EP:55 Michael Farris : How Groupthink Becomes The Deep State
Oct 6, 2026 · 1 hr 12 min · 13 segments
“Who is they?” sounds like a throwaway line until you try to answer it out loud. We sit down with Michael Farris, host of Coffee and a Mike, to get specific about what people mean by “the deep state”…
“Who is they?” sounds like a throwaway line until you try to answer it out loud. We sit down with Michael Farris, host of Coffee and a Mike, to get specific about what people mean by “the deep state” and why it often looks less like a secret board meeting and more like institutional groupthink: career incentives, social enforcement, and missions that reward obedience while punishing internal dissent. From there, we connect the dots to today’s power centers. We talk tech monopolies and transactional politics, the way narratives get enforced without anyone needing to “give the order,” and why so many people feel politically homeless after years of broken promises and nonstop spectacle. We also revisit 2020 as a turning point for censorship, deplatforming, and the normalization of control systems that can be switched on again fast, whether through algorithms, media coordination, or election rule changes like mail in voting that many voters still don’t trust. Things get even more real when we look ahead: energy infrastructure vulnerability, surveillance that makes old school “papers please” unnecessary, and financial pressure like debanking that can silence people without a single arrest. We close on a different note with the one place people still find common ground: movies, music, and art, plus a stack of recommendations worth your time. Subscribe for more independent conversations, share this with a friend who’s tired of slogans, and leave a review if you want this show to keep growing. When you hear “they,” who comes to mind and why? ## Chapter Markers - 0:24. Welcome And Chicago Media Awards - 3:59 Who Exactly Is The Deep State - 8:58 Groupthink Networks That Enforce Power - 13:35 Rule Followers In School Work Government - 15:40 DC Reality And Foreign Policy Doctrine - 19:45 Big Tech Monopolies And Trump Incentives - 24:24 2020 Fallout And Mail In Voting - 29:42 Beyond Left And Right Political Homelessness - 41:06 Censorship Prototypes And Energy Fears - 48:05 Surveillance Debanking And Modern Silencing - 57:56 TikTok Gaza Footage And Media Consolidation - 1:01:28 Movies As A Shared Human Language - 1:10:54 Where To Follow And Final Thanks
“Who is they?” sounds like a throwaway line until you try to answer it out loud. We sit down with Michael Farris, host of Coffee and a Mike, to get specific about what people mean by “the deep state”…
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