Dana Goldberg (2:35)

You know, I rarely fangirl out. Like, I have so much respect for the people I share stage with, but when I met rep. Jasmine Crockett, she is pure light and joy and allyship. And she talks a lot about, like, hating politics, and this is, like, a calling for her. And she's like, I got some questions for, you know, whoever did this up above, but I'm here, and this is what I'm going to do. And, you know, like my mom said, and I have so much respect for her as well. Pritzker is a billionaire whose heart seems to be in the right place, and it really does have these people speaking out so loudly in support of the LGBTQ community. Yeah, Dallas, you're lucky to have her. Chicago, Illinois, the entire state, you're lucky to have Pritzker. And more voices like that. We need more voices like that.

Alison Gill (3:22)

You see why I have a little bit of a crush on the Pritz.

Dana Goldberg (3:25)

Oh, yeah. And I have a little bit of a crush on Crockett. So there's that. But, yeah, Pritzker, there's a kindness in his face. And it's funny because he's so funny, too. He's got a great sense of humor. A really. He's just a lovely. He seems like a really lovely man. I know some people in Chicago or Illinois. I keep saying Chicago because it's the city I know so well there, but Illinois. I know not everyone is his biggest fan, but I tell you what, he's a good guy, and I think he could make some big changes.

Alison Gill (3:55)

Yeah, he is a good dude. I'm so glad that you had a good time. The photos that you sent me were amazing.

Dana Goldberg (4:01)

I'll get them up on the behind the Beans page just so our patrons can see them there and share with some of the folk.

Alison Gill (4:08)

Great. Thank you so much for that, too, for all the work that you're doing. All right, we have a ton of news to get to, but first, let's do some quick hits. And to make a long story short, first up from abc, tech billionaire Elon Musk was slated to visit the Pentagon on Friday and attend a meeting of the Joint Chiefs of Staff that would touch on China, among other things, where he has a lot of business. That's according to two United States officials confirming to ABC News. But that plan changed after the New York Times reported that Musk would be briefed on China war plans. Musk visited the Pentagon on Friday, but instead of meeting with the Joint Chiefs, he met with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth instead. In the meeting between Musk and the Joint Chiefs was to be at the unclassified level and attended virtually by Admiral Sam Paparo, the commander of the US Indo Pacific Command. But sometime between publication of the New York Times story on Thursday and Musk's visit to the Pentagon Friday, the visit turned into just a meeting with Hagseth.

Dana Goldberg (5:07)

Yeah, I saw a video of Musk at some dinner making an airplane out of silverware, and he's high out of his mind. He looks like powder. I don't know if anyone's ever seen the movie Powder, where they attract metal, which is actually a phenomenal movie. He looks like powder on ketamine. He's just sitting there rolling on this, and I'm like, I cannot believe this is even happening. True.

Alison Gill (5:29)

Yeah. He's tripping balls.

Dana Goldberg (5:31)

Yeah.

Alison Gill (5:31)

He's making planes out of silverware. Like this is the we used to do at Denny's on acid.

Dana Goldberg (5:37)

Yeah, yeah.

Alison Gill (5:37)

When I was, like, 18.

Dana Goldberg (5:39)

Yeah. Everyone at the table. Awful. Awful. All right, another quick hit. The military has agreed not to separate any transgender troops until at least March 28 while it seeks an emergency appeal of Judge Reyes's order blocking enforcement of Trump's executive order. Judge Reyes has agreed to stay her order with this agreement in place. So we're going to keep you updated on this. It's obviously a very big deal, and if they can block this, it's going to help block a lot of other things that are coming after the LGBTQ community.

Alison Gill (6:05)

Agreed. All right, next up from cbs, the Trump administration will be revoking the legal status of hundreds of thousands of Latin American and Haitian migrants that were welcomed into the United States under a Biden era sponsorship process, urging them to self deport. Trump is urging these folks to self deport or face arrest and removal by deportation agents. The termination of their work permits and deportation protections under an immigration authority known as parole will take effect in late April, 30 days after March 25, according to a notice posted by the federal government. The move will affect immigrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela who flew to the U.S. under a Biden administration program known as CHNV that was designed to reduce illegal immigration at the U.S. mexico border by giving would be migrants legal migration avenues. So even if you come here legally or the quote, unquote right way, he is deporting you. There's a total of 532,000 migrants that entered the US under this Biden policy.

Dana Goldberg (7:09)

Thanks, Allison. This last one's from cbs. After weeks in the United States, Influencer brothers. Andrew. I don't like influencer brothers. Admitted sex traffickers. Sex traffickers. Thank you very much. Andrew and Tristan Tate arrived early Saturday back in Romania, where they face charges of human trafficking and forming a criminal gang to sexually exploit women. Just really pieces of shit. The Tates, who are dual US and British citizens, were arrested in Romania in late 2022. Informally indicted last year on charges that they participated in a criminal ring that lured women to Romania, where they were allegedly sexually exploited. Andrew Tate was also charged with rape. They deny all the allegations against them. The brothers remain under judicial control, which requires them to appear before judicial authorities in Romania when summoned. And I don't know if y'all remember, they got busted because they went after climate change activists Greta Thunberg, and he responded to her with a photo of himself with a pizza box in the back of the photo that actually geotagged him where he was and authorities were able to go arrest him.

Alison Gill (8:16)

Yep, real smart.

Dana Goldberg (8:18)

Real smart. Guys around, find out.

Alison Gill (8:20)

Yeah, for reals. I wish, like, Elliot Stabler would be there to, like, just pound their faces so good.

Dana Goldberg (8:26)

Or the guy from Catch a Predator. Would you like some iced tea?

Alison Gill (8:29)

Yeah.

Dana Goldberg (8:29)

Sit down.

Alison Gill (8:30)

Hi. Please sit down. Oh, my God. All right, everybody, we have more news to get to, obviously, but we're going to take a quick break. Stick around. We'll be right back after these messages. We'll be right back. Hey, everybody. This spring, I decided to do more than just clean out my closet. I wanted to refresh my body too. And for years, my supplement cabinet was a chaotic mess of bottles. Really expensive, each promising to fill a different nutritional gap. But since I started drinking AG1, I've been able to simplify my routine without sacrificing the support that my body needs. It's like a daily reset for my gut, thanks to the prebiotics and probiotics that help keep my digestion on track. AG1 is not just another supplement. It's a habit that sticks because you can feel the difference over time. I've noticed my energy levels are more consistent. I don't hit that mid afternoon crash like I used to. And it's got 75 vitamins, minerals, and whole food sourced ingredients. 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That's drinkag1.com daily beans to start your new year on a healthier note. Everybody, welcome back. It's time for the Hot Notes. Hot Notes. All right, first up from the Post, they're coming for your Social Security folks. Acting Social Security Commissioner Leland Dudyk threatened Thursday evening to bar the Social Security Administration employees from accessing its computer systems in response to a judge's order blocking Doge from accessing sensitive taxpayer Data. Fewer than 24 hours later, after the judge rejected his argument and the White House intervened, Dudek says he was out of line. And Dudek initially told news outlets, including in a Friday interview with the Washington Post, that the judge's decision to bar sensitive data access to DOGE affiliates was overly broad and that to comply, he might have to block virtually all SSA employees from accessing the agency's computer systems. But Judge Ellen Lipton Hollander of the U.S. district Court for the District of Maryland, who issued the order, said in a letter that Dudek's assertions were inaccurate. Quote, employees of SSA who are not involved with the DOGE team or in the work of the DOGE team are not subject to my order. That's what she wrote in a letter Friday. She's like, it's just these weird fucking outsiders incel dick bags that have never been trained and don't shouldn't have access because of the law that says they can't. Those are the guys that my order covers. I'm paraphrasing. Moreover, suggestion that my order may require the delay or suspension of benefit payments is incorrect. In his response to Hollander's letter, Dudic said in a statement emailed to reporters just after 5:30pm that the court clarified its guidance and quote, therefore I am not shutting down the agency, unquote. Dudek, in a follow up interview Friday afternoon with the Post, thanked the judge for the clarification, saying the president is committed to keeping the Social Security offices open to serve the public, even though he has shut down many of them. He then acknowledged that this was an about face from his stance in the interview with the Post. Just a few hours before that, quote, the White House called me and they let me know it's important to reaffirm to the public that we're open for business. The White House did remind me that I was out of line and so did the judge. And I appreciate that. But in a second letter Friday night, Hollander stated, this is the judge, that it had come to her attention that Dudic had continued, quote, making threats about shutting down operations at SSA by arguing that her order, quote, applies to almost all SSA employees. The judge re emphasized in a second letter that her order, quote, applies only to SSA employees working on the DOGE agenda. It has no bearing on ordinary operations at SSA. In fact, if others at SSA are involved with DOGE, as Mr. Dudek seems to claim, then I was misled by counsel for the government. Hollander issued a two week temporary restraining order last Thursday that prohibits SSA officials from sharing personally identifiable information with Musk's Doge service, which has been empowered to carry out cost cutting across the government. Yeah, sledgehammering. Dudek first made his threat to close down the agency during a Bloomberg News interview Thursday night. Such a dramatic move to effectively shut down the agency would have been unprecedented in the agency's history and would immediately begin halting benefit payments for 90 million Americans. So basically the judge was like, all right, the Doge guys gotta get their hands, get their fingers out of our stuff. And he went, well, I might as well just shut the whole Social Security administration down.

Dana Goldberg (13:45)

Stop taking my toys and going home.

Alison Gill (13:47)

Women are too emotional. But I'm going to shut down Social Security if you make me do the thing that how it was a week ago, like off. One plaintiff in the lawsuit at the heart of the ruling said Friday that the judge's intention was clear and accused Dudek of acting like a child who didn't get his way. For almost 90 years, Social Security has never missed a paycheck. But 60 days into this administration, Social Security is now on the brink. That's what Lee Saunders said. President of the American Federation of State, county and Municipal Employees. Quote, acting Commissioner Leland Dudyk has proven again that he is in way over his head, compromising the privacy of millions of Americans, shutting down services that senior citizens rely on, and planning debilitating layoffs, all in service to Elon Musk's lies. Great statement, Hollander. The judge, her scathing 137 page order was the latest court ruling preventing Doge from sifting through databases of federal agencies because of privacy concerns. Other federal judges have ruled that the treasury and Education Departments cannot share sensitive data with Musk's team either. The White House, in response to Thursday's court ruling, accused a radical leftist judge of trying to sabotage President Donald Trump's agenda at Social Security. The president will continue to seek all legal remedies available to ensure the will of the American people goes into effect. That's a spokesman, Harrison Fields. Oh, he actually wrote that in a statement so there wouldn't have been an accent. As Dudik contemplated whether to halt agency operations, many headquarters offices in Woodlawn, Maryland, were thrown into chaos. Members of the DOGE team, about a dozen software engineers, were denied access to the building and to their government laptop computers on Dudex Order, leaving their status on Microsoft Teams unknown, as if they had quit or retired, said one employee, who spoke on a condition of anonymity. So this is frightening. And there's more frightening stuff from the. The Social Security Administration, but also from the irs, right?

Dana Goldberg (15:48)

Yeah. This is actually from the Post. The irs, it's nearing an agreement to allow immigration officials to use tax data to confirm the names and addresses of people suspected of being in the country illegally. And that's according to four people familiar with the matter.

Alison Gill (16:03)

So against the law.

Dana Goldberg (16:04)

I know. It's culminating weeks of negotiations over using the tax system to support Trump's mass deportation campaign. Under the agreement, Immigration and Customs Enforcement could submit names and addresses of suspected undocumented immigrants to the IRS to cross reference with confidential taxpayer databases. Confidential. This is what the people said who spoke on the condition, almost always of anonymity out of fear of professional repercussions. Now, normally, personal tax information, even an individual's name and address, it's considered confidential, closely guarded within the irs. Unlawfully disclosing, that carries civil and criminal penalties. Well, the proposed agreement has alarmed career officials at the irs, who worry that the agreement risks abusing a narrow and seldom used section of privacy law that's meant to help investigators build criminal cases, not enforce criminal penalties. So if this is approved, the agreement would represent a significant shift in how federal agencies manage both taxpayer information and immigration enforcement. The IRS has for years reassured undocumented workers that their tax information is confidential and that safe for them to file income tax returns without fear of being deported. And I want you to hear that means they're paying taxes and they're paying more fucking federal taxes than the President of the United States.

Alison Gill (17:24)

Yeah, they pay about 100 billion in taxes a year. Billion with a B. And what do they get for it? Nothing. No representation?

Dana Goldberg (17:32)

Nope. No protections?

Alison Gill (17:34)

Apparently no protections, no Social Security. But they pay into it.

Dana Goldberg (17:38)

Yep. And about half of them, possibly more so about half of the roughly 11 million undocumented immigrants in the country, they file income tax returns to document their payments to the US Government. So they know that they're actually participating in our society now. And I quote, it's a complete betrayal of 30 years of the government telling immigrants to file their taxes. This is from one former IRS official. And of course, they also spoke on the condition of anonymity. Meanwhile, dhs. On Friday, they eliminated three internal watchdog agencies that advocated for immigrants and investigated complaints about detention conditions, the care of migrant children, and delays in processing applications for green card cards or citizenship. DHS officials said the offices created bureaucratic hurdles that obstructed the agency's work. The potential agreement with the irs, it would probably to mark the first time immigration officials have turned to the tax system for large scale enforcement assistance. Undocumented workers wages, they're subject to the same tax withholding and reporting requirements that apply to all, all other US Residents. So if this is approved, the agreement to share taxpayer information with ICE would mark a sharp reversal from just a few weeks ago. Last month, IRS leadership, they rejected DHS requests for the names, addresses, phone numbers and the email addresses of 700,000 people that the Trump administration suspected of being in the country illegally. The acting IRS commissioner at the time, this is Doug O'Donnell and agency attorneys. They concluded both requests were unlawful. O'Donnell retired the next day after 38 years at the tax agency. His successor, Melanie Kraus, quickly signaled an interest in collaborating with homeland security officials. Two weeks later, the Trump administration also replaced the IRS's top attorney who had voiced opposition to attempts to share taxpayer data across agencies, including by Doge. Now Kraus, the IRS's new acting chief counsel, Andrew DeMello. They have since met multiple times with the treasury and DHS officials to hash out an agreement. This is with people that are familiar with that meeting. So this is like you said, it's awful, it's dangerous. And it's the whole suspected part also that I have a really hard time with. They're just fucking throwing shit at a wall and seeing what sticks. And if they get US Citizens wrapped up in this, so be it. They don't give a shit.

Alison Gill (20:07)

Yeah, and imagine like you've come here from El Salvador, you're escaping gang violence. You have a young daughter who's Coming of age, and you're worried about her safety with the use of, you know, sexual abuse as a, as a weapon of war and a weapon of the cartels. And you take. Make the harrowing journey all the way up here. You, you know, you get here, you spend your days working your fingers to the bone, picking our fruits and vegetables, picking our, you know, agriculture on our. And then, you know, you, you do that, all of that work to just have a better life for your family. And meanwhile, they're taking a quarter of your pay and you are getting nothing in return. No Social Security. You are not getting any representation in Congress. You can't vote. And, and then they use. You're handing your money over. And that, that, then that agency that you are handing your money over to is working with ICE to find you and deport you back to your country of origin. It's just disgusting betrayal. It just, it's awful. These are our neighbors. Anyway, sorry. I'm pissed about that.

Dana Goldberg (21:16)

Oh, you and me both. You and me both.

Alison Gill (21:18)

All right. Finally, for no next step. Excuse me. There's still one more story from the Associated Press. Donald Trump rescinded an executive order targeting a prominent Democratic leaning law firm after the law firm agreed to provide $40 million in free legal services to support the Trump administration's goals. To support fascist government goals. Okay. The White House has targeted those law firms whose lawyers have provided legal work that Trump disagrees with. Last week, he issued an order threatening to suspend active security clearances of attorneys at Paul Weiss and to terminate any federal contracts that they have. But the president suddenly reversed course following a meeting between Trump and Brad Karp, the chair of the law firm Paul Weiss, Rifkin, Wharton and Garrison, over the White House order. They had a meeting over that. Trump's order singled out the work of Mark Pomerantz, who previously worked at the firm and who oversaw the investigation by the Manhattan DA to Trump's finances. Before Trump became president, Pomeranz once likened the president to a mob boss. So to avoid the consequences of Trump's order, the firm agreed to, quote, take on a wide range of pro bono matters that represent the full spectrum of political viewpoints of our society. That's not worded properly. The firm reportedly agrees to disavow the use of diversity, equity and inclusion considerations in its hiring and promotion decisions and dedicate the equivalent of $40 million in free legal services to support the Trump administration policies on issues including assistance for veterans, which means taking away assistance for veterans and countering antisemitism. They came out. They, they, this firm just came out and offered this. Throwing their former partner and former colleague under the bus.

Dana Goldberg (23:01)

This is gross.

Alison Gill (23:03)

So the White House claimed that the firm acknowledged the wrongdoing of Pomeranz, the partner involved in the investigation into Trump's hush money payments to Stormy Daniels, which was actually an election interference case. I wish they would stop calling it a hush money case. It was unclear whether Karp was aware of that claim, but in a statement issued by the White House, Karp said, we are gratified that the President has agreed to withdraw the executive order concerning Paul Weiss and we look forward to an engaged and constructive relationship with the President and his administration. The firm became the latest corporate target to make concessions to the President to avoid his ire. Meta and ABC made settlement payments to Trump's future presidential library to end lawsuits filed by Trump. Other tech and financial firms have publicly rolled back DEI programs in line with Trump's policy interests. And Pam Bondi, by the way, has taken this a step further by. Because Trump has instructed Pam Bondi, any law firm that is frivolously suing the Trump administration should be targeted for sanctions.

Dana Goldberg (24:02)

Which is ironic because Pam Bondi used to be someone who was suing the Trump administration over Trump University.

Alison Gill (24:09)

Well, yeah, she didn't ever press criminal charges. Yeah, yeah, but that, you know, that's investing. I have, I have two, I have two lawsuits against this administration now. Neither of my firms give a. They're like Trump, I don't care. So, yeah, anyway, gross capitulation.

Dana Goldberg (24:26)

Thanks, ag. Well, thank God we've got some good news from Reuters. Donald Trump's presidential administration, in court filings, has for the first time acknowledged that IT fired nearly 25,000 recently hired workers and said agencies were working to bring them all back after a judge ruled that their terminations were likely illegal. The filings, made in Baltimore's federal courthouse late Monday, include statements from officials at 18 agencies, all of whom said the reinstated probationary workers were being placed on administrative leave, at least temporarily. The mass firings. And we know this is part of Trump's broader purge of the federal workforce and it was carried out by the so called Doge dudes. And we know it's being led by Elon Musk. They were widely reported. But the court filings are the first full accounting of the terminations by the administration. The Trump administration has appealed Bradar's decision and on Monday asked an appeals court based in Richmond, Virginia to pause the rule in pending the outcome of the case. Hours before Bradar issued his Ruling, a federal judge in San Francisco had ordered the probationary workers be reinstated at six agencies, including five also covered by Braider's order and the U.S. defense Department. The administration has also appealed that decision. In the filings late Monday, agency officials said that they have either reinstated all of the fired employees or were working to do so, but warned that bringing back large numbers of workers had imposed significant burdens and caused confusion and turmoil.

Liz Winstead (26:00)

Really?

Dana Goldberg (26:00)

You fucking think? Of course it has. The officials also noted that an appeals court ruling reversed Braider's order that would allow agencies to again fire the workers, subjecting them to multiple changes in their employment status in just a matter of weeks. This is awful for these people that are sitting there like they don't know if they have a job. They don't know if they're going back. There's so much right now that's in chaos, and I quote, the tremendous uncertainty associated with this confusion and these administrative burdens impede supervisors from appropriately managing their workforce. Exactly. This is Mark Green, by the way. He's the Deputy Assistant secretary at the U.S. department of Interior.

Alison Gill (26:38)

But firing 25,000 people doesn't cause any chaos, right?

Dana Goldberg (26:41)

Not at all. And I quote, work schedules and assignments are effectively being tied to hearing and briefing schedules set by the courts now.

Alison Gill (26:48)

Fucking major bed, dude.

Dana Goldberg (26:49)

Yeah. Brayder has scheduled a hearing for 26 March on whether to keep his ruling in place pending the outcome of the lawsuit, which could take months or longer to resolve. This is just. It's just. It's a disaster.

Alison Gill (27:03)

I think he'll keep his ruling in place.

Dana Goldberg (27:04)

Yeah.

Alison Gill (27:05)

And I think that's what they're sort of waiting for. I think that the Trump administration is bringing them all back on admin leave instead of back into the office and back into work so that they don't have to give them, you know, like, laptops and. And badges and all that stuff to see if they're going to eventually win their lawsuit and be able to fire them. So I think the administrative leave is their temporary. You know, we'll pay you while we wait, basically. All right, everybody, it's time for some good trouble. What are you guys doing? All right, everybody, your mission, should you choose to accept it. We know Donald Trump and Elon Musk think this country belongs to them. They're taking everything they can, and they're taking everything they can get their hands on. Like, they are just scraping it all up for themselves and their rich pals, and they're daring the world to stop them. On Saturday, April 5, we are taking to the streets nationwide to fight back with a clear message. Hands off. This is the April 5th hands off rally. You've been seeing massive nationwide protest move on. Indivisible. Like all the big groups are in on it. For more information on a rally near you, there's a big one in D.C. obviously, but you can do this in. It's like part of the 50:51. One day, 50 states, 50 protests. And you can get all the information on your closest1@handsoff2025.com so that's a big one. So everybody will see you out there. We have another I want to share that Time magazine story with you and then we'll get to the good news. But we have to take a quick break, so stick around. We'll be right back. Hey everybody. Deleteme makes it easy, quick and safe to remove your personal data online at a time when surveillance and data breaches are common enough, everyone vulnerable. As someone with an active online presence, you could say privacy is really important to me. 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So if you've ever been a victim of these issues or you just want to take control of your online privacy, delete me is the solution. Your privacy is worth protecting. So is your families. And Delete Me makes it simple. So take control of your data and keep your private life private by signing up for Delete Me now at a special discount for listeners. 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 your plan is to go to JoinDeleteMe.com DailyBeans and enter code DAILYBEANS at checkout JoinDeleteMe.com DailyBEANS code DAILYBEANS. You'll be glad you did. Hey everybody, welcome back. This weekend, Philip Holsinger, a photojournalist embedded in El Salvador, took us inside seacot for Time magazine. Seacot is the Salvadorian prison camp that our tax money is helping to pay for, where the Trump regime is illegally sending alleged gang members without due process under the Alien Enemies Act. And here is the piece in Time magazine and Content Warning. It gets pretty harrowing in this story, especially if you're going to click on the link in the show Notes to look at the pictures from Philip Polsing, our photojournalist on the night of Saturday, March 15, three planes touched down in El Salvador carrying 261 men deported from the United States. A few dozen were Salvadoran, but most of the men were Venezuelans, like the Trump administration had designated as gang members and deported with little or no due process. I was there to document their arrival. For more than a year, I've been embedded through El Salvador society, working on a book chronicling the country's transformation from the huts of remote island fishermen to the desk of the president, from elite homicide detective units to elementary school classrooms. I've interviewed government officials and everyday people, collecting stories that would shock Stephen King. I've stood in classrooms full of happy students, which not long ago were empty because children here once learned early that schools were places to be raped or recruited. I've interviewed killers in prison and sat with them face to face. And as I stood on the tarmac, an agent with the U.S. department of Homeland Security's ICE Special Response Team told me that some of the Venezuelans had weakly attempted to take over the plane upon landing. It wasn't unusual for detainees to try to make a last stand, the agent said, guarding the doorway to the plane at the top of the gangway stairs. They began to try to organize to overthrow the plane by screaming for everyone to stand up and fight. But not everyone was on board, the agent said, cautioning me to be careful because some of the Venezuelans would fight once they were offloaded. Even if not fighting, almost all the detainees came to the door of the plane with angry and defiant faces. It was their faces that grabbed me, because within a few hours those faces would completely transform. The Venezuelans emerging from their plane were not in prison clothes but in designer jeans and branded tracksuits. Their faces were the faces of guys who in no way expected what they first saw an ocean of soldiers and police, an entire army assembled to apprehend them. One of the alleged organizers of the attempted overthrow fought the US agents on the plane, cursing the Americans, the Salvadorans, President Bukele himself. El Salvador's minister of defense, Renee Marino, who had been standing on the tarmac at the bottom of the gangway, rushed aboard and dragged the guy to the gangway himself and flung him into the waiting hands of black masked guards. The transfer from the plane to the buses that would carry them to prison was rapid. Yet it might as well have been the crossing of an ancient continent. I felt the detainees fear as they marched through the gauntlet of black clad guards, guns raised like spears from some terrible tribe. I walked the line of buses waiting to depart, photographing faces. A guard noticed one of the detainees turn toward the window and wrenched his head back down into his chest. Around 2am the convoy of 22 buses, flanked by armored vehicles and police, moved out of the airport. Soldiers and Police lined the 25 mile route to the prison with thick patrols at every bridge and intersection. For the few Salvadorans, it was a familiar landscape. But for a Venezuelan plucked from America, it must have appeared dystopian. Police and soldiers for miles and miles in woodland darkness. The Terrorism Confinement center, a notorious maximum security prison known as secoted, sits in an old farm field at the foot of an ancient volcano, brightly lit against the night sky. I've spent considerable time there and I know the place intimately. As we entered the intake yard, the head of the prisons was giving orders to an assembly of hundreds of guards. Hundreds, he told them the Venezuelans had tried to overthrow the plane. So the guards must be extremely vigilant. He told them plainly. Show them they are not in control. The intake began with slaps. One young man sobbed when a guard pushed him to the floor. He said, I'm not a gang member. I'm gay. I'm a barber. I believed him, but maybe it's only because he didn't look like what I had expected. He wasn't a tattooed monster. The men were pulled from the buses so fast the guards couldn't keep pace. Chained at their ankles and wrists, they stumbled and fell, some guards falling to the ground with them. With each fall came a kick, a slap, a shovel. The guards grabbed necks and pushed bodies into the sides of buses as they forced the detainees forward. There was no blood, but the violence had rhythm, like the threat of fear. Inside the intake room, a sea of trustees descended on the men with electric shavers, stripping heads of hair with haste. The guy who claimed to be a barber began to whimper, folding his hands in prayer. As his hair fell, he was slapped. The man asked for his mother and then buried his face in his chained hands and cried as he was slapped again. After being shaved, the detainees were stripped naked. Most of them began to whimper. Their hard faces that I saw on the plane evaporated. It was like looking at men who passed through a time machine. In two hours, they aged 10 years. Their nice clothes were not gathered or cataloged, but simply thrust into black garbage bags and thrown out. With their hair, they entered their cold cells, 80 men per cell, with steel planks for bunks. No mats, no sheets, no pillow, no television, no books, no talking, no phone calls, no visitors. For these Venezuelans, it was not just a prison they had arrived at. It was exile to another world. A place so cold and far from home they may as well have been sent into space, nameless and forgotten. Holding my camera, it was as if I watched them become ghosts. Everybody, you can see these photos, the link in the show notes and read the piece at time. I've shared it on my Blue sky account. Everybody, stick around. We'll be right back with Liz Winstead from Feminist Buzz Kills. Hey, everybody. Welcome back. As promised, I'm so happy today to be joined by my good friend who I haven't seen in a very long time. I think the last time we saw each other was at maybe Grass or Netroots, maybe. I can't. I can't quite remember. But anyway. She hosts the Feminist Buzz Kills podcast on the MSW Media Network. She's co creator of the Daily show and founder of Abortion Access Front. Please welcome Liz Winstead. Liz, what's up, Al?

Liz Winstead (36:38)

It's great to see you and talk to you. I know. I realized, as you said, that we have not communicated since the election and. Or the inauguration of this new president. And man, we're in a place, huh?

Alison Gill (36:54)

We are in a place. I've been meaning to reach out and see. See, to see how every, like, I have a list of a million people I need to just reach out to and be like you. Okay. I mean.

Liz Winstead (37:04)

Right.

Alison Gill (37:04)

Within reason. But. But, you know. Yeah, I think the last time I communicated with you, I was like, we were doing a You going to Minneapolis, me going to Brooklyn Sitch. And we, you know, we had a great time, by the way, in. In Brooklyn. Thank you for. For inviting us. So let's talk a little bit about what's going on because right now in, you know, it's. It's a Fire hose of shit. There's flooding zone with shit on purpose so that we miss certain things. We can't possibly talk about certain things. And that's why it's so important to have focused resistance and focused opposition. And your focus is abortion rights and reproductive rights. So let's talk a little bit about what's going on in the news that may be flying under the radar.

Liz Winstead (37:48)

I mean, there's so much, you know, between what can actually happen with. The thing that I think people need to be targeted in on is really what the Department of Health and Human Services can do to Abortion Access. Because that piece is it means looking at and rolling back possibly approval of mifepristone. Right. And we know that RFK is susceptible to any goon squad conspiracy theory that comes down his path. And what the anti abortion movement is trying to do with mifepristone is say that it is contaminating our water. So not only are they maybe going to come at it from the HHS front, but they'll come at it from the EPA front. And it's like, you know what else is polluting our water? Poop. We poop in our water. Like, there are things called filtration. Stop acting like we don't filter our water. So that's something to look at. And we have our first Supreme Court case in this new administration happening April 1st or April 2nd. It's called Medina v. Planned Parenthood. The state of South Carolina has decided that they want to dictate if you get Medicaid dollars, the healthcare providers that you choose for those Medicaid dollars. And they think that because Planned Parenthood provides abortion, by the way, not in South Carolina, and federal funding can't pay for abortion, but because they do provide abortion, they don't want you to be able to spend your Medicaid dollars to get your pap smears or your wellness visits at Planned Parenthood, because they don't like Planned Parenthood. And if the Supreme Court rules that states and governments can decide how you choose your healthcare provider, that could very well mean that they could say, if you're poor, you have to go to this place that we dictate to you. And that place might lecture you with religious doctrine. That place might not provide you with your healthcare options that should be available to you because they have a moral objection to them. It's a whole house of cards that we need to look at. And that case is, like I said April 2nd, we at Abortion Access Front and the FBK crew are gonna a be down at SCOTUS causing a ruckus outside. And B, we're also gonna be doing some actions within the Capitol because we kind of want to hold people accountable at this point. Co signing on Medicaid dollars to be cut. You know, we're going to go talk to some Democrats and also some Republicans in a way that is funny, also provocative. And I don't want to tell you what it is because they're going to be looking out for us to try to stop it. So come join us on Sunday. It's going to be really fun. And you know, we just have to resist publicly in every way we can.

Alison Gill (40:43)

When is that?

Liz Winstead (40:44)

That will be April 2nd during the oral arguments and shortly before the oral arguments. So come join us outside SCOTUS for the oral arguments. If I can send you a link to where people can sign up to put in your show notes because I think that will be. It'll be really crucial to get as many people down there as we can to let them know that there is. It's not okay. It's not okay.

Alison Gill (41:08)

Yeah. And no, you can double this up with if you're gonna. If you're planning on being in D.C. on April 5th for the hands off rally, come a few and join feminist buzz kills at SCOTUS to exactly. To protest this. You could get a good twofer in there. Get your steps in and make your voices heard.

Liz Winstead (41:27)

And the threefer, I can give you a threefer because also we're also doing our podcast live on April 3rd in D.C. at the Black Cat. We're teaming up with the legal podcast Boom Lawyer who do SCOTUS legal stuff. And it's going to be this sort of like four headed hydra who are going to be talking about that case and what it means and then the general state of abortion access in a really fun, accessible way. And then we'll give you all kinds of actions to take. But you know, I feel like we need to, you included us. We just need to be out there doing our podcast live and in front of people and meeting our fans and people to be able to answer questions and to really anytime you're gathering people together to have conversation, it makes you feel better. You look around you and you see like minded people. It makes you feel like, oh wait, there are people who think like me. There are other people who have skin in the game and these are people that I want to fight with. And I think every time that we make appointment viewing to see people to give us information, it's going to be crucial. Look at these town halls. Think of a town hall that's fun and that you can like, ask questions, you can listen, you can learn, and then you can take action. So that's gonna be really fun. At the Black Cat on April 3rd.

Alison Gill (42:42)

There you go. Now we have a three for April 2nd, SCOTUS Black Cat, April 3rd and hands off April 5th.

Liz Winstead (42:48)

That's right.

Alison Gill (42:49)

That's wonderful. Now let's talk a little bit about you. And I had spoken a little bit offline about this. The mother of all bills, the mother of all abortion bills in Texas coming up obviously through the fifth circuit, probably right.

Liz Winstead (43:02)

It will end up there for sure. So what's happened? There's been two pieces of important news coming out of Texas this week. I mean, I know you're like, wait, it's a day that ends and why. So there's an anti abortion thing happening in Texas. But you know, Ken Paxton, who just has not met a vagina he doesn't want to invade, or an immigrant he doesn't want to like harm has sort of combined two assaults on an immigrant midwife who is a regist, she's a, you know, registered ob GYN in Peru and she has been treating immigrant populations for with reproductive care. They have accused her and two of her colleagues with giving abortion medication to patients. We don't know if it's true. I highly tell your listeners, listen to nothing Ken Paxton does because all he does is hunt people down. And he hunts down like the boyfriends and husbands of people who've had abortions to see if they're aggrieved so that they can press charges. You know, we've seen him hunt down immigrants, we've seen him hunt down trans families.

Alison Gill (44:08)

He's hunting down everyone but the rapists 100%.

Liz Winstead (44:11)

Well, you know, I believe that Greg Abbott said that they were going to eradicate rape in Texas.

Alison Gill (44:16)

Oh yeah, that's gone, right?

Liz Winstead (44:18)

Yeah, pretty much done. No more raping. So that feels great. So walk around naked in Texas, feel safe. So. But they were arrested a couple weeks ago and the PR didn't hit on this story until the same day that they dropped this mother of all abortion bills. So I think that this was a smoke and mirrors so that people wouldn't notice this bill. And what this bill does, it is a 43 page bill that starts with basically, if you think of a form of technology they want to ban how you access information to abortion or abortion medication itself through the Internet. And part of it is like, do you think there's Internet for Texas and then different Internet for.

Alison Gill (45:07)

This is going to be my question. Like how can you block abortion searches in Texas but keep them going in California on Google?

Liz Winstead (45:13)

Look, I think you can't. I'm no technologist, but I'm just going to say it seems like a scam. Part of it is just the chilling effect. Right. Like everything else. And trying to, and, and then, you know, trying to have people have to lawyer up. Having, for example, you know, it's like they want to prosecute if, if you. Let's say I wanted to pay for your abortion and lend you money. I couldn't do it through Zelle, I couldn't do it through PayPal, I couldn't do through Venmo. They want to prosecute me being able to lend you money and then also prosecute the companies if they knowingly allowed me to lend you money for your abortion. Right. They want to prosecute not only activist organizations like mine, Abortion Access Front or activist organizations like Plan C Pills, which is a sort of hub for all kinds of informations of how to get medication, abortion pills online, where you can talk, get legal advice about it, all that stuff. The funds that fund abortion, the funds that fund your travel for abortion and then the platforms that allow it to happen. And that can be anything from obviously like Instagram and Facebook and all of the social media platforms which already make it terrible. We can't even buy ads and take out ads for our work because we have the name abortion in our name and because we advocate for it. And they also, you know, shadow ban our content. But it also means WordPress Squarespace.

Alison Gill (46:42)

Oh yeah, right.

Liz Winstead (46:44)

It also means stripe Canva, Stripe. You know, like if you want to make a board, you know, so they're trying to. And it bedded empowers how they phrase it and I'm air quoting all over the place, fathers of babies. It empowers them to prosecute any partner who's decided to have an abortion. So it empowers men to have ownership over us as property and chattel. It literally sets. And that's just part of it. Then it goes on and on and on to where they really want to. Up there trying to extradite physicians who are providing care from states where abortion is legal. You can send pills through the mail. And if a doctor wants to have a telemedicine visit and that doctor is in New York, it's very legal for that doctor to have a telemedicine visit. And if that doctor wants to mail pills to someone in Texas, it's not incumbent upon the doctor to whether or not the person they send the pills to takes them or not the doctor's legal to do that. It's whether or not the person does it. Right. And so they want to really make sure they can punish those doctors. Texas is already suing a New York doctor, as is the state of Louisiana, for actually providing abortion care across state lines. That's going to go to the Supreme Court for sure. Look for that. So as this bill is introduced and gets passed, you know, it'll be interesting to see how many of these technology companies or how many of these or how many of these financial companies will say, this just isn't worth the hassle. And I think that's always the fear. We're watching capitulation happen constantly, from the largest law firms in the world to the largest media companies in the world to, you know, npr, everybody bending these knees on DEI and everything else. It's something that we should all be thinking about and worried about.

Alison Gill (48:37)

And.

Liz Winstead (48:38)

And I'm so glad to be able to talk to you because as you said, this fire hose of terrible news is all on purpose because so much stuff is coming at us. And the assault on reproductive rights and abortion care is something that just often doesn't make it into newscasts or into any kind of reporting because there's so much other stuff to talk about. So. So that's why, again, our podcast is also really important, because every Friday, we drop you all the news that keeps you informed, and we don't just fill your head full of doom. We also give you the good stories and we also give you something to do, which I think is really crucial.

Alison Gill (49:19)

It is. People for a long time were like, what do I do? What do I do? You know, right after the election, we were all sort of adrift. Our path hadn't really become clear. We were just kind of focusing in on our lane and seeing moving forward. And now we're starting to see some leadership emerge in the Democratic Party. We're starting to see, like, this shift that you were talking about with earlier in the show. Dana was talking about Governor Pritzker bringing this up at the latest HRC gala, that there's a shift, right? People are starting to get really upset and angry. And I noticed that aoc, on her tour with Bernie, is tying reproductive freedom to freedom of speech and to, you know, freedom from this particular set of oligarchs, not just in the White House, but in the Supreme Court as well. So I think that all of that, bringing all that messaging together, finding this path, you Know, finding our way through it together, I think is the most important part of this. And so that's why I'm so glad that you are focused on reproductive health, because it has to be that, like, when I did the whole Mueller thing, I was like, there's nobody that's just focused on the Mueller investigation. We should do that. And it truly, like when you're putting a dissertation together, it's like, narrow it down, narrow it down, narrow it down. Find your niche, your niche and move forward in it. And so you're doing incredible work there. Can you tell everybody, again, these events where to find you and follow you all and where to listen?

Liz Winstead (50:49)

Absolutely. So the immediate if you wanted to take some direct action with us, come to DC. We'll be the steps in the Supreme Court on April 2nd for the oral arguments of Medina v. Planned Parenthood. You can get some good trouble with us out there. We're doing our podcast live on 3rd April at the Black Cat in DC, which is in Logan's Circle. You can find it if you just Google the Black Cat or you can get tickets@aafront.org tickets and then if you want to just get into some activism. The one thing that we're really helping people focus on right now is kind of heart to heart activism, which what we mean by that is something that you profoundly, if you care profoundly about patients and what's happening to providers. All of our activism is based around how you can give back. So making aftercare packages for patients who may not have anyone supporting them, looking outside the clinic, still providing care who are overwhelmed, being able to send their staff lunches, any kind of Starbucks or gift certificate for coffee. You know, watching out for people so they can help sustain in doing this work. So just go to aavrent.org volunteer and you can volunteer with us. We help you get together. If your friends want to do something, we'll guide you through whatever you need. Because sometimes taking in this information is just too much and you need a break, but you can't take a break from caring. So we can provide that other piece for you if you want to get the information in a way that is like, like, you know, I can only take in a little at a time, take in that information a little at a time. But know that you can do the activism without having to assault yourself with things that make you feel hopeless.

Alison Gill (52:28)

Yeah, agreed. And that come that those little acts come back to you tenfold. I swear to God, it, it makes it, your skin is brighter, your hair grows faster, it's like you're. It's like vitamins for your soul. I. I can't explain it any other way.

Liz Winstead (52:42)

And you get to be with people who are caring. And you can have conversations about feeling scared and vulnerable while also doing something impactful for the people who are most. Who are the most exposed to all of this horrible stuff. And that's why, again, our podcast, Feminist buzzcales, if you're not listening, please subscribe because we give you all the information around reproductive health rights, injustice, and abortion access in a way nobody else does. Every Friday.

Alison Gill (53:09)

Yeah, absolutely. And that's the power of community, is the feeling that you're not alone. Once you know you're not alone, you can't be gaslit.

Liz Winstead (53:16)

It.

Alison Gill (53:16)

You can't have the wool pulled over your eyes. Fool me once, shame on me. Fool me well, you just can't fool me twice.

Liz Winstead (53:23)

That's right.

Dana Goldberg (53:24)

That's right.

Alison Gill (53:26)

The good old days of the good.

Liz Winstead (53:28)

Old George W. Bush.

Alison Gill (53:30)

Doing the best, dodging shoes and taking names. Anyway, thank you so much. It's great to see you as always, Al.

Liz Winstead (53:36)

So good to see you. And thank you for all the work you're doing. People are so much smarter because you're in the world.

Alison Gill (53:41)

Same with you. And we're gonna have to, like, meet up in one of my favorite cities of all time, Minneapolis. We'll coordinate because I know you're a Hennepin county girl.

Liz Winstead (53:50)

You got a place to stay?

Alison Gill (53:52)

Yes. Let's do it. We should do some sort of a live event. I know. We're. I'm thinking of doing a gala for patrons. We like to meet up. We used to do it in D.C. all the time. I have no reason to go to D.C. you know, unless I'm gonna go, you know, boots on the ground, protest.

Liz Winstead (54:11)

But.

Alison Gill (54:11)

But we should. We should talk about that. And I look forward to digging in and doing.

Liz Winstead (54:16)

I would be very much. Let's do it for sure. All right. Enjoy your Sunday, and thanks so much for having me on. Hope to see everybody in D.C. we'll.

Alison Gill (54:24)

See you there, everybody. Stick around. We'll be right back with the good news, everybody. Welcome back. It's time for the good news, everyone. Then, good news, everyone. And if you have any good news you want to send us, if you have a confession that you want to make. We used to do quarantine confessions. Those were thinking back to the days of 2020. I can't believe it's been five years.

Dana Goldberg (55:00)

Oh, my God.

Alison Gill (55:01)

Yeah, I know, right? So if you confessions, corrections, if you want to pronounce correct any of our pronunciations, which we get wrong quite a bit.

Dana Goldberg (55:08)

Bit.

Alison Gill (55:09)

Send that to us. Any shout outs you want to give to a loved one or yourself or a family member or a government program that's helped you or a loved one, whether it's Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, Affordable Care Act, WIC, SNAP, Section 8. Some great VA health care that you've received. Maybe you signed up under the PACT act for the burn pit stuff. Would love to hear about that. And student debt relief. Send it all to us dailybeanspod.com click on contact all you got to do to get your submission in and right on the air is to pay your POD pet tax, which means attach a photo of your pet. If you don't have a pet, send an adoptable pet in your area. We'll see if we can find them a home. If you don't have that, any animal photo will do. We really love otters and frogs right now for some reason.

Dana Goldberg (55:48)

Always. And pandas. I forgot to tell people that you don't understand. I love them. They're like drunk humans in panda costumes. It's the best thing I've ever seen.

Alison Gill (55:56)

See, I'm a red pan. I'm Team Red Panda.

Dana Goldberg (55:58)

Oh, those are fun too.

Alison Gill (55:59)

I'm kind of tired of the black and white media whores getting all the attention.

Dana Goldberg (56:02)

How dare you. How dare you, everyone. This is my last episode. We had a good run. We had a good run.

Alison Gill (56:10)

You're Team Black and White. I'm Team Red. We're going to duke it out like Rock of Sock. And robots.

Dana Goldberg (56:16)

They're the best.

Alison Gill (56:17)

And if you don't have any animal photos, you could also just attach a baby picture. You should just send those anyway, even if you don't have any good news. We just want to see all the cute babies. All right, again, Dailybeanspot.com click on contact first up from Sarah in Maryland. Pronouns she and her hello ladies of the beans, I have some good trouble for you. A couple of previous submissions mentioned the hands off marches on April 5th, but I'd like to provide more details. I was just on an organizing zoom call for the hands off marches and they're happening all over the country on April 5th with the main one in DC. The organized call had over 3400 people on it, with over 400 marches planned so far across the country. There are over 70 groups partnering to organize these marches, including Indivisible 50:51, Move On American Democracy Task Force, Color of Change banned the Human Rights Campaign, Waving At Dana, the marches are to tell Trump and Musk, who I prefer to call the Orange Turd and Melon Husk and whom seem to think they own the government, that it does not belong to them. It belongs to us, we, the people, we pay for it. And to keep their hands off what is rightfully ours, I attended the Women's March in Washington D.C. the day after the Trump first Trump inauguration. Not only was it fun, but it's very empowering and energizing to be with thousands of other like minded people. It's exactly the kind of community and psychological support we can use these days. So for pot pet tax, I present my sister's dogs, my niece Gemma, my nephew Jackson. They're both pure Chihuahuas. Gemma, I call her Gemma. Jam is about 11 pounds and about 9 years old. Her younger brother Jackson is the one with the ears. He's a year old and he's maxed out at only half the size of his quote unquote big sister. Oh, my God, like five and a half pounds. That's a tiny dog. Love you ladies. Dana, maybe we'll see you in D.C. on April 5th, representing HRC. Question mark, question mark.

Dana Goldberg (58:06)

I would love to say. You would, but I will be getting off a Cruise ship with 2,600 LGBTQ women in the Caribbean after doing a lot of comedy, and I'm landing in Fort Lauderdale and I will not be able to make it to D.C. but please, March, be safe and represent.

Alison Gill (58:22)

Yes. And you know, if you're able. Right. I know not everyone's able to get out there and march. And we support our government in other ways. So just wanted to say that, my friend.

Dana Goldberg (58:33)

This one's from Dan. Pronouns, he and him. I could not make it to the 3:21 happy hour, so I submit the following. A burbling photo of my grandson. He's almost six months old. March 23rd, he will be six months. And a parody song I crafted based off the old tune, what Shall we do with a Drunken Sailor. And a shorter one based on Old McDonald's. So here we go. There was Old Donald. It's called Old Dom Dom. Old Dumb Donald. And I know parts of Drunken Sailor, but I'm not sure the tune on this.

Alison Gill (59:05)

Well, this is Old MacDonald.

Dana Goldberg (59:07)

Oh, there we go.

Alison Gill (59:07)

I know that was a POTUS who had a chum. Elon Elon.

Dana Goldberg (59:11)

Oh, right, got it. And with his chum, he broke the law.

Alison Gill (59:14)

Elon Elon.

Dana Goldberg (59:15)

Oh, Constitutional violations. Constitutional violation. There here, violation. Here violation. There was a president who had a chum Elon. Elon.

Alison Gill (59:25)

Oh, nice. Yes.

Dana Goldberg (59:27)

Dan. By the way, just a little note. We're gonna save drunken sailor SecDef song for later this week so you will hear it. We're just gonna spread the joy.

Alison Gill (59:35)

Yeah. Which would be. What do you do with a drunken sec def. What do you do with a drunken seft SecDef? What do you do with a drunken secdef early in the morning?

Dana Goldberg (59:45)

Nice. My friend this baby.

Alison Gill (59:48)

Look at the gurgly burblies.

Dana Goldberg (59:50)

Look at the hair on this child.

Alison Gill (59:52)

Man. That's a lot of black hair that like. I see that and I think heartburn. Like for my friend who carried a baby with a lot of hair. I guess the more hair really you get more heartburn. Could be an old wife's tale. I don't know. I only have the cats. I just and heartburn separately. They aren't connected.

Dana Goldberg (60:09)

I know a lot of bald babies that parents had a heartburn while they were going through pregnancy, so I'm not sure about that one.

Alison Gill (60:16)

I was born with whole lots of black hair and then it all fell out and then it came in like blonde, like toe head blonde.

Dana Goldberg (60:21)

Oh my God. I was actually a little blondie for like the first four years and then it got dark.

Alison Gill (60:27)

Yeah. I don't understand.

Dana Goldberg (60:28)

Biology's fascinating.

Alison Gill (60:30)

Yeah. In how come I was born with black hair and then it all fell out and turned blonde but there.

Dana Goldberg (60:34)

I'm sure someone listening has an answer about why babies are born with certain color hair and how it changes.

Alison Gill (60:39)

Yeah, probably. Next up, M pronoun. She and her bean venitos. Haha. Nice. I have some delayed but much needed good news. After spending the past two decades without I have home Internet. Thanks to the federal broadband expansion program, I can now listen to the daily beans daily. Whereas before it was hard to even keep up with cleanup on L45. It also means that I no longer have to ride my bike or my horse through heat, cold and pouring rain to take my own podcast, a Grain of Salticidae, to the local library to be uploaded. Around the same time I got the Internet. By the way, we'll have a link to that podcast in the show notes for you. Around the same time I got the Internet, I also went to Germany to meet a woman I've been writing to for the past 26 years, but never met. It all started when my high school English teacher participated in a teacher exchange program and I asked if she would give my address to someone who wanted to be a pen pal. I've never been overseas before and I never Thought I would get the chance, but it was incredible. Unforgettable trip. For pet tax, I'm sending horses. This one's only for you. Since the human in the photo is not me. Me. The spotted one. Oh, there's. This one is. Oh yeah. Okay. Because the human is not me. The spotted one. Kitty is the one I ride to the library. This is incredible. I was one of the group sent to rescue her after she was thrown off a cliff and left for dead. She has hind end weakness, trauma induced narcolepsy, and residual lung damage from the large number of abuses that she suffered. The cliff was not her only incident. Part of her story is in episode one of my podcasts, written long before I knew she would become mine. As long as she exercised, she does well. She is only one breed. If you'd like to guess the answer's at the end. I'm also sending a collage of my 16 or more years old dove. 16 year old dove that she's had.

Dana Goldberg (62:25)

Wow.

Alison Gill (62:26)

Who she's had for 15 years. Investigating the first of several turtles to return after I acquired the property and began replanting native vegetation. There were no turtles for the first 4 1/2 years. More than 50 other species, birds, mammals, reptiles, invertebrates, etc have all returned since I began. What the hell is in that shell? Is that a little. A little? I don't know, but I. I call this a Laverne and Shirley turtle because that's what I had when I was younger.

Dana Goldberg (62:53)

That's hysterical. I. The only thing I know is like box turtles, so I'm going with that.

Alison Gill (62:57)

Is that a pinto?

Dana Goldberg (62:59)

The horse?

Alison Gill (63:02)

Yeah. So fox turtle and a pinto. Let's see. Kitty is a Missouri fox trotter.

Dana Goldberg (63:07)

Oh, well, there you have it.

Alison Gill (63:08)

I am. I feel very like a pinto.

Dana Goldberg (63:12)

Yo, we got a turtle, right?

Alison Gill (63:14)

Oh my God. Three toed box turtle. Look at that. I am now two for two on turtles. We've only had the red eared slider and the box.

Dana Goldberg (63:22)

Oh my God. Well done, my friend. I also love this submission so much because of all like, I just am fascinated how different people live around this world and what they are.

Alison Gill (63:30)

You ride your horse to the library.

Dana Goldberg (63:31)

I know the beginning of this was like this admission comes to you from 1864 and then by the time we were done, we were like in 2025. I love this so much.

Alison Gill (63:40)

It's wonderful.

Dana Goldberg (63:41)

Thank you so, so much. All right, this one's from anonymous. Pronouns she and her. I am loving daily beans. And I'm shocked it took me this long to find you. Thank you for making my morning so much better. I feel the tide turning, don't you? More and more people are organizing, protesting and speaking out. And I'll tell you what, when I talked to Pritzker backstage, he said the same thing. There's a lot of grassroots changes that are happening and people are fucking organizing. This Anonymous submission says I'm sharing a picture of my hot husband and our aging and grouchy English mastiff, Roxanne, which is a great name, who thinks he's her husband and I'm the other woman.

Alison Gill (64:17)

I thought I sensed a little jealousy.

Dana Goldberg (64:19)

That was awesome. Little side Eye. She goes by Roxy, Rocky Rocks, Marack, Obama Rock, A Lock, A Ding Dong, and a hundred other names. She answers to all or none, depending on her mood.

Alison Gill (64:33)

Same.

Dana Goldberg (64:33)

My good news is that on Tuesday, March 25, my novel Blood of the Spellcaster releases. It's the final book of four in the Portal series where women are their own heroes and they are always triumph in the end.

Alison Gill (64:47)

Wonderful.

Dana Goldberg (64:48)

This is a great fucking picture. Anonymous I love this whole submission. This is awesome.

Alison Gill (64:53)

And the beautiful wherever you live, that's I'm jelly.

Dana Goldberg (64:57)

I know. I don't know if this is your property, but this garden is gorgeous.

Alison Gill (65:01)

Wonderful. Well, welcome. Glad you found us. Next up from Allison Pronoun, she and her hi Beans Queens. I'm a longtime listener who has been a patron subscriber since MSW episode 23 that was shortly after Shannon Woodward joined us on the on the podcast. I remember. I appreciate you both so much. I have some good news that I cannot believe I'm getting to share. My student loans were forgiven through the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program. I received my official letter from the Department of education on Wednesday, March 19, and Mohela cleared everything out on Friday, March 21. Huge, huge shout out to whoever the public servants were at the Department of Education who made this happen. After completing grad school in 06, I've only ever worked for nonprofits, so this was a long time coming. And it's a direct result of Biden's actions in 2021 to improve the program him. It's certainly a personal win, but it's bittersweet amid the broader destruction. The vast majority of my work in public service was a nonpartisan advocate for international peace building, atrocities prevention, civilian harm mitigation, and humanitarian aid. They don't even know what they're breaking, and they clearly don't care about the consequences. But the fight continues. Thanks for bringing laughter, hope and cursing amid all the news for my pod Pet tax. I'm sharing my two fur kids. The first is our current dog, Penny. She's a rescue mix, but we're told of her one of her breeds. She's obsessed with giving kisses and she's super amaz with our two young kids. The second is Spartacus. Spartacus, a purebred rescue dog. He has since crossed the rainbow bridge. But he was the silliest, goofiest, friendliest guy. Thanks for all you do. So Spartacus looks like a boxer to me.

Dana Goldberg (66:38)

I would think so.

Alison Gill (66:40)

And this first one, Penny, looks like maybe a Vizsla or a Ridge.

Dana Goldberg (66:45)

I was gonna say Ridgeback, but I don't know the other breed very well.

Alison Gill (66:49)

Look at this. Penny is a Vizsla mix. And I'll we and Spartacuses.

Dana Goldberg (66:54)

We got the hurdle. We've got both breeds. Allison's killing it today.

Alison Gill (66:58)

I missed the horse. I missed the Missouri box trot. Whatever. I was like pinto. I don't know. Thoroughbred.

Dana Goldberg (67:05)

Oh, my God. I can barely handle the photo we're ending on.

Alison Gill (67:08)

Oh. Oh, my God. Oh, my God. I'm so jealous you get this one.

Liz Winstead (67:12)

Oh.

Dana Goldberg (67:12)

This is from Tina Bronazi and her. I love your podcast. News today is depressing, but listening to the way you share it makes it a little easier to hear.

Alison Gill (67:20)

Thank you.

Dana Goldberg (67:20)

Living in a red state of Indiana is overwhelming and enraging. You two give me hope. My podbet text is little Enzo, who is scheduled.

Alison Gill (67:29)

Oh, no.

Dana Goldberg (67:30)

Who's scheduled for open heart surgery next week. Enzo, if you were listening, we are sending you all the love in the world because you're the cutest little muppet Muppet dog I've ever seen.

Alison Gill (67:39)

My God.

Dana Goldberg (67:39)

Yeah.

Alison Gill (67:39)

Prayers up if you do that. Otherwise, light a candle, do a thing, dance, sing to the dance, whatever it is you do. And send the positive vibes to little Enzo next week. Tina, thank you so much for sharing this little pupper. Adorable little Muppet. You're so right. And I gotta say that, you know, Penny and Spartacus are also adorable. As is Barack Obama.

Dana Goldberg (68:04)

Oh, my God. So good.

Alison Gill (68:06)

The horses, the box turtle, the 17 year old dove. I mean, oh, and I forgot the little Chihuahuas from the. From the April 5th hands off March person. And the gurgly baby. You guys are amazing.

Dana Goldberg (68:18)

Seriously, this good news block was a great way to start off the week. And we know it's gonna be a long one because they're all really, really long right now.

Alison Gill (68:26)

Yeah. Hang on to this, everybody. And thanks to Liz Winstead for joining me today. She's just a miracle of life. I fucking love her. And everybody will be back in your ears tomorrow. Until then, please take care of yourselves, take care of each other, take care care of the planet, take care of your mental health, take care of your framily. Did I miss anything?

Dana Goldberg (68:42)

I think you got it.

Alison Gill (68:43)

I think I got it. All right, everybody listen to the new unjustified. I've been AG and I've been DG 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 McFarlane with art and web design by Joelle Reader with Moxie Design Studios. Music for the Daily Beans is written and performed by they Might Be Giants and the show is a proud member of the MSW Media Network network, a collection of creator owned podcasts dedicated to news, politics and justice. For more information Please visit msw media.com msw media.