Podcast Summary: It Could Happen Here — "Executive Disorder: White House Weekly #45"

Date: December 12, 2025
Host: Cool Zone Media / iHeartPodcasts
Panel: Robert Evans, Garrison Davis, Mia Wong, James Stout (with Sophie Lichterman mentioned)

Overview

This episode is a rapid-fire weekly dispatch on political, cultural, and social collapse stories from December 4th to December 10th, 2025. While focusing primarily on the political chaos surrounding media monopolization, White House maneuvers, and emergent authoritarianism, the hosts also discuss contemporary headlines from the U.S. and beyond—ranging from the Warner Brothers' acquisition to alarming trends in national security policy and social disenfranchisement.

True to the show’s ethos, the hosts filter grim news through irreverent humor and a collective skepticism about power, while occasionally finding moments of cathartic comedy amid the ruins.

Key Topics & Insights

1. Media Monopolization and the Warner Brothers Takeover (03:55–11:04)

• Netflix vs. Paramount:
  The group unpacks the high-stakes bidding war for Warner Brothers, focusing on how media consolidation threatens the diversity and integrity of the American press. Paramount’s bid is powered by Skydance (Larry and David Ellison) and gets financial backing from Saudi, Abu Dhabi, and Qatari investors. Netflix is the other contestant, prompting speculation about which would be "less bad" for the future of film and journalism.
• Political Implications:
  • Paramount’s deal includes CNN, which, per hosts, could see it turned into a right-wing propaganda channel akin to what's happened to CBS under Barry Weiss. Netflix’s deal pointedly does not include CNN.
  • Paramount’s strategy seemingly rests on winning Trump’s favor, leveraging the "antitrust" card to try and stymie a Netflix acquisition.
  • Quote:
    “The basics here is that Paramount...recently acquired by Skydance...imposed Barry Weiss on CBS, which has become increasingly right-wing under her ‘leadership’.” —Mia Wong (05:33)
  • Jared Kushner’s consultancy is involved in Paramount’s bid, per Axios, intensifying the cronyism.
• Trump’s Manipulation:
  The president is enjoying the spectacle, “wanting Paramount and Netflix to compete for his approval,” neither side being close allies.
  • Quote:
    “None of them are particularly great friends of mine.” —Trump, quoted by Garrison Davis (09:12)
• Cultural Absurdity:
  • Bugs Bunny’s fate joked about being of personal interest to Saudi leaders ("The entire Saudi military is incapable of stopping Bugs Bunny." —Garrison Davis, 06:41).
  • The dismal options: “Netflix destroys film forever and the Nazis gain control of CNN. It’s a great system.” —Mia Wong (10:31)

2. Quickfire National and Local Political Updates (11:05–18:20)

• Food Not Bombs & Civil Liberties in Florida (12:28–13:45):
  Arrests for late-night food sharing led to city officials “white-knighting” by issuing unsolicited permits.
  • Quote:
    “Food Not Bombs is an action, not an entity...it’s a protest action.” —James Stout (12:50)
• National Guard Legal Challenges (13:47–14:54):
  A federal judge uses the Domestic Violence Clause to critique National Guard deployment, marking a new argument in curbing state violence.
• Democratic Resurgence in South (16:16–18:01):
  Democrats win Miami mayorship and flip state seats, even among traditionally conservative demographics.
  • “The Florida Democratic Party...make Bobo the Clown look like Napoleon. These are some of the most incompetent people in the history of politics and the Republicans are losing to them. That’s astonishing.” —Mia Wong (17:03)
• Notable Lawsuit:
  Conservative podcaster Benny Johnson threatens to sue Milo Yiannopoulos for outing him.
  • “We’ll be keeping up with this story pretty close. I know this has a lot of ramifications for listeners.” —Robert Evans (18:01)

3. J6 Pipe Bomb Investigation—Brony Angle & FBI Critiques (21:48–29:53)

• Suspect Identified:
  A man is arrested and charged with planting January 6th-related pipe bombs—identified via standard investigative techniques, not new evidence.
  • FBI’s slow action ridiculed: “...they had all the information they needed to have caught this guy very long ago and did not.” —Garrison Davis (23:38)
• Media Misdirection:
  Right-wing attempts to link the suspect’s My Little Pony fandom (“Brony”) to gender politics and “anarchism” mocked as a distraction.
• Online Radicalization and Violence:
  Discussion on how mass violence perpetrators often have more in common with each other than with any coherent political cause.

4. U.S. Immigration and Social Media Surveillance (41:00–47:20)

• ICE Deportation Scandal (40:17–42:15):
  The government deports a man granted asylum under torture conventions, in direct violation of a court order.
• Digital Surveillance Expansion (44:11–47:20):
  DHS and CBP announce plans to massively expand required social media, biometric, and “liveness” data collection for foreign tourism under ESTA, raising civil liberties and economic concerns.
  • “The normalization of this sort of social media scanning...to identify, you know, undesirable political beliefs...” —Robert Evans (46:28)
  • Practical impact: U.S. tourism-dependent economies (e.g., Florida) expected to suffer.
  • Another chilling point: “I have kind of my fringe fears this will be used to train LLMs.” —Garrison Davis (46:44)

5. National Security Strategy 2025: Nativism and Authoritarian Themes (48:19–57:39)

• Nationalist Rhetoric in Official Doctrine:
  The new NSS is described as the most ideologically explicit statement yet from the administration, blending Twitter-fueled white nationalist tropes with policy.
  • “We want Europe to remain European.” —NSS document, read by James Stout (50:34)
  • “This just sounds like your average white nationalist Twitter post.” —Robert Evans (50:34)
• Immigration as Scapegoat:
  Political and economic failures persistently blamed on immigration (border security reimagined as primary national security).
  • Directly evokes historical scapegoating and structural anti-Semitism (see Moishe Postone’s theories; Mia Wong at 57:07).
• Soft Power Decline:
  Hosts observe the U.S. has little soft power left to lose, undermining any claims of “restoring” it abroad.

6. Lighthearted/Darkly Ironic Moments (Selected)

• Snyderverse Conspiracy Cult (58:48–61:20):
  Banter about the unhinged online fandoms speculating that Saudi investors would restore Zack Snyder's DC films or even “execute his enemies.”
• Trans Housing Insecurity (62:50–65:05):
  The show closes on a serious note:
  • “If you have an extra room, put a trans person in it...people are going homeless and dying.” —Mia Wong (62:50)
  • The group discusses regional differences in housing pressures, the need for mutual aid, and the bleakness of “couch surfing as housing policy.”

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “It’s so cool that we live in an economy where your two options are Netflix destroys film forever and the Nazis gain control of CNN. Great system.” —Mia Wong (10:31)
• “We want Europe to remain European.” —NSS, read by James Stout (50:34)
• “This just sounds like your average white nationalist Twitter post.” —Robert Evans (50:34)
• “Food Not Bombs is an action, not an entity.” —James Stout (12:50)
• “The normalization of this sort of social media scanning...to identify, you know, undesirable political beliefs...” —Robert Evans (46:28)
• “If you have a couch, put a trans girl on your couch...cultural shifts toward sharing space more...can be mitigated by just putting people on your couch.” —Mia Wong (62:50)

Timestamps for Major Segments

• [03:55] — Warner Brothers acquisition: media consolidation, politics, Trump angle
• [11:12] — Local political stories: Florida, Food Not Bombs, Democratic wins
• [21:48] — January 6th pipe bomb suspect: Brony lineage, FBI critique
• [40:17] — ICE deportation scandal
• [44:11] — DHS/CBP surveillance expansion against tourists
• [48:19] — National Security Strategy 2025: explicit nativism
• [58:48] — Snyderverse fandom as an internet cult phenomenon
• [62:50] — Trans housing insecurity; call for mutual aid

Final Thoughts

The episode depicts a country and government that’s both collapsing and mutating, with nativist policies and media shenanigans intertwined, and communities urged to look out for each other as formal institutions falter. The hosts' tone is equal parts darkly comic, urgent, and sardonic—offering both trenchant critique and some deadpan gallows humor.

This is an essential episode for anyone wanting a crash-course in the political, economic, and cultural entropy of December 2025, and the various (often darkly funny) ways ordinary people, activists, and fandoms are contending with it.