Dead center: Wall Street's think tank picks a fight with the left (again) — Dingus of the Week Podcast #35

<html><p>Democrats keep winning elections, and Third Way has had just about enough of it.</p><p>After Abdul El-Sayed's upset win in Michigan's Senate primary — the latest in a string of victories by candidates running on the radical notion that people shouldn't have to choose between rent and insulin — the centrist think tank <a href="nytimes.com/2026/08/06/us/politics/democratic-…; target="_blank">announced to the New York Times</a> that it's launching a $15 million campaign to discredit democratic socialism before 2028. </p><p>"We are preparing for the next war that is coming," said Third Way president Jonathan Cowan, describing the DSA as a "mortal danger" to the Democratic Party. The mortal danger, to be clear, is volunteers knocking doors for candidates who keep getting the most votes.</p><p>A note on the messenger: Third Way is a 501(c)(4), which means it doesn't have to tell you who funds it. But its own leadership has admitted the majority of its money comes from its board of trustees — a group historically stacked with Wall Street and finance executives. So when the party's biggest problem is voters who think Democrats answer to donors instead of them, the fix, apparently, is a donor-funded war on the people channeling that anger. </p><p>Some party you got here.</p><p>This week on <strong>DINGUS OF THE WEEK, LYZ LENZ</strong> and <strong>ZACHARY OREN SMITH</strong> split the difference between the vital center and the actual dingus.</p><p><strong>DINGUS OF THE WEEK</strong> is a weekly comedy news podcast where writers Lyz and Zach light a fire under the American rogue's gallery to see who comes spilling out. If you're tired of doom-scrolling but know ignoring the problem doesn't get us anywhere, this is your new weekend listen. New episodes every Saturday morning.</p><h3><strong>SUPPORT THE SHOW by </strong><u><strong><a href="patreon.com/cw/LyzLenz"; target="_blank">subscribing on Patreon</a></strong></u><strong>.</strong></h3><p><strong>👑 $5/month</strong> - <u><a href="patreon.com/checkout/LyzLenz?rid=26928874"; target="_blank">Not a Dingus tier</a></u> (3 weekly newsletters, 1 podcast, and our entire archive)</p><p><strong>👑👑 $10/month</strong> - <u><a href="patreon.com/checkout/LyzLenz?rid=26928880"; target="_blank">Definitely Not a Dingus tier</a></u> (all the above + polls and topic submissions, a chat community, weekly discussions, comment access, and our love)</p><p><strong>SEND US YOUR DINGUS.</strong> <u><a href="memo.fm/dingus"; target="_blank">Record a voice memo</a></u> and tell us who your dingus of the week is. Make it good and you'll hear your voice on the show. You can also email those to <u><a href="mailto:menyellatme@gmail.com" target="_blank">menyellatme@gmail.com</a></u>. </p><p><strong>FOLLOW DINGUS OF THE WEEK</strong></p><ul><li><p><a href="youtube.com/@DingusoftheWeek"; target="_blank">Youtube</a></p></li><li><p><a href="instagram.com/dingusoftheweek/"; target="_blank">Instagram</a></p></li></ul><p><strong>LYZ LENZ</strong> is the HBIC of MYAM Media. </p><p><strong>ZACHARY OREN SMITH</strong> <u><a href="instagram.com/zachosmith/#"; target="_blank">writes about politics</a></u> for Iowa Starting Line. Follow his work on Instagram (<a href="instagram.com/zacharyorensmith)" target="_blank">instagram.com/zacharyorensmith)</a> and TikTok (<a href="tiktok.com/@zacharyorensmith)." target="_blank">tiktok.com/@zacharyorensmith).</a></p><p><u><strong><a href="laurabenitezandtheheartache.com/index.html"; target="_blank">LAURA BENITEZ</a></strong></u><u><a href="laurabenitezandtheheartache.com/index.html"; target="_blank"> wrote the theme song.</a></u></p><p><strong>SHOW RUNDOWN:</strong></p><p>00:07 - Cold open: ... A meditation on Forest Gump<br/>04:19 - Intro<br/>08:21 - Check-in: Lyz reports from Springfield, Ohio as Haitian TPS ends and Zach's sexy FEC paperwork<br/>15:16 - Dingus: Third Way's $15M war on the left<br/>47:36 - Midroll (not)<br/>47:48 - Game: Mystery Moderates<br/>51:20 - Voicemail dingus: Jake Lang <br/>1:03:12 - Joy: Lyz binges Furious on Hulu and Zach watches a Cerro Gordo County thumb drive save democracy<br/>1:08:40 - Outro</p></html>