{"podcast":{"title":"American Friction","slug":"american-friction-6897945","podcast_index_feed_id":6897945,"rss_url":"https://feeds.megaphone.fm/NSR4366686780","website_url":"https://www.podmasters.co.uk","image_url":"https://megaphone.imgix.net/podcasts/1a6ed35a-03f0-11ef-afdd-9ffbc083d62d/image/18f110fb4ccabf9655547a5e8f4bfc70.png?ixlib=rails-4.3.1&max-w=3000&max-h=3000&fit=crop&auto=format,compress","author":"Podmasters","episode_count":187,"summary":"Does what’s going on in American politics scare and bemuse you? Want to know what Trump is up to, without pulling your hair out? Then you need American Friction, the UK podcast about US politics – from the makers of Oh God, What Now? and The Bunker. Every Friday and Monday, we unpack the big issues, speak to leading experts and talk with blockbuster commentators from the United States to explain the latest news and the big issues with hosts Jacob Jarvis (ex-Newsweek), Chris Jones (Podmasters) and Nikki McCann Ramirez (Politics Reporter at Rolling Stone). Support us on Patreon, to get ad free and bonus episodes: https://www.patreon.com/AmericanFriction","last_synced_at":null,"page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/american-friction-6897945"},"episode":{"title":"From Ken Paxton to 'The AK Guy' – The wild state of Texas explained","slug":"from-ken-paxton-to-the-ak-guy-the-wild-state-of-texas-explained","published_at":"2026-03-16T04:00:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/american-friction-6897945/from-ken-paxton-to-the-ak-guy-the-wild-state-of-texas-explained","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/american-friction-6897945","url":"https://pdst.fm/e/pscrb.fm/rss/p/traffic.megaphone.fm/NSR5047199374.mp3?updated=1773412135","audio_url":"https://pdst.fm/e/pscrb.fm/rss/p/traffic.megaphone.fm/NSR5047199374.mp3?updated=1773412135","summary":"Texas has been Republican for a long time. But with the emergence of a shiny new Democratic Party candidate in James Talarico and the GOP undecided on who should face him, could things be about to change? Christopher Hooks is a real-life Texan and journalist whose work has appeared in publications like Texas Monthly and The New York Times, and joins Chris and Nikki to talk Texan politics. Back us on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/AmericanFriction Follow us on social media: Bluesky : https://bsky.app/profile/americanfric.bsky.social Instagram : https://www.instagram.com/americanfric TikTok : https://www.tiktok.com/@americanfric Written and presented by Chris Jones and Nikki McCann Ramirez Audio/ video editor: Simon Williams. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. Executive producer: Martin Bojtos. Artwork by James Parrett. Music: Orange Factory Music. AMERICAN FRICTION is a Podmasters Production. www.podmasters.co.uk Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices","meta_description":"Texas has been Republican for a long time. But with the emergence of a shiny new Democratic Party candidate in James Talarico and the GOP undecided on who…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":2139,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/american-friction-6897945/episodes/from-ken-paxton-to-the-ak-guy-the-wild-state-of-texas-explained/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/american-friction-6897945/from-ken-paxton-to-the-ak-guy-the-wild-state-of-texas-explained.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}