About this episode
This episode explores the events and implications of the January 6th Capitol attack, focusing on Donald Trump's influence and grievance narratives.
Donald Trump will never accept losing anything – whether an election or a bet. But that wouldn't matter if he didn't convince millions of Americans to make his grievances their own. This Ball of Thread unwinds what made the pincer attack that overran the Capitol on January 6th possible. Donald Trump's grievance narratives gave disaffected Americans meaning, and in that meaning, he convinced thousands of people to throw their lives away in his name. The thing is, it's all the same con. That con defeated the Russia investigation and weaponized the Department of Justice against his opponent. And when he lost in 2020, he unleashed it to unite fringe right-wing groups and mainstream Republicans in a shared revenge fantasy. Thus, he was able to raise a ragtag army to sack the nation's Capitol briefly, and in the process, savagely battered hundreds of police officers and ended America's tradition of a peaceful transfer of power. Though the attack ultimately failed by only delaying the certification of Joe Biden's victory, the bets Trump and many of his biggest fans made on January 6, 2021 are now paying off in ways that were inconceivable on January 6, 2025.
People in this episode
Host: Marcy Wheeler
Topics covered
- January 6th
- Donald Trump
- Capitol attack
- grievance narratives
- political violence
- peaceful transfer of power
Keywords
- January 6th
- Donald Trump
- Capitol
- grievance narratives
- political violence
- Department of Justice
- Joe Biden
- election
- true crime
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Department of Justice, Russia investigation
More episodes of Ball of Thread
- Trump's Twin Intractable Psychological Dilemmas · April 29, 2026 · 11 min
- Think of the Iran War as Global War · April 20, 2026 · 32 min
- Trump Hoards the Money He Stole · March 2, 2026 · 22 min
- Marco Rubio Tries to Tell Europe He's Not the Grandson of an "Illegal" Immigrant · February 23, 2026 · 18 min
- Behind the Masks · February 13, 2026 · 7 min
- Swapping VA Care for Dead VA Nurses · February 10, 2026 · 17 min
Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the Ball of Thread podcast page.