Welcome back listeners!! We’re now on day 3 of the federal government shutdown, and on this week’s episode we dive into the lose-lose situation surrounding the fact that Republicans have shut down the government all to let healthcare get more expensive.

It’s not a typical episode for us with heroes and villains. Increasingly so many of the fights gripping our country — the shutdown, the attacks on free speech, Trump declaring war on American citizens and weaponizing law enforcement against those who simply disagree with him — have a common theme: we have a courage problem. We hope that through this podcast allows us to dive into what it takes to be courageous in today’s political environment, a task that gets harder and harder every day.

Speaking of, we’re thrilled to welcome to the pod this week another outstanding Virginia House candidate, Lily Franklin running in HD-41 centered around Blacksburg and Virginia Tech. A second-time candidate after losing in a Trump district by only 183 votes in 2023, she’s back and running an incredible race focused on what regular people need to have life be more affordable.