In The Tank

September 11th, 2001, was one of the darkest days in U.S. history. Almost 3,000 Americans died, and it is not a stretch to argue that it changed the course of American life forever. While the lives lost were the worst impact by far, policy decisions made in the aftermath still hurt us today, many of which were foundational for today's powerful surveillance state. The panel will discuss their personal experience with the terror attack, and the bad policy that followed. Also, The Heartland Institute has released an important study ranking states based on how they handle Medicaid. Government is very fond of wasting your money, but some states waste less than others. We look at what the difference is between the top performing states, and the worst. For UNHINGED: One year after the assassination of Charlie Kirk, violence is still being celebrated by the left. It is ugly and vile and we're going to talk about it. And for America @ 250 - This week in 1776, The United States of America officially gets her name. The Heartland Institute's Linnea Lueken, Jim Lakely, and S.T. Karnick, will talk about all of this and more on Episode #552 of the In The Tank Podcast. Join us LIVE at 1 p.m. ET on YouTube, Rumble, X, and Facebook. Visit our sponsor, Advisor Metals: https://climaterealismshow.com/metals

Today the team is away at The Heartland Institute's 42nd Anniversary Benefit Dinner, hosting Governor Ron DeSantis. Instead of your regularly scheduled program, we bring to you an amazing speech by Yeonmi Park!

We’re celebrating 550 episodes of In The Tank by revisiting some of the greatest stories from the American Revolution! Join host Linnea Lueken, alongside regulars Jim Lakely, Sam Karnick, and Chris Talgo, as they explore the people, battles, and ideas that transformed 13 colonies into a nation that defied the odds, and has done so for 250 years of American history. Tune in for this special collection of America at 250 from the Heartland Institute’s In The Tank!

One of the biggest tech-related debates right now, which also overlaps with concerns about privacy rights and government overreach, is over new Flock camera systems being used on public and private property. These camera systems are interconnected, in part so police departments can more easily coordinate between jurisdictions to solve crimes... but at what cost? Supporters say it's worth it to stop crime, opponents say it's an invasion of privacy and expansion of the surveillance state. The panel discusses how much is too much, and whether regulations already exist to limit public surveillance. On the other hand, good news! Americans' right to bear arms might soon be restored by a few degrees following the results of a court ruling which said that certain National Firearms Act requirements are unconstitutional and should be void. This might mean that soon, buying suppressors and short barreled rifles, among other NFA regulated devices, may become a lot easier. For UNHINGED: Karen Bass fell for a fake poll's results, which ended up being some kind of weird social experiment. And for America @ 250 - This week in 1776, the invasion of New York City begins. The Heartland Institute's Linnea Lueken, Jim Lakely, Chris Talgo, and S.T. Karnick, will talk about all of this and more on Episode #549 of the In The Tank Podcast. Join us LIVE at 1 p.m. ET on YouTube, Rumble, X, and Facebook. Visit our sponsor, Advisor Metals: https://climaterealismshow.com/metals

Conservatives often point at socialism and more or less leave the argument at "these guys are crazy!" -- But the DSA do point to some real problems, like the cost of medical care, how big companies can run roughshod over ordinary Americans, and that public infrastructure is failing in our cities as well as rural communities. But socialist solutions from Medicare for All to eating the rich will only exacerbate those problems, not solve them. We talk about actual solutions, and why socialism fails. Meanwhile, inflation is falling, which is good, but how long can it last? What should the government do (if anything) to keep inflation down? On UNHINGED: DSA leadership really does hate America, from its very foundation. And for America @ 250, we look at how the London newspapers reacted to the Declaration, and we'll see that politically-driven fake news is not a modern phenomenon. The Heartland Institute's Linnea Lueken, Chris Talgo, and S.T. Karnick, will talk about all of this and more on Episode #548 of the In The Tank Podcast. Join us LIVE at 1 p.m. ET on YouTube, Rumble, X, and Facebook. Visit our sponsor, Advisor Metals: https://climaterealismshow.com/metals

Anthony Fauci was recently hauled before the Senate to explain his role in the COVID 19 pandemic, and the multitude of lies he told as head of the National Institutes of Health’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and advisor to the president. He pleaded the fifth more than 100 times during the hearing, refusing to answer pointed questions. Next steps are as unclear as his tenure, his reasoning for seeming to protect China has been left unstated, and the scale of his corruption is hard to quantify. Meanwhile, the FCC has delivered a blow to China's AI and robotics industry by BANNING Chinese-made advanced robotics. On UNHINGED: Mamdani suggests that cash reparations might be doled out over slavery. Somehow. And for America @ 250, with all the drama surrounding Fauci, we're going to take a look at disease and epidemiology during the Revolution. The Heartland Institute's Linnea Lueken, Jim Lakely, and Chris Talgo will talk about all of this and more on Episode #546 of the In The Tank Podcast. Join us LIVE at 1 p.m. ET on YouTube, Rumble, X, and Facebook. Visit our sponsor, Advisor Metals: https://climaterealismshow.com/metals SHOW NOTES: 1. UNHINGED: Cash Money https://x.com/WesternLensman/status/2... 2. FCC Bans ChinaBots https://www.theepochtimes.com/china/f... 3. Fauci Files https://www.theepochtimes.com/us/anth... https://x.com/tomselliott/status/2081... (I am sure there may be more links we will want to pull tomorrow AM but these are the main 2 — if anyone has a suggestion, let me know) 4. USA @250: Colonial Quarantine https://academic.oup.com/milmed/artic...

President Trump revealed that China has been interfering with our elections, especially the fraught 2020 election, in a speech that the mainstream media attempted to debunk before they even had the details. Trump brought receipts, and then as if to re-emphasize his point about election integrity, another bombshell dropped: illegals have been voting in New Jersey elections. The panel will discuss how to prevent these egregious problems with our election system, how to harden it against attacks, and how deep this all may go. On UNHINGED: Representative Jasmine Crockett says the reason people were rooting for Spain in the World Cup... was racism. And for USA @250 - In 1776, the first draft of the Pennsylvania constitution quickly highlighted why too much Democracy can be a bad thing. The Heartland Institute's Linnea Lueken, Jim Lakely, and S.T. Karnick will talk about all of this and more on Episode #546 of the In The Tank Podcast. Join us LIVE at 1 p.m. ET on YouTube, Rumble, X, and Facebook. Visit our sponsor, Advisor Metals: https://climaterealismshow.com/metals SHOW NOTES Who Really won the 2020 Election: https://heartland.org/publications/wh... 1. UNHINGED: Rep. Crockett Says Supporting Spain is racist. I don't know. https://x.com/FoxNews/status/20796224... 2. Noncitizens are already voting https://thepostmillennial.com/doj-inv... https://redstate.com/rusty-weiss/2026... https://spectator.org/mail-in-voting-... 3. CHY-NAH https://www.theepochtimes.com/us/offi... https://redstate.com/rusty-weiss/2026... https://redstate.com/bradslager/2026/... 4. USA @250: PA's First VERY Democratic Constitution https://teachingamericanhistory.org/d...

The Democratic Socialists in America have one of the most extreme platforms of any rising political group. They identify some real problems, but their solutions would be catastrophic. The team breaks down the most dangerous elements of the DSA's stated goals, and presents what would ACTUALLY help the poor and working classes in America. Also discussed is the unexpected positive consequences of investment in AI: natural gas and other major energy infrastructure is being improved in anticipation of the need for stable power, it may even spur on an energy revolution. On UNHINGED: A crazy Canadian lady attacked a girl for wearing MAGA gear... and was promptly detained by ICE. And for our America @ 250 segment, As the Declaration was distributed through the colonies and the danger of British forces loomed, frontier life hundreds of miles away was even more wild and dangerous. The Heartland Institute's Linnea Lueken, Jim Lakely, Chris Talgo, and S.T. Karnick will talk about all of this and more on Episode #545 of the In The Tank Podcast. Join us LIVE at 1 p.m. ET on YouTube, Rumble, X, and Facebook. Visit our sponsor, Advisor Metals: https://climaterealismshow.com/metals

Trump is refusing to sign the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act unless lawmakers first pass the SAVE AMERICA Act, which Trump says is far more important. There is a lot of skepticism about whether or not the now-hostage Housing Act is a good idea anyway, the panel discusses the nuances. On another issue, Trump has also said that the administration is working on a National Right to Carry bill, but again, there are potential issues down the road from this approach. Gun rights advocates say its a step in the right direction, but doesn't affirm Constitutional rights to bear arms strongly enough to end state-level infringements. For our Countdown to 250, we discuss this week in 1776, how colonies were feeling about breaking from the British in the week leading up to the Declaration of Independence. And on UNHINGED: New York City Congressional elections have been swept by socialist candidates, they are far more extreme than anyone Democrats have ever platformed. The Heartland Institute's Linnea Lueken, Jim Lakely, and S.T. Karnick will talk about all of this and more on Episode #542 of the In The Tank Podcast.

One would think a major terror attack just occurred on U.S. soil, for all the reactions that Democrats and socialist friends are having to the news that Elon Musk's net worth just hit a trillion dollars. He is the first person in history to make that mark, and leftist progressives absolutely hate it. We will discuss the politics of ENVY, and how poisonous jealousy is to society and the economy. Also, as the World Cup continues in the United States, many visiting Europeans are finding themselves loving American culture and community, reality is refuting the scary picture painted by their own media. American communities have always been loyal and close-knit, as the history of the "Midnight Ride" network of Paul Revere and his fellow messengers shows us. For our Countdown to 250 segment, we discuss the trust and coordination it took to make their mission a success. On UNHINGED: Lefties lose it over Elon Musk's trillionaire status. The Heartland Institute's Linnea Lueken, Jim Lakely, S.T. Karnick, and Chris Talgo talk about all of this and more on Episode #541 of the In The Tank Podcast.

Social Security trustees predict the retirement trust fund is now projected to run dry a full year earlier than previously forecast, in just 2032. What got us here, and what does Congress need to do about it? Can we keep pushing insolvency forward forever? And: where does good government end and dangerous negligence begin? The Belfast riots are the latest example of a Western government that suppressed legitimate debate about immigration and crime, and now things are boiling over. Finally, related to our main topic but separated by over 250 years: the Intolerable Acts of 1774 pushed the colonies past the breaking point, despite an attempt at reconciliation in the Olive Branch Petition, which King George ultimately refused to even read. And on UNHINGED: Democrat staffers scrambling to spin the Platner story are making it so much worse. You almost have to feel bad for them. The Heartland Institute's Linnea Lueken, Jim Lakely, S.T. Karnick, and Chris Talgo will talk about all of this and more on Episode #540 of the In The Tank Podcast. Join us LIVE at 1 p.m. ET on YouTube, Rumble, X, and Facebook. Visit our sponsor, Advisor Metals: https://climaterealismshow.com/metals

More and more, parents and government agencies are preventing kids from doing things like walking home from school on their own. It’s clear that this kind of helicopter parenting is bad for kids’ development, we discuss where the line between child safety and independence is, and whether government should even have a say. Bernie Sanders, in classic socialist form, is looking to nationalize AI. His argument is that human content was used to train the models, so the public should share in the profits made from that data. This will appeal to a lot of people, but getting government involved is rarely a net-benefit to the public. On the other hand, some major models appear to already have an even stronger bias against organizations like The Heartland Institute than we previously realized. On UNHINGED: The murder of Harry Nowak shows us all that DEI is deadly. The Heartland Institute's Linnea Lueken, Jim Lakely, S.T. Karnick, and Donald Kendal will talk about all of this and more on Episode #539 of the In The Tank Podcast. Join us LIVE at 1 p.m. ET on YouTube, Rumble, X, and Facebook. Visit our sponsor, Advisor Metals: https://climaterealismshow.com/metals SHOW NOTES 1. UNHINGED: DEI becomes deadly https://thefederalist.com/2026/06/03/henry-nowaks-murder-is-the-logical-conclusion-of-black-lives-matter/ https://x.com/europa/status/2061555027261497774 2. Free Range vs Cage Kids https://heartland.org/opinion/cultural-chaos-and-our-kids/ https://blakemoore.house.gov/imo/media/doc/promoting_childhood_independence_and_resilience_act.pdf 3. Nationalize GPT? We will also discuss Keely's experience with Claude https://thehill.com/policy/technology/5906140-sanders-ai-ownership-wealth/ 4. Countdown to 1776: The First Siege of Charlestown https://www.mountvernon.org/library/digitalhistory/digital-encyclopedia/article/siege-of-charleston--1776

As the Justice Department's war on fraud continues, a new report by City Journal says that California is giving free appliances, including solar panels, to illegal immigrants in the name of fighting climate change. Absurd enough on its face, but something else is very fishy about who exactly is benefitting from the program. Leftists are being irresponsible with other people's money on the other coast as well: in New York City, Mayor Mamdani is openly bragging about his plans to take properties from landlords who own them, and transfer ownership to nebulous "responsible stewards." This is totally unsurprising coming from the socialist mayor, but we will discuss WHY socialists and communists hate private property, and the government schemes that link rent control to redistribution. And for UNHINGED: a progressive podcaster asks the question "what do we do with the Trump supporters once Donald Trump is gone?" The Heartland Institute's Linnea Lueken, Jim Lakely, Chris Talgo and S.T. Karnick will talk about all of this and more on Episode #538 of the In The Tank Podcast. Join us LIVE at every Thursday at 1 p.m. ET on YouTube, Rumble, X, and Facebook. Visit our sponsor, Advisor Metals: https://climaterealismshow.com/metals

This week, President Trump agreed to drop a $10 billion lawsuit against the IRS over the Biden administration targeting him and his family, and in exchange the DOJ will set up a fund that will be available to cover the legal fees and losses of other Americans who were politically targeted by government. Democrats hate it, some Republicans hate it. Is this corruption, or compensating people the Biden admin targeted? Plus, Gen Z is increasingly despondent that they will never own their own homes, and are extremely negative about the economy. How right are they, and where are they wrong? And what can the Trump admin do about it, if anything? And on UNHINGED: credentialed members of the NYC press corps are actively campaigning in support of the murderer of Brian Thompson. So much for impartiality. The Heartland Institute's Linnea Lueken, Jim Lakely, S.T. Karnick, (AND DONALD KENDAL?) will talk about all of this and more on Episode #537 of the In The Tank Podcast. Join us LIVE at 1 p.m. ET on YouTube, Rumble, X, and Facebook. Visit our sponsor, Advisor Metals: https://climaterealismshow.com/metals

Trump went to Beijing this week to negotiate the path forward with China, as President Trump's administration has made multiple international moves to cut the CCP off from total control of global resources. China says they want "peaceful coexistence," even as they threaten other US allies in Asia. The panel discusses what we would like to see come out of these talks, and what we expect will happen. Meanwhile, socialist mayor of New York City Mamdani claims that he has achieved a balanced budget for the city-- but it comes at the cost of billions from Albany and several short-term band-aids that are unlikely to fix the city's ballooning costs. On UNHINGED - AOC says that it's not possible to become a billionaire ethically, demonstrating once again her socialist (mis)understanding of economics. The Heartland Institute's Linnea Lueken, Jim Lakely, Chris Talgo, and S.T. Karnick will talk about all of this and more on Episode #536 of the In The Tank Podcast.

AI is everywhere; from the silly videos you see on Facebook to the articles you read online, even within hospital systems and publishers. Where is the line? Where is AI useful, and where is it more trouble than it's worth? The Heartland Institute team will play "AI or not?", review the absolute mountains of AI-generated content that Amazon is allowing on their publishing platform, and we'll discuss what role government plays in all of this, where intervention might be necessary, and where it will only make things worse. On UNHINGED: Scammers are now using AI face and voice filters to fool people, and scambaiters have tests you should be aware of. The Heartland Institute's Linnea Lueken, Jim Lakely, Donald Kendal, and S.T. Karnick will talk about all of this and more on Episode #535 of the In The Tank Podcast. Join us LIVE at 1 p.m. ET on YouTube, Rumble, X, and Facebook. Visit our sponsor, Advisor Metals: https://climaterealismshow.com/metals

Federal agents raided more than 20 businesses this week in Minneapolis as the fight against fraud continues, and Governor Tim Walz is trying to take credit, but the public isn't falling for it. Another scam was busted at the Supreme Court, which issued a decision on race-based gerrymandering in Louisiana, stating definitively that the practice is unconstitutional. An advisor to Anthony Fauci has been charged with conspiracy against the United States; destruction, alteration, or falsification of records in federal investigations; concealment, removal, or mutilation of records; and aiding and abetting, at the same time, former FBI director James Comey has been indicted over his threatening social media posts against President Trump. After yet another assassination attempt on the President, these issues are taken very seriously by the DOJ. On UNHINGED: Ann Arbor Michigan is removing neighborhood watch signs to make neighborhoods feel more “inclusive.” Not a joke. The Heartland Institute's Linnea Lueken, Jim Lakely, Chris Talgo, and S.T. Karnick will talk about all of this and more on Episode #534 of the In The Tank Podcast. Join us LIVE at 1 p.m. ET every Thursday on YouTube, Rumble, X, and Facebook. Visit our sponsor, Advisor Metals: https://climaterealismshow.com/metals

By just a hair, Virginia voters approved a gerrymandering plan that would eliminate five Republican districts, all in the name of "restoring fairness" to Virginia's elections-- which we recognize is more like restoring Democrat domination. Luckily a court has already ruled the referendum is unconstitutional, so the fight is not over yet. But the biggest news this week has got to be that a grand jury in Alabama has charged the Southern Poverty Lawa Center with 11 counts of wire fraud and other financial crimes, and the indictment revealed that SPLC has PAID members of white supremacist and other extremist groups as "insiders" and probably also instigators, most notably in the case of the infamous Charlottesville "Unite the Right" rally. And on UNHINGED; a conservative journalist was attacked by a whole family of anti-ICE protesters, and now they are doing a pity-party media circuit instead of apologizing. The Heartland Institute's Linnea Lueken, Jim Lakely, Chris Talgo, and S.T. Karnick will talk about all of this and more on Episode #533 of the In The Tank Podcast. Join us LIVE at 1 p.m. ET on YouTube, Rumble, X, and Facebook. Visit our sponsor, Advisor Metals: https://climaterealismshow.com/metals

We all know that the public education system in America is rotten, but it is actually even worse than you may realize. There are only so many hours in a school day, and while kids are falling behind in reading, writing, and arithmetic, teachers unions are making sure kids learn about how to be good left-wing activists. Many of these same groups support the "No Kings" protest movement, and we will discuss why that is. At the White House, Trump has signed an executive order about mail-in voting, in an attempt to limit fraud, but will it stick? And on UNHINGED: we will look at a very Canadian Communist Convention. The Heartland Institute's Linnea Lueken, Chris Talgo, S.T. Karnick, and Jim Lakely will talk about all of this and more on Episode #532 of the In The Tank Podcast. Join us LIVE at 1 p.m. ET on YouTube, Rumble, X, and Facebook. Visit our sponsor, Advisor Metals: https://climaterealismshow.com/metals

Another point goes to capitalism in the long war of economics, as Poland has overcome its once-communist decay and rocketed into becoming one of the world's largest economies. Meanwhile, socialist Cuba slowly crumbles amid a fuel embargo and the decades of communist economic influence. We will contrast and compare these two examples of economic systems and see which one is best (Hint: it's not the one represented by the hammer and sickle). Trump is temporarily suspending the Jones Act, which has had a major impact on energy shipping, especially for East-coast states, and we will look at how serious a threat AI is to white collar jobs. Andrew Yang says it will be catastrophic, but is that just hyperbole? And on UNHINGED: An attempted terror attack failed in New York City last week, amid a protest over the growth of Islam in the city. The Heartland Institute's Linnea Lueken, S.T. Karnick, and Jim Lakely will talk about all of this and more on Episode #530 of the In The Tank Podcast.