Day: February 9, 2026

America’s Cultural/Political Divide on Display at the Super Bowl’s Halftime With a Wildly Popular and Joyous Bad Bunny Versus a Washed Up Right Wing MAGA Relic Kid Rock

We begin with the cultural/political division in the country on display at yesterday’s Super Bowl halftime with Bad Bunny the main event which most of the world saw in a joyous tribute to Puerto Rico and Latin American culture, all in Spanish at a time when simply speaking Spanish could get you deported. In contrast there was the counter-programing by Turning Point USA featuring a washed-up right wing MAGA relic Kid Rock which was about as big a hit as the Melania movie was. Joining us from Puerto Rico is Luis Martinez-Fernandez, a professor of History at the University of Central Florida. He is a historian of Latin America and the Caribbean who focuses on the histories of Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the Dominican Republic. He was born in Cuba, graduated from a Puerto Rican university, and currently lives and teaches in Orlando, Florida, which has one of the world’s highest concentrations of Puerto Ricans.

The History of the Border Patrol’s Murderous Impunity

Then, after we all saw Border Patrol officers pepper-spray, beat to the ground, and then shoot a disarmed white American citizen 10 times in the back, we examine the history of the Border Patrol and speak with Reece Jones, a Guggenheim Fellow and political geographer who studies the relationship between states, borders, and people on the move. He is a professor of Geography and Environment at the University of Hawaii and the author of several books including White Borders: The History of Race and Immigration in the United States from Chinese Exclusion to the Border Wall and most recently, Nobody is Protected: How the Border Patrol Became the Most Dangerous Police Force in the United States. He has an article at the New York Times we will discuss, “The Border Patrol Is the Problem. It Always Has Been.”

“The Predatory Hegemon: How Trump Wields American Power.” 

Then finally we will speak with Stephen Walt, the Robert and Renee Belfer Professor of International Affairs at Harvard University. He is the author of a number of books including The Origins of Alliances; Revolution and War, Taming American Power: The Global Response to U.S. Primacy, and most recently, The Hell of Good Intentions: America’s Foreign Policy Elite and the Decline of U.S. Primacy. He has an article at Foreign Affairs we will discuss, “The Predatory Hegemon: How Trump Wields American Power.”