
After months of frustration, we’re finally seeing signs that the tide is turning. The No Kings protests completely overshadowed Trump’s sad excuse for a military parade, his approval rating is tanking, and he’s even starting to walk back his hardline immigration stance — proof that protest works. We also break down how Trump’s recklessness helped spark the current crisis with Iran and why he bears direct responsibility for the fallout. Trump’s on his heels, and for the first time in a long time, we’re driving the narrative. To close it out, in honor of Father’s Day, we each reflected on how our dads shaped the people we’ve become. It’s the kind of conversation men usually save for one day a year — but probably shouldn’t. All in all, this episode captures a rare feeling: things are shifting, and we might actually be getting somewhere.
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Tim
Hey, everybody, and welcome back to the Find out podcast. This week, no guests. You're just going to hear from the five of us. Because there is so much to talk about. We thought having a guest would actually just make it difficult to get through all the things. So we're going to dive in. We're recording this on Sunday night. You're seeing or listening to this on Tuesday. So we have now seen all of the no Kings rallies, slash, Trump's birthday, Kimmel, Kim Il, Jong, sort of private, like, army thing that happened where we could literally hear the squeaks of the tires because no one was there.
Zach
Yeah.
Tim
But I think, you know, some really exciting stuff we saw across the country from crowds opposing this administration. So let's just dive into it. Did anybody go to any of these? Luke, what did you see? Where were you? Where or where? What did you see?
Luke
I was in Iowa. So, you know, surrounded by shitters, but just corn.
Tim
Just.
Luke
It's always like. Because I went to the hands off one, too, in April, and it was. I bet the crossover was. It was 100 crossover plus about 50. It was easily bigger. And everybody had a sign. I mean, everybody. They were out there. And even when there weren't people that were actually doing it, there was cars that drove by that had Donald Trump literally shaking the windows. It was pretty awesome. And there really wasn't any, like, negativity. We had a couple people that, like, came up and were, like, flipping everybody off, and then the cops came over and like, get the out. So it was actually, like, it was cool. It was Iowa. So, like, not a super big show out, but, like, it's always cool to be in a community and see, like, oh, hell yeah. Here's, you know, 4,000 people that feel how I feel.
Rich
Right.
Luke
And when you're dealing with a smaller town, they, like, 4,000 people is a fuckload of people.
Tim
Yeah.
Rich
Yeah. It's like, I'm not alone. Even in red states when you're just.
Luke
Exactly.
Rich
Thank God I'm not alone. Yeah. What was the best sign you guys saw? Curious.
Luke
Like, you guys, I had a picture.
Tim
I saw so many good ones on Social.
Zach
Like, there's so many good ones.
Rich
The one I posted was from a friend was, when is Obama coming back? The new babysitter is weird.
Luke
I prefer crushed ice. That one was my favorite. I like that one a lot.
Rich
That's good.
Zach
That's a good one, too.
Tim
Well, it looks. The estimates that I have seen are somewhere in the over 11 million range. And I believe it because in my hometown of Bath, maine, which has 9,000 people. My mom doesn't live there anymore, but was there visiting and sent me a photo, and they said that they had about 2200 people, which is what, 25, 30% of the entire population of that town. And, you know, we saw huge crowd. Seattle. The photos were incredible. Boston, Chicago, too. Chicago, New York was actually. And I tell you, I live in New York, and it was pouring all day yesterday, and there were still massive crowds. And I think, you know, obviously this shows that people just don't like what's happening. And, you know, the. Especially, I think with the stuff that's happening in Los Angeles, where not only are undocumented folks being rounded up, but American citizens, too, because they're just grabbing people. And it turns out Americans don't like this shit.
Zach
Shocker. Really surprising.
Chris
So did you guys know that the. The first person that was detained by the Marines who got deployed to Los Angeles was a US army veteran who.
Rich
Was on his way to the va, right?
Chris
Yes, he was the. The first person who got stopped and detained by US Marines was an army veteran trying to get to the va and that is just so emblematic of everything that Trump is doing to. To my community, to the military.
Tim
Veter.
Chris
It's like trying to turn us against each other, on each other, you know, slash our benefits, use other veterans to justify cutting those benefits. And to see it manifest so poetically is. Is just like, it couldn't be, you know, hitting it on the nose any. Any closer.
Rich
It's emblematic of everything he's doing to everybody all of the time. It's like, I am looking for a problem, and so let's just create fake solutions everywhere and whoops, my solutions created more problems and hurt real people in the process. Meanwhile, you're looking around going, nothing was ever wrong. And then he undoes everything and says, hey, guys, everything's better now. Look at how I won.
Luke
Yeah. And chuckle, fucks, cheer. It's like. It's like if an arsonist comes back with the firefighters and everybody's like, oh, great. Fuck you, you idiots. It's not that hard to pay att to like, it's just not.
Rich
Pulls on the firefighter suit and comes.
Luke
Back, dude's like, tossing the burnt matches out of his pockets as he's doing it.
Zach
I mean, the good thing is this is working because Trump pushed back.
Chris
He.
Zach
He just. No more farms, no more hospitality like this. He's like, he's hearing us, and it's like, you know, that. That is, I don't know, victory I. You don't think he is.
Chris
I, I feel like he might be hearing his donors because, like, those are corporate interests. We're not talking about mom and pop. We're talking about.
Zach
Right.
Chris
You know, like, no, they're. The, the donors are hearing, I operate a mega farm and people are afraid to come to work and that is going to collapse my entire business. I don't think that Trump hears us.
Zach
No, maybe not, but we forced them into his ear. That's the thing. It's like all this stuff is at least creating the shift. Even if it's not us directly, it's us forcing the people he'll listen to to say things like, hey, you got to shift your up, because this is really me up. I, I think it's a really important. Is the only functional power we have is to get in his face and go, this shit is terrible. This is an awful situation you put us into. We're not going to just sit here and take it. And so far we notched a win and he got Chanel. I mean, that's just how it is at this point.
Rich
And you know what we did do is. Sorry. You watch 10, 11 million people take to the streets and just command headlines. I mean, even with the absolutely unspeakable atrocity in Minnesota yesterday, the headlines were that and no Kings parades everywhere. No Kings protests.
Luke
And in Minnesota, they still went.
Rich
And they still went.
Luke
And even with a stay home order.
Rich
Even pretty badass don't go to anything sick. Look at the photo. I googled this earlier today. Look like everybody who's listening, if you haven't seen that the Minneapolis St. Paul rally photo, go look it up. Because that city is full of humans. It is shoulder to shoulder, tree to tree.
Luke
The number I saw.
Chris
Right.
Zach
Yeah. They could give a. They were just there, you know, I.
Rich
Mean, this guy, he's still out.
Luke
So people who were in direct fear still showed up. And Trump couldn't gather that for his.
Rich
And he's got 10. Exactly. He's got 10,000 people versus 10 million. And they had been planning for 200,000. They get 5% of that, maybe 10% of that, you know, and it's just like, it's just the saddest. And he hears headlines, he sees headlines, he sees the news, he hears headlines.
Chris
You know what I absolutely love? I. I just organized and Tim and Zach were there in D.C. we just organized the Unite for Veterans rally. It was a bunch of people who were not getting paid came together and said, hey, we're going to fucking do this on D Day. We thousand people to come from across the country and come to watch this, this rally with the Dropkick Murphy's. We got 7,000 people. We spent a tiny, tiny, tiny, tiny fraction of all of the money that got wasted. 45 million or whatever might have maybe gotten more people at our parade, at our rally than Trump was able to get with the power of the fucking presidency.
Luke
Yeah.
Chris
Which I gotta say, I'm pretty fucking proud of that.
Luke
Well, he get his own kids to show up, much less the country.
Tim
Well, and it wasn't even just that it was Trump. It was. The entire conservative movement was pushing this. Right. And it's funny because earlier today I, I put something up on a blue sky and threads where I was like, can somebody put the Curb youb Enthusiasm music behind the photo of the. One of the tank.
Luke
Yeah, the wheels.
Tim
But people were like, no, no, no need that. Because the squeaking is so much louder. And they were. And it was, it was perf. Nobody there. I mean, I don't know. That was Pennsylvania Avenue, I believe, where they did this. And that is a very busy street. And if usually during an inauguration, when the President either is in the limo or in the, in the, the bus or whatever the hell it's called and, or walking, the. The stands at least are full. It's not that many because it only goes back five or six. These aren't like huge stanchions.
Zach
It's not a stadium.
Tim
It's not a stadium. There was nobody there. There was nobody sitting there, completely empty in front of him. And generally the people kind of around where sort of like at Macy's Day Parade, right. Everyone crowds around the end. It's where the President sits. And they were showing this footage and, and it's funny to hear some clips from Fox News because they're trying to make it sound good and then you just look. There's no pictures that they could make it look good.
Luke
And they definitely didn't do aerial photos. I've seen like a distinct lack of aerial photos.
Rich
No area for. Yeah, it's, it's close ups of like, you know, three people holding signs, like very tightly cut.
Luke
Half the people that were there weren't even fans. Like, yeah, they were loudly yelling at him.
Tim
Right. There were protests.
Rich
Right.
Tim
There were protesters there. And I will say, as somebody who worked at the Interior Department for five years in the Obama administration, the National Park Service has a helicopter. So if they wanted photos and they have photographers as well, if they wanted aerials, it would have been very easy for them to Get. And they deliberately chose not to.
Rich
I think the thing that's just, I mean the whole thing is so funny. But when, when he was defending why we should do this, he like literally said all my friends are doing it. Except none of those people are his friends. So it's just all of my enemies are doing it. You know, North Korea, I mean North Korea is kind of his friend, but you know, North Korea, Iran, which we'll talk about Iran in a minute. But you know, North Korea, Iran, Russia, like they're doing these military parades and then they did one in Paris like eight years ago, right. And that's where this jealousy was sparked, where he was like, well yes, obviously.
Luke
Paris, France can do it, right?
Zach
If they can do it.
Rich
And so then, so he spends $45 million of our, of our money so that he can do this. And he does it worse. And he does like in every way he's trying worse than all of everybody else. And so he's trying to be this strong man. He's got an unlimited Pentagon budget to be a strong man. And he, and he still can't do that. He can't do the one thing that we really should with our military budget, be able to do better than everyone else. So yeah, it's, it's like there's so many layers of, of ridiculousness to unpack and yet it's just another one of those things where like tomorrow some other thing is going to happen and we're all just move on from it.
Luke
But Worth, yeah, I don't even know what's going to happen. I'm waiting. I'm waiting.
Zach
Like the thing I like is always he's stacking up. Ls at this point like that's like I want to rewind a second because like when we go back to the first month or two of his presidency, we were talking about non stop of like things that were being perceived as positives from a ton of different people, especially people in the midd right now. That shit's gone, the honeymoon is so fucking over. And he's in a position now where everything he's doing is being perceived by the average person in the middle as oh, this is bad, this guy's really fucking this up. That is a huge shift from a few months ago. So like we need to take a second as the party that is not in power and go, what we're doing is kind of working. Like we're really shifting the narrative here. His opinion polls are way down. His disapproval rating has gone way through the roof compared to where it was. So, like, we're doing something right here.
Tim
So there's a Quinnipiac poll that was out last week that had him, and it's. I would say it's a bit of an outlier, but they had him at 38%. Yep, 38%.
Zach
Dog.
Tim
After three months, four months, whatever the hell it's been. I think it was like, a million years. But, like, five months, four and a half.
Luke
This is the longest five months of my fucking life.
Tim
Well, but like you. But usually presidents in at least in their first year are usually sitting at 50, roughly. And he's at 38. Maybe. Let's say he's at 42. Whatever. Like, he's way underwater. And, Zach, you're exactly right that he. He just more l. After. Every. Every time he goes in front of a court, they. They rule against him. And all the Republicans are like, oh, my God, look at this. It's like, did you ever think that maybe all this shit's illegal? Like, that's why that's happening?
Luke
So question. How far. How much more slip do you think he has?
Tim
You mean what's explored?
Luke
Yeah.
Tim
What's it.
Luke
What, like? Because I think about it, like, I think a third of it is Die Hard that will do anything.
Zach
33.
Luke
33.
Tim
I was gonna. I was gonna say 33. 32. The. The difference. Complete meltdown of the economy. Yeah. Yep.
Zach
Like, 25.
Tim
Maybe to 20. I don't. I'm not saying. I'm not saying teens. I'm just saying, like, no, no. Maybe high 20s.
Rich
The last time he left office, he did melt down there. Like, we had a depression there for a minute, and. And everybody was dying, and he still was at, like, 29, 30. And so.
Tim
Yeah, and then they tried to. And then they tried to overthrow the government.
Zach
Yeah.
Rich
I think late January 2021, his approval was like, Y. 29, 30. It's like, okay, so a third of the people are gone.
Zach
Yeah, they're gone. The economic. If there's an economic meltdown, that is, like, literally his doing, not Covid's doing. I think he could go to the 25 number. I really do.
Tim
Like, I. I do think the one difference this time is that we're seeing more regret from voters now. It's. It's maddening because it's like. Like, I saw this video of this guy, and I shared it on my. On Instagram, and he is like, all of my. All my workers. I voted for Trump. All my workers. This is. This isn't fair. This isn't. And it's like f do. He literally said she was going to do this. Like, I do not understand. And I think that. I think a lot of these people have convinced themselves that he was just going to go after folks that committed crimes, which he didn't say. He didn't say. But I think they were like. I think they were fool. I think a lot of people just pulled the wool over their own eyes.
Zach
Sure.
Tim
And we're like, I want to vote for this guy. I don't like the lady and I want to do this and I'm going to just do it. And now all of a sudden, they're like, I mean, it's literally why we named the show what we named it. Literally everybody is finding out right now, like, he's. There is no surgical. There's no surgical. Surgical strike here. It is. No, it is just a sledgehammer.
Luke
The dildo of consequences is, as always, unlubed. You're getting it.
Chris
Speaking of dildos, has anyone heard any news about Elon Musk lately?
Zach
No.
Luke
No. I saw he's got the hail the full blown heil haircut. Did you see that? He's got a lightning bolt in the side of his head.
Zach
Of course he does.
Tim
The dude's like 50.
Luke
The back is the full blown Adolf Mullet. It's bad. It is a bad haircut.
Tim
You did see that he basically apologized.
Luke
Yeah, he said, I might have gone too far.
Tim
Yeah, yeah.
Zach
I'm sorry about that. Sorry about the Epstein thing. Whoops.
Tim
So one person she was right about, by the way. Yeah, that was right, by the way.
Luke
Dead on the money.
Tim
Why they have not released that.
Rich
Somebody calling somebody a pedo and you're like, you know, I know it's the sitting president, but, like, maybe we went too far when we got completely blasted on all of the things that we were blasted on. And like, how many, many drugs do you think they were on that Friday? Like, that was the best Friday of my life, by the way.
Luke
A lot of drugs. A lot of drugs they were on there.
Tim
Oh, I mean, like, yeah, yeah, yeah. So, but. So let's. Let's. We can. We can on these guys all day long, but let's. Let's transition. Okay, so. So let's say we had 10, 10, 11 million people out there. We completely dominated the news. Like, even when I went to the grocery store this weekend, the no Kings parades were on cbs, which is when I see it on network, I'm like, okay, we're breaking through. Not just cable for sure. How do we continue this momentum Though, because it is hard to show it again and day out. Right, okay, so Luke, so it's do.
Luke
It again, fourth of July, do it again.
Zach
No, I think that's right. But I also think, like, we have the benefit of Trump. He's just going to keep doing stupid shit. I mean, like, he's not done. And like, the more he does stupid shit, the more we're just going to keep piling on because we have momentum.
Luke
Like the next time you get 15 million.
Tim
Yeah.
Zach
I mean, but the only way Trump can get out of this is if he completely throttles back on all his crazy shit that he's trying to do. And in which case we win either way. Like, we either he does stupid and we pressure him or he throttles back and we're like, haha, you, you had to.
Luke
We're gonna keep pressuring you, like eating.
Zach
Exactly. So he's in a really fucked position right now. In my mind. Like he, he, he needs like Trump is. I think for. At least if I'm reading Trump's mind right now, he's dying for a PR win here. He's dying for like, oh, yeah, you know, peace talks between Russia and Ukraine going well, think like something in that realm where he can go, look at my. Look at my huge dick. I can swing around and make people do what I want. That he needs a moment like that and he'll be chasing one hard. But when he doesn, the floor gets lower. I, I really believe that.
Tim
And I think the exciting thing about yesterday, which again, we're recording on Sunday, so. No, Kings was yesterday, is that in many of the large cities, it was raining. So we had 11 million. New York, Philly, D.C. to an extent, and a little bit of Boston, all rain, and we got 11 million people out. Now imagine a month from now, a month or six weeks now.
Luke
Beautiful sunny day.
Tim
Oh, actually, no. Three weeks, Three weeks. Beautiful sunny day. It's what we're all thinking about, what America really means.
Luke
And, and it's a Friday.
Tim
We get to 15 to 20 million. You know, like, that's late. When you see like, big labor movements of the past, that's generally what has happened, is it has started small and it snowballs over time. Tiananmen Square, which is.
Luke
I don't want to make that comparison.
Tim
Well, but, but, but, but, but let me say. No, no, no, but. No, no, no but, but that started with like.
Luke
Yeah, I get what you're saying. Yep.
Tim
And then there were people who did the, you know, there's the found that literally went out and Stood in front of the truck, or, excuse me, the tank. And that is a symbol that China has never been able to shake.
Luke
Yeah. On Chinese games, if you say Tiananmen Square in China.
Tim
Yeah. You can't, you can't say.
Luke
It's crazy.
Tim
But, but like, my point is, is like the things build, like the movement. Poland's labor with Linza built over time and they eventually toppled the dictator. Like, if we start, if we keep going. But I think the other part, this is me, the organizer coming in though, is like, somebody has to be channel. It doesn't have to be all organized, but like, someone has to chann energy into action. Not just going, but like, what are we doing with that energy other than press, which is hugely important. But like, you know, we, there has to be something else here as well.
Zach
I don't, I don't know if there is. Like, I really don't. I don't. I don't know. Like, we, we like the whole thing that has, like, really made American politics what it is right now is who controls the narrative.
Tim
Yeah.
Zach
And we're kind of taking it. So, like, in my mind, it's like, I don't think we need to do more than like, the current strategy. Like, I don't want to expand. I want to push the pedal down on what they're doing.
Luke
All the, all that or stain cares about is the narrative. Like, he's in the headlines. That's how he gives a. He doesn't care about, you know, like, oh, did we do a sit in at this spot? He doesn't give a. He cares about who's controlling it.
Chris
This is what I do professionally.
Rich
Yeah.
Luke
I was actually gonna ask you.
Chris
I measure, I measure movements, I make threat assessments, I make predictions about how a movement is going to grow. Usually I'm studying the, you know, the far right, you know, the insurrectionist movement, extremists, all that kind of thing. But honestly, it's.
Luke
It.
Chris
Once you've got this skill set and knowledge down, you can apply it, like anywhere. Right. So historically, we see movements like this increase as the temperature increases. Like it was. It is. Has been cool, relatively cool this summer through a lot of this part of the summer, through a lot of the country. We are going to see hot nights in July. That is when there are going to be things that look much more like the 2020 protests, where it's like real unrest. And with that, we will see Trump continuing to deploy the National Guard. A reminder that the, the federalization of the National Guard, the memorandum that he signed now, there was no time limit on it.
Luke
Right.
Chris
It didn't say the words Gavin Newsom or California or Los Angeles. It said the National Guard and it said that National Guard could be deployed ahead of ICE operations where they expect protests or violence. Right. So not violent protests, but protests or violence. So right now plans are being made to deploy National Guard around. So we are going to see throughout the month of June. I don't expect another huge thing like no Kings Day before the end of this month. It's only two weeks left. July, we're going to see more organic stuff. We're not. The protests that we are going to see are not going to be, I think nearly as organized as like a single day action thing. I think there are going to be sustained protests like we've seen in Los Angeles, but on a much larger scale. We're going to see through the Midwest. We're going to see it east coast permeating. And with, with that, you know, the, the increase in, in state sponsored violence or state level state enforced violence from the Trump administration is going to even more of a reaction. And then in July and August is when all the cuts, the, all the additional like DOGE cuts, they're coming. They're still scheduled. So in July and August and going into September, that is when Americans start feeling the pain of all of the sabotage of government because the courts can't stop Trump from firing everybody and sabotaging every department, though they have slowed him down, they're not going to stop them. So we are going to see a continuing swell in this protest movement. And once we hit September, after 80,000 people are fired from the VA and veterans start offing themselves because they don't have access to their mental health counselors and they can't get medication. I'm saying that as a survivor of suicide, this is going to happen. By the way, Anyone can dial 988 if they're in an emergent situation. And it is mental health awareness, men's Mental Health Awareness Month. But we are only seeing the spark of what is going to be a blazing fire over the next three months.
Luke
So when do you put critical mass at September? Yep.
Rich
I think it is important to call out though that this isn't like an unstoppable freight train. You know, you look at what we did and I say we as a community. But what we did in Los Angeles, you know, we mentioned that he's dialing back these workplace raids. The reason people were out protesting was because ICE is raiding employers. ICE's rate, you know, these ICE raids are what caused that escalation. And now he's backing that off. And we, it's worth calling out that the control over the National Guard is it was suspended and then it was. The suspension was paused until Tuesday. So the ninth Court Court either will consider it on Tuesday or will issue a ruling on Tuesday, the day that hopefully that this releases. And from there, then inevitably, I mean, the ninth Court, that is. That's California Circuit Court Appeals Court, correct? Real time audit.
Chris
Yes.
Rich
It is known as a more liberal court. I highly, highly suspect that they will not only take Judge Breyer's ruling and quadruple down on it it, but they will, they will reword it in different ways so that it is even clearer is my expect expectation, which then will push it to the Supreme Court. Supreme Court issues all their biggest rulings usually in May and June. And so, like, I'm not sure if they'll do a special session or how they'll do that, but there's a foreseeable future where he either has to decide to ignore a nationwide injunction, which he's not been effective at trying to do. He's kind of tiptoed around it. But we could potentially have a nationwide injunction against Trump's control of the National Guard without the permission of the local governor for a potentially a pretty good amount of time, which would get us almost into next election season if it ended up going to next spring. So, like, don't. If you're listening to this, like, every day, it feels almost insurmountable. But you look at, like this weekend, you look at the past couple of weeks, it has been win after win after win for the left. When you have no power and you're racking up headlines and you're racking up momentum and you're getting people to leave their house and just be excited to be part of this movement, to be part of this country. Like, we haven't. We have. We didn't even always have that through Biden's tenure. So, like, we, we have a new energy that's much more organic than, than we had when it was like, hey, you know, old, old daddy come and take care of us out of the pandemic. Like, we're in a. Yeah, we're in a different era right now.
Luke
There's that, like a.
Rich
Very much appreciating it. Yes.
Tim
Yeah, yeah. Well, and I, I want to say, like, you guys did hear Rich correctly. He did talk about Judge Brier, because that is actually the former Supreme Court justice, Brier's brother. So he is about the same age, 83 years old. Yeah. These people. Yeah, they're lifetime appointments. And in this particular case, it's a good thing. I want. But I want to turn to one person in particular during all of this that I think deserves a lot of praise, and that is California Senator Alex Padilla. Yes, sir. Who literally did what I think every member of Congress should be doing right now, which is he wasn't getting answers from the Department of Homeland Security about what was going on in his state. So he went directly to Kristi Noem, the secretary, and tried to ask her questions. And by now, I'm assuming most of the people that have are listening or watching this know that her thugs basically wrestled him to the ground after he identified himself. And she claimed she didn't know who he was, but he was literally on the clearest day. He's also on the commit the committee that confirmed her. Also, there's only 100 senators, so, like, you know, it's not that hard. And they actually handcuffed him. And luckily there was several people who pulled out their phones and we saw it. But, like, you know, when people, you know, a lot of members in Congress have been saying, like, well, what do you want us to do? I want you doing that. That is what I want you doing over and over again.
Zach
No, it's incredible. I mean, it's also like, the word that I would use for Trump with this was embarrassing. Like, it's embarrassing that he's doing to literally senators that are currently part of the Senate. Just asking questions like, this is painful to watch. And I think that's a huge part of why we're feeling this momentum coming to us, is that the way in which they're responding to what we're doing is, like, laughably painful to watch. They don't know what to do. Like, they've been pitching this whole strongman bullshit.
Luke
You're so strong. Why do you have to do that?
Zach
Exactly. Like, if your message is the right message and your strategy is the right strategy, you don't got to do that to a sitting U.S. senator. You could just let him ask questions. No, you're going to handcuff him. It's crazy, and it really is just a truly embarrassing thing to watch. And it's kind of like, for somebody who hates Trump like the rest of you guys, it's kind of fun to watch him just implode. Like, this is the administration going from, like, we're all up on high to just so many catastrophic public errors. It's kind of Fun to watch, but also, like, really depressing to watch at the same time, because it's like, holy. This is where we're at. It's hard to believe.
Tim
Well, I think one of the. One of the tough things, too, is that this Alex Padilla, I think, is the fourth person, fourth Democratic elected official that the Trump administration has tried to prosecute already in five months.
Luke
Yeah.
Zach
Yep.
Tim
And, you know, I don't remember Democrats doing that other than Donald Trump being.
Luke
Impeached, but they were weaponizing the doj, Tim.
Tim
Right. Right. Let me tell you, I was in the Obama administration for five years, and if a. If a member of Congress had showed up to one of our events unannounced, announced, we would not have thrown them out. Like, we probably would have taken the l of being screamed at, but we.
Zach
Would invite him on stage, have a conversation. You know, that's the kind of President Obama.
Rich
Americans are hurting. The Americans are hurting. We have to hear. Everybody shut up. Just shut up. No, I was gonna say I ran the numbers just because it's like, am I crazy? Or. Or is Christy. No. Maybe outmatched here? Because. And so, you know, Alex Badia, he was elected. Elected by 3.7 million American voters. Kristi Noem's greatest accomplishment. Governor of South Dakota. She had 212,000 200,000Americans.
Luke
Holy shit.
Zach
There's less than 10%.
Rich
There aren't a million people in South Dakota. Like, nothing against South Dakota, but, like, if an American is an American, is an American. She got 212,000 people to elect her to governor. And that was after she. That was after she killed the dog. Because it. Because there were no here. So then completely forgot about a convicted felon. Yeah. And she bragged about it like, I'm not even making this up. She just shot a dog. Because it was like, you're a dick. And she's like, you're a dick. I have a gun. And so, you know, then a convicted felon nominates her to be. You know, I call her Elsa because she's the ice Queen, but puts her in this position.
Zach
That's really good.
Rich
Thank you. I. I use that in a video, but I need to make sure everybody hears it. I'm like, I have to recycle my.
Luke
I heard it, and I didn't get it because you. You didn't do the ice queen page part.
Rich
I just burned through it.
Tim
Yeah.
Rich
Yeah. So here we are. Here we are explaining it, but. Which always makes jokes funnier, in my opinion. But it's okay. But so, you know, 3.7 million people elected Senator Padilla. I mean, Karen Bass, the mayor of LA, got 510,000 people who voted for her to be mayor of just LA. That's not LA county, which has 10 million people in it, 10 times the size of the state of South Dakota. So you look at like, you're not crazy. Karen Bass would be a better, better person, a better Secretary of Department of Homeland Security than, than, than Christy. No, I'm like Alex Padilla dumb.
Luke
That post that, that map of the US and it's got red, it's all red. They don't understand.
Tim
But, but we, we have been living in a minority led government for a long time now because of the way that the system was set up in this country. A vote in California is not worth the same that it is in Wyoming.
Luke
Right.
Tim
It's not even there. Even with the, like you get this many seats in the House. It's, it's not, it's not. And, and, and also the way that the Electoral College is set up, it is, it is meant to favor smaller states. So like, it has been a problem for us for a long time that Democrats who generally tend to center in cities are, you know, basically like so many of us are in these states that it's making it hard for us to win. But also we don't want to live in other places. So it's like a very difficult situation. But it's the same. Like Christy Doem should not have any say over what happens in California in any sense. The imagination. I mean, California is the sixth largest economy in the world. I think, I think it's even higher. Fourth.
Chris
So I think it's important for us when we talk about noam, to like talk about the language that she and the Trump administration are using. They, they have been, and Stephen Miller has been on this, like calling protests an insurrection. The, the memorand. Nationalizing the, or federalizing the National Guard called this a form of rebellion, these peaceful protests. And Kristi Noem came to California to say that she was using the military to quote, liberate California and Los Angeles to liberate them from democratically elected officials, to liberate Californians from the government that they elected, which currently has, you know, pretty strong support. And, and they're calling, you know, Gavin Newsom and, and Mayor Bass socialists. Right. They are, they are using language that is rallying the base, rallying their base around a campaign of fear. So as much as like, yes, we're, we're starting to get the middle. I think we saying the left Democrats, that's people who care about democracy and the Constitution. Right.
Zach
Yeah.
Chris
But the hardcore. Right. All of MAGA is starting to look at our peaceful mobilizations as an insurrection.
Luke
Yep.
Zach
Yes.
Chris
And you know, again, putting, putting back my hat on as scary analysts, like they are preparing their base to be tolerant of more state enforced violence.
Zach
Yes.
Chris
Against the American people. And yeah, I talk about, I don't want people.
Tim
Yeah, yeah, yes. Yeah.
Chris
And I, and I, I don't want for people to, to, you know, be scared to leave the House. Right. We're not close to that. But people need to be aware that, you know, if, say the 9th Circuit shoots down the, the federalization of the California National Guard, that doesn't take away Trump's ability to federalize the Texas or Florida Guard and send them to another state.
Zach
Right.
Chris
No, it's like the National Guard is still a tool that is going to get used and it's going to be used in new but legally blurry ways that we're going to continue, the average American is going to continue to, to be surprised and horrified by.
Zach
I mean, to me, as much as this is going to come off weird, but I promise there's an explanation. This is a win for us because at this point, Trump and his folks are siphoning all of their messaging into one group, which is MAGA at this point. And when you've reached that point, we're winning in the middle and that's how you win in America. Like, that's. And yes, you're right. Like, let's not take away from Chris said Chris, you're absolutely right. Like, like the more radicalized MAGA becomes, the more dangerous the country becomes. There's no question about it. But at the same time, if we're just trying to analyze where we're at in terms of winning, we're doing great. And that's because they're like, really just diving into their base for some affirmation and they're not getting it from the middle. So, like, it is a win, but it's also a dangerous win.
Tim
Well, look at, look at what the reaction was from MAGA to the Minnesota shooting. It wasn't, you know, our hearts go out to the victims of this horrendous crime. He's a Democrat.
Luke
He's a Democrat.
Chris
Right.
Zach
Even though he voted for Trump.
Tim
Well, but like, and I learned this, I didn't know Minnesota doesn't keep voter registration or they don't have it public. So like, there's no way to look up whether he is a Democrat or Republican. But his roommate yesterday went on TV and said, yes, he voted for Donald Trump. He also was an evangelical Christian and I would argue was also a white nationalist. And the things, the groups that he was associated with, the preachings that he was doing, he was virulently anti abortion. And his entire kill list, because that's what it was. He had a 70 person kill list. It was a mix of Democrats, including Ella Omar. So like as liberal as they come.
Zach
Oh yeah.
Luke
And Tim Walls.
Tim
Walls. Tim Walls. Abortion, abortion centers. And all these people who are trying to suggest that this person was a Democrat, which first of all they didn't know, they just reflexively said it.
Luke
The same thing happens every time there's a school shooting. Every.
Tim
It goes to. Right. It goes point though that these people have been conditioned to deflect rather than to accept any responsibility whatsoever. Which is the dangerous thing about this.
Luke
Yeah.
Chris
Something I haven't told you guys yet because, because this is new is that friends of one of my researchers on my team were on that list. And while the list hasn't been released, so as, as far as I know at this moment it has not been released. So no one has a full list of names. But people that my researchers work with on a regular basis around bodily autonomy and women's rights were told you're on the list and you need to go, you know, into, into hiding basically. So, so this stuff, you know, I, I am one degree from a lot of bad shit going on, but this, this one hits different.
Tim
Yeah, well, we, we, we know some folks in this group. I'm not gonna say their names on here, but we know folks who work directly with the House legislator who the former speaker House that passed away. And I mean I saw several people on LinkedIn talking about this yesterday. What a wonderful human being she was and what like how caring she was. Empathetic she was. And you know, it is just a horrendous tragedy. It's great that it sounds like the senator and his wife will be okay, but still, you know, this, this is this and Chris, you know this better than any of us. But like this has been building for years. They have been conditioning these people, people for this and it is starting to happen. And now it's all about how we respond. Enforce and don't hide and cower though. Obviously if you feel threatened, you should not do anything to put yourself in danger. But it's a, this is, this is where this has been heading for a long time.
Luke
I think that while's calling it an assassination is big.
Tim
Yeah.
Rich
Yes.
Tim
Yeah, it was.
Luke
He should be called a domestic terrorist everywhere.
Chris
That's what he is.
Rich
Well, if you burned a Tesla, they were ready to call you a. Yeah.
Luke
You were a tamarist.
Zach
Right, But.
Rich
And now. And now.
Luke
But this motherfucker shows up dressed as a cop with a latex mask on, and he. We can't put that label on him.
Rich
And fuck you. And he goes after one member of the House, which is 50, 50, and one member of the Senate, which is 50, 50, because he's trying to. It's a Democrat, though it's come to that, where they're. They're looking at this like, I'm sure that there are people on the right who are upset that he wasn't fully effective in his endeavor. But I think know, like, Chris, like, when I hear the things you're saying, like, it's really powerful because you give people action. And, and even if that action is. It's like 20 steps off from the. The meaningful, like, immediate right now fix that everybody craves. You have something to do. And, and something that I, I've always hated is when activists say things like. And I don't mean you, but just people when they say things like stay vigilant, like, what in the. Do you literally mean. Do you mean not sleep tonight? Do you just mean boil in anxiety? Like, is that the end state? Is that. Am I doing it right? Because I'm anxious 24 fucking 7. So to look at the people in Minnesota going out while there is an active manhunt for a person who has their event on a kill list, and they say it like people are being vigilant, but we're making the choice. We're making a very conscious choice to leave the house. House. Every single person who attended a no Kings protest yesterday left the house after we knew what happened in Minnesota. I mean, everybody nationwide. And, and so for 11 million people to say, this is what's on the table and it's real and it's really happening right now. And the psychopath's gonna throw into crowds. Yep. And.
Luke
And there was some of that that happened and people still came. Came out.
Rich
And you're knowing, like, these things can happen, but not only can they happen, but they actually are happening. And I'm still going to go do it. You know, I'm really, really, really proud of the. The left right now. We are doing every single possible thing that we can. So keep doing that because they'll feel that pressure. They'll feel that momentum. All you need is that person to look you Know, at the, at the tide and go, maybe Trump has passed his problem time. Maybe this is not the thing I'm going to die for. Like, maybe this is not my scene anymore.
Tim
Right. I think we're seeing some of that, right? I mean like it's these, these silly little examples, but they add up and we didn't see those before. The other thing that I think is important and I'm going to go on a rant for a second, but like the media needs to stop both sizing the. I saw it earlier today and I about lost my mind. I'm not going to say the person because I don't need them to get all attacked. But like somebody was like, you know, you know, the right and the left are both like ratcheting up the rhetoric. And I'm like, there is only one side that is committing all, all of the political violence in this country. It's the right. You can look it up, you can google it. You do not have to take my word for it. Do not talk to me about that mentally deranged man 10 years ago who shot one member Republican like he was a sick individual. And we all fucking shouted that down about nonsense.
Chris
But if this shit CNN stated, Union, is that what you saw today? Because I listened to a few minutes.
Tim
Of it and no, it was Hill reporter who was doing it. But I'm like, you just have to look. Janet Napolitano, when she was the head of, she was the Homeland Security director, tried to put a report in front of Congress that showed them that right wing vigilante like, like violence was spreading. And they were like, no, we don't want that. Bury it. And now 12 years, 13 years later, we're seeing it unfold in real time.
Chris
Yeah, I remember when the report came out during the, the first term of Obama about how extremist groups were specifically trying to target the military and veterans community. And the response, not just from the right, it was my community, it was a bunch of nonprofits that frankly were speaking out of turn and don't know shit about extremism, who are coming out and saying, oh, you're trying to paint all these veterans as extremists. And, and that put us like 15 years behind what, you know, not just the federal government ought to be doing to, to make sure that extremists aren't successfully recruiting service members and veterans, which they have been. But we as a society have not been prepared to face this because these types of, you know, radicalization, off ramping, it can't be done by the government alone, and it can't be done by nonprofits, needs to be done at, at the micro level. It needs its friends and family who stop people from going down. You know, that, that rabbit hole.
Tim
Well, and we've never, we've. This is maybe an uncomfortable thing to say, but we don't ask Americans to sacrifice. We never do. I.911 is a perfect example, right? Like, and some of us are here, remember it. Some of us.
Zach
Luke instantly shaking his head.
Luke
I wasn't even a plan yet, but we.
Tim
And I can't remember the politician that I saw, I was, I saw say something really great about this. And maybe it was Kinzinger, which kind of surprised me, but it was basically like, like, yep, we got attacked. 3,000Americans died the most horrific way possible. And we basically just threw it all on the, on the military to handle it and nobody else. We didn't raise taxes. In fact, we cut taxes and we drove ourselves into the debt that we're in now. And we basically forgot all the guys that were in Afghanistan and Iraq. And I bet most Americans couldn't tell you the difference between what we were doing in Afghanistan and what we were doing in Iraq. And we ended up being there for 20 plus years and we tied. Maybe like, maybe we lost. Like, yeah, we killed the leadership, but like, they're still there. So, like, that's an important point too, I think, because Americans just don't think any of this shit can happen here because nothing like we have. I'm not saying people's lives are easy, but we don't have life and death situations, generally speaking, in this country, unless you live in a city in an impoverished area with gun violence, otherwise you, you don't.
Zach
This is, this is the whole reason why, like, Trump's rhetoric and all this stuff didn't really work. The Democratic rhetoric of, like, Trump is a fascist and Trump's an authoritarian, because people don't feel that in the moment because it's a slow growing thing. Like fascism doesn't just happen overnight. It takes time to set in. And people, so people hear the narrative and go, ah, shut up. I, I'm. My life's the same as when Trump got elected. Like, yeah, right now. But fast forward a year and you'll not notice the creep underneath. And then poop. It sucks you into the fucking undertow. That's how this shit works. People just don' to actually reasonably look at a situation and analyze the threats as opposed to what's right in front of their face right this very second. And that is literally the downfall of America pretty much just across the board.
Rich
Well, we're seeing little bits of it at least. I mean, with, with the things he's doing. And you know, we talked about earlier how, like, this shit hasn't all hit yet and like the protests are coming. We're still in a tariff pause. We're in a National Guard pause. Like that. He's, he is acting on, on. I tallied it up the other day and I'm going to do a video about this, but you guys are hearing it first here, unless I push it out on Monday. But we've got three different emergency powers stacked on top of each other so that Trump can function and that's. He's holding on to the Insurrection act, which is related to the Posse Comatitis Comitatus. How much fucking Latin have you guys learned in the last, like three, four months?
Luke
More than I want to.
Rich
There are so many things. I'm like, what is this thing? And so. But then there's the, the, the tariff control, like, which, that was a surprise to me when the judge, when the, when the court said you don't actually have the power to do tariffs like this. It was like, I didn't know that. It turns out by. He had to declare that economic emergency.
Zach
Had to. It should be a congressional action.
Rich
He's, he's strung together a border national security emergency and economic emergency and potentially the like, rebellion emergency so that he can just do anything. And, and, and, and all of that is creating all of this pain and chaos. And those things are going to be, I mean, they're extremely volatile because you saw with the Alien Enemies act that was unraveled and essentially blocked completely by, by the, by the court. So he's the little bit of a pain. He is getting through to us. People are immediately feeling and going, well, I didn't vote for this. Even though, like, they might write on the Internet, but you know that they didn't vote.
Luke
You literally did.
Zach
You literally did.
Chris
So we should talk about the Insurrection act because, because that was, that was brought up and that's important. He has not invoked the Insurrection Act. What the Insurrection act would allow is for law enforcement to. Excuse me. For the military to enforce domestic civilian law. That is not the case.
Rich
It's not martial law either. Like, that's a, that's a separate layer. So there's a couple of layers here.
Chris
Yeah. So what's, what's going on right now? The only thing that the National Guard and that the active duty Marines are, Are on paper allowed to do is, is to protect federal property and protect federal personnel. They are not allowed to make arrests. However, anyone who knows anything about the global war on terror, we don't arrest anybody. We don't arrest anybody overseas. We detain people. And when people are detainees, they don't have any rights.
Tim
Right.
Chris
And, and that's, that's a product of a global war on terror. People need to recognize that just because the military can't arrest you doesn't mean they can't fucking detain you.
Tim
Right?
Zach
Yep.
Tim
So, so speaking of the global war of on terror, we are going to talk about one of the countries in the axis of evil, a George Bush term that really made us all look like a bunch of idiots.
Luke
But, but racist idiots.
Tim
Israel has launched a massive attack on Iran this weekend, killing multiple top military persons, personnel attacking nuclear sites. And actually the, the scale of this thing is, when you read about it, it's, it's, it kind of takes your breath away. Because of the ability that they had. They were launching attacks both from within Iran and also from Israel. There's about a hundred, 100 to 200 bombings that were happened from, from jets and they were also, there were drone attacks. And it's a little unclear whether Trump allowed this or kind of looked the other way. But Netanyahu feels, I think unleashed to do whatever the hell he wants. This is the one thing I think that could throw all those other things into, into maybe not having as much of effect because of whatever our involvement ends up being in this. And I want to ask our veteran first, what you think think the chances are that we are actually going to get involved in a hot war? Because Iran is certainly not going to just sit around and take this one because it made them look very, very weak. And that is the last thing that they want to ever be seen by their own people.
Chris
Yeah, I mean, so this is kind of a deep cut of folks who have the ability right now should look up the name Dan called Caldwell. He is a former colleague. He used to work for Concerned Veterans for America. He was very close to Pete Hegseth. That is one of the nonprofit profits that Hegseth came out of, which groomed him for Fox News, which groomed him to become Secretary of Defense.
Zach
Lucky us.
Chris
The reason that Dan Caldwell and a couple of his other colleagues from this formerly of this organization, Concerned Veterans for America, an arch conservative group that I agree with almost nothing on, they are anti war in the same way that I am. They take a conservative view of it though. They have all been pushed out of the Pentagon. Because the Pentagon, under Hegseth, wants to go to war with Iran.
Zach
Sure.
Chris
So. So that is a very good question to ask. And more people should look into what happened. I. I would never make this recommendation ever again, but people should look up the interview that the former Fox News darling Tucker Carlson did with Dan Caldwell, because they talk about how he was pushed out. He and his colleagues were pushed out. Remember the leaks, the supposed leaks at the Pentagon? They were the fall guys for that. And Dan says that the reason he and his colleagues were pushed out is because Hegseth and the rest of the political appointees around him want to. To war with Iran. So that is something that people should be mindful of.
Zach
Yeah, that makes sense. I mean, I want to do just a quick rundown for. Because I feel like a lot of people don't know the background of all this. And like, a lot of this could be traced back to Trump's error in his first term. Like in 2015, Barack Obama made the Iran deal with Iran, which essentially said, look, we're going to lift economic sanctions on you, and in exchange, you're going to stop enriching uranium. You're going to stop your nuclear program. You're going to get it to the point where you can't create weapons and you anymore. We made the deal. People didn't like, certain elements of it, like the fact that there was no, like, there were expiration dates on it, things like that. Trump was one of those people. So when Trump became president in 2018, he said, look, we're not doing this deal. We're gonna drop out, we're gonna reimpose sanctions, and now Iran is free to start enriching uranium again. Shocker. What did they do? They fucking enriched uranium a shit ton. And they started rebuilding their arsenal up to the point where they're like, way beyond the point they were when they first negotiated in 2015. The Biden administration tried to renegotiate that deal to get them back into it. They were too far down the road of enriching uranium, and their new leadership really didn't want to make a deal with the US and then Trump thought, I could just come in and swing my dick and fucking make a deal with them. Didn't work. So if you trace all this back, the whole reason this program even fucking exists is because Donald Trump made the spiteful decision in 2018 to pull us out of a deal that would have stopped this program too, to begin with. And nobody is telling that story. And I have no fucking idea why he is the sole reason why we are here in this moment. Like, there's other elements. I get it. Like, Israel's got its own reasons and whatever. The only reason this program exists is because Donald Trump us in 2018. That's just the bottom line.
Luke
Yep.
Tim
Yeah.
Luke
Yeah.
Tim
I don't really. I mean, no, I mean, I, I mean, it's true. I mean, people forget, like, people forget like, that we tried to get a deal with Iran run for like 40 years.
Zach
Yes.
Tim
Like, I mean, and we did it. Obama did it and we did it and look like we're, We. We were never going to get a perfect deal. That is nonsense. And I don't think that the Obama administration did a very good job selling it. But, you know, the fact is that we did stop their military enrichment of uranium and there were inspectors and yes, it was a kind of a game, but, like, we definitely slowed them down and stopped them. And also we continued to do covert operations on them at the same time. It wasn't like that stopp. In fact, I think we actually. There was one story about how they managed to get into the computer systems and actually spin one of the cores so fast that it overheated and like, blew up or something, which I'd like blown away that we could. People could do that. But yeah, I mean, Trump is an idiot. Like, it comes back to that. And I, I know, like, every time.
Luke
It comes back to that seems so.
Tim
It seems so crass to say it. He's a fucking idiot. And he thought. He thinks he's a deal maker, which I would. I dare, I challenge. Challenge MAGA Republicans to tell me, name one good deal he's made one anywhere. Just tell me what is it.
Chris
Yeah, because it doesn't exist. He takes hostages all the time and then he releases the hostages and goes, I just made it. And it's like, no, you caused a problem and then you made it, solved your own problem.
Zach
Yeah, right.
Tim
Yes.
Zach
That's a good.
Luke
Always him.
Tim
Yeah. I mean, he is not a good business businessman. We've said it a million times. He got $400 million from his dad. He would have been better just playing the stock market than trying to play.
Luke
Not even playing the stock market. You had to put it all in the S P. And he's more. He's worth more. It's a dog businessman. Absolutely awful.
Rich
You know, I, I think, I think what happened here with, with Netanyahu is he looked at, well, Zelensky is doing whatever the he wants. Maybe I can also do whatever the fuck I want, because you know, who didn't attack Iran for all of 202008 to 2016? And then from 2020 to 2024, Israel didn't attack Iran. So now they're, everybody's looking around going, I think we can just do whatever we want. Just walk over Mike. I think he's all bluster, like he's, he's a reality TV show host. I think it's that simple.
Luke
And, you know, everybody's afraid of him. He's a peacetime president. Nobody wants to start wars when he's in office. Shut up, Rich.
Zach
You're right.
Rich
Wrong. You remember the stupidity and the chaos was supposed to be the, the, like he's so dumb and so chaotic that that's going to prevent anyone from doing anything dumb because they won't know how he's going to respond. And I'm like, that held up for four months. Right. And now, and now, like what you could call like tier 2 or like lower level, you know, certainly less powerful nations are just saying, I don't, I'm. Just call his bluff. Just do whatever you want. Trump's shit.
Tim
But here's the deal. He's not a strong man. That's why he's Taco. He's a scared little man. And he pumps his chest like f, fake masculine people all across this country do.
Luke
And wears his Foley catheters and walks around.
Tim
Yeah, you see that picture?
Luke
They're either leg braces or catheters. I don't know which is worse.
Tim
I, I, I don't know.
Rich
It might be a two in one leg brace cath.
Luke
Could be.
Rich
Yeah, I saw those on.
Luke
I don't know why you need a catheter and a diaper the same time.
Zach
It's a great question.
Rich
I mean, if there's like a overloading situation.
Tim
Yeah. Do you really want to get into this?
Luke
Nope, I don't really.
Rich
There's like the ladies on the edge of the dam.
Chris
So we, we just said it like really quick. But I, I, we haven't talked about Ukraine at all and we didn't plan to talk about it in this episode. But like, I, if, if there's anybody who's out there, who's in Ukraine, who listens. I don't know if we have any downloads. I think we can probably find out. I got to say, the Ukrainians have been, have been killing it. Like the attack that they did against Russia and taking out a third of their nuclear cap.
Luke
There was something in there about that that they didn't. What was it they didn't tell Trump Crazy. Like yeah, not telling the Russian asset means that.
Tim
Oh God.
Chris
What is, what is wild though? I mean like and this is a sign of, of how far we have fallen is, is that we are no longer being viewed as the leaders of the free world. Like people are looking to Zelensky now and as they should, you know a relatively like yeah, he's, he's got an army and they are really fucking effective. Like the, the, the ratio of casualties is, is far and above in favor of. Of Ukraine. The Russians have been just getting absolutely, absolutely creamed for the entire half a million right Dead. But on the Russian side. Yeah, it's like 500000 casualties.
Tim
Yeah, no it's true.
Chris
Or actually I think they're about. When combining you know injuries and, and everything and desertions. I think there are over a million casualties.
Zach
Crazy.
Rich
Yeah.
Chris
So I, I just have got to say that all of the Americans who you know did things. I know a lot of people aren't paying attention to attention to it anymore, but I have a feeling listeners did things like donated to support the Ukraine mission and that paid off. Like Americans organic response for Ukraine beyond what the Biden administration did. What civilians were doing. The Dropkick Murphy's they just were overseas a couple weeks ago with a couple of my friends delivering ambulances which have something like a 15 minute survival rating. Like they are being deliberately targeted by the Russians which is a war crime. But like Americans are still doing that is making a difference on a battlefield where democracy is literally at stake. And, and that is awesome.
Tim
The thing that kills me about this and sorry Zach, I'll go to your next is is this when people talk about oh I don't want to spend all this money on Ukraine from the US government. We were basically spending the equivalent of 5% of the military budget in our operations in, in Ukraine. What did that do? It's basically completely annihilated a third to a half of the Russian army. Their, their heavy tanks. They lost like 20 generals in this thing and they do not have the ability to strike at Western Europe like they originally did for 5% of the budget. It is the best money that we have spent on our in the military in 50 years.
Zach
Yes. And you know what is, what's interesting is one of my friends is like a MAGA Republican and I pitched that exact to him and he agreed with it. Like this is not a controversial perspective. Like there's no question that this was some of the best money ever spent. And the thing place I was going to go. So my wife is literally a Ukrainian born and raised in Ukraine. I could have told Trump from day one, if you were going to underestimate Ukrainian people and the resolve of Ukraine, you're fucked. And that's exactly what he did. He walked into the situation when Ukraine is going to fold, I just got to side with Russia. We'll lean on them and they're going to fall apart. The second I knew that was what he's going to do, I'm like, you're. Dude, you're going to run into the resolve of the Ukrainian people, man. They have the most tremendous belief that they can transcend what the Soviet Union forced them into. Like, the Soviet Union pushed Ukraine into a position where they're just. Absolutely. And over the last 30 plus years, they have emerged as potentially like the next democracy to watch in Europe. And, like, we need to respect the fact that, like, they have been pushed into a corner with Russia where Russia, like, everybody thought in the day one, like, Russia is going to just crush them. And they decimated the expectations. So good for.
Tim
So the one other thing that I think is important to say, which everyone keeps missing this, is that invaders in the 21st century don't win. They don't. Because there's the. The technology is even has evened enough that it makes it very hard. And also it is very hard to go dork to door, like in every city in a country. So all these people who are like, claring for a war with Iran, it would literally be the stupidest thing that we could do because first of all, the people hate the Iranian regime. We. All we would do is do a rally around the flag, but it also, it's applicable everywhere. It's just. Look at what happened in Afghanistan. Look what happened in Iraq. It is imp. And those are not technologically advanced societies and the strongest military on earth could not defeat them. So, like, I, I do hope, hope that as people see what's happening, I mean, Putin is getting his ass handed to him, destroyed that, that they thought this was going to last two weeks. And what are we at three years?
Zach
Whoops.
Tim
And. And it's just. It. It's just. And anyways, so we have been going on and on. We've also missed. This is the worst transition of all time, by the way.
Luke
Oh, God. I know where you're going.
Tim
The other day was Father's Day, and we have four father.
Zach
Technically.
Tim
Well, technically, I'm, I'm trying to do in the future.
Zach
I know four fathers.
Tim
We're the four father we are the four fathers and one not father and one not father. Who has father that, you know?
Luke
I do have father.
Tim
You do have. So we've talked a lot. I mean, like, Donald, like, and I wrote something on Substack about this today. But, like, there's a lot of talk about masculine. We talk a lot about masculinity. Right. And I thought we've talked a lot about some really bad examples of masculinity. Donald Trump is the worst because he's the biggest baby on earth. Heg Seth is another horrible example. Stephen Miller's name came up, who is literally the lizard king. So to wrap up our. Our session here, like, I would love, love everybody to talk about one, let's say, father figure in their life that did something to them that they feel is the definition of positive masculinity, rather than this sort of pump your chest and punch people to show you're a bigger man version. So who wants to go first?
Luke
I vote Rich, because he started this conversation.
Zach
That's true. That's true. That's true.
Tim
Yeah. This wasn't my idea. I'm just pretending it was.
Chris
I just was.
Rich
I was wondering how long it would take for somebody to get around to Walter White, and then we would just be arguing about Breaking Bad all over again. No. You know, for one episode. No, we're talking. We're not talking about our dads. Right? Our own dads. Like, everybody's got a dad.
Tim
You can if you want.
Rich
Like, well, okay, so my dad. It was funny because I wrote in a card form, and I said, like, sort of thank you, but. But not thank you, because you set me up for failure. Because he showed me what real masculinity was like and in it. And I was thus not prepared for the real world, because you get out in this world and you meet guys and you understand what, like, masculine culture is in this country. And it took me, like, it was, like, leaving religion. It took me, like, 10 years of, like, trying to reconcile things, like, two things that were both not true or one thing that was true. And I thought they were both true. And. And now I understand. Like, but it took me absolutely forever to understand that most guys are not, like, the guy that. Who raised me. And. And that was a person who's just, you know, it's not rocket science. Like, all people are equal, and. And women are awesome. Like, my wife, you know, my mom is his best friend, and they do everything together still. We're still married. And so my dad's amazing. I obviously. But I also Want to give one shout out to a guy, I'll just call him Sean from college. He was my journalism mentor, inspiration. He, he was the guy who just constantly, unrelentingly challenged me to be. Was like, you can do better than that. He constantly told me that. He's like, this is really good, but you can do better than that. You're smarter than that. And he was always, always, always pushing me. But it was from a way of, it was from this position of like, you, you're, you've got this thing in you, so keep, like, keep coaxing that out, you know, and it's sort of this like perpetual, like, you're good now, so don't, don't dog on yourself, but keep making yourself better at this craft because, like, you know, obviously it's a thing that you love to do. And that's literally what we are doing. It's what I'm doing on social right now is the very, very sliver of a thread of a craft skill that Sean identified a whole 20, whatever years ago now and, and said like, basically chase that. And so huge shout out to him. He's still, he's still in my life. I still message him every once in a while. Very, very proud of what we're all doing here. So huge shout out to Sean.
Luke
Cool.
Tim
Zach, you're next.
Zach
All right. I'm gonna be very boring and do my own dad because so I, I'm the father to a four year old daughter and you know, it's my only, only kid. And I'm trying to figure out how to navigate being a dad, you know, like, what's natural to me, but also what's right for her. And, you know, you got to find that balance. So obviously you draw a ton from how you were raised, if you liked your upbringing. And I'm very fortunate to be one of the people who's happy to say I got two amazing parents, two amazing stepparents too, but two incredible parents. And you know, the thing my dad did that I try to end emulate every single day is he gave me room to just be who I was and not force me into a position. He. Unless the, like, the boundaries are essentially like outside of this boundary is severe error, like, don't do heroin. You know, like things where it's like, holy shit, don't go that far. Good advice. But within the boundaries of like just regular existence, do you, man, like, that's, that's a really. And even as you know, my daughter's only four, but even at four before that's an incredible lesson to understand. Like, no matter what you do, I'm here, it's cool. Like, you're good. I got you. No matter what, you're going to be your own person. I'm not going to force you into a box. This is an extremely important thing. And dads, I think, kind of set the tempo on that kind of thing a lot of the time. Oftentimes, dads are the ones who let you know these are the boundaries of life. Especially as a son, this is how it's going to be. So for me, having that growing up was so, it made being a parent so easy for me. Like, you know, being like, I'm really lucky in that, like, I have an amazing daughter. But I also, like, being a parent feels much easier because I had two incredible parents who, like, set the tempo for what it means to be a parent. So, like, you know, it's boring. But my dad did an amazing job as my dad, and, like, I'm really hoping I could just, like, kind of scrape the surface of where he got with me with my own daughter. And so far, I think I'm doing okay. But, you know, we'll see how it goes. I got a lot of years to go.
Tim
Well, I think, I think we could use a lot more boring in our lives. We all joke about wanting to live in precedented times, so boring sounds lovely. So. All right, Luke, you're next.
Luke
All right. I'm also going with my dad, but not so much like, he did basically the best. I, I, I would think about a lot what the best lesson he ever taught me is. And he always told me that the best way, has always told me that the best way to judge somebody is how they treat people older than, than them, like really old people, animals and kids. And like, I feel like a lot of times people give that kind of gibberish, like, oh, this is what you should do in life. But when I think about it and I look back through all my memories with my dad, I have never seen him mess something up with one of those things, like, to paint a picture. My dad is, like six foot, probably £250. His hands are the size of ketchup mitts. And I have seen that guy. You know, I grew up on a farm. I have seen that guy give CPR for 30 minutes to a lamb that was probably half the size of one of his hand until his hands were literally blue to bring that back to life. I've seen him do it. And, like, looking back on it, like, if you walk, if you See him walking through a farming fleet, you're immediately immediate, or at least like, when I see someone like him, my immediate assumption is like, and like, I have always been thankful to like to think that, okay, you don't have to think that way all the time.
Tim
That's incredible.
Zach
It really is.
Tim
Chris.
Chris
So I had a complicated relationship with my dad, his. And, and I am three weeks into being, being a dad. So this is my first Father's Day. And one of the things that it has taken me a really long time, I'm going to be 40 this year, to, to kind of accept was that my dad was a guy who struggled and he didn't know how to deal with it. His relationship with his father shaped his entire life. Everything about it. His dad was the version that I got of, of his memory was that his dad was like a violent outcome alcoholic who like, beat the out of his only child, like all the time. And, and my dad, when he became a father, his commitment to, to himself and to me was that he would never put his hands on me. And in his, in his mind, that would make him a better father than, than he was, than, than he had, but it didn't make him, him an emotionally whole father. Right. So I got a version of masculinity growing up that was, that was silent and stoic and that, you know, buried the pain. My father unfortunately inherited the, the addictive gene that, that his father had. He was a big alcoholic, he was, he was a drug user, um, you know, for my adult life, a, for my entire life. That addiction problem shaped a lot of who I am, like growing up with my dad, having gone to rehab a couple times, and a big part of that, you know, pain that I had with that relationship of not really being close to my dad. My dad trying to be a good dad, but just not knowing how made it. So I never wanted to be a dad. One of many reasons, like going to Iraq and seeing the worst of the world. And there are many reasons I never wanted to be a dad. And when I first got with my wife, when we got married, you know, for the first few years, my wife didn't want a kid either. And her mind changed after the fall of Afghanistan. She was an editor for the New York Times Times, the editor of Afghanistan. So she worked on the Afghan evac, and that was a very traumatic experience. She had spent two years in Afghanistan as a journalist, so she has a personal connection. And my mind didn't change. We spent a few years navigating ivf and, and now my dad, and I love it. And it is. I think that the three weeks of experience that have. That I have have helped me forgive a lot of my. My dad's shortcomings and his. His version of masculinity because no one modeled it for him. He didn't. He didn't have another masculine figure come in and save him. He didn't have a mentor, you know, take away the pain of his relationship with my grandfather. But with all that said, I wouldn't be who I am today without my father and his influence on my life. And I know that I have accomplished an incredible amount of good for the world, and it took me a long time to get here, but I'm now a dad and I. I love it. And, you know, something that I had been afraid of for, I don't know, the last 30 years, like, since I was a kid, has been a. An absolutely wonderful experience so far.
Zach
It's amazing.
Luke
That's great, Elliot.
Tim
All right, well, I'm going to try to get through mine because mine. Mine's a. Is both good and, And a bit painful. So my. My dad passed away three years ago. Relative relatively sudden. We had about a week's notice, five days notice. I think they originally told us three to six months. And he had five days. And it was particularly painful because. Well, one, because it was such a shock. He was 70 years old and we all were just kind of stunned. But I had also had gotten him studio time. He was a. He was a musician, and he had written a song in the 60s called Wait for Tomorrow that another band recorded apparently was like number 16 on the main top 20, which I didn't even know was a thing that existed. And maybe it didn't. Maybe he just said that. I don't know. And he'd never been in a real studio, so my brother and I, for Father's Day, so three years ago today got him that. And I am a terrible gift giver generally. And he loved it, and he was so excited about it that he began reworking the song because he didn't like how the original was. Um, and then he got sick and we had to postpone. And then it got to the point where we didn't get to do it. And in the last weeks, he said his biggest regrets were not seeing his grandchildren grow up, not eating his favorite meal, and not doing the song. So without telling my brother, who is the musician, by the way, I am not. I told him that my brother and I would do it as a tribute and that hopefully he would be able to hear it. And that seemed to perk him up a little bit. He found. He told us where the sheet music is and unfortunately he didn't make it. But he. We did it a few months later after some time. And you know, it really was cathartic for us. And my mom was just like blown away. First of all, she never heard me sing. I saw, I sing on it and my brother. It's kind of like a duet sort of. And really. So like, I think for me it was the gift of music that he gave me. But also he was somebody that worked a job for 35 years and he absolutely hated it. And he always told me to go out, go explore. We didn't do that. We stayed in Bath. Go check things out, go find your place. And that's exactly what I did. And I don't know if I would have done that if I hadn't had the push. Um, and, and that was all him. I mean, my mom too, of course. And then the other thing was, you know, don't start a fight, but if someone starts a fight with you, you could finish it. So I did get a little bit of the. Which I never had to do. I never had to do. So that was, that was mine.
Chris
But you're still yelling with him. There's still time.
Tim
Go see the ice coming knocking on, on my son's school or something. There might be a little bit of a problem, but. Okay.
Chris
Did we.
Rich
So no, I think that's, that's, it's a powerful message and, and it's something I, I didn't say about my dad, but that I, I immediately regretted not saying. He, he told me, you don't have to hate what you do because there's this thing, especially among men, that's like everyone hates their job and you go do your work and you pay the bills and it's, it's a stoic thing and, and it's like there's no work that isn't sacrifice and that it isn't misery and that there's some honor or whatever and that, that doesn't have to be true. And for millions and millions of people, it is not true. You can wake up every day, love the people you're with and love what you do to give back to your community. And that's what you're doing. You're delivering value to human beings. Whether that's through a for profit organization, a non profit or, you know, nonprofit organization. Whatever it is, you're creating value for humans. That's why it's Like I don't want to be an influencer but like at the same time if, if people are creating value for other people, if that's entertainment, if they're in Hollywood, if they're online, it doesn't matter. Show up, love what you do.
Tim
That is manly as I 100 agree. And not to get too like woo woo on everybody but like what do we got, 80 to 100 years on this earth. Earth. Right. 300 years from now no one's going to remember any of us. It's sad to say, but it's true. Why not? And live your life in the, I mean not everyone can do this. I, I, there's privilege in what I'm saying. But like, you know, try the best to have us have a life that you like. And rich, if that means making tick tock videos and, and screaming at your graph as they, as they shoot up and then straight down, you know, because they're screwing you over like that's okay. That's a real story by the way.
Luke
We have seen it happen several times.
Tim
There's, there are some slack acts that.
Luke
I'm also not clean on that one.
Tim
Oh, I was going to you next but anyway, no but, but like look like it. Everybody should try to do what they enjoy in life and who gives a what other people think, right? Like, and I don't like the term influencer either. It kind of makes it.
Luke
That's what I am it.
Tim
All right. Accepted it. Great. But anyways, like I, you know, I, I think, I don't think men talk about this stuff enough. Right. And I think that it's like you said, the stoic and silent and just like go about it and wait for your pension which most people don't get anymore. So it don't really work, you know, is just not like and a lot of those guys, I mean my dad had a, had an alcohol problem too. A lot of it stemmed from that. A lot of stem from his father passing away too early. But you know, it's not a healthy thing.
Chris
Hey Tim, I'm going to put you on the spot and we can edit this out if you don't like it. But what do you think of in honor of your father and Father's Day that we put your video at the end of this episode.
Zach
Oh, I like that.
Tim
What do you think?
Luke
All right.
Chris
All right. So everybody, everybody, everybody should stick around because you're going to get to hear.
Zach
It's good. I've seen it.
Rich
It's good, it's good.
Tim
Let me, let me just set the stage for that. And it. It's funny because my dad was a big Beatles fan and that's where I got my. He had like all original 45s every. Like, he had every song and he was. And he played every. Every day I'd hear Beatles songs being played in the basement. When he passed away, I found videos of him practicing the song that he set up in his basement on his shitty iPhone. Three or four, probably. I don't know what it was. And so in my head, I was thinking of the Beatles. When the three surviving Beatles got back together to record the two songs that John Len Lennon had recorded on a tape, it ended up being three of them, but two at the time. And they had done something like that. So I was like, why don't we do the same thing where my brother and I are performing the song, but my dad was actually playing along. And then at the very end of the song, the last five minutes, seconds, we pulled audio off of one of his practice videos. So he is in fact playing with us. That's awesome.
Zach
So cool.
Tim
I hope you enjoy it. And with that, we're gonna go, folks. Thank you, everybody. This was a really great episode. We're. This is Tuesday, so we will be back on Thursday again. And in the meantime, don't forget to pick up some merch from us or sign up for a membership on findoutpodcast. Substack.com I see the guys laughing at me because I always do the shameless walking.
Zach
Even in the face of your father. Is.
Tim
He.
Rich
He a mug?
Luke
He buy a mug for Tim's dad.
Tim
He. He would say go for it. He would say go for it.
Zach
I think he would. Sounds like any.
Tim
Anything that he could get. He could get more people to listen to his song. I think that'd be good. Anyways, everybody, have a wonderful day. We'll see you in two days. One, two. Wait for tomorrow to be mine. Wait I'll get to you just in time you better wait. Wait for tomorrow sun to show wait that's when we'll be ready to go. You better wait. You better wait. Let's explore the start of you. I just can't wait to be with you. Everything will be much better soon.
Rich
Have.
Tim
For you and me. Just you wait and see. Everything will be much better soon. Wait. So we can start a new life together Wait Then everything will be much better. You better wait. You better away. Let's look forward to start a new. I just can't wait to be with you. Everything will be much better soon. We'll make a life for you and me? Just you wait and see? Everything will be much brighter as soon.
Chris
As.
Tim
Wait for tomorrow to be mine? Wait then I'll get you just in time? You better wait? Wait? You better wait.
The Find Out Podcast – Episode Summary: "Trump’s Losing Grip — And We’re Gaining Ground"
Release Date: June 17, 2025
Introduction
In this episode of The Find Out Podcast, the team—Tim, Zach, Luke, Rich, and Chris—delve deep into the unfolding political landscape as Donald Trump’s influence wanes during his second term. Eschewing the inclusion of a guest to comprehensively address numerous pressing issues, the hosts provide an unfiltered and candid discussion on the current state of American politics, protests against the administration, and broader societal implications.
Trump’s Rallies and the Shift in Public Sentiment
The conversation opens with reflections on recent "No Kings" rallies—mass protests against Trump—held across various cities despite adverse weather conditions. Tim remarks, “We have now seen all of the No Kings rallies... and even when it was pouring, there were still massive crowds” (00:37). Luke shares his experience attending a rally in Iowa, highlighting the supportive atmosphere despite occasional negativity: “There really wasn't any, like, negativity... It was actually, like, it was cool” (00:53).
The hosts emphasize the growing opposition movement, noting significant attendance numbers that signal a nationwide shift. Tim cites an estimate of over 11 million participants, underscoring the widespread discontent: “It’s pouring all day yesterday, and there were still massive crowds” (02:04). This surge demonstrates that Americans are increasingly unified in their dissatisfaction with the current administration.
Protests and Community Solidarity
Rich adds, “Thank God I’m not alone,” highlighting the sense of community among protesters even in traditionally red states (01:48). The group discusses the impact of these gatherings, with Chris noting the organization behind the protests: “We just organized the Unite for Veterans rally... we spent a tiny fraction of all of the money that got wasted” (07:21). The effectiveness of grassroots movements is evident as they draw significant participation without the need for extensive funding.
Declining Approval Ratings and Political Momentum
Zach points out the shift in Trump’s approval ratings, suggesting that his disapproval has risen substantially: “His disapproval rating has gone way through the roof compared to where it was” (11:17). Tim references a Quinnipiac poll showing Trump’s approval at 38%, a notable decline from typical presidential approval averages (12:02).
The discussion highlights how repeated court rulings against Trump and increasing public disillusionment contribute to his diminishing support. Rich encapsulates this sentiment: “A third of it is Die Hard that will do anything... maybe to 20” (13:14). The hosts agree that Trump’s strategies are backfiring, leading to a loss of both support and credibility.
National Guard Deployment and Legal Battles
A significant portion of the conversation revolves around the deployment of the National Guard and its implications. Chris explains the legal constraints: “On paper allowed to do is, is to protect federal property and protect federal personnel” (47:22). Rich anticipates continued judicial challenges, predicting that “the Ninth Court… will push it to the Supreme Court” (23:58).
The hosts express concern over state-sponsored violence and the potential for increased protests, especially as economic strains loom. Chris warns of impending months of turmoil: “We are going to see a continuing swell in this protest movement” (20:41).
Notable Incidents: Detainment of Senator Alex Padilla
A critical incident discussed is the detention of Senator Alex Padilla by the Trump administration. Tim praises Padilla’s actions, stating, “He went directly to Kristi Noem... And they actually handcuffed him” (26:54). The team condemns the administration’s response, with Zach describing it as “embarrassing” and “painful to watch” (27:21).
Rich adds context by comparing Padilla’s case to previous attempts by administrations to prosecute Democratic officials, underscoring a pattern of political repression: “This is what you do professionally” (19:35). The hosts emphasize the dangerous precedent set by such actions, highlighting the erosion of democratic norms.
Economic Implications and Future Protests
Looking ahead, the hosts predict that economic downturns resulting from Trump’s policies will exacerbate public unrest. Rich notes, “In July and August and going into September, that is when Americans start feeling the pain of all of the sabotage of government” (23:04). The team anticipates that these economic pressures will further fuel protests and undermine Trump’s remaining support.
Chris warns of sustained governmental sabotage and its impact on vital services, particularly for veterans: “Once we hit September... veterans start offing themselves because they don't have access” (24:00). This grim forecast underscores the intersection of political instability and economic hardship.
Massachusetts and Minnesota: Case Studies in Protests
The episode also covers specific protests, such as those in Minnesota, where despite tragic events, demonstrators remained steadfast: “Even with a stay home order... the Minneapolis St. Paul rally… is full of humans” (06:32). Rich reflects on the national media’s focus, lamenting how significant protests overshadow other critical issues: “Even with the absolutely unspeakable atrocity in Minnesota yesterday, the headlines were that” (06:29).
International Affairs: Israel’s Attack on Iran
Transitioning to international politics, Tim highlights Israel’s recent military actions against Iran, which he connects back to Trump’s foreign policy missteps: “Trump is an idiot… The only reason this program exists is because Donald Trump made the spiteful decision in 2018 to pull us out of a deal” (52:26). The hosts discuss the historical context of the Iran deal and its collapse under Trump, attributing current Middle Eastern tensions to this pivotal decision.
Chris adds depth by critiquing prominent figures like Dan Caldwell and his ouster from the Pentagon due to pro-war stances: “Concerned Veterans for America... push Hegseth and political appointees want to war with Iran” (49:33). The team emphasizes the broader implications of aggressive foreign policies on global stability.
Masculinity and Fatherhood: Personal Reflections
In a poignant segment towards the end, the hosts pivot to a more personal discussion on masculinity and fatherhood. Rich shares his complex relationship with his father, highlighting lessons learned and the impact on his own views on masculinity: “Most guys are not, like, the guy that raised me” (62:35). Zach reflects on his role as a father, emphasizing the importance of allowing his daughter to be her own person: “He gave me room to just be who I was” (65:01).
Tim narrates a heartfelt tribute to his late father, combining personal anecdotes with a musical tribute: “We did it as a tribute and that seemed to perk him up a little bit” (74:00). This segment underscores the podcast’s commitment to discussing not only political issues but also personal growth and emotional well-being.
Conclusion
Throughout the episode, The Find Out Podcast effectively intertwines political analysis with personal narratives, providing listeners with a comprehensive view of the current American socio-political climate. By highlighting the decline of Trump’s influence, the rise of grassroots protests, and the personal dimensions of masculinity and fatherhood, the hosts offer a multifaceted perspective that resonates with a broad audience. Notable quotes and timestamps enhance the summary, ensuring that key insights are clearly attributed and easily referenceable for those who have not listened to the full episode.
Notable Quotes with Timestamps
Tim (00:37): “We have now seen all of the No Kings rallies... and even when it was pouring, there were still massive crowds.”
Luke (00:53): “There really wasn't any, like, negativity... It was actually, like, it was cool.”
Tim (02:04): “It’s pouring all day yesterday, and there were still massive crowds.”
Rich (13:14): “A third of it is Die Hard that will do anything... maybe to 20.”
Tim (23:04): “In July and August and going into September, that is when Americans start feeling the pain of all of the sabotage of government.”
Zach (27:21): “It’s embarrassing that he’s doing to literally senators that are currently part of the Senate.”
Rich (62:35): “Most guys are not, like, the guy that raised me.”
Zach (65:01): “He gave me room to just be who I was.”
Note: Timestamps correspond to the minutes and seconds in the provided transcript, facilitating easy navigation for specific quotes and discussions.