A BULLHORN DUCT-TAPED TO A CHAINSAW

WELCOME TO THE CLOSER TO THE EDGE PODCAST

There comes a time in every collapsing democracy when you’ve just got to stop pretending your “self-care” routine will save you and start screaming into the mic yourself.

That time is now.

Welcome to the Closer to the Edge Podcast.

I’m Rook T. Winchester — the ink-stained bastard in the co-pilot seat, holding the receipts while Drill Sergeant Doug verbally waterboards fascism on live audio.

Doug doesn’t “discuss current events.” He detonates them. He’s got the voice of a thunder god and the temperament of a man who’s been told to “calm down” one too many fucking times. When Doug starts talking, you don’t hear an argument — you hear history putting its boots back on.

Me? I’m the guy with caffeine in his veins, ink on his fingers, and the permanent expression of a Zoom avatar who’s seen the group chat transcripts of empire in decline. I try to keep the facts straight while Doug kicks the door off the hinges.

This isn’t a podcast for people who “consume media.” It’s a broadcast for the beautifully unhinged — the ones who can’t sit through another “both sides” segment without fantasizing about feeding a CNN panelist to the truth.

So go to YouTube. Type Closer to the Edge Podcast. Hit subscribe.

youtube.com/@closertotheedgeyoutube

Here’s a little preview:

EPISODE ONE — CIVIL OBEDIENCE: TURN YOURSELF IN

Our first guest, Cliff Cash, kicked this circus off perfectly — a road-dog comedian and environmentalist who also snaps nature photos and weaponizes humor into a form of rebellion.

Cliff joined us to talk about comedy, courage, and the realization that laughter is one of the last legal forms of protest. Then, right in the middle of his story, the power went out. Blackout. No symbolism needed. Doug laughed like the devil had tripped on his own tail, and I walked to the local police station to turn myself in for being anti-fascist. That’s how we invented civil obedience — the art of following orders so aggressively the system chokes on its own paperwork.

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EPISODE TWO — FREEING AYMAN SOLIMAN

You ever watch two chaplains make the Department of Homeland Security piss itself? Because we did.

This one’s about faith weaponized for justice: two hospital chaplains fired for defending their colleague, Ayman Soliman, after ICE stuffed him in solitary for praying the wrong way in the land of the free.

Doug and I unpack how compassion became contraband and how Ayman walked out of detention into sunlight and freedom. It’s the kind of story that makes you believe in people again — the kind of belief that usually comes with profanity, caffeine, and tears.

And yes, it ends with inflatable frogs dancing. Because joy is a revolution with better choreography.

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EPISODE THREE — THE LIEUTENANT COLONEL VS. THE REGIME

By the time we hit Episode 3, the gloves were already off — but Malcolm Ritchie didn’t need gloves anyway.

He’s a 32-year Army veteran, a locomotive engineer, and now — brace yourself — a congressional candidate.

Malcolm doesn’t mince words or waste oxygen. He sits across from us like a man who’s spent three decades watching bureaucrats play soldier and finally said, “Fine, I’ll do it myself.” Then he drops a ten-point plan for national triage — free healthcare, end private prisons, rebuild the grid, restore the agencies Trump gutted — all delivered with the kind of conviction that makes lesser men check their spines.

Doug’s pounding the desk like a sermon in progress, I’m scribbling notes fast enough to smoke the pen, and Malcolm just keeps dropping truth like grenades. This isn’t politics-as-usual; it’s patriotism dragged through the mud and standing up meaner for it.

Ohio’s 6th District, 2026. The fight starts now.

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So yeah — you can keep watching podcasts where dudes with perfect hair and zero courage “dialogue” about fascism like it’s a bad Yelp review, or you can join us — the loud, the unfiltered, the happily ungovernable.

Watch an episode. Watch all three. Laugh your ass off. Get pissed. Yell at the screen.

Then hit Subscribe like you’re punching fascism square in the face.

youtube.com/@closertotheedgeyoutube

Because this isn’t a podcast.

It’s a fistfight with fascism.