← The Daily Beans
The Daily Beans
Purpose Driven (feat. Jocelyn Benson)
00:56:37
Wednesday, September 24th, 2025 Today, ABC affiliates are keeping Jimmy Kimmel off the air; Trump goes off the rails in a speech to the United Nations; a jury finds Ryan Routh guilty on all counts for the attempted assassination of Trump; ICE held a five year old autistic girl in Massachusetts to pressure her father to surrender; the Arizona fake electors prosecution hits a roadblock in appeals court; two thirds of the migrants held at the Florida concentration camp are missing; Mike Johnson’s Epstein files delay tactic might be about to blow up in his face; Texas will become the 20th state with a transgender bathroom law; Billionaire philanthropist MacKenzie Scott has donated $70 million to the UNCF; and Allison delivers your Good News. Dana is out and about.
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- [00:00]
Alison Gill
MSW Media hello and welcome to the Daily beans for Wednesday, September 24, 2025. Today, ABC affiliates are keeping Jimmy Kimmel off the air. Ton Trump goes off the rails. In a speech at the United Nations, a jury finds Ryan Routh guilty on all counts for the attempted assassination of Donald Trump. ICE held a five year old autistic girl in Massachusetts to pressure her father to surrender the Arizona fake electors Prosecution hits a roadblock in appeals court. Two thirds of the migrants held at the Florida concentration camp are missing. Mike Johnson's Epstein files delay tactic might be about to blow up in his face. Texas will become the 20th state with a transgender bathroom law. And billionaire philanthropist Mackenzie Scott has donated $70 million to the UNCF. I'm your host, Alison Gill. Hey everybody, happy Wednesday. Happy hump day. And Mike, Mike, Mike, Mike, Mike. It is the middle of the week. We have made it to the taint of the week and now it's up to the news to direct us to the back or the front to see where we end up by Friday. Dana's traveling so she's not here today. But she will be back on Friday. I prom promise. Everything is fine and everything is well. There's a lot of news to cover today. We're going to cover all of it. Also today for the Keep it Blue segment, I'll be speaking with the Michigan secretary of state and Democratic candidate for governor, Jocelyn Benson. Really excited to speak with the secretary. So I hope that you stay tuned for that interview as well. All right. We have a ton of news to get to, but I do want to let you in on a little secret pretty soon. Within the coming weeks, the Daily Beans is going to be turning on the video cameras and going to video so you can watch the Daily beans podcast on YouTube if you so desire. The audio will stay just the same. So you'll still get your Daily Beans the way you always get it. But we are going to be turning the cameras on. That's going to end up costing us a little bit of money. So if you've been thinking about becoming a patron, a supporting member again, all of our content is free, but if you can swing it, we would love it if you would join us on Patreon. You can get like depending on what level you sign up on, we send stickers or a mug or tote or a T shirt. I'm not sure what all the, the different things. Like we do it NPR style, right? So you get a little gift. It's super cheap. It's only like three bucks a month for the lowest tier, $36 a year. And you get these episodes early. You get them ad free. You get pre sale tickets and invites to live events including if we have a gala which we will be doing pretty soon. You also get to join our monthly Zoom Happy Hour call which we are going to be hosting this Friday. That's at 4pm Pacific, 7pm Eastern Time. So you get all of that and plus a whole lot more for signing up to support independent media. So we would really appreciate it. You can do it at patreon.com mullershirote and become a paid subscriber for the Illuminati. We would love to have you and everyone else thank you for listening. Just listening to the truth and the news is an act of resistance. So we appreciate that too. Just super grateful that everybody's here. All right, we have a lot of news to get to today. Let's hit the hot notes. Hot notes all right, from NBC. Nexstar Media Group said Tuesday that the ABC stations that it owns and partners with will not resume airing Jimmy Kimmel Live even as Disney brings the program back nationally. Nexstar's announcement adds to Sinclair, another major local TV operator, which said Monday it will not air Kimmel's show. Together, Nexstar and Sinclair account for about 70 ABC affiliates, meaning Kimmel's return will not be available over broadcast to tens of millions of people in the United States. And I'm glad that this is shining a light finally on because I know everyone who's been listening to this program forever and everyone who's plugged in knows how evil Sinclair is. And now we know nexstar is as well. And so I think that this is really going to kind of open people's eyes to who these assholes are. On Tuesday, Disney announced it would be hiking prices on October 21. The price increase would apply to most of its plans and comes as some on social media were threatening to unsubscribe from the service over the company's handling of the Kimmel show. I am one of those people I unsubscribed. I said I would think about subscribing again if Disney stood up and said fuck you make me as John Oliver said. But because of Sinclair and because of nexstar, I have not resubscribed and now I'm hearing about this price hike. So I don't know that I will be signing back up for Disney. The situation is complicated by major business moves from both Sinclair and nexstar. Sinclair is currently exploring a merger for its broadcast business, which would also require FCC clearance. Nexstar is seeking FCC approval for a $6.2 billion merger with fellow station owners. Tegna. I think I called them Tenga before. It's Tegna. Terrible name. Terrible people. I hate them all. So I'll be relying on clips of Jimmy Kimmel, and I do not envy his writing team having to come up with tonight's monologue. By the time you hear this podcast, unless you're a patron and you get the podcast the day early, he will have already delivered it. But, man, no press, right? Like I said yesterday, like having to write that. Maybe I said it yesterday on the beans, maybe I said it this morning on the Stephanie Miller show, but, oh, my God, I kid that. That pressure. Who. It's going to be interesting to see what Jimmy Kimmel has to say. All right, next up. You know, I was gonna do an entire rundown of Trump's speech at the UN today, but I just can't. I think offering any kind of normal coverage of him at this point just feels like normalization. There's just nothing I can say about the bloviating embarrassment. And on the global stage, no less. He complained about everything like he always does. He insulted our allies like he does every day. He blamed a broken escalator and a malfunctioning teleprompter on everyone but himself, when it was actually his own team that was responsible for both. Jesse Waters, of course, on Fox News, said we should bomb the UN Totally acceptable speech. I'm sure he will still have a job over on Fox News, even though Matthew Dowd got fired for quoting Charlie Kirk directly. Karen Attia at the Washington Post got fired for quoting him directly. Jimmy Kimmel got taken off the air. Ugh. Anyway, I just can't cover it. I just can't. But if you want details about the idiotic remarks or color commentary about the feeling in the room when he spoke, I am certain there are tons of other news organizations that are going to cover this, so you can get it there if you really want to, but you know, corporate media, he can't just keep covering this like it's politics as usual. So I can't do it. I'm pretty sure you don't want to hear it anyway. Even though I do a pretty good Trump Trump impersonation. And if you could see me, which you will be able to when we do video podcasts, you can see that I'm playing the invisible accordion every time I do his voice. But I would like to remind everyone of my Favorite comedian Mitch Hedberg and what he had to say about broken escalators.
- [07:57]
Mitch Hedberg (quoted)
I like an escalator, man, because an escalator can never break. It can only become stairs. All right. There would never be an escalation. Temporarily out of order sign. Only an escalator. Temporarily stairs. Sorry for the convenience.
- [08:23]
Alison Gill
Ah, rest in peace, Mitch. Rest in peace. All right, let's shift to Immigration. This is from NBC. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents held a five year old autistic girl outside her Massachusetts home to pressure her father inside the house to surrender to authorities last week. And that's according to the girl's family, an allegation that the Department of Homeland Security strongly disputes. A video of the incident, though obtained by Telemundo Nueva, shows a young girl surrounded by what appears to be several male law enforcement agents outside of her home in Leominster. If I'm saying that improperly, let me know. And that's in Massachusetts last Tuesday. The girl sitting beside what appears to be a law enforcement SUV and holding a bottle while encircled by several men, according to the video, sat and waited, quote, they took my daughter. She's five years old. She has autism. That's what the girl's mother said in the video. Give me my daughter back, she said. The woman told Telemundo, which is owned and operated by NBC Universal, the parent company of NBC News, that her husband called her while he was driving with their daughter shortly before the incident and told her he thought he was being followed. Her husband, Edward Meja, drove home and, quote, managed to run back into the parking lot of my house, but they grabbed his daughter. That's what the wife said. Meja is originally from Guatemala and has lived in the United states for about 25 years. That's according to his wife, who asked that her name not be published. The pair share two children who were born in the United States. NBC Boston reported that local police then arrived, recovered the child and returned her to her family. She's doing well, her mom told Telemundo. The Leominster Police Department did not immediately return requests for comment. Authorities came back to the home two days later and detained Meja. That's according to his wife. He's currently being held at an ICE detention center in Plymouth. Unbelievable. DHS is denying these allegations, so at least they know it's wrong. It's on video. This is like Bovino in the courtroom in Los Angeles saying that the defendant hit a Border Patrol officer when the video actually showed the officer hitting him. And it took less than an hour for a jury to acquit him. They just lie. Next up from the Miami Herald, hundreds of people who were once detained at the troubled immigration jail in the Florida Everglades, dubbed Alligator Alcatraz, have disappeared. They just disappeared. The Miami Herald reports about two thirds of the 1800 immigrants who were held there in July have gone missing from ICE's online database, just gone, with their families unable to locate them. Earlier this month, a federal appeals court ruled that the jail could continue to operate despite reports of abuse. And I mean, despite the reason it stopped operating because of the damage to the environment. It's just absolute chaos. It's just chaos. What's going on? I remember when Biden took office and he had to set up a commission to find over 4,000 missing children that the Trump administration lost. They just lost these unaccompanied minors. And it took nearly all four years of the Biden administration to find them. It's so much worse now. All right, next up from NBC, Governor Greg Abbott signed a bill Monday that will bar transgender people from using restrooms that align with their gender identities in state owned buildings and schools, including universities, with fines of up to $125,000 for institutions that violate the law. The law was a decade in the making. Texas first considered a similar measure in 2015 and again in 2017, though the bill didn't pass then, in part due to the nationwide backlash to North Carolina's HB2, which became known as the bathroom bill and led to boycotts from major corporations and musicians until the state repealed the law in 2017. Now, however, the political climate has shifted and Texans will become the 20th state that restricts what restrooms trans people can use. When its law takes effect Dec. 4. The law will affect more than just restrooms and public buildings. It also requires jails and prisons to house inmates according to birth sex, which is horrible, awful, cruel and unusual punishment. I expect to see some cases for violation of 8th amendment. It also prohibits trans women or anyone assigned male at birth from receiving services at women's domestic violence shelters, with an exception for the minor children of women receiving services at such a shelter. This is horrific. Next up from the Times, a man who plotted to kill Trump last year and staked him out at one of his Florida golf courses with a semiautomatic rifle was found guilty on Tuesday of attempting to assassinate a presidential candidate, a charge that carries a maximum penalty of life in prison. After the verdict was read in court, Mr. Routh appeared to try to stab himself in the neck several times with a pen. Several United States Marshals restrained him and removed him from the courtroom. He returned a few minutes later, shackled and escorted by the marshals. His necktie and jacket had been removed. He represented himself in this case. It did not go well, so he has been convicted by a jury and from the Arizona Mirror the Arizona Court of Appeals on Monday declined to take up Attorney General Chris Mays appeal of a lower court's decision to send the Arizona fake electors case back to a grand jury. In the order signed by Chief Judge Kent Katani, the court said the decision was made based on the judge's discretion. In April 2024, an Arizona grand jury indicted 18 people for their involvement in efforts to fraudulently overturn the 2020 election after Joe Biden won the state by around 10,000 votes. All of the fake electors involved in the scheme were indicted, including Arizona Senator Jake Hoffman, leader of the Arizona Freedom Caucus, former Arizona Senator Anthony Kern, member of the Arizona Freedom Caucus and Tyler Bowier, Turning Point USA CEO. But in May, Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Sam Myers agreed with arguments from attorneys representing the fake electors that prosecutors failed to disclose the full text of the Electoral Count act to the members of the grand jury prior to the indictment. Meyers ruled that Mays would have to convene a new grand jury and share the text of the act in its entirety if she wanted to move forward with the case. Instead, Mays appealed the decision to the Arizona Court of Appeals. Now that the appellate court has declined the case, Mays next steps are either petition the Arizona Supreme Court to reverse the trial court's decision or take the case back to the grand jury or abandon it completely. If you're in Arizona, let her know you want her to take it back to the grand jury. Maybe go to the Supreme Court first, but I don't think you'll get a different outcome there. And speaking of Arizona from TNR, as Southern Arizona voters in the state's 7th congressional district head to the polls Tuesday. That's yesterday. As you're listening to this to fill a vacancy in the U.S. house, they're poised to revive a major headache for House Speaker Mike Johnson and the Trump administration, both the Democratic frontrunner Grijalva and her Republican challenger, but have both publicly expressed their intent to provide the deciding signature on the discharge petition to circumvent Mike Johnson and force a House vote on releasing the Epstein files. Quote, the days of turning a blind eye to Trump must end. That's Grijalva talking to Politico. The government's lack of transparency surrounding the late, notorious sex criminal quote, has definitely come up during the campaign, she said to cnn, as voters say, quote, they believe the survivors deserve justice and Congress must fulfill its duty to check the executive branch and hold Trump accountable now. But he says he would, quote, absolutely sign onto the petition as well. That's what he said earlier this month in the Arizona Daily Star, which first reported Grijalva's commitment as well. With the House Republicans current makeup, Representatives Massie, a Republican, and Ro Khanna, a Democrat, are just one signature away from their bid to force a vote on the discharge petition, which would likely go to the House floor and pass with Grijalva or Butieras signature. While Johnson can try to block it via the House Rules Committee. He and the committee chair, Virginia Fox, have both reportedly said they won't do that. They probably might now, but we can't relent, right? To whoever wins that Arizona special, of course I'm rooting for Grijalva, but whoever wins that special election, they're going to get that signature on the discharge petition. Unless, of course, Butiera's has done some stuff that might be held against him and they convince him not to sign the discharge petition. We'll see. We'll see what happens. And more in the better news category, billionaire philanthropist Mackenzie Scott has donated $70 million to the UNCF as the nation's largest private provider of scholarships to minority students works to raise a billion dollars to strengthen all 37 of its historically black colleges and universities. The gift is one of Scott's largest single donations ever and among the first to be publicly disclosed in 2025. Famously, Private, Scott only discusses her donations through her website and does not confirm them until after the recipients do. Quote, this extraordinary gift is a powerful vote of confidence in HBCUs and in the work of UNCF. The nonprofit's president and CEO, Dr. Michael L. Lomax, said that to the Associated Press in a statement, went on to say, it provides a once in a generation opportunity for our member institutions to build permanent assets that will support students and campuses for decades to come. Thank you very much, Mackenzie Scott. All right, everybody, your good trouble is going to be up first in the good news. But next, the Keep It Blue segment with Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, who is the Democratic candidate for governor in Michigan. Stick around. We'll be right back after these messages. We'll be right back. Hey everybody. Trying to pick wine at the store can be exhausting. This is why Naked Wines is such a relief. It simplifies everything, the whole entire process. By delivering curated choices from independent winemakers straight to your door at massive discounts. No middleman, so you save a ton of money. 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- [20:19]
Interviewer (possibly Dana Goldberg or another host)
It's time to Keep it blue. Today on the Keep it Blue segment, I'm very, very honored to be speaking with the current Secretary of State of Michigan. You know her and you know her well, especially if you listen to this program. And she is running for governor because Governor Gretchen Whitmer of the great state of Michigan is term limited. And so we are coming up on the 2026 gubernatorial race. So please welcome Democratic candidate for Governor of Michigan, Jocelyn Benson. Hi, how are you doing?
- [20:49]
Alison Gill
Secretary?
- [20:50]
Jocelyn Benson
Thrilled to be here. Thank you for having me.
- [20:52]
Interviewer (possibly Dana Goldberg or another host)
I am so honored to be able to talk to you because we have been covering everything that's been going on in Michigan rather closely. Michigan is a purple state, a bellwether. I think what goes on in Michigan is extremely important. And I wanted to talk to you today. As I said, Governor Whitmer is term limited. So you're running for governor. You've been Secretary of State since you were elected in 2018. You've been there since 2019. Talk about how your job as Secretary.
- [21:19]
Alison Gill
Of State has prepared you to be the governor.
- [21:22]
Jocelyn Benson
Well, thanks again for having me. And yes, I've been honored to serve as Michigan's chief election officer for the last near decade in the state at a time where democracy has been under siege both nationally and in our state. And so, number one, being Secretary of state in a very challenging moment for our democracy, being charged with protecting people's access to their vote, their voice, their elections in the midst of all of that, even as a president tries to overturn those results, has been both an honor, but also honed me for a moment where governors are similarly now entering a space to be guardrails against all the tyranny and the bad economic policies, not to mention continued attacks on our democracy that we're seeing come out of the federal level. So, number one, being Secretary of State, the chief election officer in a battleground state during this tumultuous time has uniquely prepared me to not only stand up for our rights and freedoms, but do so in the eye of the storm with the eyes of the nation on us, and also standing up to the President of the United States, so the wealthiest man in the world. It doesn't scare me. I can't be bullied. I can't be intimidated. My work remains the same and proudly so. But then, secondly, as Secretary of State, I'm not only the chief election officer, I'm also the head of the dmv. I'm the chief motor vehicle officer for the state. So I give everyone their driver's licenses, which sounds, you know, boring, because who loves to go to the dmv? But in Michigan, actually going to the dmv, we've actually made a very efficient process. So not only have I been able to protect our elections, I've been able to ensure one of our state's largest agencies is run efficiently, smoothly, saving people time, saving them money, and making their lives easier. I'm running for governor now not just to continue to protect our rights and freedoms, but to make sure those everyday realities of where you need government to show up for you and make your life easier comes through throughout our state, no matter where you are or no matter what agency you're dealing with, I want it to be as easy to start a small business in Michigan as it is to renew your driver's license under my leadership. And that's one of the things I can uniquely bring. One of the unique and important skill sets that we need from a in this moment.
- [23:37]
Alison Gill
Yes.
- [23:37]
Interviewer (possibly Dana Goldberg or another host)
And as a Californian, I am jealous of your DMV in Michigan. But as a Californian, we have Governor Gavin Newsom, for example, going forward with Prop 50 on the ballot in a couple of months here. He's also passed some laws barring out of state governors from coming in and getting medical records for our transgender California residents. Stopping ICE from wearing masks, things like that. I know your neighbor, Governor J.B. pritzker, has done quite a bit to protect his constituents and residents of Illinois. What will you do as governor to help protect Michiganders against the attacks on our civil rights and our liberties and coming into our neighborhoods and taking our community members away?
- [24:21]
Jocelyn Benson
Yeah, exactly that. This is a moment where governors, as their respective CEOs of our states, cannot allow for the bullying of the White House to infiltrate our own states. Our job, the job of a governor in a moment like this, this is to stand firm and protect the citizens of the state and to stand up to the bullies, whether they be billionaires or powerful, the most powerful leader in the country if they would try to rip away our voices, our rights or freedoms. And that's exactly what I've done as Secretary of State at a time when the eyes of the nation were on us, I stood firm in protecting our rights and freedoms and not only that, expanded them in our state, whether it be reproductive freedom or voting rights. And so I'll do the same as governor and certainly that is what we need right now, Governors who will be willing to work with folks across the aisle to improve the economic well being of everyone in our state, but also being unafraid to stand up to the bullies or the billionaires who would try to interfere with our ability to protect our residents, protect our rights and freedoms, and protect the pocketbooks of Michiganders and folks throughout the nation. If you look from not just in California and Illinois, but in Pennsylvania, in Maryland, it is the Democratic governors who are holding the line in this moment. It is the Democratic governors, and I would argue women Democratic governors are uniquely able to do that given our understanding of both the rights and the threats to our reproductive freedom, a number of other things and the need to ensure we're protecting the people in our states from the tyranny that could be inflicted upon them if a governor bends a knee, as opposed to standing firm?
- [25:58]
Interviewer (possibly Dana Goldberg or another host)
Yeah, absolutely. And I think a lot of Democrats are really looking for candidates that will stand up and fight, even though the fight may end up in a loss. We really want to see people just get in the ring and lace up the boxing gloves. So polling numbers are showing that the number one issue on the minds of voters nationwide is the economy, jobs, consumer prices, inflation, and number two is health care. Are you finding that to be true.
- [26:23]
Alison Gill
For Michiganders as well?
- [26:25]
Interviewer (possibly Dana Goldberg or another host)
And what will you do to put on the boxing gloves and get in the ring and stand up and fight for people?
- [26:30]
Jocelyn Benson
Yeah, the number one issue I hear about every single day is affordability. That actually does seem to be the word across the entire country. How can I afford to have a place to live, to put food on the table, to get my kids to the child care they need, to pay our healthcare bills and truly thrive? And that's also a unique thing that governors can deliver on. In this moment where too many people in our state are living paycheck to paycheck, not just, you know, not, not, not thriving or surviving. We need to make sure governors are protecting our ability to grow our economy and addressing the rising cost of living in our state. And I've seen it in Traverse City and rural parts of the state where farmers aren't with these reckless tariffs, not only wondering how to sell their crops, their soybeans, but also how to hire people who will actually be able to harvest the food that ends up on our tables. And in cities like Detroit, we've heard from families who are not just worried about buying a home, but keeping the lights on and heating their houses in the winter, making sure that water runs through their homes and then it's clean and safe to drink. So these real everyday struggles that Michiganders are facing are top of mind for me. And they're the number one thing that I hear about in addition to healthcare, where you've got healthcare industry, where too often care decisions are being made by insurance providers and hospital executives instead of doctors and patients. And one of the things we can uniquely do about all of those things, both affordability across the board of everything from housing to health insurance to car insurance to food, but also making sure healthcare is safe and accessible to everyone throughout our state, is making sure the bones of government, the actual infrastructure of state government, are working well to cut costs, streamline services, and be on the side of the citizens. So, for example, Michigan's Department of Health and Human Services right now is broken. The system of even accessing your healthcare needs is complicated, outdated, disconnected from people it's supposed to serve. If you get an insurance denial, you should be able to turn to the state to help with that appeal. But right now, through the bureaucracy, you can't. But I want to build something better. I know how to take a massive bureaucracy in our state and streamline it, modernize it and make it work well for people. And a moment when hundreds of thousands of Michiganders are at risk of losing their Medicaid. We need not just policies, but real administrative of our state agencies to protect people from these life and death realities. So what I'm uniquely able to do is not just stand up to private insurers who are putting profit over people and make sure our decisions about healthcare are made not by CEOs and investors, but doctors and patients, but also making sure our state Department of Health and Human Services is emulating that policy, standing up for people, helping with insurance appeals, making sure getting access to healthcare coverage to begin with is easy, not complicated. And overall standing with the people of Michigan and ensuring access to healthcare around our state is affordable, safe and accessible to all.
- [29:33]
Alison Gill
Now talk about how you would work.
- [29:34]
Interviewer (possibly Dana Goldberg or another host)
With the Michigan legislature in order to get these policies put into place, because we have to see where the rubber meets the road. We have to talk about practicality and how these things can be implemented. Because I know you have a ton.
- [29:46]
Alison Gill
Of experience with this.
- [29:47]
Interviewer (possibly Dana Goldberg or another host)
So talk about how that experience translates and into being governor working with the state legislature to ensure that we have affordable childcare like they just enacted in New Mexico or a free lunch for kids like Tim Walls enacted. And I think that working with other governors for best practices too is also very important.
- [30:08]
Jocelyn Benson
It is. It's a great opportunity to look at what's working and bring it to Michigan or even improve upon it. I was really inspired by the Governor of New Mexico's announcement of free childcare for all and her commitment to doing that. A lot of that is identifying new sources of revenue that would be able to be generated and invested in our people. And there are a lot of small things, loopholes in our tax code are just antiquated policies that have led to defunding our schools and ripping apart healthcare funding that with additional sources of revenue. With examining how we're generating revenue in the state, which a governor can uniquely do through the budget process in partnership with the legislature, we can identify new sources of funding and build public private partnerships to deliver in a way that will enable us to cut the cost of living and invest in jobs and creation of jobs that will expand wage access in our state. And all of that is how we put the economy front and center. And learning from other governors who are doing that, not just Governor Grisham in New Mexico, but Governor Moore in Maryland, who has worked to ensure their education system continues to be excellent and appointed good people to oversee that process. A lot of what a governor does is run things well and effectively and then work with the legislature to put policies and budgetary decisions and appropriations in place so that you can make those things a reality. I've done that as Secretary of State statewide for a number of years now, working to communicate to folks on both sides of our legislature that these policies that improve people's lives, that make it easier for people to get a driver's license and easier to help smart start a small business that benefits their constituents as well, whether they're in a red district or a purple or a blue district. So finding partnerships with other like, like minded leaders who are just focused on improving people's lives, just focus on policies that will cut costs of living and improve the way of life for Michiganders. That's what I'm interested in partnering on with folks. That's what effective governors do and have done in states around our country. And that's what we'll do in Michigan under my leadership.
- [32:06]
Interviewer (possibly Dana Goldberg or another host)
Yeah, and I think under Republican rule, where we have rural farmers, rural hospitals.
- [32:12]
Alison Gill
At risk, you know, we, we see.
- [32:15]
Interviewer (possibly Dana Goldberg or another host)
Housing affordability be a real problem. I think that our policies are winning policies, which is why the Republicans have to, you know, gerrymander and cheat and redraw maps to, to win. Because if they ran on their policies.
- [32:26]
Alison Gill
They would get clobbered.
- [32:28]
Interviewer (possibly Dana Goldberg or another host)
Speaking of clobbering, you won your two Secretary of State elections by 9 points, I think, and 14 points respectively. Now this is going to be one of five Democratic held governorships up for election in states won by Trump. Now, Trump likes to say, oh, I have a mandate. He plays his invisible accordion and he says, I won by a landslide. But he only won Michigan by like a point in 2024. It's a very slim margin. And he's not on the ballot in 2026. So how are you feeling about your chances here?
- [32:59]
Jocelyn Benson
Well, yeah, I'm the only candidate in the race, the only person running for governor who has run and won statewide multiple times, including most recently in 2022. I won by 14 points, including winning counties on the west side of the state that no other Democrat won. So I know how to build coalitions. I know how to show up in communities all across our state and meet people where they are and develop policies that will improve people's lives, cut the cost of living, increase wage access, make life more affordable, and then deliver. And interestingly, when you look at Trump, he won Michigan in part because he promised our residents that he would lower their cost of living. And that has not happened. And Michiganders are realizing that these reckless tariffs have led our farmers to wonder who's going to buy the soybeans that they're making and our small business owners to wonder how they're going to get the inventory that they need to keep the lights on in their family run business that is held for generations. Not to mention, again, the onerous cuts of health care and Medicaid that are causing real anxiety for business leaders, business owners, residents, families all across the state, and the high grocery bills and the other things from energy costs to water costs, that continue to go up. So for me, we've got an opportunity to remind folks that governors can be the ones to not just say we're going to lower the cost of living, but actually deliver. And I'm always going to work with anyone who's going to help me solve problems and drive down costs in our state. But we do have to be clear to residents in this next election, too, our citizens, that the vast majority of decisions that the Trump administration has made over the last several months has only caused prices to go up, which has led to more pain, more anxiety, more chaos, and more people wondering who's actually going to fight for them, who's actually on their side. And as the Secretary of State, I've been on the side of the people in this state for the last decade. And I'm going to continue to ensure voters know in 2026 that I will be someone who stands up for them, stands up for their right to thrive in our state and actually deliver on those promises, just as I've done in every race I've run and won in so far.
- [35:14]
Interviewer (possibly Dana Goldberg or another host)
And one last thing I wanted to talk with you about. We have a couple minutes left here.
- [35:19]
Alison Gill
I had brought up the desire of.
- [35:21]
Interviewer (possibly Dana Goldberg or another host)
Democratic voters to have somebody that will stand up and fight for them go in the ring. There's actually a history of this in.
- [35:26]
Alison Gill
Your state and with you specifically.
- [35:29]
Interviewer (possibly Dana Goldberg or another host)
And I just wanted to first of all commend you on the bravery and.
- [35:32]
Alison Gill
Courage it takes to put yourself out.
- [35:34]
Interviewer (possibly Dana Goldberg or another host)
There after what happened to you in 2020, and then also given what happened to your governor with the kidnapping plot. Talk a little bit about that courage and that bravery, where that comes from and what it means to you, because I feel like it's purpose driven. And when things are purpose driven, the kind of bravery and courage we find it comes from places unknown that we didn't even realize that we had.
- [35:59]
Alison Gill
But this has to be scary.
- [36:03]
Interviewer (possibly Dana Goldberg or another host)
There has to be, you know, fear.
- [36:04]
Alison Gill
In order to have bravery.
- [36:05]
Interviewer (possibly Dana Goldberg or another host)
Talk about that, because first of all, remind everybody what happened in 2020 and talk about why you're, you're running again.
- [36:13]
Jocelyn Benson
Well, as Secretary of state in 2020, we were in the heart and the eye of a nationally coordinated effort led by President Trump to try to overturn the election results of a valid presidential election, one that he lost and that Joe Biden won. And the people who were attacked for standing and protecting the voice of the voters were election officials, secretaries of state, who managed the elections and personified democracy and the results of those elections in that moment. So standing with the will of the people, protecting the results of that valid, legitimate presidential election in 2020 mean not just being willing to stand up to Trump, but also to the armed protesters who came directly to my home in the middle of the night to try to force me out and challenge me, intimidate me, make me afraid to do my job. And the only thing is, the way I react to bullying is to become even more emboldened to do the work I was elected to do, which was protect the will of the people and stand with the truth and the law on our side. But I get that really from the fact that I'm a mom of a nine year old little boy who, you know, is watching as kids are all across the country, watching what we all do in this moment to ensure that the world they inherit is one where their voices are heard and their economy is strong. And so my drive, my drive to make sure Michigan schools are among the best in the nation, that our economy is one where anyone can thrive, that healthcare is free and freely accessible to all in our state and affordable for all. That all comes from the fact that I know the work that I do over the next decade is going to define my kids future. And it's going to define the future of our loved ones all across the state and all across this country. So I come to this with a sense of urgency. I want Michigan to be the best place for my kid call home for all of our kids to choose to raise their families. And I love the state as a result. But because of that, as a mom, I'll always stand up to anyone, anytime, anywhere who would stand in the way of any of our citizens and their rights, their freedoms, their voices. And I've honed that skill over time knowing that the eyes of those who've come before us and have fought these same battles, their eyes are on us now and saying, what are you going to do to stand up for the rights and the freedoms that we fought so hard for over the decades of our country's democracy to protect and expand? And the eyes of our future, the eyes of my kid and others are on us too, saying, what are you going to do to make sure the world we inherit is one where we are safe and secure and strong? I'll always stand up any day against anything, stand up to anyone to protect our future and honor those who've come before us and fought those same battles.
- [38:57]
Interviewer (possibly Dana Goldberg or another host)
Well, Secretary Benson, I thank you for your bravery and I thank you for your dedication to democracy. We've seen it in action as secretary of State and I hope we get to see it in action as governor of Michigan. Please tell everyone where they can find, follow, support, write postcards, text, bank, make phone calls for your campaign and how they can follow you on social media as well.
- [39:20]
Jocelyn Benson
Yeah, we're in a tough race. The stakes are high. We're in a moment where if we have a Democratic governor leading this critical battleground state heading into 20, 28 and beyond, we'll be able to protect and expand and stand up to the growth of tyranny in this country. And I intend to be a governor who does that. But I can't do it alone. We cannot win this race alone. We need help from folks all around the state and all around this country who recognize what state at stake and have hope that working together as we have done throughout our history, we can win and grow our strength and be strong and stand up and fight back for our freedoms. So you can go to jocelynbenson.com to learn more about me, our campaign and get involved and donate as well because we need to build our strength. We need the resources to get out there and win. And with your support and the support of folks all around this country, all around Michigan, we can do just that and then do great things together.
- [40:11]
Interviewer (possibly Dana Goldberg or another host)
Well, I hope we have you back on soon and I hope we to have you back on having discussions about what you are doing as the governor of Michigan. Thank you so much for joining us today.
- [40:21]
Alison Gill
I really appreciate it and we will.
- [40:24]
Interviewer (possibly Dana Goldberg or another host)
Talk to you soon.
- [40:25]
Jocelyn Benson
Look forward to it. Thanks so much for having me.
- [40:27]
Interviewer (possibly Dana Goldberg or another host)
No problem. Everybody stick around. We'll be right back with the good news.
- [40:31]
Alison Gill
All right. Everybody. Have you heard about Wild Grain yet? I bet you've heard someone talking about it. It's the first bake from frozen subscription box for artisanal bread, seasonal pastries and fresh pastas. Every item is ready in 25 minutes or less. You get fresh baked quality without spending hours in the kitchen. Unlike store bought bread, Wild Grain uses slow fermentation processes that make their breads easier to digest, richer in nutrients and antioxidants, and crafted with simple ingredients that you can actually pronounce. Who'da thunk? And boxes are fully customizable too. They constantly add seasonal and limited time products to make everything have a really wonderful variety. And they even sent us boxes filled with delicious options. So thanks to Wild Grain for supporting our show. Check this deal out For a limited time, Wild Grain is offering you $30 off your first box plus free croissants in every box when you go to wildgrain.comdailybeans to start your subscription. Or you can use promo code dailybeans at checkout. When my first box arrived, I went straight for the fall season items. The pumpkin cinnamon biscuits baked up golden filling my kitchen with the amazing warm spiced aromas of fall that I love. They tasted pillowy, soft, just enough sweetness. The apple cider donuts winner? Huge. That's like my favorite. It's the kind of treat that feels like fall in every bite. Now Dana got a gluten free box. She said the breads were fresh and flavorful and far better than other gluten free options out there. It was a relief for her to find something that tasted hearty and authentic without compromising our diet. And for both of us, the convenience of baking everything in under half an hour and having freezer ready high quality food whenever we wanted. Complete game changer. So this fall treat yourself and your loved ones to warm sourdough breads, seasonal baked goods all from Wild Grain. Rumor has it they have apple cider donuts and pumpkin cinnamon biscuits. I can confirm that rumor, so get them before the seasonal items sell out because they do. For a limited time, Wild Grain is offering our listeners $30 off your first box plus free croissants in every box when you go to wildgrain.comdailybeans to start your subscription. You heard me. Free croissants in every box and $30 off your first box when you head to wildgrain.com dailybeans don't miss their seasonal products. Hey everybody. Welcome back. It's time for the good news. Who likes good news? Everyone. Then good news everyone. And if you have any little bit of good news at all, something big, something small, something happened yesterday or 20 years ago, we want to hear it. Some story that you know. The story that you tell your friends over and over again when you're hanging out. We want to hear that story. We need to microdose the hope. We need the good news. Send it to us and you can even do a shout out maybe to a loved one, a parent, a kid, a spouse, a small business in your area you want to give a boost to or maybe a non profit that you think deserves some eyes. We would love to hear about that. Shout out to a government program that's helped you or a loved one. Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, WIC, SNAP, Section 8, any maybe local or municipal government programs that have helped you out. Student debt relief, anything at all, send it to us. And to get your stuff right on the air, all you gotta do is pay your POD pet tariff, which means attach a photo of your pet. If you don't have that, you can send an adoptable pet in your area. If you don't have that, just grab a photo of a capybara off the Internet because that's one of my favorite animals. Really. Any animal will do bird watching photos, which can be an actual bird or, or you and your family and friends flipping the bird to Trump or Musk Properties or whatever. Maybe he shows up on TV and you want to give him the middle finger salute. Send that in to us. We appreciate it. And then of course, really, any photos you could be your garden. Show us what you're making or creating or growing. Show us your hobby that you're trying to get back into to pass the time until 2029. Family photos. Anything at all. Send it all to us dailybeanspod.com click on first up is your Good Trouble. Good Trouble today comes from Debbie Pronoun. She and her hello Beans Queens. As always, I so appreciate all you do to help keep us sane in these insane times. Here are two suggestions for good trouble I am currently spending this rainy Colorado Tuesday Alternately text banking for Fair Fight Action and the ACLU Fair Fight Action is asking for comments on the Election Assistance Commission's website. The EAC is a federal agency that provides guidance to states on election administration. On July 16, 2025, the Election Assistance Commission EAC received a petition for Rulemaking submitted by America First Legal foundation asking the Commission to amend their regulations and the National Mail Voter Registration form to require documentary proof of United States citizenship to register to vote in Federal elections. They're considering this rule change that would create new burdens on voter registration because far right groups are pressuring them. I'm sure your listeners would love the chance to comment on the issue and we will have the regulations.gov link to comment on that issue in our show notes Next, the ACLU is asking people to join their September People Power Action call on Thursday, September 25, 8pm Eastern, where they're going to break down Trump's abuses of power from deploying the National Guard in LA and DC to intimidating and silencing protesters and his political opponents, why it matters for all of us and how we can fight back together, including through mass mobilization. So that ACLU Action Call link will be in the show notes as well. Thank you so much Debbie for these two good trouble options. Pod Tax the first is my grand nephew who is on the Autism spectrum looking like he's ready for some good trouble. I am super pissed about the bullshit RFK Jr and Trump that they're pushing about Tylenol and I hope the company stews the shit of them or at least RFK Jr. Since the Supreme Court made the other nearly impossible. The second is me flipping the bird toward Trump's Las Vegas property during his first so called administration. As always turning my anger into action. Love you both. Keep up the great work. This kid and his hair I cannot this is the cuteness is dangerous to me. I think it's. It's so. This is so cute. I feel like I'm in cuteness danger because it's so cute. And that's a really lovely bird picture. I think you got your finger a little too close there, but it still works. I can see it there in the background. All right, next up from Cat Pronoun she and her I'm writing my good news from my hospital room where I'm recovering from knee replacement. I'm so happy to be on the other side of this and on my way back to hiking in the woods and kayaking the Finger Lakes. My happy place is I also wanted to shout out to the beans listener a couple months ago who knitted an emotional support chicken. I decided this was just the thing I needed in my recovery. I'm attaching a picture of Bernadine the chicken and kayaking my happy place. Been listening to all the MSW pods for years now and I can't thank you all enough for what you do to keep me informed, mostly sane and laughing. So much love to you and all the Leguminati. You're your emotional support chicken Is beautiful. I love these colors. First of all, the mustard, the teal, the purple. It's gorgeous. Kat, this is amazing. And everybody right now, close your eyes real hard and put out into the universe that you want a quick recovery from the knee replacement for cat. Oh, gosh, the kayaking is gorgeous. Is that a blue heron? I can't remember if you said it's beautiful. Absolutely beautiful. I need to do something like this. I gotta get that. I gotta get the hell out of here. I feel like people are gonna start lining up like in the movie Airplane. I gotta get out of here. I'm taking a vacation in October, y'. All. I will be doing some self care, but thank you for this. I needed it. It's the good inspiration. Next up, from Amy D. Pronoun, she and her. I was sorry to hear that the rapture was happening on my birthday. Here's my annual self portrait. Watching it happen. Clearly I will not be included. Ha. Keep up the good work. This is fucking amazing. Amy D. I love this picture so much. Watercolor. I don't know. It's fantastic. I absolutely love it. And yeah, happy birthday. I'm still here. It's Tuesday afternoon, Tuesday evening as I record this. So I haven't been raptured yet or left behind either. I don't think I haven't been out much today. But fantastic portrait, Amy. Next up from Tanya Pronoun. She and her luminous lagoon ladies. I want to shout out my fellow caftan queen, Rebecca of frugie blog fame. Oh, nice. She's my former high school debate rival turned college theater comrade turned incredible support and true sister friend. She's not only an amazing makeup obsessed, her words, not mine. Beauty influencer who provides valuable tips for the Gen X crowd. Oh, I need that. But more importantly, she fights fascism on social media while looking, looking fabulous. You can find her and her resistance red lipstick on social media. Thanks, girl, for the good fight and for the lipstick suggestion. Fruity blog. For my bodpat tariff, I'm submitting a photo of my merry band of misfits who were, quote, doing a concern unquote as I took a shower. My daughter snapped this while they were all waiting outside the tub. The second bonus photo is my daughter, the day she got her driver's license taking her good boy Oliver for a ride. He was her ride or die for 17 and a half years until we lost him in December. Oh, that's gotta hurt. Tanya, I'm so sorry. Look at this. Sweet little babies having a concern. Doing a concern. Thank you for all you do to keep us sane. Oh, look at the babies. That's who. Usually cats only get the concern about showers and baths. Tanya. I remember the Paula Poundstone bit about it. It her cats stare at her while she's in the shower and she gets out and they were like the water, it was all over you. We couldn't do anything. There was nothing we could do about it. That's what these dogs look like. Thank you so much for that, Tanya. Appreciate it. Everybody. Check out Rebecca of frugie blog fame next up. Anonymous Pronoun she and her hello Beans queens from the UK listening this morning and you mentioned that Windsor Castle was a snub to Trump. That's not it. Windsor Castle is where the old Queen lived most of the time. Buckingham palace is more a bunch of state rooms and offices in the middle of London. There were big anti Trump protests in London, which would have been hard to avoid seeing given the whole purpose of the invite was to grossly flatter Trump and make him feel special. I assume they chose to keep him away from that. Windsor is a small town and the castle has high walls. It was much easier to manage the optics there for the government saying that led by donkeys, a satirical protest group still managed to project a giant video of Trump and Epstein on the castle. So it wasn't flawless. Yeah. And Anonymous I've watched the whole video. It's about nine minutes long. It's got sound, it's riveting. If you get a chance to go to YouTube and Google the Windsor Castle Epstein video, turn the sound on and watch it. It's really, really well done. For my pod pet tariff, I've attached a shoddy photo of a rare great yellow bumblebee on a beach. Shot on a tree? No, on a beach on Teree, which is an island off the west coast of Scotland. Cheers from across the pond and keep up the excellent work. Ah, look at that. Hi, Bumblebee Terry. Am I saying that right? Let me know. Anonymous all right, next up from Joy Pronoun. She and her hi beans queens. I would like to shout out my 13 year old daughter. She is autistic and my biggest inspiration. She's always attended schools for neurodiverse students, but surprised my husband and I when she announced she wanted to try a mainstream school this year. She's worked incredibly hard with her challenges, such sensory sensitivities, anxiety transitions, to name a few. And although we were a little worried, my husband and I trusted her decision and jumped in with both feet to help her navigate this new adventure. Once again, she has amazed us and has far exceeded our expectations. Academically, she's holding all A's in her classes, and while she's struggling a little socially, she is beginning to discover how she fits in this very confusing world. Watching her grow and manage these sometimes difficult situations has been awe inspiring. The word proud is just not enough to express how we feel. As you can imagine, my anger toward the Trump regime in the recent press conference they held falsely accusing Tylenol as the cause of autism with absolutely no scientific backup, which doesn't exist because it's not true, has sparked an anger in me I didn't know was possible. My daughter may be considered different from a neurotypical person she's not less than. And it lights a fire within me to show this world that she, along with every other autistic person, they don't need to be fixed. It's my firm belief that every autistic person brought into this world is here to teach us kindness, compassion and patience, as well as force us to question societal norms. I have no idea what plans this regime has for the autistic community, but I'm ready to scratch and fight with every fiber of my being for their rights. My first ACT calls and letters to representatives and senators demanding the resignation of RFK Jackass. And I would like to encourage your listeners to do the same. Thank you both so much for all you do. Listening to you every morning gives me hope and reminds me that I'm not alone in this. For my POD pet tax, I submit a picture of Ruby snuggling with our dog Iggy, also known as Iggy Wiggly, a newfie doodle, and one of our cats, Captain Waffles. I love the name Captain Waffles. Thank you so much for that joy. And your daughter sounds like just a warrior. Just an amazing, awesome, incredible person. I love that. I love this so much. Thank you for sending that in. I too, I'm so angry. I'm so angry at what this administration is doing. This is all I'm sure rooted in, like that tech bro Peter Thiel, Curtis Yarvin, Elon Musk Eugenics shit, right? Trying to get rid of vaccines to let disease flow through the population, to get rid of the unfit. Talking about disabled people and people on the spectrum and people with mental health issues needing to be locked up. It's just, I mean, that's what it seems like to me and I hope with everything in me that we can come together and stop this before we get anywhere near that point. So thank you all for listening. Thanks for all being here. Thanks for everything that you do. I can't, I can't imagine not having this community to go through this with. So thanks for being there everybody. I will be back in your ears tomorrow. Dana will be back Friday. Thank you so much to Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson for hanging out with me today. I really appreciate that and I hope everyone will tune in tomorrow. Until then, please take care of yourselves, take care of each other, take care of the planet, take care of your mental health and take care of your framily. I've been ag and them's the Beans.
- [56:07]
Interviewer (possibly Dana Goldberg or another host)
The Daily Beans is written and executive produced by Alison Gill with additional research on reporting by Dana Goldberg.
- [56:12]
Alison Gill
Sound design and editing is by Desiree.
- [56:14]
Interviewer (possibly Dana Goldberg or another host)
McFarlane with art and web design by.
- [56:15]
Alison Gill
Joelle Reeder with Moxie Design Studios.
- [56:17]
Interviewer (possibly Dana Goldberg or another host)
Music for the Daily Beans is written and performed by they Might Be Giants.
- [56:20]
Alison Gill
And the show is a proud member.
- [56:22]
Interviewer (possibly Dana Goldberg or another host)
Of the MSW Media Network, a collection.
- [56:24]
Alison Gill
Of creator owned podcasts dedicated to news, politics and justice. For more information Please visit msw media.com msw media.