The Michael Knowles Show – Ep. 1831

Date: October 8, 2025
Title: BREAKING: Over 200 Bombs Found At Church Before Apparent Left-Wing Attack

Episode Overview

Michael Knowles opens the episode covering a breaking incident: a man was arrested outside St. Matthew's Cathedral in Washington, D.C., with over 200 functional explosives before an annual mass attended by Supreme Court justices. Knowles analyzes the implications of this “apparent left-wing attack,” connecting it to broader trends of political violence, mainstream reactions, state responsibility, religious renewal, and the deteriorating morality and cultural direction among America’s youth.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The St. Matthew’s Cathedral Bomb Plot: Severity and Context

• Incident Recap ([00:00]): A 41-year-old man was apprehended outside St. Matthew's Cathedral with over 200 explosives, during an event attended by high-profile officials, including Supreme Court justices. The suspect expressed hatred for Catholicism, Judaism, the Supreme Court, and immigration enforcement in a lengthy manifesto.
  • Quote:

    "He had Molotov cocktails... nitromethane... modified bottled rockets covered with aluminum foil treated in a pyrotechnic solution. He had bombs. He just had a bunch of bombs... ‘Several of your people are going to die from one of these’."
    — Michael Knowles ([05:00])

• Religious & Political Undercurrents: Knowles draws parallels between the attack and the Spanish Civil War—a conflict marked by a brutal struggle between communists and right-wing traditionalists, emphasizing the anti-religious violence of that era.
  • Quote:

    "If we are lurching closer to a civil war, it doesn't seem to be like the American Civil War. It seems more like the Spanish Civil War. It seems to have this kind of deep religious basis to it."
    — Michael Knowles ([04:35])

2. Surge in Left-Wing Political Violence & Institutional Responses

• Mainstream Reaction & Hypocrisy ([07:30]):
  Knowles laments a lack of condemnation from media and Democratic officials, noting incidents like a Democratic candidate, Jay Jones, openly endorsing violence against Republicans, yet facing no loss of party support.
  • Quote:

    "The mainstream left doesn't seem to care about it, doesn't really seem to disavow it, in some cases, seems to celebrate it."
    — Michael Knowles ([07:45])

• Historical Precedents:
  Previous waves of leftist violence (radical anarchists in the early 20th century, attacks in the 1960s–’80s, Capitol bombings) serve as warnings of escalation.
• Civil Order Choices:
  Knowles asserts America faces only two choices:
  1. State Violence: Lawful force, executed justly by authorities.
  2. Private Violence: Unchecked street violence, primarily from the left.
  • Quote:

    "The choice is not between peace and violence. The choice is between state violence and private violence. That's it."
    — Michael Knowles ([11:15])

• Solution Proposed ([12:50]):
  Anerging Trump administration’s vow to designate antifa and various cartels as terrorist organizations, prosecute criminals, and restore order as the only peaceful path.
  • Quote:

    "If you want peace, you should be applauding President Trump bringing down the full weight of the federal government to brutally crush the left wing terror groups."
    — Michael Knowles ([12:50])

3. The Case for Data and Law Enforcement

• Senator Schmidt’s DOJ Inquiry ([13:45]):
  • Schmidt grills Attorney General Pam Bondi, highlighting media and academic distortion of data on political violence, wherein right-wing violence is overstated and left-wing violence (like “Summer of Love” riots, antifa attacks) is minimized or mislabeled.
  • Example:

    “One of those studies was written by an antifa affiliated professor... others count classes on prison gang violence as right wing... but refuse to count anything from the 2020 Summer of Love antifa attacks.”
    — Sen. Eric Schmidt ([13:50])

• Call for Transparency:
  Schmidt requests the DOJ/FBI produce a clear public report on left-wing violence; Bondi agrees ([14:49]).
• Knowles’ Commentary:
  "You need to establish the facts first too. Can the government, now that we're in control... at least establish the facts? The left is committing the violence, not the right." ([15:55])

4. The Chicago Gang Crisis & The Limits of Local Governance

• Kash Patel’s Revelations ([18:49]):
  Patel reveals over 110,000 gang members are active in Chicago—a number Knowles deems symptomatic of failed city and state governance—justifying federal intervention.
  • Quote:

    "That’s an army... 110,000 gang members. Chicago is one of the great American cities, or at least it's supposed to be... that's a failed state."
    — Michael Knowles ([19:40])

• State vs. Federal Responsibility:
  Knowles urges the federal government not only has the right, but the responsibility to intervene when local authorities fail.
  • Paraphrase: “The options in Chicago: state violence... or 110,000 gangsters brutalizing innocent people. You can’t ask the gangsters to go away. Which side are you on?” ([20:25])

5. Spiritual Decline and Renewals: Societal Implications

• Rise of Male-Driven Religious Revival ([25:45]):
  Knowles cites new data showing an increase in religious commitment, particularly among young men, reversing previous trends where women led in religiosity.

  • Quote:

    "Men lead. Men lead in everything. Any social trend, any industry, any campaign. The men will lead and the women will follow... Whichever way men are going, that's how society is going to go, and the men are coming back to Christ."
    — Michael Knowles ([27:20])

  • Implication: Predicts this signals a broader cultural move rightward and back toward Christianity.

• Trump’s Reflections on Faith & Morality ([29:36])

  • Trump:

    "If a country doesn't have religion, doesn't have faith, doesn't have God, it's going to be very hard to be a good country... That's very important to me. I think it's really very important."
    — Donald Trump ([29:36])

  • Knowles defends this, pushing back on both atheist and hyper-theological critics:
    • For atheists: "You can't have a good country if it's not religious, period. You just can't."
    • For Christians critical of Trump’s theological errors: "Can you please just shut up for one second and just take the dub? Take the win."

6. Youth, Sexuality, and the Pathologies of Modernity

• NYT on Gen Z “Divorce” ([31:20]):
  • Knowles reviews a New York Times article on “Gen Z divorce”—often occurring in non-marital, non-traditional relationships, reflecting pervasive sexual confusion and “lavender marriages.”
  • Quote:

    "Gen Z has been engaging in a lot of freaky weird sex stuff. They think they're the opposite sex and they engage in polyamory and polycules... Some of them are actually going to get divorced... and they never even had the good of marriage. Isn't that ironic?"
    — Michael Knowles ([34:00])

• Roots of Moral and Social Decay:
  Sexual confusion and easy dissolution of relationships are explained as downstream of spiritual rootlessness—a return to pagan, pre-Christian ethics.
  • Quote:

    "Paganism is not just some crazy thing that they used to do in the past. Paganism is a way of life. It is a set of ideas. It's a conception of the human person. And it's existed in every age and in every place."
    — Michael Knowles ([36:30])

• Cultural Consequences:
  Knowles sees the current “zoomers” as analogous to the boomers—“revolutionaries” now facing the failures of their novelty, with lives marked by confusion and disintegration.
  • Quote:

    "Now they're just kind of like fatter, sadder, kind of divorced eunuchs playing video games with their mistresses as their ex-wives divorce. It's just sad, man."
    — Michael Knowles ([38:50])

  • Warning: Reality reasserts itself; the consequences of departing from tradition inevitably manifest.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the Risk of Civil War ([04:35]):

  “It seems to have this kind of deep religious basis to it... the radical left seems to be really driving it.”
  — Michael Knowles

• On State vs. Private Violence ([11:15]):

  “When half the country is embracing political violence... The choice is not between peace and violence. The choice is between state violence and private violence. That's it.”
  — Michael Knowles

• On Statistical Manipulation of Political Violence ([14:49]):

  “The studies the government is citing... are being written in some cases by antifa affiliated scholars, people who literally embrace antifa themselves. So this is ridiculous propaganda.”
  — Michael Knowles

• Kash Patel on Chicago ([19:40]):

  "The Chicago city streets have 110,000 gang members... 1,200 shootings this year alone, 360 homicides."

• On Masculinity and Societal Direction ([27:20]):

  “Men always lead. So as men led the new atheism... so too the fact that men are leading [religious revival]... Whichever way men are going, that's how society is going to go.”
  — Michael Knowles

• Trump on Faith ([29:36]):

  "If a country doesn't have religion, doesn't have faith, doesn't have God, it's going to be very hard to be a good country."

• On Gen Z and Tradition ([34:00], [36:30]):

  "The early Christians wrote about this... The Christians share everything except their wives, which is the only thing the pagans share."
  — Michael Knowles

Timestamps of Important Segments

• 00:00–05:00 | Breaking: D.C. Bomb Plot & Spanish Civil War Analogy
• 07:30–12:50 | Political Violence, Media Complicity, and State Responsibility
• 13:45–15:45 | Sen. Schmidt Presses DOJ on Accurate Data
• 18:49–20:25 | Kash Patel: Gang Crisis in Chicago
• 25:45–29:20 | Religious Trends and the Role of Men
• 29:36–31:20 | Trump on Religion’s Societal Importance
• 31:20–38:00 | NYT on Gen Z Divorce, Sex & Cultural Degradation
• 38:50–end | Warnings, Reflections, and Looking to Tomorrow’s Topics

Tone and Language

Throughout, Knowles uses direct, occasionally provocative language, mixing cultural analysis with humor and vivid metaphor (“divorced eunuchs playing video games”). He maintains a polemical, combative stance toward the left and is unapologetic in support of religious and conservative values.

Summary

In this episode, Michael Knowles dissects a high-profile bomb scare near the Supreme Court, arguing that the U.S. faces growing threats of ideological, left-driven violence reminiscent of the Spanish Civil War. He critiques media and Democratic denial of such violence, contends for the necessity of a forceful state response, and calls for transparency in data collection about political violence. The episode pivots to signs of religious revival, specifically among young men, and critiques the modern culture of sexuality, as exemplified by Gen Z’s disordered approach to relationships and selfhood. Knowles’ overall assessment is dire yet hopeful: the rot is deep, but renewal is possible—if America turns again to faith, order, and law.