SEASON 2 EPISODE 75: COUNTDOWN WITH KEITH OLBERMANN

A-Block (1:44) SPECIAL COMMENT:

B-Block (19:16) IN SPORTS: The president of the Cleveland Guardians admits what I've guessed at here: Many baseball teams are in financial trouble because of the collapse of cable sports television. And a Reddit post about the Brooklyn Nets "killing their own players" is either the best satire of sports fan idiocy, or the best example of sports fan idiocy. (25:05) THE WORST PERSONS IN THE WORLD: There's a bunch: Elon Musk's antisemitism, Brianna Keilar platforming Joe Lieberman and the No Labels Trump Stalking Horses, "Democrat" Dean Phillips circulates an endorsement by Matt Gaetz, and poor FBI Director Wray subjected to the stupidity of Marjorie Taylor Greene and the "Ghost Buses" of Clay Higgins. Who ya gonna call?

C-Block (33:30) THINGS I PROMISED NOT TO TELL: With his three Ukrainian Hunter Biden Dirt sources suddenly accused of being Russian spies and under indictment for treason in Ukraine, it's time to tell you of the first time I knew Rudy Giuliani was nuts. Spoiler alert: it was in a previous century.

SEASON 2 EPISODE 75: COUNTDOWN WITH KEITH OLBERMANN
A-Block (1:44) SPECIAL COMMENT:
B-Block (19:16) IN SPORTS: The president of the Cleveland Guardians admits what I've guessed at here: Many baseball teams are in financial trouble because of the collapse of cable sports television. And a Reddit post about the Brooklyn Nets "killing their own players" is either the best satire of sports fan idiocy, or the best example of sports fan idiocy. (25:05) THE WORST PERSONS IN THE WORLD: There's a bunch: Elon Musk's antisemitism, Brianna Keilar platforming Joe Lieberman and the No Labels Trump Stalking Horses, "Democrat" Dean Phillips circulates an endorsement by Matt Gaetz, and poor FBI Director Wray subjected to the stupidity of Marjorie Taylor Greene and the "Ghost Buses" of Clay Higgins. Who ya gonna call?
C-Block (33:30) THINGS I PROMISED NOT TO TELL: With his three Ukrainian Hunter Biden Dirt sources suddenly accused of being Russian spies and under indictment for treason in Ukraine, it's time to tell you of the first time I knew Rudy Giuliani was nuts. Spoiler alert: it was in a previous century.

“Countdown With Keith Olbermann,” the landmark news and commentary program that reordered the world of cable news, returns as a daily podcast. Olbermann’s daily news-driven mix will include his trademark “Special Comment” political analysis, the tongue-in-cheek “Worst Persons In The World” segment, and his timeless readings from the works of the immortal James Thurber. The man who turned SportsCenter into a cultural phenomenon will broaden the content to include a daily sports segment, a daily call for help for a suffering dog, and a remarkable series of anecdotes covering a career that stretched from covering the 1980 Olympic Miracle on Ice a month after his 21st birthday, to anchoring the 2009 Presidential Inauguration and the 2009 Super Bowl pre-game show in a span of just twelve days, to rejoining ESPN as a “rookie” baseball play-by-play man at the age of 59.

“Countdown With Keith Olbermann,” the landmark news and commentary program that reordered the world of cable news, returns as a daily podcast. Olbermann’s daily news-driven mix will include his trademark “Special Comment” political analysis, the tongue-in-cheek “Worst Persons In The World” segment, and his timeless readings from the works of the immortal James Thurber. The man who turned SportsCenter into a cultural phenomenon will broaden the content to include a daily sports segment, a daily call for help for a suffering dog, and a remarkable series of anecdotes covering a career that stretched from covering the 1980 Olympic Miracle on Ice a month after his 21st birthday, to anchoring the 2009 Presidential Inauguration and the 2009 Super Bowl pre-game show in a span of just twelve days, to rejoining ESPN as a “rookie” baseball play-by-play man at the age of 59.

Countdown with Keith Olbermann

BIDEN AGREES: TRUMP IS ECHOING NAZIS - 11.16.23

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/e86a3dac-8296-4ed3-9769-b0bc004120c8/transcript

SEASON 4 EPISODE 42: COUNTDOWN WITH KEITH OLBERMANN

A-Block (2:30) SPECIAL COMMENT: Trump is drowning.

Trump’s presidency is DROWNING.

Yesterday, it was Republicans forcing a vote to extend Obamacare subsidies. Yesterday, 38 PERCENT approval in the Marist poll. Monday, his Rob Reiner tweet that appalled even the worst of MAGA. Tuesday, Susie Wiles. Friday, the Epstein Files, proving: no, history doesn’t repeat itself but yes, sometimes it LITERALLY rhymes.

The Venezuela Wag-The-Dog episode collapsed before it started. It's about Narco-terrorism, whatever the eff that is? Oil? Stuff they stole? Nuh uh. For the first but not the last time we turn to Susie Wiles for the, uh, well, it’s a strange word to use about the Trump administration but here it is: TRUTH. "He wants to keep on blowing boats up until [president Nicolás] Maduro cries uncle. And people way smarter than me on that say that he will." She also single-handedly ended the just-forming prosecution of Jack Smith, and the vowed prosecution of Anthony Fauci, and the already-moribund prosecutions of James Comey and Letitia James and Adam Schiff and and and…All those cases will be thrown out of court. All of them. Because Susie Wiles is on tape saying quote “I don’t think he wakes up thinking about retribution but when there’s an opportunity he will go for it.” About Comey, quote: “I mean, people could think it does look vindictive. I can’t tell you why you shouldn’t think that.” Trump’s chief of staff. Confirming it’s retribution. And retribution means selective prosecution and selective prosecution is illegal and you not only get the case thrown out, if you’ve had to defend yourself or your reputation has been hurt, you can sue the government. And it’s on TAPE.

So why did she say it? Why did she think she could get away with it? Because inside the White House even the Chief of Staff knows Trump is drowning. And they are beginning to distance themselves from him.

B-Block (27:00) THE WORST PERSONS IN THE WORLD: Laura Ingraham doesn't know Niagara Falls is in Ontario or Ontario is in Canada or that Premier Doug Ford isn't an American. I make bad choices in Exes. And these MAGA idiots just cannot see anything in the world any more without trying to force it into their brain-dead templates: it MUST be political and it MUST be an attack on Trump. New York City councilwoman Vickie Paladino "knows" the terrible shooting was an attack on Republicans at Brown University, and the moronic troll "Cat Turd" is sure they're wiping the shooter's social media history clean (which is an idea he should execute).

C-Block (37:00) THINGS I PROMISED NOT TO TELL: I'm off by only four days from the exact anniversary, but it is now 42 years since I first met and interviewed Trump and I know most of us who knew him before knew he was nuts, but I must give myself credit. An hour after that meeting I was asking a colleague "what the eff is wrong with THAT guy?"

SEASON 4 EPISODE 42: COUNTDOWN WITH KEITH OLBERMANN
A-Block (2:30) SPECIAL COMMENT: Trump is drowning.
Trump&rsquo;s presidency is DROWNING.
Yesterday, it was Republicans forcing a vote to extend Obamacare subsidies. Yesterday, 38 PERCENT approval in the Marist poll. Monday, his Rob Reiner tweet that appalled even the worst of MAGA. Tuesday, Susie Wiles. Friday, the Epstein Files, proving: no, history doesn&rsquo;t repeat itself but yes, sometimes it LITERALLY rhymes.
The Venezuela Wag-The-Dog episode collapsed before it started. It's about Narco-terrorism, whatever the eff that is? Oil? Stuff they stole? Nuh uh. For the first but not the last time we turn to Susie Wiles for the, uh, well, it&rsquo;s a strange word to use about the Trump administration but here it is: TRUTH. "He wants to keep on blowing boats up until [president Nicol&aacute;s] Maduro cries uncle. And people way smarter than me on that say that he will." She also single-handedly ended the just-forming prosecution of Jack Smith, and the vowed prosecution of Anthony Fauci, and the already-moribund prosecutions of James Comey and Letitia James and Adam Schiff and and and&hellip;All those cases will be thrown out of court. All of them. Because Susie Wiles is on tape saying quote&nbsp;&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think he wakes up thinking about retribution but when there&rsquo;s an opportunity he will go for it.&rdquo; About Comey, quote: &ldquo;I mean, people could think it&nbsp;does&nbsp;look vindictive. I can&rsquo;t tell you why you shouldn&rsquo;t think that.&rdquo; Trump&rsquo;s chief of staff. Confirming it&rsquo;s retribution. And retribution means selective prosecution and selective prosecution is illegal and you not only get the case thrown out, if you&rsquo;ve had to defend yourself or your reputation has been hurt, you can sue the government. And it&rsquo;s on TAPE.
So why did she say it? Why did she think she could get away with it? Because inside the White House even the Chief of Staff knows Trump is drowning. And they are beginning to distance themselves from him.
B-Block (27:00) THE WORST PERSONS IN THE WORLD: Laura Ingraham doesn't know Niagara Falls is in Ontario or Ontario is in Canada or that Premier Doug Ford isn't an American. I make bad choices in Exes. And these MAGA idiots just cannot see anything in the world any more without trying to force it into their brain-dead templates: it MUST be political and it MUST be an attack on Trump. New York City councilwoman Vickie Paladino "knows" the terrible shooting was an attack on Republicans at Brown University, and the moronic troll "Cat Turd" is sure they're wiping the shooter's social media history clean (which is an idea he should execute).
C-Block (37:00) THINGS I PROMISED NOT TO TELL: I'm off by only four days from the exact anniversary, but it is now 42 years since I first met and interviewed Trump and I know most of us who knew him before knew he was nuts, but I must give myself credit. An hour after that meeting I was asking a colleague "what the eff is wrong with THAT guy?"

TRUMP IS DROWNING - 12.18.25

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/a822c1ed-6684-40dd-9aa9-b3b7000fd70b/transcript

SEASON 4 EPISODE 41: COUNTDOWN WITH KEITH OLBERMANN

The president of the United States is celebrating the murder of Rob Reiner and his wife. It is at first impossible to believe that what follows isn’t satire. Then it becomes heart-breaking that it isn’t satire. Then it becomes infuriating. Finally it becomes more evidence that every minute this man is permitted to REMAIN president – the rest of us – the rest of us in the WORLD – are in mortal danger.

Trump really believes that Rob Reiner “passed away… due to the anger he caused others through his massive, unyielding, and incurable affliction with… Trump Derangement Syndrome.”

Trump’s ability to make everything about HIM – his need to be, as the old dark joke goes, the bride at every wedding and the corpse at every funeral – is not some kind of act. You will recall his reaction to 9/11 – that it made HIM the owner of the SECOND tallest building in downtown Manhattan, not just the third. It crested when he publicly speculated that a baseball player broke his ankle because he sold his apartment in a Trump building.

It is called Shallow Affect and it means in essence that you do not KNOW how actual normal humans interact nor what causes the events in THEIR lives. You cannot CONCEIVE of their lives. You look at a picture of the world and you see only you. You look in a mirror and you correctly see YOU but you are firmly convinced that when OTHERS look in THEIR mirrors… they ALSO see only you.

Human beings do not believe these things. Trump does. It means he can believe - and do - anything.

SEASON 4 EPISODE 41: COUNTDOWN WITH KEITH OLBERMANN
The president of the United States is celebrating the murder of Rob Reiner and his wife. It is at first impossible to believe that what follows isn&rsquo;t satire. Then it becomes heart-breaking that it isn&rsquo;t satire. Then it becomes infuriating. Finally it becomes more evidence that every minute this man is permitted to REMAIN president &ndash; the rest of us &ndash; the rest of us in the WORLD &ndash; are in mortal danger.
Trump really believes that Rob Reiner &ldquo;passed away&hellip; due to the anger he caused others through his massive, unyielding, and incurable affliction with&hellip; Trump Derangement Syndrome.&rdquo;
Trump&rsquo;s ability to make everything about HIM &ndash; his need to be, as the old dark joke goes, the bride at every wedding and the corpse at every funeral &ndash; is not some kind of act. You will recall his reaction to 9/11 &ndash; that it made HIM the owner of the SECOND tallest building in downtown Manhattan, not just the third. It crested when he publicly speculated that a baseball player broke his ankle because he sold his apartment in a Trump building.
It is called Shallow Affect and it means in essence that you do not KNOW how actual normal humans interact nor what causes the events in THEIR lives. You cannot CONCEIVE of their lives. You look at a picture of the world and you see only you. You look in a mirror and you correctly see YOU but you are firmly convinced that when OTHERS look in THEIR mirrors&hellip; they ALSO see only you.
Human beings do not believe these things. Trump does. It means he can believe - and do - anything.

BULLETIN: TRUMP CELEBRATES THE MURDER OF ROB REINER - 12.15.25

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/a5f796e0-6412-4e06-b49e-b3b40118727e/transcript

SEASON 4 EPISODE 40: COUNTDOWN WITH KEITH OLBERMANN

A-Block (2:30) SPECIAL COMMENT: Trump’s losing streak has hit 27 days. His LATEST losing streak.

MAGA knows it. The Head of the Republican National Committee knows it. The Wall Street Journal knows it. The Indiana GOP knows it. The Ukrainians know it. Anybody who saw his pathetic credit-grabbing disinformational tweet Saturday night after the Brown shooting knows it. His own economists know it. The terrorists know it.

Even TRUMP knows it.

Since the house passed the Epstein Files Transparency Act on November 19th Trump has been SINKING. In quicksand. SINKING. And not more than one or two of his more insane more desperate colleagues even getting close enough to hand him a rope, for fear of being pulled down with him. 

They are beginning to blame him. “We are facing almost certain defeat,” says the purulent face of the RNC Joe Gruters, about the midterms. Then, “this is an absolute disaster.” Then “There’s no sugarcoating it. This is a pending looming disaster headed our way.” Then, I think quoting me quoting the late football owner Al Davis, “the chances are Republicans will go down and will go down HARD.”

Just lose, baby.

And boy, has he been losing. On affordability. In the Miami election. In the Georgia state house election. On affordability. On telling you to buy your daughter only two dolls. In Indiana. About Somalia. In his "peace" deal in the Middle East. In Thailand. In Syria. In Ukraine. About ObamaCare. About Alina Habba. About Kilmar Abrego Garcia. About the National Guard troops in L.A. 

And mostly about Epstein. Those four photos show nothing and would normally would therefore MEAN nothing. But they form a reminder that Trump tried to stop you from SEEING photos of him with Epstein. That THOSE photos weren’t PART of the tranche in the files, doesn’t matter. It only raises a kind of instinctive speculation about how much WORSE those OTHER Epstein-Trump photos are. It keeps the Epstein story alive when Trump COULD HAVE killed it, weeks ago, months ago. But he knew better. And now we get an endless scandal that only has to promise shocks to self-perpetuate. Trump used to win with those. Now he's losing.

Because he's Donald Trump. Donald - with 47 L's.

B-Block (30:30) THE WORST PERSONS IN THE WORLD: Anna Paulina Luna, member of the U.S. Congress and top Russian influencer? Governor Josh Shapiro is so stuck on bipartisanship he's bothsides-ing political violence (including the day the fascists firebombed his family). And Howard Lutnick with the greatest self-contradiction of the year.

C-Block (38:00) THINGS I PROMISED NOT TO TELL: A tragic event on the streets of New York 65 years ago led to me winding up in the authorized biography of the creator of Willy Wonka, Roald Dahl. He was a complicated and controversial figure but he did great things too - like encourage any kid he interacted with. Including me!

 

SEASON 4 EPISODE 40: COUNTDOWN WITH KEITH OLBERMANN
A-Block (2:30) SPECIAL COMMENT: Trump&rsquo;s losing streak has hit 27 days. His LATEST losing streak.
MAGA knows it. The Head of the Republican National Committee knows it. The Wall Street Journal knows it. The Indiana GOP knows it. The Ukrainians know it. Anybody who saw his pathetic credit-grabbing disinformational tweet Saturday night after the Brown shooting knows it. His own economists know it. The terrorists know it.
Even TRUMP knows it.
Since the house passed the Epstein Files Transparency Act on November 19th Trump has been SINKING. In quicksand. SINKING. And not more than one or two of his more insane more desperate colleagues even getting close enough to hand him a rope, for fear of being pulled down with him.&nbsp;
They are beginning to blame him. &ldquo;We are facing almost certain defeat,&rdquo; says the purulent face of the RNC Joe Gruters, about the midterms. Then, &ldquo;this is an absolute disaster.&rdquo; Then &ldquo;There&rsquo;s no sugarcoating it. This is a pending looming disaster headed our way.&rdquo; Then, I think quoting me quoting the late football owner Al Davis, &ldquo;the chances are Republicans will go down and will go down HARD.&rdquo;
Just lose, baby.
And boy, has he been losing. On affordability. In the Miami election. In the Georgia state house election. On affordability. On telling you to buy your daughter only two dolls. In Indiana. About Somalia. In his "peace" deal in the Middle East. In Thailand. In Syria. In Ukraine. About ObamaCare. About Alina Habba. About Kilmar Abrego Garcia. About the National Guard troops in L.A.&nbsp;
And mostly about Epstein. Those four photos show nothing and would normally would therefore MEAN nothing. But they form a reminder that Trump tried to stop you from SEEING photos of him with Epstein. That THOSE photos weren&rsquo;t PART of the tranche in the files, doesn&rsquo;t matter. It only raises a kind of instinctive speculation about how much WORSE those OTHER Epstein-Trump photos are. It keeps the Epstein story alive when Trump COULD HAVE killed it, weeks ago, months ago. But he knew better. And now we get an endless scandal that only has to promise shocks to self-perpetuate. Trump used to win with those. Now he's losing.
Because he's Donald Trump. Donald - with 47 L's.
B-Block (30:30) THE WORST PERSONS IN THE WORLD: Anna Paulina Luna, member of the U.S. Congress and top Russian influencer? Governor Josh Shapiro is so stuck on bipartisanship he's bothsides-ing political violence (including the day the fascists firebombed his family). And Howard Lutnick with the greatest self-contradiction of the year.
C-Block (38:00) THINGS I PROMISED NOT TO TELL: A tragic event on the streets of New York 65 years ago led to me winding up in the authorized biography of the creator of Willy Wonka, Roald Dahl. He was a complicated and controversial figure but he did great things too - like encourage any kid he interacted with. Including me!
&nbsp;

DONALD TRUMP: THAT'S "DONALD" WITH 47 L's - 12.15.25

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/b4593686-baf8-4c3e-a4a3-b3b400052df0/transcript

BIDEN AGREES: TRUMP IS ECHOING NAZIS - 11.16.23

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