My conversation with Jonathan starts at about 42 minutes and Chris and I get started at 1:23 in to today's show after headlines and clips

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From Jonathan Larsen Substack

If you haven't heard of me, it's because I've spent most of my career behind the scenes writing and producing for Dan Rather, Keith Olbermann, Chris Hayes, Lawrence O'Donnell, Rachel Maddow, Anderson Cooper, Marc Maron, and a ton of other folks.

Even when it wasn't part of my job, I've always broken news, breaking stories about the powerful and how the system is rigged against the powerless. Without trafficking in speculation or outrage-bait. Far too much of our journalism — from fringe to mainstream — is focused on feeding us info-bits that feel like they mean something (about what's going to happen, or who someone really is) but don't actually have any bearing on the material lives of everyday people.

Until I was laid off in January 2024, I oversaw the original reporting of The Young Turks. Since then, I've been counting on reader support to continue breaking news here on Substack. (I also do an NSFW weekday-morning newsletter full of the kind of unabashed opinion-having that I make sure not to indulge in the reporting here on this Substack, because impartial journalism doesn't mean not having opinions it means being professional enough to ensure my reporting is intellectual honest.)

Here's what one well-known political scientist has to say about my work:

"Jonathan Larsen is a first rate investigative reporter … He just started a Substack. Subscribe! I did." — Norm Ornstein

And here's Mr. Rather:

"Jonathan is a first-rate, world-class professional… As a reporter, he's a deep-digger with an unrelenting dedication to fairness and accuracy."

I'm obviously extremely lucky to have worked with the people I have. My ethos for journalism is that "evil" is a poor explanation for human behavior. That applies to everyone from muggers and presidents.

I tend to reject simple and simplistic explanations for…why things are happening. People aren't perfectly logical, but anyone telling you that people are doing bad things because they're crazy or evil is selling you something you shouldn't be buying.

A lot of big accounts out there rile everyone up and rack up likes by calling out people for being evil. My moral high ground isn't enough for me to make that my calling. So I focus on revealing destructive forces at work and crappy systems. And, yes, exposing the people responsible.

It's my belief that elevation and illumination are how we get to a better place. I appreciate your support for these aspirations.

And if that's too earnest and saccharine for you, you should probably subscribe to The Fucking News!

I'm Chris Jones, and I'm running for Congress in Arkansas's 2nd District.

I grew up in Pine Bluff, where my story began in a community that taught me the values of faith, family, and hard work. Arkansas shaped who I am, and it continues to guide my vision for the future.

My path took me into science and technology, and through that work I've always kept Arkansas at the center. My life's work is about building bridges — between faith and science, between rural towns and urban centers, across generations. Wherever I've gone, I've carried Arkansas with me, and I've always come home.

I am a builder focused on opening doors and expanding opportunity and prosperity brick by brick, so every Arkansan has a seat at the table. I am a fighter who stands shoulder-to-shoulder with the people of this state. And I am a visionary who believes in the next Arkansas: a future shaped by a strong economy, democracy, growth, and entrepreneurship.

The table we are building rests on four legs: justice that treats every Arkansan with dignity, an economy that allows people to prosper, a democracy that reflects the will of the people, and innovation that prepares us for the challenges ahead.

I believe we can create good jobs and keep hospitals open. We can support families with access to health care and food security. We can invest in schools, teachers, and apprenticeships that prepare people for the jobs of tomorrow. And we can strengthen trust in government with fair maps, just rules, and effective leaders that listen to the people, not billionaires.

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