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Make It Make Sense with Grant Hermes

Make It Make Sense with Grant Hermes

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Politics has never been more chaotic, and most podcasts just add to the noise. Make It Make Sense with Grant Hermes cuts through it.


Grant is an AP Award-winning journalist with over a decade of on-the-ground reporting on the biggest political stories, scandals, and elections in America. Twice a week, he takes the stories dominating the headlines and breaks them down in plain English — no jargon, no spin, no shouting.


If you care about what’s happening in this country but you’re exhausted by how it’s being covered, this is the show for you. Real reporting. Clear explanations. Actual context.


Make It Make Sense drops three times a week. Subscribe so you never miss it.

© 2026 Make It Make Sense with Grant Hermes Politica e governo Scienze politiche
Episodi
  • The Texas Senate Race Is Putting Trans Kids At Risk w/ Spencer Macnaughton from Uncloseted Media

    The Texas Senate Race Is Putting Trans Kids At Risk w/ Spencer Macnaughton from Uncloseted Media
    Oct 22 2026
    Over the course of the last week, Trump has had a remarkable number of incidents that raise serious questions about his mental state and physical health. He walked past his open limousine door and was turned around by a Secret Service agent while waving at no one. He tapped his right leg repeatedly in a pattern documented as a technique used by stroke recovery patients. Something visible below his right knee is affecting the shape of his pants, the way he walks, and the way he stands. In the Oval Office he snapped at a reporter with a flash of rage that Grant documents in detail, followed by four seconds of arm-pointing in which, as Grant puts it, he left his body. And in South Carolina, mid-sentence about Nikki Haley, Trump made a noise that caught even him by surprise. His eyes went wide, his jaw went slack, his tongue came out of his mouth, and for several seconds there was, as Grant describes it, no one home behind those eyes before he blinked back in and picked up where he left off. The White House has not commented on any of it.Grant is not making a diagnosis. He's documenting what's on camera and asking the same question any journalist should ask about anyone who holds the nuclear codes.Then: the Texas Senate race between James Talarico and Ken Paxton has become the most expensive Senate race in US history at over half a billion dollars. The dominant issue is not the economy, not the Iran war, not the border. It's anti-trans attacks against Talarico, who is not trans. A new investigation from Uncloseted Media and The 19th traced the entire network back to three posts on far-right Twitter in the minutes after Talarico won his primary, and the editor in chief of Uncloseted, Spencer McNaughton, formerly of 60 Minutes and the Wall Street Journal, walks Grant through exactly how it spread, who spread it, and what it means for trans Americans and the broader LGBTQ community.Join the SaySo News App! SaySo is a brand new news app built for people who actually want to be informed, not just keep scrolling. No outrage-chasing algorithm, no AI slop, just vetted creators delivering fact-driven coverage you can get through in a few minutes a day. I'm one of the early creators on the platform, posting there alongside others I trust. Check it out and download SaySoThis episode is supported by Vote.org. Midterms are November 3rd, and your voter registration may not be as solid as you think. Moving, a name change, or routine list maintenance can take you off the rolls without you noticing. Vote.org is free and nonpartisan. In about two minutes, you can check your registration, find your polling place, see your state’s deadlines, or request a mail-in ballot. Check now at Vote.org, then go vote.CHAPTERS:0:00 12 days out. Trump's health has become impossible to ignore on the campaign trail this week.2:00 The leg tapping, the brace visible below his right knee, and why Grant is documenting this4:00 Walking past the open limo door and waving at no one: what happened at three separate events6:30 The Oval Office rage flash: four seconds of pointing and what Grant says happened behind his eyes8:30 The South Carolina noise: mid-sentence, caught him by surprise, and then no one home for several seconds10:30 Why Grant is documenting this and why "what about Biden" is not the answer 13:00Sponsor break14:30 The Texas Senate race: half a billion dollars spent, Talarico up two in the latest Emerson poll16:00 The dominant issue: anti-trans attacks against a candidate who is not trans17:30 The mystery pamphlets: a shadowy Wyoming LLC, fake pro-trans group, sent to families across Texas18:55 Uncloseted's Investigation into the anti-trans attacks against James Talarico: A timeline.20:05 The investigation: three posts on far-right Twitter, eight minutes, and then it exploded22:43 The network: Greg Price, the NRSC, Ted Cruz's comms advisor, then Libs of TikTok and millions of followers25:53 AI ads of Talarico in dresses, defacing a Bible, about to perform surgery on a child: what Paxton spent tens of millions on28:20 Ashley Saint Clair: Elon Musk's former partner and former far-right operative on the group chats and the paid posts31:09 What this means for trans Texans and LGBTQ Americans: Spencer on the safety stakes35:30 Vance starting to go after gay people: moving the goalposts, and who has always been behind these laws39:22 The Democratic response: non-existent, and what that means going forward42:39 What Uncloseted Media does and why accountability journalism for LGBTQ issues matters right nowHow Anti-Trans Backlash To James Talarico Spread Like WildfireUncloseted MediaSubstackYoutubeInstagram: @unclosetedmediaSupport the showFollow along on social media SaySo: @GrantHermes X: @GrantHermesInsta: @Grant__HermesTiktok: Grant_Hermes
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    46 min
  • Vance Auditioned For President in Michigan. It Did Not Go Well.

    Vance Auditioned For President in Michigan. It Did Not Go Well.
    Oct 21 2026

    14 days to November 3rd. Today is a deep dive into the most important Senate race in the country: Michigan.

    JD Vance spent the weekend in Michigan campaigning for Republican candidate Mike Rogers. While he was there he sat for a CBS town hall that was, by every political measure, his first real audition for a presidential run. He got questions about gas prices, corruption, and the Iran war. Grant plays the key moments and walks through what Vance said, what he didn't say, and what it means that the Yale Law School graduate and vice president who gets daily intelligence briefings claimed he didn't know what conversation a Gold Star widower was asking about.

    On the Trump corruption question: in his first year back as president, Donald Trump has made $2.2 billion. That is $983 million more than he made in the previous 47 years of public filings combined. The top 29 holders of his personal cryptocurrency will get VIP access to a gala next month. Most of those spots appear to be held by overseas investors. Vance told the town hall he hasn't seen any corruption.

    Then there's Tommy. A viral clip from an El-Sayed town hall shows a young man named Tommy asking El-Sayed to disavow the Muslim Brotherhood based on a 2012 tweet from El-Sayed's estranged sister about a conversation with their mother from the 1970s, before El-Sayed was born, when the Brotherhood was a nonviolent movement. Tommy turns out to be Tommy Teepel, a paid Republican operative who until recently worked for Josh Hawley and whose father is connected to a prominent Christian nationalist who prayed over them at an event near Mar-a-Lago. Grant documents all of it, explains why El-Sayed's answer was both understandable and slightly flippant, and why nobody is asking Mike Rogers to disavow the 491 right-wing terror plots and attacks from the last 30 years.

    The episode ends with the most important frame for this race: if El-Sayed wins or loses, it won't just be about a Senate seat. It'll be about who gets to be the face of the Democratic Party after Biden and Harris, and what it says about us if the only options are doubling down on the racism or pretending it isn't there.


    Join the SaySo News App! SaySo is a brand new news app built for people who actually want to be informed, not just keep scrolling. No outrage-chasing algorithm, no AI slop, just vetted creators delivering fact-driven coverage you can get through in a few minutes a day. I'm one of the early creators on the platform, posting there alongside others I trust. Check it out and download SaySo

    This episode is in partnership with Vote.org. Midterms are November 3rd, and your voter registration may not be as solid as you think. Moving, a name change, or routine list maintenance can take you off the rolls without you noticing. Vote.org is free and nonpartisan. In about two minutes, you can check your registration, find your polling place, see your state’s deadlines, or request a mail-in ballot. Check now at Vote.org, then go vote.

    CHAPTERS:

    0:00 14 days out. Two weeks. Michigan is the race that tells us where both parties are heading.

    2:00 JD Vance's CBS town hall: his first real audition for president and why it went badly

    4:30 Gas prices and the Strait of Hormuz: what Vance said and what he conspicuously didn't

    7:00 Blaming Biden in month 21: when does this administration own the economy it created

    9:00 The corruption question: $2.2 billion in year one, Trump crypto VIP access, and "I haven't seen any"

    11:30 The Gold Star widower question: what the vice president with daily intel briefings said he didn't know

    13:30 What this town hall tells us about a potential President Vance before his campaign even starts

    15:00 Sponsor break

    16:30 Tommy: who he actually is, who his father is, and who prayed over them near Mar-a-Lago

    19:00 The Muslim Brotherhood context: what it is, what it isn't, and what El-Sayed's actual connection is

    21:30 El-Sayed's answer: why it was understandable, why it was slightly flippant, and why Rogers is lying

    24:00 Rogers on CNN: "an ideology we should worry about." He means Islam.

    25:30 Nobody is asking Rogers to disavow 491 right-wing terror plots. Grant on the double standard.

    27:00 Islamophobia at a 25-year high: 51% of Americans falsely believe Islam promotes violence

    29:00 What El-Sayed winning or losing actually means for the Democratic Party after Biden and Harris

    Support the show

    Follow along on social media

    SaySo: @GrantHermes
    X: @GrantHermes

    Insta: @Grant__Hermes

    Tiktok: Grant_Hermes
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    26 min
  • Iran, Russia, The World. Everyone Is Waiting on November 3rd w/ Eric Czuleger from The Under Report

    Iran, Russia, The World. Everyone Is Waiting on November 3rd w/ Eric Czuleger from The Under Report
    Oct 16 2026

    17 days to the midterms. Eric Zuleger is reporting live from Tirana, Albania, where violent protests have been building for 139 days and escalated this week into what he calls the most violence he has ever seen in five years of living there.

    The backstory: Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama made backdoor deals with Jared Kushner's private equity firm Affinity Partners and Saudi royal money to secretly sell off protected wetlands on Sazana Island and the Zvernets Peninsula, some of the last wild wetlands in Europe. A leaker gave Eric documents showing the development was four times larger than anyone knew and included a 350-berth mega yacht marina. The protests started peacefully, were ignored, and this week a student protest was met with state violence. The footage went viral. Now buildings are burning.

    Grant and Eric also cover: why government corruption just surpassed the economy as the number one voter issue in a Fox News poll for the first time Grant has ever seen this close to an election; Trump's Russia diesel deal, which amounts to about eight days of US diesel use and will do nothing for prices but tells Europe we're willing to buy Russian energy while telling them not to; Iran's smart strategy of giving Trump enough rope to choke himself and betting on a Democratic Congress to hamstring him; Saudi Arabia's existential problem with the Houthis and why they're asking the UAE to borrow their paramilitary back; and what a Democratic Congress can and can't actually do to constrain a president the Supreme Court has said can do almost anything.

    LINKS:

    The Under Report

    Join the SaySo News App! SaySo is a brand new news app built for people who actually want to be informed, not just keep scrolling. No outrage-chasing algorithm, no AI slop, just vetted creators delivering fact-driven coverage you can get through in a few minutes a day. I'm one of the early creators on the platform, posting there alongside others I trust. Check it out and download SaySo

    VOTE.org

    CHAPTERS:

    0:00 — Eric Zuleger is live from Albania where violent protests have been building for 139 days

    2:11 — The backstory: Jared Kushner’s Affinity Partners, Saudi money, and secretly sold protected wetlands

    4:32 — The Flamingo Revolution: leaker documents, four times the known size, a 350-berth mega yacht marina

    6:00 — Peaceful for 139 days, then a student protest met with state violence, footage went viral

    9:14 — What Eric is seeing on the streets: buildings burning, cat and mouse with police, no way to de-escalate

    12:34 — Secret kidnappings of protesters and break-ins at female dorms: what Eric is investigating right now

    15:00 — Why the movement is leaderless and why that’s both a strength and a problem

    17:16 — The global pattern: Albania, data centers, French schools — all the same extractive story

    22:40 — Government corruption just beat the economy as the top voter issue in a Fox News poll

    23:18 — Trump’s Russia diesel deal: eight days of US diesel use, means nothing for prices, tells Europe everything

    25:00 — Why you should be suspicious any time petroleum is measured in tons instead of barrels

    26:40 — Iran’s strategy: give Trump enough rope, wait for a Democratic Congress to hamstring him

    29:01 — Saudi Arabia’s existential Houthi problem and “can we borrow your paramilitary back?”

    33:00 — Where US strategy is actually working: South America, the Trump corollary, Colombia and Brazil

    40:46 — Where US strategy has clearly failed: the Middle East, and why the Iran pitch was Dunning-Kruger foreign policy

    48:00 — What a Democratic Congress can actually do: go after the people below Trump and flip them

    53:00 — The worst of both worlds scenario: Democrats win but have to cut the worst Iran deal in history

    58:00 — Eric says a Democratic wave in the Midterms could be good for Iran, not in the way you think.

    Support the show

    Follow along on social media

    SaySo: @GrantHermes
    X: @GrantHermes

    Insta: @Grant__Hermes

    Tiktok: Grant_Hermes
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    1 ora e 1 min
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