3533 - Trump Devours Thanksgiving Budgets; Major Special Election In Tennessee w/ Liz Pancotti

Summary

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Podcast Summary

Podcast: The Majority Report with Sam Seder
Host: Emma Vigeland (filling in for Sam Seder), with Matt and Brian
Episode: 3533 - Trump Devours Thanksgiving Budgets; Major Special Election In Tennessee w/ Liz Pancotti
Date: November 26, 2025

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Overview

This episode blends sharp political analysis and real-life economic concerns at the dawn of the 2025 holiday season. Emma Vigeland is in the host chair, joined by Matt and Brian, for a look at the economic and political anxieties facing Americans under the Trump administration. The centerpiece is a detailed discussion with Liz Pancotti of Groundwork Collaborative on their new report: "Trump is devouring Americans’ Thanksgiving budgets," which reveals a 10% increase in Thanksgiving meal costs. Other topics include escalating ICE detention, anti-immigrant crackdowns, labor exploitation, grassroots organizing (with a notable DSA speech), and a high-stakes special election in Tennessee.

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Key Discussion Points

1. Trump's Economic Impact on Everyday Life

Thanksgiving Costs Skyrocket

• [31:35] Interview with Liz Pancotti on Groundwork Collaborative analysis: Thanksgiving meal prices are up nearly 10% this year.
• Some Thanksgiving staples (onions +60%, cranberry sauce +22%, spiral hams +50%) have seen especially sharp price increases.
• Frozen turkey prices are stable, but fresh turkeys are up 40%. Budget shoppers face fewer choices and higher costs.

Quote [32:30] – Liz Pancotti:
"Onions are up almost 60%. And cranberry sauce, my favorite thing on the Thanksgiving table, is up 22%. And if you hate turkey, you're really screwed. This year we find that spiral hams are up 50%. So lots to be thankful for this year in Trump's economy."

Dissecting Competing Statistics

• Walmart’s claim that “Thanksgiving dinner is cheaper this year” is debunked: they swapped out name brands and used canned goods instead of fresh. The American Farm Bureau Federation’s stats are based on flawed volunteer surveys and aren’t representative.
• Groundwork’s data uses scanner records (Nielsen), covering about half of all US grocery purchases for a more accurate picture.

Causes: Tariffs, Supply Chains, Corporate Profiteering

• Tariffs on aluminum, steel, glass, and food imports directly impact canned foods, wine, and beer.
• Labor shortages, ICE crackdowns, and attacks on immigrant workers are driving up produce and meat prices—especially affecting sectors that rely on immigrant labor.
• "Prices shoot up like a rocket and come down like a feather”—corporate price gouging is rampant, and companies are slow or unwilling to lower prices even after costs decrease.

Quote [45:07] – Liz Pancotti (citing economist Isabella Weber):
“Prices shoot up like a rocket and come down like a feather. There is really nothing going to force these companies... to bring [prices] down.”

Real-World Suffering: Polling and Public Sentiment

• [41:19] Polling via Data for Progress: 65% of Americans are stressed about affording Thanksgiving; 10% are skipping the holiday altogether due to cost.
• Bipartisan pain: even 20% of Republicans blame Trump’s policies for higher costs.

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2. ICE Crackdowns and Immigration as a Labor Issue

ICE Detention Numbers Hit All-Time High

• [07:43-14:59] ICE is holding a record 65,135 people, with a steep rise in arrests—mostly for “other immigration violations” (no criminal record).
• ICE budgets balloon under GOP, now offering $280 million contracts to surveillance firms, essentially for “bounty hunting” immigrants.

Quote [09:39] – Emma Vigeland:
"The largest growth in people arrested by ICE during this time period has been people with no criminal charges and convictions... just clearly not any sort of criminal record besides they have an immigration violation."

Emotional Testimony from DSA Member in Salem, OR

• [12:30] "Elisa," a home healthcare worker, immigrant, and DSA member, speaks at Salem City Council about living in fear:
  "ICE does not care if I am a resident. ICE will not care when I am a citizen. ICE only cares that my skin is brown. Every day I ask, am I next? A statement is not enough. Salem workers have more demands..."

• City council votes to declare a state of emergency over ICE sweeps.

Exploitation Enabled by Immigration Status

• Non-citizens live in limbo, leaving them vulnerable to workplace abuse, wage theft, and dangerous conditions. This system creates an exploited labor underclass for corporate profit.

Quote [15:36] – Emma Vigeland:
"It creates a sub citizen status for so many people that allows them to be more easily exploited... immigration is a labor issue. We talk about this all the time."

• Children are scared to attend school; community activity declines under threat of raids.

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3. Surveillance, Technology, and Price Manipulation

Algorithmic Collusion and Rent-Gouging

• DOJ and Biden-era efforts to curb algorithmic price-fixing are rolled back under Trump, with companies like RealPage and Fetcher using AI to artificially increase housing, airline, and consumer goods prices.
• Polls show bipartisan outrage and real financial pain.

Quote [47:56] – Liz Pancotti:
"Trump has said this week that they put out this big AI action plan that says that they want to take away the ability for states to regulate AI... these companies are boasting about how they are either these AI companies are either enabling this type of price gouging..."

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4. Major Special Election in Tennessee’s 7th District

Competitive Race with National Implications

• [52:39] Emerson poll shows Democrat Aftyn Behn within two points of the GOP candidate in what was formerly a Trump+20 district.
• Behn has spoken out against the genocide in Gaza, showing that bold progressive stances can be electorally viable even in red districts.
• Both parties have poured millions into the race—a Democratic win would make life even tougher for Speaker Mike Johnson and the narrow GOP House majority.

Quote [54:20] – Emerson College pollster:
"It looks not like a 22 point district that Trump won by, but closer to like a 10–12 point district... when we look at those numbers, [the race] looks much more competitive."

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Notable Quotes & Moments

• Emma Vigeland [14:23] on DSA member Elisa’s bravery:
  "I just thought that was amazing and really brave for her to show her face as a dreamer... you can be activated on that level and demand that of your representation.” (12:30–14:23)

• Brian [17:54] on why socialism is gaining:
  "Socialism is the answer to this... the Nazi playbook is just being run again by all those people that are hoarding the money that we're just trying to find some other that people can hate and blame all this on."

• Liz Pancotti [41:19] on polling:
  "65% of Americans are stressed about affording Thanksgiving this year. That stretches across party lines. 10% of people are just skipping the holiday altogether because they simply can't afford it."

• Matt & Emma, on the Tennessee race:
  "This race could make it even harder for Mike Johnson to do his job, which is of course, something that we support." (54:20–55:37)

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Important Timestamps

• [02:52] Show open and rundown of stories: ICE crackdowns, immigrant detention, Bolsonaro imprisoned, CDC hires anti-vaccine official, new National Parks surcharges
• [07:43-17:08] In-depth discussion of ICE's growing brutality and labor exploitation
• [12:30-14:23] DSA member Elisa's powerful speech at Salem City Council
• [31:35-51:23] Interview with Liz Pancotti on inflation, tariffs, corporate gouging, AI price-fixing
• [41:19-43:02] Polling on food prices and cost-of-living anxieties
• [52:39-55:37] Tennessee special election: polling, candidate stances, national stakes

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Tone & Style

• Mix of energetic banter and deep moral outrage.
• Irreverent, sharply critical of Trump and the GOP, and unsparing in calling out Democratic failures too.
• Empathetic to working people and immigrants, supportive of grassroots activism (especially DSA).
• Relentless focus on structural causes, not just surface politics.

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For Listeners Who Missed the Episode

This episode delivers an accessible yet hard-hitting overview of America’s current economic and political crossroads. Whether it’s Thanksgiving dinner, your rent, or your basic safety from ICE, costs are rising and insecurities deepening under Trump’s policies. The hosts—and their expert guest—combine lived experience, data, and organizing know-how to cut through right-wing narratives and corporate spin, pushing listeners to connect economic anxiety with political action. The Tennessee special election is presented as a perfect microcosm: when emboldened progressives step up, even entrenched power can be challenged.

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Recommended for:
Anyone hoping for a sharp, timely take on US politics, labor, food inflation, immigration policy, progressive organizing, and why it all matters for ordinary people.

Transcript

[Emma Vigeland]

Hey folks. Our friends at Sunset Lake know that it's not always easy to feel thankful these days. So they wanted to extend their thanks to this show, our amazing listeners, and a special shout out for Brian for all that lifted tea. Love. The holidays are yeah, the holidays are coming up, which means less daylight, colder temperatures and a little extra stress on top of an already nutty year. As we wind down 2025, you deserve to rest and recharge. Thankfully, our friends at Sunset Lake Sebede have kicked their kicked off their Black Friday sale. Right now you can save 30% off statewide when you head to sitewide, I should say sunsetlakeseba.com and use the code Friday 25. That's the word Friday and two numbers. Two no spaces. Friday 25. They've got everything that you need to chill out, catch your breath this holiday season. They've got the tinctures that help you with sleep, they've got gummies to make you feel more social and some gummies to help you sleep. Even smokeables that won't make you bug out. They'll just make you feel a little bit relaxed. I mean we've got this all over my desk. I've got Sunset Lake seven day. I've got this lotion that I've been using much more heavily in these winter months over there. I don't want to reach too far, but I've got those relaxed gummies. I sometimes pop one on my commute home. Sunset Lake is an essential product in my household and the quality of it is phenomenal. Regenerative farming practices just partially employee owned. They treat their employees well, pesticide free. They're movement partners and have partnered with us on things like refugee resettlement and strike relief funds. All that good stuff that makes you feel good about supporting a company. Sunset Lake is a company that you can feel good about supporting and their products are quite good. And that's not all though folks. If your order total is over $125, Sunset Lake will throw in a free citrus flavored 750mg Sebede Tincture. Again, that's 30% off. Statewide. The coupon code is FRIDAY25 and orders over $125. Unlock a free citrus flavored 750 mg Sebede Tincture. Head over to sunsetlakesebide.com and use the code FRIDAY25 to save 30% on all their wellness products for people and pets. This sale ends December 1st at 11:59pm Eastern. See their site for full terms and conditions. Now time for the show the Majority.

[Matt]

Report with Sam Ceder.

[Emma Vigeland]

It is Wednesday, November 26, 2025. My name is Emma Vigeland in for Sam Cedar and this is the five time award winning Majority Report. We are broadcasting live steps from the industrially ravaged Gowanus Canal in the heartland of America, downtown Brooklyn, usa. On the program today, Elizabeth Pincotti of the Groundwork Collaborative will be with us to talk about Trump's Thanksgiving price surges or the Trump slump or the Trump bump base. We're, we're workshopping it, sort of. We may already have. Also on the program, Trump's FBI is contacting the Democrats who told troops to defy illegal orders in an obvious scare tactic. In a court filing, the DOJ reveals that it was Kristi Noem who was behind the decision to violate Judge Boasberg's order to halt deporting immigrants to Seekot. ICE is offering up to $280 million for bounty hunter services from private surveillance firms per Wired to target immigrants. The mother of White House spokesperson Caroline Levitt's nephew was just detained by ice. Senate Republicans plan to tackle affordability when they return in January by targeting the real culprit, vehicle safety mandates. House Oversight Chair James Comer, who wants to run for governor of Kentucky, is distancing himself from the Epstein investigation. The CDC hires Louisiana's Surgeon General Ralph Abraham as its Deputy director who has had Louisiana stop recommending vaccines during an influenza influenza surge. JR Bolsonaro has begun his 27 year sentence for his coup attempt after exhausting all appeals and trying to cut off his ankle monitor to flee to a friendly embassy, the American Embassy. I think that's what was speculated and honestly it's probably the right bet.

[Brian]

He said he got curious and put a hot a heating element on it.

[Emma Vigeland]

Oh, he got. He's just doing a science experiment, Dad. I just got curious to see if this would light on fire. One of Germany's leading research institutes finds that the bare minimum Gaza death toll is 100,000. And that's just conflict related deaths, not starvation and not people that they can find under the rubble. The UN says Israel's genocidal assault on Gaza has created, quote, the most severe economic crisis ever recorded. And lastly, starting next year, the Trump administration will require a surcharge for any foreign tourists visiting national parks. But don't worry, Americans are also paying more too. All this and more on today's majority report. It's hump day. It's an M Majority report on Wednesday. Wednesday, yes. Hello, Matt. Hello Brian. Hello, everybody. Happy, happy nearly Thanksgiving. I hope everybody's getting in the holiday spirit. We, as a programming reminder, will be off tomorrow, and then on Friday we have a show. We recorded it in advance. That we will. We're excited to share with you. So you can tune in on Friday, but no live show on Friday. We will be back live on Monday and on Friday. Just make sure to wish one Sam Cedar a very happy birthday. And in part because I think it really annoys him.

[Matt]

He would hate that.

[Brian]

It's so weird having the birthday on. Like, yeah, it always happens. And it's like, oh, yeah, it's also his birthday. It's like, well, there's a lot going on. Yeah, we kind of have our hands full with Thanksgiving, but we have to do his birthday stuff. All the birthday stuff he makes us do, too.

[Emma Vigeland]

Yeah, yeah. It's such a burden.

[Matt]

I had to go to two different stores to get enough candles.

[Emma Vigeland]

He's like, I want to be pampered my birthday month. Yeah. Different parties for different groups of friends. The work party better be better than the one that John Benjamin threw for me. You know, it's like, that's what Sam looks like.

[Brian]

We have to compete with that.

[Emma Vigeland]

This is what Sam sounds like. So ICE is no easy transition from that. ICE is still terrorizing communities across the country. North Carolina's been in the headlines a lot recently because that's been very intense. But there's also been, you know, an increase in activity in Oregon. We'll play a clip from Salem, the Salem city council meeting that I thought was really powerful. But Austin Coker, friend of the show, if you don't follow his substack for some of this data, you're missing out. He had an article just, you know, four or five days ago breaking down this ICE data, which that has just been released here. We now have the numbers because the government shutdown slowed so much of it. There's basically been. The data has been completely opaque for the past two months. But now we know that ICE is currently holding a record 65,135 people. Can we scroll to the chart? The first chart there that shows that you can see the total ICE detention population is based on Austin's breakdown at a record high above 65k. And then this next chart's also. These first three are helpful. Scroll down. Yep. Monthly ICE arrests here you can also see are close to what could be a record at the very least. October looks like a record November, over 40,000 arrests.

[Brian]

I would just like to say, Chris Murphy, that whole thing you did early in the Trump administration when you said they're not even arresting that many people compared to the Biden numbers maybe reflect on why that wasn't the best approach to take.

[Emma Vigeland]

Right. And also these arrests are going to keep getting keep escalating this third chart too. Thanks. Because the as Austin writes about the enforcement budget is just starting to be implemented right now. The crazy, crazy increases that ICE got in the last Republican budget. Now the largest growth in people arrested by ICE during this time period has been people with no criminal charges and convictions. Here you can see that the biggest growth is in that bottom right area, which is other immigration violator, basically meaning.

[Brian]

Zero criminal charges, convicted criminal, basically flat over the past several months pending criminal charges. Pretty much the same with the spike in the last couple. But the big spike is just clearly not any sort of criminal record besides they have a immigration violation.

[Emma Vigeland]

And Wired just also had a report that came out, really disturbing one I headlined it, that ICE has lifted an $180 million cap on immigrant tracking contracts and they're now offering up to $280 million for essentially bounty hunting services by using advanced technology. And let's play a little bit of that Salem City Council vote. I saw that one of the DSA chapters posted this. And this is just a good reminder that DSA is if you have the ability, joining DSA can be a really fruitful way to combat the Trump administration and have solidarity during this time of fascism.

[Brian]

It's an organization with under 100,000 people, but fastly approaching, that is my understanding. And it is taking an absolute leadership role in a time where there's a complete vacuum.

[Emma Vigeland]

Exactly.

[Brian]

At the top of the opposition party.

[Emma Vigeland]

Right. And that leadership role, I feel like as the members grow, we're getting more and more people with even like heightened competence. Right. It's not just that we're getting larger and larger pools of people who are really activated and want to be a part of the DSA infrastructure network effect. Yeah. And Zoramdani, you'll hear in this woman's remarks is inspiring, I think across the country. But here is this woman speaking at Salem City Council in a meeting that they had. They ended up voting 6 to 3 to declare a state of emergency over these ICE sweeps. And this was, these were, this was a piece of the remarks from that meeting. Thank you.

[Elisa]

Hello, everyone. My name is Elisa and I am a resident of Y. I am a member of Democratic Socialists of America and I am a home health care worker. And I am also a dreamer. I came to this country when I was 14 years old from Puebla, Mexico. I followed all the correct steps and I went to school, I got a job and I start a family and I apply to be a citizen. I am happy to say that I am now a legal resident. But I'm still scared. I'm scared because I see what happens in Hillsborough, I see what happens in Gurber and I see what happens here in Salem. ICE does not care if I am a resident. EYES will not care when I am a citizen. ICE only cares that my skin is brown. Every day I ask, am I next? A statement is not enough. Salem workers have more demands. Make all schools, sanctuary schools. Make all buildings in Salem stop ICE from going inside. Tell the police to rest. ICE agents doing illegal raids or detentions. End all contracts with ice. Make illegal funds for families impacted by ice. Support, abolish ice. I'm proud to be in the same group as Zoran Mandani, a Muslim immigrant and mayor of New York City. He wants a city that workers can afford. Immigrants wants to be free for an ice. They also want to be free from poverty. We demand that you fight for housing for all fast and free buses and tax the rich.

[Emma Vigeland]

Thank you. I just thought that was amazing and really brave for her to show her face as a dreamer. She went by an anonymous name but find solidarity in dsa. I just was so heartened to see that and heartened to see how those demands when you have a kind of organization behind it that stands with you, you can be activated on that level and demand that of your representation. So I just thought that was extremely moving.

[Brian]

It's an issue of right and wrong. And then you have J.D. vance on the other side trying to spread this Nazi, these sort of Nazi lies, you know, moved on from they're eating your pets or whatever to they're living in the houses you should be living in. As if any thinks that people in her situation are like living high off the hog because of how great America lets it know these people are kept in the shadows. And even these, even the good sort of provisional stuff we do like DACA and stuff, it's still. It should have just been citizenship. Why are these people kept in limbo at all? It's a. It's impossible.

[Emma Vigeland]

Why? Because of what? Because it creates a sub citizen status for so many people that allows them to be more easily exploited. It prevents them from feeling comfortable even joining an organization like DSA or being a more formal member of society because you are in a state of limbo constantly and are much more susceptible to Exploitation. That's why having her speak about her experience within the context of democratic socialism is really important. Because immigration is a labor issue. We talk about this all the time. When you hear about a 15 year old kid dying in the meatpacking plant, wow, what do you know? That kid was undocumented. And look, that red state wants to do away with paperwork requirements so that, so they don't have as much of a paper trail when they exploit that person's labor. What about if you are in an unsafe workplace and you're an undocumented immigrant, even if you're an adult, you're going to complain to your boss and you're going to say this is unsafe. Or, or can I have a raise please? Because the guy's just gonna go, hey, I'll call ice, I'll deport you. And when you see more and more of this, this enables bosses like that to use that even more. In Charlotte, attendance is just way down. When we were covering that last week because children are afraid to go to school, they're afraid to participate in society. And that is like the right wing populist vision of this kind of thing. It's just hurting other people so you feel better and it changes nothing materially for you.

[Brian]

And the problem is the Democrats aren't speaking to the actual underinvestment in people's communities. That's the real problem here. Like this is being pursued not because it's going to make anyone's lives better. The way to make people's lives better is to take the money that is being hoarded by the wealthiest in society at historically unprecedented levels and reinvest it toward things like transportation and housing that people need. And the Nazi playbook is just being run again by all those people that are hoarding the money that we're just trying to find some other that people can hate and blame all this on. But the answer is right. And that's why people joining dsa, that's why DSA is growing the way it is, because socialism is the answer to this.

[Emma Vigeland]

I mean, and was that ever more evident when Zoran Mamdani stood next to Donald Trump and gave like the strongest rebuke of his politics just by his, in his, the strength of his convictions that we've seen in this 2.0 era. Liberalism is failing to meet the moment. But just to kind of wrap things up with just another crazy wrinkle to this. So Caroline Levitt, the White House spokesperson who's in her 20s and moves her mouth in a way that Donald Trump Machine Gun Mouth Thompson. Um, she's like. Did she get full facial reconstruction or just, like, partially? Because she's like, looks like a totally different person. But yeah, I like Piggy. She got the Mar A Lago discount.

[Matt]

Well, it's nice to have Botox when you're a professional liar because nobody can ever see your poster face.

[Emma Vigeland]

Exactly. Exactly. And I'm telling you, not just Botox. Got to teach you boys the difference between Botox and filler. I'm trying hard, but so, but that, but that is accurate. I mean, I don't know what you're. I'm curious about everybody's take on this because this could be a coincidence. It could also be Caroline Levitt and the mother of her brother's son or child being targeted. I guess we'll see. We don't know, but basically it just. This is a local news report here on how the mother of White House Press Secretary Caroline Levitt's nephew was just taken by ice.

[Matt]

Mother of White House Press Secretary Caroline Levitt's nephew has been taken into Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody. A source confirming that to News 9 tonight. Now, Levitt, of course, grew up here in New Hampshire. Much of her family still lives here. Our aerial Metropolis spoke to Levitt's brother tonight, the father of that boy, about this arrest. She joins us here in studio live now. Arielle.

[Arielle]

Steve, we spent almost half an hour with Michael Levitt and his young family on their front steps tonight. He didn't want to go on camera because he says he's concerned about his son's privacy, but he says he simply wants the best for him. The brother of White House Press Secretary Caroline Levitt says he's most concerned about his son's safety and well being after he confirms his son's mother is in ICE custody. Photos published on a GoFundMe site show Michael Levitt's former partner, Bruno Ferreira, A source confirming she was taken into ICE custody in Revere, Massachusetts. Massachusetts DHS saying she's being held at an ICE facility in Louisiana. Michael Levitt spoke to WMUR off camera on his front porch tonight, telling us that his son has lived with him since he was born. But Ferrero has maintained a relationship with the boy. According to DHS, Ferreira overstayed her visa by 26 years and has a previous arrest for battery. But Ferreira's attorney, Todd Pomerle, insists that she came here legally from Brazil under DACA and is in the process of getting her green card.

[Matt]

Bruna is. There's no criminal record whatsoever. I don't Know where that is coming from? Show. Show us the proof there's no charges out there. She's not a criminal. Illegal alien. We're hearing that said about basically anyone who's not a U. S. Citizen.

[Arielle]

Farmer Low says Ferreira is a good mother, agreeing with that same sentiment from Michael Levitt that this boy shouldn't be caught in the middle, as in his.

[Matt]

Mom is locked up, sitting in Louisiana where she should have never been in the first place.

[Emma Vigeland]

Okay. Yeah. So I don't know the marital or the. The custody situation, I guess, with this kid, the mother. I guess he. She is not with Caroline Levitt's brother anymore. But I mean, on one side of things, it could just be. This is how rogue ice is.

[Brian]

That's what they do. This is what. That's clearly, to me, that's what they do. Like, this is just. They see somebody who's in sort of some process, whether it's DACA or deferred, like, whatever. That's clearly, I think, what. The situation she was in. So that's why she came upon their radar. They had no idea. It's like Levitt's brother's like, you know, significant other, whatever their relationship is. But that's what. This is just how they operate.

[Emma Vigeland]

Right. I mean, but I can't also rule out the possibility that it's also being used as a disciplinary force against her. If she has this connection, the father of her child has this connection with the White House and say they're not getting along, we don't know, she should resign. Well, I mean, obviously. But my point. My point is, is just that, like, that's another example of immigration being used as a. And somebody's status like this, being a DACA recipient being used as a disciplinary force against her as, like an out, you know, an extrajudicial punishment system.

[Brian]

Yeah.

[Emma Vigeland]

Taking her away potentially from her child. We'll see.

[Brian]

It's possible. I just don't think it's that sophisticated. I think it's just a blunt and. And brutal Gestapo.

[Emma Vigeland]

And if it's that too, it's, it's, it's. The point still stands.

[Brian]

There's something happened early on in February. Homan, who's also has, yeah, New Hampshire roots, somebody sort of close to people that he came up with, like a child got swept up and something like this, and he had to, like, sort of backpedal. And like, that's the thing is, I think this is what happens when you send these thugs out there. Nobody is safe, not even the significant other of the liar in Chief in Caroline Levitt.

[Emma Vigeland]

In a moment we will be speaking to Liz Pancati. But first, a word from some of our sponsors. What if you could give a gift that brings your favorite holiday traditions and memories to life every day? Well, with an aura frame you can. It's perfect really. For your mom, for your dad, for your grandparents, for your uncles and aunts. You have unlimited free photos and videos. You just download the Aura app and connect to WI fi and then preload the photos on the aura frame before it ships. So you can add all these nostalgic photos, photos of you and your family and loved ones and send it over to the recipient without having to take the frame out of the box. It's like magic and if they're old enough, they may think it's magic. So you can just give the gift of memories to your loved ones. It's thoughtful. It's just the perfect gift. Especially you know, if you don't know exactly what to get somebody.

[Brian]

It's like we should all be like texting and stuff, especially our elderly relatives. More. This is like an easy way to.

[Emma Vigeland]

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[Matt]

Ordered to this year.

[Emma Vigeland]

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[Brian]

Skill issue.

[Emma Vigeland]

Yeah. Yeah. Well, no, it's actually not a skill issue now because I got Zocdoc to help me out here. Matt. I want to keep myself healthy, but it makes the whole system is just a pain. It makes it impossible to find the right doc for my needs until I found Zocdoc. They make it so easy to find the right fit and book an appointment fast directly on their website. Zocdoc is a free app and website where you can search and compare high quality in network doctors and click instantly to book an appointment. Zocdoc lets you book in network appointments with more than 100,000 doctors across every specialty. You can filter for doctors who are near you, take your insurance, are a good fit for you, et cetera. You can find the type of care that you're looking for from good bedside manners to fast wait times to doctors with the best listening skills. You can see their actual appointment openings. Choose a time slot that works for you and click instantly to book a visit. Appointments made through Zocdoc also happen fast, typically within 24 to 72 hours of booking and and you can even get same day appointments. Zocdoc is how I found my dentist who I really like now. And I obviously don't love going to the dentist, but if you have one that you like, it makes it a little bit easier. And I'm just in awe that Zocdoc is like the most intuitive kind of site with this calendar view for these appointments. It's the most annoying thing in the world and you have to call a doctor over and over again, find an appointment, et cetera. You can't get them on the line, oh, we're closed on Mondays. Okay, that's odd. But Zocdoc lets you know and you have a calendar laid out for you.

[Brian]

I mean that's the thing in a city like New York, to be able to look at doctors by the time that they're available. Huge crazy. The main thing.

[Matt]

Yeah.

[Emma Vigeland]

I would like to thank zocdoc for sponsoring today's episode. Stop putting off those doctor's appointments and go to Zocdoc.com majority to find an instantly book a top rated doctor today. That's Zocdoc.com Majority Zocdoc.com Majority and we will put a link down below in the episode and YouTube descriptions and @ Majority FM. And lastly, this time of year is packed with festivities with Thanksgiving right around the corner. And here is how I stay productive the next day after those festivities. It's a game changer. Zebiotics. Zebiotics, the pre alcohol alcohol probiotic drink is the world's first genetically engineered probiotic. It was invented by PhD scientists to tackle rough mornings after drinking. Here's how it works. When you drink, alcohol gets converted into a toxic byproduct in the gut. It's a buildup of this byproduct, not dehydration, that is to blame for rough days after drinking. Pre alcohol produces an enzyme to break this byproduct down. Just remember to make pre alcohol your first drink of the night. Drink responsibly and you will feel your best tomorrow. Zbiotics has been a big assist for us in many ways. After doing some live shows indulging, it's a go to here in our office for some of these work events. And every time that I have the Zebiotics pre alcohol before drinks, I notice a difference the next day. Even after a night out, I can confidently plan on doing the show, not falling apart without worry. Make the most of every toast, tailgate and touchdown this holiday season. Just don't forget to bring pre alcohol along for the ride. Go to zbiotics.com majority to learn more and get 15% off your first order when you use Majority at checkout. Zebiotics is backed with 100% money back guarantee, so if you're unsatisfied for any reason, they will refund your money, no questions asked. Remember to head to zbiotics.com majority and use code majority at checkout for 15% off links down below in the episode description and that Majority FM Quick break and when we come back we'll be joined by Liz Pancati. It. Jam. We are back and we are joined by friend of the show, Liz Pancati, Managing Director of Policy and Advocacy at Groundwork Collaborative, former advisor to Senator Bernie Sanders. Liz, thanks so much for coming on the show today.

[Liz Pancati]

Thanks so much for having me. Good to be back.

[Emma Vigeland]

Yeah. Great to see you. And you have a new kind of report. Groundwork Collaborative in collaboration with some some other folks have a new piece out, I guess analysis a pricier plate Thanksgiving costs climbed nearly 10% this year is the headline of it. But I also, I saw another summary of it. Trump is devouring Americans Thanksgiving budgets New Report reveals prices up 10% I do like the idea of the visual of him devouring those prices, so we'll go with that one. But wow. So your analysis basically finds that these Thanksgiving staples are up nearly 10% this year despite us hearing a lot about the Walmart meal. There's not a lot about like never better the overall statistics on this front.

[Liz Pancati]

No, it's really funny. There are several competing statistics out there so we can kind of walk through them, but our analysis finds that overall a typical Thanksgiving budget is up about 10% or the price of a Thanksgiving meal at the grocery store is up about 10% this year. Some things are up well above that. Onions are up almost 60%. And cranberry sauce, my favorite thing on the Thanksgiving table, is up 22%. And if you hate turkey, you're really screwed. This year we find that spiral hams are up 50%. So lots to be thankful for this year in Trump's economy. But there are two other stats floating around. One is the Walmart stat that got a bit of a press bump a couple weeks ago when the President was touting it from the Oval Office. Walmart took their basket last year, realized that if they simply put out the prices for that this year, it would show an increase. And so decided to swap a bunch of items out for store brand items or canned produce from fresh produce. And they mixed like eight of the items. I think it's just completely different basket. And so I guess that's under Trump's America, in order to have the same price, you've got to ration your food. And then the other thing that's floating around there is the American Farm Bureau Federation has put out their analysis, which is very funny. They rely on about 200 volunteers to go take pictures of stickers at their local grocery store of a list of items. Except they don't ensure that people take pictures of the same item. Like, one person could be taking a picture of a family size box and someone else could be taking a picture of a regular size box. And that it's about 200 people. And they do it in October when no one is buying perishable items for Thanksgiving. That happens a month later. So our data comes from a big conglomerate called Nielsen. They get data from about half of all grocery store purchases in the country. And it's based on the scanner data. So when you scan something in the checkout line, it goes into our data set and then we look at it. We pulled the most popular items. So we've got all the brand names in there, Green Giant, Libby's, you know, the staples for this time of year, Butterball, turkeys and whatnot. And we find Prices are up 10% across the board.

[Emma Vigeland]

I mean, that there's a lot. We played some polling yesterday, or it was Harry Enten from CNN summarizing, like, the poll numbers around how people are experiencing these price increases and like, the way that it's phrased, I understand why, for polling purposes, but it's like, you know, how do people feel that the price of groceries are up? And it's something like over 80% have that experience. But what I love about your guys's analysis here, which calls from, I would say, a larger data set than just the Walmart meal that Trump keeps touting, is that you have definitively found that, yes, prices on these kinds of goods are up significantly. Where are they down, if any?

[Liz Pancati]

Where so, so not down, but stable frozen turkeys, which is what most people are buying. In fact, the turkey you hopefully have purchased and mostly thawed by this point. If you're listening to this, if you're eating turkey tomorrow, that was probably frozen last year and then it is put in the depth of deep freezers and then pulled out this year. So the turkeys that are on the wholesale market right now will actually hit stores next Thanksgiving. Those wholesale prices right now are up 40%. So next year's turkeys will be screwed. But this year, most grocery stores use turkeys as what we call a loss leader, which means they kind of like the Costco $5 rotisserie chicken, they keep the price really low to get you in the door so that you'll buy all the other stuff. And so we find that frozen turkey prices are basically stable. I think they're up like 0.8% or something. But fresh turkeys, if you have waited too long to buy your turkey or you're going to a local butcher, those are up almost 40% this year. So it really depends on exactly the thing you're buying. But in terms of prices being down, we don't find a ton of stuff that is a decrease if you're looking at different items. So we find that less popular items are sometimes down. You can kind of hunt for a bargain or buying store brand eggs are down. But that is mostly due to the huge spike last fall and early into the spring of this year. So eggs and, eggs and milk are down, but things aren't looking great in the bird flu situation. And I don't know if anyone looked at the news this morning, but Ag Secretary Brooke Rollins was on, I think CNBC saying that beef prices are unlikely to come down anytime soon. So we do see a couple of little pockets of decreases, but across the board we're seeing really, really big increases.

[Emma Vigeland]

Well, let's stick with meat then just for a second and analyze like, really what's driving this, because I know that tariffs are particularly impactful with these beef prices. But then you also have like the cuts to fund research funding, for example, in the midst of the bird flu outbreak that are affecting basically the chickens that were frozen. Right? So like, there's not enough of inventory is what I wanted to say in the back, basically. But what are the different reasonings behind some of those price increases? And I'm sorry, my camera's acting up, so I'll try to fix that. Distracting me a little bit.

[Matt]

Yeah.

[Liz Pancati]

So in meat, there's a couple different factors at play in obviously, bird flu has been really big over the past year. My favorite thing was when Elon Musk accidentally fired the bird flu team at the CDC and usda and then they had to like scramble to find all their phone numbers to bring them back because Doge didn't realize what it was doing. So Doge cuts have certainly affected our response to avian flu that's affected chickens, eggs, poultry, turkey, etc. In beef and pork, there's a couple of different things going on. In beef specifically, there is a very terrifying I don't eat beef, so this is fine for me, but a very terrifying sounding flesh eating disease ravaging cows in Texas. And so we have like our lowest ever cattle herds right now. It's a mixture of that disease plus drought conditions in Texas. And so that is affecting our domestic beef supply. The administration is kind of around the edges, tried to change how we can import more beef. It's not totally working very well. And on top of that, for, for all meat across the board meat packing facilities, there's a massive torpor consolidation in this industry. It's basically four big players. And a lot of these meatpacking facilities are staffed by immigrants. It's a big, it's a brutal job. Like you are literally slaughtering pigs all day. They're very, very harsh working conditions largely filled by immigrant workers in the Midwest. They've also had some child labor issues. And of course, I know you were talking about this earlier on the show this morning, but of course, Trump's crackdowns on immigrant labor are really affecting that industry.

[Emma Vigeland]

Right, right. And, and then how about fruits and vegetables? They're up as well. What are some of the reasons behind that in terms of Trump's impact on that?

[Liz Pancati]

Some of that is a tariff story, especially for canned fruits and vegetables. The aluminum tariffs are just really killing canned products right now. So beer is also up, but for produce in general, again, so much of that relies on immigrant farm workers. And as the administration just really wreaks havoc on our farm worker programs, trying to cut their wages, obviously ICE enforcement on those job sites and whatnot, it's just kind of a brutal story, unfortunately. And it's both hurting those immigrant workers. Again, these Are these are people who work in our communities and feed our kids. It's hurting that and driving up prices at the grocery store.

[Emma Vigeland]

And wine and beer, you mentioned beer because of the aluminum. The wine has just got to be the tariffs, basically. Right?

[Liz Pancati]

It's aluminum and steel tariffs and glass, all of those were like fermenting wine in steel vats typically. And like big commercial facilities, those are all affected by the tariffs. And then the glass and cork products.

[Emma Vigeland]

For wine itself, like if you're importing.

[Liz Pancati]

It from Italy or Spain.

[Emma Vigeland]

Gotcha. So basically, across the board, unless you're getting a frozen turkey, you're paying higher prices. And your analysis also included data for progress and their poll numbers about what people are experiencing. What were some of the most notable findings in that that you'd like to communicate?

[Liz Pancati]

Yeah, the polling, as kind of. You were Talking about the C9 polling too. We find pretty similar results. But unfortunately, we find that 65% of Americans are stressed about affording Thanksgiving this year. That stretches across party lines. We find that it's 72% for Democrats and 59 for Republicans. Independents there at 63 in the middle. But everybody is feeling the pinch this year when it comes to Thanksgiving. Most people, a majority of Americans feel like it's going to be harder to afford Thanksgiving this year. Coming in at 53% believing it will be harder and just 13% believing it will be easier. And everybody's kind of pinching pennies to afford it. So a third of people are buying fewer items or switching from store or from name brand products to store brand products. A third of people are relying on coupons or discounts. And unfortunately, 10% of people are just skipping the holiday altogether because they simply can't afford it this year. Last we asked people how they think about President Trump's economic agenda and its effect on Thanksgiving. And we find that majority of people think that President Trump's agenda is making the holiday less affordable, including 64% of independents and 20% of Republicans. So I think we are really starting to see the cracks in Trump's approval on the economy. It is at its lowest deaths even, including his entire first term. He is just really underwater on cost of living and affordability. And unfortunately for so many families across the country, these higher prices for Thanksgiving are going to be followed by way higher prices for Christmas and Hanukkah gifts and celebrating the holidays in general this year.

[Emma Vigeland]

I mean, and this is just like a direct result of Congress or their inaction. But the ACA subsidies, the expanded ones, or the 2021 ones are set to expire at the start of January. And that means people's health care is going to explode around the very same time that you're talking about this getting worse and worse.

[Liz Pancati]

Yeah, I mean, people logged into healthcare.gov over the past few weeks or got a letter in the mail saying that their healthcare premiums are going to go from two $300 a month to in some cases, more than $1,000 a month. I mean, I can't imagine looking at that letter, realizing what my healthcare expenses are going to be and then buying Christmas gifts for my kids. I don't know how you can do that and keep the lights on in your house.

[Emma Vigeland]

Yeah, I don't know either. I guess. Let's zoom out then and talk a little bit about how we got here. I mean, we're talking about the tariffs as well. But it also occurs to me that some of the more like the way the better parts of the Biden administration when they were trying to at the very least crack down on price gougers with threats of legal action, that's gone away entirely. And even when that was in place, we saw the greedflation dynamic play out where at the start of COVID there was inflation, naturally occurring inflation due to supply chain bottlenecks and all of work stoppages and everything that we've talked about about the pandemic's impact on the world. But then in the years that followed, we saw record profits, we saw what the quarterly earnings said and the CEOs just got richer and richer during that time period and they kept prices high artificially and particularly in sectors like groceries and food. It seems to me that even if these tariffs go away, they are probably just going to retain these higher prices regardless because they have a built in excuse like they did with inflation.

[Liz Pancati]

Yeah, I mean economist Isabella Weber has coined this. Prices shoot up like a rocket and come down like a feather. There is really nothing going to force these companies. Even if the Supreme Court overturns Trump's tariffs, I don't think customers are going to get a refund for those higher prices they paid. And I really don't foresee these companies bringing them down. There's actually a new study out of a Columbia business school professor Jesse Schrager finds that for companies who in their earnings calls they say we're heavily affected by the tariffs, he compares those to companies who do not talk about the tariffs in their earnings calls. So most of them have domestic supply chains or they explicitly say like the tariffs aren't a big deal. For us, they find almost the exact same price increases between the two types of companies, those who are affected by the tariffs and those who are not. And I think this is emblematic of what we saw throughout the supply chain crises of 2022 and 2023. Frito Lay, you know, big food companies like Frito Lay, Coke and Pepsi, they have been some of the worst perpetrators of this, just really keeping prices high. Consumer retail goods like Procter and Gamble and Kimberly Clark, toothpaste, diapers, toilet paper, all of that stuff, these are some of the worst perpetrators of this. And even if we do see some relief on the tariffs or other economic policies, I don't think these companies have any incentive to bring prices down back to where they should be. The other thing you were talking about is, you know, President Biden had really gone after a lot of this corporate price gouging. And in fact, the Department of Justice was suing this company called RealPage, which uses my technology in the background to help big corporate landlords spike rents for people. In fact, in Atlanta, this is the worst metro area of this, they raised rents by $180 a month for tenants. And just this week, the Department of Justice under President Trump settled that lawsuit. And RealPage had to admit no guilt. They don't have to turn over the data or the technology. There's a bunch of loopholes in the settlement so that they can continue to do this. It's just a really awful settlement. And none of the state attorneys generals who are also suing Real Page have signed onto it. And so some of those efforts will continue to go. But, I mean, Trump is really just letting them off the hook with barely a slap on the wrist.

[Emma Vigeland]

Well, I mean, I don't understand how. Well, one, I'm curious as to how widely proliferated this algorithmic price fixing is, because it seems to be. Well, there's no referees under Trump. They're just like, do whatever you want. But price fixing is supposed to be illegal. Why is it legal? Or at the very least, like, no one's enforcing it right now when just because you use a computer or like an algorithm? I mean, that's really basically the premise of what they're doing here.

[Liz Pancati]

Yeah, and I mean, Trump has said this week that they put out this big AI action plan that says that they want to take away the ability for states to regulate AI. And in fact, I mean, Steve Bannon, to his credit, put out a thing last night being like, this is the way to completely end maga's rule. And, you know, states like Texas have done some actions to go after these big algorithmic price fixing technologies. There's a company called Fetcher which uses a bunch of personal data that works with airlines like Delta to use dynamic pricing and surveillance pricing where they use kind of personal data or information about the economy to charge people different prices in real time. So if they know that you got an email from your dad recently saying that your grandma passed away and you need to come home, they could then jack up the price for your flight home in real time. And you know, these companies are boasting about how they are either these AI companies are either enabling this type of price gouging or other companies are boasting about using this and how much it'll benefit their shareholders and their bottom line. So across the board, I mean, RealPage is super prolific in markets like I live in D.C. and you live in New York in big urban markets. They are working with GrayStar and JBG and the big corporate landlords that own, you know, a huge amount of the rental units. This is not your mom and pop landlord. Like they are not paying for a subscription to RealPage, but the huge buildings and the big corporate landlords are all in cahoots on this and just completely colluding to jack up the prices of basics like housing. You know, it's something you can't really go without.

[Emma Vigeland]

Well, I mean, would you be surprised if grocers are doing the same thing?

[Liz Pancati]

Grocers, there's like a little bit of a different dynamic going on. So there is an old antitrust enforcement statute that actually Lina Khan was dusting off at the very end of the Biden administration called the Robinson Patman Act. And that ensures that grocers. So for example, if you are Frito Lay and you make a bunch of Doritos chips and Walmart wants to put those Doritos on their shelves. And because Walmart is going to buy like 7 billion bags of Doritos chips, you give Walmart a better deal. You say, like, because you're buying in bulk quantities, you can have them for a little bit cheaper than your neighborhood bodega. There is a statute on the books called the Robertson Patman act that prohibits Frito Lay or any producer from giving a discount that is disconnected from cost. So if at a huge scale, it is actually cheaper to produce, you know, 7 billion bags of Doritos, you can pass on those savings to a retailer. But I mean, at some point it's just there's no difference between the bag of Doritos that you're making. And so this is actually a statute that Zoran has talked about using within New York City. I think this is a huge thing of if we're gonna have public grocery store is something we need to use, but it should not cost your local grocery store or your local bodega way more to acquire the bag of Doritos. So then the Walmart down the street can charge A$50 for it and you have no choice but to charge $4 for it. Like everyone should share in the benefits of those discounts. And unfortunately, in the grocery market, this is really ubiquitous.

[Emma Vigeland]

Well, Liz Pancati, your work is phenomenal. Always love having you on the show. People can check out the Groundwork Collaborative and also this analysis on Trump devouring Americans Thanksgiving budgets, how Prices are up 10% across the board. Appreciate your time today, Liz. Thanks so much for coming on.

[Liz Pancati]

Thanks so much for having me. Happy Thanksgiving.

[Emma Vigeland]

Happy Thanksgiving. Oh, yes, happy. I'll pass that along to him and he'll get really embarrassed. Quick break, folks. I'm just going to adjust my camera. There's something up with it. And then I want to talk about this Tennessee special election. Then we'll wrap up the first hour of the show.

[Matt]

Sam.

[Emma Vigeland]

We are back, folks. Hopefully my camera's getting a little bit better. Had to restart some things. We were actually going to be speaking to Afton Ben today, but unfortunately, obviously very busy with a special election coming up on December 2nd, which is Tuesday. She had to reschedule. But I still wanted to make sure that we covered this race because of how important it is. Here is a local news report they had on the director of Emerson College Polling to talk about a poll that just came out this morning that is really promising about this race. As a reminder, this was a Trump 20 point district. And right now Emerson, which is a very good pollster, has the Democrat Afton Ben as like within two points of the Republican opponent. She's spoken out about the genocide in Gaza. She, I think, called it a genocide in April 2024. So when we're talking about these litmus tests about who you can trust, that's a pretty great step in the right direction. And unlike what you would have heard from the traditional pundits during the Biden era, turns out it's not this major electoral poison pill if you stand up for universal human rights and against the genocide and the slaughter of a population. So this is where polling looks like with likely voters in this race that.

[Guest/Caller]

We thought might become competitive. And we jumped in the field this week on Monday And Tuesday, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, we collected the data. We have a sample of about 600, a margin of error of about plus or minus 3.9%, which is about an 8 point swing. But one key point of the weighting for this polling as compared to previous polls is that this is intended to look at likely voters here in the seventh district. So it's not a general audience poll. It's not even a registered voter poll. It drills down to who they think is likely to vote. And when we look at those numbers, it looks not like a 22 point district that Trump won by, but closer to like a 1012 point district. Based on those turnout numbers, we'll obviously see what happens come next week. But at this time, that's how the waiting is done. So if you looked at our results here, I don't want you to compare them with our New Jersey, Virginia, California, because each survey is a study where we learn different things about the constituents. And in this poll, we decided to weight it based on the turnout model from the primary where the Dem, where the Republicans outturned the Democrats about 55, 45. And then we added in those new voters who didn't vote in the primary.

[Emma Vigeland]

All right, pause here. That's good. I think we can get a sense there where you see Matt Van Epps, 48% Afton, Ben is at 46%. And then you have that 5% down there. But this, as I mentioned, Ben has called Israel's actions a genocide before. This is a district that is the result of resignation by a Republican, Mark Green, and he resigned, I guess, in July. But when we're talking about these incredibly thin margins in the House, this race could make it even harder, harder for Mike Johnson to do his job, which is of course, something that we support. I'm trying to find. I have this. Here it is. There's also been a ton of money that's been spent in this race in just one special election. This is reporting from the Tennessee Lookout Super PACs have now spent $7 million in Middle Tennessee US House special election with a week to go. You have a lot of Democrats that are spending a lot. I think it was the largest individual donation was J.B. pritzker, who's been kind of dumping some money in across different races in the country since he's a very rich man. And Reed Hastings, the founder of Netflix, also poured money in. But you have Republicans. MAGA Inc. Has spent nearly $1.2 million in this race. Club for Growth and Conservatives for American Excellence spent a combined $1 million MAGA Inc. Is Trump's primary pack, whose largest individual donors this year are Jeff Yass, a billionaire investor who most notably owns a significant stake in Chinese social video company TikTok, and Kelsey Warren, the billionaire owner of Energy Transfer Partners, if you remember that name. So Democratic super PACs have spent a lot as well, but that just underscores the importance of the race here. So even though we weren't able to interview the candidate today, want to make sure that we put this on your radar. If you're in Tennessee, you know people in Tennessee who may be in this district. Check it out, talk to them, tell them how important this race is. It's next Tuesday, so December 2nd, Tennessee 7th district. Watch out, folks. With that, we're going to wrap up the first part of this program and head into the fun. Half this show relies on your support. Join themjorityreport.com you can become a member. You can IM the show. We'll read your IMs. Have some fun. Matt, what's happening?

[Matt]

Open Conversation is the way of humans connecting.

[Emma Vigeland]

That's so beautiful.

[Brian]

Humans connecting.

[Emma Vigeland]

What's happening on Left Reckoning and the Jacobin show?

[Brian]

Yeah, no Left Reckoning this week. We took it off for Thanksgiving, but there will be a new Jacobin show on Friday with Kurt Hackbart and Jose Luis of the Sobranilla podcast. Jose Luis has recently been on Majority Report here, and we'll have a Sunday show for patrons as well. Also, folks, check out The Sunday show, patreon.com leftreckoning where we talk to Kowalski from Nebraska about the future of rural Americas and farming. And it did not look good, folks.

[Emma Vigeland]

Not look good. All right, Check out our merch store. Check out the whistles.

[Brian]

Well, yeah, we got whistles.

[Emma Vigeland]

We got whistles, stickers, hats, shirts, all of it. All that jazz. One stop shop. Exactly. Check it out, folks. Shop. MajorityReportRadio.com Corporations Ate My Baby says I'm a proud new Mr. Member. Everyone should be. That's right. Thank you. Thank you. If my soundboard was working, I would give you a shofar, but I gotta fix it over the break. So see you in the fun house.

[Matt]

Three months from now, six months from now, nine months from now. And I don't think it's gonna be the same as it looks like in six months from now. And I don't know if it's necessarily gonna be better six months from now than it is three months from now, but I think around 18 months out, we're gonna look back and go like.

[Emma Vigeland]

Wow.

[Matt]

What what is that going on? It's nuts. Wait a second. Hold on. Hold on for a second. Emma, welcome to the program. Fun Hack. Matt, do Fun Hack. What is up everyone? Fun Hack. Nomi, key.

[Liz Pancati]

You did it.

[Matt]

Fun Hack.

[Emma Vigeland]

Let's go, Brandon.

[Guest/Caller]

Let's go, Brandon.

[Matt]

Fun hack. Brandon, you want to say hello?

[Brian]

Sorry to disappoint everyone. I'm just a random guy.

[Matt]

It's all the boys today.

[Liz Pancati]

Fundamentally false.

[Emma Vigeland]

No. I'm sorry.

[Matt]

Women. Stop talking for a second.

[Emma Vigeland]

Let me finish. Where is this coming from?

[Elisa]

Dude.

[Emma Vigeland]

But.

[Matt]

Dude, you want to smoke this? 7A. Yes.

[Emma Vigeland]

Hi. You're safe. Yes.

[Matt]

Is this me?

[Emma Vigeland]

Is it me?

[Matt]

It is you. Is this me?

[Emma Vigeland]

Hello? This me.

[Matt]

I think it is you. Who is you? No sound. Every single freaking day. What's on your mind?

[Guest/Caller]

We can discuss free markets and we can discuss capitalism.

[Emma Vigeland]

I'm gonna go skylight. Libertarians.

[Brian]

They're so stupid.

[Matt]

Though common sense says of course.

[Emma Vigeland]

Gobbledy gook.

[Matt]

We nailed him.

[Emma Vigeland]

So what's 79 plus 21?

[Matt]

Challenge? Man. I'm positively quivering. I believe 96. I want to say 8 5, 7, 210-355-0111. 3, 8, 9, 11.

[Brian]

For instance.

[Emma Vigeland]

$3,400. $1900. 5, 4.

[Matt]

$3 trillion.

[Emma Vigeland]

Sold.

[Matt]

It's a zero sum game.

[Emma Vigeland]

Actually. You're making me think less of. Wait.

[Matt]

But let me say this poop.

[Liz Pancati]

Call it satire.

[Guest/Caller]

Sam goes satire on top of it all.

[Emma Vigeland]

My favorite part about you is just like every day, all day. Like everything you do.

[Matt]

Without a doubt. Hey, buddy. We see you. All right, folks, folks, folks.

[Emma Vigeland]

It's just the week being weeded out. Obviously. Yeah.

[Matt]

Sun's out, guns out. I, I, I don't know.

[Emma Vigeland]

But you should know.

[Brian]

People just don't like to entertain ideas anymore.

[Matt]

I have a question. Who cares?

[Brian]

Our chat is enabled, folks.

[Matt]

I love it.

[Emma Vigeland]

I do love that. Gotta jump.

[Arielle]

Gotta be quick.

[Matt]

I gotta jump.

[Emma Vigeland]

I'm losing it, bro.

[Matt]

Two o'.

[Emma Vigeland]

Clock.

[Matt]

We're already late. And the guy just being a dick. So screw him. Sent to a gulag.

[Emma Vigeland]

Outrageous.

[Matt]

Like, what is wrong with you? Love you.

[Emma Vigeland]

Bye.

[Brian]

Love you.

[Emma Vigeland]

Bye.

[Matt]

Bye.