
Fresh off a day working at The White House, Emily Jashinsky takes listeners inside what it’s like covering President Trump. Then Emily dives into your questions including what her workday is like and tips for aspiring journalists. She also touches on education, why schools should be teaching finance, and what would have happened to student loan cancellation if Kamala Harris was elected President. She discusses ICE’s recent actions and what will stop politicians from engaging in lawfare. Emily also answers several faith-based questions including her thoughts on Christian Nationalism, and why she’s holding firm to classical liberalism, and has fun discussing who would be on her own Housewives Mount Rushmore, she details her own interactions with Wendy Osefo, talks favorite documentary of all time, dream festival lineup, her hopes for a Brewers World Series, and more.
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Well, hello After Party listeners, and welcome to a new installment of After Party that of course we now call Happy Hour. It's an even more casual version of an already casual show where I get to chat with all of you through the great questions and comments you send in via social media and email. So let's get to it. Remember, I'm actually doing this live. I'm reading as I tape right now, your questions as I go. I found that that's just a more fun way to do it. I don't even screen ahead or anything like that. Let's go ahead and get right into it today. I have to say, I just got back from the White House. I had new media pool duty today and I am beat. It was a long day. Trump had a wonderful, long press conference in the Oval Office. I say wonderful because it's always good to get those questions in. And man I can't imagine. I really cannot imagine. I don't think anybody can truly imagine Joe Biden doing what Trump does, where he just takes questions from everyone and anyone for an hour. So I got to be in there today. I asked him what his message is to pro life people who are a bit upset about his IVF announcement. So he gave an answer. He said, I don't know what's, what's more pro life than ivf. And that will all be hashed out in the days to come, for sure. All right, so here's a question from Denise. What's something you look forward to at the beginning of your work week? You know, I feel like I don't have a beginning of my work week. It's. It's a little bit different in journalism jobs. You just kind of roll through. I mean, Mondays are definitely busier than Saturdays and Sundays, but I work from home. A lot of the days are similar. I actually look forward to doing this. I'm not even like, I, I really look forward to doing happy hour because I love, I've mentioned this a couple of times, but I really love just like closing the door in my office and taking your questions just with the microphone. This is one of the highlights of my week. That sounds like, kind of cheesy, but it's actually true. So I just appreciate you guys sending in questions. But yeah, this actually really is one of the highlights of my week, to be honest. What are my favorite kinds of comfort and or junk foods? That's a question from Culpep Pepper. Kevin. I like all junk food. I'm not a huge fan of Chinese food for whatever reason, but like any other types of junk food, I'm also not a huge, like chocolate buff, but otherwise I love, love pizza, love barbecue, but, you know, that's just like any of it, mostly pizza, I guess. Pizza is probably my biggest. I love, I love Papa John's, but if you do the thin crust Papa John's, which took me a while to discover that you can get thin crust. I mean, Papa John's crust is good, better than most. But if you do the thin crust, Papa John's, oh my gosh, that stuff is fantastic. FVR07 what is your promise of a Brewers World Series? I wish I could promise a Brewer's World Series. Love the Brewers. I'm hopeful, but very cautious. Very cautious. Pull in for them, though. Viewsby Quinn asks what or who inspired you towards journalism and any tips for those interested in that path? Lots of tips. I just really love media. I like Growing up, loved TV and magazines and newspapers and radio and just have this, for whatever reason, attraction to kind of the romance of especially TV never necessarily was like obsessed with the idea of being in front of it. I never thought that would ever be possible. But just the mechanics of publishing, for whatever reason, whether it's video or audio or writing, that has just always fascinated me and I've been attracted to it like a moth to a flame. And maybe it's because I never thought that I would be able to do it, but I. I'm just obsessed with, particularly with tv. So that's what was interesting to me. And combin that with politics and writing. Writing is my very favorite thing to do. It just all kind of made sense. I have lots and lots of tips. I used to. Some people don't know this. I spent the last, I guess until last year for about five years. I was the director, it was a part time job of what's called the National Journalism Center. It's part of Young America's foundation and it's been around since the late 70s. So my job was to lead this nonprofit effort to train up conservative journalists, mostly college students, some recent graduates, but place them at different conservative media outlets. Teach them to write, teach them to report. So I have like tons and tons of tips. But my best tip is come to like, well, first of all, read, read, read everything you know you have to read to be able to write well. You can't write well unless you're a voracious reader. And you also just need to read everything to have the perspective needed to report. Read lots and lots of history, read lots and lots of other journalism and whatever you care about the most, read every book that comes out on that topic. You just go in great depth and just really be prepared to sort of have this obsession with what's true and what's not. Like figuring out what the fact is, what might not be true. You know, sorting the kind of wheat from the chaff, that type of thing. It's, that's a ton of the job and just being comfortable with getting to the bottom of those sorts of things. It's one of the reasons I love it. It's one of the reasons a lot of people love it. But it's, it's daunting because it's often there's so much competing information and you're hearing different things from different people. But I think if you're one of those people that's really interested. I always say there are two types of journalists and a rare third type. But the two types are people who go into it because they love writing and then they put up with the reporting. That's me. I fall into that bucket. The other type of person is people who love reporting and put up with the writing. And the rare third type is someone who both loves writing and reporting and is good at both. Those are the best journalists. But yeah, for me, I'm one of those people that that loves writing and puts up the with the reporting. I'm more introverted and don't like to. I'm not. I'm not like a great cold caller. I'll put it that way. Kleinstein9 asks Dream Festival lineup and how long do think the Senate will hold out on a cr? There's no such thing as a Dream Festival lineup for me because I don't like festivals. Let's see. How long would the Senate hold? How long will the Senate hold out in the cr? That's a great question. I think they are I'm very curious to see what happens with the no Kings rally on Saturday. So over the weekend, as some of you are listening to this, it's possible from my perspective, Dems kind of are hoping to get this shot in the arm from the base, look like they're holding firm. Chuck Schumer in front of the show. Hakeem Jeffries could go to their little no Kings rallies or maybe big no Kings rallies and make speeches, put those on their social media, look like they're standing strong and then they'll be able to come to the table and say we always believed that, you know, health care should only go to citizens. Republicans will have to come up. Maybe they do an extension of the Biden credits. Maybe they extend it by a year. Maybe it's two years. Or maybe they have other free market sort of deregulatory or regulatory ideas that they can add in and force Democrats hand because Republicans obviously talked about this on the show. Don't want people's premiums to start doubling in a midterm. And there's Republicans have zero incentive to cooperate with Dems as long as they're insisting that non citizens should have access to health insurance subsidies. So so long as that remains the case and that is very much the case, by the way, some of the media fact checks there is nuance between what Republicans are saying, what the truth is. But the media fact checks are actually just, you won't be surprised to learn in many cases, glossing right over that nuance. Basically what's happening is that the I know because I did My own little fact check of this. You get federal reimbursements for emergency treatment of non citizens. So that means you could be asylum or you could be an illegal alien. And if you get emergency treatment at a hospital, that hospital gets federal reimbursements, or state gets federal reimbursements and disperses them. So Republicans want to lower the amount of federal reimbursements, actually not eliminate it, because obviously there's emergency treatment happening, but they want to lower the amount of it. On the other hand, can you enroll in Obamacare if you are illegal? No, you can do it if you're a non citizen. So if you're on asylum, for example, which exploded during the Biden administration, then yes, you are getting access to the exchange. So that might have been one thing in 2014, but in 2025, after the Biden era explosion, which dwarfed any other recent explosion, as the New York Times put it, the biggest surge since the Ellis island era. Since the Ellis island era, you have to start looking at these types of programs. So Dems just don't have a leg to stand on. My prediction is that they're going to act like all along they believed it was nonsense. Like they believe that these subsidies should be reserved for citizens and it'll be their way to, you know, sort of score moderate points and look like they're coming for citizens, coming to the table for citizens on healthcare. That's my prediction. Who knows, I might be overestimating them. Ken asks, I was going to ask your thoughts on public education not focusing on teaching kids how to manage their money. Oh my gosh. Yes. I had one consumer math class in high school, but I think it should be taught every year in high school. Students should go broke 10 times with fake money in school before having real money teaching kids that there are no shortcuts and how to use credit cards properly. I don't know how many conversations I've had with people over the years where we all look at each other and say this, like, why aren't schools teaching personal finance more and more and more? My goodness, they should even be teaching like small business finance because your household in some cases is run like a small business, or in all cases basically is run like a small business. But maybe you also want to be an entrepreneur, small business owner, which is the beating heart of the American economy. So yeah, it's amazing to me how many people have this exact same, this exact same belief about what the school system should be doing. We waste just an incredible amount of time in middle school and high school on so many, so many non even and I'm talking like outside of the realm of liberal arts. So much instruction that just never gets applied in the real world. So I couldn't agree with you more, Ken. It's amazing that doesn't happen. AU4UM says where would we be on student loan Castle cancellation if Harris would have gotten in? You know, the courts just, I just don't think the courts were going to let that happen. She probably would keep trying different ways. It's actually funny, right? Because this is one of the points of the media's kind of moral panic about how Donald Trump has expanded the executive branch. I'm not 100 on board with every single thing that he's done, but the media didn't extend that panic when Biden was trying to expand executive authority on the student loans, which is a great example. So I, I assume actually Harris would have been trying to continue expanding executive power and getting those student loan cancellations through because it wasn't going to happen through Congress. Let's see. Rachel PO129 asks, Do you ever hang out with Crystal's husband Kyle Kalinsky? Referring to Kyle Kalinsky. Well, so Crystal and Kyle live outside D.C. i'm based in D.C. and Chris got a bunch of kids so don't like as a crew we don't get to hang out too much. But Kyle and Crystal film in the same studio as us so that's always fun when Kyle comes in and sometimes we do, sometimes he's on our coverage. But mostly I'll see Kyle when he comes in to tape with Crystal after we film on. I forget which days he comes in on, so I'll see him then Jacqueline asks, writing with a two part question for happy hour, what are your thoughts on Dr. Wendy as Sappho and her husband Eddie getting booked with fraud charges? And two, who's on your Real Housewives? Mount Rushmore. Okay, so the Wendy Osefo thing is completely wild because back in the day I used to do Fox News with Wendy Osefo. If you don't know who she is, she is a Real Housewives of Potomac cast member who is seemingly one of the more normal people across all of the franchises, like kind of has it together. Seems like she has a good marriage, good kids and she was I think a professor at Johns Hopkins and she used to do Fox News panels as kind of a left of center Dem panelist Deming panelist. She was always really nice and I didn't know her that well but you know, we'd be on panels, together in the elevator, a green room, whatever. And it's one of those examples of how quickly fame changes people. I was gonna say fame and money, but I actually just think it really is this like reality television fame, that when you become an influencer, you're just constantly under pressure. I think these, like, these housewives reality stars are just under constant pressure and influencers are just under so much pressure to live these glamorous lifestyles and to continue one upping themselves. Because there's always going to be someone richer. There's always going to be someone more, living more luxuriously with a better house, a better vacation, better clothes. You can never be the person with the best. There's always someone that's going to outdo you and they get caught in this rat race, this, the spiral. And I feel like maybe that's what happened. The allegations are really, really serious. We'll see. We'll see who's on my Real Housewives Mount Rushmore. Honestly, it would be a lot of the, the old school New York girls. I haven't thought about this. I've seen this meme going around a little bit. Probably Sonja Morgan, Sonia Morgan. Shout out to to Sonia Morgan. Let's see here. I'll. Let me think about this. I'll come back to it. Jesse says, I'm a huge fan of the show and much of your other work. What I want to ask about is your opinion on the theological battles occurring in the open in American podcast land. It seems very apparent to me that there's a major effort by Catholic and high church Protestants to attack Evangelical Christianity and its adherents. Good observation, Jesse. I agree with it. This is primarily focused on the issue of dispensationalism versus supersessionism. The through line seems to be attacking support of Israel or Philo Semitism from a theological perspective as un American or. And or non Christian. All my friends who are evangelical and plugged in talk about it. Have you noticed this? If so, do you, like many of my friends and family, view this as a major issue moving forward, I feel it may have the ability to split the cultural right irreparably. Thanks for taking the question. I think this is a pretty. I think this is a pretty sharp observation, Jesse. I don't know that it splits the cultural right irreparably because as soon as the war in Gaza, assuming Trump's peace, what. What the relative state of peace is in Gaza as much as there can be peace in Gaza, assuming it's. It's somewhat stable, durable, lasts a year or more into the future. I just, I think Israel will fade a bit into the background of some of these debates, especially with the midterm cycle coming up. It'll still be big on the left because they're not using AIPAC as kind of a litmus test. But I do think it's going to fade a bit for the right. It'll still be there, but I don't think it'll be at the front and center of our discourse as often as it is right now. That said, I have noticed this sort of, it's the best way to put it. You, you describe it as high church Protestants attacking. Yeah. Catholic and high church Protestants attacking dispensationalists. That's true. And I'm not a dispensationalist. I'm pretty opposed to dispensationalism. But I do pick up on this real condescension and what's the, the word is almost snobbery. Right. Because evangelicals, you know, don't have these august institutions of like, you know, the, the Catholic Church has, where you have, you know, this is a huge debate, by the way, whether or not evangelicals have the same intellectual tradition as, as Catholics. I'm not trying to get into that. I'm just saying, you know, I live here in D.C. catholic University of America has people who have studied these conversations their entire life, have research jobs to write about them and teach about them, and obviously places like liberty exist and all of that. So I'm not trying to compare the two. I'm just saying that's what the sort of, that's where the snobbery, I think, comes from. And I do agree that it has this air of condescension. As frustrating as I find dispensationalism, because I just could not agree less with its political prescriptions in the Middle East. I don't even, I don't again, don't have to get into that. But it's still, even as somebody who deeply opposes it. And this, by the way, is roughly the view that dispensationalism I would describe as roughly the view that when the New Testament refers to Israel, it is referring to modern political Israel. And with that comes a very different reading of, for example, the Book of Revelation or, you know, the, the prophecies in the Old Testament and combining those with Revelations or Thessalonian Second Thessalonians, which we talked about on the show this week. So it's, it's frustrating to see that again, the, the snobbery because, yeah, evangelicals get looked down upon as, you know, sort of low brow. And it's. Yeah, it's. That's one of the things that I think, just growing up, I grew up in a pretty low church, Missouri Senate Lutheran congregation, which I've learned since is like, kind of unusual since I've, you know, gone to different Lutheran churches and met other people who grew up lcms. But, you know, we had rock bands and all that fun stuff and it was just like, infuriating not to. The snobbery, particularly towards evangelicals. It's. It's definitely annoying when it's from other Christians, but evangelicals get it from everyone. So. Yeah, that one's. That one is just tough all around. All right, now I'm gonna go back to this housewives question and they're all going to be New York housewives. Such a transition. Only on afterparty do you get a transition from dispensationalism to the Mount Rushmore of Real Housewives. So I'm gonna say Sonja Morgan, Ramona Singer, Luann de Lesseps, and maybe, actually, maybe, maybe I would have to throw in Nene or Candy from Atlanta. Possibly Nene or Candy from Atlanta. I also really like Teresa Giudice, obviously. I like Vicki Gumbelson. I think she is incredibly funny. We. We might have somebody from that franchise, by the way, used to be on that franchise in the, in the works as a guest. At some point you might, you may be able to. To guess who that is. But I like Beverly Hills. I've watched a lot of Beverly Hills. Like Kyle. Lisa Vanderpump was a great housewife, obviously, or I shouldn't say obviously. I should say, oddly, I thought Eileen Davidson. I always said she was one of the best housewives, and I feel like that's coming back. One of the best Beverly Hills housewives. She was a great part of the ecosystem. I feel like people are starting to pick up on that and respect Eileen. Okay, I should move on now. I'm going into the emails that you all have. Let's see, let's see. This one is from Nicholas, who says this is. This is a good comment. Says, I find your takes interesting given how it's, by my observation, rare to have Christians in more independent media spaces. Yeah, I think that's generally true. It's one of the reason, one of the reasons that I make a point to be in more independent media spaces because I think that's just sort of where I'm better, where I can be sort of a value add. So Nicholas goes On to say I wanted to know your thoughts on the moment Christian nationalism, and by extension Christianity in America is having right now in light of recent events. If I recall correctly, you briefly mentioned Doug Wilson on a Breaking Points episode which led me to believe you are aware of the fights over how Christians should operate in a post liberal or post Christian age. Is the boogeyman as much as normies think it is. Goes on to talk about Ross Douthat's interview with Wilson cnn. Charlie Kirk's death is sparking signs of revival, Nick writes. I also appreciate you showing some inside baseball with the catacombs recently. All in all, it seems like people are thinking about Christianity again with curiosity. Let's see. And again, I'm reading these as I go. I can imagine a person like Crystal, many others like her having first exposure to something like End Times prophecy and wondering what the hell are they talking about and why do they believe this? So I appreciate you going on the show, breaking it down given how in my opinion Christians and media rarely come out of their ecosystem and talk about explicitly Christian things, underscoring how rare a person like Charlie Kirk was. That's true. Charlie was, was definitely rare in that respect. And I think it's one of the things that drew people to him towards the end of his life is that he was opening up and kind of addressing these things in plain terms and not being cagey about what he believed or any of that. So Christian nationalism is. I think it's Orin McIntyre who says, you know, it's, it's his objection as a Christian and nationalist is to the term being used as a, as a trap by the left. I think I heard Oren say that at some point and I generally agree with that because I think the definition can just get kicked around like a football and doesn't really mean anything. There are a whole lot of people who are Christians and nationalists, but when the left uses the term, they are trying to describe something much more specific, either along the lines of what Doug Wilson thinks or along the lines, sort of Doug Wilson's religious vision for what America, as he says, would, would look like in 200 years or something like that. When you have the household vote again, which might mean taking the vote away from, from women. Go listen to his interview with Ross Douthat if you're interested in this. Obviously Wilson founded crec. I've been to CREC services. Lovely, lovely people. It's, it's not where I find. Find myself. I'm sort of a classical liberal and in the sense that you need the sort of foundation like Christianity is the foundation of small L liberalism. But that goes into different directions. If you're like an Adrian Vermeule, you, you know, or others. I don't want to put words in Adrian Vermeule's mouth, but there are people who want to see that turned into sort of a Catholic monarchy or other people who want to see that as a, an America where non Christians have, let's say, have to live in a much more overtly legal system, Christian legal system. And that's vague. It's not the perfect definition of Christian nationalism, partially because a lot of people don't agree on what that really means. But I, as someone who's a nationalist and a Christian, just mean that I'm a Christian who wants to put this country first, loves this country, loves this country over any global order, prioritizes this country over any global order, meaning the United nations or NATO or anything like that, or like being people of the world, citizens of the world, anything like that. Unless we're, we're talking about like the Christians of the world or something along those respects. I'm probably not explaining this super well just because again, it's, it's poorly defined. But all that is to say it's like both of those things together are, I think, entirely unobjectionable. I think most Americans would have described themselves that way not very long ago. But no, I'm not, you know, thinking about a society 200 years from now where there would be a household vote and the 19th amendment would be repealed, for example. I've had debates with my close friends on these types of things. So it's that, it's, it's. I'm pretty firmly in the classical liberal camp and I'm one of the few remaining, especially like people on the, the New Right who've, who've been at natcon and those sorts of things. I'm holding, I'm holding firm to classical liberalism and I could get into it like that's a really long conversation. I just think it's the best system and the most moral system. And it's an, it's just an incredible, incredible gift. Now, what's the Churchill quote? It's the, it's the worst. Except for all the others. I'm paraphrasing. That was a terrible paraphrase too. But anyway, that's kind of where I come from on that one. Let's see here, some great questions. Oh my gosh, some more religious ones here. This is from Lena, who grew up in an evangelical. Yeah. In an evangelical tradition and is looking for Bible study resources for modern millennial woman. Yeah, I, I tend to just Bible studies tend to be like based around books. Like the best Bible study I've done in years was, I think I just googled like screwtape letters Bible study and did it with my cousin and both of, we're both millennial women. It was amazing. That was a life changing one. And it was just like one of the ones that came up on Google. Yeah. So I, I don't have a ton of like really great. I have like a lot of books that I can recommend Bible studies. I tend them around books like screw tape letters. I did a really good one on the Book of Romans, which I think is a great place because of the, the, it's, it reads to me as like the most modern. Not modern in a bad sense, but modern is like it's so applicable to our conversations, political conversations, our cultural conversations now. All right, Ryan says go Brewers. If the brewers can make it to the World Series with a bottom third in salary, the owners will likely push for a salary cap in baseball. Man. Is that a good point, man? Very, very good point, Ryan. Let's see. Carl says as a reporter and anchorman, you're sober and realistic. Put with a drink in hand your playful, creative and curious display. Thank you. I have the most minimal familiarity with the Bible, but your discussion tonight on pointed religious questions was both entertaining and enlightening. Oh, well, this is a very nice email, Carl. Thank you. Thank you for sending it in. All right, here's one. This is a nice one from Joanna, a long one from Joanna, but an interesting one Joanna asks. My question is regarding the cost of ice and the cost and effort of rounding up illegals and then deporting them. Well, I completely understand the need for law enforcement to go after the worst of the worst and booting them out because they're dangerous criminals. The news stories of regular people being deported, what troubles me, and I'm sure you know it troubles many people in the US and around the world, goes on to talk a bit about the, the costs and says the Trump administration has to consistently always go above and beyond every past administration when it comes to transparency and informing the public about their policies and how they are implementing or enforcing them. So why not set up an electronic version of an old fashioned wanted poster or an America's most wanted type of website link with a picture of criminals and what is on their rap sheet? Goes on and on. It says, heck, they could even set up an IG and TikTok account and post one each hour. The illegal criminal of the day. They might already do some version of that. I, I haven't seen it. But they, I mean this, Homeland Security, this DHS is putting so much out in media, social media and well, particularly social media, but then also just like lots of, lots of videos, all that kind of stuff. So they, they may be doing a version of that that it's just not very high profile or I haven't even come across it. But yeah, I mean I'm sure it's, it's costing a lot of money. That's why they just, in the, the big beautiful bill passed. Actually this is a cash infusion into ICE that hasn't even taken into effect yet. So they haven't even gotten all the money that they're going to have. And this is where I always am on immigration. I don't know if I talked about it on the show this week. I, I think I'm, I think I did. But basically the, in the uk, if you've been following their digital ID push, one of the reasons that Prime Minister Keir Starmer cites for wanting digital ID in the UK is he's kind of exploiting people's frustrations with the illegal immigration into the uk. Not all of it's illegal, of course, but he says people are frustrated with illegal immigration. Here's digital ideas. What one benefit of digital ideas, it helps people deal with this very important issue. Acting as though he suddenly cares. And so those types of, you know, Biden just let conservatively like 8 million, 8 million people into the country in a few years. I mean, think about the multiple states you can put together. Just say we added those in three years. Like it's so crazy to then act as though we aren't going to have enormous chaos, that the law enforcement agencies tasked with deportations of criminals is not going to make some mistakes. Of course they are. And that it's all going to be super smooth sailing, etc. And it's going to be cheap, it's not going to break the bank and ICE doesn't need an increase in their budget. That is a delusion. On the other hand, I don't like seeing the growth of an agency that is amassing surveillance capacities and could easily just have a flip switched by Democrat or someone else who then wants to turn those on, you know, in ways that are harmful to our rights as American citizens. And so I'm sure lots of US citizens are being caught in the surveillance dragnet. Propublica just as I'm reporting this, has a story out today that says we found that more than 170 US citizens have been held by immigration agents. They've been kicked, dragged and detained for days now. I don't know how many of them were actually interfering with ICE procedures. I'm sure that's the case in some of them. I have seen cases where that's obviously not true. And ProPublica does report that agents have arrested about 130Americans, including a dozen elected officials, for allegedly interfering with or assaulting officers. Yet those cases were often dropped. We've seen some of those cases, obviously. And in some of those cases, I think the arrests were absolutely justified. Others probably not. So this is going to be inevitable when the Biden administration, I mean, if you're the Trump administration, what are you supposed to do, right? Like you're going to get attacked for your immigration enforcement no matter what. And you have to do immigration enforcement no matter what because the previous administration brought in a massive new population, massive living in precarious conditions and in some cases outright illegal. The Biden administration. Last year, the Biden administration arrested 81,000 criminals, criminal, non citizens. 81,000. That is not including immigration charges, meaning you entered the, you were deported and then entered the country again, which is where it becomes a criminal offense. So I say all of that to just express that my discomfort with seeing Black Hawk helicopters in Elgin, Illinois, or in Chicago. I think it might not have been a Blackhawk in Elgin, but Blackhawk helicopters and these fights and American citizens and new Palantir contracts. I do have frustrations with those things. And that's what's difficult for me is just balancing those two realities. On the one hand, the Biden administration's lawlessness and recklessness has put so many Americans in danger and has left the Trump administration in a nearly impossible position. And on the other hand, Trump administration seems to be pushing the envelope too far in different cases. So that's kind of where I fall on, on this is that like they of course need more money and it's going to cost a ton of money no matter what, just because of where Biden left the country. But it's just, yeah, it's, it's been crazy. Stacy asks, you mentioned you prefer to watch documentaries and to read non fiction. Can you give us some recommendations for your favorites in both categories? Oh my gosh. Can I? This is why sometimes maybe I should read the questions beforehand. So I have the perfect Real Housewife, Mount Rushmore ready to go. And I can have the Recommendations ready to go. I think maybe the best documentary of all time. I. Well, my favorite documentary of all time is Gray Gardens. If you haven't seen Gray Gardens, it is proto. Bravo. It is proto reality television and it's really incredible documentary now did a great parody of it, but it's just perfect sort of glimpse into American culture which is utterly, utterly fascinating. So Gray Gardens, if you haven't watched it, you should. The movie with Drew Barrymore is fine, but the, the documentary itself is just unreal. Probably the best done docu series of all time is the Jinx. And if you haven't watched it yet, I can't explain why it's the best documentary series of all times. But if you, if you haven't watched the Jinx, you gotta watch the Jinx. Let's see the. I mean I watch them all. I really, I really watch them all. So it's, it's hard for me to even give of one recommendation or another for non fiction books. Chaos, if you haven't read it yet by Tom o', Neill, is mind blowing. Devil's Chessboard is mind blowing. Rod Dreher's recent book Living in Wonder is excellent. That's a great read. John Daniel Davidson has a book called Pagan America that's, that's also a really great read. Devil's Best Trick, it's by Randall Sullivan, that one Dreher recommended. Rod recommended that on his, his diary. And that one is, you know, it's. That's a tough read. That's a really tough read. These are some of the things that are just coming to mind immediately. I'll probably think of more documentaries. Great questions, Daisy. Thank you for asking. Nick says I'm an aspiring Christian, raised Catholic, woke up and broke away with all the standard secular complaints about Catholicism, religion in general. But Jordan Peterson really inspired me to at least learn more about Christianity. I learned more about the Bible from him than I did going to church for 18 years. And I'd like to solidify myself as a real Christian. But I'm held back by the stubborn but hard to ignore questions that large boil down to but did it actually happen? Or how can this be real? How do you as a young intellectual reconcile your faith with those kinds of understandings? Sorry, I just giggled. Yeah. Then Nick explains. I say intellectual, not to say Christians are not or cannot be intellectuals or intelligent as they clearly understand something I don't. But I think you might understand my point. Totally understand your point, Nick. And I just giggled because the idea that I am an intellectual is funny. To me, I was just talking about the Mount Rushmore Real Housewives. But yes, the book Case for Christ that was written by the great Lee Strobel is one of the best places to start. And I'm sure it is looked down on by the snobbish types that we were talking about earlier in the episode who see like evangelical Christians as unintellectual or whatever. But, but that book is incredible. And Lee Strobel was recently on Tucker Carlson's podcast a couple of times just in this last year, I believe, talking about it. He's done documentaries, talking about it. He's very good on NDEs, near death experiences. That's a, I think that's a pretty powerful topic. He explores it very well. And Dominion by Tom Holland. And just reading Tom Holland's body of work since he published Dominion as he has become a Christian is incredible. Learning just even details about the, the historiosity of the gospel account of Jesus Christ. I mean, Lee Strobel goes into this in great detail and there are a lot of people who are very, very good on this. But it's, it's actually just astounding how much we have recorded about the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ compared to what we know about a lot of the ancient world. Things that we take as fact about the ancient world that have less, that have less evidence for them than the life, death and resurrection of, of Jesus. So the historical evidence is enormously compelling and Lee does a really, really good job putting it together as do other people. But, but Leech Trouble is a fantastic place to start on that one. Nick Dan says, very happy to hear that you play guitar. If I write a worthy song, will you sing it in a trump voice and accompany yourself on the guitar? That would be awesome. I'm sorry, Dan, I can't do that. I'm so sorry. I can't do it. I'm sure you're a very good songwriter. I'm not good enough. David says how can the DOJ keep from being directed to pursue political enemies after each new administration? I do not know. I really do not know. My MAGA friends, like hardcore MAGA friends say that the way to stop this is to go after like John Bolton. Just before I sat down here, John Bolton news is he's indicted. Like I was saying, my hardcore MAGA friends would say that's the way to do it is to make it so that you know you're locking up John Bolton or James Comey for doing things wrong. And that's what will stop the next Democratic president from going after Republicans because they know as soon as they're out of office, then the risk is they get prosecuted. I am a bit worried we can't put this toothpaste back into the tube, and I'm not blaming Trump for squeezing it out. I think it was pretty obviously not Trump who took this toothpaste out of the tube. I don't even know how to keep torturing this metaphor, but I think it was pretty obviously Obama administration, Comey first, really, starting with declining to prosecute Hillary Clinton and then trying to make up for it by overzealously surveilling Trump or leaking about Trump and investigating Trump, all of that. So Trump then is hit with all this lawfare. I mean, it's, it's hard to point the finger at Trump himself because he wasn't in power when the Russia collusion investigation and leak campaign started to undermine his potential presidency. So that said, I don't know if the answer is for Republicans to unilaterally disarm or to go after Comey. I don't have a clear answer to that question. I think people who did wrong just by the virtue that they're powerful famous people should not be shielded from prosecution. I do think that the doom spiral is a bad thing because you could prosecute a ham sandwich right there. There are things you can do to any politician. We saw this with Trump. In some cases, the Fani Willis RICO case, the Letitia James case, you can find a way to, to prosecute a ham sandwich. We all know that. So it's. Yeah, I mean, I think people who did wrong, I'm not crying crocodile dial tears for them, and I'm not blaming Donald Trump for. Are ratcheting up these tensions. I do worry that, you know, my instinct is that clinging to, clinging to the, the norm of not prosecuting your political enemies over, like, the, quote, ham sandwich charges is something that's worth fighting for just because it's, it's such a obvious door to banana Republicanism. But I don't know that I'm right about that, because I don't know that I can't say definitively that creating these disincentives is wrong, because these people did wrong. They were corrupt. And it doesn't mean there isn't Republican corruption. I think I, I'm one of those people that sees it everywhere and just blames, you know, people with power are bad, they're corrupt. That's what happens. So I don't know. David, that is a great question. Great, great question. Okay. Let's see. And then lastly, I'll, I'll end on this question. Dunn asks, can you walk us through a typical Emily Jashinsky workday? Viewers are likely only seeing the tip of the iceberg. What is the extent of reading and prepping? Viewers do not see. What is the hours of effort per week I'll bet is a big number. There's no way I could tell you hours. It's just sort of constant. And if you know any other people who work in media or journalism or even pr, they'll probably tell you something similar. When you live in dc, it's kind of nice because your personal and your professional are all blended. You know, most of my friends work in media and politics and, you know, in my personal life, I love reading about media and politics and culture and watching shows about media and politics and culture, all of which are really connected to my work and helping my work and all of that. So it just, it's just sort of constant. Prepping for a show is similar. Like it's just something that I do all day. I wake up and just start reading the news, answering emails, talking to sources, and basically don't stop doing that all day. Now it's, it's most intense during the hours of like 9 to 5. But basically that's what I and most people I know in media do all day. There, there's a lot of separation if you're in D.C. or New York or if you cover Hollywood and LA. All of this stuff just kind of, it all just kind of blends together. All right, I'll leave it there. I could keep going. You guys know I could keep going. I'm, I'm starting to go longer every week. You can send Questions over to emilyevilmaremedia.com I my best to answer them. And you can send questions over at the afterparty Emily Instagram. Make sure that you subscribe on Apple or Spotify or wherever you're getting your podcasts. That helps us so much subscribe on YouTube. We're closing in on a hundred thousand followers and I will see you at the after party. Monday, Monday, 10pm Eastern live. Wednesday, 10pm Eastern Live. And then of course on Friday, Megan Kelly is allowing Glenn Greenwald and I to tag along on her tour in San Antonio, Tex. Megyn Kelly Live. So you can go ahead and grab tickets@megyn kelly.com I'll see you there.
D
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After Party with Emily Jashinsky
Episode: “Happy Hour”: Lawfare, Education, Faith, and "Real Housewives" Mount Rushmore: Emily Answers YOUR Questions
Date: October 17, 2025
In this lively “Happy Hour” edition of After Party, host Emily Jashinsky fields listener questions live, creating a candid, wide-ranging conversation that covers topics from politics, media, and lawfare to faith, education, personal favorites, and even reality TV. The format is unscripted and informal: Emily answers as she reads without vetting, bringing authenticity and spontaneity to the discussion. The episode highlights the unique crossover of pop culture and big-picture issues that define the After Party brand.
No Set Start to the Workweek (03:31)
Path to Journalism (07:13)
Senate Budget Standoff (CR) Analysis (12:34)
Lawfare and the DOJ’s Political Weaponization (40:30)
Theological Culture Wars in Media (26:35)
On Christian Nationalism (33:11)
Reconciling Faith and Intellectual Doubt (44:18)
Comfort Food Preferences (05:22)
Books and Documentaries (39:15)
“It's amazing that [schools teaching personal finance] doesn't happen. We waste just an incredible amount of time in middle school and high school on so many, so many non even...so much instruction that just never gets applied in the real world.” (19:25)
“I am a bit worried we can't put this toothpaste back into the tube, and I'm not blaming Trump for squeezing it out. I think it was pretty obviously not Trump who took this toothpaste out of the tube.” (41:22, on lawfare and political prosecutions)
“I'm just obsessed with, particularly with TV. Combined that with politics and writing. Writing is my very favorite thing to do. It just all kind of made sense.” (08:00)
On evangelical/catholic culture fights: “I do pick up on this real condescension and...snobbery. Evangelicals get looked down upon as, you know, sort of low brow.”_ (29:39)
On reality TV: “Only on After Party do you get a transition from dispensationalism to the Mount Rushmore of Real Housewives.”_ (37:42)
On pop culture recommendations: “Probably the best done docu series of all time is The Jinx. And if you haven't watched it yet, I can't explain why it's the best documentary series of all times. But if you, if you haven't watched The Jinx, you gotta watch The Jinx.”_ (39:40)
Emily Jashinsky’s “Happy Hour” is a rich tapestry of high-level analysis, personal confessions, and cultural commentary—often moving seamlessly from hard policy critiques to pop culture minutiae and deeply considered religious questions. The rapid-fire Q&A format spotlights her wit, media savvy, and ability to synthesize big ideas with charming, self-deprecating candor. For anyone interested in how politics, faith, and American culture collide in the current moment, this episode is a case study in spirited, big-picture conversation.