{"href":"https://api.simplecast.com/oembed?url=https%3A%2F%2Fpower-plays.simplecast.com%2Fepisodes%2Fthe-czar-factory-bzRSqoot","width":444,"version":"1.0","type":"rich","title":"The Czar Factory","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_url":"https://image.simplecastcdn.com/images/96a10b54-3566-4ae1-87fd-fd8bff7bd182/a3d50482-aa2a-4d10-8989-1af31bca076c/power-20plays.jpg","thumbnail_height":300,"provider_url":"https://simplecast.com","provider_name":"Simplecast","html":"<iframe src=\"https://player.simplecast.com/77173de8-cc31-4761-8014-84541b97ea20\" height=\"200\" width=\"100%\" title=\"The Czar Factory\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"></iframe>","height":200,"description":"When Congress can't or won't act, presidents create 'czars' — powerful coordinators with vague authority and no Senate confirmation. We trace how a desperate response to the 2014 Ebola crisis birthed a shadow governance system that now handles everything from supply chains to AI policy, operating in the spaces between Cabinet departments where accountability goes to die."}