On March 17th, the candidate Daniel Biss defeated 15 other democratic challengers in the primary election for Illinois' 9th Congressional District. It was one of the most closely watched in the country, in which Biss, and other candidates, were up against millions of dollars in ad spending from dark money super pacs like "Elect Chicago Women", and "Chicago Progressive Partnership". These vaguely-named pacs were all fronts for AIPAC, the big-spending Pro-Israel lobbying group which threw money and ads at various candidates, in hopes of electing Laura Fine, who eventually came in third. Biss won by putting AIPAC, and their influence, at the center of his campaign.

Today on the show Matt and David talk with Biss about what it's like to go up against the AIPAC lobbying machine, how these pacs used their vast resources to distort the race in real time, and what the democrats should do if they take back congress in the upcoming midterms.

Ever since the US and Israel began bombing Iran, the Strait Of Hormuz has become the most watched shipping lane in the world economy. The strait itself is just a narrow waterway between the Persian Gulf and the Gulf Of Oman, but much of the world's oil and other crucial material, such as industrial helium, flow through it. Now, after weeks of bombing and retaliation, the strait is gummed up, with hundreds of ships stranded, little traffic, and no end in sight. We're already seeing prices at the pump begin to spike, and the stock market has cooled, but according to our guest, we haven't actually felt any true material shocks, yet.

Today on the show Matt and David talk with Salvatore Mercogliano, former merchant marine, maritime history professor at Campbell University, and host of the popular What's Going on With Shipping? on Youtube. Together they break down what's happening, why the high prices we're seeing at the gas pump are only a precursor to actual shortages, and what to look for as we begin to feel the supply chain pinch.

With the federal government largely stepping back from antitrust enforcement, who's picking up the slack? California Attorney General Rob Bonta makes the case that state attorneys general are filling the void, and he's got the caseload to prove it. David and Matt speak with Bonta about his remarkable portfolio of active fights: the Ticketmaster/Live Nation trial (which the states pressed forward with after the DOJ settled), a price-fixing case against Amazon, social media addiction suits against Meta and TikTok, and a challenge to the Nexstar/TEGNA local TV merger that could give a single broadcaster control over news in 70% of American households. Bonta doesn’t shy away from describing what he sees in DC as corruption. He also has a direct message for anyone in Hollywood nervous about the Paramount/Warner Brothers investigation: it's not illegal to talk to his office and they want to hear from you.

As bombs started to fall on Iran, some Americans cashed in by placing bets on prediction markets like Polymarket and Kalshi. These bets paid out hundreds of thousands of dollars to users who almost certainly had inside information about the exact timing of the attacks. Similar bets were made on the assassination of Iran's Ayatollah, turning an act of murder into a commodity.

As these markets have come to embrace acts of violence, often rife with insider trading, Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut has introduced legislation to curb betting on government actions and similar events. His bill, Banning Event Trading on Sensitive Operations and Federal Functions, or the BETS OFF Act, was introduced this past Tuesday.

Today on the show, Matt and David talk to Sen. Murphy about the problem of prediction markets, both political and moral. They also get into the war in Iran, its rudderless trajectory, and the Pentagon’s $200 billion request to continue fighting, perhaps indefinitely. Finally, they discuss how to get out of the morass we have found ourselves in as a country that seems to keep making big, bad decisions, and ask whether Trump and the war are just symptoms of a larger problem plaguing America.

In a shocking turn of events, the federal government settled their longstanding anti-trust action against Live Nation after a week of in-court proceedings. This process was described as “mind-boggling” by the judge, and surprised counsel on both sides along with many states’ attorneys generals who are also suing Live Nation.

Today on the show we break down the case against Live Nation and Ticketmaster (which it acquired back in 2010) with two guests: Gigi Liman, who is reporting on the trail for bigtechontrial.com, and Tommy Dorfman, a live music promoter who has been in litigation with Live Nation for over a decade. Together with Matt and David they break down the proceedings, how Live Nation uses mafia-like tactics to secure its monopoly, and where the case goes from here as states pick up the prosecutorial baton from a compromised federal justice department.

This week we discuss the recently rediscovered history of midcentury lighting, the elegant modernist style of lamps and fixtures that emerged in small design firms and flourished from the 1940s through the 70s. By that point, they were being consumed by megacorporations that flattened their products’ quality and style, and they gradually drifted out of fashion, and memory.

This style was spearheaded by a company called Modeline, but until recently dealers and scholars alike often misattributed their work and the work of similar designers. Our guest today is Nick Ferrell, a dealer, author of Modeline of California: Pioneer of Modern Lighting, and proprietor of Estheticvintage, who has been instrumental in correcting the record. Together we discuss the history of these nature-inspired lamps, how a spirit of artistic openness and economic solidarity fostered these beautiful objects, and how greed and consolidation spelled their end.

In a shocking move this week, Netflix declined to raise its bid against Paramount for control of Warner Bros. After months of corporate tug-of-war, Paramount and David Ellison have taken a giant step towards controlling Warner Bros’ linear television assets, including CNN, its streaming service HBO Max, and its film studio, which just had a blockbuster year. Without question, this deal will lead to mass layoffs, fewer shops to sell work to in Hollywood, and leverage massive debt against Paramount: so why is Paramount and Trump-World so desperate for it, and why did Netflix get cold feet? Today on the show, Matt and David dig into the deal, its questionable legality, and how antitrust objections may play out from both federal and state attorneys general.

Besides data centers, climate change, and regulatory capture, there is yet another reason utility rates are far outpacing inflation: private equity! On this episode, we try to understand why investor-owned utilities, which provide electricity to the majority of Americans, continue to reap profits at the expense of their customers. These entities are supposed to be regulated by state governments, but why is enforcement often so toothless? And why does venture capital want to get involved in something as thin-margined as utilities?

To answer that, we are joined by Marissa Gillett, a former utility regulator and senior fellow at the American Economic Liberties Project, along with James Baratta, a writing fellow at The American Prospect. Together, we try to untangle some of the regulatory spaghetti and dig into James’ recent reporting on the venture capital firm Blackstone’s bid to acquire a New Mexico utility, and the stock deal that could undo it if regulators are brave enough to follow the law.