PalanReview
Nick Paro and Shane Yirak open this episode with a thesis: every branch of the U.S. government is now running on a cronyism-and-nepotism revolving door, and the architecture is visible if you read the contracts. Nick reads the numbers into the record. Since Inauguration Day 2025, Palantir has been awarded over $1.3 billion in federal contracts spanning DOD, Homeland Security, Treasury, State, HHS, VA, Energy, Transportation, Justice, Agriculture, HUD, NASA, GSA, and the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation. In March 2026, the Army awarded Anduril Industries — backed by the Thiel Founders Fund and Joshua Kushner’s Thrive Capital — a $20 billion enterprise contract under a sole-source framework, consolidating more than 120 procurement actions into a single 10-year line that runs to March 12, 2036, covering its AI-enabled Lattice platform, hardware, and data infrastructure. Then the Trump-family ledger: Foundation Future Industries, where Eric Trump serves as chief strategy advisor, was awarded $24 million for “Phantom” humanoid military robots; Power Us, partly owned by Eric and Don Jr., is positioned for a $1.1 billion drone set-aside following the administration’s ban on Chinese-made drones; and Vulcan Elements, a 30-person startup in Don Jr.’s 1789 Capital portfolio, just pulled a $620 million Pentagon loan inside a $1.4 billion rare-earth-magnets deal. Nick’s framing: this is not a Venn diagram. It is one circle of four or five companies, all owned or funded by the same people.
Shane brings the structural read. Palantir is no longer a vendor to the United States government — it is a parasite embedded in every institution it touches, which means the DOD, DHS, and Social Security Administration cannot honestly be called public institutions anymore. He argues that depending on how deeply Palantir has integrated, some agencies may not be revivable and will need to be reconstituted: stripped down and rebuilt in a system that works. He also offers a counter-weight that the hosts come back to repeatedly: the contracts are mostly aspirational. With 45% U.S. naval surge capability (per Congressional testimony), both hospital ships in dry dock, depleted Tomahawk reserves, no domestic rare-earth supply chain, and the Pentagon mineral strategy compromised by the Iran blockade burning U.S. standing with Saudi Arabia, the material reality does not support what the contracts promise. Cronyism, Shane points out, is not about intelligent people making intelligent decisions — it’s the corporate assumption that supply chain is infinite and the only thing that matters is the top line. Meanwhile, Ukraine has weaponized that gap: its drone supply line is real, it can ship to the Gulf states within a week, and it’s signing mutual defense contracts and supply agreements while the U.S. tries to sell blueprints.
The episode is built around action, not just diagnosis. Nick lays out the playbook in three concentric rings. Locally: FOIA your city council and police department about Flock Safety cameras — Peter Thiel was an early investor and reportedly wants the company for the data-aggregation dashboard, which integrates into the Palantir stack. Electorally: it is primary season, and the Courage candidates network and Citizens’ Impeachment movement (citizensimpeachment.com, couragefordemocracy.com) is where progressive challengers are getting wired in. Nick is actively interviewing them — Brittany Jones for the Oregon governorship is on Wednesday with Rachel Marin asking constituent questions, Kira Havens drew a thousand-person live two weeks ago, and Walter Rhein and Will Fullwood are running the same playbook. The pitch is concrete: if non-voters turned out at even 20% above baseline, the MAGA voting bloc evaporates; at 50% it stops mattering what MAGA wants; at 90%, every sitting member of Congress who hasn’t pledged to do the right thing is gone. Hand-count the ballots. Internationally: U.S. citizens cannot purge Palantir from Palantir’s home country — its institutional capture is too deep — but other nations can, and Shane argues this is the leverage point. The UK is already reassessing its contracts after the Karp 22-point “Technological Republic” manifesto trended on Threads. Australia and the IAEA are next. Orbán just lost in Hungary despite controlling every lever of his government, because turnout was overwhelming enough that manipulation couldn’t close the gap. That is the model.
Shane closes with the line the episode keeps returning to: do not let the soldiers who died in Iran die for Trump. Let their deaths be the catalyst that puts people at the polls. Courage is action in spite of fear — not the absence of it. Nick wraps with the program note: more free subscribers to Banner and Backbone matter more than paid right now because the goal is reach; the Anti Fascist Book Club is back this Friday; and the new Powerful Voices candidate-interview series is the operational arm of all of the above.
Thank you Amy Gabrielle, PJ Schuster, Stephanie Munoz, Christina Gurchinoff, Ms.Yuse, and many others for tuning into my live video with Nick Paro and Shane Yirak! Join me for my next live video in the app.
Disclaimer: We are in no way a danger to ourselves or others. We are in no way having any ideations of self harm or harming others. We are in no way promoting or suggesting any type of violent action towards these tech companies, the cities and law enforcement agencies that contract with them, or any agency of local, state, or federal law enforcement. We insist our readers maintain a nonviolent position of resistance.
Actions You Can Take
Visit our new community network and affiliate calendar:
Call your public servants on important issues:
Join the efforts to unmask law enforcement and de-flock the States:
Service members can get un-biased information on legal vs illegal orders:
Reach out on Signal: @TheOrdersProject.76
Banner & Backbone Authors’ Notes
Check out the new Broad Banner network and affiliate calendar!
You being here shows that you have already begun the process of unfurling new Banners and forging new Backbones for a more progressive America. Please, take the time to become a paid, or free, subscriber to the Network — supporting us all and ensuring everyone in America can hear these messages.
The America we strive for — it is one where we willingly remember the teachings of our past, humbly learn from our failings, proudly celebrate our successes, and boldly lead the way into a future for all people.
Reach out to the Banner & Backbone team if you are interested in volunteering time, supporting, and building these community driven platforms:
Submit feedback: Feedback Form
Email us: info@bannerandbackbone.com
Support and subscribe to Banner & Backbone now for only $5 a month or $50 annually!
Palantalk Team
~ Nick Paro | Shane Yirak ~
