{"podcast":{"title":"The Oath and The Office","slug":"the-oath-and-the-office-7209235","podcast_index_feed_id":7209235,"rss_url":"https://www.spreaker.com/show/6518729/episodes/feed","website_url":"https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-oath-and-the-office--6518729","image_url":"https://d3wo5wojvuv7l.cloudfront.net/t_rss_itunes_square_1400/images.spreaker.com/original/a23d8652338e9782711f8f63f5c2a304.jpg","author":"Corey Brettschneider","episode_count":68,"summary":"Mixing sharp wit and serious political fire, The Oath and The Office is where hard-hitting constitutional analysis meets razor-sharp comedy. Distinguished political science professor Corey Brettschneider teams up with comedian John Fugelsang to break down the most powerful 35 words in American democracy—the presidential oath of office. Every president swears to “preserve, protect, and defend” the Constitution, but what happens when one openly attacks democracy and the rule of law itself? Each week, Corey and John pull no punches, exposing the latest threats to the rule of law and demanding accountability. Smart, fearless, and wickedly funny—this is the civics lesson you can’t afford to miss.","last_synced_at":null,"page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-oath-and-the-office-7209235"},"episode":{"title":"Trump vs. the Pope","slug":"trump-vs-the-pope","published_at":"2026-04-16T09:30:07+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-oath-and-the-office-7209235/trump-vs-the-pope","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-oath-and-the-office-7209235","url":"https://www.spreaker.com/episode/trump-vs-the-pope--71353293","audio_url":"https://api.spreaker.com/download/episode/71353293/041626_tonto_no_aclu.mp3","summary":"Trump says the pope should stay out of politics. But when Trump posts himself as Jesus, attacks independent moral authority, and demands loyalty from every institution, the real goal is not religious neutrality. It is control. In this episode of The Oath and The Office, Corey Brettschneider and John Fugelsang begin with Trump’s clash with the pope and what it reveals about the authoritarian impulse: not keeping religion out of politics, but bending religion to serve power. Then they turn to Hungary, where Viktor Orbán’s loss offers a real sign of hope. Even after gerrymandering and years of democratic erosion, autocrats can still be challenged and defeated. They also break down two more revealing stories: a judge throwing out Trump’s defamation suit over the Epstein birthday-card report, and the administration’s move to abandon civil-rights settlements protecting trans students. Taken together, these stories show the same pattern: attacks on truth, attacks on vulnerable people, and attacks on any institution unwilling to bend to raw power. This episode is about more than one controversy. It is about the larger authoritarian playbook — and why resistance still matters.","meta_description":"Trump says the pope should stay out of politics. But when Trump posts himself as Jesus, attacks independent moral authority, and demands loyalty from ever…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":2692,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/the-oath-and-the-office-7209235/episodes/trump-vs-the-pope/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-oath-and-the-office-7209235/trump-vs-the-pope.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}