700+ homes. 65,000 evacuated. More than 10,000 acres. And now, one arrest. Investigators believe Aaron Farinacci, 37, started one of the fires that ravaged Spokane, Washington this weekend. He’s now being held on a $1 million bond.

The images of the overnight devastation from the Spokane Complex Fires are shocking, but as we’ve seen, this isn’t the first fire to destroy an entire neighborhood and it won’t be the last. While the immediate conversation centers around Spokane’s recovery, it leads to a much broader conversation about wildfire behavior as a result of climate change and the policies that landed us here.

We invited Shawn Borgen to join us for a substantive conversation about fire. Borg recently retired as superintendent of the Flathead Hotshots, one of the most elite firefighting teams in the country. We discuss what’s changed over his decades of fighting fires, the money and staffing cuts, and the broad misunderstanding of what’s known as the “fire paradox.” Plus, Borg lays out his own practical advice for preparation, no matter where you live.

“The surface of the earth, for the most part, is covered in hairy fuel of various sizes and thicknesses,” Borg said. “And it will all burn, regardless of where you live. I have fought fire in almost every state, border to border, coast to coast. If you live in and around anything from grass up through trees, it will, it can burn. So no one is immune to it.”

Just like the people of Altadena, Louisville, and Lahaina before them, the people of Spokane are trying to figure out what comes next. There are numerous organizations available to help, including:

Spokane H.O.M.E. Starts Here fund: collecting donations for impacted residents

2nd Harvest: helping displaced families with access to food

Innovia Foundation: offering support for organizations helping with needs

HEART: collecting money to help with affected animals

Catholic Charities of Eastern Washington: supporting individuals and families impacted by the fires

American Red Cross/KREMCares: providing shelter and other resources to those impacted

We finally had a chance to sit down with Sam Forstag, smokejumper and Democratic candidate for MT-01. The timing was good, too— On Tuesday morning, the DCCC added Forstag to its “Red to Blue” program, which basically means his race is considered one of the most competitive races in the country. That’s a big deal when you consider the last time a Democrat won a statewide race in Montana was in 2018 when Jon Tester won his third term in the U.S. Senate. The last time a Democrat won a U.S. House race was in 1994, when the late great Pat Williams won.

Forstag has gained a lot of national attention already, including high-profile endorsements. End Citizens United added its name to that list in June when Forstag joined the organization’s Unrig Washington program.

“Sam Forstag understands that this corruption is at the root of rising costs and unaffordable health care, and it’s why billionaires keep getting tax breaks while working people are left behind,” ECU President Tiffany Muller said at the time of endorsement. “He refuses to take a dime of corporate PAC money to prove to voters that he’s only accountable to them. We are proud to endorse Sam and look forward to helping him win in November.”

We also discuss Forstag’s priorities in Congress, what he’s doing to gain bipartisan support (in a state that requires it), and a little bit about leather boots. Plus, what it’s like to be in this historic moment in politics.

There are just 106 days until the November election and we have seen no shortage of drama-fueled shakeups. We were so pleased to welcome Erin Covey of The Cook Political Report for a deep dive into the 2026 midterm battleground races.

Erin’s focus is typically the House, but she could have fooled us with her comprehensive and nuanced knowledge about the Senate map. She lays out Democrats' top defensive priorities in Georgia and Michigan to pickup targets in North Carolina, Maine, Alaska, and Ohio. We cover the Democrats’ “white whale” race in Texas, Iowa's Turek-Hinson race, and the wildcard role of independent candidates like Montana's Seth Bodnar and Nebraska's Dan Osborne.

On the House side, Erin lays out why redistricting has reshaped the battleground, and which toss-up seats matter most. While the Democrats are favored to retake the majority, Erin explains why it’s not a foregone conclusion.

To dig further into the races, the recent ratings changes, and more analysis from Erin, head to The Cook Political Report ratings page!

JT & MG sit down with Rep. Sean Casten (D-IL), a member of the House Financial Services Committee, to dig into a new report from Climate Power and the Center for American Progress on the rising cost of living. Casten, who spent 20 years in the energy industry before Congress, breaks down why natural gas prices are spiking, how blocking cheap renewable energy is driving up bills, and why Democrats need to talk about energy costs more, not less.

On Monday, we’ll have a live conversation with the Cook Political Report's Erin Covey about the midterm landscape. Let us know which races you want us to dig into!

Attorney, journalist, and friend Katie Phang joins Grounded for an update on her ongoing legal fight against the DOJ after acting AG Todd Blanche essentially defied the court order to comply with the Epstein Files Transparency Act. This all comes days before an expected Blanche confirmation battle in the Senate.

“So literally hot off the presses, I just filed this response,” Phang said. “And my response calls [Blanche] out for violating the judge’s order, not to mention still as of today, July 13th, 2026, still violating the federal law, the Epstein Files Transparency Act as he’s on the eve of his confirmation hearing in Senate Judiciary. And what I do is I ask the judge to fine him $1,000 a day until he complies. Him, not the Department of Justice, but Todd Blanche.”

We also discuss headlines including the latest ICE involved fatal shooting in Maine and a new court ruling that recommends disciplinary action for Blanche and others for their involvement in the Trump IRS settlement slush fund move. We can’t let the episode end without some combine talk and another invitation to bring Katie to Big Sky Country.

JT & MG have a candid conversation with Rich Logis, founder of the nonprofit Leaving MAGA and author of the memoir One Betrayal Too Many. Logis is a former die-hard MAGA pundit, campaign volunteer, and donor. He talks about his break from the movement in 2022 and how it started with a simple idea: diversifying his news sources. Logis discusses what works to move people, what he calls an addiction to rage and fear, and what it takes to repair relationships. Plus, why he predicts an electoral revolt in November.

We always gain so much valuable perspective from David Becker, co-founder and executive director for the Center for Election Innovation and Research. He joins us again to break down myriad questions revolving around the upcoming midterm elections. We tackle the Supreme Court's 5-4 ruling about counting mail-in ballots that arrive after Election Day, including unpacking why the RNC sued deep-red Mississippi over the law. Why wouldn’t lawmakers just change the law in the state dominated by the GOP?

We also dig into the president’s persistent obsession with the 2020 results and passing the Save America Act, which Becker says will never happen.

“At the core of all of the false claims is the idea that Democrats somehow out of power in 2020, in the middle of a global pandemic, with President Trump controlling the entire federal government, managed the greatest conspiracy in world history to steal an election from him and that nobody was talking,” Becker said. “And then four years later, while those same Democrats held all of that power of the federal government, They forgot to do it again. That’s how ridiculous all of this is.”

Plus, Becker lays out his idea on how we can get record midterm voter turnout this November.

What happens when the federal government tries to triple a small town's population overnight and won't even take your call?

It’s what the city manager of Social Circle, Georgia was up against earlier this year. Eric Taylor joins grounded to take us through the six-month fight to stop the Department of Homeland Security from turning a vacant warehouse into an ICE detention camp.

Taylor takes us through the story of how he locked the water meter, shut off the sewer valve, and helped force DHS to scrap a $128.6 million plan.

It was a big weekend in Big Sandy, Montana. Jeff Ament, through his nonprofit Montana Pool Service, hosted the 16th annual Big Sandy Skate Jam + Pig Roast Saturday. It gave us the perfect reason to host our first joint episode from the Tester farm (and snag some MPS merch)!

A few days ago, our friend Dana DuBois connected us with Nick Paro, a disabled veteran and advocate who recently joined forces with Disability Community to craft a call to action based on a recent Department of Justice memo. It's raising serious concerns, but hasn’t been widely covered in mainstream media yet. The Arc published a great explainer.

The memo basically reinterprets the 1999 Supreme Court Olmstead decision that ruled disabled people can’t be forced to be institutionalized if they can get support and services in their communities. The ruling said the institutional segregation of people with disabilities and mental illness is a form of discrimination under the Americans with Disabilities Act. That decision has been the basis for requiring states to improve access for community-based services. People briefed on the situation told reporters with Bloomberg Law that White House adviser Stephen Miller was the driving force behind the DOJ memo.

The DOJ memo doesn’t change the law, but it does signal a shift. The National Alliance on Mental Illness says the language in the memo has the potential to promote a shift back toward institutionalization. It prompted Sen. Tammy Duckworth and other Senate Democrats to introduce a resolution that reaffirms the promise of Olmstead. It prompted Paro and his partners to publish their own call to action, saying this is an issue which will impact all of us. “Now is the time to speak — before they change the laws — and not after,” Paro’s group wrote.

As the Arc wrote, “this isn’t the end of Olmstead. It’s the start of a new fight to protect it.”

Stay tuned for more farm content from Big Sandy. If you want to learn more about MPS skatepark builds, make sure you check out Montana Grind and Paving the Way, two documentaries that feature Ament’s projects!