Mexico Takes Action (feat. John Fugelsang)

Summary

The Daily Beans – July 10, 2026

Episode Title: Mexico Takes Action (feat. John Fugelsang)
Host: Alison Gill & Dana Goldberg
Guest: John Fugelsang
Main Theme:
A rollercoaster week in political news, featuring Mexico’s pursuit of criminal charges over ICE-related deaths, the call for transparency in unexplained deaths of Black youths, US military accountability, major moves on transgender protections, political shakeups in Maine and Massachusetts, and sharp social commentary with John Fugelsang.

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Episode Overview

This episode dives into rapidly unfolding stories at the intersection of social justice, US politics, and international relations. Highlights include:

• Mexico’s legal offensive following an ICE agent’s fatal shooting of a Mexican citizen.
• Grassroots demands for justice in the racially charged death of an 18-year-old in Mississippi.
• US military’s failure leading to a tragic airstrike in Iran.
• Legislative wins for transgender rights in Illinois and fierce debate among Democrats on trans issues.
• Updates on major political races, with special insight into the Maine Senate shakeup due to rape allegations against a candidate.
• Nuanced and often humorous analysis with guest John Fugelsang.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Mexico Seeks Criminal Charges Against US ICE Authorities

(06:00 – 08:00)

• Story: Mexico’s government, led by Foreign Minister Roberto Velasco and President Claudia Sheinbaum, responds forcefully to the fatal ICE shooting of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo in Houston and 17 deaths of Mexicans in US ICE custody.
• Action:
  • Formal requests to US State authorities and DOJ for criminal charges—highlighted as symbolic but escalating.
  • Civil lawsuits planned against detention center operators.
• Sheinbaum’s Quote:

  "We're going to do everything in our power because we cannot stand silent in the face of deaths of Mexicans whose only crime is working honestly in the United States." (06:06)

• Context:
  • Salgado was shot while transporting a work crew.
  • ICE claims he used his vehicle as a weapon—contradicted by video evidence showing he was making a U-turn away.
  • Witnesses (Salgado’s brother, employees) are reportedly being pressured by ICE to self-deport—removing potential eyewitness accounts.
  • ICE agents on scene did not wear body cams, amplifying concerns about accountability.

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2. Death of Black Teen Nolan Wells in Mississippi

(07:58 – 11:40)

• Summary:
  • 18-year-old Nolan Wells disappeared and was later found dead after spending July 4th with three white friends on Horn Island.
  • National media coverage is severely lacking; The Daily Beans emphasizes ongoing attention.
  • Family has retained civil rights attorney Ben Crump, commissioned independent autopsy.
• Concerns:
  • Contradictory witness statements and missing text messages from Wells’ recovered phone.
  • Authorities initially framed the event as a non-criminal tragedy, now won’t release Wells’s body to his family.
• Dana Goldberg:

  “First of all, there’s so many problems with this, but the fact that it’s barely being touched by mainstream media is horrible. So we’re going to keep bringing it to light…” (11:15)

• Historical Parallels & Broader Pattern:
  • Echoes of racially charged deaths, referencing historic lynchings and disappearances with no real investigations.

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3. US Military Accountability: Iran Airstrike

(12:45 – 14:39)

• Summary:
  • Senior US commanders authorized airstrikes on outdated intelligence, resulting in 168 students and 14 teachers killed at an Iranian school.
  • Internal warnings about stale intelligence were overridden “for expediency.”
  • Civilian harm mitigation teams were short-staffed, compounding failures.
• Brian Caram:

  “They ignored it… The decisions by senior commanders to ignore the warnings were made for ‘expediency,’… It directly contributed to the accidental strike on the school.” (13:36)

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4. Legislative Wins for Trans Rights & Political Debates

(14:39 – 18:29)
Illinois:

• Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed bills to protect trans patients’ privacy—testosterone removed from prescription tracking databases, bans on tracking other gender-affirming meds.
• Direct response to red state and federal “reach in” attempts to prosecute trans care providers.

Massachusetts Senate Debate:

• Ed Markey vs. Seth Moulton: Markey calls out Moulton for flip-flopping and scapegoating trans kids after Moulton’s inconsistent stances post-2024 election.
• Key Markey Quote:

  “Congressman Moulton decided that he was going to throw trans kids under the bus... Those kids are vulnerable. Those kids need love... don’t need to be scapegoated and blamed for what was wrong with the Democratic Party.” (17:20)

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5. Maine Senate Race Crisis: Platner’s Exit

(18:29 – 33:41; Main Topic with John Fugelsang 23:10 – 33:41)

• Background:
  • Graham Platner, Maine’s Democratic Senate nominee, faced credible rape allegations and multiple campaign scandals (including a notorious Nazi tattoo and hostile Reddit comments on military sexual abuse).
  • Platner suspended campaign but delayed filing official withdrawal paperwork (deadline: Monday, July 13).
  • Maine Dems will hold a pop-up convention of 600 delegates to select a new candidate.
• Fugelsang’s Take:

  “This campaign was not vetted—it was speed-dated… These people did not sign up for Graham Platner, they signed up to defeat Trumpism. The movement continues, not that one guy crashed and burned.” (29:28)

• Significance:
  • Democrats showing clear contrast to GOP: quick to oust problematic candidates, as opposed to Republican tolerance for much more egregious conduct.
  • Alison Gill Personal Note: Platner’s dismissive comments were personally about her and her film The Invisible War, giving her a unique perspective on the case.
  • Party dynamics and rules around switching to runner-up, expanding the pool of candidates, and issues around independent/unaffiliated voters affecting process legitimacy.

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6. Other Political Updates

(19:18 – 19:54; 34:05 – 45:00)

• Stephen Colbert receives nine Emmy nominations for his final season.
• Speculation on Mitch McConnell’s Health:
  • Succession intrigue with Republican Senate seating laws in Kentucky; Bashir’s strategic “writ of habeas tortoise”—light, humorous legal puns on the situation. (34:11)

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7. Big Picture Analysis & The Role of Media

(Throughout; especially with Fugelsang)

• The ongoing pattern of mainstream media neglecting key stories (Mississippi, Philly veterans’ march).
• Calls for broader engagement and amplification of undercovered stories.

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8. Listener Good News & Spotlight: Grassroots and Civil Action

(47:27 – End)

• Community actions:
  • ICE accountability campaigns via Defiance.org.
  • Trevor Project donation matching (check with your employer).
  • March in Philly for veterans—largest since Vietnam (Billy Winner Davis shoutout).
• Listener stories:
  • Celebrating survivors of VA healthcare, pet photos, running for office in Vermont, international travel vignettes.
  • Parallels between contemporary and historical abuses of power (e.g., Stalin’s mausoleum “branding”).

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• "If they really wanted to sabotage us, they would have done this after the deadline..." – Brian Caram (25:05), on timing of leaks against Platner.
• “It’s never a good sign when your Nazi tattoo winds up being one of your better attributes as time goes on.” – John Fugelsang (25:19)
• “After Spitzer, after John Edwards, after so many of these men, Democrats eject them, Republicans reelect them.” – John Fugelsang (32:59)
• “He’s now taking people down to view the Titanic, you know what I’m saying?” – John Fugelsang (25:19), on Platner’s self-destruction.
• "This is not a socialist revolution, it's an affordability revolution." – John Fugelsang (42:22), on progressive wins.
• “The phrase ‘continuing to recover’ is doing some pretty heavy lifting right now.” – John Fugelsang, on Mitch McConnell’s health updates (34:15)
• “We’re not here to mock Mitch McConnell’s suffering. We’re here to mock how they’re trying to cover up Mitch McConnell’s suffering.” – John Fugelsang (34:13)
• “Produce a body. Right. I called it a writ of habeas tortoise.” – Brian Caram (34:05), on McConnell intrigue.

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Timeline / Timestamps for Key Segments

• 06:00 – Mexico seeks criminal charges for deaths in US ICE custody.
• 07:58 – Story of Nolan Wells, missing Black teen in Mississippi.
• 12:45 – US military’s failed intelligence and tragic school airstrike in Iran.
• 14:39 – Illinois and Massachusetts transgender rights and political debate.
• 18:29 – Graham Platner saga, Maine Senate updates.
• 23:10 – 45:00 – Extended interview with John Fugelsang, including deeper dives on Platner, party contrasts, McConnell, and the broader state of politics.
• 47:27 – End – Listener submissions, grassroots shoutouts, and community good news.

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Tone & Style

• Progressive, snarky, and deeply empathetic.
• Mix of grave reporting (on deaths, injustices), sharp wit, and resilience.
• Fugelsang’s humor and historical context keep the conversation energetic even in heavy moments.

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Takeaways for Listeners

• Emerging stories around governmental and institutional accountability require public attention and pressure.
• Progressive wins are possible—especially when the movement acts decisively.
• The Daily Beans community uplifts each other and mobilizes for real-world actions.
• Political engagement, transparency, and unflagging coverage of underreported stories remain essential.

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For further reading, action links, or donating to causes mentioned on the show, check the Daily Beans show notes and website.

Transcript

[Alison Gill]

I'm Brian Caram and I've spent decades covering politics. Now I'm taking you behind the scenes, one interview at a time.

[Brian Caram]

Join us as each week Brian confronts

[John Fugelsang]

the issues that matter, posing the questions

[Brian Caram]

you wish you could ask.

[John Fugelsang]

No filter, no agenda, just the truth.

[Alison Gill]

We're not here for sound bites. We're here for substance. Join me, Brian Caram, every week as we cut through the noise and get straight to it. This is Just Ask the Question where curiosity will lead us to the facts.

[John Fugelsang]

Subscribe now on your favorite podcast platform and remember, when you want answers, all you have to do is just ask the question.

[Brian Caram]

Msw media.

[Martin Sheen]

News.

[Brian Caram]

We're swearing

[Alison Gill]

jelly beans. Daily beans. Daily Beans. Daily Beans.

[Brian Caram]

Hello and welcome to the Daily beans for Friday, July 10, 2026. Today, Mexico was seeking criminal charges over the deaths linked to ICE after the fatal shooting of a Houston man. The family of a man found dead off Horn island in Mississippi is calling for a transparent investigation. US Commanders ignored warnings of outdated intelligence ahead of the strike that killed 168 students at a school in Iran. Graham Platner has suspended his campaign, but he hasn't filed the paperwork to withdraw and won't until Monday. Governor Pritzker in Illinois has signed a law protecting transgender patients from the federal government. Senator Markey goes scorched earth on Seth Moulton for throwing trans kids under the bus. And after being ousted from Late night, Stephen Colbert gets a record nine Emmy nods. I'm Alison Gill.

[Alison Gill]

And I'm Dana Goldberg.

[Brian Caram]

Hello, my friend. Happy Friday.

[Alison Gill]

Happy Friday to you. What a week. What a week. What a week.

[Brian Caram]

I mean, we're going to talk to John Fugelsang later in the show and about how many what the fucks we went through this week. John Fugalsang, host of Tell Me Everything on Sirius XM progress channel127, by the way, has a new time slot starting on Mondays, weekdays at noon eastern, 9 Pacific, 9 in the morning Pacific time, right after Stephanie Miller. And so I'm looking forward to talking to him. A couple things. David Hearn, Davey the Olympian charged by Jeanine Pirro for touching water. He pled not guilty. And we're going to go over all of that, plus a little B roll from Norm Eisen as lawyer outside the courthouse steps after the arraignment. It's pretty interesting. It's Sandwich Guy 2.0. And I'm looking forward to see what kind of motions are filed in the coming weeks.

[Alison Gill]

Yeah, absolutely. And of course, in the last night, not surprisingly, Trump tried to stop the Payments again in the 2nd Court of Appeals has rejected Trump's attempts to stop that $5.8 million payment from the court's escrow account to Eugene Carroll. So it sounds like they're going to take this again to the Supreme Court with a different argument.

[Brian Caram]

How do you get a second bite at the apple and nobody else does, man?

[Alison Gill]

Also, how do you tell the Supreme Court, I know you're the highest court in the however, comma, I think you made a mistake, and I'm going to come back with the same fucking argument to see if you've changed your mind.

[Brian Caram]

I mean, you could, I suppose, if you had a good lawyer file a motion for reconsideration, but I don't know if that works at the Supreme Court.

[Alison Gill]

Key words there. Good lawyer. What good lawyers defending the Trump administration at this point?

[Brian Caram]

Yeah. Oh, my goodness. One who's about to become the Attorney general. It's got his confirmation hearings coming up next week, which is going to be interesting because I have some massive breaking news about the Epstein files. And it's. I'm the only one who has this letter in my hand, my lawyer and I. Oh, shit. From the FBI. And we're gonna talk all about it on this Sunday's episode of the Breakdown on the Midas Touch Network at noon. We're gonna go live, my lawyer and I. And it is not. It's gonna make. It's going to make Todd Blanche's life hard.

[Alison Gill]

And so, oh, fucking thank God.

[Brian Caram]

I can't say much more than that other than everyone should tune Breakdown. That's noon Pacific, 3 Eastern on Sunday. And you can look for links on my substack before that, like that morning. I'll put it up with a link on my [e-mail] and of course on Blue Sky. So great. Definitely want to check that out. All right, we have a ton of news to get to. Let's hit the hot notes. Hot notes. All right, first up, from PBS, Mexico is going to request criminal charges over 17 Mexicans who died in ICE custody in the US or during immigration enforcement operations by the Trump administration, according to officials. Mexican Foreign Minister Roberto Velasco's announcement on Thursday morning further escalated tensions between the United States with the United States, as Mexico's government has sharply criticized the treatment of its citizens under US President Donald Trump's push to increase deportations. The request, which carries no legal weight, will be submitted to state prosecutors offices and the United States Department of Justice, asking them to consider criminal charges against those responsible for the deaths it will be accompanied by civil lawsuits against the companies that operate the detention centers in an effort to put an end to human rights violations in those facilities. President Claudia Sheinbaum said Thursday that Mexico decided to, quote, move beyond diplomatic channels and escalate its complaints after an ICE agent killed Mexican citizen Lorenzo Salgado Araujo in Houston this week. Sheinbaum said the killing, quote, is not only sad and regrettable, but also appears to have been targeted. She goes on to say, quote, we're going to do everything in our power because we cannot stand silent in the face of deaths of Mexicans whose only crime is working honestly in the United States. Now. Salgado had been living in the country for decades. Dana. He was transporting a work crew to a housing construction site when he was shot. His family demanded a thorough investigation into what happened. And a new video, by the way, shows that, you know, kind of what we already knew to be true. Salgado did not ram ICE with his vehicle. He was turning around, making a u turn to leave, and drove away from them. That sounds familiar.

[Alison Gill]

Very familiar.

[Brian Caram]

Turn the wheel away. Just like Renee Goode before she was shot in the face. And as TNR reports, just as it has for other shootings, Department of Homeland Security released a statement insisting that Lorenzo Salgado Araujo had weaponized his vehicle against the officer, who then justifiably opened fire. DHS offered no evidence of this, but it appears the three other people that were in the van with the now deceased man, they presumably could recount their version of what happened. The victim's brother and two employees of the dead man's construction business, those are the three people that were in the van with him. They were detained by ICE during the encounter, and we haven't heard from them publicly about what happened. But in another potentially dark turn in this saga, those three men are under pressure now from immigration officials to self deport.

[Alison Gill]

Oh, boy.

[Brian Caram]

Juan Perano, a representative for the families and the CEO of the League of United Latin American Citizens, claimed in an interview with the New Republic that they are now being pressured to self deport. Probably so they couldn't be witnesses. And NBC is now reporting that the ICE thugs involved in this weren't wearing body cameras.

[Alison Gill]

Not surprising at all. Not surprising at all. All right, I, I do hope there's other bystanders that have videos that are coming forward. I know we have the video. You know, there's obviously a video of him trying to do u turn and drive away, but I think there's. I hope there's More angles that corroborate, obviously, the truth in this story.

[Brian Caram]

Yeah.

[Alison Gill]

This next story is from CNN. On July 4th, Nolan Wells set out to celebrate Independence Day in a popular barrier island of Mississippi's Gulf Coast. In photos of the boat that day, the 18 year old towers above his friends, his arm casually slung around their shoulders. And he smiles for the camera. And before I go on to read, I need you to know this is the story of a black teenager that has disappeared and then found when he went on vacation with three white friends. And the mainstream media is not covering this nearly as much as they should, so we're going to make sure that we do. Now in this story, he also stands out for one other reason. Wells appears to be the only black man among this group. Later that afternoon, when his friends returned to the dock, Wells was not with them. Hours later, his family reported him missing. Now the Jackson County Sheriff's Department launched a search that would soon end tragically when his body was recovered on the island Monday. Investigators are appealing to witnesses on the island on July 4th for any information about the moments leading up to his death. But on social media, online speculation has placed Wells's death at the center of a fierce debate over race relations in the United States. Wells family reported him missing the night of July 4th. In the early hours of July 5th, his mother, Christine Wansley, began posting desperate appeals for any information about her son's location on social media. In another post later that morning, Wansley said she and her husband Elmore had possession of their son's cell phone and that they'd traveled to the island to search for him. Later that night, Wansley posted photos of Nolan, who she were taken during the July 4 boat trip. Wells, at 6 1, is smiling for the camera in blue swim trunks and sunglasses. Now, there's still a lot that's unclear about Wells's finer moments. It's not clear why he didn't return on the boat with his friends. It's unclear why he didn't have a cell phone with him. Authorities said that they were also investigating online reports of an alleged altercation and whether it involved Wells. Many have looked at the photos of a young black man surrounded by largely white group of people and sense danger. This is a callback to Mississippi's fraught racist past that many would argue is still alive today. Others have taken to social media to post their own experiences of being the only person of color in predominantly white spaces. And the challenge that can bring. The Wells family has retained civil rights attorney Ben Crump to represent them. As the investigation into his death continues, the family has commissioned an independent autopsy amid concerns over how a racially charged investigation could be handled in the state of Mississippi. Crump said in an interview on ABC News Wednesday. And I quote, this is the state where Emmett Till was lynched, adding the family believes text messages have been deleted from Wells recovered phone. Crump also said he feels there are contradictions in several witness statements. And I quote, all we know is Nolan is dead. And the way they're reporting this, it's like authorities are saying, you know, that the kids said that they just left him on the island and he was going to take another boat back. Like, official statements, they're saying that these three boys who all have very different stories are somehow the official statements of authority. First of all, there's so many problems with this, but the fact that it's barely being touched by mainstream media is horrible. So we're going to keep bringing it to light. And the more we bring it to light, the more you bring it to light, the more that the mainstream media will be forced to actually address this story because it needs to be told and it needs to be solved.

[Brian Caram]

Yeah. And you know, they're saying now that at first that the police were saying no foul play. Now they aren't turning the body over to the family. And so that's why Ben Crump, who's an excellent lawyer, is going to try to make sure that they get their own independent autopsy done. It's just so tragic.

[Alison Gill]

Yeah. There's so many other stories of black, young black men and women disappearing, being found hung, hanging from trees by churches, saying it was suicide that, you know, and white groups of people that they went to a party and their body was found a month later. And there's investigations that two of the people, two white boys that were near another death, that were investigated, nothing happened. And they happen to be the children of FBI agents. Like, there's so many stories out there of unsolved mysteries of black youth and black adults just somehow getting. Saying it was suicide, it was an accidental killing, and then the investigation just stopped in places that it is obviously not what happened. Yeah.

[Brian Caram]

And in the Southwest, all the missing indigenous women and girls also way up north. And that's why I'm so thankful that your New Mexico governor signed the turquoise law, a turquoise alert into law. So we're gonna again keep an eye on this because it needs coverage. Next up from CNN, senior U.S. military commanders bypassed. They ignored. They bypassed warnings in critical databases that intelligence about potential targets in Iran that, that Database was severely out of date boy. And they approved some strikes, including the one that hit the school killing nearly 200 children according to three sources familiar. They ignored it. Messages indicating the intelligence was based on years old intelligence. Dana. 10 year old intelligence.

[Alison Gill]

Oh my God.

[Brian Caram]

That needed to be re vetted Were embedded in a system used for developing targets and required a senior officer to approve adding a site to the strike list. This isn't just an accident. The decisions by senior commanders to ignore the warnings were made for quote, expediency, according to two sources in a rush to provide targets at the start of the war. But it also directly contributed to the accident strike on the school. The strike killed, like I said, at least 168 children and 14 teachers, according to Iranian state media. Those numbers would make the strike one of the worst civilian casualty incidents in recent U.S. military history. The U.S. military launched an investigation the days after the strike, so Hegseth is investigating himself. Another factor by the way, that increased the risk of the mistake, according to two sources familiar, was that the civilian harm mitigation and response teams at CENTCOM and other combatant commands were already short staffed due to Pete Hegsest decision to cut the program early in his tenure.

[Alison Gill]

Thank you, Alison. All right, a couple of good news stories and we need them. This is from S. Baum at Aaron in the morning. And first, Governor Pritzker rounded out Pride Month by signing a trio of bills that would protect transgender people's privacy from out of state attacks. Most notably by removing testosterone from the list of prescriptions required by law to be added to a government database. This is a big deal. The Illinois Prescription Monitoring Program, which is the ilpmp, is a long standing interstate database that enables healthcare providers to track the prescription of certain substances in order to curb drug abuse. Transgender people are often prescribed testosterone for hormone replacement therapy. Now, it's most notably associated with trans men, but it also is prescribed to any trans person who receives gender affirming surgery impacting their hormone production. The bill, HB 4834 also preemptively banned adding certain drugs to the program in the future, such as estrogen or mifeprestone and misoprestol, a pair of medications used at home for abortions. Now, the signing of the law comes as a response to increased efforts by the federal government in red states across the country to reach into trans friendly jurisdictions to prosecute providers. However, there are currently no public records of a transgender person or a healthcare provider being successfully directly prosecuted with information from PDMP simply for providing Receiving or being a parent of someone receiving gender affirming care. And the second story. Incumbent Massachusetts Senator Ed Markey eviscerated Congressman Seth Moulton on his fair weather allyship for the trans community in a televised debate this week. And just a reminder, both lawmakers are vying for the Democratic Party nomination in this year's Senate race. This will be a lesson. Do not throw trans people under the bus because there are pro trans Democrats that are going to hold you to the fucking fire. It began with a question from a reporter aimed at Moulton about his prior comments on trans athletes in 2024. After the presidential election, Moulton told the New York Times that Democrats lost because they, and I quote, spent too much time trying not to offend anyone. He went on to say he wouldn't want his daughters getting run over on a playing field by a male or formerly male athlete. After Supreme Court decisions permitting state restrictions for trans athletes, however, Moulton called the ruling an act of cruelty. During the hour long debate, Tony Fay of WWLP 22 News took Moulton head on and asked him to clarify his stance. This is a quote, congressman, what is your position on trans athletes in school sports and do you stand by what you said in 2024? New York Times interview. Moulton, who went viral over videos depicting him getting booed at Pride and a no Kings rally, turned to the camera telling LGBTQ constituents, I've always stood with you.

[Brian Caram]

Oh my God.

[Alison Gill]

Marky was having none of it. In response to Moulton's comment touting his HRC approval rating, Markey pointed out, and I quote, the Human Rights Campaign has endorsed me in this race. That's what. Markey also enjoys endorsements from trans rights groups like the Christopher Street Project. He went on to say, congressman Moulton decided that he was going to throw trans kids under the bus, the political bus, and blame them for the loss of the 2024 election. That's what Markie said and continued on. Those kids are vulnerable. Those kids need love. Those kids don't need to be scapegoated and blamed for what was wrong with the Democratic Party. By the way, always, always, always had Erin in the Morning on Substack. You can read the full story and it's always incredible. She's a brilliant writer. You can also watch the exchange between Markie and Moulton and it's worth a watch.

[Brian Caram]

Mm, it is. And thanks to S. Baum for writing those pieces over at Aaron in the Morning. Next up, I guess because he can't take no for an answer and wants to exert control over people as long as he can. Despite announcing he's suspending his campaign Wednesday night, Graham Platner has not yet filed the paperwork to withdraw. The main Democratic Party has decided to go with a pop up convention of 600 delegates across the state. But they can't move forward until Platner files the paperwork. So we're going to keep you posted. And by the way, Axios is saying now that he's actually decided, I guess begrudgingly to not file his paperwork until the last minute on Monday.

[Martin Sheen]

All right.

[Brian Caram]

That's the drop dead date to do so. That's the deadline. So we're going to keep an eye on that for you.

[Alison Gill]

All right. Another quick story from Variety. The party is over at the Ed Sullivan Theater, but not before one last embrace from the television academy. In its final season, the Late show with Stephen Colbert drew nine Emmy nominations on Wednesday, the biggest award showing of Colbert's 11 year tenure behind the desk. Before this year, the largest haul with three consecutive years of five nominations which occurred 2020 to 2022. So I am looking forward to seeing hopefully Stephen Colbert and I more than that, I'm looking forward to his acceptance speech.

[Brian Caram]

How many Emmys? How many acceptance speeches? Nine. I mean he's five was his biggest haul before nine, nine Emmy nominations. So congratulations, Stephen Colbert. All right, everybody, we're going to talk with John Fugelsang after this quick break and then we'll be back with the good news. Stick around. We'll be right back after these messages. We'll be right back. Alright. My least favorite dinner game is standing in front of the open refrigerator door, maybe eating some shredded cheddar cheese and trying to figure out what to have for dinner with the six ingredients I have left in there since I haven't had time to go to the grocery store. But Home Chef has a better way. With weekly meals that are ready to cook, easy to follow and way more satisfying than ordering delivery. Yet again, Home Chef removes the annoying parts of cooking without taking away the good parts. You still get fresh food and recipes that are easy to follow. You get the joy of cooking it. But you skip all the meal planning, the long shopping lists, the last minute grocery runs because you forgot something important. The ingredients are pre portioned which saves time and cuts down on waste. And Home Chef also uses dietitian approved nutritional guidelines which gives you meals packed with protein and rich in fiber to help promote fullness, appetite regulation and blood sugar stability. I was in a rush for lunch the other day so I made oh my gosh. They have this sausage and kale pasta with Asiago. Oh, it was so good. The sauce was really cheesy. The sausage added something to the flavor profile that I couldn't quite put my finger on. It was just delicious. And to top it off, it was done in less than 20 minutes. That is the best part. Home Chef really makes my mealtime easier on me and my schedule and people really love it. Home Chef is rated number one by users of other meal kits for quality, convenience, value, taste and recipe ease. And for a limited time, Home Chef is offering you a 50% off discount and free shipping on your first box. Plus free dessert for life. Just go to homechef.comdailybeans that's homechef.com dailybeans for 50% off your first box and free dessert for life. Homechef.com dailybeans must be an active subscriber to receive free dessert. 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. MSW. Hey everybody, welcome back. It's Friday on the Daily Beans. That means it's Fugal Sang Friday. So joining me is my good friend, New York Times best selling author of the Separation of Church and Hate. Make sure to get your copies wherever you like to pick up your books, buy 10 of them, put them around your local libraries. Yes. Put them in your closet for gifting this holiday season and birthdays. Yes, buy many, many, many copies. Also, he hosts Tell me everything on SiriusXM progress channel127 in a new time slot starting this Monday, noon Eastern, 9am Pacific, right after Stephanie Miller. So we're looking forward to that new time slot. Please welcome my good friend, John Fugelsang.

[John Fugelsang]

Oh my God. Dr. Gill, thank you. It's so good to be here. I just got back from DC where I was with 400 other liberals wearing masks and khakis. So I barely made it on time. It's good to see you. Laura Ingram said they're all liberals, you know, I mean, I don't know. I don't know how you get 400 liberals to wear Identical clothes and walk in perfect military. Have you ever tried to get liberals to agree on like toppings on a pizza? I mean, like, I mean I, I, if they were liberals, they'd all be fighting each other the entire time, wouldn't they? I didn't see anybody holding an iced coffee. I saw no NPR tote bags. I'm, I'm starting to think maybe Laura Ingraham's not right about this. May, maybe they weren't liberals in disguise.

[Brian Caram]

Yeah, seemed a little Prussian. But what do I know? What do I know, my friend? Anyway, it's so good to talk to you. I know that we haven't, I mean a lot of, a lot has gone down this past week since the last time we spoke. Credible allegations of rape against Graham Platner. He waited and waited and then he put out a video that said he was going to suspend campaign operations and intended to file withdraw paperwork. I don't know if he's done that yet. And meanwhile the main Democratic Party is working to set up a process to select a new candidate. Trying to be as open and transparent as possible. And I think they've settled on a pop up convention sometime around July 25th. I'm not sure if that's going to be the exact date to include 600 delegates from around the state, 100 of you know, from the Democratic Party in Maine, and then the other 500 from delegates that will be chosen sometime in the next week and a half from around the state. Good, good. Gosh, have we seen anything like this before where we've had to replace a candidate with a three months to go before the election? I'm not sure.

[John Fugelsang]

But this is good. It's happen, happening.

[Martin Sheen]

Good.

[Brian Caram]

This is good.

[John Fugelsang]

This is very different, much worse. If this hadn't happened, and again like this wasn't Republican sabotage because Republicans would have waited till late October to do this.

[Brian Caram]

Precisely. I, you know, I see a lot of people saying, oh, the timing, the timing. I was like, if they really wanted to sabotage us, they would have done this after this deadline that's coming up on Monday for the candidate to withdraw.

[John Fugelsang]

Yeah, it's never a good sign when your Nazi tattoo winds up being one of your better attributes as time goes on, you know, and I want to before we even get into this. And again I'm, folks, I'm not saying Graham Platner imploded, but he's now taking people down to view the Titanic, you know what I'm saying? Like, I mean every week, every week, this poor campaign. It was like I felt so badly for the, for the, the workers on this campaign and the volunteers, like, good news. We finally hit rock bottom. Oh, wait, one more thing. Like, it kept going on and on and on. So it's nice to see that Mr. Bladder is willing to demonstrate that he has grown in judgment and that he's pulling out of this. It shows that he does care about the issues he campaigned on, which I still respect. And I completely understand why he was so attractive as a candidate for so many reasons. For Democratic Socialists, I don't think. I know there's a lot of establishment Dems. I know Mark Penn is in a private jet right now celebrating all this. But look at what happened in Colorado. Look at Zoran Mamdani. It's not going to hurt the movement. People are not going to want to have the same enthusiasm for an establishment Democrat. You're going to get someone from this little convention they put up that is going to be much closer to FDR than they would have been. This is, to me, him dropping out before the deadline is win, win on so many levels. The greatest of it being that the Democrats are showing once again, once again, that no one on the right or left can say the two parties are the same. They were willing to, to blow this race rather than have such an unjust man get the power. And I want to give special credit to Dr. Allison Gill, because on my show, like a couple of months ago, early in this process, like, I was still locked in on the Nazi tattoo. Allison, I was like, in the whole debate about, well, he was young and dumb and drunk and military and he didn't know. And I mean, how. I guess it's possible he's got a Jewish campaign manager. Clearly he can't be enough. You said to me, you clued me into his old Reddit comments on female victims of military sexual abuse. And for me, it was like, oh, well, that just kind of officially made me happy to be a person who doesn't have to vote in the state of Maine. And I'm really happy that the people in the state of Maine will have the time to get behind a candidate they can have that same enthusiasm for.

[Brian Caram]

Yeah. And when the DNC endorsed Platner before the primary, which they said they would never do again, but they did in this case, when they did that. And then when he won the primary, I had pretty much relegated myself to be like, well, I'm just going to put out bad stuff about Susan Collins. I personally, because I am a survivor of military sexual trauma, because his comments were actually directed at Me, because he made those comments about the film that I was in, the Invisible War. I couldn't stand behind him. But I wasn't going to blow up what Maine wanted to do. I was just going to kind of bow out of it and say, I'll put out attack stuff against Susan Collins.

[John Fugelsang]

You brought me to that island, Alice, and you brought me to that island on my show every night for the past couple of months because of that.

[Martin Sheen]

Yeah.

[Brian Caram]

And so inevitably. And I kept saying that the stuff's gonna get worse. It's gonna get worse as time goes on. And I go, we certainly just. What we don't want is for anything huge to come out after the primary, especially after that July 13 deadline. And it actually came out before, so. So here we are. And I'm really looking forward to helping support Maine Democrats and what Mainers want and what y' all choose, I'm gonna get behind. And. Because even if you're like, damn it, you know, Platner was such a good candidate, was so far ahead.

[John Fugelsang]

Yeah.

[Brian Caram]

You can't. At the end of the day, somebody with a credible rape accusation cannot be kept on the ballot and cannot win in a general election with all the baggage he had already. I was.

[John Fugelsang]

Not as a Democrat. Not as a Democrat.

[Brian Caram]

Doctor, it's gonna be tough. Not as a Democrat. As a Repub.

[John Fugelsang]

Republican serving as a Republican. Can you imagine if he'd run as a Republican, bro? No one's going to believe those bitches. Cool tat, brah. You know what would have happened if he'd gone over there?

[Brian Caram]

Yeah, yeah. All things possible in the Republican Party.

[John Fugelsang]

They'd be selling temporary tattoos of his Nazi iron cross at the gop. You know, they would.

[Brian Caram]

Oh, my goodness.

[John Fugelsang]

I'm so relieved it's over. I mean, this campaign was not vetted. It was speed dated. You know, and I feel for the volunteers. I know how important it is for the Democrats to reach out to men, and I understand why he was such an attractive male nominee in so many ways. I get it. More white guys like that. I get it. But I mean, these people didn't sign up for Graham Platner. They signed up to defeat Trumpism, and that's what really matters. This movement deserved better. These volunteers deserve better. Maine deserves better. And I'm glad they have a chance to do it now. You know, to me, that's the headline. The headline is that thousands of volunteers are saying, this movement continues, not that one guy crashed and burned.

[Brian Caram]

Yeah. And I agree. They've got already. Let's see. Troy has Already thrown his hat in the ring. Who ran?

[John Fugelsang]

There's some problems there. There's some problems there.

[Brian Caram]

We got Shenna. You know, when I talked to Angela Flamme who was a writing candidate for the primary, who has the same platform as Graham Platner did, just without the baggage and she works, she's a teacher and you know, she's a fantastic candidate. I thought when I spoke to her about this, she said, well, what they should just do is go and find out who came in second place in the ranked choice voting. You don't have to do this over again. But then the argument on the other side is, well then other candidates who, who didn't run for Senate wouldn't be able to be considered. And the argument against that is, well, they didn't want the job in the first place. Why should they get to run again? So I'm not a Mainer. I'm going to let Maine do this.

[John Fugelsang]

It's going to be speed casting.

[Brian Caram]

This is going to throw all my weight behind whoever they choose. My only concern is that with a pop up convention or with something else, they were considering a statewide caucus. I'm not sure unenrolled voters get to have a say in that. Like how they're going to integrate independents and unenrolled voters. There were quite a bit, I think 9% of the Democrats votes across the board board came from unenrolled voters, 75% of whom asked for a ballot for the Democrats and probably cast a vote at least 70% of them for Graham Platner. So.

[John Fugelsang]

And they'll get a chance to vote for a Democrat again. I mean, you know, this is speed casting. They have to get this movie shoots in November. They have to get someone in the role right now. So I feel for those folk, but they're lucky to live in a state where you can do that. And at the end of the day, I mean it's going to be fascinating seeing who they pick. But there will be so much more attention paid to this nominee and their race. There'll be such a greater chance for nationwide fundraising for whoever this person is because of this God awful Netflix documentary we've been living through for the past couple of weeks.

[Alison Gill]

Yeah.

[Brian Caram]

And according to the main Democratic Party, at least the chair who was on Lawrence o' Donnell last night, I believe she said that Graham Platner could actually has plenty of funds he could release to and support whoever the nominee is

[John Fugelsang]

and I hope be a great thing for him to do to win goodwill.

[Brian Caram]

I hope that he does. But Again, I don't even think he's actually filed the paperwork to withdraw. He says he intends to do it by Monday. He says he's suspending campaign operations. He has stopped his ads, he's canceled his in person fundraising. But he also called on his supporters to call into the main Democratic Party. Remember when Nixon, that happened with Nixon way back in the day when he was trying to get. They were trying to take him off the ticket as vice president. And he's.

[John Fugelsang]

It's happening with the View right now, too.

[Brian Caram]

But that's a different story with the View right now. You know, we've seen it happen a couple of times before. So I hope he does the right thing and actually files the withdrawal paperwork, completely bows out and gives the money that he raised to whichever candidate Mainers select. And I'm glad that they, I'm glad that the Democratic Party said we are not going to just appoint someone.

[Martin Sheen]

Yes.

[Brian Caram]

Because they could have done that.

[John Fugelsang]

They could have. And again, you know, I'm not gonna stand here and say that Graham Platner's platform wasn't substantially better for women than Susan Collins. I have to point that out with all of his s. His platform was so much better for women in terms of workplace, in terms of their bodily autonomy, in terms of health care, in terms of hiring, no doubt whatsoever. But again, it makes me admire this party even more. After Spitzer, after John Edwards, after so many of these men, Democrats eject them, Republicans reelect them. That's it. I mean, now the onus can go back onto Republican congressmen who beat their wife and the adjudicated rapists in the White House, as per our Supreme Court, which decided they didn't need to change that title. Right?

[Brian Caram]

Absolutely. But whoever we elect in Maine, I'm sure will not be on a ventilator or disappear or, you know, be taking 20 minute phone calls with Barrasso and Scott Jennings. What are your thoughts on what's going on with Mitch McConnell? I've actually, when, when I think you're going to appreciate this pun, you know, when, when Andy Bashir sent out a letter, a proof of life letter.

[John Fugelsang]

Smart, smart.

[Brian Caram]

Produce a body. Right. I called it a writ of habeas tortoise. And I thought that that was.

[John Fugelsang]

Damn you.

[Brian Caram]

Fantastic.

[John Fugelsang]

Damn you. That's so solid. Solid.

[Brian Caram]

It was. Right, because that's, that's what habeas corpus means, right?

[John Fugelsang]

Yeah. You don't, don't stop using that. Please keep using that all the time. That is one of the jokes that, like, as a comedian, I hate You. Because I didn't think of it first, so please go with that. Look, we're not. We're not here to mock Mitch McConnell's suffering. We're here to mock how they're trying to cover up Mitch McConnell's suffering. And that's a very different thing. I think the. The. You know, the phrase continuing to recover is doing some pretty heavy lifting right now. Like, they're. This is the first time, I think, we've had to remember that medical updates mean nothing. Because every statement is, the senator continues to improve, and no one's saying, well, improve from what exactly?

[Brian Caram]

Took him off ECMO and put him on a ventilator. Like, what is that Your.

[John Fugelsang]

How much can he speak? Can he work? Is he conscious? They're just like, no. He. The senator appreciates your concern, and he continues to continue. And I'm like, all right, does the senator know he's appreciating my concern? I mean, you know this. If Taylor Swift went three weeks without posting on Instagram, CNN would have a primetime special every night, you know, and Elaine Chow flying away. Okay, Elaine, well, let's talk about that, because that's. That's the fascinating part of all of this. Elaine Chao does not work for the government anymore. She is not on any kind of official philanthropic mission. This is like your spouse goes off to Coachella when you're in a coma. It makes no sense. But this is what happens when officials don't answer basic questions, right? Nature reports a vacuum, but Twitter monetizes one. And if you don't provide facts, you know, the rumors are just going to move in. So if McConnell's seat is not vacated by. I'm sorry, before the 3rd of August by him legally stepping down or a signed death certificate, then it's too close to the election. And the rules will prevent any kind of special election. So they can't have anyone run for the seat in his place. Now, a lot of people are saying, well, who cares? Why would you hide McConnell's health situation? I mean, it's not like a Democrat would ever win a special election. But if McConnell vacated before August 3rd, and this ties into why his wife next of kin is away, and there'd be nobody here if he were on life support to sign off and unplug him. And again, this is conspiracy theory, but in the beautiful state of Kentucky, in a special election, anyone can register as an independent, which would split the Republican vote, because I promise you, somewhere Thomas Massie is refreshing Kentucky election law every 20 seconds as we speak. And this is all about Massie, it's all about Epstein. Massie is out of a job because he demanded the government obey the law Trump signed. Right. So they're, they want Massie to go away, but Massie could run as an independent and completely split the right wing vote and help the Democrat. So, you know, Elaine Chao off in China right now while her husband's dying, like that's pretty weird, right? But when you consider these machinations, there is a universe where they could believe that if they can make the public think that Mitch McConnell is alive until August 3rd, then you can announce he's dead on the 4th or pull the plug on the 4th, and you don't have to worry about the election, about having a runoff. So I think that all the conspiracy theories I've heard, again, they're going to fill the void because we're not getting an official word. All you gotta do is my old buddy, Scott Jennings. Good Lord. I hate to suggest he's not honest, but, you know, like One photo of McConnell with his eyes open, looking at the camera, we're not asking for his cholesterol numbers, just let us know he's alive. The people of Kentucky deserve this. And I thought Governor Bashir, who I, I, I mean, this guy's almost a lock, if not for president, but for vice president next year. And I'm biased. I do a show with him on SiriusXM. But his letter was so smart and had all the gentility and all the guts that this guy brings to every exchange. It really, really put the onus back on them.

[Brian Caram]

I think he should do what Mitch McConnell would do. I think he should just appoint someone. First of all, that 20, 21 Kentucky law that takes the power away from the governor to appoint a senator in the, you know, in the case where somebody dies or is incapacitated or whatever, or resigns, it's a bad law. And I, you know, to challenge that law, honestly, I think he should, I think Bashir should just appoint Massie to take his seat and let him fight it out in the courts. Now, obviously, John Thune's not gonna seat him, not gonna swear him in or

[John Fugelsang]

whatever, but, but let him, let him, let him turn him away, let him turn away the Republican senator from Kentucky.

[Brian Caram]

And to be fair, it is against the law in Kentucky for him to appoint a senator.

[John Fugelsang]

I know, but that's why, you know, if we're going to have fantasies, I want him to appoint Merrick Garland to replace Mitch McConnell. Let's make it beautiful here. As long as we're going to go to fantasy land.

[Brian Caram]

So for me to, you know, I did call on Blue Sky. I was like, governor, you should just appoint somebody. Do what? Do what Mitch McConnell would do and just appoint somebody and say that's the law and how it should be and take me to court. Again, they wouldn't seat him. But again, this is kind of that whole think outside the box, do a thing that a fighter would do and let him sort it out in the end. But if he has presidential aspirations and then they could clock him over the head with, he broke the law.

[John Fugelsang]

Yeah. He would never do it. He's definitely. He's very much running for president. Trust me on that one. Among 25 other great men and women. But, yeah, at a time when we're choking on all these metaphors of Trumpism, what an incredible thing that this man whose life is defined by underhanded political maneuvering and now his death is being defined by underhanded political maneuvering. Just incredible.

[Brian Caram]

They've just given up on giving a shit about their legacies.

[John Fugelsang]

I agree. And I think that's what I used

[Brian Caram]

to be, a thing that used to be something people cared about. Like, how will I be seen in the history books?

[John Fugelsang]

I thought Mitch McConnell and John Roberts might be the only Republicans in D who ever think about where they are in the history books. Because McConnell's done a lot halfway. But we have to remember this is all happening because of McConnell. McConnell could have had three retiring Republican senators go over with the impeachment in 2021, and Donald Trump never runs for president again. Mitch McConnell chose everything we're experiencing right now. He really thought the Democrats would be able to do this on their own. So he didn't help. And now we're all paying the price for it.

[Brian Caram]

Yeah, 100%. And his shenanigans with the Supreme Court Obama appointee. But then all of a sudden, we're going to shove Amy Coney Barrett down your throat in the last 15 days. Yeah.

[John Fugelsang]

So Mitch McConnell on his own decided to change the number of Supreme Court justices from nine to eight for one full year. So the black guy couldn't get an up or down vote on his duly appointed nominee. I mean, we still don't talk about it enough. These guys are going to say, you can't pack the court, you can't move it to 13 to match the appellate number. Dude, Mitch McConnell already changed the number of the Supreme Court for a full year in our lifetime. And wow, the guardrails held what I

[Brian Caram]

like to call adding four seats to the Supreme Court, I like to call it unpacking the court. Because that's.

[John Fugelsang]

Thank you.

[Alison Gill]

That's what we're doing.

[Brian Caram]

Yeah, because they packed it. Let's, let's be honest. I mean, how many of those nominees are from people who didn't even win the popular vote?

[John Fugelsang]

Look, I mean, you want to know how many of the six and the dirty six caucus, five of them came from presidents who achieved the White House after the majority of Americans voted against them. Five of the six. If we had a popular vote in this country, five of these six would not have been appointed. And the, the sixth one is Clarence Thomas, appointed by a president who opposed the 1964 Civil Rights Act. These six people are writing our laws and five of them are named by presidents. The majority of Americans didn't want to. So yeah, it is an unpacking.

[Brian Caram]

Or just write a law that says if you didn't win the popular vote, you don't get to nominate Supreme Court justices. There's nothing stopping that.

[John Fugelsang]

Good luck on that one. But yeah, I mean, look what FDR did, what FDR did was he had like three judges that were trying to torpedo the New Deal.

[Alison Gill]

Yeah.

[John Fugelsang]

He didn't try to stack the court, he just threatened that he might. I wish Democrats would learn from this. FDR said, here's what I'm going to do. I'm going to put more justices on. And you know what his plan was? Every justice over 70 would be pooled together into one vote. Every justice over 70 would vote together for one of the nine votes. And you know what? He didn't even fight for it. Those three judges backed down. Most of the New Deal was saved. And FDR never mentioned it again. Just, my God, these bullies back down if you punch back once. Go ahead and scare them. That's what, that's what that was the appeal of Platner. But again, like I look what happened in Colorado last week, week where this 29 year old Milat Kiros just knocked off Diana Dejet, who I like. She's been on my show 15 terms. I mean, and we now are going to have a congresswoman born after the invention of email. And like, you know, I think it's so amazing because it's not a socialist revolution, it's an affordability revolution. And I think the most important bipartisanship we can work for is getting moderate Dems and leftist Dems to just stay on the same side of the fence through the first week of November. That's bipartisanship. Right now, Democratic socialism is no threat to moderate Democrats.

[Brian Caram]

I'm also watching Al Syed in the Senate Michigan race. That's fascinating to see how that goes. What is that, August 4th or something like that? Their primary?

[John Fugelsang]

What a debate.

[Brian Caram]

That should be fascinating to watch as well.

[John Fugelsang]

Yeah. America's growing up and a lot of us aren't ready for it yet. But Mayor Zo run Mamdani is the most popular guy in American politics right now. And I mean, when Rahm Emanuel is running around Europe, dude, saying that Zoran Mamdani is more popular with American Jews than Benjamin Netanyahu, we are going to have a crazy two and a half years in politics in this country if Rahm is bringing that message to the presidential race, it's going to be a wild two years.

[Brian Caram]

I never thought I'd see Rahm Emanuel saying that we need to stop aipac and we need to stop giving money to Israel. Rob Emanuel, like, if there's one thing

[John Fugelsang]

he's good at, it's being an abusive dickhead who breaks things. So, I mean, like, oh, it's this Rahm Emanuel, okay? You know, I'm Rahm Emanuel and I'm here to save democracy, you stupid schmuck. And like, all right, I don't know if he's electable, but damn, if he runs, it's gonna be an entertaining series of debates.

[Brian Caram]

It's gonna be an interesting. Yeah, that let's. I'm just trying to trudge through the midterms right now.

[John Fugelsang]

But yeah, but again, like, I know progressives who are upset about all this and I get it. But I mean, I mean, you know, this is our tradition of neglecting progressives in this country. Right. First America ignores a problem, then America denies there is a problem, and then America mocks the people who talk about the problem, and then we elect the people who talk about the problem. That's how it's been every time in our history. And we're watching it play out still.

[Brian Caram]

Yeah, I agree. All right, my friend, thank you so much. I hope everybody checks out your new time slot on tell me everything. SiriusXin progress channel127, right after Stephanie Miller. That's weekdays. Weekdays, not weekdays. Weekdays at noon Eastern, 9am Pacific Time. And of course, grab your copy of the New York Times bestseller Separation of Church and Hate. Thank you so much, my friend. It's always a pleasure to talk to you.

[John Fugelsang]

Thank you. And I just want to let your attractive listeners know our show launches this Monday with a very special guest, former American President Martin Sheen. For our we had Pete Townsend on it for our first show, and we relaunched it in late night. So going back to mornings, we're going for a President. Thank you, Dr. Gill, for all you do, and I hope it's a very calm weekend.

[Brian Caram]

Please tell Mr. Sheen I say hello. And I am obsessed with the Martin Sheen Podcast.

[John Fugelsang]

So good.

[Brian Caram]

If you haven't listened to it, and full disclosure, it is an MSW media podcast.

[John Fugelsang]

Yeah. They're big fans of yours, Alison. They are big fans of yours in the Sheen house.

[Brian Caram]

Well, let them know right now to take the edge off, I just put on reruns of the West Wing. That's how I deal with and listen to the Martin Sheen Podcast. It's like having President Bartlett read you poems when you go to sleep. It's just.

[John Fugelsang]

No, it's a really special podcast. It's like I want all my favorite artists to do things like this. It's beautiful.

[Brian Caram]

Yeah, for sure. All right, everybody, we're gonna take a quick break, but we'll be right back with the good news. John, thanks again. We'll see you next week. Peace, everybody. Stick around. We'll be right back.

[Martin Sheen]

Hello, Martin Sheen here. And it seems to me that no day of the week is without its endless barrage of bad news. Even on Sunday. For God's sake, change that. What do you say? Together, let's make Sunday immune to bad news. Available now every Sunday, Season three of the Martin Sheen Podcast with yours truly, Martin Sheen has begun. Yeah. 10 brand new episodes are already underway. So join me, Martin sheen, for a 20 minute journey as I share my personal stories, a bit of poetry, and insightful reflections that will encourage you to take a deep breath and enjoy a relaxing moment. Of course, it's important to know and understand what's happening in the world. But I also believe there's nothing wrong with taking a step back to find strength and clarity. And Lord knows we need that now more than ever. A moment of thoughtfulness and calm may be rare these days, but it doesn't have to be. So what do you say? You want to take back your Sundays? So do I. And guess what? I've already done it with the Martin Sheen Podcast, season three. Available now. Now don't mess with my Sunday. And thank you for listening, everybody.

[Brian Caram]

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

[John Fugelsang]

Then good news, everyone.

[Brian Caram]

The Friday good news dump is my favorite good news dump. Everybody. Send your good news good trouble suggestions. If you don't have good news and your good news could be tiny. It could be very small, or it could be big. It can be from yesterday, or I don't know, 40 years ago. Whatever rings a bell when you listen to other people's good news entries. We would love to hear from you. You can also give shout outs to loved ones or yourself or a nonprofit or a small business in your area or a government program that's helped you or a loved one. And all you got to do to get your stuff read on the air is submit a photo. It can be your pet. We can try to guess the breeds in your shelter. Puppies up. Our producers are so great. They redact it all so that we, we don't get to cheat and we love them for that. You can send an adoptable pet in your area if you don't have a pet or you can even just send a random photo of an animal off the Internet. You can also include family photos, pictures of rallies and protests you've been to, maybe a nice sunset, your garden. Maybe you're raising some chickens or you got some goats. We love goats and chickens. Dana loves otters. We both love pandas. I like secretary birds and pygmy marmosets. I know I have axolotls, which is kind of the, like the unofficial mascot of the, of the Leguminati. I don't know why axolotls and beans go together except they're both from Mexico. So maybe that's it. So send it all to us dailybeanspod.com click on Contact. First up is your good trouble. Good trouble today comes from our new partners, defiance.org, a reminder. ICE is still a menace and defiance.org is on a mission to free kids from Trump's ICE detention facilities. Quote Right now, children are being held inside the Dilley Immigration Processing center in South Texas. Infants experiencing alarming weight loss, kids denied crayons, families drinking foul smelling tap water. No attorneys, no judges, no childhood. And this administration is counting on you to look the other way. But we're not going to give in to them. [e-mail] actions they have a petition for you to sign and draft emails for your representatives and other actions to take. We'll have a link in the show notes and you can join here defiance.org beans we'll have a link to that and we have a link to the mission briefing video in the show notes as well. And as you know, we're continuing to raise money for the Trevor project all through San Diego Pride month of July. You can donate on behalf of the Laguminati. It's tax [e-mail] beans all right.

[Alison Gill]

Thanks so much, Ag. This is from Melissa, Pronounced she and her. Hello Queens of the Beans. This is a gentle nudge to the rest of Illuminati. I'm sure all of your inboxes are crammed with junk just like mine and some important stuff might get missed. This morning I got an email from the Trevor Project encouraging me to check with my employer about donation matching. Great submission, Melissa. I had made a donation in June through the beans link and I didn't think much more of it, but when I read the email, I took the time to check it out. Lo and behold, my employer does match every dollar I give. It was a very simple process and now my donation is going to be doubled. So if you got the same email, there's a link to search for your employer on their website. We'll have that in the show notes. I encourage everyone to take a minute and check with your employer to see if they will match your donations too. Not just to the Drevor project, but to any of the programs you support. For my Pod Pet tariff, I'm sharing the danger puppy that decided to come for our pizza. He smelled the yum and came in through the open door. My mom high tailed it out of the front and got this picture through the window. I know.

[Brian Caram]

Okay, this is danger Puppy means bear. You guys, it's a bear. It's a fucking bear.

[Alison Gill]

Before some neighbors come over and helped make enough noise, he decided it wasn't going to be the fine dining experience he was looking for and he let himself back out from the back door. Lesson of the day, don't leave the slider door open in Tahoe in the summer. Oh my God. This picture is fucking amazing though.

[Brian Caram]

Why did you call it a danger puppy? Yeah, Danger puppy. Okay. You know what this reminds me of? The Great Outdoors with John Candy and Dan Aykroyd where the big bear chases him into the cabin. Big, Big bear. Big bear chase me. I actually call one of my cats Big Bear because he's so giant and he chases me around. But holy majoli Bear in your house. Oh, and then to watch John Candy and Dan Aykroyd try to get the bat out of the cabin that flew in. If you haven't seen the great outdoors, you should take a minute. It's, it's, it's pretty great. Thank you for that. Oh my gosh. I'm so glad everybody is safe, Melissa. And great job. Just like with the bravery, just. I'm gonna snap a photo while this bear's in my kitchen. Next up from Friendly quadriplegic pronouns. She and her. Dear lovely ladies of the beans, you're my main source of news and I'm so grateful to you for navigating the treacherous terrain of tyranny. I would say terroir. That is our because we paired with red wine and blue. Anyway, that is our country at present. And finding what uplifting things exist to help us find safe footprints to follow while looking ahead. Oh my gosh, I love that. Following safe footprints to follow. Four months ago, I found the perfect caregiver. She took care of her bed bound grandfather as he passed. She did not have the usual hesitancy new caregivers come with when working with a quadriplegic for the first time. We bonded immediately. She's teaching me Spanish one word at a time. And we've been helping her further improve her already excellent English. She became a naturalized citizen 10 years ago. Last summer she was detained by ICE for three days in an office building with 100 people and one bathroom. She went 48 hours without food and upon her release, they canceled her passport, driver's license and put a flag on her Social Security number. Now the good news is yesterday she was given an extension until October and a list of things to quote unquote fix many directly linked to the shit ICE did last summer. So for pod tax, I give you a baby photo of my now 20 year old daughter who just began her one year term on our county's civil grand jury. A position she applied for. Alison, you read my submission about her a few years ago. It was before her transition and I wrote about her reading the voter guide in elementary school school. And teaching her how to research candidates and propositions which I now rely on her to do for me. Oh wow. I remember it well. Thank you so much for this. Look at this. Beautiful angel baby.

[Alison Gill]

Uh huh. Beautiful angel baby.

[Brian Caram]

Great submission. Thank you. Friendly quadriplegic.

[Alison Gill]

All right, up next from Nick. No pronouns given in the beans. AG has raised an interesting question. Who puts his name on someone else's memorial? I happen to have a historical example. Joseph Stalin. After he died, his body was put into a mausoleum next to Lenin's. And the lettering Lenin on the front of the mausoleum was augmented to read Lenin Stalin. I had no idea. I'm attaching an archive photo from the 1950s and there's a little note. 1961, as part of the Soviet Union's de Stalinization process under thank you, Stalin's body was removed from the tomb and his name was erased. He was then reburied somewhere else.

[Brian Caram]

Oh, he went and took his body out of the tomb.

[Alison Gill]

I love it.

[Brian Caram]

Holy Nick, what a great history like piece of history. A little analog there for us. All right, next up, Billy Winter Davis. Oh I love Billy Winter Davis pronoun she and her this is Reality Billy Winner's Mom. Hello Beans Queens. It's me again, Billy Winner Davis, Reality's Mom. I wish I'd sent you this info sooner even before the March happened on July 4th in Philly, but I'm sharing now. Veterans Orgs and Military Families Speak Out Joined forces in Philly for the largest veteran march since the Vietnam era. I'm proud to be a board member with mfso and even though I wasn't able to travel to the march, I did what I could to get our military family members there and to post all the great photos on our Facebook page attached as an article on the march. Of course, mainstream media didn't report on it as they were busy kissing someone's orange ass. Thank you for all you do. Love you both so much. Billy, thank you. We're going to have a link to this in the show. Notes from an article in Common Dreams. Amazing. Yeah. Largest march since Vietnam era. Yeah, it was probably. God, it was July 4th in Philly. It was probably so hot that day too. Yeah, incredible. Thank you.

[Alison Gill]

All right, next up from Tim Pronouns he and Him Dear AG and dg I am one of Dana's dissenters who is also a veteran. Hi Tim, I know who you are and I love the conversations we have on the monthly zooms and Tim says I love our monthly zoom meetings and the fact that it's as small and intimate as it is. I'm also a prostate cancer survivor thanks to our VA healthcare system. I initially had it treated for a for profit company that I got from my employer and was given seven additional years at its my life. But I retired in 2023 and moved to the Monterey area which put me in the Palo Alto VA system. So in my cancer return later that year, they were able to send me to Stanford for treatment and it doesn't get much better than Stanford. My pod pet tax I submit my beautiful orange tabby sir loves a lot who was a rescue who actually rescued me from problems with depression.

[Brian Caram]

Tim, you and I have a lot in common, my friend. We have a lot in common and I have so many good friends who work in the Palo Alto VA health system. It's one of the top ones in the country and I'm so glad that you're getting the care that you need and deserve Tim. And thanks for being a dissenter in the dugout. That's so cool. Everybody, if you're interested in joining, you can do [e-mail] and just click on the Patreon link.

[Alison Gill]

It's lovely to have you.

[Brian Caram]

Look at this sweet kitty, sir. Loves a lot. That's a great name.

[Alison Gill]

Name. Yeah.

[Brian Caram]

All right, from Jim. Pronouns, he and him. We got Tim, he, him, Jim, he, him. All right, Jim. Hello, Beans. Queens. I'm writing to self shout out. I've been hearing that we can't let any elected official go uncontested, even in blue Vermont. When it became obvious that it was about to happen with a Vermont House seat currently held by a member of the Republican Party, it was clear to me what I had to do. So I'm excited to announce that I am a candidate for the Vermont House of Representatives. Oh, I'm going to mispronounce this. Lamoire. The second district. I refuse to campaign on Meta or Twitter only to have them take our money and use it to further subvert democracy. So you and your audience can learn more about my [e-mail] we're going to have a link in the show. Notes for my pod pet tariff. I've enclosed a photo of our dog Remy on his first day with us. First F U R S T. And another of Remy on the job now that he's two and a half years old. You're too good to not figure out what breed he is, but I'll include. Are you kidding, Jim? We're terrible.

[Alison Gill]

I would put all. I would still put all of my beans at this. Being an Australian shepherd, he's in charge

[Brian Caram]

of our five goats, which you meant. Which you met in the winter. Goats goes 24 hour goats. Live nude goats. You know, Larry, Walter, Moishe, Mayhem, and Vincent Van Goat. Yes, I remember. I'll provide more photos the next time I have good news to share, like when I win my seat in the Vermont House. Jim, this is outstanding. Thank you for running in what was going to be an uncontested district. Yeah, that's an Australian shepherd. That's got to be.

[Alison Gill]

It's got to be.

[Brian Caram]

Remy is an Australian shepherd. Yeah.

[Alison Gill]

All right, more adventures from Ed. Pronouns. He, him, Bongion. No, beans, Queens. Today was a visit to two Phoenician islands, Burano and Murano. Ed, I have been there three times. They're two of my favorite little places in the world. Now, Burano could be a movie set. The locals paint and decorate their houses Row on row along the lengths of these narrow canals. It's magical. But then again, Burano's true magic. It comes from lace created centuries ago by seven women perfecting seven stitches of thread. Now, Murano is famous for glassworks. They have changed only one thing in the past 600 years. They now use gas instead of wood in their furnaces. We watch as a craftsman turned a molten blob of earth into a beautiful water pitcher and another into a rearing horse sculpture, each in less than five minutes. What we bore witness to old magic today ag this glassblowing place where they do the horse is extraordinary, and it really is just this ball of goop. And then all of a sudden you're like, okay, that's the black stallion.

[Brian Caram]

Amazing.

[Alison Gill]

Pictures today are a canal street in Burano and our light lunch, which I managed to order entirely in Italian. Granted, I read two thirds of it directly from the menu, but I'm still calling that a win. Wishing you all the very best. Holy major Burano reminds me. And it's not like it's a little Venice. Burano is very, very different. And there's like these gelato places within these canals and these tiny little restaurants, but all of the houses are painted like these blue and the pink and the yellow, and so the photos are just extraordinary.

[Brian Caram]

That's so gorgeous. And look at that delicious food. Oh, my gosh.

[Alison Gill]

Yeah, I love Burano. I can't wait to go back there.

[Brian Caram]

So how.

[John Fugelsang]

How.

[Brian Caram]

What are you doing in Burana? These, like, Olivia cruises.

[Alison Gill]

Yes. So this trips are like Venice to Croatia or Venice to Athens. And basically we have excursions, so you can pick excursions that you go on when the ship ports. And if you are ever on an excursion, you can literally get from Venice to Burano within 25 minutes on the ferry with a stop in Murano if you want to. Or you don't have to stop in Murano, or you can reverse it. You can go all the way to Burano and then back. But the whole ferry ride, I think it's really inexpensive. I think maybe 50 bucks round trip.

[John Fugelsang]

Trip. Wow.

[Alison Gill]

Yeah. It might not even be that much. And we got the most beautiful scarf in Burano. And it's just so nice to walk around. And it's, you know, it's crowded during tourist time, but it's also. It's worth it. It's just worth it to see these tiny places that they have kept really beautiful and they kept the houses painted, and they rely on tourists to make sure that their economy stays literally afloat. As an island. So make sure you go visit them and go buy some lace. Buy a little piece of blown glass.

[Brian Caram]

Take it home with your you amazing, incredible. Thank you so much for that. I love again like I said, I love the Friday good news dump. I mean they're all great. I just like to take the Friday with, with me through the weekend to, you know, sustain me. So everybody, again, this massive, massive breaking news we've got, we've, we've got them red handed. We've got the FBI red handed on the Epstein files and you're going to hear all about it Sunday at noon on the breakdown. I'm so excited about this. I can't, I can't wait.

[Alison Gill]

I love that you have it.

[Brian Caram]

That's noon Pacific time, 3:00pm Eastern. You can, you're you, you know, if you can't make it to watch it live it, it'll, I'll, I'll have it up on my substack as well so you can catch it afterwards. But that I'm just really excited to tell you all about it, about what I found and that it's going to happen the week of what's his nuts confirmation hearing. Good old Todd Blanche. So I'm looking forward to that. We'll also have a new episode of Unjustified with me and Andy McCabe on Sunday that comes out first thing Sunday as well. Unless you're a patron. And if you want to become a patron and come to our election night watch party on November 3, we would love to have you. You get an invite as a patron plus you get all sorts of other benefits. We're having a happy hour here in just a few minutes after we're done recording. And we got episodes that are ad free. Premium feeds early episodes for Unjustified Beans. Beans talk. You can sign up super [e-mail] MullerShiprote and you'll be supporting independent media. Do you have any final thoughts, my friend?

[Alison Gill]

Not for today. All right.

[Brian Caram]

Well, I think I'm flying solo for the next few days. But you'll be back mid next week, right?

[Alison Gill]

I will. I'm actually, I'm kind of excited I get to fly to Boulder, Colorado. I am. I'm filming a very, very small part and I'm not being humble, a very small part in a feature film. But I'm flying out for that and I'll get my sag. I'll get my SAG covered. So it's just a wonderful opportunity. And ag, I always appreciate, appreciate you taking care of me when my Other work calls?

[Brian Caram]

Yeah, same. Because I'm gonna be taking a trip. I'm gonna be taking a vacation in January. Oh.

[Alison Gill]

You all are gonna have me solo for a very long time.

[Martin Sheen]

Forever.

[Brian Caram]

No, forever.

[Alison Gill]

Forever.

[Brian Caram]

I need to take a proper vacation.

[Alison Gill]

You deserve it.

[Brian Caram]

Thank you. All right, everybody, I'll be back in your ears tomorrow. We'll see you over on Beans Talk. 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. Family. I've been ag. I've been DG and emsa. Beans. The Daily Beans is written and executive produced by Alison Gill with additional research and reporting by Dana Goldberg. Sound design and editing is by Desiree McFarlane with art and web design by Joelle Reader with Moxie Design Studios. Music for the Daily Beans is written and performed by they Might Be Giants and the show is a proud member of the MSW Media Network, a collection of creator owned podcasts dedicated to news, politics and justice. For more information, Please visit msw media.com MSW Media. Hi, I'm Frances Collier.

[Alison Gill]

And I'm Angela V. Shelton.

[Brian Caram]

And we're Frangela.

[Alison Gill]

You know what you mean in your life. The Final Word podcast.

[Brian Caram]

Yes, you do.

[Alison Gill]

That's right. It is the final word on all things political and pop cultural, where we

[Brian Caram]

make real news, real funny, where we inspire you so you can hashtag, resist, subscribe and get a new episode of the Final Word podcast each week.

[Alison Gill]

It's the news we think you need to hear. That's right. We think you need to hear it.

[Brian Caram]

Okay.

[John Fugelsang]

Yeah.

[Alison Gill]

It's what we say, so. That's right. And because all we do is give. Every Thursday, you can listen to our

[Brian Caram]

hysterical podcast, Idiot of the Week. We round up the stupid.

[Alison Gill]

Because you know what?

[Brian Caram]

Somebody has to.

[Alison Gill]

Okay.

[Brian Caram]

All we do is give.