Bigfoot vs. the Right-Wing Media Machine: What MAGA Reads When We're Not Looking

Bigfoot vs. the Right-Wing Media Machine: What MAGA Reads When We're Not Looking

Howard Polskin of TheRighting joins Dave Pederson to track the headlines, podcasts, traffic charts, and outrage narratives shaping MAGA media. What happens when millions of Americans are living inside a completely different media weather system? In Episode 26 of The Bigfoot Manifesto, Dave Pederson talks with Howard Polskin, founder and chief curator of TheRighting, a media company that tracks conservative news outlets, right-wing headlines, podcast rankings, traffic data, and the broader media ecosystem shaping MAGA politics. Howard began following right-wing media after the 2016 election, asking the same question many liberals asked: How did this happen? What he found was not just a few fringe websites, but an alternate information universe powered by grievance, fear, anti-woke panic, celebrity pundits, Trump loyalty tests, and headlines designed to make every political disagreement feel like the end of civilization. This episode digs into how right-wing media works, why outrage is a business model, how fringe narratives move into mainstream politics, why podcasts build such deep loyalty, and what progressives need to understand without simply amplifying every bad-faith frame. Bigfoot may be folklore. But the outrage ecosystem is measurable. It has headlines, traffic reports, subscriber charts, podcast rankings, algorithms, donor networks, celebrity pundits, and a business model that turns fear into loyalty. Guest: Howard Polskin Founder & Chief Curator, TheRighting Website: https://therighting.com/ [https://therighting.com/] The Bigfoot Manifesto: https://bigfootmanifesto.com/ [https://bigfootmanifesto.com/]

Bigfoot vs. the Healthcare Desert: Why America Can't Heal Its Kids

In this episode of The Bigfoot Manifesto, Dave talks with Victoria Casavecchia, founder of Empowered Victories Wellness, a Registered Nurse and Board-Certified Nurse Coach with nearly 30 years of experience in pediatric nursing. Victoria joins the show to talk about the youth mental health crisis, the rise in anxiety, depression, burnout, and disconnection among kids and teens, and why America's healthcare system often waits until families are in crisis before offering real help. The conversation covers how anxiety can show up physically, why parents are overwhelmed too, the role of sleep, food, movement, mindfulness, and connection, and where nurse coaching fits in the "missing middle" between toughing it out and emergency care. This isn't just about individual wellness. It's about a healthcare system that asks families to solve a public health crisis one private coping skill at a time. Because Bigfoot may be hard to find — but try finding affordable mental healthcare when your kid needs help right now. Guest: Victoria Casavecchia, RN, NC-BC Empowered Victories Wellness: https://www.empoweredvictorieswellness.com/ [https://www.empoweredvictorieswellness.com/?utm_source=chatgpt.com] Helpful Links: 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline: https://988lifeline.org/ [https://988lifeline.org/?utm_source=chatgpt.com] Find mental health or substance use treatment: https://findtreatment.gov/ [https://findtreatment.gov/?utm_source=chatgpt.com] NAMI resources for kids, teens, and families: https://www.nami.org/kids-teens-and-young-adults/ [https://www.nami.org/kids-teens-and-young-adults/?utm_source=chatgpt.com] SAMHSA National Helpline: https://www.samhsa.gov/find-help/helplines/national-helpline [https://www.samhsa.gov/find-help/helplines/national-helpline?utm_source=chatgpt.com]

Bigfoot vs. the Monopoly Machine: Amazon, Dollar Stores, and the Fight for Local Power

What if the real monster eating Main Street isn't hiding in the woods — it's hiding in the checkout button, the delivery truck, the dollar store, the grocery aisle, and the corporate boardroom? In this episode of The Bigfoot Manifesto, Dave Pederson talks with Stacy Mitchell, co-executive director of the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, about monopoly power, Amazon, dollar stores, grocery consolidation, and the fight to rebuild local economies. Stacy explains how corporate concentration didn't just happen naturally. It was built through policy, protected by ideology, and sold to the public as convenience, efficiency, and low prices. But behind that story are small businesses getting squeezed, communities losing control, independent grocers disappearing, and towns being reshaped by corporate chains that extract wealth instead of building local prosperity. Dave and Stacy dig into Amazon's platform power, why small businesses are trapped by fees and logistics, what breaking up Amazon could actually look like, how grocery stores became a monopoly story, why the Robinson-Patman Act matters, and how dollar stores hollow out rural towns and urban neighborhoods. Because Bigfoot may be hard to find. But monopoly power? That thing has a storefront on every corner. Stacy Mitchell's Book: Big-Box Swindle: The True Cost of Mega-Retailers and the Fight for America's Independent Businesses Official book page: https://stacymitchell.com/front-page/ [https://stacymitchell.com/front-page/?utm_source=chatgpt.com] Beacon Press: https://www.beacon.org/Big-Box-Swindle-P671.aspx [https://www.beacon.org/Big-Box-Swindle-P671.aspx?utm_source=chatgpt.com] Bookshop.org: https://bookshop.org/p/books/big-box-swindle-the-true-cost-of-mega-retailers-and-the-fight-for-america-s-independent-businesses-stacy-mitchell/321e5d8e3bf1e87b [https://bookshop.org/p/books/big-box-swindle-the-true-cost-of-mega-retailers-and-the-fight-for-america-s-independent-businesses-stacy-mitchell/321e5d8e3bf1e87b?utm_source=chatgpt.com] Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/big-box-swindle-stacy-mitchell/1100550462 [https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/big-box-swindle-stacy-mitchell/1100550462?utm_source=chatgpt.com] For the full Libsyn description, replace the guest block with: Guest: Stacy Mitchell Organization: Institute for Local Self-Reliance Learn more: https://ilsr.org/ [https://ilsr.org/] Stacy Mitchell's Book: Big-Box Swindle: The True Cost of Mega-Retailers and the Fight for America's Independent Businesses Official book page: https://stacymitchell.com/front-page/ [https://stacymitchell.com/front-page/?utm_source=chatgpt.com] Beacon Press: https://www.beacon.org/Big-Box-Swindle-P671.aspx [https://www.beacon.org/Big-Box-Swindle-P671.aspx?utm_source=chatgpt.com] Bookshop.org: https://bookshop.org/p/books/big-box-swindle-the-true-cost-of-mega-retailers-and-the-fight-for-america-s-independent-businesses-stacy-mitchell/321e5d8e3bf1e87b [https://bookshop.org/p/books/big-box-swindle-the-true-cost-of-mega-retailers-and-the-fight-for-america-s-independent-businesses-stacy-mitchell/321e5d8e3bf1e87b?utm_source=chatgpt.com] Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/big-box-swindle-stacy-mitchell/1100550462 [https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/big-box-swindle-stacy-mitchell/1100550462?utm_source=chatgpt.com]

War as a Subsidy for Capitalism: Iran, Venezuela, and the Business of Empire

Is war a glitch in the American system — or is it how the system works? In this episode of The Bigfoot Manifesto, Dave Pederson talks with historian, foreign policy analyst, and American Prestige co-host Daniel Bessner about U.S. empire, war, sanctions, oil, the national security state, and the political economy hiding underneath the language of "freedom," "stability," and "democracy." Using Iran and Venezuela as case studies, Dave and Daniel explore how American foreign policy often protects markets, energy flows, military contractors, and elite power — while ordinary people pay the cost. They also discuss sanctions as a form of warfare, the role of the Strait of Hormuz, the bipartisan consensus around empire, and what a serious working-class foreign policy might look like. Because sometimes the real conspiracy isn't hiding in the woods. It's hiding in the defense budget. Guest: Daniel Bessner Host of American Prestige https://americanprestigepod.com/ [https://americanprestigepod.com/] Daniel Bessner's books: Democracy in Exile: Hans Speier and the Rise of the Defense Intellectual https://www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/book/9781501785078/democracy-in-exile/ [https://www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/book/9781501785078/democracy-in-exile/?utm_source=chatgpt.com] Imperialist Realism: Politics and Culture at the End of the American Century https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Imperialist-Realism/Daniel-Bessner/9781803414805 [https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Imperialist-Realism/Daniel-Bessner/9781803414805?utm_source=chatgpt.com] The Bigfoot Manifesto Progressive politics. Cryptid truth. Zero billionaire BS. Subscribe, rate, and follow wherever you get your podcasts.

AI Singularity & Human Extinction: Dr. Peter Solomon on the Machine God

Is AI still just a tool — or have we started worshipping the machine? In this episode of The Bigfoot Manifesto, Dave Pederson talks with Dr. Peter Solomon, author of 100 Years to Extinction and 12 Years to AI Singularity, about artificial intelligence, human extinction, Henry Adams, technology as a secular religion, and whether humanity can survive the technologies it has created. The conversation begins with Henry Adams' "The Dynamo and the Virgin" and the idea that modern society may have replaced older moral systems with a new faith in machines, speed, efficiency, and power. From there, Dave and Dr. Solomon discuss AI singularity, sentient machines, climate collapse, nuclear risk, genetic engineering, social media algorithms, corporate power, job loss, and the political failure to put guardrails around technologies that could reshape civilization. Dr. Solomon argues that AI represents a fork in the road: it could help humanity build a more harmonious future, or it could accelerate our worst instincts unless society, politics, and democratic institutions catch up. Bigfoot may be hiding in the woods. The machine is hiding in plain sight. Learn more about Dr. Peter Solomon and his work: https://100yearstoextinction.com/ Dr. Solomon's books: 100 Years to Extinction: The Tyranny of Technology https://100yearstoextinction.com/100-years-book/ 12 Years to AI Singularity: A Harmonious Future with Artificial Intelligence or War https://100yearstoextinction.com/12-years-to-ai-singularity/ Subscribe to The Bigfoot Manifesto for conversations about politics, power, propaganda, technology, capitalism, and the strange stories shaping our world.