Normally Podcast: Democrats Meltdown on Camera, Fauci Cover-Up Claims & Nigel Farage’s UK Surge

Summary

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The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show: “Normally” Podcast Special

Episode Title: Democrats Meltdown on Camera, Fauci Cover-Up Claims & Nigel Farage’s UK Surge
Date: May 14, 2026
Hosts: Mary Kathryn Haynes, Carol Markowitz
Network: iHeartPodcasts (as "Normally" segment)
Summary Prepared By: Podcast Summarizer

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Episode Overview

This episode of “Normally” features co-hosts Mary Kathryn Haynes and Carol Markowitz delving into notable political stumbles by leading Democrats, emerging COVID-related whistleblower allegations against Dr. Fauci, and a seismic shift in UK politics led by Nigel Farage’s Reform Party. The hosts bring their signature blend of humor and pointed commentary, focusing on political media mishaps, the erosion of public trust, and the broader demands for governmental normalcy both in the US and abroad.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

I. Democratic Politicians' On-Camera Meltdowns

A. Javier Becerra's California Governor Campaign Fumble

• Segment Start: [04:17]
• Becerra, formerly California Attorney General, is grilled by a local reporter. He expresses frustration at anticipated tough questions even before the interview begins.
• Quote:
  “She hadn’t asked anything yet, and he was already like, ‘You’re only going to talk about good things, right?’” — Carol Markowitz [05:31]
• Becerra’s avoidance is linked to recent news involving a campaign finance scandal (his aides siphoning money) and his record losing track of migrant minors as HHS secretary.
  • Commentary: “Just prepare something…This guy has been attorney general, head of HHS, and is now running for governor and cannot muster better than this, from a local reporter.” — Mary Kathryn Haynes [07:43]
• The hosts reflect that even supportive media will ask hard questions and that dodging just makes things worse.

B. Chris Van Hollen vs. Kash Patel Bar Tab Controversy

• Segment Start: [08:52]
• Senator Van Hollen challenges FBI Director Kash Patel regarding allegations of workplace drinking. Patel flips the narrative, referencing Van Hollen's own conduct.
• Quote:
  “When you’re explaining, you’re losing, because that’s what happened.” — Mary Kathryn Haynes [11:43]
• Van Hollen continues the dispute on Twitter, further amplifying the story rather than shutting it down.
• The podcast highlights how Democratic politicians appear unprepared for pushback, contrasting it with Republican experiences.
  • “These Democrats completely don’t expect that. They think they’re going to get a walk everywhere they go, and so they come off as so unprepared.” — Carol Markowitz [11:16]
• Short sidebar on bourbon as gifts in law enforcement: Not a red flag, just normal culture.

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II. Hantavirus Outbreak on Cruise Ship & Residual COVID Panic

A. A New Viral Outbreak and Public Response

• Segment Start: [16:53]
• Recent hantavirus outbreak on a birdwatching cruise triggers online fears reminiscent of early COVID, but hosts urge calm, pointing out Hantavirus is less contagious than COVID.
• Quote:
  “Not everything with ‘virus’ attached to it needs to be panic mode. Let’s assess our risk, which is the thing that so many did not do in public health in 2020.” — Mary Kathryn Haynes [19:46]

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III. COVID Whistleblower Claims & Fauci Cover-Up Allegations

A. New Testimony Against Dr. Fauci

• Segment Start: [20:08]
• COVID whistleblower James Erdman testifies that Dr. Fauci intentionally misled the public, “stacked” analyses with scientists conflicted by NIAID funding, and orchestrated cover-ups concerning COVID’s origins.
• Quote:
  “Fauci’s role in the COVID cover-up was intentional. I think that’s kind of a big deal.” — Carol Markowitz [20:08]
• Host View: Media likely to ignore this story; public trust eroded due to repeated deception.
• “Frittering away public trust was not a great idea. And we kept saying that.” — Mary Kathryn Haynes [23:16]

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IV. UK Politics: Labour & Conservative Collapse, Farage's Surge

A. Major Losses for UK's Labour Party and Rise of Reform

• Segment Start: [26:56]
• Labour Party under PM Keir Starmer lost over 1,200 seats in local elections; many go to Nigel Farage’s Reform Party, as well as Liberal Democrats and Greens.
• Quote:
  “So the left took a beating here. This is the party that is the party of the Prime Minister. He’s, of course, like on thin ice now, having all these meetings, trying to figure out: is there going to be a leadership position change?” — Mary Kathryn Haynes [27:17]
• Analysis:
  • The center is disappearing; the electorate is moving toward anti-immigration, law-and-order politics.
  • Possible US parallels: Trump’s “close the border” stance influencing global politics.
  • “There are Conservatives that are not conservative at all in Britain…I think they want that version of American conservatism.” — Carol Markowitz [28:31]
• Local Politics and Normalcy: Local competence and disorder are shaping politics globally. The electorate wants enforcement of basic law and order.

B. "Broken Windows" and Civic Maintenance

• Segment Start: [31:48]
• Mary Kathryn comments on DC’s finally operational public fountains, linking it to the “Broken Windows” theory of governance—small, functional civic signs indicate a city that cares.
• Quote:
  “When I saw the water flowing over the Meridian Park fountains, I was like, it could have been so much better the whole time…it signals, deep down, someone’s running this place in a way that makes the people here feel cared for.” — Mary Kathryn Haynes [32:52]

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Notable Quotes

• “Even for a Democrat, if you take this posture with even a reporter who is likely to be basically supportive of you, they’re going to be more likely to ask hard things…It just is not that hard to be an adult who has been asked questions before.” — Mary Kathryn Haynes [05:43]
• “Have you ever heard, ‘when you’re explaining, you’re losing’? Because that’s what happened.” — Mary Kathryn Haynes [11:43]
• “Hantavirus is less communicable than Covid. Not everything with ‘virus’ attached to it needs to be panic mode.” — Mary Kathryn Haynes [19:46]
• “Frittering away public trust was not a great idea. And we kept saying that.” — Mary Kathryn Haynes [23:16]
• “If you kind of get used to the idea that things don’t function, I think things spiral out of control very quickly. Things should function. That’s a good message.” — Carol Markowitz [32:42]

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• [04:17] — Start of Becerra interview meltdown discussion
• [08:52] — Senator Van Hollen and Kash Patel bar tab controversy
• [11:43] — “When you’re explaining, you’re losing” moment
• [16:53] — Hantavirus cruise outbreak and COVID panic reflection
• [20:08] — COVID whistleblower Erdman testifies on Fauci allegations
• [26:56] — UK local election results and Farage’s Reform Party surge
• [31:48] — Civic normalcy, DC fountains, “broken windows” theory

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Closing Thoughts

Haynes and Markowitz use this week’s episode to highlight a pattern of unpreparedness among high-profile Democrats when faced with even moderate scrutiny, a developing whistleblower controversy calling into question the public health establishment’s COVID response, and a European political shake-up with lessons for American politics. Across these topics, the hosts argue that the public craves competence, honesty, and visible civic maintenance—signs that the basic machinery of government and society is working for them.

Sign-off Reminder:
“Normally” airs Tuesdays and Thursdays. Listeners can contact the show at normallythepodmail.com.

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Transcript

[Narrator/Announcer]

This is an iHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human

[Kalpen (Kal Penn)]

hey everyone, it's Kalpen. I'm inviting you to join the best sounding book club you've ever heard with my podcast Hearsay, The Audible and iHeart Audiobook Club. Every episode I nerd out with amazing guests and dive into the best new audiobooks available on Audible. It's the book club for your ears. Listen to Irsay, the Audible and I Heart Audiobook Club on the iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcasts.

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[Mary Kathryn Haynes]

Hey, guys. We are back on normally a show with normalish takes for when the news gets weird. I am Mary Kathryn Haynes.

[Carol Markowitz]

I'm Carol Markowitz. How are you, Mary Catherine?

[Mary Kathryn Haynes]

I'm good. You'll be glad to know that I got my children so dirty this morning that I bathed them. I was like, you know what? Let's make it really worth it once we do the job.

[Carol Markowitz]

So what'd you do?

[Mary Kathryn Haynes]

We, we went to like a regional park where they have access to a bay, and then there's just like a huge beach area. That's not the Potomac. Don't anybody worry. It's bay.

[Carol Markowitz]

Right?

[Mary Kathryn Haynes]

Right.

[Carol Markowitz]

Not swimming in the Potomac.

[Mary Kathryn Haynes]

No. And I just let them wait around in the mud and st and goof off and there's probably goose poop involved. I don't know. What about you, Carol?

[Carol Markowitz]

You know, the kids are doing their year end things. Our school year is almost over. That's quite nice. And I have a driving child now, so she does a lot of the. Taking her brothers around.

[Mary Kathryn Haynes]

Wow.

[Carol Markowitz]

It's great.

[Mary Kathryn Haynes]

That is a real upgrade.

[Carol Markowitz]

Yep, yep. I posted this on X, but when we were in Brooklyn last weekend, you know, all of her friends in Brooklyn can't drive for another year. So it would be like within the first 30 seconds of the conversation, they'd be like, how are you doing? She's like, I drive now. I have my driver's license, so that's how I'm doing. How are you doing? Great.

[Mary Kathryn Haynes]

Just cruising. You know how it is.

[Carol Markowitz]

Oh, my goodness.

[Mary Kathryn Haynes]

Well, that's great.

[Carol Markowitz]

All right, let's talk about Dems crashing out. What is going on? I feel like they fall apart at the tiniest bit of pushback. And I know you and I have been talking about this for a long time, that they just have no stamina for the kind of thing that Republicans have to face. But even by our extremely low standards for them, they've been not meeting those standards.

[Mary Kathryn Haynes]

Yes.

[Carol Markowitz]

So Javier Becerra is running for governor of California, and he was set up to have an interview with a local California station and he kind of lost the plot right off the bat. Let's roll that clip. This is the start of our interview with Javier Becerra in Highland Park.

[Interviewer]

By the way, this is A profile piece. This is not a gotcha piece. Right.

[Carol Markowitz]

Well, look, I think these questions are fair. It's in order to learn about you as a candidate.

[Interviewer]

So long as it's about the profile.

[Cindy Crawford]

I don't know how you define profile,

[Carol Markowitz]

but I'd like to begin the interview.

[Interviewer]

The way I describe profile is you talk about all the things that I've done, things I want to do, and along with some tough questions. But not only tough questions.

[Carol Markowitz]

Uh, she hadn't asked anything yet, and he was already like, you're only going to talk about good things. Right, right.

[Mary Kathryn Haynes]

Well, and I. I do feel like even for a Democrat, if you.

[Carol Markowitz]

Even for a Democrat.

[Mary Kathryn Haynes]

Even for a Democrat, if you take this posture with even a reporter who is likely to be basically supportive of you, they're going to be more likely to ask hard things because they're like you're. It's not your function to tell me what we're talking about here. Also, it just is not that hard to be an adult who has been asked questions before.

[Carol Markowitz]

Exactly.

[Mary Kathryn Haynes]

As a person who is running for governor of California.

[Carol Markowitz]

Yeah, yeah. So one of the things is that federal prosecutors had uncovered a conspiracy in which some of his top aides and consultants siphoned money from his old attorney general campaign account. And so I think he was worried about her asking about that, but in which case, prepare an answer. You know, it's. He's named as a victim in that indictment. It's not a bad thing for him, necessarily, unless he reacts like a lunatic, in which case it becomes a bigger story. It's like, well, what did he not want to be asked about? And then the other thing that she ended up asking him about was a New York Times story about his time as HHS secretary where they lost some number of migrant minors in the detention centers. Again, you know what she's going to ask you. You know what the tough questions are going to be? Prepare in advance.

[Mary Kathryn Haynes]

Yeah, just have something. I do enjoy that Katie Porter just straight up said in a debate on stage, he's saying that that's MAGA talking points. But actually it's true. And I'm like, yes, that's what we were saying several years ago.

[Carol Markowitz]

That's how all MAGA talking points turn

[Mary Kathryn Haynes]

out, usually how that works. So I'm glad to have the Democrats saying that now. But, yes, just prepare something. But look, this guy has been California Attorney General, worked as an attorney for years, has been elected to office and was the head of hhs and is now running for governor and cannot muster better Than this, like from a local reporter.

[Carol Markowitz]

I'm not saying that local reporters are, you know, less than in any way, but they tend not to be like the national reporters looking for the big clip. It's funny because she got the big clip without ever asking for it, without actually trying for it.

[Mary Kathryn Haynes]

This is similar to what happened with that very viral clip of Katie Porter where she went off on the reporter that was also just a sit down, like let's chat. But the reporter had ideas of, I don't know, asking her a few like medium challenging things that she did not like that at all. So the, yeah, the reporters in California, the TV reporters in California making a name for themselves by, by not doing these guys balance with almost nothing by

[Carol Markowitz]

asking extremely standard campaign questions.

[Mary Kathryn Haynes]

I appreciate their efforts though. Nonetheless, it is, it's entertaining to watch. And truly, how are you going to be governor of California? Like, at least Newsom can talk, right? I can critique his talking because he's often lying, right. But he does just like have words come out of his mouth.

[Carol Markowitz]

Yeah. Also in the Dem crash out pile, Senator from Maryland, Chris Van Hollen had this exchange with FBI Director Cash Patel.

[Interviewer]

The only person that was slinging margaritas in El Salvador on the taxpayer dollar with a convicted gang banging rapist was you. You know, the only person that ran up a director bar tab in Washington D.C. was you.

[Kalpen (Kal Penn)]

This the only individual in this room.

[Interviewer]

Allegations drinking on tax paired dime during. Are you polygraphing you now?

[Carol Markowitz]

He had asked Cash Patel about the allegations that he was drinking at work. And Cash gave that excellent answer and basically shut it down completely. And Van Holland has been all over the place ever since.

[Mary Kathryn Haynes]

Yeah, it's. His reaction is crazy. First the question is fine. Like there's an Atlantic piece that says that Cash has this issue. Ask about that. Get an answer from the guy. But you have to expect that these cabinet secretaries come armed with oppo, Right. They simply do. And I don't mind it because if you're a congressperson, you should be used to that. Again, this is. These are tough questions for you. Ask the question, but expect to get something back. And in Patel's case, he comes with several points about how Van Hollen was sitting at the table having margaritas with this guy. Very famous picture brings up a weakness for him because it's not a good look. He references an FEC filing that was many thousands of dollars spent on alcohol. Then Van Hollen decides that the way to respond to this is by tweeting all morning or like the last three tweets he has are in response to Kash Patel. So the rapid response 47 sent out the picture, and Chris Van Hollen is like, glasses were placed front of us, but we did not drink them. I know that may be a confusing concept for Director Patel. The next tweet is, yesterday FBI Director Cash told me he'd take the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test if I did. Well, here's mine. Given all the lies he told yesterday, I imagine he'll fudge the numbers here, but let's see yours, Director Patel. So he went into this thing asking, when did you stop beating your wife?

[Carol Markowitz]

Yeah.

[Mary Kathryn Haynes]

And then he ends up doing surveys online about how maybe he beats his wife.

[Carol Markowitz]

It's wild. It's wild again. It's the. It's that expectations game. Kash Patel expected to be attacked, and that is why he was so well prepared. But these Democrats completely don't expect that. They think they're going to get a walk everywhere they go, and so they come off as so unprepared.

[Mary Kathryn Haynes]

Yeah. He also tweeted about the. The bar tab, and he's like, well, technically, that wasn't public money.

[Carol Markowitz]

It's like, my God.

[Mary Kathryn Haynes]

Have you ever heard when you're explaining you're losing because that's what happened. What is happening? Right. Yeah. I also do want to say, on the Patel front, there was the. The story after the story that alleged his drinking. Talked about how he gives bourbon bottles to people as gifts. I just want to say that that's not very weird.

[Carol Markowitz]

Right.

[Mary Kathryn Haynes]

In law enforcement communities. In law enforcement communities, there are often. Look, it's a. A lot of men like bourbon.

[Carol Markowitz]

Yeah.

[Mary Kathryn Haynes]

A lot of women. A lot of women do, too. But if you're giving gifts to men in law enforcement, it's a pretty good bet. Right. And so they have them engraved for various teams. They look cool. And this is not a very odd thing to give. It doesn't. It's not a signal of a red flag of some big problem.

[Carol Markowitz]

Right. Absolutely. I have bottles that I don't. I don't drink wine, but I have bottles of wine that have a politician's, like, logo on it. At no point did anybody think, oh, that politician has a drinking problem, because that has nothing to do with anything. And again, a Kash Patel branded bottle of. I'm a rye drinker. If you have rye. But I'll take bourbon. That's fine. You know, send it over.

[Mary Kathryn Haynes]

It's very off brand for me, but I'm not a brown liquor gal.

[Carol Markowitz]

Wow. That does. That does seem off brand for you. It seems like you would totally be like, I thought, you know, as we're talking about this, I'm like, but we both drink brown liquor.

[Mary Kathryn Haynes]

I feel like I should do the Bourbon Trail to like, to like I'll do it, make my palette more sophisticated. And then you know, Chris Van Hollen can use that oppo against me at

[Carol Markowitz]

some point, but right alcoholic.

[Mary Kathryn Haynes]

Normally, girls, we should take that trip and improve my my tastes.

[Carol Markowitz]

Yeah, let's do it. Actually, I'm fully serious. A normally branded tour of the Kentucky Bourbon Trail. Who wants to sponsor it?

[Mary Kathryn Haynes]

We are on our way.

[Carol Markowitz]

We're going to take a short break and be right back with more on Normally.

[Public Ad Representative]

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Complete Disclosures [e-mail] Disclosures

[Kalpen (Kal Penn)]

hey everyone, it's Cal Penn. I'm the host of Irsay, the Audible and Iheart Audiobook Club. This week on the podcast, I am sitting down with Ray Porter, the narrator of Andy Weir's audiobook project Hail Mary Massive sci fi adventure about survival and science and what happens when you wake up alone, very far from Earth.

[Ray Porter]

I really had to make a decision because I caught myself getting that frog in my throat and starting to get teary as I'm narrating some of these sections and it's like, okay, yo yo yo, is this indulgent? And I really thought about it. I was like, no. At this point it would kind of be betraying the trust the author and the listener have in telling this story if I don't go through it. But there's places in this book that deeply, emotionally affected me. And I left it on the mic. That's great because it served the story. People will say like, oh, my God, I cried at the end. It's like, yeah, dude, me too.

[Kalpen (Kal Penn)]

Listen to Irsay the Audible and I Heart Audiobook Club on the iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Cindy Crawford]

Hi, I'm Cindy Crawford, and I'm the founder of Meaningful Beauty. Well, I don't know about you, but, like, I never liked being told, oh, wow, you look so good for your age. Like, why even bother saying that? Why don't you just say you look great at any age, Every age. That's what Meaningful Beauty is all about. We create products that make you feel confident in your skin and at the age you are now. Meaningful Beauty. Beautiful skin at every age. Learn [e-mail].

[Andrea Gunning]

Wasn't that delicious?

[Carol Markowitz]

So good.

[Kalpen (Kal Penn)]

Your bill, ladies.

[Mary Kathryn Haynes]

I got it. No, I got it. Seriously, I insist. I insisted first. Oh, don't be silly.

[Narrator/Announcer]

You don't be silly.

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[Mary Kathryn Haynes]

Okay.

[Narrator/Announcer]

Rock, paper, scissors for it.

[Carol Markowitz]

Rock, paper, scissors. Shoot.

[Andrea Gunning]

No.

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[Carol Markowitz]

We are back on normally, where a hantavirus outbreak aboard a cruise ship has made people go a little nuts and start thinking about again, lockdowns or masking or whatever. And I immediately saw the reaction from people who, you know, we all suffered through it during COVID just being like, don't even try it. But I'll tell you, you know, it's funny. The COVID fiasco has made people so suspicious of any story. But the story about this hantavirus kind of sounds legit, even though it did give me a little bit of the, you know, eating bats at the wet market vibes. But apparently a Dutch coup people were on a long bird watching trip through South America and they board the MB Hondius, which is the ship that had the outbreak. They reportedly visited a landfill that is famous among birders for attracting rare scavenger birds, especially the white throated Cara Cara. And from what the Post reports, this landfill is so disgusting and, like, completely not allowed to have tourism. And yet this couple.

[Mary Kathryn Haynes]

Anyway, I would bathe my children,

[Narrator/Announcer]

shower

[Carol Markowitz]

almost directly afterwards, at least. Maybe even hand sanitizer. Who knows?

[Andrea Gunning]

Maybe.

[Carol Markowitz]

So the theory is that the rodents living around the dump Carried this particular Andes strain of the hantavirus. Investigators think the couple may have inhaled the virus particles from the contaminated rodent droppings or urine while bird watching there. It's all super gross. Shortly after boarding the cruise, the husband became ill and later died. But apparently he had spread that infection to several other passengers and crew members aboard this cruise ship. Yeah, I don't know.

[Mary Kathryn Haynes]

I think this is plausible because birders are very serious about birds.

[Carol Markowitz]

They are serious.

[Mary Kathryn Haynes]

If you're going to another country to look for birds, we're already a couple steps beyond where I'm ever going to be. And the landfill is just one more step.

[Carol Markowitz]

It's like bird watchers, particularly if they.

[Mary Kathryn Haynes]

If there really is a rare bird that shows up there. I could see it's like pokemon. Gotta catch em all. You know, they gotta get out there and they gotta say, I, I saw the Cara Cara.

[Carol Markowitz]

I can't think of anything that I would want to go to a landfill for. Like they're like, hey, there's like a brand new Birkin bag at the landfill. Like, you know what? Pass.

[Mary Kathryn Haynes]

I heard a story one time about somebody who like lost their physical bitcoin key or what have you that was worth like huge amounts of money and it was in a landfill and they went looking for it.

[Carol Markowitz]

No, still no.

[Mary Kathryn Haynes]

Keep in mind, still a no for you.

[Carol Markowitz]

I just. I'll never be able to wash that off me.

[Mary Kathryn Haynes]

Yeah, I do think yes. If we can all stay calm as hantavirus is less communicable than Covid. Not everything with virus attached to it needs to be panic mode. Let's be. Let's assess our risk, which is the thing that so many did not do in public health in 2020.

[Carol Markowitz]

Yes, that would be nice. Also on the communicable disease front, a Covid whistleblower testified today. His name is James Erdman. And he testified that Fauci's role in the COVID cover up was intentional. I think that's kind of a big deal. I think that's going to be like in any mainstream media tomorrow.

[Mary Kathryn Haynes]

Yeah, look, I think media long ago just said we're just gonna slide right on past this and we're not really gonna revisit and we're not gonna talk about when people we loved were incredibly bad actors and outright lied to the American people for control over their lives over and over again. So no, I don't think we're gonna hear a lot about this. I'm not surprised that someone reports that Fauci deliberately led people to believe this that was what I suspected all along. I think he's shown a propensity to lie in public many times over. And this is just another example. But, you know, it'd be nice. It'd be nice if those people who supported Fauci and called all of us monsters for pointing out when he was lying could say, oops, our bad.

[Carol Markowitz]

They can't. They can't. Because I. Even at the very beginning where Fauci throws out a pitch at an empty stadium, he wears his mask to the pitcher's mound and throws the pitch where nobody is anywhere near him. And then he goes back into the stands and sit with. I think it was his wife. And then another friend takes off the mask, eats popcorn. Is like, none of it made any sense. And. Yeah, still mad, bro.

[Mary Kathryn Haynes]

Yeah, none of them lived. Like they actually were talking about the virus.

[Carol Markowitz]

Right?

[Mary Kathryn Haynes]

Like none of it matched up except for in rare cases, and certainly not with Fauci. By the way, the CIA spokesperson says the committee acted in bad faith by subpoenaing an agency officer for testimony today without notifying CIA, despite having already obtained closed door testimony from the individual previously. Well, if they obtained the testimony, then why isn't it fair game for us as well? The witness testifying today is not appearing as a whistleblower in pursuit of the truth, but instead in response to the subpoena issued by Chairman Paul. So he can talk. Sounds fine to me.

[Carol Markowitz]

Yeah. Andrew Colvett summarized Erdman's testimony by saying Fauci stacked the intelligence community's analysis with conflicted scientists funded by niaid, who pushed the natural origin lie while obfuscating facts around a lab leak from Wuhan, China. CIA managers retaliated against analysts who refused to go along with the middle of the night rewrite that buried the lab leak. Conclusion seems bad. I don't know. Again, you know when hantavirus hits and everybody's first reaction is, I'm not doing anything to stop this, I don't care what they tell me about it. That's not great. You know, if we do have a contagion that's actually bad and deadly and very easily passed, we're going to be in trouble because these people lied about COVID Yeah.

[Mary Kathryn Haynes]

Frittering away public trust was not a great idea. And we kept saying that.

[Carol Markowitz]

And if only somebody had said it.

[Mary Kathryn Haynes]

Please listen to us. Help us help you. Nonetheless, they were not interested in that.

[Carol Markowitz]

No, they were not. They were not at all interested in that. All right, we're gonna take a short break and come right back with some British politics. British Be right back.

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Complete disclosures [e-mail] Disclosures hey everyone, it's Kal Penn.

[Kalpen (Kal Penn)]

I'm the host of Irsay, the Audible and iHeart Audiobook Club. This week on the podcast, I am sitting down with Ray Porter, the narrator of Andy Weir's audiobook project, Hail Mary, Massive sci fi adventure about survival and science and what happens when you wake up alone, very far from Earth.

[Ray Porter]

I really had to make a decision because I caught myself getting that frog in my throat and starting to get teary as I'm narrating some of these sections and it's like, okay, yo, yo, yo, is this indulgent? And I really thought about it. I was like, no. At this point it would kind of be betraying the trust the author and the listener have in telling this story if I don't go through it. But there's places in this book that that deeply, emotionally affected me and I left it on the mic. That's great because it served the story. People will say like, oh my God, I cried at the end. It's like, yeah dude, me too.

[Kalpen (Kal Penn)]

Listen to Hearsay. The Audible and iHeart audiobook club on the iHeartradio app or wherever you get your podcasts.

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[Andrea Gunning]

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[Carol Markowitz]

So good.

[Kalpen (Kal Penn)]

Your bill, ladies.

[Mary Kathryn Haynes]

I got it. No, I got it. Seriously, I insist. I insisted first.

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[Mary Kathryn Haynes]

Okay.

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[Carol Markowitz]

Rock, paper, scissors. Shoot.

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[Mary Kathryn Haynes]

Okay, we are back on normally with a little news from overseas. In the uk, where Keir Starmer of the Labour Party is the Prime Minister, they held what's sort of equivalent to the midterms, like everyone that's not a member of Parliament is voted on. And the Labor Party lost 1300 seats, over a thousand. It was a lot. And they didn't all, by the way, go to the Tory party. Many of them went to the Reform Party, which is headed by Nigel Farage. So the left took a beating here. This is, this is the party that is the party of the Prime Minister. He's, of course, like on thin ice now, having all these meetings, trying to figure out is there going to be a leadership position change, because he is clearly so unliked and I think, frankly, very obviously inept. So he's sort of hanging on by his fingernails at 10 Downing and people in his own party trying to figure out how to get them out of this situation.

[Carol Markowitz]

Yeah. Tom Bevin posted what happened in the UK elections on the night that it was going down. And I mean, basically labor and also Conservatives, they lost quite a bit, but Green gained and Liberal Democrats gained and of course Reform gained the most. So he had Reform up by 320, Lib Dem up by 23 and Greens up by 22. Conservatives down by 80 and labor down by 206. Just kind of hard to understand what's going to happen in Britain when I think it's going to just. The centrist parties will no longer exist if things continue down this road. There's some Conservatives I really like, but there are Conservatives that are not Conservative at all in Britain. And I think that that's. I think they want that version of American conservatism. And I got into it with a Wall Street Journal, whatever writer who Said Trump has nothing to do with this. He was on with Stuart Barney, and Stuart asked him, do you think this Trump played any role? I think Trump does play a role. I think Trump showed something big, which is that you can close the border to illegal immigration. Period, end of sentence. And that's something. And I think that what reform is doing in Britain is saying, we could try that here.

[Mary Kathryn Haynes]

We could do that. Yeah, well. And it's also interesting that the Labour Party, which should be sort of the more centrist of the lefty parties, has gone from Tony Blair to Keir Starmer. Right. That's the trajectory, and it's not serving people well. I also think it's interesting that these are. That you hear this big cry out in local elections, because it feels to me like that might be a sign that local competence and on the street, crime and disorder issues are playing pretty large in a lot of politics. And if you stick to those messages, you might do pretty well wherever you are in the world.

[Carol Markowitz]

Yeah, I think the. Look, this podcast is called normally because we like normal behavior. And I think there's nothing crazy about saying, I want to reduce crime on our streets, I want to reduce illegal immigration, because if for no other reason it's illegal, it's not permitted. I want to follow the laws. I think a lot of people, and I talk about Asia a lot because I've been there twice in the last couple of years, and I really enjoyed what I saw there in places like Singapore. And people are like, well, but, yeah, but Singapore canes people. Like, you don't have to cane people. What if you just enforced your laws at the standard that people expect? They don't want caning. That's good. Why don't you just put them in regular old jail?

[Mary Kathryn Haynes]

By the way, the laws when it comes to immigration in our country were passed by a democratically elected Congress. And people act like it's fascism to enforce the laws created by our elected officials. I don't think that there's anything wrong with that, and I would like to see it done. But I think this kind of thing is resonating all over and that the left took us down these paths for so long and punished people so much for speaking up about them that people are now like, nah, we're.

[Cindy Crawford]

We're.

[Mary Kathryn Haynes]

We're making a turn. We're making a turn here.

[Carol Markowitz]

A sharp, sharp turn. So we'll see what happens. I root for the uk. I would love to see it be a functioning society again. So much about what's happening there right now. Is not functional at all. And I think that no growth, for example, they're just, you know, somebody. There was this thing, I think we talked about it on here. But if they were a US state, they would be our 51st poorest state. Yeah.

[Mary Kathryn Haynes]

Yep. Speaking of normalcy, I wanted to make this point about DC too, and I might have done it before on the podcast, but it matters to me. The left will sort of tisk, tisk about the reflecting pool or the fountains and the parks being on. The fountain in Dupont Circle is on. The fountain in Meridian park is on. The fountains in Lafayette park are on. The National Park Service, I think, is the entity that is doing that work. I've never seen them on before. I have lived in this town since 20 2004. Now, there may have been times that they were on at some point, but as a rule they have been off the entire time I've lived here. Just like the escalators on the metro don't work. And so people sort of tsk, tsk, like, I can't believe they're spending money on this or that. And it's like, I don't know, having them functioning seems like the bare minimum and I kind of enjoy it.

[Carol Markowitz]

Yeah. If you kind of get used to the idea that things don't function, I think things spiral out of control very quickly. Things should function. That's a good message.

[Mary Kathryn Haynes]

Well, and I realized when I saw the water flowing over the Meridian park fountains, I was like, it could have been so much better the whole time. And it is a small thing, but it's a thing that signals deep down someone's running this place in a way that makes the people here feel cared for.

[Carol Markowitz]

The Broken Windows theory in New York did so much because they didn't allow subways to go out covered in graffiti. And so that made people expect that things would be clean and taken care of. And these are good things. We want these things.

[Mary Kathryn Haynes]

We love to see it.

[Carol Markowitz]

We really do. Well, thanks for joining us on Normally Normalely airs Tuesdays and Thursdays and you can subscribe anywhere you get your podcasts. Get in touch with us@ normallythepodmail.com thanks for listening. And when things get weird, act normally.

[Narrator/Announcer]

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[Kalpen (Kal Penn)]

hey everyone, it's Kalpen. I'm inviting you to join the best sounding book club you've ever heard with my podcast, Hearsay, The Audible and iHeart Audiobook Club. Every episode, I nerd out with amazing guests and dive into the best new audiobooks available on Audible. It's the book club for your ears. Listen to Earsay, the Audible and iHeart audiobook club on the iHeartradio app or wherever you get your podcasts.

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[Carol Markowitz]

Com.