California innovation sent us to the moon in 1969. Today it spends $126 billion on high-speed rail to nowhere and loses $180 billion in welfare fraud. While Artemis II circled the moon for the first time in half a century, taking humans farther from Earth than ever before, California continued on its budget spiral to hell.

Chris Rufo’s recent reporting exposed that Gavin Newsom has presided over an “empire of fraud” across the state’s generous unemployment insurance, Medicaid, and homelessness programs. What happened to the state that elected Ronald Reagan and built Silicon Valley?

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Check my sources over on Substack: https://open.substack.com/pub/dadsavesamerica/p/california-sent-us-to-the-moon-now?r=24ayxm&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true

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I sat down with Matt Taibbi, the reporter who broke the Twitter Files, to trace how the American press went from honest journalism to deep state propaganda.

Matt spent about a decade studying and working as a journalist in Russia, witnessing the collapse of the Soviet Union and the rise of Vladimir Putin. When American meddling in Ukraine led to Russian military intervention in 2014, he was uniquely positioned to understand what was really going on.

This conflict set the stage for over a decade of American politics, from the rise of Donald Trump, to Russiagate, to the Hunter Biden laptop scandal and the FBI censorship plot that followed. Matt saw Soviet propaganda up close, and he’s convinced the fight for free speech in America is more urgent than ever.

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Stay ahead of the spin. Go to ground.news/dsa to cut through media bias and see the full picture. Use my link to get 40% off the unlimited access Vantage plan.

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Follow Matt Taibbi on X (formerly Twitter): https://x.com/mtaibbi?s=20

Check out Racket News: https://www.racket.news/

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Outline:

[0:00] Matt's journalism origin story

[5:06] Why Dr. Jay Bhattacharya was censored during COVID

[13:23] What the Missouri v. Biden ruling actually means

[19:19] The government wants to control your mind

[25:39] Free speech used to unite Americans

[31:28] The unbridled arrogance of elite journalism

[43:54] Studying and working in the Soviet Union

[54:28] Russia’s financial crisis and the dot-com bubble

[1:02:19] Witnessing the rise of Vladimir Putin

[1:13:12] Taking over Hunter S. Thompson’s job at Rolling Stone

[1:16:21] Obama, NATO expansion, and the road to Ukraine

[1:20:48] The real reason Russia annexed Crimea

[1:30:20] Is American influence in Ukraine overblown?

[1:37:16] Biden family corruption in Ukraine

[1:44:31] How Matt knew Russiagate was a scam

[2:02:14] Elon’s DM and getting access to the Twitter Files

[2:12:30] No one wanted to cover the censorship crisis

[2:18:05] Figuring out what was actually in the Twitter Files

[2:25:54] How the Hunter Biden laptop story was censored

[2:39:30] Proof that government is behind social media censorship

[2:46:55] Did Trump’s reelection actually strengthen free speech?

[2:52:17] How Wilsonian liberalism overtook populist liberalism

[2:57:07] Fight for American values for the sake of your kids

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Marc Andreessen’s claim that “introspection is overrated” sparked a predictable media backlash, but the real debate isn’t about therapy culture or woke narcissism. In a world shaped by AI, social media algorithms, and increasingly rigid ideologies, we’re losing the ability to question ourselves. That’s where things get dangerous.

This Good Friday, I’m reflecting on Alexander Solzhenitsyn’s “Live Not by Lies,” the sin of pride, and why Christ is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. The symbol of the Cross is a reminder that suffering is unavoidable and that humility is the path to truth.

Resisting pride means admitting when you’re wrong, something our social media-driven culture rarely rewards. Committing yourself to truth, even when it’s inconvenient, means accepting that cost.

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I sat down with investor and economist David Bahnsen to unpack what really happened in the 2008 financial crisis. Socialists blame capitalism and Wall Street, while libertarians blame the government, especially the Federal Reserve, but David argues that all of the popular narratives are missing a key piece. He places a significant amount of the blame on what he calls the “Crisis of Responsibility,” also the title of his book on the subject.

Bankruptcy and foreclosure were once seen as shameful events, not standard parts of the American dream of homeownership. By the time of the financial crisis, signing up for a mortgage you obviously couldn’t afford had been normalized on all sides: lenders, investors, and even “average Americans” themselves.

We dig into how easy money, government backstops, and cultural decay fueled a nationwide housing bubble and, in the end, turned both the left and right against free markets and toward populism.

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Follow David Bahnsen on X (formerly Twitter): https://x.com/DavidBahnsen?s=20

Preorder a copy of “Crisis of Responsibility”: https://a.co/d/04GlVHsW

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Outline:

[0:00] The financial crisis broke the American economy

[10:12] What is “neoliberalism”?

[15:20] Was Ron Paul right about the financial crisis?

[20:21] The moral failing of the financial crisis

[29:07] Low interest rates and government-backed mortgages

[37:40] Wall Street really believed their own lies

[41:20] The crisis of responsibility and the cult of housing

[47:25] How can we make housing more affordable?

[55:42] The generational shift in home ownership

[1:06:09] Populism, elitism, and luxury beliefs

[1:18:15] Is government too big to fix?

[1:27:18] The death of policy debate in America

[1:33:15] Can liberalism survive without Christianity?

[1:45:08] Freedom and virtue have to go together

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The TSA is running out of staff, airport security lines are spiraling out of control, and Congress still can’t resolve its fight over DHS funding. This isn’t just a temporary breakdown. We’re seeing what happens when a $12 billion government “solution” finally gets stress-tested. Despite collecting billions in additional fees from travelers every year, the TSA still can’t maintain basic service and even fails its core security mission at an alarming rate when fully funded.

Before 9/11, airport security was largely operated by private entities. Today, a handful of U.S. airports still use private contractors under TSA rules and regulations. They follow the same general procedures, but consistently deliver faster lines and better service. The rest of the country is stuck in the middle of Washington turf wars that treat air travel as a bargaining chip, tying essential operations to unrelated legislation while workers go unpaid and travelers miss flights.

If private airport security is a proven model, why are most of us stuck with substandard government service? What would a system built on real incentives and accountability actually look like?

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Check my sources over on Substack: https://open.substack.com/pub/dadsavesamerica/p/the-tsa-wastes-12-billion-and-still?r=24ayxm&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true

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I sat down with Harvard professor and bestselling author Arthur Brooks to unpack why so many people, especially young men, feel lost in modern life. Drawing on his new book, “The Meaning of Your Life,” Arthur explains how the digital simulation most of us live in keeps us distracted, while failing to satisfy our desire for meaning. Love, happiness, and faith are side effects of pursuing truth and purpose, not goals you can eventually reach. We discuss whether culture or politics is the true source of our society’s troubles, how religion is successfully transmitted across generations, and which habits make for strong marriages in the long run.

Join Arthur’s free “The Meaning of Your Life Virtual Experience” on March 27, a live, immersive journey designed around the groundbreaking findings in his new book, “The Meaning of Your Life: Finding Purpose in an Age of Emptiness.” Learn more at http://themeaningofyourlife.com/

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Follow Arthur Brooks on X (formerly Twitter): https://x.com/arthurbrooks?s=20

Preorder a copy of Arthur’s new book: http://themeaningofyourlife.com/

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Outline:

[0:00] Reflecting on making “The Pursuit” together

[2:13] What does it mean to be an adult?

[7:40] What are your emotions telling you?

[11:37] Left vs right in 2026

[19:48] Are we more in need of policy reform or cultural repair?

[27:48] The psychogenic epidemic and the cycles of history

[37:47] No period of history is all good or all bad

[40:58] How to be masculine in a feminine era

[44:58] We’re living in a gnostic simulation

[47:03] What does “meaning” actually mean?

[52:02] How to raise your kids in your values

[55:04] Contempt destroys marriages

[1:00:39] Getting back into religion in middle age

[1:06:53] Choosing persuasion over coercion makes us human

[1:13:37] Exit the Matrix, find your mate, and find meaning

[1:20:41] 4 strategies that will save most marriages

[1:24:46] Finding your career calling in the AI era

[1:33:17] Is Bryan Johnson is right about mortality?

[1:36:34] The fight between fear and love

[1:41:20] Why men struggle to “feel” their faith

[1:48:15] Science and faith aren’t in conflict

[1:53:30] Has the Enlightenment gone too far?

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Iran has closed the Strait of Hormuz, and gas prices are on the rise. Fossil fuels power every aspect of modern life, from transportation to manufacturing to food. If something doesn’t change fast, we could be facing an inflation crisis once again. I’m breaking down how climate extremism, price controls, and the Middle East’s “resource curse” have created the perfect storm for worldwide economic mayhem.

As gas surpasses $8 per gallon in some parts of California, you’d think Gavin Newsom might rethink his climate and energy policies, but with only eight oil refineries left in the state, the damage is done. Texas, on the other hand, has a much stronger local infrastructure to weather the storm. In the end, our choices are gambling on a utopian fantasy or embracing the reality of physics.

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Check my sources over on Substack: https://open.substack.com/pub/dadsavesamerica/p/8-gas-oil-cut-off-has-trumps-iran?r=24ayxm&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true

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I sat down with Ian Rowe, an education entrepreneur and senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, to unpack why raising kids with a sense of agency is the key to lifelong success. Ian defines agency as free will guided by moral discernment, closely related to the concept of “ordered liberty.” Today, low expectations and racial victimhood narratives are trapping kids in cycles they could otherwise escape. We dig into why the “success sequence” of education, work, marriage, and then children is so effective at preventing poverty. In a culture where good advice is smeared as “victim blaming,” Ian offers a more productive and hopeful vision for the most disadvantaged Americans.

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Follow Ian Rowe on X (formerly Twitter): https://x.com/IanVRowe?s=20

Purchase a copy of Ian’s book, “Agency”: https://a.co/d/0cWhn8dy

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Outline:

[0:00] Ian and I have a lot in common

[2:58] What is agency and why does it matter?

[6:04] How religion breaks the cycle of disfunction

[14:52] Entrepreneurship is a problem-solving mindset

[18:07] Is the mental health crisis a self-fulfilling prophecy?

[25:08] How do kids transition into adulthood?

[35:37] Why is the “success sequence” controversial?

[39:21] We need to bring back shame

[43:48] The problems facing black Americans

[59:22] Are black voters shifting politically?

[1:05:59] How racial guilt gets in the way of teaching

[1:11:45] Teachers have forgotten how to teach

[1:17:04] Identity obsession vs universal virtues

[1:25:58] Truth, nihilism, and the black market of ideas

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