Daily Review with Clay and Buck - Dec 18 2025

Summary

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The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show

Daily Review with Clay and Buck - December 18, 2025
Host: Clay Travis (Buck Sexton on vacation)
Podcast: iHeartPodcasts
Episode Focus: Economic recovery, historical illiteracy and cancel culture, current events, and holiday family dynamics in a polarized America

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Overview

In this Thursday edition, Clay Travis helms the show solo as Buck Sexton begins his holiday break. Clay takes listeners through the latest news highlights, beginning with the encouraging decline in inflation, major stories like recent shootings at Brown University and MIT, and the cultural debate sparked by the removal of historic statues. The episode features in-depth interviews with Federalist reporter Brianna Lyman (on erasing American history) and psychotherapist Jonathan Alpert (on navigating strained family relationships during the holidays, especially given political divisions). Throughout, Clay mixes economic analysis, history nerd-outs, and signature candid commentary.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Good News: Inflation Drops to 2.7%

• [02:27–07:33]
  • Clay Travis opens with the "lowest level of inflation since the spring of 2021," at 2.7%, moving closer to the Fed’s 2% target.
  • Clay underscores the political and real-world stakes: "A big part of the 2026 election is going to be based on cost of goods affordability."
  • Expert Commentary:
    • Steve Liesman (CNBC economics reporter): "CPI... coming in a little bit better than expected. 2.7%. A little light here... four tenths off. That is a very good number here." (03:20)
    • Maria Bartiromo (Fox Business): "This is better than expected. We were expecting 3% on core. We got 2.6% CPI for the month... Much better than the 3.1% expected. Markets are on the move." (05:50)
    • Ken Rogoff (Harvard): "It was a better number than anyone was expecting... There's no other way to spin it." (07:05)
  • Clay’s analysis: Explains the inflation spike after Biden’s pandemic stimulus, the surge in interest rates, and the resulting freeze in the housing market.
  • Historical Parallels: Clay compares Trump’s current challenges to Reagan post-Carter, saying it takes time for policy improvements to be “felt” by the public.
  • Notable Quote:
    • "Telling that story is really challenging because you risk sounding like you don't understand what's really going on on the ground when you tell people things are getting better, but they can't feel it yet." (07:33)
  • Audience Engagement: Clay takes calls inviting listeners to add their perspective on economic frustrations.

2. Interview: Brianna Lyman on Cancel Culture and American Historical Literacy

• [22:29–36:04]
  • Clay introduces Brianna Lyman, highlighting her prominence in debates on statue removal/cancel culture (esp. Robert E. Lee in Virginia).
  • Lyman’s Perspective:
    • "The point of these statues is you're supposed to honor people you cannot tell the story of your state without... Robert E. Lee... was the face of reconciliation." (22:29)
    • Emphasizes historical context: Lee’s choice was "state first," common in the 1860s, not simple treason.
    • Points to a modern day “profound lack of historical literacy”:
      • "It's very easy for people in 2025 to sit back and say, he should have been executed... unless you're in 1860..." (22:57)
    • Clay adds: Radicals in Congress wanted “mass executions.” Reconciliation depended on Northern and Southern leaders urging unity.
  • Contemporary Relevance:
    • Lyman highlights the slippery slope:
      "If you're not morally perfect, your statue must come down—then so does Jefferson's, so does Washington's, because they owned slaves."
    • Cites MLK’s imperfect record as a reminder that no hero will stand up to future moral standards.
    • "All of us... are going to be judged as lacking by history because no one lives up to whatever the standard is in the future." – Clay (26:35)
  • Generational Reflection:
    Lyman (27) says many her age are “ashamed of our heritage,” a product of public and higher education.
    • "We've been indoctrinated... to a degree where we're ashamed of our heritage and our ancestors." (31:23)
  • Defining People by their 'Ceilings' or 'Floors':
    • "Do we define people by their ceilings or their floors? ... Democrats focus on the floor... Republicans tend to focus on the ceiling." – Clay (32:31)
  • The 250th Birthday of America:
    • Lyman, descendant of Revolution participants, advocates for honoring the founders, warns current politics could dampen national spirit in 2026.

3. Breaking News & Current Events

• [37:25–46:00]
  • Continued updates on Brown University and MIT shootings:
    • Clay notes ongoing lack of arrests (Brown) and the "assassination" of MIT nuclear professor Nuno Lauro.
  • The Kennedy Center is reportedly renamed to the Trump Kennedy Center—a story Clay flags for political symbolism.
  • On Conspiracies:
    • Clay rebuts Candace Owens' Turning Point USA assassination conspiracy on Piers Morgan's show:
    • "It's, I think, beyond the pale to suggest that someone at Turning Point was involved in trying to encourage the assassination of Charlie Kirk. I mean, that is, I think, absolutely a crazy loony Ben take." (45:02)
  • Conversation on the challenges posed by a media environment that rewards outlandish claims and the difficulty of combating defamation as a public figure.

4. Interview: Jonathan Alpert – Navigating Holidays Amid Political Division

• [56:59–68:04]
  • Clay welcomes back Jonathan Alpert, psychotherapist & author.
  • Alpert’s #1 Holiday Advice:
    • “People need to recognize that family and friends should be more important than Donald Trump or any political figure.” (57:54)
  • Real-life Callers:
    • Kathy from Birmingham: Asks how to deal with her Trump-hating 90-year-old father.
      • Alpert: Suggests “brief acknowledgment” of differences but focusing on familial love:
        “I understand that we don’t see eye to eye politically, but I love you, you’re my father... let’s focus on family.” (60:13)
    • Ryan from Boston: Notes the emotional intensity of division and asks whether this "Trump syndrome" will translate to future GOP leaders.
      • Alpert: Predicts some "hate" will persist but be less intense than for "outsider" Trump. Notes hate toward the right is more potent/confessional than toward the left. (63:03)
    • Mary from Texas: Offers advice to "lovingly" keep politics out of holiday gatherings.
      • Alpert: Endorses, "Friends and family are far more important than politics and should transcend any occupant of the White House." (65:11)
  • Clay’s Historical Perspective:
    • Notes that post-Civil War and Vietnam War families also faced deep rifts and believes the country’s endurance is proof there’s hope for healing.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Clay Travis, on reaching the public with economic news:
  "Telling that story is really challenging because you risk sounding like you don't understand what's really going on on the ground when you tell people things are getting better, but they can't feel it yet." (07:33)

• Brianna Lyman, on cancel culture and historical heroes:
  "If you're not morally perfect, your statue has to come down, then so does Jefferson's, so does Washington's—because they own slaves. And that's the entire point of this entire WOKE movement." (25:13)

• Clay, on the left's focus in history debates:
  "The Democrat Party in general focuses on the floor of American history... Republicans tend to focus on the ceiling." (32:31)

• Jonathan Alpert, on priorities during the holidays:
  "People need to recognize that family and friends should be more important than Donald Trump or any political figure that may be in our country. But all too often that's not the case." (57:54)

• Jonathan Alpert, on emotional division:
  "We have therapy culture...placing blame on everyone but their patient... We have grievance culture...and fragility. If people could just look at our country’s history, and you make a good point, that during the Civil war and after, families probably still got together and loved each other." (66:31)

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• 02:27–07:33 – Economic analysis: Inflation, rates, and the Biden/Trump economic storyline
• 22:29–36:04 – Interview: Brianna Lyman on defending American historical figures/statues
• 37:25–46:00 – News Roundup: MIT/Brown shootings, Trump Kennedy Center, debunking assassination conspiracies
• 56:59–68:04 – Interview: Jonathan Alpert on holiday family dynamics in a politically charged era
• 07:33, 25:13, 32:31, 57:54, 66:31 – Notable quotes (see above for attribution)

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Tone and Style

Clay's delivery is brisk, direct, and blends serious analysis with "history nerding out" and a touch of humor. Both interviews feature candid, passionate exchanges. The episode is optimistic about America's ability to heal division and vigilant about the dangers of historical ignorance and culture wars.

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For First-Time Listeners

This episode balances breaking news, trenchant economic and historical analysis, cultural commentary, and practical, heartfelt guidance on handling divisive times—especially relevant as the holidays approach. It's equally valuable for understanding today’s economic moment, the ideological battles shaping the country, and how to keep peace at the family dinner table.

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Transcript

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[Clay Travis]

Welcome in Thursday Edition. Clay travis, BUCK SEXTON SHOW we appreciate all of you hanging out with us. Buck has already, like many of your kids and grandkids, have started his Christmas vacation. He is off and about. I will be with you today and tomorrow solo, taking you into Christmas week. And there's a lot for us to dive into. A couple of different stories that are out there that we will be monitoring. We still have no idea who the Brown University shooter was. They've released a few more videos. I'll continue to update you with that. But I'm not optimistic that there is any imminent arrest that is coming there. And as a result, we still don't know a lot about whatever the decision might have been that was made that motivated that attack. So that is out there. The continued fallout of the awful Bondi beach shooting in Australia continues. But we begin with some good news. Inflation has just come in at the lowest level since the spring of 2021, when cost of goods began to skyrocket under Joe Biden as he poured trillions of dollars into the economy in the early days of what I think it's fair to call the worst administration in any of our lives. Inflation comes in at 2.7%. Again, the inflation goal for the Fed is 2%. We have been fighting our way back down since I believe it was June of 22. Team can correct me if I'm wrong or right on that. I think it was June of 22 that inflation hit 9.1% in this country and necessitated a rapid rise overall in interest rates. I'm going to actually break this down for you because a big part of the 2026 election is going to be based on cost of goods affordability. But I want to give you the latest information. I'll give you a couple of different ways that that this broke down. This was from CNBC economics reporter Steve Leesman. Here he is on cnbc reacting in surprise to the numbers on inflation coming in much lower than expected. Cut to the number of the morning. The cpi. Oh, maybe coming in a little bit better than expected. 2.7%. A little light here. I'm not calling. I'm just reading the headlines here. Year over year two. 7x food and energy core two six so four tenths off. That is a very good number here. All right. Very good number. That is cnbc. Here is Maria Bartiromo. Side note, I got to meet Maria Bartiromo for the first time. I think it was in early November at a Fox event and I was just giddy and buck would tell you this, and my wife would tell you this. I got to meet Joe Kernan. I was a kid who liked to watch CNBC back in the day. So Maria Bartiromo, Joe Kernan, for those of you who remember that era when there was no competition, I was so excited to meet her. And she, I was just giddy. And the fact that she knew me and she said, oh, I love what you and Buck are doing, that was awesome. Which reminds me, we should get her on the program. But here is Fox Business host Maria Bartiromo as this news comes out, reacting to it. Cut one. Inflation is running at maybe 2.9% right now, 2.7% year over year. Let me interrupt you. I'm sorry, Steve. 2.7% year over year is the number we were expecting. 2.6% is on core, 2.6% is core, and 2.7% is headline. This is better than expected. We were expecting 3% on core. We got 2.6% CPI for the month of November. We got headline number of 2.7%. Much better than the 3.1% expected. Markets are on the move.

[Commercial Voice]

Dow Industrials now at the highs of.

[Clay Travis]

The morning, up 165 on this number. Okay. As we speak to you, the Dow is near an all time high, The S P500 is near an all time high, and the NASDAQ is near an all time high. And there's no other way to spin it, says Harvard professor of Economics Ken Rogoff here. He is reacting to it as well. Again, cut three.

[Caller/Listener]

I mean, I was surprised.

[Clay Travis]

It was a better number than anyone was expecting.

[Caller/Listener]

Look, inflation's been very high.

[Clay Travis]

It stayed high.

[Caller/Listener]

It has not been coming down.

[Clay Travis]

But, you know, people were expecting it to be above 3%. It was well below 3%.

[Caller/Listener]

I mean, I think the president will take this as good news.

[Clay Travis]

The investors will think that interest rates.

[Caller/Listener]

Will get cut more. So, you know, it was, it was a positive news. There's no other way to spin it.

[Clay Travis]

Okay, we're going to get into President Trump's address last night, but this news has come out since then. And you might be saying, okay, Clay, what impact does this have on my life? Why does this matter? Let me kind of lay it out for you a little bit. I get that people are frustrated with what things cost. And let me take you on a little bit of a, of a journey and try to make sense of what, what happened and why you are angry, many of you, including me, at what the cost of goods actually are. When Joe Biden came into office. In January of 2021, inflation was right around 2%. That is the Fed's stated target. Very low inflation that is hard to recognize in general, cost of goods, 2% inflation. Almost immediately. The decision that Biden's team made on the economy was we have to juice the economy coming out of COVID There is danger in not spending enough money. We have to make sure that the federal government is the fire hose that is trying to spray as much economic growth as we can create. And remember, Biden came into office and immediately passed and spent trillions of dollars in spending increases because that was their idea. Hey, we can't go too small. We got to put as much money from the federal government into this economy as we can. And what happened almost immediately, overall inflation started to skyrocket because we were giving too many people cash. We were still at that time telling a lot of people, stay home, eat Cheetos. The government's got your back. You don't have to worry about income. You don't have to worry about paying for your cost of goods. And the value of a dollar began to plummet and inflation skyrocketed. And By June of 2022, everything had gone up. We were at a 9.1% inflation rate overnight. And I know many of you felt this. You would go out to get fast food or buy a pizza for your family, and everything just started costing way more than it should have. You were looking around, you were saying, how in the world did that pizza cost this much? I have talked about it a lot because the place that my family goes the most often is Chick Fil a. I love Chick Fil a. My boys love Chick Fil a. I've got three growing boys suddenly going through the Chick Fil a drive thru Starting in 2021, 2022, everything was over $50 for my family. That $50 used to be, hey, I can go have a sit down meal. I can go to Logan's Roadhouse. I can go to Applebee's, I can go to Chili's. I can eat an affordable sit down meal with an actual waitress coming to take our order. And all of you felt this. And it wasn't just cost of goods. Because inflation skyrocketed so fast, the overall rate of the fed interest rates also began to skyrocket. And this is where the cost of home started to explode at the same time that interest rates took off. And for those of you out there that were fortunate enough to buy homes in 2020 or 2021, you got two and a half percent mortgage rates, 15 year, 3%, 30 year rates, all sorts of unbelievable mortgage rates. And then suddenly the mortgage rates skyrocketed to over 7%. And a lot of you out there listening to me right now, you're still in those homes and you're saying, clay, I'm not going to move. I've got a 2 1/2% interest rate locked in. I've got a 3% interest rate locked in. So the overall housing market froze because a lot of people that otherwise might have been considering moving to another home because interest rates skyrocketed so fast as inflation skyrocketed so fast, money was so cheap that suddenly we had to raise the cost of interest rates to try to bring down the overall rate of inflation. And this was effectively the story of the Biden administration. So many people got locked in to homes, and so many people got locked out of homes. And instead of in the spring, typically when moms and dads out there say, hey, we got a new kid, it's time to move to a new school district, you're saying, hey, we're not moving, we're locking in our 2 1/2% interest rate. And maybe your kids have left school, going off to college. Maybe you're thinking about retiring. You don't need the same size home you've already had. You're sitting around saying, why in the world would I sell my home when I'm going to have to take on a mortgage that's a lot higher. Price of homes has gone up so much, everything was broken. That's the world in which Trump returned to office in January of 2025. And what he has tried to do is focus on bringing down interest rates and bringing down inflation and putting more money into your pocket. And it is working. Now the challenge is, I'm not sure that it's going to work fast enough for people to feel it in 2026. If we were having this conversation next year, I think the economy is going to be firing on all cylinders. I think the thing that you care about the most, which is more money in your pocket and the cost of goods increasing at a lower rate than your overall wage growth, is that's the number one. If you told me, hey, Clay, what is the number one economic issue that you think matters the most? It is you need to be making, on average, more money in wage increase than the cost of the goods that you are buying. That with that is how you feel better about your wallet, about your pocketbook, about the money. There's Trump is trying to tell that story. Now, the challenge is people are angry because of how bad Joe Biden was. And as a result, telling that story is really challenging because you risk sounding like you don't understand what's really going on on the ground when you tell people things are getting better, but they can't feel it yet. That is, to me, the story of 2026. How much does the reality of things getting better start to pierce into the expectations of people on the ground out there? Because things are getting better. The numbers all reflect that. But it takes a while of things being better for people to start to feel it and for the anger to of the unprecedented economic failures of the Biden tenure to start to diminish. And this is why I have made the argument. As you guys know, I love history many of you lived through. Took a while for Ronald Reagan to actually start to get popular in this country. He took over for Jimmy Carter, who was an economic disaster. Reagan. It took four years for him to catch fire and for people to recognize that all of the supply side decisions he was making were starting to juice the economy. And the inflation from Jimmy Carter and the interest rates that everybody had to pay on their mortgages. It took a while for people to recognize that things were starting to get better. And some of you who lived through that will remember people weren't sold on Reagan in 81, 82, 83, and then lo and behold, by 84, the ravages of the Carter era are fading and Reagan can go out and win 49 states. I'm not sure that we're going to see a huge victory in 2026. I am very confident, based on the decisions that are being made right now, that by 2028 everything is going to be firing on all cylinders. And if you question me, remember where we were before COVID hit in February of 2020. Trump. Trump was cruising to reelection. The economy was probably at that time the strongest it had ever been. Virtually no inflation, mortgage rates were incredibly low borrowing cost. Everything was starting to fire on all cylinders in Trump 1.0. And then what happened, Covid? And suddenly everything got shut down in March of 2020. And we bore the brunt of the disastrous decisions made really in the early part of the Biden administration. Okay, did I do a good enough job of making sense of why this matters? We're going to have open phone lines. 800-282-2882. Did I miss something? Is there something out there that you think is important to add? You can do a talk back, you can hop on the phones and react to us. We got a couple of great guests coming your way. Brianna Lyman, first time ever on the show in the second hour. Jonathan Alpert is going to be with us in the third hour. You guys love Jonathan Alpert. He was the psychologist we had on to talk about Trump Derangement Syndrome in advance of Thanksgiving advice from him on how to handle your family members that may hate Donald Trump as we come into the Christmas season. But I want to tell you right now, unfortunately during the Christmas season we get a lot of cyber hacking going because cyber hackers don't take time off during the Christmas season. This is their prime time. Which is why you need Lifelock. Just look at what some of these hackers did with an online business recently. 700 Credit is a company that handles credit checks for car dealerships. They just confirmed a data breach. You probably won't recognize the company name, but your car dealership does. Your info could be involved if a dealership used their services during your car buying process. Just to give you a perspective, that's 5.6 million people involved in that data breach. Social Security numbers, names, birth dates, addresses. Lifelock helps to monitor all of this, to look for threats to your identity being stolen. Your protection backed by LifeLock's million dollar protection package. You can join now and say 40% off your first year with promo code CLAY and that's lifelock.com promo code CLAY my name for 40 off 1-800-lifelock also lifelock.com my name C L A Y Making America great again isn't just one man, it's many. The Team 47 podcast Sundays at noon Eastern in the Clay and Buck podcast feed. Find it on the iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcast.

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[Clay Travis]

Clay Travis with the Clay and Buck show wishing you and your family a very merry Christmas and a happy New Year. Buck Sexton here, the entire Clay and Buck show wish you and your family a warm Christmas season and a joyful new year. Welcome back in Clay Travis. Buck Sexton Show. We appreciate all of you hanging out with us. Us first guest of the day joining us now. I've been impressed at how outspoken she has been on social media of late. You certainly are seeing her a ton all over the airwaves, whether it's Fox News, whether it's Fox Business, CNN as well. Brianna Lyman joins us now and she also writes at the Federalist. My friend Shaun Davis got a great company that he helps to drive there. Brianna, I've been seeing you weigh in a lot on this. I would say maybe echo or continuing lasting legacy associated with this era of taking down historic statues and trying to condemn people based on modern day standards for decisions that they made in the past. And in particular, you've been tweeting a lot about the state of Virginia pulling a Robert E. Lee statue out of the Capitol, where every state has the ability to have two different statues. What strikes you about that decision? And what does it say about the culture of America that we are still dealing with these continued reverberations from the crazy era of 2020?

[Brianna Lyman]

Yeah. The point of these statutes are you're supposed to honor people and who you cannot tell the story of your state without mentioning. Robert E. Lee is one of those people that you cannot tell a story about Virginia without talking about Robert E. Lee. And he's not idolized because he was fighting for the Confederacy, which wanted to preserve slavery. He's more so idolized for what he did after the war. This man became the face of reconciliation. And it's very easy for people in 2025 to sit back and say, he should have been executed. He should have been exiled. This man was a traitor. But unless you're in 1860 and you understand that it is not country first, it is state first, that Robert E. Lee literally said he doesn't believe the Confederacy had a reason to secede, that he thought it was a bad idea. But he said, if my home state of Virginia secedes, I will not take up arms against my home state. Right. So that's the valor that we're talking about. And then after the war ended, he convinced Confederates who wanted to go into the bushes and fight guerrilla warfare, they were ready to die to the very end. And he said, no, go home. Rebuild your families. It's okay to ask for a pardon. He did it himself. It's okay to want to be friends with your northern neighbors again. We need peace and reconciliation. And it wasn't very easy to do that. Nation was holding on by a thread. And Robert E. Lee helped convince a very disgruntled south that it's time to make peace. And that deserves remembrance.

[Clay Travis]

All of that is 100% true. And this is my Civil War history. Nerd. Just geeking out here. Everything that you said is 100% true. I've made these arguments out there. Is it one of the biggest threats that we face in this country? A profound lack of historical literacy, such that what you just laid out, and I would add, and you and I were sending messages about this, actually, there was a huge radical Republican group that wanted to execute as many different former Southerners as that fought against the north, as many as they could, including Jefferson Davis, everybody else, and they actually ended up not winning that battle. And as a result, the reconciliation of the nation, which went far better because leaders on the north and the south side said, let's lay down arms, and let's actually come back together as a nation. Very few people know that. Why do you think that is?

[Brianna Lyman]

Yeah, and I'm so happy you brought that up. So Thaddeus Stevens was a radical Republican who kind of led that charge to execute and exile these Confederates. But if you go Back even to 1860, Lincoln's first inaugural address, he spoke of mystic hordes of memory. What he was trying to do is he was trying to remind both those in the south and in the north that at the end of the day, they were people whose ancestors fought together in the Revolution. They were connected by blood and memory, and they were all still Americans. At the end of the day and throughout the entire war, Lincoln's entire goal was keep the Union together. He did not want to exile or kill all of the Confederates because he understood they are part of the Union. They just need to kind of be coaxed back into it. Right. And it's the same reason why Grant worked to get such generous surrender terms for Lee, because they understood that if you want a Union to actually be united, you can't have half of them. And we're talking a massive half be executed or exiled. It didn't work that way. And again, it's very easy for us in 2025 to say, oh, well, they should have been executed. They should have been exiled. But you try holding a country together. And the reason that this story right now is so important is it's not just Robert E. Lee. You and I said this. They tore down statues of Jefferson. And if we are making the standard that if you're not morally perfect, your statue has to come down, then so does Jefferson's, so does Washington's, because they own slaves. And that's the entire point of this entire WOKE movement. We don't get to have heroes like Washington or Jefferson because they were stained by slavery. That's it. It doesn't matter what else they did. And that's why we have to make sure that we're being honest about historical realities and about living in those times. And what those people did. Besides, you know, the moral stains of.

[Clay Travis]

Slavery, it's also important to apply it. I think you mentioned Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, certainly the monuments. Those guys have been attacked for a variety of reasons. Martin Luther King Jr. Used to do an advice column, believe it or not. You may have read this and said that anybody who was gay was victim of a mental illness and that they should be basically committed, essentially. And that was in the 1950s. Well, now that would be considered reprehensible by many parts of the nation. Do we tear down his statue as well? All of us, even the ones like you and me, who think we're pretty good at things and everybody out there listening, we're all going to be judged as lacking by history because no one lives up to whatever the standard is in the future in a perfect way. You actually. And I think Robert E. Lee is such an interesting example of this because as you mentioned in Arlington, he was offered and spent all night pacing, trying to decide, do I want to take over command of the entire Union forces or do I want to stay loyal to my state. A lot of people don't understand this in today's day and age, but your state used to be the equivalent of a country for many people, because in the 1860s, a lot of people never traveled outside of their state borders because it was so difficult comparatively to be able to travel. And so we think of state residents now as being something that is easy to change. And maybe your national character matters more than the state from which you live. But back in the day, your state was more important to a large extent than your country was because most people never left their states. Yeah.

[Brianna Lyman]

And it's, you know, part of that, you know, Ordo amorous. Right. You rank things in priority. And to your point, people, one, didn't travel more than 15 miles outside of their community in most cases. And two, you have to remember that up until 1865, states were operating pretty independent of the federal government. Right. It wasn't until after the Civil War that we saw the federal government's role kind of expand. And it's been expanding. You know, it's expanding today as we speak. So states really did function as that country ideology right there. And Robert E. Lee is someone who loved the Union, but he loved his state more. And it's hard for people today. You know, the same people who would go publicly bash RFK Jr. Their cousin, their brother, whoever it is, to understand that back then people had hierarchies of priorities and it was God, family, state, country, and it came in that order. And that's what Lee did. So you have to remember Lee in the times he was in versus the time we are in now. And you brought up a great point with Martin Luther King Jr. Look, this is a man who fought for good things. He also apparently was beating his wife. Right. And at some point there's going to be someone, a big group of people who say wife beating is bad, which it is. And they're going to say, well, we got to Tear down mlk. Of course, that would be ridiculous. But that's what is going to happen with this slippery slope. And I'm pretty aggrieved that the same people who are sitting today convincing us that babies should be murdered in the womb, that we should be trans and young kids, are suddenly the arbiters of what is good and what's bad. And we're going to listen to them.

[Clay Travis]

Martin Luther King, also, look, was assassinated in 1968 on that balcony of the Lorraine Hotel in Memphis. As many people have seen in the hotel room when he was assassinated was a mistress. Martin Luther King, as Robert F. Kennedy and John F. Kennedy, and a lot of people of that era in particular, was not an upstanding family man in the way that many would want men to be today and in the past. And so, again, if you go and look at the past of many of our historic figures who are heroes and change the course of the nation, they all had some form of sordid past or aspect of their personality that would be found lacking. And I just think it's interesting where we draw the line and where we don't. How old are you, Brianna?

[Brianna Lyman]

I'm 27.

[Clay Travis]

All right, so you're 27. I have. And Buck, if he were here. We're both huge history people. I was a history major. I read everything I can about history. When you are around people your own age, how much historical illiteracy do you see? And second part of that, how much of that feels almost intentional, because if you can tear down the heroes of American history, what you really allow is for everything to be wiped clean. Because when you're saying, hey, if we can point to George Washington and Thomas Jefferson and say they own slaves, therefore their moral legitimacy is questioned, then it starts to allow you to question the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution and argue that America was founded on a huge hill of lies and so we can just wipe clean of everything that the country has been founded on. That feels historically like the goal.

[Brianna Lyman]

Yeah, the goal is to delegitimize the work of the founders. In my generation in particular, you know, we've been indoctrinated in public education and even higher education to a degree where we're ashamed of our heritage and our ancestors. And it's not always been like that. You know, you go back to, you know, the 70s, when Robert E. Lee was given his citizenship back in full. That past, I think it was like 4, 10 to 3. It was some massive margin because everybody, Republican and Democrat, understood that Robert E. Lee was significant For a few reasons, and it wasn't so polarizing. You go to, what was it, 1993. The movie Gettysburg came out. They didn't portray Lee as an unrepentant racist. At the end scene, he is being cheered on by his soldiers as he goes to surrender. Right. And so there was a consensus, really, up until the past 20 years, that there are some figures who have a definitely complex path where some things were bad, and we don't condone that, but nonetheless, it doesn't take away from the. The. The reason that we look up to them or at least recognize their impact on America.

[Clay Travis]

I want to write another book, and my last book just came out, but I think what you're getting at I've been kind of grappling with in my own head. It's, do we define people by their ceilings or their floors? You know, do. And a lot of times, and I just came from a funeral of my uncle this week, and he didn't have much of a floor. He had a great ceiling. But if you go and watch a eulogy, it almost always is, this is what he or she achieved. Let's talk about the positives. We don't marinate in the awfulness of the failures that we have in our life. At the end of the life, we like to define people based on their ceilings. It seems to me that the Democrat Party in general focuses on the floor of American history. The things that they want to say are the worst parts of our historic figures. And it seems in general like Republicans tend to focus on the ceiling. Is that metaphor out of line or do you think there's some truth to it?

[Brianna Lyman]

No, I think it's accurate. And let's think. Why does the left focus on the worst of the worst? Because the things that they care about, socialism, communism, that is fundamentally incompatible with small R Republicanism. And if you actually want to implement communism and socialism on a large scale, you have to fundamentally reshape America. You have to get rid of the Declaration, you have to get rid of the Bill of Rights. You have to get rid of the institutions and what underpins those institutions, which is Christianity. To start fresh, they have to focus on trying to sour the sentiment of the American people by bashing our heroes. Jefferson, Washington, those are heroes. They should be revered and they are going to do this. I'm actually really upset that we're coming into 250 and I'm not feeling as patriotic as I should be because there are so many people that are trying to tear down the legacy of our founders. Because they want to delegitimize that they can replace.

[Clay Travis]

Are you. So you're talking about 250. And I think it is incredibly important because I wasn't around in America 200. But for those of you out there that remember 1976, it seems like there was a profound national spirit of optimism that came out of that 200th birthday celebration. Are you optimistic that next year we can have something similar on America 250? Or do you think the Nicole Hannah Joneses of the world and the 1619 Project have been so successful in tearing down American history that it's impossible to bring everybody together?

[Brianna Lyman]

I think the Overton window is shifting and I'm glad that President Trump is in office. I would like to see some changes to the board running the 250 celebrations because this is a time to honor the founders. And I say this as someone who's, you know, I'm related to two Declaration of Independence Day signers. My two sixth great grand uncles were militia men in the battles of Lexington and Concord. My family fought this. They lived this. And honoring their legacy and everyone else's legacy is so important to me because without their sacrifices, you and I wouldn't be speaking today.

[Clay Travis]

Brianna, how can people find you if they want to see your content and. Or maybe they got kids and grandkids out there that are in your age bracket and maybe they're more likely to respond in a positive way to somebody their own age than people their age.

[Brianna Lyman]

I'm trying to be a patriot Maxing, so you can find me on Twitter @Brown alignment2 or Instagram. Brianna Lyman.

[Clay Travis]

Awesome. Hey, we appreciate the time. Have a good Christmas and thanks for fighting the good fight. I mean, I saw you fighting history battles on social media, which I almost never see anybody else doing, and I wanted to make sure you got a chance to, to talk with you. Thank you.

[Brianna Lyman]

Merry Christmas. Thanks so much.

[Clay Travis]

That's Brianna Lyman. That's fantastic. I mean, history nerding out. I mean, again, when I see somebody defending. She's 27. The historic legacy of Robert E. Lee, I'm like, wow, that maybe there are some people out there in their twenties that actually do have knowledge about American history. Makes me a little bit more optimistic. I've got a winner for you tonight. Thursday Night Football. Matthew Stafford, Sam Darnold, the Rams going up against the Seahawks. Each of these guys to throw one and a half, more than one and a half touchdown passes. If you go to prizepix.com you go to the Prize Picks app, use my name. Clay Clay you can get hooked up. 3.5x is what that pays off. You're just watching Thursday Night Football tonight as many of us, myself included will be great matchup in the NFC West. The Rams going up against the Seahawks. If each of these quarterbacks throws, they got to throw it one and a half touchdowns or more then you will get 3.5x. You can play $5 right now and you will get $50. You play $5, you get $50 deposited in your account. That is PricePix.com code clay price picks app. You can play in California, Texas, Georgia if you're feeling left out. 13 million people playing 40 states. Price picks code C L A Y. You ain't imagining it.

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The world has gone insane.

[Clay Travis]

Reclaim your sanity with Clay and Buck. Find them on the free iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome back in Clay Travis Buck Sexton show. We appreciate all of you. Buck is already on his Christmas vacation. I've got you today and tomorrow. Encourage you to go subscribe. Subscribe to the podcast if you haven't already. Go check out the YouTube channel. You can find us on social media anywhere in the country and hopefully we will be able to entertain you as best we can. There a lot of different stories that we are tracking. More video footage surrounding the Brown University shooter. It's now been six days, I believe as we come up on six days since that shooting occurred. No one has been arrested. We have been reacting to very positive story. If you missed it earlier this morning, inflation came in lower than expected. 2.7% the lowest level of inflation since the spring of 2021 when Joe Biden came into office. 2.6% core inflation level. The Fed's goal is 2%. If you want to nerd out on economic related analysis, we spent a lot of the opening of the first hour discussing how this interest how interest rates are impacted in an inflation environment and why I am so optimistic as we head into 2026 about the overall trajectory of the economy. We discussed President Trump's address last night from the White House at 9:00pm Eastern that was carried. President Trump right now is signing an executive order easing restrictions on marijuana. He is now taking questions from the the press that is assembled in the Oval Office. He is seated at the Resolute desk. We will be monitoring that with all of you to make sure that we are on top of anything that he says. There now a bit of other news. The Trump Kennedy center is now a thing. We'll see whether or not this name sticks when there are new administrations that potentially come in. But the Kennedy center has voted to rename itself the Trump Kennedy center and that is becoming the new name there in the wake of the amount of interest that President Trump has has given to the Kennedy center overall. Again they have renamed it Daily Mail reporting. I mentioned that this was a story that we were following. A private plane crashed in North Carolina with several people on it. And the Daily Mail is now reporting that NASCAR legend Greg Biffle died in that plane crash. And they are citing one of his best friends saying that the 55 year old NASCAR legend the plane was on its way to Sarasota, Florida. According to this report, it crashed about 45 minutes from from Charlotte. And Garrett Mitchell, one of Biffle's friends said, unfortunately I can confirm Greg Biffle, his wife Christina and son Ryder were on that plane. They were on the way to spend the afternoon with us. Mitchell, according to Daily Mail often appears in YouTube videos with Biffle. He wrote this on Facebook. We're devastated. I'm so sorry to share this. He also said he was not sure who else was potentially on that plane. A Cessna C550 according to the FAA. So that is a awful story out there for those of you that are NASCAR fans. Greg Biffle, very famous and well known race car driver in the NASCAR world again reportedly dying according to one of his best friends as reported by the Daily Mail. Okay, let's see another story that is out there that I think is, is getting maybe not as much attention as it should. I was texting with producer Ali about this last night and the Brown University shooting certainly killed two people. This shooting at mit. A professor at MIT was assassinated two days later, unknown assailant fatally shot MIT professor Nuno Lauro and I'm probably mispronouncing his name inside his Boston home about 50 miles away from that other shooting. The FBI agent says they don't think there's a connection but other people are saying is there a connection here? And the, the idea that a MIT professor who was an expert in nuclear weaponry would be killed like this is, it's a story that I think should get a lot of attention. He is a theoretical physicist and fusion scientist that has specializes in nuclear science, engineering and physics. And there are a lot of discussions about how is this 47 year old dad of three just getting killed. MIT professor with nuclear weapons training background. Is there something more to this again that happened here recently? So all of those stories being discussed by the way, we're going to talk with Jonathan Alpert at the bottom of the hour about how to handle friends and family who may have Trump derangement syndrome as the holidays are now upon us. But I also wanted to play this for you. Piers Morgan had Candace Owens on his program. We haven't spent a lot of time talking about this, but Candace Owens has been chasing the allegations or conspiracy. She's been arguing that somebody other than this crazy guy killed Charlie Kirk. And Piers Morgan pressed her on that and this is what that sounded like in their conversation.

[Announcer]

Listen, there is specifically two people at.

[Clay Travis]

Turning Point USA and I have communicated.

[Brianna Lyman]

That information to Erica and Justin Strife.

[Clay Travis]

That I would not be surprised if.

[Brianna Lyman]

They had foreknowledge of Charlie Kirk being assassinated.

[Clay Travis]

But you have any evidence?

[Brianna Lyman]

I'm not going to name, I am not going to name those people.

[Clay Travis]

Okay.

[Brianna Lyman]

Because it's not right for me to name those people until I know for a fact that they did you did.

[Clay Travis]

The names to, did you give the names to Erica? Yes. You gave the names to Erica of two employees, current employees at Turning Point who you believe were involved in the preparation for the murder of Charlie Kirk. Is that what you're saying? I told them that if, if I.

[Announcer]

Were in your shoes, they would, these would be two employees that I would look further into.

[Clay Travis]

What evidence do you have that they had any prior knowledge of the murder?

[Announcer]

Because I don't have concrete evidence is the reason why I'm not naming them.

[Clay Travis]

I mean this is crazy. This is why I give credit and I am optimistic that when this trial takes place that we are going to be able to hear more and see more of what motivated this assassin. And the Washington Post had a story that was out that I thought was significant and worthy of discussing the Washington. Let me read some of this. This Tyler Robinson, this far left wing activist who killed Charlie Kirk based on all the evidence and this is the Washington Post profile that they did surrounding this alleged assassin who will be standing trial soon. A few times I'm reading from the Washington Post when he was drunk, Robinson would joke about right wing politicians saying like that guy's going to catch a bullet one day. No one took it seriously. And they would say he would say it when he was drinking. He reacted to Trump being shot by celebratory joke. And they said that he increasingly and his roommate were angry about right wing politicians and an anti trans sentiment in Utah. They show the roommate asked friends whether they wanted to attend an anti Trump protest after the 2024 election. The roommate viewed Trump's election. I'm reading from the Washington post as a loss for trans rights and was distraught more than once. The person said he saw Robinson cradling his sobbing roommate in his arms. This is the trans roommate, I believe. This is the man who identified as a woman. I sometimes get crossed up on this team. I believe that's true. Correct me if I'm wrong. In February, the roommate was furious when people came over to watch a basketball game, NBA game, according to people who were there. One of the visitors said something about trans athletes and how ridiculous it was for trans athletes to be competing. And the roommate interrupted him and shouted repeatedly to shut up about that. And all the room went quiet before play eventually resumed. And also this person says Robinson and the trans roommate, the killer, the alleged assassin, would complain about right wing figures in the news, including Trump. So again, the motivation here, I think, is very clear. I also understand the desire among many to believe that there is something larger in play than just one person can get a rifle and go into the life of somebody as significant as Charlie Kirk. And thankfully, we dodged this with President Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania on July 13th. But it's, I think, beyond the pale to suggest that someone at Turning Point was involved in trying to encourage the assassination of Charlie Kirk. I mean, that is, I think, absolutely a crazy loony Ben take. And one of the things that I think is very challenging in modern media is there are very few consequences for crazy opinions. And actually we've created a media ecosystem that can reward crazy opinions. And I think that's something that is going to be important to grapple with in the years ahead. How do we reconcile when people say things that end up not being true? And I'm not talking about just getting predictions wrong. We get predictions wrong on this show all the time. Those of you who have listened to this show for a long time know that, for instance, I said we were going to have a red wave in 2022 didn't materialize. I was wrong. I came on, I said I was wrong. You know, we got a red wave in Florida, we got a red wave in New York. It didn't happen in other cities and states. And then in 2024, we did get a red wave and it brought President Trump in. And so you could feel the building of the red wave. I was just early in my forecast. I think, honestly, the Dobbs decision muted what would have been a red wave in 2022. That's my opinion. I think that abortion got out a lot of Democrats and it forestalled the red wave until 2024. And by the way, you can argue that if we had gotten a red wave in 2022, Joe Biden would have stepped down then and said, I'm not running for reelection. And the Democrats would have had a full primary, Republicans would have had a full primary, and we wouldn't have ended up with Trump versus Kamala. We may have ended up with, I think Trump still probably would have won the overall Republican nomination, but who knows who the nominee would have been for Democrats. I don't think it would have been common. And so you get things wrong. That's part of this business. It's hard to forecast the future. Nobody is perfect at it. But when you say things that are able to be proven incorrect, what is the metric under which there are consequences for that? I think it's something that in the world in which we live, it's very hard for me to sue, for instance, because somebody defamed me because I'm a public figure. So if you go on social media at any moment, people are saying awful things about me, they're saying awful things about Buck, they're saying awful things about many different people in public life. And because the standard is so substantial for a public figure to be able to sue, we almost have created a world where you can say anything about anyone. And if they are a public figure in the United States, it's almost impossible for there to be any form of defamation that is recoverable. And so that actually leads, I think, to an incentives culture where you can say awful things about whoever you don't like. Awful, untrue things, not opinions. Right. Me saying I think Tim Walls is an awful, awful governor and was an atrocious vice presidential candidate and didn't actually appeal to men at all. And Democrats made it a tremendously boneheaded decision there. That's all well intentioned. I believe everything I just said. But if I took the next step and said, I think Tim Walls is, you know, he's a drug dealer, that would be totally made up. I don't think there's any evidence whatsoever to support it. But I don't know that Tim Walls could sue because he's a public figure. And the standard of public figures is you can basically say anything about them and there are no consequences. I think this is going to become more and more challenging in a social media age speech. It's something that I spend a lot of time thinking about, and this is me going down into the weeds legally. But the New York Times v. Sullivan standard, when it comes to free speech and the First Amendment and how that is implicated. It doesn't really fit the modern era in which we live. It's an outdated policy precedent from the 1960s that I don't think fits the modern reality of media in 2025 and 2026. Something to think about, something to put a pin in it. I don't even know how many Supreme Court justices really get this. Several of them have started to say, hey, you know what? This idea of Times v. Sullivan needs to be modified. Clarence Thomas has talked about it. I think it's a huge deal. I think it's a substantial story that is going to be generationally important in the years ahead. But just putting a pin in it wanted to to play that cut and use it kind of as a jumping off point to talk about public commentary and what the standard should be when it comes to what is said and what is not. Look, Buck learned a lot from his time in D.C. between that entering the media, he's connected the dots on how quickly political power can turn into financial power. Insiders have always had a head start until now. It's one of the reasons he started writing a weekly E newsletter called Money and Power. Money and Power gives everyday Americans access to the kind of fast moving intelligence that used to stay locked behind closed doors. The team he works with writing Money and Power monitors DC for every policy leak, spending bill and executive order because all of those can create a chain of reaction in the markets worth billions of dollars. Right now you can join this Money and power newsletter for 82% off the regular price. Go to joinbuck.com that's joinbuck.com get your first alert before the next policy shock hits paid for by Paradigm press. That's join Buck.com news and politics, but also a little comic relief. Clay Travis and Buck Sexton. Find them on the free iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcast. Welcome back in Clay Travis Buck Sexton Show Thursday edition of the program and let's get to some talk backs a.

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[Clay Travis]

Welcome back in Clay. Travis Buck Sexton Show Appreciate all of you hanging out with us. We are joined now by Jonathan Alpert, psychotherapist in New York City and D.C. on author of the forthcoming book Therapy Nation. We talked with you back in around Thanksgiving, Jonathan and there was a great feedback from the audience. So given the fact that Christmas is nearing, we are exactly one week from Christmas Day if I'm doing my math correctly, and I think I am, and obviously Hanukkah is underway. What is the number one piece of advice you would give anyone out there that is going to be with friends and family who hate President Trump. Many of the people listening to us right now are big Trump supporters. What is the number one piece of advice when it comes to holidays with Trump haters?

[Jonathan Alpert]

Well, Clay, maybe get a life. But that aside, you know, I think people need to recognize that family and friends are and or at least should be more important than Donald Trump or any political figure that may be in our country. But all too often that's not the case. We have people who are dividing families, cutting off relatives, loved ones, friends just because of the way that someone voted. And as a therapist, I mean, I'm seeing this endlessly since Thanksgiving. People are coming in, talking about high anxiety about seeing their Trump loving uncle or even their progressive of cousin over the holiday. So it's a real problem in our, in our society. And what I'm seeing this year seems worse than in years past. And I think part of the problem is people have become, their anger has become hardened and it's become part of their personality. So we really need to try to examine that and figure out how to, how to work with these people. And sometimes as simple as saying pass the gravy may work. Just to remind people like we're here for the holiday dinner not to discuss.

[Clay Travis]

Politics, we've got Kathy in Birmingham, Alabama. She has a question for you. Kathy, you're talking with Jonathan Alpert. You've got a dad who is a major Trump hater. Ask your question.

[Brianna Lyman]

How do you deal with it. He is 90 years old and Clay, he was, he sounded, I thought it was my own father that called in the bill from Wisconsin. My father's name is Bill and he is from the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. And he. Bill from Wisconsin is exactly how my father is treating his three adult children.

[Clay Travis]

Thank you for the call. What should she do? You didn't hear earlier, but we had a caller, Bill from Wisconsin, who just hates Trump. Sounds like her dad. 90 years old is that way too. What would you suggest that she should do? Is it completely ignore everything having to do with Trump? What's the best way to get through the holidays with some semblance of sanity in the household?

[Jonathan Alpert]

Yeah. And I think accepting that there will be people who hate Trump or hate Joe Biden or hate Kamala Harris, but again, like recognizing that no one political figure should dominate a holiday and maybe getting back to the importance of the holiday and what it's all about. And maybe there can just be a brief acknowledgment. I understand that we don't see eye to eye politically, but I love you. You're my father, you're my daughter, whatever the case may be. And let's focus on family and enjoying the holiday together. So most of the times that will work.

[Clay Travis]

We also have another question. I appreciate people calling in. Ryan in Boston has a question for you. Jonathan Alpert on with us now.

[Caller/Listener]

Gentlemen, great Topic and Bill from Wisconsin, you have to realize you don't get every vote and he's one of the guys to go the other way. But I noticed little kid people going after Reagan and I don't even repeat the things they said. So this goes on politically. It seems more from the left. They do get kind of vicious. And I always wanted to know, I believe on an emotional level, and I ask you, are these people stunted emotionally because people now are excluding people from Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners and they want no part of these. They don't want no part of these individuals because they can't control their political views at dinners anymore. You know, I could, what I could do is, what I do is I just walk away during Thanksgiving. I can watch football. I'm a sports fan. Or even Christmas Day at games. I could watch and just walk away from any kind Looney Tunes conversation. But a lot of people on the other side don't like it at all. People are being excluded. And a good example I saw as a young guy, when Pat Buchanan ran for president, even Republicans got vicious calling names. So name calling is permitted in politics, but tampering with the actual agenda is not.

[Clay Travis]

John, thank you for the call, Ryan. Jonathan, I. This is something that I think everybody is, is grappling with and it's not going to go away. And I think I asked you this last time, but, but I find it super interesting is Trump derangement syndrome as it exists today. And I would say there's about 20% of Americans that just genuinely hate Trump with every fiber of their being. Is it going to translate to other politicians on the Republican side of the aisle? Let's say it's J.D. vance or Marco Rubio or Ron DeSantis, whoever is the next flag bearer for the Republican Party. In your experience, does this kind of hate translate? Or if Trump steps off the stage, which he will do in January of 2029, does it then sort of leave with him?

[Jonathan Alpert]

Yeah, it's a great question, Clay. And I remember you did ask that last time. I think to some degree the hate does stick around for into the next president, whoever that may be, but maybe to a lesser extent, because Trump has just been such a polarizing figure and he came out of the business world and most likely we'll have a politician that steps up into the presidency next time and not this outsider that Trump was. And I think a lot of people just had trouble reconciling, like, how can this guy, a real estate tycoon and TV star, become president? And a lot of people just could not be okay with that and reconcile that. So I don't think we'll quite have that at play and that hatred. But yes, to your point, I think there are always going to be people who hate the other side. One of the differences that I've seen is the hatred towards the right seems to be much more potent than the hatred towards the left. Plenty of patients of mine didn't like Biden or Harris, but it never rose to the level of wanting either of those people dead. But we've certainly seen that on the other side.

[Clay Travis]

Mary in Texas has an opinion. I'm curious what you would think of her opinion. Mary, you've got Jonathan Alpert on with us. What have you got for us?

[Brianna Lyman]

Well, the basic things about being with your family or friends during the holidays is just very, very, very lovingly, very kindly say, look, we've been together for 90 years, you know, 40 years for children, husband, wife. This isn't about what's going on in politics. This is about Christmas. This is about being with family. Let's take responsibility as adults, as human beings, to be loving with each other, to be Christian with each other, and the rest is going to be what it is. You're going to think what you're going to think you're going to want to do what you're going to want to do, but let's leave it away from around us.

[Clay Travis]

Thank you, Mary. Good advice, Jonathan.

[Jonathan Alpert]

Excellent advice from Mary. That's pretty much what I tell my patients, that friends and family are far more important than politics and they should transcend any, any occupant of the White House. Unfortunately, we're not seeing that this holiday season, but that's great advice from Mary, historically.

[Clay Travis]

We talked with Brianna Lyman from the Federalist in the second hour of the program. I love history because it teaches you that you're way tougher than you think you are and that the country is way tougher than many people think it is. I would imagine that in the wake of the, the Civil War, there were probably a lot of family gatherings that took place, particularly in border states where people fought for different sides of the country, north and south, that it took a long time to get through. Certainly for those of you out there who remember the 1960s, I would imagine during the Vietnam War, there were a lot of contentious Thanksgivings and Christmases. Are you optimistic that we will come through and that sanity will win, or are you concerned that in a social media era, it's harder for sanity to triumph going forward? In other words, how perpetual do you think the divisions in the country are compared to past history and looking forward?

[Jonathan Alpert]

Yeah, and I think if people could look at history, we'd probably be better off now than we are. Our mental health would be better off. But then when you enter into the mix, social media and echo chambers that people surround themselves in, it's really only intensifying the division in our country. And that's part of what my forthcoming book, Therapy Nation, is about. Like, just this division. And it's actually fueled in part by my profession. We have therapy culture that is, you know, placing blame on everyone but their patient. Of course, it's your boss that's the bad guy or your spouse. It's not your fault. So, you know, we don't have resilience being taught to patients these days. We have quite the opposite. We have grievance culture that's taking hold. We have fragility. And that's a big part of the problem. And again, if people could just look at our country's history, and you make a good point, that during the Civil war and after it, female families probably still got together and loved each other.

[Clay Travis]

Thank you so much for joining us. Jonathan Alpert, if people want to read more of what you are doing, I know you got a book coming out called Therapy Nation. Where should they find you?

[Jonathan Alpert]

People can find me on, on X or Twitter at Jonathan Alpert and Also my website, Jonathan Alpert.com Outstanding stuff as always.

[Clay Travis]

Have good holidays and we look forward to, to talking to you again.

[Jonathan Alpert]

Yeah, thank you, Clay. Have a great holiday.

[Clay Travis]

You too. I want to tell you, candles were lit on Bondi beach in Australia earlier this week by families, children, people of faith to celebrate a festival of light. But instead of light, there was darkness, violence, fear, hatred showing itself during a time meant for prayer and rejoicing. It reminds us that even with a ceasefire in Israel, Jewish people are being targeted simply because of their faith. This is why the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews exists. The IFCJ stands in the gap, providing safety and security to God's people. The fellowship brings together Christians and Jews to support Jews in Israel, the former Soviet Union, or wherever the need is greatest. Your gift today will help provide the security that people so desperately need to send your gift. Call 888-488-IFCJ. That's 888-488-4325. You can also give online@ FellowshipGift.org that's FellowshipGift.org want to be in the know when you're on The Go the Team 47 podcast Trump highlights from the week.

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[Clay Travis]

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