When German politics shift to the Right, the world gets nervous. German’s Alternative for Germany (AfD) Party came in second in parliamentary elections, largely on the strength of German anger over the economy and anti-migration nativist sentiment. Has AfD peaked out? Does this presage results in France and other European countries? How should we feel and respond to the right of the German Right?

On today’s episode of “The TMI Show,” Ted Rall and Manila Chan discuss the AfD’s victory in Germany.

Even before the election, The Washington Post and The Los Angeles Times read Trump's polls and censored their own Kamala endorsements. Then the tech bros who run social media donated to his inaugural. ABC News and Meta decided to punt in court and pay out big defamation claims Trump would probably have lost--were they bribes?Is Trump's bullying chilling the media? It certainly looks like it. MSNBC has canceled Joy Reid's primetime TV show. In another indication that journalists are under siege, a Mississippi judge ordered a newspaper to take down an editorial.On "The TMI Show" Ted Rall and Manila Chan, fresh from CPAC--where the big names didn't bother to engage reporters--discuss the muzzling of the news media, the watchdog of democracy.

Moral injury, or the deep distress that can emerge when you feel that your values have been violated, either by yourself or someone else, is about to be added to the American Psychiatric Association’s D.S.M.-5, psychiatry’s classification of mental health conditions, to include the notion that moral problems could contribute to a mental health condition..

The resulting feelings of powerlessness, guilt and shame can lead to mental health problems like anxiety, depression and even suicidal behavior.

On today’s episode of “The TMI Show,” Ted Rall and Manila Chan discuss Moral Injury. What is it? Is it a real mental phenomenon? Can you avoid it? What can you do if you suffer from it?

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has ordered Pentagon officials to draw up plans to cut 8% from the military over each of the next five years, the most radical attempt to rein in such spending ever.There would be 17 exceptions to the proposed cuts, including military operations at the southern border. Cuts to defense will face opposition in Congress, where lawmakers focus on budget cuts that could affect their districts.On "The TMI Show" Ted Rall and guest cohost Robby West discuss this shocking attempt to co-opt anti-militarism as an issue away from the Democrats.

The United States and Russia have moved toward a total reset in Riyadh, agreeing to work together on ending the Russo-Ukrainian war, financial investment, eliminating sanctions and re-establishing normal relations. The meeting was striking after three years of American efforts to isolate Moscow. After more than four hours of talks, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that both sides had agreed to work on a peace settlement for Ukraine as well as to explore “the incredible opportunities that exist to partner with the Russians,” both geopolitically and economically.

“We weren’t just listening to each other, but we heard each other,” Sergey V. Lavrov, Russia’s foreign minister, said.

The meeting signaled Trump’s intention to reverse the Biden administration’s approach, which focused on sanctions, isolation and sending weapons to Ukraine.

What's the next step? What will peace look like? What role will Ukraine itself have in the negotiations? What will it take Europe to sign off? Do they have to?

On “The TMI Show” hosts Ted Rall and Manila Chan talk to Ukrainian whistleblower Andrei Telizhenko about what comes next.

Five years ago this week, the United States entered an unprecedented national lockdown. The COVID-19 pandemic prompted the government, businesses and educational institutions to shut down. The streets of major cities turned into ghost towns. Confused, traumatized and terrified of a fatal respiratory virus whose means of transmission was not clearly understood until later, Americans hid in their homes while over a million of their fellow citizens died, many of them alone in terrible agony.

The novel coronavirus struck as the United States was experiencing three major societal trends: a growing divide between Left and Right, decreasing trust in institutions and a splintering of the information environment.

Three-quarters of Americans say the pandemic took a toll on their own lives. 27% say they were traumatized. On “The TMI Show,” Ted Rall and Manila Chan ask: What are the longstanding implications? Have we learned anything? What would we do different?

The politics of the former American colony of the Philippines is devolving into a Hatfields versus McCoys style blood feud. Sara Duterte, daughter of the last president Rodrigo, was the vice president until she just got impeached. Now she's being charged with sedition too.

At the heart of the clash is a power struggle between two families, the pretty much pro-China Dutertes, against the pro-American Marcoses, whose Bongbong is the current president.

Lucio Blanco Pitlo III, president of the Philippines Association for Chinese Studies and research fellow at the Asia-Pacific Pathways to Progress Foundation, joins “The TMI Show” with Ted Rall and Manila Chan to analyze the future of this linchpin to the Western Pacific and the Pacific Rim.

Catch Ted and Manila livestreaming daily at 10am ET!

The deep freeze in U.S.-Russian relations is about to thaw out bigly.

Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump talked for about an hour and a half yesterday, according to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov. The call was “lengthy and highly productive,” Trump said on Truth Social. “We discussed Ukraine, the Middle East, Energy, Artificial Intelligence, the power of the Dollar, and various other subjects.” They agreed that they “want to stop the millions of deaths taking place in the War with Russia/Ukraine,” Trump added, announcing an “immediate” start of negotiations to resolve the Ukraine conflict.

The two men discussed the Middle East and Iran’s nuclear program and agreed to visit one another in person.

What’s next for Russia, the U.S. and Ukraine? Political and international relations expert Mark Sleboda joins Ted Rall and Manila Chan on “The TMI Show” to figure that out.