Air Date 8/16/2025
There's the old Douglas Adams quote stating that, "Anyone who is capable of getting themselves made President should on no account be allowed to do the job" which is a good general rule to live by. But then there are the real baddies, those would-be leaders who possess one or more of the dark triad of traits that spells real doom for the societies that elevate them to power: narcissism, psychopathy, and machiavellianism. Today we compare and contrast Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin, and Benjamin Netanyahu. Xi Jinping also fits nicely on this list as an honorable mention but happens to not be part of the focus today.
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KEY POINTS
KP 1: The World War II Lessons Trump, Putin, & Netanyahu Actually Learned - Tad Stoermer - Air Date 8-8-25
KP 3: Totally Unexpected - HasanAbi - Air Date 8-7-25
KP 5: Kyiv-based Analyst: 'Ukraine Is Being Sidelined From Talks' - LBC - Air Date 8-10-25
KP 7: Donald Trump Wants to Seize Your Reality - Mother Jones - Air Date 8-8-25
(00:49:39) NOTE FROM THE EDITOR
On why humanity is better than we seem and how we can save ourselves
‘Self-termination is most likely’: the history and future of societal collapse
DEEPER DIVES
(00:57:15) SECTION A: TRUMP THE LIAR
A1: Trump Rejects Reality - The Muckrake Political Podcast - Air Date 8-5-25
A2: Trump Pushes Forward with Revenge Presidency - All In with Chris Hayes - Air Date 8-8-25
A4: Trump Vs. the Bureau of Labor Statistics - The Journal. - Air Date 8-4-25
A5: Trump Thinks You're Very Stupid - The Majority Report w/ Sam Seder - Air Date 8-9-25
(01:32:17) SECTION B: NETANYAHU THE MANIPULATOR
B2: Why Bibi Netanyahu Is on Trial - ABC News In-depth - Air Date 4-26-24
B3: DEBUNKED: 14 Israeli LIES About Gaza Famine - Owen Jones - Air Date 8-8-25
B4: Mehdi Hasan Explains Why the War in Gaza Wont End Soon - LBC -Air Date 8-5-25
(02:09:13) SECTION C: PUTIN THE STRATEGIST
C2: What Happens When You Confront Putin in Public - Penguin History - Air Date 8-7-25
C3: Why Putin Is so Hard to Overthrow - Search Party - Air Date 8-18-23
(02:27:11) SECTION D: MYTHS COLLAPSE
D2: America's Authoritarian Turn - Harvard Radcliffe Institute - Air Date 3-3-25
D4: How Gaza Exposes The Myths Of The System - Andrewism - Air Date 8-5-25
(03:07:29) SECTION E: THE MEN BEHIND THE THRONE
E1: Who's the Man Who Has Putin's Ear? - NewsNation - Air Date 4-8-22
E4: Aleksandr Dugin: The Far-right Theorist Behind Putins Plan - 60 Minutes - Air Date 4-12-22
SHOW IMAGE CREDITS
Description: A composite image of a pleased-looking Trump holding up a triangle that says “The Dark Triad” in the center, and “Narcissism”, “Machiavellianism”, and “Psychopathy” along each side. Vladimir Putin, Xi Jinping, and Benjamin Netanyahu are pictured underneath.
Credit: “The Dark Triad” by Manitee71, Wikimedia Commons, License: CC-By-SA 4.0 | “Putin-politics-kremlin-russia” by DimitroSevastopol, Pixabay, License: Pixabay | “Xi Jinping 2019” by Palácio do Planalto, Wikimedia Commons, License: CC-BY-SA 4.0 | “31/03/2019 Jantar na Residência do Primeiro-Ministro de Israel” by Palácio do Planalto, Flickr, License: CC-BY-2.0
Produced by Jay! Tomlinson
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