Podcast Summary: "Everyone Hates Them: Trump, the Media, and Jimmy Kimmel"

It Could Happen Here – September 30, 2025

Hosted by Mia Wong with guest Vicky Osterweil

Episode Overview

This episode explores the paradoxical and unsettling state of American society and politics in 2025, particularly focusing on Donald Trump’s declining popularity, the machinations of media conglomerates, and the symbolic fiasco around the firing and rehiring of Jimmy Kimmel. The hosts analyze the disconnect between the reality of Trump’s lack of broad support and the alternate reality projected by captured media and corporate interests, discuss the infrastructural and cultural failures of U.S. authoritarianism, and reflect on the deeper roots and vulnerabilities of the spectacle that underlies American politics and commerce—with Disney as a symbolic epicenter.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. “Why Does It Feel Like This?” – The Trump Paradox

• Despite the omnipresent aura of Trumpism in the media, Trump’s actual approval ratings remain low, hovering around 41%. Mia highlights how even his “most popular” policy (immigration) garners just 42% support (04:00).
• Quote: “No one actually likes him or anything that he does...41% is still like a lot of people, but it's not the majority of the country.” — Mia (04:31)
• The sense of public alienation is growing even in areas considered Trump strongholds, illustrated by a special election in Iowa’s deep-red, gerrymandered district flipping to Democrats (05:00).
• Structural discontent is visible: American farmers feel alienated, economic bailouts aren’t working, and even foundational alliances (pharma, military, bureaucracy) are fraying due to erratic administration policies (06:00–07:30).

2. The Economic Spectacle and the “AI Boom”

• The disconnect between ground reality (rising prices, job scarcity) and metrics watched by the elite (stock market highs, tech GDP numbers) is discussed as symptomatic of a deeper illusion (07:50–10:00).
• Tech’s overrepresentation in GDP growth—a “35 to 45%” chunk driven by just a handful of big companies, especially Nvidia—is cited as evidence that “the whole economy is candles” (09:45–10:38).
• Quote: “We are actually living through the famous old tweet...‘Someone help fix my economy.’ We're living in the candles tweet. The whole economy is candles.”—Vicky (10:29)

3. The Media Reality Tunnel

• Localized economic suffering (“on the ground in Wisconsin”) is not being reflected in mainstream narratives, contributing to widespread unreality and disorientation (11:18).
• Quote: “Part of what is so crazy making about this current moment is precisely that disconnect between the on the ground experience...and the fact that like, AI is very obviously not interesting or good and no one likes it.” — Vicky (11:24)
• The so-called “vibe session” economy (during Trump’s first term) is deconstructed as largely an illusion propped up by small business optimism and spectacle, not real material improvement (12:37–13:49).

4. Media Capture: Trump, Musk, and the Corporate Bourgeoisie

• The Trump regime’s partial yet effective takeover of mass media is underlined. Trump allies now exert strong influence through ownership (Elon Musk and X/Twitter), buyouts, and financial leverage (20:41–22:30).
• Senior management purges and positions taken in favor of publishing authoritarian rhetoric are detailed as contributing to a media-created myth of Trump’s popularity.

5. The Charlie Kirk and Jimmy Kimmel Moments: Disinformation Meets Reality

• A recent, failed attempt by the conservative media machine to manufacture mass mourning for Charlie Kirk (after his death and “martyrization”) is cited as an example of the system’s crumbling credibility. A hastily assembled memorial video on Sinclair and YouTube garnered fewer viewers than Mia’s own show (24:08–24:30).
• Quote: “This means that I am very, very proud of this. More people listen to me complaining...than watched the stupid fucking Charlie Memorial.” — Mia (24:08)
• Contrastingly, the firing of Jimmy Kimmel and subsequent mass boycott pressure forced Disney to reverse course within a week—a rare instance where public sentiment forced a corporate hand (27:12).
• Quote: “It’s not really about Jimmy Kimmel. It’s because everyone hates this man [Trump].” — Vicky (27:44)

6. Disney, Copyright, and Corporate Fascism

• Vicky details the argument from her forthcoming book on Disney as a state-like actor, wielding intellectual property as a main source of power and exemplifying broader trends in asset-light, image-heavy capital (35:51–41:30).
• Disney’s unique status (owning physical territory and wielding outsized lobbying power) is explored, showing how the company upholds a fantasy of innocence while enforcing draconian control over its creations.
• The tension between Disney’s corporate interests and Trump’s demand for public displays of loyalty highlights fractures in the coalition that enables modern authoritarianism (41:30–43:57).

7. The Collapse of the Spectacle: Trump’s Failure to Control Reality

• Trump’s power, in part, has stemmed from puncturing the media spectacle—the elaborate facade that mediates public consensus—a feat previously enabled by compliant institutions. Now, those institutions are purged and only mimic his rhetoric, producing visible seams in the constructed narrative (43:24–45:26).
• The “spectacle remains torn,” so even as the machinery of message coordination intensifies, ordinary people increasingly see through it (45:28–46:46).
• Quote: “Now they all just repeat what he says. And what ends up happening is that the spectacle just remains torn and people see through it. It's just not working anymore.” — Vicky (45:28)

8. Unpopularity, Resistance, and Limits of Authoritarian Power

• Despite terrifying policies (notably on immigration), Trump’s regime is unable to generate broad active support—large-scale raids provoke resistance, even in former right-wing strongholds (47:21–48:40).
• Examples include direct actions stopping ICE raids in Wheaton, once the home base of the Christian right (48:15–48:40).
• Organizational blunders and purges (including at the FBI) make the regime less able to identify and suppress genuine resistance (51:36–53:56).

9. The Limits of Media-Powered Autocracy

• Comparisons are made to other authoritarian states (Modi’s India, Erdogan’s Turkey, Orban’s Hungary, Milei’s Argentina), which either built power gradually or collapsed quickly when overreaching (54:18–55:51).
• The American regime’s inability to fully fuse media and state power (as Disney and the Nazis did historically) may ultimately be its undoing—a “material limit” is reached when spectacle alone cannot sustain power (55:51–57:12).

10. Resistance and the (Dis)integration of the State

• The regime’s ongoing reliance on spectacle is brittle; all parties, from state bureaucracies to the public, can disrupt compliance. Examples: the pharmacist workaround on vaccine policies; institutions quietly resisting enforcement (60:30–60:49).
• Quote: “That’s the fun thing about existence is that they can’t just make it real unless you help them.” — Mia (59:18)

Notable Quotes

• “The entire terrain of the world is shifting beneath us while all of these people constantly try to like, paint over this, like, little tiny scaffolding they've set up to be like, no, no, the ground's still there.” — Mia (49:35)
• “Disney designed...that if you can control the way your product appears in the market and you can control the images...you can really do whatever you want materially behind the scenes.” — Vicky (40:24)
• “Trump is too perfect a product of that, and this regime is too perfect a product of that. And now it’s all, you know, it is its own gravedigger.” — Vicky (43:26)
• “If it was possible to just speak reality into existence, we would all be living under neoconservatism, right?” — Mia (56:00)

Important Timestamps

• Trump’s approval rating, special election, and real unpopularity: 04:00–06:00
• AI and tech sector “candle” economy: 09:31–10:38
• Media’s alternate reality and the spectacle’s collapse: 11:24–13:49, 43:24–45:26
• Charlie Kirk memorial and Jimmy Kimmel firing/boycott: 24:08–28:04
• Disney as fascist state and IP regime: 35:51–43:00
• Comparison to other authoritarian regimes: 54:18–55:51
• On enduring and resisting autocracy, “you don’t have to comply”: 59:18–60:49

Concluding Thoughts

The episode argues that while U.S. politics and media are deeply corrupted and authoritarian, the regime’s inability to generate broad legitimacy and relentless overreach have generated new, visible forms of resistance. The hosts encourage listeners to look for cracks in the spectacle, embrace the power of noncompliance, and recognize that even the most entrenched propaganda cannot wholly control reality. In the closing, they point out: “As we saw...the Charlie Kirk special doesn't go up...these massive institutions, they can't really get them in line. So why are you letting them get you in line?” (60:30)

Links and References

• Vicky Osterweil’s Book: The Extended Universe – Preorder at Haymarket Books
• Collective Writers/Work: cawshinythings.com (C.A.W.)

This episode balances sharp, critical humor with deep analysis of political spectacle and resistance, painting a picture both dire and unexpectedly hopeful for listeners navigating the chaos.