North Korea is thriving despite years of US sanctions. Ben Rhodes argues this is the inevitable result of America over-sanctioning so many countries that they've created an entirely parallel trade system — trading in crypto, bartering, and evading the dollar — effectively nullifying US financial pressure.
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At 46:47 · chapter starts 41:58
Chinese President Xi Jinping made his first trip to Pyongyang in seven years, with the summit shrouded in secrecy. But the run-up coverage is full of revelations: recent visitors to North Korea describe landing to find Chinese electric vehicles everywhere, rideshare apps, new restaurants including pizza joints, and a general buzz of economic activity. Satellite imagery from both The Times and the Wall Street Journal shows Pyongyang is three times brighter at night than five years ago, with full parking lots and active oil facilities. The Wall Street Journal and a South Korean think tank identify the driver: North Korean arms sales to Russia generating more than $10 billion from late 2023 through 2025, alongside deploying 16,000 soldiers to fight alongside Russian forces — a third of whom were killed or wounded [1] — Tommy Vietor "Visitors to Pyongyang are reporting Chinese electric vehicles, rideshare apps, and pizza restaurants. Satellite imagery shows the capital i…" 41:20 . Kim has also profited from state-backed cryptocurrency theft and hacking. Tommy acknowledges that if ordinary North Koreans have more food, that's genuinely good, but notes that repression has intensified — Kim is executing people for distributing South Korean TV shows — and the economic benefits are heavily concentrated in Pyongyang.
Satellite imagery shows Pyongyang is three times brighter at night than it was five years ago, reflecting significant economic growth.
A South Korean think tank found that North Korean arms sales to Russia generated more than $10 billion from late 2023 through 2025, against a GDP of only ~$27 billion.
North Korea deployed 16,000 soldiers to fight alongside Russian forces, with a third reportedly killed or wounded.
Kim Jong Un is believed to have at least 50 assembled nuclear warheads, components for nearly 100 more, and the capacity to build a dozen or more per year.
Ten years ago, 90% of tech media coverage was relentlessly negative and Kalanick felt he couldn't speak freely. Today, the rise of independent podcasters and Elon Musk buying Twitter has fundamentally changed the game — and it's why he's finally willing to talk.
Kay Classman, 28, was arrested for repeatedly posing as a 16-year-old and enrolling in Bronx high schools across multiple districts. She wasn't a predator — just someone so sad and lonely she wanted her lost childhood back. That's somehow sadder.
Disney, Meta, and Paramount have collectively paid Trump roughly $60 million to settle what Galloway calls nuisance lawsuits — all routed to his presidential library. Newsrooms are folding. The White House is handpicking press pool participants. This is what the end of a free press looks like.
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A progressive organization with a stated mission to destroy Turning Point USA received millions from ActBlue and is now publicly pushing the narrative that TPUSA insiders and Israel murdered Charlie Kirk. Andrew Wilson traced the network of accounts all amplifying the same conspiracy in perfect unison.
The microphone-bomb theory fails on every physical front: no smoke, no ignition, mic on the wrong side of the wound. And the .30-06 rifle round used is extensively documented by the US Army — it does not always produce a through-and-through wound. Wilson argues this is a well-studied projectile with well-understood behavior.
Andrew Wilson publicly offered Candace Owens $300,000 to debate her theory that Israel and TPUSA murdered Charlie Kirk. She refused. He argues that flat-earthers will debate anyone, but Kirk conspiracy theorists won't defend their claims under scrutiny.
Erika Kirk became the CEO of TPUSA while grieving her husband's murder in public, and now faces tens of thousands accusing her of conspiring to kill him. Andrew Wilson calls it mind-boggling psychological torture. The sparklers at the memorial weren't suspicious — they were a grieving widow doing her best in an impossible situation.
Joe Rogan and Andrew Wilson watch a bystander video of the Corey Ruiz police shooting in Madison, Wisconsin live on air. The video is so blurry they initially think a female officer fired the fatal shots. They later learn a male officer did, after Ruiz allegedly pulled a knife and stabbed officers. Their conclusion: you cannot have a hot take on a story you don't understand yet.
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