Crabs In A Bucket (feat. John Fugelsang)

Summary

The Daily Beans — Episode Summary
Episode: Crabs In A Bucket (feat. John Fugelsang)
Date: February 13, 2026
Hosts: Allison Gill & Dana Goldberg (MSW Media)
Guest: John Fugelsang — host, comedian, author

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Episode Overview

This Friday’s episode of The Daily Beans dives headfirst into a dynamic week in progressive political news, packed with legal drama, Congressional battles, important reminders of trailblazing figures, and the resilient spirit of marginalized communities. The show features its signature mix of snarky takes, deep dives, and informed interviews, culminating in the weekly “Fugelsang Friday” segment with insightful and often biting commentary from John Fugelsang.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Major Legal Updates & Congressional News

• Sen. Mark Kelly’s Legal Battle and Victory

  • Judge Leon blocks Pentagon’s move to punish Sen. Mark Kelly for advising troops not to follow illegal orders (01:07–09:01).
  • Quote: Judge Leon:

    “This court has all it needs to conclude that the defendants have trampled on Senator Kelly’s First Amendment freedoms and threatened the constitutional liberties of millions of military retirees, to say the least. Our retired veterans deserve more respect from their government, and our Constitution demands they receive it.” (06:14)

  • Allison calls Judge Leon a “badass astronaut” for supporting Kelly.
  • Grand jury returned zero votes to indict Kelly, an unprecedented shutout for prosecution (07:12).
  • Judge Leon, with trademark humor:

    “As Bob Dylan famously said, you don't need to be a weatherman to know which way the wind blows.” (08:56)

• House Passes Anti-Voting Bill (SAVE Act)

  • The GOP-backed bill requires proof of citizenship and photo ID, with only one Democrat (Henry Cuellar of TX) voting for it (09:01).
  • Dana: “Experts have said [the bill] could disenfranchise millions.”

• Senate Democrats Block DHS Funding, Agency Faces Shutdown

  • Dems refuse even a short-term funding patch, citing GOP intransigence and lack of good faith on immigration negotiations (10:41–12:25).
  • Senator Catherine Cortez Masto:

    “I'm not going to support a stopgap if my Republican colleagues don't come to the table and work with us right now and get this done.” (11:55)

• Federal Government Still Blocks Investigation into ICE/CBP Killings in Minneapolis

  • MN AG Keith Ellison bemoans the lack of federal cooperation in state investigation into the shootings of two citizens by border authorities (12:25–13:43).
  • Allison: “We’re way past good faith.” (13:34)

2. Executive Actions & Judicial Rulings

• Trump Administration Revokes Foundational Climate Policy

  • President Trump “erases the scientific finding that climate change endangers human health and the environment,” gutting the legal basis for greenhouse gas regulations (13:43).
  • Dana: “The administration is saying scientists are wrong and that a hotter planet’s not the menace…” (13:59)

• Judge Orders Venezuelans Held in El Salvador Returned for U.S. Immigration Proceedings

  • District Judge Boasberg rules Venezuelans deported in a prisoner swap were denied rights, orders their return for legal proceedings (14:57).
  • Allison:

    “It is worth emphasizing that this situation would never have arisen had the government simply afforded plaintiffs their constitutional rights before initially deporting them.” (15:20)

3. Social Justice & History

• Olympic Figure Skating: Surya Bonaly’s Legacy

  • Allison highlights Black skater Surya Bonaly, the first person to land a backflip (on one skate) on Olympic ice in 1998, recalling her as an inspiration and noting that backflips were then illegal and Bonaly did so anyway for her last Olympic skate (03:13–05:30).
  • Allison:

    “She figured, ‘I’m not going to win…so I’m putting it in. I don’t care.’” (04:50)

  • Dana: “They docked her points…but she did it anyway.” (04:27)

• LGBTQ+ Pride Flag Raised Again at Stonewall

  • Dana updates that after days of protest, the pride flag was re-raised at the Stonewall National Monument, defiant in the face of anti-LGBTQ+ actions (17:06).
  • Allison:

    “You’ve fallen victim to one of the classic blunders: First, never go into a land war in Asia. Second, don’t f**k with the LGBTQ community.” (18:01)

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Fugelsang Friday: Notable Moments & Quotes

1. Pam Bondi’s Testimony and GOP’s Authoritarianism

• Discussion of Pam Bondi’s explosive House Judiciary hearing, where she refused to look at survivors in the gallery, focused on stock market talking points, and unveiled the administration’s surveillance of Congressional Epstein file access (21:46–29:34).
  • John Fugelsang:

    “[Bondi] revealed herself…willing to go down in the history books as covering up child rape for fleeting earthly power and prestige…There’s a level of authoritarian certainty in Pam Bondi’s petulance that we see throughout this administration.” (22:36–24:52)

  • Allison: “There was so much laughter, smirking, and lightheartedness—it was just evil to watch.”

2. Executive Branch Surveillance of Congress

• Fugelsang highlights revelations that the Trump DOJ was tracking which lawmakers studied which Epstein files in committee (“intimidation,” “the executive branch spying on the legislative branch”).
  • John Fugelsang:

    “After years about screaming that they were spied on, Trump is spying on Congress.” (25:43)

3. Accountability, Activism, and American Legacy

• Fugelsang urges listeners not to be discouraged by setbacks:
  • “Despondency is privilege. If you need to take a break, take a break and then get back in the game, because this house of cards is beginning to crumble.” (30:06)
• On the radicalism and self-delusion in the current GOP:
  • “These stupid douchebags think they’re gonna be in power forever.” (24:52)

4. Super Bowl Halftime & Culture Wars

• Hosts and John critique rightwing outrage over Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl performance, noting MAGA’s outrage as tied to racism, xenophobia, and manufactured culture war grievance (32:52–39:07).

• John:

  “The beautiful thing about [haters’] stupid hate is nobody watched, nobody cared. Bad Bunny had record high ratings. This is the beautiful thing about the human race—hate marginalizes itself.” (37:19)

• Quick summary of the “crabs in a bucket” metaphor for white grievance politics:

  • John:

    “If one crab gets close to climbing out of the bucket, the others pull them down…That’s the negativity that white conservative people have had programmed into them for decades.” (40:06)

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Notable Quotes With Timestamps

• [06:14] Judge Leon:

  "Our retired veterans deserve more respect from their government, and our Constitution demands they receive it."

• [04:50] Allison Gill:

  “Surya Bonaly...the pioneer who landed the first single blade land on Olympic ice with that backflip.”

• [18:01] Allison Gill:

  “You’ve fallen victim to one of the classic blunders: First, never go into a land war in Asia. Second, don’t f**k with the LGBTQ community.”

• [22:36] John Fugelsang:

  “She [Pam Bondi] just revealed herself...covering up child rape for fleeting earthly power and prestige.”

• [24:52] John Fugelsang:

  “There’s a level of authoritarian certainty in Pam Bondi’s petulance that we see throughout this administration.”

• [25:43] John Fugelsang:

  “After years about screaming that they were spied on, Trump is spying on Congress.”

• [30:06] John Fugelsang:

  “Despondency is privilege...this house of cards is beginning to crumble.”

• [37:19] John Fugelsang:

  “Hate marginalizes itself...Bad Bunny had record high ratings...Another beautiful example of hate making itself smaller.”

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Other Memorable Moments

• Celebration of Surya Bonaly’s backflip at the Olympics — A rare, celebratory detour that centers Black female achievement in sports ([03:13–05:30]).
• Pride flag re-raised at Stonewall — Emblematic of ongoing resistance and resilience in LGBTQ+ spaces ([17:06–18:42]).
• Super Bowl Halftime Show Reactions — Hilarious and pointed breakdown of rightwing culture war tactics, complete with references to Laura Loomer, Kid Rock, and performative outrage ([32:52–39:07]).

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Timeline of Important Segments

• 01:07 — Top news headlines and opening banter
• 03:13 — Surya Bonaly’s Olympic legacy
• 04:50 — Context around backflip being illegal and significance for marginalized athletes
• 06:14 — Judge’s rousing defense of Sen. Mark Kelly’s rights
• 09:01 — House passes the SAVE act; voting rights under threat
• 10:41–12:25 — Senate Dems refuse to fund DHS
• 13:43 — Trump administration undoes climate finding
• 14:57 — Judge orders return of deported Venezuelans
• 17:06 — Stonewall Pride flag re-raisers' resilience
• 21:46 — John Fugelsang joins: Pam Bondi and Congressional drama
• 25:43 — DOJ espionage on Congress over Epstein files
• 30:06 — Fugelsang on persistence: “Despondency is privilege”
• 32:52–39:07 — Culture war: Super Bowl, Bad Bunny, Kid Rock
• 40:06 — “Crabs in a bucket” metaphor for American politics

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Tone & Language

The tone is smart, irreverent, and at times darkly humorous, with rapid-fire banter between hosts. The podcast never shies away from righteous indignation but simultaneously manages to uplift listeners by focusing on resilience, activism, and the importance of fighting back.

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For New Listeners

This episode offers a sharp, insightful, and unvarnished look at the week’s most significant legal and political developments, while never forgetting the power of community activism, the dangers of complacency, and the hope that comes from small and large acts of resistance. With memorable moments from both the hosts and John Fugelsang, it’s as entertaining as it is informative—a must-listen for progressives seeking both detail and perspective.

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End of Summary

Transcript

[Narrator]

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.

[Allison Gill]

MSW Media. Msw media.

[Dana Goldberg]

Daily beans. Daily beans. Daily beans.

[Allison Gill]

Hello and welcome to the Daily beans for Friday, February 13, 2026. Today, Judge Leon blocks Pete Keth's effort to punish Senator Mark Kelly for his illegal orders. Video the House Republicans passed the SAVE act with one Democratic vote to help them Senate Democrats block block Department of Homeland Security funding, which will likely result in a shutdown of the agency. Trump has lifted greenhouse policy underpinning key climate rules. The feds are still refusing to cooperate with Minnesota investigations into the murders of Alex Preddy and Renee Goode. And Judge Boasberg has ordered the return of Venezuelans illegally removed to Seacoat Prison last March. I'm Allison Gill.

[Dana Goldberg]

And I'm Dana Goldberg.

[Allison Gill]

Man, almost a year later, and we're getting a ruling on the JGG case with Boasberg for the Alien Enemies Act.

[Dana Goldberg]

Y. I can't believe it's already been a year. It's wild. I also can't believe it's Friday. By the time everyone's listening to this.

[Allison Gill]

This week, I don't even. I can't believe it's 2026. Like, I still. Yesterday I though it was a couple. Maybe it was a week ago. Anyway, Recently I wrote 1996 as the year somewhere. I think in my notes. I take notes for.

[Dana Goldberg]

We could always hope.

[Allison Gill]

Yeah, I'll be. How old was I? 22 in 19 now, actually. No, I take that back. I do not want to relive my 20s. That was a weird time. I was like the junior high. But it is Friday, which means it's Fuglsang Friday. So we're gonna be joined by John Fugelsang later in the show. And hey, new Wall Street Journal reporting coming out right now that that whistleblower, that Tulsi Gabbard whistleblower.

[Dana Goldberg]

Yeah.

[Allison Gill]

That underlying call she hid from everybody and blocked for eight months was a call between two foreign nationals about Jared Kushner. So, yeah, Hoo, boy.

[Dana Goldberg]

Hoo boy.

[Allison Gill]

And the sad thing is it could be a million things Right, Yeah. Like, oh, that one thing Jared Kushner did. No, no, no. There's just possibly hundreds of things that he did. But we still don't know what that underlying discussion was. Hopefully, we'll learn more as. As time goes on. And today.

[Dana Goldberg]

I love this. I love the story you're about to highlight. It's so important.

[Allison Gill]

Thank you so much, because I was. I posted about this on Blue Sky. I was thinking about it. We're all watching the Olympics. I love figure skating. I've been watching figure skating since I was a little girl. I've been figure skating since I was a little girl. Well, I stopped also when I was a little girl, but I did figure skate when I was very young. I grew up with a pond in my backyard. I wanted to be an Olympic figure skater when I was a kid. But, you know, once you hit five foot tall at the age of nine, they're like, no, probably not for you. So same with gymnastics. But everyone's going nuts about and as am I, this amazing skater named Ilya Malinin. He's a United States figure skater. He's probably going to run away with the gold. I know he's skating today, I think, in the men's free skate individual competition, and everybody's going nuts over his backflip. But I remember, Yes, I do, too, gently remind everyone that the first skater to land a backflip on one skate on Olympic ice was a black woman named Surya Bonilli. She did it 28 years ago at the 98 Games in Nagano, Japan. She also did it in 1991 and 1992. She was landing on two feet back then. So it's been a minute.

[Dana Goldberg]

And. And I just want to remind everyone this was an illegal move back then. She did not care. They. She was getting penalized for this move when it first started. And now they're rewarding the move, which is really frustrating. But, yes, I love that we are highlighting her for sure because the move was banned. Like I said, she was punished for doing it. They doctor points from her score. She did it anyway.

[Allison Gill]

Yep. She figured I'm not going to win because, first of all, I'm a black woman in figure skating in the 90s. And so she's like, I'm putting it in. I don't care. It was her last skate of her professional Olympics career. She went on to retire. She's now a skating coach. She's just an incredible athlete and just a beautiful skater. She was my favorite. I remember watching it live on television. I was watching it. And I just jumped up and I screamed like, oh, my God, she did the backflip. Because there was rumors that she might and that she would get docked for it, but she didn't care. So she's the pioneer who landed the first single blade land on Olympic ice with that backflip.

[Dana Goldberg]

Incredible.

[Allison Gill]

And I just wanted to highlight Surya Bonalet today because, man, she was such an inspiration to a lot of young women. All right, with that, we have a lot of news to get to, so let's hit the hot notes. Hot notes. All right, first up from Politico, a federal judge has sided with Senator Mark Kelly because he's a badass astronaut who did nothing wrong, but also to stop Defense Secretary Pete Kegseth from punishing the former Navy captain for advising troops not to follow Illegal orders. Orders. U.S. district Judge Richard Leon, in a Thursday ruling that included 12 exclamation points. He likes those. Issued a preliminary injunction blocking the Pentagon's effort to demote the Arizona Democrat's rank and reduce his retirement pay. Quote, this court has all it needs to conclude that the defendants have trampled on Senator Kelly's First Amendment freedoms and threatened the constitutional liberties of millions of military retirees, to say the least. Our retired veterans deserve more respect from their government, and our Constitution demands they receive it. Now, this decision is the second legal setback this week for the Trump administration's campaign to punish Mark Kelly and five other Democratic lawmakers who released that video last fall telling military personnel they don't have to adhere to illegal orders. The Justice Department on Tuesday failed to secure criminal charges against the six Democrats, all of whom have military or intelligence backgrounds, over the video after a grand jury in Washington rejected an indictment. And I, I don't think we had this particular bit of news, so I'm going to add it here. It wasn't that they didn't get a majority to get a true bill from that federal grand jury, Dana. They got zero votes. They were shut out.

[Dana Goldberg]

Wow.

[Allison Gill]

And many prosecutors and legal scholars, including Steve Vladic, Joyce Vance, they're like, never have I heard of a shutout. It's, it's rare enough to not get a true bill, to not be able to indict a ham sandwich, so to speak.

[Dana Goldberg]

Yeah. And it was a George W. Judge, wasn't it?

[Allison Gill]

Or this is a GW judge.

[Dana Goldberg]

Yeah.

[Allison Gill]

But for the grand jury to come back to shut him out, zero. Zero votes to indict, that's wholly and highly unprecedented. So the Pentagon launched an investigation, as we know, into Kelly in November after the release of the video. And at the time, Whiskey Pete threatened to call Kelly, a fighter pilot who served 25 years in uniform, including time at n NASA as an astronaut, to call him back to active duty to face a court martial. But the Defense Department ultimately stopped short of that, instead launching the process to demote him. So Kelly sued Hegseth and the Defense Department in January after the Pentagon chief announced the demotion proceedings. Hegseth also issued a letter to censure Kelly for his comments, which he said were part of a pattern of reckless misconduct. Federal grand jury in Washington rejected an effort by the U.S. attorney Janine Pirro's office to charge the lawmakers. The latest extraordinary rejection of efforts to take legal action against the president's foes. It's unclear which charges Pirro sought to bring against the lawmakers. But this court, again, he says, has all it needs to conclude the defendants have trampled on Senator Kelly's freedoms and threaten the constitutional liberties of millions of military retirees. But after that quote, which I gave you earlier, he throws a Bob Dylan quote in there. He says, right on. After all, as Bob Dylan famously said, you don't need to be a weatherman to know which way the wind blows. And then, and then there's a little footnote and it says, Bob Dylan, Subterranean.

[Dana Goldberg]

Homesick Blues that's actually very funny. This next story, I'm actually, I was hoping, I was hoping, I was hoping this wouldn't happen. But this is from democracy docket. The GOP sweeping new anti voting bill cleared the House. It cleared the U.S. house Wednesday, setting up a high stakes battle in the Senate. So you know what good, good trouble is? We're going to make you call some more people. Everybody just get read. The House voted 218 to 213 to pass the Save America act, which experts have said could disenfranchise millions by requiring voters to show documentary proof of citizenship at registration and to provide photo ID when they cast ballots. All Republicans present voted in favor of the bill. Not surprising, there was one Democrat, one Democrat that voted against it and that was Rep. Henry Cuellar of Texas. But I do have some better news. This is from the Wall Street Journal of Homeland Security is on the verge of a shutdown after Senate Democrats. Yep. Voted to block a bill to fund the agency, saying negotiations with Republicans to put new restrictions on immigration enforcement hadn't made enough progress. In fact, I was watching the Rep from New Mexico, Sansberry say they all just started walking out. We came to do a vote. Everyone just wanted to go home. A bill to fund DHS through September failed to advance with 52 in favor and 47 opposed. That's short of the 60 votes required. Republicans control the Senate 53 to 47 and they needed at least some Democrats to vote with them due to the long standing filibuster rule. Lawmakers have passed legislation to fund every other part of the government through the end of the fiscal year in September. But they split off the DHS bill to allow time for more negotiations. A two week stopgap funding patch expires after Friday. Quote, if they don't propose something that's strong, that rains in ice and ends the killing, don't expect our votes. This is from Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and I'm sure hoping that stays Chuck. Senate Majority Leader John Thune was so downbeat about the potential for a deal that he allowing senators to go ahead with their plans to leave Washington like I said, for a week long recess. Despite the imminent shutdown, both the Senate and the House are scheduled to be out of session next week because of the President's Day holiday and many lawmakers are heading to a security conference in Munich this weekend. In a sign of how dug in Democrats are centrists who oppose the record length government shutdown in fall, they largely over a failed effort extend enhanced Affordable Care act coverage. Remember that said this week they would oppose even a short term funding patch to keep DHS open for a matter of weeks while negotiations continue.

[Allison Gill]

That blows my mind. That these centrist Democrats didn't even vote for another two week stopgap for DHS is pretty mind blowing.

[Dana Goldberg]

Yeah, enough is enough. This is the quote from the story. I'm not going to support a stopgap if my Republican colleagues don't come to the table and work with us right now and get this done. This is from Senator Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada who voted against the last shutdown. Cortez Masto said she didn't think the GOP and the White House were working in good faith with Democrats on overhauling the department. Really I would agree with you, Cortez Masto. I don't think they're ever working in good faith.

[Allison Gill]

Way to go out on a limb there, Cortez Masto. But she didn't vote for it. That's what matters. Well done. Good. All right. Let's see if they can hang on to that. Next up from Politico, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison told senators Thursday that federal law enforcement agencies are still blocking state and local authorities from participating in the investigations into the shootings of two U.S. citizens by ICE in Minneapolis. It's actually Customs and Border Protection. We haven't had any cooperation up until now, which is very unusual because in prior cases where there's been federal and state interest in a crime, we've seen collaboration between federal and state authorities. That's what Ellison told lawmakers on the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. Ellison said that in the case of the shooting of 37 year old good, Renee Good in early January, state officials still haven't had any access to her car, the car she was driving when they shot and killed her. They don't have the bullet casings either. Ellison said federal officials are not investigating the shootings and added, quote, we still haven't received any access to the evidence that's involved in that case. But we are are with good faith hoping that things will change. Well, sir, I'm afraid it's probably not going to.

[Dana Goldberg]

Yeah, we're way past good faith.

[Allison Gill]

Yeah. FBI declined to comment. Justice and Homeland Security departments didn't respond to requests for comment either. So that's what's going on there.

[Dana Goldberg]

Thanks so much Ag. This is from the Times. President Trump on Thursday announced he was erasing the scientific finding that climate change endangers human health and the environment, ending the federal government's legal authority to control the pollution that is dangerously heating the planet.

[Allison Gill]

Good lord.

[Dana Goldberg]

Yeah. The action is a key step in removing limits on carbon dioxide, methane and four other greenhouse gases that scientists say are supercharging heat waves, droughts, wildfires and other extreme weather led by a president who refers to climate change as a hoax. The administration is essentially saying that the vast majority of scientists around the world are wrong and that a hotter planet is not the menace that decades of research shows it to be. It's a rejection of facts that have been accepted for decades by presidents of both parties, including Richard Nixon whose top advisor warned of the dangers of climate change and the first President, George Bush Sr. Who signed an international climate treaty. And it's a knockout punch in its years long fight by a small group of conservative activists as well as oil, gas and coal interests to stop the country from transitioning away from fossil fuels and towards solar, wind and other non polluting energy which has proven to be cheaper than coal.

[Allison Gill]

Mm. Yeah. And has proven to make people rich as I mean, ask Rick Perry. Yeah, wonderful. Well, I've got some better news from NBC. A federal judge ordered the Trump administration to start allowing Venezuelans sent to the notorious mega presidency coat in El Salvador to return to the United States for their immigration proceedings if they choose to. This is District Judge James Boasberg. He wrote this in an order that he is requiring the administration to allow entry to any of the more than 130 Venezuelan men who were held for four months in the Terrorism Confinement Center. Quote. It is worth emphasizing that this situation would never have arisen had the government simply afforded plaintiffs their constitutional rights before initially deporting them. Now, the men were sent back from El Salvador to Venezuela in July as part of a prisoner swap between the two nations. That's the one that freed that triple murderer from Spain that's now hanging out in Florida.

[Dana Goldberg]

Yep.

[Allison Gill]

Yeah. Many have said they suffered physical psychological abuse, they were abused, they were tortured while imprisoned at sea code. Boasberg said the number of men who might seek to return to the US Would likely be very small. Lee Galernt, that's the lawyer with the ACLU who's representing the plaintiffs in the case, said previously in court that there would be only a handful of his clients who may take them up on the offer. The judge also ordered the government to offer a boarding letter to any plaintiff in the case who is in a third country and requests commercial air travel to the US at the government's expense, quote. It is unclear why plaintiffs should bear the financial cost of their return in such an instance. The parties in the case agreed that anyone who wants to come back to the US Would immediately be detained as their immigration cases proceed. The government is required to file a status report on this by March 13. Informed the court as to the feasibility of returning plaintiffs still in Venezuela who wish to return for their proceedings, and described the steps taken to obtain any passports or identification documents of the individuals. You may remember the last time Judge Boasberg told them to tell him about any steps that were taken to facilitate the return of an immigrant sent to sico. They ignored him. And that's why there is contempt proceedings that are still kind of being hung up in the appellate court. So we'll keep an eye on it for you.

[Dana Goldberg]

Thanks so much, Allison. And good news to end this segment. The pride flag is back up at Stonewall. A big, massive crowd. HRC was there so many supporters in New York. They all gathered today to say loud and clear, lgbtq history will not be erased by Donald Trump. And the crowd is massive. I'm seeing all kinds of things on social media. They are also putting up the pride flag right next to the American flag, and that's where it belongs. Those two belong side by side. That is A national monument to the Stonewall riots where they took place in this country. That should not be a political issue. It should not be. It's just so annoying. But I am. I'm just so happy to see this. We've been. This community has been fighting back for a very long time. You're not going to hold us down by taking a flag down. And then you take it down at night, it's going to go back in the morning. You take it down at night, it's going to go back in the morning. I guarantee it. I guarantee it.

[Allison Gill]

Yeah. You know, you've fallen victim to one of the classic blunders. First, never go into a land war in Asia. Second, don't fuck with the LGBTQ community.

[Dana Goldberg]

Yeah.

[Allison Gill]

It's the most resilient community I've ever seen. They never stop fighting. They never stop fighting for visibility and rights. And I should say we. But, you know, it's. You picked the fight with the wrong group of folks.

[Dana Goldberg]

Yeah, you really have. And there's so many people just flooding social media and I'd love to see it. It. And there's so much press covering it, but it doesn't matter. We're. We're still going to get out there. We're still going to be in community, just like this June. I guarantee you're going to see some of the biggest pride parades and festivals and celebrations you've seen in this country in a long time.

[Allison Gill]

Yeah, we look forward to it. All right, everybody, we're going to get to John Fugalang and then some good news, but we have to take a quick break, so everybody stick around. We'll be right back after these messages. We'll be right back. Hey, everybody. I cover breaking news for a living, but the most urgent alert in my house is always the same. One of my cats will appear out of nowhere to inform me while I'm sleeping loudly that the Smalls bowl is approaching empty. Politics, scandals, all of it has to wait. This is a real crisis. And because I have several cats with very strong opinions and zero patience, I keep Smalls on hand all the time, so breakfast stays peaceful. This podcast is sponsored by Smalls. Is the news making you want to cuddle up with your cat, Smalls? The fresh cat food is protein packed recipes made with preservative free, 100% human grade ingredients that you'd find in your own fridge and it's delivered right to your door. That is why cats.com named Smalls their best overall cat food. So for a limited time, get 60% off your first order plus free shipping when you head to smalls.com dailybeans starting with smalls is extremely easy. You tell them what your cats have been eating, details about their health, their age, their needs, what flavors they tend to like, and they send a personalized sampler for you. That alone saves me from staring at shelves full of random brands, picking one and then hoping for the best. I recently decided that I would do a side by side taste test with Smalls and their old food and it was not even close. They ignored the old food and went straight for Smalls. They love it so much. And if your cat is extra picky, the risk free trial really helps because Smalls will refund you if your cat refuses to eat it it. So stop guessing which meals will upset their tummies for a limited time. Because you're a Daily Beans listener, you get 60% off your first order plus free shipping when you head to smalls.com dailybeans one last time. That's 60% off your first order plus Free shipping when you head to smalls dot com dailybeans History is messy.

[Narrator]

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, 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.

[Allison Gill]

MSW Media. Hey everybody, welcome back. It's Friday on the Daily Beans, which means it's fugal saying Friday. So please welcome my friend, host of Tell Me everything on Sirius XM progress. That's channel 127 weeknights at 9pm Eastern, 6 Pacific. Also new York Times best selling author of the Separation of Church and Hate. If you don't have Sirius, you could always catch the John Fugelsang show podcast for free wherever you get your podcasts. And you can always subscribe to his sub stack as well. Please welcome my friend John Fugelsang. Hi John, how are you?

[John Fugelsang]

Intro, you're just the best man. Every week you give me such a dignified intro I have to measure up to thank you so much Dr. Gill.

[Allison Gill]

They used to do that to me at comedy shows. They'd be like the best, funniest, most amazing person ever in the world. What I'm like All right. Hope I don't suck. Yeah.

[John Fugelsang]

Oh, yeah. Believe me, superlative hype is how I've made it this far. Absolutely.

[Allison Gill]

Wonderful. Well, hey, high five to you. Let's talk a little bit about superlative hype on Capitol Hill, because the Pam Bondi Senate hearing was bad, but she took it to 11.

[John Fugelsang]

Amazing.

[Allison Gill]

In this House.

[John Fugelsang]

House Judiciary hearing. Amazing.

[Allison Gill]

It was extremely frustrating to watch, especially if you're a survivor. Especially, I imagine, if you're an Epstein survivor is there in the gallery, and she wouldn't even look at you and acknowledge you. Not.

[John Fugelsang]

She wouldn't even fake it.

[Allison Gill]

She wouldn't even fake it.

[John Fugelsang]

Photo of the year. All she had to do was turn around and just say, I salute you. I'm glad the man's dead. Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, nothing. Because she can't promise them justice because she's not allowed to bring justice for these crimes. And she just revealed herself and outed herself as someone who was willing to go down in the history books as covering up child rape for fleeting earthly power and prestige. I mean, she's not the attorney General at this point. She's a future law school case study, and we need to. I mean, and she's also completely crazy. I mean, like, this is the lady who took a bribe from Donald Trump to drop her investigation into Trump University back in Florida. And the crazy brought notes, the crazy brought charts. The crazy brought, like, a talking point Ouija board and screamed at it. This was a nervous breakdown of a person with extremely bad professional judgment. And what was the most terrifying to me, Alison, was that she walked into that hearing like a person who has no idea that history exists, Right? No awareness that someday there'll be books or documentaries or grandkids being like, grandma, why are you talking about the Dow and ignoring the rape victims? Like, I mean, could you believe that? Like, how can you criticize the president for covering up child rape when the DAO is doing so well? Oh, that must be so comforting to all the rape victims sitting right behind her while she refuses to turn around and look at them. I mean, and that moment there tells you everything, right? Like, oh, fantastic, the stock market's up. What's the problem? Because the stock market that Pam Bondi wanted to talk about, that matters to the accused. That matters to the men who did the abuse. The stock market doesn't matter to the victims standing right behind her who she couldn't bring herself to look. That was the tell right there. Pam Bondi acts like she fears no consequences. Not politically, not legally, not Historically. And she acts like someone who thinks power is never going to change hands again. And that was the scariest thing about it for me. Because when you get past her goofiness and how dishonest she is, there's a level of authoritarian certainty in Pam Bondi's petulance that we see throughout this administration. These stupid douchebags think they're gonna be in power forever.

[Allison Gill]

Yeah. And that is a frightening part. And that's so true for the executive branch, maybe not so true for the legislative branch, as we've now see Republicans defecting on tariffs, we see Republicans defecting on quite a few things that have been wholly embarrassing to the Trump administration this week.

[John Fugelsang]

And we see the Trump administration retreating as well. I mean, like, they ran away from Greenland and now they are running away from Minnesota. And this is happening not because of anything politicians or Democrats have done. This is all happening because of people who are pushing back at the most grassroots level and because the judicial branch is still a guardrail here. But, I mean, like, he backed down on Greenland, he's backing down on Minnesota right now. Sometimes the bullies will back down if you punch him in the face just once.

[Allison Gill]

Yeah, like Moskowitz, who's like, hey, flip to my page in your Burn book and give me your best shot. That was great. He was great when he addressed it.

[John Fugelsang]

I played like a three minute straight clip of Moskowitz last night on SiriusXM, because that guy was just like Elvis. And he began by praising Pam Bondi and thanking her for the way she had helped him back when they were both in Florida together. He was a model of how to do it right. He began it without antagonizing her, praised her for the good person she used to be, and then just brought four straight minutes of receipts. And the Burn Book that you mentioned, that to me was the most terrifying revelation of the day. CNN had good coverage of this. We found out, because they zeroed in on her binder, that the doj, you know, Jamie Raskin said they're only giving us, like, four computers to study these millions of documents. And we now know why. Because they're tracking which Epstein files the members of Congress are searching. The executive branch is spying on the legislative branch. And those photos from her notes show pictures of committee members and what their search histories are and what they've been reading. It is all intimidation. I mean, after years about screaming that they were spied on, Trump is spying on Congress.

[Allison Gill]

Just a week and a half, two weeks ago, eight hours of pointed questions at Jack Smith about him getting their phone records.

[John Fugelsang]

That's right.

[Allison Gill]

And Lindsey Graham wanting to be able to sue for a million dollars for all the senators who had their phone records legally obtained.

[John Fugelsang]

Get her. Yeah.

[Allison Gill]

Does that mean that Rep. Jayapal gets to sue for a million dollars for being spied on without her permission?

[John Fugelsang]

And you know, excellent point.

[Allison Gill]

A lot of people say, oh, these are Department of Justice computers. Well, those senators phones were government issued phones.

[John Fugelsang]

That's right.

[Allison Gill]

These are government issued devices.

[John Fugelsang]

This is the Department of Justice saying to Congress, we see you. We know what you're looking at. Choose carefully. We are monitoring you. They can't.

[Allison Gill]

And how does that help the survivors?

[John Fugelsang]

It doesn't. They don't care about the survivors. They care about changing the narrative. They care about juicing the unemployment numbers. And by the way, the great unemployment numbers we heard about yesterday, I can't wait till. What do you think, Alice? In the second week of April, we'll get the revisions and find out what the unemployment numbers really were for January. I mean, this is the game they're playing. It's all distraction. And that's something Donald Trump has actually always been very good at. That's what this stupid freaking Kid Rock thing was all about. Just throwing more distractions up. So we're not talking about the fact that they are defending and protecting men who rape children. And. And Pam Bondi, I mean, I think they're gonna be studying this in law school forever. Her client is not the Constitution of the American people. It's Trump. And she defended him and she yelled for him, and she lied under oath on camera and humiliated herself in the history books for this guy. And this is what baffles me. Like, I think John Roberts cares about his place in the history books every now and then, but so many of these people, they're never. They haven't learned temporary power is not worth permanent disgrace. And what she's doing now, that's gonna be in the first paragraph of her obituary someday. Unless Pam Bondi has a real Road to Damascus moment and performs a very powerful flip for justice, which I don't think is within her character. The shot of her not looking at those brave women standing by and men. It was a man, too. Not looking at the victims, the survivors behind her. I mean, it's not even Valentine's Day. Alison, I think we got the photo of the year.

[Allison Gill]

Yeah, I think you're right. There was just so much laughter and smirking and lightheartedness, and it was just. It was evil to watch. And I think we walk away with A new playbook on committee questioning while Donald Trump is in office. Jasmine Crockett was a perfect example of this. Yes, just make your point for five minutes. Force the next Republican to give up their time to let the person answer and then just yell interruptions when it's appropriate. Yeah, I think that that's the way that we have to handle questioning people like Pam Bondi from now on. I mean, if you come with a burn book, you don't care about justice. You don't. You're not the lawyer for the American people.

[John Fugelsang]

And she wasn't there for justice. She was there to give Fox News their quality clips. Because, you know, Fox News isn't gonna learn the truth about any of this. Those viewers are just gonna see how Pam Bondi owned these libs on Capitol Hill. And Pam Bondi knew it. She was playing not just for the audience of one. She was giving Fox the sound bites it needed. And Donald Trump wrote a big glowing profile of her on Truth Social today. But again, like when Ted Lieu says, you just lied under oath. And she screams, don't you ever accuse me of a crime. That's exactly how innocent people react, isn't it, Alice?

[Allison Gill]

I totally.

[Dana Goldberg]

It's me.

[Allison Gill]

All day. Very. Yelling that.

[John Fugelsang]

All day, all day. Yeah. Very, very Future law school case study these people. It's gonna be awful. But we have to recognize that it's already begun to collapse. They're still gonna hurt a lot of folks. We're a long way from justice, but no one's allowed to be discouraged anymore. Okay? We need you in the fight. Despondency is privilege. If you need to take a break from the news, I get it. Take a break and then get back in the game because this house of cards is beginning to crumble. It's gonna take a long time. I don't see how Democrats who could preach a return to normalcy can win an election. Alison. I think it's gonna have to be all about accountability. It's gonna have to be about hands on Bibles. It's gonna have to be about a special prosecutor. I wanna hear a Democrat say that they wanna go and sweep Epstein island and find if there's any bodies buried on it. These are the things that I wanna hear. And whether we like it or Republicans like it or not, this story's not gonna go away between now and November.

[Allison Gill]

No, it's probably not gonna go away until the rest of those 3 million files come out and they actually remove the redaction bars. Except for, you know, protecting the survivors.

[John Fugelsang]

And Other countries might do it first. Keep that in mind. Poland has said they may. Can you imagine other countries having the morality and guts to do what our administration doesn't? Other countries aren't taking donations from these guys. Poland is very happy to put out the names of these douchebags. And I think Thomas Massie. I don't know how much longer these guys are gonna be able to operate in secret. And once their names become famous, their deeds will become famous. And once their deeds are famous, the deals they made to avoid scrutiny are gonna get all the scrutiny in the world. It's gonna be quite a year.

[Allison Gill]

Yeah. And if you need a break from the horrible news, you need some good news. The Senate Democrats have refused to fund dhs. They won't even do a stopgap, including Cortez Masto.

[John Fugelsang]

Can you believe it?

[Allison Gill]

So I'm actually pleasantly surprised. We'll see how long this lasts. Keep in mind, during a DHS shutdown, ICE and Customs and Border Protection are still fully funded, fully paid for by the big, beautiful bill. But it is harder to get that money, and they'll start draining that money. They'll start having to spend their slush fund instead of their regular appropriations. So while it's not ideal, it's progress.

[John Fugelsang]

And the Democrats did it. Democrats did something.

[Allison Gill]

Yes.

[John Fugelsang]

And we have to make a lot of noise about it because, you know, sometimes gumming up the works and slowing down the machine is the only thing they can do. And Republicans do it to everything. Republicans do it constantly. Right. I mean, they're trying to take a kill medical bill.

[Allison Gill]

You can get a Supreme Court justice with a year left to go on.

[John Fugelsang]

We had a year. Mitch McConnell got to decide. There were only eight Supreme Court justices for a whole year. Come on, now.

[Allison Gill]

Another guy who doesn't care about his legacy, which. That's when I started thinking about legacies, was with Mitch McConnell.

[John Fugelsang]

Yeah. Mitch McConnell cared about his legacy. He would have had three retiring senators go and vote yes on impeachment, and none of this would be happening right now. This is happening because of Mitch McConnell. Because he was too gutless on his way out the door to close the door on this once and for all.

[Allison Gill]

Yeah, agreed. And another way you can take a break and unwind is to watch any number of amazing breakdowns of the Bad Bunny halftime show, which sent MAGA land into the biggest panty twist I've ever seen in my whole life.

[John Fugelsang]

Beautiful.

[Allison Gill]

Just, you know, obviously motivated and underpinned by bigotry, but also just a terrible fear of being embarrassed and Too stupid to understand things.

[John Fugelsang]

Yes, yes.

[Allison Gill]

You know, we see Laura Loomer tweeting, oh, why is he standing on an electrical pole? Doesn't he realize Puerto Rico's electrical grid has major problems?

[John Fugelsang]

She's beautifully stupid. She's so beautifully stupid. It's like jazz.

[Allison Gill]

It's just perfect. You're so close. You're so close to getting it. She loomered herself on that one. But what an incredible, amazing. Just. I learned so much and also felt like I was celebrating the Americas and Canada. I love all these videos coming out of Canada with. With all these. With all these Canadians, like, doing the Lombada in the snow. It's amazing.

[John Fugelsang]

When's the last time someone made you feel like a patriotic Western hemisphere citizen? Like, it was first time in my life. First time in my life, and I loved it. And it reminds us of what the ethnic and language background of this hemisphere really looks like. Spain. Shout out to Spain for all their colonizing crap, but this is where we are. And I also want to just say you didn't need to speak a word of espanol to follow every beat of what he was showing. It was such beautiful visual storytelling. The entire time. The painting he was giving and these racists all about, oh, no white people. Well, there's Lady Gaga singing in English and she's blonde. Oh, there's all this gay stuff. There's literally a heterosexual couple getting married in the halftime show. You idiots. It's the strangest thing I've ever seen. It's like you could, you know, but. And I also want to say my greatest praise for the technical wizardry of shooting this along with the Kendrick Lamar show last year, like, the super bowl halftime show is redefining how cameras and live TV can document elaborate choreography. Just as a tech nerd, as a film school nerd, just watching it over and over to think about how this was live and the amount of cameras they did for this many people and performers. I mean, technically, it's beautiful, but spiritually, you flip over the other channel and you'll see these people talking about the gospel, and they don't mean it. Kid Rock grabbing a stick in front of a Confederate flag, talking about the gospel. And then you got Bad Bunny saying, love is stronger than hate, and we are all Americans together, and they're showing the gospel, and it was better than the actual game. Because what happens when another culture getting a little bit of representation really feels like something's being taken away from you as a crappy white person? You invent this alternate Halftime show with Kid Rock. And even Satan is like, whoa, guys, tone it down. Did you see any of this lip sync monstrosity? This is for people who think that Puerto Rico isn't really American, but the Confederate flag is.

[Allison Gill]

Or for people who like Donald Trump who say, I didn't understand a single word this guy was saying. I'm gonna go watch ba with a ba da bang to bang Diggy diggy.

[John Fugelsang]

Which he didn't even watch, by the way. Trump watched the halftime show.

[Allison Gill]

They all at Mar a Lago watched the Bad Bunny halftime show. They didn't flip over to the Turning Point USA debacle. Embarrassment of a dog.

[John Fugelsang]

Embarrassment. I mean, he's trying to cover up that he was lip syncing that first number, saying that he. Because of course, he's blaming it on the tech crew. You watch him lip syncing into the mic, and then he moves the white mic two feet away from his face and his voice isn't interrupted even slightly. Milli Vanilli is turning over in their graves over there.

[Dana Goldberg]

He even said, well, the rough cut.

[Allison Gill]

Looked like it was out of sync. I'm like, the rough cut. So you admitted that it's.

[John Fugelsang]

None of it was live. None of it was live. And again, man. And he puts his name over the American flag, you dopey patriots. This is what you signed up for. He puts Kid Rock on top of a flag, you idiots. And the fake Christians. Let me tell you something, Dr. Gill. Kid Rock is the only performer at the entire at both Super Bowls halftime shows who's also been in a sex tape with the singer from Creed. Okay? That's about as deep as his Christianity goes. Never forget Kid Rock and Scott Stapper in a sex tape together. And Megyn Kelly, my beloved co worker from down the hall at Sirius xm, the way she flipped out over this. And again, it's also get attention on herself. It's all to get racist. To tune in. Megyn Kelly, who, like Donald Trump, was fired from NBC for being so racist. And she can't. I mean, the hissy fit she's having. She doesn't care that Trump is protecting child rape. She doesn't feel upset that two Americans were shot dead in our streets. She's mad that there's Puerto Ricans. This woman goes to see west side Story, and I guess she goes to the bathroom and protests during all the parts where Puerto Rican people sing. The beautiful thing about their stupid hate is nobody watched, nobody cared. Bad Bunny had record high ratings. And I'm telling you, man, this is the beautiful thing about the human race, hate marginalizes itself. The Klan's embarrassing. The Westboro Baptist Church was so upsetting until it was just embarrassing. And even homophobes didn't want to be homophobes anymore because they don't want to be on that team. And you look at how these races tried to capitalize on anti Latino sentiment because it's a good year for that. Well, America wasn't biting. Nobody watched this piece of garbage. Bad Bunny got the highest numbers of all time. And it was another beautiful example of hate making itself smaller.

[Allison Gill]

Well said, my friend. And doesn't Kid Rock have a song about raping underage girls?

[John Fugelsang]

He sure does.

[Allison Gill]

Underage isn't statutory. It's mandatory or something.

[John Fugelsang]

But you know what? The President of the United States has some redacted files about the same thing.

[Allison Gill]

You think so?

[John Fugelsang]

Yeah, I do.

[Allison Gill]

And we all bring it back to Pam Bondi. Anyway, my friend, I've been, you know, just consuming all sorts of breakdowns of the halftime show, watching it, learning. I absolutely loved it. I thought it was fantastic. It was beautiful, entertaining. I loved the part where he brought out every single flag for the Americas. Of course, maga's like, what about the United States? The US Flag was there.

[John Fugelsang]

It was there.

[Allison Gill]

It was in the front. Spectacular.

[John Fugelsang]

They just want to hate. They're just miserable, miserable crabs in a bucket who just. Their negativity drives them. And it's almost hard to blame them for it because this is how they've been groomed, this culture of grievance for all these years that you're white and you're Christian and you're better. But there's people out there who aren't like you and they want to take something away. And it's true. It's billionaires. They're not like you and they want to take away your way of life. But the Christians and the white folks have been groomed for decades to blame poor people, to blame brown people, to blame people who believe in the American dream. And it makes you look stupid and it makes us meaner and it's hurting the economy. And the best thing that could come from all of this is for if these white working class gullibles can finally realize that the invading army they need to worry about are, as John Ossoff called them, the Epstein class, the billionaires who are causing these problems. Ossoff had the speech of the week. Every Democrat needs to study it and to see how to do it it with calm, grace and morality.

[Allison Gill]

Yeah, agree. Did you say crabs In a bucket.

[John Fugelsang]

Crabs in a bucket. That's, you know, that's in. In aa, in Narcotics Anonymous, when it's. It's the negativity. And. And a bunch of crabs are in a bucket. And if one crab gets close to climbing out of the bucket, the other crabs will reach up and pull them down. They won't allow one of the crabs to climb out of the bucket. They're going to pull you back down in here with us. And that's the exact kind of negativity that. That white conservative people have had programmed into them since Rupert Murdoch got a sweet deal on a network over here.

[Allison Gill]

Well, crabs in a bucket. Motherfuck it. Thank you so much, my friend.

[John Fugelsang]

Thank you.

[Allison Gill]

Appreciate you coming and talking to us every Friday. And I was fortunate enough this morning, which is actually in the future. But Friday morning, I got to go and hang out on the Steph Miller show, cover for Dana, so you can always catch up there, too. It's going to be great. It was amazing. We're in a little bit of a time travel pool.

[John Fugelsang]

I know. I love the loop we're in, but.

[Allison Gill]

I just want to thank you so much for always coming on and sharing your thoughts. And everybody, if you want more John Fugal saying, and who doesn't, you can always check out Tell Me everything on Sirius XM progress127, that is weeknights, 9pm Eastern, 6 Pacific. And of course, I know by now you have your copy of the Separation of Church and Hate, New York Times best seller. Congrats again on that. You can always check out the John Figo Sang show podcast for free, wherever you buy, my friend. Always great to speak to you.

[John Fugelsang]

And you could always call into my show and talk to me live. And someone can tell me why Howard Lutnick still has a job. Because, whoa, man. I mean, I never hung out with.

[Allison Gill]

That guy the six steps to his house. I said, I'm never gonna be in the same room with that guy. Oh, yeah, we went to lunch in 2012.

[John Fugelsang]

Took my kids, took my children to child rape island is what I did.

[Allison Gill]

We took all of our kids with us. Yeah, but how about the nannies? Did you take all the nannies with you?

[John Fugelsang]

Did you believe that? I mean, and he's like, I don't never cross my mind. That's kind of crazy, because you know what? For most parents, my top concern would be, is this convicted sex offender interested in my kids or their caregiver? That's usually one of my top questions. Going to a rape right after, do they have sunscreen. It's oh, is this convicted sex offender going after someone in my party? This guy still has a job. I mean, it's a cover up culture and he's the poster boy.

[Allison Gill]

Along with Pam, it is Trump cabinet officials commit crimes at higher rates than immigrants.

[John Fugelsang]

They're all covering up child rape and the history will record it.

[Allison Gill]

Yeah, agreed. All right, everybody, thank you so much. Thank you, John and everybody, stick around. We'll be right back with the good news.

[John Fugelsang]

Thank you.

[Allison Gill]

Hey everybody, it's ag. If you've ever tried bone broth and hated the taste, forget everything you think you know. Our next sponsor, Brodo makes bone broth so good it feels like a treat, not a chore. It's tasty, savory and deeply satisfying on chilly mornings and afternoons. This podcast is sponsored by Brodo. Welcome to the hottest trend in nutrition for the last 2000 years. Bone broth. Brodo's bone broths are made from scratch. No concentrates, no preservatives or shortcuts. So you get the best broth money can buy. Head to Brodo.com DailyBeans for 20% off your first subscription. Order and use code Daily Beans for an additional $10 off. Brodo makes bone broth that is honestly good enough to drink. And that's what I do every morning. The sampler pack is a smart way to get started and find out what you like. One of my favorite flavors is classic chicken. I also like the turmeric one. You have to try it. The chicken one truly tastes amazing. It tastes like a clean, restaurant quality chicken soup based in a mug, comforting without feeling heavy. And I keep it in my routine. I always have a hard time getting extra protein. I have a hard time getting collagen because the way that regular collagen powders come and you mix them into whatever you're drink, it just makes it taste weird. But brodo is delicious. It is warm. It's like a warm hug from the inside, you know. Brodo was launched by an award winning chef, Marco Conora and he now ships it nationwide so you can enjoy it anywhere. I love it. The 10 grams of whole food protein are a real plus. So shop the best broth on the planet with brodo. Head to Brodo.comDailyBeans for 20% off your first subscription order and use code DailyBeans for an additional $10 off. Once again, that's Brodo. B R O--O.comDailyBeans for 20 percent off your first subscription order and an additional $10 off if you use my promo code DailyBeans. You'll be glad you did.

[Martin Sheen]

You can always count on Sunday to be the best day of the week. You can sleep in, go off your diet, spend the day in your pajamas and go on have that second croissant. You know what else you can count on every Sunday? The Martin Sheen Podcast. Join me, your host, Martin Sheen, for beautifully crafted 20 minute programs filled with never before heard stories of my life along with personal reflections and poetry that inspires. And season two begins Sunday, February 1st. The Martin Sheen Podcast is the perfect Sunday relaxing companion. A chance to put your feet up, take a deep breath and enjoy some stress free listening time from the comfort of your favorite easy chair and that second croissant that stays between us. There's no judgment here, so make my podcast your weekly moment of calm as we explore faith, hope, love and what it means to be human. And rest assured, this journey is ever unfolding as I invite you to see what's next with me, Martin Sheen. So let's keep Sunday the best day of the week together and thank you for listening everybody.

[Allison Gill]

Welcome back. It's time for the good news everyone.

[John Fugelsang]

Then good news everyone.

[Allison Gill]

Good news. And if you have any good news good trouble suggestions. Maybe you have a shout out that you'd like to give to a loved one or a nonprofit or a small business in your area or yourself. Maybe you want to tell us what your thesis or dissertation title was. Those are always fun and we always laugh at ourselves trying to pronounce the words that you have in your titles for your dissertations and theses. But we would love to hear about that. If you have a shout out to a government for a government program that's helped you or a loved one, anything at all. And your good news. It can be small, it can be big. It can be from 20 years ago, it can be from last week. Whatever it is, if it helps put a smile on our faces, we would love to hear from you. We need to microdose the hope. And all you got to do to get your submission read on the air is submit your POD pet tariff, which means attach a photo of your pet or an adoptable pet in your area, or a random animal off the Internet. Or you can it doesn't even have to be animals. It could be people. You can send family photos. You can send pictures of rallies or some great, great protest signs. You can send memes that make you laugh, maybe your favorite joke or something, a photo of that meme. You can send what you're making or creating we had an amazing knitted blanket come in yesterday that I want.

[Dana Goldberg]

So beautiful. I know we have so many talented people listening.

[Allison Gill]

It's amazing. But anyway, whatever photo it is, really, it'll be fine. To pay your podbed tariff, send it into us dailybeanspod.com and click on Contact. First up up is your good trouble. Your good trouble today comes from an anonymous Latina who should have been chosen to go to Canada. Hello AG and dg. Pluto tv, the free streaming platform is currently running ads promoting ICE and Trump accounts. Not political commentary, not news coverage, Direct promotional advertising, I. E. Propaganda. For a platform that markets itself as free entertainment, this feels like a deliberate choice to monetize one of the most disgusting and negatively perceived federal agencies of all time.

[Dana Goldberg]

Time.

[Allison Gill]

If this is something worth amplifying, here's a direct link where viewers can contact Pluto and let them know how they feel. Support Pluto tv. S contact support. We'll have a link in the show notes. No harassment, no threats, just clear firm consumer feedback. Please. Free platforms rely entirely on viewer goodwill and advertiser confidence. If enough people speak up, they may rethink. I appreciate all you do. Thanks for keeping us informed and relatively sane. As a Latina immigrant with two kids who chose the US eight years ago, it's been a very, very hard year. Or so I can imagine. Also, Pluto TV is owned by Paramount Global and we have a Paramount Global contact link in the show notes as well.

[Dana Goldberg]

Thanks so much Alison this is from the ELF in Augusta, Georgia. No pronouns given. Dear Legume Ladies, Tonight I did a good deed for my community. Let's just hope that it sticks. I found out that there is data center being built in my county, Richmond County, Georgia that will sit 350ft from the boundaries of the neighborhood. It is to be built on the wetlands on reclaimed and remediated land. I live on the other end of the county but it took the time to question our elected officials and representatives of the data center owner of Blackstone own company. I pointed out the types of environmental and pollution damages and costs which the citizens of the county would incur higher electricity, water, etc and the loss of access to our shared resources to strong applause. For the most part the government officials excelled at giving non answers and would refer to the data center company for the responses. This was to the disgruntlement of the audience. After my turn at the mic I found myself standing in the back of the room next to the blueprints of the site. A representative told me that the noise from the hundreds of generators would barely be heard, to which I challenged him, telling him that his statement was a load of bunk. He then asked me if I needed a job. I do because he would hire me on the spot. I told him, not on your life. I then found that I had reporters who told me that I was a superstar with the questions that I had put before the panel. They wanted to quote me for the local newspaper and wanted to interview me on camera for broadcast. I did give the newspaper a quote, but it refused to be interviewed on camera. In my discussions with the press, I also brought up the statement, did they not ask us about the ICE detention centers and social circle and flowery branch in addition to the data centers springing up around us? We are in a time when the government simply does not care about the citizens. I'm proud to have stood up for my fellow citizen against the private sale of warehouses and land that do not benefit our communities and my tariff. I'm sending you my partners in crime, Esmeralda, the great Queen of Mao Zedong and Ace asc the second oh, pronounce ascii.

[Allison Gill]

Look at the babies.

[Dana Goldberg]

That is a main face.

[Allison Gill]

Sweet girls. Okay, so that's fucking awesome.

[Dana Goldberg]

Yeah, it is.

[Allison Gill]

Well done. When the newspaper wants to quote you and they want to put you on broadcast, that's saying something so well. Well done. All right, next up from Sandra Pronoun she and her I just want to say I've been listening for several years and enjoy starting my days with your podcast. My cat Gizmo loves the bathroom sink. My grandson Asher's pick is also attached. All right, we got a cat in a sink and we got a baby. Baby.

[Dana Goldberg]

Thank you.

[Allison Gill]

Standing.

[Dana Goldberg]

Thank you, thank you, thank you.

[Allison Gill]

Look at that orange baby in the sink. And then look at that little tiny little baby with the play school activity set. Oh my goodness.

[Dana Goldberg]

So sweet.

[Allison Gill]

And next up from anonymous pronoun she and her oh, Dana, do you see it? It's a picture of an otter. I do see it. Hi Beans.

[Dana Goldberg]

I love them so much.

[Allison Gill]

The new website looks awesome. Ditto what everyone else says. So glad you do what you do. I'm not a big animal person, so I sometimes skip through the good news part. However, my wee bit of OCD means that I have to hear I've been AG and I've been DG before. I can turn off the pod even standing in my doorway with my coat and keys in hand, unable to leave my apartment until I hear it. A couple of days ago, Dana was flying solo. And at the end, she got flustered with her Sign off.

[Dana Goldberg]

Well, you ag you might not know that.

[Allison Gill]

She had to say under her breath, I've been ag first to get back on track. I almost peed myself. Positive, positive.

[Dana Goldberg]

I was like this. I was like, how do I end this thing when she's not here? And so I literally went, I've been ag and I've been dg. And then.

[Allison Gill]

That'S fantastic positive reinforcement for me to stay to the end. Keep up the good work. Here's a random otter photo. P S. If you google flip the bird Trump tower. It's fun to see all the pics.

[Dana Goldberg]

Thank you so much for this otter.

[Allison Gill]

I love that. I love that data. I've been aging and I've been dg.

[Dana Goldberg]

Yep. This is from. I think it's Elaine pronoun. He from Racine, Quebec, Canada. Hello, beans. Queens, love your shows. Pictured is our lovely Melba. A blank. Think we go down to the photo. I got no idea. She's good. She is the good story. If you look closely, you may notice she has no eyes. She went blind four months ago and we needed to have her eyes removed to avoid lifelong pain. Many people would have put her down, especially your favorite puppy killer. We loved her too much and believed in her resilience. It's surprising how well she gets around with no sight. My fantasy good trouble would be for Mark Carney to install wind turbines along the Canada U. S border from coast to coast. A symbolic middle finger every 10 miles to piss off the orange dictators.

[Allison Gill]

That's a fantastic idea. This dog is incredible dog this is but I love it. Let's see.

[Dana Goldberg]

I know what you got.

[Allison Gill]

Wire haired pointing griffon.

[Dana Goldberg]

There you go.

[Allison Gill]

He's fantastic. Yeah, he is well resilient buddy. All right, next up from Joelle pronoun. She and her. Hello. I have a good news and a shout out to share. First, as a Minnesotan native, I'm proud of my hometown and the community I was raised in. I moved to California at 29 after spending my whole life in Minneapolis. The updates I get from friends and family back home are both equally inspiring and terrifying. Things are still very much active in Minneapolis and we can't let up on our pushback against ice. My good news is today that after three years of planning and eight years as an engineering project manager building wineries in California, I got my visa to move to Portugal. At 37, I'm fulfilling a dream I first had when I was 16, living abroad and immersing myself in a new culture. I'm so excited to start anew and build my own company providing wine tasting and tours. My shout out is to Decant Wine Bar in Napa, California. It is a queer bipoc female owned wine bar and wine store. The first location is in San Francisco. The goal of the store is to be a third space in the community while selling wines that also support the community they come from. I worked there for nine months and learned so much from the owner and sommelier Kara Patricia as well as Master sommelier Gillian Balance. I hope I'm pronouncing that right. Who does their wine education classes? I'm still blown away by the quality of wine I got to taste and serve. It was a big change going from construction and engineering to pouring wine and making cheese or tinned fish plates. I learned so much and I'm forever grateful to the women of Decant. They poured their knowledge into me just for the love of the game. Nice Pet Tax is my dog Otto, who is my only companion on this journey. His full name is Mr. Macchiato. He says since he looks like latte foam, you will never guess his breed. Even the vet was shocked. He was a shop dog at Decant and the customers loved him. He was employee of the month every month. Attached is a photo of him helping a customer pick out wine. He's a blank and everything cute. DNA attached. Please support Decant Wine Bar decantnapa.com and we've got their Instagram and everything else for you if you need it. So much love, Joelle. This dog is adorable.

[Dana Goldberg]

It sure is. It looks like a cocker spaniel.

[Allison Gill]

They said you'll never guess, so I'll say a German shepherd.

[Dana Goldberg]

I think there's probably a Chihuahua and a cocker spaniel. An ocelobso. I'm just making shit up now.

[Allison Gill]

Smooth haired terrier. All right, let's see what we got. We got poodle, we got Chihuahua. We got super mutt, we got miniature pinscher, we got Bichon Frise, we got Pekingese and Shih Tzu.

[Dana Goldberg]

What this is, it's a 43 poodle.

[Allison Gill]

Though that doesn't even look like a poodle at all.

[Dana Goldberg]

That's why the person was like, you're never gonna guess. And you're right, we never.

[Allison Gill]

You know what, Joelle? I think the cops got the DNA swapped with somebody else's.

[Dana Goldberg]

There you go.

[Allison Gill]

That's right. Joelle is my best friend's name. Not a very common name. So it's nice to meet you. But yeah, a poodle Chihuahua. That's incredible. Thank you so much for that.

[Dana Goldberg]

That. All right, next up is Kel Pronoun she and her I just wanted to share a micro dose of happy and a laugh. Mom and I were out running errands last no Kings. She's not able to join the events in person due to health and mobility issues, but I made a point to set our route to pass through our local no Kings here in Indiana. We made sure to drive slow and honk and support all the way through. Turned around and went back through. We had the windows down and she was applauding and waving and cheering everyone on. Traffic stopped for a moment and she was all smiles and laughing at the suns. She spotted a Trump sign and pointed at it like she liked that sign. Laughing. Mom hollered to her with a cactus. I haven't laughed that hard in a while. Mom is 79, by the way. I love her to bits.

[Allison Gill]

And I'm Trump with a cactus from your 79 year old mom, ma'.

[Dana Goldberg]

Am. I love her to bits and I'm so proud to be her daughter. My tax is two of my favorite pics of her. A tickle fight with a young me and then a very young mom back in the 1950s. Thanks AG&DG for all you do. I don't know how I'd get through all this chaos without you. Oh my gosh, these pictures are fantastic.

[Allison Gill]

The saddle shoes and the bonnet. Are I knowing me and her little coat with the flowers on the lapel.

[Dana Goldberg]

So good. Cheeks.

[Allison Gill]

I want to eat the cheeks. Oh my God she's so cute. Thank you so very much everyone for that incredible round of good news to send us into the weekend. Really, really appreciate it. Thanks to John Fugelsang for joining us. Thanks to everybo Caught me on Steph Miller this morning.

[Dana Goldberg]

Thanks for covering me my friend.

[Allison Gill]

Unless you're listening Thursday night, it hasn't happened yet. But you know, time travel true because our our patrons get get this podcast the night it comes out, right? The night we record it. They get it early, they get it ad free. If you want to become a patron, now's the time because I'm setting up the galas this year. We're going to have one election night. We're going to have one on June 20th in Chicago. You don't want to miss these. So sign up. I think it's $3 a month like it's nothing thing. Sign up at patreon.com mullershirote and you'll get all sorts of rad stuff. But I just appreciate all of you so, so very much and I look forward to seeing you again Monday. Do you got any final thoughts, my friend?

[Dana Goldberg]

No final thoughts for me.

[Allison Gill]

All right, everyone, have a good weekend. Make sure to rest. Listen to Unjustified on Sunday. Listen to me at the breakdown on Midas Touch Sunday at noon Pacific as well. You can also catch the the replay of that [e-mail] on my sub stack after it airs and we'll see you Monday. Until then, please take care of yourselves, take care of each other, take care of the planet, take care of your mental health and take care of your family. I've been ag. I've been DG and them's the Beans. The Daily Beans is written and executive produced by 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 Reader with Moxie Design Studios. Music for the Daily Beans is written and performed by they Might Be John Science and the show is a proud member of the MSW Media Network, a collection of creator owned podcasts dedicated to news, politics and justice. For more information please Visit mswmedia.com msw media.