Shows / Make It Make Sense with Grant Hermes
Make It Make Sense with Grant Hermes
Politics has never been more chaotic, and most podcasts just add to the noise. Make It Make Sense with Grant Hermes cuts through it.Grant is an AP Award-winning journalist with over a decade of on-the-ground reporting on the biggest political stories, scandals, and elections in America. Twice a week, he takes the stories dominating the headlines and breaks them down in plain English — no jargon, no spin, no shouting.If you care about what’s happening in this country but you’re exhausted by how…
Episodes
- Make It Make Sense with Grant Hermes
Does Congress Actually WANT A Government Shutdown?
The federal government shuts down in less than a week, and it seems like neither side wants the blame but might stand to gain from it. Democrats want a chance…
- Make It Make Sense with Grant Hermes
Trump's New Pressure Push
After the death of Charlie Kirk, the Trump administration is trying to amp up the pressure on political opponents. The FCC made explicit threats and gave…
- Make It Make Sense with Grant Hermes
Talking Ourselves Back From The Brink with Prof. Karrin Anderson
There are clearer and clearer signs that the Trump Administration is pulling the US into what scholars call "competative authoritarianism." Grant it joined by…
- Make It Make Sense with Grant Hermes
The Plan To Make Free Speech Illegal
Vocal leaders on the right, members of the Trump Administration and even the President himself are calling for the government to target not just violent…
- Make It Make Sense with Grant Hermes
The Supreme Court's Shadow Docket Crisis w/ Liz Dye
With the next Supreme Court term just around the corner, it's time to talk about the Court's "shadow docket" of emergency rulings that have been happening over…
- Make It Make Sense with Grant Hermes
The Assassination of Charlie Kirk
The right-wing commentator, youth leader, and political power broker Charlie Kirk was shot and killed during an event in Utah on Wednesday. It's an event that…
- Make It Make Sense with Grant Hermes
The Birthday Book Bombshell
House Oversight Democrats release THAT birthday book with Trump's message to Jeffrey Epstein, and it sends the White House scrambling to try and tamp down the…
- Make It Make Sense with Grant Hermes
CROSSOVER EPISODE: Grant Gets Interviewed On Let's Pod This
Today's episode is something different. Grant is the one being interviewed on the Let's Pod This podcast, discussing how Make It Make Sense is created, his…
- Make It Make Sense with Grant Hermes
Epstein Survivors Demand Action, Will Congress Listen?
Dozens of survivors of Jeffrey Epstein, their families, lawyers, and a bipartisan trio of lawmakers came to the Capitol to demand that leaders sign off on just…
- Make It Make Sense with Grant Hermes
Trump's Proof Of Life Press Conference
After nearly a week of not being on video, rumors swirled over Labor Day weekend that Donald Trump might have had some kind of emergency. On Tuesday, the…
- Make It Make Sense with Grant Hermes
A Shooting in Minneapolis And An Attack On Mental Health
After another deadly mass shooting in a school in the US, Americans are looking for answers among the horror. The White House and Conservatives are using the…
- Make It Make Sense with Grant Hermes
Dictator Week At The White House
Donald Trump floats the idea of being a dictator as he threatens to send National Guard troops into Chicago and other cities. He also uses the DOJ to go after…
- Make It Make Sense with Grant Hermes
Ratf*cking America w/ Author David Daley
Extreme gerrymandering is ruining American democracy and right now, the country is in the middle of a redistricting arms race. Essentially, it's politicians…
- Make It Make Sense with Grant Hermes
Why Is The DOJ Going After Children's Doctors?
The DOJ sent out dozens of subpoenas to hospitals and doctors demanding private information about their patients. social security numbers. Diagnoses…
- Make It Make Sense with Grant Hermes
Whose Side Is Trump On In The War In Ukraine?
Grant breaks down what happened at the Alaska Summit between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin, how it looks like Trump got bowled over by the Russian president…
- Make It Make Sense with Grant Hermes
Safe to Speak? Whistleblowing In Today's America w/ Whistleblower Aid's David Kligerman
As the second Trump administration has been firing ethics officials and accountability officers, the whistleblower has become more important than ever. But who…
- Make It Make Sense with Grant Hermes
Why Is Trump Meeting Putin In Alaska?
Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin are set to meet in Anchorage, Alaska, on Friday to start another round of peace talks to end the war in…
- Make It Make Sense with Grant Hermes
Trump Moves To Make DC A Police State Capital
Donald Trump has federalized the DC Metro police and called in hundreds of DC National Guard troops to fight crime and homelessness in the nation's capital…
- Make It Make Sense with Grant Hermes
Adopted and Afraid w/ Adoptee Rights Law Center's Greg Luce
As the Trump administration continues to more aggressively target immigrants to boost arrests and deportations, there has been a growing fear among a group of…
- Make It Make Sense with Grant Hermes
The President Who Cried Hoax
It's been a week of big news in two things Trump has called hoaxes: Russian election meddling and the Epstein files. First, Grant breaks down what's going on…
- Make It Make Sense with Grant Hermes
A Texas Sized Stand-Off Over The 2026 Election
A fight over the landscape of the 2026 midterms has been playing out in Texas, and this week it crossed state lines. Grant breaks down what's happening with…
- Make It Make Sense with Grant Hermes
Why Are Politicians Such... Weirdos? w/ Democratic Strategist Mike Nellis
Democratic strategist Mike Nellis joins Grant to talk about the future of the Democratic party, specifically with his old boss Kamala Harris who announced she…
- Make It Make Sense with Grant Hermes
Stocks, Locks and Two Angry Men
A little watched Senate committee boiled over this week as Senators are trying to pass a bill that would ban members of Congress and future Presidents and Vice…
- Make It Make Sense with Grant Hermes
Trump's Deal Making Smoke and Mirrors
Donald Trump has promised huge things on trade and tariffs, setting the deadline (again) for this Friday, Aug. 1. But so far, those deals haven't come through…
- Make It Make Sense with Grant Hermes
Dismantling Justice w/ Justice Connection's Stacey Young
After a week of a lot of news comign from the Department of Justice surrounding how it's handled the Epstein Files, this week's interview is a look back at a…
- Make It Make Sense with Grant Hermes
Trump and The Epstein Files: Is It A Lie or A Cover Up?
Two bombshell reports from the Wall Street Journal and New York Times say Donald Trump is named multiple times in the Jeffrey Epstein files, and that he was…
- Make It Make Sense with Grant Hermes
Do Democrats Even Want To Win Again?
The official Democratic Party review about what went wrong in the 2024 election is nearly done, according to a new story from the New York Times. In it, the…
- Make It Make Sense with Grant Hermes
Why Trump Can't Make The Epstein Files Go Away
Grant breaks down the latest chapter in the Epstein saga as one that Trump has been unable to shake. No matter how hard he's tried, it's stuck with the media…
- Make It Make Sense with Grant Hermes
The GOP's 9 Billion Dollar Take-Backsies
Republicans in Congress, at President Trump's request, are calling take-backsies on $9 billion in funding for PBS, NPR, and foreign aid. Despite all three of…
- Make It Make Sense with Grant Hermes
Will The Epstein Files Tear MAGA Apart?
The Make America Great Again movement is splitting at the seams after the Department of Justice said there wasn't a "client list," something Trump's base…
- Make It Make Sense with Grant Hermes
Who Are The New Generation Of Leaders? with Amanda Litman
After the unexpected victory of Zohran Mamdani in the New York mayoral primary, one question has emerged; is this the new model for Democrats. The party has…
- Make It Make Sense with Grant Hermes
Trump's 90 Days Are Up... Where Are All The Deals?
Trump blows through his 90 deals in 90 days deadline, extending when he'd finally make good on threats to start tariffs to August 1. But if he's the Deal Maker…
- Make It Make Sense with Grant Hermes
Is Trump Building Detention Centers...Or Camps?
With the passage of the Big Beautiful Bill, US immigration forces are getting a major boost in funding. A lot of it is going to ICE for new agents as…
- Make It Make Sense with Grant Hermes
Why The Texas Floods Are Bad For All Of Us
The state of Texas is dealing with massive, deadly flooding just outside San Antonio. While the National Weather Service did predict heavy rain and gave…
- Make It Make Sense with Grant Hermes
Will Trump Have To Bail Out The Big Beautiful Bill?
Congress passes Trump's Big Beautiful Bill. Despite its name, it will cut more than a trillion from Medicaid. It will make deep cuts to SNAP, clean energy…
- Make It Make Sense with Grant Hermes
The Senate Passes The Big Beautiful Bill...What Now?
The Senate passed the One Big Beautiful Bill that's filled with a budget that's going to remake Medicaid, SNAP, and American wealth for a generation. It passed…
- Make It Make Sense with Grant Hermes
BONUS: The Supreme Court's BIGGEST Ruling Yet?
A quick bonus episode about the Supreme Court ruling in Trump v. CASA that might remake the way federal laws are applied and enforced across the country…
- Make It Make Sense with Grant Hermes
How Trump Embraced Christian Nationalism and Bombed Iran (w/ Matt D. Taylor)
In the conversation about the US bombing Iran, there has been a lot of talk about the mission, the policy behind it, and how well it worked. But one of the…
- Make It Make Sense with Grant Hermes
Trump Ends A War Abroad... To Start A Fake One At Home
For days, President Donald Trump and his administration have been celebrating the bombing campaign against three Iranian nuclear sites, which effectively ended…
- Make It Make Sense with Grant Hermes
A CeaseFire... For Now
Israel and Iran agree to a ceasefire after Trump announces it on social media. But the peace is uneasy as both sides exchange final missile strikes and accuse…
- Make It Make Sense with Grant Hermes
The US Joins The War With Iran
After telling the American people and the world he was going to give it two more weeks before attacking, President Donald Trump bombed three major nuclear…
- Make It Make Sense with Grant Hermes
Silencing The Voice Of America w/ VOA White House Bureau Chief Patsy Widakuswara
During the second Trump administration, news organizations have been under threat and under attack. ABC and CBS have faced settlements. NBC and CNN have been…
- Make It Make Sense with Grant Hermes
Are We At War With Iran?
Over the last week, Israel and Iran have been bombing one another as global tensions rise over nuclear weapons and facilities being targeted by both sides…
- Make It Make Sense with Grant Hermes
No Kings, No Crowds, And Our New Cycle Of Violence
After a weekend of history-making protests and a lackluster military/birthday parade, the occasions were really marked by a new set of political violence. An…
- Make It Make Sense with Grant Hermes
Troops in LA, A Senator In Handcuffs And A Nation On Edge w/ Mike Madrid
During a Department of Homeland Secuirty press conference on Thursday, California Senator Alex Padilla (D) attempted to interrupt to ask a question. DHS…
- Make It Make Sense with Grant Hermes
Marines In LA: Can Trump Do That?
The Trump administration has mobilized 700 Marines from Twenty-nine Pines military base in California to join 2100 National Guard troops in LA to do what?…
- Make It Make Sense with Grant Hermes
Is L.A. Trump's Test Balloon For Dictatorship?
As protests, violent clashes, and some property destruction break out in Los Angeles over federal raids of workplaces, schools, and courthouses, the White…
- Make It Make Sense with Grant Hermes
Disease and Death: Elon Musk's Real DOGE Legacy W/ Fmr. USAID Dep. Admin. Jim Kunder (Replay interview)
As Elon Musk exits the White House and has a very public falling out with Donald Trump, the consequences of his time there won't be fully realized for a while…
- Make It Make Sense with Grant Hermes
A MAGA Meltdown
Back from a short hiatus! Grant talks all about how we're seeing the White House, which has been moving as fast as it can to break things, start to come apart…
- Make It Make Sense with Grant Hermes
The Other Offshoring: Why Jobs Went South, Not Abroad w/ Prof. Gary Winslett
The idea that manufacturing jobs were shipped overseas or across borders to other countries is a frequent explanation from both Republicans and Democrats about…
- Make It Make Sense with Grant Hermes
The Kids Aren't Alright
The Trump administration ramps up its attacks on higher education, specifically Harvard and foreign students. But what does it mean to lose the tens of…
- Make It Make Sense with Grant Hermes
Democrats FINALLY Get Their 2024 Report Card
The 2024 election report card, or autopsy, depending on how you want to talk about it, for Democrats is out, and it is a failing grade almost across the board…
- Make It Make Sense with Grant Hermes
Prescription For Failure: Why Trump’s Drug Plan Is Bad w/ Yale Economist Jason Abaluck
Two weeks after Donald Trump announced he was going to lower drug prices from anywhere from 30% to 90%, there still haven't been any deals made. But more than…
- Make It Make Sense with Grant Hermes
A Big Beautiful Breakdown
House Republicans pass Trump's "One Big Beautiful Bill," and there are some serious consequences hurtling toward Americans. Hundreds of billions of dollars in…
- Make It Make Sense with Grant Hermes
Un-Protected Status
The US Supreme Court hands the Trump Administration a big win by allowing it to end Temporary Protected status for 350,000 Venezuelans in the US. It's a…
- Make It Make Sense with Grant Hermes
Joe Biden Has Cancer
Former President Joe Biden announces he has advanced and aggressive prostate cancer. It's a devastating diagnosis, though one doctors say is treatable, despite…
- Make It Make Sense with Grant Hermes
Devastation at the DOJ w/ Stacey Young from The Justice Connection
Since the beginning of the second Trump administration, the Department of Justice has been equal parts reviled and remade by the White House. Much, if not…
- Make It Make Sense with Grant Hermes
Don't Trust Your Lying Eyes
Donald Trump takes his first state visit in his second term. Just like his first, the trip is to the Middle East. During the trip, the president is supposed to…
- Make It Make Sense with Grant Hermes
Drugs and Deals
The White House makes an agreement with China on trade and tariffs that is essentially having its bluff called on the cornerstone of Trump's economic agenda…
- Make It Make Sense with Grant Hermes
What Is Habeas Corpus?
The White House says it's looking into suspending a bedrock legal principle that would mean speeding up its mass arrests and deportations of immigrants across…