A WORLD GONE MAD
A Progressive Liberal News Podcast
Veteran Television, and Radio Broadcaster Jeff Alan Wolf offers his Observations on the issues (many issues) of the week with a fearless liberal bent. His solid delivery, and dry common sense approach sets him apart from other liberals that populate Talk and Commentary Podcasts”
Jeff Does NOT Pull Punches.
He does NOT Make comments that are “SAFE”.
He tells the Truth.
(He Tells It As He Sees It)
He Is Very OPINIONATED!
He says the things Out Loud YOU’RE
already thinking.
Jeff is Unfiltered, Unspun, A little Unhinged, but offers a lot of Common Sense.
This Podcast could make you MAD.
This Podcast could make you SMILE.
Regardless, it WILL make you THINK!
A WORLD GONE MAD
Attacks on Free Speech, Vance’s Power Grab, Putin Provokes Again
Free speech in America is facing fresh pressure and the story at the center of this episode shows how far those in power are willing to push. When the lines between politics and media start to blur, the public conversation itself is on the line.
At the center of the storm is the FCC and the new role it appears to be playing. The very agency once expected to protect satire and commentary is suddenly echoing Trump, and other voices who want to silence it. The shift is not abstract. It is immediate and visible.
In the background is a president who has never hidden his disdain for critics. His latest actions are not about ratings or comedy. They are about influence. And when influence becomes pressure, the marketplace of ideas can shrink before anyone realizes what happened.
This episode also asks tough questions about ambition in politics. With one leading conservative voice suddenly gone, another figure is already moving to fill the vacuum. It raises a blunt question for listeners. Is this tribute or opportunism.
The moves are fast and unmistakable. Speeches, appearances, even symbolic gestures are coming one after another. The speed itself is part of the story. What does it mean when grief and political positioning overlap so quickly.
And while America wrestles with its own drama, a familiar adversary is once again making headlines in Europe. A sudden move across a NATO border has forced new questions about stability and security. The world watches as the tension grows.
The details of these stories may sound surreal, but that is why they matter. Each one reflects a deeper shift in how power is used and how the rules are bent. From the halls of Washington to the skies over Europe, the stakes are rising.
Join me, Jeff Alan Wolf, as I unpack the news you cannot ignore and reveal why these headlines connect in ways that shape your world.
And please let me hear your voice, your opinions. Drop me an email:
WolfPackTalks@gmail.com
AWorldGoneMadPodcast@gmail.com
This is a world gone mad. This is a world gone mad, mad, mad, mad, mad. This is a world gone mad where the headlines sound like rejected plot lines from a bad reality show and the cast of characters is equal parts corrupt, clueless and completely unhinged. I'm Jeff Allen Wolfe, your slightly dazed ringmaster, holding the mic while America's clowns light the tent on fire and call it patriotism. Welcome to the Friday edition, the part of the week where, later in my podcast, I bring you news from the edge of sanity and try to lighten the load a little before you head into the weekend. News from the Edge of Sanity, and try to lighten the load a little before you head into the weekend. News from the Edge of Sanity the kind of stories that make you pause mid-coffee and say you've got to be kidding me. But first let's talk about the real news stories from the last 48 hours, which sometimes rival the bizarre ones. Okay, here we go. First up in this episode free speech. You know that little American thing where you get to say what you want. Well, apparently it now comes with an asterisk Valid only if President Trump likes your punchline and the FCC. They've gone from defending satire to basically auditioning for the role of Trump's laugh track police. This stopped being theory and became action. In the last 48 hours, abc has already pulled Jimmy Kimmel Live off the air after Kimmel's monologue about Charlie Kirk sparked outrage and dozens of stations said they wouldn't run the show. Now that pull wasn't some quiet internal edit. Major station owners like Nexstar and Sinclair announced they were preempting the show and ABC placed Kimmel's program into an indefinite hold. Now watch how the sausage gets made.
Speaker 1:President Trump publicly suggested networks that give him too much bad publicity should face license revocation. Revocation Literally saying the federal government can use licensing as a crudgel, or rather a cudgel, against outlets he dislikes. That comment followed a thinly veiled threat from FCC Chair Brendan Carr, who urged companies to change conduct or face additional work from the FCC. That pressure is what pushed owners to yank Kimmel. Let's be absolutely factual about the legal side. The FCC doesn't directly license national networks the way people think it licenses local broadcast stations. So the line pull the network license is legally messy at best. But here's the brutal reality. Legal technicalities don't matter when the point is intimidation. You don't have to revoke anything. If you can make the suits in the boardroom so scared they preempt the show themselves. That's what happened, and here's the hypocrisy angle that stings. Brendan Carr, chair of the FCC, used to be a defender of satire and free speech. Now he's the man who signaled trouble for a late night host. That reversal is an abstract. It's a functional threat.
Speaker 1:When the agency that's supposed to protect the public interest starts leaning on the very companies that distribute comedic commentary, you don't just get fewer jokes on late night, you get a narrower public conversation. House Democrats and press watchdogs are already calling this an abuse of power. Even Ted Cruz chimed in sorta, somewhat Basically. He was a pussy.
Speaker 1:Meanwhile, trump didn't stop at Kimmel. He publicly urged NBC to dump Seth Meyers and Jimmy Fallon next. That's not rumor, that's what Trump said. So the pattern is simple Pressure from the top, threats from regulators, frightened corporate owners and comedians on the chopping. Block Fallon and Meyers are still standing for now. Block Fallon and Myers are still standing for now. But the message to every host is clear Cross the line and you're next.
Speaker 1:So what's the takeaway from all of this? This isn't a dispute over taste or a ratings war. This is a coordinated power play, political leadership leading on regulators to tilt the marketplace of ideas and corporations backpedaling to avoid being the target. The result Fewer jokes, fewer critics and a public square that's been effectively softened by fear. That's how suppression happens in the open Not with a blackout, but with a thousand quiet preemptions. Bottom line Jimmy Kimmel's gone from the airwaves for now. Trump and Carve signaled Fallon and Myers could be next. That's the threat. Not a legal argument in a vacuum, but a practical campaign to make broadcasters police themselves. And once the media polices itself, the public loses. That's the danger, that's the absurdity and that's why we have to care.
Speaker 1:Okay, here we go again. Washington's favorite rerun the government about to run out of money and Congress scrambling like college kids who just realized the rent's due tomorrow. The House passed a stopgap bill to keep the lights on past September 30th. But let's be honest. This isn't responsible budgeting. It's duct tape over a gas leak. Every few months they act shocked. The deadline is here, and then they slap together a temporary patch while blaming each other for breaking the calculator.
Speaker 1:And here's the absurdity the same politicians wag their fingers at us about balancing our checkbooks, wag their fingers at us about balancing our checkbooks. Well, they're running the country like a maxed-out credit card with no minimum payment. They know they'll never get caught. They'll never get cut off. They just argue about who has to make the phone call to the bank. The Senate is already signaling it wants changes, which means we're staring at another showdown, where the stakes are your government paycheck, your Social Security office, your federal benefits, but the people holding them hostage are insulated from the fallout. They'll still get paid. They'll still fund their pet projects. The only people sweating are the workers and the public. And here's the game Manufacture a crisis, patch it with political duct tape and then take credit for keeping the government open. It's not leadership, it's hostage-taking with paperwork. And we'll be right back here again in a few months, watching the same performance with slightly different actors pretending to be shocked all over again.
Speaker 1:Charlie Kirk is barely in the ground politically and already JD Vance is circling the carcass like a vulture with a law degree. Here's what we know. After Charlie Kirk's assassination, vice President JD Vance has been everywhere, flying on Air Force Two with Kirk's body, delivering speeches, even guest hosting the Charlie Kirk show from the White House. Vance is out front loudly and repeatedly, making sure nobody forgets his face in the middle of this. So the question is what is Vance really doing? Is this just grief and tribute, or is Vance positioning himself to inherit Kirk's activist base for the long haul, because the timing is striking? Instead of stepping back and letting the movement breathe, vance is leaning in hard. And that is where the lunacy comes in. Imagine losing your leader and before the flowers have wilted, another politician is already measuring the curtains.
Speaker 1:Is this about honoring Kirk or staking a claim to his audience? Because the overlap between Kirk's loyalists and Vance's ambitions is too convenient to ignore. And what makes this so grotesque is the speed of it. Vance has not even let Kirk's supporters finish mourning before showing up in their spaces, sliding into Kirk's role on radio, at rallies, at events that were once built around the guy who just died. Is that tribute or opportunism with a side of ambition? And there is the danger.
Speaker 1:Kirk built one of the most energized, radicalized followings on the right. If Vance is really aiming to absorb that energy and let's be honest, that looks like the play here it shifts power inside conservatism towards someone who has shown he is willing to weaponize grievance politics at every turn. That is not just filling a vacuum, that is consolidating it. But what makes it asinine is how blatant it is. Vance is not even pretending. This is about unity or healing. Vance is out there using Kirk's death as a springboard and nobody in his corner is telling him to slow down. The American way of life says you show respect, you show patience, you do not hijack grief for gain. Yet here we are watching it happen in plain sight, watching it happen in plain sight. So maybe this is tribute, maybe it's opportunism, maybe it's both. But when you see JD Vance suddenly popping up in all the places Charlie Kirk used to dominate, you have to ask is this mourning or is this a takeover in slow motion? Off we go into the wild blue yonder.
Speaker 1:Vladimir Putin is everywhere and his Air Force apparently thinks Estonia is just an Airbnb with no checkout time. Estonia says three Russian jets crossed into its airspace this morning. This is not a paperwork glitch, that is Russian military aircraft poking at NATO's border, and it is exactly the kind of stunt Vladimir Putin seems to live for. So what is this? A deliberate test, a warning shot? Or just Putin being Putin deranged, desperate and looking for attention like a bored dictator who ran out of shirtless photo shoots? Because the facts are clear. Nato countries take this seriously. Estonia has summoned Moscow's ambassador. The alliance is watching and Putin knows.
Speaker 1:Every move like this forces the West to ask do we respond hard or do we shrug and risk looking weak? That question is the point. Putin creates the tension and sits back and watches everyone else sweat. Is Putin probing for something bigger? A distraction from Ukraine, a way to rattle Europe, a trial balloon for how far he can push before someone snaps? Or is it just his version of joyriding A dictator with a joystick, daring the neighbors to call the cops? Maybe it's both. The absurdity is how predictable it has become. Putin is everywhere, stretching his reach, from Ukraine to the Baltics to cyber attacks, and yet somehow the man acts surprised when the world calls him dangerous. You keep flying jets into NATO territory and people are not going to think you are just lost on the way to the gas fueling station Bottom line. Estonia is sounding the alarm, nato is on edge and the rest of us are left wondering is this the opening move of something larger or just another day in the surreal circus of Vladimir Putin's foreign policy?
Speaker 1:And after these news stories, wolfpack listeners, you deserve a break before your weekend Now. I skipped this segment last Friday due to something important an assassination that happened in the news. I felt that was important to cover. But let's get back to news from the edge of sanity, where the stories are still insane, but at least you don't need a stiff drink to get through them.
Speaker 1:Okay, first up, new Jersey drivers got a sweet surprise this week when two tractor trailers collided an I-80 and spilled thousands of bags of M&Ms across the highway. And spilled thousands of bags of M&Ms across the highway. Police had to shut down lanes while workers shoveled candy off the asphalt. Like it was snow in February. Except instead of salt trucks you've got guys with brooms pushing little chocolate bombs into piles. Now picture it You're late for work, stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic. Now picture it You're late for work, stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic, and your excuse isn't construction or weather, it's candy. Sorry, boss, I got trapped behind a pileup of M&Ms. That's not an alibi, that's a Mars candy commercial waiting to happen. And the crazy part is how official the cleanup looked Cones out, crews in reflective vests, radios buzzing, all to keep traffic from turning into bumper cars on candy-coated marbles. It was less Highway Patrol and more Willy Wonka partnering with the Department of Transportation. Somewhere in that backup there's a parent telling their kids no, you cannot eat the road candy. And the kids insisting to their dad. But dad, they're still M&Ms Bottom line. Only in America can a major highway accident instantly turn into a Halloween parade and, honestly, this might be the first traffic jam in New Jersey history that actually smelled better afterward. This is a hell of a lot better being caught in a traffic jam of M&Ms than being caught in the middle of what's happening in America today. All right, next up on our news, from the edge of sanity, I love this one.
Speaker 1:In Louisiana, somebody decided to see how far confidence alone could take them. No disguise, no elaborate plan, no Shawshank tunnel, just a phone and a voice. The guy picks up the phone, dials the local jail and says he is a judge. That's it. No badge number, no court order, no paperwork. Just I'm a judge. Do what I say over the phone. There is a prisoner I need you to release now. Here's where it gets insane. On the other end, staff actually took them seriously. They listened, they nodded, they went along. Imagine running a correctional facility and your entire security check is basically the honor system and the payoff.
Speaker 1:An inmate walked out not because of a court order, not because of a hearing, but because somebody on the phone sounded judgy enough to be believed. Think about that. Years of bars, guards and cameras, all bypassed by a phone call all bypassed by a phone call. That is not a correctional system, this is a customer service hotline. Thank you for calling Press 1 to hear your charges. Press 2 if you would like to leave immediately.
Speaker 1:Eventually, reality caught up. The man behind the stunt, adrian J St Romain, was arrested. The inmate was put back in custody, but the damage was done Bottom line. The Louisiana justice system does not look like it cracked down on crime. It looks like it got catfished.
Speaker 1:And last but not least, on our bizarre, off-beat sideline stories, in Kentucky, of all places, a rescue story unfolded that nobody saw coming, not at a hospital, not at a firehouse, but behind a dumpster next to a moonshine distillery. Witnesses say a baby raccoon had been nosing around some fruit peaches that had been sitting long enough to ferment. They say the raccoon staggered, wobbled and gave off the smell of straight booze. Picture a tiny woodland creature looking like it just left the world's smallest honky-tonk. Then things got worse. The raccoon slipped into water nearby and by the time people saw it it was going under. That is when a nurse named Misty Combs stepped in and here's where it turned surreal. She knelt down, began giving what looked like CPR to a raccoon. I kid you not. Compressions, rescue breaths, the whole deal Improvised, but enough to try to bring the raccoon back.
Speaker 1:Imagine that scene On one side, a half-drowned animal that, according to witnesses, seemed intoxicated from the fermented peaches. On the other side, a nurse counting chest compressions, like she is on a shift at the ER, a crowd of bystanders staring, probably wondering if they should clap, call animal control or order another round. And somehow it worked. The raccoon coughed back to life. A vet later checked it out and the little guy was released back into the wild. Officials confirmed it appeared intoxicated from the fermented fruit. But the headline everyone remembers is simple A Kentucky nurse performed CPR on a raccoon and it lived to scamper another day. Bottom line this was not a medical drama, it was a country song that accidentally came true, and if there is ever an AA meeting for wildlife, that raccoon has earned the first chair.
Speaker 1:Okay, that was your news from the Edge of Sanity. Now a regular segment on Fridays, a friendly reminder that while the headlines are terrifying, the sidelines are completely unhinged. I'm not saying reality is broken, but I swear I just saw common sense hitchhiking out of town with a cardboard sign that said anywhere but here. Wolfpack listeners, drop me a line, email me anytime wolfpacktalks at gmailcom. Or call my 24-7 voicemail line 833-399-9653. It's toll free. Please, if you get the chance, leave a review on Spotify and or Apple. That makes a difference to where my podcast ranks and how many more people can listen to it. I did ask politely please send me an email, drop a voicemail, give me something, because if there's no feedback, reviews and or ratings, I'm going to wind up juggling oranges in front of strangers just to feel like somebody notices me.
Speaker 1:This has been a world gone mad. I'm Jeff Allen Wolf. I'll be back Monday because someone has to say the shit that no one else will, and apparently that job's mine. Until then, wolfpack listeners, stay skeptical, stay focused and, most of all, stay hopeful. There is chaos in the world, can't you see? And we need to stand up and preserve our democracy. This is a world gone mad, thank you.
