Your paycheck buys less, the American Dream costs more, free speech is increasingly negotiable, and artificial intelligence may be teaching the next generation how not to think.

From inflation and generational frustration to government censorship and AI in the classroom, we examine the hidden costs of modern progress.

Are we trading away our prosperity, our freedoms, and our ability to think for ourselves—all in the name of convenience?

From political messaging embedded in popular entertainment to social media algorithms that reward anger, something is changing in American culture.

In this episode of The Wagner Report/Getting It Right, Rick Wagner examines the growing influence of ideology in entertainment, including shows like For All Mankind, and the increasingly volatile nature of everyday interactions. Why do minor disagreements so readily escalate into hostility? What happens when clicks, confrontation, and outrage become more valuable than reason and restraint?

A look at the cultural forces reshaping public behavior—and whether the unwritten rules that once helped hold a civil society together are beginning to unravel.

Rick Wagner examines the decline of local journalism, the rise of sensationalized media, and how social platforms can reward performance over substance. He also looks at weakening literacy and critical-thinking skills, the growing role of artificial intelligence in modern warfare, and why technological strength and an informed public are increasingly important to national stability.

How do we judge responsibility—in a courtroom or on the world stage? Rick Wagner examines the Lindsay Clancy case, explaining the distinctions among murder, manslaughter, and criminal responsibility when severe mental illness is at issue. He then turns to Pete Hegseth’s leadership and the debate over military readiness, lethality, and social priorities. Russian provocations and Iran’s economic troubles round out a conservative assessment of how legal standards, institutional decisions, and national power shape events—and their consequences.

Rick Wagner examines the Texas Senate race, questioning recent polling and candidate viability before turning to broader concerns about debt, regulation, and America’s economic competitiveness. He also discusses the strategic importance of AI and robotics, rising tensions with Russia, Ukraine’s manpower challenges, and the growing threat posed by increasingly aligned U.S. adversaries.

In this episode, Rick Wagner dives deep into the underlying mechanics of history, challenging the idea that the repetitive nature of our modern news cycle is just a coincidence. Moving past simple predictions, Rick explores the science of forecasting social and political cycles through the lens of cliodynamics—a field pioneered by evolutionary biologist and complexity researcher Peter Turchin.

The conversation centers on the critical concept of "elite overproduction," explaining how societies historically trigger their own unrest by producing more highly credentialed, ambitious individuals than there are positions of influence and leadership to absorb them. Rick traces this volatile pattern through the fall of Rome, the French Revolution, and the Russian Revolution, drawing striking parallels to our modern landscape.