8.5.26 A divided Democratic party, leftover bombs and mines, Mike Peters’ final album

Summary

Podcast Summary: The World and Everything In It – August 5, 2026

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Episode Overview

This episode explores critical issues shaping both domestic and international landscapes: the internal divisions within the Democratic Party illuminated by the Michigan Senate primary, the lingering human cost of war through leftover bombs and mines worldwide, and music’s power in adversity as reflected in the final album of Mike Peters. Additional segments discuss global news, U.S. political dynamics, and the legacies—political and personal—that shape our world.

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1. A Divided Democratic Party: Michigan’s Senate Primary

[00:05] – [16:00]

Key Points:

• The Michigan Senate primary, one of the most expensive in history (~$80 million), pitted establishment-backed Haley Stevens against progressive Abdul El-Sayed.
  • Pro-Israel group AIPAC spent $30 million for Stevens.
  • El-Sayed championed a progressive platform including Medicare for All.
• Political scientist Hunter Baker analyzes the significance of this race within the broader struggle between establishment Democrats and the party’s socialist/left wing.

Notable Quotes:

• “Some had billed [Michigan] as a battle for the soul of the Democratic Party.” — Kent Covington [01:03]
• “We saw a different sort of situation where you had Democratic socialists lose definitively in Missouri and then appearing to win fairly narrowly in Michigan… It's a little bit more of a mixed picture.” — Hunter Baker [07:50]
• "If you have a radical left candidate like El Sayed, Rogers will be able to win that seat and become the first Republican U.S. senator from Michigan in about a quarter century.” — Hunter Baker [09:20]

Additional Segments:

• Missouri: Wesley Bell defeats former Squad member Cori Bush, indicating pushback against the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA).
• Kansas: Voters reject the election of Supreme Court justices, maintaining appointments.
• Missouri: Failed ballot initiative to eliminate the income tax reflects divided fiscal philosophies between red and blue states.

Timestamps for Key Segments:

• Michigan Senate Primary: [01:03]–[10:04]
• Missouri Congressional Race: [10:04]–[11:35]
• State Tax Policies: [11:35]–[13:44]
• DOJ Nomination Ethics: [13:44]–[16:00]

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2. Global News Briefs

[01:03] – [06:45]

Highlights:

• Senate Judiciary advances Todd Blanche’s AG nomination amid concerns over ties to anti-“weaponization” fund, but confirmation remains uncertain.
• Rand Paul pushes to hold Dr. Anthony Fauci in contempt for refusing to answer Senate questions, planning to send referral to DOJ.
• Russian and Ukrainian drone warfare continues; humanitarian crisis in Ukraine and Russia persists.
• Ebola outbreak in Eastern Congo is the deadliest and fastest-growing to date.

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3. World Tour: The Deadly Legacy of Unexploded Ordnance

[16:48] – [21:56]

Key Points:

• Unexploded munitions and mines (UXOs) kill or injure at least 17 people daily in over 80 countries, decades after wars end.
• Solomon Islander Maivolyn Pitanoy recounts surviving a WWII bomb explosion while cooking for a church fundraiser.
  • "Before I landed back on the ground, after I was blown up, I asked God to spare my life... But please just don't take my life away." — Maivolyn Pitanoy [17:46]
• Pitanoy now leads Bomb Free Solomon Islands, supporting survivors and advocating for UXO removal.
• John Rodsted (Nobel laureate, landmine treaty activist) and Simon Jackson (Halo Trust director) contextualize the persistence of the UXO crisis globally.
  • "The level of munition saturation has increased exponentially." — John Rodsted [19:26]
  • “It is really rewarding to go somewhere that we've cleared and see land returned to productive use. Kids going back to school, families able to rebuild.” — Simon Jackson [20:26]
• The episode underscores the ongoing responsibility, both ethical and practical, for cleanup.

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4. Human Interest: Resilience and Compassion

[22:13] – [23:17]

• A Cincinnati veterinary assistant, Mallory Smith, constructs a custom wheelchair for a paralyzed kitten, Gelato, using rulers, ribbon, and Hot Wheels.
  • “He was kind of just dragging his back end. She built him a custom rig ... got these rulers for 99 cents ... and Hot Wheels, there are ambulances.” — Mary Reichard [22:41]

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5. Legacy of Mike Peters: Music, Hope, and Final Messages

[23:24] – [30:47]

Key Points:

• Welsh rock band The Alarm’s frontman, Mike Peters, passed away after a decades-long battle with cancer, leaving behind the album "Transformation."
• Despite repeated diagnoses—including non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and CLL—Peters performed and recorded persistently.
• Widow Jules Peters shares his defiant optimism and ongoing legacy through the Love Hope Strength Foundation.
  • “Mike wrote this believing he was going to survive...that was so not the case.” — Jules Peters [25:42]
  • "When you're listening to this album, don't be sad, be happy. Because that is the countenance that Mike always had...right here, right now is what counts. Tomorrow is a gift." — Jules Peters [29:02]
• Tracks like “Chimera” and “New Life” reference both medical battles and spiritual themes, with heavy glam rock influences.

Notable Musical Moments:

• “One in a Million” from Transformation [24:52–25:15]
• “Chimera” discussed [27:37]
• “New Life” highlighted [28:27]
• “I don’t want to live forever, I want to live right now” — Mike Peters [30:09]

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6. Commentary: Learning from Those Who Lived Under Socialism

[30:53] – [35:10]

Key Points:

• Cal Thomas recounts testimonies from survivors of socialism/communism (Soviet Union, China, Venezuela, Cuba) as a counterweight to rising acceptance of socialist policies among young Americans.
  • “They say that the purpose of democratic socialism is to bring equality… everyone is equally poor… miserable… depressed.” — Virginia attorney Marina Medvin [32:22]
  • “None of these people has spent one day in socialism or communism...they are selling you a story that they don't even understand.” — Yali Nunez [33:25]
• Warns against historical amnesia: quoting John Adams and invoking the “expiration date” of democracies.
  • “Socialism will lead to our destruction... once destroyed, it will be nearly impossible to bring us back.” — Cal Thomas [35:10]

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7. Notable Quotes & Moments (w/ Timestamps)

• “It's a little bit of a more mixed picture, maybe not that surprising as we move to the Midwest.” — Hunter Baker [07:50]
• “The war is still going in the Solomon Islands. It has not been ended in 1942, 43...the war is still there. At any time, it can cost someone's life.” — Maivolyn Pitanoy [21:37]
• “When you’re listening to this album, don’t be sad, you know, be happy. Because that is the countenance that Mike always had…today, right here, right now is what counts.” — Jules Peters [29:02]
• “Evidence reveals the true objectives of socialism and communism, including the millions who have died at the hands of their governments.” — Cal Thomas [33:35]

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8. Additional Resources and Final Thoughts

The episode concludes with a biblical reflection (Ephesians 2:4-10), reinforcing the program’s commitment to faith-driven journalism.

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Summary prepared for listeners seeking a comprehensive and engaging briefing on the episode’s content and insights.

Transcript

[Mary Reichard]

Good morning. One of the most expensive Senate primaries ever could help decide the future of the Democratic Party.

[Lindsay Mast]

We'll talk about that race in Michigan and more with Hunter Baker. That's ahead on Washington Wednesday. Also on world tour, the remnants of war that still claim lives long after the fighting stops and the legacy of Mike Peters, whose music outlasted repeated cancer diagnoses.

[Jules Peters]

Mike wrote this believing he was going to survive.

[Lindsay Mast]

And world commentator Cal Thomas says we should listen closely to the stories of those who lived through socialism and communism.

[Mary Reichard]

It's Wednesday, August 5th. This is the world and everything in it for listener supported World radio. I'm Mary Reichard.

[Lindsay Mast]

And I'm Lindsay Mast. Good morning

[Mary Reichard]

today. Time now for the News with Kent Covington.

[Kent Covington]

Voters went to the polls in five states Tuesday, including for a U.S. senate primary in Michigan. That's where Democrat Haley Stevens faced off against Abdul Al said in a race that some had billed as a battle for the soul of the Democratic Party. Stevens was backed by most establishment Democrats, while the party's hard left and socialist wing boosted. Al said Haley told supporters gathered late last night for what they hoped would be a victory party.

[Mary Reichard]

We might not know the results until

[Lindsay Mast]

early in the morning, maybe even later tomorrow.

[Kent Covington]

El Sayed said much the same to his supporters, but struck a more confident tone.

[Cal Thomas]

Right now we are on track to

[Harrison Waters]

vastly outvote the historical numbers that we should have expected.

[Kent Covington]

As of early this morning, with about 4/5 of the votes counted, El Sayed was leading by about 2 percentage points. Michigan voters also cast ballots to decide both the Democratic and GOP nominees for governor. Democrats picked Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, while Republicans went with Congressman John James, who had President Trump's endorsement. In Missouri, Congressman Wesley Bell beat former Congresswoman Cori Bush in a Democratic primary rematch. Bush had been a member of the left wing progressive group known as the Squad. Bell unseated her two years ago. And in Kansas, voters rejected a Republican push to start electing Supreme Court justices. More than 60% said no. Conservatives wanted elections after the court blocked pro life laws and issued other rulings they opposed. Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche is one step closer to Senate confirmation after a key vote on Tuesday. World's Harrison Waters has more.

[Harrison Waters]

The Senate Judiciary Committee met Tuesday after two Republican holdouts agreed to approve Blanche's nomination. With John Cornyn and Thom Tillis on board, Blanche's nomination passed out of committee on a party line vote 12 to 10. It's now up to the full Senate to vote later this week. But even with Cornyn and Tillis now on board. His confirmation is no sure bet. Two Republicans have not yet said how they will vote, so Senators Lisa Murkowski and Bill Cassidy and Senator Susan Collins has said she will vote no, and with a thin GOP majority and Senator Mitch McConnell still absent due to medical concerns, Blanche can afford to lose no more than one or two Republican votes. Reporting for World, I'm Harrison Waters.

[Kent Covington]

Republican Senator Rand Paul filed a resolution Tuesday to hold Dr. Anthony Fauci in contempt of Congress for refusing to cooperate at a hearing last week. Paul chairs the Homeland Security Committee, which will vote on the resolution tomorrow. Fauci appeared at that hearing only after being subpoenaed, and he then pleaded the Fifth to every question asked. Paul and other Republicans argue that Fauci's earlier pardon from former President Joe Biden canceled his Fifth Amendment protection. Contempt referrals normally go to the full Senate, needing 60 votes to beat a filibuster, but Republicans would not have those 60 votes, so Paul says he will send that referral to the Department of Justice himself. The DOJ then decides whether to prosecute Russian attacks continue in Ukraine Ukrainian authorities say a strike in the city of Sumy Tuesday killed an elderly woman and two children. Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky posted amateur video that he said captured a bizarre and frightening Russian drone attack. World's Travis Kircher explains.

[Travis Kircher]

The video shows a street vendor selling vegetables in the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson when he was hunted down by a drone. The footage appears to show it chasing him around his vehicle before it strikes his car, wounding him. The man later calls the encounter terrifying. He says he tried to show the drone that he only had vegetables, but it wouldn't terminate its pursuit. Meanwhile in Russia, authorities there claim five people are dead after a Ukrainian drone strike Tuesday hit three warehouses just outside Moscow. Video footage appeared to show flames and black smoke pouring from a warehouse near St. Petersburg. The building belongs to Wildberries, Russia's largest online retailer, but Ukraine says it has been providing logistical support to the Russian military. Reporting for World I'm Travis Kercher.

[Kent Covington]

Ebola has now killed more than 1700 people in Eastern Congo, and health officials say no outbreak of Ebola has ever killed people this fast. The earlier West Africa epidemic took eight months to reach 1,000 deaths. This one is not yet three months old. The outbreak is driven by a strain with no approved vaccine or treatment, and 80% of new cases are turning up outside of the contacts health workers are tracking. The virus has infected more than 100 health workers, and some are threatening to walk out over unpaid wages, Foreign Covington. And coming up, cleaning up long buried munitions. Plus the last album of an optimistic rocker, this Is the World and Everything in It.

[Mary Reichard]

It's Wednesday, August 5th. So glad to have you along for today's edition of the World and Everything In. Good morning. I'm Mary Reichard.

[Lindsay Mast]

And I'm Lindsay Mast. Time now for Washington Wednesday. Michigan voters headed to the polls yesterday in a race that could determine the direction of the Democratic Party. The race may end up being the most expensive Democratic primary ever, some $80 million spent with the majority of it going to back four term U.S. representative Haley Stevens. That included $30 million from the pro Israel group AIPAC. In his campaign, public health official Abdul Al Sayed emphasized a much more progressive agenda, including so called Medicare for all.

[Mary Reichard]

Joining us to talk about it now is political scientist Hunter Baker. He's a senior fellow at the First Liberty center for Religion, Culture and Democracy. Good morning, Hunter.

[Hunter Baker]

Good morning, Hunter.

[Lindsay Mast]

It has seemed like there is a takeover move that has been underway within the Democratic Party over the last year or so. So what do last night's results tell you about where things stand?

[Hunter Baker]

Well, it's really interesting. Earlier in the summer we saw this massive burst of achievement for the Democratic socialists in various congressional races. And last night we saw kind of a different sort of a situation where you had Democratic socialists lose definitively in Missouri and then appearing to win fairly narrowly in Michigan in that Senate race. So it's a little bit of a more mixed picture, maybe not that surprising as we move to the Midwest. But this is a big change in American politics and we've seen it before. We've seen the Goldwater Reagan takeover of the Republican Party. We have seen Trump take over the Republican Party. We saw the new left take over the Democrats with McGovern in the early 70s. And now we've seen this recent surge from the left with Bernie Sanders and then the Democratic socialists.

[Mary Reichard]

Well, now polls suggested that a win for Stevens would set up a tight general election against Republican Mike Rogers in November. She Stevens is more establishment leaning as a Democrat, but an El sayed win. He's a candidate who's not officially aligned with the Democratic Socialists of America, but who is somewhat adjacent to them. He seems less likely to deliver that same outcome. So Hunter, what does this primary race mean for the overall picture in the Senate come November?

[Hunter Baker]

I think that the mainstream of the Democratic Party intuits exactly what you have just said. And I think that that's part of the reason that a tremendous amount of money has poured into Stevens bid to defeat El Sayed. If Stevens wins, then you have almost a repeat of two years ago when Mike Rogers, the Republican, was very narrowly edged out. And I think that the Democrats believe that if you have a radical left candidate like El Sayed, that Rogers will be able to win that seat and become the first Republican U.S. senator from Michigan in about a quarter century.

[Lindsay Mast]

Well, Hunter, that takes us then to Missouri where an actual member of the Democratic Socialists of America, Cori Bush, a one time member of the squad along with aoc, Ilhan Omar and other uber leftists. She had her shot yesterday at the revenge she vowed on the more moderate candidate Wesley Bell. But Belle won this one in a landslide. So what does Cori Bush's loss here tell you about the strength of the dsa?

[Hunter Baker]

Well, it's very interesting. She lost that race a couple of years ago and basically immediately began the campaign to get that seat back. So a lot of people anticipated that this would be just a battle royale between her and Wesley Bell. And I think that to a lot of people's surprise, he blew her out. And what's really interesting is that he had a lot of support from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee. And that's a real point of tension with the Democratic Socialists. The American Democratic socialists at one time, going back a few decades, were much more sympathetic to Israel, but that position has really changed. They now view Israel as sort of the capitalist ally of the United States, the imperialist power. And for them, being a critic of Israel is basically as important as any of their economic programs. And I think that that came to a stop, at least in Missouri, last night.

[Mary Reichard]

Well, speaking of my state of Missouri, a failed ballot initiative here laid out a plan to eliminate the state income tax. And despite the failure of this initiative, the effort anyway seems to track with a tax trend across the nation. Republican states looking to eliminate the income tax and then blue states on the hand looking to raise taxes on high income earners. So Hunter, two different theories of growth colliding or is it something else?

[Hunter Baker]

Well, it's really interesting. We've talked on this program about the virtues of federalism and the way the American constitutional design works. And you're exactly right that we've seen this sort of battle between Southern states very eager to attract business and new residents. And it has worked. You have seen tremendous growth of states like Tennessee and Florida and South Carolina and North Carolina. And I think that lawmakers in Missouri were maybe eyeing some of that same bounty. But Midwesterners in Missouri had a different sort of an orientation. They didn't ask, can we attract a lot of new business? They said, well, what will happen to our sales taxes? What will happen to our property taxes? And they opted for the status quo.

[Lindsay Mast]

So, Hunter, roll this one out a few years for us. Can these two plans coexist or does

[Hunter Baker]

one side lose the bet when it comes to taxes? I think that they can coexist. For one thing, there are always going to be people who are interested in California just because of that otherworldly weather and the combination of mountains and beaches and just all the attributes that that state has. But a lot of other people are going to say, you know, Florida is pretty good too, and they prefer that pro business climate and maybe that greater protection for various individual rights of the types you saw during the COVID epidemic. And I think that that dynamic competition is really good. And I think that over time, you get an idea of what works and what doesn't.

[Mary Reichard]

Well, let's round this all out by talking about Todd Blanche, the nominee to lead the Department of Justice. He's the Attorney General and was Trump's former criminal defense attorney. So close ties there. And he was also part of a DOJ in which Trump set up a $1.8 billion anti weaponization fund. And it seems Blanche would have a hard time shaking this idea of an insider relationship with Trump. So his nomination stalled until two senators, Thom Tillis of North Carolina and John Cornyn of Texas, backed him after Blanche confirmed that that anti weaponization fund is dead. Now, both senators are outgoing lame ducks who have clashed with President Trump, so they really didn't have that much to lose. Hunter, my question is, can you walk us through both the ethical and political considerations of what brought us here?

[Hunter Baker]

Well, it seems obvious to me that President Trump was subject to some significant degree of lawfare, and I think that he has sort of extended his resentment of what occurred there to events surrounding the 2020 election. And this idea for this, you know, 1.776 or $1.8 billion anti weaponization fund has a certain political logic in light of some of the things he experienced. But when you look at this president sort of negotiating with his own Department of Justice and or the irs, then it gives you a little bit of what I think women call the ick. It just doesn't pass that test of sort of being an arm's length sort of negotiation. And it seems like it could turn into the sort of things where you're just awarding political allies. I totally understand why some senators would say this doesn't look good. We don't like it. It's not ethical and we don't want to see it happen.

[Lindsay Mast]

Well, Hunter Baker is a senior fellow at the First Liberty center for Religion, Culture and Democracy. Hunter, I know you were up late watching those results. Thank you so much. Hope you get a nap today. Thanks as always for your time.

[Hunter Baker]

Thank you.

[Kent Covington]

Additional support comes from World Watch, a 10 minute video broadcast for teens to build news literacy. A free 30 day trial is available at Worldwatch News Podcast from Ambassadors Impact Network equipping investors to steward their capital through Faith Forward Private companies. [e-mail] and from Dort University, host of At Work in the Garden, the Faith and work conference 9-17-19 Dort Edugarden.

[Lindsay Mast]

Coming up next on the World and Everything in It World Tour around the world, hidden explosives left over from wars kill or injure an average of 17 people every day, often decades after the fighting stopped. The Red Cross estimates millions of unexploded munitions still lie buried in or abandoned in more than 80 countries.

[Mary Reichard]

But finding and clearing areas of those unexploded ordinances, or UXOs, can be difficult and dangerous. World reporter Amy Lewis met with people working to remove these deadly reminders of war.

[Amy Lewis]

On Mother's Day 2021, Solomon Islander Maivolyn Pitanoy built a traditional oven on the ground to cook food for a church fundraiser.

[Maivolyn Pitanoy]

We all were like standing around the fire and all of a sudden the explosion just happened under the pot, you

[Amy Lewis]

know, the force of the World War II bomb that had lain dormant for 80 years threw her into the air and ripped through her body.

[Maivolyn Pitanoy]

Before I landed back on the ground, after I was blown up, I asked God to spare my life. I can endure the injuries. That's all right. But please just don't take my life away.

[Amy Lewis]

Two boys died. Pitanoy was in the hospital for nearly two months. Scars now cover much of her right leg. She's missing most of the three middle fingers on her left hand.

[Maivolyn Pitanoy]

I can see there's a purpose for my survival, to support the victims and their survivors, to advocate for what has happened so that we can address this issue.

[Amy Lewis]

Last year, Pitanoy started the nonprofit Bomb Free Solomon Islands to support survivors and work for the removal of UXOs. She and other survivors regularly cook and eat together. She donates seedlings from her garden for them to grow. Her nonprofit also works alongside international governments who have made some progress cleaning up UXOS over the years.

[Arsenio Orteza]

I think I've worked in about 20 different war zones.

[Amy Lewis]

John Rodsted is a photographer whose team won the 1997 Nobel Peace Prize for its work on the international treaty to ban landmines, intentionally concealed explosives set to go off when anyone walks or drives over them. To date, 164 countries have signed the treaty, and 128 countries have agreed to also not use cluster bombs. Notably, Russia, China, Pakistan and the US have not agreed to either one. World War II left millions of unexploded munitions in the ground, and the problem

[Travis Kircher]

has only grown every conflict since.

[Arsenio Orteza]

The level of munition saturation has increased exponentially.

[Amy Lewis]

Rodsted said it will take decades to clean up. Ukraine, Russia and Gaza, for example. Meanwhile, places like Laos and much of the Pacific have yet to be cleared from the Vietnam and Second World wars. But who is responsible for cleaning up?

[Arsenio Orteza]

So ethically, morally, you'd have to say the perpetrators should be responsible, but legally, they're not.

[Amy Lewis]

The charity Halo Trust clears explosive remnants of war after and sometimes during a conflict, so people can return home.

[Hunter Baker]

Among the worst affected countries are the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Iran, Iraq, Lebanon.

[Amy Lewis]

Simon Jackson is Halo's country director. In Syria, where 15 years of civil war left few resources for cleanup efforts. Last year, explosive accidents killed 22,000 civilians. Jackson's job means he deals with the worst and sees the best.

[Hunter Baker]

It is really rewarding to go somewhere that we've cleared and see land returned to productive use. Kids going back to school, families able to rebuild.

[Amy Lewis]

Until an area is cleared of UXOs, education is vital.

[Hunter Baker]

Kids are naturally curious.

[Amy Lewis]

Halo Trust began mapping and destroying UXOS in the Solomons a few years ago.

[Hunter Baker]

It's quite a challenging task. The terrain in the Solomon Islands is also quite challenging. But HALO is there and is continuing to map and also destroy these hazardous items, as well as providing the risk education.

[Amy Lewis]

Meanwhile, Mavelen Pitanoy continues educating people where she can. She recalls a trip to the beach. She watched her nieces and nephews start to dig around something in the sand.

[Maivolyn Pitanoy]

And I walk towards them and what are you doing? There's a metal here. We want to dig it up. Oh, my goodness. I just told them, get out of the place, don't dig.

[Amy Lewis]

Pitanoy believes Solomon's war relics could increase tourism. But the hidden, unexploded relics pose too much of a threat.

[Maivolyn Pitanoy]

The war is still going in the Solomon Islands. It has not been ended in 1942, 43. They have went back to their countries, but the war is still there. At any time, it can cost someone's life.

[Amy Lewis]

That's this week's world tour. I'm Amy Lewis.

[Mary Reichard]

Here's proof that a little compassion and DIY spirit, along with some miniature hot rods, can get a creature going again. Gelato is a tiny tabby kitten found in Cincinnati with a spinal injury. Barely a pound and only 4 inches tall. Standard wheelchairs most shelters use just didn't fit him, so veterinary assistant Mallory Smith improvised. Audio courtesy, Washington Post well, when he first came in, he came in with a litter.

[Lindsay Mast]

He was the only one that was

[Mary Reichard]

injured, and so he was kind of just dragging his back end. She built him a custom rig with duct tape, wooden rulers, and Hot Wheels got these rulers for 99 cents and put them there. There's a little bit of ribbon also. And Hot Wheels, there are ambulances. So Gelato the tabby went from dragging to drag racing, and now he's getting ready to cruise into his forever home. It's the world and everything in it.

[Lindsay Mast]

Today is Wednesday, August 5th. Thank you for turning to world radio to help start your day. Good morning. I'm Lindsay Mast.

[Mary Reichard]

And I'm Mary Reichard. Coming next on the World and everything in it, a final album from a remarkable survivor. Mike Peters, frontman for the band the Alarm, died last year after fighting various blood cancers for decades. But he kept making music nearly to the end, completing one final album, the recently released Transformation.

[Lindsay Mast]

World's music critic Arsenio Orteza spoke with Peter's widow, Jules, about the album and how she's keeping his legacy alive.

[Arsenio Orteza]

The Welsh rock band the alarm formed in 1981, but they made their mark two years later. 68 Guns is the alarm's biggest hit. It was written by bassist Eddie McDonald and the face of the band, lead singer Mike Peters. Peters role as lyricist gave some Alarm songs a subtly Christian dimension. He didn't like the tag Christian artist, but he didn't mind being called an artist who's a Christian. In 1995, Peters was diagnosed with non Hodgkin's lymphoma and his prognosis wasn't good. But he beat the odds for the next three decades and performed over 500 shows and recorded 20 some odd albums.

[Mike Peters]

Three, two, one in a million. One in a billion. One in a million.

[Arsenio Orteza]

This is one in a million from the new Alarm album Transformation. Peters completed it in 2025, one day before beginning chimeric antigen receptor T cell therapy, or CAR T therapy. Peters used that therapy to combat a new diagnosis of Richter's syndrome, a particularly aggressive form of lymphoma. The album Transformation turned out to be his swan song, but Peter's widow. Jules says he didn't approach it that way.

[Jules Peters]

Mike wrote this believing he was going to survive because a lot of people are interviewing me thinking that he wrote it as his last album, but that was so not the case.

[Arsenio Orteza]

Peters had good reason to think he'd survive. Survival had been his default setting for 30 years. In addition to non Hodgkin's lymphoma, he'd been diagnosed with chronic lymphocytic leukemia, or CLL, in 2005 and suffered a relapse in 2015. Yet in every case, he'd come through proving that what doesn't kill you makes you stronger. In Peter's case, what didn't kill him made other people stronger, too. Shortly after his first CLL diagnosis, he and Jules founded the Love Hope Strength Foundation. The charity sponsors stem cell donor registration, bone marrow drives and awareness raising, musical events and hikes.

[Jules Peters]

When you've diagnosed with cancer, it feels like you're at the bottom of the mountain, looking up at the summit and thinking, will I ever get to the top of the summit again? And so for Mike, it was a very strong metaphor and a very strong encouragement for him to get himself back on his feet. Climb Snowden, encourage friends and alarm fans to join him and raise money directly.

[Arsenio Orteza]

But the words love, hope and strength suddenly rang hollow after Mike's death. Jules says that for a few days, she felt like locking the door on the organization.

[Jules Peters]

I'm happy to report that that feeling of desolation, it soon passed. And I realized that now it's more important than ever for me and my sons, Dylan and Evan, to carry the torch of love, hope, strength, and to try and help other families who find themselves in the situation that Mike and I found ourselves.

[Arsenio Orteza]

As one might expect, some transformation songs specifically address what Peters was going through.

[Mike Peters]

Colliding side of me they call me the Chimera Chimera they call me the Chimera Chimera.

[Arsenio Orteza]

The song Chimera refers to both the C and Car T therapy and the mythological creature composed of different parts. It's an illusion that makes sense because car T recipients end up with two distinct types of blood and DNA. The illusions in this song make sense too.

[Mike Peters]

I see you see you in the

[Arsenio Orteza]

new life this song New Life, refers to what Peters hoped to experience after receiving CAR T. But New Life blood is also a term used for the engineered cells that car T infuses into the patient's old blood. The music also leans heavily into a type of rock and roll that Peters particularly loved. Glam rock. His use of that genre's fun. Old school energy is one reason transformation succeeds. You can enjoy the music whether you know about Peter's cancer battle or not.

[Jules Peters]

When you're listening to this album, don't be sad, you know, be happy. Because that is the countenance that Mike always had. He was like, just always be positive, be grateful. He never worried. He was like, today, right here, right now is what counts. Tomorrow is a gift. Let's just, let's not worry.

[Arsenio Orteza]

To Anyone acquainted with Matthew 6's Lilies of the Fields and the prayers of James 5, it's advice that should ring a bell. I'm arsenio ortezz.

[Mike Peters]

Whatever it takes. I don't want to live forever. I want to live right now

[Hunter Baker]

Right

[Mike Peters]

now I don't want to live forever. I want to live right now now I want to live today I want to live today I want to live today.

[Mary Reichard]

Good morning. This is the world and everything in it from listeners supported world radio. I'm Mary Reichard.

[Lindsay Mast]

And I'm Lindsay mast. Fewer than 10% of Americans describe themselves as socialists. But those who support socialist ideas have become a notable political force as socialism attracts more Americans. World's Cal Thomas says we would be wise to listen to those who have actually experienced.

[Cal Thomas]

Has become a truism that people who are embracing socialism have never had to live under it and its ideological twin, communism. Some young people seem so enamored by the promises of these train wrecks, they're willing to vote for the most radical candidates. Ones who promise them the moon and claim they can pay for it all by increasing taxes on millionaires and billionaires. In an effort to balance the one sided stories about socialism coming from the media and various candidates running for offices, the Fox news channel has conducted interviews with people who once lived under these systems. The testimonies are a powerful rebuke to those who believe socialism is the answer to every problem. In a one week series, Fox correspondent Alexandria Hoff interviewed people who fled the Soviet Union, China, Venezuela and Cuba. Virginia attorney Marina Medvin described herself as overwhelmed by the abundance of food in US grocery stores. Here's Hoffman.

[Lindsay Mast]

Like many who have fled authoritarian socialist regimes, Medvin is alarmed by what she sees as the democratic party in America warming to socialist promises.

[Cal Thomas]

And here's Medvin.

[Lindsay Mast]

They say that the purpose of democratic socialism is to bring equality and goodness. But I mean, what equality does it bring? That everyone is equally poor? That everyone is equally miserable, equally depressed?

[Cal Thomas]

In Venezuela, it took about 15 years for the nationalization of private industries to unravel into social and economic collapse. Here's Daniel DiMartino.

[Hunter Baker]

Suddenly we couldn't find milk in the grocery store.

[Maivolyn Pitanoy]

Then we couldn't find chicken.

[Hunter Baker]

Then we had to line up. Then the government asked for our ID to buy groceries and assign us a day of the week to go to the store.

[Cal Thomas]

The story of Cuba is well known, except perhaps among the Hollywood left, which made visits to Cuba praising Fidel Castro and claiming the communist country's literacy rate was far better than America's. But the government told people what they could read. Now Cuba has trouble keeping the lights on and food on shelves. Yali Nunez, who fled the island, sees democratic socialists in the US blindly embracing what she fled from when she was just 16 years old.

[Lindsay Mast]

None of these people has spent one day in socialism or communism. None of them. So they are selling you a story that they don't even understand.

[Cal Thomas]

Alexandria Hoff notes the democratic socialists claim their brand of socialism differs from the totalitarian regime's because workers would govern institutions and not unelected bureaucrats. The two systems are founded on lies, so why should people running on the DSA platform be trusted? Evidence reveals the true objectives of socialism and communism, including the millions who have died at the hands of their governments. Jivan Fleet survived China's murderous Cultural Revolution Xi has appeared on many US TV programs warning Americans about the Maoist communist tactics and the danger America faces if it allows these twin evils to further invade our politics. Others have testified about economic hardships, loss of liberties and other things Americans take for granted. In an 1814 letter to John Taylor, John Adams warned, democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts and murders itself. There never was a democracy yet that did not commit suicide. Adams argued that unchecked human passions led to self destruction. As I wrote in a previous book, America's expiration date, the average age of democracies is 250 years. We are now at our expiration date. Inertia will soon run out if we do not renew the principles upon which Adams and the founders built the nation. Socialism will lead to our destruction, and once destroyed, it will be nearly impossible to bring us back. I'm Cal Thomas.

[Mary Reichard]

Tomorrow, a doctor's experience on the front lines of the Ebola epidemic. We'll have a report and a special look back as we celebrate the 15th anniversary of the World and Everything In It. Pretty amazing. That and more tomorrow. I'm Mary Reichstag.

[Lindsay Mast]

And I'm Lindsay Mast. The World and Everything in it comes to you from World Radio. World's mission is biblically objective journalism that informs, educates, and inspires, the Bible says. But God, being rich in mercy because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ. By grace you have been saved, and raised us up with him, and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace and kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing. It is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. Verses 4 through 10 of Ephesians 2 go now in grace and peace.