On today’s show:

👉 Bernie Sanders becoming the power broker inside the Democrat Party

👉 Mamdani’s tax-the-rich push in New York

👉 Why socialism is gaining ground with younger voters

👉 The Cold War lessons many Americans no longer know

👉 A coming Reagan-Gorbachev film and why it matters now

👉 The fight over Animal Farm and George Orwell’s warning on power

👉 Red states blasting blue states for keeping taxes on tips and overtime

👉 Jimmy Kimmel, Eric Swalwell, and selective late-night outrage

👉 Rosie O’Donnell reacting to the Swalwell scandal

👉 Rich shares details on his heart condition and surgery

👉 President Trump’s latest comments on Iran and the blockade 

Rich Zeoli opens with a warning that the Democrat Party is moving further left, and we spend the opening stretch laying out why Bernie Sanders now looks like the movement’s power broker. We talk about how Rich sees Sanders gaining new stature after years of being pushed aside by party insiders, why Mamdani’s rise matters, and how a special election in New Jersey fits into the bigger picture. Zeoli ties all of it to a wider argument that younger voters have been sold on socialism as an answer to frustration with work, wealth, and the American system.

We also spend a big portion of the show on the Cold War, communism, and how that history connects to the current political moment. Rich reacts to Hasan Piker’s comments on the Soviet Union, discusses the upcoming Reagan-Gorbachev film Brink of War, and revisits George Orwell’s warning in Animal Farm. We get into why Zeoli believes many Americans no longer grasp what made communism oppressive, how the language has shifted from “capitalism” to “oligarchy,” and why free promises still attract support even when history points in another direction. Later, we move into red-state criticism of blue states that still tax tips and overtime, then pivot to Bernie Sanders and AOC discussing artificial intelligence, with Rich arguing that Sanders is effectively handing off his movement to a younger face.

In the final stretch, we move from politics into media, scandal, and personal news. Rich takes on Jimmy Kimmel for his handling of Eric Swalwell, reacts to Rosie O’Donnell’s frustration, and then shares a very personal update on his heart after meeting with a surgeon and reviewing images of a myocardial bridge that will require open-heart surgery. Zeoli keeps the mood honest but upbeat as Dan asks about his outlook, before the show closes with President Trump’s latest comments on Iran, the blockade, and what could happen next if there is no deal. It’s a packed episode that moves from the future of the left, to media double standards, to Rich’s own health fight.

00:00 Bernie Sanders as the new power broker on the left

00:50 Democrats blocked Sanders in 2016 and 2020... Regret?

02:18 Why Rich says party insiders stopped voters from choosing nominees

03:18 Bernie, AOC, Mamdani, and the next phase of the left

04:16 Why younger voters are warming to socialism

06:24 Hasan Piker, the USSR, and a defense of communism

08:49 Brink of War Film and why the Cold War still matters

12:09 Animal Farm, Orwell, and the fight over power

21:20 Mamdani’s luxury property tax and the politics of punishing wealth

28:21 What Republicans are saying about taxes on tips and overtime

31:16 Bernie Sanders and AOC on artificial intelligence and China

37:25 Rich questions whether Animal Farm gets Orwell right

39:47 Jimmy Kimmel, Eric Swalwell, and late-night hypocrisy

45:13 Rosie O’Donnell reacts to the Swalwell fallout

53:12 Rich shares details on his heart condition and surgery

58:03 President Trump on Iran, the blockade, and what comes next 

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