Getting It Right: History, Politics & Power with Rick Wagner

How do we judge responsibility—in a courtroom or on the world stage? Rick Wagner examines the Lindsay Clancy case, explaining the distinctions among murder, manslaughter, and criminal responsibility when severe mental...

Rick Wagner examines the Texas Senate race, questioning recent polling and candidate viability before turning to broader concerns about debt, regulation, and America’s economic competitiveness. He also discusses the...

Radio host Rick Wagner discusses the economic challenges facing Iran and Cuba, suggesting that these authoritarian regimes maintain control by suppressing their populations despite long-term sanctions. He explores...

Synopsis In this episode, Rick Wagner dives deep into the underlying mechanics of history, challenging the idea that the repetitive nature of our modern news cycle is just a coincidence. Moving past simple predictions...

The Fourth of July is usually celebrated with flags, fireworks, parades, and familiar words about freedom. But beneath the celebration lies a harder question: What does it take to preserve the republic the Founders...

In this episode, Rick Wagner looks past the headlines and asks the harder strategic question: what happens when the West is forced to respond to pressure in too many places at once? From drone attacks and NATO...

Rick discusses Chicago Public Schools’ May Day controversy as part of a larger pattern of institutional drift. Public schools exist to educate children first — to teach reading, writing, math, history, civics, and...

Rick breaks down the Iran conflict, why gas prices stay high despite U.S. oil production, and what America has lost since the Apollo era. He ties war, energy, and space exploration into a broader argument about national...

This episode examines the strategic realities of conflict with Iran, emphasizing the limits of air power against a large, mountainous country with dispersed and well-hidden military assets. It explores the vulnerability...

This episode examines the deeper structure behind modern Middle Eastern conflict, moving beyond headlines to focus on the forces that actually drive behavior. It explores how theological frameworks—particularly within...

AI, State Power, and Political Drift Rick covers a wide range of issues, from the push to end daylight savings time to the growing role of artificial intelligence in research. He warns that AI can fall into a “Family...

Rick Wagner breaks down the week’s key flashpoints—from rising pressure around Iran and the stalemate in Ukraine to a maritime confrontation near Cuba. At home, allegations of Medicaid fraud in Minnesota and the...

The discussion explores how radical causes provide moral certainty and emotional release, allowing destructive behavior to be reframed as virtue and personal failure to be reassigned to a hated external enemy...

What do New York’s budget math, China’s military posturing, and Europe’s instability have in common? More than you think. This podcast breaks down how fiscal denial and geopolitical weakness collide—and why the bill...

Job interviews no longer revolve around what the applicant can do for you. Now it's all about what the hirer can provide for the employee. You used to need some amount of competence in order to be in authority. Our...