American Ground Radio

You're listening to American Ground Radio with Louis R. Avalone and Stephen Parr. This is the full show for August 17, 2026.

We open by breaking down Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal's claim that the Supreme Court has been "captured" by Trump supporters, using it as a launching point to walk through the constitutional distinction between the representative and judicial branches, and why judicial independence matters even when rulings are unpopular. We also dig into the underlying Justice Department opinion on executive privilege that sparked her comments.

From there we run through the headlines you need to know, covering the expiration of the 60-day U.S.-Iran negotiating window, the House Ethics Committee investigation into Congressman Jimmy Gomez over alleged misconduct with a staffer, and the Supreme Court's refusal to hear President Trump's appeal in the E. Jean Carroll case. We talk about a Financial Times study finding that 10% of young Americans report zero daily face-to-face interaction, and what that says about the long tail of pandemic-era isolation.

Our American Mamas, Teri Netterville and Kimberly Burleson, join us to talk about what sets the United States apart from other countries, drawing on stories from World Cup visitors and reflecting on faith, culture, and gratitude.

In Digging Deep, we look at newly declassified documents raising questions about what Nancy Pelosi knew about Eric Swalwell's ties to a suspected Chinese intelligence agent, then examine a CBS News poll on how Americans, and Democrats especially, view capitalism versus socialism. We also cover a New York legislator's defense of shoplifting as a "crime of poverty" and the property-rights case against it.

Our Bright Spot highlights the nation's first detransition clinic opening at Texas Children's Hospital, and the whistleblower nurse who helped bring it about. In a Moment of Whoa, we take on the WNBA's eligibility rules and the debate Caitlyn Jenner has reignited around defining who qualifies as a woman in women's sports. We close with words of wisdom from President Calvin Coolidge on persistence and personal responsibility. May your pursuit of happiness bring you joy.

Listen now wherever you get your podcasts, visit AmericanGroundRadio.com, and join the conversation at 866-AGR-1776. 

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You're listening to American Ground Radio with Louis R. Avalone and Stephen Parr. This is the full show for August 14, 2026. 

We open by digging into President Trump's tongue-in-cheek claim that he might declare the Strait of Hormuz a U.S. territory, unpacking the international law questions, the strategic stakes of the world's busiest oil chokepoint, and why we think it's really a negotiating jab aimed at Tehran.

From there we run through the headlines you need to know, covering the president's Supreme Court appeal over the White House ballroom construction dispute, Luigi Mangione's guilty plea in the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, and the arrest of a Massachusetts mayor on COVID relief fraud charges. We also dig into Bernie Sanders' refusal to endorse a Democratic Socialist candidate for Wisconsin governor and what that says about the limits of his own philosophy.

Our American Mamas, Teri Netterville and Kimberly Burleson, join us to talk about the rise in road rage and how anonymity behind the wheel brings out the worst in people.

In Digging Deep, we look at a university program offering stipends to train more physicians in abortion procedures post-Dobbs, then examine a CNN story on how data centers have transformed the small town of Quincy, Washington, funding new schools, infrastructure, and jobs. We take a moment to reflect on leadership, purpose, and why chasing approval is a losing game.

Then it's time for Fake News Friday, our weekly game separating real headlines from the fake and the really fake. We close out talking about New York Times speculation that AOC's decision to freeze her eggs signals a 2028 presidential run, before sharing a moment of whoa: the story of a 97-year-old doctor who returned to his alma mater seven decades after graduating, this time to watch his granddaughter cross the same stage. 

Listen now wherever you get your podcasts, visit AmericanGroundRadio.com, and join the conversation at 866-AGR-1776. 

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You're listening to American Ground Radio with Louis R. Avallone and Stephen Parr. This is the full show for August 13, 2026.

We dig into why Democrats are running on impeachment instead of solutions, pointing to Massachusetts Congressman Jake Auchincloss naming impeachment of Secretary of War Pete Hegseth a midterm priority — and we lay out why that signals a party with nothing to offer on cost of living, the border, or public safety, while praising Speaker Mike Johnson's handling of misconduct without resorting to impeachment theater. We also revisit the 2018 "orange man bad" playbook and question whether it still works given Zoran Mamdani's mayoral win.

In our Top 3, we cover Flock Safety's new privacy controls on license plate readers, the WNBA's decision not to change its transgender eligibility policy despite controversy from players like Sophie Cunningham, and the indictment of a former Southern Poverty Law Center finance officer accused of funneling money to hate groups.

We get fired up over the vandalism at the World War II Memorial, arguing that spray-painted graffiti has no place on sacred ground honoring the 400,000 Americans who died in the war. Our American Mamas, Teri Netterville and Kimberly Burleson, tackle a listener question about whether on-screen kissing counts as cheating, running through Hollywood stories from Alec Baldwin and Kim Basinger to George Strait's famous cowboy-hat kiss dodge in Pure Country.

And we call out media outlets for reporting details of the Secret Service's decoy plane maneuver that got President Trump safely out of Turkey, arguing the coverage burns a tactic that could protect his life again. We go Digging Deep on solar power, questioning why the "cheapest energy in human history" still needs government subsidies while data centers building their own power plants are choosing natural gas and nuclear instead.

We circle back to the WNBA to argue the transgender eligibility question shouldn't require committees and consultants, then hit a Bright Spot with wildfire acreage at its lowest since the satellite era began, the Great Barrier Reef's rebound, and a quiet Atlantic hurricane season. Border czar Tom Holman gets a shoutout for record ICE arrest numbers in June and July, and we close with a Moment of Whoa: UC Davis water polo player and lifeguard Lily Velling's rescue of three struggling swimmers at Seattle's Seafair, earning her the title of Lady Guardian of Lake Washington.

Listen now wherever you get your podcasts, visit AmericanGroundRadio.com, and join the conversation at 866-AGR-1776. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You're listening to American Ground Radio with Louis R. Avalone and Stephen Parr. This is the full show for August 12, 2026. 

We open with a legal argument that's hard to stomach: attorneys for the man accused of killing Charlie Kirk are reportedly arguing that the death penalty shouldn't be on the table because their client hit exactly who he was aiming for. We dig into why that "good marksman" defense doesn't hold up, why Utah's aggravating-factor standard for capital punishment matters here, and why the shooter's own alleged written admissions make the legal argument feel especially hollow.

In our Top 3 things you need to know, we cover Karoline Leavitt's announced departure as White House Press Secretary at the end of August so she can focus on her young family, a sprawling marriage fraud case out of New York involving thousands of fake marriages tied to immigration fraud, and the latest CPI numbers showing inflation ticking up just 0.1% in July even as gas prices climb back in August.

From there we dig into public assistance fraud enforcement, why the states doing the least to stop it seem to have the most of it, and how fear of being labeled racist keeps some officials from confronting fraud head-on, using Nick Shirley's on-the-ground reporting in Somali immigrant communities as our jumping-off point.

Our American Mama, Teri Netterville, tackles cell phone bans for kids beyond the classroom, from little league teams banning phones before games to Louisiana and Florida's in-school bans, and what the research and real-life results are showing about kids reconnecting face-to-face.

Our Bright Spot celebrates Karoline Leavitt's tenure as press secretary and the choice she's making to prioritize motherhood, a decision that's anything but a step down.

We dig deep into Tuesday's primary results across the country, from the South Carolina Senate runoff to fill Lindsey Graham's seat, to Wisconsin's tight governor's race, to Minnesota's Senate and governor primaries, and what each contest could mean for control of Congress this fall.

We also weigh in on an Indiana Fever coach's viral comments about unity and love in the WNBA, and a second Bright Spot on musician Five for Fighting's John Ondrasik publicly defending Boy George after backlash over his song honoring October 7th victims.

In our Moment of Whoa, we look at a Massachusetts proposal to create a permanent, taxpayer-funded state commission devoted to one religion, and what that means for equal treatment under the law.

And we close with Words of Wisdom on standing up for what's right. 

May your pursuit of happiness bring you joy.

Listen now wherever you get your podcasts, visit AmericanGroundRadio.com, and join the conversation at 866-AGR-1776.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You're listening to American Ground Radio with Louis R. Avalone and Stephen Parr. This is the full show for August 11, 2026. 

We open with Chicago's murder rate compared to Florida's major cities, and ask why the same activists offended by National Guard troops in D.C. and Chicago aren't offended by the gang violence claiming lives every day — plus why Chicago's strict gun laws haven't stopped the bloodshed. In our Top 3 Things You Need to Know, we cover Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey signing a law legalizing abortion up to birth, the arrest of Congresswoman Lauren Boebert's son on child exploitation charges, and a New York judge halting Mayor Mamdani's pied-à-terre tax after the city doxxed hundreds of thousands of residents by mistake. We also dig into former CIA Director John Brennan's election interference claims and the fight over the SAVE Act.

Our American Mama, Teri Netterville, joins us to talk Cam Newton's revelations about NFL players and fake COVID vaccine cards, the human cost of vaccine mandates, and why we're still waiting on apologies from the media figures who vilified people like Aaron Rodgers. We're Digging Deep this week on Massachusetts' new late-term abortion law, then pivot to Seattle, where a mix of socialism and green energy mandates is about to send electric bills up 80% over six years.

Plus, Justice Samuel Alito's decision to stay on the Supreme Court, a Bright Spot on Trump savings accounts building wealth for the next generation, a Say What moment courtesy of Hillary Clinton, and a Moment of Whoa from a 13-year-old who spent 300 hours 3D-printing a wheelchair for a little girl he'd never met.

Listen now wherever you get your podcasts, visit AmericanGroundRadio.com, and join the conversation at 866-AGR-1776.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You’re listening to American Ground Radio with Stephen Parr and Louis R. Avallone. This is the full show for August 10, 2026.

We kick things off with Iran's audacious demand for war reparations from the United States — and President Trump's brilliant response that flips the script and opens up Iran's own record of terror funding, hostage-taking, and brutality against its own people for the world to see.

Then we run through the Top 3 things you need to know: President Trump's executive order spacing out childhood vaccines and trimming the recommended schedule, the DOJ's lawsuit against New York, Connecticut, and Vermont over in-state tuition for illegal aliens, and the Pentagon renaming Joint Base Charleston to Joint Base Lindsey Graham in honor of the late senator.

We dig into the disturbing pattern of violence in the WNBA, including the flagrant hit on Sophie Cunningham, and ask our American Mamas whether Enes Kanter Freedom and Royce White should be allowed to play in the WNBA after applying under the league's gender rules.

We break down new numbers showing marijuana use has overtaken both daily cigarette and alcohol use in America — and why that should worry us more than it does. In Digging Deep, we expose how a soft-on-crime plea deal in Maricopa County let a confessed murderer walk free, only for him to allegedly torch 700 homes in Spokane, Washington. We also cover the discovery that British Royal Navy sea drones have been caught communicating with a server in China.

There's a Bright Spot in new Gallup polling showing more Americans — especially Republicans — believe parents should be married before having kids. We call out the University of Michigan for hiding freshman grades behind a pass/no-credit system that shields students from the consequences that build real character. And we close by remembering Ben Jones, the actor who played Cooter on The Dukes of Hazzard and went on to serve in Congress, who passed away this weekend at 85.

May your pursuit of happiness bring you joy.

Listen now wherever you get your podcasts, visit AmericanGroundRadio.com, and join the conversation at 866-AGR-1776.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You’re listening to American Ground Radio with Stephen Parr and Louis R. Avallone. This is the full show for August 7, 2026.

We open up with a deep dive into the legal fight over President Trump's new White House ballroom, breaking down the deceptively simple question the Supreme Court may ultimately have to answer: is replacing the demolished East Wing an "improvement" to the executive residence, or is it a brand new building requiring congressional approval? We walk through the history of White House alterations, the D.C. Circuit's 2-1 ruling against the administration, and why this fight matters for presidential authority going forward.

From there, we hit our Top 3 stories you need to know: Marsha Blackburn's win in the Tennessee GOP gubernatorial primary, and Tesla and SpaceX's massive joint venture to build the TeraFab chip factory in Texas.

We dig into fresh Labor Department numbers showing manufacturing output and productivity are both up, pushing back on predictions that tariffs would tank American factories.

Our American Mama Teri Netterville joins us to tackle a listener question about whether men have the right to ask their girlfriends to dress more modestly.

We break down new data on the shrinking foreign-born workforce and what it means for wages and job competition for American workers, then dig deep into the new mutual defense pact between Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and Pakistan, and what it means for a boxed-in Iran, including our take on the argument that Trump has already won the Iran war.

We cover Kellogg's promise to strip artificial dyes from its cereals a year ahead of schedule, then it's time for Fake News Friday, our weekly game separating real headlines from the ones we made up ourselves.

We close out with a look at the growing rift between the Democratic establishment and the Democratic Socialists of America, and Washington D.C.'s record-breaking 4th of July fireworks display.

May your pursuit of happiness bring you joy.

Listen now wherever you get your podcasts, visit AmericanGroundRadio.com, and join the conversation at 866-AGR-1776.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You’re listening to American Ground Radio with Stephen Parr and Louis R. Avallone. This is the full show for August 6, 2026.

President Trump signed two executive orders targeting birth tourism and birthright citizenship — one ending the practice of foreign nationals flying in just to give birth on American soil, and another restricting citizenship documents for children of alien enemies, foreign terrorists, and commercial surrogacy arrangements. We break down what's actually in these orders, why Stephen Miller is calling birth tourism "an industry built around deception," and why we think the Supreme Court's original birthright citizenship ruling all but guarantees these orders end up in court.

In our Top 3 Things You Need to Know, we cover the Senate Homeland Security Committee's vote to hold Dr. Fauci in contempt of Congress after he pleaded the Fifth 111 times, newly uncovered documents showing 24 state attorneys general plotted lawsuits against the Trump administration a full year before he took office, and Mitch McConnell's release from a rehab facility after nearly two months out of the public eye.

Nearly one-third of Democrats now openly identify as socialists, according to investigative journalist Peter Schweizer — and we dig into how the party establishment got hijacked by its far-left flank, with even Bernie Sanders declining to endorse a Wisconsin gubernatorial candidate whose platform includes canceling Thanksgiving.

Our American Mama, Terri Netterville, tackles a listener question on digital dashboards versus physical buttons and knobs — with stories ranging from a Tesla-hating road trip to an unhackable 1987 Chevy truck and the rise of driverless cars.

We're Digging Deep this week on the U.S. immigration court backlog, which sits at 3.5 million pending cases — down from Biden-era highs, but still requiring roughly 10,000 case resolutions a day to clear in a year. We explain why removal orders for no-shows have spiked and why ICE's work is only beginning once the courts catch up.

Plus, questions swirl over Iran's Supreme Leader Khamenei, who hasn't been seen or heard from since the war started, and Chuck Schumer's endorsement of a Michigan Senate candidate who's publicly called for Schumer's own ouster as Democratic leader.

Our Bright Spot: Argentina's President Javier Milei proposes a "fiscal shackle" law that would freeze politicians' salaries and halt federal funding to the states the moment the government runs a deficit — an idea Louis and Stephen think might just be crazy enough to work in Washington. Plus, we close with the story of a Rhode Island bake stand that was stolen — and the stranger who rebuilt it for free.

Listen now wherever you get your podcasts, visit AmericanGroundRadio.com, and join the conversation at 866-AGR-1776.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You’re listening to American Ground Radio with Stephen Parr and Louis R. Avallone. This is the full show for August 5, 2026.

Democratic Socialists of America candidates had a big night in Tuesday's primaries — especially in Michigan, where Abdul El-Sayed narrowly won the Democrat Senate nomination over Haley Stevens, and "Squad" member Rashida Tlaib fended off a primary challenge. We break down what these wins actually mean, why El-Sayed's margin was so much tighter than the polling predicted, and why we think a Medicare-for-All, defund-Israel platform is a movement wish list, not a governing blueprint.

In our Top 3 Things You Need to Know, we cover El-Sayed's win and what it means for Michigan's Senate race in November, the Senate's confirmation of Dr. Erica Schwartz to lead the CDC, and an 11th Circuit ruling upholding Florida's law banning children from sexually explicit drag shows.

Where in the world is Mitch McConnell? We dig into the seven-week silence, the two still photos, and the questions nobody in D.C. seems to want to answer.

Our American Mamas, Teri Netterville and Kimberly Burleson, tackle a listener question on why high achievers draw so much hate — with stories ranging from slashed tires to Elon Musk's "world's first former trillionaire" moment.

We're Digging Deep this week on two fronts: a House Select Committee report warning that Chinese state-linked telecom companies still have equipment and data access inside U.S. networks, and a pair of California stories — a former far-left homeless shelter worker's public break with the movement, and San Francisco's slow climb back from the brink compared to Los Angeles' continued decline.

Plus, President Trump's "don't make me pull this car over" approach to Iran and the Strait of Hormuz, and Senator John Fetterman's warning to his own party about the rising influence of socialists and communists in Democratic politics.

Our Bright Spot: a federal judge blocks New York's law banning ICE agents from wearing face masks, ruling the state can't dictate how federal agents do their jobs. Plus, we close with the story of a contractor who lost his tools in a lightning strike — and the nine-year-old son who tried to make it right.

Listen now wherever you get your podcasts, visit AmericanGroundRadio.com, and join the conversation at 866-AGR-1776.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You’re listening to American Ground Radio with Stephen Parr and Louis R. Avallone. This is the full show for August 4, 2026.

We kick things off with WNBA coach Cheryl Reeve's contradictory stance on gender and sports — she's all for trans inclusion on the court, but suddenly cares about protecting women's jobs when men start taking WNBA coaching positions. We break down why that logic doesn't hold up, and use Caitlin Clark's rise (and the Tiger Woods parallel) to make the case that talent, not identity, drives audiences and revenue.

In the news roundup, we cover Todd Blanche's move closer to confirmation as Attorney General, the DOJ's attempt at its first-ever deportation under the Alien Terrorist Removal Court, and Hadi Matar's conviction for the attack on Salman Rushdie. Then we dig into a resurfaced story about federal funding and aborted fetal tissue research, and the policy changes under the Trump administration that have curbed it.

We're joined by American Mamas Teri Netterville and Kimberly Burleson to tackle a listener question about the risks of running an Airbnb, sharing wild stories of "teen takeover" ragers that have destroyed people's homes — and asking whether there are ever real consequences for the people responsible.

For Digging Deep, we take on Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson's claim that she avoids "even the appearance of bias" — made, ironically, on Michelle Obama's podcast. Then we get into the messy, headline-grabbing story of Ohio Congressman Max Miller, facing domestic violence allegations from his ex-wife (whose father is a sitting senator) as an Ohio ballot deadline looms.

Plus, we look at Spain allocating millions to migrant minors while native Spanish children face deep poverty, we take a raw look at the Twin Falls, Idaho In-N-Out shooting and the armed bystander who stopped it, and we bring you the latest on Jeanine Pirro's clash with the White House. We close things out with a Bright Spot about a Nashville police officer who talked a man down from a bridge with three simple words.

Listen now wherever you get your podcasts, visit AmericanGroundRadio.com, and join the conversation at 866-AGR-1776.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.