# What the Hell is Happening at the Pentagon? (with Sen. Elissa Slotkin & Ben Rhodes)

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/runaway-country-with-alex-wagner-485012/what-the-hell-is-happening-at-the-pentagon-with-sen-elissa-slotkin-ben-rhodes
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/runaway-country-with-alex-wagner-485012/what-the-hell-is-happening-at-the-pentagon-with-sen-elissa-slotkin-ben-rhodes.md
Podcast: [Runaway Country with Alex Wagner](https://stenobird.com/podcast/runaway-country-with-alex-wagner-485012)
Published: 2025-12-11T08:30:00+00:00
Episode link: https://audioboom.com/posts/8850695
Audio file: https://clrtpod.com/m/pscrb.fm/rss/p/prfx.byspotify.com/e/arttrk.com/p/CRMDA/mgln.ai/e/284/dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/audioboom.com/posts/8850695.mp3?modified=1769562786&sid=5166628&source=rss
Processing state: not_requested
JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/runaway-country-with-alex-wagner-485012/episodes/what-the-hell-is-happening-at-the-pentagon-with-sen-elissa-slotkin-ben-rhodes
Duration seconds: 4303

## Resource

Under the leadership of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, the Pentagon is in disarray. From a lack of transparency on extrajudicial strikes in the Caribbean, to the Signalgate scandal, to kicking out the Pentagon press corp – this administration has put a leader at the helm who is both embarrassing and a threat to national security. This week, Alex hears from The Atlantic’s Nancy Youssef about what it’s like covering the defense beat without access to the Pentagon. She also speaks to Senator Elissa Slotkin, who has told service members that they are not obligated to follow unconstitutional orders, and been targeted by President Trump for doing so. Then Alex and Pod Save the World host Ben Rhodes break down what kind of reputational damage Hegseth is doing to America’s image abroad, and what dangerous precedents are being set for authoritarian countries to follow.

## Actions

- request_transcript: `POST https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/runaway-country-with-alex-wagner-485012/episodes/what-the-hell-is-happening-at-the-pentagon-with-sen-elissa-slotkin-ben-rhodes/transcription-requests` — Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode.
- read_markdown: `GET https://stenobird.com/podcast/runaway-country-with-alex-wagner-485012/what-the-hell-is-happening-at-the-pentagon-with-sen-elissa-slotkin-ben-rhodes.md` — Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource.

A page view does not enqueue transcription. Agents should invoke `request_transcript` explicitly when they need this episode processed.

## Transcript

Full transcripts are not published on public pages unless there is a clear rights basis.