Podcast
Who Funds that?
Hosted by Capital Research Center · EN
The podcast where we go beneath the surface to reveal the web of connected influence, money, and motivation driving the news, sourced primarily from our website InfluenceWatch.org, the Capital Research Center's online encyclopedia of the donors, non-profits, and influencers driving politics. You can watch the video version of the podcast at: http://bit.ly/2rnQygY
Listen to all episodes of the "Who Funds That?" Podcast at Ricochet.com.
Listen to all episodes of the "Who Funds That?" Podcast at Ricochet.com.
22episodes
Episodes
Newest firstAll episodes
Who Funds That? EP 15: Congress Considers Nonprofit Regulation
1w ago00:28:41Tap to summarizeMany people are saying that Congress doesn’t do anything, and…yeah they’re often correct—and that’s sometimes a good thing. But on the subject of nonprofit and advocacy group regulation, the House Committee on Ways and Means—responsible for writing federal tax laws—is proving very active, advancing four bills to change how nonprofits and political advocacy groups operate. Joining us is our colleague Robert Stilson to discuss the legislation and the goals of nonprofit regulatory policies. Chairman Smith Opening Statement: Markup of Legislation Increasing Transparency & Accountability in …https://capitalresearch.org/article/who-funds-that-episode-14-the-foreign-funding-election-loophole/https://capitalresearch.org/article/influencewatch-podcast-396-congress-tackles-foreign-nonprofit-funding/https://capitalresearch.org/article/treasury-is-rightly-focused-on-nonprofit-transparency/
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Who Funds That? EP14: The Foreign Funding Election Loophole
3w ago00:25:32Tap to summarizeIt is supposed to be the law that foreigners, people who do not have citizenship or permanent residency, cannot fund federal election campaigns. But our colleague Parker Thayer notes that there is a giant loophole in this prohibition—one that the government needs to take seriously—namely, the charitable election sector (which maybe also shouldn’t exist). He joins us today to discuss foreign nationals, charities, and elections.CRC: The Charitable Back DoorCRC: The Left’s voter registration grift thrived in 2024 CRC: The Vote Machine is already planning for the 2030 CensusInfluenceWatch: Wyss FoundationInfluenceWatch: Hansjorg Wyss
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Who Funds That? EP13: Organizing the DSA Revolution
4w ago00:23:49Tap to summarizeYou’ve heard quite a lot about the Democratic Socialists of America, the left-wing faction that has surged to victories in Democratic Party primary elections across the country. But how did what was as recently as the early 2010s a marginal player on the radical-left of American politics become power brokers who can drive their candidates to major political offices? Joining us is Sean Speer of the Manhattan Institute joins us to analyze these dynamics.City Journal: How the Far Left Captured the Democratic PartyCRC: Communism and the Democratic Socialists of AmericaCRC: The Anti-American Left: Democratic Socialists of America
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Who Funds That? EP12: Trump Can Say "You're Fired"
Jul 700:27:51Tap to summarizeThe Supreme Court has issued its rulings, and with big decisions on citizenship, transgender athletes, and congressional redistricting, a major case with significant impacts on policy may fly under the radar. In Trump v. Slaughter, the Court ruled that the President has the power to dismiss members of multi-member federal boards like the Federal Trade Commission regardless of Congressional attempts to restrict the dismissal power to specific conditions. That will affect, among other things, labor-relations law, because the National Labor Relations Board is one of these multi-member boards almost certainly affected by the ruling. With President Trump also having nominated Kieth Sonderling as permanent Secretary of Labor, where will the Slaughter ruling and the new labor secretary take labor policy (and other economic policy, with other affected boards)? Joining us to discuss these questions is Akash Chougule of the Foundation for Research on Equal Opportunity.The Foundation for Research on Equal OpportunityFREOPP: Americans need opportunity abundanceCRC: Leadership Change at the Labor DepartmentSCOTUS Blog: Supreme Court allows Trump to fire FTC commissioner and overturns major restraint on presidential power
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Who Funds That? EP11: What to Make of AI Opposition
Jun 3000:29:55Tap to summarizeArtificial intelligence: what does it mean? Is it taking all the water? Is it taking all the jobs? Are foreign interests, radical socialists, and cynical AI companies misleading the public about what AI is doing to America? Our colleague Parker Thayer joins us to discuss.Parker Thayer on XExclusive: Conservatives plan nationwide protest against AI data centersInfluenceWatch Podcast #385: Effective Altruism, AI, and Shrimp WelfareDustin MoskovitzAnthropicOpenAI
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Who Funds That? EP10: The Experts Weigh in on Fixing Higher Ed
Jun 2300:27:44Tap to summarizeToday’s higher education is not your grandfather’s higher education. Indeed, it’s not even the higher education of my first run through it in the 90s, before the pervasive embrace of DEI and critical race theory, before the extreme ideological disparities that led to a decrease in the study of traditional humanities and an increase in the study of social justice issues, and before the pernicious threats to independent thought and free speech that led to a recent wave of rampant antisemitism at some of the America’s most prestigious institutions. The threats facing higher education and, more broadly, civil society have arisen relatively quickly, and the question now is: can anything be done to fix what ails higher education in the same rapid timeframe? As universities grow richer and more administratively bloated and students become less educated and more ideologically indoctrinated, are there answers from inside the institutions, or is it going to take choices made by outside influences like governments, donors, and parents to get higher ed back to its mission of educating America’s young people to be productive American citizens? A new book of essays from The Heritage Foundation, written by preeminent education scholars, titled “Higher Education in America: It’s Worse Than You Think,” seeks to answer some of these questions. One of those scholars, Jonathan Butcher, Acting Director for Heritage’s Center for Education Policy, joins us today.
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Who Funds That? EP9: Poisoned Ivies with Rep. Elise Stefanik
Jun 1600:18:26Tap to summarizeSince the Hamas attacks on Israel in October 2023, the Everything Leftist Omnicause has turned its Eye of Sauron toward aggressive support for Palestinian nationalism—support for Palestinian nationalism that all too frequently crosses the line from a political position to antipathy towards American Jews. Nowhere has the latter been more visible than on the most elite college campuses, where administrations that have been perfectly happy to suppress speech they didn’t like about mainstream political issues have allowed Palestinian nationalist demonstrators to impose their wills on campus. Today’s guest used her position to ask the presidents of three of America’s most prestigious universities how that came to be; the resulting incoherent responses started a firestorm that culminated in her new book, Poisoned Ivies: The Inside Account of the Academic and Moral Rot at America's Elite Universities. Joining us today to discuss higher education and the rot within it is U.S. Representative Elise Stefanik of New York.Poisoned Ivies: The Inside Account of the Academic and Moral Rot at America's Elite UniversitiesRep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) Questions University Presidents on AntisemitismThe Universities That Don’t Understand Academic FreedomElise Stefanik’s new book ‘Poisoned Ivies’ highlights the dangerous extremism in higher education
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Who Funds That? EP8: Enemies of Energy
Jun 900:25:08Tap to summarizeWithout energy, we have nothing: The economy relies on it; our entertainments rely on it; our schools rely on it; our comfort and lives rely on it. But the energy on which we all rely has enemies, and our colleague Ken Braun has traced them in his new report Enemies of Energy. Ken joins us today to discuss his report.Enemies of Energy reportWhat’s Behind American Energy NGOs Doing China’s Dirty Work
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Who Funds That? EP7: Hasan Piker in the Doghouse?
Jun 200:35:34Tap to summarizeAmericans who know Cuba best—those who fled the Communist-ruled island and their descendants—loathe the country’s Communist regime, in power since Fidel Castro overthrew an American-backed strongman in 1959. Thanks to Cold War geopolitics and the political influence of those Cuban-American communities (especially those around Miami, home city of Secretary of State Marco Rubio), the United States has maintained strict restrictions on trade and travel to the island, largely on a bipartisan basis. But left-of-center activists often operate as if laws they don’t like don’t apply to them, and that any infractions will be dismissed with a wink and a nod by their “moderate” allies. And with an aggressive right-of-center government in power, that is increasingly a bad bet, as a number of radical-left activists including podcaster Hasan Piker and CodePink leader Medea Benjamin have reportedly been subpoenaed for information about their participation in the “Nuestra America Convoy” supporting the Communist regime. How much trouble are these leftist agitators potentially in? What are they doing, and who’s funding it? Stu Smith of the Manhattan Institute joins us to discuss.Feds subpoena Hasan Piker, Medea Benjamin over Cuba tripsHasan PikerCode Pink (CODEPINK)Democratic Socialists of America (DSA)The Cuban regime’s American sympathizersStu Smith
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Who Funds That? EP6: Can Treasury Fix Nonprofit Tax Returns
May 2600:35:34Tap to summarizeToday we’ve got a very important and exciting topic to cover: The nonprofit tax return (Form 990)! Now please don’t turn your podcast dial—this actually matters way more than you think, even if you aren’t a nonprofit accountant, because 990 disclosures are so very important to discovering “Who Funds That” in nonprofit advocacy. The Trump administration has proposed major changes to the “990” that “are intended to detect misconduct and hold wrongdoers accountable.” We’ve invited our colleague Robert Stilson, who has written extensively on fixing the nonprofit tax return, to offer his ideas on what the Trump administration should do. Treasury Announces Form 990 Transparency Initiative to Expose Hidden Funding and Strengthen OversightSome Suggestions for Improving the Form 990Thinking About Fiscal Sponsorship: The Form 990 Black HoleThinking About Fiscal Sponsorship: Potential ReformsTides Center
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