In the third episode of The Rationalist podcast, host Mike Coté details the kerfuffle over Sinclair Broadcasting, assesses President Trump’s claim that “nobody is tougher on Russia”, and works through some of the inconsistencies and issues in the gun control position.

In the first segment on domestic policy and politics, Mike discusses the history of Sinclair Broadcasting and impact of media consolidation, and then delves into the controversy surrounding the conglomerate’s issuing of a message warning against ‘false news’ online. In the second segment, focused on foreign affairs, Mike takes seriously President Trump’s claim that “nobody is tougher on Russia” by actually comparing US Russia policy across the Clinton, Bush, and Obama administrations to that which the Trump administration has pushed. The results may surprise you. In the Idea Forum, the host gets into the gun control debate, but in a limited way: only evaluating the inconsistencies in the ideology and the problematic conflations of issues that could harm the gun control argument overall. He discusses some articles on the subject, as well as dispelling myths about gun violence in general. Finally, Mike offers a book recommendation (and some excellent podcasts) for anyone interested in ancient history, good narrative writing, or the Roman Republic.

Look below for links and references from the podcast. Thanks for listening to The Rationalist, and don’t forget to leave a rating and review!

Segment 1: Sinclair Broadcasting

• LA Times on Sinclair controversy


• Original Deadspin article with montage


• Pew on media consolidation

Segment 2: American Russia Policy

• Brookings on Trump’s Russia relations


• Clinton-Yeltsin relationship


• Obama’s Russian ‘reset’


• Russian invasion of Ukraine

Segment 3: Inconsistencies in the Gun Control Position

• March for Our Lives mission


• Atlantic on police violence


• Stevens on 2nd Amendment repeal


• CDC gun violence statistics

Segment 4: Book Recommendation

• The Storm Before the Storm – The Beginning of the End of the Roman Republic by Mike Duncan