Manufactured Confusion has become a business model. In this episode, Peter Vazquez speaks with Nick Kangadis of MRCTV about how media, politics, and culture reward outrage while suppressing discernment. From affordability myths to narrative-driven governance, the conversation challenges listeners to reclaim responsibility, common sense, and clarity in an age defined by distortion.
Truth does not whisper anymore. It has to fight its way through noise, narratives, and carefully curated confusion.
Peter Vazquez digs into a conversation that refuses to play along with the illusion that things are merely “complicated,” when in reality they are deliberately distorted.
With Nick Kangadis of MRCTV and MRC Culture, the discussion traces how media, politics, and digital feeds reward outrage while starving discernment. Affordability is blamed on the wrong villains, culture is reshaped by curated narratives, and institutions once built to serve now exist to manage obedience.
The thread runs deep: the slow economic decay set in motion decades ago, the modern acceleration under recent leadership, and the way commentary, comedy, and click-driven headlines can be used to normalize what should alarm a healthy society. Division sells. Confusion keeps people compliant. Apathy becomes a political tool.
Hard questions are not avoided. Why veterans rarely get highlighted while chaos dominates airtime. Where enforcement ends and due process begins. How “compassion” gets marketed while accountability gets buried. How lawlessness is reframed as virtue and common sense gets treated as extremism.
There are no cheap slogans here. Just a sober reminder that freedom survives only when ordinary people refuse to outsource their thinking, their conscience, and their responsibility. Government is not a parent. Media is not a priesthood. Truth does not need permission.
God, country, family, in that order. Discernment over distraction. Courage over compliance.
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The Next Steps Show
Host: Peter Vazquez
Guest: Nick Kangadis, Assistant Managing Editor, MRCTV / MRC Culture
Peter Vazquez:
Look to the left. Look to the right. What do you see? Where are you? In a world that seems to change daily, what will you do next?
When leaders blur reality and institutions lose their way, a nation stands or falls on the willingness of ordinary people to see clearly, speak honestly, and take responsibility for what is real and what is true. That is not a political ideology. That is not Bible-thumping. That is simply the responsibility of free people.
God, country, and family must remain at the forefront if our representative republic is going to survive.
Today we are continuing a conversation with a returning voice who knows how to cut through noise and expose the games behind the headlines. Someone whose sharp commentary turns everyday media clips into cultural clarity, because that is where the real attack is happening. That is where the decay is taking place.
It is my honor to welcome back Nick Kangadis, Assistant Managing Editor of MRCTV and MRC Culture.
Nick Kangadis:
Thank you for having me. I appreciate it.
Peter:
We cannot have this conversation enough. It feels like for every ten steps forward, a narrative knocks us back several steps. The work you do is powerful because you are not just speaking to everyday Americans, but to younger generations as well.
Nick:
At a certain point you realize that no matter what any of us do, the media and politicians are going to push their agenda. It does not matter. You want to think you are above it, but eventually you get so frustrated by the absurdity and the deliberate delegitimization of this country that mockery becomes the only language they understand.
Peter:
It is hard not to feel that way. Let us talk about affordability. The narrative pushed by the media is that this crisis was caused by President Trump. From every angle I look at, that does not hold up.
Nick:
If we are being honest, this goes back over fifty years to when we removed the dollar from the gold standard. This was a slow decay that built over decades. The Biden years did not start it, but they absolutely accelerated it. Whether you blame Biden or the people controlling the administration, this was not accidental.
Peter:
And that decay is cultural as much as it is economic. You focus on culture.
Nick:
Politics is downstream from culture. I take clips from CNN, TikTok, or whatever is topical and pair them with cultural references from movies, television, or comedy that expose how ridiculous these narratives are. Many people do not even realize how absurd they sound.
Peter:
Social media feeds seem designed to drive emotion rather than thought. What do you see most?
Nick:
A lack of critical thinking. Thinking is hard. People want something that feels comfortable, a narrative they already agree with a little bit, and they adopt it fully. It removes accountability.
Peter:
Common sense is no longer common.
Nick:
Exactly.
Peter:
You have addressed figures like Ilhan Omar and issues in Minnesota. How do you call out politicians without painting entire communities?
Nick:
People take everything literally now. You cannot speak in generalities without being accused of condemning everyone. I use humor to show how ridiculous the framing is. The target is the idea, not a group of people.
Peter:
Why does the media rarely highlight veterans?
Nick:
Because division creates clicks. Media companies are businesses. Positive stories do not drive ratings. Chaos does.
Peter:
A caller earlier expressed fear about government power and political shifts. Violence is never acceptable. But people feel cornered.
Nick:
The reminder that needs to happen is simple. These politicians are our employees. They do not rule us. If something is unlawful, you do not comply. You live your life. That understanding has been lost.
Peter:
Immigration enforcement is framed as cruelty. Is that compassion or manipulation?
Nick:
It is dangerous and intentional. When they ask for one thing, it never ends. That is how ideological takeovers work.
Peter:
Where can people find your work?
Nick:
Instagram: @RealNickKangadis
Facebook and YouTube: MRCTV, Media Research Center
Peter:
Nick Kangadis, thank you for your time. God bless you.
Peter:
We are watching a nation struggle with reality. Bamboozlement is not accidental. It is a strategy built on warm words, soft lies, and endless narratives designed to keep people compliant.
Look at how blue-collar workers are talked about. We celebrate them one day a year while policies quietly make it harder for them to work, live, and survive. Unions have become quasi-political machines, not worker advocates.
We are told affordability is the crisis, yet we are also told job creation is booming. Which one is it? Are we growing or are we starving? You cannot have both at the same time.
Immigration is another example. America is a nation of immigrants. Legal immigrants. People who wanted to become Americans. That is the history. That is the difference. Lawlessness is not compassion. Chaos is not kindness.
If you are here illegally, you are committing a crime. That is not hatred. That is law. And when enforcement is called extremism, what you are really seeing is narrative protection.
Look at New York. Bail reform. Tax policy. Seniors being told to celebrate a few hundred dollars in relief while costs explode everywhere else. Veterans struggling to eat. Families priced out of housing. Bureaucracies growing while responsibility shrinks.
This is not incompetence. This is ideology.
Government blocks charities from raising money while claiming there is never enough funding. Nonprofits could raise hundreds of millions without taxpayer dollars, but that threatens control. Control always matters more than outcomes.
Our youth are being fed trauma narratives instead of discipline, purpose, and accountability. Crime is explained away. Responsibility is erased. And entire communities pay the price.
Scripture tells us to expose the deeds of darkness. That does not mean shouting. It means clarity. It means refusing to repeat lies. It means not outsourcing your conscience.
God. Country. Family. In that order.
Do not let a second go by where you are not a voice for liberty.
