Cartographer’s Delight

Summary

Podcast Summary: The Daily Beans – "Cartographer’s Delight"

Release Date: August 5, 2025

Hosts: Alison Gill and Dana Goldberg

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Introduction

In the episode titled "Cartographer’s Delight," Alison Gill and Dana Goldberg delve into a series of pressing political and social issues impacting the United States. Balancing serious discussions with their characteristic snark, the hosts provide insightful commentary on redistricting battles, healthcare policies, immigration regulations, and higher education disputes.

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Texas Redistricting Showdown

Key Discussion: Arrest Orders for Fleeing Democrats

At the outset (00:00), Alison Gill outlines a contentious move by Texas Governor Greg Abbott, who has ordered law enforcement to locate, fine, and arrest Democratic lawmakers who fled Texas to protest redistricting efforts. The House of Representatives overwhelmingly approved this measure with an 85 to 6 vote (05:58).

Dana Goldberg expresses concern over the extremity of Abbott's orders, remarking, "It's insane. It's an insane ask" (05:58). Alison further explains that the warrants issued by Texas lack jurisdiction outside state lines, raising questions about the feasibility and legality of enforcing these orders nationwide (06:46).

Quote Highlight:

"The sergeant in arms and any officers appointed by her are directed to send for all absentees whose attendance is not excused for the purposes of securing and maintaining their attendance under warrant of arrest if necessary until further order of the House." – Republican Rep. Dustin Burroughs, Texas House Speaker (05:58)

The discussion also touches on the broader implications of redistricting battles, with states like California, New York, and Illinois considering retaliatory measures to counter Texas's aggressive tactics.

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White House and IVF Policy

Key Discussion: Breakdown of Campaign Promises on IVF

Alison Gill reports that the White House is not moving forward with plans to protect in vitro fertilization (IVF) services, despite President Donald Trump's previous campaign promises (14:15). The Trump administration's hesitance to implement federal subsidies or mandate insurance coverage for IVF is critiqued.

Dana Goldberg criticizes the administration's stance, saying, "Trump said, we're going to make IVF free or more affordable. That is so much bullshit" (16:11). The hosts debate the contradiction in promoting pronatalist policies while simultaneously cutting Medicaid and other support systems.

Quote Highlight:

"I mean, you can't seriously claim you're pursuing pronatalist policy when you're kicking moms off Medicaid and when you're leaving kids with less food." – Bobby Kogan, Senior Director of Federal Budget Policy at Center for American Progress (16:11)

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Immigration: Visa Applicants Facing High Bonds

Key Discussion: Proposed $15,000 Bond for Visas

The State Department is proposing that business and tourist visa applicants from countries with high overstay rates may need to post a bond of up to $15,000 (18:13). Alison Gill criticizes the proposal, highlighting its potential to exclude many individuals from the visa process due to financial constraints.

Dana Goldberg echoes the frustration, stating, "I know exactly who this excludes" (18:13). The hosts discuss the lack of a public comment period and the administrative burdens such a requirement would impose on applicants.

Quote Highlight:

"The pilot program would take effect within 15 days of its formal publication." – State Department spokesperson (18:13)

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New Hampshire Bans Gender-Affirming Care for Minors

Key Discussion: Legislative Action in New Hampshire

New Hampshire Governor Kelly Ayotte has signed legislation banning gender-affirming care for minors, making it the first New England state to enact such a ban (11:15). The legislation prohibits puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones for individuals under 18, with limited exceptions (08:11).

Dana Goldberg expresses anger over the bill, emphasizing, "Every single time one of these stories comes out, it just makes me so angry" (13:11). Alison critiques the overreach of political intervention into personal healthcare decisions, advocating for parental and medical autonomy (13:22).

Quote Highlight:

"It's legislation that sends a message that the legislature thinks it knows better than doctors and the families of transgender young people what kind of care they need and should have access to." – Chris Erchel, GLBTQ Legal Advocate (13:11)

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Harvard vs. Trump Administration: Settlement Denied

Key Discussion: Harvard President Denies $500 Million Settlement

Harvard President Alan M. Garber has publicly stated that the university is not considering a $500 million settlement with the Trump administration, contradicting reports from sources familiar with the negotiations (18:16). Despite ongoing disputes over frozen federal research funds, Garber insists that the school prefers to resolve issues through the courts rather than through costly settlements.

Alison Gill criticizes the New York Times for its reporting on the matter, highlighting discrepancies between faculty accounts and official statements (19:45). The hosts discuss the broader implications for higher education institutions facing political pressures.

Quote Highlight:

"We're in the talks with 500." – Alan M. Garber, Harvard President (18:42)

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Good News Segment

Listener Contributions and Positive Stories

Transitioning from the intense political discourse, Alison and Dana invite listeners to share their good news, celebrating personal achievements, acts of kindness, and community successes. They highlight submissions from listeners who host house concerts, graduate from academic programs, and support local food pantries. This segment aims to uplift and provide a counterbalance to the heavier topics discussed earlier.

Notable Submissions:

• Hosting house concerts to build community bridges despite political and environmental challenges.
• Celebrating academic achievements, such as earning a master's degree with distinction.
• Supporting local food pantries through personal gardening efforts.

Quote Highlight:

"Tell us about your small business or maybe your thesis or dissertation Title a shout out to a government program that's helped you or a loved one." – Alison Gill (24:17)

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Conclusion and Call to Action

The hosts conclude by encouraging listeners to engage in "good trouble," urging them to support Democratic efforts in states like Texas by contacting state representatives and advocating for fair redistricting practices. They emphasize the importance of proactive political engagement to counteract the aggressive strategies employed by Republican leaders.

Final Remarks:

"It's time to go on offense. It's time to mess with Texas." – Alison Gill (21:20)

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Additional Features

Throughout the episode, Alison and Dana intersperse personal anecdotes, promote upcoming events, and interact with listener submissions. While advertisements and promotional content are present, the summary focuses solely on the substantive discussions and key moments of the episode.

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Note: Timestamps correspond to the provided transcript for reference.

Transcript

[Alison Gill]

MSW MEDIA hello and welcome to the Daily beans for Tuesday, August 5, 2025. Today, Texas Governor Greg Abbott has ordered police to fine and arrest Democrats who fled the state over redistricting. The White House has no plans to protect IVF, breaking yet another campaign promise. The US may require visa applicants to post a $15,000 bond, pricing many out of the process. The New Hampshire Republican governor has signed a law banning gender affirming care for minors. And the president of Harvard says the school is not considering a $500 million settlement with the Trump administration. I'm Alison Gill.

[Dana Goldberg]

And I'm Dana Gold.

[Alison Gill]

Hello, my friend. Happy Tuesday to you.

[Dana Goldberg]

Happy Tuesday to you as well. I just have to tell everybody I don't do a lot of acting, but a friend of mine was doing a super secret project today, and I'm just gonna tell you I got to be in character and play pickleball. And it was the best day.

[Alison Gill]

So you got to be yourself.

[Dana Goldberg]

I got to be myself. I got to be a lesbian who plays pickleball who happens to be from Odessa, Texas, though she's also part of the church. So, you know, a little balance there.

[Alison Gill]

Oh, okay. Now I'm excited for whatever this project is to come out.

[Dana Goldberg]

Well, they're trying to sell us this also. Anyway, we just all had to pick some characters, so that one seemed to work, but it was just a fun day. I'm in a good mood.

[Alison Gill]

Oh, good. Excellent. I'm glad to hear it. And you've got another very cool. You just did a great fundraising show with Nikki Glaser and a bunch of really, really amazing comedians to raise money for puppies and kitties.

[Dana Goldberg]

Yep.

[Alison Gill]

In California. But you've got another very cool show coming up.

[Dana Goldberg]

I do. September 5th, and I love this one. It's actually for the Los Angeles Guild for Reproductive Health. And so if you're in the Los Angeles area and you want to drop a little coin, come to watch us. This lineup is ridiculous. I'm going to be on stage with Kathy Griffin, Stephanie Miller, Rita Rudner, Kathy Langman, Stephanie Bloom, who's brilliant, and Carol fucking Leifer. Like I'm talking, these women have paved, paved so many ways, broken down so many doors that I get to just sort of walk through now, limp through a little bit sometimes. But I'm stoked. So if you want to go to this show, September 5th, it's a Friday night in Los Angeles. They're almost sold out. But you can get tickets on my website, danagoldberg.com hit my appearances. Scroll down a couple and get them, because we're going to raise some money. I will be telling jokes, but I'll also be doing a live auction that night, so you'll be able to see me do both my roles.

[Alison Gill]

That is going to be incredible. What a man. That is a beast mode lineup, right?

[Dana Goldberg]

Oh, my God.

[Alison Gill]

That is like, all, like, by heroes of comedy. Like, that's just brilliant. That's. I'm gonna see if I can make it up for that. Holy majoli. All right, so there's a new episode of cleanup on aisle 45 out tomorrow. I hope everybody gets to listen. And as you all know, I'm suing the Department of Justice to get some of those Epstein find Trump in the files training videos. And Dana, the case just got assigned to a judge, really? In the D.C. district Court, and it was assigned to Judge Beryl Howell.

[Dana Goldberg]

That is fan fucking tastic.

[Alison Gill]

So I think it's just kind of. You know, the thing is, what I started this whole network with the Mueller podcast, right. And I'm known as Mueller. She wrote and Judge Burrell. Hal presided over the grand jury proceedings for the Mueller investigation. And so it's just kind of an interesting. Since it's MSW media versus the Department of Justice, it's just sort of an interesting pick that we got. Judge Beryl Howell. So we'll be keeping everybody posted on this proceeding as much as we can. But I just wanted to give everybody an update on that, that we did get a judge assigned.

[Dana Goldberg]

I'm so proud of you. I really am. Yeah, we're doing good. We're doing good things. Try and keep sanity in this world and hold people accountable.

[Alison Gill]

Yeah, that's the goal. Right. And you can see me if you go to Katie Fang's channel on Midas. Touch. I was on her show.

[Dana Goldberg]

Amazing.

[Alison Gill]

On Monday night. That's always just so incredible to talk to Katie. She's just so much smarter than I am.

[Dana Goldberg]

No, you guys both have your strengths. Don't sell yourself short. But she is so good.

[Alison Gill]

I'm. I. Maybe I am better at dick jokes, but she knows the law inside and out. And it's just a really great interview about the lawsuit. And. And we also talked about corporate media and. And how neither of us are part of that.

[Dana Goldberg]

So. Nice.

[Alison Gill]

And the upside to it. So I hope you check that out if you get a chance again. It's on Katie Fang's YouTube channel, which is on the Midas Touc, and that came out on Monday night. She does put out a lot of content, so you have to definitely subscribe to her channel. All right, we have a ton of news to get to. Super proud of what the Democrats are doing in Texas. So let's get to it. Let's hit the hot notes. Hot notes. All right, first up from ABC, Texas House Republicans on Monday voted 85 to 6 to authorize the House sergeant in arms and related officers to track down and civilly arrest Democrats who fled the state in protest of GOP redistricting efforts. Quote, the sergeant in arms and any officers appointed by her are directed to send for all absentees whose attendance is not excused for the purposes of securing and maintaining their attendance under warrant of arrest if necessary until further order of the House. That's Republican Rep. Dustin Burroughs, speaker of the Texas House of Representatives. And you know, this is just to think about like from a big picture point of view dating what's going on. They want to arrest and force Democrats into a quorum to vote themselves out of existence.

[Dana Goldberg]

It's insane. It's an insane ask. And they're also had no problem when Speaker Johnson decided to, you know, let everyone out early so they didn't do an Epstein vote. No one had a problem with that. And usually Ted Cruz is the one fleeing the state when goes down. So there's also that country when shit.

[Alison Gill]

Goes down, dude is gone. Now shortly after that vote, Texas Republican Governor Greg Abbott said he ordered the Texas Department of Public Safety to find and arrest the Democrats who fled the state, an order which will remain in effect until they are accounted for and brought back to Austin. The warrants however, have no power outside state lines. You have no power here. And it's unclear to what extent, if at all, Texas law enforcement may and could coordinate with other counterparts in relevant states. Why do you think they went to Chicago in New York?

[Dana Goldberg]

Yep.

[Alison Gill]

The move comes amid a showdown over Republican led effort backed by Trump to create new congressional maps. With control of US House at stake, Abbott had given Texas House Democrats a deadline of 3pm local time on Monday to return to the state house for the special session or risk losing their jobs, which is also unconstitutional. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who I believe was under indictment for fraud, suggested Democrats who left should be arrested and forcibly brought back. I think he should go to trial for his crimes first. That would be my deal. I'll come back and face arrest if you do your thing.

[Dana Goldberg]

You show me yours, I'll show you mine.

[Alison Gill]

Now the response from the Texas House Democratic Caucus to Abbott's threat. Come and take it.

[Dana Goldberg]

Love it. Sound like those gonna come and take them. Yeah. All right. The first news conference with Texas Democrats on Monday was with New York Governor Kathy Hochul in Albany. Hochul's message for Texas Democrats was, and I quote, you are on the right side of history and you're not alone. As I said, history will judge us and how we respond to this moment. But here in New York, we will not stand on the sidelines with the timid souls on the sidelines who don't care and who will not invest their heart and soul into this battle that this is a war. She went on to say. We are at war and that's why the gloves are off. And I say bring it on. Finally, let's at least go on some. I mean, we're still sort of on defense, but let's go on some offense here. We need some maps.

[Alison Gill]

Show us the maps.

[Dana Goldberg]

I know Hogle said that she would seek to disband or change New York's independent redistricting commission through a constitutional amendment in response to Texas, but she admitted that doing so would not be possible before the 2028 election under Governor Andrew Cuomo. New Yorkers, what they did, they passed a constitutional amendment in 2014 prohibiting partisan redistricting and that actually fucked a few, by the way, areas in New York because of what Cuomo did that ended up going red. Now Texas House Democrats who have gone to Massachusetts for the National Conference of State Legislatures, they submit and will hold a press conference in Boston on Monday afternoon. Then Texas House Democrats who have gathered in Illinois, they're going to hold a press conference with Democratic members of Congress in Chicago on Monday night. Abbott in that warning we've been talking about, two Texas House Democrats said leaving the state in protest amounted to an, I quote, abandonment or forfeiture of an elected state office. Really get the fuck out of here, the governor said if they didn't return by 3pm local time on Monday, he would invoke Texas Attorney general opinion number KP0382 to remove the missing Democrats from membership in the Texas House. He further went on to claim the lawmakers who left may also have committed felonies by fundraising in order to pay $500 fine they risk accruing each day they are absent. Texas's redistricting effort has prompted some Democrat led states to investigate similar moves to fight fire with fire, as California's governor Gavin Newsom said. Newsom's considering calling a special session on redistricting in November to make the state's congressional map more Democrat friendly. Newsom said Monday that California Democrats have or are nearly done with A draft of a new map. So we've got a cartographer on this, and I quote, whatever they are doing in Texas will be neutered here in the state of California, and they will pay that price. That's from Newsom. And as Allison and I have said, do it anyway. Do it. As the redistricting battle heats up, a House Republican will introduce legislation to ban mid decade redrawing of congressional maps nationwide. California GOP Rep. Kevin Kiley will formally introduce the bill on Tuesday, which will, and I quote, nullify new maps adopted by states before the 2030 census, including any that are adopted this year. The bill's future remains uncertain, however, as it's unlikely to be backed by House Republican leadership. They're scared. They're scared, dude.

[Alison Gill]

So Texas is like, let's do this. And then California, New York, and Illinois, like, okay, we'll do this. And they're like, no, no, no. Let's make a law that says you can't do this.

[Dana Goldberg]

Yep, that's exactly what it is. I feel like it's that in a bar fight, you know when some douchebags like, you want to fight, you want to fight? And then four giant guys come out of the shadows to back this dude, and he's like, yeah, let's go. They're like, no, no, no, no. Fighting in this bar is illegal. It's illegal.

[Alison Gill]

It's like that old Kids in the hall sketch with the bar fight where the guy's like, I'm this close to kicking your ass. And he puts a little his fingers up to show, I'm this close to kicking your ass. And the other guy goes, oh, yeah? Well, I'm this close to running away. And it makes us smaller. Oh, hell yeah, they're scared. All right, next up from NBC in Boston, New Hampshire Governor Kelly Ayotte has signed off on an effort to ban gender affirming care for minors in the state. And this makes New Hampshire the first New England state to take such action. Quote, medical decisions made at a young age can carry lifelong consequences. And these bills represent a balanced, bipartisan effort to protect children. That's what Ayotte said in a statement. I don't know if I'm pronouncing her name right. The legislature sent the two bills notice. I don't care. To Ayotte's desk last month. The first bans puberty blockers and cross sex hormones for people under the age of 18. The legislation includes an exception for those already prescribed to continue their treatment when the ban goes in effect on January first of next year. The second limits breast surgeries for minors to only those procedures needed to treat malignancy, injury, infection, or malformation and those needed to reconstruct the breasts after such procedures. Now, this comes at a time when more states are considering such bans. As we know, a recent US Supreme Court decision upheld such a ban in Tennessee, which came as a major blow for transgender rights. Advocates say some families have prepared to move out of New Hampshire because of the band quote. It's really disappointing to see that Governor Ayotte blocked access to health care for so many people in New Hampshire. That's Chris Erchel of glbtq, legal advocates and defenders, and went on to say, it's going to be devastating for these young people and their families. It's legislation that sends a message that the legislature thinks it knows better than doctors and the families of transgender young people what kind of care they need and should have access to.

[Dana Goldberg]

Every single time one of these stories comes out, it just makes me so angry.

[Alison Gill]

Yeah. Like blood boiling.

[Dana Goldberg]

Yeah. It should be left up to the parents and the doctors. That's it. This should not have anything to do with politicians.

[Alison Gill]

Yeah. What happened to, like, get your government off my back, Republicans?

[Dana Goldberg]

Yeah. Small government, unless it's in the lives of transgender people, in my uterus, involved in everything right now. Yeah. Republicans have lost their way.

[Alison Gill]

What you read, what you eat, what vaccines you can have.

[Dana Goldberg]

That Republican Party doesn't exist anymore. It's now just the GOP and Trump. That's it.

[Alison Gill]

That's why they have to steal seats to win, because their policy is such shit.

[Dana Goldberg]

Yeah. All right, this next one's from the Post. Allison. The White House does not plan to require health insurers to provide coverage for an in vitro fertilization service. This is from two people with knowledge of internal discussions, even though the idea was one of President Donald Trump's key campaign pledges. They're such assholes. Last year, Trump said that if he returned to office, the government would either pay for IVF services or issue rules requiring insurance companies to cover the treatment for it. The pledge came as Trump faced political blowback over the abortion rights after his appointees to the Supreme Court. They overturned Roe v. Wade, and I quote, the government is going to pay for it or we're going to get. We'll mandate your insurance company to pay for it, which is going to be great. We're going to do that now. Trump said that, by the way, In August of 2024, he said, we want to produce babies in this Country, Right.

[Alison Gill]

Gross. And I got to say, just a small correction to the post here. I don't think it was blowback after Roe. I think it was blowback after the Alabama Supreme Court banned ivf.

[Dana Goldberg]

That's probably what happened, I mean, under.

[Alison Gill]

The larger umbrella of Roe. But I thought that that was where the blowback came from. But either way, he's full of shit.

[Dana Goldberg]

Yeah. And we're seeing that now. I mean, this is more than six months into his term. Now. He's. The Trump administration has not publicly proposed new federal subsidies to make IVF free or more affordable. In addition, White House officials, they're backing away from proposals discussing internally to mandate IVF coverage for the roughly 50, 50 million people that are on the Obamacare exchanges. Social conservatives, alarmed by the nation's falling birth rates, have called for more aggressive government intervention to support mothers and childbirth, including new federal funding and other protections. But their efforts have faced objections from traditional free market voices in the party who are they're just wary of federal mandates or new spending initiatives. Liberal critics, they point out that Trump tax legislation included approximately $1 trillion in cuts to Medicaid and hundreds of billions of additional cuts to food stamps relied on by millions of low income families. You know, because they're so pro life, and I quote, you can't seriously claim you're pursuing pronatalist policy when you're kicking moms off Medicaid and when you're leaving kids with less food. This is from Bobby Kogan, the senior Director of Federal Budget Policy at the center for American Progress. So thank you for echoing my thoughts, Bobby. You're exactly right.

[Alison Gill]

And we've had Bobby on the show a couple of times. Yeah, no, they want to pursue pronatalist policy for white people. White people. That's, that's what this is about. So, like, the only reason they want to make IVF, like more available or legal is so more white people can have babies. That's what this is about.

[Dana Goldberg]

That's right.

[Alison Gill]

So just so dystopian. It's Gilead. All right. From the Associated Press. The State Department is proposing requiring applicants for business and tourist visas post a bond of up to $15,000 to enter the United States, a move that may make the process unaffordable for many. In a notice to be published in the Federal Register on Tuesday, the department said it would start a 12 month pilot program under which people from countries deemed to have high overstay rates and deficient internal document security controls could be required to post bonds of $5,000 10 or $15,000 when they apply for a visa. The proposal comes as the Trump administration is tightening requirements for visa applicants. Let's be fair, they're getting rid of them pretty much all over the place, especially for students. Last week, the State Department announced many visa renewal applicants would have to submit to an additional in person interview, something that was not required before. In addition, the department is proposing that applicants for the Visa Diversity Lottery program have valid passports from their country of citizenship. A preview of the bond notice, which was posted on the Federal Register website Monday, said the pilot program would take effect within 15 days of its formal publication. So no real comment period there, and is necessary to ensure that the US Government is not financially liable if a visitor does not comply with the terms of his or her visa. Oh my God. Visa bonds have been proposed in the past but have never been implemented. The State Department has traditionally discouraged that requirement because of the cumbersome process of posting and discharging a bond and because of a possible misperception by the public. I'm not misperceiving anything.

[Dana Goldberg]

Nope.

[Alison Gill]

I know exactly who this excludes.

[Dana Goldberg]

Yeah, okay. A little bit of pushback, maybe. We'll see. I'm not sure. It's all very confusing. This one's from the Harvard Crimson. Harvard President Alan M. Garber, year of 76, has told faculty that a deal with Trump administration is not imminent and denied that the university is even considering the $500 million settlement. That's according to three faculty members familiar with the Did Trump just say it?

[Alison Gill]

I We're in the talks with 500.

[Dana Goldberg]

And everyone probably picked it up. I mean, we covered the story. I love when we get corrected with this. The university is seriously considering resolving its dispute with the White House through the courts rather than a negotiated settlement. This is again from Garber, and that's according to three faculty members. Harvard and the Trump administration restarted negotiations in June to restore billions of dollars in frozen federal research funding. In recent weeks, the government has reached settlements with several of Harvard's peers. That's including Columbia University, who paid more than $200 million in exchange for access to federal funding. The Trump administration has pushed Harvard basically to cut an even costlier deal. That's what's happening in the New York Times reported last Monday that the university is considering a settlement with a price tag of half a billion dollars. So that's what we're hearing. But Garber, he actually said in a conversation with one faculty member that the suggestion that Harvard was even open to paying 500 million is false. He also claimed that the figure was apparently leaked to the press by White House officials.

[Alison Gill]

Oh, New York Times.

[Dana Goldberg]

According to three people familiar with the conversation, Garber's comments. They signal that Harvard, which has not several early wins in court, may see its legal battles through. It is possible that even if the university plans to eventually settle, it will try to push the agreement until after U.S. district Judge Allison Burroughs has ruled in its two lawsuits, especially since Harvard has good reason to believe that Burrows will favor its arguments. Burrows granted Harvard two preliminary injunctions in its lawsuit challenging federal attempts to end international student enrollment at Harvard. And during a hearing for the university's other lawsuit, she appeared skeptical of the government's justification for its sweeping freeze on Harvard's federal research dollars.

[Alison Gill]

Good Lord. Yep, I can see it now. Oh, the judge won't let us stop foreign people from studying at Harvard. Well, let's make him pay a $15,000 bond. Like just. Everything is just. He's so full of shit. And New York Times, man, Do better. Do better. We relied on that reporting. So did everybody.

[Dana Goldberg]

We sure did.

[Alison Gill]

And did you not get a statement from Garber, like, man, telling you what? I'm glad I don't work at the New York Times? Let's just put it down.

[Dana Goldberg]

Yeah, they like stealing your, you know, scoops anyway. Don't worry. And you basically do work. You're just not getting paid five days later.

[Alison Gill]

Anyway, I shouldn't. It's not about me. It's about getting the story out there. All right, everybody, it's time for some good trouble.

[Dana Goldberg]

What are you guys doing?

[Alison Gill]

All right, good trouble today. If you're in a blue state, call your state representatives, your state legislators, and your governor and pressure them to redraw your maps. Tell them you support the Democrats in Texas. Tell them you support what the DNC is doing by supporting the Democrats in Texas. Because Ken Martin at the DNC is all in on this, and national party leadership is supporting this. Tell them you support all that and you'd like to fight fire with fire. Let them know their actions will go a long way to galvanize support for the Democratic Party among voters who see what Texas is doing as what it is, cheating because they know they're going to lose on policy. So ask your state leaders to fight for you and all the voters in your state and around the country, because it's time to go on offense. It's time to mess with Texas.

[Dana Goldberg]

Indeed.

[Alison Gill]

All right, everybody, stick around. We're going to be right back with the good news after these messages. We'll be right back. Everybody's summer is coming to a close. The days are getting shorter, school routines are kicking back in, and suddenly dinner becomes one more thing on the to do list. And that's where Home Chef steps in. Users of leading meal kits have rated Home Chef number one in quality, convenience, value, taste and recipe ease. For a limited time, Home Chef is offering you 50% off and free shipping on your first box. Plus free dessert for life. Just go to homechef.com dailybeans. They deliver fresh ingredients and Chef designed recipes right to your door. And it takes the guesswork out of dinner. Whether I want a quick 30 minute stovetop recipe or a microwave meal after a long day, I know I've got something delicious ready to go. Home Chef also has family menu and oven ready options that make weeknight dinners smoother. Especially when you're juggling school pickups and work and extracurriculars and everything else. And their new five ingredient meals. Perfect for nights when you want something homemade without hassle. Just five fresh ingredients and simple steps. That's it. With more than 30 meals to choose from every week and options for different diets, you can keep things flexible and flavorful. And with savings of around $86 a month on groceries, it's good for your wallet too. I recently had Home Chef's gnocchi and bearnaise with asparagus.

[Dana Goldberg]

Oh so good.

[Alison Gill]

It was warm and comforty. The gnocchi was pillowy, the sauce was rich, it was tangy, it had a hint of tarragon and the asparagus added a perfect bite. It was delicious. I loved it. So for a limited time, Home Chef is offering you 50% off and free shipping on your first box, plus dessert for life. So go to home chef.com daily beans that's homechef.com daily beans for 50% off your first box and free Dessert for life. Must be an active subscriber to receive free dessert. Everybody, welcome back. It's time for the good news everyone.

[Dana Goldberg]

Then good news everyone.

[Alison Gill]

Good news. And if you have any good news, any little good news story at all, it could have happened to you in 1986. We don't care. We need to microdose your hope. So send it to us. If you have a shout out to a loved one or yourself, a small business in your area, let us know what you're making or creating. What are your hobbies? What are you doing to pass the time? We want to see the fruits of your artistic labor. Tell us about your small business or maybe your thesis or dissertation Title a shout out to a government program that's helped you or a loved one. It can be the Affordable Care Act, Medicare, Medicaid, snap. It can be something local or municipal. It can be Section 8. Whatever it is, send it to [e-mail] and click on contact. And to get your stuff, read on the air, you just got to pay your POD pet tariff, which really honestly means just attach a photo of anything.

[Dana Goldberg]

Yeah, we'll take almost anything.

[Alison Gill]

But we love your. Your pet photos, your pet tariff. If you want us to guess the breeds and your shelter pup, we can try to do that. We're not very good, but sometimes we get it right. Like 1% of the time we get it right. So send that to us. Or just, you know, if you don't, you could. If you don't have a pet, an adoptable pet in your area, we can see if we can find them at home. And then of course, if you don't have that, just really grab any photo off the Internet. Animal photo, baby animals. We love frogs, pandas, otters. I like secretary birds. And naked mole rats.

[Dana Goldberg]

Don't even sound like real things. I know they are. I've seen them. I just want to know who's naming these things. Like, what was the secretary bird doing? Like taking notes during a conversation, right?

[Alison Gill]

Yeah, I don't know. I don't know.

[Dana Goldberg]

Making phone calls to all the other birds. That's probably what it is. Someone who just alerts the other birds burring. And I know secretaries do more than answer phone calls. Please do not write angry messages to me.

[Alison Gill]

And if you don't have an administrative assistant, executive assistant bird, we can go that way if that's better.

[Dana Goldberg]

That's right.

[Alison Gill]

But send it all to us, please. And if you don't have that baby pictures, family photos, anything at all, send it to us. Dailybeanspod.com click on contact first up from anonymous Pronouns she and her My partner and I are professional musicians with day jobs and healthcare in the heart of Zion, slc, Utah. For our part in the Good Trouble, we host house concerts for our talented musician friends. This weekend we packed our home with 30 incredible people we love. They had new chances at lifetime connections with people who care about the future of our nation. And we're building bridges through the love of performing arts in a very oppressive political and religious state. This weekend we hosted thoughtful and bright singer songwriter Mike Vital. It was incredible to see how his music moved this room full of people. All while a freak dust storm raged outside our living room. Windows. Oh, that's poetic. Right. For my pod pet tax, I've included an imaginary picture of our imaginary ragdoll cat with a checkered past. Mori. He leads the cat force that protects our little domicile from invaders and bad dreams for our eight and five year old boys.

[Dana Goldberg]

Aw.

[Alison Gill]

All right, look at this. There's little concerts in the house.

[Dana Goldberg]

I love house concerts. That's fantastic.

[Alison Gill]

Me too. I remember we were doing like living room shows during the pandemic for comedy and stuff. Oh, man, this is so cool. Thank you, Anonymous.

[Dana Goldberg]

Yeah, this one's also from someone. Anonymous. But pronouns are she and her, hi, AG and dg. I wanted to give you two a shout out. I've listened to the Daily Bean since I was on nursing strike of January 2025. I was introduced by a fellow striker. Fuck yeah. Unions.

[Alison Gill]

Yes, unions.

[Dana Goldberg]

That's right. I've since become a patron and recommend this podcast to anyone and everyone I meet. I mean anyone. Anyways, I wanted to thank you all and your team. I've been home with a lovely summer cold from hell and finally checked my mail for the first time in a week, only to find a box. A box I did not order. I think. Well, this is what I needed to make my sick time a lot brighter. A daily Beans mug. Thank you so much. Keep up the good fuckery. And my pop head Tariff is my four year old Mr. Charlie 8's Chibby Chops, who came from the cat distribution system in my friend's backyard. Then I got him a little brother, Calcifer, who is living up to his demonic name. Yep, they are the best. Orange Gremlins. Yes, Orange Gremlin is their breed.

[Alison Gill]

Oh, my God. Okay, first of all, great rainbow bow tie collar here on Mr. Chibby Chops, which is a great name.

[Dana Goldberg]

I know.

[Alison Gill]

Charlie H. What does the H stand for? Anonymous. There's the Daily Beans mug. There's another kitty trying to hide. I love it when cats try hide.

[Dana Goldberg]

I want it to be Horatio and.

[Alison Gill]

You can totally see him. Okay, so yeah, if you become a patron, we send you like swag. You get like stickers, some mug. We have tote bags and T shirts and all kinds of stuff. If you want to become a patron, it's really cheap and you get all sorts of really cool stuff. So you can sign [e-mail] mullershirote and it really, really helps us out. Helps me file lawsuits against the government.

[Dana Goldberg]

So thank you. There you go.

[Alison Gill]

All right, next up from Lucinda Pronoun. She and her hi there, team Beans after three years of studying alongside with working full time, last week I had my graduation for my master's degree, which I received a distinction for. It is ridiculously a long title. Ready? MSC Internal Audit Management and Consultancy. Since you asked for thesis titles, I thought I'd share mine. An Evaluation of the Influence of Internal Auditors, Behaviors and Characteristics and Interpersonal Skills on Relationships with Audit Clients and Internal Audit Engagements. Success. I remember these. You have to know if you haven't done a thesis or a dissertation. The title is often longer than the actual paper. The graduation ceremony was wonderful. Wonderful celebration of everyone's successes. And we were lucky to have live music played by the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire brass band. I went to Birmingham City University in the uk. It's probably the only graduation ceremony where the procession of academics and their chancellor is accompanied by celebration by Kool and the Gang. Hell, yeah. I've attached a photo of my fancy academic dress, which I enjoyed wearing, possibly a bit too much. I love that. Especially when it's with distinction. Thanks always for what you do. I start my workday by listening to the beans. And the good news always gives me a boost to begin my day. Look at this. Absolutely beautiful. Your shoes are fantastic. Yep.

[Dana Goldberg]

Congratulations.

[Alison Gill]

Dress is gorgeous. There's the distinction. Congratulations, Lucinda. Wonderful.

[Dana Goldberg]

All right. This One is from Dr. Worm. Pronounce.

[Alison Gill]

She called me Dr. Worm. Yeah.

[Dana Goldberg]

What up? What up, beans? Queens? Just wanted to share my first major harvest on its way to my local food pantry. I love to garden. I live alone, so I'm so grateful to have a local place to take my veggies to so they don't go to waste. My garden is my happy spot. I often want to give it all up and just move into my garden. But then how will I provide my cats the life of luxury they enjoy? You ask. Yeah. Thanks for your show. Also included pics of my kitties. Moo and oink. Living the good life.

[Alison Gill]

Yeah. Yeah. That's why I do a lot, is to provide for the cats. And if you're in the San Diego area, Dr. Worm. I love veggies. These are beautiful. There you go. And look, there's sunflowers in there, too. I love this. And the kitties are gorgeous. Thank you so much. But, yeah, I think I've said this before in the show, Dana. I'll be on the couch. They'll be all on my lap. And I'll have to get up to come record the show. And I'll be like, sorry, guys, I gotta go make that poop sand money. And here we are. Next up, Heidi does hair. No pronouns. A few months ago, my 91 year old dad's wife passed away. I'm in Phoenix and he's in Florida and I set out to convince him to move here. Luckily though, he was open to it. My husband and I toured several independent living facilities and found a few that would work for him. He came out to visit, picked one and signed up. All of this happened in one month. He's moving here in a month. My husband and I are going to set up his apartment so it's like home and not an empty hotel. And I'm grateful that this was much easier than I expected it to be. And I'm grateful that my 91 year old dad will be near family for however long he has. He's still rocking it, still plays tennis and is looking forward to having a community of people. You've seen pictures of my pets, so I'm actually going to shout out myself. I love my job. This is why. Heidi, this hair is amazing.

[Dana Goldberg]

Yeah, it is. Look at this.

[Alison Gill]

This is like really, really incredible work. Salon. What?

[Dana Goldberg]

I know. Look at this second one. That's fucking amazing.

[Alison Gill]

Yeah. Heidi, you need to tell us what salon you work out of so people can come and see you. These are incredible. This color is amazing. And vivid.

[Dana Goldberg]

So vivid.

[Alison Gill]

And then also I want to know what facilities you checked out. If you can send me that information too. That would be super helpful to me personally in the Phoenix area. I would love to know what kind of research you did for these facilities. That would be super helpful. So anyway, Heidi, brilliant. Thank you so much for that submission.

[Dana Goldberg]

All right, this one's also from someone Anonymous. Hello, my dearest ladies of the legumes. I started listening to the Daily bean shortly after January 20th. You see, I've been a federal worker for the VA for nearly 20 years and provide direct care every day to veterans living with schizophrenia, PTSD and other severe mental illnesses in groups homes. The Orange Menace came directly for our jobs that day with his first executive order and life has been unbearable since. Between sending the bullshit five things email every Monday and now going back to cramped offices or working in our cars, the only thing that's gotten me through is the daily beans and your warm, kind voices with occasional appropriately placed curse words to spice things up. I thank you from the bottom of my heart for your hard work at the show and all other efforts to speak out against the Orange Taco the Clown Dirtbag and the evil space cadet Felon Musk. What has also gotten me through my darkest times is just to be grateful. And one of the greatest gifts I've ever received was the PSLF awarded to me from the Biden administration in 2021. I was forgiven close to 75,000 of my student loans needed for my undergraduate and graduate degrees. I was raised by a badass single mom. Same Anonymous but had no other way to pursue my dream of higher education. Not a day goes by that I don't think about how this has changed my life, but so sad that others just as deserving will not have the same opportunity. Because of this program, I can now put that money back into the economy and also save for my son's future education, for my POD pet tax. My puppers Bosco, who used to enjoy lunch breaks romps in the forest. But since I've had the return to office, spends his days away at daycare now.

[Alison Gill]

Doge okay, first of all, I'm so sorry you had to return to the office. Anonymous thank you for your work as a social worker. Thank you for working at the Department of Veterans Affairs. Indeed, thank you for all that you're doing. I just feel so like it rips my heart out that this administration is trying to paint federal workers as lazy or cheaters or something. Or you know, waste and bloat or whatever. Yeah. And congratulations on that student loan forgiveness. And I'm with you. I wish we could all. I wish everyone could have it. But man, the work you're doing is so very important. So the Phoenix VA is interesting. I was just there and I was in Dana, I was in the VA on Indian School Road and there was a one guy, an old guy with a Vietnam veteran ball captain, black gentleman in a wheelchair. And then there was another guy in a wheelchair, a white guy with a Trump MAGA hat. And the MAGA guy was really mad about having to wait 10 minutes and he said he had Trump's phone number and that he was going to call Donald Trump and fix this or whatever. And then the black veteran was like, you shut the up, man. And like I just sat and oh, you don't like him? No, I don't like him. Blah blah blah. And they went back and forth for a while and then they just sort of amicably stopped talking to each other because they're both veterans. Vietnam veterans. Yeah, but that was, that was my visit. But what I can say about the Phoenix VA is that everybody that was working there is doing their best to, to help the veterans as best they can during this administration.

[Dana Goldberg]

I have no doubt.

[Alison Gill]

So thank you for that. Thank you to everybody for your wonderful, amazing good news. Please send your good news to us and you can do that by going to DailyBeansPod.com and clicking on Contact. I really appreciate it and I appreciate you listening. So any final thoughts, my friend?

[Dana Goldberg]

Not for today.

[Alison Gill]

All right, well, we'll be back in 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, abba, DG and them's the Beans.

[C]

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 McFarlane with art and web design by Joelle Reed with Mocking 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 msw media.com msw media.