Half the Answer

Progressive messaging is so hot, the cynical opportunists are appropriating it for mass appeal. A combat surgeon returned from Gaza has found financial support in a pro-Palestine super PAC. Public pressure may prevent new ICE facilities. Journalist Whitney Curry Wimbish walks us through these and other recent stories she has worked on for The American Prospect.

Resources

https://am-quickie.ghost.io/

https://prospect.org/2025/12/26/profiting-off-immigrant-illness-abuse-and-terror/

https://www.vera.org/news/a-blueprint-for-resistance-how-residents-and-local-governments-are-shutting-down-ice-detention-in-warehouses

https://prospect.org/2026/04/30/palestine-super-pac-new-jersey-12-district-adam-hamawy/

https://prospect.org/2026/04/28/pennsylvania-congressional-race-pits-corporate-defender-crosswell-against-union-organizer/

Apartheid and incursions into Palestinian territory are accomplished by a specific set of tactics. Oren Ziv, an Israeli photojournalist, joins Trent and Caitlin to describe some examples of the strategies he has seen in person and learned of in his reporting.

Resources

https://www.activestills.org/

https://www.972mag.com/writer/orenziv/

https://www.972mag.com/israeli-settler-violence-condemnations-smokescreen/

https://www.972mag.com/israel-settler-outposts-west-bank-area-b/

https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-disinherited-journal-of-a-palestinian-exile-fawaz-turki/0d994329d6134ffc?ean=9780853452485&next=t

https://news.un.org/en/story/2022/03/1114702

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/feb/08/israeli-lawyer-arrested-for-peaceful-protest-leaves-prison-after-110-days

https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2026-04-22/ty-article/.premium/israels-independence-day-ceremony-would-inspire-even-pyongyang/0000019d-b479-dbb2-a19d-b77f446d0000

https://www.ft.com/content/2f826acb-c1d2-4144-a9cc-73d008a727a3?syn-25a6b1a6=1

https://www.972mag.com/march-of-return-nakba-2026/

Map of areas A, B, and C

https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Map-of-Areas-A-B-and-C-after-Oslo-II_fig1_276258691

You can't say anything these days! Especially not on a college campus, and especially not if you're a white man. For evidence, please enjoy this loose assemblage of sixth-hand anecdotes with no detail or reporting to back it up. This is the discursive form that Caitlin and Trent brought Stanford professor Adrian Daub on to discuss, described in his 2024 book, The Cancel Culture Panic: How an American Obsession Went Global.

Resources

The Cancel Culture Panic: https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-cancel-culture-panic-how-an-american-obsession-went-global-adrian-daub/7c3bcd17c60f4e52?ean=9781503640849&next=t

Academic paper on Caitlin's cancellation story: https://journals.linguisticsociety.org/proceedings/index.php/PLSA/article/download/5257/4885/10012

In Bed With The Right podcast https://gender.stanford.edu/podcasts

Assorted cancel culture discourse 2020-2022

https://harpers.org/a-letter-on-justice-and-open-debate/

https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2021/10/new-puritans-mob-justice-canceled/619818/

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/07/steven-pinker-will-be-just-fine/614323/

https://www.spiked-online.com/2020/07/09/steven-pinker-wont-be-cancelled-but-you-could-be/

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/07/opinion/campus-speech-cancel-culture.html

https://www.motherjones.com/recharge/2020/07/factually-flawed-anti-pinker-letter/

Caitlin's answer to the MJ thing https://c-moriah-green.medium.com/bad-news-about-that-pro-pinker-mother-jones-piece-it-doesnt-make-any-fucking-sense-5efb27a72495

Cancel Culture is Over

https://www.persuasion.community/p/why-woke-failed

https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2026/04/graham-platner-nazi-tattoo-democrats-voters-maine.html

We're fixing it with the help of our wealthy donors

https://www.chronicle.com/article/meet-the-donors-funding-the-civil-dialogue-boom-at-colleges

https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2026/4/15/harvard-donors-viewpoint-diversity/

https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/university-intellectual-freedom-center-creates-100000609.html

https://stevenpinker.com/files/pinker/files/documents/steven-pinker-im-pinned-between-cancel-culture-and-trump-002.pdf

Thank you Mr. Trump BUT

https://ash.harvard.edu/articles/why-im-excited-about-the-white-houses-proposal-for-a-higher-ed-compact/

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/27/opinion/democrats-trump-midterms-future.html

Charlie Kirk Acts

https://wpln.org/post/tennessees-charlie-kirk-act-bans-student-walkouts-protects-conservative-speakers/

https://www.insidehighered.com/news/students/free-speech/2026/04/21/tenn-passes-charlie-kirk-act-defending-campus-speakers

Look at my Iran negotiator, dawg, we’re never getting through the Strait of Hormuz. Friend of the program Y. L. Al-Sheikh helps us understand the unfolding diplomatic and military nightmare that is the Middle East, and how the United States plays a role in each.

Goodbye to Viktor Orban! Don't let the door hit you! Trent and Caitlin bring you a discussion with resident Europe expert Hunter CG (also known as @roterote).

Resources

https://bsky.app/profile/roterote.bsky.social

https://www.tiktok.com/@roterotemedia

https://linktr.ee/roterotemedia

https://19thnews.org/2026/04/voting-citizenship-proof-laws-trump-save-america-act/

https://www.newsweek.com/viktor-orban-hungary-election-jd-vance-rally-11804123

https://apnews.com/article/ukraine-cash-shipment-detained-hungary-745c17643b9a0965024d7a8410c5fc17

https://www.euandyou.eu/

https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-owned-continent-dave-keating/8629bc69280d3c81?ean=9782960407303&next=t

https://www.rev.com/transcripts/vance-and-orban-press-conference

https://newrepublic.com/article/179776/heritage-foundation-viktor-orban-trump

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/14/opinion/magyar-orban-hungary-trump-defeat.html

A bloodthirsty, homicidal maniac is in charge of our nation's military for some reason, and he just can't stop saying stuff that confirms that he deeply believes that extreme violence is awesome and God likes it a lot. Trent and Caitlin ask Greg Sargent of the New Republic what he learned from experts about the ideology that underpins Pete Hegseth's attitude toward violence.

Resources:

https://newrepublic.com/article/208322/pete-hegseth-religion-war-iran-sadism-rage

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLh7CFELPzz6ZOwhBZ4h7d84m8Lg1oTKKa

https://bsky.app/profile/gregsargent.bsky.social

"back to the stone age" tweet https://archive.ph/cWADP

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/3/14/analysts-say-us-threat-of-no-quarter-for-iran-violates-international-law

"Reign of Error" book https://bookshop.org/a/115699/9780345806352

"Creating the Credibility Gap" book https://bookshop.org/a/115699/9781249405627

Delta Airlines brought Liam Ramos back from the child prison in Texas, but they don't seem to want to talk about how they took him there in the first place. Trent and Caitlin debrief with Gillian Brockell about the current status of ICE flights, the fate of the boy in the bunny hat, and the way journalists credit each other (and also sometimes don't) when they rely on each other's reporting.

Resources:

https://gillianbrockell.com

https://bsky.app/profile/gillianbrockell.com

Uzbek deportation story https://newsletter.mariannedhenin.com/asylum-seeker-deported-after-suicide-attempt-in-ice-jail-advocates-say/

Video proves Delta flew Liam to Dilley https://gillianbrockell.com/video-proves-delta-flew-liam-ramos-and-his-dad-to-ice-detention-center/

Independent version:

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/delta-air-lines-liam-ramos-ice-texas-b2940372.html

AP version https://apnews.com/article/liam-ramos-video-ice-delta-commercial-flight-7b0ed36899da68177a6fdd665fb8a205

Liam Conejo Ramos judge rejects asylum claim https://www.npr.org/2026/03/20/nx-s1-5753981/liam-conejo-ramos-family-fights-immigration-judges-ruling-to-deport-them-to-ecuador

Kristi Noem F**K Jet details https://gillianbrockell.com/noems-luxury-d-jet-for-deportations-is-the-tip-of-the-ice-berg/

The War Zone coverage https://www.twz.com/news-features/new-dhs-gulfstream-jet-now-flying-secretary-noem

Careless People https://bookshop.org/p/books/careless-people-a-cautionary-tale-of-power-greed-and-lost-idealism-sarah-wynn-williams/804251bb5d4b06b3?ean=9781250391230&next=t

New Hampshire blizzard flight grounded https://gillianbrockell.com/breaking-shackled-migrants-trapped-on-deportation-plane-stuck-in-blizzard/

More on NH flight https://gillianbrockell.com/ice-deportation-flight-leaves-nh-after-31-hours-exposes-chronic-problems/

Seth Miller digging into the NH flight https://bsky.app/profile/wandrme.paxex.aero/post/3mfkamntcws24?ref=gillianbrockell.com

Ms. Rachel is getting it done https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2026/03/ms-rachel-ice-dilley-detention-center-accurso/

Send tips or request flight info for legal clients to Signal @gbrockell.44

What the hell is going on in Texas? Trent and Caitlin welcome Houston culture reporter Gwen Howerton about the Texas senate primaries, censorship in prisons, and the state of LGBTQ+ rights in the Lone Star State.

Resources:

https://bsky.app/profile/kissphoria.bsky.social

https://www.chron.com/culture/article/cornyn-paxton-texas-senate-ai-22082110.php

https://www.chron.com/culture/article/texas-prison-book-ban-22079345.php

What's happened in New York City since Zohran Mamdani became mayor in January? Has it become a Marxist-Islamic bastion, ruled by a soviet in the succeeding three months? Trent and Caitlin discuss the Sharia Socialism of NYC Mayor Mamdani, the naked vice signalling and stove-touching of the GOP with author Ryan Cooper.

Resources

https://bsky.app/profile/ryanlcooper.com

https://prospect.org/

https://www.leftanchor.com/

https://gothamist.com/news/facing-historic-blizzard-mamdani-says-nyc-learned-lessons-from-last-snowstorm

https://www.amny.com/nyc-transit/congestion-pricing-nyc-subways-ridership-report-2025/

https://www.liberalcurrents.com/neon-liberalism-30-rethinking-international-trade/

Trent and Caitlin achieve the coveted threepeat guest appearance with journalist Marisa Kabas of the Handbasket, fresh off her incredible legal win obtaining the body cam footage from the DC cops who assisted the DOGE boys in breaking into the USIP office in March 2025. They discuss the total disregard for life, law, and locked doors that was on display that day, as well as the frustrating events following Marisa's FOIA success.

Resources

https://bsky.app/profile/marisakabas.bsky.social

https://www.thehandbasket.co/p/body-cam-footage-usip-doge-raid-mpd-lawsuit

https://www.404media.co/the-removed-doge-deposition-videos-have-already-been-backed-up-across-the-internet/