Don Goldmacher and Frances Causey join us to discuss their newly updated documentary from 2011, Heist:  Who Stole the American Dream? (updated 2025)

Learn how the Powell Memo and Citizens United destroyed the American middle class and lead to an American Oligarchy.  

Watch the updated version of Heist the Film here:  https://www.heist-themovie2025.com/

Also discussed was Frances' personal documentary, The Long Shadow, which you can find here: https://thelongshadowfilm.com/

Please note this episode was recorded back in December of 2025, before the Iran war, the big batch of Epstein files, and a lot of other crazy news that we've already lived through in 2026.  

Join us as we wrap up 2025 with a recap of the first 10 episodes of the Empathy Avengers podcast!  Mindy and Pamela discuss the highlights from each episode of the first season of our podcast!  Don't miss your favorites and see previews of the other episodes you missed this year.  

At the end, we preview our newest edition to the podcast for 2026, Empathy Avengers Unite: Rants and Raves!  
Happy New Year!  Cheers to an empathetic 2026!

One of Santa Claus' helpers joins us on Christmas to talk about how he gets so much joy from giving back to his community.  He provides us with tips on being Santa Claus, and inspiration to keep the generous spirit alive throughout the whole year.  We then unmask the man behind the beard, Ken Creighton, and reveal lots of other wonderful, charitable activities he has done in his community to become Honorary Mayor of San Pedro, a Los Angeles neighborhood.  We learn all about the best pizza in Connecticut, and we end with an inspirational memory from the White House Christmas in 2024. 

Political Psychiatrist Dr. Karin Tamerius joins the podcast to help us get through the holidays with tips to communicate and plant seeds with our family and colleagues on the other side of the political aisle.  The trick is to tread gently and with respect and not to hope for a major change right away.  

We also discuss retribution lawsuits and how "obeying in advance" is the wrong way to go in this political climate.  This is a must-listen episode to help get through the holidays!    

Karin's substack is The Smart Politics Way: https://karintamerius.substack.com/
The article referenced is "How to Tame a Trump Troll": https://open.substack.com/pub/karintamerius/p/how-to-tame-a-trump-troll/
Karin's upcoming book is "How to Move an Elephant" - her website for more info:  https://www.karintamerius.com/
To donate to the fund to support victims of SLAPP lawsuits: https://www.defendspeechnow.org/

OG Empathy Avengers Fred Silverman and Spocko join the podcast to discuss disinformation and sanitization of the mainstream media and what we can do about it.  

'We the People' can influence corporations like Disney to do the right thing, like putting Jimmy Kimmel back on the air (they shouldn't have removed him in the first place, but we pushed back and they put him back within a week.

Don't let them obey in advance and punish them economically when they cave to fascist demands.  Learn tactics on how to fight back by voicing concerns to advertisers to influence their $ spend.  The "Spocko method" took Glen Beck off the air.  

Resources mentioned: 
Matt Binder's podcasts - Doomed: https://doomed.simplecast.com/
Scam Economy: https://scameconomy.com/
Cory Doctorow's new book - Enshittification: 
https://us.macmillan.com/books/9780374619329/enshittification/

Mark Kerr joins the podcast to discuss how he has shifted his views, and doesn't recognize the Republican party anymore.  We discuss creative ways to get involved to fight for our democracy in this time of fascism.  

Resources discussed in this episode: 
Thom Hartmann article: https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/transform-the-democratic-party
Dr. Hassan's website: https://freedomofmind.com/
No Kings Protests: https://www.nokings.org/

Heidi Siegmund Cuda joins us for an excellent discussion on what's going on in the United States, and how we can help when those in our lives waking up from their brainwashing.  

Heidi's Substack (Bette Dangerous): https://www.bettedangerous.com/ 
RADICALIZED Truth Survives Podcast: https://www.youtube.com/ 
Byline Times Articles: https://bylinetimes.com/author/heidicuda/

Zarina Zabrisky has been bravely reporting and writing from Ukraine for the past several years as a correspondent for Byline Times and Euromaidan Press. In her new feature documentary, 'Kherson, Human Safari', the tragic story of Ukraine's most dangerous city is told by its people. 

In this episode, Zarina shares stories of how the people of Kherson have been enduring their spirit and culture even with the continuing war.  Watch the film, and get inspired by the people of Kherson, and learn more from at Zarina's website:  http://www.zarinazabrisky.com/

Desia "Dee" Batiste joins the Empathy Avengers to discuss engagement and advocacy in our community and world.  She highlights what's been going on in her state and how Blue Tennessee is fighting back against the GOP Trifecta.

Learn what you can do to educate and engage civically in your community in these troubled times.

Read Dee: https://substack.com/ ⁨@advocacyarena⁩  
Listen to Dee: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2446382

IT Security experts Hi Fidelity and Normie Joe join us to discuss internet trolls and how to deal with them... 

What are Internet Trolls?  What is Doxxing and Swatting? Learn how and why trolls came to be and tips for how to best deal with them. 

Spoiler alert:  The Internet isn't real!

Find Hi Fidelity on the RADICALIZED: Truth Survives podcast: https://www.youtube.com/c/radicalizedtruthsurvivespodcast