Aug 29, 2026 · 4h 30m
How empire, culture wars, and enforcement reinforce concentrated power
It Could Happen Here Weekly 247
The compilation links public subsidies, colonial rule, anti-trans politics, protest prosecutions, and expanding surveillance to recurring systems of power and control.
- 1Public sports subsidies rely on contested economic claims, lobbying, secrecy, and campaigns designed to manufacture consent.
- 2U.S. territorial rule created legal and policing systems whose effects continue through colonial limbo, militarization, and foreign intervention.
- 3The anti-trans campaign around Sophie Cunningham shows how sports media can turn racism and gender policing into organized political spectacle.
Don't miss
The colonial-history segment connects U.S. rule in overseas territories to policing, ICE, and later imperial campaigns, making the episode’s central argument concrete.
The brief
The compilation opens with Portland’s proposed public financing for a basketball arena, then challenges the economic studies and lobbying campaigns used to sell billionaire sports subsidies.
James Stout joins a history of U.S. colonial expansion, tracing how rule in Cuba, the Philippines, Puerto Rico, and other territories shaped policing, intelligence, and constitutional limbo.
A discussion of Sophie Cunningham’s media profile argues that racism, anti-trans politics, and WNBA culture-war coverage turned one player into a vehicle for organized controversy.
The Minnesota anti-ICE indictment becomes a case study in political prosecution, as surveillance reports and bureaucratic language are used to construct criminal intent from protest activity.
The closing news roundup connects ICE detention, voting restrictions, Canada, Puerto Rico, and the Iran war to an administration expanding coercive power while exposing its limits.
Books & mentions
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How to Hide an Empire
A history of U.S. overseas territories that extends the compilation’s examination of colonial rule.
This One Will Be Different: False Promises and Fiscal Realities of Publicly Funded Stadiums
A focused examination of the economic claims and fiscal risks behind publicly funded sports venues.
Colonial Crucible
A related history of colonialism and U.S. territorial rule in the Pacific.