As my bio here at PJ Media indicates, I listen to a lot of podcasts. Most often it’s for a combination of entertainment and information. If your podcast patterns are anything like mine, you probably have some core favorites, and you add and subtract as you go.
Sadly, a couple of tragic events caused me to broaden what has become an ongoing search for something to listen to in order to feed my appetite for audio content of a political nature. First was the death of Rush Limbaugh in 2021. I had listened to his radio show religiously for a long time. While I was conservative before I found his show, it was his show that shaped my view of conservatism. He was such a part of my daily routine that I often caught myself avoiding scheduling meetings or appointments where I would miss his whole show on a given day. I at least wanted to catch an hour of it.
The second event is much more recent, and similarly to Limbaugh, the death of Scott Adams was due to cancer. Like Limbaugh, Adams was very smart and had insights into the day’s events that were completely original to him.
In both cases, with Limbaugh and with Adams, you had to get their takes from them if you wanted someone to challenge your point of view, or just better understand “what just happened.” I’ve heard from many of you, and there’s a good chance that just reading this, you’re thinking, “Boy, do I miss him,” about either of these guys.
That said, I’m not sure Limbaugh and Adams would agree on a lot of things. Adams was not an apples-to-apples replacement for Limbaugh. No one was or could be. Limbaugh knew and embraced conservatism, while Adams was, I think, a registered Democrat until the end. Even though for all intents, he was more conservative than most Republicans in Congress.
I’ll spare you the full list of the podcasts I’m listening to these days, other than to say, I tend to be audio-only because I like to get my podcasts while I’m doing something else, like driving, doing administrative work, or using a treadmill.
Before digging into the one I wanted to tell you about here, I will say that my criteria for a good political podcast is one that tells me something I didn’t already know from my near-constant use of the internet to stay on top of events. It should have at least some solid entertainment value and humor, and it should be hosted by an unapologetic, unrelenting conservative (or two, or three, or four).
That brings me to the Ruthless Podcast, which launched in 2020 and is hosted by four D.C. insiders. They go by the names of Josh Holmes, “Comfortably Smug,” Michael Duncan, and John Ashbrook. It seems all have battle scars from many political or issue campaigns. When they look at the news, they see things most people can’t. They know and have access to most anyone inside the Beltway they need to know. Most importantly, they know from experience how the sausage is made and what’s likely to be really going on anytime someone in Washington makes news.
From a format point of view, the Ruthless Podcast has a content element that Rush Limbaugh trained me as a listener to expect: a solid 30 minutes or so from the start, offering their unabashed takes on the news of the day. They do this in conversational and even debate style, irreverently, and often humorously. I can’t speak to how a woman might listen to this podcast, but I do know they have many female listeners. What I can say is when I listen, it feels like I’m hanging out with "my crew" (if I had a politically obsessed crew), talking about, ripping on, and riffing about people and events that warrant it.
I don’t want to waste my time listening to a political podcast that doesn’t make me think, doesn’t make me laugh, and which takes itself so seriously that it too often misses the point while it navel-gazes.
The Ruthless Podcast has all of that, and not infrequently, guests. New episodes get posted Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday of each week, and these days, if you listen, you’re likely to hear “the fellas” do in-depth interviews with those running in Republican primaries for seats in the midterms.
Sometimes, you may hear them interview key members of the Trump administration as well, which serves to get clarity on what exactly the big shots in Washington are actually thinking behind the scenes as they execute President Donald Trump’s policies.
As for the hosts, while the show is still worth a listen when one of the four is out “on assignment,” it’s best listened to when all four are in the house. The blend of the four distinct personalities, how they play off of each other, and how they keep things moving without wasting a second is what I like best.
Holmes is the QB of the show and keeps things moving and on track. You’d think that this would make him the straight man of sorts in the group, but you’d be wrong. The former chief of staff to Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) can be just as funny as his three compadres.
Smug’s real name is actually Shashank Tripathi, and he’s a former hedge-fund analyst turned Republican consultant. For reasons I don’t know, nor care why, Tripathi’s public persona is that of a sunglass-wearing, pseudonym-using, extremely quick-witted conservative who does not play in gray areas on issues or public figures. To be clear, I'm not dissing the persona. It really adds something to the show, as do his insights. He does that thing that Limbaugh always did. He gives voice to what you were already thinking. And in almost every episode, there’s a good chance Smug will say something that even his co-hosts never expected, which makes you laugh out loud, while reminding you why they call the show “Ruthless.”
Duncan and Ashbrook are partners with Holmes in a D.C. public affairs firm called Cavalry. Both have unique insights on whatever it is they’re talking about at a given moment. Each will likely give a unique take, along with a story or two based on their own experience or observations. Like the others, both are funny. That’s a prerequisite, it seems, for all of them. And both are pretty good interviewers when they have guests, because they’ve been there. They innately know the right questions to ask, and what their guests likely can say and should say. You can’t BS them.
I have to say that I tend to relate more to Ashbrook on some of the things he says, because he seems to have more of a pure communications management background, as I do. So his interest in messaging and positioning on the issues resonates with me.
The four of them together make for some powerhouse listening. And even if they don’t have big names on the show every week, it’s pretty obvious from listening that they are in touch with the right people in Washington to inform their points of view. None of them is just guessing and speculating without a basis for what they say.
During the campaign in 2024, one of JD Vance’s more notable media appearances when he was a senator was the time he went fishing with these guys.
This wasn’t the norm for “the progrum,” which is usually done in-studio, but it does give you a sense of the dynamics at play when you listen.
Since I have to admit, this review is as favorable as it is, it's important to note that I don’t know the hosts and have no connection to the podcast in any way. My intent here is to introduce you to a quality podcast well worth your time. If you like PJ Media, I think you might just find that this podcast will fill a void in your conservative media routine. I may do more reviews like this, because I'm always on the lookout for a good podcast myself. Let me know in the comments if there are any conservative podcasts you'd like to see reviewed.
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