra Day O’Connor in 2005, as perhaps the most consequential of them all. Mollie Hemingway, editor-in-chief of The Federalist, joins us to discuss her latest book: Alito: The Justice Who Reshaped the Supreme Court and Restored the Constitution. Alito: The Justice Who Reshaped the Supreme Court and Restored the Constitution Alito: The fulcrum of the conservative Court Demand Justice ProPublica Brett Kavanaugh’s Would-Be Assassin Gets Time Off for Trans Behavior
Guest:
MHMollie Hemingway
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