12/8/25: Boat Strike Coverup, Tim Dillon Roasts Trump, Layoffs Surge, Somalis Wage Meme War

This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed human. Hey, Portlandia fans. Carrie Brownstein and Fred Armisen here. The Dream of the 90s is alive in podcast form. We're launching Podlandia, AEO rewatch, our brand new podcast where we revisit every episode of Portlandia together, breaking down sketches, going deep on our iconic characters, and pulling back the curtain on how it all got made. And we'll also be joined by the people who helped bring it all to life. Guest stars, collaborators, and friends, including director Jonathan Chrysall, the mayor himself, Kyle McLaughlin, legendary musician Amy Mann, and... many more. Kyle is going for it here. You fully improvised, not just words, but a song. Well, I thought you were all going to write a song. I remember you thinking that. Listen to Podlandia. A.O. rewatch on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. What's up, fam? I'm sports journalist Ari Chambers. Hey, what's up y'all? It's your girl, Sam Jay. And we're the host of Everyone Watches Women's Sports, a new podcast from Together and I Heart Women's Sports. We're breaking down the biggest headlines. Naomi Osaka, showing out. Shoutouts to you, Naomi. The viral moments. I've been obsessed with Kashan Rock's boxing journey. She looks good. Her combos are swift. And the stories everyone's talking about across women's sports. Because everyone watches women's sports. Listen to everyone watches women's sports on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get. a podcast. This is Chelsea Handler from Dear Chelsea. Every week, the news gets worse. The world gets crazier and Yamanika is here to tell whoever's responsible, you're the problem. Do you know I just found out who Sidney Sweeney was? If he got a bunch of women, then I should have a bunch of men. Do better or do less so I don't have to do so much. I'm Yamanika, and I'm out. Listen to You're the Problem with Yamanika on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Hey guys, Saga and Crystal here. Independent media just played a truly massive role in this election, and we are so excited about what that means for the future of this show. This is the only place where you can find honest perspectives from the left and the right that simply does not exist anywhere else. So if that is something that's important to you, please go to breaking points.com, become a member today, and you'll get access to our full shows, unedited, ad-free, and all put together for you every morning in your inbox. We need your help to build the future of independent news media, and we hope to see you at break- breakingpoints.com. Good morning, everybody. Welcome to Breaking Points. Stogger's out six. So we have the lovely Emily with us. Great to have you, Emily. Thanks for having me. Suggers quit sick. I don't know what he's doing. He was out last night. We didn't double check, but I doubt he was out last night. We should send somebody by the house to make sure that he's not, it's not a fraud. Yes, we need to verify. A Democrat hoax. A Democrat hoax. Like affordability. A Democrat con job. Yeah, that's what it is like. Exactly. Lots of interesting things in the show today. We've got new revelations about the boat bombings. We've got new numbers about layoffs, which are looking really not good. Smollies are waging a meme war against this administration and Israel catching a whole lot of strays in the mix. So, you know, we are all over that. Pipe bomb suspect is apparently a stop the steel guy. So we've got some updates for you there.

Hillary is doubling down on her blaming of social media for Israel's reputation falling off. And Sidney Sweeney is changing course. Now, you guys are lucky Emily is here because I probably would not have covered this one with Sager or with Ryan. But with you, for sure. But you know what? It almost would have been more fun with just Sager and Ryan. We made them cover Sydney. It forced them to cover it. Yeah. That would not have gone well. I would have gone well, but not in the same way that we wanted to. I pretty much know what Sager would say about it. He thinks my whole, like, sense that and many other people sense that the gap, the, not Gap, American Eagle Gene's ad was eugenics adjacent. He thinks that's ridiculous. Ryan, I'm curious. Actually, now that we say it. Good point. You and I had like a debate about that. Was it August when that happened? Yeah. Yeah. Okay, so Sager's on my side. I don't know. Ryan is, I guess, then the... We'll ask him. He's the swing vote. We'll see. We'll see the breaking point Supreme Court. Yes, indeed. All right. Well, let's jump into the show. We had Tom Cotton out on the Sunday shows defending the double-tap strike on that initial boat with that initial boat bombing. Let's go ahead and take a listen to a little bit of what he had to say. Did you see any evidence of them trying to use a radio in the video you saw? Well, I saw lots of evidence of them standing on the boat that had been capsized. That wasn't my question. Trying to get it back, trying to get it back up, trying to flip it over. Did you see any evidence of them trying to use a radio? No, I didn't, John. Let me ask you this specific question. Would it be legal for police in Arkansas to kill suspected drug dealers on a boat in an overturn lake? Well, John, let me go back to the premise of your question. The Washington Post reported that Pete Hegseth had given an unlawful order of no quarter or no one left alive or kill them all. Pete Hegseth denied that last week, and it didn't deny that there was a second strike. Mitch Bradley and Dan Cain both flatly denied that yesterday as well, which some of the Democrats who watched that video and got those briefings confirmed. So that's what the Washington Post reported. That is a total and complete lie. I just respectfully disagree with my Democratic friends here. I think the problem they have is not with the second strike, it's with the first strike and every other strike on these boats. They think the entire operation is not well-founded. I just disagree with them. I think with the analogy I would draw is not Arkansas police officers dealing with American citizens. If those boats were loaded with bombs or missiles headed for the United States, I don't think anyone would dispute that we had every right and indeed a duty to intercept them. But those drugs detonate like a bomb all across Arkansas and all across America killing. hundreds of our kansans and hundreds of thousands of americans our government has a duty to protect our communities from those drugs senator let's exactly what we're trying to do can i just take this in pieces and we first answer my question would it be legal for police in arkansas to kill suspected drug dealers on an overturn boat in a lake in arkansas just answer that and then i will address your question on the other thing john john it

Also a very good question. You're a United States Senator. If we're at war, doesn't that need to be declared? That is a power that's supposed to be vested with Congress. Of course, there has been no war declared. And then the other question, lastly from Kristen Welker, there was about Juan Orlando Hernandez, who we have covered here. That was the former Honduran president, who is actually what they're claiming Maduro was and was involved in shipping tons and tons of cocaine into the United States, had been convicted actually by Emil Bouvet, who was funny, which funny now, you know, big Trump guy. He was the one who prosecuted him, and he was let out of prison, which really undercuts this idea that, like, oh, we're doing everything we can to go after this drug dealers. No, at best, at best, you're murdering some random, incredibly low level, easily replaceable, desperate fishermen, and having zero impact on any sort of narcotics trafficking. We don't even, they refuse to show their work as to how they know. who is on these boats. Yes. Like time and again, we actually have no idea how they, how internally they're justifying. They say they track them and it's all totally under control. But the reason I really loved the Berman question about when the authorized use of military force was passed is that, well, the rumblings, even though we're in the absence of like real clear explanations as to legally why they can do what they're doing, et cetera. They're probably going to end up relying on the post-9-11A UMF as their designation, which has, by the way, been used in 22 countries already. And that is likely... When all of these lawsuits start happening, we already see some of the legal challenges in motion, they will probably rely on the post-9-11 AUMF, which is why that was a great question from John Berman. And so Tom Cotton's point is telling that, yes, he's saying people who have a problem with the double tap have a problem with the whole operation in general. Yep. That's correct. Well said, sir. Yes, you got it. Because. Again, if we just zoom out, take a 30,000-foot view, I actually think, you know, people like soccer mean, maybe you and Ryan, too, Crystal, but, like, we have a lot of sympathy for the idea that some of these, like... cartels, not in Venezuela, but I would say like Sinaloa or places that have been trafficking mass amounts of fentanyl across our border. It's like, that's what we should do something about it. I'm not saying militarily, but I'm just saying nobody likes the cartels. Everybody thinks the cartels have been trafficking mass amounts of fentanyl into the United States and that that's a bad thing. What's different, of course, is then saying that's the justification for using the post-9-11 AMMF to take specific actions on cocaine trafficking from Venezuela in the Caribbean. It almost preys on people's upset at what's happened with fentanyl. It's almost exploitive. It is exploitive. That's absolutely right. And that's, if we zoom out, take a 30,000 foot view, the idea is right now what Tom Cotton is saying. Do I think actually they can make the argument in court that

This boat, you know, because I think our war powers are so broad and I think our law is so broad that I think they probably can make this argument that the boat was still afloat. That could be a hazard in the ocean that could, you know, it could mean that someone comes rescue. Like I think they can flesh out their argument in court. I might not agree with it. But if we zoom out to the 30,000 foot level here, the idea. that we could kill those two guys because they were a threat to the United States is completely insane. That they were a military threat to the United States is insane. Yeah. It's insane. Well, and let's put A3B up on the screen, actually, because we got some interesting details from Admiral Bradley, who was on Capitol Hill talking to lawmakers. And he admitted... that these drug boats, our intelligence, did not conclude that if there were drugs on this boat, which again, there's been no evidence provided of, but if we take them at their word that there were drugs on this boat, they weren't even heading to the U.S. Rather, it showed the boat was traveling south toward another country in South America, which was first reported by CNN. Bradley told the lawmakers the drugs were eventually heading to Europe or Africa. So Tom Cotton there says we should think about if this was bombs that were on a boat. that were headed to the U.S. and how you would feel about that. Okay, well, they're not even headed to the, I mean, even if we take that example, which I think is not an equivalent example, but even if you take that example, they weren't even heading. to the US. The other thing put a four up on the screen that was relevant from what Admiral Bradley had to say to lawmakers is now the new justification isn't, oh, they were radioing for help or, oh, the debris from the wreck was going to be a waterway hazard. I don't think anyone was buying that too much. Put a four up on the screen. Now he's claiming that all 11 people on this vessel. were on some list of military targets, that they knew every single person that was on the boat, that they were all on a list of military targets, and thus, that makes it justified. I mean, I'm just calling bullshit, like, calling bullshit on this. Because if they knew who these people were, think of how much this administration loves to trot out, like, we arrested this bad guy who did this bad thing, and here's his mugshot, and he's locked up for good, or we deported him, whatever. If they actually knew who these people were and they were some big bad guys, we would all, they would have published their names, it would all be out there, their whole history, it would have been put to the public. Rather, this is just their latest scramble to try to cover up what is, you know, what is. increasingly be accepted in a bipartisan fashion as a clear war crime at best. In my opinion, the whole thing is just murder, just out and out murder. There's no war, so it can't be a war crime. But at best, it's a clear-cut war crime, like literally in the textbook.

when they give an example of the type of orders that service members should consider disobeying, this is the type of thing that they lay out as such a clear-cut example that it would justify saying, you know what, I'm not doing this. I mean, I just, the only thing I disagree with is that, and I'm not an expert in... military law. I just think our laws are so broad that it protects people doing things that are obviously ridiculous, like saying, you have to take these two guys out because they oppose a military threat to the United States. I feel like I've seen fascinating analyses from people who say, it's true, like you can legally justify it, and people who say there's no way it's legally justified. It's insane. I look at it, and I'm like, it's insane for, like, law aside, it's just insane because they're clinging to the side of a craft in the middle of the Caribbean. And they're not military targets. Like, it's just a crazy idea that are, like, how much money have we spent on the entire operation to say that this is something that's keeping the American people more safe? It's all just completely ridiculous. But, yeah, it gets extra hard to believe the story that they're military targets. Do I think maybe that they have some, like, giant broad list? And that's the language. I'm parsing Pete Hegseth-S language. Like maybe is there some list that says people who, it's not even names, but it's like people who are doing X, Y, and Z from this port and that port, maybe. But at first it was, this happened so quickly. Now we know it was 45 minutes. Now there's a leak saying that it was, that they were on the list. I don't know. I mean, if they had a specific list like that, it's hard to imagine that they're not trying these people in court, which has not happened yet. Right. They have not tried any of the survivors in court. They have repatriated the survivors, which is, again, very interesting because if they were such serious threats to the United States, I'd like to see them tried in court. If they're actually going to be, if they are intentionally part of a state-backed effort in Venezuela to harm Americans with bio-weapons or with, you know, narco-terrorism. Let's do it. Let's try them. That sounds great. I would love to see that trial. But instead, they're just going back to different countries. Yeah. They're such violent, dangerous criminals that we're just going to let them go free. Right. That we're just going to let them go free and repatriate them to their home country. There is some reporting. Which is, I guess, consistent with Juan Orlando Hernandez. We're just pardoning. Yeah, true. Let them allow out. Let's put a five up on the screen here. This is some reporting from David Schuster who claims he has exclusive. evidence that the U.S. Navy actually deleted video of a different boat strike. So the one that Emily is referring to, there were two instances that we know of where there were survivors. The first boat strike where they decided just to murk the two survivors as well and kill them as well. And there was another one. And that's the one where they decided, okay, I guess we're going to just take these two guys and send them back to their home countries. Schuster is claiming he has sources that reveal that the Navy was actually ordered to delete the photos and videos from that second.

instance where there were survivors as well. So attempt to cover up exactly what unfolded there. And lastly, I mentioned before lawmakers, Admiral Bradley was on the hill talking to lawmakers. Lawmakers were able to view the full video. So you'll recall they publicized. I think they post on Twitter they were so proud of being able to bomb this boat. That got posted immediately. But of course, they did not include the 40-minute wait as survivors struggle to, you know, flip over the boat and are waving, presumably for help desperately trying to keep their lives intact, did not publish that part of the video. Democrats are now calling for that additional video evidence to be released as well. Representative Jim Himes spoke out after he viewed it and said it was one of the most troubling scenes that he had ever witnessed. Let's take a listen to that. I'm told that the briefings just ended on the House side and that Democrat Congressman Jim Himes, the ranking member of the House Intel Committee, came out, spoke to media and said they were shown the unedited video of that second strike. And he says, quote, what I saw in that room is one of the most troubling scenes I've ever seen in my time in public service. So Democrats pushing to have that video released. I think... it's possible because you do have bipartisan investigations announced in both the House and the Senate. You have, I think, not a lot of love for Pete Hegseth. You can tell me, Emily, just because he's not one of them, his time at the Pentagon has been seen as very chaotic. He has not been, you know, really brought into the inner, inner circle and given the level of power that America Marco Rubio or Stephen Miller or Susie Wiles even has been, he's been, you know, pushed in some senses to the side in this administration allowed to do his life. speeches and the little pull-up contests and whatever that sort of track is. So it would not shock me if they decided to sort of sacrifice Pete over this issue or over other issues. It would not shock me if some enough Republicans on the committee only need one or two in order to vote along with the Democrats to release this footage as well. I definitely think there's a chance they'll release the footage because the Tom Cotton clips that we played earlier are really instructive. They don't believe they have anything to hide because they believe this is all legally justified. Fog of War, even though we now know it was 45 minutes. I think they're... Fog of War is ridiculous in the circumstance. I think they're totally happy to have the video come out. I'm sure it's not like their preference, but I don't think it's keeping them up at night because I think they feel like they have... plenty of ways to justify it. And that's one of the problems with our system right now is you can find a million different ways to bend over backwards and do these legal gymnastics to justify obviously ridiculous stuff. So I don't know if they're even so worried about that. Hikesess future. Seems to me, this is becoming like a culture war is the wrong phrase. But if anything, this might be drawing certain Republicans even closer to Pete Hegseth or even more defensive of Pete Hegseth because a lot of the people who were initially really uncomfortable with Pete Hegseth were more, quote, moderate Republicans who were didn't love what he had said about Ukraine. And like we're maybe a little bit more in a neo-conservative camp to speak very roughly. And if anything.

They're like, oh, hell yeah. We're just striking people in the Caribbean now because of raw power. Got to protect Texas. Yeah. There was an interesting moment with Tom Cotton where he accidentally referred to Trump as President Bush, which was major Freud didn't slip there, unfortunate slip there in terms of mixing up those two presidents at this particular moment. You know, one thing about the video footage is it's one thing when you just see a boat and it blows up, right? You don't get the sense of like, oh my God, these are human lives. Like these are actual people. These are human beings that we are just, you know, we are just deciding to take their lives. And we're claiming that their narco terrorists were claiming all these things. We're not being given any evidence of that. In fact, now there's a lawsuit from the family of one of the people that was murdered. who claims this was literally just a fisherman who was in the wrong place at the wrong time. So that's one thing, though, just to see the boat and all the boat blows up, wow, look at us, we're so powerful. It's another thing when you see human being struggling for their lives and you watch them for 40 minutes and then that decision is taken to murder them. It turns it from a theoretical thing into a real human thing. I mean, this is what we've seen happen in Gaza, right? Not to equate the people there with these people, whatever. But... when people were able to see in their feed the humanity of these individuals who have, you know, a whole world and a whole life and dreams and aspirations and saw that being snuffed down so casually in such a barbaric way, that is what, you know, that is what overcame all of the propaganda war that would push us to say we've got to support Israel no matter what. And so I do think it is a very different thing when you actually see. human beings and have to account for them as like real people who have families and lives that are just being casually snuffed out in this manner. I do think that that would have an impact in the public, just in the same way that, you know, we heard about the Epstein birthday book and the Trump drawing. It was another thing to see it, wasn't it? It had a different impact when you actually had that in the whole book and that landed a lot differently with the American people. It was much more charming when you saw the drawing, the scribblings. Yeah. Disgusting. So, yeah, there's some reports that the men on the boat were waving. And the question is, was that a sign of surrender? Was that to the, was that to the U.S. aircraft? Was it a sign, as I think some people in Hikes at Camp have said, to their own people to like keep going, whatever? I think that's part of the explanation is that maybe they were calling for backup or something. But this is to the point you were just making crystal. This was not active combat. To say that this was active combat. To say that these people were engaged in active terrorism because they were allegedly, they had cocaine on a boat, which of course lots of people have cocaine on boats in the Caribbean and illegal. And they're going up and bringing it to what, where were they going to Suriname? Like somewhere, it's not the United States. Right. It's not fentanyl.

Wasn't even intended ultimately to go to the United States. And the question, are they actually connected to a terrorist group? A terrorist group that could be covered under the AOMF. I mean, it's all just the idea that these guys who are clinging to the side of a boat, maybe part of their efforts to survive did involve trying to call for backup for the, maybe that's true. The idea that it's terror, that we just stop terrorists is absurd. Yeah, completely. What's up fam? I'm sports journalist Ari Chambers. Hey, what's up y'all? It's your girl, Sam J. And we're the host of everyone watches women's sports, a new podcast from Together and I Heart Women's Sports. Because let's be real. Women's Sports is giving us way too much to talk about these days. So Kelsey Finler, she became the first female solo rower to go from California to Hawaii. My first thought is, like, what's up with the snacks? Like, what are we eating? The highlights, the rivalries, the breakout stars, the moments that take over your entire time. timeline. In the conversations that start during the game and somehow keep going all week. Every week, we're breaking down the biggest stories across women's sports. Naomi Osaka. Naomi, show it out. She beat Sabalinka. Shout-outs to you, Naomi. You get the palm, Naomi. You get the palm for that. Because we're not just interested in what happened. We're interested in why everyone's talking about it. Because everyone watches women sports. Listen to everyone watches women's sports on the IHeart Radio app. Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcast.

Hey, Portlandia fans. Carrie Brownstein and Fred Armisen here. You know us, or rather you know them. Tony and Candice, Nina and Lance, Spike, and yes, The Chicken. We've played a lot of iconic characters over the years, but today we're showing up as ourselves to tell you about Podlandia, AEO rewatch, our brand new podcast. Each week, we'll revisit an episode of Portlandia from the very beginning. breaking down the sketches, exploring the backstories of our most iconic characters, revisiting the Portland locations you know and love, and opening up about our creative process. How did any of this get made? Why do we think that was a good idea? We're ready to talk about it. And we'll also be joined by the people who helped bring it all to life, guest stars, collaborators, and friends, including director Jonathan Chrysall, the mayor himself, Kyle McLaughlin, legendary musician Amy Mann, and many more. Kyle is going for it here. You fully improvised, not just words, but a song, a melody. I thought he was going to write. I thought you were all going to write a song. I remember you thinking that. Listen to Podlandia. Ayo, rewatch on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Jake Brennan, and on the Disgraceland podcast, I explore the wild lives of rock stars and unbelievable true crime stories from music history. These are the stories you haven't heard, the kind you'll end up telling someone else. Like the time Paul McCartney spent in one of the world's most notorious prisons. Imagine that. You're Paul McCartney. It's 1980. You're an ex-Beedle. And you're doing time in one of Japan's worst prisons right there alongside Yakuza gangsters and for a ridiculous charge. Or the bizarre crime, Lady Gaga, is accused them. Who is the artist Lady Gaga as being accused of doing the unthinkable to after allegedly stealing her music in style to become famous? And what about that time, Blondie's Debbie Harry escaped a serial killer? The man who had given her that ride she barely escaped from was Ted Bundy. Listen to Discraseland on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Tim Dillon had an interesting show recently. I just listened to the whole thing yesterday. I recommend you guys listen to it too. It is both entertaining and also insightful as he often is. And he has his own theories about why we are bombing these boats. Let's go ahead and take a listen to that. And they're not talking about Epstein. And they're not talking about whatever the hell. else is in these documents that may or may not come out, redacted or unredacted. And they're not talking as much about the economy. And they're not asking to have health care. And they're not asking what Palantir is doing. And they're not asking why five tech guys in AI control half the American economy in San Francisco. They're not asking any of that.

They're just watching a boat blow up in the middle of the ocean. When you have this clumsy, you know, kind of somewhat insane over the top deportations, people are looking at this and going, it's unsurious, it's childish, it's cruel. I think one of the problems with whatever the MAGA movement is evolved into is it's duped their hardcore followers so much that the only thing left now is performative cruelty. Performative cruelty. That's his take, both on the deportations and also on the drugboats. And I don't know if you watch the whole thing, but basically the bit is, like, they're not releasing the Epstein House. The economy sucks. Like, all these things are going sideways. They're not making good on any of these other promises or aspirations people had for the administration. So what does the U.S. do when the going gets tough? They have to show that they can murder some people. They can bomb some boats. They can, the boomers will put it up on Fox News. The boomers will love it. People like us will talk about it. We'll debate it. They'll get the focus off these other things. And so when things started going sideways, they were like, we must bomb some boats. We must kill some people just to show that the government even still exists and is capable of projecting power. That's basically his bit. It's, I mean, the theory I just don't think is accurate because... Just from the, not that I think it's a crazy, a crazy belief, but just this stuff has been percolating as what people have wanted to do with the second Trump administration since before the second Trump administration happened. And to agree with Tim, I mean, I've been criticized by some people for on our show talking about how so much of this, like. What did you call them, Crystal Meal Team 6? Yeah. Is that a Kyle? Is someone? No, that's an internet. It came from Twitter. Yeah. It's not, like, I'll call these guys LARPers. And people are like, no, no, it's not. That just minimizes what they're actually doing. It's like, no, it's, I think it makes it 10 times worse that there's something performative. There's, there's anything that feels attractive in performing the, like. quote, cruelty. Yeah. Which I don't necessarily... It doesn't make the cruelty less cruel, but the purpose of it is a performance. And I think that just makes it so pathetic. And so that's where the theater of it, because so much of it is theater, if you talk to like hardcore immigration hawks, actually a lot of them are pissed because they don't think deportations are happening at a fast enough rate. And they're like, it's all putting on the show. It's a lot of theater. And so again, I'm not, I don't think I'm in that camp. I don't know what they could possibly do to like increase deportations other than hiring more asylum judges at this point. But there's nothing sexy about hiring more asylum judges. Like you can't, you can't strap on like all of your Kevlar and bring influencers along to. hire asylum judges. Instead they're actually firing a lot of immigration judges who they don't think are going to be sufficiently sort of like tow the, you know, anti-immigrant line. But yeah, I mean, that would lead to an actually more functional system. Yeah. Because a big part of the problem with all of this is that you do have such a massive backlog in the asylum system that de facto people end up here for years while those claims are being adjudicated. And so, you know, that is, you know,

one of the big major, and everybody knows this. This is not a secret. Left, right, sent, everybody knows this. But that would actually, like, deal with the problem and make the system more functional. And it would not create a, you know, titillating display of sadism. that they are substituting in for actually delivering on any of people's material concerns and needs. Well, Christy known herself, I think, is a good example if they're like a good embodiment of it. But like, because like Trump, we remember back in 2016, he picks Mike Pence because the reports say, Pence had a, like the movie star cinematic look of a vice president. That part of the reason that Trump said he thought he was like out of central casting. I think that's the quote that some reports indicated was part of his thinking. And Kristi Noem, of course, is somebody who Trump wanted to put this like tough, badass female. She wasn't chosen because of her substantive homeland security. expertise. Yeah. That's not why Christy, that's not been Kristi Noem's career. It's not why she was chosen. He chose her for public relations. He likes the costume changes and the, you know, play acting. Right. And presumably the hundreds of millions of dollars that were spent in ads basically to bolster her and show her like riding around on a horse or whatever. 100%. And, you know, obviously some of that stuff like public relations is not unimportant, but it's just another good example of. Whether you agree with the substance or you disagree with the substance, the administration spends a lot more time away from the substance. And I think that's extra, I think that really does irritate people, Tim Dillan or otherwise, when they start disagreeing with the substance. And the politics of that become very, very dangerous when it looks like you're pouring all of your resources into theater instead of substance. Did you see the reports that Kristyneau might be on the rocks in the administration? Do you think that that is accurate? I don't think so. It wouldn't surprise me if it happened, but I haven't heard anything myself like that. It wouldn't surprise me, though, because there are people that are really dissatisfied with the way things are, like on the right, who are dissatisfied with the way things are being run. Not necessarily just because they think more people should be deported, but just because they think they see everything is really, unnecessarily chaotic and messy. And she's graded on people. Yeah, she's graded on people, I think. Corey Lindowski's graded on people. So it wouldn't shock me. Gotcha. Yeah. The central casting thing is why I took some, I thought that the reports that Kash Patel might be on his way out, why I took those seriously because he is not out of central casting. He is out of central casting for the like bumbling idiot.

bureaucrat, FBI director. He is out of central casting for that, but not for the like, you know, whatever projection of strength that Trump would want in that role, I guess. Maybe we should do a pool for a pool for premium subscribers of who's the first to go because- Pete Hegseth, Kristi Noem, Kash Patel, Dan Bongino. If I had to guess from the cabinet, if I had to, I would say cash. Really? I would say he'll be the first. But I don't know, he's obviously, we're going to talk about this later in the show, but he's obviously trying to endear himself to the president pretty hard right now. I feel like the more liberal media outlets report on cash being on the ounce, the more, the safer he is. The more time he gets. That's totally true. I think it's totally true of Kristi Noem as well. Really? Yeah, just to make everybody dig in. Was that another NBC report? I thought that was NBC. I'm looking it up right now. The cash report was actually MS now, which are now two distinct things. They actually did pull some real reporters. It was the bulwark, actually. Oh, the null one was the bowler. Even more lib than NBC. So, okay, well, we will see. But, I mean, the other thing that's interesting to note of Tim Dillon is obviously like he was supportive of Trump and now he is definitely not. So that's another interesting thing to note. And I think we'll tie into the Sidney-Sweeney block as well. I know that's a unique comparison to make perhaps. But I mean, I think emblematic of a vibe shift and just a general recognition that like whatever. hopeful thing you thought this administration was going to be. There's almost no one who is like, yes, this is completely going the way that I wanted it to go. Even if you are, you know, a hard right like immigration hawk and you actually wanted to see millions of immigrants deported or whatever, like when I listen to Nick Fuentes talk about how he's disappointed that there aren't millions of people being mass deported right now. So even from that perspective, I guess it's a disappointment. It's such a, it's all such a mess. The Yeah. There's been a lot of like testing of policy, legal grounds, but there's also been a lot of testing of what kind of policy constitutes a conservative immigration policy. And Not a lot of consensus, but also not a lot of backlash from the right so far. Yeah. That could change. Well, and I think Tim Dillon, the Sager has been making this point. I think you've been making this point, too, from the, like, I guess, right-wing immigration restrictionist perspective, not that Tim Dillon is in the same place as, like, where Sager is. Right. But he's like, if people have the choice between this, like, performative cruelty. And, all right, we're just going to, like, not do this. They're going to be like, yeah, we're not going in that direction. This is horrible. So, like, seeing these, like, kids pepper spray ripped apart from their parents and the mass thugs in the street just, like, randomly assaulting people or even shooting them.

It really is very strongly discrediting the whole anti-immigrant project, and especially when that is being substituted in place of actually addressing people's genuine concerns and with the president out there building his ballroom and calling affordability at, quote-unquote, con job. Yeah. Yep. And, like, bringing helicopters to Chicago, I mean, it's all just, again, I think... The danger that they run into is, of course, some people disagree with their immigration policy. Some people are going to want it to go even further. But a lot of people are also going to look at it and say, what are you actually doing? Like, are you just wasting everyone's money? Right. And making people mad and, like, causing all of these legal problems for yourself, for the country. Like, are you poor? Are you making the situation worse? And I think those three buckets, that one is the one where you could see independent swing types be when you lose. that you're going to make it hard for Republicans campaigning in the midterms to defend a helicopter in Chicago or whatever it is. So that's where I think it gets difficult for them. What's up, fam? I'm sports journalist Ari Chambers. Hey, what's up y'all? It's your girl, Sam J. And we're the host of everyone watches women's sports, a new podcast from Together and I Heart Women's Sports. Because let's be real. Women's sports is giving us way too much to talk about these days. So Kelsey Finler, she became the first female solo rower to go from California to Hawaii. My first thought is, like, what's up with the snacks? Like, what are we eating? The highlights, the rivalries, the breakout stars, the moments that take over your entire timeline. And the conversations that start during the game and somehow keep going all week. Every week, we're breaking down the biggest stories across women's sports. Naomi Osaka showing out, she beat Sabalinka. Shoutouts to you, Naomi. You get the palm, Naomi. You get the palm for that. Because we're not just interested in what happened. We're interested in why everyone's talking about it. Because everyone watches women's sports. Listen to everyone watches women's sports on the IHeart Radio app. Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcast.

Hey, Portlandia fans. Carrie Brownstein and Fred Armisen here. You know us, or rather you know them. Tony and Candice, Nina and Lance, Spike, and yes, The Chicken. We've played a lot of iconic characters over the years, but today we're showing up as ourselves to tell you about Podlandia, AEO rewatch, our brand new podcast. Each week, we'll revisit an episode of Portlandia from the very beginning. Breaking down the sketches, exploring the backstories of our most iconic characters, revisiting the Portland locations you know and love, and opening up about our creative process. How did any of this get made? Why do we think that was a good idea? We're ready to talk about it. And we'll also be joined by the people who helped bring it all to life. Guestores, collaborators, and friends, including director Jonathan Chrysall, the mayor himself, Kyle McLaughlin, legendary musician Amy Mann, and many more. Kyle is going for it here. You fully improvised, not just words, but a song, a melody. I thought he was going to write. I thought you were all going to write a song. I remember you thinking that. Listen to Podlandia. Ayo, rewatch on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Nick Totoro. You probably know me from NYPD Blue, The Longest Yard, or Spike Lee's Black Klansman. But I'm also from Queens, which means I know pizza. And on my new podcast, delivering happiness with Nick Totoro, I deliver pizza from Prince Street pizza to a new guest. Are you delivering pizza now? Then we sit down for a real conversation. I've shared a slice with everyone from Seth Rollins. What are you doing my belt? To Alex Rodriguez. Just to let you people know. We're talking to one of the goats here. To Bill Burr. I don't think I've ever met somebody so exactly out of their mind as I am. And now we even have more great guests coming up, including the great John Tuturo. It's called Happiness, Delivering Happiness. Mariano Rivera. Oh, my God. And many, many more. Open your free High Heart Radio app. Search Delivering Happiness with Nick Totoro. And listen now. The place that Democrats have picked up ground in these past elections versus like, and in polling, versus how they won and did well in the 2018 midterms, in the 2018 midterms, it was like... winning more white college-educated voters. Now, this time, it's actually all of the gains have been made with non-white, non-college voters, which I think is about two things. I think it is a rejection of the hardline immigration policy and the performative cruelty, and I think it's about the economy. We have some new numbers with regard to layoffs that are looking really grim. Charger's Secretary Scott Bessent was sent out under the Sunday shows and was once again touting his bona fides as a soybean farmer. Let's go ahead. and take a listen to that. I'm involved in the agricultural industry. I run a soybean farm. And I can tell you... You own one. You invest in it. Sorry? You own or invest. And people in my family go out and work on it. If everything's fine, then why do farmers need a bridge payment from the agricultural department? Sorry?

Why would farmers need a bridge payment from the agriculture department then? Because these prices haven't come in because the Chinese actually used our soybean farmers as pawns in the trade negotiations. And we are going to create this bridge because, again, agriculture is all about the future. You've got to start financing for planning next year. They'll win things will be very good. So he's getting pressed there on the soybean aspect. You know, this is a major issue in a lot of farm states. I don't know if you guys have seen some of the polling out of Iowa, but the governor's race there is competitive. There's some hopefulness around the Senate race there as well. And a large part of that is dissatisfaction with the trade policy and the way that it has hurt soybean farmers in particular. And I mean, I don't know why he does this bit, Emily, of insisting that he's like super. were in touch with the average soybean farmer out there, but apparently he's committed to it. Well, he was committed to it, except actually later in the thing with Margaret Brennan, he said, I actually just divested it this week, referring to this, quote, soybean farm, which is a $25 million. operation. It's hilarious to refer to that as a farm, which is so funny. Yeah. But he said, I actually just divested it this week as part of my ethics agreement. So I'm quote, out of that business, which is right after he said, I run a soybean farm. Well, actually, I mean, I did divest that, which is I'm sure how soybean farmers describe selling their farms is divesting from their farm. Now, just announced literally as we were, like this is as of 10 minutes ago. We have a report from the Law Street Journal that Trump is unveiling a $12 billion bailout for farmers. So that echoes. what happened in the first Trump administration. But obviously, another suggestion, yeah, this is a $12 million aid package, too, as the journal puts it, help the agriculture sector, quote, grapple with the fallout from President Trump's far reaching tariffs. So a sign, obviously, I mean, that is not surprising. we saw it earlier, but a sign that the squeeze is really starting to sink in. That was different, you know, the couple weeks after Liberation Day, quote, Liberation Day, everyone was like, whoa, you know, what's going to happen? Well, now it's almost the end of the year, and they're unveiling their aid package. So it tells you what the arc of the, I guess, last, well, how many months has that been? The last, what, eight months? Yeah. Hardy, eight months on. Yeah. Yeah. Well, in China, you know, once we struck this trade deal with China, the idea was China was going to start buying the soybeans again, and that hasn't come through, which is not even close. Yeah, not even close. And, you know, from the farmers that I've heard, interviewed. you know, I'm sure the bailout will help, but they don't want a bailout. They want to have a sustainable market that they can sell into, which, you know, whole other conversation about why we are so dependent on China for sales of soybeans from, you know, from our farmers. But we'll put that aside for now. Scott Bessent was also asked about President Trump saying that affordability is a quote unquote con job. Let's go ahead and take a listen to how he defended that.

We hear from, for example, the president when he says that affordability is a con job by Democrats, that seems to just not be resonating with consumers that have been polled by CBS. 60% of Americans polled by this network told us President Trump makes prices and inflation sound better than they really are. And his approval rating in the economy is now down to 36% in our latest poll. On inflation, approval is even lower, 32%. Don't you need to show that... You feel the pain? Well, Margaret, I think the president's frustrated by the media coverage of what's going on. This is the polling of average Americans. Yeah, but I think the average Americans are hearing a lot of it from media coverage. What we're not going to do is say that Americans don't know what they're feeling. We've been working on it every day. The American people don't know how good they have it. You think there is an affordability problem? Sorry? You do believe that's- Oh, I think the Biden administration created a terror. No, but now we're nearly 12 months in. You said the president would own the economy at this point. So two things there. First of all, he's saying, oh, the media coverage is driving people to feel like the economy's not great. He has that line in there. Americans don't know how good they have. Good luck selling that one, buddy. And then the other piece that people just aren't buying at this point is that this is all still Biden's fault. You know, even Republicans when you ask them, like, whose fault it is. They will put more blame. at Biden's feet. But come on, you all have been in office almost a year now. You made all these grand promises. And I think critically, you know, Trump has had his hands all over this economy. A lot of promises were made about how glorious the tariffs would be and what it would mean for the economy, et cetera. And so here as we're heading into the holiday season and you have this, you know, a sense of betrayal, distrust, malaise at best with this administration, still trying to point the finger at the other guy is just not going to cut it. No, I saw a really interesting proposal. from Chris Jacobs writing in the Federalist, obviously from the right, which was to help actually ease some of the backlash to tariffs and the general economy. Could the Trump administration ease tariffs? Actually, this is pretty smart on things like coffee, bananas, food stuffs that literally cannot be grown at scale in the United States going into 2026. That I could see happening. I thought they were doing that. They might. I mean, I haven't seen anything that as like a concerted effort, but because still what they're doing and what could be very difficult about that is they're still doing these carve out deals. where it's based on their conversations and meetings, the push a poll, not necessarily... We brought a gold bar this week. Yeah, right, there's that too. But not necessarily like some grand strategy about what's being grown here, food-wise, what's being grown here, what's being sold elsewhere and that sort of thing. So we could see something like that happen. And the reason we get politically, it's obviously a disaster. And they know, I mean, when people see high prices at the grocery store, they don't see things coming down, whether or not it's the president's... fault, they're going to blame the party in power. And Republicans right now have the House, the Senate, and the presidency, so they're sure as hell going to blame Republicans this time around. I think, though, the bigger problem for the administration is housing and health care, because those are like the two biggest parts of people's budgets. There's also childcare, which is insane in certain states. Oh, absolutely. And if you, yeah, like, they have not.

really done much on any of that, let alone messaging on any of that. Trump obviously knows that housing is a problem for him because he was saying that Jerome Powell was essentially like creating an emergency for American families with the interest rate. So I don't know. Those are the big ones and there's nothing that you can. really tariff with your, if his tariff power even continues to exist as he's used it, you can't just wave a magic wand on those. Yeah. There's also reporting from the Wall Street Journal about the fact that Trump just doesn't really, like he actually thinks that affordability is a quote unquote con job. He thinks that the economy is doing great, you know, the metrics he's looking at, the stock market. He thinks that people should be satisfied with this. And there's a sort of like whole of administration effort to get him. to care about affordability and take it seriously and refocus some of his dwindling brain share, mind share from the ballroom expansion to affordability and actually like get in the game with that, that there's like a concerted effort being made and, you know, they're struggling to get him to really sort of focus in on what Americans routinely say is their biggest concern. You mentioned health care. I think you're absolutely right. I mean, this is one thing you can say about the Democrats' shutdown fight. is it really did put the spotlight on health care. It really did help to educate people about, okay, these premiums are going up. And who is to blame for that? I mean, there are a lot of people to blame. But one of the immediate factors is the imminent expiration of these ACA subsidies that had helped keep things more reasonable, especially for middle class families. One Republican who's sort of like considered a moderate in a swing district, Representative Fitzpatrick was speaking out against Republicans in general. their lack of any sort of a health care plan. This is B6. Let's go ahead and take a listen to that. Well, I say that if you don't have a better plan, then get on board with ours. But doing nothing is not an option, right? I mean, I've heard so many people on the Republican conference rail on the Affordable Care Act, rail on Obamacare, rail on the premium tax credits. And if you want to criticize something, that's okay, as long as you have a better alternative. They have never offered a better alternative. We went down this healthcare path in my freshman term. I voted against the repeal of the ACA. I thought the replacement was insufficient. It was hastily put together, not well thought out. And here we are, you know, what, eight years later. And they still have not been able to put together an articulable plan. So it's sounding a little like Marjorie Taylor Greene there. Congressman Allen Cumming. Yeah, well, that's actually been the, because Marjorie Taylor Greene was seen as, you know, obviously hardcore MAGA. I think that's a fair characterization of her. Brian Fitzpatrick is not hardcore MAGA. And so that's where, you know, basically you still have the kind of... Chamber of Commerce style Republicans who are all about, just, what's the best way to put it? I mean, I don't even know, like, all about trickle-down economics is probably the best way to put it, who still aren't really paying attention to this. Don't.

really see it as the five alarm fired that it is, unless they can talk about repealing Obamacare. When it comes to replacing Obamacare, there's literally no consensus point on that. And that's where I think because you have the Fitzpatrick's and the MTGs, Marjorie Taylor Greene is not out of Congress until the new year. So keep that in mind for when it comes down to voting, these tax, not these tax credit, these healthcare credits expire at the end of the year. So they're going to need a vote on that before. the end of the year if they don't want them to expire heading into the midterm cycle with huge premium spikes that are about to come everyone's way. So they need to fast. I mean, it is December 8th. They need to come up with something on this like yesterday. And remember when a few weeks ago Trump was like, oh, we've got a health care plan. We're going to announce it. Yep. And then it was leaked what the details were and they hadn't run it by anyone in Congress apparently. And then there was a big backlash to what they proposed. you know, what the proposal was, which basically involved extending the Obama care subsidies for two years and then some other little tweaks. And there were a bunch of Republicans who were like, ah, we don't like this. What are you doing? And then that got scrapped and we haven't heard anything else about a health care plan moving forward. And, you know, I mean, for Fitzpatrick and also for Marjorie Taylor Greene, you know, they complain about like the GOP doesn't have a health care plan, but it's not like. You are a member of Congress. Right. You could have an idea of your own. You could offer something. But the problem has always been that because Obamacare was basically the Republican proposal, they have never figured out. You know, that was borrowed from the Mitt Romney Care in Massachusetts, which came from like Heritage Foundation ideas. And so they've never really figured out. what their proposal would be. And so they've just tried to either they would run on like repeal and replace being very vague about what the replace would entail or just railed against Obamacare in terms of coming up with an affirmative solution that has always been a real weak point for them. And it is interesting on the Democratic side too because Kamala Harris and Joe Biden also didn't weren't that interested in talking about health care. You know, that was really gift to Republicans in a lot of ways because it is a very weak issue for them. Joe Biden originally ran on a public option. Then, of course, that got scrapped. They didn't even try to do anything with that during the campaign. Kamala Harris nominally in favor of a public option, again, wasn't a major debate point during the campaign. Trump famously said he had concepts of a plan. The health care debate is also becoming much hotter and more central in Democratic Party primaries. And you have a lot more Democrats who are now getting on board with Medicare for all because they see. They see the reality of the system as it is. You just had Chris Van Hollen come out and do a video saying, this is where we're at. We've got to support Medicare for all. But they see where the base of the party is headed right now as well and what a pain point this is. So I do think that this is going to become a more central issue, take more of a central role in our politics the way that it was in 2016 and the way that it did in the 2020 primaries as well. There's a very obvious solution on the table for them. But the problem is, to your point, again, there is no consensus. policy, the obvious solution here is that you easily pass an extension of the credits. Just do it, extend the credits. You can do it a year. You can do it two years. And then say, we're going to do this, but we will have a health care bill on the floor of the House for a vote by March. But they don't want to do that, of course, because they don't actually have anything. Now, morally and politically, it is foolish not to spend while you have the House and the Senate.

your political, and the presidency, your political capital over the next year coming up with a Republican health care plan over the next couple of months. I mean, it's so urgent. But if you're a member of Congress or if you're somebody lobbying members of Congress on behalf of these insurance companies, you don't feel this in your, even though, I mean, it hits people across every income spectrum really hard. But you just don't feel like the average American family feels it. So you're disconnected from the degree to which it's an emergency. Yeah. Yeah, at the same time, let's put B3 up on the screen. We're getting more and more numbers about accelerating layoffs and just what the picture looks like. So this is Frank Luntz here, says this year has had the highest layoff since 2020, of course, which was COVID. It's an extraordinary situation. If you take away 2020, it's the highest number of job cuts since 2009. So, you know, really a lot of layoffs. And you could put B4 up on the screen. This is a partial list of some of the large. companies that have announced last U.S. government, 307,000 employees. Sometimes that gets left off, but that is very significant part of our economy and what's going on. UPS, 48,000 employees. Right now as we go into the holiday season, that is crazy. Amazon, up to 30,000 employees, also crazy. Intel, 24K, Nestle, 16, Verizon 15, Accenture 11, Ford 11, Nova Nordisk, 9,000, Microsoft 7, PWC, 5600, 600, Salesforce 4,000, IBM, 2,700, American Airlines, 2,700, 3,000, Target, 1,800, 500, 5,000, applied materials, 1400, Kroger 1,000, meta, 600, and then this is the Kobe AC, letter says, where will all these people go? Which is a very good question. Then put B5 up on the screen as well. We also have an accelerating number of bankruptes. 717 U.S. large companies, this is from that same account, by the way, have gone bankrupt year-to-date. That's the most in 15 years. This is now higher than every full year total since 2010. And again, that's not even through the end of the year. This also marks the third consecutive annual increase, a 90- 93% jump since 2022 in November alone. 62 large firms filed for bankruptcy after 68 and 66 in October and September. U.S. bankruptcies this year are now running plus 30% above the annual average for 2011 to 2024. Corporate bankruptcies are surging outside of the AI trade. And we covered last week the ADP. payroll numbers that showed job loss. And there, so this is focused on large firms filing for bankruptcy, the job loss was coming overwhelmingly from small businesses who have really struggled to be able to navigate the political landscape and the tariff landscape, I think, in particular. Because if you're a large firm, okay, Trump's, you know, the tariffs are on, they're off, et cetera. We've got our stockpiles. We're able to plan in advance. We have the cash to be able to ride this out. It's going to be okay. If you're a small business, you're kind of doing the equivalent of living paid a...

paycheck to paycheck. Like, you don't have this massive cash reserve where you can just ride things out. You also don't have, you know, like a million dollars to throw around to go to a Mar-a-Lago dinner and ask the president for whatever favor you need for your business to be able to make it. So I think that's a big part of the reason why so many small businesses are shuddering right now. And it's also a continuation of a trend of, you know, massive corporate consolidation in America that's been ongoing for decades at this point. Yeah. And I mean, I'm a tariff person. I'm looking at this White House rundown right now of new investments in the U.S. since Liberation Day. And there's a lot of really good stuff, but that's not what these ADP numbers. Obviously, the ADP numbers are net. So job losses, that's it. Like when the economy is losing X jobs a month and you have right now tariffs, so basically the big picture is you have the tariffs and the AI revolution happening at the same time. And... We will look back on this period in 10 years as I think similar to what we will end up or what we already end up looking back with like the Clinton and Bush administration trade opening up, NAFTA, WTO, like that I think we're actually going to start. looking back at this within 10 years as a really similar time period. And David Obie, a Democrat who represented this district in northern Wisconsin, very rural district for a long time, he looked back after NAFTA and said he regretted voting for it because he was promised all of this job training and all of these efforts to augment the job losses. And it never happened. And it just never materialized and it never worked. And there's a clear lesson from that, which is. when you have a revolution happening like artificial intelligence, that's already, I mean, we're projected going into next year to have the highest level of college graduate unemployment. It is going to be a bloodbath, especially in entry-level jobs. What are all of those people going to do? Yeah. Truly. I mean, fentanyl dust, I was just looking at this last night, are still way higher than they were. a long time. I mean, it's fentanyl, so it's relatively like new phenomenon, but they're still way higher than they were in the early days of the opioid epidemic. So you have all of these things happening at the same time, and the Trump administration was supposed to, is what Donald Trump promised, of course, was people were, I think, correctly skeptical of it, but what he promised was something that appealed to the hopes of folks who were looking at this and saying, this is a generational scrambling of the world around me after. the generational scrambling that, you know, my parents went through and that my town went through. So it's way bigger than I think people realize. Yeah. No, I absolutely think that's correct. And I think people were willing to trade, like, it was not a secret to anyone that he has these like authoritarian instincts. But they were sort of willing to, okay, well, we'll take some of that because it's an extraordinary time. And, you know, we trust that you're going to be able to kind of strong man, get things in order and the trains will run on time. And instead, you've just gotten the like performative cruelty and then mass layoffs. And then, you know, to me, the central theme, like the central thrust of this administration is just giving everything over to the tech oligarchs and saying, okay, off to the races with AI. We're going to grease the skids for you. Deregulate as much as possible. So you can win this AI race and hope and like we're going to hope and pray that that just like magically fixes everything. And in the process, they're.

promising to lay off literally everyone and completely disrupt the entire, I mean, to completely destroy the existing social contract with little to no thought about what may come after that. Yeah, I mean, we were talking before we went to air this morning. I always checked the morning newsletters to see who sponsors them because I find it very amusing and depressing. And this morning, the free press and Politico's playbook were both sponsored by META. And I went and clicked through the meta ad to see what meta was bragging about because in both ads, it was, quote, meta is investing $600 billion in American infrastructure and jobs. So we went and clicked through. They had a list of all the places around the country where they're doing this. Every single thing I clicked on said, data center, data center, data center. And that is so harrowing. Yeah. Because a lot of these places, I mean, we have hollowed out. factor towns all over the all over the country and places that are still struggling from nafta and uh china and all of that and you're just going to put up data centers that employ way fewer people um and convince these communities to give you big tax breaks and then if the bubble bursts holy shit I mean, think about that. If an AI bubble bursts and all of these communities have given tax breaks to these big companies, to meta, to open AI, all around the country, and they're already not employing all of the people, taking up all of this land with data centers. Think about that. It's horrifying. Yeah, and the bubble bursting might be the best possible end of the horrible ends. Yeah, yeah, that's right. Then it may be even worse in terms of the impact on society. It's going to be UBI. Yeah, I mean, honestly, like 20 years, UBI. That's like, it's, like, if we're lucky, if they don't just decide we're all disposable and good luck. And I was going to say not even like a, not even a humane effort at UBI. It's just going to be shut up and let us bulldoze. culture, tech, everything. Yeah, what's the smallest amount we can get away with giving you so that you don't like literally murder us in our beds? That's what they're, that's the point they're going to be aiming for there. They've seen the purge. Yes. What's up fam? I'm sports journalist Ari Chambers. Hey, what's up y'all? It's your girl, Sam J. And we're the host of everyone watches women's sports, a new podcast from Together and I Heart Women's Sports. Because let's be real. Women's Sports is giving us way too much to talk about these days. So Kelsey Finler, she became the first female solo rower to go from California to Hawaii. My first thought is like, what's up with the snacks? Like, what are we eating? The highlights, the rivalries, the breakout stars, the moments that take over your entire time. timeline. In the conversations that start during the game and somehow keep going all week. Every week, we're breaking down the biggest stories across women's sports. Naomi Osaka showing out, she beat. Sabalinka. Shoutouts to you, Naomi. You get the palm, Naomi. You get the palm for that. Because we're not just interested in what happened. We're interested in why everyone's talking about it. Because everyone watches women's sports. Listen to everyone watches women's sports on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast.

Hey, Portlandia fans. Carrie Brownstein and Fred Armisen here. You know us, or rather, you know them. Tony and Candice, Nina and Lance, Spike, and yes, The Chicken. We've played a lot of iconic characters over the years, but today we're showing up as ourselves to tell you about Podlandia, AEO, rewatch, our brand new podcast. Each week, we'll revisit an episode of Portlandia from the very beginning. breaking down the sketches, exploring the backstories of our most iconic characters, revisiting the Portland locations you know and love, and opening up about our creative process. How did any of this get made? Why do we think that was a good idea? We're ready to talk about it. And we'll also be joined by the people who helped bring it all to life, guest stars, collaborators, and friends, including director Jonathan Chrysall, the mayor himself, Kyle McLaughlin, legendary musician Amy Mann, and many more. Kyle is going for it here. You fully improvised, not just words, but a song, a melody. I thought he was going to write. I thought you were all going to write a song. I remember you thinking that. Listen to Podlandia. Ayo, rewatch on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Nick Totoro. You probably know me from NYPD Blue, The Longest Yard, or Spike Lee's Black Klansman. But I'm also from Queens, which means I know pizza. And on my new podcast, delivering happiness with Nick Totoro, I deliver pizza from Prince Street pizza to a new guest. Are you delivering pizza now? Then we sit down for a real conversation. I've shared a slice with everyone from Seth Rollins. What are you doing my belt? To Alex Rodriguez. Just to let you people know. We're talking to one of the goats here. To Bill Burr. I don't think I've ever met somebody so exactly out of their mind as I am. And now we even have more great guests coming up, including the great John Tuturo. It's called Happiness, Delivering Happiness. Mariano Rivera. Thank you. Oh, my God. And many, many more. Open your free High Heart Radio app. Search Delivering Happiness with Nick Totoro. And listen now. Let's go ahead and get to what is going on with the Somalis in Minnesota, and I guess globally, I don't know, I feel like this is a global effort. So Trump, after calling Somali's garbage, his administration has surged ICE agents into Minnesota, Minneapolis. Specifically, Tom Homan was questioned on this new operation. Let's take a listen to that. That Somali community in Minnesota is about 80,000 people. The vast majority. are U.S. citizens or legal residents. So what is the reason for sending ICE there? Well, look, we also know there's a large illegal Somali community there. There's illegal alien community, large illegal alien community there. You know, if you're a U.S. citizen, you know, you have nothing to fear. The president said very clearly this week that he doesn't want Somali immigrants in America. He called them garbage. Is that the real reason this operation is happening in the Somali community?

No, I think President Trump's referring to public safety threats to national security threats from Somalia and every other country. Well, he didn't say that. He's been clear from day one. He talked about the whole community. Well, look, I know that I'm not aware what the President Trump was think when he said that by I agree to President Trump. So, Emily, I think it's worth people thinking for a moment, too, about why we do have such a significant Somali community. And, you know, they ended up in Minnesota in particular, about why we had these successive waves of Somalis who were brought in, the vast majority of whom, by the way, are a U.S. citizens. So they shouldn't be subject to these deportation efforts, even though we know that ICE has, you know, discriminated by color and by their ethnic background in the past. Some numbers on that quickly. So not a citizen as of 2023, 9.5%. Yeah. U.S. born, 38.8%, naturalized citizen, 45.4%. So it's about one in every 10 is not a citizen. Yeah. So the... The biggest reason why we have significant Somali population here is you had a civil war in Somalia. It was brutal. And you may ask yourself, did the U.S. play any role in that civil war? And the answer, of course, would be yes. And the question is, of course, rhetorical. I mean, we, you know, we use Somalia basically as a pawn and a play thing during the Cold War. Flooded the zone with all kinds of U.S. weapons. Also forced this, like, IMF World Bank adjustment, like austerity onto them, which stripped their own. domestic capacity to feed themselves and cause these austerity conditions. We were very important in terms of creating the conditions for the Civil War and the fallout and the chaos that made it necessary for people to flee. Somalia for other places. So that is, I think, always important, especially as we're contemplating this regime change effort in Venezuela. Like for the vast majority, you and Saga are pretty much on an island. Correct me if I'm wrong, Emily, in opposing the regime change effort in Venezuela. A lot of the America firsters, even people had a problem with war with Iran are like, yeah, yeah, sure, Venezuela. Medora's a bad guy. Let's go for it. Why the hell that? And I don't want to hear a fucking word from these people when there is a failed. state and another refugee crisis. Like, we are causing those problems. And so, you know, if you want to have fewer migrants, and I think we all should actually want people to have a place where they can live and not have to flee war and famine and devastation, then maybe we should stop destroying and using these countries as pawns and play things and destroying so many other places around the world. Just a thought. In any case, the Somali community has responded in, I think, the most glorious way possible. Like, the most glorious way possible. Mack was saying we need to make all of them citizens just as a reward for their, their meming efforts. So in response to these brazen attacks from Trump calling them garbage and now the ice incursion into Minneapolis and all of this, they have been, I guess, playing with memes that take the language that Israelis use.

to justify their claim of the land of Israel and also claim of Palestine, taking that language and appropriating it themselves and saying like Minnesota was promised to us 3,000 years ago and we're the real founding farmers and all of this. It's incredible, you know, sort of like... You just said founding farmers. Did I really? Amazing. Great restaurant. We love it. Founding fathers. They would probably claim that as well. These memers are so good. They would probably like, we created founding farmers. They also were involved in that creation. I think it's from the North Dakota Farmers Union. And there are Somalis in North Dakota. There you go. I picture, Elan Omar went to college in North Dakota. So in any case, founding fathers, founding farmers, they're claiming it all. Let's go ahead and take a look at one of these memes. This is C3, the way that they are used. this lexicon. Brothers, behold it, the white land of the north. Snow everywhere. But look, the skyline, just like on the old drawings. Three centuries our elders told, behold, this is Minnesota. Three centuries past, it was promised to us. On these horses through the snow, we have found our land at last. And Emily, I think honestly, if you oppose this, I think you are anti-somelitic. Antisomelitic. It needs to be called out for that. Oh, no. You might be anti-somelite of the week. Oh, no. Let's put up some more of these, C4. We've got a whole bunch of these. I love them. Okay, so this one says, this is our proposal. And it's got a map. It says the West Bank, and it's like California, Oregon and Washington, and then the New Jersey Strait. We've got, let's see the next one. Then they zoom in on the quote unquote West Bank. And it has just like in the West Bank in Palestine all these different areas that are like Banu Stans. And then under control of, they say under Somali control, under Somali and ANA control occupied by Somali Defense Force. So we've got that one going on. Let's see the next one. Some food appropriation here. They say Somali food and it's tacos, egg fried rice sushi and pizza invented by the Somali 3,000 years ago. play on how the Israelis like to claim lots of Middle Eastern and Mediterranean cuisine. Here we have a series of politicians kissing the Mall of America wall. Is this supposed to be Elissa Slotkin next to Mike Pence and Mike Pompeo? Between two mics? Or is it Kirsten Nelson? I have no idea. For some reason, Bill Barr is involved here. We've got, yeah, Mike Pence, Mike Pompeo. It might be the Trump-1 cabinet. Yeah, that might be supposed to Kirsten-Nelson. We've got some throwbacks here. But, I mean, the legacy does of our commitment to the Mall of America goes back. This one, Emily was a little uncomfortable with. But this is, you know, this is a famous picture of a guy who's from Brooklyn, right? It says, if I don't steal someone else will. And it's a Somali holding up the Somalian flag. So we've got that one as well. You know, some of them are a little, a little problematic. Oh, some of them are very, I saw one AI rendering of a Somali Stonewall Jackson.

Oh, my God. It's incredible. And now we have a, you know, this sort of infamous, like, Manifest Destiny picture that DHS account was tweeting out recently. And instead of, like, a white angel floating over, it's a Somali woman who actually looks a lot like Ilhan Omar, who is floating over all of this. So playing with the themes of, you know, the Israeli talking points and colonialism in general. And the thing I've appreciated is they just keep going. Like, they keep pushing the lore. More, more layers. There's deeper and deeper. And really, yeah, there's accounts now that are like, you know, supposed to be like A-PAC, but Balia. And then there's the accounts that are calling out that account. And it's, I'm enjoying the whole thing. I honestly, genuinely like to make a serious point about it. I think it is a really brilliant way to respond to these attacks. Because, listen, I mean, I think. what Trump said should be called out as racist. It is racist, but also, you know, it's not exactly news that Trump uses racism in effectuating his policy and specifically his immigration policy. So if you're just saying, again, this is racist. it's going to not land as much, I think, as since we are all aware of that at this point, as like the trolling here, I think, is just another level and a great response. Well, I mean, yeah, and I'm saying this as somebody who, like, thinks we have wildly underplayed the problems of integration. I mean, Somalia is a completely different culture than United States and Minneapolis. This is a country that has a 90, according to UNICEF, a 99.9% rate of, or 99% rate of female genital mutilation. And so bringing a culture up into northern Minnesota, where you have such vast golf, I mean, I think it has genuinely been a very tough assimilation progress. I know people in Minnesota have been, feels like they've been screaming into the void about this for at least a decade. That said, this trolling shows assimilation to American meme culture in spades because it is. I mean, there's nothing more appealing than self-deprecating humor, first of all, like, across the board. Anyone who can be, like, self-deprecating, you realize that there's something kind of funny about the idea of Somali's walking across, what did they call it, the Great North? Yeah, well, and humor is such a potent weapon. And then the other hilarious thing is, like, the people online who are taking this seriously, like, this is outrageous. They think this was promised to them 3,000 years ago. And meanwhile, they're posting about, like, oh, Somalis IQs are low. And it's like, bro. So that's how it started. It is. And yeah, if people weren't following this closely, that's basically how it started. Somebody, I don't know who the first person was, but somebody put out a video of somebody, like, dead serious, deadpan, making this claim to camera, trolling Israel saying, we were promised this land, and a couple people fell for it. And we're like, this is the dumbest thing I've ever heard. It's like, oh boy. Have I got something even dumber for you? It's rough. Look in the mirror, my friend. Yikes. Yeah. No, I mean, it's a great. It's been wonderful. It's been a sight to behold. I mean, humor is a weapon. And this is part of Trump, like, why he gets away with so much is because he's funny. And that is an unfortunate reality of who he is. It breaks people's brains. It does. And so, yeah, if you're trying to otherize a people, which is what they're trying to do, say they don't belong, they don't fit in, they're garbage. They all need to go, blah, blah, blah.

And your response is this incredibly relatable nuance humor, which is sort of irresistible. Like you're instantly, you're instantly humanizing yourself, number one, instantly demonstrating to your point, a high level. of cultural competency. And it's disarming. It's just fundamentally disarming. Yeah. And they're playing on what's funny is that, like, obviously, these are different cultures with different histories. And that's, like, it's great self-deprecating humor. And it's, like, aware of the, it's not running from the, I don't know, the controversy. It's kind of leaning into it, to your point about Trumpian tactics. Right. So it's very, very clever and very, very funny. Yeah, absolutely. Hey, Portlandia fans. Carrie Brownstein and Fred Armisen here. The Dream of the 90s is alive in podcast form. We're launching Podlandia AEO rewatch, our brand new podcast where we revisit every episode of Portlandia together, breaking down sketches, going deep on our iconic characters, and pulling back the curtain on how it all got made. And we'll also be joined by the people who helped bring it all to life. Guest stars, collaborators, and friends, including director Jonathan Chrysall, the mayor himself, Kyle McLaughlin, legendary musician Amy Mann, and many more. Kyle is going for it here. You fully improvised, not just words, but a song. Well, I thought you were all going to write a song. I remember you thinking that. Listen to Podlandia. A.O. Rewatch on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. What's up, fam? I'm sports journalist Ari Chambers. Hey, what's up y'all? It's your girl, Sam Jay. And we're the host of Everyone Watches Women's Sports, a new podcast from Together and I Heart Women's Sports. We're breaking down the biggest headlines. Naomi Osaka, showing out. Shoutouts to you, Naomi. The viral moments. I've been obsessed with Kashan Rock's boxing journey. She looks good. Her combos are swift. And the stories everyone's talking about across women's sports. Because everyone watches women's sports. Listen to everyone watches women's sports on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get. a podcast. I'm Jake Brennan, and on the Disgraceland podcast, I explore the wild lives of rock stars and unbelievable true crime stories from music history. These are the stories you haven't heard, the kind you'll end up telling someone else. Like the time Paul McCartney spent in a notorious prison or the bizarre crime Lady Gaga is accused of. Or that time Blondie's Debbie Harry escaped Ted Bunny. Listen to disgrace land on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed human.