Long Shots (feat. Demetria McCain)

Summary

The Daily Beans: "Long Shots" (Feat. Demetria McCain)

Date: August 13, 2026
Host(s): Alison Gill, Dana Goldberg
Guest: Demetria McCain, Director of Policy at Legal Defense Fund (LDF)

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Episode Overview

This episode of The Daily Beans dives into the mixed results of the August 11 primary elections, a sweeping look at the ongoing transformation in both Democratic and Republican parties, controversial Trump-era and current administrative policies, and systemic attacks on civil and voting rights. The heart of the episode is a detailed, candid interview with Demetria McCain, who discusses the unraveling of HUD’s fair housing policies, the ongoing assault on voting rights, and state-level organizing as a vital response.

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Key Topics and Discussions

1. Primary Election Results and Analysis

[01:34–13:53]

• Broad Takeaways:

  • The August 11 primaries showed both progressive and establishment Democrats winning, while several Trump-backed Republicans lost, indicating shifting party dynamics.
  • Alison Gill sums up:
    "Primaries are when we vote our hearts and then we all rally behind the Democrat because I can't think of another way to keep a Republican out of office besides voting for the Democrats."
    (13:15)

• Notable Races:

  • South Carolina: Trump-endorsed candidate with last name “Graham” (not Lindsey, but changed to Graham) advances to a runoff. (06:15)
  • Wisconsin: Tom Tiffany wins GOP nomination, noted for election denialism; Trump endorsement still carries weight.
  • Minnesota: Mike Lindell (“Pillow Man”) loses GOP primary, claims it was “rigged”—a notable irony since he only ran against Republicans.
    Dana Goldberg quips: “He got beat by someone who already has a legislative position. Imagine that.” (07:59)
  • Minnesota Senate: Peggy Flanagan defeats Angie Craig in a signal of progressive, anti-ICE sentiment among Dems; Flanagan could become the state’s first Native American senator in centuries.
  • Wisconsin (Dem): Progressive Francesca Hong narrowly loses to moderate David Crowley; both promise party unity post-primary.
  • Connecticut: 14-term incumbent John Larson loses to younger candidate Luke Bronin, signaling voters’ appetite for generational change.

• Trends:

  • Younger, more diverse candidates are increasingly successful.
  • Democrat turnout was strong, outpacing Republicans in several states.

2. Trump Administration Updates & Icebreaker Banter

[03:26–05:10]

• Press Secretary Shakeup: Trump’s Press Secretary Caroline Levitt resigns; speculation abounds on successors (Pam Bondi, Alina Habba, Jeanine Pirro, etc.).
  “I'm happy not to... Although I am going to miss making video stitches off of her.” – Dana Goldberg (05:10)

• Climate, Heat, and Light Snark: Hosts lament the heat across the US, bring a climate change joke:
  “But climate change is a hoax, right?” – Alison Gill
  “Oh, totally.” – Dana Goldberg (02:42–02:45)

3. News Quick Hits (“Hot Notes”)

[16:34–21:44]

• ICE Electric Shock Gloves:
  ICE will soon deploy gloves delivering electric shocks to subdue detainees. The “GLOVE” device is likened to “Nazi shit.”
  “I'm so fucking disgusted by this.” – Dana Goldberg (16:54–16:57)
• White House ‘Emotional Support Ballroom’: Trump administration channels almost $1 billion (including diverted National Park funds) into extravagant White House construction. “The old emotional support ballroom — 900 million started as 200, then 400, then 600, all going to be privately funded. Now it's 900.” – Alison Gill (18:49)
• Special Grand Jury Investigations:
  Federal prosecutors convene a rare special grand jury in DC, intended to publicly report on (possibly uncharged) targets, hinting at show-trial tactics against political enemies.
• Kennedy Center Lawsuit:
  After venue renamed for Trump, a jazz musician sued for pulling out of a performance. Judge awards $252k in legal fees to the musician. “He wouldn't sign it. He didn't breach shit.” – Alison Gill (21:21)

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In-Depth Interview: Demetria McCain (Legal Defense Fund)

[24:34–43:02]

Background & Role

• Former HUD official under the Biden administration (2021–2024), now LDF’s Policy Director.
• Demetria’s work covers criminal justice, economic and education equity, and voting rights.

Major Discussion Points

1. The Unraveling of HUD’s Fair Housing Policies
   [25:19–32:26]

   • Enforcement at HUD has collapsed: Discriminatory housing complaints are ignored or cherry-picked; significant rollback on protecting against “disparate impact” (policies that hurt protected classes without explicit intent).
   • “The investigation enforcement piece is just not happening. ... They stated publicly that they will not enforce cases where there is disparate impact on certain protected classes.” (27:12–28:10)
   • Appraisal discrimination (homes owned by Black/Latino families being undervalued) work severely curtailed.
   • “Literally, people whitewashed their homes, meaning they took their pictures down, they took away their hair care products so that when the appraiser came in, they didn't know that the home was owned by a person who was black or Latino or Hispanic.” (31:33)

2. Attack on Civil and Voting Rights Nationwide
   [32:26–38:35]

   • Systemic rollback of rights for people of color, disabled, religious minorities, etc.
   • DOJ Civil Rights Division and EEOC shifting focus toward defending white conservatives.
     • “You literally had the head of the EEOC under Trump take to social media and invite white males to file discrimination complaints.” – McCain (32:58)
   • Supreme Court continues to gut the Voting Rights Act; district-level wins do happen but are overshadowed by hostile Supreme Court decisions.
   • Defense of the Kelley decision (guiding racial gerrymandering) and the need for the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act.

3. Hope and Strategy: Organizing and State-Level Activism
   [38:35–41:49]

   • LDF pushes state-level Voting Rights Acts; successes this year in Maryland, Delaware, NJ. Focus is especially strong in Southern states, where barriers remain highest.
   • Modeling legislation for other states and building momentum—even in hostile territory.
     • “People say, oh, it'll never get passed in Texas. … Project 2025 was not hatched in 2024. Right. And so you start on this work now.” – McCain (40:25)
   • Emphasis on organizing as the key to lasting change:
     “1965... It came because of people on the street... It came from organizing.” – McCain (36:21)

4. How Listeners Can Help

   • Visit naacpldf.org or LDF Vote to volunteer, learn about poll watching, and know your voting rights by state.
   • Problems at the polls? Call 866-OUR-VOTE.
   • “Poll watching is one of the best things we can do.” – Gill (42:24)

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Notable Quotes & Moments

• On ICE’s Electric Shock Gloves:
  Alison Gill: “This is such Nazi shit.” (16:54) Dana Goldberg: “That's what we need is a bunch of ICE officers with Napoleon complexes running around with electrical gloves.” (18:00)
• On Housing Discrimination:
  Demetria McCain: “Many instances nowadays, especially we have AI and digital technologies, it's hard to find that intentional type of discrimination. That is huge.” (29:44)
• On State-Level Action:
  McCain: “You start on this work now... and eventually it will pass.” (40:25) Gill: “Saying it'll never pass is obeying in advance.” (41:18)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• [01:34] – Show begins, headline news and election results
• [06:15] – South Carolina primary overview
• [10:00] – Francesca Hong v. David Crowley (WI Dems)
• [12:20] – Generational change in Democratic Party (CT & VT results)
• [16:34] – ICE's electric shock gloves
• [18:14] – Trump’s White House ballroom funding scandal
• [19:58] – Special grand jury news
• [20:19] – Kennedy Center lawsuit update
• [24:34] – Interview with Demetria McCain (LDF) begins
• [25:19] – McCain discusses HUD, fair housing enforcement
• [32:26] – Voting rights undermined
• [38:35] – State voting rights acts and grassroots organizing
• [41:49] – How to help, poll watching, LDF resources

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Good News & Listener Submissions

[44:16–56:57]

A segment filled with uplifting stories and activism tips—from shoutouts for organizations like Project Night Night, inspiring pet stories, victories against invasive ballot measures, and more. Listeners are encouraged to send in their own good news.

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Closing Thoughts and Calls to Action

• Vote in every election and primary.
• Get involved at the local level: poll watching, organizing, and supporting legislation.
• Support groups like Legal Defense Fund and stay engaged on both national and state fronts.
• Host affirmation:
  “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.” – Alison Gill (57:14)

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Summary for the Uninitiated

This sprawling episode expertly blends sharp news analysis, droll commentary, and real talk about the state of democracy and civil rights in the US. The primary election coverage spotlights a Democratic Party evolving toward youth and diversity, while Republicans face an unclear future post-Trump. The standout is the thoughtful interview with Demetria McCain, whose insights on policy backsliding, the enduring importance of fair housing and voting rights, and the power of sustained, grassroots action offer both a sober warning and a roadmap for hope. If you want to know what’s at stake—and what you can do—this is required listening.

Transcript

[Alison Gill]

Diamond Dames, mount up.

[Charlotte Clymer]

I'm Charlotte Clymer.

[Alison Gill]

And I'm Alison Gill. Hey, Charlotte, what if you and I joined forces to create a weekly podcast amid all the chaos of the news to chat about the most recent episode of season four of Ted Lasso?

[Charlotte Clymer]

Well, Allison, we'd be taking delight amid the spite to sit and write and bring some light on Wednesday nights. I mean, look, everything right now is ridiculous. I know we're all stressed out with the state of the country and we all deserve some joy. Ted Lasso was there for us in the middle of the pandemic, and he's back to offer us a respite from Trump 2.0 right before the midterms.

[Alison Gill]

That's right. We believe in Rom communism. I mean, if Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan can go through some heartfelt struggles and still end up happy, then so can we. So subscribe to Diamond Dames for free right now to get notifications, and then you can join us every week and after each episode of ted Lasso Season 4, wherever you get your podcasts.

[Charlotte Clymer]

And remember, be a goldfish. Diamond Names Dismount,

[Alison Gill]

Barbecue sauce. MSW Media.

[Dana Goldberg]

News.

[Demetria McCain]

We're swearing. Jelly beans. Jelly beans.

[Alison Gill]

Hello and welcome to the Daily beans for Thursday, August 13, 2026. Today, mixed results in the August 11 primary elections hand wins to both progressive and establishment Democrats as some Trump backed candidates falter. Jeanine Pirro has convened a special grand jury in Washington, D.C. the Trump administration is set to spend nearly a billion dollars on the emotional support. Ballroom Ice plans to buy gloves for agents that deliver electric shocks. And the Kennedy center has been ordered to pay $250,000 in legal fees to an artist that opposed the name change. I'm Alison Gill.

[Dana Goldberg]

And I'm Dana Goldberg.

[Alison Gill]

Hey, Dana. Happy Thursday. How are you, my friend?

[Dana Goldberg]

I am good. Back on the west coast, back on the best coast. I love New York. I'm just kidding. I don't know. They're both pretty great.

[Alison Gill]

They are both actually really wonderful. As is both in the middle of the country, too. Everything's great, but it is sometimes nice to be back in the 800 million degree heat over here on the West Coast.

[Dana Goldberg]

Listen, the east coast has also been 800 million with 90% humidity, so at least it's dry. But then again, that poses dangers, so it feels like you can't win.

[Alison Gill]

But climate change is a hoax, right?

[Dana Goldberg]

Oh, totally.

[Alison Gill]

Totally. We have a special guest today, Demetri McCain. She's the director of policy at Legal Defense Fund, so she leads the organization's Policy team and its diverse policy advocacy portfolio. And she works with senior leadership to set the strategic direction for the organization's legislative policy and advocacy work. So criminal justice, economic justice, education, political participation, voting rights, things like that. She was high up at HUD in the Biden administration, so that's who we're gonna talk to today. And later today also, look out for the new episode of Diamond Dames.

[Dana Goldberg]

Yes.

[Alison Gill]

Which is Charlotte and I talking about the latest episode of TED Lasso. Cause we could all use a little break from the news. That's over on the MSW Media YouTube channel.

[Dana Goldberg]

And a big thing. Well, I think it's a big thing. Trump said today Press Secretary Caroline Levitt is done. She wants to spend more time with her grandfather. I'm sorry, her husband and her child. And I am a little bit worried, to be honest with you. I didn't know anyone out there could be, possibly be a better liar than Caroline Levitt. But I have a feeling the Trump administration is going to prove me wrong. Let's see who they put in that position. It's going to be very interesting. Yeah.

[Alison Gill]

Who are they going to put up there? Probably not Steve Chung. Because while he's a spokesperson, I don't think he does well on camera. Like speaking to people with his mouth. But who knows?

[Dana Goldberg]

Could you imagine if it's like Stephen Miller or some shit? I mean, he's not technically. He doesn't technically have a real part in this administration other than he's actually the president.

[Alison Gill]

Well, he is a White House advisor.

[Dana Goldberg]

Oh, right, right.

[Alison Gill]

Pretty much running dhs, but not really.

[Dana Goldberg]

I wonder. Yeah, I don't know. Yeah, I can't think of. Honestly, I can't think of anyone else that would. And I hate to say, like her or not, when I say she's good at her job, she's good at the job Trump needs her to do. I don't think they're gonna find someone as good.

[Alison Gill]

Hell, maybe he'll pull Pirro out of D.C. and put her up there. Or maybe.

[Dana Goldberg]

I thought about it, but nah, he's

[Alison Gill]

Seth out from the catering truck. Low T. Peter. I don't know. I have no idea.

[Dana Goldberg]

Me either. We shall see.

[Alison Gill]

Pam Bondi.

[Dana Goldberg]

Oh, my God.

[Alison Gill]

Alina Haba.

[Dana Goldberg]

That Elena Haba could actually be a possibility.

[Alison Gill]

Yeah, I mean, the name secretaries in the title. So because Trump is such a sexist, I imagine he'll try to make it a woman, because women are secretaries. You know, I think that's just how his brain works, but probably, who knows? We will see what happens. But yeah, she's gone by.

[Dana Goldberg]

I'm happy not to. Although I am going to miss making video stitches off of her.

[Alison Gill]

Oh, I'm sure the next person would be just as much. A comedy vault of amazing things that you can stitch. All right, we had a big primary yesterday. It's two days ago as as you're listening to this on Thursday because of the beauty of podcast time travel. But let's cover those primaries with some quick hits. And to make a long story short, too late. All right. Voters in half a dozen states went to the polls Tuesday. The results highlight the ongoing conflicts with both parties ahead of the November midterms. NPR reports. Democratic primaries in Wisconsin, Minnesota and Connecticut signaled what the party's base may want from new leaders, a harder line against Trump's immigration crackdown and younger, more progressive nominees. As a 14 term Congressman was actually swept aside by a candidate who's 47 years old. Now on that was Connecticut, I believe. On the Republican side, the knight tested how far Trump's endorsement still carries even with his approval at a second term low, and the answer was mixed. His endorsements won in some states and stumbled in others.

[Dana Goldberg]

Yeah. In South Carolina, the Trump endorsed senator because she's now in for Lindsey Darlene Graham, whose last name was not Graham up until recently. I mean, it was originally, but that, you know what I'm talking about. She is advanced to a special Republican primary runoff election for the U.S. senate despite competing with several GOP heavyweights in a crowded race. That's according to a race call by the Associated Press. Graham will now face Rep. Ralph Norman in the Aug. 25 special primary runoff. Norman, who also advanced Tuesday, is a member of the House Freedom Caucus and had endorsements by GOP Senators Mike Lee of Utah and Rick Scott of Florida.

[Alison Gill]

Oh, it's a couple of real amazing dudes.

[Dana Goldberg]

Absolute winners.

[Alison Gill]

Now in Wisconsin, a swing state, as we know, Republican Rep. Tom Tiffany, who voted against certifying the 2020 election results back in January of 2021 and denied the 2020 presidential election. He won his party's nomination by a landslide in a race called by the Associated Press Tuesday night. Tiffany had Trump's endorsement and a united Republican backing. Rhett Marquez, an Alabama state representative endorsed by Trump, also clinched the Republican nomination for the congressional district that runs from Mobile county through the southern Black Belt to the Georgia border. But in Minnesota, Trump endorsed the pillow man, Mike Lindell, a staunch Trump ally and the founder of MyPillow, who could be in legal trouble bribing voters with pillows, which is as we know, MyPillow is a pillows and bedding accessories company, or it was before it declared bankruptcy. He endorsed him for the Republican gubernatorial primary, but he lost his primary to Lisa Demuth, the Speaker of the Minnesota House.

[Dana Goldberg]

Really? He got beat by someone who already has a legislative position. Imagine that.

[Alison Gill]

I know. And he's calling it rigged also. So I guess because he only ran against Republicans. I guess Republicans rig elections too.

[Dana Goldberg]

Yeah, I guess so. The competitive Democratic Senate race in Minnesota was being looked at as a litmus test, if you will. Deciding if the party has enough spine, they're saying, to effectively oppose Trump's immigration policies and enforcement operations. With Lieutenant Governor Peggy Flanagan's primary win against Rep. Angie Craig Tuesday night in a race called by the ap, it appears the base wants their party leaders to oppose ICE and Operation Metro Surge, a large scale immigration enforcement operation that, that was launched by the U.S. department of Homeland Security in December of 2025. As we know, that heavily impacted the Twin Cities and it shaped much of the Senate race. And by the way, Peggy Flanagan, Lieutenant Governor Peggy Flanagan is a phenomenal woman. She's going to make a hell of a senator and so is Rep. Angie Craig. But I think this is a really amazing win for the state, to be honest with you. And it's wild that I don't think they have had a Native American senator in 250 years or something. Insane. Yeah, it's wild. Now while campaigning, Flanagan brought up a vote Craig made in Congress for a Trump backed immigration policy, the Lake and Riley act, which expands the scope of who can be arrested, detained and deported by federal immigration officers. It passed, by the way, with bipartisan support. In 2025, Flanagan will be up against Republican former sports broadcaster Michelle Tafoya, who beat out retired Navy Seal Adam Schwarz and, and, and thank goodness, ex NBA player Royce White in a race called by the Associated Press. Royce White was that dipshit that was going to, he's like, I'm transgender today because it's good for my basketball career. I'm going to throw myself in for the WNBA draft.

[Alison Gill]

Yeah, well, he didn't score any points in the NBA and he hasn't won an election either, so no.

[Dana Goldberg]

So there you go, loser.

[Alison Gill]

And in Wisconsin for weeks, Francesca Hong, 37 year old chef, state lawmaker and Democratic socialist, had been leading into polls against David CR Crowley, the Milwaukee county executive and the more mainstream candidate in a state that is purple in presidential elections. But after being locked in a tight race on Tuesday night, Crowley was declared the winner in a call made by the Associated Press. That was early Wednesday. The tight race, despite Hong's controversial track record of statements, which included canceling Thanksgiving and a lack of endorsement from Senator Bernie Sanders, signaled the Democratic base might be looking for changes. Hong's high energy grassroots campaign had been fueled by progressives who are drawn to her unusual background and left wing politics. I'm not sure what's that unusual about it, but she backed Medicare for All universal childcare and called for a moratorium on data centers, which is a key issue for midterm voters now. Crowley left his campaign in July only to jump back in days later, this time carrying the endorsement of outgoing governor Tony Evers. The reversal was a final push to channel the departing governor's popularity toward a more moderate contender. And Tuesday night, Crowley said that he and Francesca Hong are going to campaign together on a unity tour. And Francesca Hong said something along the same lines. So it's time to unite.

[Dana Goldberg]

All right, we will see what happens. I know that was a little bit of an upset there for a lot of people, but moving forward, it was so close. It was so close.

[Alison Gill]

Like that's half a point.

[Dana Goldberg]

Yeah, it was wild. And we're going to Connecticut. Democratic Rep. John Larson, who happens to be 78, conceded Tuesday night, leading Luke Bronin, who is 47, the former Hartford mayor and a former Navy intelligence officer, to win the Democratic primary for 1st congressional district. Bronin was endorsed by the party and his win is yet another sign of Democratic voters, their calls for generational change in the party and their willingness to move on from longtime incumbents. Earlier this year, NPR reported that this cycle more than 80 Gen Z and millennial candidates will be running to challenge or succeed House democrats who are 65 and older, according to a report by the Democratic fundraising Platform Oath. Now this is a big increase from the 24 under 50 Democratic candidates who took on older incumbents last cycle.

[Alison Gill]

Wow.

[Demetria McCain]

80.

[Alison Gill]

It was 24 before. And Amanda Janue narrowly won Vermont's Democratic primary for governor Tuesday, according to the ap, after a campaign that called for sweeping progressive policy changes and limiting how much the state relies on federal funding. Janu, an economist, had never run for office before. She was virtually unknown before announcing her campaign and she beat out Allie Richards, the former head of a prominent child care lobbying and advocacy group, who also had the backing of a well endowed political action committee.

[Dana Goldberg]

In a victory speech, by the way, at that campaign, at her campaign's election night watch party in Burlington, Jen said that when she decided to run for governor, she knew, and I quote, it was going to be a long shot and went on to say we didn't have the establishment for support. Our big political kingmakers on our side. That's what she told a crowd of about 250 people. But we had something so much more powerful. We had you.

[Alison Gill]

Congrats to Janue and all the other people who won. And it's, you know, primaries are when we vote our hearts and then we all rally behind the Democrat because I can't think of another way to keep a Republican out of office besides voting for the Democrats.

[Dana Goldberg]

That's basically it.

[Alison Gill]

As soon as someone comes up with that way, please let me know. Because people have long been asking, like, what else can we do? What else could we do?

[Dana Goldberg]

Nope, that is it.

[Alison Gill]

I think that's it. I think that's it. 20 more people should vote in the primaries. And it was a pretty massive turnout in some of these states on the Democratic side way outmatched their Republican counterparts just in the number of people who turned out.

[Dana Goldberg]

That's really nice to know. Yeah.

[Alison Gill]

All right, we've got more news to get to everybody, so we're going to take a quick break and then we'll be back with the hot notes after these messages.

[Dana Goldberg]

We'll be right back.

[Alison Gill]

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[Rainy Day Rabbit Holes Host]

History is messy. It's weird, wild, and anything but boring. Rainy Day Rabbit Holes is a history podcast about unhinged stories that make you stop and ask, wait, is this real life? From crazy disasters and tasty scandals to enlightening and surprising heartwarming tales, we explore the moments where people behave badly and sometimes beautifully. We've got naughty politicians, cultural chaos, and a deep love for the Pacific Northwest, including Bigfoot. It's thoughtful, irreverent, occasionally serious, and always entertaining. Let's fall down the rabbit hole.

[Alison Gill]

MSW Media. Everybody.

[Demetria McCain]

Welcome back.

[Alison Gill]

It's time for the Hot Notes. Hot Notes all right, first up, from the Associated Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers are soon going to be outfitted with gloves that can deliver painful electric shocks intended to gain compliance from combative individuals. This is such Nazi shit.

[Dana Goldberg]

I'm so fucking disgusted by this.

[Alison Gill]

ICE plans to spend up to $20 million to purchase thousands of conductive distraction and de escalation devices for officers and agents by March. And that's according to a notice published Monday by dhs. The devices are known as the Glove G L O V E, which stand for Generated Low Output Voltage Emitter and are manufactured by Compliant Technologies LLC of Lexing, Kentucky. If the Compliant Technologies LLC it's I'd

[Dana Goldberg]

really love to know who's got stock in that and who owns it.

[Alison Gill]

Maybe I'll do a deep dive now. They've been used in recent years by some jails and some police departments. Peter said he believed ice's planned purchase would likely be the largest from the company to date. He said he could envision ICE officers using the gloves to help remove uncooperative subjects from cars and houses in and out of detention facilities. Quote for smaller or weaker officers or older officers. I think it has a great advantage because it can produce faster takedowns and shorten confrontations.

[Dana Goldberg]

He says, this is so fucked up. That's what we need is a bunch of ICE officers with Napoleon complexes running around with electrical gloves. Yeah.

[Alison Gill]

And we've over on the Beans Talk today. We'll have a. We'll show you a video of how these gloves work. Like demonstrations. It's frightening. Frightening as fuck.

[Dana Goldberg]

Yeah. This next story is from the Post. The Trump administration plans to spend at least 900 million for construction projects on the White House grounds, a significantly larger price tag than has been previously reported and one that would be covered primarily by U.S. taxpayers. That's according to records reviewed by the Washington Post. Instead of securing money directly from Congress, the records show the administration has pieced together funding from other agencies and private donors and directed it to a little known account that typically holds a few million doll for routine maintenance of the executive mansion.

[Alison Gill]

So the old emotional support ballroom, 900 million started as 200, then 400, then 600, all going to be privately funded. Now it's 900. And we already know McFarland got those documents from the National Park Service showing that about $323 million was diverted from the national parks over to the ballroom. Basically, yeah. Next up from the Post, the Justice Department has convened a special grand jury in Washington, a rare legal body that officials say could pave the way for federal prosecutors in the nation's capital to investigate some of its biggest and most controversial cases. Unlike a regular grand jury, a special grand jury can release a potentially critical report about the subject of an investigation, even if prosecutors don't find enough evidence to bring the person to trial. So what do you think's going on here, Dana? They're going to put together this special grand jury where they investigate enemies of the president so that they can release reports on the investigation, knowing that they probably won't be able to charge these people like Fauci, Comey, whoever. I mean, the reflecting pool guy again, maybe bring in sandwich guy again.

[Dana Goldberg]

I think it might actually be Fauci. Wouldn't surprise me at all.

[Alison Gill]

Yeah. Now, DC's special grand jury is to be overseen by Steven Van Der Velden. That's one of Jeanine Pirro's top allies. That's according to three government officials with the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity. And Andy McCabe and I are going to go over this special grand jury in more detail on this weekend's Unjustified podcast.

[Dana Goldberg]

All right. Thank you so much. Do Have a little bit of better news from the Post. A judge has ordered the Kennedy center to pay more than $250,000 to a jazz musician who pulled out of a performance after the venue's board voted to rename the building after Trump. D.C. superior Court Judge Tanya Jones Bossier on Monday ordered the center to pay $252,000 in legal fees and costs to lawyers for Chuck, who for years had played at the center's annual Christmas Eve concert. Good for you, Chuck. Lisa Banks, one of Red's lawyers, called the amount, and I quote, appropriate, as no citizen should have to spend time and money fending off baseless and politically motivated lawsuits filed by the Trump administration last year. Red had been in talks with the venue staff to perform, but declined to sign a contract. He told the center he chose to bow out because of, and I quote, the defiant and illegal name change happening to the Kennedy Center. The Kennedy senator sued in March, alleging Red had breached his contract by withdrawing from the concert.

[Alison Gill]

He wouldn't sign it. He didn't breach shit.

[Dana Goldberg]

But in June, Jones Bossier tossed the lawsuit, determining that center officials failed to show that they had even made a legally binding agreement with this guy. The Kennedy senator plans to appeal the ruling. Of course they do.

[Alison Gill]

Oh, my God. So they sued him because he wouldn't play it, that they're dumb things.

[Dana Goldberg]

That's exactly it.

[Alison Gill]

And he wouldn't sign the contract. So it's not like he signed a contract, agreed to play, and backed out of the contract. And then they sued him. Oh, my God. Well, good for him. $252,000 as we got to chip away at this administration bit by bit. And thanks to Chuck Red for taking a little part of that and running with it. All right, we've got good news to get to, along with our interview. Demetri McCain after this break. Stick around. We'll be right back. Hey, so I think a lot of us notice changes in our hair before we are quite ready to admit that they're happening. Maybe, like, the ponytail isn't as thick. Maybe there's more hair left over in your brush or in the shower. Maybe the texture and fullness just isn't what it used to be. Stress hormones and age can all impact your hair, which is why One Skin developed OS1 hair. Now, you probably already know One Skin for their amazing skin care and their longevity research that's behind it. OS1 hair uses that same proprietary OS1 peptide in a daily serum made specifically for your scalp. It works at the root, where hair health begins to nourish the scalp and support hair that looks and feels better before you know it. OneSkin's OS1 peptide has already been extensively studied for cellular aging and skin care, and now they're bringing that same research directly to hair health. After six months, people saw a 43% increase in hair thickness and a 40% increase in hair density, along with less visible shedding. And after three months, 75% of customers saw visible new HA growth. You can't beat this. A lot of hair treatments can leave your scalp feeling irritated or dry or your hair looks greasy sometimes, and that makes daily use something you might want to quit. Now. Some treatments require prescriptions and they can bring unpleasant side effects. But os1 hair is drug free and water based, so it fits into a regular routine without disrupting everything else you do. Plus, you can easily incorporate it into your current hair treatment with no problem. So, Born from over 10 years of longevity research, OneSkin's OS1 peptide is engineered to support your hair to look visibly fuller and thicker at any age. And for a limited time, you can try one skin with 15 off using code Daily [e-mail] DailyBeans. That's 15 off at OnSkin Co with code DailyBeans. After your purchase, they're gonna ask where you heard about them. Please support our show and tell them we sent you. You'll be glad you did.

[Rainy Day Rabbit Holes Host]

History is messy. It's weird, wild and anything but boring. Rainy Day Rabbit Holes is a history podcast about about unhinged stories that make you stop and ask, wait, is this real life? From crazy disasters and tasty scandals to enlightening and surprising heartwarming tales, we explore the moments where people behave badly and sometimes beautifully. We've got naughty politicians, cultural chaos, and a deep love for the Pacific Northwest, including Bigfoot. It's thoughtful, irreverent, occasionally serious, and always entertaining. Let's fall down the rabbit hole.

[Alison Gill]

MSW Media. Hey everybody. Welcome back. I'm honored today to be joined by the Director of Policy at Legal Defense Fund. And in this role, our next guest is leading the organization's policy team and its diverse policy advocacy portfolio. This includes working with senior leadership to set the strategic direction for the organization's legislative, policy and advocacy work in all sorts of fields, including criminal justice, economic justice, education and political participation. Please welcome the Director of Policy at Legal defense fund, Demetria McCain. How are you today?

[Demetria McCain]

I'm doing well. Thanks for having me.

[Alison Gill]

I'm really excited to talk to you because first of all, your experience at HUD, I believe it was 2021-2024 really kind of set sets the stage for all of the policy that you are now helping shape over at Legal Defense Fund. Can you talk a little bit about your time at HUD and how that kind of threads into what you do now?

[Demetria McCain]

Yeah, sure. Happy to do so. Well, I'll start actually, regarding ldf. So at ldf, we kind of focus on four different pillars, which includes political participation, which a lot of people know about us in the voting rights space. But also we focus on education, equity, as well as criminal legal systems, and some call it criminal justice, but also economic justice. And so economic justice covers a whole lot which includes fair housing. So that can include fair housing, employment issues, et cetera, et cetera. So the fair housing piece, which is what I focused on when I was at HUD under the Biden administration, is a piece of the things that I cover here at ldf. So fair housing was my thing over there under Secretary Marcia Fudge, which was a great person for whom to work. And we got as much done as we could in the time that we had. The unraveling of what we did has been heartbreaking, I gotta say.

[Alison Gill]

Yeah, let's talk about that because, you know, I worked for over a decade at the Department of Veterans affairs and I've seen it unravel. And, you know, I speak on a near daily basis with folks who used to work at the Justice Department or in the FBI and all the things that are sort of coming apart. But I'd really like to get sort of the view from someone who used to be@hud versus what the housing and Urban Development situation is like now under Trump? What are some of the main differences you've seen in the unraveling of the protections here that we're generally used to seeing?

[Demetria McCain]

And this is happening across the board at all agencies, I gotta tell you. So first and foremost we've got at hud we had the Fair Housing Office that focuses on enforcement and compliance. And so the enforcement part, we're talking about people who have fair housing issues and complaints. And hud, along with its partners, including local nonprofits, who got funding from the federal government to manage some investigations in fair housing counseling locally in communities, as well as help from local governments or state governments who partnered with the Fair Housing Office to actually investigate cases. The investigation enforcement piece is just not happening. It's just not happening. Not only is it not happening at the scale and level that it should, they're kind of cherry picking what cases they do enforce. A perfect example is they stated publicly that they will not enforce cases where there is disparate impact on certain protected classes. And I think for your listeners, it's important for people to know what those protected classes are. I just want to take a step back to level set. And so obviously race is a protected class, but also color, national origin, religion, sex, familial status and disability, to the extent that you don't necessarily find, especially nowadays with people being so savvy, intentional discrimination, Sometimes you've got to use a fair housing tool that the Supreme Court says is a tool called disparate impact. And so you look back and see how what maybe on the face is a neutral looking policy actually is having a very negative disparate impact on people who are members of certain protected classes. And so they've just outright said, we're not going to cover that. As a matter of fact, they just recently this week issued supplemental guidance regarding pulling back the regulation as it relates to disparate impact. And that's not unique to the fair housing, to hud. That's also happening in other agencies as well. So if you've got, say, let's say for instance, nobody says when you go to a landlord, hey, looks like you are black. So I think you should live in the back of the apartment complex. Nobody's going to say that, right? But you look around and everybody in the apartment complex who's black is living in one back portion of the complex. There's a disparate impact there, Right. You may be able to find evidence of intentional discrimination. But many instances nowadays, especially we have AI and digital technologies, it's hard to find that intentional type of discrimination. That is huge. I know the fiscal 23 report from HUD showed that they had about 8,000 total complaints of the eight. Usually it was based on disability, those complaints, but some race ended up being the second largest protected class that you would find maybe about 2,100 or so cases involving race based housing discrimination. And I'm sure the numbers are quite lower now because I think they're throwing cases out. Certainly people still can go to court on their own, but that's very expensive and it's hard to find an attorney to represent you. But that's the enforcement part, Allison. The other part I think that I was really proud of when I was there is the compliance piece. And that's what people don't know too much about. And that compliance piece is about how HUD runs its programs. And so the Fair Housing Office was a check on how HUD programs were running as it related to fair housing, how public housing offices were running programs, how developers who come in and want to build something with HUD money, want to run programs or design buildings, et cetera, et cetera. That compliance piece is so quiet, but it's super important because it affects scores of people. And then I'll say lastly, Alison, there's so much I could say. I'll say lastly, I'll say the piece that we were doing on appraisal discrimination, talk about hidden discrimination. The appraisal discrimination work was significant. There was a multi agency task force that was led by HUD Under Secretary Fudge that was looking at appraisal discrimination, meaning that if you wanted to, let's say, take a loan out on your house, it had to be appraised. Right. But some families found that their homes were being appraised significantly lower than their white neighbors in the same neighborhood when the appraiser knew that the homeowner was black or Latinx Latino. And so people actually literally whitewashed their homes, meaning they took their pictures down, they took away their hair care products, so that when the appraiser came in, they didn't know that the home was owned by a person who was black or Latino or Hispanic. That work was significant and we were making real strides on that. And I think that's just gone by the wayside right now.

[Alison Gill]

It's just brushed under the rug. And you know, like you say, if we pan back and look at some of the other issues that are covered by Legal defense fund, including criminal justice, civil rights, voting rights, and you know, you mentioned we see this in other areas other than HUD as well. I think of the Civil Rights Division being completely gutted at the Department of Justice. I have been calling it the Civil Rights Division. They are now in the business of protecting the rights of white people, you know, the long oppressed white people. That.

[Demetria McCain]

Allison, that's a great point. I mean, you think about employment, I mean, you literally had the head of the EEOC under Trump take to social media and invite white males to file discrimination complaints as it relates to employment. Literally, like, that's absolutely unheard of.

[Alison Gill]

Yeah. And that's the work of Harmeet Dhillon. Then, you know, we can look at the, the Voting Rights act being completely now gutted by the Supreme Court. And we see the effects of that. And, and you know, I mean, we go all the way back to 2013 when they took away that pre, pre clearance, pre clearance, where if you were in a state with a known history of racial discrimination, voting, you had to Department of Justice, if you want to change your election laws, that was gone 2013. Now they've taken it even a step further with their latest decision. So let's talk about what legal defense fund is focusing with regard to voting rights, what you're focusing on there.

[Demetria McCain]

Well, it's the whole gamut. I mean, we saw even before the Calais decision, I think you were referencing the Calais decision that came out this past term, which our president, Director of Counsel Janee Nelson, argued before the Supreme Court. And people should understand that the Supreme Court made us argue that case twice. It was argued in March 2025 and then it was argued in October 2025. And so we kind of knew something was up. Right, because they called us in twice to argue that case. But even before the Kelly decision came out this time last summer, we at LDF were in Texas, a couple of us, because that's when the whole redistricting debacle was taking place in Texas, even before the Kelly decision, where there was a mid census redistricting changes going on. And that clearly was a problem. And at ldf, we want to focus on the fact that this redistricting was racial gerrymandering at that time. And this is before the Kelly case at that time, they kept arguing, oh, it's just partisan. It's just partisan. It's just partisan. Well, if it was just partisan, why were the four key districts that they focused on? Three were primarily black districts, so to say, and one was a Hispanic Latino district. But it's just partisan. And so we want to make sure that people understand that first and foremost that that along with then we got later got the Cali decision. That was just a debacle. I mean, Kagan's dissent said made Section 2 of the Voting Rights act all but a dead letter. And it's total debacle. And really they really kind of of act as if nothing was based on race. It was just based on partisanship, which is baloney. It's baloney. So we are working with other partners as it relates to reviving, let's say, voting rights at the statutory level through Congress, looking at many different things in response to the Calais case, but we were also looking at revising, I should say, even before the Calais case. So the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement act is critical. Critical. It's been introduced during this Congress. But we're also looking, like I said, to work on some revisions to that with our partners who are on the Hill who care about civil rights and voting rights. But that's just a part of it. Obviously, we're going to continue our work in the courts. And let's just say we've got to celebrate the district court level wins. We got to celebrate the wins. So even though the supreme court might be handing us rotten eggs, you might say we've had some wins at the district court level. Issues like mail in voting, mail in ballots, all those kind of things are critical and problematic. So we keep fighting litigation. But it's important to understand that organizing is important. We didn't get the voting rights in 1965 because of people sitting around in court. It came because of people on the street, street SNCC leaders, those folks who walked that Edmund Pettus bridge, those people who got bloodied. It came from organizing. And so we are also aligned with a lot of partners who are organizing to push forward about what we want next. See, it's not good enough to simply go back to what we had before, because if we went back to what we had before, there never would have been any litigation at all. Right? And so we've got to envision what we want next to ensure not just black political power, but to ensure that we have a true multiracial democracy throughout this country. And that's what that's about.

[Alison Gill]

I've been saying we need to add four seats to the Supreme Court so that when we do pass this and sign it, it doesn't get gutted again. That's a conversation for another day.

[Demetria McCain]

Yeah, you're joking. But supreme court and all court reform is hugely important.

[Alison Gill]

I'm not joking.

[Dana Goldberg]

Hugely important.

[Alison Gill]

I'm dead serious. I am dead serious.

[Demetria McCain]

Our black voters on the rise, those folks are in the community, particularly in the South. We really kind of focus on the south quite a bit. That's where the majority of black people live there in the community, not just during major elections, but throughout the year as it relates to, like, state level local elections, school board elections. But right now, of course, we're getting ready for the midterms. We want to protect the polls. We want to make sure voters can vote. We want to make sure that people are able to exercise that fundamental right. I talked about all these four pillars that we work on. But if we are not able to protect the right to vote, all those other things fall by the wayside because you don't get policies that help the average person adopted or passed.

[Alison Gill]

It's a key to unlocking all the other rights. And I wanted to just briefly ask you, before I let you go, about your work on evolving the state election laws. Right. Because we know, elections are administered by the states. And right now we've got got sort of a thing going on with the Supreme Court that's really hard to get around in certain circumstances. But I've noticed lately Wes Moore in Maryland looking at redistricting, putting redistricting, referendum on the ballot. Abigail Spanberger, extending voting rights to felons, for example. Things that blue states with blue legislatures can do kind of to fight back in the meantime, before we can level the whole playing field again. Is the kind of work that you're doing at the state level.

[Demetria McCain]

I love that question. I love that question. So important. Yes, absolutely. And you say that we know that elections are administered by states. I hope you tell some people here in Washington, D.C. that fact. Yeah. We're working across our states and country regarding state voting rights acts. So while I said earlier we're working on the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement act, we're simultaneously working with states across the country on state voting rights acts, particularly in the South. You mentioned Maryland, but this year alone, we worked in partnership with folks on the ground on state voting rights acts. We got one passed in Maryland, but we also got one passed in 2026. And this is only August in Delaware and New Jersey. So three this year. Ever since the Calais case, more states are clamoring for this. But understand that this work started way long ago. And even last year, like I said, we have been all around the country. We focus on the south, where most black people live. We have introduced it in southern states, in southern states like Texas, like places like Florida, and it's being introduced in Mississippi. We've actually created a model state Voting Rights act so that states that are interested can contact us or our other partners, because we're doing this with other national partners and we can show them the model that they can tweak and change as it relates and fits their particular state and circumstances. And so that's huge. And so, you know, people say, oh, it'll never get passed in Texas. Oh, it'll never get passed in Florida. Well, I tell people Project 2025 was not hatched in 2024. Right. And so you start on this work now. Right. To get it into the water, and eventually it will pass. And we go back to that piece I mentioned earlier, which is the organizing, because it is people who are clamoring for something fresh, something new, something they can do now while we wait for change at the federal level.

[Dana Goldberg]

Yeah.

[Alison Gill]

Saying it'll never pass is obeying in advance. If people, when they first started to trying to introduce Legislation to overturn the Defense of Marriage act or to bring marriage equality. Did they wait until they had enough votes to start introducing those bills? No, and they don't pass until they do. You just gotta keep.

[Demetria McCain]

Exactly.

[Alison Gill]

Because that's how you build momentum for stuff. Right. And that's why I think Legal Defense Fund is so important. Can you tell people where to find and follow your work and how they might be able to help as well?

[Demetria McCain]

Yeah, absolutely. So we'[e-mail] but as it relates to the upcoming elections, you can just go to LDF Vote to make that easy. And that's where you can find out where you can volunteer to help with watching the polls. You can find out how you can sign up with your own county within your own state to work the polls. And our Black Voters on the Rise team is there to provide lots of information that people will find on that website regarding your voting rights by state.

[Alison Gill]

Actually such a big thing, especially the poll watching, because the Department of Justice used to send poll watchers to protect the vote, but this time, the Department of Justice is sending polls watchers to interfere with the vote. And so when we get volunteers together to go and stand at those polling locations and make sure everything's on the up and up, it's like one of the best things we can do.

[Demetria McCain]

Yep. And we also partner with the election protection. That number, if people feel they have problems at the polls or problem registering is 8, 6, 6 our vote.

[Alison Gill]

Amazing. 866 our vote, everybody. Check it out. Thank you so much for spending some time with us today. Really eye opening. And I hope that we can have you back again between now and the midterms to see how things are shaping.

[Demetria McCain]

And thanks so much, Alison. It's great to be here. Appreciate it.

[Alison Gill]

Thank you. Demetri McCain, everybody. Stick around. We'll be right back with the good news. Diamond Dames, mount up.

[Charlotte Clymer]

I'm Charlotte Clymer.

[Alison Gill]

And I'm Alison Gill. Hey, Charlotte, what if you and I joined forces to create a weekly podcast amid all the chaos of the news to chat about the most recent episode of season four of Ted Lasso?

[Charlotte Clymer]

Well, Allison, we'd be taking delight amid the spite to sit and write and bring some light on Wednesday nights. I mean, look, everything right now is ridiculous. I know we're all stressed out with the state of the country and we all deserve some joy. Ted Lasso was there for us in the middle of the pandemic, and he's back to offer us a respite from Trump 2.0 right before the midterms.

[Rainy Day Rabbit Holes Host]

That's right.

[Alison Gill]

We believe in Rom communism. I mean, if Trump Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan can go through some heartfelt struggles and still end up happy, then so can we. So subscribe to Diamond Dames for free right now to get notifications. And then you can join us every week after each episode of Ted Lasso Season 4, wherever you get your podcasts.

[Charlotte Clymer]

And remember, be a goldfish. Diamond Dames, dismount.

[Dana Goldberg]

Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh.

[Alison Gill]

Barbecue sauce. Hey, everybody. Welcome back. It's time for the good news. Good news, everyone. Then good news, everyone. Good news, good news. Okay, please, please, pretty please with sugar on top, please send in your good news if you've ever thought about it. Like, maybe I'll do it today. Today's the day. Maybe today's the day. Go to DailyBeansPod.com, click on Contact and send in your good news. It can be big or little. It can be from yesterday or when you were a kid. Anything at all. You can even just write in with a shout out to, like a loved one or yourself or a nonprofit or a small business. You can send your Good Trouble recommendations or tell us about some awesome good trouble you're seeing happening in your neck of the woods. We would love to hear about it. Maybe give a shout out to a government program that's helped you or a loved one and you know, anything at all. You can send it to us. And all you gotta do is attach a photo. You can actually, I think attach two photos, but at least one and it can be your pet or a adoptable pet in your area or a random animal from the Internet. Jimothy Photos are always welcome photos of what you're making or creating. We love to see those. There's so many great makers and creators who listen to this show. Photos of your garden or your chickens or your goats or a sunset or did you see the eclipse? Send in the eclipse. Are you traveling? Send us a travelog. We want to hear about about all of it. Send it to us dailybeanspod.com click on Contact. First up is your Good trouble. Good Trouble today comes from Rachel. Pronouns. She and her the Interagency autism Coordinating Committee iacc.hhs.gov has released their strategic plan and it's horrible for people with autism and their loved ones. Instead of doing anything that would help us, the plan focuses on putting people in institutions and finding ways to prevent and cure autism, which is another way to say they don't want us to exist. That's called Eugenics. It also creates ways for the committee to do creative accounting. Just like the rest of the administration. The autism community needs people to comment on the IACC strategic plan by August 20th. So please take some time to do so if you can. In the show notes, we'll have a link to a video explaining the strategic plan and a link to a guide on the issues with the plan and how to comment on it. Rachel, thank you so much for that. How awesome. I mean, just how awful. Yeah.

[Dana Goldberg]

All right, next up, Dr. Ramey pronoun. She and her hello fagioli friends. There you go. She's working on this with you. I wanted to give one of my favorite charities a shout out. It's called Protect Night Night. That's N I G H T. N I g H T. Protect Night Night. They donate over tens of thousands of Night Night packages each year to homeless children 12 and under who need childhood essentials to have a concrete and predictable of security and an increased exposure to high quality literacy materials during their time of upheaval. Each Night Night package contains a new security blanket, an age appropriate children's book, and a stuffed animal all nestled inside of a new canvas tote bag. Project Night Night.org we're gonna have a link in the show notes. If you have forgotten that already, make it easy for you. I don't have any affiliation with them, by the way. I just like them. Pick of Gus, which is Augustus Erfer Fonzarella. Arfur Arfur. That's hysterical. Arfur Fonzarelli for paying taxes. It took me a second, but I got there.

[Alison Gill]

Oh, my gosh. Look at this poodle with the teal moment.

[Dana Goldberg]

It's a badass poodle.

[Alison Gill]

Augustus R for Fonzarelli. Fantastic. Hey.

[Dana Goldberg]

Hey, how you doing?

[Alison Gill]

Next up from anonymous pronoun, she and her Good news times 2. Monday of last week, our son got our first granddaughter. Her name is Lula Tallulah, if you want to be fancy. And my hubby starts work at his on Thursday the 13th after being unemployed for over three months. Congratulations, Y'. All. Pictures, Lula, of course. And a beautiful owl that flew past early one morning this week. Okay, Tallulah's gorgeous.

[Dana Goldberg]

Oh, the baby.

[Alison Gill]

Look at that owl on a street sign. Oh, gorgeous. That's like you remind me of the babe.

[Dana Goldberg]

What babe?

[Alison Gill]

Babe with the power. Every time I see an owl, I'm like, it's Labyrinth. It's Jareth. He's coming to save me and rescue me.

[Dana Goldberg]

Me. All right, next up, from Dusty, our dear Dusty lesbian pronoun she and her. Hello, Allison and Dana. Here's an update from my last submission about Lifeline animal rescue and Dazzling the dog. She got adopted after her moment of stardom on the Jumbotron at the Braves game.

[Alison Gill]

Hell yeah.

[Dana Goldberg]

In other news, after spotting my first flock camera near home, I have been finding them everywhere. This. This is frightening. I also find it ironic that tech giants rely on solar power to keep them working. Last night I read that ice goons are getting stun gloves. What's next? Cattle prods? So hooray for Dazzling and Lifeline and fuck this regime. Photo of Dazzling enclosed. Also the Obama White House when we had real people in office.

[Alison Gill]

Yeah.

[Dana Goldberg]

Congrats that day at the White House and good job on the dome.

[Alison Gill]

Yeah. That when they lit it up in the colors, in the pride colors, it was just. Love it.

[Dana Goldberg]

Yeah.

[Alison Gill]

Dusty, thanks for this. And you're man, you're right. We talked about these shock gloves earlier and it's just like I envision like 60 years in the future, somebody's going to make a black and white film about ice and it's going to include these shock gloves. Right. Just disgusting. Next up, from Erica Pronoun. She and her. After our first day at sea, we docked in Tarragona, Spain. I just learned on this trip that when a ship parks in town for the first time, it's the maiden call, which is the exact opposite of a siren's call. The ship gets a plaque. Today is the Queen Victoria's maiden call in Tarragona, so they'll get a new plaque up for their trophy wall. My tariff today is a picture of some of those plaques as well as a solar eclipse bouquet in front of the grand staircase this morning. Morning. I hope everything is not on fire over there. Well, Erica. Yeah. I highly recommend being offline for 24 plus hours so you don't have to see any news. It's pretty amazing.

[Dana Goldberg]

I know.

[Alison Gill]

Look at these amazing maiden plaques. That's so cool. A solar eclipse bouquet. There it is. I was like, I wonder what it's going to look like. And there it is.

[Dana Goldberg]

There you have it.

[Alison Gill]

Makes sense, right?

[Dana Goldberg]

Next up from Eric, pronouncing him, hello, queens of the beans and fellow Legumina. I'm not sure where to put this on the scale of good news, so I'll let you decide. I want to bring your attention to Tennessee 1 congressional race and specifically to Democratic candidate Christy Burke. Here's why. She's impressed the hell out of a Texan who can't vote for her. I followed Christie as a Christian deconstruction content creator long before she decided to run. She's not a politician, just a concerned citizen who decided to fight back in the best way she knew how. She just won her primary. I think her race deserves more attention, and I think she'd make a good interview. You can check her out on YouTube, which is otechristi with an I everybody. Burke with an e at the end. At vote Christy Burke and I'll let her tell her story. For my podpet tariff, I give you antifa mutt Liz chilling in our favorite spot. See if you can guess she's a lab. Oh, there we go.

[Alison Gill]

Oh, they told us.

[Dana Goldberg]

All right, see if you can guess next. The next words in the story. She's a lab Melon wa mix producer failed to redact.

[Alison Gill]

Oh, let's take them to court. Amazing. That's incredible. All right, Christy Burke. I'm definitely gonna check that out. Eric, thank you so much. Look at this sweet dog. Oh, yeah, baby. Definitely some Malinois in there. Look, there's a guitar and a rocking chair and a beer on a table with a footstool and an upside down American flag. Yeah. Amazing. That's Tennessee at its finest. All right, next up from Danny Pronoun, she and her hello, hallowed beans Queens. Last Friday, you read a good trouble post from a listener in Washington state Talking about the i638, the Anti Trans girls in sports initiative. As a fellow Washingtonian, I immediately dug into this initiative, and I was truly horrified by what I found. We're not alone. Colorado, Nebraska, and Arizona have similar measures. But i638's three method medical certification requirements with no age floor is by most accounts the most invasive and most explicit version of this idea on any 2026 ballot. For an initiative claiming to be about fairness, burdening every girl in the state, regardless of age, to an anatomical exam, hormone testing, or genetic testing, plus whatever the costs, out of whose pocket, nobody says just so they can play soccer is egregious. Yeah, it would be a broad mandate slapped on an entire population of girls to address a vanishingly smaller number of participants with no no cost cap and notably no equivalent burden on boys. If the underlying principle really is students should compete in athletic categories consistent with sex they were assigned at birth, full stop. Boys should trigger the same certification requirement as his female counterpart does. But he doesn't. Under this bill, which only restricts participation in one direction away from girls sports. I couldn't help but write about it on my substack to get the Word out to my 14,000 subscribers. No hate in Washington State is going to send the article to their supporters. Full credit where due. I did a shout out to my favorite beans queens for the inspiration, making good trouble and using our voices against this insanity matters. And you two taught me half of my best swear words for the occasion. Thank you for arming us to sing beyond the choir. Oh, and make change.

[Dana Goldberg]

Nice, Danny.

[Alison Gill]

Well put. So we're going to have a link to the substack here, here in the show notes. And for my pet tax, I present Rosie the porch chicken. She was being bullied by the other ladies in the coop, so she moved out and started living under our rose bushes. I just picture a chicken with that meme we all see with, oh, who is it? Ben Affleck smoking a cigarette like, I'm out of here. She went to live under the rose bushes. She's since been promoted to her I own porch condo. And every morning she knocks on the slider and comes in reminding me that it's breakfast time. Okay, all right.

[Rainy Day Rabbit Holes Host]

Oh, my God.

[Alison Gill]

All right, Rosie. I mean, guess her breed. I'll be forever impressed by your foul knowledge. She's a blank, which is a fitting reminder to work hard and spread the word from my kitchen table until we can get past this. Okay, so it has something to do with being loud or working hard.

[Dana Goldberg]

Allison, if you get this, I will. I don't know what I'll give you, but I already un redact or I took off the little. A friend of mine doesn't like when we say redacted, so I'm trying to stop because it reminds her of the Epstein files, but I took off the bar, and if you can guess this,

[Alison Gill]

a red clucker.

[Dana Goldberg]

I should have bet more on that. We don't know chickens. We don't know fowl. It's literally called an Americana.

[Alison Gill]

All right, Americana. Okay. Work hard from your kitchen table. Beautiful chicken. And I love that she's just like, fuck this. And she moved into your house.

[Rainy Day Rabbit Holes Host]

It's pretty great.

[Demetria McCain]

I know.

[Dana Goldberg]

I'm out of here, you bitches. Cluck this. All right, Judy from Kansas pronouns she and her. We must start sending this message to our elected officials. When Democrats get any power in government, they need to be confident and bold, do what needs to be done unapologetically. They must not worry about what Republicans say, because Republicans will lie and complain no matter what Democrats do. Some never. Democrats are asked about the Republicans characterization of them. The response must be that Republicans created this mess. They don't now get to complain about how Democrats clean it up. And for my tariff, I'm including pictures of my grown children. They both participated in Black Lives Matter protests during the pandemic in different cities, and they both made the news. News. I'm so proud to have raised humans who care about other humans.

[Alison Gill]

Oh, incredible. Here's one in Kansas City, Mo. And then there's another one.

[Dana Goldberg]

Love it.

[Alison Gill]

Amazing. Well done. Well done. Judy from Kansas.

[Dana Goldberg]

Yep.

[Alison Gill]

All right, everybody, thank you so, so very much for all of your good news. We really, really appreciate it. And we're gonna go make some beans, talk magic, and then we'll be back in your ears tomorrow. Any final thought thoughts?

[Dana Goldberg]

Not today.

[Alison Gill]

All right, everybody, we'll see you 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.

[Dana Goldberg]

I've been dg.

[Alison Gill]

And them's the beans. The Daily Beans is written and executive produced by Allison Gill with additional research and reporting by Dana Goldberg. Sound design and editing is by Desiree McFarland with art and web design by Joel Reeder with Moxie Design Studios. Music for the Daily Beans is written and performed by they Might Be Joined 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 msw media.com msw Media

[Rainy Day Rabbit Holes Host]

history is messy. It's weird, wild, and anything but boring. Rainy Day Rabbit Holes is a history podcast about unhinged stories that make you stop and ask, wait, is this real life? From crazy disasters and tasty scandals to enlightening and surprising, heartwarming tales, we explore the moments where people behave badly and sometimes beautifully. We've got naughty politicians, cultural chaos and a deep love for the Pacific Northwest, including Bigfoot. It's thoughtful, irreverent, occasionally serious, and always entertaining. Let's fall down the rabbit hole.

[Alison Gill]

MSW Media.