The Late Show Pod Show with Stephen Colbert

Episode: Rachel Maddow | Breaking Snooze

Date: December 3, 2025
Host: Stephen Colbert
Guest: Rachel Maddow

Overview

This episode of The Late Show Pod Show features a candid, sharp, and often hilarious conversation between Stephen Colbert and renowned journalist Rachel Maddow. The discussion covers vital political events of late 2025, including the Trump administration’s controversial military actions, tension with allies, election shakeups, the recent rebranding of MSNBC, and insights from Maddow’s new podcast, Burn Order. The tone is typically Colbert: satirical, irreverent, and incisive, while Maddow provides clarity and context with her trademark mix of humor and deep historical knowledge.

Key Discussion Points

1. Trump's Approval & Cost of Living (04:00–06:55)

• Stephen Colbert opens with Trump’s plummeting approval ratings—down to 36%, according to Gallup—and lampoons his attempts to shift blame for the nation’s woes.
• Jokes abound about Trump’s new campaign slogans ("more popular than syphilis") and policy proposals, including dubious claims about solving the affordability crisis by ending income tax.
• Trump’s Cabinet (with segments voiced by Pete Hegseth) claims "affordability is a con job by the Democrats" ([06:21]).

2. Cabinet Mayhem & Controversial Military Actions (07:41–13:00)

• Colbert recaps a televised Cabinet meeting where Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth face scrutiny over alleged war crimes: a US Navy strike on a drug smuggling boat, followed by a lethal secondary strike on survivors.
• The administration’s deflective tactics are skewered, with multiple officials (including a fictional "Admiral Mitch Bradley") refusing to claim responsibility. Senator Mark Kelly vocally criticizes Hegseth’s judgment and bravado ([12:18]).
• Colbert underscores the gravity: "one of our key intelligence allies has now pulled out of the Five Eyes alliance for the first time since WWII" ([22:01]).

3. GOP in Crisis & Special Election Turmoil (13:34–15:05)

• A brief but pointed segment covers the chaos in the House GOP as Republican congressmen flee their seats, making the upcoming Tennessee special election a tight and symbolic battle.

4. Rachel Maddow Interview—Bar Chat, Branding, and ‘MsNow’ (17:12–18:42)

• Maddow explains MSNBC’s rebrand to "MsNow," wryly noting that all her old swag is now “vintage.”
• She demonstrates how to make her signature Manhattan, bantering with Colbert about cocktail technique and liberal values:

  "Because I'm a liberal, and so I want everything to be equal." (Rachel Maddow, [20:21])

5. Economic Reality vs. Political Gaslighting (18:42–20:13)

• Colbert and Maddow dissect Trump’s claim that affordability is a “Democratic con.” Maddow offers an at-home fact check:

  "When you go to the grocery store... you can just say, Donald Trump says I can afford this, and just see if it works." (Rachel Maddow, [19:04])

• The conversation highlights the recurring political trap of denying lived economic experience.

6. U.S. Allies, War Crimes, and Fallout (21:41–22:53; 24:04–25:50)

• Maddow explains the unprecedented fracturing of intelligence cooperation within the “Five Eyes” alliance, citing allies' fears of being complicit in war crimes.
• Discussion of the US military's obligation to refuse illegal orders, met by Trump’s threats of capital punishment for “seditious” military members ([24:57]).

7. Pardons & Hypocrisy: The Honduran President Case (25:50–28:42)

• Maddow and Colbert examine the hypocrisy of Trump’s narrative around the war on drugs, as he pardons convicted drug trafficker and ex-Honduran President Juan Hernandez.
• Maddow exposes the farcical logic:

  "If there is a drug trafficking rationale for a war, which is dubious... to have just pardoned the most prolific convicted drug smuggler in US history and set him free makes absolutely no sense." (Rachel Maddow, [27:08])

• The conversation points to possible corrupt motives, with Maddow referencing lobbyist ties.

8. US Foreign Policy & The Kremlin Connection (29:05–32:20)

• Colbert and Maddow delve into revelations that Trump’s "peace plan" for Russia/Ukraine was ghostwritten in the Kremlin, with real estate buddy Steve Witkoff serving as unofficial go-between:

  "We apparently have been captured by the Kremlin and work for Vladimir Putin." —Rachel Maddow ([31:26])

• Maddow describes US intelligence allies cutting off Ukraine intel, fearing leaks to Russia, and frames the Trump-Putin dynamic as ongoing, public embarrassment for the US.

9. Burn Order: Internment, Injustice & Lessons from History (32:20–35:19)

• Maddow introduces her new podcast, Burn Order, which unearths the cover-up of Japanese American internment during WWII.
• She details heroism of Japanese Americans who fought for reparations and government admission of wrongdoing.

  "They ordered all the evidence incinerated. And it was these intrepid Japanese Americans... Who uncovered what really happened, exposed it all, made the US Government apologize..." (Rachel Maddow, [34:05])

• The story is contrasted against current events as a lesson in confronting and correcting national wrongs, however belatedly.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Trump’s economic spin:
  “Affordability is a con job by the Democrats.”
  — Pete Hegseth, channeling the administration ([06:21])
• Maddow’s quick ‘fact check’ advice:
  “When you go to the grocery store... you can just say, Donald Trump says I can afford this, and just see if it works.”
  — Rachel Maddow ([19:04])
• On illegal orders in the military:
  “It puts everybody involved in those strikes and in a disastrous position where they may be charged with war crimes or with murder for doing something that Donald Trump and Pete Hegseth told them to do. And that's not fair to our members in the military.”
  — Rachel Maddow ([25:50])
• On allies abandoning the US:
  “They [the UK] came out and said... we are going to stop sharing intelligence with you in the Caribbean. Because what you are doing... is putting our personnel on the hook for maybe being charged with murder or war crimes.”
  — Rachel Maddow ([22:01])
• On the Kremlin’s role in US foreign policy:
  “What we've ended up with is the White House peace plan for Russia and Ukraine which appears quite literally to have been written in the Kremlin and then given to Steve Witkoff, who then advised the Kremlin on how best to sell it to Trump.”
  — Rachel Maddow ([30:09])
• The lesson of history:
  “If you stick with it, ultimately history will reward the people who are righteous in these moments, and they will chase the bad guys to the ends of their days.”
  — Rachel Maddow ([35:15])

Timestamps for Major Segments

• Monologue & Trump’s Approval: [04:00–06:55]
• Cabinet & Military Scandal: [07:41–13:00]
• GOP Election Troubles: [13:34–15:05]
• Rachel Maddow Interview start: [17:12]
• MSNBC Rebrand: [18:05]
• Economic ‘Hoax’ Discussion: [18:42–20:13]
• War Crimes Fallout & Five Eyes: [21:41–22:53], [24:04–25:50]
• Trump Pardons ex-Honduran President: [25:50–28:42]
• Witkoff, Trump, and Russia: [29:05–32:20]
• ‘Burn Order’ & Internment History: [32:20–35:19]

Final Thoughts

The episode offers a darkly comedic but deeply sobering commentary on the unprecedented chaos of US politics in 2025: from cost-of-living denial and war crime allegations to fractured alliances and Kremlin-authored policy. Rachel Maddow is a perfect guest—mixing cocktails and context with equal dexterity—offering listeners historical perspective and a call to future vigilance.

If you’ve missed the show, this summary will keep you laughing—and shuddering—right along with Colbert and Maddow as they tackle America’s wildest news cycle yet.