Half the Answer

What's happened in New York City since Zohran Mamdani became mayor in January? Has it become a Marxist-Islamic bastion, ruled by a soviet in the succeeding three months? Trent and Caitlin discuss the Sharia Socialism of NYC Mayor Mamdani, the naked vice signalling and stove-touching of the GOP with author Ryan Cooper.Resourceshttps://bsky.app/profile/ryanlcooper.comhttps://prospect.org/https://www.leftanchor.com/https://gothamist.com/news/facing-historic-blizzard-mamdani-says-nyc-learned-lessons-from-last-snowstormhttps://www.amny.com/nyc-transit/congestion-pricing-nyc-subways-ridership-report-2025/https://www.liberalcurrents.com/neon-liberalism-30-rethinking-international-trade/

Trent and Caitlin achieve the coveted threepeat guest appearance with journalist Marisa Kabas of the Handbasket, fresh off her incredible legal win obtaining the body cam footage from the DC cops who assisted the DOGE boys in breaking into the USIP office in March 2025. They discuss the total disregard for life, law, and locked doors that was on display that day, as well as the frustrating events following Marisa's FOIA success. Resourceshttps://bsky.app/profile/marisakabas.bsky.socialhttps://www.thehandbasket.co/p/body-cam-footage-usip-doge-raid-mpd-lawsuithttps://www.404media.co/the-removed-doge-deposition-videos-have-already-been-backed-up-across-the-internet/

Trent and Caitlin catch up with employment litigator Joshua Erlich about the difficulties of holding immigration and border patrol agents to account when they break the law. What happens when you can't be sure which individual attacked you? How can their actions be restricted, and what should Democrats do given their level of power in the government right now?ResourcesJoshua's bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/joshuaerlich.bsky.socialLegal help for federal employees in the DMV: https://mwela.org/Legal help for federal employees nationally: https://NELA.org/Joshua's office: https://www.erlichlawoffice.com/lawyers/joshua-erlich/Federal forces keep shooting people: https://www.themarshallproject.org/2026/01/26/ice-minneapolis-shooting-alex-prettiDems coalescing around five restrictions on ICE: https://newrepublic.com/article/205723/dem-senator-harsh-new-takedown-trump-hits-home-breaking-pointSuozzi is sorry https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/26/us/democrats-ice-funding-vote-dhs.html

Caitlin and Trent talk with Aurelien Mondon about his recent political science paper outlining the limitations of considering all politics through the lens of "polarization." They discuss the pitfalls of the term and the ways "polarizing" events and speech can be drastically different and sometimes even positive.Resourceshttps://link.springer.com/article/10.1057/s41296-025-00779-4https://www.searchlightinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Searchlight-Memo-to-Interested-Parties_-Reform-and-Retrain-ICE-Dont-Abolish-It.pdfhttps://prospect.org/2026/01/19/author-dont-say-abolish-ice-memo-corporate-consultant-westexec/https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2026/02/04/ice-minneapolis-287g-tom-homan-sanctuary/https://www.huffpost.com/entry/democrats-ice-masks-dhs-shutdown_n_69839db8e4b053ac3e17298d?origin=top-ad-recirchttps://www.majorityleader.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=5822https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2018/06/22/trump-millennial-supporters-washington-dc-218833/https://www.npr.org/2025/11/14/nx-s1-5608204/white-house-dismisses-release-of-epstein-documents-as-a-distraction-from-democratshttps://midutahradio.com/news/local-news/mike-johnson-calls-for-political-rhetoric-to-calm/https://www.npr.org/sections/publiceditor/2012/02/10/146691773/euphemisms-concentration-camps-and-the-japanese-internment

Trent and Caitlin reconnect with journalist Walker Bragman to hash out the current state of the NIH and HHS, the ideologies that drive people to promote eugenics and science denial, and the childish nature of fascism.Resources:https://www.importantcontext.news/https://www.accountabilityjournalism.org/https://bsky.app/profile/walkerbragman.bsky.socialhttps://publichealth.jhu.edu/ivac/resources/us-measles-trackerhttps://www.nbcnews.com/politics/trump-administration/live-blog/trump-means-surgeon-general-congress-state-of-the-union-live-updates-rcna260120https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/measles/bhattacharya-urges-measles-vaccination-us-activity-increaseshttps://www.brookings.edu/articles/audible-reckoning-how-top-political-podcasters-spread-unsubstantiated-and-false-claims/

Happy days are not here again, but at least Trent and Caitlin have Jeff Waldorf, the Logical Leftist, to hang out with while they process it all. The United States has dropped bombs on Iran, killing Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and several of his top-ranking officials, civilians, and the Shajareh Tayyebeh girls' school, in which more than 160 little girls were killed. They talk through the conflicting, nonsensical, and sometimes straight-up Orwellian justifications provided by US politicians for initiating a war of aggression against another country in the Middle East.Resourceshttps://www.youtube.com/@LogicallyLeftisthttps://www.facebook.com/JeffWaldorfShow/https://www.instagram.com/logicalleftist/https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:hv7pcnm6u7s544ycmf7xjatchttps://www.reuters.com/world/us/pentagon-tells-congress-no-sign-that-iran-was-going-attack-us-first-sources-say-2026-03-02/https://www.npr.org/2026/02/28/nx-s1-5730203/iran-israel-trump-congress-strikes-reactionhttps://www.nbcnews.com/politics/national-security/nuclear-program-missiles-regime-change-trump-struggles-define-iran-war-rcna261309https://edition.cnn.com/world/live-news/iran-war-us-israel-trump-03-03-26https://www.npr.org/2026/03/02/g-s1-112151/iran-war-widens-threatens-to-engulf-lebanonhttps://www.npr.org/2026/02/28/nx-s1-5730203/iran-israel-trump-congress-strikes-reactionhttps://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/un-experts-deeply-disturbed-by-child-deaths-escalating-middle-east-conflict-2026-03-04/https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/02/nyregion/merchant-iran-plot-assassination-trump.html

Trent and Caitlin check in with journalist Gillian Brockell after the release of her article on ICE air. They discuss the recent mass layoffs at the Washington Post, the abhorrent treatment of deportees, the justifications used to mistreat humans, and the importance of empathy and being a human.Resources:https://gillianbrockell.ghost.io/https://bsky.app/profile/gbrockell.bsky.socialhttps://www.businessinsider.com/billionaires-richer-and-stingier-than-ever-forbes-400-list-2021-10https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2024/08/26/emmett-till-william-bradford-huie-carolyn-bryant-civil-rights/https://www.npr.org/2026/02/07/nx-s1-5705413/washington-post-ceo-resigns-will-lewishttps://51st.news/https://www.mprnews.org/story/2026/02/17/court-hearings-lawsuit-alleging-ice-agents-racially-profiled-us-citizens-minnesotaGinsburg on Firing Line: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vBpoZBhvBa4https://discourses.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Teun-A.-van-Dijk-2008-News-discourse-and-ideology.pdfhttp://brianb.freeshell.org/a/kddd.pdfhttps://bookshop.org/p/books/wild-faith-how-the-christian-right-is-taking-over-america-talia-lavin/1cf72a0d0396cdce?ean=9780306829192&next=thttps://www.liberalcurrents.com/the-lovejoy-trap-fascism-masquerading-as-care/https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2026/01/omni-ice-deportations-charter-flight-stonepeak-private-equity/https://newrepublic.com/article/206058/transcript-trump-ice-threats-take-darker-turn-maga-calls-bloodhttps://www.baloproject.org/

Trent and Caitlin talk with author and journalist Andrea Pitzer about the modern concentration camp model, its history and public perception, and the concentration camps the United States government is operating and hopes to open in the near future.Resourceshttps://andreapitzer.com/Andrea's newsletter: https://degenerateart.beehiiv.com/Andrea's book on camps: https://bookshop.org/p/books/one-long-night-a-global-history-of-concentration-camps-andrea-pitzer/ea53c06c993f6ad0?ean=9780316303569&next=tAndrea's book on Nabokov: https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-secret-history-of-vladimir-nabokov-andrea-pitzer/fe47f57e9a2b2a73?ean=9781639361182&next=t https://www.americanimmigrationcouncil.org/blog/ice-buys-warehouses-immigration-detention/https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/18/us/politics/ice-warehouses-trump-voters.htmlhttps://bookshop.org/p/books/friendly-fascism-the-new-face-of-power-in-america-bertram-gross/414671ea6a34dd2c?ean=9781497689404&next=thttps://www.asc.upenn.edu/news-events/news/black-lives-matter-movement-not-covid-19-encouraged-voters-toward-biden-2020-election

Trent and Caitlin chatted with Hunter CG of RoteRote Media and Democrats Abroad, looking at the GOP's latest assault on voting rights, the SAVE America Act. This act has passed the House of Representatives and will be addressed by the Senate in the next couple of days. They talk about all the different ways this piece of legislation disenfranchises voters in the US and abroad, and they exhort everyone to reach out to their senators and make it clear that its passing would be unacceptable.Resources:https://www.ncsl.org/state-legislatures-news/details/9-things-to-know-about-the-proposed-save-america-acthttps://www.tiktok.com/@roterotemediahttps://www.advocate.com/politics/national/save-act-lgbtq-voters https://foxbaltimore.com/news/nation-world/senate-to-vote-on-save-america-act-as-voter-id-debate-intensifies-susan-collins-chuck-schumer-photo-id

Caitlin and Trent talk with journalist Amanda Moore about her work tracking the DHS "surges" all over the United States, her efforts to get close to former commander at large Gregory Bovino, and her experience trying to form conclusions about the broader patterns of immigration forces' violence over time.Resources:https://substack.com/@noturtlesoup17https://www.instagram.com/noturtlesoup17/?hl=enhttps://bsky.app/profile/noturtlesoup17.bsky.socialBovino's legacy of violence https://www.instagram.com/reel/DUbhHF7jCI8/Trump's War on History https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2026/02/america-freedom-task-force-250-trump-anniversary-history-smithsonian-kennedy-center/The Horns and Whistles Work https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2025/12/the-horns-and-whistles-work/