“It’s fair to call the deteriorating situation at the US/Mexican border a crisis,” declared NBC’s Meet the Press in 2021. “[CNN anchor Dana] Bash presses Netanyahu on Gaza death toll: 'Is Israel doing everything possible to... avoid civilian casualties?',” boasted CNN’s State of the Union in 2023. “Principle over party… The latest high-profile Republican endorsement for Harris. And she got another Cheney endorsement,” announced ABC’s This Week with George Stephanopoulos.

These shows – ABC’s This Week, NBC’s Meet the Press, CNN’s State of the Union, CBS’s Face the Nation – are fixtures of a major genre of television: the Sunday morning news show. Since the 1940s, these weekly shows have featured panel interviews with government officials, lawmakers, candidates, and other political figures, usually from the US, as part of their stated missions to “tackle pressing issues,” produce robust discourse on current events, and hold electeds and aspiring electeds accountable.

A relic from a different era, these Sunday News Show still loom large today. No, they don’t have particularly high ratings, but much like the role editorial boards of major newspapers play, they matter to people who matter. They shape the agenda and tell lawmakers, advisers, CEOs and other people who wield power across our political, economic and social systems what to care about that week and how to analyze the current moment.

But to what extent do they serve any real journalistic function? To what extent do they actually ask difficult and challenging questions? Do the Sunday morning shows truly illuminate our political moments and interrogate the powerful, or essentially do the opposite? And what effect do these shows, known for “setting the agenda” in Washington, have on policymakers, news media, and the public?

On this episode, we discuss the history, ideology, and effects of Sunday morning news shows, look at how—despite their lofty claims to challenging journalism—they prioritize and revel in prestige and access, flattering existing power structures and further enabling reactionary policy. 

Our guest is FAIR's Julie Hollar.

Episode 216: Sunday Morning News Shows and the Problem With 'Agenda Setting' Court Stenography

Proudboy crypto meme coins, JFK Jr's t-shirt design, Sebastian Gorka's snuff film, multiple nazi salutes… Julian and Anthony conclude their adventures at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center. But not before being totally demoralized.
Subscribe for $5 a month to get all the premium episodes:
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Anthony Mansuy: https://x.com/AnthonyMansuy

Editing by Corey Klotz. Theme by Nick Sena. Additional music by Pontus Berghe. Theme Vocals by THEY/LIVE (https://instagram.com/theyylivve / https://sptfy.com/QrDm). Cover Art by Pedro Correa: (https://pedrocorrea.com)

https://qaapodcast.com

QAA was known as the QAnon Anonymous podcast.


2 Frenchmen at CPAC (Part Two) (E314)

It is difficult to comprehend how much these people screw up, lie, lie about their screw ups, and screw up lying. But we’re going to try anyway. Travis, Jake, and Liv break down the most recent round of malice and incompetence from the Trump administration and the deceit, deflections, and conspiracy theories being deployed in defense of this bad behavior. 

Firstly we cover “Signalgate,” the controversy in which a National Security Advisor accidentally added a journalist to their Signal chat about military operations. Secondly we discuss the ongoing saga of Elon Musk’s DOGE and how their efforts are clearly making the government less efficient. And thirdly we cover the Trump administration’s brutal deportation policy, which has targeted people for arbitrary reasons and for their expression of rather benign opinions. We then debunk the conspiracy theory that there is evidence of American student groups collaborating with Hamas. 


Subscribe for $5 a month to get all the premium episodes:
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Editing by Corey Klotz. Theme by Nick Sena. Additional music by Pontus Berghe, Nick Sena, Jake Rockatansky. Theme Vocals by THEY/LIVE (https://instagram.com/theyylivve / https://sptfy.com/QrDm). Cover Art by Pedro Correa: (https://pedrocorrea.com)

https://qaapodcast.com


QAA was known as the QAnon Anonymous podcast.


SOURCES


The Trump Administration Accidentally Texted Me Its War Plans
https://archive.ph/JIxF8

Here Are the Attack Plans That Trump’s Advisers Shared on Signal
https://archive.ph/ZKjdg#selection-609.0-614.0

'Most scared I've been': US strikes sow panic in rebel-held Yemen
https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20250316-most-scared-i-ve-been-us-strikes-sow-panic-in-rebel-held-yemen

Tech issues hit DOGE's '5 things' email requirement for federal employees
https://abcnews.go.com/US/tech-issues-hit-doges-5-things-email-requirement/story?id=120189752

Court records show how many federal workers were fired and rehired at 18 agencies
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/federal-probationary-workers-mass-firing-rehired/

The Federal Workers Who Are Not Quite Fired, Not Quite Working
https://archive.vn/8eGYG#selection-2081.0-2089.0

“You’re Here Because of Your Tattoos” 
https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2025/03/trump-el-salvador-venezulea-deportation-prison-cecot-bukele/

Oct. 7 victims sue Columbia student groups and protest leaders, alleging Hamas support
https://forward.com/fast-forward/707269/columbia-sjp-cuad-mahmoud-khalil-lawsuit/


These People Are Stupid Liars Who Think You’re Stupid Too (E317)

Artificial Intelligence carries a host of risks: it could reshape jobs and the economy, alter educational practices, help powerful figures dodge accountability through AI-assisted decision-making, and even influence our personal relationships and mental well-being. But here’s the biggest question: how will AI affect the content filling up your social media feeds?

In today’s episode, journalist Ryan Broderick joins us to discuss the influx of “AI slop” — which increasingly jostles for space alongside human-created content. We’ll explore the “Shrimp Jesus” Facebook phenomenon, a viral (yet entirely fabricated) story about Elon Musk saving a young girl with Neuralink, and the 1995 sci-fi horror film Screamers. 


Subscribe for $5 a month to get all the premium episodes:
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Thanks for subscribing to QAA on patreon. 

///

Ryan Broderick
https://x.com/broderick
https://bsky.app/profile/ryanhatesthis.bsky.social

Garbage Day Newsletter
https://www.garbageday.email/

Panic World Podcast
https://pod.link/1740187810

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Editing by Corey Klotz. Theme by Nick Sena. Additional music by Pontus Berghe. Theme Vocals by THEY/LIVE (https://instagram.com/theyylivve / https://sptfy.com/QrDm). Cover Art by Pedro Correa: (https://pedrocorrea.com)

https://qaapodcast.com

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REFERENCES


Nearly all Americans use AI, though most dislike it, poll shows
https://www.axios.com/2025/01/15/americans-use-ai-products-poll

Behold the AI Slop Dominating Google Image Results for "Does Corn Get Digested"
https://futurism.com/google-image-corn-ai-slop

Facebook's Shrimp Jesus, Explained
https://www.404media.co/email/1cdf7620-2e2f-4450-9cd9-e041f4f0c27f/

Zuckerberg 'Loves' AI Slop Image From Spam Account That Posts Amputated Children
https://www.404media.co/zuckerberg-loves-ai-slop-image-from-spam-account-that-posts-amputated-children/

Why you should be skeptical of that ‘leaked’ audio of JD Vance criticizing Elon Musk
https://www.poynter.org/fact-checking/2025/jd-vance-rant-elon-musk-making-look-bad/

‘Trump Gaza’ AI video intended as political satire, says creator
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2025/mar/06/trump-gaza-ai-video-intended-as-political-satire-says-creator

“AI: The New Aesthetics of Fascism.” New Socialist https://newsocialist.org.uk/transmissions/ai-the-new-aesthetics-of-fascism/

Signal President Meredith Whittaker calls out agentic AI as having ‘profound’ security and privacy issues
https://techcrunch.com/2025/03/07/signal-president-meredith-whittaker-calls-out-agentic-ai-as-having-profound-security-and-privacy-issues/


AI Slopaganda feat. Ryan Broderick (E319)

An exploration of the most famous right wing crank painter in the game: artist Jon McNaughton. From tea-party-era images of Obama burning the constitution to MAGA-era images of Trump as Atlas, the progression of his career has mirrored a deeper shift in the Republican base and its obsessions. Our guest is artist, writer, and host of the Doomscroll podcast Joshua Citarella.

Subscribe for $5 a month to get all the premium episodes:
https://www.patreon.com/qaa

Editing by Corey Klotz. Theme by Nick Sena. Additional music by Pontus Berghe. Theme Vocals by THEY/LIVE (https://instagram.com/theyylivve / https://sptfy.com/QrDm). Cover Art by Pedro Correa: (https://pedrocorrea.com)

https://qaapodcast.com

QAA was known as the QAnon Anonymous podcast.


The Painting Passion of Jon McNaughton feat Joshua Citarella (Premium E285) Sample

People use generative artificial intelligence to troubleshoot technical problems, churn out anime-inspired images based on their personal photos, and drive university professors who teach undergrad courses to the darkest pits of despair.

But are the applications of artificial intelligence limited to worldly matters?

On today’s episode, we discuss how strings of words generated by mindless neural network predictions over tokenized inputs are burrowing into our very souls. First, we speak to Rolling Stone journalist Miles Klee, who recently published a fascinating investigation into people who have fallen into spiritual fantasies because of their conversations with ChatGPT. And then Annie covers how conservative author Rod Dreher sees the devil in AI chatbots.

Have you heard the good news of our lord and savior: byte pair encoding tokenization?

Subscribe for $5 a month to get all the premium episodes:
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Miles Klee on Bluesky
https://bsky.app/profile/milesklee.bsky.social

People Are Losing Loved Ones To AI-Fueled Spiritual Fantasies
https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-features/ai-spiritual-delusions-destroying-human-relationships-1235330175/


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Editing by Corey Klotz. Theme by Nick Sena. Additional music by Pontus Berghe. Theme Vocals by THEY/LIVE (https://instagram.com/theyylivve / https://sptfy.com/QrDm). Cover Art by Pedro Correa: (https://pedrocorrea.com)

https://qaapodcast.com

QAA was known as the QAnon Anonymous podcast.

God, the Devil, and AI feat. Miles Klee (E323)

Covering everything from the Big Beautiful Bill, to Ted Cruz's interview with Tucker Carlson, to Israel's latest attempts to pull the United States into another war(s), to Trump's potential nuking of Iran

Support us on Patreon: www.patreon.com/trillbillyworkersparty

Episode 397: You Did Not Seek This Moment, This Moment Sought You

This week we're joined by returning guest Tracy Rosenthal to discuss the Zohran Mamdani mayoral campaign: how it was shaped, how it won the Democratic Primary, what it may look like going forward, and how the rest of the media and political class is reacting to it. But first, we catch up on some housekeeping re: Israel and the U.S.'s war against Iran, and talk very briefly about Peter Thiel's fixation on the Antichrist.

Support us on Patreon: www.patreon.com/trillbillyworkersparty

Episode 398: If You Don't Fight, You Lose (w/ special guest Tracy Rosenthal)

This week we're talking "toxic empathy," more Epstein-Trump news, and finally the new Democratic formula for success: saying more curse words

Support us on Patreon: www.patreon.com/trillbillyworkersparty

Episode 401: Gotta Have Them Libs

Episode 225: How US Media Frames Democracy that Actually Helps People as "Buying Votes"

Will welcomes comedian Eddie Pepitone to the show for a bonus interview. They rap on keeping comedy political, celebrity sell-outs, veganism, Bill Maher vs. Billy Joel, trying to calm the rage, and of course, being Just Kids From New York. 

Check out Eddie’s new special at: https://veeps.com/eddiepepitone

It is your last day to pre-order YEAR ZERO: A Chapo Trap House Comic Anthology at badegg.co/products/year-zero-1!


BONUS - The Bitter Buddha feat. Eddie Pepitone

Conspiracy theories, melted online communities and cursed media — we pry open the cracks in consensus reality and journey into the hidden worlds below. The QAA Podcast is a mix of reporting, comedy, and history hosted by Jake Rockatansky, Travis View, and Julian Feeld along with co-hosts Annie Kelly, Liv Agar and Brad Abrahams. Formerly known as the QAnon Anonymous podcast.