Behind the Bastards – “It Could Happen Here Weekly 202”

Episode Date: October 4, 2025

Overview

This compilation episode from "It Could Happen Here," a Cool Zone Media and iHeartPodcasts production, brings together the week’s in-depth discussions on America’s slide toward authoritarianism, the escalating surveillance state, union organizing under threat, and the misuse of medical science as political weaponry. The hosts analyze the disconnect between the government’s narrative and ground reality, focusing on the Trump Administration's recent executive actions, media manipulations, and palpable public dissent as seen in the Disney boycott. Notable guests including union organizers, medical professionals, and civil rights lawyers provide frontline perspectives on resistance and survival under mounting state repression.

Episode Structure & Discussion Breakdown

I. Union Organizing Amid ICE Raids & State Hostility

Guest: Tangent Wiggy (Tristan Acker), SEIU Local 1000 Executive Board Hosts: James Stout, Robert Evans
[04:43–34:00]

Key Points & Insights

• Intersections of Activism & Art: Tangent describes the overlap between hip hop, activism, and labor organizing in California’s Inland Empire.
• SEIU’s Role and Composition: The Service Employees International Union Local 1000 represents over 100,000 California state employees, covering a huge variety of workers including state hospital staff, disability office workers, and home care aides ([05:00–06:20]).
• Unique Regional Challenges:
  • Patton State Hospital: Notorious for housing “criminally insane” patients—a real-life Arkham Asylum environment—poses unique labor stress and risks ([06:21–08:45]).
  • Immigrant Claims in San Bernardino: Many state disability benefit applicants are undocumented; California pays based on proof of wages, not immigration status.
• Labor Demands & Wins:
  • Telework Revolution: State unions fought for—finally winning—widespread telework options during the COVID crisis ([09:00–11:17]).
  • Collective Action Payoff: Tangent details organizing a picket in 102-degree heat over state contract stalling, which resulted in an 8% raise for workers ([17:27–23:00]).
• Solidarity vs. Political Division:
  • Conservative and progressive state employees frequently butt heads over the union’s stance on immigration, LGBTQ issues, and wider social justice. Tangent:

    “I don't understand how you gotta be a progressive to want to be paid what you’re worth…” ([21:25])

• ICE Raids’ Human Toll:
  • ICE is conducting rapid, covert snatch-and-grab raids in the city, traumatizing families and bypassing due process ([28:36–30:36]).
  • Community pushback includes mobilizing politicians, police, and unions in defense, though with weird coalitions (e.g., being grateful cops show up instead of ICE).
• How to Help:
  • Get involved with unions, support local organizing, attend phonebanks for local ballot measures, and defend vulnerable communities undergoing targeting ([30:56–33:58]).
• Inland Empire’s Duality: Grit and Beauty: “IE got pride, boy... there’s danger, poverty, but there’s art, there’s dope tacos, and real community.” ([25:58–27:57])

Notable Quotes

• Tangent on Telework:

  “It took the quarantine crisis of 2020–2021 to actually get the state to agree to mass implement telework... We feel like we’re pioneers in that in a workforce way.” ([10:55])

• On Organizing in Adversity:

  “I teared up... coworkers I didn’t think would march in the heat with me—every lunch, we had people picketing... Within a month or two, we got an 8% raise. When we fight, we win.” ([17:27–19:30])

• On Conservative Union Members:

  “That’s actually a good point... I don’t understand how you gotta be a progressive to want to be paid what you’re worth.” ([21:25])

• On ICE Tactics:

  “They pushed a wife out of the way... took the husband, tossed him in the van, and drove off. It all happened so fast that no one was able to film it. That’s the trick.” ([29:45])

II. The Reality Distortion Field: Trump’s Media Clampdown and Disney Backlash

Hosts: Mia Wong, Garrison Davis, Robert Evans, Tyler Black
[37:53–90:00 and elsewhere]

Key Points & Insights

• Approval Ratings Don’t Lie: Trump remains deeply unpopular (approx. 41% approval), even as the media amplifies his image as a commanding, beloved leader ([39:30–40:16]).
• Special Elections Undermine the Narrative: Democrats pulled off unexpected wins in deep-red districts, revealing widespread voter desperation for alternatives ([40:15–41:38]).
• Economic Unreality: Despite a “booming” stock market (especially tech fueled by the AI hype), most Americans feel recession’s sting, feeding the disconnect between “official” economic health and lived experience ([43:20–45:52]).

  • “We are actually living through the famous old tweet... the economy is candles. The whole economy is candles.” ([45:52], Tyler Black)

• AI Boom as Shell Game: GDP “growth” now driven by fixed capital investment in AI that provides no tangible returns, further distancing Wall Street from Main Street (“the economy looks okay, but... it’s not fine”). ([44:23–45:18])
• Corporate Media, Social Media Capture: The Trump team and allies exert control over CBS, social platforms, and capital-"L" Liberal media, shaping a reality where dissent disappears ([52:44–53:53]).
• Charlie Kirk’s Mythologizing: The right’s ability to stage-manage mourning for its “heroes”—and the resultant media unanimity—sparked visceral disgust and widespread pushback.

  • “With a man as absolutely rizzless and as obviously malicious and uninteresting as Charlie Kirk getting that treatment... everything is totally captured.” ([54:45–55:18], Tyler Black)

• Jimmy Kimmel, Disney & The Backlash:
  Boycott over Kimmel’s firing quickly eroded Disney’s subscriber numbers (1.7 million lost, $330+ million annual revenue hit), emphasizing public distaste for Trumpist overreach.
  • “There are more of us than there are of them... and there always have been.” ([204:01], Mia Wong)

Notable Quotes

• On Disney’s Dilemma:

  “Part of what was so brutal... it’s just obvious that Disney did that, the corporate people did that, and they did it because Trump did it publicly. Trump is humiliating these corporations publicly.” ([66:13], Tyler Black)

• On the Nature of Fascist Spectacle:

  “They are true believers in the spectacle and as such, break the fourth wall... Trump’s power was that he could puncture the spectacle.” ([70:23–70:39], Tyler Black)

• On Institutional Decay:

  “He’s not capturing anti-corporate sentiment. People are like, why are you doing that over Jimmy Kimmel? That’s weird, you're a creep. But as you mentioned, he's just sitting there watching TV and throwing his remote around. And unfortunately his remote dictates U.S. policy.” ([84:48–85:07], Tyler Black)

III. Science, Weaponized: Tylenol, Autism, and the RFK/Trump Administration

Panel: Kaveh Hoda (MD), Tyler Black (Psychiatrist), Robert Evans
[92:36–133:10]

Key Points & Insights

• Debunking the Tylenol-Autism Scare:
  • The largest, most robust studies (Swedish cohort, 2.5 million people) find no causal link between prenatal acetaminophen use and autism when properly controlling for genetics and confounders ([97:01–98:37]).
• Political Weaponizing of Medical Uncertainty:
  • RFK Jr./Trump weaponize ambiguous or bad science, skipping nuance, and make public health shifts unsupported by evidence—ultimately hurting public trust and real patient care needs.
• Chilling Effect on Women, Mothers, and Neurodivergent Communities:
  • Blanket restrictions lead to moral panics/discrediting of neurodivergence ("profound autism... is extremely disabling for people around the person, generally autistic people enjoy their lives... this whole idea of autism being this travesty, it’s really doing a disservice") ([105:26–107:54]).
  • Recriminations and blame aimed at mothers instead of nuanced science ([108:37]).
• Tylenol’s Real Dangers vs. Political Theater:
  • Overdose is a real issue (liver failure), but telling pregnant women to “tough it out”—for “medical freedom”—is callous and misleads people into avoidable suffering ([109:49–114:19]).
• Media Nuance, Bad Faith Arguments:
  • The administration exploits the “there’s some nuance” angle to blur lines, create unjustified fear, and lend credence to anti-vax and anti-medical establishment stances.
• How to Respond:
  • Trust scientific consensus, use official/regional health agencies for information, be wary of grifters, and always talk to qualified health providers ([125:49–128:03]).

Notable Quotes

• On Nuance Abuse:

  “The one thing that they've tried to do is like inhabit nuance and then disingenuously use it.” ([114:04], Robert Evans)

• On Societal Costs:

  “To have a president come out and just say grit your teeth and bear it to women in regard to the one medicine that we've told them they can use during a pregnancy is insane to me.” ([108:37], Kaveh Hoda)

• On the Autism Panic:

  “This whole idea of autism being this travesty, this epidemic, this blight on society is really doing a disservice... Autistic people are perfectly content to be autistic.” ([105:26], Tyler Black)

IV. Legal Realities of Trump’s Domestic Terrorism Order

Guest: Mo Meltzer Cohen (Civil Rights Attorney)
[139:08–132:19]

Key Points & Insights

• Executive Orders vs. Actual Law:
  • Trump’s “antifa as domestic terrorism” orders are frightening in rhetoric and disrupt left movements, but they do not change what is or isn’t illegal.
  • Law cannot be changed by executive order alone; actual prosecution still depends on existent statutes ([140:12–142:11]).
• Danger in “Soft” Repression:
  • Harassment, doxing, job loss, and chilling speech may increase—but criminalization of belief/association is still First Amendment-protected.
  • Quote:

    "The state cannot prosecute you for things that were legal when you did them... there is a difference between law and power.”

• Financial Surveillance and Crackdown:
  • The main tangible threat is ramped-up scrutiny of funding, financial flows, and self-policing/compliance (e.g., NGOs, bail funds, universities). The anticipatory compliance of liberal institutions remains a major vulnerability ([164:03–166:55]).
• Domestic “Terror” Designation Lacks Teeth:
  • Legally, there is no mechanism to designate domestic groups as terrorists—so this labeling is largely political, not actionable law.
• How to Protect Yourself/Movement:
  • If you deal with money, keep records and use it as promised; do not speak to federal agents without counsel; be vigilant but unafraid.
  • “When we fight, we win.” ([167:26])
  • NLG Anti-Repression Hotline: 212-679-2811

Notable Quotes

• On chilling effect and resilience:

  “The fact that an executive order doesn't change the law does not mean an executive order will not result in a lot more state repression... but it doesn't mean Trump is not going to accomplish what he's trying to accomplish—which is to say, chilling us and chilling civil society.” ([148:00])

• On targeted financial repression:

  “If you are in a group that has a bank account or raises money... Keep very precise track of your funds. Have an accountant... be very, very careful about your money.” ([190:10])

V. Weekly News Roundup: War Department, Urban Protests, and Federal Overreach

Hosts: Garrison Davis, Mia Wong, Robert Evans, James Stout
[197:12–266:43]

Key Points & Insights

• Symbolic Renaming & Rhetoric Escalation:
  • The Department of Defense now refers to itself as the Department of War; Secretary Pete Hegseth exhibits open authoritarianism regarding internal “wars” in cities ([205:37–206:39]).
• Federal Military Deployment on Protesters:
  • Troops (and National Guard) threatened against cities like Portland and Chicago over peaceful protests, stoked by media recycling old riot footage ([208:23–218:45]).
  • Quote: "There really hasn't been much in the way of… what we saw in 2020"—but raids and show of force continue ([208:44–209:47]).
• Escalation in Chicago:
  • A brutal South Shore ICE raid saw flashbangs, children zip-tied, and residents detained—an extreme new level of urban immigration enforcement ([226:49–227:51]).

    “They are zip tying children to each other as they drag them from their homes at one in the morning and saying fuck em kids.” ([227:51])

• Focus on Enemy Within, Precrime, and Surveillance:
  • DOJ memos and executive orders demand a crackdown on “anti-American” organizing. Financial and legal scrutiny ratchets up on NGOs, left groups, protest support networks ([242:51–266:43]).
• Resistance:
  • Grand juries sometimes refusing to indict, solidarity shown in Disney boycott, and mutual aid highlighted as key countertrends.

Notable Quotes

• On Department of War’s rhetoric:

  “He basically told the generals and admirals: if you don’t like it, you should leave. It was the quietest room I’ve ever seen.” ([224:57])

• On National Guard deployments:

  “In Chicago, there absolutely has been [an escalation]—and it’s horrible.” ([231:53])

• On financial targeting:

  “The Treasury Secretary will work with the Attorney General to, quote, identify and disrupt financial networks that funded [supposed] domestic terrorism and political activity.” ([254:16])

• On speech and organizing:

  “It’s not a time to do stupid things on your posting site of choice. Fighting words are not always First Amendment speech right now.” ([261:02], Robert Evans)

Episode Highlights, Takeaways, & Tone

• Unflinching, Sarcastic, and Deeply Grounded: The show maintains its signature blend of gallows humor and direct, jargon-free clarity. Hosts and guests balance dire warnings with actionable hope and tactical advice.
• Real Frontline Stories: Tangent’s union organizing, the detailed breakdown of ICE raids, and Mo Meltzer Cohen’s legal guide to state repression showcase real struggles and resistance.
• Media & Speech: The episode repeatedly hammers the dangers of media distortion (both right-wing and liberal), the “vibe session” disconnect in politics, and the core importance of speech, organizing, and mutual aid.
• Calls to Action: Whether through supporting unions, mutual aid, trusted medical information, or just not self-censoring, the episode stresses collective action and not succumbing to fear.

Timestamps for Key Segments

• Union Organizer on SEIU, ICE & San Bernardino: 04:43–34:00
• Trump’s Polling, Media Wars, Disney/Kimmel Backlash, & AI/economy unreality: 37:53–90:00
• Debunking Tylenol-Autism/Medical Disinformation: 92:36–133:10
• Legal Realities of “Antifa Domestic Terrorism” Orders (Mo Meltzer Cohen Interview): 139:08–132:19
• National & Urban Repression, Organizing Fronts (Portland, Chicago), Federal “War” Policy: 197:12–266:43

Final Words

The world is becoming more repressive and unhinged—but you’re not alone, and fighting together still works. Stay organized, stay informed, and don’t let the spectacle win. As Tangent puts it:

“When we fight, we win. When we unite, we win.” ([19:30])

For detailed sources or specific news links, check the episode’s show notes.