Rural voters keep hearing about scandal in Washington, but most of it never gets past the surface. Tim Miller, host of the Bulwark Podcast, joins Heidi to dig into what's actually driving political corruption right now, from foreign money shaping U.S. policy to the insider trading scandals barely making headlines.

Tim traces how political corruption has evolved, from straightforward kickbacks to the foreign money now quietly steering decisions on war and energy. He and Heidi also get into what's happening back home in North Dakota, where data centers are reshaping local economies and testing what rural communities are willing to trade for growth.

In this episode:

• How decades of scandal have made it normal for politicians to profit off their power
• How foreign money, especially from the Gulf states, shapes U.S. decisions on war and energy
• Insider trading and bribery in how political campaigns get funded
• What the lawsuits against Trump show about deeper corruption
• The midterm outlook in Iowa and North Dakota, and why low voter enthusiasm could hurt incumbents
• How data centers are changing rural economies and who actually benefits
• Why Democrats keep losing the messaging fight, and what could turn that around

Connect with Tim Miller

Bulwark Podcast

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Corruption doesn't announce itself. Tim and Heidi tell you where to actually look.

The Hot Dish is brought to you by the One Country Project. To learn more, visit OneCountryProject.org, or find us on Substack (Onecountryproject.substack.com), and on YouTube, Bluesky, and Facebook (@onecountryproject).

• (00:00) - -- Opening: family updates and life outside politics
• (01:52) - -- Corruption in government, from foreign money to insider access
• (06:18) - -- Banking litigation and what discovery could reveal
• (08:44) - -- Why corruption feels different now
• (10:02) - -- Midterm strategy, Iowa, and the rural political map
• (13:51) - -- Redistricting, turnout, and the enthusiasm gap
• (17:06) - -- Corruption, broken promises, and the forever war
• (20:45) - -- Oil profits and Trump's shifting base
• (23:36) - -- Data centers and rural backlash
• (29:34) - -- Trump's declining visibility in rural America
• (31:41) - -- Democrats, socialism messaging, and the real majority
• (39:05) - -- How Democrats should respond