Beerocracy!®

This episode is Part 1 of a two part Beerocracy! podcast special where I traveled to the top Trump supporting counties in 4 states in Appalachia to try to understand why and how people support Donald Trump. Our social media feeds keep us in our echo chambers, discouraging dialogue. I decided I was tired of the constant rhetoric making it seem like I, a liberal, couldn't find common ground and talk to people on the complete opposite side of the political spectrum to me. So I did what any stubborn person would do, I went on a roadtrip.

Two American citizens and dozens of immigrants have been killed, hundreds injured, and the country is on edge because of Donald Trump's immigration policy. Trump ran on an anti-immigrant platform, promising record levels of deportations, and so far, he's been attempting to live up to his campaign promises. The problem? His administration is conducting itself with unseen levels of aggression, cruelty, and a disregard for laws.

I'm joined by former ICE field director, Darius Reeves, who reveals the ins and outs of immigration enforcement. It's an honest, challenging conversation surrounding the moral qualms of immigrations enforcement. He shares what it was like working under four different administrations, insider knowledge about what happened when a current field director tried to push back, as well as his personal relationships with Todd Lyons and Tom Homan. Reeves has some choice words for this current administration. This is an honest, challenging conversation about immigration, power, and accountability, and one you don’t want to miss.

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President Trump has set his sights on Greenland. This arctic territory has become center stage for Trump's imperialistic desires, leading to classically aggressive statements that cause chaos on a global stage. But what makes Greenland so desirable?

I'm joined by Dr. Cameron “Cam” Carlson from the University of Alaska-Fairbanks, to break down the importance of this icy plateau. From national security concerns to rare earth minerals, we unpack everything there is to know about Greenland, and why Trump is currently obsessed.

On January 13th, the Supreme Court is hearing the arguments for West Virginia v. BPJ, a landmark Supreme Court case that could reshape the future of transgender rights and school athletics nationwide.

The case challenges West Virginia’s 2021 Save Women’s Sports Act, which bans transgender girls and women from participating in female school sports. At the center is B.P.J., Becky Pepper Jackson, a transgender girl who was barred from joining her middle school track team. The justices will weigh whether these state-level bans violate Title IX and the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment.

To unpack what’s at stake, we’re joined by Sruti Swaminathan, Senior Staff Attorney with the ACLU’s LGBTQ & HIV Project and counsel for B.P.J. in B.P.J. v. West Virginia Board of Education. Swaminathan explains the legal arguments behind the challenge, what this case could mean for transgender students across the country, and dispels a lot of myths about transgender athletes.

In one of the most dramatic and controversial moments in recent U.S.–Latin America relations, the U.S. military captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, brought them to the United States on criminal charges, and sent shockwaves across the region. So what happens next? Between Trump's very transparent desires for oil investment in the country, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio setting his sites on a regime change in Cuba next, the U.S. is taking aggressive stances in Latin America.

I'm joined by Frank Mora, Professor of Politics and International Relations at Florida International University and former U.S. ambassador to the Organization of American States, to discuss what potential futures look like for Venezuela, and the broader Latin American region.

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Hello Team!

Just wanted to thank everyone for their part in contributing to this podcast. From my guests dedicating their time and my listeners for engaging with every episode, I am so grateful for the year that was 2025. I can't wait for what awaits in 2026.

Cheers to 2025 and thank you all.

Emily

It's happened again. Another school shooting. A terrible, unnecessary constant in American life. But it doesn't have to be this way. This episode takes a hard, solutions-focused look at school shooting prevention through conversations with leaders from Sandy Hook Promise, one of the nation’s leading violence prevention organizations. In the wake of gun violence across the U.S., we move beyond headlines to examine what actually works to stop violence before it happens: by identifying warning signs, building safer school communities, and intervening early.

I'm joined by Liz Murphy, Senior Vice President of Federal Policy & Partnerships and Patrick Malone, Senior Director of Federal Policy from Sandy Hook Promise to explain how prevention, including evidence-based programs that help students and adults recognize concerning behaviors, address social isolation, and take threats seriously without stigmatizing mental health, can be the change to the norm of school shootings in America.

Prices are up, paychecks aren’t keeping pace, and the stock market is soaring like nothing’s wrong. So… what is actually going on in this economy?!

I'm joined by Ben Harris, Vice President and Director of Economic Studies at the Brookings Institution to unpack everything you want to know about the affordability crisis, why economists are calling this a "K-shaped" economy, and how we got to this point.

From deep dives into the housing crisis to the Magnificent 7 stocks, we break down how the same economy can feel like two totally different worlds.

The United States has been using a highly controversial tactic in its effort to stop drug trafficking: bombing suspected “narco-terrorist” boats off the coasts of Venezuela and Colombia. After a bombshell report in the Washington Post alleging that Secretary of War Pete Hegseth ordered all survivors to be killed during one of these bombings, there has been bipartisan outcry over whether the United States is committing war crimes.

In this episode, I'm joined by Laurie Blank, an expert in the law of armed conflict, to break down the legal questions behind these strikes. We explore whether the U.S. can legally classify drug boats as terrorist targets, what counts as self-defense outside a declared war, and how the U.S. can be held accountable for potentially committing crimes.

Beerocracy! went on the road! On a stop in Washington D.C., I was lucky to sit down for conversation with Representative Jim McGovern (D-MA) to discuss all thing Capitol Hill. If you want to know what one of the rising stars of the Democratic party thinks about Trump's reign and his Republican colleagues, this is the episode for you.