In this countdown-style episode, Dr. Jesse Turiel and I discuss each of our top 5 biggest political misconceptions Americans believe.

Nick’s Top 5 Misconceptions

1. “Trickle-Down Economics Works”
2. “All Politicians Are the Same” / “Outsiders Aren’t Corrupt”
3. “If We Just Tax the Rich, We Can Fund Everything”
4. “Local Politics Don’t Matter / My Vote Doesn’t Count”
5. “Foreign Aid Is Just Sending Money”

Jesse's Top 5 Misconceptions

1. “The GOP Is the Party of Small Government and Fiscal Responsibility”
2. “The President Controls Gas Prices and Inflation”
3. “Climate Change Will End Human Civilization”
4. “The Founding Fathers Were a Unified Group”
5. “Immigration Is a Net Negative for the U.S.”

This week, Rick and I dive into the chaos, conspiracies, and climate headlines you might have missed:

• The Trump Administration now claims the long-teased Epstein “client list” doesn’t exist, two weeks after Pam Bondi said it was on her desk.
• Trump slaps massive new tariffs on the EU, Mexico, and Brazil, risking trade wars and rising prices at home.
• In a dramatic foreign policy twist, Trump and Putin trade insults while the U.S. greenlights Patriot missiles for Ukraine.
• Senate Republicans block an attempt to roll back unpopular tax hikes tucked into the Big Beautiful Bill.
• Trump loses his sex assault appeal in the E. Jean Carroll case — and owes millions more.
• Texas reels from devastating floods while GOP leaders keep calling it a “hundred-year” event.
• Democrats unveil “Project 2029” — their early roadmap for the post-Biden era.
• EPA chief Lee Zeldin fuels fringe theories by saying concerns about chemtrails and weather engineering are “legitimate.”
• Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene doubles down, introducing a weather-engineering conspiracy bill in Congress.
• Iran’s top brass threatens to kill Trump “while sunbathing”
• Trump jokes about revoking Rosie O’Donnell’s citizenship for “treason.”
• And Trump nominates a self-described “alpha male” MAGA influencer as U.S. Ambassador to Malaysia.

From tariffs to weather conspiracies to the floods in Texas — we’ve got all the headlines, context, and a reality check for your week.

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This week on The Lonely Liberal Podcast, we break down whether America’s so-called “Energy Crisis” is truly about skyrocketing demand or a political “Energy Emergency” that props up fossil fuels while sidelining renewables.

Topics covered: • Why record-breaking power demand from AI, data centers, and reshored factories is real, but our aging grid can’t keep up. • Trump’s National Energy Emergency Executive Order: what it does, who it helps, and who it leaves out. • The Big Beautiful Bill’s cuts to clean energy incentives — and how that contradicts the old “All of the Above” energy mantra. • Who really benefits when fossil fuels get fast-tracked, but new transmission and storage don’t? • Why blackouts could become 100x more likely if the grid isn’t modernized — and how renewables are part of the solution, not the problem. • What it means for jobs, prices, and America’s place in the global energy race.

Is this really an unavoidable crisis — or a short-sighted emergency that risks making things worse? Let’s dig in.