← The Daily Beans
The Daily Beans
Community Matters (feat. Miles Taylor)
01:03:11
Wednesday, July 8, 2026 Today, the Maine Democratic Party is weighing its options for selecting a new candidate should Graham Platner drop out; a Trump-appointed judge blocks the government from getting the names of 2020 Georgia election workers; new data shows that Obamacare enrollment has dropped dramatically over the past year; a new lawsuit shows the United States shared asylum application details with Iran; an Afghan national who fought with US forces has died in ICE custody; the family of a man shot by the Tennessee National Guard is demanding answers; Belgium beats and then trolls the US Men’s National Team on Monday night; plus Allison and Dana deliver your Good News.
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- [00:01]
A
I'm Brian Caram, and I've spent decades covering politics. Now I'm taking you behind the scenes, one interview at a time.
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B
Join us as each week Brian confronts the issues that matter, posing the questions you wish you could ask. No filter, no agenda, just the truth.
- [00:18]
A
We're not here for sound bites. We're here for substance. Join me, Brian Caram, every week as we cut through the noise and get straight to it. This is Just Ask the Question where curiosity will lead us to the facts.
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B
Subscribe now on your favorite podcast platform and remember, when you want answers, all you have to do is just ask the question.
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C
Msw media.
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D
News.
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C
We're swearing.
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E
Daily beans.
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F
Daily beans.
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G
Daily beans.
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F
Daily beans.
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C
Hello and welcome to the Daily beans for Wednesday, July 8, 2026. Today, the Maine Democratic Party is weighing its options for selecting a new candidate should Graham Platner choose to drop out. A Trump appointed judge has blocked the government from getting the names of 2020 Georgia election workers. In Fulton county, new data shows that Obamacare enrollment has dropped dramatically over the past year. A new lawsuit shows the United States shared asylum application details with Iran. An Afghan national who fought with US Forces has died in ICE custody. The family of a man shot by Tennessee National Guard is demanding answers. And Belgium beats and then trolls the US Men's national team on Monday night. I'm Alison Gill.
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G
And I'm Dana Goldberg.
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C
Ah, hello, my friend. Happy Wednesday. It's taint of the week.
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G
Taint of the week, indeed. We are going forward. Never back, people.
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C
Yes, please. Always forward from the taint.
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G
I mean, if you're into going back, that's fine, too. There's no judgment. I'm just a forward kind of girl.
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F
I just wanted to make that clear.
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E
Just making sense.
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C
No one's shaming clarifications there. Oh, my gosh. Belgium cleaned our cloth.
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G
Dana, listen, listen, listen. This has been exciting. World Cup. The men up until this point had played incredible soccer. I think anyone watching that game, they were a bit in disarray. It was almost like they, the same team, didn't show up. And I don't know if it was because of the drama around the red card or whatever was going on. Their defense was a mess. The communication just wasn't there. And Belgium did what they were supposed to do and they capitalized on our mistakes. And there was some very bad mistakes.
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C
There were. And, you know, I mean, this is the Trump curse, right? Like, I imagine Trump making a call and doing all this corrupt BS behind the scenes probably lit a fire under Belgium. I would assume so, too, you know.
- [03:02]
G
Yeah. And listen, this is the other thing. And we, you know, I was listening to the commentators. All these European teams, they play each other often. They, they play on the world stage a lot. The United States doesn't necessarily have that experience with these massive teams on the world stage in the same way. And those are big teams, big players, and you really got to show up when you're playing those teams. And unfortunately, we just didn't have a good night at work. It happens to the best of us, but it happened to them last night.
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C
Yeah, well, there was a lot of trolling that happened from the Belgium team. And we're going to go over that on Beans Talk today. And later in this show, I'm going to talk to my friend, New York Times bestselling author and the founder of defiance.org Miles Taylor, because the Daily Beans is partnering with defiance.org so we're going to talk about that. It's this really cool, like, good trouble group.
- [03:52]
G
Amazing.
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C
Like, they work with Project Saltbox and they do these, like, work with local prosecutors to make sure that federal officers and ICE agents are held criminally accountable when they break laws in local jurisdictions. They do all this great work. And so we're partnering up with them and we'll talk about that in a bit. All right, everybody, we have a ton of news to get to. Let's hit the hot notes. Hot notes. All right, everybody. First up from the time Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont urged Graham Platner on Tuesday to withdraw from the Maine Senate race, becoming the most prominent early supporter of the Democratic nominee to push for his departure after a rape accusation. Quote, I have spoken with Graham Platner about the best path forward for Maine. That's what he said in a statement on Tuesday and went on to say, in light of these very serious allegations, I have recommended that he step aside. Also, Mayor Zoran Mamdani of New York City, a fellow progressive, joined the chorus of Democrats calling on Platner to drop out. Earlier on Tuesday, he told reporters that withdrawing from the race was, quote, the only appropriate response to Ms. Rasakote's allegation. Graham Platner can be replaced as the Democratic nominee for Senate in Maine if he withdraws from the race by next Monday, and state law would then give the state Democratic Party until July 27 to name a replacement. Now, Maine law does not dictate what process the state Democratic Party would use to replace Mr. Plattner should he step aside. According to Kate McBrien, who's the chief of staff to Shana Bellows, that's Maine's Secretary of State, so she probably knows a thing or two about Maine election law. Top Maine Democratic Party officials have discussed possible plans to replace Platner on the ballot. Some of the options include a pop up convention on the weekend of July 25th so that people can choose a nominee, or holding a statewide caucus to effectively redo the party's primary election, according to two people who have talked with the officials and spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal party conversations. And this is the good piece of news that is coming out of the official Democratic Party here. Officials have ruled out having the state's party committee, which includes about 100 members, choose the nominee themselves. They ruled that out. So that is very good news, and I hope they hold to that.
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G
I do, too. I saw a meme just a little while ago that said Susan Collins, if he drops out, can now nominate Graham Platner to the Supreme Court.
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C
I saw that, too.
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B
Oh, my God.
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G
Yep. All right. The U.S. department of justice apparently cannot have the names and personal contact information for every person who worked during the 2020 election in Georgia's Fulton County. This is from a federal judge. That's what they ruled on Tuesday. The Justice Department in April obtained a grand jury subpoena seeking the names and personal contact information of county employees and volunteer poll workers. Did they see how that turned out for Rudy fucking Giuliani? You really think they're just going to give people their names? Right? Come on. Trump has long claimed, without any evidence, that widespread voter fraud in Georgia's most populous county, a Democratic stronghold, cost him the victory in the state in 2020. If there was election interference, it was him calling Ravensburger to see if he can find 11,000 plus votes if anyone was meddling with the election. Now, Fulton county asked a judge to quash the subpoena, arguing it was meant to, and I quote, target, harass and punish the president's perceived political opponents and that it was grossly overbroad and untethered to any reasonable need. This is another quote. Given the low need for the subpoenaed information and the highly burdensome nature of the disclosure of the same, the subpoena is unreasonable and must be quashed. This is U.S. district Judge William Ray. That's what they wrote in a ruling. And I believe you said in the beginning, this is a Trump appointee.
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C
Yeah, he actually left the Georgia Senate and replaced a guy who was charged alongside Trump. Yeah. So that's. Yeah, he's a Republican.
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G
Yeah. The subpoena came after the FBI in January served a search warrant at the Fulton County Election Hub and seized hundreds of boxes and ballots and other documents from the 2020 election. The federal judge in May denied the county's request to force the federal government to return those ballots. During a hearing in May, the judge said he was going to focus on whether the federal government's request for the election worker contact information was reasonable. And here's a quote. You know, an overly broad fishing expedition is bad and it's not allowed. That's what Ray said. But one that's not overly broad is kind of okay. And the question is, how do I as a judge decide when does it go too far?
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C
It's an interesting way to put that. But you know what? Trump appointee.
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E
Whatever.
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G
Yeah, exactly.
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C
At least he did the right thing. All right, next up from the Associated Press. States across the country saw steep drops in the number of people covered by the Affordable Care act over the past year, with Ohio and Oklahoma each losing nearly a third of enrollees. A third of people are kicked off their health care in these states.
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G
That is wild.
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C
And that's according to federal data that provides the first complete 50 state breakdown of the sharp enrollment declines following the January expiration of enhanced subsidies. The data, posted in late June by the Trump administration and first reported on by the Associated Press, reveals how changes in each state's insured population led to around 2.6 million fewer Americans having coverage in February on Obamacare, compared with the same time last year. 2.6 million health analysts have kept a close eye on changes in ACA enrollment since the expiration of the enhanced premium tax credits that caused many Americans monthly health insurance fees to double or triple, forcing some to forego coverage entirely. The subsidies had been at the center of a bitter fight in Congress last fall, with Democrats and some Republicans calling for their renewal. Health insurance costs have been rising across the ACA and other health insurance programs at a time when voters in the approaching November elections say affordability is among their top concerns. Affordability, a word made up by Democrats, according to Donald Trump. In a report released Last week, the U.S. department of Health and Human Services suggested the significant drop this year is probably attributed to federal crackdowns on fraudulent or phantom enrollment.
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F
Right.
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C
Fake people signing up for healthcare because it's super easy to do and expensive and a lot of fun.
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E
What?
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C
I know what the fuck. But analysts have said it was more likely related to the expiration of the subsidies and people's healthcare premiums tripling and other changes, including Tightened requirements on which immigrants could access subsidized plans. So millions of people are actively getting thrown off their healthcare. Which is why the Democrats shouldn't have caved on the government shutdown unless the Affordable Care act subsidies were extended. But this is all Republicans.
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G
Oh, Republicans. Don't worry. We'll have a conversation about this in the fall if you'll just sign this piece of paper.
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E
Okay.
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G
I can't. This is from NPR. A new lawsuit filed in Washington, D.C. alleged that the Trump administration is divulging details of Iranian asylum seekers to the government of Iran.
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C
Ah, we're turning over asylum seekers to our enemy that we're at war with,
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G
that we're supposedly liberating the people from.
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C
Oh, that's right. We're liberating the people.
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G
Let's not forget that. That part. Lawyers with the left leaning Public Citizen litigation group argue that the administration began sharing information about the applications with Iran in March of 2025. Since then, U.S. government officials have periodically mailed or hand delivered immigration files of Iranians in immigration custody to the Iranian government. That's according to the complaint. Kirk. I wonder if they're counting those as people that I. You know what I mean?
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C
Deportations. Right.
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G
Thank you. Kirkpatrick said the organization is planning to request a preliminary injunction to freeze the information sharing temporarily and for those whose information has been shared, to be personally notified.
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C
Yeah, that's what Trump does. Remember when he shared location information for Jamal Khashoggi, the Crown Prince Mohammed Bonsa. Uh huh huh. And then failed to do his due diligence and duty under the law called the Magnitsky Act.
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D
Wow.
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C
Now he's just handing over asylum seekers.
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E
Yeah, you're right. That.
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C
Dana, that's such a good point. Remember when he was like, I'm gonna go after the regime because they're hurting protesters and the people, literally.
- [12:36]
G
That's what this whole thing, how it all started. I feel like it's like when we went in for weapons of mass destruction, and then we were like, they didn't find him, but let's do it this way. They literally. Literally, you said we're liberating the Iranian people, and now they're handing over the people that were trying to seek asylum from the Iranian government that they're supposedly overthrowing for them. Yeah, yeah. Let's remember why this whole thing supposedly started in the first place. Which is not why it started. We know it was because of oil.
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C
Yeah.
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G
And probably blackmail from Israel, but whatever.
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C
And I also like to bring this up every once in a While. Because it's so long ago and it's so many. What the fucks ago. But do you remember when Trump's Azerbaijan property that Ivanka had a stake in was found to be laundering money for the Iranian Revolutionary Corps? Guard Corps.
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E
Mm.
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C
Like, supplying the Iranian regime.
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G
Fuck.
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C
And then he was trying to lift sanctions and he was unfreezing shit and like. And now we're bombing them like, what in the hell is going on in your head, Dude, I don't even know. All right. In a related story from NBC, this is so sad. An Afghan national who fought alongside US Forces died from an allergic reaction while in custody of ICE one day after he was detained for deportation proceedings. According to his death certificate, Mohammed Nazir Pak Taiwal. That's. He's 41. He suffered an adverse drug reaction to an unidentified substance, which triggered anaphylaxis and exacerbated his asthma. According to the document. His March 14 death at a Dallas hospital was ruled to be an accident. Pak Tawal's sudden death in ICE custody has drawn outrage because he risked his life fighting as an ally of US Special Forces in Afghanistan for a decade. An advocacy group called Afghan Evac, who we've had representatives of on our show here at the Beans. And two members of Congress on Monday called on Texas authorities to release his autopsy report, which they have sought to withhold by arguing its disclosure would interfere with a pending criminal investigation.
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F
What, that you murdered him?
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E
Like, what.
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C
What pending criminal investigation? Quote, this family has a right to know what happened. That's Sean Van Diver, president of Afghan Evac. He asked authorities to explain what substance triggered the allergic reaction, how it got into his system, and why the date of the injury on the death certificate was listed as the day before Pak Tae Wall was taken into custody. Huh. Quote, what's happening here smacks of a cover up. That's what Richard Blumenthal said. A Connecticut Democrat who said he would ask the Department of Homeland Security to release the autopsy. ICE has defended its decision to target Pac Ty Wall for deportation, noting he'd been arrested on food stamp fraud.
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G
Oh, my God.
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C
And theft charges, but he was never convicted in either case.
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G
All right, thanks, Allison. This is from the Associated Press. The grandfather of a man who was shot and killed by the Tennessee National Guard in Memphis over the weekend says he wants answers from law enforcement. Evanil Johnson said he was waiting to see if video footage supports the police narrative that 20 year old grandson Tyron Johnson turned toward us Guard members with a gun while running from them early Sunday. Memphis police say The Guard members were responding to a report of gunfire.
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D
Police.
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G
The National Guard members had been assigned to a crime fighting patrol in Memphis created last year by Trump, who has sent troops and federal agents to Democrat run cities he described as crime ridden. And this is a quote. Show me the video. That's what Evaniel Johnson told the Associated Press. Please show me that. And then I'm okay until you show me that I'm going to fight navigate for my grandson until there's no breath in me.
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C
Oh my gosh.
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D
Right.
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C
But, well, you know, when I'm running from cops, I always turn around and face them with a gun pointed at them. That's when I'm fleeing law enforcement like I do. I mean, it happens a lot. That's how I always do it. Right. It's just such bullshit. Everything they say is a lie. It's all a cover up. I hope they get the autopsy report of the Afghan who helped us for 10 years. And I hope that this grandfather gets to see the video of what happens with his grandson shot by Tennessee National Guard.
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G
Absolutely.
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C
Just disgusting. All right, everybody, we have to take a quick break. We'll be right back with miles taylor with defiance.org and then we'll do the good news after that. Sound like a deal?
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G
Sounds good.
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C
Stick around. We'll be right back after these messages.
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F
We'll be right back.
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C
Hey everybody. This episode is brought to you by IQ Bar, our exclusive snack and hydration sponsor. IQ Bar protein bars, IQ Mix hydration sticks and IQ Joe mushroom coffees are the delicious, low sugar brain and body fuel you need to win your day. And right now, IQ Bar is offering you an exclusive deal. 20% off all IQ Bar products. Plus you get free shipping. Just text daily beans to 64,000. Now IQ Bar has over 20,000 five star reviews and counting for a reason. People are using their bars and hydration mixes and mushroom coffees to stay fueled through their busy lives without overcomplicating the routine. That is the best part. It's such an easy habit to start. And the the ultimate sampler pack is the best place to start because it lets you try the whole IQ Bar family lineup all in one box. You get nine IQ Bars, eight IQ Mix sticks and four IQ Joe sticks. And I also love how clean the products are. Everything is clean, label certified, completely free from gluten, dairy, soy, GMOs, artificial ingredients. It's just super clean. And the bars are a smarter snack choice with plenty of plant protein, tons of fiber, which is so important and no added sugar that's exactly the kind of snack I want nearby when I'm running behind and I need some fuel and something better than whatever random thing is sitting in the cabinet. I love IQ Bar because it helps me stay consistent when my schedule is not and it never is. Some days are organized, some are chaotic, and IQ Bar fits in there just as easily either way. And right now, IQ Bar is offering our special podcast audience 20% off all IQ bar products, including that ultimate Sampler pack. Plus you get free shipping. So to get your 20% off text daily beans all one word to 64,000. That's daily beans to 64,000. Text daily beans to 64,000. Message and data rates may apply. See terms for details.
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D
Hi, I'm Frances Collier. And I'm Angela V. Shelton. And we're Frangela. You know what you need in your life? The Final Word podcast. Yes, you do. That's right. It is the final word on all things political and pop cultural, where we make real news, real funny, where we inspire you so you can hashtag resist, subscribe and get a new episode of the Final Word podcast each week. It's the news we think you need to hear.
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G
That's right. We think you need to hear it.
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D
Okay.
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F
Yeah.
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D
It's what we say.
- [19:29]
F
So.
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D
That's right. And because all we do is give. Every Thursday, you can listen to our hysterical podcast, Idiot of the Week. We round up the stupid. Because you know what? Somebody has to.
- [19:39]
G
Okay.
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C
All we do is give.
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E
Hey. Hey, everybody. Welcome to the Breakdown. I'm Alison Gill. Joining me today, my very good friend@diance.org former official anonymous guy, Lodestar writer. If you've been following me for a long time, that will make sense.
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F
Lodestar deep cut. Not a lot of people remember that one, Allison.
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E
Otherwise it's probably new to you. Somebody in the old Trump administration, Trump 1.0 put out this op ed and used the word load star. And everybody was like trying to find who uses the word lodestar. And there were all these, oh, is it Reince Priebus? Oh, is it this guy? Turns out Pence. Pence.
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F
It turns out as a big lodestar user.
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E
Pence is a big lodestar guy. But no, it was my guest today, Miles Taylor. Hi, Miles.
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C
How are you?
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F
I am fantastic, my friend. It's great to be with you. And I will just say what I love about joining you anytime that we talk is you have the uncanny ability to toggle between the very self serious, alarming things that are happening, but also optimism and determination and irreverence at the same time. And I love that. I love that about you. And this is a moment where we need all those things. We need to take it all very seriously because it's a mortal threat to democracy.
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E
We.
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F
But we also gotta keep our spirits up.
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E
Yeah. And, well, you write about hope in your book Blowback. Talk a little bit about that, because that's sort of like the world that I live in.
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G
Yeah.
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F
I mean, this is gonna sound very trite and it will sound very self serving, but the words on my hat are the most important words to me in my life right now. And they were almost like magic words in our household.
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D
Is.
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F
I had decided after I published that book Blowback and was trying to warn people ahead of the 2024 election, I decided I was done with politics. I also hoped that Donald Trump wasn't going to be reelected. And I had a lot of other things I wanted to do, going back to technology policy and national security. And that was my focus. Guy comes back into office, the president opens a federal probe into me for treason, and everything in our lives blew up again.
- [22:04]
E
You have a whole executive order about
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F
you and, you know, you'd like to think that before an investigation starts, nothing bad happens. It turns out that almost all the bad stuff happens before any real investigation begins. Friends distance themselves because they're scared. Family members distance themselves because they're scared. You're, you know, business life implodes like ours did. You're suddenly weighed down by legal costs. You're getting emails about your daughter with her name with threats to her life. Things get pretty nasty and weird really, really fast. But the reason I mentioned this word on my hat is because the turning point for us as a family after Trump's order last April was a couple of months in. I'll be honest with everyone listening. We did some navel gazing, me and my wife. We were self pitying and navel gazing, oh, my gosh, our lives have blown up again. What do we do? And it was when Hannah said defiance and started talking about, I think we just need to defy this thing. We should not do what all of our friends and family say, which is lay low, ride it out, wait for him to focus on someone else. No, this is wrong. This is fundamentally wrong and we should fight. And I remember talking to my wife over the course of several days and saying that word. I'm like fixated on that word defiance. When I say it, I feel better. When I imagine doing it, I feel even better. And that led to some conversations including with a good friend of mine, into how do we harness that? How do we give people the opportunity to defy this guy actively, not just talk about it, but give them real things to do every single week to counter Trump's corruption? And so last fall, we launched defiance.org, but. But that's genuinely where it started. Like I said, it sounds trite, it sounds like one of those silly stories, but I was like, defiance, the word felt like a magic trick had been played on me because it changed my whole mindset.
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B
Yeah.
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E
And what's interesting is that you've done it before and now there's this perfect word to sort of encapsulate, you know, what's involved and kind of what it feels like. And, you know, some, A lot of folks, if you listen to me, you will hear me tell the story a lot that Miles Taylor told about dissent and the safety and numbers idea. When I did the C Span book talk with you and you and I talked about applying an Econ 101 idea to the idea of defiance, and what it looked like was you. You simply said, you know, what, what, what do we know about supply and demand? If something's in short supply, like, that's, you know, the price goes up. And the price of dissent back then was higher than it is now, or low. No, it was higher than it is now. And when you first wrote your stuff anonymously, it was even higher. And that's why you decided to come out your name, put out a book in your name and, and do this like, full throatedly, as you'd be like. Because the more people that are dissenting or defying, the safer it is. The cost of dissent goes down. And I talk about that a lot, and I continually cite you on that, because the idea is just, it's so simple. The more of us there are, the more we find community, the, the less the price of dissent. And talk about that a little bit because, you know, when you, when you speak to me about defiance, I just keep remembering your story about what Seinfeld had said about the fears of quitting
- [25:56]
F
your tribe, who is a great. He did that, like, for a while on his bits when he was touring the country. Seinfeld had this joke rooted in truth, like all good jokes are, that on the list of Americans top 10 fears, their number one fear was speaking out, was public speaking. And the average American's number two fear was death. And so he would joke about how, you know, the normal American would rather be laying in the casket than delivering the eulogy. At the funeral. And he also made, I think, a very incisive point about the fear of people to put themselves out there and break from their tribes. They would rather be caught dead because they imagine that if they speak out, everything will implode. And also beyond that, that the blast radius could affect other people. And that's not necessarily wrong. I mean, we were just talking about it in my, you know, own family's case. We experienced this up close, getting targeted by Trump in significant ways two times. We kind of lived through two implosions of our personal life. We saw it the second time, by the way, far and away worse. The environment, the fear, the retribution last year, so much worse than it was at the end of the first Trump administration when I came forward to the point that the guy who was the best man in my wedding literally said he could not associate with me and my wife until this all blew over. I mean, it got that ugly. And you may think, well, then, Miles, you probably misjudged your best friend. But I gotta tell you that I also misjudged everyone in my life because the general disposition among folks was, please, don't speak out, don't say anything else, lay low, because people were afraid. They were afraid of him going after them. The only way to counter that is you need to make people feel like it's not lonely being out there and speaking up. That there is, as the adage goes, strength and numbers. And that's what defying is all about, is you lower that price of dissent for other people. I would say, in the aggregate, it is a better news story right now, this year, than I would have thought a year ago, A year ago this time, even last July, even six months into the Trump administration, if folks can remember, it was a deafening silence from elites, even from ordinary folks, even from Democratic governors, people who are scared shitless of this man and this administration. And they are not now. And that was not inevitable. That was not inevitable. It took a lot of people in individual cases deciding to stand up. And it also was partly Donald Trump's doing. Yes, we have Donald Trump to thank for how big the defiance is in this country. Because one of the biggest mistakes that autocrats make throughout history is that they overextend their revenge campaigns. If you do too much revenge, you create so many enemies that your enemies start to outnumber your allies. Just think about that right now, guys. Visualize what it looked like Donald Trump's allies were a year ago. It looked like every industry, everyone out there, it looked like even though he only had 51% in public approval that he commanded the United States today. Who on this substack could say that Donald Trump has more allies than enemies? He does not. Even his own core MAGA influencers have defected and said, this guy is a mess. And that why? That's because his revenge campaign kept going, kept going, kept going, kept going. And I got to say, I didn't want Jimmy Kimmel to be targeted. But I'll never forget when Jimmy Kimmel got targeted, Allison, because I remember coming home again that day and my wife saying, I think the boat has gotten a little bit bigger. It's less scary. Well, Jimmy Kimmel's on the boat.
- [30:00]
E
It's funny that you bring that up, because when you were talking about. Think about back then and now, my example was going to be ABC. They capitulated in a lawsuit, paid Donald Trump 15 or 16 million dollars. I can't. I can't remember how much. But now they've got, like, ads on the View asking people to help push back against Brendan Carr, who's trying to yank their license, Right? So you see that, like a lot of the law firms that capitulated early on, you have a handful of them who are now doing work for free for this administration. And the rest of them were like, no, they pushed back. Like the law firm that Jack Smith was representing. Jack Smith and, you know, in his criminal investigations or whatever. Like, they're like, nope, we're not stepping down. And now it's. The price of descent has been lowered, and more people are comfortable with it because, like you said, there's strength in numbers. But talk a little bit about defiance.org, because on the Daily Beans, Daily Beans podcast, I have a Daily Good Trouble segment. There's a great substack here called Chop Wood, Carry Water. They're practical things people can do to resist, to oppose, to defy what's going on with this regime. And that's sort of what you built defiance.org around. Practical things that bring people together. Lower the price of defiance through economics 101 by increasing the numbers, increasing the supply. So talk a little bit about some of the things defiance.org has done and is doing.
- [31:34]
F
Well, first, I will say another confession. This is not what I want to be doing right now. I'll be honest with you. I want to be. There was a lot of things I was working on in the artificial intelligence sphere. I want to be working on AI and national security and writing this fiction book that I'd been writing. Okay? But guess what? A fascist took over the United States. A wannabe despot is in the Oval Office and boohoo, miles that you don't get to work on the fun things that you were working on before. And I say that because I think a lot of people have had the same experience where you maybe spent last year in a state of self pity about Donald Trump coming in and really genuinely and fundamentally rewiring our democracy, such that we may not be able to call it that anymore. Well, you gotta get past the pity at some point and decide, okay, what am I gonna do about it? And me and my co founder, Xander Schultz, over at defiance.org, we talk a lot about how it's an honor to be doing what we're doing right now. It actually is. And you should feel that way if you are in this fight to preserve our democracy. It's not something to pity yourself for. You should be honored that you've got the opportunity that you are at this hinge moment in history to help decide do we continue or not. And there have been a number of generations that got to live that hinge moment and make it happen. It was not a foregone conclusion that we survived the American Revolution or the Civil War or the Second World War. These were moments where generations had to make a choice. It's a privilege to be in our position to have to relearn what all of these things are and why they matter and to try to hand it off. And so I feel that way. We did launch this effort, defiance.org to try to bring more people into that feeling. We call it a Club for the Courageous, because that's what it is. It's a group of people crowdsourcing actions to fight back against this damage to our democracy. Fundamentally, what we do as a club, we basically pool our member dues and we go in rapid response fashion, put them to where they're going to have highest impact that week. So every single week, we announce an action to combat Trump's corruption and we take our member dues and we direct them towards that action. And we're doing this weekly, Alison, to keep up with Donald Trump's flood the zone approach. Because things are changing really, really rapidly. And the problem for anyone who's ever worked in nonprofit spaces is that there's this multi month, multi year time horizon on how nonprofits decide to do something which is like, okay, well, yeah, the bad guy is, you know, he's corrupting the FBI. Let's put together a six month plan to redirect our resour to talk about reforms at the FBI, and we'll go release a report on Capitol Hill after next Christmas. No, that's too slow. This guy is moving so, so fast. We've gotta be able to next week sue them about something that they're doing at the FBI. We gotta be out in the streets in two weeks on this other issue that's going to drop. And so we tried to make this a rapid response vehicle, and that's what we've done. And we've been involved in a lot of the lawsuits against the Trump administration, helping to fund organizations directly that are suing Donald Trump over his constitutional violations. We've tried to protect whistleblowers, people like you inside the government who are disclosing misconduct, disclosing the wrongdoing, making sure that they have the legal support and the safety net so that they can come forward and that they can do those things. And we're also spinning up things that didn't exist before. Just a few months ago, we. And let me give you this example. This is how fast we're trying to do these things. We were in January on a live stream with one of the top local prosecutors, a guy named Larry Krasner in Philadelphia. He's the top prosecutor there in Philadelphia. And we're on our live stream and Larry says, you know, here's the problem. Donald Trump and team are doing what they're doing in Minnesota with impunity because a lot of local prosecutors don't know how to sue the federal government. When a federal agent breaks the law, they don't know how to do it because it's complicated case law. And so here are these federal agents coming in, killing Americans, pointing guns at them, breaking the law on tape. People are filming this with their phones, yet they're getting away with it because the local prosecutors who would be there to charge them don't even know the first thing about charging a federal agent. So Larry tells us this on a live stream. We get off the live stream and Xander texts me and he says, yeah, we gotta do something about that. And we add Larry into the chain and say, larry, what if we put together a Nathan Wy network of local prosecutors to teach them how to charge federal agents for breaking the law? He said, let's do it. A week later, we announced the fight against federal overreach, fafo, which has kind of a coy name, fafo. We announced FAFO that's now grown into a nationwide network of local prosecutors, some of whom have brought charges against federal agents for breaking breaking the law, including Mary Moriarty in Minneapolis. Now, that group, which we ceded, but has grown into its own NonProfit, its own standalone 501c3 organization, that group is now preparing prosecutors around this country to do what? Sue the federal government if they interfere in our elections. If federal agents are doing what they did in Fulton County, Georgia, and taking their asses into places they don't belong, like places where we store your ballot and they don't have a court order or it's not legitimate, well, then local prosecutors are going to be armed to sue them. Not to wait until after the fact, when the ballots are already in the hands of the FBI in some building where we can never get them again, but to do it proactively. So things like that, that don't exist, we're trying to find those gaps and then move really, really fast to bring them to fruition.
- [37:43]
E
Yeah. And I think that's what's so amazing about the real world applications of the actions that Defiance.org has been undertaking and putting out there grow. Like, it's incredible, this whole networking, like, the brain trust of people who have had it and want to get in on some of the Defiance. Because it just feels really good. Right? Like, I know all my lawsuits against the federal government, they just feel. When I read them, I just get a little. It's like a little tear comes and I'm like, I love this. I love. I print them out and I put them on my. I sleep next to them. No, it just, it feels so good to do this. And that is then kind of exponentially, it's bigger than what you're doing. The feeling like the stuff that is happening, the things that you are doing, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. And it's just, it's, I think, absolutely fantastic. And what's really cool, everybody who's here, if you're listening to this, whether you're here live with us and thank you for all the amazing comments, or whether you're watching this after, you know, later today or down the road when you get it in your inbox. Daily Beans is partnering with Defiance. And so I know this is so cool because I want to live out the whole Econ 101 lower the price of dissent thing that I've been talking about like a crazy person for the last, since I, since you and I had that book talk. And so right now you can actually check out Defiance, see what they're about, see about how you can get involved, see how it feels in there. And you can do it for, I think, three months free by going to defiance.org beans so I think that's kind of what like we're going to draw like get up. Like we just did a partner partnership with Red Wine and Blue. Now we're doing a partnership with Defiance. We're getting all our little Venn diagrams all mushed up into one big giant circle. And so I want everybody to check out what defiance.org is doing. You can do it for free by going to defiance.org beans for three months and just check it out, see what you can get into, see how you can help. Like it reminds me of the project Saltbox guys where some of them are flood zone experts and some of them are environmental impact study experts and they're all working together, some are, you know, government contract reading experts. Those aren't the easiest things to read. And they all get together to find out where these, you know, ice detention centers are coming up and get with the local folks to stop it from happening using the government and the systems that are in place. It reminds me of the flight tracker guys who are, who have, you know, they track all the ice flights and now they've got all these experts working together. And what they're able to do now is if you're a lawyer and you need to file a habeas petition for a client who's in a detention center, you can use this tool to just print out court ready documents for your flights using what they're putting together. It's these groups of people. It's this kind of resistance that disabled the regime in Germany in the 1930s. It's groups of citizens acting together.
- [41:18]
C
And so if you want to check
- [41:20]
E
out Defiance for free for three months, defiance.org beans we are now partnering up to make this happen and see how we can help each other more and amplify and like an asymptotic way. I don't know how to mathematically explain it.
- [41:38]
F
Just I like that.
- [41:40]
E
Other than the. Then the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. And that's why I'm here today and that's why you're here today. And let me also say to folks
- [41:49]
F
like there's not some hidden footnote to this. We're not a. Defiance.org is not a business trying to hoover you up. We're in this fight to save democracy and we're not going to like charge you if you don't like being a part of the fight. Over at defiance.org it's literally just come in for three months, come hang out with defiance.org members got tens of thousands of members across the United States and see if you like what we're doing in terms of rapid response to fight Donald Trump's corruption. We think we can do a lot more the bigger that we are. And I'll give folks an example. When Xander and I launched this group right out of the gate, I think we realized that the tiny group of us at the outset, we had enough members to be able to give away, I don't know, it was like one or two thousand dollars a week to organizations to help them fight back against Trump's abuses of power. And so we started to pick our weekly grantees. Well, pretty soon, Defiance grew big enough that we were able to give out $5,000 a week to empower organizations to do something in rapid response fashion to fight the corruption. Something real, like a lawsuit, like protecting a journalist who'd been arrested. Then it was 10,000, then it was 15,000. I think our average now is our average week. We're able to make a $20,000 investment every single week in Project. A new effort, a new lawsuit, a new action to hold Trump accountable. Like, real stuff. And our members have pushed us to do even more than that. It's really funny. We thought we were giving people too many actions to counter Trump's abuses of power, and our members said, no, we like the week's action. You know, we're going to go, I don't know, let's look at my list here. We're going to go stop Trump's secret prisons. We teamed up with Project Saltbox to help launch an effort, effort to stop Trump's secret prisons. But then our audience says, but give us more actions we can do that week that fit with the theme. And so we usually announce a group that we're partnering with, a real, tangible action on the ground that's going to happen no matter what. And then if defiance.org members have the time, we usually announce between one and three actions that they, as individuals, can all take collectively to amplify that effort, which is. It's really exciting. I mean, it goes back to where we were started, which is that when you defy, it does change your feeling about this whole thing. It makes you more optimistic because you realize you have agency, and that's the truth. Donald Trump is not inevitably going to destroy democracy. He will if we sit on our asses. He won't if we keep banding together and taking real action. So we would love to have anyone in the Daily Beans community come hang out with us. And like Allison said, I think we put it up there@diance.org beans and so you can come hang out with us inside the Club for Courageous Americans for three months, decide whether you think we're doing good work. If we don't, and you decide you want to leave anyway, still send us an email and say, here's how you could fight even harder against the big guy. But I'm going to tell you what. I'm in this fight with y' all until the very end. And that's a conversation I had to. I mentioned Hannah, my wife, at the beginning of this. That was a long conversation I had to have last summer with my wife after we decided to defy this guy. I said, well, we're gonna have to put off all the other things we wanted to do with our lives until this is over. And she said, let's do it. Let's go fight the guy. And so I'm full in this. I eat, sleep, and breathe this fight against Donald Trump's corruption. I woke up this morning. It was the first thing I was focused on. When I go to bed after the baby's asleep and my wife's asleep, it's the last thing that I focus on until this man is gone, until the rule of law is restored, I'm in the fight with you. And I have to say, I also so admire what Allison has done, and she and I got to talk about this a few years ago privately. There is something that all whistleblowers share and some unique traumas and challenges and hurdles and. And to see someone else who's gone through that defy all of those traumas and hurdles and turn it into something that's a true force for good is very, very inspiring. So I know I've gotten to tell you that before, Alison. You don't need to hear it from me again. But I so admire what you've built. And I still think you don't even realize the full extent of your impact in this space. I'm sure you have great days where you're like, man, I'm kicking ass, and we're doing some good, but it's a much bigger impact than even you realize.
- [46:32]
E
Thank you. Most days, I'm just trying to get all my content out. Like, it's time to make the donuts, man. It's just time to make the donuts. But that kind of thing, you know, in the face of trauma, if you've been through a traumatic event, you know that, you know, the best thing that you can do is just put your head down and do your work and things will work out all right as long as you're kind and caring. And that's why you and I have been friends for so long. And you know, when I reached out to you, to y', all, and I was like, the Leguminati. Can they come and take a peek at. Definitely. Defiance.org for a few months and you're like, hell, yeah. So that's what we. We're setting up today. Again, it's defiance.org beans. Myles, thank you for all of your work.
- [47:10]
C
This is.
- [47:11]
E
I know you're putting off so many things. Your amazing family and. And life and. And. And I hope you are finding some joy because it is that joy that we're fighting for and. And we need it to help us refuel and. And keep the fight up. Keep the Defiance up.
- [47:25]
G
So I hope you.
- [47:26]
E
I hope you are getting some joy in there and some time to dance and to have fun.
- [47:32]
F
Well, it may not feel like it some days to folks, but we are winning in this fight. And here's why. We're not winning every battle against this guy. We're winning because we did that thing that Alice and I talked about at the beginning, which was we got over the hump of the price of dissent being so high that people didn't want to dissent. Y' all who are in the chat right now on the live streams. That's right, the people who are out there. You've lowered the price for everyone else, and that's what beats these guys. You could read history for a hundred years and still come away with that conclusion. Single best prescription against an autocrat is just standing together and speaking up. That's it. And y' all have been doing that. Don't let them divide us. Allison, I gotta talk to you offline because I'm seeing other news that hasn't broke, that probably will break in the next two weeks of other crazy things the administration may be thinking about doing to try to crack down on dissent. And guess what, folks? We're not going to let them. We're not going to take debate. We're going to stay together. We're going to defy. So super grateful to do this with you, Alison, and thanks for everything that you and your community have done.
- [48:41]
E
Thanks, Myles. It's always great to see you. And thanks everybody who's here. Let everybody know you'll be getting a copy of this in your inbox. You can share it with whoever you think is a person who would be into this kind of a thing. Just share the love and thank you so much for being here, Miles. We'll see you soon. I'll talk to you offline.
- [48:59]
F
Rock and roll. Thanks, Allison.
- [49:00]
E
Bye, everybody.
- [49:03]
A
I'm Brian Caram and I've spent decades covering politics. Now I'm taking you behind the scenes, one interview at a time.
- [49:10]
B
Join us as each week Brian confronts the issues that matter, posing the questions you wish you could ask. No filter, no agenda, just the truth.
- [49:19]
A
We're not here for sound bites. We're here for substance. Join me, Brian Caram, every week as we cut through the noise and get straight to it. This is just Ask the Question where curiosity will lead us to the facts.
- [49:34]
B
Subscribe now on your favorite podcast platform and remember, when you want answers, all you have to do is just ask the question.
- [49:49]
C
Everybody, welcome back. It's time for the good news. Who likes good news?
- [49:52]
E
Everyone?
- [49:53]
F
Then good news, everyone.
- [50:08]
C
Good news, good news. Please send us all your good news. It can be big good news. It can be little good news. It could have happened yesterday, 40 years ago. Anything that'll bring a smile to our faces. We need to microdose in your hope. Share it with us. You can send us your good trouble suggestions. Maybe a great book. I would love some book recommendations. Maybe you could send those into us or shout out perhaps to a spouse or a partner or a loved one or a non profit you want us to know about. Maybe there's a small business in your area that could use a boost. A black business or an LGBTQ business. Send that to us. You can also do a self shout out because y' all are amazing. Tell us why you're awesome. We know you are. Why you hiding? Come on, get it. You can also send us shout outs to government programs if you like. And all you got to do to get your stuff submitted is pay your POD pet tax which attach a photo of your pet. And if you don't have a pet, send a random animal on the Internet. Picture whatever makes you laugh. Maybe a meme or an adoptable pet in your area or something that makes you smile like a sunset. A photo that like look in your phone. What's your favorite photo? Go to your favorites in your phone album and pick, you know one of your favorite pictures. Maybe it's your family or what you dressed up for as Halloween or maybe some great signs you saw at a protest. Whatever it is, send it to us dailybeanspod.com and click on contact. Now we have a reminder. Our next Patreon zoom call will be tomorrow. Thursday, July 9, 5pm Pacific, 8 Eastern. You're going to have Dana Goldberg and Alison Gill, Harry Dunn, Andy McCabe. The whole gang's gonna be there. So we look forward to that. So patrons, look for the Zoom link in your inbox or posted on the Patreon site at noon Pacific on July 9th. And if you wanna become a patron and join us, say, for our election night watch party here in San Diego, I'm renting out a whole ass bar so we can just all hang out and have some food and drinks on me and watch election results roll in. You can go to patreon.com muellershirote first up is your Good Trouble Good Trouble Today, please take some time to call your senators and respectfully ask them to find out Mitch McConnell's status. His staff and family seem content on staying silent while Kentucky goes without one of their senators. They deserve a special election if Mitch can no longer perform his senatorial duties. That's called taxation without representation. And I know D.C. is like, how about us? Yes.
- [52:33]
G
Yeah, you should also be a state.
- [52:37]
C
So anyway, they definitely deserve that election. And the media are picking up on the story and constituent pressure can push this further. So we're going to have a link in the show Notes to contact your U.S. senators to ask again, respectfully, what's Mitch McConnell's status? And of course would be remiss if I didn't mention trevorproject.org beans we've raised so much money, we're going to be doing it throughout the month of July. And thank you so much for all your donations. It really helps the LGBTQ youth community.
- [53:08]
G
Absolutely. All right, next up from Tracy Pronouns They Them. Dear Queens of the Leguminati, the Daily Beans is my one essential podcast. Thank you to both for bringing your whole selves to everything you do. It's inspirational to me. Now to the correction. A great beginning, Tracy. By the way, I could hear my grandmother in my head complaining and also laughing at Alison's pronunciation of lagniap. Lagniap. In the Lagniapp Daily the Tuberville story, the G is silent.
- [53:37]
C
Lania oh lanyap.
- [53:39]
G
Oh lanyap. It's two syllables and sounds more like lanyap. I agree that's not what it looks like, so all confusion is totes understandable. My Louisiana grandmother loved using that word. She would explain to me that it's a Creole word that means a little something extra, like how a baker's dozen donuts is 13, not 12, but for any kind of purchase. And the extra thing doesn't have to be the same as the Original purchase. It's not clear what that concept has to do with newspapers, but I believe there are more than one in the region with Lanyap in the name.
- [54:14]
C
Oh, maybe you're getting a little something extra with your news.
- [54:17]
G
There you go. Anyway, many thanks to the best team in media, starting with the essential Kanai and including everyone else on the team. You are all clearly the best. Podpet Terra for two wild bird pictures from years ago. One is an eastern red tailed hawk and the other is a great gray heron.
- [54:35]
C
Oh, I'm glad we didn't have to guess those.
- [54:37]
G
I may have actually gotten one out of two on that. I would have gotten a hawk, but not which kind of hawk.
- [54:43]
C
Right. I would have probably said a red shouldered hawk and maybe some. I would probably would have said blue heron because even though it's gray, I would have just gotten it wrong somehow a little bit because that's what I do for a living. Yeah. Thank you so much. And you know, we should have like a Kanai appreciation day one of these days.
- [54:59]
G
Totally.
- [55:00]
C
None of us could do anything without Batman.
- [55:03]
G
That's true.
- [55:03]
C
All right, next up, Jim in Albuquerque. Ooh, that's your home stomping ground. I'd like to give a shout out to our favorite author. My favorite author, Jenny Lawson. She tirelessly advocates to destigmatize mental illness and works to let people living with mental health and emotional challenges know that we aren't alone. At the same time, she's the funniest writer I know. I can't read her books without laughing out loud enough to attract attention if I'm in public. Jenny Lawson copes with illness, both mental and physical, that would overwhelm most of us. I've lived for decades with ptsd, major depressive disorder, bipolar disorder, and alcoholism. I managed two careers, but she's a best selling author. My disabilities and my achievements are both less than hers, but I relate to a lot of what she writes, as do many others. I believe she saved a lot of lives. Alison, Dana, go for the parasailing. It's an absolute blast. And physically gentle. Oh, I guess I haven't been working out too hard, but. But my daughter Jessica and I both got the chance 30 years ago in San Diego. Her brother Chris elected to relax on the boat and enjoy the view. It was a wonder. Delightful, transcendent. It was smooth for me when Jessica was up and the cable was reeled all the way out. She was about 200ft up. We saw her jerking around from side to side. When they got her back in the boat and asked what was happening. She said, I was trying to turn upside down. But it didn't work. No, she's a wild fun grandma. Now for my pet tariff, here's a 50 year old photo.
- [56:29]
D
Wow.
- [56:30]
C
Sorry about the quality of my late brother Dave and our sweet dog Ringa. It was Ringo until she got pregnant. Breed a mystery. When the new veterinary tech asked my stepdad, he said Ringo was a Transylvanian wolfhound. So that went into her chart at the vessel.
- [56:48]
G
Oh my God. That's very funny.
- [56:50]
C
Your dad and my dad would get along really well.
- [56:53]
G
I know. Jim, thank you so much.
- [56:55]
C
What a sweet picture.
- [56:56]
G
Absolutely. All right. I love this next one. This is from Stephen Pronounce. He and him. Hello, Queens of the beans. It's my son's birthday and we have had a wonderful time following the World Cup. I was so grateful to witness Cabo Verde's World cup debut in Atlanta against Spain. It's sad that stories like DJT's meddling in the process can taint perceptions and experiences of the game. But whenever you have such a wide gathering of diversity, there are great stories to be found. I loved following CB's resolve against some of the all time great teams of soccer history. Congrats to my boy Samson, my soon to be senior as he levels up. You guys are so handsome.
- [57:36]
C
I know, right? It was such a great story. Did you see the parade? Their welcome home parade. Yeah, like just brought home like the heroes that they are. And man, I look forward to now. I can't wait to the next World Cup.
- [57:52]
G
I know.
- [57:53]
C
I'm so excited to see what they do and I'm so.
- [57:55]
G
It's just gonna keep growing.
- [57:57]
E
Yeah.
- [57:57]
C
I'm so glad the World cup added teams so that we get that kind of variety. I love it. Look at the Pupper and the kitty. Oh, so cute. Stephen. Thank you. Next up, Renee Denise Pronoun. She and her hello friends. This is a shout out to Lansing Systrom Chorus, a treble choir I joined in September 2025 as something just for me. Once I joined, I learned that Systrom has a rich 40 year history that began with eight lesbians who simply wanted to sing. Over the years, Sistrom has become a feminist resistance choir that fights for social justice, performs at the state Capitol, rallies, marches, pride festivities, on and on and on. Systrom and many other feminist choirs meet July 8th through 12th, 2026 at Loyola University in Chicago for Sister Singers Network Festival this year. It's titled Power in Harmony. Oh, I love that the performances are open to the public and there's a live stream ticket option also. I have always been an ally. I came for the music and I've stayed for the way this community cherishes each other. They have become my church. So we're going to give a link to systrom.org and sistersingers.net and those links will be in the show notes. That's just incredible. This is going to be July 8th through the 12th, so everyone can watch if you'd like. And here's, I'm assuming, a picture of amazing quilt that you've made. It's gorgeous. Thank you, Renee.
- [59:25]
G
Awesome. All right, next up is from Ed Pronouns he and him. Buongiorno Beans Queens Long travel day today punctuated by some amazing food and drink. I went way out of my office comfort zone and drank an espresso. Espresso like the locals at a highway service area called an auto grill. If you can believe it. The local trucker standing next to me put a tiny bit of sugar in his so I figured I could risk it without giving myself away after that. The deepest thought I had today was trying to decide which wine paired better with the crab cakes at dinner. Pictures today are the best pizza I've ever had so far and this never ending field of sunflowers just south of Bologna. Wishing you all the best and thanks for all you do.
- [60:06]
C
Oh my goodness, that pizza looks amazing. Oh Ed. So jealous.
- [60:16]
G
I know.
- [60:17]
C
Next up from Elizabeth Pronoun. She and her hello my lovelies. We are a few weeks out and I'm still riding the high of attending the gala. I can't put into words how truly invigorating it has been to be in the presence of so many of our people. So many laughs, hugs and even phone numbers shared among beautiful new friends. I'm writing in to give two specific shout outs to people who we don't necessarily hear too much from or about. I didn't know who either of them was ahead of time and when they introduced themselves I was like, oh my God, you're blank. First Kanai. Pretty eyed Kanai. Lol. He was so sweet when he did the group bird picture. He stayed behind afterwards and chatted with my bestie and I never rushed us, never brushed us off or made us feel like a bother. He was authentic and engaged and I can only speak to music industry staff from my own experience, but I've been around enough people who deal with fans to know that that level of sincerity is rare. What a sweet pea. My second shout out is to Joelle Bestie And I first spotted her rad clutch on the table at the gala and waited patiently for the owner to stop by so we could compliment it. When we finally got a chance to say how much we loved her bag, I had to tell her how much I loved her hair. We gushed for a bit, and she introduced herself, and we're like, oh, my God, the Joelle. What a joyful and kindred spirit she is. I shared my fan with her because we're all women of a certain age. And she gave us the tea on her bag, AG's shoes, and some bok bok bok chicken. Singing oh, my God, she chickened for you. We've been. Joelle and I sing together. We do harmonies like the Boogie woogie Bugle boy of Company B, like Carol of the Bell. It's like we've all been classically trained in voice and so. But our favorite thing to do is to sing things like chickens, Bok bok
- [62:00]
D
bok bok bok bok bok bok.
- [62:02]
C
But in harmony. Like, really good classical harmony.
- [62:04]
G
That's amazing.
- [62:05]
C
And my shoes and her bag and my bag are all Geiger bags, and they all come with this bird head on it that we call the disco chicken. And I'm sure that's how Joelle got into talking about the Bach bok. I love every part of this group to the core. Just good people. Pics are me, DG Agee, and Tamika. And an axolotl I saw at the Belle Isle Aquarium this past weekend. Detroit is an amazing city, and Belle Isle Conservatory and Aquarium are both worth a visit. Love y' all so much, Truly. Oh, I remember. You guys look beautiful. Dresses indeed. And an axolotl. I'm so glad you got to meet Kanai and Joelle.
- [62:46]
G
Yeah, they're awesome.
- [62:47]
C
Thanks, Elizabeth.
- [62:48]
G
They are awesome. All right, next up, from Lorna Pronoun. She, her and a which is really in. In Spanish. Hello, lovely leguminatis. I want to give a shout out to my friend Judy. Judy moved from the ultra progressive Portland to a more conservative part of our state a few years ago to help care for aging relatives, to soften her cultural shock, and to find a way to make a difference, she started a neighborhood potluck. On her daily walks in the neighborhood, she memorized the houses with progressive lawn signs during a recent election and then knocked on each of these doors, inviting them to the potluck. People complimented her bravery and accepted her invitation. The group has grown and continues to gather each month, sharing food and solidarity while developing friendships. I Hope that her example can inspire others to develop this kind of strategy for organizing. I'm including a photo of our two litter mate rescues, Panchito and Pepito. And by the way, Lorna, I fucking love that she did this. This is such a great idea. When you are in a deep race state and you are in an area when you're seeing all kinds of Trump signs but you see a little pop up, that's like, we believe in science here and we don't. You know what I mean? I think it's brilliant to be like, hey, you want to come over for barbecue on Sunday?
- [63:58]
C
Yeah. I've met so many of my neighbors here in the neighborhood. The people we've got. I've got neighbors who are retired symphony orchestra musicians who are like daily beans forever. And like another woman around the corner who, who's got one of those, we believe in science and this and that and this and that. There's just. They're all like so many amazing people just on your block. And I love the idea, Dana, like you said, of spotting them during election season when you can see what signs they have in their yard. Thank you so much, everybody. This was a really, really excellent good news submission day. I think we're definitely heading forward from the taint of the week after this. Thanks to the boost that we got from everybody's good news, please send it to us dailybeanspod.com and click on contact. Hey, Dana, do you have any final thoughts for today?
- [64:47]
G
Not today.
- [64:48]
C
All right, everybody, we'll be back on your ears tomorrow. Until then, please take care of yourselves, take care of each other, take care of the planet, take care of your mental health and take care of your family. I've been ag, I've been dg. And them's the beans. The Daily Beans is written and executive produced by Alison Gill with additional research and reporting by Dana Goldberg. Sound design and editing is by Desiree McFarlane with art and web design by Joelle Reader with Moxie Design Studios. Music for the Daily Beans is written and performed by they Might Be Giants and the show is a proud member of the MSW Media Network, a collection of creator owned podcasts dedicated to news, politics and justice. For more information, please visit mswmedia.com MSW Media.
- [65:30]
D
Hi, I'm Frances Collier. And I'm Angela V. Shelton. And we're Frangela. You know what you mean in your life. The Final word podcast. Yes, you do. That's right. It is the final word on all things political and pop cultural, where we make real news real funny, where we inspire you so you can hashtag resist, subscribe, and get a new episode of the Final Word podcast each week. It's the news we think you need to hear.
- [65:55]
G
That's right. We think you need to hear it.
- [65:57]
D
Okay.
- [65:58]
F
Yeah.
- [65:58]
D
It's what we say, so. That's right. And because all we do is give. Every Thursday, you can listen to our hair hysterical podcast, Idiot of the week. We round up the stupid. Because you know what? Somebody has to.
- [66:09]
G
Okay.
- [66:10]
C
All we do is give.