This week we dissected JD Vance’s child care rule change: A Heritage Foundation tradwife policy dressed up as family values, funded by gutting support for the single working parents who actually need it. Then Nathan Robinson joined us to talk about why the socialist moment is real and the DSA keeps winning where it’s not supposed to. And in honor of Labor Day, we put the wage-price spiral myth to rest: real wages flat for 50 years, corporate earnings through the roof, and the Fed looking the other way the whole time.

Chapters

Intro: 00:00:38

Quick Takes: 00:01:33

Max Notes: 00:05:43

Phone A Friend: 00:14:04

Killer Left Take of the Week: 00:37:19

Chart of the Week: 00:39:19

Outro: 00:42:26

Resources

The Ghoul Pool

wgaltv: Democrats criticize Fetterman after WSJ report claims he avoids meeting with constituents

Steven A. Smith: Abdul El-Sayed on Israel, Hasan Piker, ICE and JD Vance

A24: You Can See Everything

Al Jazeera English: Far-right AFD wins vote in Germany’s Saxony-Anhalt state: Exit polls

Mother Jones: Ashley Hinson Fought to Save Private Equity’s Favorite Loophole

The New York Times: Trump Officials Draft Plan to Pay At-Home Parents, Using Funds for Working Ones

The Heritage Foundation: Saving America by Saving the Family: A Foundation for the Next 250 Years

Politico: Heritage Foundation calls on US to prioritize marriage and family in new report

Congress: The Child Care and Development Block Grant: In Brief

National Women’s Law Center: Re-Envisioning CCDF

Emerald Book: How the 68% Black Single Motherhood Myth Harms Black Women and Families

Center for American Progress: The Economic Status of Single Mothers

Financial Planning Association: Leveraging Divorce to Maximize College Financial Aid

Nathan J. Robinson: Why You Should Be a Socialist

Nathan J. Robinson: Hillbilly Hypocrisy: ND Vance and the Dark Future of MAGA Politics

Subscribe to Current Affairs Magazine.

Jacobin: Capitalism makes “everyone feels a little insane”

Investopedia: Wage-Price Spiral: What It Is and How It’s Controlled

Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis: Average Hourly Earnings of Production and Nonsupervisory Employees, Total Private

Union Stats: Union Membership, Coverage, Density and Employment by Sector and Demographic Group: 1973-2025

Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis: Corporate Profits After Tax (without IVA and CCAdj)

Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis: Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers: All Items in U.S. City Average

Federal Reserve Bank of New York: Center for Microeconomic Data

UNFTR Resources

Video: On The Record 9-08-26 (JD Vance’s Disgusting Stunt | Trump is Melting | Nathan Robinson.)

Essay: Hillbilly Hypocrite.

Episode: Did Ronald Reagan Destroy the American Dream?

Episode: Merchants of Death.

Episode: Labor Daze.

Episode: Economics of Racism.

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