The Oath and The Office

Two Squared Media Productions

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.

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26 episodes
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Avg 59 min
English

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September 10 · 1 hr 1 min
Will the Court Help Trump Steal the 2026 Election?
Could the Supreme Court help Trump disrupt the 2026 election? In this episode of The Oath and The Office, Corey Brettschneider and John Fugelsang examine a new fight over mail ballots and postal rules that could create chaos, disenfranchise lawful...
- Transcript
September 3 · 1 hr 3 min
Trump’s Mafia Presidency, with Barbara McQuade
Trump’s abuses of power keep colliding with the law. But even when courts recognize the danger, procedural barriers can prevent them from stopping it. Corey and John examine how standing doctrine blocked a challenge to Trump’s ballroom project,...
- Transcript
August 27 · 37 min
The Christian Nationalism Behind January 6, with Rep. Jared Huffman
Why did the January 6 Committee underplay the role of Christian nationalism in its final report? Rep. Jared Huffman, the only openly nonbelieving member of Congress, joins Corey Brettschneider for a deep dive into the Christian nationalist movement...
- Transcript
August 20 · 56 min
Trump’s Presidency for Sale?
This week on The Oath and the Office, we follow four stories that raise one question: what happens when the restraints on presidential power start disappearing? Donald Trump is being sued over a service offering paying customers early access to his...
- Transcript
August 13 · 51 min
Trump vs. the Supreme Court. Again.
Trump already lost on birthright citizenship. Now he is testing the limits of constitutional law with two narrower executive orders. We explain the high-stakes game of chicken underway: can a president just keep pushing after the courts and the...
- Transcript
August 6 · 1 hr
Blanche’s Confirmation Deal: Trump’s Weaponization Fund Could Return
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche appears to have secured the committee votes needed to advance his nomination. He cleared the path by agreeing to rescind Donald Trump’s controversial $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” fund and narrow sweeping IRS...
- Transcript
July 30 · 1 hr 15 min
What Trump and the New Right Really Believe | David French
What does Trump actually believe, and how does his worldview connect to the New Right? Corey Brettschneider and John Fugelsang look beyond the latest outrages to the ideology linking them. Then New York Times columnist David French joins Corey to...
- Transcript
July 23 · 1 hr 13 min
Trump’s Media Threats & Todd Blanche’s $1.8B Slush Fund (with Skye Perryman)
Threatening the broadcast licenses of news networks is a direct assault on the free press. Corey Brettschneider and John Fugelsang tear down Trump’s extraordinary primetime speech and explain why standard media fact-checking is no longer enough to...
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July 16 · 1 hr 5 min
Trump Targets the Press—and Spies on Americans (with Sen. Ron Wyden)
Trump’s Justice Department subpoenaed New York Times reporters after they exposed security problems with the Qatari jet Trump accepted for use as Air Force One. The prosecutor who issued those subpoenas, Jay Clayton, is now Trump’s nominee to lead the...
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July 9 · 51 min
Trump’s $2.2 Billion Presidency: The Corruption the Constitution Saw Coming
Trump’s latest financial disclosure points to something far bigger than another ethics scandal: a presidency being used as a vehicle for private financial gain. From crypto windfalls and foreign-linked deals to branding revenue, settlements, and the...
- Transcript
July 2 · 1 hr
Trump Loses Birthright, Wins a Power Grab (with Joyce Vance)
The Supreme Court dealt Trump a major defeat by rejecting his effort to end birthright citizenship. It also refused to let him fire the head of the Federal Reserve. But in the same week, the Court handed him sweeping new authority by allowing...
- Transcript
June 25 · 57 min
Trump’s DOJ Is Hiding the Epstein Files. Katie Phang Is Suing.
Katie Phang joins The Oath and the Office to discuss her legal fight to force Trump’s DOJ to release the Epstein files. This is not about money. It is about whether Trump’s DOJ can defy the law and keep records from the public. Phang explains how she...
- Transcript
June 18 · 59 min
Trump’s War on Habeas Corpus and DOJ Independence — with Harry Litman
Corey Brettschneider and John Fugelsang open with explosive new reporting that Stephen Miller pushed a plan for President Trump to suspend habeas corpus — the fundamental constitutional safeguard that allows people detained by the government to...
- Transcript
June 11 · 58 min
Trump Melts Down as Congress Pushes Back
Trump melts down in a chaotic Meet the Press interview, lashing out when pressed on his “anti-weaponization” fund and his false claims of rigged elections. Corey Brettschneider and John Fugelsang break down what the moment reveals about Trump’s larger...
- Transcript
June 4 · 56 min
Trump’s Bad Week Is Democracy’s Opening
Donald Trump’s revenge politics hit resistance this week — not by accident, but because citizens, journalists, lawyers, judges, and lawmakers kept pushing. This week on The Oath and The Office, Corey Brettschneider and John Fugelsang break down a...
- Transcript
May 28 · 1 hr
Trump’s Imperial Presidency: Bogus Charges and Foreign Wars
Trump’s claim of power above the law is showing up on every front: bogus prosecutions, deportation threats, attacks on speech, war powers, and military escalation abroad. This week on The Oath and The Office, Corey Brettschneider and John Fugelsang...
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May 21 · 1 hr 4 min
The Secret Memos Behind the Supreme Court’s Shadow Docket (with Jodi Kantor)
What is the Supreme Court doing when it acts without full briefing, oral argument, or a real explanation? This week on The Oath and The Office, Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times reporter Jodi Kantor joins the podcast to explain the Court’s shadow...
- Transcript
May 14 · 1 hr 5 min
Can Trump Undo Our Citizenship Rights? (with ACLU’s Cecilia Wang)
This week on The Oath and The Office, Corey Brettschneider and John Fugelsang begin with the new redistricting wars, as southern states move to dilute Black Americans’ voting power after a green light from the Supreme Court. They look at Tennessee,...
- Transcript
May 7 · 1 hr 12 min
The Supreme Court’s Assault on Our Rights (with Kate Shaw)
The Supreme Court is reshaping American democracy — weakening voting rights, empowering the presidency, and narrowing the protections that have defined modern civil rights law. John Fugelsang and Corey Brettschneider begin with the Court’s assault on...
April 30 · 58 min
Trump’s War on Truth and Science (with James Morone)
Trump briefly talked about “cooling things down.” Then came the escalation. This week on The Oath and The Office, Corey Brettschneider and John Fugelsang look at how President Trump is using political violence not as a reason for restraint, but as a...

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