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The Daily Beans
Role Models (feat. Jay of It Gets Better)
00:51:51
Tuesday, March 31st, 2026 Today, Republicans plan to cut federal health funding to give more money to ICE and the Iran war; Trump threatens war crimes in a deranged Truth Social post; the U.S. Army opens investigation into attack helicopter activities at Kid Rock's home and No Kings protests; a federal judge pauses a massive corporate media merger between Nexstar and Tegna; Spain says its airspace is off-limits to US planes involved in the Iran war; Democrat Brian Nathan has officially won the state senate special election in Florida; a deal has been struck to increase WNBA players’ salaries by 400%; and Allison and Dana deliver your Good News.
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A
It's no surprise that newsmakers try to manipulate the audience. They want you to believe that they are the one holding the line, and they'll use any trick they can to get you there.
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But don't let them fool you.
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A
Get Unspun. I'm Amanda Sturgel. I've been a reporter, and today I teach future reporters to cut the spin and think critically about what newsmakers say. My podcast, Unspun, shows you how to know when you're being manipulated by the news, learn to spot the tricks, and how to make up your own mind about what's true. So if you're tired of being fooled by the news, subscribe to Unspun today. Unspun because you deserve the truth.
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MSW Media. Jelly beans. Jelly beans. Jelly beans. Daily beans. Hello and welcome to the Daily beans for Tuesday, March 31, 2026. Today, Republicans plan to cut federal health funding to give more money to ICE and the Iran war. Trump threatens war crimes in a deranged truth social post. The US army opens investigation into attack helicopter activities at Kid Rock's home. And no Kings protests. A federal judge pauses a massive corporate media merger between nexstar and Tegna Spain says its airspace is off limits to US Planes involved in the Iran war. Democrat Brian Nathan has officially won the state senate special election in Florida and a deal has been struck to increase WNBA player salaries by 400%. I'm Alison Gill.
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C
And I'm Dana Goldberg.
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B
Oh, happy Trans Day of visibility, everyone.
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C
Yes. And to all of the people out there being visible and seen by the world, trans, non, binary, and those of you as well that don't feel safe necessarily being as visible and out in the world, we still see you. You are part of this community and we love you. It is Trans Day of visibility for those of you that want to put yourself out there today and every day is the day to do it.
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B
Yes, absolutely. We see you, we honor you. And today for Trans Day visibility, Dana, you and I are going to talk to Jay, a 16 year old Indian American trans man who has a resume.
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C
I mean, puts me to shame
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B
at 16 years old, such an incredible young man. And yeah, I look forward to that discussion. Today again, Trans Day of visibility. Protect the dolls, protect the kings, protect the non binaries as the key says. Yep. But anyway, we just wanted to say we see you and we love you and thank you for supporting our show and we will always, always continue to support you. And we're announcing today for Trans Day visibility, the Daily Beans is going to donate $10,000 to it gets better. And we're going to have a link for the beans listeners to be able to match those donations. That link is itgetsbetter.org dailybeans donate. So we're going to talk about that a little bit later in the show with Jay and in the good news as well. So I'm very excited to speak with Jay. And I was just blown. I was bowled over by what an incredible young man he is.
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C
Me, too. Me too.
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B
All right. But before we get to that amazing interview we have, we have news that we have to share with you. So let's hit the hot notes. Hot notes. All right. First up, Republican lawmakers are considering slashing federal health spending to bankroll Trump's war in Iran. Quote, Operation Epic. What? Operation Epstein Fury is what they're calling it.
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C
That should be it. Yep.
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Has stretched into its fifth week with thousands of fresh US Troops sent into the region ready for deployment now to help prop up a budget bill, that reconciliation bill we all warned you about containing as much as $200 billion. Hop House Republicans are eyeing changes to healthcare programs now. Quote, there's other items we're looking at right now, especially in the areas of fraud and waste and abuse that we're working through with our members. That's House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, full of shit, talking to Axios, because everybody knows the majority of fraud perpetrated in stuff like Medicare is done by private health insurance companies and private doctors, not recipients of the benefits. Just ask Rick Scott. Among the options on the table is cutting the amount of health insurance subsidies that some lower income Americans get toward their coverage. House Budget Committee Chairman Jody Arrington of Texas is pushing a plan that would claw back $30 billion by shrinking the assistance people receive to pay their monthly premiums. The Congressional Budget Office, as previously estimated the move would leave 300,000 more Americans without health insurance. Average premiums would fall around 11% on paper, but with less help to pay for them, the savings would be invisible to the people who need it the most. Now, the move would also help fund ice, whose budget is a central sticking point in the ongoing partial government shutdown. Arrington said he wants the law passed in 60 to 90 days. Quote, obviously we need to put the vote coalition together. That's what Scalise said, referring to the fact that many moderate Republicans are going to balk at these plans. Oh, do you have to get elected again?
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C
Yep.
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Huh. On Sunday. Meanwhile, Scalise refused to rule out boots on the ground in Iran. Quote, we're having a lot of conversations about what could happen next. He told ABC news. Thousands of U.S. ground troops are already quietly massing across the Middle East. According to the New York Times, several hundred special operations forces, including Army Rangers and Navy seals, have joined thousands of Marines and Army paratroopers already in the region. The missions being drawn up include forcing the Strait of Hormuz back open, seizing Iran's oil depots on Kharg island, and hunting down and removing the country's stockpile of enriched uranium, which I was told was completely obliterated. Dana, were you told it was obliterated?
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C
I was. I guess that's the hunting down part, because apparently they're not sure where it
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B
is to hunt it down in your pocket. Like, didn't you take it with you? We thought, didn't we say, Dana, that if you go and try to get seized the straight of Hormuz, you got to hold that. You have to hold it Now. Trump has publicly flirted with taking Hog island, but conceded that any operation of that kind, quote, would also mean we'll have to be there for a while. Yeah, dumbass. Americans have, from the outset of the conflict last month opposed any protracted involvement. The war has pulled spectacularly poorly. About 61% of Americans disapprove of Trump's handling of this conflict, while only 37% approve, according to the Pew Research Center. So go ahead. I fucking dare you, Republicans.
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C
This one's from Politico. Trump on Monday threatened to obliterate Iran's power plants, oil wells, key oil oil export hub, Kharg Island. As you just said, if Iran does not reopen the Strait of Hormuz immediately. This is what they're saying. In a posted True Social on Monday morning, Trump said there has been great progress now there hasn't in negotiations to end military operations in Iran, but added that if the Strait is not reopened, quote, we will conclude our lovely stay in Iran by blowing up and completely obliterating all of the electric generating plants, oil wells and Carg island, and possibly all desalinization plants. What's a desalinization plant that takes seawater
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B
and turns it into drinking water for civilians. Oh.
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C
Which we have purposefully not yet touched. Now, question before I go on. How the fuck does that help any of the Iranian people that you said you're about to. You were doing this to try and bring freedom. You're going to take away their clean drinking water? You're going to blow up their electrical grids? Are you insane? I mean, I know you're insane, but I don't understand why people haven't realized they've completely lost what they said was the original reason for going in there. This isn't the weapons of mass destruction moment. Deliberate attacks on desalinization plants which convert, as you said, salt water into potable water and are crucial to sustaining life in the region would be a major escalation that would constitute a war crime under international law. And in a related story, this one's from the Associated Press. Spain has said Monday that it's closed its airspace to US Planes involved in the war, another step by Europe's loudest critic of US And Israeli military actions in the month long conflict. The country earlier said the US Couldn't use jointly operated military bases in the war that Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has described as illegal, reckless and unjust. Defense Minister Margarita Robles said that the same logic applied to the use of Spanish airspace. And I quote, this was made perfectly clear to the American military and forces from the very beginning. Therefore, neither the bases are authorized nor, of course, is the use of Spanish airspace authorized for any actions related to the war in Iran. Again, that was Robles. That's what she told the reporters, describing the war in Iran as profoundly illegal and profoundly unjust. Sanchez has called on the U.S. israel and Iran to end the war, saying earlier this month, you cannot respond to one illegality with another because that's how humanity's great disasters begin. And I think that's actually a great descriptor of Donald Trump, one of humanity's great disasters.
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B
Yeah, he starts them. He sure does. As you like to say, Dana, he starts the fire, he's the arsonist and then he's the fireman.
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C
He sure is.
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B
All right, next up from the nosiest bitch in Nashville, Phil Williams at News Channel 5. Woo hoo. U.S. army officials have ordered an investigation into the activities of two Ah, 64 Apache attack helicopters that flew over Saturday's no Kings protest in downtown Nashville, then engaged in low altitude maneuvers near the home of Kid Rock just north of the city. The initial investigation appears to be focused for now on the maneuvers at the entertainer's so called southern White House in Nashville. It's a Nashville suburb called White's Creek, which is hilarious to me.
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C
It is hilarious.
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He lives in White's Creek. Something else funny. Oh, you remember when Chad Bianco, the guy in California, seized 650,000 ballots in the Prop 50 investigation? Chad Bianco is that's Italian for Chad, white guy, which I. Oh my God. All right, quote, Fort Campbell leadership is aware of a video circulating on social media depicting Apache helicopters operating in the vicinity of a private residence associated with Mr. Robert Richie, also known as Kid Rock. And that's A statement by Major Jonathan Bless, Public Affairs Officer at the 101st Airborne Division. Quote, the command has initiated an investigation to review the circumstances surrounding the activity, but not low buzzing protesters unlawfully, the statement continued. The 101st Airborne Division, Air Assault and Fort Campbell maintain strict standards for aviation safety, professionalism and adherence to established flight regulations. We take all concerns regarding aircraft operations and their impact on the surrounding community seriously. Do you?
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C
No.
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Later, Bless told news Channel 5 investigates that 101st Airborne leaders are still in the dark about the reason for the overflight at the no Kings protest. Quote, our pilots do regularly fly routes outside the Fort Campbell area, the spokesperson said. We just don't know if it was incidental or if it was deliberate. I kind of wonder since this was on a weekend, if this was a couple of army reservists taking this thing. These things for a joy Troy R.
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C
Possible I'm not sure because the Kid Rock videos is ridiculous. Talk about waste.
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B
Yeah. Oh my gosh. But you know, I'm sure Kash Patel will be right all over that. Fraud, waste and abuse and Hegseth, I'm sure they're gonna investigate it thoroughly. Yeah.
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C
All right, next up from Wall Street Journal, After Claudia Goldman became the first woman to win a solo Nobel in economics in 2023, she received hundreds of invitations and requests. She accepted just three of them. One of them was advising the WNBA players union as the women prepared to negotiate a new labor deal with the league. This is such a great story. When golden replied via email to Terry Carmichael, Jackson, that's the executive director of the players union, said, I remember just reading it and screaming. Jackson said golden had one requirement she refused to be paid. This month, the two sides reached a collective bargaining agreement that gave Women's National Basketball association players a nearly 4, 400% raise, starting the season's player's average salary that will top $580,000. Now, it isn't just the biggest pay increase in US league history. It is, as far as golden is aware, the biggest increase in any union anywhere has ever negotiated. And golden played no sports growing up in the Bronx in 1950s, but she had deep knowledge of women's pay. As an economist, she spent years rifling through boxes of surveys and personal records and tracking down data to document the women's challenging role in the workpl. That research has included the role that discrimination plays in pay gaps between men and women. Goldin won her Nobel for advancing understanding of women's labor market outcomes. She earned a Ph.D. at the University of Chicago economics department in 1972, when few women were even in the field. She became the first tenured woman in Harvard's economics department in early 2024. When Jackson approached Golden, the average NBA player made about $12 million, according to basketball Reference and a statistics website. The WNBA player made $118,000, less than $0.01 on the dollar.
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Oh my God.
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C
As for other two invitations that golden accepted after her Nobel, one was appearing on NPR's Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me. The third invitation she accepted was also sports related, throwing out the ceremonial pitch at a Red Sox game. Despite the fact that she grew up rooting for the Yankees, she said. Well, I'm here, explained golden, who has taught at Harvard for more than three decades. In a related story from the Guardian, the expansion Denver Summits match against the Washington Spirit now this is a really big deal. On Saturday it broke the National Women's Soccer League record for attendance. You ready for this? The crowd was 63,000 plus what the women's soccer game the NWSL. Oh my God. Fans of the Denver Broncos home stadium broke the previous NWSL record at 40,091 who attended Bay FC's match against the Spirit last season at Oracle park, home of San Francisco Giants. I'm telling you, everyone watches women's sports. That's what the shirt says and that's what should be the NWSL has also brokered a new contract for their players.
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B
Fantastic.
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C
Trinity Rodman, I believe will be the highest paid soccer player in the nwsl. You know, the famous father who is should not actually get any credit for that child.
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B
Yeah, yeah. Fantastic. That's amazing news. Thank you. Next up from deadline, a federal judge Friday evening granted a temporary restraining order to halt nexstar's merger with Tegna, a transaction that creates a broadcasting giant with almost 260 stations across the country. US District Judge Troy Nunley said none your business. No, Troy Nunley sided with DirecTV, who's seeking to block the merger, on the claim that violates antitrust laws. A group of states including California and New York are also seeking to sideline this transaction. In his order, Nunley wrote that DirecTV did establish a likelihood of success on the merits on its claim and that moving forward with the transaction would create irreparable harm. And those are the two key factors courts weigh in issuing temporary restraining orders, after which a judge gives a fuller consideration as the legal process plays out by either issuing a preliminary injunction or a more permanent injunction. Now, in ordering at least a temporary halt to the merger, the judge wrote that the private benefits nexstar could obtain by acquiring Tegna are outweighed by the harm to DirecTV. His ruling means that Nexstar and Tegna cannot integrate their operations for 14 days or he issues until, you know, if he issues another ruling before that. The judge set a hearing for April 7 on whether to issue that preliminary injunction. Now, Donald Trump, of course, endorsed this $6.2 billion merger, and his FCC chairman, Brendan Carr, indicated his support shortly thereafter, even though the transaction was still being reviewed by the agency. So that's, again, more government, you know, involvement, government, like indirect pressure. Right. He just wants to consolidate all these so he can control the messaging.
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C
Yep. All right, last in the section, another story of your vote matters. This is from the Times. We've covered this. Democrats. On Monday, they officially claimed a second upset in Florida's recent special elections when the Associated Press declared an electrical workers union leader to be the winner of a tight state senate contest. And the reliably Republican West Tampa. The Florida division of Elections did not call for a recount. And I quote, the percentages on the Florida election watch website are rounded given the appearance of exactly 0.5% difference between 49.75, which is Tom Cow, and 50.25 to Nathan. But if you look beyond the hundredths decimal, the difference is actually more than half a percentage point at 0.5058. That's wild. According to the Division of Elections, a recount would have been triggered had the raw vote difference between Nathan and Tomkow been 400 votes or fewer. After the first unofficial results were certified, Nathan led tomkow by 405 votes, exceeding the threshold. Five votes, everyone. To avoid a recount. Your votes matter. These special elections in Florida are giving me life, man.
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B
Yeah, absolutely. Samesies. Five votes. Isn't that what the Boca Raton mayor won by?
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C
Yes. Yes.
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After a recount. Oh, my God.
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Yes. Literally. Five votes.
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5,058. Suck it, Tom Cow. All right, everybody, thank you so much. We're gonna take a quick break, and then we're gonna speak to Jay. We told you about Jay at the beginning of the show. It's an outstanding young man. I can't wait for you to hear this interview. Stick around. We'll be right back after these messages.
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C
We'll be right back.
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Deleteme makes it easy, quick, and safe to remove your personal data online at a time when surveillance and data breaches are common enough to make everyone vulnerable. And we want to thank our sponsor for today's episode, Deleteme. With Delete Me, I'm protecting both my personal privacy and the privacy of my business, which has become more important now more than ever. So if you're active online in any way, your information can end up being collected, copied, and sold without your knowledge. Data brokers make a profit off of your information because your data is a commodity. You're a product. And that means people on the Web can buy private details about you. They can open the door to identity theft, phishing attempts, doxing harassment. It's bad. And the amount of information involved is what really gets to me. Data brokers can compile your name, email, contact information, home address, Social Security details, even information about your family members. And then they sell it online. I also keep hearing about data breaches in the news, where hackers get names, addresses, phone numbers, last four digits, and even masked bank account numbers. Then data brokers vacuum it all up and keep selling it online. Deleteme helps remove your info from those sites and helps keep it from popping back up again, which helps prevent it from falling into the wrong hands. And that's a big deal to me. New York Times wirecutter named Deleteme its top pick for data removal services. So, you know they do a great job. So take control of your data. Keep your private life private. By signing up for Deleteme now at a special discount for our listeners, you get 20% off your Delete Me plan when you go to JoinDeleteMe.com DailyBeans and use promo code DailyBeans at checkout. Again, the only way to get 20% off is to go to JoinDeleteMe.comDailyBeans and enter code DailyBeans at checkout. That's JoinDeleteMe.com DailyBeANS code DailyBeans.
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D
History is messy. It's weird, wild, and anything but boring. Rainy day Rabbit Holes is a history podcast about unhinged stories that make you stop and ask, wait, is this real life? From crazy disasters and tasty scandals to enlightening and surprising, heartwarming tales, we explore the moments where people behave badly and sometimes beautifully. We've got naughty politicians, cultural chaos, and a deep love for the Pacific Northwest, including Bigfoot. It's thoughtful, irreverent, occasionally serious, and always entertaining. Let's fall down the rabbit hole.
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B
MSW Media. All right, everybody, welcome back. As you know, it's trans day of visibility on. Our next guest is the youth voices ambassador for the LGBTQ nonprofit called It Gets Better. Now, you'll remember all the listeners here will remember that It Gets Better is one of the organizations that the Daily Beans has donated, the equivalent of my veterans benefits too, and one where our listeners have helped match those donations and our guest today. Jay is a transgender Indian American activist from the Bay Area in California. He combines his passion for STEM with a deep commitment to queer and trans advocacy. He's also a member of the GLSEN National Student Council for LGBTQ Youth Activists and is involved in in online advocacy work through the Human Rights Campaign and Amnesty International. He's a competitive Spartan Racer, placing fourth at the 2024 OCR World Championship, and is very passionate about advocacy for trans athletes. He also helps lead Los Altos Hacks, a free hackathon for high schoolers. He leads curriculum for a student run nonprofit providing free coding education. And he captains his school's Science Olympiad team. And did I mention he's 16 years old. Please welcome Jay. Jay, putting us all to shame with that list of accomplishments. How are you?
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E
I'm doing great, Allison. Thank you so much for having me.
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C
Absolutely, absolutely. I'm happy to be here. Happy Trans Day of Visibility.
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B
Yes, Happy Trans Day Visibility. Now, Jay, your experience working as a trans youth working with It Gets Better. Let's talk about that first of all. Tell us your experience. Experience with It Gets Better, how you got involved.
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E
Yeah, so I actually stumbled upon It Gets Better completely by coincidence. I actually got recommended to it by a friend who was talking about how much It Gets Better was helping them as they were coming out and talking about being trans with their family. And so I went on the website and I was like, oh, my God, this is amazing. This is exactly what I was looking for. I did some more digging and I found the Youth Voices Ambassador program. And from there, at first, I was completely blown away by what these youth ambassadors were doing. I kind of had the instinctual reaction of, oh, my God, I couldn't possibly do this. This is way too much. I'm just a kid, right? But over time, I thought about it and I thought, you know what? I want to do something that's going to be meaningfully impacting my community. I want to be able to do something, and this is my opportunity. And so I ended up applying. I was not at all confident I was going to get in. I got an interview, I got accepted, and from there, my activism journey has just kind of spiraled more and more. I mean, I've learned so much over the course of working with It Gets Better. There are so many different opportunities that I would never have gotten if I had just continued my local advocacy. Because being able to have this opportunity to work with an organization like It Gets Better, which has such a massive national reach, is just incredible. I can work on these campaigns nationally. I can spread my story, and it's really helped me gain confidence as a youth activist, because it gives me the confidence that, yes, yeah, I'm just a kid, and, yes, people care about my story. So that's. That's truly been incredible.
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C
That's fantastic. Jay, what are some of the campaigns that you guys are working on over at It Gets Better that you've been able to get involved with some of the ones that have really resonated with you.
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E
Yeah, you know, we've done a lot, but we've done so many things. But I would say what I'm working on right now, that I'm really, really passionate about a couple things. First, I'm working on a culminating project, which is my final project as Youth Voice. So I'm organizing a panel with educational leaders to essentially have them discuss, as educational leaders, what are things they can do to support queer youth and kind of talk a little bit more and have a freer discourse about the experiences of queer youth in school and. And how educators can support them, because that's extraordinary. Yeah. Yeah. And something I found really, really important as a queer youth activist is that we don't just want to do advocacy within our community. You know, it's great to just talk to other queer people to continue, you know, like, to. To give people more and more hope. But I think another really important aspect of advocacy is outreach. Talking to people who may not know that much about queer people and reaching out to educators is something that's super important because school can be such a scary place for a lot of queer and trans youth. So, yeah, having that panel is.
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C
Yeah. I remember when I was a. A little baby dyke in middle school and even high school. I wish that I had organizations like glsen, and I know GLSEN is transformed into something new at this point, but those sorts of things, I needed that. And it would have been so much different. I think I would have just felt so much more supported in who I am and the directions I was going and seeing people like me. I mean, I grew up in New Mexico and Albuquerque, and there were other queer youth there, but there wasn't a lot of resources for us. And the fact of that it gets better. This whole campaign, where it started and where it's gotten to, has been Extraordinary to watch, especially as, you know, now an elder lesbian, as one might call me, an owl. An owl.
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B
Yeah. You know, Jay Dane and I were just at the GLAAD Awards and they talked a lot about advocacy and representation, particularly queer youth, trans youth in the community and in media. And can you talk a little bit about how having the national platform of It Gets Better and these ambassador programs help you tell your story? Because I think the power of storytelling, the feeling that you're helping people realize that they're not alone, is super powerful. How does It Gets Better help you with that?
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E
Yeah, you know, so It Gets Better is really, really unique as an organization in that it's not just focused on, like, you know, policy. It's not just focus on legislative activism. It really has a really big focus in actually interacting with youth, connecting directly with youth through the mediums that they actually process information. I think a lot of different organizations that are trying to reach youth really kind of underutilize one of the most important ways to reach youth, which is social media. And It Gets Better has such a massive social media. It has a lot of reach through, you know, Twitch, through Instagram, through YouTube, all of these different platforms. And through that, I can create content that feels a lot more genuine because I think a lot of content that is created by organizations has a tendency to be almost kind of formal, kind of stale. And so to be able to create, you know, create Instagram videos as a youth to talk on Twitch Streams is so, so useful to me because it allows me to actually just express what I'm genuinely feeling as a youth, express my genuine experiences from youth to youth. And that is one of the biggest advantages of Git Gets Better as an organization is that it allows youth to directly connect with each other.
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C
That's amazing. It's amazing.
- [28:16]
B
And you're doing a panel, right, for Trans Day of Visibility about the themes that are addressed in a documentary film called Heightened Scrutiny. So I think that kind of dovetails with what you're talking about now.
- [28:28]
E
Yeah, absolutely. That is another one of my major projects that I'm really, really excited about. So It Gets Better is hosting that panel for Trans Day Visibility, actually. And as the host of the panel, my role is kind of interesting in that I am moderating it and I am trying to guide the conversation. And the reason why we're having this panel and the way I'm trying to guide the discussion is we're really trying to talk about representation, because I think there are a lot of different types of representation. Right. Earlier we Were talking about representation in the media. Of me being a youth activist connecting directly with other youth. But other representation is really important. Like Chase Drangio, who is the major protagonist of this documentary.
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C
He's extraordinary.
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E
Yeah, he really is extraordinary. He's the first openly trans, I believe, lawyer to actually talk in front of the Supreme Court to have that representation, to see, oh, yeah, as a trans guy, I can walk up someday and be in front of the Supreme Court of the United States arguing for my rights. That's so inspiring. So to be able to share that story and to be able to talk about as queer youth, how seeing that representation actually impacts us is so important because I think representation is something that is very much underutilized within the activism space. And I think talking more about representation and talking more about hope is something that is really, really unique about it gets better.
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B
Yeah, I couldn't agree more. I know, Dana, you and I were talking about some of the specific issues that are facing the LGBTQ community these days. And I was curious, Jay, what you think is the biggest issue facing trans and non binary youth right now?
- [30:08]
E
Yeah, and you know, this is, this is a really difficult question because, of course there are a million things happening right now in the world. There are a million different things happening every day. As a trans kid, you know, I'll wake up, I'll look at the news and I'll see five different articles about different anti trans laws that are being passed. So I think when we're talking about what is the biggest problem, it's a hard question to answer. But personally, as a trans youth, what I would say is probably the biggest issue isn't one specific attack, it isn't one specific person, it's not one specific thing happening in the world right now. It's just hope. Like, truly, as a trans youth, it is so easy to look at everything that's going around in the world right now and think, what can I do? It's just, it's impossible. You can feel hopeless. Like, I, I, I, I've definitely gone into that spiral and like, oh my God, the world is going crazy right now just going into that kind of despair spiral. And as a trans youth, being able to say, hey, look, there's a trans kid out there who successfully transitioned who's feeling happy. Hey, look, look at all these different trans role models that I can actually look up to and aspire to be one day. That looking to the future and that hope is what saves so many trans kids from suicide. And this suicide is a really hard topic. You Know, it's something that's really, really hard to talk about, but I think it is really, really important to talk about because the depression rate for trans youth has just been skyrocketing. And being that source of light, being that beacon of hope is truly the most important thing I think I could do for other trans youth in America right now.
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C
Absolutely. And you know, Jay, I have to ask you, obviously, as people are listening to this, there's so many of our listeners that have trans and non binary kids or they happen to be trans and non binary themselves. But what can the adults and allies in this world do to help support the trans youth right now so that the trans youth doesn't have to be asking them for help? We want to be proactively working with you and for you. So what are some of the things that we can do to take steps to support you?
- [32:09]
E
Yeah, I think that's a great question. And thank you so much for asking that, because actually I get a lot of questions from parents like, oh, my God, what can I do? How do I change, you know, how do I change national campaigns? How do I. How I change national policy? And the good answer is, you don't have to. It's very simple what you need to do to support your trans kid, to support your trans friend. Just be there for them, respect their pronouns, tell them that you support them and help them find a community. If every trans kid has at least one adult who's supportive, who can tell them, you know, I support you, it's okay to be trans, it's okay to be who you are, and we're going to help you find others like you. That is the single biggest thing you can do for the trans people in your life to help support them.
- [32:54]
C
That's fantastic. I know we do it a lot on the daily beans here, and I would say this, and we've talked about this also. Whenever you hear misinformation, whenever you see misinformation, if you feel safe publicly denouncing it and educating yourself on what the truth is about gender affirming care, what that involves. Sometimes it's just the haircut, it's just using a different pronoun, it's using a chosen name. And I think there's so many people out there that are a little confused on what gender affirming care even is. And so when the conversation comes up, they feel like they're not armed with the necessary information. So educate yourself so you can participate in these conversations and represent a community that you don't necessarily belong to, but that you want to help fight for when they're not at the room, when they're not at the table. And so I think that's fantastic. I mean, everything that you're doing is extraordinary. Yeah.
- [33:41]
B
And I think that something else small that people can do to support is to donate to It Gets Better and other organizations that support Trans Day of Visibility. And in that vein, Jay, talk a little bit about what these kinds of donations do for you and other trans youth when we support organizations like It Gets Better.
- [34:03]
E
Great question. So we have a bunch of different things that we do with the donations we receive. One of the major programs that we host is something called Changemakers, which is small grants that It Gets Better will provide to queer youth across the nation to actually create meaningful, real world projects that really directly impact youth. We've had Changemakers create queer proms, we have Changemakers create gender affirming care closets, mental health workshops, all of these different things that really actually it's youth creating things for youth. That's a very, very direct impact. So Changemakers, I'd say, is one of the biggest programs that, you know, like, when you are donating that money, you're not just funding some abstract campaign, you know, nationally. You are specifically funding a local campaign by Queer Youth for queer youth.
- [34:54]
B
Incredible. Well, Jay would like to announce that, you know, last year, I decided all this money that I'm getting from this particular federal government, this government who continues to put LGBTQ communities and immigrant communities in harm's way, this administration sends me money every month because I'm a disabled veteran. And I decided that the Daily Beans, Dana and I, should be donating the equivalent of that money back to the LGBTQ community, right back to the kinds of people that this administration wants to just erase from existence with their executive orders and their terrible laws. So I just want to announce today, Dana and I, the Daily Beans, we're going to make another $10,000 donation in support of Trans Day of Visibility. And we want to encourage our Daily Beans listeners, the community, to again, step up their support. And you can donate@itgetsbetter.org dailybeansdonate and so I just wanted to let you know that I wanna let you know we fully, 100% support you. The representation matters, the storytelling matters. And, you know, we're just so. I'm just. Without sounding condescending, I just want to tell you how proud I am of you and all of your peers. Dana, do you have anything you want to add?
- [36:09]
C
I mean, I just are so impressed with the youth, the fire under, you know, everyone's like, oh, the kids, the kids are all right. The kids are much better right now than a lot of the adults because they're fired up and they want to create a future that they're going to have to live in, you know, and to watch you lead that, Jay, it's. It's amazing. I. Before you go, I do have a question about a personal. A couple things in your bio. Like, I want to know what Los Altos Hacks is like a hackathon. Because in my brain I'm like, all right, we've got some kids that know how to code. Let's do some good with that. What is that?
- [36:41]
E
Yeah. So Los Altos Hacks. This is one of the favorite projects I've ever created. So Los Altos Hacks is a hackathon in which it's a 24 hour hackathon, completely free of charge, in which we bring together around 400 different teenagers who love coding. We bring them together in one room and they sit down and for 24 hours they just code. They get into groups, they create projects, they create some sort of code project for social good. At the end, we're going to have industry professionals that actually judge their products, give them feedback. It's really just an amazing learning opportunity. I mean, can you give me an
- [37:15]
C
example of a coding project? Because I. This is so foreign to me, like this world. But I want to understand what, what you mean.
- [37:21]
E
Yeah, there are so many different things. I mean, it's very, very open ended. One random example I remember from last year was someone actually created a website that I believe tracked like geographic weather patterns. And it used all these different complex, used an API in order to be able to predict different weather phenomena. It was just incredible. They're doing all sorts of different things.
- [37:41]
C
It's extraordinary. I mean, listen, I tell jokes for a living, I raise money on the stages. My brain does not work in a coding way. So the fact that other people have this gift, it makes me so happy. It does. And everything you're doing, I mean, you're just a well rounded kid. You're out there, you're also a spartan competitor. And I know we just touched on the sports thing, but for the youth that are out there listening, when it comes to this specific topic, do you have anything to say to them? The athletes out there that feel like, wait a minute, I don't have a home in athletics, but. But I want a home in athletics.
- [38:15]
E
Yeah, you know, that's, that's something that's been really, really, really kind of hard for me as a trans kid. I used to do sports at school.
- [38:23]
B
Yeah.
- [38:24]
E
And I gradually realized, like, I just don't completely feel safe as a trans kid. You know, I, I. Even when your school's supportive, there's a certain amount of pressure you feel to kind of conform to maybe not do sports. Trans kids are way less likely to do sports than CIS kids just because it feels scary to do sports as a trans kid and something I've really found solace in the community of Spartan racing because it's a sport that is individual. It's not, it doesn't have, you know, leagues, it doesn't have teams. Anyone can compete in whichever division they would like. And competing on my own as an individual athlete has really given me so much confidence as a trans kid. Like, yeah, I can do sports. I can compete with the boys. You know, I can, I can, I can beat the cisgender boys. And yeah, it's given me so much of who I am today. Like, who I am today is so much defined by athletics as well as all my activism. And so I would highly encourage any trans kids out there. You know, even if you don't live in an area in which you can compete in a team that corresponds with your gender, I'd really, really recommend, you know, try to do some individual sports. Even just try to, you know, practice sports on your own even if you can't compete. It's so, so fun and it really has helped me feel more confident in my body as a trans kid.
- [39:41]
C
Any goal for Ninja Warrior after you're Spartan races?
- [39:44]
E
Maybe, Maybe we're still, we're still going to see.
- [39:47]
C
I'd love to see it. I'd love to see it. You are amazing, an absolute delight. Alison.
- [39:51]
B
Yeah. I'm totally speechless at your resume so far. I'm very excited about everything that you're going to accomplish and everything that you're going to help others accomplish as well by getting your voice out there through organizations. Like, It Gets Better. Can you tell everyone where they can find you, follow you, support you? Maybe check out that panel that you're going to do?
- [40:12]
E
Yeah, absolutely. So if you go onto the It Gets Better website, you can contact It Gets Better in general, but yeah, I would say probably just contact It Gets Better would be the best. Yeah.
- [40:22]
B
All right. Amazing. Well, thank you so much for joining us today. Everybody listening Trans Day of Visibility. If you want to donate to these amazing programs at 8 it gets better, just go to itgetsbetter.org dailybeansdonate and you can help match my 10,000. Our DailyBeans $10,000 donation. And once again, thank you so much for coming on and sharing all of your incredible work with us.
- [40:44]
E
Thank you so much. Thank you so much for having me. This has been great.
- [40:47]
C
Absolutely. So nice to meet you, Jay. I'm so proud of you and everything you're doing in this world. It's just. It's awesome. It's awesome.
- [40:52]
B
Absolutely. All right, everybody. Thank you. Stick around. We'll be right back with the good news.
- [40:57]
D
History is messy. It's weird, wild, and anything but boring. Rainy Day Rabbit Holes is a history podcast about unhinged stories that make you stop and ask, wait, is this real life? From crazy disasters and tasty scandals to enlightening and surprising heartwarming tales, we explore the moments where people behave badly and sometimes beautifully. We've got naughty politicians, cultural chaos, and a deep love love for the Pacific Northwest, including Bigfoot. It's thoughtful, irreverent, occasionally serious, and always entertaining. Let's fall down the rabbit hole.
- [41:32]
B
MSW Media, Everybody, welcome back. It's time for the good news. Who likes good news?
- [41:45]
E
Everyone?
- [41:46]
C
Then good news, everyone.
- [42:01]
B
Good news. Good news. And if you have any little bit of good news, it could be little, it could be big. It can be from yesterday. It can be from 10 minutes ago. It can be from the 1900s. We want to hear your good news. Send it to us. You can also send us your good trouble suggestions. We all love to get into good trouble, so send your good trouble suggestions, too. You can also send like a shout out if you want to a loved one or yourself or a small business or a nonprofit or a government program that's helped you or a loved one. Anything that will help bring a smile to our faces. We want to hear from you. Dailybeanspod.com click on contact. And all you got to do to get your stuff read on the air is pay your pod pet tariff, which means attach a photo of anything. It can be anything. Right now, we want to be flooded with your no kings protest signs and photos and just the amazing crowds and some great sights that you've seen. But you can also send in your pet. We can try to guess the breeds in your shelter pub or an adoptable pet in your area or just a random animal on the Internet or your family photos, baby photos. Photos of what you're making or creating. Maybe you're raising chickens. Maybe you got goats. Maybe you're crocheting scarves. Whatever it is, send it to us dailybeanspod.com click on Contact. First up is your Good Trouble Good Trouble. Today it was really great to meet Jay and see firsthand the good work that It Gets Better is doing. So to that end, we at the Daily beans were donating $10,000 to it gets Better and we invite you to give what you can to support their life affirming work. It's so important. You can do it at itgetsbetter.org dailybeansdonate Dana, that interview is just incredible.
- [43:35]
C
It was awesome. I mean what an incredible kid, man. Future is bright everybody. All right. This is from K Pronoun she and her dearest Queens of the Beans. I was not able to attend a rally because I was driving home through a dead zone of rallies in Utah. So I put up a sign in the back of my motorhome and I had my own road rally. I got a few beep beep beeps but thankfully no blaring of horns for my pod pet tariff. I had the good girl and the good boy. These are two dogs that I rescued in the middle of nowhere in Arizona about a month ago. When I took them to the vet, she offered to take them from me and get them to a good rescue. He had a broken femur and his leg needed to be amputated. Shout out to Desert Cross vet in Safford, Arizona. It's amazing how quickly you can become attached in only two days. I'm sure you can guess their breeds. Thank you for all you do.
- [44:25]
B
Oh, we have no breeds given. Good luck.
- [44:29]
C
Clearly. Two wolves.
- [44:31]
B
Yes, two wolves. You have adopted two wolves. I want to alert you K you've adopted two wolves. How cool. Your own little road rally. Beep beep. That's so rad. All right, next up from Anonymous. No pronouns. I just joined as a patron after listening for more than a year. Welcome Anonymous. I have turned on numerous friends to listen to the beans. The news with swearings helped me get through these crazy times. I run a text group of 16 like minded folks sharing your good trouble and other items to keep us all informed. You ladies rock. Be strong and of good courage. My pod pet tax includes pick of our youngest cat who's also our biggest of four. We think he's part blank Huge. We have two Aussie shepherds too. Enough floating fur in our house to create another creature. I've included a beautiful sunset from our farm in deep red Nebraska.
- [45:28]
C
Beautiful indeed.
- [45:29]
B
Oh my gosh. And this cat looks just like my old Maine coon whose name was the Face. So I'm Going to guess Maine coon. Let's see what we got. No, no, I'm wrong. I'm wrong. I sound like Harry Carey, but more specifically, Will Ferrell's Harry Carey. What? What if the moon were made of cottage cheese? Would you eat it if it made a spare ribs? I sure would.
- [45:55]
C
People could see the video. Allison has her eyes closed the entire time she's doing this impression.
- [46:03]
B
It's a Norwegian forest cat.
- [46:05]
C
Oh, my God. I also thought it was a man coon, but, you know. What do I know about cats? Not much. Okay, this is from Holly in Tucson. Pronouns, she and her. Greetings, Beans Queens. I'm submitting a shout out from my cousin, Barbara Miltenberger Green, who is running for West Virginia's Monongalia County Board of Education. Barbara's a retired public ed music teacher and band director and no longer content to feel helpless on the sidelines. She's taken a leap into elected public service. I couldn't be prouder of her. My pod pet tariff. I give you the reusable dry erase sign I carry to no Kings 3. Yes. My signpost is a lightsaber. Keep inspiring us to fight.
- [46:48]
B
Oh, Holly, first of all, amazing photo.
- [46:51]
E
Yeah.
- [46:52]
B
Okay. I love this so very much. Thank you so much for sending this in. Thanks for attending your rally in Tucson. I want to check out Barbara Milton
- [47:02]
C
Burger Green in Monegalia's County. Yeah. Hell, it looks a little like Vagina Monologues. West Virginia Monologues when you just look at it quickly.
- [47:11]
B
Yeah, yeah. Wolf Virginia Monologues is what it says.
- [47:15]
C
Barbara Miltenberger Green. I love that. Great name, too.
- [47:18]
B
It is a great name. Thank you so, so very much, Holly. I also love Tucson. They have a really great comedy club in Tucson. Dana. You should check it out. Yeah. Next up, from Annie. Animus, as in Annie, but also anonymous. Palpatine a la Orange. Deeply troubled subconscious bestowed the name Epic Fury upon his excursion of distraction from the Epstein files. Couldn't resist making this sign. I am so proud and thankful to be a member of this indivisible band of resisters in eastern Indiana. Heartfelt thanks to ag, DG and the whole Leguminati community. Look at this. Epstein Files. Epic Future Fury.
- [47:59]
C
Yep.
- [48:00]
B
Great sign.
- [48:02]
C
Wayne County Invisible. Love it. All right, next up from Matt, pronouncing him hello, Beans Queens. Here are some pictures from the Portland, Oregon no Kings rally. My daughter made the larger paper mache trump. If you can see, he's holding redacted Epstein files in one hand and a bomb in the other. Wow. Yes. He is, and that's extraordinary.
- [48:21]
E
Wow.
- [48:22]
C
The second photo shows some signs, including my favorite sign of the day, the one on the left. I laughed so hard when I saw it. It's so simple. And look at this. Look at this paper mache Trump. Also, what do we have here? Trump is poop from a butt. That. There you go.
- [48:42]
E
It's.
- [48:43]
C
I have a feeling some person was like, hey to their child. You want to write a sign for me? Yeah. Trump is poop from a butt.
- [48:52]
B
It's from that. I think it's from that old meme where somebody says, this is avocado whipped gluten free cocoa with cocoa powder, and someone's like, no, that's poop from a butt.
- [49:02]
C
Oh, that must be it.
- [49:05]
B
Oh, my God, that's so great. Thank you so much, Matt. Next up from Anonymous. Hello, and welcome to my daily beans submission, Wink. I wanted to share the great no Kings weekend we had in East Tennessee. Although we're an extremely red area represented by Tim Burdshit, we had well over 5,000 people show up in downtown Knoxville even during the middle of the Big Ears Music Festival. We had many veterans and first timers on a very busy weekend, and even got an impromptu performance from the Gay Men's choir of Washington, D.C. we had one lone counter protester, bless his heart, and a few people flipping us off and yelling from cars, but for the most part, it was supportive with honks and cheers. Not only did we get a great turnout in Knoxville, we had thousands more that showed up in smaller towns all over East Tennessee and statewide. In fact, fact, Statewide, we had 41 separate events in places where we never thought we'd see them. Even Pulaski. Yes, that Pulaski, birthplace of the Klan, had a no Kings protest this time around. The only trouble I heard about was in Memphis, where police aggressively broke up the protest at the end of the event, even though it was completely peaceful. More people need to be aware of what's going on in Memphis, not only with the unsafe task force, but with Musk and Xai. We have great organizers that are doing wonderful work there, and I encourage everyone to support them. For my Pop Pet tariff, please find a picture of my favorite signs from the day in Knoxville. Can you name the two pop culture references? Thanks for all you do.
- [50:36]
C
I'm going to leave this to you.
- [50:37]
B
Let's see. Donnie, you're out of your element. I'm assuming is Dipig Lebowski.
- [50:42]
C
Yeah, actually, I think I know that one.
- [50:45]
B
Let's see. Government is not youth pastor. I get It Democracy. Where the hell have you been, loca? I don't know that one.
- [50:59]
C
I don't know, but that's got to be the other one.
- [51:00]
B
Yeah, yeah. Let's see.
- [51:02]
C
Let's.
- [51:02]
B
Let's Google it. Where the hell have you been, loca? Where the hell Crazy. That comes from the 2009 film the Twilight Saga, New Moon. Well, that's going to be why I haven't seen.
- [51:19]
C
Oh God. Sorry if I ever blow someone's ears out with the laugh, but man, every once in a while.
- [51:26]
B
Fantastic. These are amazing signs. Thank you so much. Look at that aerial view. That's nice.
- [51:31]
C
I know, it's awesome. Awesome, awesome. This is from North Carolina, Katie. No pronouns given. Hey there, AG and dg. I too have a frog voice from the exhilarating no Kings 3 protest from this weekend. I love the reel you shared on Beans Talk with Timothy Snyder last week. And I ended up sharing with left leaning friends who hadn't planned a protest. It worked. I made signs for myself and one for a friend. I'd always protested with buddies, but this time there were so many North Carolina protests that we ended up in different locations across the triangle. Like Snyder said, I made new friends and filled up my hope bucket. I'm attached a collage of me looking silly as I led a buh bye chant to Phil Berger. Sha na na na na na na na. Hey, hey, hey. Goodbye. I've also included better pics of the signs for my pod pet tags. I'm including a picture of the dog we watch for a friend with a painting I made of her. Remember when AG inspired us to take up new hobbies and skills? Well, in addition to learning how to play the electric bass, I returned to making stylized pet paintings. We can do all the things. We can do the hard things. We can do the hopeful things. We can do the restorative things. Because when we move forward together, we won't let each other fall behind. Much love to all the Beans family.
- [52:48]
B
Well said, Katie. I love this man eating this.
- [52:51]
C
I love the pet portrait.
- [52:53]
B
Oh, so good. That's so, so very good.
- [52:57]
C
I've seen better cabinets at ikea. It's such a good sign.
- [53:01]
B
It is. It is. Everyone, thank you so very much for sending all of that in. Again, I hope everyone has an incredible trans day of visibility and and just want you to know we're sending out our love. Dana, do you have any thoughts before we get out of here today?
- [53:17]
C
No, I think we covered it. I knew I think we covered it.
- [53:20]
B
All right, everybody, we'll be back tomorrow. Until then, please take care of yourselves, take care of each other, take care of the planet, take care of your mental health, and take care of your family.
- [53:26]
C
I've been AG and I've been DG
- [53:28]
B
and them's the Beans. The Daily Beans is written and executive produced by Allison Gill with additional research and reporting by Dana Goldberg. Sound design and editing is by Desiree McFarland 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 mswmedia.com msw media.