Besides being a con man, Donald Trump also likes to act like a gangster. Looking at his rackets via the lens of a mafia don shaking down his neighbors helps explain why Trump is so blatantly corrupt. We being by exploring Trump's version of an ...

A successful Con man relies on external and internal distractions to mesmerize his mark and pull off a grift. How is Don the Con using treason, homeless people, an invasion of cops & troops, and a prison transfer to save his pre...

For decades, Don the Con rode waves of crazy conspiracy theories to personal and political glory. But now, the monster he built has come for him as MAGA and QAnon rebels against his attempts to repress and bury the Epstein Files.

As a talented con man, Trump has mastered the art of framing. But his creepy and pervy history with adult women, teenagers, and underage girls - especially his daughter Ivanka - haunts him as former MAGA allies turn against him.

So how does a con man work his magic? It all begins with framing - controlling the narrative to mesmerize the masses and control critics. Even enemies are forced to fight on your battlefield, on your terms.He that controls the frame, con...

Russian intelligence and the Trump campaign focus on Facebook to microtarget American voters likely to fear immigrant boogeymen sent to "replace them" 

Why did Putin go so hard for Trump in 2016?From his hatred of Hillary, to his funding a massive sabotage campaign for the 2016 election, Putin did everything possible to put Trump in office. Not because he thought Trump was brilliant, as...

What is the point of Fake News? What is it actually designed to do? And who is behind it (spoiler alert: who is Trump deferential and meek around)?How does a crazy story about Hillary Clinton, Comet Ping Pong Pizza, and a pedophile ring ...

By successfully rebranding Fake News from combatting misinformation to smearing any news that he doesn't like, Trump destroys the ability of most Americans to separate fact from fiction.

Trump's rivals and critics finally get a chance to respond to Trump's endless taunts and insults face-to-face. Can anybody finally land a counterpunch or does Teflon Don slip away yet again?

Mainstream media gives Trump $2 billion of free coverage, and journalists who resist quickly discover they face a mission impossible and are "disavowed" by their peers and networks.

When Trump insists on running for president as his reality show character "The Donald," Mainstream Media betrays the public trust for ratings and money.

Trump decides to flip the presidential Hunger Games on its head by turning reality into reality TV. The snake hisses that surely taking just one small bite of the forbidden fruit in exchange for precious ratings isn't a sin... 

As Trump explodes onto the political stage, Legacy Media must decide if they are going to sell their journalistic souls to Trump in a desperate bid for ratings and relevancy.

Today we explore the 3rd and most powerful weapon in Trump's initial arsenal - whipping an audience into a mob. Lessons honed over a decades-long relationship with Uber-promoter Vince McMahon that earned Trump a spot as a WrestleMania headliner...

We explore how Trump shifted American perceptions of himself from his many business and moral failures to his ultra-successful (but phony) alter ego - "The Donald"

Trump dominates within the political Hunger Games arena by first becoming "The Girl on Fire" and harnessing the awesome power of American celebrity.

With Trump polling at 1% and trailing 16 other candidates, his campaign takes a desperate gamble that helps him survive the initial Hunger Games bloodbath. 

Diving into the First Big Lie reveals that the Build the Wall details never made practical sense but were catnip to his first MAGA converts - Americans who hate and fear immigrants.

Trump's first big lie was a whopper. He was going to build a magical wall along the nearly 2,000 mile USA/Mexico border and Mexico was going to pay for it.But there was a method to his madness. In this episode, we start to unpack how Bui...

How can we make sure that our lie is believed? Let's explore the two essential ingredients Trump uses to convince millions of people that crazy bullshit is actually true.

A persuasive message goes negative via intent and can hurt and destroy people. We explore how intent impacts darkside messages by unpacking the Balloon Boy Hoax and the the current Trojan horse malinformation campaign Trump is orchestrating to ...

This series on disinformation starts at the most foundational element - crafting a persuasive message. We explore the 3 elements of persuasive messaging, drawing on examples from George Foreman, Colin Kaepernick and Ryan Reynolds.

Flooding the Zone is the nefarious manipulation tactic being used to bring America to the brink of chaos just two months into Trump 2.0 How does it work? Where did it come from? How can lessons learned from the German Blitzkrieg of ...

Trump and Bannon consummate their political marriage over the flaming corpse of Megyn Kelly.