
Wednesday, July 23rd, 2025 Today, Mike Johnson has shut down Congress to avoid demands to release the Epstein files; former Louisville Metro Police (LMPD) detective Brett Hankison has been sentenced to 33 months in prison after he was convicted of violating Breonna Taylor's civil rights; the FEMA search and rescue chief has resigned after frustration with the Texas flood response; the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals has lifted the block on removing temporary protected status for Afghans and Cameroonians; Judge Emmet Sullivan has ruled that the Trump administration has to stop violating public disclosure laws and publish Congressional apportionments; a new report alleges that migrants at an ICE jail in Miami were made to kneel to eat ‘like dogs’; and Allison delivers the good news.
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Alison Gill
MSW Media hello and welcome to the Daily beans for Wednesday, July 23, 2025. Today, Mike Johnson has shut down Congress.
Dana Goldberg
To avoid demands to release the Epstein files.
Alison Gill
Former Louisville Metro Police Detective Brett Hankison.
Dana Goldberg
Has been sentenced to 33 months in.
Alison Gill
Prison after he was convicted of violating.
Dana Goldberg
Breonna Taylor's civil rights. The FEMA search and rescue chief has resigned after frustration with the Texas flood response.
Alison Gill
The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals has.
Dana Goldberg
Lifted the block on removing temporary protected status for Afghans and Cameroonians. Judge Emmett Sullivan has ruled that the Trump administration has to stop violating public.
Alison Gill
Disclosure laws and publish congressional apportionments.
Dana Goldberg
And a new report alleges that migrants.
Alison Gill
At an ice jail in Miami were made to kneel to eat like dogs. I'm your host, Alison Gill. Hey, everybody, it's A.G. dana's out today. She will be back tomorrow. Everything's fine, I promise.
Dana Goldberg
She, she's coming back. Thank you for listening to the Daily.
Alison Gill
Beans and welcome to all our new listeners. We have a bunch of new listeners. Thanks for listening.
Emily Slatko
We have a lot to cover today.
Alison Gill
Later in the show, I'm going to be speaking with the vice president of.
Dana Goldberg
Communications for NextGen America.
Alison Gill
Her name is Emily Slatko.
Dana Goldberg
You don't want to miss that conversation.
Alison Gill
I'll also have a special segment today on a ruling on the merits, not a preliminary injunction or a temporary restraining order from Judge Emmett Sullivan, about Donald Trump and his administration, including the Office of Management and budget, violating a 2022 Public Disclosure Law signed by President Biden that has to do with Trump and Rus Vaught's propensity for holding congressional purse strings. It's important enough that I thought it deserved its own little segment. But before we hit the hot notes, Mike Johnson has decided to close Congress rather than for, you know, like ahead of the summer break, rather than vote on Democratic amendments for the release of the Epstein files. So first of all, thank you to.
Dana Goldberg
Congressional Democrats for endlessly proposing amendments to.
Alison Gill
Every single piece of legislation calling for the release of the files. You have effectively halted Republican legislation in the House. As Politico says, committee Democrats had planned to force a vote Monday evening on legislation that would call for the release.
Dana Goldberg
Of all the materials in the Epstein files.
Alison Gill
As the panel worked to tee up.
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Floor consideration on a slate of unrelated.
Alison Gill
Bills, it was poised to be a.
Dana Goldberg
Repeat of what transpired last Thursday. Inside Rules, the Rules Committee which gummed.
Alison Gill
Up the works for several hours.
Dana Goldberg
But rather than this time, work through.
Alison Gill
The Democratic disruption, Republicans chose instead Monday.
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To recess the rest of the rules meeting altogether.
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With House Majority Leader Steve Scalise saying that it was unlikely that the panel would reconvene this week at all.
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Later, lawmakers said there were no plans.
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To return at all. And that means the House members will depart for August recess at this week's.
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End without being able to vote on.
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Legislation that would not otherwise be able to pass on the chamber floor with.
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A simple majority vote, including an immigration.
Alison Gill
Related bill that would increase penalties for individuals who enter the country illegally and also water permitting measures. So I think this is fascinating. They dealt with it and went through it and got through the proposed amendments and the Rules Committee last Thursday, but they just didn't today. They gave up and said go home for the August recess. Now in a related story, Adam Klassfeld at All Rise News reports that two.
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Judges from the Southern District of New.
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York signed similar orders Tuesday for the.
Dana Goldberg
Government to provide more information on their request to unseal Epstein.
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Grand jury records Both want to hear.
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From the victims before August 5th.
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And Judge Berman, a licensed social worker.
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Ended on a note of the victim's trauma saying, according to the government, Epstein harmed over 1,000 victims, each suffering unique trauma.
Alison Gill
Sensitive information relating to these victims is.
Dana Goldberg
Intertwined throughout the materials.
Alison Gill
This includes specific details such as victim names and likenesses, physical descriptions, places of birth associates and employment history, unquote. And that is something that I verified talking to sources who have reviewed these files. And I want to expand on that trauma for a second because like I said after I wrote my first substack piece 2 days ago from sources talking about the review of the Epstein files at the FBI, multiple additional people have.
Dana Goldberg
Come forward and one source shared with.
Alison Gill
Me on the condition of anonymity that none of these files or documents stored on the internal shared drive are labeled. So no one had any warning about.
Dana Goldberg
What they would find inside.
Alison Gill
Further, the known universe of people who.
Dana Goldberg
Have access to these files has expanded.
Alison Gill
Now to four components across two agencies with multiple locations.
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And here's a quote from someone I.
Alison Gill
Spoke to, opsec Wise, I think it.
Dana Goldberg
Was wild that just anyone could open the photos of victims.
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Now you can read that and everything.
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Else that I've discovered in addition to.
Alison Gill
The piece I wrote two days ago in my latest piece at muellershiroad.com Again, it's always free. All right. With that, everybody, let's hit the hot notes. Hot notes. All right. First up, from WH11 in Louisville, former Louisville Metro Police Detective Brett Hankison has been sentenced to 33 months in prison, months after he was convicted of violating Breonna Taylor's civil rights. Last November, a federal grand jury found Hankison guilty of using excessive force with the intent to kill when he fired.
Dana Goldberg
10 shots into the side of her.
Alison Gill
Apartment during the night of the deadly 2020 police raid. None of Hankison's bullets hit Taylor. On Monday, U.S. district Judge Rebecca Grady.
Dana Goldberg
Jennings went against the Department of Justice's.
Alison Gill
Recommended sentence, giving Hankison two years and.
Dana Goldberg
Nine months in prison. She sentenced him to serve three years of supervised release after finishing his time in custody.
Alison Gill
Quote, I'm grateful for the judge for giving some time because we could have walked away with nothing, according to what the DOJ recommended. That's Tamika Palmer, Brianna Taylor's mother, and she said that during a news conference in front of Louisville's federal courthouse after the sentencing.
Dana Goldberg
New attorneys with the Department of Justice's.
Alison Gill
Civil rights division with significantly different priorities under Trump than the prosecutors who tried Hankison's case in 2024 sided with defense attorneys to recommend one day of prison time and just three years of probation. Quote, I've never seen such a thing.
Dana Goldberg
I've never even heard of such a thing.
Alison Gill
It was disrespectful. It was heartbreaking.
Dana Goldberg
It shouldn't have happened.
Alison Gill
And like I said, he didn't know who I was. That's what Palmer told reporters.
Dana Goldberg
But Jennings, the judge, bucked the government's one day sentencing recommendation, saying she was.
Alison Gill
Troubled by its diminishing of the jury's verdict and the seriousness of the crime.
Dana Goldberg
Jennings voiced frustration with the Department of.
Alison Gill
Justice taking a 180 turn, calling the government's argument that it would not prosecute the case. Now a little late now. Hankison remains free from federal custody for.
Dana Goldberg
Now as his attorneys prepare to appeal the judge's sentence.
Alison Gill
And that could take time as questions.
Dana Goldberg
Loom over whether attorneys will seek out a pardon or a commutation from President Trump.
Alison Gill
Breonna Taylor's family attorney Lanita Baker, standing.
Dana Goldberg
Alongside famous civil rights attorney Ben Crump.
Alison Gill
Stood said the sentence isn't everything they wanted, but they'll take it.
Dana Goldberg
We commend the judge for taking the.
Alison Gill
Time to listen and to push back.
Dana Goldberg
And to express her disappointment with the Department of Justice.
Alison Gill
That's what Baker said. Next up from the Guardian. Migrants at a Miami immigration jail were.
Dana Goldberg
Shackled with their hands tied behind their.
Alison Gill
Backs and made to kneel to eat food from styrofoam plates like dogs. That's according to a report published on.
Dana Goldberg
Monday into conditions at three overcrowded South Florida facilities. The incident at the downtown federal detention center is one of a succession of alleged abuses at jails operated by Immigrations.
Alison Gill
And Customs Enforcement in the state of Florida since January, chronicled by the advocacy group's Human Rights Watch, Americans for Immigrant justice and Sanctuary of the south, from interviews with detainees.
Dana Goldberg
Dozens of men had been packed into holding cells for hours, the report said.
Alison Gill
And denied lunch until 7pm they remained shackled with the food on chairs in front of them. Quote, we had to eat like animals. That's one detainee named Pedro said that degrading treatment by guards is commonplace in all three jails, the group say. At the Crome North Service Processing center in West Miami, female detainees were made.
Dana Goldberg
To use toilets in full view of.
Alison Gill
Men being held there and were denied access to gender appropriate care, showers, adequate food. The jail was so far beyond capacity.
Dana Goldberg
Some transferring detainees reported that they were held for more than 24 hours in.
Alison Gill
A bus in the parking lot. Men and women were confined together and unshackled only when they needed to use the single toilet, which quickly overflowed and became clogged.
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When the group was finally admitted into.
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The facility, they said many spent up to 12 days crammed into a frigid.
Dana Goldberg
Intake room with no bedding or warm.
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Clothing, sleeping instead on the cold concrete floor. At a third facility, the Broward Transitional center in Pompano beach, where a 44 year old Haitian woman named Marie Angie Blazy died in April, detainees said they were routinely denied adequate medical or psychological care. Some suffered delayed treatments for injuries and.
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Chronic conditions and dismissive or hostile responses from staff. In one alleged incident in April at.
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The downtown Miami jail, staff turned off a surveillance camera and a disturbance control.
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Team brutalized detainees who were protesting about.
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A lack of medical attention to one.
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Of their number who was coughing up blood. One detainee suffered a broken finger.
Alison Gill
All three facilities are severely overcrowded. That's what the detainees say, a contributing.
Dana Goldberg
Factor in Florida's decision to quickly build.
Alison Gill
The controversial concentration camp in the Everglades.
Dana Goldberg
Intended to eventually hold up to 5,000 undocumented migrants awaiting deportation.
Alison Gill
Next up from CBS, an appellate court is now going to allow the Trump administration to end a program that grants.
Dana Goldberg
Temporary deportation protection and work permits to more than 10,000 people from Afghanistan and Cameroon.
Alison Gill
In a brief order Monday, the U.S. court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit wrote that the plaintiff, an immigration advocacy group called casa, has a plausible case.
Dana Goldberg
Against the administration for choosing to end temporary protected status for Afghan and Cameroonians.
Alison Gill
But the court said there is insufficient evidence to warrant the extraordinary remedy of.
Dana Goldberg
Blocking the government from phasing out TPS.
Alison Gill
While the lawsuit works its way through the courts. One week ago, the appeals court temporarily blocked the Trump administration from ending TPS for Afghanistan for one week while it.
Dana Goldberg
Considered the merits of Kassa's case.
Alison Gill
The administration had planned to end the program for Afghans last week. Now the program is, or I should say the program for Cameroonians is set to end on August 4.
Dana Goldberg
Around 11,700 Afghans and 5,200 Cameroonians are enrolled in TPS.
Alison Gill
But roughly 3,600 of the Afghans and.
Dana Goldberg
200 of the Cameroonians have green cards.
Alison Gill
So they will not be affected. At least they're not supposed to be. Those who lose their TPS protections can.
Dana Goldberg
Apply for asylum or some other form.
Alison Gill
Of legal status, but otherwise they'll be at risk of deportation. Next up from the Times, the head of FEMA and FEMA's Urban Search and Rescue unit has resigned, telling colleagues he was frustrated by bureaucratic hurdles the Trump administration imposed that delayed the agency's response to deadly flooding in Texas. Ken Pagurich, who worked with FEMA's Search.
Dana Goldberg
And Rescue branch for more than a.
Alison Gill
Decade and served as chief for the past year, told associates that his concerns.
Dana Goldberg
Had been mounting since the start of.
Alison Gill
Hurricane season and that the administration's changes.
Dana Goldberg
To the agency were causing chaos.
Alison Gill
He said he worried that the new policy that requires purchases of more than $100,000 to be personally approved by Kristi Noem could hurt disaster response efforts that.
Dana Goldberg
Require speed and agility. And they did.
Alison Gill
The catastrophic flooding in the Texas hill country on 4 July, in which 120 people were killed, was the final straw. And that's according to four people who spoke on the condition of anonymity. FEMA was slow to deploy response and.
Dana Goldberg
Search and rescue coordination teams, according to half a dozen current and former FEMA.
Alison Gill
Officials and disaster experts. Several Democratic lawmakers have called for an.
Dana Goldberg
Investigation into the agency's handling of the disaster.
Alison Gill
Tricia McLaughlin, spokeswoman for Department of Homeland Security, said FEMA did not experience any delays in the deployments in Texas and said, quote, it's laughable that a career public employee who claims to serve the American people would choose to resign over our refusal to hastily approve six figure deployment contracts without basic financial oversight.
Dana Goldberg
Fuck her.
Alison Gill
Kristine Ohm took four days to approve that shit. It's laughable. Trisha say that to the faces of the families who lost everything. And fuck Kristi Noem, too. She said FEMA responded to the flooding better than it had to any other disaster in many, many years and said criticisms amounted to people playing politics with.
Dana Goldberg
What happened in Texas.
Alison Gill
Say that to their faces, Christy. Just despicable. All right, everybody, what can we do? Let's do something. It's time for some good trouble.
Harry Dunn
What are you guys doing?
Alison Gill
Your good trouble today comes from Monday's Chop Wood, Carry Water by Jess Craven on Substack, who writes Congress will be in recess for over a month starting on Saturday, so I encourage you to.
Dana Goldberg
Begin scheming about how to hold your.
Alison Gill
Republican representatives accountable for all of their awful votes. Regardless of party.
Dana Goldberg
It's important to find out when your representatives will be holding town halls, so don't forget to ask. Every single elected member needs to hear.
Alison Gill
How their voters are feeling about, well, everything and in no uncertain terms. So let's get ready to be loud now. She's got a ton of easy to follow instructions, practical steps for you to take, and we're going to have a.
Dana Goldberg
Link to this in the show notes for you.
Alison Gill
So thanks to Jess Craven and subscribe to Chop Wood, Carry Water. If you're not all right, next up, I want to go over a great ruling by Judge Emmett Sullivan on the separation of powers and then we'll follow that with Emily Slatko of NextGen America. She's going to tell us about young voters and then of course, we'll have.
Dana Goldberg
The listeners submitted good news.
Alison Gill
So everybody stick around. We'll be right back after these messages. We'll be right back. Hey everybody. I love my cats more than nearly anything. They are family, but I used to have to keep them kind of at arm's length. Or at least I couldn't invite my friends over who had like severe cat allergies. Not because I wanted to do any.
Dana Goldberg
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You'll be glad you did. All right, everybody, welcome back.
Dana Goldberg
Thank you to the amazing Joyce Vance for bringing this ruling to my attention.
Alison Gill
On social media, because it's an important one. And I'll give you the condensed version of it.
Dana Goldberg
This comes from Judge Emmett Sullivan, who I'm sure you remember from the first Trump term.
Alison Gill
And it's a couple of consolidated lawsuits brought by crew, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington and the Protect Democracy Project.
Dana Goldberg
They were brought against Trump's Office of.
Alison Gill
Management and Budget and Russ Vaught. That's the same office and the same guy that illegally helped Trump withhold funding from Ukraine in 2019. That led to Trump's first impeachment, by the way. And the ruling reads in part, under the United States Constitution, it's the job of Congress to decide how American taxpayer dollars are spent, including how many dollars to spend and on what priorities to spend them. Once Congress authorizes funding through an appropriations bill and the President signs the bill into law, constitutional responsibility shifts to the.
Dana Goldberg
Executive branch to allocate the funds according to congressional instructions.
Alison Gill
The decisions about how to allocate funds are called apportionments, and they're used to ensure that the Executive Branch does not.
Dana Goldberg
Spend more or less than Congress appropriated.
Alison Gill
Defendants in this lawsuit are the Executive.
Dana Goldberg
Branch officials responsible for apportioning congressionally approved spending. To facilitate congressional oversight of the apportionment.
Alison Gill
Decisions of the Executive Branch and to.
Dana Goldberg
Provide the public with insight into the.
Alison Gill
Decisions, in 2022, Congress passed and the President signed into law a statute requiring the Executive Branch to publish its apportionment decisions on a publicly available online database.
Dana Goldberg
Within two days of the decision.
Alison Gill
Thereafter, the Executive Branch created a public database called the Public Apportionments Database and complied with this law until late March 2025 when, without notice, it took the database offline. The defendants argue that this public disclosure.
Dana Goldberg
Law is an unconstitutional encroachment on the.
Alison Gill
Executive Branch's decision making authority. Relying on an extravagant and unsupported theory of presidential power, the defendants claim that.
Dana Goldberg
Their apportionment decisions, which are legally binding and result in the actual spending of.
Alison Gill
Public funds, cannot be publicly disclosed because they're not final decisions about how to.
Dana Goldberg
Administer the spending of public funds.
Alison Gill
However, the law is clear. Congress has sweeping authority to require public disclosure of how the Executive Branch is.
Dana Goldberg
Apportioning the funds appropriated by Congress.
Alison Gill
Under the law, the decision of the.
Dana Goldberg
Executive Branch must be made public within.
Alison Gill
Two days of the decision, and if.
Dana Goldberg
The defendants need to make a new.
Alison Gill
Decision, that new decision must also be made public within two days.
Dana Goldberg
Plaintiffs in this lawsuit monitor these decisions.
Alison Gill
And they have the right to report.
Dana Goldberg
On and republish this information.
Alison Gill
As explained in this memorandum opinion, there is nothing unconstitutional about Congress requiring the.
Dana Goldberg
Executive Branch to inform the public of how it is apportioning the public's money.
Alison Gill
The defendants are therefore required to stop violating the law. Exclamation point Plaintiffs, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington and Protect Democracy Project filed these lawsuits against the defendant's Office of Management and Budget and Director Russell Vaught to challenge the defendant's removal of.
Dana Goldberg
The public apportionments database.
Alison Gill
Cruz two count complaint alleges, among other things, that the defendant's actions violate the Administrative Procedure act and and the Paperwork Reduction Act. Democracy's six count complaint alleges, among other things, that the defendant's actions violate the apa.
Dana Goldberg
So pending before this court are each plaintiff's motion for a preliminary injunction and or a partial summary judgment.
Alison Gill
At oral argument, the parties agreed that there are no genuine issues of material fact that would preclude the court from.
Dana Goldberg
Considering the merits of their claims.
Alison Gill
Accordingly, plaintiffs request that the court forego consideration of their request for a preliminary.
Dana Goldberg
Injunction and address their request for partial summary judgment.
Alison Gill
Both plaintiffs represented that if the court enters partial summary judgment in their favor and issues the requested injunction, there would be no need for the court to.
Dana Goldberg
Address the remaining claims in their respective complaints.
Alison Gill
The court agrees that there are no genuine issues in material fact that would preclude ruling on the plaintiff's motions for partial summary judgment at this juncture. Accordingly, the court will forego the preliminary.
Dana Goldberg
Injunction analysis and address the merits of the plaintiff's motions for partial summary judgment.
Alison Gill
Upon careful consideration of the motions, responses and replies thereto, the party's oral arguments.
Dana Goldberg
And the entire record herein.
Alison Gill
The court grants in part Cruz motion for partial summary judgment as to its.
Dana Goldberg
Claims that the defendant's removal of the public apportionment's database violates the 2022 and.
Alison Gill
2023 acts and violates the PRA's dissemination of information requirement. And the court denies.
Dana Goldberg
In part Cruz motion for partial summary.
Alison Gill
Judgment as to its PRA notice claim, the court grants Protect Democracy's motion for.
Dana Goldberg
Partial summary judgment on its claim that the defendant's removal of the public apportionments.
Alison Gill
Database violates the 2022 and 2023 acts. And the court denies as moot the.
Dana Goldberg
Plaintiff'S motions for a preliminary injunction.
Alison Gill
So that's a lot to say. We're granting the motions from crew and protect democracy and that Trump has to stop breaking the law.
Dana Goldberg
Exclamation point.
Alison Gill
These are laws. Anyway, I love this. This is awesome.
Dana Goldberg
Now let's see how long it takes.
Alison Gill
Trump's six personal robed asshole co conspirators on the Supreme Court to fuck it up. All right, everybody stick around. We're going to be right back with.
Dana Goldberg
The VP of Communications for NextGen America.
Alison Gill
And that's going to be right after this quick break. Hey, everybody, welcome back. I'm really excited today to be joined.
Emily Slatko
By the Vice President of communications for NextGen America with some good news and some hopeful news and also kind of some instructions about what some of the older school or old guard Democrats should be paying attention to. Please welcome Emily Slatko.
Alison Gill
Hi, Emily, how are you?
Kristine Ohm
I'm doing great.
Harry Dunn
Thank you so much for having me.
Emily Slatko
Yeah, thanks for coming on and talking to me because I feel like we're building these bridges between generations and I think folks need to pay attention to that.
Alison Gill
So talk a little bit about what.
Emily Slatko
NextGen America is and what you guys do.
Kristine Ohm
Absolutely.
Harry Dunn
So NextGen America is an organization that.
Kristine Ohm
Is focused on educating and empowering young.
Harry Dunn
People to organize, vote and lead in order to shape an economy and a.
Kristine Ohm
Democracy that works for them and for the many, not just the few.
Emily Slatko
Yeah, I think that's like the number one focus, or at least the.
Alison Gill
Where the focus should be. Right.
Emily Slatko
Because we've seen time and time again, us olds, we have seen low voter turnout when we were young, when in the 90s, when we were trying to organize for like Bill Clinton, for example, we had super low voter turnout and nobody would listen to us. And I think that that tide has been turning now sort of in everybody's face and that it needs to be paid attention to. So talk about some of the on the ground strategies that that y' all do to help sort of bring that to light.
Kristine Ohm
Yes, absolutely.
Harry Dunn
So, you know, young people are aware.
Kristine Ohm
Of the dynamics at play. They are not oblivious to the world.
Harry Dunn
That they are existing in and growing up in. And what we do is we work to connect with young folks on the.
Kristine Ohm
Ground on college campuses as well as.
Harry Dunn
Online to educate, motivate, mobilize, get them registered to vote and eventually hopefully mobilize them to turn out in elections. And we feel pretty confident about the.
Kristine Ohm
Strategies that we use to get folks there.
Harry Dunn
We actually, in the 2024 cycle, you know, we saw nationally that youth vote turnout was around 54%. And across our eight states, 67% of young voters that NextGen America helped register turned out and cast their ballot.
Kristine Ohm
This is extremely high turnout for a voter registration organization or a group committed to this work.
Harry Dunn
And we believe that it's a result.
Kristine Ohm
Of our holistic and multilayered approach of reaching young folks.
Harry Dunn
So we're not just meeting them and getting them registered and then saying, great, thanks, see you later, see you on election day.
Kristine Ohm
We are engaging folks in a multi.
Harry Dunn
Layered approach through an extended period of time because we know growing voters, growing.
Kristine Ohm
Habitual voters requires consistent engagement.
Harry Dunn
And that means connecting folks with the.
Kristine Ohm
Issues that matter most to them.
Harry Dunn
The issues that are impacting their everyday lives with their civic power and their civic responsibility.
Emily Slatko
And there are some issues now that are impacting young voters that are impacting all of us and that we're finding common cause to fight against. And I think that that's really exciting.
Alison Gill
Talk about this poll that you conducted because the results that you do Next.
Emily Slatko
Gen America did this, the results are, are pretty incredible. And I think that the one thing that really stood out to me was that so many young people feel like they aren't represented. I think that's changing a little bit. We see, we see people running and winning, like Maxwell Frost, the Tennessee 3. At least two of them are young. You know, we can talk about aoc, we can talk about Jasmine Crockett Garcia, who got House oversight over somebody who had more seniority, and of course, Azoran Mamdani in New York. But talk a little bit about those results, because even though a large percentage and you, you can talk about those percentages, but a large percentage of young voters feel like they aren't being represented or they don't have candidates that represent their interests and their needs, that they haven't given up, they haven't walked away. And I think that that's what a lot of people from other generations were.
Alison Gill
Afraid of, is that people were just.
Emily Slatko
Going to throw up their hands and say, well, I'm not interested in this because nobody on the ballot is, you know, somebody that I would be interested in or that would represent me and that the issues that impact me.
Alison Gill
So talk a little bit about this.
Dana Goldberg
Poll and talk about some of these.
Emily Slatko
Really incredible results that you found.
Kristine Ohm
Yes, absolutely.
Harry Dunn
So diving in on the poll in May, we worked alongside Tolchen Research to conduct an extensive nationwide youth vote poll to get a political vibe check on.
Kristine Ohm
How young folks are feeling.
Harry Dunn
We see the headlines, we see some research, but we really wanted to focus specifically on young people. We surveyed 1300 registered voters between the ages of 18 and 29 nationwide. We didn't oversample in Virginia because we're very interested to see what the dynamics at play are this year in 2025. And our poll is unique because it's.
Kristine Ohm
Solely focused on young voters.
Harry Dunn
So more often than not, when you see polling or when you see research presented, young voters are a single column in a crosstab as opposed to the entire focus. And we said, let's focus on young voters. Let's focus on our demographic and get a sense. And it should come as no surprise that widespread economic anxiety is the number one driving motivation.
Kristine Ohm
And it cuts across age demographics from 18 to 29.
Harry Dunn
Folks are concerned about affordability, inflation and the cost of living, the cost of housing, the economy and jobs, the cost of healthcare, you know, you name it. It's those pocketbook issues, though, and it's the ability to envision and build a life that they would like to see for themselves.
Alison Gill
Yeah.
Emily Slatko
And what's really interesting is speaking as someone from the Generation X group, when we were young, we were just sort of told that, well, you, you, you don't really have money until you're in.
Alison Gill
Your 40s anyway, so.
Emily Slatko
So we're not going to ask you about your economic anxiety or pocketbook issues because yeah, you don't make that much money anyway. But that's the core problem right there.
Alison Gill
Is that people who are expected to.
Emily Slatko
Be on their own and live on their own and support themselves over the age of 18 up to a certain point, are expected to do so, but just without a livable wage, without the dignity of being provided health care and all those other things. It was just sort of known that, oh, you don't get that stuff until you're older anyway, so stop complaining. But, you know, pull yourself up by your bootstraps and, you know, it was like this weird mixed message. And so the fact that young people are taking this into their own hands and saying, no, everyone who has to live deserves to live a dignified life. And why should we not worry about it until we're like, should we not complain about the cost of eggs until we're 40? I eat eggs now. Like, it didn't, it didn't make any sense to us, but everyone just sort of went along with it and that's changing and I think that that's super important. Something else I thought that was really interesting in your poll results was the favorability of certain top Democrats and certain top Republicans. And sort of what this shows is that young people aren't into Republicans and they're kind of into Democrats, but they want to reform the party. I feel like we're on the precipice of them being more into Democrats, like, they're super favorable for aoc. And I thought it was interesting when she put out right after the election a live Instagram to talk about people who voted for her and Donald Trump on the same ticket and why.
Dana Goldberg
Right.
Emily Slatko
And so what, what other sort of.
Dana Goldberg
Results in, in that vein, did you.
Emily Slatko
Did you notice that stood out to you?
Harry Dunn
Yeah, absolutely. I think, you know, thinking of the dynamics at play in the 90s or previously, you know, young people were given this vision of you graduate, you go to college or you don't, you get a job. And if it's a corporate job, you'll probably be pretty safe, you'll have a solid career or you're an entrepreneur and you, you know, you're going out there and you're building your own business. And those were somewhat achievable goals.
Emily Slatko
And more so for men. The women were like a guy who does that stuff.
Harry Dunn
But of course, right. They were somewhat achievable goals. And I think at, at this point, young people are looking around, they're seeing.
Kristine Ohm
Entry level job opportunities disappearing like that.
Harry Dunn
And they are seeing their rent prices.
Kristine Ohm
Increase because Corporate interests are coming in.
Harry Dunn
And buying up affordable housing. And so they are aware that pocketbook.
Kristine Ohm
Issues are going to impact them first and foremost.
Harry Dunn
And I think that is what feeds into their appreciation and their deep reverence for representatives like Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio Cortez. They are deeply craving authenticity.
Kristine Ohm
They want receipts.
Harry Dunn
They don't just want vibes. So when you have a representative like Bernie Sanders going on an oligarchy tour, talking about corporate interests and how the system has been rigged against, you know, everyday Americans, that is deeply resonant because these are folks that want to, you know, they want to be successful business people.
Kristine Ohm
They want these things.
Harry Dunn
They just do not see any means of getting there. And they're looking to elected officials. You know, Bernie aoc, Maxwell Frost, Jasmine Crockett, you name it. There's a variety of really inspiring electeds out there that are speaking to what they are experiencing every day. And I think, too, something that is so interesting about this swath of young voters is that you're right, they are.
Kristine Ohm
Less aligned with an individual party.
Harry Dunn
But I think that's because they have grown up in a society where they've seen promises made and they haven't really seen impacts of those promises or they.
Kristine Ohm
Haven'T seen positive results of those policies.
Harry Dunn
And they are deeply focused and inspired by the issues that are impacting them. So I think the benefit for, you know, the benefit for Dems in this is that while young people don't necessarily identify as a Republican or a Democrat.
Kristine Ohm
They do align with Dems more closely on the issues that matter most to them.
Harry Dunn
They are more progressive leaning in their policy desires. And I think that is something where the Democratic Party has an opportunity to really take a look at themselves and take a look at the voters that they are trying to bring back into that big tent and say, let's address your baseline issues of financial needs first.
Kristine Ohm
And foremost and go from there.
Emily Slatko
Yeah. And if no one's giving them a political home and Trump promises that he will do these things, I mean, he clearly lied. But, you know, if he's promising to do these things, then that's, you know, the Dems should be giving people that home.
Harry Dunn
I mean, I was just gonna say, I think it is really interesting, you know, that young people are aware of the dynamics at play. And so they. They see they desire an economic populist.
Kristine Ohm
Message, and they see Democrats, they see.
Harry Dunn
Certain elected Democrats talking about those economic populist messages.
Kristine Ohm
And then on the flip, they see.
Harry Dunn
Republicans and the Trump administration really cozying.
Kristine Ohm
Up to corporations and corporate interests and billionaires.
Harry Dunn
And I mean, since Trump has taken.
Kristine Ohm
Office in January, we have seen it.
Harry Dunn
Every step of the way. He has a, some CEO billionaire by his side. He is making decisions that benefit the ultra wealthy, that benefit corporations over everyday Americans, over young voters who are really eager for change now.
Emily Slatko
Yeah. And I think that one of the.
Alison Gill
Myths that a lot of older voters.
Emily Slatko
Think about younger voters is that, oh, well, they aren't accepting entry level positions. They want higher level positions, but they're.
Alison Gill
Just out of college, et cetera.
Emily Slatko
And that is, I think, a huge myth. And I think that that's borne out in your results of this polling because they're tot. They're like, no, give me an entry level position. I would love an entry level position. The problem is they're disappearing. And that is part of the populist message. The fact that the middle class is disappearing, the wealth gap is getting bigger, the billionaires are taking all that money for themselves and that college is super expensive, healthcare is super expensive.
Alison Gill
Things that you have to have.
Emily Slatko
In some instances, by law, you have.
Alison Gill
To have health care.
Emily Slatko
And it just, it drains everybody's bank account whether you're entry level or not. But to say, oh, they don't want.
Dana Goldberg
The entry level jobs.
Emily Slatko
No, those entry level positions are disappearing.
Alison Gill
And that is the core of the problem.
Emily Slatko
And young people recognize that.
Harry Dunn
Yes. And they're aware too, that, you know, for so many years we've been sold.
Kristine Ohm
Grindset mindset and you'll, you'll be a.
Harry Dunn
Successful entrepreneur one day. You'll be a millionaire too. But how many jobs do you have to hold to be able to, to eventually get there? And people do not dream of working, you know, 20 hours a day, every day of the week. We believe that you should be able to have that balance of working your full time job.
Kristine Ohm
Absolutely.
Harry Dunn
But that should be able to pay.
Kristine Ohm
For a dignified life.
Harry Dunn
That should not mean that you then have to pick up additional shifts or.
Kristine Ohm
You'Re running Uber Eats or doordash just.
Harry Dunn
To make ends meet, just to cover your health insurance, just to cover your.
Kristine Ohm
Grocery bills or your rent.
Alison Gill
Right.
Emily Slatko
Or hey, go work in the fields after we disappear everyone to a concentration camp and you can earn your health care.
Alison Gill
Like, excuse, like stop.
Kristine Ohm
Disgusting.
Emily Slatko
Yeah. Now I think we're seeing this populist message being borne out in some of our more recent elections. We saw Elon Musk go in and drop tens of millions of dollars in Wisconsin and Wisconsinites and young Wisconsin voters said no and showed that people power can beat the giant Money machine. We saw it more recently in New York City in the mayoral primary, with Mamdani winning quite handily, I might say. And right there you have it. It's giving a roadmap to Democrats about.
Alison Gill
How to reach voters and the ways to do it.
Emily Slatko
And I really, I'm hoping that with a lot of pushing and a lot of shoving, that we'll get folks to recognize that that that's the secret sauce. And it has to do with this populist message and it has to do with young voters. Talk a little bit about that and talk a little bit about how what happened in New York and what happened in Wisconsin sort of corroborates what you found in your polling messages.
Harry Dunn
Yeah, absolutely. I think something that was so interesting about the New York City mayoral and in our review of the race in its entirety and comparing it to our research with Tolchen, you know, we kind of pulled out three main points that we think.
Kristine Ohm
There's obviously so many components that go.
Harry Dunn
Into an incredible candidate. But, you know, first and foremost, message. Zoran Mamdanya was coming in, he was having man on the street conversations with folks about affordability. He was making sure that he was meeting people where they were at with.
Kristine Ohm
The issues that were top of mind.
Harry Dunn
For them, whether that's rent prices, whether that's access to transportation, or whether that's.
Kristine Ohm
Corporate interests coming into the city and taking over.
Harry Dunn
The second element that stood out to.
Kristine Ohm
Us was the messenger. This is someone who was able to.
Harry Dunn
Meet people and to have authentic conversations and have that resonate with potential voters or with folks who, you know, to our conversation or to our point earlier about the. The voters who have been kind of split, who, you know, have swung to the right in some elections or swung.
Kristine Ohm
To the left in others, or have split their tickets. This was someone who was willing to have those conversations with those voters, who is willing to break things down for.
Harry Dunn
Them in ways that are impactful to.
Kristine Ohm
Their everyday lives and really can make it real.
Harry Dunn
Yeah.
Emily Slatko
And without the wonkiness, like, well, you know, the GDP and dirt, you know, like, right, hey, great, I care about the gdp, but, like, what kind of message is that?
Harry Dunn
Right, right, right. Talk to me about how the falafel that I grab after work for dinner is going to increase or decrease in.
Kristine Ohm
Price because the vendor has to.
Harry Dunn
Or, you know, talk to me about how my, my rent is sky high and this corporation has come in to purchase the building and. And I'm only going to see that price increase. And he really didn't overcomplicate the issues. And I think that is something that was so resonant. And then lastly, it's the moment people.
Kristine Ohm
Are eager for change. And they have seen over the past. I can't believe it's been seven months.
Harry Dunn
But seven months that the Trump administration and Republicans in power have no interest in standing up for Americans.
Kristine Ohm
They have no interest in fighting for.
Harry Dunn
Everyday Americans who are facing, you know, an economic crisis and financial burdens. And this was someone who was, you know, willing to cut through that noise. And in turn, we saw some of the highest youth vote turnout in early voting, in, in a, in a long time.
Emily Slatko
Yeah. And it's that positive message, like, nobody likes Trump and Trump's policies and what he's doing. I mean, most people since, since he was elected, I mean, you know, you, you worry about how much that falafel from the vendor is going to be, and now the vendor is gone and no one knows where they are. And they're, you know, they can't communicate with their families or their attorneys. People are coming in and seeing their neighborhoods like, like their neighbors taken away. Like, that's obviously a, like a bad thing. But you also have to, you also have to have a positive message. I thought, I thought Kamala Harris did a good job with that. I think the mainstream media might hoodwinked.
Alison Gill
Her a little bit with joy.
Emily Slatko
Well, we need more information, details about your policy helping people. But, you know, I think that, I think that what has come out of this poll is truly fascinating and I.
Alison Gill
Hope everybody reads it.
Emily Slatko
So final thoughts from you. And then I would like to ask where people can see this poll and follow and get involved with and help the organizations like, you know, NextGen America.
Alison Gill
So that they can, so that they.
Emily Slatko
Can, you know, get their hands in there and start doing the work.
Harry Dunn
Yeah. I think my final note is that, yes, young people are disillusioned, but, and they are feeling rage, but they're not feeling apathetic. And they don't like the institutions or the parties, but they are deeply hopeful for a different future and they are ready to fight. I think something that really stood out to our team was that three out of four young voters don't feel like elected officials are listening to them, but they haven't given up hope or they haven't checked out. And in fact, over 50% of a majority of young voters still believe that their vote matters. And that is the piece that we.
Kristine Ohm
Are holding on to, is that young.
Harry Dunn
People still believe their vote matters. And we need to meet them. We need to connect with them. We need to engage them on the issues that are facing their everyday lives and show them the power of civic engagement and, you know, organizing your communities.
Kristine Ohm
And turning out for change.
Emily Slatko
And that is such low hanging fruit. Our elected.
Alison Gill
It's right there.
Emily Slatko
It's like when I, when I first went to work for the Department of Veterans Affairs, I started to work in a call center and the people who.
Alison Gill
Worked at the call center, the veterans, had such low expectations.
Emily Slatko
I was explaining, like, do you know how simple, how easy it is to blow someone's expectations out of the water.
Alison Gill
With just a little bit of effort?
Emily Slatko
Because everyone's expectations are so low. Like, this is a huge opportunity for Democratic electeds and people running for office on, you know, on the progressive side and on the, on the left to embrace that and make that message real. And I think that we've seen that borne out at a lot of these special elections.
Harry Dunn
Absolutely. I could not agree more. It is one of those moments where, you know, in all of the darkness, we do have to look for the light. We have to look for the hope.
Kristine Ohm
And we have to make sure too.
Harry Dunn
That we are working as a community.
Kristine Ohm
To inspire and to build that, build.
Harry Dunn
On that hope so that we can take action and that we have more opportunities to elect individuals like Zoran Mamdani or the Wisconsin Supreme Court race. And we're hopeful for it. We are on the ground in Virginia this year working on college campuses, helping folks get registered, helping folks turn out and get educated on the issues that will be appearing on the ballot. For more information on our polling, you.
Kristine Ohm
Can check out our substack that is NextGen America.
Harry Dunn
And we are moving over to substack.
Kristine Ohm
As so many are these days.
Harry Dunn
Our hope is to continue to share our research. We are so deeply curious about what is driving young voters and what is inspiring them because we know that we need to connect with folks and we need to start that education and those conversations early and often so that folks are ready to vote when the time comes. And it's not, you know, a slew of messages in the final month saying, hey, come, come vote, come show up.
Kristine Ohm
And make your voice heard.
Harry Dunn
But it's, you know, first and foremost checking with folks on what's inspiring them or what's impacting them most and then connecting that to the policy, to the.
Kristine Ohm
Candidate, to the issue.
Harry Dunn
And then of course, if you want to check us out online, we've got our website, we have organizing workshops that.
Kristine Ohm
Take place on Zoom once a month.
Harry Dunn
We usually pick a topic that is relevant or impactful to young folks.
Kristine Ohm
We host an education series and then.
Harry Dunn
That leads into a call to action of some sort. Or if you're in any of our.
Kristine Ohm
Key states on or on college campuses, definitely come check us out.
Dana Goldberg
Amazing.
Emily Slatko
Everybody, check out NextGen America. Find them on Substack as well. Take some of those trainings on Zoom. I think that that's really amazing that you're doing that and I appreciate your time. Vice President of communications for NextGen America, Emily Slatko. I thank you so much for talking to us today.
Harry Dunn
Thank you so much, Allison.
Alison Gill
Hey, everybody. Welcome back. It's time for the good news.
Harry Dunn
Everyone.
Alison Gill
And if you have any good news or just something small that happened to you this week, that was awesome, send that into us. If you have a shout out to a loved one, spouse, kid, parent, yourself, we love self shout outs. Small business in your area that could use a boost. Your small business. What are you making? What are you creating? We'd love to hear about that. Maybe you want to send us your dissertation title or your thesis title.
Dana Goldberg
Those are always fun to read.
Alison Gill
And we have some super smart people.
Emily Slatko
Who listen to the daily beans.
Alison Gill
Way smarter than myself.
Dana Goldberg
Send that to us.
Alison Gill
If you have a shout out to a government program that's helped you or a loved one, we would love to hear about that as well. Whether it's federal, state meetings, municipal, anything.
Dana Goldberg
Send it to us. And all you have to do to.
Alison Gill
Get your submission read on the air.
Dana Goldberg
Is to pay your POD pet tariff.
Alison Gill
Which means attach photo of your pet. And if you don't have a pet, you can attach adoptable pet in your area.
Dana Goldberg
We'll see if we can find them a home.
Alison Gill
We have a pretty good track record of doing that. If you don't have that, just grab a random photo of an animal off the Internet.
Dana Goldberg
We love baby animals. I like red pandas and frogs and.
Alison Gill
Secretary birds and pygmy marmosets and naked mole rats and cats. But really, any animal, they're all great. We also accept bird watching photos. So if you have a photo of an actual bird or you and your.
Dana Goldberg
Family and friends flipping the bird to.
Alison Gill
Trump and Musk Properties, we'd love to see that too. If you don't have any of that, family photos, awkward family photos, your high school yearbook picture, baby pictures, anything at all. Pictures of your happy place, pictures of signs that you love at the last rally that you went to. Maybe some great community organizing you've done. Maybe you've got photos of that.
Dana Goldberg
We would love to see it.
Alison Gill
Send it to us dailybeanspod.com and click on Contact.
Dana Goldberg
First up from Ashley Pronoun she and.
Alison Gill
Her hi ladies of the beans.
Dana Goldberg
Thank you for your grace and humor in this crazy, crazy time.
Alison Gill
I wanted to make a shout out to my favorite editor and all around.
Dana Goldberg
Badass, my mom sue, who has been.
Alison Gill
Taking care of people since 1975 before.
Dana Goldberg
She even turned 20.
Alison Gill
Not only do I owe her, well, everything, but she is the epitome of.
Dana Goldberg
Blooming where you are planted.
Alison Gill
She has spent the last decade fighting.
Dana Goldberg
The patriarchy in her job editing curriculum.
Alison Gill
And books and but she edits my work which helps bend the arc toward.
Dana Goldberg
Justice for my state.
Alison Gill
She's always been the rock that held our family together, my singing partner and the person who taught me what it was to be a mom. She'll be celebrating her 70th birthday this weekend and I won't be able to be there, but I wanted her to know how much we all love her. A few months ago we were talking about podcasts and I told her about the Daily Beans. She's not only become a fan but but a patron. For my birthday, she and I went bird watching at the Trump Winery, driving down the scenic flagline street, shooting birds, quote unquote, shooting birds and laughing maniacally. Which I'm including for my pod pet.
Dana Goldberg
Tariff along with a picture of actual birds. My chickens.
Alison Gill
Okay, first of all, y' all are amazing.
Dana Goldberg
I love chickens.
Alison Gill
I love flipping off Trump stuff. I love wine. I love. I like. Well, not Trump wine, but this is fantastic. And happy birthday, Sue. Oh, if you would like to guess the breed of the bird, can you pick the chick? Look at all these birds flipping off the Trump Winery. Those chickens are brown. They're beautiful birds. Let's see, let's see. There we have answers.
Dana Goldberg
Crested cream leg bars. Of course, the old crusted cream leg bars. Who could who doesn't know that?
Alison Gill
Thank you so much, Ashley. Happy Birthday, Sue. And now I know that these birds are crested cream leg bars. Next up from Sarah and Molly pronouns.
Dana Goldberg
She and her dear beans queens. Thanks for the swearing and maintaining reality.
Alison Gill
Otherwise would feel we are being constantly gaslit in these strange times. Recently in Chicago for a US Aging conference, a national conference for local leaders.
Dana Goldberg
On aging, helping individuals live and thrive in their communities.
Alison Gill
We had to make a quick stop to flip the bird at a Trump building. Keep up the good work. We will as well. That is the Trump Tower on the Chicago river.
Dana Goldberg
And I have to tell you, Sarah.
Alison Gill
And Molly, that tower kills marine life in that river. It's got one of those scoop cooling.
Dana Goldberg
Systems where it scoops up water from the river and spits it out.
Alison Gill
It's awful.
Dana Goldberg
It's a horrible, horrible building. He brings death everywhere he goes.
Alison Gill
What a fucker.
Dana Goldberg
Good job on the birds. Look at the baby dogs. So adorable.
Alison Gill
Thank you for that Sarah and Molly. Next up, Anonymous it was such a hard pick to take, but I finally got it as my adult kid. Laughed over several attempts by boat and in car. I've been flipping him off for years without photos.
Dana Goldberg
My disgust goes back to the pageant days, so I'm guessing there were rumors.
Alison Gill
Way back then or how would I have grown up knowing. So I'm pretty much a lifer when it comes to disliking all things Trump.
Dana Goldberg
Barf emoji Sick emoji.
Alison Gill
Yeah, that's great. I love the emojis. Well done. Oh my Navy vet family member got one of those letters from VA this week about farming out care Eye roll. Keep up the good work and stay safe. There's another one flipping off that Chicago. That's the Chicago Trump Tower. Thank you. Anonymous all right, next, it's fuck you Wednesday, the taint of the week. A lot of flip offs here. Next up, Anonymous Pronoun she and her Imagine my surprise when, as a member of Public justice, our emcee for the evening was none other than the amazing Dana Goldberg. It's fantastic when worlds collide for the past week, trial lawyers have descended upon.
Dana Goldberg
San Francisco to discuss our work defending.
Alison Gill
Consumers, patients, the environment, workers, immigrants and.
Dana Goldberg
Other everyday folks who just need access.
Alison Gill
To justice through our work at the American association for justice, where you can find it, justice.org and public justice. @publicjustice.net we had a grueling conference where we literally brainstormed our way out of.
Dana Goldberg
The hell we are in.
Alison Gill
Trial lawyers, baby. We're like cockroaches. You can't get rid of us. But in a good way. Question mark. Anyways, although the gala was long af, I'm so glad that my favorite podcast.
Dana Goldberg
Collided headfirst into my work. And the joke about scissoring? Fantastic.
Alison Gill
For my tariff, I'm sharing DG and.
Dana Goldberg
Me giving the bird to an imaginary.
Alison Gill
That guy seemed appropriate. Also, attaching photos of my poodle's donut.
Dana Goldberg
And Beans for real.
Alison Gill
His name is Beans who are living it up on a pontoon boat this summer. I work so that my dogs have a better life.
Dana Goldberg
I understand that. Anonymous I work for the cats.
Alison Gill
In fact, when I'm sitting on the couch writing and there's a cat's asleep on my feet and I have to get up and come record the podcast. I always say to them out loud, I'm, I'm live alone with my cats. But I say out loud to them, sorry guys, you have to get up. I have to go make, I have to go make the poop sand money. That's what I say every time. And they listen.
Dana Goldberg
Look at these beautiful poodles.
Alison Gill
Look at you and Dana flipping the bird to imagine Every single one of these pictures is bird watching every single entry today.
Dana Goldberg
Well done. Well done y'.
Alison Gill
All.
Dana Goldberg
Thank you for sending that in.
Alison Gill
And if you have any bird watching photos, we all got some somewhere. Send it to us dailybeanspod.com click on Contact. Any little bit of good news at all. I really appreciate you, Dana and I will be back in your ears tomorrow. Today there's a new episode of cleanup on aisle 45. You don't want to miss that. And this Friday we're going to have a Zoom Happy hour question and answer sesh for patrons of both the Daily Beans and Clean up on aisle 45.
Dana Goldberg
And our guests are of course, myself and Harry Dunn.
Alison Gill
Andy McCabe is going to be dropping in and we're going to have Carolyn Feinstein. That's the doj, former, sadly, DOJ analyst from the US Trustee that I interviewed that was fired because her husband develop the Ice Block app. And she's going to be joined by her husband Joshua Aaron, who developed the Ice Block app. So if you have questions for them, they will be there at the happy hour for patrons. If you want to become a patron, if you can swing it, please support us. You can do so by going to patreon.com mullershirote if you can't, if you go to dailybeanspod.com on the front page scroll down, you'll see Patrons helping patrons. We have tons of patrons who buy one year subscriptions for premium access for folks who can't swing it because that's how awesome our listeners are. So you can either go there to buy a one year subscription for a fellow Leguminati or you can put your.
Dana Goldberg
Name on the list to receive one.
Alison Gill
It's because patrons help me patrons dailybeanspod.com if you want to join. Otherwise patreon.com miller she wrote all right everybody. Dan and I will be back in your ears tomorrow and we'll talk to you then. 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 and them's the Beans.
Desiree McFarlane
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 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.
The Daily Beans - Episode Summary: "Poop Sand Money" (feat. Emily Slatkow)
Release Date: July 23, 2025
Hosted by Allison Gill and Dana Goldberg | Featuring Emily Slatko, Vice President of Communications for NextGen America
Mike Johnson's Move to Shut Down Congress
The episode opens with Allison Gill discussing Representative Mike Johnson's decision to close Congress instead of voting on Democratic amendments aimed at releasing the Epstein files. This move effectively halts Republican legislation in the House, as highlighted by Gill:
(02:21) "You have effectively halted Republican legislation in the House."
Sentencing of Former Detective Brett Hankison
Former Louisville Metro Police Detective Brett Hankison has been sentenced to 33 months in prison for violating Breonna Taylor's civil rights. Despite the Department of Justice recommending a lighter sentence, Judge Rebecca Grady imposed a stricter punishment:
(06:13) "I'm grateful for the judge for giving some time because we could have walked away with nothing," - Tamika Palmer, Breonna Taylor's mother.
Palmer expressed disappointment with the DOJ's initial recommendation, stating:
(07:01) "I've never seen such a thing. It was disrespectful. It was heartbreaking."
Supreme Court Ruling on Trump Administration's Disclosure Laws
A significant ruling by Judge Emmett Sullivan addressed the Trump administration's violation of public disclosure laws concerning congressional apportionments. Sullivan emphasized the constitutional role of Congress in overseeing taxpayer spending:
(17:36) "Under the United States Constitution, it's the job of Congress to decide how American taxpayer dollars are spent."
The court partially granted the plaintiffs' motions, mandating the Trump administration to comply with the 2022 and 2023 Public Disclosure Acts, ensuring transparency in governmental spending.
A distressing report from The Guardian details the inhumane conditions faced by migrants in Miami's ICE-operated jails. Detainees were reportedly shackled, forced to kneel while eating, and subjected to overcrowded and unsanitary conditions. Highlights include:
(08:07) "Migrants at a Miami immigration jail were shackled with their hands tied behind their backs and made to kneel to eat food from styrofoam plates like dogs."
Detainees shared harrowing accounts of prolonged confinement in overcrowded buses and lack of adequate medical care, with one man describing the treatment as:
(09:10) "We had to eat like animals."
These abuses coincide with Florida's rapid construction of a controversial concentration camp in the Everglades, intended to house up to 5,000 undocumented migrants.
Ken Pagurich, head of FEMA's Urban Search and Rescue unit, has resigned due to frustrations over bureaucratic delays imposed by the Trump administration. Pagurich criticized the new policy requiring personal approval from Governor Kristi Noem for purchases exceeding $100,000, which he argued hindered swift disaster response:
(12:35) "He said he worried that the new policy that requires purchases of more than $100,000 to be personally approved by Kristi Noem could hurt disaster response efforts that require speed and agility."
Despite FEMA's spokesperson defending the agency's response, Pagurich's resignation underscores significant internal conflicts within FEMA regarding administrative interference.
Allison Gill introduces a segment inspired by Jess Craven's Substack article "Chop Wood, Carry Water," urging listeners to hold their Republican representatives accountable. The segment emphasizes the importance of town halls and proactive engagement with elected officials:
(14:16) "It's important to find out when your representatives will be holding town halls, so don't forget to ask."
Listeners are encouraged to take practical steps to influence political discourse and ensure their voices are heard.
Empowering Young Voters
Emily Slatko discusses NextGen America's mission to educate and mobilize young voters. She highlights a recent nationwide poll conducted with Tolchen Research, revealing that economic anxiety is the primary concern among voters aged 18-29:
(28:20) "Widespread economic anxiety is the number one driving motivation."
Election Insights and Voter Turnout
Slatko shares impressive voter turnout statistics from the 2024 cycle, noting a 54% national youth participation rate and a 67% turnout among those registered by NextGen America:
(25:31) "Across our eight states, 67% of young voters that NextGen America helped register turned out and cast their ballot."
Addressing Representation and Progressive Policies
The discussion delves into the disconnect young voters feel with traditional party lines, showing a preference for progressive leaders like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Maxwell Frost:
(29:36) "A large percentage of young voters feel like they aren't represented or they don't have candidates that represent their interests."
Slatko emphasizes the need for the Democratic Party to embrace a populist message focused on financial security and authentic representation to resonate with younger demographics.
Strategies for Mobilization
NextGen America's multi-layered approach involves consistent engagement, education, and connecting voters with issues that affect their daily lives, aiming to build habitual voting behaviors rather than last-minute campaigns:
(26:15) "We are engaging folks in a multi-layered approach through an extended period of time because we know growing voters, growing habitual voters requires consistent engagement."
The episode wraps up with a heartwarming segment featuring listener submissions. Highlights include:
Ashley’s Shoutout: Celebrates her mother Sue's 70th birthday and shares photos of their bird-watching adventures at the Trump Winery.
(49:20) "Happy birthday, Sue."
Sarah and Molly's Tribute: Acknowledges their participation in a US Aging conference in Chicago, complete with photos flipping the bird at the Trump Tower.
(50:35) "Good job on the birds. Look at the baby dogs. So adorable."
Anonymous Submission: Shares playful anecdotes about flipping off Trump and includes cute images of poodles enjoying life.
(51:39) "These birds are crested cream leg bars."
Listeners are encouraged to send in their own good news, photos, and shoutouts via the podcast’s website to be featured in future episodes.
In this episode of The Daily Beans, Allison Gill and Dana Goldberg provide a comprehensive overview of pressing political and social issues, from legal battles against the Trump administration to the plight of migrants in immigration jails. The inclusion of Emily Slatko offers valuable insights into the motivations and strategies of young voters, highlighting a generational shift towards progressive politics. The episode concludes on a positive note with uplifting listener stories, reinforcing the podcast's blend of serious news coverage and engaging community interaction.
Notable Quotes:
Tamika Palmer on Hankison's Sentence:
(06:27) "I'm grateful for the judge for giving some time because we could have walked away with nothing."
Allison Gill on Public Apportionments Ruling:
(17:36) "Under the United States Constitution, it's the job of Congress to decide how American taxpayer dollars are spent."
Emily Slatko on Young Voters' Representation:
(29:36) "A large percentage of young voters feel like they aren't represented or they don't have candidates that represent their interests."
Stay Informed and Engaged:
For more insights and updates, subscribe to The Daily Beans and join the conversation on social media. Engage with NextGen America to support the empowerment of young voters and contribute to shaping a progressive future.