The Cost Of Doing Nothing (feat. Andrea Pitzer)

Summary

The Daily Beans: Episode Summary – "The Cost Of Doing Nothing" (Feat. Andrea Pitzer)
Release Date: November 20, 2024
Host/Authors: Alison Gill & Dana Goldberg
Guest: Andrea Pitzer

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Introduction

In the November 20, 2024, episode of The Daily Beans, hosts Alison Gill and Dana Goldberg tackle a series of pressing political and social issues amidst the evolving political landscape. The episode delves into the ongoing legal battles involving former President Donald Trump, investigates allegations against Rep. Matt Gaetz, and discusses a recent cybersecurity breach related to the Dorworth case. Additionally, the hosts welcome Andrea Pitzer, author and activist, to explore strategies for navigating the next four years under a potentially authoritarian regime.

Major News Highlights

1. DA Alvin Bragg Relentlessly Pursues Charges Against Donald Trump

Timestamp: 00:00 – 12:43

Alison Gill begins by updating listeners on the latest developments in the legal case against Donald Trump. Despite Trump's conviction on 34 felony counts for falsifying business records to interfere in the 2016 election, District Attorney Alvin Bragg has declared he will not drop the charges. Instead, Bragg has sought additional time to respond to Trump's recent motion to dismiss the case entirely, citing the need to address new evidence and legal arguments.

Notable Quote:
Alison Gill summarizes Bragg’s position:

"The People believe that further proceedings before this court should be adjourned to permit litigation of Trump's forthcoming motion to dismiss." (10:15)

Bragg argues that Trump's claims of legal immunity as a president-elect are unfounded, emphasizing the lack of statutory support for such a defense. The discussion underscores the unprecedented nature of this legal battle, highlighting the absence of precedents for a convicted felony win a presidential election.

Notable Quote:
Bragg’s rationale:

"No current law establishes that a president's temporary immunity from prosecution dismissal of a post-trial criminal proceeding that was initiated at the time when the defendant was not immune from criminal prosecution." (11:30)

The hosts express skepticism about Trump's intent to utilize delays strategically, reminiscent of his past legal maneuvers, and ponder the uncertainty surrounding the final outcomes of the case.

2. Matt Gaetz Ethics Investigation and Allegations

Timestamp: 12:44 – 22:00

Dana Goldberg reports on disturbing allegations against Rep. Matt Gaetz, who is under scrutiny for alleged involvement in sex trafficking. A deposition hack has surfaced, revealing unredacted testimonies claiming Gaetz paid women, some as young as 17, for sexual favors. Lawyers involved in the case have emphasized the serious nature of these accusations, which Gaetz denies.

Notable Quote:
Dana Goldberg highlights the gravity of the situation:

"The years-long relationship with Gates has continued to weigh on his clients who believe the information they have provided should come to light." (16:44)

The discussion notes the potential repercussions of these allegations, especially as Gaetz is a nominee for Attorney General. The hosts criticize the attempts to downplay the seriousness of the accusations and express frustration with the political maneuvering surrounding the case.

Notable Quote:
Alison Gill's reaction:

"Rep. Nancy Mace... introducing a bill to bar transgender women from facilities on Capitol Hill... it's a targeted attack on a friend of mine." (23:05)

3. Cybersecurity Breach in the Dorworth Case

Timestamp: 18:11 – 22:39

Alison Gill brings attention to a significant cybersecurity incident involving the Dorworth case, related to Rep. Matt Gaetz. Sensitive legal documents, including sworn testimonies of women alleging sexual misconduct by Gaetz, were hacked and leaked online. The breach poses a threat to the privacy and safety of the witnesses involved, raising concerns about further intimidation and retaliation.

Notable Quote:
Alison Gill explains the breach:

"An unidentified person appears to have hacked documents shared among lawyers... This could identify the women that testified against Gates." (18:58)

The hosts emphasize the potential dangers of such leaks, including the possibility of exposing vulnerable individuals to public scrutiny and harassment.

In-Depth Conversation with Andrea Pitzer

4. Strategies for Surviving Authoritarianism

Timestamp: 29:39 – 53:07

The episode features a profound conversation with Andrea Pitzer, author of One Long Night: A Global History of Concentration Camps and host of the Next Comes What podcast. Pitzer provides insightful analysis on how communities can navigate and resist the rise of authoritarianism, particularly in the context of a Trump presidency.

Key Discussion Points:

• Timetable Advantage:
  Pitzer highlights the unique advantage of knowing the exact timeline of political changes, allowing communities to prepare and strategize effectively.
  Quote:

  "We have a landing date, we have an ETA, we have these two months. And I will say that there's a small number of people... but for most of us, we can take advantage of this and work to plug into networks." (30:51)

• Leveraging Bureaucratic Delays:
  The conversation explores how bureaucratic processes can be utilized to counteract authoritarian efforts. Pitzer notes that large federal institutions are slow to change, providing time to implement safeguards.
  Quote:

  "Bureaucracy is definitely going to slow them down... The normal legal process is not a lightning process." (36:55)

• Military Non-Involvement:
  Pitzer reassures that the military is unlikely to support a coup, emphasizing the military's commitment to the Constitution and its apolitical stance.
  Quote:

  "There is not a military ready to march in a parade for Donald Trump to declare himself dictator. We're not at that stage yet." (38:18)

• Community Engagement and Preventive Measures:
  Emphasizing grassroots efforts, Pitzer advocates for community involvement to prevent individuals from descending into extremist ideologies. Activities such as volunteering, participating in local organizations, and fostering inclusive environments are crucial.
  Quote:

  "We want to do preventive work here... reach out in our communities to get to the people that might be there if they don't have a place to be in the community." (46:33)

• Focused Movements for Change:
  Pitzer identifies key movements such as abortion rights, immigration rights, trans rights, and climate action as pivotal areas to focus on, as these issues resonate strongly with voters and can drive electoral success.
  Quote:

  "These are the movements... abortion rights, immigration rights, trans rights, and climate. These are very popular things that win elections." (44:20)

Notable Quote:
Pitzer on the cost of inaction:

"The cost of doing nothing is so much worse than if we do something." (48:43)

Community Engagement and Resilience

5. Concrete Steps to Survive the Next Four Years

Pitzer and the hosts discuss actionable strategies for individuals and communities to build resilience against authoritarian shifts:

• Strengthening Local Communities:
  Engaging in local governance, supporting community organizations, and fostering strong interpersonal connections can create a united front against divisive policies.
  Quote:

  "Engage in the community... do something in your community, you're going to make much more difference and actually feel more empowered." (48:19)

• Preventive Outreach:
  Initiatives aimed at preventing the radicalization of vulnerable individuals by providing support systems and inclusive environments are essential for long-term stability.
  Quote:

  "Reach out to people who might be there if they don't have a place to be in the community." (46:33)

• Advocating for Key Issues:
  Consistently supporting and advocating for issues like healthcare, housing, and LGBTQ+ rights can influence policy directions and safeguard vulnerable populations.
  Quote:

  "We should be focused on bringing down the cost of housing, health care, and childcare, not manufacturing culture wars." (24:31)

Conclusion

The episode wraps up with Alison and Dana encouraging listeners to actively participate in their communities and support movements that align with progressive values. They emphasize the importance of strategic planning, community resilience, and proactive engagement to mitigate the potential adverse effects of political shifts. The discussion with Andrea Pitzer serves as a call to action, inspiring listeners to take concrete steps toward fostering a more just and equitable society.

Final Thoughts

The Daily Beans delivers a compelling and comprehensive analysis of the current political climate, interwoven with actionable insights from Andrea Pitzer. By addressing both the immediate legal battles and the broader strategies for societal resilience, the podcast equips listeners with the knowledge and motivation to navigate and influence the forthcoming political landscape effectively.

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Note: For the full conversational experience and additional insights, listeners are encouraged to tune into the complete episode of The Daily Beans.

Transcript

[Alison Gill]

MSW Media. Hello and welcome to the Daily beans for Wednesday, November 20, 2024. Today, DA Alvin Bragg tells Judge Juan Marchon that he's not going to drop the charges against Donald Trump. Nancy Mace introduces a bathroom bill for the Capitol as more details about the Matt Gaetz Ethics Committee investigation happen. Someone has hacked a deposition from the Dorworth case. And meanwhile, a top Democrat on the House Ethics Committee is calling for its release. Plus, concrete steps we can take to survive the next four years. I'm Alison Gill.

[Dana Goldberg]

And I'm Dana Goldberg.

[Alison Gill]

Hello, my friend. Your voice has gotten deeper.

[Dana Goldberg]

I sound a little like my Uncle Murray. This is going to be a good evening, everyone. Welcome to Slow Tunes, the love songs by Allison and Dana.

[Alison Gill]

Smooth jazz. So sorry, my friend.

[Dana Goldberg]

No, it's. Thanks for, you know, thanks for putting up with just, you know, I know we carry each other when the other one's not feeling well, but when it affects our voice. And also, thank you to the listener that wrote in off the record. Just giving Allison and I some tips on how to take care of our voice since we use it as a living. It's our money maker.

[Alison Gill]

Yeah. Don't mess with the voice. And yes, I want to thank that person, too. It took me right back to, like, choir.

[Dana Goldberg]

Yes, yes, yes. I was like, we're doing our warmups, people. Doing our warmups.

[Alison Gill]

So today we have a new episode of cleanup on aisle 45 out with me and Pete. Charges are not going to be dropped by Alvin Bragg, the 34 felony counts. And Pete and I discussed that in the latest cleanup. But we're also going to cover it here in the Hot Notes because the news came out after we recorded cleanup. And I also wrote a whole substack on it, which I'm actually going to read to you as part of the Hot Notes. And also today, we are going to be joined by author and host of the new podcast called Next Comes what with Andrea Pitzer. It's amazing. She's amazing. She's an author. She's an activist. She's. I had an incredible conversation with her. I can't wait for you to hear it. There's actually concrete stuff we can do, and it's, I think, really important. Also. Wow. To our new listeners, Dana, I don't know if you know this, but our listenership from this Monday, you know, from last Friday to this Monday has gone up like 125%.

[Dana Goldberg]

Wow. Welcome, everyone. Welcome to the family.

[Alison Gill]

Yeah. And I sort of welcomed everybody yesterday, and I know we did a little bit of that On Monday. So you know what? Yeah, I bet.

[Dana Goldberg]

I bet you. Because your posts aren't getting throttled on Twitter. People on Blue sky are actually seeing your post and they're like, wait a minute. This sounds like the kind of shit I want to listen to and get involved with. I bet you anything that's where a lot of our new listeners came from.

[Alison Gill]

Yeah, that, and I think people are coming back after a news break, you know, True, true, true. For a couple weeks after the election. And I think people are also with the, you know, the stories that came out about Morning Joe or whatever yesterday. I think people are just kind of fed up with a lot of cable news. And I still watch my favorites. I still watch Jen Psaki. I still watch Katie Fang. So I watch Lawrence. But, like, you know, they're like, come on. Like, this whole going down to Mar a Lago and kissing the ring is just.

[Dana Goldberg]

I know. Yep.

[Alison Gill]

It's like, you know, why can't you just report on what's happening? What. You don't have to have him on your show. You don't have to keep the lines of communication. I mean, that. Maybe that's just my personal opinion, but it seems to upset. Have upset a lot of people. And I think even the folks at Morning Joe are like, they've turned off all their comments and have been fielding multiple calls, and they're hearing the backlash about it. Kind of like, remember when they tried to hire Ronna McDaniel Romney? Yeah, yeah.

[Dana Goldberg]

We were like, is that a good idea? No.

[Alison Gill]

And all of our favorites on MSNBC were like, what the fuck? And they were like, okay, we'll cancel our contract. So I think it's kind of like that. But also, new listeners, just a little story about how the podcast got its name. A lot of people have written in, said, I love this show. I just started listening to it. But why is it called the Daily Beans? There's a little bit of a backstory to this. Back in the early Kitchen Table days, if I started a podcast in 2017 about the Mueller investigation called Mueller She Wrote. That's why I go by Mueller She Wrote on all the socials. It just kind of stuck. Never went away. Mueller did, but the name didn't.

[Dana Goldberg]

Yeah.

[Alison Gill]

And back in the early days, I was trying to find a phrase, a catchphrase, Right? Like a. Like, you know how Rachel says, watch this space?

[Dana Goldberg]

Yeah.

[Alison Gill]

Right. And some, you know, people say, put a pin in it or let's park this, or watch what they do, not what they say. I was like, I need A catchphrase about all these. All this conjecture that I make. Like, I think Manafort's going to be indicted for his ostrich jacket or whatever, Right? And a friend of mine who's a comedian named Dallas McLaughlin, he's been on the show a few times. He was a comedian in a former life and still does comedy, does a lot of theater and stuff like that. Writing now. He did a bit when he and I were doing comedy together, gosh, more than a decade ago, and he was like, man, apparently all I need to become a famous comedian is to get a catchphrase. Because at the time, Get Her Done was like, a big catchphrase.

[Dana Goldberg]

Oh, God. Yeah.

[Alison Gill]

So he wrote this bit about, okay, I'm workshopping some new catchphrases. What do you think? How about, yo, girl? I like, I can't even remember all of them, but my favorite one was Put Some Beans on It. And. And he came on and recorded several different versions of it, and it kind of became the catchphrase for Mueller she wrote Put Some Beans on It. And so then when the Mueller investigation ended, we were getting rid of the Mueller She Wrote podcast, and we started doing the Daily Beans, which is just the daily news podcast. It was based on Put Some Be On It. And it also kind of works because it's the Daily Beans. Like coffee beans, right?

[Dana Goldberg]

Yeah. You have some morning coffee. Listen to your favorite podcast.

[Alison Gill]

And way back in the Mueller She Wrote days, they Might Be Giants, one of my favorite favorite bands of all time, made a little song, Put Some Beans on It. What kind of beans? And then, you know, I reached out, I was like, oh, my God. You did a bean song about the show. And they're like, yeah, we love your show. You have this new show, the Daily Beans. We'd like to do the music for it.

[Dana Goldberg]

That's awesome.

[Alison Gill]

I was very excited. I was like, you had to pick me up off the floor because this is my favorite band since the 80s. And I tried to explain it to my millennial co hosts, who they might be giants are. Right. Because they don't know. They didn't know. And I was like, okay, well, they did the theme song to the Daily Show. Oh, okay. The Ba Ba Na Ba Na Ba Da. Yeah, okay. That's them. They also did the theme to Malcolm in the Middle. You're not the boss of me now. Oh, I get it now. Okay. I get it. So then they were all right. Everybody was excited. So they wrote the theme song, Daily Beans. Daily Beans. That's where we got that all of our music here is by they Might Be Giants. And so that is the origin story of how the podcast got its name and the music behind it. That's for our new swath of new listeners. So welcome. And I hope you enjoy news with swearing, because that's what you're going to get.

[Dana Goldberg]

A lot of it, mostly from me. But Alison drops the F bomb from time to time.

[Alison Gill]

Oh, yesterday the episode was F bomb laden. There were so many. It was.

[Dana Goldberg]

Oh, man, it.

[Alison Gill]

That happens, though, like, when I'm just, like, so talking to myself, I go off on these tangents. I do the weave. You know, I do the weave and.

[Dana Goldberg]

Nope, nope, nope, nope.

[Alison Gill]

Weaving a lot of appropriate profanity. So, anyway, let's get to it. Let's try it. Let's hit the hot notes. Hot notes. All right, first up from me at Mueller, she wrote dot com. We all know that Donald Trump was convicted of 34 felony counts for falsifying business records in an effort to interfere in the 2016 election. What was still up in the air was his sentencing for that conviction and whether a few pieces of evidence used at trial were, one, subject to official acts evidence, immunity, and two, even if they were, were they important enough to have made a difference in the outcome in the verdict, even if they were official acts evidence. Now, everyone agreed, the DA and Trump and the judge all agreed to push sentencing past the election to November 26th. And Judge Mar was set to rule on the immunity evidence stuff on November 12th. And then DA Alvin Bragg said, hang on, give me it another week. I gotta figure out what I'm gonna do here. So let's push this back to November 19th. Well, today, Alvin Bragg submitted a letter to Judge Maron. And in the letter, the DA notes that on November 8, Trump wrote a letter to the court that we hadn't heard about until today, asking the judge to just dismiss the case entirely. I won the election. Dismiss it, please. And once that letter was received on November 8, Alvin Bragg asked the judge for some more time to respond to Trump's letter and said he would explain his position on November 19, the original date. Well, the pushback date that the judge was supposed to put out, the immunity thing. And so that's why we didn't get an immunity ruling today. Instead, we got this letter from Alvin Bragg. And in it he writes, for the reasons more fully explained below, the People, the DA us believe that the court should set a motion schedule for Trump's forthcoming motion to dismiss, which the People intend to oppose, assuming defendant is permitted by the Court to file a motion to dismiss and does so promptly. The People ask that their response to the defendant's motion be due Monday, December 9th. The people believe that further proceedings before this court should be adjourned to permit litigation of Trump's forthcoming motion to dismiss. And therefore, the People would not oppose a defense motion for a stay of further proceedings before this court while the defendant's motion is adjudicated. In other words, let's pause the sentencing and let's pause the immunity considerations and deal with this motion to dismiss that Trump's going to file first. The DA Then explains that the People intend to oppose the motion to dismiss the case. He says the People have carefully considered the arguments in the defendant's correspondent. The defendant's letter argues that one, this criminal proceeding must be immediately dismissed because the defendant has legal immunity from criminal prosecution based on his current status as President Elect, not President, president elect. And two, his appeal to the 2nd Circuit from the District Court's denial of leave to file a second notice of removal supports a stay before this court. And he says, we believe these arguments are incorrect. The DA says he respects that a sitting president can't be prosecuted, but not a president elect. And he also says, I also respect the jury and the verdict. And he reminds us that there are not currently any statutes to support Trump's position because we've never had a convicted felony win a presidential election before they were going to be sentenced. He says, no current law establishes that a president's temporary immunity from prosecution dismissal of a post trial criminal proceeding that was initiated at the time when the defendant was not immune from criminal prosecution, and that's based on unofficial conduct for which the defendant is also not immune. Rather, existing law suggests the court must balance competing constitutional interests and proceed, quote, in a manner that preserves both the independence of the executive and the integrity of the criminal justice system. So we are truly an uncharted territory. I imagine the judge will grant the stay of the rest of the proceedings, the immunity decision and the sentencing, and that he will grant the motion practice. Trump will argue that even a president elect, a president in transition, can't be bothered to participate in motion practice. But he's not actually participating in the transition either. He's refused to sign the ethics agreement, he's refused to initiate background checks, he's refused to receive funds to establish a transition office. So it's kind of up in the air because we don't have precedent for this. We could also see the judge order briefs on a motion to dismiss and Trump may simply ignore it. Why, like, I don't need to do this. I'm going to be president on January 20th.

[Dana Goldberg]

But we'll see.

[Alison Gill]

We'll see. We'll keep you posted, especially over there on cleanup on aisle 45.

[Dana Goldberg]

Love it. And I actually love that D.A. bragg is like, no, I'm not dropping the charges. Which is sort of amazing. All right, this one's from Will Steakin at abc. And a content warning for sex trafficking. I'm sure you can guess who this article is about. Oh, maybe you can't. Actually a lot of people. Donald Trump's nominee for Attorney General. This is former Rep. Matt Gates allegedly paid for two women in 2019 to travel to New York to have sex. Okay. Watch his appearance on Fox News and attend the Broadway show Pretty Woman because this can't get any more meta an attorney for the woman. That's what they told ABC News. In an interview with ABC News Juju Chang Florida attorney Joel Leopard, he revealed new details regarding his clients closed door testimony before the private bipartisan committee, including that his clients told congressional investigators that Gates paid for them to travel across state lines to have sex on at least two occasions. The attorney also said that the women provided the committee with text messages they allegedly exchanged with Gates about acquisition of drugs and payments that the attorney said were, quote, in part for sex. All right. Leopard described the ABC News the trip to New York that he says his clients testified Gates paid for in January of 2019. And I quote, they testified that they met up with Matt Gates in New York in January of 2019 for his appearance for Fox News. Mr. Gates paid them for the tickets to come to New York for the tr. This again, this is a lawyer. This is what they told Chang. And I quote, they were asked to go and have sex with Rep. Gates and then they could go out and see a show that they wanted to see that night. So essentially take care of things and then later on they could have their fun. Gates, who was already allegedly with another woman in New York, brought the women to visit Fox News studios, have dinner and then see the play Pretty Woman. ABC News independently confirmed that Gates appeared in studio on Fox News on January 4th of 2019, a day the attorney said his clients testified they had spent time with him and that the show Pretty Woman was running on Broadway at the time. All sounds pretty legit and backed up summarizing what his clients told the House Ethics Committee. Lepper told ABC News that Gates allegedly had sex with his clients who were adults at the time, on approximately 10 to 15 occasions, primarily during drug fueled parties or smaller occasions like private trips to New York or the Bahamas, and were paid on many of those occasions for sex by the then congressman. And I quote, they did testify to the House that it was their understanding of the payments, that that's why they were there, to provide a good time to have fun, be free, and to have sex with the gentlemen who were present and including Matt Gaetz. And I just, I want to point out gentlemen that were present and I just find that interesting. According to Leopard, the men who attended the parties ranged from age 30 to 50, while the women were between ages 19 to 21. Gross. Gross guys. And I quote, both of my clients testify that they had had sex with Rep. Gates and that the payments they received were from him in part for sexual favors. According to Leopard, the years long relationship with Gates has continued to weigh on his clients who believe the information they have provided in hours of testimony across multiple investigations should come to light. Quote, the House asked, do you believe that you're a victim of Matt Gaetz? This is what the lawyer said. Anyone say? My client paused and said, that's a difficult question for me to ask. And then she started crying and she basically said that she had been going through counseling. Quote, they did testify that everything they did was consensual, that they were not never forced to do anything. Leopard said. Went on to say they did testify that the drugs sometimes impaired their judgment and that they were expected to do drugs, but then they were never forced to do drugs, but that the drugs made it easier to do what they were doing.

[Alison Gill]

Okay.

[Dana Goldberg]

Yeah, yeah. Leopard said his clients, one of whom was a student at the time, decided to attend the parties where they had sex with Gates and others in order to make enough money to pay rent. Leopard also said his clients provided the House Ethics Committee with text messages and reviewed Venmo records that were still fucking public. Which they said documented Gates alleged payments for sex and coded requests for illicit drugs including marijuana and MD dma, which Gates and his one time friend who's in prison, Joel Greenberg, referenced in messages as vitamins and party favors. Quote, she did testify that she saw Rep. Gates appearing to be under the effects of drugs and that she witnessed him I think at times consuming marijuana. This is from the lawyer. Leopard emphasized that both women have spoken with investigators during both the House investigation and Department of Justice probe for years and deny that their allegations are in any way politically motivated. Quote, now that they've been through all that, they don't want to go through this again. And now that it's considered For Rep. Gates to be the most powerful law enforcement officer in the land, I think that it's relevant information for the American people to consider. When else was someone going up for a really high position in this country and someone came forward with a sexual assault allegation. Oh, right, Brett fucking Kavanaugh. So, yeah, maybe we can follow up on this one and make sure that this douchebag doesn't actually get a high paying position in the. The federal government.

[Alison Gill]

That would be great.

[Dana Goldberg]

Or even a low paying position.

[Alison Gill]

Yeah. The problem is, is the recess appointment bullshit that Trump wants to try to pull? Right? Because even though the Senate is like, no way, no fucking way, we're not gonna. We're not gonna confirm Matt Gaetz for Attorney General in order to. This is the dumbest check and balance I think I've ever heard. If the Senate doesn't want to recess, but the House does, if Mike Johnson says we're going to recess, then if there's that dispute between John Thune and Mike Johnson, the Senate and the House, guess who gets to break the tie?

[Dana Goldberg]

You're fucking kidding me.

[Alison Gill]

Donald Trump. Yep.

[Dana Goldberg]

God, this is all just a mess. It's a mess, people. We're sorry. It's a mess.

[Alison Gill]

Yes. I wish. I wish it wasn't, but in a related story, Dana. From Jacqueline Alemania at the Post, an unidentified person appears to have hacked documents shared among lawyers in a lawsuit that concerns the allegations against Gates. Ah, that's according to a person who received an email notifying them of the breach. The person spoke anonymously. The file contains unredacted sworn testimony from a woman who said Gates paid her for sex when she was 17, along with other depositions from witnesses involved in the case. And that's according to a person who was notified of the hack, which was first reported by the New York Times. Gates has denied having sex with anyone under age or paying for sex. Apparently a person named Altam Beasley downloaded the exhibits. That's according to a confirmation email received from a shared file database. Quote, I've not been able to identify the person who downloaded the files, but I've contacted the email address they provided, asking the person to identify him or herself, instructing that their access is not authorized, and telling them that they should destroy the materials they downloaded. That's what the lawyer wrote who discovered the breach and went on to say, my email was returned because the email address was not found.

[Dana Goldberg]

Whoops.

[Alison Gill]

The material is part of a civil defamation suit brought by a friend of Matt Gaetz against third parties, including the woman who alleged she had sex with Gates when she was a minor. This is prominent Florida lobbyist Chris Dorworth. We've talked about this suit. He claimed that the woman in Joel Greenberg, the tax collector, who pled guilty to sex trafficking with a minor and other crimes, defamed him during the sex trafficking investigation into Gates. So this guy Dorworth, Gates's buddy, sues all these people for defamation, and then when the depositions have to come and, like, the actual case gets going, he's like, no, no, no, dismiss, dismiss. Like, he dismissed it the day before Matt Gaetz was supposed to be deposed.

[Dana Goldberg]

Oh, my God.

[Alison Gill]

So these are the files of that case. And the. The minor who was sex trafficked had a deposition in this case. If the files are released publicly, they could identify the women that testified against Gates. That's why I'm like, oh, cool, hack the. Hack the planet. But also, oh, shit, this could be a bad guy trying to expose these witnesses. Now, this woman and a second woman, also represented by Leopard, testified they were paid by Gates to have sex with him and other people who attended sex parties. They were paid through Venmo or other conduits. And get this. Including the PayPal of Nestor Galban, whom Gates has referred to as his adopted son.

[Dana Goldberg]

All that is sketchy as fuck, by the way.

[Alison Gill]

Wondering when the other shoe was going to drop on good old Nestor. Yeah. Now, Leopard says his clients do not want to testify in front of the Senate committee. Quote, they've already been through so much, and each time it happens, it kind of rips apart an old wound. He said they really don't want to be called in to testify. There's a lot of facts out there. They've given a lot of testimony, provided countless hours and documents to the House, and they don't want to see it go to waste. Like, I'm with this. Like, release the report. Don't put these women in front of the world.

[Dana Goldberg]

Absolutely.

[Alison Gill]

And Nicholas Wu at Politico says that Susan Wild, who's the representative, who's the top Democrat on the House Ethics Committee. There's five Dems, five Republicans. Right. Because this is a bipartisan committee. The top Democrat said Monday she wants her panel's report on Gates to be released to the public. Quote, it should certainly be released to the Senate, and I think it should be released to the public as we've done with many other investigative reports in the past. That's what she told a small group of reporters. She added that she would wait to see what other members of the panel do before taking any other action, the panel, evenly divided between Republicans and Democrats, is set to meet today to discuss how they're going to deal with this.

[Dana Goldberg]

All right, thank you. And I'm sorry I even have to report this last story, but it just makes my blood boil. This is from the Hill. A horrible, horrible human being. Rep. Nancy Mace. She's a Republican from South Carolina. We've all heard and seen her face. On Monday, she introduced a bill to bar transgender women from facilities on Capitol Hill that matched their gender identity. The resolution, which would prohibit members. And let me remind you, there's only fucking one. And we're gonna get to that.

[Alison Gill]

There's one.

[Dana Goldberg]

This is a targeted attack on a friend of mine. The resolution, which would prohibit members, officers, and employees of the House from using single sex facilities that correspond to their gender identity, comes just a week after rep. Elect Sarah McBride from Delaware made history as the first openly transgender person elected to Congress. The measure charges the House Sergeant at arms, William McFarland, with enforcing the ban, according to text previewed by the Hill. But it's unclear how the House's chief law enforcement officer will determine who can and cannot use the capital's facilities.

[Alison Gill]

So it's okay for William McFarland to go into the women's room to enforce this?

[Dana Goldberg]

Oh, apparently I was thinking the same thing. Or is he just going to stand outside? You fucking kidding me? And by the way, I guarantee there's probably trans men using facilities, and they don't know because they don't realize that they are actually sitting next to these people. I guarantee in the Capitol, there's. There's got to be. I'm not saying they're elected to Congress, but it could be anyone working with these. With these administrations, state laws that bar transgender people from using public restrooms that match their gender identity only rely on anonymous complaints, a notoriously unreliable enforcement mechanism. LGBTQ rights activists in May flooded a tip line designed to alert officials in Utah to possible violations of the state's bathroom ban with thousands of false complaints.

[Alison Gill]

Love that. Kind of good trouble. Love it.

[Dana Goldberg]

Yep. And I quote, this is a blatant attempt for the far right extremists to distract from the fact that they have no real solutions to what Americans are facing. This is from Sarah McBride. She said this in a statement. We should be focused on bringing down the cost of housing, health care, and childcare, not manufacturing. Culture wars. Well done, my friend. Quote, Delawareans sent me here to make the American dream more affordable and accessible, and that's what I'm focused on. Doing. Mace is currently in talks with Leadership regarding how to bring the measure to the floor. The Congresswoman initially planned to call her legislation to the floor as a privileged resolution on Monday evening. This is from a source. A gambit that would have forced Leadership to stage a vote on the measure with two legislative days, but may scrap those plans because of ongoing negotiations with Leadership regarding the best way to pass the legislation. This is what the source says. Mace is pushing for the measure to be included in the rules package of the 119th Congress or for it to be brought to the floor and voted on a standalone rule outside the package. If the bill, however, is not included in the 119th Congress Rules Package or brought to the floor as a standalone rule, Mace would force a vote on the legislation. The House is set to vote on rules package for the next Congress in early January, which will require a majority vote for the passage. Republicans are poised, unfortunately, to have a razor thin majority when the next session gavels in. But I also know there's enough good. I want to say good Republicans. I do think there's a few people that will defect that actually have worked with Sarah McBride. Respect Sarah McBride. And it just fucking pisses me off. And I'm just. My own opinion. Nancy Mace voted for an adjudicated rapist to be President of the United States. Don't fucking tell me you're worried about safe spaces for women. You don't give a shit. You're going to degrade Eugene Carroll, who was a rape victim, and I understand she herself is a survivor of rape. I don't understand how. How the shit comes out of her mouth. Sarah McBride is an incredible woman. She has never put anyone in danger. She will never put anyone in danger. She is fighting for all Americans. Delaware loves her and she is an incred. Incredible example for the LGBTQ community, especially the trans family. And I could not be more proud of her.

[Alison Gill]

Yeah, my. My guess on Mace is that she still blames herself for whatever happened to her, and therefore it's all women's fault.

[Dana Goldberg]

Ah.

[Alison Gill]

Either that or, you know, somebody had. Had. There's an age old sort of like a. Like an allegory, like a. A metaphor for this. Like you. You may be like, act like the good dog on the leash to get a couple rungs up the ladder in the patriarchy, but you're still a dog on a leash.

[Dana Goldberg]

Right.

[Alison Gill]

And. And that's what I think of when I think of Nancy Mace. Do you know what I mean?

[Dana Goldberg]

I do.

[Alison Gill]

What a garbage person. All right, everybody, what can we do to survive the next four years. Actual concrete steps that we can take. Next up is my amazing discussion with Andrea Pitzer. You don't want to miss it. Stick around. We'll be right back after these messages.

[Dana Goldberg]

We'll be right back.

[Alison Gill]

Hey everybody, it's ag. If I'm being honest, I just don't rebound from a night of a couple of cocktails like I used to. I think you can agree with me on that. I recently reached a point in my life where I had to make a decision. Either enjoy a night out or enjoy the next day. And that was a difficult choice until I discovered Zbiotics Pre Alcohol. And we want to thank ZBiotics for supporting DailyBeans. Go to ZBiotics.com DailyBeans to get 15% off your first order when you use code DAILYBEANS at checkout. Their probiotic was invented by PhD scientists to tackle rough mornings after drinking. And here's how it works. When you drink, alcohol gets converted into a toxic byproduct in your gut. It's this byproduct, not dehydration, that is to blame for your rough next day. Pre alcohol produces an enzyme, though it breaks this byproduct down. This is a proactive solution that wards off feeling miserable the next day instead of a reactive approach like drinking electrolytes or eating at your favorite greasy spoon. Now, I first heard about Zbiotics one night while I was out with some friends. We were at a show discussing what we were going to do after a friend suggested we go out for a few drinks. But I had plans the next morning. I didn't want to wake up feeling sore and worn out. That's when she brought up Zbiotics Pre Alcohol and I admit I was skeptical, but I gave it a shot. It worked exactly like she said it would. Now I always take Zbiotics as my first refreshment of the night and I never have to worry about how I feel the next day. I kept hearing about pre Alcohol and wondered what it was like, and now that I've tried it, I get why everyone's talking about it. And with their GMO technology, ZBiotics is continuing to invent probiotics that will help with everyday challenges of modern living. So go to ZBiotics.com DailyBeans to learn more and get 15% off your first order when you use code DAILYBEANS at checkout. ZBiotics is backed with a 100% money back guarantee, so if you are unsatisfied for any reason, they will refund your Money, no questions asked. Remember, head to ZBiotics.com DailyBeans and use code DAILYBEANS at checkout for 15% off. And thank you to ZBiotics for sponsoring this episode and our good times. Hey, everybody. Welcome back. I'm honored today to be joined by author of the book One Long Night, a global history of concentration camp. She has many other books out. She's the host of the Next Come what Podcast. Please welcome Andrea Pitzer. Hi, Andrea.

[C]

Hey, Allison. How are you?

[Alison Gill]

I'm great. It's good to see you. It's good to meet you. We had not been in touch before this. I have just found your podcast and I want to encourage everybody to subscribe to it. It's called Next Comes what? And listen to the latest episode. How about how we survive this mess? Because in it, you know, and I, you know, I'll be honest with you, I talked a little bit with you about this before we started. I don't listen to a lot of podcasts, but a trusted friend recommended this episode and I listened to the entire thing. I was hooked. I was hanging on every word. Everything in here is so, so important. And now I'm gonna go get your books, too. But in this podcast, you lay out the problems we face, obviously, which I think we can kind of all surmise now that Donald Trump has been elected. But you also talk about some of the good news, little things that work in our favor. And I wanna talk about those real quick because first, unlike a lot of authoritarian regimes and authoritarianism happening that you talk about in the podcast, we are in a unique position because we actually have a timetable. We know when it's going to happen. So can you talk about that and why it's advantageous to us?

[C]

Sure. Well, I think when people, you know, people always kind of go to the Nazi example with Trump. But in reality, researching this book, around the world of all these different kinds of camp systems and where authoritarianism rose, I realized that there's a million examples. And so kind of coalescing those together, it just struck me that in some cases there was dread, there were movements, people suspected something might happen soon, but they didn't really know. In a lot of cases, it came out of nowhere. And so we are, you know, we have a landing date, we have an eta, we have this two months. And I will say that there's. There's a small number of people, like I would say children of immigrants right now. This two months is going to be really hard because, you know, it's going to be difficult to plan and all that. But for most of us, you know, we can take advantage of this and we can work and find ways to plug into networks, make sure we're safe, get through our freaking out stage and get to the planning stage and figure out how we're going to protect those vulnerable people that we know are going to be targeted, but also to build some plans to make sure that we're taking care of ourselves. And then that frees up energy to actually accomplish something instead of just, you know, biting your nails and panicking.

[Alison Gill]

Yeah. I've actually put out a call for people to start a new thing, like pick up an instrument, start writing, start knitting, start painting, start. I'm going to start Pilates. Like, I like thinking about how good I'm going to be at this in four years, but it also kind of keeps me occupied, but it also gives me a future. I feel a lot like, you know, during COVID we had no idea when it was going to end, and we were sort of his. Trump's mismanagement of that epidemic sort of robbed us of dreaming of the future. And now I feel like, you know, on November 4th, I was like, all right, I'm going to. We're going to keep our podcast going. We're going to do the COVID the Trump trials, and we're going to, you know, talk about the Harris administration wins and. And maybe I'll do a side project podcast about my dad. Yay. And then, bam, in one night, all of that's gone. And now we don't know what we're looking at in the future. So what I really loved about this particular episode of your podcast is it gave me things to do and look forward to. Even if it's work, it's still good work. Right. So let's.

[C]

Absolutely.

[Alison Gill]

Yeah. And let's talk about some of these. So we have a timetable. We know January 20th, and we also have some guardrails we can work with or encourage to work. Like, you bring up the governors, Right. The Democratic governors, like Newsom and Pritzker and Polis like, standing up and saying, we aren't going to take it, and we're going to make sure we protect our marginalized communities, et cetera, and our rights here. So we have the governors, we have the courts and the bureaucracy. Right now, we're really working hard. Right.

[C]

Bureaucracy is definitely going to slow them down. And the courts are semi compromised, but they're still going to gum things up. There's. There's some stuff they figured out how to get to sail through but some stuff is going to take time. It buys us time, which is all, you know, in favor of us, in favor of next elections, in favor of them stumbling over each other, which is one of the other things I mentioned. They're not that bright. Right. So they're going to trip each other up.

[Alison Gill]

That's the other thing. We're very fortunate that they're dumb. You said they're dumb. But this delay, gumming things up. I want to talk about that because offline you and I spoke about what DA Alvin Bragg did today where he was, like, wanting to pause Judge Mershon's consideration of whether or not some of the evidence falls under immunity for official acts, and pause, perhaps the sentencing, in favor of going on motion practice. Trump wants to just dismiss the case outright. And Bragg is like, no, these 34 felony counts should stand. I respect the office of the presidency and that I can't prosecute a president when they're the president. But I also respect what the grand jury did, or, yeah, what the petit jury, the jury did in convicting. But that Donald Trump and most of the folks out here discussing, particularly this news today about Bragg, is that Trump has effectively used delay in order to get to where he is. He delayed with an immunity thing in the January 6th case. He delayed with the special master thing down with Judge Cannon in the documents case in Florida. Delay, delay, delay until the Supreme Court crowns him king and his Judge Cannon dismisses the case and he gets to use that delay to his advantage. Now we're in the seat where we can use the court's delay and the bureaucracy delay to our advantage. And I think that we should really take advantage of that.

[C]

Well, and just like Trump, when he was bringing all those election cases that just got shot down and shot down and shut down, down. Sometimes you're going to win, sometimes you're going to lose. Right. But it'll be the same thing going the other way. There are going to be Eileen Cannons across the country that are going to let him do certain things. Right. But there are going to be other people that. And, and let me just make this clear, that unlike what Cannon was doing, there are going to be people that are just doing their job. They are not personally trying to thwart the ambitions of Donald Trump. They're literally just trying to keep the rule of law intact. The normal legal process is not a lightning process. And so it is going to get mucked up. There have been some changes to how people can challenge executive branch immigration programs, and some of that's been taken off the table. So there'll be pluses and minuses, just like there were for Trump. Some things are going to sail through, but some things are going to get locked up. And again, we have this huge federal bureaucracy. Even with them bringing in a cabinet, potentially, we don't still know if everybody's going to be nominated. But clearly it's going to be a, you know, Dick Tracy rogues gallery of losers, and they're going to do horrible stuff. But it's a huge bureaucracy and they cannot dismantle it overnight. It cannot be reconfigured. It cannot be recommended. This is one of the reasons we still have concentration camps around the world. They're big bureaucracies. It's hard to get rid of an institution like that. It's not going to be any easier to get rid of federal government programs. It's not going to be simple.

[Alison Gill]

Right. Much like it's not going to be simple to deport. Deport 10, 15 million, however many million people they want to deport, to make.

[C]

Up a number of how many. Yes. They just invent these numbers.

[Alison Gill]

Right. It only gets bigger because he'll start including legal, legal immigrants.

[C]

Well, it's already, they're talking 25 million, and we're already outside the population of people that are in the groups they're claiming they're going to deport. So either they're not deporting all those, or they're just, you know, going to be getting you and me and your producer and everybody else tomorrow. And the truth is that if they were going to do what they said, and I still think it's going to be terrible, they're going to make a spectacle out of it. It's going to be very bad. But what they're talking about doing, let's even take not the highest number they've given, 18 million. Okay. If let's say they're going to do 18 million people, that is how many people went through the entire Soviet gulag system in more than 20 years of its existence. Nine times of huge country, more than two decades. And so the reality of that and any kind of efficient operation, like it's just those two things can't go together.

[Alison Gill]

Right. And I'm with you. Same for bureaucracy. These are huge, huge agencies. Something else you say that is on our side is that he doesn't yet have the military backing him up, which has happened in other authoritarian regimes. So let's talk about that.

[C]

Well, that's really huge because that was the most common factor that I found was that that when you had an authoritarian type, if they had the backing of the military, everything was just much more likely to be locked down. You know, post invention of automatic weapons, you're really at a disadvantage if you are not the military and the military is against you. But they really have not been friendly to Trump. And again, I tried to make clear in the piece there are extremists at every level, in every branch. There's no doubt about it. We have an issue with that in our military, but that the entire structure of the military is to not intrude into domestic affairs, not be involved in domestic affairs. Officers are trained extensively in this, and many of them are not fans of Donald Trump. There will be those that are, but there will be those that are not. And, you know, a lot of them will take that oath to the Constitution seriously. I'm much more worried about the border enforcement agencies and these constitutional sheriffs that are kind of puffed up on their own roles. I'm more worried about smaller incidents with those kinds of guys doing, you know, rogue actions or interpreting orders in a certain way. I do think there's a lot of potential for harm. I know they're talking about using the military through national emergency. I think even that is going to be a difficult thing to use it for any kind of real enforcement. And it wouldn't surprise me if they try to do logistical support type stuff, but that there is not a military ready to march in a parade for Donald Trump to declare himself dictator. Like, we just aren't at that stage yet. We're not in a great place. So let me be clear about that. But the people who are seeing already getting themselves way down the road to Auschwitz, you know, like, we are a million catastrophes away from that. And I think of those as these hinge points where we can kind of intervene and, like, stick a piece of plywood in those hinges and block the doors, like, again and again and again. And so there's still a lot of room to maneuver. And literally right now, nothing has changed from November 4th. And so we need to be careful about how much we catastrophize, if that makes sense.

[Alison Gill]

No, it does. It does make sense. And then something else you brought up that we have still, that I am looking forward to, this is my future point on the Horizon is the 2026 midterm elections. Elections are still, at this point, administered by the states. And that's a federalist thing. I mean, that's. You know, we even had, like, super conservative Judge PRYOR in the 11th Circuit rule that no, Mark Meadows, we can't move your case to federal court because you and the executive branch don't have any role in elections. You have no role in elections. Now, we'll see how the courts hold up on this. But again, the courts can gum this up, up. But I think we are in a very good spot to have a very robust election in 2026, I think.

[C]

So at this point, there's no reason to think that won't happen. There's reason to think people might try to do something, but right now, we have no signs that it wouldn't. And along those lines, you're going to start seeing the other thing I talk about, which is again, with these guys not being that bright, they're going to get in each other's way. Trump loves to set people against each other because he wants to be the center of attention. And so you're going to have the people that are ideologues like Miller, who probably are ready to create camps for you and me. But then you're also going to have the people that want to make a lot of money and, you know, and are looking to maximize the grift. And then you're also going to have the huge, huge costs, more than $10,000 per deportee. We're talking. So the huge costs of moving all these people, they're going to be trying to move, and some of them are going to be able to be moved, and you have to house them.

[Dana Goldberg]

Right.

[C]

You're going to have all this stuff going on while supposedly Elon Musk and Vivek ramaswamy are cutting $2 trillion out of the federal budget. If you are a congressman up for reelection in 2026, and they start talking about cutting Medicaid, they start talking about Social Security. You know, there are going to be a lot of Trump voters that are going to be really, really unhappy with you, and they're going to be able to take it out. And the momentum already goes that way at midterms to begin with. It's only going to be accelerated. So I think there's a lot of pressures that they can only do so much about.

[Alison Gill]

Yeah. And they're already talking about, you know, the Republicans in Congress are already talking about adding to the tax bill through budget reconciliation, which doesn't require 60 votes in the Senate to cut Medicare and Medicaid significantly and to, you know, reduce SNAP and other programs that help like 70 million Americans. So it's, they can't do these things. Trump doesn't care about reelection, whether he's going to try to stay in office or not run again, whatever. He doesn't care. But Congress does. They have to be reelected again in order to maintain their power. Not that they actually care about the 70 million Americans that will go hungry if these programs are changed. They just care about upsetting them so that they don't get voted back into office. But you're right, they're going up against each other. There's reports that Musk and Boris Epstein are butting heads, but, I mean, Boris Epstein butts heads with everybody. There's Marjorie Taylor Greene coming out today tweeting, if you Republicans in Congress don't let Matt Gaetz go through, I'm going to release all the dirt on you. And I'm like, okay, here they go. They're going to attack each other. There's pallets.

[C]

And literally, we are not even two weeks out from the election at this point. We're literally two weeks from the election. And this is what's going on. And it will get worse. And again, I do not want to minimize it. They are going to try to do bad things. Some of them they're going to pull off, but a lot of bumbling like we saw in the first administration. There are more people on his side in terms of supporting him and wanting to further his agenda, but mostly they still have their own agendas and they're just going to be getting in each other's way as well.

[Alison Gill]

Yeah. And then I wanted to talk about the next part of your podcast, which talks about movements that we can join. Right. Things that we can get behind, and you name some major ones. Abortion rights, immigration rights, trans rights, and climate. Right. These are very, very popular things that win elections. And looking toward 2026, these are the movements, the issues that I think you talk about us being focused on.

[C]

Well, yeah, I think we need to keep climate in the mix because it's already happening. And Dave Levitin, this great climate reporter, said we need the next four years. So we need to be building those coalitions with blue regions that are still going to be putting climate policies in place. We need to be developing green energy. We need to do all that. Obviously, abortion rights and immigration are areas that are already being targeted and are, you know, from day one. I think we're going to see movement on that. We need to be ready for. I do want to put in a word for trans rights, because the other stuff, as you said, is very popular. I think that there has been this movement by some Democrats to kind of put trans rights into the drawer, like oh, this is too much right now. We can't deal with this. And I, I think looking at the history of these detention camps and all this, I think it is a huge mistake. Anytime you throw one group under the bus and it is such a small group, they are so vulnerable that I would put in a bid to do something in your community, even if it's something small, just to help shore up the public sense that it's okay to stand up for people who are just being who they are, that are the most harmless population probably that we have in the universe overall. And it really pains me to see some of the Democrats running away from this and Nancy Mace today just embarrassing herself. Just terrible stuff.

[Alison Gill]

Yeah, I 100% agree with you. I push back hard on anyone who's like, well, let's drop that as a thing and maybe we'll get more voters. No, I disagree. Yeah.

[C]

And it's not the only issue, but we got to stand up for people 100, 100%.

[Alison Gill]

It's weird to me that anybody's thinking about shit, canning any specific group that needs protection and help and support. Now let's talk about. You say we don't have to reinvent the wheel and you talk about a few things that we can actually do now, like on the ground, where the rubber meets the road. Practical stuff. Keeping the right to protest, keeping pressure on our electeds, and then community. Right, community organizations and building connections to make sure people aren't isolated. Those all sort of go hand in hand. And then you talk a little bit about cross silo work to combat propaganda. Not reaching across the aisle to hang out with Nazis, but to talk to those people who could become Nazis. Right, right.

[C]

We want to do preventive work here. I think the amount of effort it takes to retrieve one Nazi, I mean, in a perfect universe, maybe we would all do that work. I don't want to do it. I don't know a lot of people that want to do it right now. And honestly, you kind of get 10 to 1 bang for the buck for stopping somebody from falling down that rabbit hole than having to dig somebody out of it. Right. And so let's reach out in our communities to get to the people that might be there if they don't have a place to be in the community. And I don't mean that people have to suddenly go hang out with teen boys or anything like that, but literally get involved with your library, be on your school board, even stuff like soup kitchens. The things that knit us together are critical. When I was, I wrote the foreword for a book on Uyghur detention in China. And it was all about all these surveillance method that they use to keep this Muslim minority like really isolated. And they're kind of trying to erase this culture from this part of the border region there. And they actually put a person often into each home so that like, you can't really have the conversations you want to have. You can't bond with anybody next door. You can't do all the things that knit society together at the most basic level. And I know everybody's freaking out about the big national and it's important to stay informed about it, but the best thing that most of us can do that don't already have sort of a national profile or a national level federal job is to engage in the community. Because what authoritarians want is to break down that sense, to have you feel isolated to keep you focused on these meta arguments over who's using a bathroom. You know, that really, if you go do something in your community, you're going to make much more difference and you're going to actually feel much more empowered. The stuff that makes you feel helpless, you gotta tune it out sometimes.

[Alison Gill]

Yeah. And it's the same thing abusers do. They isolate you so that they can gaslight you. And we have to avoid that. And we do it through community. And I've, you know, I've long said politics to me works like economics. Trickle down doesn't work. Right. You have to, it's, it's bottom up, middle out, as Joe Biden likes to say. And I think that that's where we get involved on the ground, in our local communities, talk a little bit about the cost of doing nothing.

[C]

So I'm going to go a little bit aside from what I put in that post. But when I did all this Arctic, I do also Arctic expeditions and climate reporting. And when I do them, I would talk to these scientists and they would all say, oh, it's great, we're going to do this and we're going to do this. And I'm like, but wait, the sea ice is collapsing. These species are disappearing. Why are you guys so fucking optimistic? And they're like, well, you kind of have to be an optimist to be in this line of work because the cost of doing nothing is so much worse. Worse than if we do something, you know, and so we're in a position, we're not going to be able to stop everything that's coming for sure. And we can't know perfectly what it's going to Be we have two months, but we still won't know exactly what's going to happen. But we can get ready. And I feel confident, I've talked to so many people in so many much worse situations with fewer resources than we have to say that we will be able to make a difference. We will be able to stop something. It will be better because we do that. And also this idea that, you know, it's a muscle, right. So even on the little stuff, stand up, like, tell, like I would say show protests that don't actually gain anything in and of themselves may just provide a sort of a spectacled chance for people to be beaten up. So be careful with protests. Go with people who are really organized and have done it and know how to and think it's a good time and that there's a reason to. But more important is in the day to day encounters, like with school, at your church, when somebody is making a policy, when somebody is putting out an offer and you are like, no, this isn't how it should be. When you see something that's unethical at the lower levels, like the more we intervene there, the less people are going to feel free to take it up to the higher levels.

[Alison Gill]

Agreed. Because a lot of people are having these discussions now, are we in? Like, we can't stop Trump from happening on January 20, so we need to survive it. And surviving it includes fighting back, I think in some way. What are your thoughts on that? Survive it versus stop it? Because I don't think we can stop it.

[C]

No. I think it's like I used to teach karate and did some aikido. And aikido. It's like you redirect it.

[Alison Gill]

Right.

[C]

This energy is coming at you. You're not putting out your fist to stop it. Right. You're letting it go by you. You're sort of, it's going to have its momentum, but you're going to try to redirect it from the worst kind of harm that it can do. And I think this example in Oklahoma, I don't know if you saw it this week already that's happened, which is just great, is this super fanboy superintendent of schools in Oklahoma has put out an order for all the superintendents to show this video of him and his new religious liberty officer office thing he's doing and to send it home to all the parents. And seven of the superintendents in Oklahoma already have come forward and said they're not going to do it. And the state attorney general's office has said there's no, there's. You can't make them do it. Basically. There's no law that requires them to do it. And so that's an example of the kind of thing I'm talking about. It's a small thing, but that guy, he does that and gets away with it, then it's going to be the next thing and the next thing, and then he's going to be running for governor. And then, you know, I mean, it just multiplies. So there's going to be a million ways to stand up in that particular way. And I do think that keeping a separation of church and state, because this is also the guy that wants Trump Bibles in these schools, that these are the kinds of things that we can look back in a flip way, since we flipped Trump and the courts before, we'll flip the Tea Party. Right? The Tea Party had this massive influx of cash to help support it. So it wasn't just an organic movement, but at the same time, they did all this local work, right? And you think of Moms for Liberty taking over these school boards. This is the kind of thing we need to be doing to set the grassroots community together in a way that it's harder to divide, that more people are informed, that more people don't fall down that Nazi rabbit hole we were talking about earlier.

[Alison Gill]

Yeah, agreed. Thank you for all this and thank you for this episode. I'll be listening from now on, everybody. The podcast is called Next Comes what Go subscribe. It's free, wherever you get your pods, and tell everybody else where they can find you and your information and your books, because I think a lot of people are looking for these kinds of concrete things they can do.

[C]

So you can go to my author website and everything is there. Newsletter, podcast, books, all of it. Andrea Pitzer A N D R E A P I t z e r.com so great to be on today.

[Alison Gill]

It's been wonderful talking to you. I hope we have you back on soon. I think we might have to have multiple conversations going forward over the next two years at least. So thank you so much and I look forward to talking to you again. Everybody, seriously, go subscribe to this podcast. It's. It's really, really good. And I encourage you to listen to this episode. Everybody, stick around. We'll be right back with the good news. Everybody, welcome back. It's time for the good news. Who likes good news? Everyone? Then good news, everyone. Good news. And to all of our new listeners. This is the good news portion of the show where all of our listeners who refer to themselves as the Leguminati, which I absolutely love, no affiliation with the Illuminati, who send in their good news stories. This is how we quote unquote, microdose hope, right? We've been doing this since the inception of the Daily Beans, so we can leave the episode on a high note. And it works, it works like a charm. And so what you do is you send in your good news, your confessions, your corrections, especially pronunciation corrections. I'm big on those. You send them to [e-mail] and click on contact. And to get your submission in, you got to pay your pod pet tax, which means attaching a photo of your pet. And if you don't have a pet, you can attach an adoptable pet in your area. And we have matched many, many babies, fur babies with their forever homes. So you can do that. And if you don't have that, you can send in any animal photo. And if you don't want to do that, you can send in your bab baby pictures, whether it's your babies or, you know, you, you as a baby, random babies on the Internet, whatever.

[Dana Goldberg]

Yes please.

[Alison Gill]

And then we have shout outs. You can also send in a shout out if you, if you don't really have any necessarily, you know, a piece of good news that you want to share. And shout outs include shout outs to like your spouse or your loved one or your kids or your parents or your fam or your family, you know, your chosen, your chosen family. And of course we do shout outs to government programs here, including Medicare, Medicaid, by the way, which is now going to be run by Dr. Oz. So hurry up and send in your good news about your Medicare and Medicaid and of course Affordable Care act, maybe some great healthcare you've received at a VA facility. I love my VA healthcare, the, you know, snap, the PACT act, that's a really good one, Inflation Reduction act, something unions. Maybe your pension got saved, maybe you got your student debt forgiven. Send that good news to us as well. Again, send it to [e-mail] and click on contact. First up from Patty V. Pronouns she and her. You asked what new habits we may have started to preserve our sanity and manage our rage post election. I'm going to interject here, Dana. Yesterday I said, hey, let's just start, let's start a project like and see how good we get at it over the next four years. Whether you're going to pick up an instrument or crochet or paint. I'm going to do Pilates. I think that's what I'm going to do because I was like, man, you know what? We need something to look forward to. You remember when you and I talked to Mary Trump about COVID and the problem was is that our future didn't really exist anymore. We didn't have anything to look forward to.

[Dana Goldberg]

Yeah.

[Alison Gill]

I think if we have that something to hold on to, including the 2026 elections, it'll help get us through. So. So that's what kind of this post is based on. She says. I decided to do what I did during COVID return to my cross stitch hobby and I found the perfect one to start with. I saw this on Blue sky and immediately knew it was just for me and probably for all my tribe. It's old. Looks like a Middle Ages.

[Dana Goldberg]

This is so good.

[Alison Gill]

Behold the field in which I grow my fucks. Lay thine eyes upon it and thou shalt see that it is barren. Patty, be wonderful please, as you're cross stitching share with us. Like I want to see over time how this goes. You know what I mean?

[Dana Goldberg]

I do. It's going to be great, actually. There's going to be lots of good news coming in. This one's from Rosemary Pronoun she and her I had the pleasure of meeting both of you before the fabulous show at the meet and greet in Washington D.C. back in August. I've been a loyal listener for over a year. In listening to today's episode I heard you mention that you're interested in taking up pilates. As someone who is in a similar age and demographic and has been taking Pilates bar for eight years, I highly recommend this is a workout for women of our age demographic for the just right intensity building muscle mass toning and overall keeping in shape life changer for me. I offer my pod pet tax in the form of Cassie, my three year old adopted Pembroke Welsh corgi and all her glorious corgi butt glory who is as beautiful as she is sassy.

[Alison Gill]

Yeah. For new listeners we we have a thing with corgi butts. I think they are the best butts in the dog business business.

[Dana Goldberg]

They are.

[Alison Gill]

But you know, maybe you have a. Maybe you have a challenge to that assertion. Rosemary, thank you. I'm glad to hear that. And I hear that from a lot of my cohort. You know women my age, they really, really love it. And Dana, I was talking about I need to build up the muscles around my joints because my joints are starting to get so weight.

[Dana Goldberg]

Weight bearing exercises for women our age are so important. So important. Especially when our bone density starts to change. I've taken a couple Pilates lessons. I guess if you class not classes because I had a trainer that does them, but only twice. But it was the most challenging workout, but not in a way that I couldn't walk the next day. I felt so elongated. And yeah, I'm not a flexible person. Like I just. I'm a very inflexible, physically inflexible person. But Pilates is fantastic.

[Alison Gill]

Yeah, that's what I need to do. I need to stretch and I need to protect my bones. All right, next up from Anonymous Pronoun she and her listening to the good news as I sip my coffee in my fuck this shit mug. Awesome. Bahaha. Just listening to Allison talk about taking up Pilates. Interesting. You were talking about starting that Wednesday after the election. I took the day I was hoping it would be to celebrate the Harris Walls win. Instead it was a gut punch. I decided that day to start a weekly plan for self care. I already hike, garden and drink tea and coffee with friends for example. But as a 54 year old woman, menopause is on want I worry about losing strength. So this election has inspired me to restart a three times a week metabolic renewal plan for women. 17 minutes of strength, exercised, sprinkled with some cardio. I'm in week three and I feel good. Something new to focus on. Love you guys. And the picks are of are a Sabino Canyon hike in Tucson this past Saturday with friends and Max and Tucker hiking Mount Lemon in Tucson with my friends last Friday. I have hiked Mount Lemon so many times times. Thanks for all of you both. I it is appreciated. Love Trump's hate. Look at these beautiful photos.

[Dana Goldberg]

Cutie pies.

[Alison Gill]

Look at the doges. Oh my God they're so cute.

[Dana Goldberg]

They are. They are.

[Alison Gill]

Thank you for that.

[Dana Goldberg]

Anonymous all right, this one's from Jennifer Pronoun she and her yeah I finally have some good news to contribute which I have sorely wanted to find since the election. Alice I used to do Pilates for years and years but life happened and I fell off from doing it at the beginning of this year 2024. I picked it back up as part of my self care since I knew the coming year was going to be stressful. I have been going two to three times every week but almost always every Wednesday. Another woman who goes faithfully on that day is Maggie. Maggie is lovely and fit and has been increasingly encouraging and good humored in my efforts. One of those angels in our lives we aren't aware we need until they appear at just the right time. Time the day after the election, I didn't want to go to class. I was in such a sorrowful place as so many of us were, and as I walked to work, I could not understand why everyone around me seemed totally normal, as though a disaster hadn't just occurred. But then I decided, fuck this. This little class is my community. He cannot take it away from me without a fight. Histrionic, maybe, but it was a day of strong feeling. I opened the door to the studio and everything was the same as always. Then Maggie came around the corner and she made a beeline to me. Through tears she whispered, I don't know about how anyone else feels, but I know you are devastated as I am. I felt so grateful to her and a rush of emotion that is hard to describe. All I can say was yes, and I think we hugged. But it doesn't matter. The important thing is that we found communion and I was and remain deeply grateful for it. So thank you Allison and Dana for providing us with communion we crave. Pilates is great, super hard, but all you can do while in class is concentrate on the careful movements we're supposed to make and that provides a great break from all the noise outside. It takes just a few classes to start feeling the effects and while much will be familiar from yoga, in my experience anyway, there are important differences that will complement any yoga you do and it makes you strong. Peace and love.

[Alison Gill]

Awesome. Thank you for that Jennifer. Next up from Nancy from New York mostly she her. I don't know if that's from New York mostly or mostly she her but it's Nancy from New York mostly pronounced she and her. I'm done being crushed by the sucker punch we got last week. I'm dusting myself off and I'm getting back in the fight. I'm going to continue to contact my blue trifecta of Congressional reps on the regular to show my support and urge protective action. Chuck Schumer, Kirsten Gillibrand, and our freshly elected John Mannion in the House. Yay. Three things I want to say. First, I'm so proud of all the Dems that stepped up this year to run in previously uncontested elections.

[Dana Goldberg]

Yes.

[Alison Gill]

Oh yes. That's so huge. The fact that so many Repubs had actually exert effort and spend money to fight for their offices this year is heartening. My dear friend Rachel Grage in Florida House District 16 threw her hat in the ring this year for just that reason to give the current office holder a run for her money. Rachel didn't win, but I'm so damn proud of her for trying. She would have been a great rep for her district, but her opponent was funded by a healthy DeSantis approved approved PAC. We need every race to be in play next time. RunforSomething.net and LeadersWeDeServe.com are good starts. Second, Scott Dworkin of the Dworkin Report on Substack is mobilizing his press watchdog coalition to hold corporate media accountable and help independent journalists organize, investigate and push back hard. His investigative reporting was effective during the first Trump administration and his group is well seasoned and ready to fight. I'm getting all my news from independent and reputable media sources, even local ones. That's why I'm here. Independence is critical, now more than ever, and our support matters. I keep a curated list of reputable news sources at the ready for my friends who want to minimize their corporate media exposure. Whether you read sub stack newsletters, listen to podcasts, read online papers or tune into the radio, I have suggestions. From Heather COX Richardson to ProPublica, I've got something for everybody. Third, kindness and confidence are superpowers. I was working with a group of preteen Girl Scouts last weekend, teaching them orienteering skills in the woods. After two hours of building a rapport with them, I seized an opportunity. I told them how I had been a shy kid and that through good posture, a firm handshake and solid eye contact, I changed how people viewed me and I became the confident person I am today. I was delighted when they all started practicing handshakes with each other. Hopefully I planted a seed. And then I thought about all of the women I come in contact with every day. Those working behind the bakery counter, those stocking shelves, those I pass on the street. Many look tired and defeated. How many of them can I quietly reach? I am resolved to make eye contact and flash a confident smile with every female whenever I can really see them and let them know they're seen. Confidence can be infectious. I appreciate you and your fabulous team at MSW Media. Let's keep up the fight and act like New Zealand's youngest mp performing the Maori haka during the meeting of Parliament. Loud and fierce. A dose of confidence all around. It gives me the chills when I think of that.

[Dana Goldberg]

I know every time I see it too.

[Alison Gill]

I watch it all the time. No bod bet tax. But I offer a pick of my kiddos when they were tiny. Contrary to what the photo suggests, they fought like cats and dogs. But now in their 20s, they're both smart and confident and they talk to each other more than they talk to me. So mission accomplished.

[Dana Goldberg]

Look at these little guys. So cute.

[Alison Gill]

Look at that mischievous face on that, huh? And look, she's like, love it. Love that photo.

[Dana Goldberg]

Oh my God, that's adorable.

[Alison Gill]

Wow, everybody, thank you so much. I'm so excited that everyone's excited about this long term self care project I think everyone wants to get involved with. I'm going to write it up, talk about it on my substack Right now. The currently you can get the information on what Alvin Bragg did today. That's at Mueller She Wrote dot com. Thanks for reading it. It's free. There's no paywall.

[Dana Goldberg]

Nice.

[Alison Gill]

So thank you everybody. That's the same with this podcast to all our new listeners. It's free. My substack's free. All of our content's free. It's. It works like NPR if you want to kick in some money. Money. It doesn't get you anything extra. It just, it just, I mean, well, you do get the episodes ad free and you do get them early and you do get like to come to our galas and meetups and stuff like that. So I guess you do get a little bit extra. But all the content is, is the same no matter what because I know a lot of people sometimes like only allow paid subscribers to comment or whatever and sometimes that's for safety. But I'm like, you know what, everything is free and if you want to cook us some money to support us, us, thanks. So thank you all. I really appreciate it. And again, I just welcome to all these new listeners. I'm like overwhelmed with like, I'm humbled by it. So we appreciate that you're here and we hope you stick around. Do you have any final thoughts, my friend?

[Dana Goldberg]

No, not today.

[Alison Gill]

All right, everybody, we'll be back in your ears 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. I've been ag and I've been Dee and them's the beans. The Daily Beans is written and executive produced by Alison Gill with additional research and reporting by Dana Goldberg. Sound design and editing is by Desiree McFarland with art and web design by Joel Reeder with Moxie Design Studios. Music for the Daily Beans is written and performed by they Might Be Giants and the show is a proud member of the MSW Media Network, a collection of creator owned podcasts. Dedicated to news, politics and justice. For more information, please visit MSW media. Com MSW Media.