Right-wing religious fanatics want women to have more children with bread-winning men. Donald Trump views masculinity as synonymous with physical toughness. The synthesis: instead of using prosperity to make family formation more appealing, what if we just crushed female employment and made most jobs manual labor?

In this episode, Matt and Brian discuss:

* How Trump’s economic policy and disdain for white-collar professionalism might actually drive men into blue-collar work, and women into the kitchen.

* Why this is a bad idea!

* Whether Trump’s fear of backlash suggests Republicans will ultimately lack the courage of their convictions to stick with this attempted cultural revolution.

Then, behind the paywall, what, if anything, can liberal elites do to make progressive politics and the Democratic Party more appealing to men—particularly men who like the idea of working hard and playing by the rules to get ahead, but don’t like Trump’s lying, misogyny, and authoritarianism? Can quietly competent Democrats like Chris Van Hollen out “man” testosterone-addled incompetents like Pete Hegseth? And is the solution to this gender-driven tension for men to spend less time online and more time socializing?

All that, plus the full Politix archive are available to paid subscribers—just upgrade your subscription and pipe full episodes directly to your favorite podcast app via your own private feed.

Further reading:

* Brian on how men can be manly without working in the mines at the behest of soft elites like Trump and Elon Musk.

* Matt on the gender politics of Trumponomics.

* Stephan Schubert.

Two weeks into his trade war, Donald Trump has made at least a few tactical retreats, and markets have stabilized a bit as a result. Are we just in the eye of the storm? Or is it possible the economic fallout from the trade war won’t be as severe as we feared on LIBERATION DAY?

In this episode, Matt and Brian discuss:

* Why did markets recover significantly (though not entirely) from the big sell off after Trump launched the trade war?

* Who has a better read on the harm Trump is likely to do to the United States and its economy, traders or Democrats?

* Even in a least-bad case scenario, isn’t Trump setting himself up to absorb more economic blowback than Joe Biden did for presiding over a year of moderate inflation?

Then, behind the paywall, how can Democrats hedge against the possibility that public opinion won’t do all their political work for them? Between Trump violating court orders, and Democrats facing greater threats of violence, how likely are we to lose democracy well before the midterm elections? What if anything can Democrats do to keep the rule of law intact enough to have a fair shot next November? What kinds of candidates should they recruit to maximize their odds of retaking power, even if the economy doesn’t collapse?

All that, plus the full Politix archive are available to paid subscribers—just upgrade your subscription and pipe full episodes directly to your favorite podcast app via your own private feed.

Further reading:

* Matt on the trade-deficit myths driving Trump’s economic self-sabotage.

* Brian on how House Democrats can exploit the rules to run down the clock and draw attention to the assault on democracy, and growing momentum for resistance.

* Democrats plan a fact-finding trip to the CECOT gulag in El Salvador.

Last week, in one fell swoop, Donald Trump wiped out trillions of dollars in wealth, upended all of our trade relations, and poised the U.S. for a lengthy recession and higher prices. His big money backers are in freakout mode. He’s made himself politically vulnerable in dramatic fashion, but also undermined the foundations of the American age.

In this episode, Matt and Brian discuss life with (and after?) Trump’s tariffs:

* How the fuck did Trump’s billionaire backers get this so catastrophically wrong?

* Is Trump looking for an offramp, where he “negotiates” away these tariffs in exchange for symbolic victories, or are they here to stay?

* How does uncertainty around that question exacerbate damage to the economy economic?

Then, behind the paywall, where, if anywhere, do we go from here? Are Democrats handling the situation optimally, in both legislative and messaging contexts? Would it even matter all that much if Congress revoked presidential tariff authority, now that the whole world sees us as erratic and untrustworthy? Is there a path back to an American-led global economic order, or are we just permanently poorer?

All that, plus the full Politix archive are available to paid subscribers—just upgrade your subscription and pipe full episodes directly to your favorite podcast app via your own private feed.

Further reading:

* Brian on what it would look like to really reverse America’s Trump-induced collapse.

* Matt’s 29 thoughts on Liberation Day™️.

* Josh Marshall on how all power is unitary.